The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-05-27
Recent Publications.

DiOIhSio' IOi ndlc D( I1OTlHS, OuOTt anu mar
mon.
These essays, most of them, have appeared
from time to time in Mac'niNdns Magazine or
the Saturday Revieao. They have been carefully
revised and added to, and are now present in a
volume. They will need no word of commen-
dation to those who have become acquainted
with the author through the pages of his
''Short History" Here we find the same ele.
gance of diction, depth of thought, ard evil
dences of careful research that constitute the
charm OF the previous work. The beauty of the
descriptions rival those of Leigh Hunt in their
warmth and sentiment. Striking sentences,
however, such as one SO often finds in Emerson
or Lowell that haunt the memory are rare. A
fresh and racy spirit pervades the whole. EThere
is holiday air about the book that smells of
the mountains and the sea, that will make it a
pleasant companion for a summer journey.
Aside from the historical sketches and two
or three miscellaneous subjects the essays are
descriptive of holiday and vacation scenes.
The opening essay, A Brother of the Poor, is
devoted to the memory of Edward Denison
and his works of charity in the lanes and alleys
of East London. 1t tells US of noble, self
oosOiihSihS hiau w Nv SaNO up luo luAuIleS al Ills
command, and took up his abode in one of the
worst quarters of London to devote his life to
the works of philanthropy. Whose motto
was: "Build school-houses, pay teachers, give
prizes, frame workmen's clubs, help the poor
TO help themselves, lend them your brains; but
give them no money"
Following this are five Sketches in Sunshine.
as the author calls them. These five ESSAYS
are descriptive of Italian towns and life in
Italy. Cannes and St. Honorat, San Reno
and delightful sketch of the Carnival on the
Corncr, its charming simplicity contrasting
with the gorgeous revelry at Rome, are among
the most pleasing pictures of the book. The
characteristic prudence of the Italian IS
never better displayed than in his merriment."
The houses are poorly built to resist the cold
and ''an ordinary Italian positively breads a
fire. He infinitely prefers to. rub his blue
little hands and wait till this inscrutable mys-
terry of bad weather be overpast." Although
the Carnival is church festival it is losing its
significance in this respect and is regarded
more an more as a celebration of the advent
of Spring. Children by the Sea, and Butter
cups are two essays that sparkle with the
bright eyes and happy smiles of children in
their holiday attire, and as we read we breathe
with them the free air of the green fields and
sea shore. The author has, however, to a con-
siderable extent chosen historical subjects,
with which he is so much at home. The
Early History of Oxford, The Home of Our
Angevin Kings, Lambeth and the Archbishops
are "stray studies" in English History that
repay the most careful perusal. Whether the
English or Italian studies are preferred will de-
pend upon the tastes and requirements of the
rea1er. The author penetrates Italy and de-
scribes its beauties with the same vigorous
Fnglish and philosophc spirit that fascinate
US in his home stud,es
POEMS, by Christina G. Rossetti. Published by
Roberts Bros, Boston. For sale by Lorng, Short
Harmon.
So much of the power of Miss Rossetti's work
depends npon individual sympathy of the
reader with the poet, upon the instructive com
prehension of the thought that she sometimes
fails to fully express, that it is difficult even
impossible to define exactly her place among
the singers of the time. Verse is apparently
not facile means Of expression with her;
words rather fetter her thought than aid its
development, and she is possessed by an idea
rather than the possessor OF it. A less in.
tense sentiment would have resulted in more
grace OF manner; the mechanism of her verse
is scarcely strong enough to bear the strain
upon it. The melody and finish that she is
really capable of are best displayed in slighter
poems, such as, Dream Love, and Venus
Looking-glass. In some of her shorter relg.
for
played remarkable fervor, purity and exalta
ton, while in many of the longer ones these
qualities, though present, are obscured by
vagueness and apparent effort of expression.
1t is in elevated womanly feeling that Miss
Rossetti's power lies-her espieglerie is not
charming at all, her poems which are purely
imaginative are apt to be grotesque and dis.
torted such shadows as are thrown in the
moonlight by gnarled boughs, such faces as
grin from cornices of odtime buildings So
far as woman gives to her readers her own
thought and feeling, it is its truest praise that
it be wholly womanly; and it is lin no depre-
citation OF Miss Rossetti's gifts that one feels
instinctively the woman above the artist, and
recognizes her best work in that she draws
directly from the inspiration of her own indi-
viduality. Her art is open to much criticism
of its methods, her nature is strong and
sincere.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
From the Discovery of the Continent. By George
Bancroft. In six volumes. Vol. ~. Boston Little,
Brown & Co. For sale by Loring, Short & Har-
mon.
The fourth volume of the Centenary Edition
of Mr.. Bancroft's History is now before the
public. As each volume appears it becomes
more and more evident that this will be the
history of the United States. The work of
expurgation and abridgement continues in the
same line that has been followed in the pre-
vious volumes. The explanatory notes are
omitted and those chapters relating the atti-
tude of foreign States are curtailed of all that
is superfuous and not absolutely necessary to a
complete understanding of the situation. The
first half of the present volume, that covers the
ground of the sixth volume of the old edition,
has in this latter respect been considerably
condensed. 1t will be remembered that the
sixth volume of the old edition finishes up the
second epoch or How Great Britain Estranaed
America, aud is devoted almost entirely to the
squab5les of the British Ministry and Parlia-
ment in relation TO the American Colonies
This is now all found upon the first 3OS pages
of the present volume, and has lost nothing in
clearness by the change. The last half of this
volume begins the the third epoch, commenc-
ing when America Declares Itself Independent,
and covers the ground OF the seventh volume
of the old edition from 1774-1776 This re-
mains much as it was before. To curtail any,
thing that Mr.. Bancroft might say concerning
the Declaration of Independence and the events
Immediately following, including the Battle of
Bunker Hill, with which the volume closes,
would not be at all to the mind of any Ameri-
can.
IHE COMPLETE PoErICAL WORKS OF JOHN
GREENLEAF WHITTIER. Illustrated. Published
by j. r. Osgood s. Co. Boston. For sale by Bal
ley & Noyes.
This is a well executed edition of the works
of Mr.. Whittier, in style and price adapting
it for popular circulation. He is a poet Pc
culiarly bound to the people by the strength
and sweetness of his words, and it is their right
and their privilege that his writings be easily
accessible to all These poems extending over
period of forty years, ara in no little measure
the hi tory of the heart of the nation during