LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1881. 



489 



(Philadelphia, Kay & Brothers). J. F. Dillon's 

 " Removal of Causes from State Courts to Fed- 

 eral Courts " (St. Louis, W. H. Stevenson) is 

 supplied with forms adapted to the several acts 

 of Congress, in an enlarged and revised edition. 

 J. 0. Hurd's " Theory of our National Exist- 

 ence, as shown by the Action of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States since 1861 " (Boston, 

 Little, Brown & Co.), commands attention no 

 less from the importance of the subject than 

 the skill and ability with which the author has 

 treated it. Among popular manuals we name 

 a few : F. Crosby's " Everybody's Lawyer and 

 Book of Forms " (Philadelphia, J. E. Potter & 

 Co.) ; J. G. Lee's " Hand-Book for Coroners," 

 containing a digest of all the laws in the thirty- 

 eight States of the Union (Philadelphia, W. 

 Brotherhead) ; S. D. Thompson's "Liability of 

 Directors and other Officers and Agents of 

 Corporations " (St. Louis, W. H. Stevenson) ; 

 " Notaries' and Commissioners' Manual " (New 

 York, Baker, Voorhees & Co.; ; F. J. Stimson's 

 " Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and 

 Maxims of the Common Law " (Boston, Little, 

 Brown & Co.) ; and F. F. Heard's " Oddities 

 of the Law " (Boston, Soule & Bugbee). 



In Biography, Memoirs, and the like, the 

 present year is not less prolific than its pred- 

 ecessors. The Rev. Dr. E. E. Beardsley's 

 " Life and Correspondence of Rev. Samuel 

 Seabury " (first bishop in the Protestant Epis- 

 copal Church in the United States) is a valu- 

 able contribution to history as well as litera- 

 ture (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.). J. B. 

 Gough, in his " Sunlight and Shadow " (Hart- 

 ford, Conn., A. D. "Worthington & Co.), gives 

 some interesting gleanings from his life-work 

 in the cause of temperance. Dr. A. Stevens 

 presents, in his "Madame de Stael: A Study 

 of her Life and Times" (New York, Harper 

 & Brothers), a vivid portraiture of the first 

 French Revolution and the First Empire. It 

 is a work of solid merit, as well as of unflag- 

 ging interest. The same publishers send out 

 J. W. Forney's amusing and instructive "An- 

 ecdotes of Public Men." Miss M. A. Lamson's 

 " Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridg- 

 man, the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl," loses 

 none of its interest in a new edition (Bos- 

 ton, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.). R. W. Johnson 

 contributes an admirable "Memoir of Major- 

 General George H. Thomas " (Philadelphia, 

 Lippincott & Co.). After long and careful 

 study, James Parton brings out his elaborate 

 " Life of Voltaire " (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin 

 & Co.). It already takes its place as a stand- 

 ard in this department. General A. Badeau 

 completes, in a third volume, the "Military 

 History of Ulysses S. Grant, from April, 1861, 

 to April, 1865 " (New York, D. Appleton & 

 Co.). The substantial merit of the work is 

 recognized on all hands. R. H. Conwell gives 

 a pleasing and useful account of "The Life, 

 Travels, and Literary Career of Bayard Tay- 

 lor" (Boston, Lothrop). Messrs. J. M. Bun- 

 dy, in his " The Nation's Hero, in Memo- 



riam, Life of James Abram Garfield, Twentieth 

 President of the United States " (New York, 

 Barnes), and J. S. Ogilvie, in his " Life and 

 Death of James A. Garfield, from Tow-path 

 to the White House" (New York, Ogilvie), 

 give popular sketches of the late President, 

 whose cruel murder, and the trial of whose 

 assassin, excited public attention throughout 

 the civilized world. 



In the way of republication, numerous works 

 of value are added to American literature. 

 F. W. H. Myers's " William Wordsworth " is 

 one of the most interesting and successful vol- 

 umes of the series " English Men of Letters " 

 (New York, Harper & Brothers). In the same 

 series, S. Colvin gives a thoughtful study of 

 "Landor" and his works; and Professor D. 

 Masson performs a like service for " De Quin- 

 cey" and his singularly interesting career. 

 Other serial works show the tendency of bio- 

 graphical literature in 1881. Mrs. Oliphant's 

 "Cervantes," and W. L. Collins's "Butler" 

 (Philadelphia, Lippincott), are valuable contri- 

 butions to "Foreign and Philosophical Clas- 

 sics for English Readers." F. W. Trollope, the 

 novelist, tries his hand upon a "Life of Cicero," 

 and succeeds very well, all things considered 

 (New York, Harper & Brothers). Mme. De 

 Witt, daughter of the statesman and historian, 

 gives a pleasant narrative of " Monsieur Guizot, 

 in Private Life" (Boston, Estes & Lauriat). 

 Messrs. Shepherd and Williamson furnish the 

 admirers of the Scotch celebrity with " Me- 

 moirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas 

 Carlyle," giving personal reminiscences and 

 selections from his private letters (New York, 

 Scribner & Welford). Dr. W. G. Blaikie 

 writes with enthusiasm and force of "The Per- 

 sonal Life of David Livingstone " (New York, 

 Harper & Brothers), and Canon Carus supplies 

 "Memorials of the Rev. Charles Pettit Mcll- 

 vaine, Bishop of Ohio (New York, Whittaker). 

 From the French of Eugene Muntz we have 

 " Raphael, his Life, his Works, and his Times" 

 (New York, A. C. Armstrong & Son), a very 

 elegantly illustrated work. 



In this connection we may properly name 

 several other works of merit in the depart- 

 ment of literary history and culture : Miss 

 L. E. Poor's " Sanskrit and its Kindred Lit- 

 eratures," being studies in comparative my- 

 thology (Boston, Roberts) ; R. G. White's 

 " American View of the Copyright Question " 

 (New York, Routledge) ; a new uniform edi- 

 tion of J. R. Lowell's "Complete Works" 

 (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.); W. Ma- 

 thews's "Literary Style, and other Essays" 

 (Chicago, S. C. Griggs & Co.) ; Horace Bush- 

 nell's " Literary Varieties," and "Moral Uses 

 of Dark Things " (New York, Scribner's Sons) ; 

 O. B. Bunco's charming volume, " Bachelor 

 Bluff, his Opinions, Sentiments, and Disputa- 

 tions " (New York, D. Appleton & Co.) ; Pro- 

 fessor M. C. Tyler's " History of American 

 Literature, Colonial Period, 1607-1765" (New 

 York, Putnam's Sons) ; and new editions of J. 



