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speculation. La Saisiaz is a notable instance. Bancroft's History of the Pacific States.1 When the reader travels through its elevated thought, and sees how much is thrown out in undue relief or

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And patience nowadays for thoughts in rhyme?" But his sin of sins is his obscureness. Much more can be said on both sides of this than shall be written here. But doubtless he is as provoking to the general reader in one way as he is to the rare reader in another. It is not, however, as is often charged, because he is esoteric in his phrase. We find no double or cryptic meanings there. We do find what causes the mistake. The thought is not in flow: it is a collection of dislocations. The opposites are thrown together without being intershaded into apposites. There is a jerkiness in the style, like the steps of one who leaves the highway and walks over lumpy ground. But the ground may be natural, for all that. A closer study of Browning compels one to dismiss. all suspicion that his abrupt and discreet interjection of thoughtprocesses is affected. This poet-a maker-is not so poor as that. Then comes the suggestion of the possibility that this is Browning's native movement of mind, which he has not chosen to make artistic. Or rather, that he prefers to write down what comes, and as it comes, in the natural order of creative thought. Let one so experiment upon himself without staying the pen to connect and weld smoothly his mental sequences, and he will find himself another and poorer Browning. Only it will not be obscure to him, simply because every step or leap of thought, seemingly independent, is really not so to him whose mind is conscious of the connections, unformulated into words and invisible to others. To them he must be obscure: to himself he is a point of irradiation. Possibly Browning hints at this in the closing lines of a Dramatic Idyl:

"I have-O, not sung! but lilted (as-between us-Grows my lazy custom) this, its legend. What the lilt?"

So we seem to have, as to order, the moral movements of his mind. Doubtless he fines his words and polishes his phrases in after-elaboration; but he seems to refuse, as if it would be unnatural, to reform and connect the outcoming of his thought. He may well do this, if he cares only to pursue himself, or present their brother to his kindred; but he may not so well do it for those who cannot follow his leaps and would rather walk on smoothed ground. He is not unnatural, if he only prefers not to modify his natural motion in creating. He is not impossible, when he only declines to mark the connection between what are to him possibilities. This may be, though we do not think it is, the highest wave-reach in nature. Certainly it is not the highest result in art.

This is the first of a series of volumes in which it is proposed to treat of the settlements and later vicissitudes of the Europeans and their descendants on the Pacific coast of North America. It is, moreover, the first contribution that has been made under the name of Mr. Bancroft to American history, as distinguished from American archæology. The history of this western region begins properly with the advent of the Europeans, since it was then brought under the influence of the progressive nations of the world, with which alone history, in its narrower sense, concerns itself.

The writing of history is a work so eminently judicial in its character, that a knowledge of the data involved is only one of the essentials of a trustworthy decision. In the preface of the work under review it is said, "We hear much of the philosophy of history, of the science and signification of history; but there is only one way to write anything, which is, to tell the truth, plainly and concisely." Nobody disputes this proposition, but the old question of debate still remains. By what means may the truth be reached and clearly communicated? The facts may all be told, and yet the truth we seek not appear. The statement that the writer "should lay aside for the time his own religion and patriotism," in order "to recognize the influence and weigh the value of the religion and patriotism of others," can hardly be regarded a wise suggestion as to the attitude to be assumed by the historian: for it would seem to be self-evident that the historian should retain whatever sentiments are essential to a complete and well-balanced mind; and it is scarcely possible for a writer to lay aside so fundamental a part of his mental being as his religion and patriotism without disturbing the balance of his judgments. Judgments rendered from newly assumed positions, even though it is claimed the position is neutral, are notoriously unjust. The rejected party or doctrine is likely to be dealt with unfairly from the new point of view. Something of this bias manifests itself in the general introduction included in the present volume, in which the familiar story of Spanish fanaticism and cruelty is retold. It is impossible not to feel, with the writer, in this case, a burning indignation at the outrages per petrated by the Spanish invaders; but at the same time, the sober historian should not forget that the barbarities of the Spaniards were the temporarily distorted manifestations of the two forces that have been most powerful in making our civilization: the desire of pecuniary gain, and the desire of spreading Christianity. He should also remember that through the influence of the Spaniards the aboriginal inhabitants were set free from the dominion of ideas and practices—such, for example, as human sacrifices, with their attendant horrors, under

1 History of the Pacific States of North America. Vol. I. By Hubert Howe Bancroft. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Co. 1882.

which an advance to a higher grade of social life was impossible.

