The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-06-03

lowing acknowledgment was received,
yesterday, by the committee in this city
who had charge of the Richmond fund:
RICHMOND, May 81, 1870.
Messrs. G. II. Manson, L. d. Chilos, A.
G. Haskell, Committee, Columbia.
GENTLEMEN: am in receipt of your
the citizens of Columbia, through you,
for the aid of the sufferers by the
calamity in our city 9th ultimo. For
this generous donation in behalf of the
sufferers and the committee, I return
you our warmest thanks. There are on
our books ITO injured receiving benefit
from the fund. Respectfully yours, &C..
j. DAVENPORT, JR., Treasurer.
New BooKs.-Messrs. Duffie & Chap
man have furnished us with copy of
Harper's Library of Select Novels"
No. 33S-"Beneath the Wheels" ro-
nance, by the author of ''Olive Varcoe," :"
Simple rs Dove" etc. Price so cents.
We cannot commend this work. Not n
single beam of hopes sunshine fits
across the path of its unhappy charac-
ters, from the time they commence to
persistently misunderstood each other in
the first page, until they reach their
mournful fates upon the last. It reads
more like the morbid visions of con-
valescing lunatio, than an honest at
tempt at fiction. AS for the characters,
nothing SO utterly incomprehensive or
unnatural ever lived or ever could live in
any time or place. The men, particu-
larly, are puppets, destitute of mind,
feelings and tastes, from Lord Crehils,
titled idiot, Michael Peelew, fright
full example of depravity and bliousness.
The heroine, Madeline Singleton, around
whose efforts in vindicating the fair fame
of her family all the other puppets re-
volve, is frightful creature. The plot
of the story turns upon the murder of
Miss Madeline's father, who certainly
ought to have been murdered, from the
description given of him. To sum up,
however, the author has endeavored to
out ut-sensationalize Miss Braddon, without
| the force or vigor of that writer, and has
made up for it with painfulness of de-
tail which tests the limits of forbearance
Messrs. Bryan & McCarter have laid
on our desk a new work, just issued by
the Harper's-" -"Miss Van Kortland. -
The author of "My Daughter Elinor''
has tried the dangerous experiment of a
second book-with somewhat question:
BILE success. The faults of "Miss Van
Kortland" are even more prominent than
were those Of her elder sister. Too great
disposition to caricature, and an np-
parent inability to grasp the finer shades
OF thought and motive which differen-
tiate character, are grave defects in q
novelist, and these are very evident in
the book. It is cleverly but unequally
written. In spite of all this, however,
there is power in the book-power of
dialogue, of passion and of purpose.
A new edition of Grace Aguilar's
works has just been issued by Messrs.
D. Appleton & Co., at 81 per volume,
illustrated and bound in cloth. Messrs.
Bryan & McCarter have presented us
with the two first: "Home Influence" o
tale for mothers and daughters; "Tbe
Mothers Recompense, u sequel to
"Home Influence" The works of this
talented jewish authoress are perused
with pleasure by all classes. A compe-
tent writer says of her:
"Grace Aguilar belonged to the school
of which Maria Edgeworth was the foun-
dress"
"Whnt fetile mind was that of Grace
Aguilar! What an early development of
reflection, of feeling, of taste, of power,
of invention, of true and earnest elo-
quencc!
"Grace Aguilar knew the female heart
better than any writer of the day, and
in every fiction from her pen wo trace
the same mastorly analysis and develop
ment Of the motives and feelings of wo-
mans nature"
In the preface to "Home Influence"
the authoress snys:
"Leaving tho beaten track of works
written for the young, the authors aim
has been to assist in the education of the