tvtnm 
Kathrina: Her Lite and Mine in a Poem. By J. G. 
Holland. Illustrated by W. J. Hennessy and C C. 
Griswold. Engraved by W. J. Linton [Small 4to.— 
pp. 281.] Now York: Charles Scribner A Co. 
Who wonla not he a poet, and have hie rhythmic 
production? go forth in such magnificence of literary roy¬ 
alty as we see here 1 The very purple and fine linen of 
bookish apparel is here shown. In the more than rich, 
ornate binding, the lavishnesa of guilt, the crcam-tinted, 
superb paper, the beautiful typography, and the numer¬ 
ous admirably penciled illustrations. Surely, the book¬ 
maker's art cannot go beyond this. As a holiday volume 
it probably will not be surpassed. The draw in if are from 
Nature, the artist having vjeited the local- of the poem 
expressly to obtain them, and are excellent sketches of 
New England scenery. Of the poern itself, and its poetic 
merits, we are not now prepared to speak. Wo have not 
found that leisure hour, since Its receipt, which we desire 
to give to its undisturbed perusal. When we do mayhap 
we will allnae to it again. Its immense popularity is 
strongly in its favor. Sold by S. A Ellis & Co 
BY LUC V I.AKCOE 
Fawn-footed Nannie, 
Where have yon been? 
Chasing the sunbeams 
Into the glen; 
Plunging through silver lakes 
After the moon; 
Tracking o’er meadows 
The footsteps of June.” 
Sunny-eyed Nannie, 
What did you see ? 
1 Saw the fays sewing 
Green leaves on a tree; 
Saw the waves counting 
The eyes of the stars; 
Saw cloud lambs sleeping 
By sunset's red bars.” 
Listening Nannie, 
What did you hear? 
‘Heard the rain asking 
The rose to appear; 
Heard the woods tell 
When the wind whistled wrong 
Heard the stream flow 
Where the bird drinks his song. 
Nannie, dear Nannie, 
O take me with you. 
To mo and to listen 
And see as you do! 
' Nay, nay I you must borrow 
My ear and my eye, 
Or the beauty will vanish— 
The music will die !” 
Ruby's Husband. By Marion Harland, Author of 
“Alone,” “Hidden Patti.” “Nemesis,” “ Miriam,” 
etc. [12mo.—pp. 492.] New York: Sheldon & Co. 
We nsed to think Marion Hauland's productions of 
the better class of second-rate novels, pleasing and not 
pernicious reading. This incl ines as to a different opin¬ 
ion. It is the province, of a good book to awaken happy 
thoughts, or enforce a useful lesson Measured by this 
standard. "Ruby's Husband” is not a good book. It 
does not call forth a pleasant, thought throughout; or at 
the most but. few, and smothers these in a mass of mis¬ 
erable rubbish. There is ouly one character depicted 
which it is at all gratifying to contemplate The story 
has interest, of course; so have the disgusting details of 
a murder trial, but they do not Improve one's sensibili¬ 
ties. Mrs. Terucne’s readers deserve better from her 
pen. Sold by D arrow. 
mmm 
Written for Moore's Enral New-Yorker. 
TALKS WITH YOUNG MEN.-No. IV 
Sermons by Henht Ward Beecher, Plymouth 
Church, Brooklyn. Selected from Published and 
Unpublished Discourses, and Revised by their Author. 
In 'two Volumes. Yols. I and II. [Svo — pp 484 and 
436.] New York Harper & Brothers. 
The numerous admirers of Mr. Bf.echer will welcome 
these two large aud handsome volumes. They comprise 
the most ample collection of Ills published and unpub¬ 
lished discourses yet issued, ihere being eighteen ser¬ 
mons in the first volume, and twenty-two iu the second. 
They have been carefully edited by R v Lyman Abbott, 
and finally revised by the author himself, so that their 
version is authoritative. The range of subjects is broad 
indeed, and fitly reflects Mr. Beecher's field of pulpit 
ministration, while containing something for all classes 
of thinkers. We trust these sermons may be widely 
read, that they may widely profit and bless. Sold by 
Dewey. 
