Books of the Month

Morals and Theology. Every-Day Life and Every-Day Morals, by George L. Chaney (Roberts), is a collection of Sunday evening talks on such subjects as the press, the stage, juvenile literature, and art. The author is forcible and sensible, and often fresh and suggestive. — Notes on Ingersoll, by Rev. L. A. Lambert. (Buffalo Catholic Publication Co.) These notes are in a conversational form, Mr. Ingersoll’s writings furnishing the basis for his side of the talk. Mr. Lambert answers him with patience and dexterity. — Edwin Arnold as Poetizer and as Paganizer, by William C. Wilkinson. (Funk & Wagnalls.) Mr. Wilkinson gives less attention to the literary than to the philosophical side of Mr. Arnold’s work, but he pursues his investigation into the diction with characteristic detective minuteness. His discussion of the philosophic standing of Buddhism is vigorous. We do not profess to say it is not conclusive, but it strikes us at the outset as illustrating the great difficulty which a thoroughly Occidental mind has in measuring Oriental thought. — The Elements of Moral Science, Theoretical and Practical, by Noah Porter. (Scribners.) This is primarily a text-book, but the frequent reference, in the text itself, to other works bearing on the subjects discussed makes the book a convenient one for any who wish to form for themselves a clear conception of the grounds of human rights and duties. It is a curious commentary on the present treatment of ethics to find the President of Yale College ironically defending himself for taking the New Testament as an authority as much to be deferred to as Spencer, Aristotle, Cicero, or Butler. — Daily Thoughts, selected from the writings of Charles Kingsley by his wife (Macmillan), is in form a birthday book, with regard also to holy days. As Kingsley was above all a moralist, his earnest writings easily afford specimens of birthday wisdom, whether taken from his novels, from his sermons, or from his poems. — Ecclesiology, a treatise on the church and kingdom of God on earth, by Edward D. Morris (Scribners): a volume prepared from lectures delivered to theological students. Dr. Morris takes a view which precludes organic oneness, or rather subordinates it wholly to spiritual unify. His treatment is historical and philosophical, and the tendency of his thought is to the final merging of the church and humanity. — Letters on Spiritual Subjects in Answer to Inquiring Souls, by W. H. Holcombe (Porter & Coates): an attempt to develop the thought of the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ in the world as interpreted by a disciple of Swedenborg.

Education and Text-Books. Education in its Relation to Manual Industry, by Arthur MacArthur. (Appleton.) Mr. MacArthur expends little time in demonstrating the value of introducing a system of rudimental science and manual art into the lower grade of schools. He gives most of his space to an interesting précis of what has actually been accomplished in different countries in this direction, and his narrative easily attracts to itself the forcible presentation of the views held by those who have inspired or managed the various rudimentary technical schools. His book becomes thus a weighty argument in favor of the system and a pretty clear statement of its practical workings. — Der Neue Leitfaden beim Unterricht in der Deutschen Sprache, by Gottlieb Heness. (Holt.) This book proceeds by easy and natural gradations, according to the system which Mr. Heness has helped make popular, in the conversational method, ending with a few selections from literature. — The forty-third annual report of the trustees of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind is made interesting by the details which are presented of this very valuable charity. The department of music receives special attention. The list of books which the blind may read and enjoy to their fingers’ ends is a curious one, in which old-fashioned piety and modern science are mixed in queer proportions. The rather effusive sentiment of the report might lead one to fear that the pupils of the school would be put upon a too extended course of self-pity. — The Human Body, a Beginner’s Text-Book of Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene, by H. N. and H. C. Martin (Holt), is a volume in the elementary course of the American Science series. It is, the authors say, essentially a school-book of personal hygiene, and is devoted for the most part to matters which are usually within the easy control of each individual. The book seems to keep well within reasonable limits, and we like its treatment of the alcohol question. — Elements of Analytic Geometry, by Simon Newcomb (Holt): one of a series by this author. It is adapted both to those who do and those who do not desire to make a special study of advanced mathematics. It belongs naturally in a college course. — Putnam’s Sons have issued, in three very neat volumes, Representative British Orations, with introductions and explanatory notes by Charles K. Adams. Mr. Adams, who has done his work with great care and thoroughness, gives us selections from fifteen orators, beginning with Sir John Eliot and ending with William Ewart Gladstone. Mr. Adams’s illustrative notes at the end of each volume are especially valuable.