The writer's conception of government is of great consequence, and must form an important factor in determining his views of "the institutionary develop ment" of the States under consideration. Conceiving of government as "the eternal curse” (p. 338), his point of view is not the most favorable for seeing in its true light the growth of institutions, and for interweaving the history of that growth with the general progress of events. On this point, thoughtful men seem disposed to accept the views of Aristotle, that "man is by nature a political being," and that government is the outgrowth of his nature and the necessary condition of his existence; rather than the view of Nordhoff, that "governments may be said to be necessary evils, their necessity arising out of the selfishness and stupidity of mankind."

Besides the "glance at European society, particularly Spanish civilization at about the close of the fifteenth century," and a description of the early Spanish voyages, together with their bibliography, the present volume covers the events of discovery and colonization in Central America between the years 1501 and 1530. Of the account given of these expeditions and settlements, it will be time to speak when the narrative shall have been extended in later volumes. A word, however, regarding the style may be ventured on the basis of the volume before us. Turning from a careful reading of Bancroft's "History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States," one is not in a frame of mind to speak favorably of the literary execution of the "History of the Pacific States." The former work has been pruned by a scholar, until every word has its place, and the whole is strong in its simplicity; the latter is not without passages of genuine excellence, but much of it is crude and verbose.

Yet in spite of certain imperfections of the present volume, an equally successful execution of the whole scheme will entitle Mr. Bancroft to the distinction of a public benefactor. Though his work may not be the last word on the subject, it will be a stimulus and guide to future scholars, especially if the sources from which it is drawn shall have become the valuable possession of one of our great public institutions.

The Early Days of Christianity.1 Give a first-rate author twelve years in which to make a book, and the result will inevitably be a good one. This good book of Farrar's is really the third of a series on the New Testament. In 1870 the author began to arrange for publication the result of those critical studies of the New Testa

ment, which he had pursued in fulfillment of his ordination vow-"to show diligence in such studies as help to the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures."

1 The Early Days of Christianity. By Canon Farrar. New York: Cassel, Petter, Galpin & Co. For sale by Bancroft. Price, $2.

The first of the series, "The Life of Christ" (1874), was intended mainly as a commentary on the Gospels. The second, "The Life of St. Paul" (1879), deals with the purpose, peculiarities, and details of the Pauline epistles. The third, the present volume (1882), is, says the author, "an attempt to set forth, in their distinctive characteristics, the work and the writings of St. Peter, St. James, St. Jude, St. John, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. If my effort has been in any degree successful, the reader should carry away from these pages some conceptions of the varieties of religious thought which prevailed in the schools of Jerusalem and of Alexandria, and also of those phases of theology which are represented by the writings of the two greatest of the twelve Apostles." The work is divided into five books. The various books treat of the following subjects: The Conditions of the World before the Christian Era; St. Peter and the Church Catholic; Apollos, Alexandrian Christianity, and the Epistle of the Hebrews; Judaic Christianity; and the Earlier Life and Works of St. John, including the Apocalypse. The plan of the author is to paint against the black background of pagan corruption the illuminated figures of the Apostles and early Christians. The first book is all gloom, but the line of light begins at the first sentence of the second book-"When we turn from the annals of the world at this epoch (first century) to the annals of the church, we pass at once from an atmosphere heavy with misery and corruption into pure and pellucid air." He then goes on to paint the portraits of the men, and to detail the peculiarities of religious thought and life, in that foreground of pure and pellucid air. The whole is a picture worthy the close study of every man who seeks to know more of that part of religious history and of the word of God here treated.

How to Succeed.2

Young men do not often fail in life from the lack they stop to consider the matter seriously, what they of good advice, nor because they do not know, when

must do to attain success; and yet such a book as the one under consideration may not be entirely useless. It may come into the hands of some usually thoughtless youth, and make him think; it may warn some usually thoughtful youth of some unnoticed pitfall. Considering this, we are content to pronounce no severer judgment on this collection of letters-written by men of more or less eminence in their several vocations, written evidently as the result of earnest solicitation on the part of the editor, and therefore 2 How to Succeed: In public life, as a minister, as a in mercantile life, as a farmer, as an inventor, and in literature: A series of essays by Senators Bayard and Edmunds, Dr. John Hall, William Hamilton Gibson, Thomas Edison, E. P. Roe, Lyman Abbott, and others. Edited by the Rev. Lyman Abbott. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1882. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

physician, as a musician, as an engineer, as an artist;

without spontaneity, and without enthusiasm-than is contained in the following excerpt from Senator Bayard's letter, when called upon to testify whether a man can succeed in American political life and still maintain a good character (O tempora, O mores): "My delay has been caused not merely by abundant and pressing duties, but from a distrust in the efficacy and value of such didactic essays in relation to a subject so difficult of definition, and in which action and example must speak so much louder than words, and in relation to which it is so much more easy to lay down doctrines than to adjust their application to the affairs of daily life."