Accidental greatness dies youug; and it knows 
no resurrection. It is excited, boasting, egotis¬ 
tical and tyrannical. All the littleness of its com¬ 
mon childhood is lost iu the shadow of Sts present 
brief loftiness, It assassinates poverty, eourts God¬ 
liness under the sun and stabs it under the moon, 
flatters knowledge to keep secret its own ignorance. 
Character never dies; if is bom to live . It is never 
beyond improvement. Man makes his character, 
and his character preserves him. Little promises, 
little debts, little words aud little nets are small 
in themselves, but they are the very weights we 
throw in the balance over against a man’s reputa¬ 
tion. One noble deed doesn’t establish true nobil¬ 
ity. No man can be trusted with the cares of a 
high station until he has proven himself capable 
and honest in lower ones. Better see him swim 
the brook before you bid him try the river. 
And vet, some men begin to rise only when 
Fate seeks to pull them down. Difficulties awake 
them; and what to others seems certain defeat, is 
all that nerves them to win the battle. True bravery 
and true nobility are sby, unassuming. It is the 
traitor who boasts of his loyalty, and the villain 
who modifies his honesty! Honor “vauntetk not 
itself,” looks every man in the face, fearing none; 
asketh no advertising and cannot be flattered. 
Boys, remember these little things, aud don’t 
boast of vour honesty. Boost not at ail! And I 
The Poetical Writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck, 
With Extracts from those of Joseph Rodman Drake. 
Edited by James Grant Wilson [12mo.— pp. 389.1 
New York: D. Appleton & Go. 
Hallec k was not a great poet, With a few exceptions, 
which will ever keep hie memory green, his effusions 
manifest little real power They impress us as the 
work of one who was seldom roused to do the best he 
was able to. Very graceful in conception and finished in 
rhythm they generally are, but not often strong with that 
rare poetic strength shining out in “Marco Bozaris.” 
Yet lovors of good poetry will be gratified to see Mr. 
Haxlkck's complete works in so ta9tyaud even elegant, 
dress; and will only regret that he who was gifted to 
write bo well did not more often keep up to the highest 
standard of excellence. For sale by Scrantom & Wet- 
more. 
The Works of Cuarles Dickens. With Illustrations 
by George Crutkshank, John Leech, and H. K. 
Browne. Dombey & Son, Old Curiosity Shop, Hard 
Times. [12mo.—pp 770.] New York: D. Appleton 
<!fc Co. 
Of this edition of Dickens we can only say what we 
think we have said before,—it is the best cheap edition 
published. Though the type is small, it is clear, and can 
be easily read, the impression being distinct throughout. 
The binding is good, and In it the groat, author's crea¬ 
tions can long be preserved. One of the finest of them 
all is wrapt up in t.he present volume—“little Nell.” 
Besides the three stories named iu the title, several 
Christinas Htoriue are given. Sold by Scrantom & Wet- 
more. 
VAMBERY, THE LINGUIST. 
with them across the Turkomanian Desert to Khiva' 
from there to Bokhara, thence to Samarkand and 
Afghanistan maintaining his disguise until he 
reached Me.sehid, in Persian Chorassan, where it 
was safe for him to again appear as a European, and 
arriving in Constantinople in June, 1884. 
His story of those four eventful years among the 
nomadic tubes which he visited, is as interesting 
as a romance. The style in which he traveled is 
well shown in the engraving. In his ragged old 
cloak were preserved the results of all his wander¬ 
ings. He wrote with pencil, in the Mongolian lan¬ 
guage, and sewed his notes, together with plans and 
maps of cities aud states through which he passed, 
into the lining of his cloak, which finally became 
intricate question of the original derivation of his 
race, (which has long been a subject of profound in¬ 
vestigation on the part of European ethnologists,) 
and hoping, by a practical study of the living lan¬ 
guages of the related grades net ween the Magyars 
and the Turkish-Tartar tribes Of Middle Asia, to 
accomplish its solution, he went to Constantinople, 
where, in the brief space of four years, he mastered 
twenty Oriental languages perfectly. There he was 
mode private secretary of Faud Pasha, and having 
access to the archives of the country brought forth 
many important historical documents. 
In 1861 Vamberv left Constantinople mysteri¬ 
ously, and joining a party of beggar monks, started 
on bis long desired pilgrimage to Middle Asia. 
