Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-15
REcssr PUBLICATIONS.

This is an English special correspondence
contribution to the much described overland.
Journey literature. Il is a story Of tour
across the States and three months among
the Mormons. Il is clever, pat, crisp, relia-
bic. Never hggressiyely Eaglish, yet Mr..
Robinson never forgets that he is English ;
neither does he let the reader forget that he
has been in other plsees that he Is . travelled
individual. We get comparisons to Egypt,
India. South Africa and Switzerland st every
turn. Echo Canyon, however, he frankly ad-
mits to be incompatible, and having done his
best to describe it. ,nerrily adds, . II you
can imagine this you can imagine anything,
even Echo Canyon /, but / must confess that
my attempt at description does not recall the
Hcsne 20 me u tins least" The MormOns he
describes IN the most friendly and cordial
spirit, maintaining that tbs woman are happy
IS far as coDtentmeut can be made 10 90
duty as happiness. He also says thst there
are fewer polygamous households than is
usually supposed By the outsids world. His
description OF San Francisco ia sound and
honest. ais little homly on salads sdor-
able, AID his treatment Of Texas
and Alkansas travelling flll Of bits far out
0f the conucn run,
1.-THE Possibility Of Not Dying" By Hy-
land c. Kirk. New York: &. p. Putnan's
Sors For sale by 4. L. Bancroft l. Co, San
EraUciscO. Tnis "Speculsti3n, as its author
caiis il, containing bout IL psge5 in all, is
little book which contains q good deal Of
hard thinking. The idea is not new TO NEST
physicians, nor 20 those who have talked with
physicians the human rac5 under favor
immortality. After reviewing Christ's teach
ingg. snd, making due allowance for scriptural
language, proving by parallel passages that
the final word u Jesus on every vital subject
" IS the same in spirit as the highest logical
tendencies Of evolution, Mr.. Kirk sums up in
this way The possibilities Of this life are
wholly uHkuoRn. The pOtenti0liies Of this
organism called man we know little ebcu
The universe Is made Of & texture so refined
and possesses proportions 30 comprehensive,
81 to more than satisfy any yearnings for q
theoretical heaven. And If these Yearnings
mean anything, they serve to show that
endless life on the basis of o physical exist
ence is possible Il however, any should
question the proposition that an endless lie is
possible becauae il is desirable they cannot
deny that if such lie we're possible it would
certainly be desirable." Much Of the book
indicates lilo 30 lofty, pure, intellectual and
heFeEts LHah II LllSLh even provoke "a bilil5
from readers more familiar with the world Of
action than bookE but all of it makes for
sef-reverence, self-knowledge and self-con-
troll, and is written with fairness and an
equable temper.
"The Downward Path" By Emile Ca
borian. Boston Estes & Lauriat. This
last work of Gabori8n's is in a somewhat diff
fersnt vein from his previous work. The
scene IS laid in Paris at the time of the
coup detat and extends TO the fall Of the
Second Empire. A General, Delorge by
name, accidentally discovers, the night be-
fore the fatal 2i Of December, the fate which
is to beilu France on the morrow. He re-
fuses TO be silent on the subject, and is there
fore safsinsted while the world ia led to
suppose that he has fallen in duel. His
wife, Tiled with rage, and putting no faith in
the fctiCn of the duel, makes vow TO drag
the murderers to justice. She devotes her
sou to the service, and for twenty years they
labor st their work. Thanks to the assist |
ance of groom, the only witness of the
tragedy, the GssassIAs-RhO IN the meantime
have risen 70 some eminence-are exposed,
sud the book ends with the marriage of the
younger Dslorge 20 the lady of his affections.
Twelve Americans" By Howard Car
Roll. New York; Harper & Brothers. For
sale by A. i. Bancroft d Co., San Francisco.
Price, 81 IS. Mr.. Carroll here presents us,
rewritten and enlarged. twelve sketches of
representative American men, which ap
p8aTed in 1nseger outline in the New York |
Times The dedication Is to George Jones, of /
that journal. The twelve subjects, each ac- |
compADied by a portrait, are HOratio Sey- |
mouf, Charles Francis Adams, Peter Cooper. |
Hannibal HFmliu, John Gilbert (the actOr) /
Robert @. Scheuck, Frederick Douglass, |
William Allen tcaIied An Old-sime Demo
craft Allen &. Thurman (she Senator from
Ohio) Joseph Jefferson lthe actOr) Elihu 3. |
Washburne t' the Watchdog of the Treas
ury) and Alexander Il. Stephens (the great
Southe1ner) All the sketches are written
with great appearance Of interest the one OF |
Frederick Douglass reads like dip into |
d" Uucle Toms Cabin"
English AS She Is Spoke, with an In
PRODUCTION. By James Millington. New |
York G.. P. Putnams Sons. For sale by !
a. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco price, |
20 cents, If it could be arranged for every |
reader TO discover this little pamphlet for |
him OF her self, it would produce its effect !
better than it can now, that it has been so
much talked Of. It is funny, but not so ex-
crutiatingiy funny one expects to find it. |
Il consists OF the blRnders committed in all |
good faith by q Portuguese, Senor Pedro !
Caroline, in compiling " New Guide of the |
Conversation in Portuguese and English,
written with serious intent for the purpose Of
Initiating POrtugese students into the myE- !
tgries Of the English language. The column
in Portuguese is omitted, and only the chief
gems of the English alterations reproduced
10 the present volume.
"No Names Series. Princess Amelie."
Boston Roberts Brothers. For sale by w.
A. & G. B. Houghton, Sacramento. Price,
81. This charming little story, called a frag-
nent of autobiography, tells the wooing after
marriage of certain Princess Of the province
Of Schomberg, Kissingeu, who was married
ss 16 to boy Of II, for state purposes, and
then Immediately separated from him for six
wears. He comes under another name and
wins her heart, and then discloses his iden-
tity. There is o most happily and exquis.
itely initiated atmosphere of old times and Of
foreign lands breathing all about the style Of
the story which makes the illusion complete.
We seem in truth to be reading a volume OF
memoirs Of the time of the French Revolu-
tion, so prolific of memoirs. 1t is as real and
delicate ss bit of old lace.
"a Southern California Paradise Edited
and published by r. w. Farnsworth, Pasa-
daus. Cshfornis. For sale by J. I. White &
Co.. San Francieco. This Is the producs OF
MANY minds Each has poured its wealth |
into this volume, which is historic and de-
scriptive account Of Pasadena, San Gabriel,
Sierra Madrs and La Canada, which delecta-
he spots are s part Of Los Angeles, and
therefore Of Southern California. Those who
have taken drives about Los Angeles, probR-
bly remember having Pasadena pointed out
to them as the Indian colony. The book Is
something Of the nsture of a guids-book to
those who might desire to live in the region
described. A table Of answers to practical
questions about life there, its costs, and most
profitable industries, is given, with q map
and directory of Pasadena.
"Her Two Husbands, and Other Novel
cites" Ely Emile Zols. Philadelphia: T. B.
Peterson Bros, For sale by A. L. Bancroft
& Co, San Francisco. Price, 70 cents. These
stories, translated by George ID. Cox, are
Z1ls's latest since the Au Bonheur Des
DANES" None Of them freeze the blood in
ones veins with the shudderiug repulsion
which it Is the power of most of Zlla's work
to produce except the one called For a
Night OF lYe,n which is merbid to the verge
e ,,s,~;..- ffTa- Tu,o Hpuhapds and