— The Nutshell Series (Putnam’s Sons) is the title of six diminutive volumes, containing wise, witty, and poetical quotations, selected and arranged by Helen Kendrick Johnson. The booklets are neatly packed in a case. — A Popular Manual of English Literature, by Maude Gillette Phillips (Harpers), is the title of a work in two portly volumes, in which the author, not content with showing her unfitness for writing about the literature of her own land, presents some rather remarkable “outlines ” of the literature of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. If other worlds than ours have any literature, it has fortunately escaped the attention of Maude Gillette Phillips. — Representative American Orations, edited, with introductions, by Alexander Johnson (Putnam’s Sons), is an excellent work of its kind. It is issued in three handy volumes, uniform with British Orations and Prose Masterpieces for Modern Essayists, by the same publishers. — The Centenary of Leicester Academy is the title of a thick pamphlet (Charles Hamilton, Worcester, Mass.) devoted to the exercises held at Leicester, Mass., in the fall of 1884. There were an historical address by Hon. W. W. Rice, a Poem by Thomas Hill, from whom poetry is not usually looked for, and various speeches made at the dinner. The address is fully annotated. It is always interesting to see, by such occasions, how many persons of distinction took their first strong steps in an academy upon some windy New England hill. — The Sixth and Seventh Books of Herodotus have been edited by A. C. Merriam (Harpers), who also furnishes a life of Herodotus, an epitome of his history, a summary of the dialect, and explanatory notes. Perhaps there are more text-books on the Second Book, but that book certainly is the most attractive to young students, and to our minds most valuable as a starting-point for historical work. — Two recent issues of School Bulletin Publications (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse) are Normal Language Lessons, by S. J. Sornberger, and Calisthenic and Disciplinary Exercises, by E. V. De Graff. The former is rather an accompaniment to larger books than a substitute for them ; the latter is a manual of exercises.— Webster’s Condensed Dictionary (Ivison) is a very compact volume of 800 pages. An immense amount of matter is packed into the space by the omission of illustrative examples, by the use of a type too fine for ordinary purposes, and by collecting all the direct derivatives of words under the root word. Mechanically the work is admirably done, but we pity the compositors who set it and the proof-readers who read it.

Literary History and Criticism. Personal Traits of British Authors, edited by Edward T. Mason. (Scribners.) The two volumes of this series so far published contain sketches of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, Hunt, Procter, Byron, Shelley, Moore, Rogers, Keats, Southey, and Landor. Mr. Mason’s plan is to give extracts, chiefly from contemporary critics and narrators, by which the portrait of each author is sketched in a free fashion. Foot-notes explain or carry farther references in the text, and a chronological table gives in each case the leading facts in the author’s career. One is furnished with the personal characteristics of the subject rather than with his intellectual qualities, and as a great variety of witnesses are called one is obliged also to pay some attention to the personal equation of the narrators. However, as books of amiable gossip, they are creditably edited, and if taken in small quantities will not greatly impair intellectual digestion, though a meal of such reading would be apt to bring on dyspepsia. — Proceedings at the Presentation of a Portrait of John Greenleaf Whittier to Friends’ School, Providence, R. I., Tenth Month, 24th, 1884. (Riverside Press.) It is a pity that a copy of the portrait, by Parker could not have been given as a frontispiece. The pamphlet otherwise has pleasant tributes to the poet, to whom Friends very properly have a preëmptive claim. — One Hundred Years of Publishing, 1785-1885. (Lea Brothers & Co.) The change in style from Henry C. Lea’s Sons to Lea Brothers & Co. occurs just a hundred years after Matthew Carey founded the business, which has continued by very direct family descent to the present day, having branched also into the house of Henry Carey Baird. The narrative is an interesting one, and forms a curious illustration of the changes which have come over Philadelphia as a publishing city. This firm, once the most literary firm in the country, has now become specialized in medicine and industrial works. — Stops, or How to Punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students, by Paul Allardyce. (George H. Buchanan & Co., Philadelphia.) As a preparation for this little book, the title-page has no stop at all, and only one dash. The rules given strike us as reasonable, and, if followed, likely to put some check upon intemperance in punctuation.