He proceeded first to Mecca; thence to Teheran, 
the chief city of Persia, where be passed as a pious 
Mohammedan; and then, disguised as a dervish, he 
joined a caravansary of holy dervishes and journeyed 
Arminixjs Vamberv, Professor of the Oriental 
Languages in the University of Pesth, was born in 
the year 1838, at Du:m Szerdahely, a Danubiun 
island, belonging to the province of Prcsburg, Hun¬ 
gary. His father, who died when Vamberv was 
quite young, was a common Hungarian peasant; 
and his mother, a pious Protestant woman, early 
sent her son to the village school. When fifteen 
years of age he attended a school in the city of 
Presbnrg, where he studied industriously, though 
in great poverty, managing to support himself by 
teaching the Slavic cooks aud servants the Hunga¬ 
rian language. His own wonderful talent for lan¬ 
guages developed very early; and when seventeen 
he had acquired, without a teacher, the Latin, 
Greek, French, Italian, English, Servian and Croa¬ 
tian languages,— acquired them not ouly theoreti¬ 
cally, but so as to speak them fluently and correctly. 
Becomiug interested in the endeavor to solve the 
Changing Base : Or, What Edward Rice Learnt at 
School. By William Everett, Author of “On the 
Cam.” Illustrated. [16mo.—pp. 282.] Boston: Lee 
& Shepard, 
Youthful readers are being finely catered to, now-a- 
dayB. The best writers are employing their pens to amuse 
and instruct them, and publishers are elotbing the pro¬ 
ductions of these writers in the handsomest garbs. This 
book is a beauty, in every respect, and as excellent as 
beautiful The lesson It teaches to indolent school-boys 
is 60 interestingly presented that they will not refuse to 
receive it. Sold by Scrantom & Wistmore. 
superstitious, uuthrifty and careless of the future 
than the people of temperate latitudes, when a few 
moments of subterranean convulsion will wipe out 
of existence, the works and accumulated capital of 
gen orations .—Boston Courier. 
MrLDRED. A Novel. By Georoiana M. Craik. Author 
of “Leslie Tyrrill,’’ “Faith Kenwin’e Ordeal,’ - &c., 
&c. [8vo,—pp, 121.] New York: Harper & Brothers. 
The Dower House. A Story. By Annie Thomas. 
(Mrs. Pender Oudllp.) Author of “Denis Donne,” 
“Ou Guard,” etc.., etc, [8 vo.— pp. 121 ] NewY’ork: 
Harper & Brothers. 
Two of the latest numbers of the IIarpebs' Library of 
Select Novels are here given, each good in its way, and 
furnishing pleasant reading. Their style is clever, and 
their tone not objectionable. For sale by Dewey. 
“Arthur,” said Mrs. Campbell, one Saturday 
afternoon, to her son, a boy nine years old, “ can 
you deny yourself a gratification iu order to give 
another pleasured” 
“I don’t know, mother, but at all events I can 
try. What is it you mean V ” said Arthur, who was 
buttoning his boots. 
“ Why, you know little Susan Grey wished, to go 
to Sunday school, Arthur, and you also know she 
caunot go iu her old clothes, and that I am making 
her frock, and tippet, and bounet in order that she 
may go. I shall have to work till late this evening 
to get them done, and your father has just sent 
iu oblong account to cast up before tea, which would 
take me at least an hour. What is to be done, 
Arthur? Is Susan to go without her clothes for 
another week?” 
Arthur hesitated a moment, then ran up stairs 
to his own bed-rootn, and burst into tears. What 
should he do? He only came home from school 
on Saturdays and went hack Mondays; if he 
gave up flying his kite this afternoon he would have 
to wait a whole week before he would be able to fly 
I it; it was a new one, too, and such a beautiful 
breezy day for it, and so many of his school fellows 
were going on the downs with their kites, and he 
wanted to show his; and yet poor little Susan 
would be so disappointed, aud she looked forward 
to going to the school to-morrow. And this last 
thought quite decided him. He put away bis kite, 
and returning to his mother, told her that “ rather 
than little Susan should be disappointed, he would 
stay at home and attend to the accounts.” He felt 
he had done right when he met his mother’s approv¬ 
ing smile. 
Next day at church, Arthur looked toward the 
Sunday school children, and there, in the second 
row, sat little Susau iu her new clothes, looking as 
pleased and happy as could be. The sight quite re¬ 
warded him, and the knowledge, too, that he had 
done a kind action. 
