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LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1878. 



an unhackneyed conrse. "On the Frontier: 

 Reminiscences of Wild Sport, Personal Adven- 

 tures, etc., in our Western Country," by J. S. 

 Campion, leads the reader into still more un- 

 conventional life. " Amy and Marion's Voy- 

 age around the World," by Sarah B. Adams, 

 is not, as one might suspect from the title, 

 a work of fiction, but describes, and in very 

 good style, a veritable circumnavigation. " The 

 Greeks of To-day," by Charles K. Tuckerman, 

 preserves the results of observations made dur- 

 ing a residence abroad which gave ample op- 

 portunity of observation, and was improved to 

 good purpose. 



FICTION. Of the one or two works of the 

 year which take rank in the higher ranges of 

 fiction, "The Europeans," by Henry James, 

 Jr., perhaps claims the first place. Mr. James 

 spares no labor; he is a conscientious literary 

 artist. He excels in the conception and delin- 

 eation of character. His characterization is 

 true to his ideal conception, but whether his 

 ideal is true to real life may be questioned. 

 He shows a subtile insight into human motives. 

 More warmth of- atmosphere and more forcible 

 play of action would increase his power over 

 readers. " Poganuc People," by Mrs. Harriet 

 Beecher Stowe, is a tale delineating that Yan- 

 kee village life which is the staple of her best 

 works, with the exception of her "Uncle 

 Tom's Cabin," of which, by the way, a luxu- 

 rious edition has just appeared. Her last work 

 may not add to her fame, but it will not de- 

 tract from it. She will be high authority, a 

 generation or two hence, for the features of 

 two vanished states of society. " Roxy," by 

 Edward Eggleston, in the estimate of some 

 critics not predisposed to exalt it, ought to 

 rank among the very first novels of the year. 

 The plot is not pleasing, but it is well sus- 

 tained. "Drift from Two Shores," by Bret 

 Harte, recalls but will not add to the fame of 

 his earlier achievements. A vivid picture of 

 college life, not unworthy of a place near the 

 famous "Tom Brown" books, is "Hammer- 

 smith, his Harvard Days," chronicled by Mark 

 Sibley Severance. Another phase of academic 

 experience is related in an interesting manner 

 in "An American Girl, and her Four Years in 

 a Boys' College," by " Sola." Another volume 

 of stories by " Saxe Holm " reveals an unex- 

 hausted vein of genius, which critics are not 

 agreed whether to call original or only eccen- 

 tric, but which is one of undeniable power. 

 The mystery of the authorship is not yet pene- 

 lr n ; " A Year worth Living," by William 

 Haker, does not fulfill the expectations en- 



rtamed of the author of " The New Timothy " 



and one or two succeeding books. He gets 



ether materials for a fabric that one feels 



ought to be better. His characters are better 



single studies than as elements of a plot. 



jAgamenticus," by E. P. Tenney, departs 



ora the conventional type of the novel in 

 i that may not gratify the average novel- 

 reader, but will repay those to whom thought 



is a make-weight for sensation. " An Amer- 

 ican Consul Abroad," by Luigi Monti, is 

 "founded on fact," and entertaining. "The 

 Cadet Button," by Captain Fred. Whittaker, 

 has a professional bent, but military sugges- 

 tions are a taking color. " From Different 

 Standpoints," by "Pansy" and Faye Hunting- 

 ton, attempts the difficult and abnormal feat 

 of two minds making one book, and that a 

 tale. The success of Erckmann and Chatrian 

 in this fashion of joint composition, complete 

 as it seems to be, will not, it is to be hoped, 

 set a fashion. " From Different Standpoints " 

 is not so brilliant a success as to do much harm, 

 we trust, in that respect. " The Cossacks," 

 translated by Eugene Schuyler from the Rus- 

 sian of Count Tolstoy, is a powerful picture of 

 Russian life. Among novels having a didactic 

 intent, a high place belongs to " The Crew of 

 the Sam Weller," by John Habberton. The 

 strain upon probability involved in the work- 

 ing out of a duly edifying conclusion is no 

 greater than one may sometimes discover in a 

 most secular and purposeless story, and the 

 humor is excellent. " Bluffton," by the Rev. 

 M. J. Savage, is a polemic story in the interest 

 of the Liberal school. As a story it is well 

 conceived and told ; its moral aim will be va- 

 riously viewed according to one's point of 

 view. " Ernest Quest," on the other hand, is 

 a controversial orthodox novel, ambitious in 

 its antagonisms and verging on the sensational 

 in plot. " Mrs. Gainsborough's Diamonds," a 

 story by Julian Hawthorne, shows his peculiar 

 bent, but is less elaborate and less abnormal 

 than some of his books. " A Law unto Her- 

 self," by Rebecca Harding Davis, and "His 

 Inheritance," by Adeline Trafton, are superior 

 to the average work of our minor novelists. 



JUVENILES. The number of writers engaged 

 in catering for young readers was never so 

 great, and the character of their productions 

 was never in the average so high. The old 

 style of goody story, of saintly candidates for 

 an early grave, is nearly extinct ; or, if not, 

 there are plenty of better books to be had. 

 The shafts of satire are still frequently shot at 

 Sunday-school libraries ; but, if these continue 

 to deserve what is said of them, the cause is to 

 be sought rather in the poor taste and judg- 

 ment of those who select them, than in the 

 lack of suitable books. Miss Alcott still holds 

 her own as a favorite with the young people. 

 She is sure of her audience on either side of 

 the Atlantic. Her " Under the Lilacs " shows 

 no falling off in her peculiar power. " Nelly's 

 Silver Mine," by "H. H.," is pleasing as a 

 story, and gently suggests a moral. "Play 

 Days," by Sarah 0. Jewett, awakens expecta- 

 tions which it does not fulfill ; that is to say, 

 its place among juvenile books is not as high 

 as the place of "Deephaven " among books for 

 maturer minds ; but perhaps that should not 

 be insisted on. Looked at apart from such a 

 standard of comparison, it belongs to the bet- 

 ter literature for the young. " Good-for-No- 



