The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-05-17

art of condensing. Too many Of them carry
into the book, which requires conciseness, the
style of the pulpit, which tolerates amphfes.
ton.
ELLEN MoNreoxERIs BOOKSHELF. BY the author Of III.
wide, Wide World" ." Dollars and Cents &c.
Mr. RUTHEaFoRD's CHILDREN. Second volume N-,.
York: G. p. Putnam & Co. For sale by Taylof ,
Maury, Washington.
Dear "Ellen Montgomery" much berateI
though she has been by critics, both American
and English, still speaks to all the hearts which
have throbbed with hers in the Wide, Wide
World" We have here the second volume q
her Bookshelf" as fresh, dewy, and unpra.
tending, as cluster of strawberries in the gra..
of spring morning. To those who have Out.
grown their youth sufficiently to " despiSe child
ish stories," it will not commend itself. Ru,
we prophecy for the brusque ways and naive
sayings of" Sybil and " Chryssa a wide pop.
ularity, among more than denizens Of the uur.
sery like themselves.
RACHEL KILL BY the author of Scenes and Character,
in College, &c. New York NJ w Dodd Il Co For
sale by Gray Ballantyne Washington.
Half century ago, it was the task of story
writer to collect within the compass of his pa
ges the most marvellous, thrilling, heroic Incl
dents, that ever had being in reality or in i'm
agination. The more improbable were his com
binations, the more highly was public curiosity
stimulated and the more brilliant was his suc
cess. A powerful reaction from this high-lovn
style of writing has thrown the novelsts Of the
present age upon common life, its gentle ioys
its fieeting sorrows, its natural and everyday
occurrences for many Of their most powerfully
wrought themes. This is WELL But when
step beyond this is taken, and a writer without
originality of conception, nicely of observation
or appreciation of human nature, descends into
the commonpaces of life, and undertakes to
present us with mawkish dilution Of its every
day flow, we turn from it in disgust 1t isa
marvel to US how the patience of the author
held out through three hundred pages Of such
work as Rachel Kell
LIVES THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND before the Norman
Conquest. BY Mrs. Matthew Hall. Pmlalclrhi,
Blanchard Lea. For sale by Franck Taylor Wa,b.
ington.
Miss Agnes Strickland, through her perse.
vering researches and communicative pen. ha,
long since made us familiar with the Queen,
regent and consort of the British throne, from
the date of the Norman Conquest. But Of their
predecessors, the lively Briton and lair-haired
Saxon Queens, we have had hitherto only shad
owy and contradictory legends. In the words
of the introduction, "no one has before been
found to go back to search amid dusty and
worm-eaten records, for details illustrative of
the vast mine of history, with all its hidden
stores of wealth, from the first to the eleventh
century"
In this untrodden and dimly.lghted path
Mrs. Hall has CLEANED the statistics and anec
dotes that fill up her pages; treasure, doubt
less, to the antiquarian, though rather too dry
at times, for the taste of the general reader
Yet all will note with interest the names and
records of Boadicea the Brave; of Helena, the
mother and co-worker of Constantine of Ber
tina, the first patroness of Christianity upon the
British Isles; of Judith, the stepmother and
early instructress of Alfred; and of Editha the
Good, the idol of Saxon generations succeed
ing. Woman lacked neither her share of the
labors nor of the honors of those stirring sold
times" She seems to have been more nearly
the acknowledged equal of her yoke fellow man,
than in the ages succeeding the Conquest; shar
ing his battles and banquets, and eating even
"from the same trencher with her lord, at grand
entertainments" Many curious bits Of inform
alton about old fashions and customs may be
found in this work. 1t will repay the scholar
for perusal.
KxsSKrH; or The Rear Guard of the Grand Army. By
the Author OF The Heir Of Redclyhr" llears-ase
&c. New York ID. Appleton Co. For sale by Il
Fanham Washington
Ever since the "IIer of Redclyfle" found
its way to the sympathies of thousands, public
interest has Immediately fastened upon any
production of the same pen. Miss Yonge, as
we learn from the English Reviews, is the
mistress of this graphic and delight-gving pen.
"Heartsease," the immediate successor of her
first work, disappointed us. 1t was a sample
from the same vein of quiet domestic English
life, which it's predecessor had so beautifully
shown forth; and, like any second-best' ar
ticle, unsatisfactory.
But this story Of two helpless children,
deserted by their relatives amid famine and
SHOWS, and almost miraculously preserved
through the fatal retreat of Napoleon's army
from Moscow, touches a chord untried before
by the author. AT this moment, when the eyes
of Europe and America are fixed upon the
scenes passing in the Crimea, this narrative OF
like miseries and anxieties is especially appro-
pirate and thrilling. The writer, like true
born Englishwoman, evidently shares little III
Mr.. Abbott's enthusiastic admiration of BONA
parte and all his actions Yet her prcludlces
are never Extensively brought forward. Ken
meth, the young hero, is led through series
temptations best calculated to stir the ambition
and shake the principles of an impulsive boy;
but comes out of the fiery furnace Of trial, like
Daniel of old, mistaken and unframed.
thousand little heart-springs well up in unlock
editor places, among the pages of this and its
sister works.
"Kenneth should be read by every boy and
girl old enough to comprehend true nobility oil
soul and by every one else who does not con-
slider "a love story" a sine qua non to the at
tractiveness of novel.
PROGRESS AND PREJUDICE BY Mrs. Gore. New YORK
Dewitt & Davenport For sale by Franck Taylor
Washington.
The name of this author has been so long
before the public as to need no introduction
Her novels are sure to be read, and as sure 10
be criticised. The volume in hand is an agree
able, chatty companion for an aiter-dinner
lounge, containing no incidents nor develop