Recent Books of Verse.

Starflowers is a collection of very fair second-rate verses: second-rate in every respect, literary, social, and intellectual. They are pleasant exponents of that gentle middle-class life that is, after all, a good element in society; full of honest sentimentality, family affection, intimate friendships, religious devotion-all on the same middie-class plane. In this little collection there is, in addition, genuine feeling for nature, visible through the somewhat opaque medium of second-rate verse; Bible stories pleasantly told with something of the ballad spirit; there are many poems of compliment, congratulation, and condolence, written to personal friends on the occasion of birthday, loss of children, and the like; and there is a good deal touching upon the commoner phases of spiritual religious experi

ence.

The critic need have no quarrel with such books as this, any more than with the chromos, destitute of art, and full of simple, humane sentimentality that make happy the Philistine heart.Songs of Lake Geneva, and Other Poems, by John Brayshaw Kaye, has about it a certain frank, whole-souled unpretentiousness that makes the critic good natured toward even two hundred pages of very mediocre verse, not free from weaknesses of versification and grammar. There are spirit and feeling in the verses, and one feels sure that the author took a great deal of pleasure in writing them; the thoroughly uncritical will take pleasure in reading them.-Of much higher quality is a smaller volume, The Hill of Stones, which contains graceful and intelligent verse; some of the poems have a good deal of lyric spirit, and suggest good ballad writing; others, especially the brief ones, are picturesquely descriptive; but there is nothing in the whole collection that touches the higher regions of poetry, and nothing of much originality.- -Better yet is Monte Rosa, which is readable, in spite of 1 Starflowers. By Urania Locke Bailey. New York: G. P. Putman's Sons. 1882.

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2 Songs of Lake Geneva, and Other Poems. By John Brayshaw Kaye. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1882. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

3 The Hill of Stones, and Other Poems. By S. Weir Mitchell, M. D. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. -1883. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

being a hundred and fifty pages of almost purely descriptive and reflective blank verse-and that is saying a good deal for its excellence of workmanship. The whole "epic" (unaccountably so-called) is devoted to the region about Monte Rosa. The only narration in it is an account of the ascent and descent of the peak. The verse is thoughtful and well handled, and has passages of so much poetic beauty as to suggest that by ruthless condensation and elision the rather long-drawn and dilute poem might have been made something really important. The section devoted to "The Glacier" is quite the best of the ten.

Some Recent Novels.

A Transplanted Roses is the story of a young

-Mr.

woman of the West who enters the most exclusive New York society, eating with her knife, and the like; and who emerges in a few years as a finished model of grace, and the bride of an English nobleman. The plot includes a murder, an abduction, an elopement, and more of the same sort. The book, however, is not as bad as one would expect, and manages to be somewhat entertaining.Morrow's new novel, Blood-Money, deals with the Mussel Slough affair, and is a very bitter indictment of the railroad company. Regarded as a novel with a purpose, it overshoots its mark, by making out a case too bad to win credence; from a literary point of view, it is not equal to the author's average.Harlan & Co.'s Kaaterskill Series, which opened so well with a "A Fair Philosopher," now goes on with The Modern Hagar, a curious, two-volume medley of sensational incident, and of really interesting study of southern points of view and political history before the war. With much sharp defining of persons by superficial traits, there is no study of character; and in this, as well as in the moral tone of a Sabbath-school book, joined to the wild romance in incident of a dime-novel, is illustrated the old-fashioned quality of the southern mind and literary taste, even when much northernized.The Benefit of the Doubt, is a pointless novelette, pleasantly enough written, but for the silly vulgarity of the young woman whom the author poses as a charming specimen of the unconventional, piquant belle.

