The record-union., 1897-10-10
viii be emancipated, enlightened and

ennobled.
American Nobility is a novel by
Pierre De Courevain, Charles Scribner's
Sons New York;, 81 80. The author
cont ends that it is a mistake to hold
that this is a nation Of equality. The
author insists that on the contrary no
where are the lines of demarcation so
well guarded. so distinct, as here. The
author holds that out of our society has
arisen & class from the professions and
commercial pursuits, which IS more
rigidly exclusive than are any class dis
tinctions in Europe to-day. The Amer
lean woman he estimates as distinct
among the sex, a variety unknown any
where else; the only one in our system
who possesses only the visual brain. "
1t is with this thought that the move
list deals in this story, which will not
meet with favor. we take it, among
Americans. Composing some truths,
1t IS filled with error, false estimates
and narrow conceptions.
OF The Heroes of the Nations Series"
we have still another volume from the
publishers, c. P. Putnam's Sons New
York and London). 1t is entitled ''Ulys-
ses 5. Grant" and is by William Co
nant Church, Brevet Lieutenant Colo
mel United States Volunteers, and edi-
| tor Of the Army and Navy Journal. .
! 1t is profusely illustrated, and has
several important maps and diagrams
and a fine portrait of General Grant.
We have given this work more than
usual attention, and rise from the ex-
! . mi 81 inn
conscience of the author in his work
While there is evidently in his heart a
deep and loving regard for the subject,
there IS also patent upon every page
the justice and calm Of the impartial
I historian. His purpose has been, he
says, to show how it was that a man
so free from the passions supposed to
dominate the soldier, succeeded in the
great game of war where so many 9TH
ers failed. That he has succeeded in
doing this, none will doubt who read
the story SO graphically told by Colo
mel Church. The volume is no
table addition to a library that has
taken a first place in modern litera-
ture. Colonel Church, by the way. has
not closed this life of Grant with the
end Of the war; but has brought it
/ through the period of reconstruction
and to the death of the chieftain, and
analysed his acts as chief executive of
the nation, with a firm resolution to be
absolutely just.
"On the Outer Rim, or Studies in
/ Wider Evolution" is a small volume
from the press of Alfred c. Clark, Chi
cago, and is by George f. Wright 1t
scOrns a materialistic science, and ar
CUES that the great multitude of men
all sorts and conditions-is journeying
in the same direction. 1t contends that
the religion of the future can never be
any existing religion as now practiced.
In short, the prop of orthodoxy the au-
thor knocks from beneath the arms Of
believers in it, and he gives them what
he terms the religion of common sense,
or of wider evolution, in which there
are no vain dogmas of finite minds.
The little volume is a radical assault
upon existing conceptions of creation
and futurity, and upon the idea that
the brotherhood of man is sectional.
From the publishers (San Francisco
we have bound volume xxx. of the
/ Overland Monthly magazine, COM
passing the period between January
and June, 1897. The magazine is the
only literary magazine Of the State. 1t
| has maintained itself against obstacles
! of no small character, and has attained
( a. place in the confidence and respect
/ of the public that gives it Importance
| in the WORLD of current literature in
unusual degree. The volume is hand
somely put up in muslin stiff covers
and with marbled edges.
1.-THE History of Lady Betty Stair
| is a short novel by Molly Elliot Seawell,
press of Charles Scribners Sons (New
/ York; 81 %. 1t is a charming story,
crisply told and simply romantic, with
/ its scenes laid in the old world in the
courtly times. The character of the
Lady Betty is admirably drawn and
/ thoroughly womanly. The little vol
ume is handsomely illustrated by Thule
| De Thulstrup. whose sketches have a
motion and life-like character that has
made his work as an illustrator IA
nous.
From Houghton, Mifiin &, Co. Bos-
/ ton and New York;, We have Bret
Harte's volume entitled Three Part
ners. or the Big Strike on Heavy Tree
| Hill" 81 %. The story is of the min
/ ing camp Of California, and it over
/ flows with the idioms and dialect of the
frontier and the mines, that Harte has
made familiar in modern literature, and
which no one has so we'll written as he.
1t is one of Harte's strongest tales,
more dramatic than many he has writ
ten. Indeed, the reader will be deeply
impressed with its acting quality.
Guide to the Yukon Gold Fields" is
the title of a pamphlet book from the
press Of the Calvert Company, Seattle.
/ 1t is freely illustrated, and is accom-
panied by an elaborate and apparently
accurate map of the Northwest gold
fields in British and American territory.
| Casual examination and rapid reading
of some of its more important pages
impress us with the idea that it is the
most faithful account of the region yet
! pub'ished-and there have been many
printed.
Some Little Of the Angel Still Left
is a racing romance by Mrs. John Clay,
from the press of Robert Clarke Com
pany (CincinnatD. The story has gone
through two editions. and has had a
large sale, attesting its popularity
/ among the readers of light literature.
It is strong in descriptive and charac-
ter drawing. and is thoroughly sensa-
/ tiOnal and romantic.