The late Mr. Walter Bagehot left behind him some materials for a book which promised to make a landmark in the history of economics, by separating the use of the older, or Ricardian, economic reasonings from their abuse, and freeing them from the discredit into which they had fallen through being often misapplied. Unfortunately he did not complete more than the examination of two of their postulates, namely, the transferability of capital and labor. These were originally published in the Fortnightly Review, in 1876, and are now republished, with some other materials for the author's proposed work, under the title of The Postulates of English Political Economy.[10] These essays, which emanated from a well-trained, scientific mind, an independent thinker, and one who was perfectly free in his criticisms, deal almost exclusively with one side of what the author wished and intended to say; but as they stand, they prove that had he lived he would have shed much light on the problem, how the rapid changes of modern city life may help us to understand, by analogy and indirect inference, the slow changes of a backward people.
The pathos and humor which have immortalized many of Will Carleton's earlier poems enter again into his City Ballads.[11] If ever a poet comprehended the human heart and the mainspring of its responses, it is he who gave us that wonderfully-common-place (by reason only of its theme) but delightful versification, "Betsey and I are out." His new collection embraces several pieces almost as striking in their character; and their wholesomeness and truthfulness of sentiment will win for them many readers. None of these poems are fanciful pictures of life which does not exist; but they are, on the contrary, faithful to the actualities of the living present. They portray metropolitan life as in a mirror, and depict the mishaps of the inexperienced therein in a way that is at once healthful and conducive to practical morality. Every poem is a story, which carries within itself a lesson not easily forgotten, and as a poem is almost invariably characterized by a pleasant rhythm and animation. The illustrations—and they are numerous—are excellent; indeed, one would not wish them to be better. These poems and pictures will find entrance into many homes ere the holiday season is ended.
One of the most astonishing successes, in a literary line, of recent years is Col. Higginson's "Young Folks' History of the United States." Published originally as a book for general readers, its superlative merits commended themselves to teachers, then led to the introduction of the work, as a text-book of history, into very many schools. No other work of the kind, we believe, has met with such signal favor or so richly deserves it. So far as it goes, it is by all odds the ne plus ultra for school use.
The same author has recently published what he terms A Larger History of the United States,[12] which, however, ends only with the close of President Jackson's administration. So far we fail to discover any raison d'etre of the volume, unless its purpose is distinctly to bring together in a re-arranged form the series of illustrated papers on American history contributed by Mr. Higginson to Harper's Magazine during the past two years. If such is the author's purpose, then we have no fault to find with the work. But the term "Larger History" is, in this case, a misnomer. The book does not contain as much matter as the earlier work to which we have alluded, and it is not, so far as we can make out, written for older readers. It does not strike one as being a history at all,—that is, a straightforward, logical, and continuous narrative coinciding with those exemplar types of historical writing bequeathed to us by Macaulay or by Motley. The book ends, as we have said, with the close of Jackson's administration; but we glean very little concerning the administration and we are told much relative to "Old Hickory."
Now, then, this may seem like finding fault with Mr. Higginson's book. If so, we have plainly asserted our reasons. But with his subject matter, and with his manner of treating it, everybody must be pleased. We have never read more charmful essays on the First Americans, the Visit of the Vikings, the Spanish Discoverers, the French Voyageurs, the Dawning of Independence, and the Great Western March, than appear between the covers of this beautiful volume. They are full of meat, and have the savor of fresh and studious investigation, and we feel grateful to their author for having provided so tempting a feast. What he says and the way he says it make us the more to regret the unfortunate title of his book.
The illustrations, which are numerous, are veritable works of art, and we do not believe that any other American book can exhibit a finer or more valuable series of portraits of American statesmen. This feature alone should commend it to lovers of fine books, of which the present issue is decidedly one. We are not informed whether a second volume is forthcoming.
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Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. A Romance. By Lord Byron. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Price, in cloth, $6.00.