4 Monte Rosa. The Epic of an Alp. By Starr H. Nichols. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1883. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

5 A Transplanted Rose. A Story of New York Society. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1882. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

6 Blood-Money. By W. C. Morrow. San Francis-. 1882. co: F. J. Walker & Co.

7 The Modern Hagar. By Charles M. Clay. New York: George W. Harlan & Co. 1882. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

8 The Benefit of the Doubt. By Mary Clare SpenNew York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1883. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

ser.

Juveniles.

Mrs. Lillie, the clever author of "Prudence," appears now in a little collection of three or four stories for girls1 — pleasant and easy reading, but about as devoid of originality as stories well could be.Four ornate books 2 that, while certainly not among the best, do not count among the worst of the holiday juveniles, are Po-peep, Papa's Little Daughters, Fred Bradford's Debt, and Little Folks. The four are from the same publisher, and many of the pictures are made to do varied service in all four.The Building of the Nation follows upon Carleton's "Boys of '76," and brings the history of the United States down to the Civil War. It is profusely illustrated, and pleasant reading for an intelligent boy or girl. The nominal intention of the book is to expound the constitutional, social, and industrial growth of the nation; but, in fact, the details of the wars occupy space disproportionate to the rest. As to the constitutional questions involved in his subject, Mr. Carleton is superficial, but, in the main and in a rough way, fair enough. His standpoint is intensely northern, of course. -The sixth volume of George M. Towle's "Young Folks' Heroes of History," Voyages and Adventures of Drake the Sea-King, is as entertaining a recital as any boy need want, and will probably be to Californian boys more interesting than any of the preceding volumes, on account of the visit of Drake to this coast.Mary D. Brine has both written and illustrated one of the most delightful holiday books for children that has appeared this year. From cover to cover it is filled with the charming children's fancies that have served to make her name familiar, and the rhymes are of no mean merit. It is doubtful, however, whether the children will find the black and white of the engravings as attractive as the brilliant prints of Beard's “Boots at the Holy-Tree Inn.3 Nothing need be said further in favor of this well-known story. It speaks for itself, and probably no child will dissent from this opinion.

1 Mildred's Bargain, and Other Stories. By Lucy C. Lillie. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1882. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

2 Po-peep. Papa's Little Daughters. Fred Bradford's Debt. Little Folks. London, Paris, and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

3 The Building of the Nation. By Charles Carleton Coffin. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1883. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

Voyages and Adventures of Drake, the Sea-King. By George M. Towle. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1883.

Christmas Rhymes and New-Year Chimes. By Mary D. Brine. New York: George W. Harlan & Co. 1883. San Francisco: Billings, Harbourne & Co.

Boots at the Holly-Tree Inn. By J. C. Beard. New York: Cassell, Petters & Galpin. 1883. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Co.

Miscellaneous.

Everything in Dr. Williams's Eras and Characters of History" is polished, compact, and vigorous. Some of the passages-where Paul and Nero are contrasted; where the Emperor Titus and the Apostle John are compared; where the deeds and characters of Knox, Calvin, and Luther are described-are heroic and magnificent. The work is keen in analysis of character and searching in diction; it is the clean philosophy of history, tracing the causes and results of events and character. The subjects of the twelve chapters are as follows: Nero and Paul; The Emperor Titus and the Apostle John; Monasticism; Augustine and Chrysostom; Buddhism; Wyckliffe, Savonarola, and Huss; Mahometanism; The Crusades; Luther and his Times; John Calvin; John Knox; The Puritan and the Mystic. -No. V. of G. P. Putnam's "Science Ladders" series is Lowest Forms of Water-Animals.8 With judicious teaching, the series can be made of much use in the lower grammar schools. - The American Government Founded in the Christian Religion is a treatise based on an address delivered by Chief Justice Shea of the Marine Court of the city of New York, on the occasion of his appointment as trustee of the general Theological Seminary of New York in place of the deceased Samuel B. Ruggles. As the title indicates, its object is to show that the plan of our government is based on Christianity.-The Problem of the Poor 10 would call for more than passing notice, both because of the tremendous importance of the subject and the general good sense of the author's positions, were not the whole problem in so different a condition on this coast that it receives little light from New York studies.- -A new edition of the Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table 11 becomes specially interesting by the addition of a new preface and notes by the author. The illustrated poems published from year to year as holiday books by Lee & Shepard are this year issued in adorned card-covers, and sold in a set, under the name of The Golden Floral. 12 In this form they will be very much more appropriate and desirable than before to a large class of holiday demand. The eight poems are "Rock of Ages," "Nearer, my God, to Thee," "The Landing of the

