The authoress of this volume, a lady of Irish descent, seems to have been so deeply impressed with the sufferings of the unfortunate children of the Emerald Isle, that she determined to visit and minister to them in person. She appears to have effected this purpose with very inadequate means, often afoot, and under privations which most of the sterner sex would have shrunk from. Her opportunities for learning the true condition of the lower classes were ample, and seem to have been improved with intelligence and judgment. Her descriptions are life-like and animated; and the book is to those for whom the subject has interest a pleasant and instructive one.
The Celebrated Treatise of Joach. Fortius Ringelbergius de Ratione Studii: Translated from the Edition of Van Erpe. By G. P. Earp. With Preface and Appendix, by W. H. Odenheimer, A. M., Rector of St. Peter’s, Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart.
This treatise is a most valuable one, and the translation strikes us as deserving praise. The Rev. Mr. Odenheimer has greatly added to the excellence of the book by his preface and appendix.
Essay on the Fairy Queen. By J. S. Hart, Professor of the Philadelphia High School.
Every reader knows that Spenser’s “Fairy Queen,” although marked by striking and exquisite passages, is not calculated to be a popular work, in consequence of the faults of the narrative. Professor Hart has, in the essay before us, with the mind of a poet and the skill of an artist, removed the objection alluded to, and presented the narrative in an attractive style, introducing into his remarks many of the most beautiful passages. The obvious result of his labors will be to bring the remarkable and brilliant parts of this poem familiarly before the public, and make many persons acquainted with Spenser who would never have undertaken the task of laboring, like miners, through a mass of rubbish to arrive at the pure ore. The publishers are Wiley & Putnam, of New York, and they have issued it to the world in a manner worthy of the excellence of the work itself.
The Boy’s Treasury of Sports, Pastimes and Recreations.
A most delightful book for the instruction and amusement of the young, has just been issued under the above title, by Messrs. Lea & Blanchard of this city, from the London edition. It is indeed a treasury of knowledge for juveniles, comprehending chapters on various kinds of sports of the field, green and play-ground, on archery, angling, the care and keeping of animals and birds, authentic chemical experiments, &c., &c. There are nearly four hundred engravings interspersed throughout the volume, explanatory of the different subjects treated upon, and well calculated to illustrate the text. On the whole, we regard the “Treasury” as eminently calculated to be both useful and popular, and think the publishers entitled to praise for presenting to our youth so rational a means of amusement and instruction.