490 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1881. 



G. Holland's popular prose and poetical works 

 (New York, Scribner's Sons), lo these should 

 be added, " The Dhammapada," being one of 

 the canonical books of the Buddhists, trans- 

 luted from Tali, by F. Max Mullor; with oth- 

 ers, forming part of the " Sacred Books of the 

 East, v translated by various Oriental scholars, 

 and edited by Muller (New York, Macmillan 

 A- Co.) ; from the same publishers, W. Y. 

 Sollar's "Koinaii I'oets of the Republic," and 

 J. Watson's "Kant and his English Critics," 

 being a comparison of critical and empirical 

 philosophy; and, as of special value, SirG. W. 

 - "Introduction to the Science of Com- 



?irativo Mvthology and Folk Lore" (New 

 ork, Holt). 



No very important work on History, of Amer- 

 ican authorship, has appeared during 1881. Lo- 

 cal histories are numerous and valuable, and 

 outline sketches and books for schools are in 

 abundance. Mr. Bancroft's long-promised vol- 

 umes, " History of the Formation of the Con- 

 stitution of the United States," forming a his- 

 tory of the United States from the Treaty of 

 Peace with Great Britain to the Inauguration 

 of Washington, are handed over to the suc- 

 ceeding year. Professor II. Copp6e furnishes 

 an interesting and useful " History of the Con- 

 quest of Spain by the Arab-Moors " (Boston, 

 Little, Brown & Co.). T. T. Timayenis is au- 

 thor of a "History of Greece, from Earliest 

 Times to the Present," a useful compilation 

 ( Now York, D. Appleton & Co.). II. C. Lodge 

 gives his countrymen a work of unique inter- 

 est and value, entitled " A Short History of 

 the English Colonies in America" (New York, 

 Harper & Brothers). R. Blanchard's " Discov- 

 ery and Conquests of the Northwest " (Chicago, 

 Gushing, Thomas & Co.) occupies a field of 

 great importance ; and Jefferson Davis's " Rise 

 and Fall of the Confederate Government " (New 

 York, D. Appleton & Co.) is a work variously 

 estimated as to its value and help toward a 

 riu'lit and just settlement of American history. 

 The writer concludes his second volume as 

 follows : 



In asserting the right of secession, it has not been 

 my wish to incite to its exercise : I recognize the fact 

 that the war showed it to be impracticable, but this 

 did not prove it to be wrong ; and, now that it may 

 not be again attempted, and that the Union may pro- 

 mote the general welfare, it is needful that the truth, 

 the whole truth 2 should be known, so that crimina- 

 tion and recrimination may for ever cease, and then, 

 on the basis of fraternity and faithful regard for the 

 rights of the States, there may be written on the arch 

 of the Union, Eato perpetua. 



H. P. Johnston's "The Yorktown Campaign 

 and Surrender of Cornwallis" (New York, 

 Harper & Brothers) is a very carefully pre- 

 pared narrative, in both good taste and tem- 

 per. Several volumes on " The Campaigns of 

 the Civil War " are promised ; we name two : 

 M. F. Force's "From Fort Henry to Corinth," 

 and J. G. Nicolay's " Outbreak of the Rebel- 

 lion " (New York, Scribner's Sons). H. Von 

 Hoist's elaborate work on " The Constitution 



and Political History of the United States," 

 from the German (Chicago, Callaghan), has 

 reached a third volume. It is a work of supe- 

 rior merit. From the veteran worker in Amer- 

 ican history, B. J. Lossing, we have " Harper's 

 Popular Cyclopaedia of United States History," 

 marked by his usual care and industry. 



In Education, Language, etc., there is a 

 goodly supply of native productions, together 

 with about the usual number of reprints. Text- 

 books in the ancient classics, in Hebrew and 

 Oriental tongues, and in modern languages, are 

 quite in abundance, in fact too abundant to 

 specify to any advantage. R. II. Ball's " Ele- 

 ments of Astronomy" (New York, D. Appleton 

 & Co.) is one of a valuable series entitled 

 " Text-Books of Science." The same pub- 

 lishers issue a text-book for normal schools, 

 entitled u Art of School Management." J. 

 Ogden's "Science of Education, or Philosophy 

 of Human Culture " (Cincinnati, Van Antwerp 

 & Co.), is a thoughtful and suggestive publica- 

 tion. Alfred Ayres has issued a companion 

 volume to "The Orthoepist" of last year, en- 

 titled "The Verbalist" (New York, D. Apple- 

 ton & Co.). It is a capital little volume. J. 

 E. Worcester's " Dictionary of the English 

 Language " (Philadelphia, Lippincott) appears 

 in a new edition, with a valuable supplement. 

 This great work disputes with Webster the 

 place of being "the standard" of the English 

 tongue, and many think successfully. W. H. 

 Payne reprints from the "Encyclopaedia Bri- 

 tannica" the valuable article on "Education," 

 entitling it "A Short History of Education," 

 with notes, etc. (Syracuse, New York, C. W. 

 Bardeen) ; it is interesting and useful to the 

 general reader. L. T. Townsend's "The Art 

 of Speech, Studies in Eloquence and Logic " 

 (New York, D. Appleton & Co.), is a service- 

 able little work. H. Kiddle and A. J. Schem 

 furnish a useful and valuable "Dictionary of 

 Education " (New York, Steiger), based upon 

 the larger work, "Cyclopaedia of Education." 

 J. F. McCurdy's " Aryo-Semitic Speech" (An- 

 dover, Massachusetts, W. F. Draper) is a very 

 interesting study in linguistic archaeology. 

 Among English books of note in this depart- 

 ment are, J. G. Fitch's "Lectures on Teaching, 

 delivered in the University of Cambridge " ; 

 and H. Kiepert's "Manual of Ancient Geog- 

 raphy," being the authorized translation from 

 the German (New York, Macmillan & Co.). 



The interest in Political Economy and Social 

 Science is fully as great as in any preceding 

 year, and several valuable contributions to this 

 department are the result. G. F. Seward (late 

 American minister to China), in his " Chinese 

 Immigration in its Social and Economical As- 

 pects " (New York, Scribner's Sons), discusses 

 the question which has agitated largely the 

 people on our Pacific coast. It is a timely and 

 valuable publication. Henry George's " Irish 

 Land Question " (New York, D. Appleton & 

 Co.) undertakes. to show, with much ability, 

 what this question involves, and how alone it 



