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LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1884. (TBAVEL.) 



J. Clark Redpath, Charles Wolcott Balistier, 

 W. Ralston Balch, H. J. Ramsdell, Ben Perley 

 Poore, and Russell H. Connell, glorified the 

 virtues and public services of Blaine and Lo- 

 gan; while a similar service was bestowed on 

 Cleveland and Hend ricks by Deshler Welch, 

 Chauncey F. Black, Pendleton King, William 

 E. Dorsheiraer, and G. T. Ferris. 



English biographical works reprinted in 

 America included many noticeable books. 

 First among these must be mentioned the 

 concluding volume on Carlyle by James An- 

 thony Froude, which covers his life in London 

 from 1834 to his death in 1882, and, of course, 

 includes the whole of his most important liter- 

 ary activity. The book is one of great interest, 

 and gives us a revelation of Carlyle's literary 

 and personal life, which leaves a sad feeling 

 behind it in the bold revelation it makes 

 of the weakness and selfishness of a man of 

 genius. A very bright sketch of Luther was 

 published by Mr. Froude the same year. A 

 book inferior to none of recent years in inter- 

 est of a widely varied character the public has 

 found in the " Correspondence and Diaries of 

 Right Hon. J. Wilson Croker." A prominent 

 official, a man of great vigor both as writer and 

 politician, the intimate of most of the distin- 

 guished men of his age, no recent book has 

 been so full of entertaining matter, or thrown 

 more light on English politics and statesmen 

 for a period of nearly half a century. Croker 

 had many strong enemies as well as warm 

 friends, and his anecdotes and reminiscences, 

 if often flavored with bitter malice, have a 

 peculiarly racy flavor. James Payn's " Some 

 Literary Recollections " and Edmund Yates's 

 " Fifty Years of London Life " have also 

 aroused considerable interest as vivid and live- 

 ly portraitures of literary and other public men 

 during a more recent period. The " Life and 

 Times of the Reverend Sydney Smith," by 

 John Reid, is more than a mere biography, 

 like the three preceding works, in that it deals 

 very largely in graphic pictures of the time in 

 which the subject of the biography lived. The 

 "Life of Reverend Frederick Denison Mau- 

 rice," one of the most eminent of English 

 churchmen, written by his son, Col. Maurice, 

 yields to no work of the year in interest. Mr. 

 Maurice exerted by his character and teaching 

 an influence on the religious life of his day of a 

 deep and far-reaching character. The life of 

 Maurice had significance rather from its spirit- 

 ual importance than from any external relation. 

 A pleasant book is found in "Jane Austen's 

 Letters," making a lively memento of a woman 

 whose genius is an English classic. To the 

 " English Men of Letters Series " were added 

 Courthope's " Addison," Claude's "Bacon," 

 and II. D. Train's "Coleridge." The last- 

 named book was of unusual interest, and a 

 very suggestive and able monograph. Flint's 

 "Vicp" was added to the "Philosophical 

 Classics Series " ; the new volume of the " Great 

 Musician Series " was Rockstro's " Mendels- 



sohn," a very well planned and executed book ; 

 and in " Illustrated Biographies of Great Art- 

 ists " we had Mottell's " Watteau," a painter 

 better known to the few dilettanti and to 

 connoisseurs than to the general world. The 

 English additions to the u Famous Women 

 Series," which is of an international character, 

 were Mrs. Pitman's " Life of Elizabeth Fry," 

 Vernon Lee's "Countess of Albany," and Miss 

 Rennell's "Mary Wollstonecraft." Mrs. Fry's 

 successful efforts to abolish the atrocities of 

 English criminal law are well described by the 

 author. The delineation of the conditions and 

 characteristics of the time which produced the 

 Italian dramatic poet, Vittorio Alfieri, by Ver- 

 non Lee, and her story of his strange relation 

 with the wife and widow of Charles Edward, 

 the Pretender, are very entertaining. The de- 

 fense of Mary Wollstonecraft, wife of Godwin, 

 the author of " Caleb Williams " and " Politi- 

 cal Justice," and the mother of Shelley's wife, 

 while it does not satisfy the judgment, yet 

 largely palliates the errors of a woman who 

 was at least as much sinned against as sinning. 

 Nohl's " Life of Liszt " was translated from the 

 German as an addition to the " Biographies of 

 Musicians." The large part taken in recent 

 events in Egypt by Gordon Pasha prompted 

 two books, one Archibald Forbes's "Chinese 

 Gordon," the other, by Egmont Hake, " Gor- 

 don in Central Africa." The "Biographical 

 Sketch and Letters of Alice, Grand Duchess 

 of Hesse," by her sister, Princess Christian, 

 and " More Leaves from the Journal of a Life 

 in the Highlands from 1862 to 1882," by Queen 

 Victoria, were both received with interest. A 

 new volume of essays was issued by Max Mtil- 

 ler under the title of " Biographical Essays," 

 which gave sketches of several of the leading 

 German scientists. The German Boswell of 

 Prince Bismarck, Dr. Moritz Busch, in " Our 

 Chancellor," furnished a very readable but eu- 

 logistic account of his hero, which was trans- 

 lated into English. Henry Irving, the actor, 

 was sketched by Joseph Hatton and Daly in 

 books of some pretension, and Wolfe's " Sir 

 Moses Montefiore " pictured the life of the Jew- 

 ish centenarian and philanthropist. To the 

 above works may be added Lord Ronald Gow- 

 er's "Reminiscences," Samuel Smiles's "Men 

 of Invention and Industry," Washburn's " Span- 

 ish Masters," Dobson's "Thomas Bewick and 

 his Pupils," Bayle's "Richard Baxter," Anna 

 Buckland's " Record of Ellen Watson," Haw- 

 eis's "Musical Memories," Robertson's " John 

 Bright," Hector Berlioz's "Autobiography," 

 and Jean's "Creators of the Age of Steel," 

 the two latter-named books being exception- 

 ally interesting and well executed. Hector 

 Berlioz shows that nature gave him as much 

 talent for literature as it did for what ho made 

 the work of his life, music. 



Trayel. In the literature of travel there were 

 not very many notable books, though the year 

 was not altogether wanting in interesting works 

 of this description. Melville's " In the Lena 



