English Synonymes Classified and Explained. By G. F. Graham. Edited by Henry Reed, LL. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1 vol. 12mo.
To the student of verbal distinctions this volume will be an important aid. The author points out the shades of distinction between apparently synonymous words with an admirable nicety of criticism. The study of the book will tend to sharpen the intellect. It is very much better than the chatty work of Mrs. Piozzi, and the heavy quarto of Dr. Crabbe, on the same subject. We note some occasional blunders, such as the distinction drawn between genius and talent, and understanding and intellect; but these are but exceptions to the general rule of correctness. Prof. Reed has furnished on introduction, and apt illustrative quotations from Shakspeare, Milton, and Wordsworth.
History of the Netherlands; Trial and Execution of Count Egmont and Thorn; and the Siege of Antwerp. Translated from the German of Frederic Schiller. By the Rev. A. J. W. Morrison. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1 Vol. 12mo.
This volume is a fit companion to the “History of the Thirty Years War,” issued by the same publishers. Both works are admirable, and place Schiller in a prominent rank among philosophical historians; but of the two, we prefer the present. The subject is a noble one, and gives full exercise to Schiller’s large intellect, and heroic and humane spirit. The plan of the history is especially excellent, and we have only to regret that it was never completed.
Hudibras. By Samuel Butler. With Notes and a Literary Memoir, by the Rev. Treadway Russell Nash, D.D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1 Vol. 12mo.
The publishers have issued this masterpiece of wit in a form similar to their editions of Dante, Tasso, and Campbell. The edition is enriched with curious and copious notes, illustrative of Butler’s time, and contains a well written biography. It is the only good edition of Hudibras ever published in the United States, and we hope that thousands who have never enjoyed its perusal, will be enabled to do it now. The original work contained so many allusions to the author’s recondite knowledge, and to the factions and fanaticisms of his day, that it cannot be read understandingly without some such commentary as Dr. Nash has supplied. Butler is the wittiest of the English poets.