This little book, both on account of the spiritual benefit to be derived from it, and the interesting glimpses of primitive church history contained in it, is well worth reading. The author, an eloquent divine of Newbern, N. C., has divided his subject into two parts—Popular Amusements and Primitive Christians, and Lawful Christian Amusements. He shows the effect of amusements on the spiritual life of the Christian in a very clear and easy style made attractive by examples from authentic history. The type is large and leaded and the volume, taken as a whole, is creditable to the printer as well as to the author.
Those interested in the history of our State will be glad to know that a valuable book, giving the history of the counties of North Carolina, by Hon. Kemp. P. Battle, LL. D., together with an introduction and date of the erection of those counties, etc., by Prof. W. A. Blair, is now in press. The work is the result of long labor among our official records, and the names of its editors are sufficient guarantee of its reliability. This is more valuable material for the man who is to write a history of North Carolina which shall endure as a literary monument. William A. Blair, Winston, N. C., is the publisher.
With a clear idea as to what is best in literature and art, the February number of Harper’s Magazine issues, in most excellent form, quite a number of articles which are both interesting and instructive to every one of literary taste.
Exchanges.
| W. A. BARRETT, Columbian, | Editors. |
| A. M. SHARP, Hesperian, |
The Davidson Monthly takes The Archive to task for a failure in the use of “respectable” grammar, and refers to Reed and Kellogg, page 147, where it says information may be obtained, and where is found the following: “Caution.—Unless you wish to affirm, do not use two negative words so that they shall contradict each other;” also “Caution.—Do not use adverbs for adjectives or adjectives for adverbs.” The first caution refers to use of negatives, therefore the critic cannot mean this one. Does he mean the second caution? Does he mean that ‘most’ is an adverb where an adjective(?) should be used, or that ‘most’ is an adjective(?), and that an adverb is here needed? Perhaps the critic meant that it is a case of improper comparison, such as ‘roundest,’ ‘straightest,’ etc., which the old grammars vehemently denounced, though the best writers use them. It was perhaps a little irregular to consider ‘too patent’ as an adjectival term of degrees, and we thank our courteous critic for his suggestion of ‘almost’ for ‘most.’ Still such terms as this are in common use, and we confess a desire to conform to the many.
The Charlotte Chronicle of Jan. 27th, contains a very earnest appeal for the endowment of Trinity. The editor says: “We confess we are impatient about the matter.” Also there occurs, in a February number of the same, a complimentary notice of the college and its work. The Chronicle is a broad-gauge paper whose zeal, not only in the interest of Trinity College, but in all educational interests, is worthy of the object.