LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1878. 



479 



ter-of-fact outlines of what at one time threat- 

 ened to become a sort of mythologic legend. 

 The "Memoirs of William Francis Bartlett," 

 by F. W. Palfrey, commemorates the character" 

 and career of a brave and generous soldier in 

 the war for the Union, who after he sheathed 

 his sword acted in a purely peaceful spirit, and 

 whose early decease was a loss to his country. 

 The "Life of John Lothrop Motley," by Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes, not only does justice to the 

 memory of one who was an honor to his coun- 

 try and to her literature, but itself has literary 

 merits entitling it to recognition among the 

 choice books of our time. "Charlotte Cush- 

 man : her Letters and Memories of her Life," 

 by Emma Stebbins, will preserve the memory 

 of a remarkable life and career. " Home Rem- 

 iniscences of John Randolph," by Powhatan 

 Bouldin, adds to our knowledge of a man worth 

 knowing about, whom the present generation 

 has nearly forgotten. "Bible Heroines: Nar- 

 rative Biographies of the Prominent Women 

 in Hebrew History," by Mrs. H. B. Stowe, is 

 of course interesting, but will not add mate- 

 rially to the author's reputation. The Rev. 

 James Freeman Clarke's "Sketches, Memorial 

 and Biographical," were severally called forth 

 by the decease of their subjects or commemora- 

 tive occasions, but are free from the one-sided- 

 ness and unshadowed radiance of customary 

 eulogy. They are studies of character. Of 

 contemporary biography and autobiography, 

 the " Life of Alexander H. Stephens," by Rich- 

 ard Malcom Johnson and William Hand Browne, 

 revives the memory of " Whig" politics before 

 the war, and casts light on " Confederate" pol- 

 itics during the war. " The Colored Cadet at 

 West Point," by Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, 

 U. S. A., is an account by " the colored cadet " 

 of his life in the Military Academy, which was 

 not as full of grievances as was popularly imag- 

 ined. Mr. M. F. Sweetser has continued his se- 

 ries of " Artist Biographies " with undiminished 

 interest; and Mr. William D. Howells is still 

 bringing out "'Choice Autobiographies," edit- 

 ed, with introductions. 



SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. In the depart- 

 ment of physical science, a noticeable work is 

 Dr. J. W. Draper's " Scientific Memoirs : being 

 Experimental Contributions to the Knowledge 

 of Radiant Energy." Dr. Draper has won 

 universal honor as an investigator and experi- 

 menter, and it is interesting to retrace with 

 him some of the investigations that have 

 marked his scientific career. The qualified re- 

 spect felt for his more ambitions generalizations, 

 and the dissent provoked by the pronounced 

 anti-theological bias of his writings, have not 

 availed to diminish aught from his renown as 

 a scientist. A new edition of Professor J. D. 

 Dana's " Manual of Mineralogy and Lithology," 

 and the "Manual of Determinative Mineralogy, 

 with an Introduction on Blow-pipe Analysis 

 being the Determinative Part of Dana's Min- 

 eralogy," need only be mentioned. Of manu- 

 als for school use and for the general reader, 



the admirable "Popular Astronomy" of Pro- 

 fessor Simon Newcomb, in which the thorough 

 mastery of the material is not more marked 

 than the skill with which the treatment of the 

 subject is adapted to the apprehension of read- 

 ers, deserves the unqualified commendation it 

 has received. The "Elements of Geology," 

 by Professor Joseph Le Conte, in addition to 

 its general merits, which are very great, is 

 valuable from the place that is given to the 

 geology of the American Continent. 



In zoology and physiology, " Our Common 

 Insects " are treated of by the competent pen 

 of Professor A. S. Packard, Jr. "The Epoch 

 of the Mammoth, and the Apparition of Man 

 upon the Earth," by James C. Southall, LL. D., 

 is the work of an earnest advocate of the be- 

 lief in man's recent origin by creation, a the- 

 sis which he defends with ability. " Compar- 

 ative Psychology , or the Growth and Grades 

 of Intelligence," by President John Bascom, 

 of the State University of Wisconsin, treats of 

 animal in its relation to human intelligence, 

 from the point of view and in the interest of 

 the Intuitional Philosophy, of which he is an 

 eminent and a resolute asserter. He is a writ- 

 er of subtile analytic power and no small dia- 

 lectical ability, but has treated too many sub- 

 jects to give adequate length and severity of 

 study to any one. In the higher departments 

 of philosophy not much has been produced. 

 "Ontology, or the Philosophy of Knowing 

 and Being," by H. N. Day, has the merits of 

 his previous works in the same general line of 

 topics. He expounds neatly rather than in- 

 quires fruitfully. One finds in his books a lucid 

 setting forth of material that is mainly com- 

 mon to him and to the school to which he be- 

 longs, exhibiting more novelty in forms of state- 

 ment than newness of thought. His latest 

 treatise, however, deals with an order of topics 

 remote from the common apprehension and 

 from the more trodden ways of speculation, 

 and will therefore mark an advance in his 

 work. Mr. Joseph Cook's " Lectures on Con- 

 science " combine a tenuous subtilty of think- 

 ing with such a breadth and freedom of illus- 

 tration as to succeed better than might have 

 seemed possible beforehand in exciting popu- 

 lar interest in his high themes. But the rhet- 

 oric that is so successful on the lecture plat- 

 form, when faithfully reported in print, will 

 not always bear criticism not to say, as some 

 critics have declared, that the rhetorician oc- 

 casionally gets the better of the logician in his 

 efforts. It is certain that his continued popu- 

 larity is scarcely more remarkable than the sup- 

 port he receives from men of various tenden- 

 cies of opinion in the educated class of society. 



Passing to the class of topics provisionally 

 grouped under the title of social science, we 

 find, as might be expected, greater activity of 

 discussion. The unprosperous condition of the 

 country has awakened not only vague discon- 

 tent, and led to such chaotic movements as 

 blind passion might be expected to originate, 