He thought he never spent such a happy dayj 
betore, and when he was just going to sleep af 
ni"ht, his dear mother came and told him hoy 
pleased she was with his conduct, and added, "j 
am sure, my dear Arthur, you were rewarded to 
gain a weak thought, the pleasure becomes ft pain¬ 
ful task. It requires a very great many words to 
make a dictionary complete, but ouly a very small 
portion of them to express ordinary ideas. 
The practice of spelling, orally, regardless of 
meaning, which prevails in very many of our com¬ 
mon schools, is an exceedingly foolish one, and is 
productive of much harm. There is no utility in 
having a pupil learn to spell a word ot which he 
knows not the meaning. The familiar sound of 
the word is constantly tempting him to use it, to 
the amusement of his associates, and to his owu 
embarrassment. 
A resting place for the dead is indispensable iu 
every community, but the lady who was going to 
send her daughter to a cemetery , to learn the dead 
languages, would have found the circumstances 
unfavorable for great proficiency. A -refrigerator 
is useful in its place, but the lady who boastfully 
said their house was wanned by one, did not sug¬ 
gest any new ideas of comfort. l. d. b. 
iivioitisi ifliiicis 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
FINE WRITING AND TALKING. 
Republican simplicity ought to be a character¬ 
istic of the American people iu all respects. In 
a couutry where the national laws and customs 
permit a citizen of the humblest birth to rise to 
the highest position, the show of gilt and tinsel 
ought to he less attractive than among a people 
ruled by kings and emperors, and where the laws 
of the land recognize and establish privileged classes. 
But the bombastic efforts of American writers and 
orators has often been subject to criticism, at home 
and abroad. Nevertheless, we eoutinue to be sup¬ 
plied, daily, with little ideas clothed with big words, 
by these men who, grasping after the sublime, for¬ 
get that according to the teachings of Blair all 
sublimity must be in the object or scene described. 
“ Let there be light," than which nothing can bo 
more sublime, is rendered, “ The Sovereign Arbiter 
of the universe, by the potent energy of a single 
word, commanded light into existence.” “ It is 
pitch dark becomes, “The terrestrial regions are 
enveloped in bitaminous obscurity.” The some¬ 
what vulgar but expressive Yankee phrase ,—"Root 
hoy or die” our high-flowu friends have remodeled 
into, “ Penetrate the subsoil, potciue friend, or ex¬ 
pect an early obituary notice ot your untimely 
demise.” The concise sublimity of CLksar’s, “ I 
came , I saw, lconquered and Grant’s laconic "Push 
things," are lost in the misty, long-worded sentences 
of tiiis class of rhetoricians. 
A little silver-top thimble is a thing known, and 
its use comprehended by every little girl in the 
laud; hut how few of those gTown to mature years 
would recognize it, when scientifically defined as a 
“diminutive, argenteous, truncated cone, convex 
on its summit, and semi-perforated with symmetri¬ 
cal indentations.” 
The object of writing 3hould be to amuse or 
instruct. Beauty Lu style is desirable. A well 
written article, or lecture, or book, more readily 
accomplishes its purpose, and more easily cora- 
One of the curiosities of Printing House Square 
is the huge engine which runs The Mail press, as 
well as many others. This is owned by a firm in 
Spruce street, between William and Nassau, and oc¬ 
cupies the basement of their building. There is a 
large 150-horse-power engine which runs during the 
day, and a 75-horse-power which relieves it at night, 
This engine prints all McLaughlin’s toy books, runs 
the immense establishments of Bradstreet and J. 
Oliver, besides mauy other job printers, a hoop skirt 
manufactory and several binderies, and prints nearly 
fifty papers, besides magazines, and boobs innumer¬ 
able, amoug them the Mail, the Independent, Dis¬ 
patch, Leader, 8t.ar, Examiner and Chronicle, Ob¬ 
server, Courier, Clipper, Wilkes’ Spirit, Turf, Field 
aud Farm, Police Gazette, La Crosse Democrat, 
Ledger, New York Weekly, Literary Album, Sunday 
Times, New-Yorker, Demokrat, Commonwealth, 
Scottish American, Freeman’s Journal, Tablet, Em¬ 
erald, Irish American, Irish People, etc., etc. Truly 
a power in the world .—Neio York Mail. 
