LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1884. (HISTORY.) 



437 



of which was a Wall Street speculator and rail- 

 way magnate. Miss Mulock's " Miss Tommy," 

 a quaint love-story ; Ouida's " Princess Naprax- 

 ine," a customary outburst of full-blown im- 

 agination ; " Doris," by the " Duchess," a lively 

 story of Irish life; Mrs. Oliphant's " Old Lady 

 Mary," " Sir Tom," " Hester," and " The Wiz- 

 ard's Son," the former of these being one of 

 the most unique and touching ghost-stories 

 written in recent years; Miss Braddon's "A 

 Splendid Misery," and "An Ishrnaelite"; 

 William Clarke Russell's "Jack's Courtship," 

 "Round the Galley - Fire," "John Holds- 

 worth," and " Little Loo," all of them admira- 

 ble sea-stories, by an author who has made a 

 brilliant reputation in this vein; F. W. Robin- 

 son's "The Man She Cared For," and " A Fair 

 Maid " ; Walter Besant's " Dorothy Foster," an 

 historical story of the Jacobite rising of 1715 in 

 England; Miss Charlotte Yonge's " Armorer's 

 Prentices," a story of the Tudor age; Robert 

 Buchanan's strong and painful "The New Abe- 

 lard," the name of which betokens its motive; 

 W. E. Norris's " Thirlby Hall," a bright and 

 clever tale ; and James Payn's " The Canon's 

 Ward" and "The Talk of the Town," the 

 latter of these being based on the celebrated 

 Shakespearean forgeries of Joseph Ireland. 

 Other English novels of some note reprinted 

 here were Francillon's "A Real Queen,'' David 

 Christie Murray's "The Way of the World," 

 Miss Jephson's " An April Day," Oswald Craw- 

 ford's " The World We Live In," Mrs. Riddell's 

 "Susan Drummond," Harwood's "One False, 

 Both Fair," "Pretty Miss Neville," Mrs. Spen- 

 dor's " Miss Nobody," Miss Betham Edwards's 

 "Love and Mirage," Miss Notley's "Red 

 Riding Hood," and Hesba Stretton's " Carola." 

 There were many translations of readable for- 

 eign novels, the best of which will be given 

 below : The " Surgeon's Stories," of Topelius, 

 an interesting series of historical novels, were 

 completed with "Times of Frederick I," 

 "Times of Linnreus," and "Times of Al- 

 chemy." A fresh introduction was made to 

 the American public of Vasmaer, of Holland, 

 and Jokai, of Hungary, the " Amazon " of 

 the former, and "The Modern Midas" of the 

 latter, being quite striking books. Posthu- 

 mous works of Turgenieff, " Mumu " and " An- 

 nouchka," hardly sustained the reputation of 

 the great author. In French fiction the more 

 prominent translations were Judith Gautier's 

 The Usurper," a Japanese romance; Ohnet's 

 " The Master of the Forges " ; and Zola's " Joys 

 of Life." The Spanish of Galdos was repre- 

 sented by "Trafalgar," and the best among 

 the translations from the German was Eck- 

 stein's "Prusias," a story of ancient Rome, and 

 George Taylor's "Clytia," laid in mediaeval 

 life. Other translations from the German 

 were Heimburg's " A Pennyless Girl," Hau- 

 kel's "Mistress of Ibichstein," Raimund's 

 " A Hard Heart," Streckfuss's " Quicksands," 

 Zschokke's "Sylvester Night's Adventure," 

 and Von Hillern's "Graveyard Flower." 



History. This is a line of literary work and 

 research that is rarely other than well rep- 

 resented each year by the works of Ameri- 

 can authors. There were not a few works 

 of prominence in the year 1884. Francis 

 Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" sustains 

 the magnificent style and spirited elevation 

 that have made this writer's works so de- 

 lightful. The present completes the story of 

 the French struggle for domination in North 

 America, one of the most stirring and dra- 

 matic episodes in modern history. One would 

 look far to find a more absorbing narrative 

 than that which flows on under Parkman's pen. 

 Another brilliant historical work was Eugene 

 Schuyler's "Peter the Great," a biographical 

 study in form, but more properly to be classed 

 as history, as it relates the epic of a nation's 

 civilization. Mr. Schuyler's long residence in 

 Russia and the East, and preparations for this 

 work, have borne excellent fruit in what will 

 remain an American classic. In the exciting 

 and interesting section of modern European 

 history treated by Mr. Schuyler, he has found 

 a congenial field for a mind well fitted for the 

 work. Among the most important contribu- 

 tions, at least in length, were the four volumes 

 of Hubert Howe Bancroft's " History of the 

 Pacific Coast," the subdivisions being "Cali- 

 fornia," the "Northwest," "Mexjoo," and 

 "North Mexican States and Texas." This 

 task, that of writing an exhaustive history 

 of the peoples, ancient and modern, of the 

 western region of our continent from Behring 

 Strait to the Isthmus of Panama, is being 

 pressed with vigor by Hubert Howe Bancroft. 

 The new revised edition of George Bancroft's 

 " History of the United States of America," a 

 work that has become a classic, reached its 

 third, fourth, and fifth volumes during the 

 year, and it is to be presumed that the final 

 touches and improvements of the venerable 

 author have been added. One of the most 

 important books issued in 1884 was Francis 

 Parkman's " Montcalm and Wolfe." This con- 

 stitutes the seventh volume of his series, "France 

 and England in North America." It is the 

 closing chapter in the brilliant colonial episode 

 of France in the New World, and Mr. Parkman 

 presents it with that clear-cut vigor and pict- 

 uresqueness of treatment which have em- 

 balmed his historical studies in such an attract- 

 ive form, and given him an exalted place in 

 our literary Pantheon. A new and interesting 

 line of studies is pursued by E. J. Lowell in 

 "The Hessians." He comes boldly to the 

 rescue of the fair fame of the German auxil- 

 iaries of Great Britain during our War of Inde- 

 pendence. In pursuing his object, he appears 

 to have neglected no means of arriving at the 

 exact facts, and his conclusions would seem to 

 indicate sincerity and good judgment. To the 

 many histories of that fascinating epoch in the 

 evolution of European civilization, the period 

 of the Thirty Years' War, a fresh contribution 

 has been added by the late United States Min- 