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9 The Nature and Form of the American Government Founded in the Christian Religion. By the Honorable George Shea. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1882. 10 The Problem of the Poor. By Helen Campbell. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert. 1883. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

11 The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. By Oliver Wendell Holmes. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1882. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

12 The Golden Floral. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1882.

Pilgrims," "Ring Out, Wild Bells," "He giveth his Beloved Sleep," "Home, Sweet Home," "O why should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud," and "Abide with Me.". -The House that Jill Built1 is a rather successful attempt to give advice on planning and arranging a house. This is done both by pointing out failures in Jack's house, and by suggesting ideas for Jill's. On the whole, entertaining and useful to any one who wants to build, and has a

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EAST AND WEST.

A MAY sun was shining over San Francisco the December day we left, and the city was looking lovely in the spring-like light. How is it that no one has yet done full justice to the beauty of San Francisco scenery, or the suave charm of the California winter? Lay aside your ideas of the seasons, eastern reader: imagine December's front with the blandness of on-coming spring, the foot-hills and Coast Range taking on the tenderest green, the north-west trade-winds that cooled the summer laid to rest, and the balmiest sunshine bringing out the tall heliotropes and Marshal Neil roses; while blue hyacinth shadows hover in the clefts of the hills with the delicacy of early spring-time. It is pleasant to sit on the south piazza all day till the sun goes in; the plumbago vine and jasmine which hang in masses over garden walls and trellis are breaking into fresh bloom; the laburnum is golden, the Forsythia hangs out its fringes, the acacias their great canary-colored tassels; the huge magnolia tree in the garden, one of the finest in San Francisco, has a score of swelling buds to open by Christmas, and for farewell token friends bring the first huge blossom, cut from the top of the tree-a flower which is a very lamp for its whiteness, a vase of odor filling the whole car with its myrrh-like sweetness. From the old Luning garden, the millionaire's home, clinging to the slope of Nob Hill, under the lee of the Stanford mansion and terraces, one takes a last look at the scene which the season has made dear; the broad, light streets falling away from the heights of California Street, filling the broad Mission Valley, where the blue haze softens the view exquisitely, and losing themselves up the steep flanks of the Coast Hills beyond. The bay runs southward miles like a huge river, guarded on the other side by tawny sierras with intense violet shadows. North, Mount Tamalpais and his peers-bald, rugged, imperious-watch the strait between the forts, where the golden mists roll in at

1 The House that Jill Built, after Jack's had Proved a Failure. A Book on Home Architecture, with illustrations. By E. C. Gardner. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulburt. For sale by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

evening, shapeless, gleaming, gorgeous as when they hid the bay from the eyes of Drake and Vizcaino, sailing in search of harbor nearly three hundred years ago. How will it seem to lift one's eyes without meeting a sierra, a grand water-way, or sun-swept valley at every turn, I have wondered to myself over and over this year, during which such large, bright pictures have been framed continually before me. To the last, one cannot be rid of a sense of alien beauty and brilliance about the city. The light streets, and pale square-topped houses swarming over steep hills in a desert setting, have a southern, semi-tropic air; and the public buildings in view are striking in their copy of foreign models. The synagogue, with its twin bulb-shaped towers, is purely oriental, as if it rose from the soil of Ispahan; the city hall, with its rotundas, colonnades, and triple porches, has a size and dignity which renders red brick and pale brown-stone classic. Still unfinished, with its arcades in perspective, and the debris of building about it, by moonlight it makes a very pretty Roman ruin, worth a visit from sight-seeing tourists. The long, blank walls of St. Ignatius, probably the most extensive church in the country, are continental and conventual as a Spanish cloister. San Francisco has been fortunate in her public buildings, which are at least imposing in size and consistent in style-a fact, doubtless, largely due the taste of her foreign citizens: observing the Californian distinction which classes population as "old settlers, people from the States, foreigners, and Irish." A friend who has lived long abroad never wearies of comparing the views of San Francisco with those of Naples, as one looks over the lower city and shipping into the bay, with its clinging blue gauzes of haze, and crests of volcanic redbrown, "hills soft and far, just to look off to and to dream."

"My favorite amusement all season has been," writes a summer sojourner in the city, "riding on

2 Letters of L. Maria Child. With a biographical introduction by John G. Whittier, and an appendix by Wendell Phillips. Honghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 1883. For sale by Billings, Harbourne & Co.

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