Poetry. The poems of the Marquis de Leuville (American News Co.) show that he has a lyrical gift, of which he has not made the most.—An Irish Garland, by Sarah M. B. Piatt. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co ) The themes of these poems are either suggested by Ireland, or spring from Mrs. Piatt’s residence there. The domestic feeling, the half-shrinking touch, the clear sense of realities, and the melodious form commend the book to lovers of verse. — No Sect in Heaven, by Mrs. E. H. J. Cleveland (George H. Buchanan & Co., Philadelphia): a neat little edition of a poem which has won popularity by its easy, familiar expression of a favorite sentiment. The doggerel is forgiven for the sake of the sense, and like many rude doggerels helps many to remember the ideas. — A Heart’s Life, Sarpedon and other Poems, by Ella Sharpe Youngs. (Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.) It is difficult to read patiently a volume of poetry when the reader stumbles over unmusical lines. — Hero and Leander, a poem by Carl Robert Zache. (The Author, New York.) Here is imagination and some strong phrase. The form is not always smooth, and we are glad of it, for it helps us to believe that the author has stuff in him for poetry. — Songs in all Seasons, by James B. Kenyon (Cupples, Upham & Co.): a volume of some force, of a rather untrained character, but with no very wide range of theme. The poems have somewhat the air of practice verses, and the form, though varied, does not show perfect mastery by any means. — The reader will find a very valuable compendium of German poetry in Representative German Poems, ballad and lyrical, edited, with notes, by Karl Knortz. (Henry Holt & Co.) The translations, which are made by various hands, are accompanied by the original text, —an admirable arrangement. — The authors of the charming little book of verse called The Children Out-ofDoors (Robert Clarke & Co.) are, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Piatt. Though their names do not appear on the title-page, their work is too characteristic to pass unrecognized.

Biography. The first volume has been published of Leslie Stephen’s Dictionary of National Biography. (Macmillan.) When the last will be published the buyer of the first will be at least a dozen years older. Fifty volumes are promised, and there ought to be no difficulty in making up the number when the first, beginning with Abbadie, gets no farther than Anne. The names are drawn exclusively from English history, and do not include living persons. All persons whose names begin with A and who die before Z is reached will have a chance to be gathered into a supplementary volume. According to a nice calculation, if the editor lives ten years he loses a chance to go into his own dictionary in the proper place. The authors of the several articles are in many cases specialists, and the work bears the mark of thoroughness. Yet there is a tendency among the writers to treat the subjects as if they were prepared for a weekly paper intended for immediate reading. When one reads under Amherst, for example, 14 The history of this episode of the rebellion of Pontiac has been ably described by an American historian,” he knows that Mr. Parkman is referred to, but an encyclopædia has no business to make allusions of this sort. It should say frankly who the American historian is. There is a curious bit of Anglicism, by the way, in this reference to the “rebellion ” of Pontiac. Pray, who was Pontiac’s lawful king ? The notes at the end of many articles giving authorities are useful to the student. The editor appears to intend making the book as local as possible. Everybody, of course, who speaks the English language wishes to read about Englishmen, but who wants to know so much about so be-statued an Englishman as Prince Albert, who was after all not an Englishman at all ? — Women of the Day, a biographical dictionary of notable contemporaries, by Frances Hays. (Lippincott.) This is of English origin, though American names are not omitted. It differs from the dictionary last named in having no dead names, and it is a little startling to find so many frank disclosures as to age. Not even a woman, however, could find out some dates, and there is a teasing silence about certain names. The articles are generally judicious in their close attention to facts, yet what a melancholy thing it is to see this further attempt to erect womanhood into a specific class! — The latest number of the American Statesmen series is John Marshall, by Allan B. Magruder. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) Although Marshall’s fame rests upon his judicial service, he was made Chief Justice because of the eminent ability he had shown in other fields than that of the bench, and this volume is especially interesting because it reminds the reader how wide and diversified were the gifts of the men who formed the statesmen of the earlier period. The time had not come for the specialists of a later day. Marshall, like Jay, was Chief Justice; they might either of them have been President so far as qualification and training went. — Harriet Martineau, by Mrs. J. Fenwick Miller, is the latest volume in the Famous Women series. (Roberts.) Mrs. Miller has availed herself of some material not used by Miss Martineau’s biographer, but she showed poor taste in depreciating Mrs. Chapman’s work, especially as she makes statements which only the dead can verify.

