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LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1869. 



completes his "Pictorial History, 

 valuable work is the " History of the Seventh 

 Regiment National Guards, State of New 

 York, during the War of the Rebellion," by 

 William Swinton; and, if the author just 

 named will pardon the collocation, we may 

 mention Mr. Raphael Semmes's " Memoirs of 

 Service Afloat ; " the chivalrous nature of his 

 service, his warfare on unarmed vessels, is but 

 too well remembered. Here belong the rec- 

 ords of those benevolent societies by which 

 the hardships of the soldiers' lot were miti- 

 gated, such as " Incidents of the United States 

 Christian Commission," by the Rev. E. P. 

 Smith, a volume supplementary to the more 

 complete " Annals of the Christian Commis- 

 sion," by the Rev. Lemuel Moss, published in 

 1868 ; and, an " Historical Sketch of the Sol- 

 diers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio." Rec- 

 ollections of our Antislavery Conflict," by the 

 Rev. S. J. May, aids in recalling the prologue 

 to the great tragedy. Several able pens are 

 understood to be engaged on the same theme, 

 whose works may be expected to have place 

 in a future record of progress. 



Passing to Old World history and to that 

 of a higher antiquity, we notice " Prehistoric 

 Nations," by the Hon. J. D. Baldwin, a work 

 of historical speculation, to which the praise 

 of originality cannot be denied, but which 

 rather opens than concludes the questions it 

 offers to investigate ; " Ancient States and 

 Empires," by John Lord, LL. D., an outline 

 for schools and for popular reading ; " Manual 

 of General History," by John J. Anderson ; 

 " Carthage and Tunis, Past and Present," by 

 A. Perry; "The Queen of the Adriatic, or 

 Venice, Past and Present," by W. H. D. Ad- 

 ams. " The Great Empress," by M. Schele de 

 Vere, a portrait of the Empress Agrippina, 

 hovers on the boundaries between history and 

 historical fiction. 



Of what may be termed special histories sev- 

 eral have appeared during the year, of much 

 merit. Such are the admirable "Studies in 

 Church History," by H. C. Lea; the "History 

 of American Socialisms," by J. H. Noyes, a 

 complete view of a curious subject; Rev. J. 

 F. Hurst's readable translation of Hagenbach's 

 "History of the Church in the Eighteenth 

 and Nineteenth Centuries," with additions; Dr. 

 R. Anderson's masterly work on "Foreign Mis- 

 sions," ripe fruit of nearly thirty years' service 

 as a Secretary of the American Board; and 

 Judge Amos Dean's "History of Civilization," 

 volumes 1-6. To these may be added " Pic- 

 tures from Prison Life, an Historical Sketch 

 of the Massachusetts State Prison," by G. 

 Haynes ; " Baptist History," by J. M. Cramp 

 not an American author, but, though he is 

 of the Dominion of Canada, his work was 

 originally published here, and thus fairly enters 

 into American literature in which the sub- 

 ject is treated in a way that is generally ac- 

 ceptable to the denomination concerned; "A 

 Half Century with Juvenile Delinquents," by B. 



K. Peirce, an important contribution to re- 

 formatory literature; a revised and enlarged 

 edition of the" Early History of the Catholic 

 Church on the Island of New York," by J. R. 

 Bayley ; and perhaps its relation to the history 

 of improvements in the arts would place here 

 the "Biographical History of Clermont, or Liv- 

 ingston Manor before and during the War of 

 Independence, with Sketches of the first Steam 

 Navigation of Fulton and Livingston." In- 

 cluding local histories, among which the 

 "History of Vermont," by Hiland Hall, de- 

 serves particular mention ; works auxiliary to 

 history, like the "Modern Historical Atlas," 

 by W. L. Gage, the plan of which is excellent, 

 the execution less so; reprints of antique 

 tracts, school compilations, etc., about forty 

 titles come under the head of history and ma- 

 terials of history. 



II. BIOGRAPHY. We have given two or three 

 biographies a place among historical works. 

 Perhaps there was as much reason to place in 

 the same category "The Military Services and 

 Public Life of General Sullivan," by T. C. Am- 

 ory ; the "Reminiscences of James A. Hamil- 

 ton," and "The Life of Jefferson Davis, with 

 the Secret History of the Southern Confeder- 

 acy," by E. A. Pollard; though the latter has 

 some title to a place among works of the im- 

 agination. The first volume of the promised 

 " Life of Daniel Webster," by George Tick- 

 nor Curtis, appeared, and fully met the public 

 expectation. " The Life of J. J. Audubon, 

 the Naturalist," edited by his widow, is a de- 

 lightful record of a unique career. But among 

 the most valuable contributions to this depart- 

 ment of writing in 1869 were clerical biog- 

 raphies. Rev. Dr. Sprague has given us an- 

 other volume of his " Annals of the American 

 Pulpit," including the ministry of the Lu- 

 theran, United Presbyterian, and (Dutch) Re- 

 formed Churches. "The Life of the Rev. 

 Samuel Miller, D. D.," by Samuel Miller, and 

 that of the Rev. Joseph Addison Alexander, 

 D. D., by H. C. Alexander, somewhat tardily 

 commemorate two eminent professors in 

 the Princeton Theological Seminary. Both 

 works, the latter especially, have the disad- 

 vantages inseparable from the composition of 

 biographies by the near kindred of the sub- 

 jects. " The Life of the Rt. Rev. George Bur- 

 gess, D. D.," first Bishop of the Diocese of 

 Maine, records a life of such choice culture 

 and unobtrusive goodness as makes the biog- 

 rapher's task especially difficult. The "Me- 

 moir of Jared Sparks," by George E. Ellis, 

 D. D., is also a record of a quiet scholar's life, 

 though its beginning was in the atmosphere of 

 theological polemics. "The Life and Letters 

 of Fitz-Greene Halleck," by James Grant Wil- 

 son, revives a half-forgotten literary career 

 with something of the old enthusiasm. Also 

 " The Life and Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Seton," 

 by her grandson, Rev. Dr. Seton. " The Life of 

 Gerard Hallock " is of interest, from the place 

 long occupied by the subject in connection with 



