St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-21
NEW BOOKS.

In 1.-THE Genesis of Life and Thought"
! the author has attempted to show that,
whether the doctrine of evolution be
true or false, science has not yet pro-
pounded any theory which accounts for
| it; and, more than this, that 10 Saffi-
cient theory can be propounded so long
as the attempt is made to exclude intel
ligent purpoSiyene5S from organic nat
ure; whether the world of life be an
evolution or not, it is at least, in one
way or the other, an Intelligent pur
| posive creation: that God creates ard
governs, whether wholly or partially by
evolutionary processes. or wholly by
other methods. Some authors accept
| the general doctrine Of evolution, and
endeayor, if not to accommodate the
philosophy of the Christian religion to
| it, at least to show that there is no in
compatibility. TO show that such a
conclusion is erroneous, such a con-
| cession dangerous, is one of the aims
| constantly in mind throughout the book.
| 1t is a book which will bear care full
reading and considerable study.
Worthing ton company, New York,
/ announce for immediate publication in
! the Rose Library .'Some Children of
ADAM" by K. NJ. Manley.
A new edition of Hawthorne's master
piece, 1.-THE Scarlet Letter." is just
issued by Houghton, Miffiin & Co.. at
| the same low prices AS the Universal
Edition of "Uncle Toms Cabin" 25
| contains all introduction by HaW
| thorne's son-in-law, g. p. Lathrop.
A new and very attractive illustrated
| edition of The Scarlet Letter." con-
| tanning photographers of twelve ad-
mirable outline designs by barley, will
be brought out shortly by Houghton,
| Mifflin & Co.
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. viii publish
! this spring book of great interest to
1.-The fraternity of anglers" Its char
| acter is we'll indicated in the title it will
bear: "Favorite Flies and Their HIS
tories. by Mary Oryis Marbury, with
many replies from practical anglers to
| inquiries concerning how. when and
| two colored plates Of flies, six engray-
| ings of natural insects, and seven photo
graphs.
1.-The Treasure Tower" is very light,
but clever. Its people are real people.
we'll bred, TOO. The story, IS laid in
Malta, and is wo ven around the sudden
love of a manly young English naval
officer for the lovely half-Spanish
! granddaughter of an old English miser
on the island. Minor characters are
we'll worked out. and the atmosphere
of the story is clear. pure and whole
some. For summer afternoon in a
hammock no story could be more suit
| able.
"The Book of Ruth".i is in some re-
| spects one of the most remarkable
novels published recently. The hero
inc, who is but sixteen and tranScen-
IDENTIFY beautiful. has a prodigious
number of adventures. She is tried for
| the murder of her supposed father, who
| figures as wealthy man worth $4,000,
| is abducted by the villain, who is bent
| on marrying her, defies him at the point
| of a pistol, is rescued from prison by
COWBOYS, has hair-breadth escape from
| death by fire, and narrowly misses be-
ing stabbed by base minion i'll the
employ of the villain, and finally mar
ries. When she remarks to the villain,
II wodld not marry you to save your
wicked soul from hell" the author in a
1 feot-note kindly explains that this IS
( hand meW "Hold, my proud little
I queen!' and that sort of thing. 1t is
! clumsily written, and has worse faults
/ than Its utter absurdity. The literary
style is execrable, and when. as on page
| 203, the author says such things as
"He suspicioned that she recognized
| him." it occurs to one that the book
ought to be offered up as burnt sacrifice
1 to appease the outraged shade OF Lind
4 ley Murray.
Forty years ago Peculiar" would
| undoubtedly have created tremendous
sensation. To-Day its publication is to
he deplored. 1t is story Of the war
4 and the days before the war; a story of
slavery, in which nothing but the most
| loathsome and revolving side Of that in
t stitution is brought out. 1t is too I'M
] pleasant to be interesting reading, and
the plot lacks force and clearness. The
majority of readers know nothing OF the
horrors it relates, and since slavery has
been wiped out by blood, surely it may
be allowed to be forgotten. Such books
as peculiar" are unfortunate, for they
unearth the hideous corpse of great
evil. which time and charity have bur
| led in grave of years, and bangle its
frightful form before our eyes. "Pecul-
lar" has little merit.
Marriage aud the Home" in these
days, when ON every hand sophistry
seems trying to undermine the sacred
ness of marriage and the sanctity of
the home, is to be greeted with pleasure.
1t is we'll and earnestly written. and
discusses the mistakes of marriage
without bias or bigotry. Its tone is high,
and its English admirable.