graphed from the oil paintings (many of them by famous masters) which hang on the walls of the university buildings. There are also full-page phototypes of Presidents Eliot of Harvard (from Hardie's painting), Dwight of Yale, Patton of Princeton, and Low of Columbia, also of Dr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education. The engravings are finely executed and beautifully printed, but the phototypes leave much to be desired, and are the only disappointing thing in the volume. This shortcoming—and a very slight one-will doubtless be corrected in the succeeding volumes, of which the four remaining are to be issued at intervals of about three months.

Volume II will consist of biographical sketches and portraits of officials, professors, instructors, benefactors, etc.-the men who have founded, fostered and developed the institutions treated of, and thus have promoted the cause of higher education in the United States.

Other volumes will be devoted to life sketches and portraits of University Sons, compiled with the especial purpose of demonstrating, by a study of the careers of graduates, "the practical influence which the higher education of the country has upon its business, politics and literature, and in general upon the directive power of the nation." (R. Herndon Company, Congregational House, Beacon Street, Boston. $15 per volume.)

The possible condensation of narration is well exemplified in Duruy's "General History of the World," to which Professor Grosvenor of Amherst has added but one hundred and fifty small 12mo pages to cover the last fifty years. This has not been his only share in the work, however. Naturally, France received greater attention in the original than was desirable for an American text-book. History, too, is progressive and often changes her verdicts in view of later discoveries. So where Duruy's original observations or statements may have become antiquated, Professor Grosvenor, availing himself of the best authorities, has modified them or replaced them with better-founded facts and conclusions. Some few chapters he has entirely recast, but the charm of style is not lost in them. There are many good maps and the book is most complete, up to date and satisfactory. (T. Y. Crowell & Co., Boston. $2.00.)

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"Things of Northfield and Other Things" is a collection of five practical and energetic sermons by Rev. David Gregg of Brooklyn. "Things of Northfield" he means emanations from Mr. Moody, which, starting from the Northfield summer conferences, have done much to stir up many of the churches to greater vitality. "Am I Worldly?" and "Our Duty to Our Young Men" are subjects of two of the best of these discourses. (E. B. Treat & Co., New York. 60 cents.)

A new evidence of the very welcome tendency to send our students to original sources for their information is furnished in "Studies in American History," by Howard W. Caldwell, which contains tracts or leaflets illustrating by quotations from the actors in the various periods the different stages of our American history, from the founding of the colonies to the Civil War. (J. H. Miller, Lincoln, Neb.)

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A historical story of the oppression of the Bohemian peasants by Maria Theresa and Joseph II of Austria is told in Caroline Svetlá's "Maria Felicia."

The heroine is the daughter of one of the Emperor's most intimate friends; but unlike her father, she cares nothing for court life, her sympathy being with the poorer class. In spite of her father, and after his death, she continues her work among the oppressed, even disguising herself as a man to do so. In this way, as a wandering harpist, she becomes fully acquainted with the peasants' mode of life and their feeling toward her as their ruler.

Her pity is so aroused that she gives up home, wealth and friends, becomes the wife of Andrew, the porter's son, and when the peasants are exiled, she goes with them.

The story is cleverly told, and one's interest does not lessen from beginning to end. (A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, $1.00.)

"The Story of the Revolution" cannot be told too often, and it is now once again set forth in most readable fashion by Henry Cabot Lodge. No one can exceed this author in his admiration for Washington, and every heart must dilate with patriotic pride, in reading the enthusiastic appreciations of that great man's wisdom, courage, and, more than all, his patience from the time he took command of the army under the Cambridge elm, till he entered New York on the heels of the retiring British. The description of the battle of Bunker Hill is the story of great thing, greatly told, and words could hardly contain a more forcible impression. Mr. Lodge holds the British commanders in light esteem, never missing a chance to apply contemptuous epithets to Gage, Clinton or Howe. Indeed his attitude towards England, down to the last year is far from conciliatory. But by the jumping of that nation with the author's views on expansion and imperialism, Mr. Lodge is willing to concede something in its favor. The book concludes with a merry jingoistic clang that can hardly be called legitimate history, and serves to emphasize that there are no facts, however noble, that cannot be ingeniously veneered upon prejudice. The two handsome volumes are amply illustrated, and enclosed in a substantial box. (Charles Scribner's Sons, N. Y. $6.00.)

A score of pictures of Miss Nethersole in character are tied together as a souvenir of that actress and the plays of her repertoire by R. H. It is intended, Russell (New York. 25 cents). doubtless, to be sold in the lobby of the theatre.

