National Republican., 1885-10-31
NhiY QUALIFICATIONS.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.
YTERFsTHEeLA. A Novel. Nv NAVY
CnuGER. irO pp. Cloth. si New York
FUrds. Howard 4 Hubert Washington
BrCnianO Bros
Certainly IL is a curious anu interesting
idea that Miss Cruger advances in this
story-which might be called "supersensl-
tiyencssn--although IL is based on the
ancient aud simple notion Of counter-lrrita-
tion. To induce n nervous aud suffering
child TO stop fretting by means Of attract
ing its attention to something else than It.
self and it's Ills. is as old as the existence Of
nurseries, but the way In which Miss Cruger
sets out with the difficulty, that all Of her
characters with whom the reader finds him
self in sympathy are In some way the sub
jCCts OF Ovci-senstivc susCeptiblitics (cithcr
Of body or mind, or what for lack OF better
word might be called mOrale), and the
mode In which she Offsets the needs OF each
by some corresponding element that the
others have the wit or the luck to supply,
and thus brings about at last the bissful
hygiene of happiness, Is very apt, and shows
Keen knowledge OF human nature per
haps especially Of woman nature.
The complications Of the plot and its
blind mysteries, arc very ingeniOusly
worked out; aud the finale OF the ghost
humor IN the book, though its beginning Is
crccpy.crawly enough to satisfy the most
CNaCtlng appetite. Tho book Is written In
excellent English, without the vulgarisms
so common In novels OF these rattling days
Of slang, but agreeable and refined In tone.
The characters are not OF the haCkneyed
stripe. but individuals Of novel aud attract
i've ways, and positive ideas, while the in
yolutions and cntanglcments Of their lives
during the few short weeks Of their summer
hotel life are absorbingly interesting to the
spectators aud the final impression OF the
whole Is like that Of vivid experience out
Of real life.
BRYANT AND HIS FRIENDS; SOME REMlN-
licences or THE KNlCKERBOrEER
lusllat,d with steel portraits of Bryant
Iaulding, ana IlalleCk, and manuscript, fac
SMILES of Bryant Irving, Dana, Drake.
Wills, Poe, Bnynrd Taylor, John Howard
Payne, George T.. Morris, and Alfred y.
gilt top, 81. New York. Fords, Howard 4
Hubert. Washingon' Bretano Bros.
The above enumeration is but suggestive
Of the materials Of interest gathered into
this particularly handsome and bookly lit.
tie volume of Gen. Wilson'S. Tnc author
has given full biographical notes Of the
chief writer's who, In beginning the career
of letters in what was known as the
Knickerbocker period OF literary work In
New York--that Is, about the first fifty
years of this century-wcrc pioneers OF
American literature at large. William Cul-
len Bryant is taken as the center around
which the Others are grouped, because he
was among the very earliest, and became and
remained the most eminent Of the brilliant
circle. The more complete sketches are of
lnrtn
llGlleck, Drake, Willis, Poe, aud Bayard
| Taylor (who is one Of the prominent figures
| Of the latter portion Of the time covered);
| and then follows n chapter, entitled "The
knickcrbOckcr Litcrature,n which, after
| paying its respects to those already treated
of, proceeds to give brief notices Of about Il
score of others of note, but OF lesser i'm
| port0ncc, such as Woodworth, Pierpont,
| Nciplanck, DR.. Francis, Payne, Leggett,
George +. Morris, Hoffman, Cozzens, and
| so on.
There too many points of interest In such
a volume to lie pointed out, or even ade-
| quately suggested. Gen. Wilson has made
a delightful addition to the stores Of literary
and personal history, and IN all mechanical
accessories of makeup the book is notable
for good taste and beauty.
| EVOLUTION AND RELIGION. Eight scr.
mons discussing the bearings Of the cvolG.
doctincso of evangelical religion. by llESRr
| WARD nEECIEI Syo nlniphict Price, %
cents. New York: Fords, Howard * HUI
bert. Washington; BrcntnnO Bros
Whatever may be the prevalent idea as to
Mr.. Beechcr's being "thcologian," it Is
evident that he has some very positive and
consistent beliefs which serve him us an
efficient working basis for his preaching.
Mr.. Beecher is said by many to be "loosc'
and ''crratic,n and dangerous in doctrine"
simply because his nature and his life place
him in a conspicuous position where what
ever he says is heard and commented on,
and because his preaching is SO vigorous and
unique in style that his ideas strike men as
win fact when they are merely new in form,
He is known the country over rs being a
believer IN the evolutionary philosophy,
and has been widely discredited by many
religious papers and men on that account,
while there is no similar disposition to
criticise men like DIR. McCosh, of Prince
ton; Prof. Dana, Of Yale; Prof. Gray, of
Harvard, and In England, the Duke OF
Argyle, the bishop of London, and Others,
who accept the new view and teach 1t, but
for various reasons are not In SO marked Il
way held TO account for IT,
The whole series of sermons is rather of
fundamental and thcorctic than of q
practical and specific character. Ncverthe-
less, this series, complete In itself, is
crowded with practical, suggestive, helpful,
hopeful thoughts The British Quarterly
Review, in burst Of enthusiasm over q
volume of Mr., Bcecher's sermons, once
spoke Of him rs Perhaps the greatest OF
living prcachcrs-a man whose heart Is rs
warm and catholic us his abilities are great
and whose sermons combine fidelity aud
scrptural truth, great power, glorious imagi
patton, fcrvid rhetoric, and vigorous reason
ing, with intense human sympathy and ro-
bust common sensc,h
| Two upnEIN uEApTG n u pntnom',