The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-05-18

TIE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF CHARLESTON. ..
C. Chronological and Biographical HIS.
tory. embracing period OF one hunoreu
and forty wears. BY William L. King.
Charleston, s. c.. Edward Perry. 1872.
We have received from the author copy OF
this Interesting volume, the contents OF whlch
were fully described In these columns some
time since. Mr.. King, with zeal and indus
try which do him credit, has broughtto light a
variety ofstrlklng facts connected with the rise
and progress of the Charleston press. 10
these are added many pieces of local iniorma.
tion which, without Mr.. Kings assistance,
might have passed into oblivion. A full ac-
count ia given of the different newspapers
which had their day and died; and there are
sketches of the eminent men who, at different
times, have been connected with the local
press. The newspapers now published IN
Charleston are noticed, and in conclusion the
author makes an earnest appeal for the con-
tlnuance of spirit Of kindness and good
fellowship among The conductors of the press
Mr.. King has succeeded In giving the public
valuable little work, the handsome typograph-
ical appearance OF which Is the evident result
ot the directing hand OF skiltul practical
printer.
CR1F. A story of Australian Life. BY B. l..
Farieon. Author OF Joshua Marvel, Blade
o. Grass, &c. New York: Harper Bros.
1872. Charleston: Fogarlle's, King street.
The successor to Dickens, as Mr. Far
icon Is called, chooses his subjects in the
lowest walks of life. but 1t Is not for the
purpose of exciting laughter at the queer
ness of the bed-fellows with whom pow
erty makes them acquainted, nor for carl
caturlng the grotesqueness of their ways.
In all that he writes he suggests for the
consideration of the public the terrible So
cial problems OF the century. The Wretched
boy who Is ignorant of the moral law and
steals LOAF of bread to appease his raging
hunger-is he to blame, or that order OF things
which denies him work and training? The
yacrant who finds that a petty theft will send
him to jail where for some weeks, at least,
he has better food, clothing and shelter than
he can possibly get in the streets-is he to
blame If he longs for prison and thinks liberty
curseg The w.atched girl whose one false
step brands her forever in the eye OF the sister
hoods she alone to blame if she falls lower
and lower, and rests at last on the breast of
the placid river? These and other phases Of
lite are kept before the reader; they are ex-
planned, not as In homily but by example.
Grit, it need hardly be said, Is sad story, and
It is vividly Interesting. In the plot there is
nothing especially striking; but the characters
are powerfully drawn, and there is in the story
q true pathos, which Dickens never reached.
They who read Grlf and its companion works
may lay the volume down with melancholy
sense of the extent OF the cankering sore at
the root of this bossted civilization of ours;
and they may determine to read no more
books which are not printed in rose color
and do not lend happily" but they will have
gained something in the thoughts forced upon
them, and will have made the acquaintance OF
one who, in the opinion of many, is the
strongest and most earnest novelist of the day.
Cloth. Pp 446.