"The Heart of Denise, and Other Tales," by S. Levett Yeates, has a foreign and supernatural touch that is very fascinating to a large class of readers. (Longmans, Green & Co., N. Y. $1.25.)

It would be interesting to know what kind of criticism Mr. E. C. Stedman would accord to the tale "That Duel at Château Marsenac," inscribed to him by its author, Walter Pulitzer. It does not seem worth while to burden our pages with even the quotation or two which would furnish ample taste of its quality. (Funk & Wagnalls, New York. 75 cents.)

In our April issue we spoke appreciatively of Professor Grosvenor's editing and modernizing of Duruy's "General History of the World." The publishers now offer it in two volumes of greater convenience to hold and at the same cost, the first being Duruy's "Ancient History" and the second Grosvenor's "Contemporary History,"-i. e., the last fifty years. (T. Y. Crowell & Co., Boston. $1.00 each.)

A rather concise description, historical and physical, of our recently acquired possessions to take is and of those we hope and mean Charles Morris's "Our Island Empire." Fully a third of the book is devoted to Cuba which, our author evidently is sure, will be promptly "absorbed" by the United States. Porto Rico, Hawaii and the Philippines also have due attention, but a tiresome failure to give intelligent headlines to the pages mars it as a reference guide which its almost entire and welcome lack of "fine writing" otherwise fits it for. The volume seems to combine information that, without it, must be sought in many distinct books. (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. $1.50.)

An unusually good story of the romantic school so popular in recent years is "Hugh Gwyeth, a Roundhead Cavalier," by Beulah M. Dix. The hero, a mere lad, runs away from his grandfather's grudging care to seek a father and a career in the royal army and only returns, after he has secured both, to whip and magnani

mously forgive his rebel relatives. A girl's love plays a small but pretty part in the tale which is well worth the reading. (Macmillan Co., New York. $1.50.)

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The "Directory of the Charitable and Beneficent Organizations of Boston," of which the fourth edition is just issued (Associated Charities, Boston, $1.00), is a book to be welcomed heartily, not only by philanthropists and clergymen, but by all citizens. In compact form and pleasing type it presents not merely a list of institutions with addresses, but all essential facts about them. It states what hours they are open, whether connected with telephone, terms of admission, if they are in the suburbs, their distance from street cars, etc.

A large part of the book treats of subjects closely related with economic questions and relief work, such as, licenses, pawnbrokers, pensions, free libraries, municipal lectures, baths, playgrounds, cemeteries, etc.

A large and valuable appendix gives legal suggestions by Hon. George S. Hale, revised by his son. These are specially valuable to district visitors. To them are subjoined a "Summary of the more important Laws applying to Dwellings in Boston," prepared by Mr. Estabrook of the Twentieth Century Club. These contain laws concerning garbage, drainage, overcrowding, building permits, etc., and make easily accessible what a district visitor constantly needs to refer to. An index completes the book, which is a monument of research, painstaking care and good sense on the part of its compilers.

Three very unusual studies of character are to be found in "Strong Hearts" by George W. Cable. The first, when appearing in magazine form, was called "Gregory's Island," but here bears the title of "The Solitary." It is of tremendous force. A good man stumbling down hill to a drunkard's fate, voluntarily pulled himself up on an uninhabited island, cut his boat in pieces, resolved to conquer his degrading habit, or to die in the attempt. The descriptions of the return of the appetite, the vain energy of despair, the terrible agony, are told as only a master in words can tell such things. The reader must hold his breath and feel the chills run down his back, in the excitement of those dread hours of battle. That this human tragedy result well is positively necessary to the reader's comfort. The second study is of "The Taxidermist," and is very lovely in the simplicity and beauty of the lives portrayed The third, "The Entomologist,"

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repeated proofs of that practical good sense, of that sound judgment which is perhaps the most rare and is certainly the most valuable quality of the human mind. Devoting himself to the duties of his station, and pursuing no object distinct from the public good, he was accustomed to contemplate at a distance those critical situations in which the United States might probably be placed, and to digest, before the occasion required action, the line of conduct which it would be proper to observe. Taught to distrust first impressions, he sought to acquire all the information which was attainable, and to hear, without prejudice, all the reasons which could be urged for or against a particular measure. His own judgment was pended until it became necessary to determine, and his decisions, thus maturely made, were seldom if ever to be shaken. His conduct therefore was systematic, and the great objects of his administration were steadily pursued. Respecting, as the first magistrate in a free government must ever do, the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts of passion passed over without ruffling the smooth surface of his mind. Trusting to the reflecting good sense of the nation for approbation and support, he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests in opposition to its temporary prejudices; and, though far from being regardless of popular favor, he could never stoop to retain by deserving to lose it. In more instances than one, we find him committing his whole popularity to hazard, and pursuing steadily, in opposition to a torrent which would have overwhelmed a man of ordinary firmness, that course which had been dictated by a sense of duty. In speculation, he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution of his country, and to that system of equal political rights on which it is founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he thought, was to be preserved only by preserving the authority of the laws and maintaining the energy of government. Scarcely did society present two characters which, in his opinion, less resembled each other than a patriot and a demagogue.

