The Portland daily press., 1873-09-13
Recent Publications.

The Perfect Horse. BY w. H. H. SIurry.
The Rev. Mr.. Murray's work on the horse,
so eagerly looked forward TO by lovers of the
noble animal, has been issued from the press
o., j. R. Osgood G. Co. and proves to be All
exhaustive treatise on the subject. We are
told all about the horse, how to know him,
how to break him, how to train him, how to
shoe him, how to drive him. The work is
written in very attractive style, land abounds
in much entertaining gossip as well as in prac-
tical directions and valuable hints. The auth
or has no pet theories to advance. and claims
credit for no remarkable discoveries. In the
spirit of Moliere he takes the good wherever
he finds it, and does not hesitate to avail him
self of the labors OF predecessors in the same
field. Mr. Murray should be named Philip,
for he is an ardent lover of the horse. His
enthusiasm in wr ting of our noted "speed-
ers'' is contagious and it is difficult for the
reader to refrain from participating in it. His
favorites are the Morgan horses. A descrip-
tion of their pedigree he styles ''the history of
kings" This partality, however, does not
the Clay and Hambletonian stock. The book
is replete with wise and pertinent and pract.
cal suggestions, and is withal very enter tain
ing reading, The pedigree of our noted trot-
ters is appended, which will be of interest to
many. The book IS dedicated ''to Ulysses S.
Grant, Pr sident Of the Republic and Lover
of the Horse" A pleasant introduction by
Henry Ward Beeeher, and treatise on ag-
ricdlture and the horse by DR.. George B. Lor-
ing, add to tho value of the work.
For sale by Bailey & Noyes.
The Fair God, or the last of ,he 'Tzins
BY Lew Wallace.
Those who open this volume with the ex-
pectation of finding the great American nov
el are doomed to disappointment. But if
they can content themselves with very pleas
ant reading they will be amply gratifed. The
story hinges upon the Aztec and in1ced well
nigh universal superstition in regard to the
coming of the great white God who is TO set
all matters right and usher in an earthly par
adise, and upon the mistake, doing little cred
it to Aztec penetration it must be confessed,
which caused the welcoming OF the fierce
Spaniard as the expected deity. In word
the book is a romance of the Spanish Con-
quest of Mexico. 1t purports to be a transla-
ton from an old Spanish chronicle, though
the author in predatory note tears away
the all too transparent veil and proclaims
himself the deus &c machina. The story is
pleasantly told, though the machinery is at
times too apparent, and the archaeological
style, necessitated by the Introductory fiction,
is labored and clumsy. Some love scenes are
well painted, out it is in battle descriptions
that the writer seems most at home. These
are wildly painted, but grow monotonous
from their frequent recurrence. The action
terminates, dramatically and artistically, in
the might of sorrows"
Published by j. R. Osgood & Co. For sale
by Bailey & Moves.
A Simp .etOn. BY Charles Reade.
Everyone reads Charles Reade's works, be
they good or bad, and we al! know he has
written both well and i'll. "a Simpleton'' is
much the best of the later works in skill of
construction, in decency, in sustained inter-
est. 1t is really free from nastiness, and the
plot is very probable,-for Mr.. Reade. The
dialogue is crisp and natural, and the char
acters are admirably delineated, especially
the women. The young physician is alto
gether too good for this life, and ought to
have died young. 1t is scarcely necessary to
assure our readers that the story is one of alb
sorbing interest.
Two editions are published, the ''house-
hold edition." uniform with Reade's preced
ing novels, by J. r. Osgood & Co. and for
sale by Bailey & Noyes, and Harper's edi-
tion. also uniform, for sale by Loring, Short
& Harmon.
Arthur Bonnicastie. by j. G. Holland.
DR.. Hollands latest work will undoubtedly
take rank as his best literary performance yet
achieved. There is much good writing in the
work, though he still retains his old habit of
gravely uttering truisms as if they were new
ideas forged in his own brain. The great
merit OF the work consists in its pictures of
child-life, which we may easily believe 10 be
drawn from personal experience and recoec-
ton. The most strongly-written portion is
that which treats of the great Bedow re-
vival,-a portion which viii undoubtedly
draw down upon It's author much fierce criti-
csm. The plot is forced and improbable,
the characters, with the exception of Mrs.
Sanderson, who is finely drawn, and Peter