Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-01-12
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

New York, for ssls By O. II. Barr, Lam
Q Tor, Pa. This work will prove . gou'
uine surprise 70 many By reason OF the
natural eeso OF style, and the impressive
fan ous leader o. cavalry; but the efeatsst
aurprise about Il 10 tho portrait that forms
the frontispieco OF the first volume, repre-.
seniin Sheridan just after gradustio0 from
West Point IL 10 the face Of Q serious, stu.
dious young man face indicating great
the slightest trace Of resemblance 70 the
portraits Of the general at the opening Of the
second volume. IL Ii impossible 70 lay
these portraits side BY side without think.
ing how terrible must have been the. triale
and struggle: that changed the Placid y, re- 70
heavy rough and fierce countenance Of the
general. II does not need many chapters
Of the memoirs to convince the rQader
that the change WAS not the result OF few
desperate days OF battle, but Of . long
Wnsn Ss worried in : village store a. "a
year, until he had the good fortune TO be
made colonel Of the second Michigan
cavalry at the age Of thirty one. Sheridsn's
life is . chronicle OF pationt routine
work relieved BY occasional adventures
and of absorbing interest because written
BY man with healthy ambition and wide
open eyes. His fight at West Point with .
cadet OH oer who had given him perfectly
proper order, and his consequent grAdua-
tion with lower clssr his hunting and
Indian fighting on the Mexicsn and
Oregon frontiers and his WORK - com.
misssry aud quartermaster esriy In the
war give no hint Of the genius he showed
ut the call Of emergency. In light with
Indians on the Oolumbis river he gave
some evidence Of his quick determination
sions OF horror ct m atroclous massacre OF
friendly Indian women and children by the
white settlers will be echoed by the reader,
and there In small wonder that genius wss
undeveloped In this miserable warfare.
In the frst OF oil his battles, the skirmish
at Bonneville, he repulsed greatly
superior force by simple but daring plan
which displayed all the characteristics that
30 soon established his reputation a. leader
OF cavalry. Moat men In his position, ba,d
pressed and greatly outnumbered, would
nave given the enemy some hint OF weak
ness or prepared to retreat, and 30 invited
over rwhelming disaster, but Sheridan VEN
tured TO detsch small force to make .
detour and charge through the enemy from
| the trear while he at the appointed time
/ actually took the offensive. He ordered q
locomotive to blow its whistle and his troops
knowing TeinfOrcements were xpocted by
| rail, assumed that they mad arrived, were
i greatly encouraged and won tho day.
Sheridan won . brigadler's com Mission.
/ The foroo that made the charge upon the
rear was commanded BY Captain, after wards
General Alger, ono Of the candidates for the
Republican nomination for the presidency
last July. An old soldier watching the
parade celebrating the bt centennial OF the
constitution In Philadelphia said ~ Sheri-
dan rode by, ~ have seen him IN
battle, then he was no. . man. he
was devil T. HE looks 70 me-" said q
bystander, 'liko q man without any re-
marksble abilityor strong trait Of character,
unless IL be stubbornness II either ol
these judges he'd read this book thoy would
have admitted that the fsbd OF battle had q
kind heart deeply dby the awful tcsnei
around him, though giving no outward
/ power by . rare strength Of Will and charac
ter. In fact Il seems probable that II Sheridan
/ hsd lived and maintained his health e
hasten the publication Of those memoirs,
/ the book would have made him president
That part OF the second volume which
reoounts his experiences In Europe during
tho Franco Prussian war has teen widely
/ noted In the press, and Is very fasciu atinp
/ and modest narrative OF what he saw and
heard on Europesn battle fields OF ont
| thing he was very sure, that the soldiers O
Europe sre not better than the American
| and that they did not ut that time know
anything about cavalry. His descriptions O
great events arc terse, and yet 30 graph,
that tho scene 10 brought vivldiy bsiore tn
reader.
Poet Riley having declared that th'
poetry of the future will celebrate dec di
/ that happen daily and not those OF ole
timos, the Tribune critic observes "a grea
many Of the young poets OF the day Nigh
l study with advantage the henedictior
bestowed upon Mr.. William Nye by {
visitor, who desired fhat heaven woulC
bless you for your unpublished works, ant
| especially for your posthumous works,
When MIR. J. II. s lorthous, publishe
"John lDgiesant, In small private editiSn
| copy was sent to the cardinal, with Z
request for his opinion upon 1t. Csrdins
Newman replied that he had read the booi
with much interest; "but," he added II
qualification 0f the request for an opinion
~ observe that II lsoks an index" +"
Book NEWS for January contains sr
article by Rev. Il. Il. Hale on " Rsadip5
In Farmers Families !" portrait O
/ George Meredith with sketch OF his life
the mont hiy comment on the new books
i by Taloott Williams portrait and shOr
biography Of Thomas Nelson Page.
Five hundred dollars In gold coin is Of.
/ fered In tho american 4gricuiturist prIze
crop competition for ths largest yield O.
potatoes grown on one measured acre o
land during the coming year, This offer Il
supplemented by others, making II possi
bic for the first prizs taker to secure thir-
teen hundred dollars Ia gold for his CROP
In an unpublished letter Augusta Comts
ssys that he contracted the habit OF reading
only great Western poets because he hsC
observed that "amonR moderps reading II
very harmful TO meditation" Admirerl
o: Comte must forthwith give up reading
save In small and strong doses. He say,
further: ~ read every morniug chapter o
the Limitation aud every evening q cautt
OF Dante, ressrving for my leisure momsntl
the other poets, thus ro.resding annually sl
tho mssterp pieces"
10 the January Century is letter writer
to Lincoln in 1910 by . Mr.. Anderson, who
sppears to have hsd thoughts of coffee and
pistols. He says: "On our first NEE ting
difficulty In words ensued between us
which deem II my duty to notice further
| think you were the aggressor. YouI
words imported insult, and whether yor
meant them as such Ia for you to say. Yol
will, therefore, please inform me on thi
point And II you designed to offend me,
| please communicate to me your presen
feelings on the subjec. and whether yol
persist In the stand you took"
To this Lincoln replied In model "retor
courteous: "Your note OF yesterday u
received. In the difficulty between US O
which you speak you say you think / wa.
the aggressor. i do not think i was. Yoy
say my 'wOrds imported insult / mean
them az fair set oil to your own statements u
and not otherwise; and In that light alone
| now wish you to unc erstand them. Yol
] ask for my present feelings on the su b cot
| l entertain no unkind feelings to you, and
none OF any sort upon the subj cot, except
sincere regret that permitted M yself TO Re
Into such an alteration. Yours, etc,
A. LINCOLN"
The January Cosmopoltan is q yer,
attractive number with ospec'ally goot
articles on Chinese In New York and OF
the island OF Madeira.
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