462 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN", IN 1880. 



bors of several of the most eminent European 

 archaeologists. " The Origin of the Homeric 

 Poems " (New York, Harpers) is a translation 

 by Professor Lewis J. Packard of a remarkable 

 lecture by Dr. H. Bonitz, which is much read 

 in Germany, summing up the great controversy 

 and the investigations concerning the author- 

 ship of Homer which have been going on for 

 nearly a century. Professor Herbermann's 

 " Business Life in Ancient Rome " (New York, 

 Harpers) is a fine monograph on antique com- 

 merce and industrial methods. " Caliph Haroun 

 Alraschid and Saracen Civilization," by E. H. 

 Palmer (New York, Putnams), is the authentic 

 history of the famous Saracen monarch by E. 

 H. Palmer, the Orientalist. 



Professor Henry M. Baird has written a good 

 historical monograph, evincing earnest labor 

 in a congenial field of research, on the " Rise 

 of the Huguenots in France" (New York, 

 Scribners). Henry P. Johnston's " Observa- 

 tions on Judge Jones's Loyalist History of the 

 American Revolution " (New York, Apple- 

 tons) is intended to refute the misstatements 

 of the spirited and witty but slanderous and 

 vituperative diary, first published in 1879, lest 

 these errors should creep into other works. 

 "New England Bygones" and u Old-Time 

 Child -Life " are pleasant descriptions of Amer- 

 ican life in early times, by E. H. Arr (Phila- 

 delphia, Lippincott). 



Books upon Politics and Economy are be- 

 coming more numerous. Although American 

 writers on these subjects are not divided into 

 well-defined schools of thought as in other 

 countries, and although they do not derive the 

 assistance which they might from the enor- 

 mous new European literature on these sub- 

 jects, many desultory and occasional disquisi- 

 tions are published upon special matters which 

 have become prominent questions for specula- 

 tion and opinion. The "Miscellaneous Writ- 

 ings," by Francis Lieber, have been published 

 by Lippincott & Co. " A True Republic," by 

 Albert Stickney (New York, Harpers), arraigns 

 party government, and advocates civil-service 

 reform. New numbers of Putnams' " Econom- 

 ic Monographs " are " Free Ships," by Cap- 

 tain John Codman ; " Labor-making Machin- 

 ery," by Frederick Perry Powers. " Labor " 

 and " Socialism " are series of lectures on top- 

 ics connected with these subjects, by Joseph 

 Cook. " The Interoceanic Canal and the Mon- 

 roe Doctrine " is an anonymous vindication of 

 the exclusive policy regarding the canal. " The 

 Action of the United States Tariff," by Alfred 

 Tylor, an English thinker, suggests an unsus- 

 pected effect of protection (New York, Put- 

 nams). "Free Land and Free Trade" is a 

 plea for unrestricted commerce and a warning 

 against land monopoly, by Samuel S. Cox (New 

 York, Putnams). H. W. Richardson's short 

 account of " The National Banks " is not only 

 a correct description but an able defense of the 

 system (New York, Harpers). "The Elective 

 Franchise in the United States," by D. C. Mc- 



Millan (New York, Putnams), gives a search- 

 ing examination of the working and delects of 

 the present American elective methods, and 

 proposes as a remedy for the caucus the eleva- 

 tion of the primaries into a condition for spon- 

 taneous and authoritative action, qualifica- 

 tions for voters at primary meetings, and di- 

 rect nominations of party candidates. Henry 

 George's "Progress and Poverty," published 

 in library form by Appletons, is one of the 

 most original and profound works in political 

 economy which has appeared lately in any 

 country, and which is so recognized, being 

 translated and studied in various European 

 languages; the author has, independently and 

 without aid from their writings, taken the ad- 

 vanced position of the later school of German 

 writers on theoretical jurisprudence and na- 

 tional economy. Blanqui's famous " History 

 of Political Economy " has been translated 

 into English for the first time, by Emily J. 

 Leonard (New York, Putnams). "Certain Dan- 

 gerous Tendencies in American Life " [by Har- 

 rison] is a book containing much shrewd 

 thought, and is a strong presentation of the 

 author's peculiar views (Boston, Houghton). 

 Bolles's ' ' Financial History of the United States " 

 (New York, Appletons) is a learned and valu- 

 able work. The "Political and Legal Reme- 

 dies for War," by Sheldon Amos (New York, 

 Harpers), gives a thoughtful examination of 

 the subject. Atkinson's "Railroads of the 

 United States " ably discusses the political 

 aspects of transportation. Mrs. Julia Ward 

 Howe's " Modern Society " (Boston, Roberts) 

 gives the reflections of a bold and acute female 

 thinker on social subjects. "Homicide North 

 and South " is an interesting statistical study 

 of the relative frequency of personal violence 

 in the different sections of the Union, by H. V. 

 Redfield (Philadelphia, Lippincott). Dr. E. C. 

 Wines, the energetic laborer for prison reform, 

 has published a volume entitled "The State of 

 Prisons and of Child-saving Institutions in the 

 Civilized World," a description of the penal and 

 reformatory institutions and methods of every 

 country, comprising even those of Oriental na- 

 tions. " The State and the Liquor Traffic " is 

 a paper by the Secretary of the Board of Health 

 of New Jersey, Ezra M. Hunt, intended to show 

 that the the license system was originally 

 adopted for restrictive, and not for revenue 

 purposes (New York). " A Century of Dishon- 

 or " (New York, Harpers) contains a disclosure 

 of the injustice to the Indians resulting from 

 the policy and practice of the United States 

 Government in its relations with the tribes [by 

 Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson]. The Indian ques- 

 tion is discussed more fully, and more calmly 

 and objectively, in " Our Indian Wards," by 

 George W. Moneypenny, ex- Commissioner of 

 Indian Affairs (Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & 

 Co.). 



A large number of excellent works of Travel 

 and geographical description have been pub- 

 lished. Nathaniel H. Bishop's "Four Months 