Cameos from English History. From Rollo to Edward 
II By the Author of " The Heir of Radclyffe.” [12 
mo.—pp. 475.] New York: D. Appleton & Co. 
History is here treated in a manner novel and attract¬ 
ive. Instead of a continuous narrative, the most no¬ 
table incidents are seized upon, and presented in a style 
clear-cut as the cameo, and thus fitly named. Nearly 
every chapter is a complete picture by itself: aud all are 
well done. As a book for school-room reading, tor young 
ig the World. By Amanda 
iT rust,” “ Stephen Dane," 
pp. 355.] Boston: Lee & 
Sydnie Adriance : Or, Pi 
M. Douglas, Author of 
“ Claudia,” etc. [I2mo 
Shepard. 
AQutETLY interesting story, told in a simple, natural 
manner, quite in contrast with the stilted, sensational 
style now too much in vogue. Some crude school-girl 
ideas crop out, here and there, but the demerits are more 
than overbalanced by the good qualities. For sale by 
Darkow. _ _ __ 
Planciiette’s Diart. Edited by Kate Field. [12mo. 
—naDfcr. dd. 95.1 New York: J. S. Redfield. 
The crust of the earth ou which we live is only 
thirty miles thick. Below that depth the earth is 
incandescent, a mass of (Ire. The great volcanic 
chimneys of Popocatepetl in Mexico, and Cotopaxi 
in South America, are vents for this internal lire. 
The recent, tremendous earthquake which over¬ 
whelmed entire cities and their inhabitants, and 
made funeral waste of the coast of Peru, Ecuador 
and Chili, shows that nature is still subject to ter¬ 
rific convulsions. 
The old theological view of such heart-rending 
catastrophes was, that they were punishments for 
sin. But the very constitution of this glooc ren¬ 
ders such upheavals inevitable. Doubtless the vol¬ 
canic region of South America would be subject to 
such visitations, if not a single human being dwelt 
on its borders. But even the scientific men must 
stand appalled and helpless in the presence of such 
When the firm earth itself 
Gypsies. —These wandering people made their 
first appearance in Hungary in the year 1417, in the 
reign ofSigismund, In Northern Hungary, inhab¬ 
ited by Slavonians, they acquired domestic habits. 
In Southern Hungary, they remoiued nomadic. The 
color of these gypsies varies from white to red. In 
Hungary proper they numberJO.UOO to40,600. There 
their trades are blacksmiths, musicians, aud horse- 
dealers. Maria Teresa endeavored to interest them 
in agricultural pursuits, but unsuccessfully. It is told 
of a band of 1,000 of these gypsies, that they suc¬ 
cessfully defended a fortress against a more nu¬ 
merous force. Driving back their assailants, they 
boasted that their victory would have been more 
complete if they had not expended their powder. 
Hearing this, the enemy returned, captured the fort, 
aud, to their disgrace, killed every gypsy. 
should be written plain cheat . After perusing Miss 
Field’s brochure touching it we still hold to the cheat, 
though it doesn’t seem quite so plain. Persons with a 
penchant tor the curious may be interested In the cheat’s 
diary.__ 
The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, 1]art. 
Complete Edition. [16mo.—pp. 4St.] Boston: Tick- 
uor & Fields. 
The “ Diamond Edition of the Poets, ' of which this 
tasty little volume is the latest issue, was beguu in 1866, 
and Its popularity is still uudimmished. AIL of Scott’s 
nnems are here given, in convenient form and well print- 
a fearful phenomenon, 
ceases to be reliable, and is more treacherous than 
the ocean in a storm, then man is completely dis¬ 
mayed. 
We seem to have entered upon an era of earth¬ 
quakes, The destruction of property on the west¬ 
ern coast of South America by the earthquake of 
August last is reckoned at §200,000,000, and thirty 
thousand human beings were crushed to death. 
No wonder that ho people of the tropics are more 
Gleaning Among the Sheaves. By Rev. C. li. 
geon, Second Edition. [16mo.—pp. 288.] New 
Sheldon & Co. 
A perfect little gem this is, in every respect, 
“gleanings” are from Mr. Spurgeon’s sermons,- 
extracts on almost every topic relating to C’hristia 
and duty. They are all excellent. Sold by Darho 
