The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-04-17
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE.

'Peter the Parson" are perhaps the best In
the former, the description of the bewilderipg
marshes, the slow streams that wind about the
patches OF watergrass, the strange figure of
Waiting Samuel, and the lonely pathos of
Roxana-form series of pictures not easily
forgotten. The other is full of piteous con-
trasts Of tragic disparities "Wilhelmlna'' is
a tender little story of a German Community.
"Castle Nowhere" is perhaps the most care
fully finished of the sketches, but seems lit
tie unnatural, and wanting in the simplicity Of
some of the shorter ones. Mrs. Woolson's
style is unaffected, poetical, and powerful; her
powers of description are excellent; and her
work is original and sincere. These stories,
which have appeared in various magazines,
will find ready appreciation in their present
form.
The STORY OF VALENTINE AND HIS BROTHER,
By MRS. Oliphant. Harper s. Brothers; from
Loring, Short & Harmon.
Mrs. Oliphant has written many really good
novels and never one better than the story of
Valentine and his Brother.
The attention of the reader is arrested at the
opening chapters and kept steadily up as the
varied scenessof the story move quietly and
pleasantly along to the end. And when the
book is finished and laid aside a good whole
some impression remains. The time spent on its
perusal has not been wasted.
There has been careful and thoughtful artis-
tic management without any contortions for
sensational effect. There have been occasions
for tears without any undue borrowings of The
soul. With the exception of one individual
who assumes the villain role but is scarcely
equal to the emergency all the characters are
good people in regular standing full of noble
impulses and the hereditary virtues that, IN
novels, spring from the family tree. The
scenes are laid in Scotland and at the
English universities with occasional glimpses
of Italy. With all the excelleDces of
Mrs. Oliphant as a novelist she has none great
er than the ability to do what she has done in
this last work-strike the popular fancy and
hold it.
SoNGs OF OUR YOUTH, Set to Music. by the au thor
of John HALIFAX Gentleman. Harper Bros, New
York; from Loring, Short g. Harmon.
This is an elegantly gotten up volume of the
earlier poems of Miss Muloch set to music.
For the most part Swedish, French and
Irish airs have been adopted, Though in some
instances the music is origiual with the words,
some of them being composed by Miss Null
roch herself.
A poem of Mrs. BrowRing, "He giveth His
beloved Sleep and Bryant's "Death of the
Flowers arranged to good music are included
in the collection.
The poetry is all good and the music, though
not particularly striking to the uncultivatcd ear
or unusually brilliant to the critic, is pretty,
appropriate and simple.
oAKRIDeE. By ]. Emerson Smith. Published by
J.R. Osgood & Co. For sale by Bailey & Noyes.
The expectations that would naturally be
formed of novel written by young person
who 'parts his name in the middle" and who
states in an early chapter that SIT commenced
to rain"-will be fully realized. The scene is
laid in Maine and if the storied Rhine or the
yellow Tiber think themselves superior to our
own Kennebec in points of highly romantic in
terest, the volume under consideration cannot
fail to dissipate the delusion. The lavish dis
play of murderous weapons, heightened Ian
guage, converts, and ivory caskets containing
important documents is enough to secure the
historical future of our state, without recourse
to railroad wars or spelling matches.
LITTLE CLASSICS. Ninth Volume. Comedy. Edited
by Rossiter johnson. Boston; y. Il. OsgOou % Oos
For sale by Bailey and Noyes.
The ninth volume of the Little Classics, bear
ing the title Comedy is quite as entertaining
as ony of the eight preceding. 1t contains Bar
ney o. Reirdlon the Navigator, by Lover: Had
dad Ben-Ahab the Traveller, by John Gait;
Bluebeard's Ghost, by Thackeray; The Picnic
Party, by Horace Smith; Father Tom and the
Pope, by Samuel Ferguson; Johnny Darbyshire
by William Hewitt; The Gridiron, by Lover;
The Box Tunnel, by Charles Reade. As will
be perceived the selections are of marked excel
lenCe,