History. The Divine Origin of Christianity, indicated by its historical effects, by R. S. Storrs. (Randolph.) Dr. Storrs has published ten lectures delivered by him in New York, Boston, and Brooklyn, and has added as much more matter in the shape of illustrative material in an appendix. His lectures attempt the difficult task of separating the leaven from the lump, and of differentiating Christianity and civilization. The richness of the book is at once its argument and its snare. One is borne along upon a full tide to a conclusion which was evident from the beginning, and yet the color and exuberance in the style might easily mislead a careless reader into thinking that he was following a merely rhetorical exhibition. In point of fact, Dr. Storrs has an admirable faculty in selecting and grouping historical material so as to give it a cumulative force. The book will be a treasury to many minds, and the glow of its pages will doubtless attract some who would be indifferent under a colder, more unimpassioned treatment.— Egypt and Babylon, from sacred and profane sources, by George Rawlinson. (Scribners.) The profane sources are used largely to reinforce the sacred, and the book becomes a useful commentary on parts of the Old Testament. — The American Historical Association, organized last summer, has already issued two papers (Putnams): one being a report of the organization and proceedings; the other a paper by President A. D. White, on studies in general history and the history of civilization. — Greece in the Times of Homer, by T. T. Timayenis (Appleton), is an account of the life, customs, and habits of the Greeks during the Homeric period. The book complements the author’s history of Greece, and is a not very critical or exhaustive treatment of the subject. Indeed, one might call it commonplace without laying himself open to the charge of being hypercritical.

Fiction. Wensley and other Stories, by Edmund Quincy, edited by his son, Edmund Quincy. (Osgood.) We are delighted to welcome a possible collection of Mr. Quincy’s stories, for he was a rare humorist in his way. The quiet grace of his style ought to be grateful to many readers, and Wensley carries with it also so charming a picture of rustic life and Harvard gentility that no one who loves good literature of a New England flavor should miss it. Here was a man who had in him the stuff of a famous author, and if ever his letters are printed people will wonder why they never heard more of him.—Mr. Lathrop’s An Echo of Passion has been issued in cheaper form in paper covers. (Scribners.) — The Mystery of the Locks, by E. W. Howe (Osgood), has scarcely the singular attraction of The Story of a Country Town. The oddities of the former book have been toned down, but the author scarcely relies on his native strength; he has recourse to conventional humor and conventional mysteries and crimes. Still, something of the quaintness which made one smile before is in this second book. When the author says, “ 1I will go over and hear what he says,’Dorris replied promptly, putting on his hat, 1 You can go along if you like,’ ” we are puzzled to say just why that little introduction of the hat should strike us as a serious bit of drollery. — Addie’s Husband (Appleton) is a story of misunderstanding and wretchedness in married life, made appalling by mystery and crime, but cleared away at last. The reader is invited to see the innocent, suffering wife laid under the daisies, but just as he gets out his handkerchief a few dots intervene, the story jumps a year or two, and everything is as right as a trivet, nobody dead, and sympathy all wasted. The whole is told in short conversations, for the writer is alarmed at the least possibility of being dull. — My Lady Pokahontas is the supposititious narrative of one Anas Todkill, whom Mr. J. Esten Cooke vouches for. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) The conceit is very cleverly carried out, and Mr. Cooke has preserved the verisimilitude of an old chronicle without being dull or pedantic. He has set the Pokahontas legend in a quaint and appropriate frame.—The Crime of Christmas Day, a tale of the Latin Quarter (Appleton): a story modeled apparently on Gaboriau. — Roslyn’s Fortune, by Christian Reid (Appleton) : a story, the scene of which is laid in the South without taking on any specially local coloring. The author tells us that we are in the South, but characters and incidents belong to the land of fiction mainly. — Tarantella, a Romance, by Mathilde Blind. (Roberts Brothers.) The romance here is in the language, also, which is charged with a good deal of perfume.—Recent numbers of the Franklin Square Library (Harpers) are Ichabod, by Bertha Thomas; The Wearing of the Green, by Basil; The Crime of Christmas Day; Tie and Trick, by Hawley Smart; Under Which King? by Compton Reade; and The White Witch. — The Author of Beltraffio, by Henry James (Osgood & Co.), is the title of the chief story in a collection of five tales, which are still fresh in the minds of conscientious magazine readers. The pieces in question are Pandora, Georgina’s Reasons, The Path of Duty, Four Meetings, and the initial story. — The Money-Makers, a Social Parable (Appleton & Co.), is a novel of very unequal merit. At its best it just misses being exceedingly clever. The author’s incessant use of cheap French words and phrases is exasperating. — The ninth volume of Stories by American Authors (Scribner’s Sons) contains Marse Chan, by T. N. Page ; Mr. Bixby’s Christmas Visitor, by C. S. Gage; Eli, by C. H. White ; Young Strong of the Clarion, by M. W. Shinn ; How Old Wiggins Wore Ship, by R. T. Coffin ; and --mas has Come, by Leonard Kip. — La Duchesse Martin, Comédie en un Acte, par Henry Meilhac (Carl Schoenhof, Boston), is the first of a series of modern French plays and novels to be issued under the supervision of Mr. Jules Lévy, the editor of Le Français, an admirable little journal, which ought to be familiar to every reader of French. The grammatical and explanatory notes which Mr. Lévy has added to M. Meilhac’s comedy are, like all Mr. Lévy’s work in this kind, of the highest critical value. — Mark Twain’s new book for young folks, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (C. L. Webster & Co.), is in some sense a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, though each of the two stories is complete in itself. Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer’s old comrade, is not only the hero but the historian of his adventures, and certainly Mr. Clemens himself could not have related them more amusingly. The work is sold only by subscription.

Science. A Popular Exposition of Electricity, with sketches of some of its discoveries, by Rev. Martin S. Brennan. (Appleton.) The author has aimed at a simple presentation, with as little technicality as may be, and with abundant use of illustration from personal experiences. — Diluvium, or the End of the World, by George S. Pidgeon (Commercial Printing Co., St. Louis), is a consideration of the probable results to be expected from the conversion of Sahara into an inland sea. We are to have another Flood, and this time no local puddle, but a universal one, which will wash the world away altogether. Mr. Pidgeon believes in his theory, and shows a calmness under his knowledge which leads us to believe that he has got his ark finished, and is sitting on the doorstep. — The forty-eighth number of the International Scientific Series (Appleton) is Origin of Cultivated Plants, by Alphonse de Candolle. The subject is one closely connected with the history of human life, and the author has drawn upon a great store of narratives of travel for his facts. It would be a capital book to put into the hands of a wideawake teacher of geography.