The preparation of elaborately illustrated editions of standard poems especially for the holiday trade has become a very prominent feature of the book publishing business. Every year seems to mark an increased beauty and variety in the work which the artist contributes to these holiday books, and many classic works of literature are read with clearer meaning and vastly greater delight, by reason of the intelligent interpretations often given in the illustrations of our best artists of the day.

Among the most tasteful as well as sumptuous art volumes of the last three years have been James R. Osgood & Co.'s "The Lady of the Lake," "The Princess," and "Marmion." For a similar book for this season, Messrs, Ticknor & Co., the successors of the old firm, have taken as a subject Lord Byron's Childe Harold.6 Of the poem nothing need be said here, for it is universally accepted as Byron's greatest and best; but of the illustrations, pages of praise could easily be written. The poem itself has been a fertile theme for the artists, for the scene is made to shift from one to another of the most beautiful and romantic localities of the Rhine, of Spain, Italy and Greece, and most of the illustrations are true representations of castles, ruins, palaces and natural scenery in these ancient countries.

All of the illustrations in the volume are from wood, in the production of which the most famous American artists and engravers have given their best work, all of it having been under the supervision of Mr A.V.S. Anthony.

Scarcely a year has elapsed since the appearance of the first volume of Mr. Blaine's Twenty Years in Congress, which details the history of our time from the outbreak of Secession to the death of President Lincoln. To maintain the interest attached to that work, a second and concluding volume ought to have been published ere this. Indeed, the public had a right to expect it. But, now, another bid for public consideration and favor has been put forth under the rather attractive title of Three Decades of Federal Legislation.7 The author is the Hon. S.S. Cox of New York, at one time a formidable opponent of Mr. Blaine in the halls of Congress, and at the present time American minister to Turkey.

Mr. Cox was a member of Congress for twenty-four years, his four terms from an Ohio district covering the war and the period immediately preceding it. As a politician, he was always ranked on the Democratic side, and was universally regarded as one of the closest, most competent and most conscientious observer of men and things. His acknowledged literary skill and his passion for accuracy rendered it almost certain that his history would be both fascinating and truthful. Contemporary history is at the present moment in high favor. All intelligent people realize that the records of the last fifty years are of more vital importance to living Americans than are the annals of all previous eras. Hence, when a man so thoroughly equipped with the gifts of mind and of expression as Mr. Cox has shown himself to be in earlier books from his pen,—we say when such a man sets out to relate the story of his time, it follows without further argument that his work will not only be sought but will be read.

The narrative covers the eventful work of Congress for the past thirty years, and gives a much fuller inside view of Federal legislation during this period than can be obtained from Mr. Blaine's more pretentious work. No period in our national history is so full of interest as the times of which our author writes. The revolt from English rule and the establishment of our national government was one of the grandest epochs in history. In that period were determined the issue of national independence; in this epoch of even greater magnitude, the issue of national existence. Both periods alike witnessed the most terrible conflicts of armies, of bloodshed and suffering in both periods was shown the exercise of the highest and most brilliant statesmanship; and in both periods the Federal Legislature was witness to events scarcely less exciting and decisive than occurred on hundreds of bloody battle-fields. The exciting period of Secession, the departure of Senators and Representatives from Congress, the proclamation of war, the call for troops, the great uprising of the people of all sections, North and South, against each other, the act of Emancipation, the sanguinary battles of, and the close of the war, the return of peace, the assassination of President Lincoln, the election of Grant, the Electoral Commission and the seating of Hayes, the resumption of specie payments and a host of other equally impressive episodes and events, find in Mr. Cox an impartial historian. Of the importance of such a work, there is no need of saying anything, and it is quite enough to remark that the book taken all in all, is perhaps the most important, because of its impartiality and accuracy, that has so far been published during the present year.

We have alluded to the fact that the author was a prominent actor in nearly all the legislation of this long period, and that he consequently possesses that personal and absolute knowledge which comes from actual participation. The following extract which is taken at random from page 117 of the volume discloses something of the author's happy faculty of seeing and describing things as they occurred to him. He says:—

"Being upon the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives when the Trent affair occurred, the writer attended a dinner given by the Secretary at this then happy home. This was at a time when men held their breath in trepidation, lest Great Britain and the Powers of Europe might make the Trent matter the pretext to consummate their recognition of Southern independence. Some feared that a disparted Republic would have to give way before the jealous encroachments of those who sought to divide our country as they endeavored to imperialize Mexico.

