The Portland daily press., 1876-01-08
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE

Bailey q Noyes
Anything which Prof Price has to say on
currency is worth reading. The soundaess of
his premises, the strength and lucidity Of his
argument, and the viyaclty Of his style COM
mend him to the favorable attention Of both
the student and the general reader. The pres
ent work is founded on his lectures on the
principles of currency, delivered at Oxford in
1869. OF currency there is little absolutely
new to be said, and the writer who has studied
his subject can only hope to present it in new
light. and to command attention by the novelty
OF the presentation and the attractiveness of
the garb in which the old thoughts are dressed.
But while there is little new to be said there is
much new to be learned by most people; and
it is found necessary to present the very ele-
ments OF finance again and again. Men hold
to false ideas of the nature and value of cur
rency as they hold to the possibility of perpet-
ual motion, and fallacies in finance and phys.
'cs have to be exposed over and over again.
ln these times especially, when the untutored
western mind is brooding over the old mis-
take OF inconvertible paper currency and
thinking it has made a wonderful discovery,
grammars of finance are more than ever neces-
sary. Prof. Prices work however is ssme-
thing more than an elementary one. 1t is an
able exposition Of the principles and practice Of
currency. In three chapters, on metallic cur
rency, on paper currency, and on banking, he
very fully sets forth the true nature of money,
the proper functions of paper, and the popular
fallacles regarding both. As he correctly says
'The abbreviations and the slang Of the stock
exchange and of banking incessantly corrupt
ideas on currency; and confusion of language
ever begets confusion of thought" The aim
Of bis work is to clear up this confusion, and
he has succeeded admirably well. The chap
ter on banking is of special interest, because
tue vast cheque and clearing system now in
vogue is of comparatively recent growth, is
not yet perfected, and is open to many alter
ations and improvements.
ROCKS AHEAD; or, the Warnings of Cassandra.
By W. r. Greg. Boston: j. R. Osgood g. Co.
For sale by Bailey s. Noyes.
The rocks which this modern Cassandra In
trowsers finds in his and the peoples path are
political. economic and religious. We have
fallen upon evil days, he thinks He fears that
the working men are to be the ruling class,
that the supply of coal is to give out, that
England is to lose her commercial supremacy,
that the church is to tumble to pieces, that
Christianity is to be discarded, that the dema.
gogue is to govern the world. Mr.. Greg is q
pessimist by temperament, takes very gloomy
view of affairs indeed, and has the gravest of
forebodings. But his tone is not altogether
despairing, and he endeavors to show how the
dangers that he ;apprehends may be avoided.
There is much truth in what he says, good
ground for some of his apprehensions Many
of the evils of which he speaks are real, and
while we believe that things are after all work.
ing to the highest good, and that we are nearer
the Christian ideal than ever before, it Is well
to lend an attentive ear to Mr.. Greg's warn.
ings, and not to trust blindIy to fortune and
circumstance to extricate US from the evils un-
der which we may be suffering.
In the present edition Mr.. Greg makes a
reply to his critics, and measures swords with
Matthew Arnold, Lord Lytton, Grant Duff,
and others. In an appendix he treats Of the
United States in recent years, and draws a
dark picture which will both amuse and yex
us-amuse US because of its incomplete state
mentsI and false differences, and vexes us be-
causeiof its depreciatory tone.
The INN ALBUM. By Robert Browning. Published
by j. r. osgood & Co. For sale by Bailey q Noyes.
A notice of Mr.. Browning's latest poem
from point of view wholly literary will be,
OF necessity, very brief; for he-by wilful and
iusolent disregard of the laws and eEsn Of ths
instincts OF POeticsN good
-taiion of various blemishos of style. wbolIy
unnecessary additions to those which originally
belonged to him-paces himself almost out
side the domain of literary criticism. The
only interest that the analysis of "The Inn
Album could possibly possess would be to
those curious in mental and psychological
matters; and it might afford an excellent topic
for an essay by DR.. Maudsley or some other
specialist, as a study of mental and moral
obliquity. in which some valuable differences
might be made as to the relations of morbid
brain and soul conditions, in what degree they
are interchangeable, whether they are mutually
cause and effect, and how far the author of
such poem as ''The Inn Album is to be held
responsible to literature for his style and lam
erage, or to civilization for his want of mo-
rality, which has not even the pagan grace of
spontaneous art.
ENGLISH RADICAL LEADERS. By r. j. Hinton.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. For sale by
Loring, Short g. Harmon.
The first volume of "Brief Biographies"
prepared by Colonel higgins, met at once with
popular favor. Quite as cordial welcome will
be extended to this one, which contains ac-
counts of men who fill a large share of public
attention on this as we'll as on the other side OF
the Atlantic. The subjects are divided into
four groups: "The Independent Members"
comprising Professor Fawcett, Sir Charles Dill
ke, Peter A. Taylor, Sir John Lubbock, Joseph
Cowan and Robert Meek Carter; "The Labor
Agitation and its Friends" describing Hughes,
Mundella, Mac Donald, Brassy and Morley;
Parliamentary Agitations," including Plimsoll,
Lawson, Mail and Richards; and popular
Leaders, consisting of George acob Holyoake,
Joseph Arch, Charles Bradlaugh, George Odger
and Joseph Chamberlain, the energetic Mayor
of Birmingham. These are men of whom we
all want TO know, and the concise sketches of
them in this volume will be read with interest.
The ROMANCE OF PERFUME LANDS BY Clifford,
Perfumer. Boston: Published by Clifford. For
sale by Loring, Short & Harmon.
"Clifford, Perfumer," is Clifford, scriyener,
as well, and has succeeded in giving interesting
facts about perfumes and toilet articles in the
guise of an entertaining story of the search for
one Captain Bradford Cole who is an original
in his way. There Is a certain romance about
perfumes which renders their natural history
suitable agent for the purpose of the story-tel-
Ter. Tie author of this volume uses slovenly
English it is true, but he succeeds in telling
tale which is tolerably interesting. In the
web of this story he has woven copious and ac-
curate descriptions of all the Articles known to
the art of periumery. The book win be Of
special value to those interested in perfumes,
and of general interest to all readers. 1t con-
tains upwards of thirty engavings, and is bound
in a style which may be described as gaudy,
but not neat.
SELECTIONS FOR READING AND ELocUrIoN. BY
j. W. Keene. Brunswick: A. G. Tenny. For
sale by Loring, Short s. Harmon.
The design of this volume was to furnish
satisfactory manual for use in the elocution
classes of the evening high school, Boston,
1t met with so great favor there that the pres
ent edition has been undertaken The selec-
tions are of all kinds, from lively to severe,
many of them, of course, and of propriety