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170 wwwwwwwwww wwwwwww REVIEW OF NEW BOOLS. 3 The Tenant-House; or, Embers from Poverty's Hearthstimme. 1 vol., 12 mo. New York: R. M. Dewitt-The author of this book was appointed by the Legislature of the State of New York, to Inquire into the tenant system of New York city We have no doubt that this fiction grew out of the startling facta he became acquainted with in the discharge of thin duty. Mr. Duganne always writes well, but has never dona more credit to either his heart or bis intellect, than in the volume before us. The philanthropist, who reads for high and noble purposes, as well as the mere novel reader who seeks only for amusement, will find the work of the greatest value and interest. Some excellent Illustrations adorn the volume. Wild Sports in the Far West. Ry Frederic Gerstaecker. Translated from the German. With eight Crayon draw brillant down brushed from their petala; fresh and bright as when first gathered from their native wild soil. The volume has, indeed, "the voice of bird and the breath of spring. Mrs. Sigourney's poem is a fitting tribute to the beauty of these Bowers. Several specimions are given with appropriate accompaniments in other plants of their season. Here we have the dogwood finging it snowy sheen over the spring woods; the wild geranium, with downy leaves and purple head, bending its slender stalk lifted amidst the May grass; the modest ground plak and the trailing arbutus; the mayflower of the I'ilgrims; the hood-leaved lolet; the wild columbine, gleaming in scarlet and gold on the burren hill- Bide: the spring beauty, half seen in the grass bordering the tangled wood; the delicious wild apple blossom and the pink Bad crlinson honeysuckle clinging to the arms of the forest. Among summer visitors we have her the gorgeous yellowings, executed in oil colors, from designs by Harrison Weir. lily, with the harchell from ita rock-shaded nook; the sweet- brier, loading the air with fragrance; the tulip tree, the belle of the forest; the kalmia, making gay the mountain wooda with delicate bloom; the lovely wild rose, the delay, butter-Europe, wrote the spirited account of his travels now before cup and red clorer; the evergreen rhododendron; the butter- fly weed, with its bright orange clustora veiled by the luxuri- ant meadow grass; the wood lily, and the delicate purple fringed orchla; the cardinal flower, or Indlan feather; the purple wild aster and fringed gentlan, late woodland visitora, when "the melancholy days are coma," A brilliant cluster of red maple leaves is given. touched with the warm tints of early frost. The Indefatigable authoresa has not only drawn all these groups from nature, but has colored over ten thou- Band Impressioan with her own hand, to secure absolute fidelity to the models. The delicate fringe and colored down, and the fine shading, are wonderfully true to nature, and creditable to the perfection of art. The volume should be on the centre-table of every lady of tnate. A History of Philip the Second, King of Spain. By Wil liam II. Prescott. Vol. III. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Ob.- We think this volume even more interesting than those which have preceded it, for, with the exception of two chap- tors, which are devoted to Philip's personal character and habits, it la oceupled by a narrative of the great Morisco re- bellion, that last desperate effort of the Spanish Arabs to recover their lont Granada. It is in such narrativos that Prescott excels. His rapid, graphic style; the masterly manner in which he groups events; the vivid pictures of the conory amid which the action of the story is carried on; the dramatic force with which he often brings out his characters; all these render Prescott without an equal in this depart ment of history. Our author, also, la as thorough a student as he is a successful delineator. He never sits down to write till he has mastered every detall, and become, not only acco rately informed of the minutest facts, but infused with the very spirit of the times which he is about to describe. More- over, he is always charitable, though he does not hesitate to censure, when the censure is deserved. Motley, who has written upon some of the same events, is more minute, more declamatory, and more eloquent, as many may think. But his beat sometimes suggests the possibility of partizanship. The calmer mood of Prescott preserves the latter historian from every such imputation. We rise from the perusal of this volume, feeling our incompetency to praise it as it de- carves, and regretting that thore nre not more of such books of history in the language. Sunshine; or, Kate Vinton. By Harriet B. M'Keever. 1 wo, 12 mo. Philada: Lindsay Blacktafon.-The aim of the writer of this book, has been, as she saya in her preface, to present a youthful Christian, in the midst of much in- Armity, still adorning the doctrine of God, her Saviour, in all things. This alm Mrs. M'Keever has successfully carried ont. It is just the book for mothers to put into the hands of their daughters. The publishers have laaned it in a very neat style. I 3 ml, 12 mo. Bostm: Crosby, Nichols &.-The author of this volume is a German, who spent some time in the western part of this country, and, when he returned to un. The book is one of the most interesting we have read for a long while. Allowances, of course, must be made for the author's prejudices of education, and for a love of exag- geration that seems to be natural to the man. The embel- lishments are very showy, and in a new style. Night Cape. By the author of "Aunt Fanny's Christmas Stories New York: Appleton & Co.-A book of stories for little children, with eight illustrations. Aunt Fanny" # writes charmingly for the little ones. "The Doctor," and "Dame Trot and her Cat," are two side-splitting stories; while "Little Alice, and "Good Little Henry," fully bear out the Author's intention, when she says in her preface, "Especially have I tried to exhibit the beauty and goodness of virtue, so entwined in the thread of every story, as to render unneces sary a dry moral at the end for the children to skip, as they invariably do." By Buds from the Christmas Boughs, and other Tales. Firginia F. Townsend. New Fork: Stanford d Delisser — A most seasonable book by one of our favorite contributors. Miss Townsend's stories are always charmingly written, and they are unexceptionable in their high religions tone. Old and young will pick up the little volume before us, and bat few will put it down till they have read it to the last page. "Right Across the Street," in one of the most beautiful stories we have ever read. McIntosh, author of "Aunt Kitty's Tules," dc., dr. New Mela Gray; or, What Makes Home Happy. By M. J. Fork: D. Appleton & Co-The announcement of a book by Miss McIntosh, is anfficient to Insure its sale. The volume before us is adapted to young ladies particularly, and is written in the author's usual happy style. No mother need be afraid to place thla volume in the hands of her daugh terb. The Fair Maid of Perth. By the author of "Waverley." 2 vols., 12 mo. Boston: Tickner & Fields.-We have here the forty-third and forty-fourth volumes of the now famous "Household Edition of Scott's Novels." Every lady of taato ought to have this edition of the romances of the great Wizard of the North; and as the series is now nearly at ila close, the present is a fitting occasion for purchasing. The Fule Log. A series of Stories for the loung. Now Fork: Ranford Delisser. This little volume will be a priza for children who love fairy stories: and what chlid does not? The volume in Issued by Stanford & Delimmer, in their usual superior style. The Muster. Fy B. F. Presbury. 1 vol., 12 mo. Boston: Shepard, Clark & Brown-A new novel, intended to deplot American life, but whose merits we cannot speak of, a w have not yet had time to peruse it. Digitized by Google