"No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of public action whose integrity was more incorruptible, or whose principles were more perfectly free from the contamination of those selfish and unworthy passions which find their nourishment in the conflicts of party. Having no views which required concealment, his real and avowed motives were the same; and his whole correspondence does not furnish a single case from which even an enemy would infer that he was capable, under any circumstances, of stooping to the employ

ment of duplicity. No truth can be uttered with more confidence than that his ends were always upright, and his means always pure. He exhibits the rare example of a politician to whom wiles were absolutely unknown, and whose professions to foreign governments and to his own countrymen were always sincere. In him was fully exemplified the real distinction which forever exists between wisdom and cunning, and the importance as well as truth of the maxim that 'honesty is the best policy.'

"If Washington possessed ambition, that passion was, in his bosom, so regulated by principles, or controlled by circumstances, that it was neither vicious nor turbulent. Intrigue was never employed as the means of its gratification, nor was personal aggrandizement its object. The various high and important stations to which he was called by the public voice were unsought by himself; and in consenting to fill them, he seems rather to have yielded to a general conviction that the interests of his country would be thereby promoted, than to his particular inclination. Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate opposition and malignant calumnies which he experienced, had any visible influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in the texture of his mind. In him, that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would have offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon others his claims to superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that respect which is due to station. Without exertion, he could maintain the happy medium between that arrogance which wounds and that facility which allows the office to be degraded in the person who fills it.

"It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred in the United States under the auspices of Washington, without ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the prosperous issue of a war, against the successful termination of which there were so many probabilities; of the good which was produced, and the ill which was avoided during an administration fated to contend with the strongest prejudices that a combination of circumstances and of passions could produce; of the constant favor of the great mass of his fellow citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last moment of his life, they reposed in him;-the answer, so far as these causes may be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well meriting the attention of those who

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are candidates for political fame. dowed by nature with a sound judgment and an accurate discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made him perfectly master of those subjects, in all their relations, on which he was to decide; and this essential quality was guided by an unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment only of those means that would bear the most rigid examination, by a fairness of intention which neither sought nor required disguise, and by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted, but unsuspected."

A great man is fortunate if he lives under poets' eyes. The poets after all are the popular and influential historians. How many men take their English history chiefly from Shakespeare -and their Julius Cæsar too! They might take it from a much worse place. It is dangerous to go behind Shakespeare on the vital point. Cromwell is forever safe against the critics, with Milton's sonnet and Marvell's odes in the library. A little volume has just been published containing the noteworthy poems on Lincoln. Lincoln was fortunate indeed in living in the golden age of our poetry; and almost all of the great poets-Emerson, Lowell, Bryant, Whitman, Holmes-wrote some great word of him. Washington's age was not an age of poetry in America. The poetical tributes to him are chiefly later tributes. But it is a brilliant collection; and we wish that, in this centennial year, a Washington volume might be placed beside the Lincoln one. Most noteworthy it is that the same hand which wrote the greatest poetic tribute to Lincoln gave us also the greatest poetic tribute to Washington. What better last words here than these few from the many noble lines in Lowell's "Under the Old Elm":

What figure more immovably august Than that grave strength so patient and so pure,

Calm in good fortune, when it wavered,

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The longer on this earth we live
And weigh the various qualities of men,
Seeing how most are fugitive,

Or fitful gifts, at best, of now and then, Wind-wavered corpse-lights, daughters of the fen,

The more we feel the high stern-featured beauty

Of plain devotedness to duty,
Steadfast and still, nor paid with mortal
praise,

But finding amplest recompense
For life's ungarlanded expense

In work done squarely and unwasted days.

For this we honor him, that he could know

How sweet the service and how free
Of her, God's eldest daughter here below,
And choose in meanest raiment which
was she.

Placid completeness, life without a fall From faith or highest aims, truth's breachless wall, Surely if any fame can bear the touch, His will say, 'Here!' at the last trumpet's call,

The unexpressive man whose life expressed so much."