New-York tribune., 1871-12-12

e,v,ra record Of such acs Of heroism - have bsen
do.A not to win promotion, wealth, OF success but
for simple duty, mercy, and loving kindness" Many
noble and touching histories are crqbalmed IN tnas
chronicle, which is Of al ages and lands. ana ln
cludes such examples Of simple fidelity ana courage
as that of little Ndsoose Of Roche 6ea" oosr' VINO %
the age Of eleven sacrificed her own fe to save ner
brother from wolf and that Of Jeanne ParelIe,
winner by virtue of her alia piety Of the AontAyon
Prize in the year 1885. And, as the holding up OF
lofty standards excites the soul to effort, and
~He who aims at star i
Shoots higher far
Than he who aims ut tree
the reading Of . book like this by thoughtfu!
child cau scarcely fail to be stimulus toward all
good things.
-Four and That They Did, by Helen c. Weeks
04urti & HoughtOn) introduces us to nursery full
of mischevous, brightminded, afectionate inps, 30
exactly like some we know, that while laughing
over their msadventures, we confess to having ex.
perienced deep sympathy for the parents and guar
dams whose painful-p pleasing duty it was to mend
the clothes, administer the physc, and put arnica on
the bruises of the dsordery brood They are charm
ingly real for all that, and we sure moro than
few little sides VIII shake while reading how Tod
dlekins buttered himself thoroughly and stood
under the spout to test the great question Of birds
and their oil-bags.
From Porter g. Coates, we have The Cdtas-
trophs Of as Hall, rhymed tale about three
kittens, Beauty, Monkey, and Dot, illustrated
with slhouettes by the late Psul Konewks, 30 spr-
rted and 20 funny. that the children who read Will
be apt to agree with the boy on the title-page in
being particularly glad that God did cats" Also
The Book Of Sense, whose nonsense ls only mace
more nonsensioal by the title. The pictures which
are colored, are sufficiently grotesque, and the
rhymes, such as
"There was an old man who said, do
Tell me how I'm to add two aud two!
That 1t does not make four.
| But fear that is almost too few
| are rather more than less funny.
Peal Folks James Osgood & Co.. intro
duces US to a delightful cosy, old-timey home,
wherein some little girls give gracious grandmother
tea-party which we should much like to have been
asked to attend in body as we'll as spirit Our old
friend Miss Craydocke is there leading the fun, and
| by and by the story shifts to IL" and there we
meet the Holabirds again, attend pretty Rosamonds
wedding, and have the satisfaction Of seeing Ruth
and Dakie Thayne join hands for life, as Manifest
Destiny meant they should. 1t is pleasant fashion
of Mrs. Whitneys thus to link old and new, and we
close her book with the comforting conviction that
| we NAV perhaps encounter these nice people again
next year.
We hesitate to say all we think OF what Is perhaps
the most delightful tale Of the season-At the Back
| of tie North Wind, by George Macdonald George
Routledge & co.,. Hesitate, because it Is book for
the few rather than tho many and possesses quality
so subtle that the casual reader will be slow to rec
| ognize it's full charm. Only a true NOrthman, to
the manner born, can appreciate the peculiar aroma
| of the story, which breathes Of certain
rapture Of health. and sweeps and moves
freshly as the wind from which it takes its title,
ro,lsing bewlderng stimulating. refreshing, all at
once. There is o wonderful tangle of the practical
and fancful in the incidents which we do not even
| wish to unravel Little Diamond driving the cab to
support his sick father is not bit more real boy
than when cropping his dreamy way along the but
tress of the Cathedral at midnight or lying Oh the
bosom of North Wind as she flies stormly across the
sea to sink ship. 1t is book to bring color to tho
check and mist to the eyes of an imaginative child.
and yet Deep true tender to its very core, full OF
the poetry and the genius which mako Mr. Mac
donald's older stories 30 remarkable.
Our Christmas stocking seems already full to over
lowing, but more remains which We shall chronicle
! at another time.