LITERARY NOTICES. 



557 



ington down, Union and Confederate com- 

 manders of the civil war, and the chief 

 American authors and inventors. There are 

 also views of ancient buildings, reproduc- 

 tions of ancient maps, and a variety of other 

 illustrations showing objects of historic in- 

 terest. The growth of the territory of the 

 United States is shown in a number of small 

 maps. Among the materials for reference 

 appended to the volume are the Constitution 

 of the United States, classified tables of the 

 States, lists of books on the history of the 

 several States and on successive epochs, a 

 pronouncing vocabulary, and a note on the 

 calendar. The first chapter of the book is 

 an account of Indian life in America at the 

 time of the discovery. 



Biological Lecturks and Addresses. By 

 the late Arthur Milnes Marshall, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S. New York: Macmillan 

 & Co. Pp. 363. Price, $2. 



There are some scientific books that are 

 dry and technical but have attractive titles, 

 and others with technical titles that are emi- 

 nently readable : this belongs in the latter 

 class. The thirteen lectures and addresses 

 of which it is made up comprise several de- 

 livered by Prof. Marshall as President of the 

 Manchester Microscopical Society, others de- 

 livered before students' societies in Owens 

 College and other organizations. Among 

 the topics treated are the influence of en- 

 vironment on the structure and habits of 

 animals, the theory of change of function, 

 butterflies, inheritance, the shapes and sizes 

 of animals, animal pedigrees, and death. 

 Taken together they afford a general view 

 of the recent progress of science in the field 

 of biology. In all the addresses the language 

 used can be comprehended readily, and the 

 ideas presented can be grasped easily by 

 every ordinarily well-read person. 



General Lee. By Fitzhugh Lee. Great 

 Commanders Series, edited by General 

 James Grant Wilson. New York : D. 

 Appleton & Co. Pp. 433. Price, $1.50. 



Much aid in comprehending the course 

 of events in the civil war, and especially in 

 appreciating the reasons for the various 

 movements on the Confederate side, is af- 

 forded by this extended history of Robert E. 

 Lee's military career. But two chapters are 



given to the first fifty-four years of his life, 

 more than half of which was passed in en- 

 gineering and cavalry service in the army of 

 the United States. Lee resigned his com- 

 mission as lieutenant colonel April 20, 1861, 

 and Avas immediately appointed major gen- 

 eral and commander in chief of the State 

 troops of Virginia. His relative and biog- 

 rapher expresses the regret of all students 

 of American history that General Lee never 

 wrote anything concerning his career and 

 campaigns, for an account from his point 

 of view would have settled very many con- 

 flicting opinions. He intended to write, not 

 his personal memoirs, but a record of the 

 deeds of his soldiers. He waited for a 

 " convenient season," but as he lived only 

 five years after the close of the war such a 

 time never came. In this volume some of 

 his testimony upon the great events in which 

 he took such a prominent part is furnished 

 by inserting extracts from his private letters, 

 now first published. These letters, also, with 

 others of the period before the war, show 

 what manner of man he was, and nowhere 

 now will it be denied that his character was 

 one to be admired. 



Lee was in Richmond hard at work organ- 

 izing the Confederate forces when the first 

 battle of Bull Run was fought. His own first 

 campaign took place in what is now West 

 Virginia, and was not successful. He was 

 then sent south to apply his engineering skill 

 in improving the defenses of Charleston and 

 Savannah. It was on March 13, 1862, that 

 President Davis appointed him commander 

 of all the forces of the Confederacy. The 

 battles on the Chickahominy in the latter 

 part of June were fought under his orders. 

 From that time to the end of the war most 

 of the hard fighting took place between the 

 northern and the southern capitals, where 

 Lee was actively engaged. Here occurred 

 the battles of Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fred- 

 ericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and then 

 Lee made his masterly advance that was 

 checked at Gettysburg. After this he oper- 

 ated mainly on the defensive until the great 

 surrender at Appomattox. Lee's phrase in 

 his farewell to his soldiers " The Army of 

 Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield 

 to overwhelming numbers and resources " 

 was no farfetched excuse for defeat. While 

 this volume does not aim to provide data for 



