The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-12-06
VOL. TX.

Tact, or fiction. Probably its place is partly
with both. Its plan is an unfortunate one for
1t at once reminds the reader of the Arabian
Nights, only the present volume is divided. in
stead OF nights, into ffty-four days Besides
TINS species of affectation, there is also the
further one of presenting the author partly As
narrator in the third person. and partly IN
the first. The anachronisms he commits sbo,,,
that his memory is not always to be trusted -.
and were we to characterize the hook ~ .
chronological product, we should say. saIces.
TEEN, large; combativeness, ditto; locomotive
ness, prominent; and so on. There is AN mir
of exaggeration, which borrows intensity from,
the halfromantic and serio-comic mode of mar.
ration, which causes a lurking suspicion tbo,
the author is laughing behind the veil AT tb,
creduhty of those who take the story to Ia
meant as anything but 4 tale founded perbans
on slender basis of reality. The best part
OF the work is the insight given of the inhab.
ltants OF the Indian Archipelago, their man.
ners and customs, aud mode of life. Still
even for this kind of knowledge, such is The
whole cast OF the work, we feel it worth noH,
ing, compared with the plain and straisht.for
ward, though more staid and less amusing az
counts of Sir Stamford RalfIes and other fro,
oilers. 1t would have been better. we tb;nl
had the author told his story, and given H..
incidents that transpired, less ambitiouslv IN
simple, sprghtly, and graphic manner. We
are reminded, as we read much of it, of Mayo,y
works, and others of that class, which bav..
recently come from the press; and had tb.
writer confined himself to writing, a work ~
fiction, or a simple truthful narration. his sn.
cess, we are confident, would have been great
er. AS it is, he seems trammelled with n lean.
ing now to one and now to the other. so tba,
he cannot do himself justice either way. $.
WOMAN AND HER DISEASES. from the Cradle to The t;,
Adapted exclusively To her instruction IN the phy.o
gy OF her system, and all the diseases of her c,,I
periods BY Edward IL. Dixon. NJ D. Editor nj h
Scalpel, Sc. Tenth Edition. New York 4 R,,,.,
1853
The author of this volume. well known :,
the medical world, has treated subject en-
barrassed with many difficulties for popular in
struction, delicately and been enabled. bv H..
course lie has adopted, to combine much i'm.
portant instruction with manifestation If @
spirit Of kind sympathy for the sufferings Of q
large part of the human family. 1t is not de.
signed to take the place of more elaborate dis.
cussions of the topics for medical men: but +,
is such a book as judcious mother will Glad.
ly avail herself of, to gather hints as TO tl,a
physical training of her children, and the pre-
vention of evils by which disease and suileripg
are introduced. The remarks on dress. dieI ,,J
exercise, are valuable, and deserve to be well
studied.
Juno CLIFFORD; Tale, by Lady. New York An.
pieton Co. One volume, PIP. 40. Sold bv TayI.rA
Maury, Washington, ID. C.
This book is beautifully got up, in a STYLE
worthy of the purest and best inspirations of
genius. And having said this, we have said
all we can say in commentator of the book.
The story Of Juno Clifford is n story of the love
of married wife for an adopted son of her
husband and We wonder such tale should
have found such publishers. *
BEEcncRorr. BY the Author OF" The Heir OF Redc,a.r
In beautiful contrast with luna Cy;eary 49,.
have new volume from Miss Yonge. in which
the moral, and the illustrations of the moral
are all such as we can commend and a.,
prove. "a.
EsrELLE GRANT; or, the Lost Vic New YorA. ,,,
retl Davis. One volume PIP 81
This work may be drawn from real life. a,
the author says it is in his preface, and ",les
titute of all coloring, other than that which is
a rounding up, as it were of rough edges"
But it is q sort Of life, and among a class Of
society, no one would wish to see in their own
houses; and we think such scenes and such
life had better be left in the dark places, TO
which, by the laws of good society, it is now
confined.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS or, tine Shadow OF Fare New
York: Appleton & Go. One volume. PIP. 30 Sold bg
Robert Farnhan, Washington. ID. e.
This is a story of fashionable life, which
opens in the lovely City of EIms, but is soon
transferred to the City of New York. The aim
Of the author is to show how errors, which
seem venial, may, by Indulgence, grow into
crime. The style is ornate, and overburdenei
with epithets, of which we have here a sampI-,
not perhaps the richest, nor the best in the
following, from scene in Trinity Church:
" Eva had often heard Judge Woodward ca
press his admiration Of pretty hand She
saw the fair hand of Florence, whose delicat,
beauty, and soft, creamy Wilderness, seemed 10
WOO the beholder to touch its velvety softness-
she saw that little hand, upon which gitterei
a single diamond Of intense lustre, resting CO.
quettishly on the crimson velvet cushion, which
its whiteness, and saw the eyes q.
Judge Woodward rveted admiringly upon +.
What wonder that the scene swan before ha,
and a painful, sickening sensation thrilled
through her whole Frame
SPAIN AND THE EUROPEAN ALMEg.-A cor
respondent of the London Meas, writing from
Paris under date of the l4th of November, pro-
fesses to transmit the exact sense, and nearly
the very words, Of declaration recently made
by General Espartero to q gentleman who had