The Portland daily press., 1876-12-23
Recent Publications.

In THE LEvANr. By Charles Dudley Warner.
Boston: j. R. osgood 8 Co. For sale BY Loring
Short & Harmon.
When Mr. Warner's first book appeared
enemies of his, grasping at opportunity to
crafty malice, called him the American Lamb,
thus seeking to convey the idea that he had
adopted another mans literary method.
Other persons, cherishing no ill-will for Mr..
Warner and thinking the soubriquet highly
complimentary, took up and repeated the
phrase They knew both men sometimes said
funny things and that was to them sufficient
resemblance to justify the comparison. But
Mr. Warner has strong original, graceful
style of his own, for which he owes no other
author thanks Its mest marked character
istlc is wit, and thereto is joined no inconsider-
able share OF humor. He is not of the species
farcew which so abundantly fourishes in
America. He never deals in grotesqueness or
exaggeration to raise laugh. He never strives
with evident effort to say o funny thing
de never writes q paragraph which has
for its only object and excuse the wit
ttcism with which it closes he says many
witty things, but the wit is never forced. We
all wonder at our own stupidity in not saying
them ourselves, for they seem the natural and
proper things to say. Added to this fine quail
ty of wit, he possesses great power of observa-
tion, keen eye for color and form, am-
pie knowledge, wealth of allusion, a gra ,eful
and tender style, and sturdy regard for truth
Just the qualifications a traveller who is to
tell clearly and eutertaingly what he has seen,
should possess
His. latest book, SIN the Lsvant' is all we
should expect from m an so wall-gifted. The
signs of faltering which show themselves in
"Baddeck" are all gone, and the man has got his
pace again, the pace which carried him so mer-
rily round his Garden some summers ago. II
is to be doubted If a truer account of the decay
ing East was ever set down than is recorded In
this volume. Mr.. Warner has not failed to OBJ
serve all the picturesque and otherNnotable OBJ
jects which the land of ruins aud miniscences
offers to the sight-seer but he has spied out the
nakedness Of the land as we'll Side BY side
with or concealing or dishguring the spared
monuments sacred to the Christian
world and those older relics of remote
past which history and tradition have
endeared to us he found squalor, pow
erty. desolation, brumm agen relics, holy places
whose founders yet live. The robe of Oriental
luxury is deep 'broidered with dirt, the rose
and the almond of Damascus exist only In the
vision of romancers, the holy places are held
by thieves who live by laying tribute on tour
lists. While doing ample justice to all desery-
ing Mr. Warner never permits his Imagination
to 'over-possess'' him, never paints the East as
a paradise, never falls into the vein of the
Arabian Nights. The Oriental splendor Is but
a tawdry splendor at its best, the luxury is only
ostentation. He has turned over the magic
carpet and the reverse Of the tapestry Is not sn
attractive spectacle. The first sniff Of the Arab
drives away his enthusiasm and he does not
recover it until he reaches Athens. Still be is
not cynical, he does not decry for the love of
decrying, but he tells the truth and tells it too
in the most entertaining manner. There Is no
want of sentiment, but there is an utter alb
sence of sentimentality. While he delineates
the pretentious poverty of the East, he does not
fail to see and record signs of improvement in
the land so many conquerors have wasted, and
to impress upon his readers deep desire to
visit the cradle of religions and sciences. They
will heartily sympathize with his closing words:
'For myself, now that we are out of the
ORIENT aud away from all its squalor and cheap
magnifcence, turn again to it with q longing
which cannot explain it is still the land of
the imagination"
LEGENDS FROM FAIRY LAND. Published by James
Miller, New York. From Bailey s. Noyes.
This is a beautifully illustrated holiday book
containing the stories of Aladdin, Fortunio,
Laboulaye's exquisite story of Finette, and
others. The spirited illustrations make it very
desirable as gift book