The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-08-18

candid manner He maintains that history
can be reduced to science and that the his
torical laws are as binding as those of the
solar system. Thus If a single action were
Tree there would be no historical laws and
we could form no accurate idea of historical
events. The object of history is to grasp
and define the laws of human movement
And" says Tolstoi, "ifhstory is to be in
reality science of the movements of people
and OF humanity, and not description of
episodes in the lives of a few men it must put
aside the idea of causation and occupy itself
with the laws common to all the closely
united ininitesimal elements of ability
New York Thomas Y. Crowen & Co.;
Portland: Loring Short & Harmony
The History of Nicholas Muss; An Epi-
sode of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
Translated from the French of Charles Du
Bois-Melly. The brief preface of this little
volume will give an idea of its contents and
it runs ss follows: Here is as he relates it,
THE HISTORY OF NICHOLAS MUss, House.
hold Servitor of NJ. PAmiral, how with
comrade true. valiant Swiss, he did adven-
ture his life during the Mathis Of Paris, Low
through Gods succor bad deliyerance there
from, and how also he protected the young
damsel afterwards his spouse" Mostpeople
prefer taking their history or fiction
straight" SO that an historical novel is apt
to be received with disdain and avoided as
an unpleasant mixture being neither 'fish
nor fowl" but here is a clever story founded
upon historical events, and SO well has the
author kept to the conditions of the period
and reproduced the very atmosphere of the
time that we have no fault to find with the
results. To the household of Admiral Col
igny belonged the hero of our history. Hay-
ing fled with some of his comrades after the
assassination of the Admiral he CHANGED to
reach Paris and was witness of the terrible
scenes of the Massacre of the Protestants on
the day of ST. Bartholomew. The story of
his dangers and escapes, the horrible ruffian-
ism of the blood thirsty wretches whom he
encountered, and the romantic incident of
his saving the damsel whom he subsequently
married, are told with graphic simplicity
which is quite fascinating. and the translate
ing of the work into English is very well
done. New York, Harper s. Brothers;
Portland: Loring, Short & Harmony
Virginia of Virginia. A Story. BY Ame-
lie Riyes. One feels inclined to praise Mrs.
Amelie Riyes Chambers Virginia as many
degrees less Objectionable than The Quick
or the Dead, which has given the author SO
unenyiable notoriety. And yet the Goddess
Popularity has been the ruin of so many
promising young writers that criticism and
structures are frequently the kindest gifts
that we can bring to the shrine of the idol of
the moment. If Miss Rives had received less
adulation and over-praise for her first liter
airy venture, A Brother to Dragons, she
would never have written novel so repug-
nant to all true lovers of purity of thought
and sincerity of art in literature. While this
story of Virginia of Virginia has a kind of
crude power and pathos, it yet rings false.
1t has neither refined strength nor true orig
inality, and it gives one no correct idea of
the class to which Virginia belongs, nor of
the conditions from which she is evolved.
We blame the popular vice which applauds
and encourages CLEAN of cleverness, a flash
of brightness until no wonder the young writ
er's head is turned, and she feels that with
out effort she has reached the acme or sue
cess. There is no high standard placed be-
fore her to induce her to work hard to prune,
to strengthen and invigorate that her work
may be Of permanent value. Vor popuR is
no longer ror dei-as she finds to her cost
when new star rises in the literary firma-
ment and she is forgotten. New York:
Harper & Brothers; Portland: Loring, Short
& Harmony
Nellie Harland. A Romance of Rail and
Wire. By Elmer E. Vance. The author Of
Nellie Harland is evidently "a prentice
ham" at novel writing as in his modest
preface he 'makes no pretensions to literary
merit" we can easily pardon the somewhat
amateurish style of his book, and find much
in it that is interesting by way Of story, as
well as instructive in giving us some insight
into the practical workings of the electric
telegraph, and an idea of the duties and re-
sponsibilities of railway employees. Mr..
Vance's quotations. book may be amusing
with numerous errors, or it may be very dull
without a single absurdity," is quite true;
and we bespeak fair share of interest from
our readers for this bright and pleasing lit
tie romance of rail and wire. New York: G..
w. Dillingham;; Portland Loring, Short &
Harmony
Second Annual Report of the Doshisha
Hospital and Training School for Nurses
DR.. John c. Berry sends the second annual
report of this valuable institution at Kyote,
which shows that the buildings were COM
pleted and formally opened Nov. 10, 1887.
The list of cases shows that much valuable
work is being done. and that the hospital is
prospecting despite its limited means. There
were eleven nurses In the training school,
This hospital is under the auspices of the
A. B. c. F. M. Mission, and will certainly
help forward their work. Its progress will
be watched with much interest by Ameri-
cans, who will sympathize strongly with DR..
Berry in the noble work he is carrying on
there