New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-03-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
49, MIiNnER,s ESSAYS.

s..s $50 nlay the role of Rolouius and undertake
- -, because Laertes seems to be quite as muen
An need "of advice as ever" LaerpeS
,,aysunia and So for that matter. Is Polonus. anu
"a may be doubted il the advics OF The lat'er haS
sver had noticeable. direct effect upon La0i'c0
6ach books rs this are very satisfying reau'ns IVA
vrensturely old young minds. or Tor thcuRn'iui' ~"
tnre persons who can bring to It's perusai eApeiF
enees that confirm its statements, and the sen
s..s.a. 30 ha;,o IN the line of its teachings, or
Zoo old To make il worth the while to learn re"
sricks But through these two classes OF readers
such hook may have o beneficial effect upon tue
unframed characters of q younger generation FOR
funateiy youth is impatient of perfunctory wisdom
IL gets ITS rules of conduct aud moral prlnclpies
partly by heredity and partly from family ire' So
"A Al intercourse aud contact with the sharp corners
of practical life.
Mr. Mungers essays are. with the exception
of a part Of the first chapter, excellent Oh
their kind and it is possible to hold them IN sreA'
respect without laying much stress upon 'io .n'-
portapce of presenting copy to every youth IN tue
s.nd nron h;s Leaving the high school Tho book
will serve a useful purpose in prompting pareh'S
and teaohers It viii also strengthen the good I'M
,nIses of every young man who gives 1t q Thought
fn reading and some of its sayings are pungent ana
fresh enough to set them thinking also perhaps 10
throw few personal faults into relef' ihere were
runors preceding this book that it would inoleate
on whose shoulders Mr.. EInerson's mantle hao
fallen. The only resemblance traceable between IL
and the imaginative philosophy Oh '"e
eage of Concord lies in the fact that thus DOCK con-
tans a great many truths that Mr.. Emerson mas
expressed in more felicitous and pregnant "oIos'
Mr. Munger in consenting to be more commonplace
and didactic will appear to be more practical. lie
has faculty Of giving fresh epigrammatc havor
TO many fayorite tr,nsIrs.
He begins with discussion Of Purpose" be
cause as he says lit is matter OF special lmpor-
lance" And If the above sounds commonplace,
like the succeeding remark that there is no read
to success but through clear strong purpose" the
following has the additional quality OF being funny
and wholly worthy of Polonus: Shakespeare
says: Some achieve greatness and SEINE have
greatness thrust upon them but the latter is ex-
ternal and not to be accounted as success" Mr..
Munger thinks that among the young men OF to-
day there lie less laying hold of life with some
definite intent than there was a generation ago."
This may be the case in out of the way places IN
New-England, but in New-York and every part OF
the country where the current OF the century nows
strongly and steadily, tie young mon, or about the
usual proportion of them, seem to be wlde-awake
and fighting for places in commerce and the pro-
fessions "Young men," he says, do not so much
20 to college as they are sent They do not push
led into them" The same could be said with equal
truth, probably. of any decade in the last Thousand
wears But il is the common belief in this part of
the country that there have never been before 80
many young men at the colleges studying, and
ut the same time earning O part or the whole
OF their support 1t is even mere surprising
that Mr.. Munger should fear we could not
again fight the war for the linton to the same issue"
owing to the fancied degeneracy Of tie young men
nj .LA country. We fear the author thinks ike
some doctors that the more serious their statement
of the patients condition the more necessary will
tie medicine appear and the moro wonderful the
cure. The chapters on Manners" Thrift" Self
Reliance and Courage" Health" and "Amuse-
ments," are full of good suggestions.
FAMILIAR TALKS ON ENGLISH LITSRATURE.
Mammal s%Sr,Sng me SSes5 nPScss q b hTsh
% the Death Of Walter Scott BY ABBY sAGE RICH
&Co.
This is another Of those literary hsndbooks of
which 30 many are published, and IL appears to
be one Of The most carefully prepared and intell-
gent of it's olase The work is written in familiar
style and tie author expresses the hope that the
book may be read largely By young people. and
aloud in classes devoted TO the study Of literature
Mrs. Richardson announces in advance that she
has kept strictly within the limits Of pure literature
diyines and scientists not included in her plan.
There Is q succinct account of English literature
rrlor to Chsucer of that poet, and of his contem-
poraries Wyel6e, Vaudeville and Cover. After
the Chaucer chapter we have CaxtOn and something
of the books which he printed. This portion OF the
book concludes with brief notices OF Shelton, of
Surrey, of Wyatt and Of Tyndale's Bible. The
poets of the Elzabethan age follow with sketches
and specimens of the most celebrated OF them. In
treating of Shakespeares preecessOfs Mrs. Richard
son gives good chapter upon Marowe, and there is
n great deal of useful information in the pages de-
voted to Shakespeare himself. The most prominent
of the Elizsbethaa dramatists are mentioned and
characterized and the poets Donne, WOtteD, Wither
Herrick and Herbert follow.
From this account of these Talks" the reader
will get sufficient idea of those which come after.
The work goes on with the greatest economy of
space. but most is said which it is possible 10 say
within the prescribed limits, and in q clear and
simple way. A chapter upon the Diaries OF Fepys
and Evelyn furnishes an agreeable episode; and
there is another mainly upon Bunyan and THE
Pilgrims Progress" Mrs. Richardson's critical CON-
u,snts. although they may not be particularly orig
inal or profound havs the merit of giving the hest
general Judgment of the writsr who are discussed.
The Young reader is always safely guided, and no
cyitissm ia offered which would be beyond bis com
prebepsjon This simplicity, in which however there
is no sha,lowness, seems 70 be one Of the chief
merits Of the book. 1t tells the pupil all
which it is Immediately necessary for him
TO know. The piceties Of discrimination are
for maturer years; only occasionally does Mrs.
Richardson fail into conventionslities which the
beat of modern research has dissipated. think
she does in the case Of Dean Swift. OF whom younG
peouis will got rather an unfair idea from her
.ketcb. while no hint il given Of the real purpcee
ana character Of "Gullivel's Travels" Possibly
Mrs.. Richardson thought that it would be kind
ness to leave her young readers long In ignorance
npon these points az possible. But the genial spirit
es,d s,eoeraI accuracy of tho volume make amends