The Portland daily press., 1875-03-06

case He admits the possibility OF psychic or
soul-force. by which objects may be moved by
exercise of the will without physically touch
ing them, and thinks the theory may be accep-
ted without believing in spirits, but admits
that it is illogical to deny to dead spirits what
is conceded to the living, from which we may
infer that he is, as Mr.. Tilton would say,
"sure" that spirits might communicate with
us, but certain" that they do nos
To throw some light upon spifit-poems ne
gives one written by himself when suffering
from the effects of sulphuric ether, from which
we quote:
Sand sang to the princess OF ghouls-
To Lilitha, Princess OF Ghouis.
.rbev call thee princess of the land OF never.
Where worms on beauty dine,
But be thou princess OF what lana soeVer'
Come quaff the living wine,
And to thy damned ghastlness forever,
Take this mad heart OF mlne.
Compare the effect of hard boiled eggs upon
Dick in the dodge Club"
saThe big Ig-u-anodon hunched,
And rooted In under me;
The big Ig-u-anodon,
Raise by that pan O don,
Over done eggs for tea.'
1t will be seen that eggs are more rhythmical
than ether, and if our mad heart were to be
taken we should turn around and throw 1t az
the feet of the gentle Iguanodon.
SPORTS THAT KILL by the Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage; Harpers, N. York, From Lorng, Snort
& Harmon.
Eleven sermons violently attacking the The
atrs and what he regards as accompanying
evils His illustrations are perhaps not more
valuable in proving the immoral influence OF
the drama than an equally reliable collection
of illustrations of the wickedness of the clergy
would be in proving the deleterous influence
of Christian worship. The story OF the streets
of Constantnople running with the blood OF
the Chris tians contending over the meaning
of a word which defined the essence OF Thirst
the drained lakelet by the convent OF the mid :
die ages showing bottom strewn with infans
bones, the massacre of ST. Bartholomew, and
the long and ever frightening record of clerical
immo,alities will not convince US that the
Christian religion is not beneficial to morality
aud virtue; and Mr.. Talmage's sermons will
not convince lovers of the drama that the stage
is wholly bad But when we arrive at the
point at which we close our ears to the moni-
tors who point out the evils of either, we are
well on the road to Generalization His main
point is worthy of consideration. Would you
wish YOUR innocent sons and daughters to be
educated in the society of the people who make
up the bulk of the companies who perform be-
fore you? Are not the majority of perform
| ances, lin New York, remember) subversive OF
public decency? We might ask, have we not
| in times past, had representations in Portland
| not entirely moral in their tendencies? We
| think we can remember a time when the Opera
Bouffe gave Belle Helene in this city, to what
| we supposed was an assemblage OF our best
society; and the most improper song, accom-
| panied with the most improper gestures, was
rapturousy encored twice! Let Us read Tai
mage; perhaps the Puritans were right.
HEARTS AND HANDS. By Christian Reid. New
| York: D. Appleton q Co. From Bailey & Noyes
"Hearts snd Hands is the title of very
readable book and will, no doubt, be received
by the youth of America with avidity.
The construction of the story is simple, with
out any unusual plots or incidents, and it is
carefully and conscientiously written, being a
faithful portrayal of fashionable summer life.
The heroine, an ingenious young person fresh
and blooming from the country, goes to White
Sui hur Springs to see the world and to be
| seen of it. She is accompanied by her father
to do escort duty, pay the bills, and study phi
losopby-a very proper sort of father but rare
| in real life.
In a marvellous short space, by cultivating
the inherent faculty for Irritation which is
said to exist even in the most guieless maid
ems, this fair one finds herself surrounded by
lovers in plenty and to spare, and she enjoys
herself accordingly. She annihilates most OF
the we'll seasoned bellies without pang. She
flirts in perfectly decorous manner by the
soft moonlight. by the glimmering starlight
in the purple twilight, or in the broad glare of
sunlight, and occasionally in no light at ALL
thus managing and utilizing the whole twenty.
four hours of the natural day. She wastes no
part of her immortal time, except perhaps, an
occasional nap to preserve her health and
beauty, and the little season set apart for med
itation and prayer she devotes to cogitat-
ing on the particular points of each partcu
lar suitor, and wondering which one OF them
all she shall marry, as in the present state OF
the woman's rights movement she could not
marry them all-perfect happiness not being
permissible in this mundane sphere. We ap-
pend the concluding sentences:
'The future which we are going to meet to-
gether" says Langdon, with the gravity of deep
happiness in his Together in heart and
hand-are we not Sybil?"
And Sybil answers:
"Yes, together in heart and hand"
THE LAW AND THE LADY. novel; BY Wilkie
Collins. New York: Harper & Brothers. For
sale by Lorng, Short & Harmon.
"The Law and the Lady," the latest OF Will
kie Collins wonderful stories, has been added
by the Harpers to their neat library edition of
his works. As mere story-teller Wilkie Col
Inns is unsurpassed. We may quarrel with his
art, we may crticise his treatment of charac-
ter, we may object to the improbabilty of his
tales, but we must allow that he is unrivalled
in the construction of plot He succeeds in
exciting interest and strong curiosity, and in
sustaining them to the last page of his books.
This we hold to be the highest art OF the
raconteur considered merely as such. His last
novel exhibits all the characteristics OF his
style in management of character and plot,
and is, in certain respects, superior to any
thing he has written since the publication OF
the "Moonstone. Its object is to expose
some of the Objectionable features of .sthe Eng
fish marriage laws, and the theme is handled
strongly and with great ability.
The MORTALITY OF PRoHIBIToRY LIQUOR LAWS.
By William B. Weeden. Boston: Roberts Broth
ers. For sale by Loring, Short g. Harmon.
This essay is the amplificaton of paper
read before the Unitarian National Conference
at Saratoga. The writer believes, as he states
in his preface, "that the whole fabric of our
legal and political action has been strained and
injured by the institution and administration
of liquor laws, and that one of the first and
most important steps in the reform of civil
government must be to turn the humane tenn
perance impulse away from its abnormal action
in law and in the state, and to give it natural
play in the ethical improvement of the indi-
viGual man of society" His argument is very
ingenious, and the moderation OF his tone will
command respectful hearing from those who
utterly reject his logic.
Books Received.
The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism.
By Oscar Schmidt, Professor in the University of
Strasburg. With twenty-six woodcuts. Vol. XIII
of the International Scientific Series. Cloth, 1874
pp New York: ID. Appleton q Co. Portland:
Bailey & Noyes. ... ....