The “Historical Reference Book”[E] at once takes its place among those works which cause one to wonder how he ever did without them. It comprises a chronological table of universal history, a chronological dictionary of universal history, a biographical dictionary, and geographical notes. Great care has been taken in the biographical dictionary to select all the names of those men who have a strong claim to distinction, and from the list, which is necessarily limited, those have been omitted whose renown is fleeting. For those who can not provide themselves with cyclopædias, large dictionaries, and books of reference, we know of no work better calculated to meet their needs, and those who have these other helps at hand will find this the most convenient for brief notices. It is especially adapted to the use of students.
In “Workday Christianity”[F] the names of tradesmen, as “The Carpenter,” “The Potter,” etc., have been used as the subjects of chapters, and the history of each calling is briefly given, from the earliest Bible times down to the present. They are then used as figures, and around them are draped moral lessons from which may be gathered many useful suggestions. There is, however, a gloomy outlook spread before the Christian; his life is made to seem only as “a life of work, of trial, of tears and fears, of conflicts fierce and long.” In the author’s denunciations of hypocrisy, style, cant and caste in the churches, he inconsistently pays them the high honor of allowing them to overshadow all else. He never sees the true, the beautiful and the good existing there also. Such sentences as the following have a wrong tendency and do harm: “It was not considered a disgrace in those days to ply a trade.” “How many rich young ladies would scorn to associate with the sons and daughters of our workmen.” For some strange cause there is a large class of laboring people who are always debasing themselves by supposing other people feel above them. They are constantly snubbing themselves, in the fear that somebody is going to do so. This feeling should never be fed by a religious book. The author stands on the wrong side of many questions he attempts to handle.
The most pleasing observations of nature at present being contributed to our literature are those by John Burroughs. Most writers in their descriptions of the outside world are one-sided. They see the landscape but forget the sounds. Burroughs never does this. He catches everything: the dew, the color, the sound, the accent of the country-folk, the lay of the land, the build of the plow. In his “Fresh Fields”[G] the effect is exactly what the walk through the fields would have been. A vivid, fresh, constantly changing panorama is spread before you. The style suits the shifting scenes. It is not “fine writing,” but it is clear, plain and appropriate; like the corduroy trousers, short coat, and top boots which form the outfit for tramps like those of Mr. Burroughs, it is not elegant, but exactly “the thing.” While the observations of flower and bird and sky are so exact and pleasing, there is much “humanization of nature.” He is not so enamored with the fields that he can not take a genuine interest in men. The most delicious story we have read for a long time is his “Hunt for the Nightingale.” No knight in fiction ever followed his lady-love more eagerly than does this ardent wooer his Philomel, and it has been a long time since we have been more eager to have a story turn out well.
In “Letters to Guy”[H] boys will find an interesting book. These letters are written from Australia, by a mother to her son left at home in England. They tell of the voyages from one place to another, of the places visited, of the people, and of the natural history of the country. They are written in a bright, racy style, and are so homelike that any boy could easily forget they were penned by a titled lady, and imagine they might be his own mother’s letters to himself.
In “How to Get On in the World”[I] will be found a full account of the life and literary works of William Cobbett. In his preface the author says: “It is thought that an account of the life and writings of one of England’s most powerful writers and most remarkable characters, with some of the best productions of his pen, can not fail to be useful.” And a very useful and entertaining book he has succeeded in giving to the public. The making it serve the double purpose of biography and autobiography affords, as is always the case, a pleasing variety. His early history, his experience in the British army, in the United States, and as an editor, his trial and imprisonment for the libels he placed on government and individuals, and all of the leading events in the stirring life of this great political writer are clearly set forth. There is also a full account of his works, which are very numerous. Better than any theoretical treatise on this subject is the history of this self-made man, conquering difficulties and winning successes along the lines in which he sought it.
A story of the times of Wyckliffe is given under the title “Dearer than Life.”[J] One of the best means of doing good now in use is that of teaching the young people useful lessons in the form of these attractive historical novels. In this one, the fortunes of a family who were for a long time divided in their opinions concerning the doctrines of the great reformer are narrated, and are so closely interwoven with the real history of the times that there can be no skipping of the facts for the sake of the fancy.
Of the recent text-books published for use in schools, on physiology and hygiene, none deserves higher commendation than “Our Bodies, and How we Live.”[K] The lessons are all so arranged and expressed as to awaken and hold the attention of the scholar, and can not fail, especially in the hands of a skillful teacher, to make this important study an exceedingly interesting one. The effects of strong drink on different parts of the system are carefully shown. The numerous illustrations are very clear, and so well labeled that they perfectly supplement the lessons and leave no chance for misunderstanding or mistake. The book contains a glossary and an index.
Two little books by Charles Kingsley,[L] put into the hands of children who have been taught to love good reading—and indeed the books of themselves would teach any child to do this—would prove a treasure-house to them. The prefaces alone, with their cordial, sympathetic greeting, their natural, straightforward statements, and their spirit of love and reverence, are worth the price of the books.
Any one who has had experience in arranging tableaux knows how true it is that there is a false and a true way of producing effects. Not knowing how to drape, to select colors, to arrange a group, to copy this or that, spoils many tableaux and discourages managers. We are glad to find a suggestive book on this difficult art.[M] Without any theorizing the authors teach us how to do by plunging in medias res and producing the tableaux before our eyes. The book describes twenty-four tableaux, but the variety of subjects is such that study of them furnishes a very complete drill for producing any desired effect.
A good game will occasionally fill a niche in an evening, in a way entirely its own. We believe we have found two such in Miss Alice M. Guernsey’s Shakspere Game,[N] and Elements and Compounds.[O] The games are pleasing variations of the well known game of “Authors.” The latter is particularly novel in its arrangement, and local circles who want to fix in mind the troublesome “compounds” will find it very useful.