Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-07-09
EDITOR'SBOOK TABLE
"THE WITCH OF SALEM" ANOTHER
: or The COLUMBIAN NOVELS.
.Tbomas sycho-Phy steal Cuiturs"-
"Favorite Selections Of julia aud An
ME Thomas" Etc.-sotes.


ME Thomas" Etc.-sotes.
The Witch of Sdien; or. Creduiy Run Mad.
Nv JOHN MusrcK, author of " Columbia"
Pocahontas." "The Pilgrims" A
Century Too Soon" etc. etc. Column
bian Historical Novels. Illustrations oy
Z. A. CARTER. New York; Funk ana
WagnalIs Company. 1893. Pages 49,
Sl.50.
We have already had occasion to speak
of this series of Columbian historical
Novels. The present volume Is IN many
respects one of the most picturesque IN the
number. The stern Puritanic beliefs' the
natural severity Of the early settlers OF
New England and America generaiiy--ior
every colony had its code of blue laws az
least on the statute-book-the sincerity
earnestness. and at the same time gross
superstitions of the age, all lena thelh-
selves admirably to the novelists ART.
Nathaniel Hawthorne IS the master IN TINS
realm-he who knew old Salem so wen oy
heart and bequeathed Its old settings 10
the gaze of posterlty.
There Is this double ADVANTAGE in the
choice of the present subject: IL Is not
only historical, which the series mainly IN
tends TO be, but il also has picturesque
background, and is peculiarly adapted US
a subject for artistic treatment. MOI tnas
we may speak of these stories as WORKS OIL
art. That would be claiming too mucn ioi
their evident time-servlng purpose, oeins
written. as they are, with the expectation
z ~ ,ff N tla Coin m DlGfl-
wear enthusiasm. But within their limits
and aim they are pleasantly told, the MS
torical basis il sufficiently faithful TO prove
instructive, and they have sustained tne
average of excellence, for which they nave
strlven.
The present volume uses a story TO treat
of the harder conditions or colonial new
England life. 1t deals with the superstl-
tons and religious fanaticlsm tnen cur
rent. Much historic detali Is inuuiscu H. :.
aud ALWAYS the romance or history Is
given. An excellent instance is the nisto-
~ of the Charter Oak, which has almost
an apocryphal tinge IN this reailstlc anu
critical generation.
On page rs the following origin OF the
Ouakers Is gwen: When In l6oO ne
ICieorge Fox was called before Justice
Benuet, of Derby. he admonished tnaI
magistrate to repent and tremDle ana
make before TIC WOIu Vi bhO 1sCi
same time his own body was violently agl-
tated with his own emotions. The magls-
trate aud other officers of the court then
and there named him Quaker out or
derision-a term which the society nave
since come to use themselves"
The time OF the story Is the last score Oh
wears in the seventeenth century llboO-
I7OOD. the scene in and about Salem, IN
Massachusetts,. Hypocrisy, superstition
credulity, revenge, oigotry, al are poI-
trayed. TO give the story more archaic
form the attempt has been made 10 make
use of the contemporary dialect and
idioms. Tie chief actor IS the clergy man.
VINO IS represented as the villain OF the
piece.
Thomas Psycho- Physical Culture. By JULIA
and ANNIE Thomas, Founders and Oriei-
majors. New York: EDGAR >. WERNER,
1892 PIP. 254-i6 full-page illustrations.
S150.
The subject which this volume treats is
called " Psychological Culture" because
it is concerned with the physical move
ment of the body in exercise, as the au-
thors put il, excited and sustained by
soul force. and directed Dy, without TAX
ing, mental activity" Such Is the an
nouncement, such IS the title.
1t Is really volume on elocution and
elocutionary exercises, and gives the
methods and suggestions OF the authors
as adduced by their own experience. The
movements of the body are all well repre-
sented oy illustrations. The practical
value of such treatise must be lett TO ex-
perience. A large part naturally deals
with breathing exercises and general Gull
ture as we'll as pose.
A Sinner from the Sea. By AMELIA Z. BARN.
New York: DoDD, MEAD q Co. WEST,
JOHNSTON & Go. Sl.25.
This is one of Mrs. Barr's best stories.
Tue scene is laid for the most part in Corn
wall. in a little fishing village, and the
plot turns on the unwlse love OF fisher
maiden, gifted with a good voice, for a
" ne'er-do-weel /" OF higher birth. whom
she married and supported In London and
America. and who died in good time for
her TO become the young wife of IRIS
Penrose, her true lover. peasant like
herself. The Cornish isher-folk are we'll
described. 1t is verv entertaining story,
though we could wish that Mrs. Barr
would put little more cteerfulness into
her books and not let her vein OF sadness
always predominant.
Fdporite Selections of Julia and Annie Thomas.
New York: EDGAR S. WERNER. Cloth.
Pages 1885, 81.
This volume is intended as a companion
book to the one above mentioned. The
selections are from both prose and poetry,
but chiefly the latter. II Is evidently q
compilation by the authors of some of
their fayorite recitations. Longfellow.
Robert Browning, Victor Hugo, Goethe,
Schiller. Christina Rossetti. Eliztoeth
Barrett Browning, Edgar Allan Poe. Tenny-
son, Matthew Arnold, Sir Edwin Arnolds
and Wait Whitman are some of the author,
called to contribute. Many other pieces
are either anonymous OF by less we'll
known names.
The Tragedy Of Wild Rirer Vdlley. BY
MARTHA FINLEY. New York: DoDD. MEAD
* Co. WgsT. JOHNSTON Il Co., Sl.25.
This volume will suit those readers who
are fond of the sensational regardless of
whether ,the entertainment furnished be
artistically provided or not. The book is
q veritable shilling shocker, so far as in
tention is concerned, burglary, highway
robbery. murder. and lynching comprising
its component parts. but the execution Is
so crude as to be amusing. We are rather
surprised to see so much trash issued in
such On attractive form.