"The delightful interchanges of thought between the persons at that dinner are not so important as the fact that transpired toward its close. After the ceremonies of introduction, and the tenders of politeness to Mrs. Frederick W. Seward and Miss Olive Risley—the adopted daughter of the house—the guests who had been received by these ladies moved to the hospitable dining-hall. On the right of Mr. Seward was seated burly English heartiness incarnated in Mr. Anthony Trollope, the novelist. His presence was almost a surprise, if not a satire on the occasion, as it concluded. At the other end of the table sat John J. Crittenden. He was then chairman of Foreign Affairs in the House. The author was on his right, as he was nearer by sympathy to him than others on the committee. He used to say to the writer: 'My young friend, when I was of your age, I did all the work and the older members received the merit marks. You may do the work, sir, and I will take the credit.' With his grave humor and hearty confidence, he was wont to parcel out to the writer no inconsiderable quantity of the work of this most arduous of committees. Thus it happened that a bill for the relief of the owners of the Perthshire, seized by us, came to the hand of the writer for a report. The chairman was not a little astonished when he found that his subbordinate, on the 17th of December, 1861, was dilating on the Trent case, and quoting Robinson's Reports to justify the detention of the contraband plenipotentiaries, upon British precedents and conduct."

From the foregoing selection, it will readily be seen that the author's style is strong, clear, rapid, and stimulating, his judgment sound and unprejudiced, and his materials authentic. His condition, experiences, and industry combine to throw new light on the events of the most remarkable epoch in natural history, and the volume, independent of Mr. Cox's reputation, is bound to be a success. It is at once the most picturesque and harmonious political history of our times that has thus far been written, and will, also, be generally looked upon as a solid and substantial contribution to American literature. We feel that we cannot commend it too highly.

In the Century magazine, last spring, Gen. George B. McClellan undertook to present his explanation of the failure of the Army of the Potomac while under his command. In his article, he assaulted the memories of Lincoln and Stanton, and attempted much more than he accomplished,—at least, so thinks the Hon. William D. Kelley, who examines McClellan's statements in a book recently published. It bears the simple title, Lincoln and Stanton.8 Of this volume, which for the first time makes many fresh disclosures, we hope to have something to say at another time.

Senator Sumner was once asked by Lord Brougham the origin and meaning of "caucus," and he replied: "It is difficult to assign any elementary to the word, but the most approved one referred its origin to the very town, and about the time (1772), of his lordship's birth." There is a tradition in Boston that "caucus" was a common word here before the Revolutionary war broke out, and that it originated in a feud between the British troops on the one side and the rope-walkers and calkers on the other. Bloody collisions, it is said, occurred between them. The latter held meetings in the calkers' hall in the lower part of the city, at which resolutions were adopted and speeches made denouncing the soldiers, who, on their part deriding the wordy war offered, sneeringly snubbed their opponents "The Calkers," which by an easy corruption became "the caucus," and finally a term to denote the meetings.

Whether this be the origin or not of the word, one thing is certain—Mr. George W. Lawton has done a most commendable thing in the publication of his little book on The American Caucus System.9 It is exceedingly useful, and the wonder is for us why some such work has not earlier issued from the press, for it meets the requirements of the multitudinous politicians and others who are never absent on "caucus nights." The author begins at the beginning of his theme, and shows how easily men, that is, mankind in general, choose to be controlled by political power, and to bear its burdens; he then establishes the axiom that the direction of political power is with the caucus, and goes on still further to explain what gives the caucus its authority, to compare caucus nominations with self-nominations, and then historically to trace the growth of the caucus, and, lastly, to describe the proceedings of, and how to conduct, a caucus meeting. From first to last, these pages are suggestive, timely, and embody a great deal of good sound sense.

The late Mr. Walter Bagehot left behind him some materials for a book which promised to make a landmark in the history of economics, by separating the use of the older, or Ricardian, economic reasonings from their abuse, and freeing them from the discredit into which they had fallen through being often misapplied. Unfortunately he did not complete more than the examination of two of their postulates, namely, the transferability of capital and labor. These were originally published in the Fortnightly Review, in 1876, and are now republished, with some other materials for the author's proposed work, under the title of The Postulates of English Political Economy.10 These essays, which emanated from a well-trained, scientific mind, an independent thinker, and one who was perfectly free in his criticisms, deal almost exclusively with one side of what the author wished and intended to say; but as they stand, they prove that had he lived he would have shed much light on the problem, how the rapid changes of modern city life may help us to understand, by analogy and indirect inference, the slow changes of a backward people.

