The National tribune., 1883-10-04

drawn upon his own experiences for the ma
terials oil MS story. But, notwithstanding this
exuberanee of description, the Belle Of Autra-
liza" is unquestionably work of great origin
ality and peculiar fascination. The plot turns
upon strange resemblance which exists be-
tween young American in search Of fortune
and an English Lord who isworth millions, and
the resemblance leads to a compulsory marriage
between the former and the $ Belle of Australia"
and ali the curious complications which would
naturally result frora such confusion OF
identity. The American is q manly, we'll bred
lad, while the Lord is q hopeless rake and it is
the formers misfortune to suffer heavily for
the latter's sins until through happy chance,
the mystery IS cleared Up, their mutual
identity established. and the Belle of Australia
restored 70 the arms Of her husband Ths
book, IS We have said, is not without It's de-
fects but the story IS so we'll t0ld-the plot is
developed with such continuity of Interest,"
that he who reads It viii find it difficult 20 lay
1t aside until he has reached the final deuoue-
menE. That I6 VII achieve q wide popularity
can scarcely be doubted.
/ Nothing stands more il need Of reform than
/ the prevalent system Of teaching ia our public
/ schools 1t IS within the writer's knowledge
! that one OF our Washington teaehers-and they
/ compare very we'll N ability with the average
/ o. teachers elseWhere-the ether day required
/ her entire class to commit to memory, II the
1 exact order IN which they were named in the
I
/ ing severe punishment to those who failed not
/ withstanding that every one Of these unhappy
| children doubtless already used these prOnOGas
correctly IN speech aud sheir knowledge OF them
could not possibly be increased by learning to
repeat them IN any particular order. One such
instance As this Is quite enough TO justify the
publication IN book form of the sensible,
logical talks on teaching hieh Professor Francis
/ w. Parker (the father OF che system applied
with such great success "a the Quincy, Mass,
schOOIsl delivered summer before last at
Marths's Vineyard, aad we are glad to note
that AessTs Z. l.. Kellogg Z Co, New York,
have issued a very handy volume from the
notes of Della E. Partridge, revised by the lee
turer himself The essence OF Professor ParkeF's
plan of teaching new educa5iou-is this
that things should be learned By doing them,
and that knowledge aud skill are q means
not an end-in education. Accordingly ha
would have the child taught to read, Just as il
is Taught to talk by she association Of the writ
ten name with the object which it syEl50liZes,
and not by the painful and labOri0us spelling
Of syIiables, which II themselves convey no
idea whatever, and in mem0rizing which tina
power of association is not called IL play. Fur
/ therInoFe, ne would have the child first acquire
a knowledge Of words in their script forms and
| simultaneously learn to write them themselves,
rsver6ing afterwards TO the printed forms
thus reversing the usual process, which is 20 not
teach the child TO write until it has learned
how to read print, when the change to the
script form Is almost certain to prove diEicuit
and tedious Moreover, he would abolish en-
tlreIy the practice OF teaching spelling orally
since the memory of the sound of word giyes
no clue in our unph0Resic language to its writ
ten f0rIn,-bub entirely by the printed OF writ
ten characters; and, as a matter OF fact where
the method Of teaching reading and writing
: which he advocates IS employed, the child ac-
quiFes the habit Of spelling uueonseiOusly. That
logic anyone can satisfy himself By trying to
5 spell some particular word. He is certain TO
recall az once, net the sound Of the word, but
b0w looked in print. Prot. Parker, in these
/ talks, takes up also the old methods OF teach
I ing arithmetic, geography, and history, and
after pointing out their inadcq uateness Unloldg
!, a natural and logical system as = substitute.
a We cannot too highly, indeed, commend the
{ lueidity with which he sss5 forth the principles
q OF this new education and the facts Of ex-
perienee on which they are grounded, and We
5 could wish that the reading of this little vol
ume were made compulsory upon every teacher
!, in the land.
From James R. Osgood & Co, Boston, wa
; have The StOried Sea. q reprint OF the bril-
pendent, BY Mrs. Susan E. Wallace, the accom-
pIished wife Of our minister TO Turkey, General
Lew Wallace. A more delicious medley Of
: historical Renaissance, quaint travellers ex-
: peTiences, sprightly discussion, sentimental
: | musings and deft character sketches it would
be difficult 70 imagine than this merry, careless
: : tale of q voyage along the tawny shores of the
: Mediterranean, and is is sure to captiYate the
reading public. It is written IN a peculiarly
easy, familiar style that at the same time, IS not
wanting in hteraty elegance, and the reader
can scarcely escape the impression that il Is
the adventures of some personal friends that he
: is perusiHg. There is something, too, UnusU-
ally fine and eloquent in the occasional flashes
>, of wit and humOr which illuminate the story,
: and upon laying it aside one feels as IL the
), draWing-ro0m door had just closed on a COM
. pany of most entertaining and amiabie people.
Such books as this come rarely, and they well
a deserve the popularity which is usually thsil
. portion.
e under an Alias" by Fl. B. JeFries, pub
d lished BY the Tjmes printing house, Denver,
< Colo, was TO have been issued IN time for CIR
: cuation at the National EEeampment, G. A. r.
IS but its publication was unfortunately delayed
q until after that event. The author was agailant
j soldier in the late war-having served as a pri
q vate IN company F, TWenty-eighth Pennsylya-
IS MIA Reserves, Second Lieutenant in company z
? Twenty-frst ?. Y. C., and Captain company B
h Seventy y-SeeoEd U. S. c. T.-aDd UEder an
n Alias IS q story Of love, with tinge Of war
q based, We take it, upon events within hl
i own knowledge. It IS very cleverly written
Ia and decidedly entertaining The profits from
I 4 4
q No. Is, Of Denver, and the book viii be sent by
a mail TO any address for fifty cents bound il
l. paper, and seyenty-fve cents bound IA Eexibls
I, cloth. It should have wide sale. address Il
= 3. JeEries. 3l1 Laramie street., Denver.
% Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, have re
!, Gently issued under the title OF 3frS Gilpin'
= Frugaiities," by Susan anna Brown, a precious
- little treatise on how to utilize remnants o
= food from one meal at another. The book c00
e, 70 tains some two hundred recipes and cover ths
= whole range-no jest intsnded-Of d0mesti'
= economy. It cannot fal TO prove OF sreat value
y to housekeepeTs, for, as the author declares Il
y her preface, "The great art IS to know wher'
! : to save and where TO spend. and TO use every
. thing to the best possible advantage. There
! such a thing as sJiney extravaganza an(
u wasteful seTinping" For sale IN Washington
=, by BreRtanO.
e. Mr. Matthew ATnold's approaching visit Il
i this country is to De e0I2laen0rated by Mac
If MILAN s Co., in a very pleasing manner, viz
is by a new and uniform edition OF his prose writ
it ings IN seven volumes These VIII eU5Tae
s. Essays in Criticism; Study of Celtic Literature
rs On TTansla5ing Homer; Culture and Anarchy
ID Friendships Garland; Mixed Essays, Irish rs
h. SAYS; Literature and Dogma; God and th
IVY Bible: ST. Paul and Professionalism, Last Essays
The styIe viii De elegant and eOalpaniOnGol
fs with the Eversiey Kingsley" It shoald b
~ added that this edition IS manufactured ex
rs pressIy for the American market, and is To