The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-03-25
Recent Publications,

CARTER QUARTERMAN. By William NJ. Baker,
author Of "The New Timothy" Nose Eyans,s
etc. etc. Published by Harper Brothers. New
York. For sale by Loring, Short & Harmon.
Mr.. Baker continues to follow with genuine
success the path that he has struck out for him.
se'f His stories depend but little upon any
defined and consistently worked out plot; but
are rather sketches of life in the southern states
with as much of incident as would naturally
rail- TO the lot of the characters depicted, and q
strong tendency to the recognition of whatever
is good, and symapthy with the failiugs of bu-
man nature, Such books cannot fail of excel.
lent effect in these times. Although the au-
thor is evidently a Union man, his vivid de-
scrlptions OF the scenes aud inhabitants of the
south and southwest prove that he is personally
familiar with his subject, and appreciating and
depicting the homes from which the rebel SOL
d'ers came forth, be bespeaks our sympathy for
them as brother men, while he is none the less
trde to the cause sgainst which they blndly
fought.
In Garter Qnarterman the delineations of
character are strong, clearly defined, and give
the impression Of being true to life. The charm,
aud dignity of The mother of the hero, the con.
trasting traits of his sisters, the powerful figure
of Colonel Tom, and the character at ooce gro
tesque, noble, pathetic and even grand-of the
deformed boy, form an admirable group. The
story lacks somewhat of the interest and move
ment, and is not an especially agreeable one.
Neither are the sympathles of the reader very
much enlisted for either hero or heroiDe-but
as series of sketches, stroug on a slender
thread of narrative, this volume has original,
genuine worth. The illustrations by Mr.. Elias
j. Whitney merit special commeudation. To-
the Free yet com pact and careful manner of
Darley's outlines, they eyideI &c study as well
as natural force, originality, grace, and q GER
tain excellent trait OF conventionality of treat
ment, which does not interfere with close fidel-
ty to nature. and frankness of manner.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
By George Bancroft Vol. ii Boston: Little,
Brown g. Co. For sale by Loring, Short & Har-
mon.
The second volume of the 'certenary edi
ton" Of Mr.. Bancroft's work carries the his
tory OF the colonies to the treaty of AK Ia
Chapelle, in 1648, ard introduces the reader
10 Washington, then young surveyor in the
woods of Virginia; thus covering the same
ground spread over in the first three volumes
of the larger work. The events treated Of in
the volume are of great and exciting interest,
embracing the Dutch discovery of the Hudson
and colouzstion of New A amsterdam, the
settlements of Penn and his Quakers in the
commonwealth which now bears his name, the
Calvert rule in Maryland, the consolidation of
the Northern Colonies under james III, the
witchcraft delusion in New England, the
French settlements in the valley of the Missis-
sppi, and the war between Great Britain and
Spain
The condensation has been effected by the
omission of the foot notes and by judcious
pruning of the text, pruning which might
with advantage be applied to the rhetoric
The opportunity bas been seized to effect those
corrections made necessary by the progress of
historical research and the discovery of new
materials. Thus we now have in handsome
and convenient form carefully revised edition
moderate in compass and in price, of a work
which is by far the best history of the colonial
period of our existence which has yet been
written, history which leaves little to be
desired and presents much to be praised
THE SoUmE's LEGACY. BY Mary Cecil Hay, au-
thor of "Old Middleton's Money" "Victor and
Vanquished," &c. Published by Harper g Bros,
N. Y. For sale by Loripg, Short and Harmon.
One of the brightest, most refined and charm
ing novels of the day. The plot is not too in
rioate for the comfort of the reader, neither is
1t so palpable that the characters and Incidents
hang upon it like the last leaves upon tree in
November. The interest of the story is steadily
Kept up, the dialogue is lively, natural and uu-
strained, and the characters are drawn with
great delicacy, sureness and individuality of
touch. The heroine, Doris, is simply exquis-
te In her young loveliuess and brightness;
Scot and Kenneth are admirable, each in his
way; and the elder friends that watch and
work for these younger lives are not less
strongly and softly designed. The individual
Ity of each without the slightest tendency to ex-
aggeration or mannersm is a strong proof of the
artof the author. The mingled pathos and
brightness, the force aud tenderness equ ally FEM
inine-of the novel render it a complete sue
cess n its way.
Notes.
And now we have Mrs Browning's Lady
Geraldine's Courtshp, Lowell's Vision of Sir
Launfal, The Deserted Village of Oliver Gold.
smith aud Dickens Christmas Carol published
in the Vest-Pocket Series. IL is difficult to find
anything new to say in praise of these pablrca-
tions. AT first it seemed that their range must
necessarily be limited to the shortest poems
aud sketches, but when we find the Christmas
Carol covering but IA pages, in ,uding six il
lustrations without giving the volume o
crowded appearance we hesitate to set a limit to
their capacity. If any criticism is to be made
of the above mentioned volumes we should say
that the illustrations of Mrs Browning's poem
are hardly up to the high standard OF the 9TH