The pathos and humor which have immortalized many of Will Carleton's earlier poems enter again into his City Ballads.11 If ever a poet comprehended the human heart and the mainspring of its responses, it is he who gave us that wonderfully-common-place (by reason only of its theme) but delightful versification, "Betsey and I are out." His new collection embraces several pieces almost as striking in their character; and their wholesomeness and truthfulness of sentiment will win for them many readers. None of these poems are fanciful pictures of life which does not exist; but they are, on the contrary, faithful to the actualities of the living present. They portray metropolitan life as in a mirror, and depict the mishaps of the inexperienced therein in a way that is at once healthful and conducive to practical morality. Every poem is a story, which carries within itself a lesson not easily forgotten, and as a poem is almost invariably characterized by a pleasant rhythm and animation. The illustrations—and they are numerous—are excellent; indeed, one would not wish them to be better. These poems and pictures will find entrance into many homes ere the holiday season is ended.

One of the most astonishing successes, in a literary line, of recent years is Col. Higginson's "Young Folks' History of the United States." Published originally as a book for general readers, its superlative merits commended themselves to teachers, then led to the introduction of the work, as a text-book of history, into very many schools. No other work of the kind, we believe, has met with such signal favor or so richly deserves it. So far as it goes, it is by all odds the ne plus ultra for school use.

The same author has recently published what he terms A Larger History of the United States,12 which, however, ends only with the close of President Jackson's administration. So far we fail to discover any raison d'etre of the volume, unless its purpose is distinctly to bring together in a re-arranged form the series of illustrated papers on American history contributed by Mr. Higginson to Harper's Magazine during the past two years. If such is the author's purpose, then we have no fault to find with the work. But the term "Larger History" is, in this case, a misnomer. The book does not contain as much matter as the earlier work to which we have alluded, and it is not, so far as we can make out, written for older readers. It does not strike one as being a history at all,—that is, a straightforward, logical, and continuous narrative coinciding with those exemplar types of historical writing bequeathed to us by Macaulay or by Motley. The book ends, as we have said, with the close of Jackson's administration; but we glean very little concerning the administration and we are told much relative to "Old Hickory."

Now, then, this may seem like finding fault with Mr. Higginson's book. If so, we have plainly asserted our reasons. But with his subject matter, and with his manner of treating it, everybody must be pleased. We have never read more charmful essays on the First Americans, the Visit of the Vikings, the Spanish Discoverers, the French Voyageurs, the Dawning of Independence, and the Great Western March, than appear between the covers of this beautiful volume. They are full of meat, and have the savor of fresh and studious investigation, and we feel grateful to their author for having provided so tempting a feast. What he says and the way he says it make us the more to regret the unfortunate title of his book.

The illustrations, which are numerous, are veritable works of art, and we do not believe that any other American book can exhibit a finer or more valuable series of portraits of American statesmen. This feature alone should commend it to lovers of fine books, of which the present issue is decidedly one. We are not informed whether a second volume is forthcoming.

6 (return)
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. A Romance. By Lord Byron. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Price, in cloth, $6.00.

7 (return)
Three Decades of Federal Legislation, from 1855 to 1885. By the Hon. S.S. Cox, 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 726. Illustrated. Providence, R.I.; J.A. & R.A. Reid, 1885. Price, $5.00, (sold only by subscription.)

8 (return)
Lincoln and Stanton. A study of the war administration of 1861 and 1862, with special consideration of some recent statements of Gen. George B. McClellan, By Wm. D. Kelley. 8vo, pp. 88. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. Price, $1.00.

9 (return)
The American Caucus System; its origin, purpose, and utility. By George W. Lawton. 1 vol. pp. 107. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1885. Price, $1.00.

10 (return)
The Postulates of English Political Economy. By the late Walter Bagehot, with a preface by Alfred Marshall. 1 vol. pp. 114. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. Price $1.00.

11 (return)
City Ballads. By Will Carleton, author of "Farm Ballads," "Farm Legends," etc. Illustrated. Square 8 vo, pp. 180. New York: Harper & Brothers. Price $2.00.

12 (return)
A Larger History of the United States of America to the close of President Jackson's administration. By Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Illustrated by Maps, Plans, Portraits, and other Engravings. 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 470. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1886. Price, $3.00.