LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1870. 



551 



Co.), is a memoir of Mrs. Emily Bliss Gould, an 

 American Protestant lady who devoted herself 

 to labors of reform and education among the 

 poor of Rome. The " Life of Mrs. Eliza A. 

 Seton," by the Rev. Dr. Charles J. White 

 (Baltimore, Kelly, Piet & Co.), is a biography 

 of a lady whoso memory is held in high rever- 

 ence by the Roman Catholics of America, the 

 foundress of the order of the Sisters of Charity 

 in the United States. 



There is no lack of writers of Etsaya in the 

 United States ; yet, owing to the facilities af- 

 forded by the periodical press for the publica- 

 tion, and the preservation also, of their produc- 

 tions, they are seldom reproduced in book form. 

 "Locusts and Wild Honey," by John Bur- 

 roughs (Iloughton, Osgood & Co.), is a collec- 

 tion of essays written in the best vein of this 

 consummate literary artist and lover of nature, 

 whoso works appeal with singular force to tho 

 admiration of the American public as being in- 

 stinct with poetry, but with a poetry which 

 accepts and allies itself with science and com- 

 mon sense. Some of the earlier articles in tho 

 " North American Review," by famous Ameri- 

 can authors, have been collected into a volume 

 by the editor, Allen Thorndike Rice (D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co.). Judge J. D. Caton's " Miscel- 

 lanies" are essays on a variety of subjects, 

 social and scientific (Iloughton, Osgood & Co.). 



A considerable number of books of Poetry 

 have been published during the past year. 

 The younger poets seem to lack the true in- 

 spiration, the flavor of the soil, and the vigor- 

 ous and natural powers of expression, with 

 which the older generation stirred and en- 

 chanted the popular mind. An edition of 

 Longfellow, published by Iloughton, Osgood & 

 Co., is one of the most ambitious and elabo- 

 rately illustrated publications ever attempted in 

 America ; about half of the pictures are actual 

 views and portraits of places and persons men- 

 tioned by the poet. The " Poems " of Sarah 

 Helen Whitman (Iloughton, Osgood & Co.) 

 were inspired more perhaps by association with 

 poets and admiration for their works than by 

 an original poetic instinct; yet they must find 

 admirers for their own sake, as not only true 

 to the models chosen, bat delivering the senti- 

 ments of a high-toned and thoughtful mind. 

 The sonnets of George McKnight, " Life and 

 Death " (Henry Holt & Co.), have nothing of 

 the nature of tho modern sensuous and pictur- 

 esque poetry ; they deal with moral truths, and 

 carry more weight and dignity in that they 

 have no garnish whatever derived from poetical 

 figures and imagery of either the present or a 

 past manner, while still remaining strictly 

 poetical in form and substance. J. J. Piatt's 

 " Poems of House and Home " (Houghton, Os- 

 good & Co.), containing many pieces which 

 have not appeared in former collections, is 

 marked by a unity of spirit and theme, the sub- 

 jects being such as have given the poet some 

 of his best inspirations. Nora Perry's "Her 

 Lover's Friend, and other Poems " (Houghton, 



Osgood fe Co.), are poems with dramatic sub- 

 jects, depicting tho experiences of different 

 imaginary characters in a variety of situations, 

 some of them serious studies of the passions 

 and somo of a lighter nature. A new volume 

 of poetry by Mrs. 8. M. B. Piatt, " Dramatic 

 Persons and Moods 1 ' (Houghton, Osgood & 

 Co.), contains moro subtle psychological stud- 

 ies, presented in a more elaborate but less 

 lucid poetical form. " Along the Way," by 

 Mary Mapes Dodge (Charles Scribner's Sons), 

 is a volume of pleasant and simple lyric poetry. 

 "In Berkshire with the Wild Flowers," by 

 Elaine and Dora Goodalo (G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons), is a second series of poems by two young 

 New England girls, whose subjects are sup- 

 plied by the native flora of the district. " A 

 Masque of Poets " is a volume of tho " No Name 

 Series " (Roberts Brothers), containing anony- 

 mous contributions from tho poets, which 

 present the variety of theme and manner that 

 might have been expected, and are generally 

 marked by a freshness and excellence which 

 could not have been expected in a collection of 

 invited poems. " Briefs of a Barrister " is the 

 title of a volume of society verses by E. R. 

 Johns (G. P. Putnam's Sons). The first col- 

 lection of tho ballads of Thomas Dunn English 

 is published by Harper & Brothers. Robert 

 D. Joyce's " Blanid " is a historical poem based 

 on old Irish legends, written by the author of 

 "Deirdre" (Roberts Brothers' "No Name 

 Series "). Henry Abbey's " Poems " (D. Apple- 

 ton & Correlate to historical subjects; they 

 have already been published and well received 

 in England. " All Quiet along the Potomac, 

 and other Poems," is a collection of short 

 pieces of verse on domestic and pathetic sub- 

 jects by Ethel Lynn Beers (Philadelphia, Porter 

 & Coates). " The Historical Poetry of the An- . 

 cient Hebrews," by Michael Heilprin (D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co.), is a scholarly critical disquisition, 

 with new translations of the poetical books of 

 the Bible. 



Novels stream from the press in an increasing 

 flood. Those who deprecate the influence of 

 this kind of literature should remember that an 

 increase in the novels which figure in the lists 

 of the booksellers means a decrease in a per- 

 nicious class of fiction with which they come 

 into competition, which spreads false views of 

 society, false principles of morality, and all 

 kinds of misinformation. In many novels of 

 the better kind much serious thought and much 

 genuine information are interwoven in the web 

 of the story. A fair general education is often 

 attained from the reading of novels alone. 

 Moreover, the realistic novel of the day is not 

 open to the strictures usually passed upon fic- 

 tion. Although not altogether free from ad- 

 ventitious allurements and tricks of art, its 

 purpose, to hold the mirror up to society, to 

 embody sociological facts, makes it a genuine 

 study of history of the highest character. For 

 tho first time in the history of American litera- 

 ture there has arisen a school of American 



