Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-06-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

preparation, the nanulnS VI Sieao iaDoi
The evidences of his exhausting research ap
pear in every page. His style is model Of
conciseness and clearness, and the dramatic
interest he throws about the story OF the
sturdy Dutchman of whose country ne writes
and about the wonderful man who is the cen
ter of the work, is not equalled in any similar
work of which we have knowledge. The author
speaks very modestly of his own work, as he
remarks that the period comprehended In hi;
book is not heroic period, and John de
Witt is, in no sense, q hero. His age has
little in common with the noble epoch de
scribed with such graphic force by Motley,
and in studying it we are moving in alto
gether a lower world of human interest, pas.
sion, duty and activity. But this has had
less to do with the neglect of the period by
modern Dutch historians than the extreme
difficulty, and the ever-recurring impossible
ity, of getting at the precise measure of De
Wits personal work and influence and 1t
is the overwhelming labor this entails among
unpublished manuscripts that has stood IN
the way of any serious attempt being hlth-
erto made to write an account of his lite or a
history of his administration. His public
life, and all that can be CLEANED OF his prl-
vate life, lie entombed beneath mountains OF
imprinted letters and documents. Yet. IN
some respects, so scanty are the materials
that, for some years before he entered on
public life, his professional occupation and
whereabouts can only be arrived at by
piecing together the addresses OF the extant
letters sent to him by his friends. And, as
regards his public life, each town OF the
10
province has its provincial records, the States
General had theirs, and each family of i'm
portance has its store-room of correspondence
and muniments. The lifetime of half dozen
men would not suffice to exhaust them, and,
until they are sifted and made public, any
thing like final history of this period, Or a
final life of De Witt is impossible. The man
De Witt, as he lived and moved, we do not
expect ever to see much of. His contempt
raries did not write memoirs, and the social,
non political, non-ofiicial side of him-the
human side of him, in short-we have no
hope of ever discovering. The manuscript
letters to De Witt, and the drafts of letters
from him, fill very large section of the pub
lie Record Office at the Hague. Selections
from the latter have been published, but a
legion of them-all of the utmost conse-
quence in his history-has never seen the
light. It is by careful examination OF
these, and of the letters addressed to him
(none of which have been publishedl that the
author has striyen to get at what DE Wits
personal influence really was, and to prevent
this estimate of the mans real and personal
achievement from degenerating into vague
and general " History of His Times"
COMIC HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By Liv-
ingston Hopkins. New York American Book
Exchange.
OF this volume we cannot form high
opinion. The wit is not of the pungent Bind,
and the merrymaking over historic events
and the leading characters and scenes in
American history lacks those elements of
originality which alone can make such work
successful. All this class of books is upon a
low key and seldom commend themselves.
The style of treating history as it is done in
this book, We repeat, is not original, and has
been used until it is threadbare and of no fur
ther interest. AS an example We give the
first chapter in full, and also that it may
serve as a warning to Would-be funny
people"
1.-THE sun was just sinking below the west
ern horizon on the evening of September IL,
1892 when respectfully dressed parsonage of
sea.faring appearance might have been seen
occupying an elevated position in the rigging
of Spanish ship, and gazing intently out
over vast expanse of salt water upon what
at first sight appeared to be an apple-dump-
ling of colossal proportions, but which, upon
more careful inspection, subsequently turned
out to be a new world.
"We will not keep the reader long in sus-
pense that sea-faring man was Christopher
Columbus, and the object which attracted his
attention was America
g This adventurous person had sailed from
the port Of Palos, in Spain, on the Sd of Au
gust, with the avowed purpose of seeing the
world : and who, thinking he might as vel
see new world while he was about it, sailed
in the direction of America.
' / or further particulars the reader is re-
ferred to the accompany sketch, which, will
startling fidelity, pOrtrays the scene at the
thrilling moment when new continent
bursts upon the bold navigator's vision. Pray
cast your eye aloft and behold the great
Christopher discovering America as hard as
ever he can. The flashing eye, the dilatine
nostril, the heaving bosom, the trembling
limbs, the thrilling nerves, the heroic pose,
all vigorously set forth in style which speaks
volumes-nay, whole libraries for our artist.
graphic power and knowledge of anatomy
We will next trouble the reader to let the eye
wander off to the dim distance, where the
new world looms majestically up, and stand:
out boldly against the setting sun, previously
alluded to, which Eliminates the scene with
golden splendor, and battles the new born
continent In food of dazzling light.
"If the patient reader will be good enough
to examine this picture with 8 powerful
microscope, he will discover, standing upon
the utmost prominence of the new world, ano
in imminent danger of falling off, citizen o.
the country, who welcomes the stranger with
upifted tomahawk and wild warwhoop.
Lifting our eyes skyward we sect the Amer
lean eagle soaring forth to meet the great dis
coverer with outstretched pinions, and bring
ing his whole family with him. We confess
that we, for one, cannot gaze upon this scene
without envying Mir. Columbus the luxury o
his emotions, and wishing we knew where
there was new world lying about loose tina
we might go right off and discover it"
The THEORY OF THOUGHT; Treatise on Deductiy
Logic By Noah X DAVIS, Of the University o
Virginia. Large Svo, l vol New York: Harpe
& Bros. San Francisco A. l.. Bancroft Co.
This treatise, as the talented author re
marks, is not elementary in the sense o
bringing the subject within the grasp of in
mature minds This he believes to be i'm
practicable, and therefore be makes ne sucl
profession. 1t is elementary in the sense tina
it begins at the beginning, assuming tn
reader to have no previous knowledge of tn
subject Its extent is such that one wit
masters its contents will be in possession O
thu technical details of the science, &C
quainted with its established doctrines, anC
prepared to study with profit and interes
advanced treatises. 1t is, in general, a re
production of the old logic. The moder!
student must know the doctrine of antiquit,
respecting thought if he would read intelli
gently the recent literature of the subject
The treatise reverts TO Aristotle, and
largely a restatement of his theory as coloreC
by filtration through medieval mind
"Since his day." says Kant, "logi
has taken no backward step, and ais
up to this time it has been able T.
take no step forward, and thus, to all ap
pearance, is concluded and perfected"
fiery trial for ages has neither consumed i
NOR raGna1 II apd r. is 1iLyalp IN lin ,,ar