LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IX 1871. 



443 



of wliicli each week furnishes its quota. Mrs. 

 H. B. Sto\ve has produced two novels of soci- 

 ety, "Pink and White Tyranny," a picture of 

 an ill -assorted marriage, and " My Wife and 

 I," the delineation of the hero's ideal wives 

 and his actual wife, how he won her and how 

 they set up house-keeping. In both is min- 

 gled representation of what the author has 

 seen and known and in these parts she is 

 strong ; and also characters and scenes which 

 she has evolved from her own consciousness, 

 which of course betray their unreality ; while 

 the style has marks of haste and carelessness 

 in composition. But faults far more numerous 

 would not shake her well-founded popularity. 

 Miss E. Stuart Phelps, in her novel, " The Si- 

 lent Partner," has aimed higher than in her 

 previous attempts, and has shown a power she 

 had not before developed, of skilful character- 

 ization and sustained interest of invention. 

 " The Foe in the Household," by Miss Caroline 

 Chesebro, adds, to the merit which belongs to 

 it of a well-framed tale, that of revealing 

 phases of life with which the general public 

 had no familiarity. " Two College Friends," 

 by F. W. Loring, was the latest and the best 

 production of its lamented author, suggesting 

 mournfully "what might have been," had 

 time been given him to mature his powers. 

 " Real Folks," by Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney, de- 

 serves its title, by the truthfulness of its por- 

 traitures of character, though less, we think, 

 many readers must feel, in respect to one or 

 two favorite personages than to some less prom- 

 inent characters. The tale is marked by 

 that quaint religiousness of tone, decided, yet 

 never obtrusive, which pervades all the au- 

 thor's writings. "Their Wedding Journey," 

 by W. D. Howells, strings upon the thread of 

 an imaginary journey a series of observations 

 on American life and character, so discerning, 

 so archly humorous, so kindly satirical, that 

 the somewhat languid and purposeless story 

 seldom flags. "Foundations ; or, Castles in the 

 Air," by Rose Porter, is the meritorious work 

 of a young writer giving promise of something 

 still better. " The Cryptogram," by James De 

 Mille, is an example of the higher grade of sen- 

 sational fiction, stimulating the curiosity by an 

 intricate plot, showing a good degree of narra- 

 tive skill, yet setting before us no character that 

 is very admirable, and coming to no result pro- 

 portioned to the amount of action from which 

 it comes to pass. "Morton House," by the 

 author of " Valerie Aylmer," a tale of South- 

 ern life, has won favor of the public and of 

 critics, for its characterization, its truth to na- 

 ture and life, and its purity of tone. " The 

 Hoosier Schoolmaster," by Edward Eggleston, 

 without special merit as a story, is exception- 

 ally good as a picture of a state of society that is 

 passing away, with its manners and its dialect. 

 Mr. Justin McCarthy is not an American, but 

 his sojourn here, and his activity in our jour- 

 nals and magazines, have made him free in our 

 commonwealth of letters. His " Lady Judith, 



a Tale of Two Continents," shows considerable 

 power of invention, with inequality of execu- 

 tion ; and the same may be said of " Overland." 

 by J. W. De Forest. " Three Successful Girls," 

 by Julia Crouch, has some well-discrimi- 

 nated characters, set in a plot that is slightly 

 of the improbable order. Besides these, may 

 be mentioned : 



The House in Town, A Sequel to " Opportunities." 



" World." 



Tlie Fair Crusader. By 



By the author of ^ The Wide Wide World. 



Maud and Miriam ; n * i 1 '"" Wo?i r^fn<_. 

 Harriet B. McKeever. 



Bertha, the Beauty. By Sarah J. C. Whittlcsey. 



Eichard Vandermarck. By the author of u liut- 

 ledgfi." 



The Prisoners of St.-Lazare. Translated by Mrs. 

 E. M. McCarthy. 



Lucia : Her Problem. By Amanda M. Douglas. 



Myself: a Komancc of New-England Life. 



The House Behind the Poplars. By Mrs. J. E. 

 Beckwith. 



Sergeant Atkins. A Tale of Adventure, founded 

 on Fact. By an Officer of the U. S. Arrny. 



Out of the Foam. By John Esten Cooke. 



Blue Jackets ; or, the Adventures of J. Thompson, 

 A. B., among " the Heathen Chinees." By Edward 

 Gray. 



Keginald Arthur. By Anne M. Crane Seemuller. 



The Sisters of Orleans.- A Tale of Kace and Social 

 Conflict. 



Love on the Wing. By Charles March. 



One Year; or, A Story "of Three Homes. By Fran- 

 cis May Peard. 



The Mills of Tuxbury. By Virginia F. Townscnd. 



The American Cardinal. 



Why Did He Not Die ? From the German of Ad. 

 von Volkhausen. By Mrs. A. L. Wistar. 



Milbank. By Mary J. Holmes. 



Blanche Gilroy. By Mrs. Margaret Hosmer. 



Married for Both Worlds. By Mrs. A. E. Porter. 



Strife. By Mrs. E. D. Wallace. 



The Island Neighbors. By Antoinette Brown 

 Blackwell. 



The Truce of God. By George TI. Miles. 



Delaplaine ; or, The Sacrifice of Irene. By Mans- 

 field Tracy Walworth. 



Eirene ; or, A Woman's Eight. By Mary Clemmer 

 Ames. 



Behind the Bars. 



Eomance of the Charter Oak. A Picture of Colo- 

 nial Times. By William Seton. 



Dion and the Sibyls. A Classic Christian Novel. 

 By Miles Gerald Keon. 



ESSAYS AND CRITICISM. A collection of criti- 

 cal and literary essays, by Prof. James Rus- 

 sell Lowell, entitled "My Study Windows," 

 was received with marked favor on both sides 

 of the Atlantic. Mr. Lowell's American spirit 

 and feeling cannot fail of recognition. His 

 writings are a living witness that nationality 

 in literature may demonstrate itself in better 

 ways than by the invention of shibboleths in 

 style. His papers on Lincoln and Quincy, and 

 on the Condescension of Foreigners, are exam- 

 ples of this quality, which appears with nearly 

 equal distinctness in the independence and 

 freshness that characterize his criticism of 

 Chaucer and Pope. Another essayist of ex- 

 portable reputation is Mr. T. W. Higginson, 

 whose "Atlantic Essays," so entitled from 

 their first appearance in ih& Atlantic Monthly, 

 will find a place on the same shelf with 

 those of Mr. Lowell. They have the same 



