HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND TOPOGRAPHY. Mexico in Transition from the Power of Political Romanism to Civil and Religious Liberty. By WILLIAM BUTLER, D.D. 8vo, pp. 325. New York: Hunt & Eaton. Cincinnati: Cranston & Curts. Price, cloth, $2.00. Through much tribulation has Mexico come to her present degree of stability and promise. While it is probably true that the elemental period of every modern nation has been crowded with privations, particularly has the development of this American people been a long and bloody tragedy. History contains no more heart-rending chapter in its many-paged record, and it is a chapter which has not always been fully understood or regarded. It is partly to rectify such misconceptions in the Mexican history that Dr. Butler has prepared his present volume. A wide traveler, a discriminating observer of national customs, and a veteran missionary who has learned in the darkness of heathenism to discern the signs of gospel progress-an indifferent story of Mexican development would not be satisfactory from his hand. The fortification of his historic statements by reference to documentary evidence—a method which has cost the author no small labor-gives a tone of certainty to his work. The interests of accuracy are thus served in the correction of existing errors, an illustration of this correction being the refutation of the charge of traitorship against Colonel López which so long prevailed. The attractive nature of Dr. Butler's description is also its recommendation. Whoever has read the Land of the Veda, and has been thrilled by its surpassing tragedies, will feel the fascination of the present story. As a master of vivid English Dr. Butler has drawn the picture of the Mexican struggles with a graphic pen. His volume has therefore a charm for all readers. While it does not particularly discuss the topography of Mexico, its natural resources, or its commercial promise, it is nevertheless a work in which the social economist, as well as the reformer, is concerned. In tracing the progress of the missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Mexico, it has also a denominational value which the Church should not be slow to recognize. As the latest publication of one of her most honored missionaries its optimistic spirit is refreshing, and Mexico, by its showing, seems truly "in transition" from heathen darkness to Christian enlightenment. The Story of the Life of Mackay of Uganda. Told for Boys. By his Sister. 12mo, pp. 338. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. Price, cloth, $1.50. According to the map Uganda is a province lying northwest of Victoria Nyanza; according to the reports of travelers it is rich in natural resources and capable of sustaining a large population. Of this province and people Mtesa was king-proud, defiant, but teachable, and animated with a progressive spirit. Through the instrumentality of Stanley the king adopted some customs and ideas of civilization, besides accepting in form some of the doctrines of Christianity. However, the province needed the presence of a missionary force to keep it in sympathy with English notions of government and brotherhood, and in 1878 Mr. Mackay, leaving his Scottish surroundings, arrived in Uganda, intending to devote his life to the service of the heathen. The book is a recital of his experiences and observations, together with revelations of the actual working of heathenism. He saw it in its most abhorrent realistic features, and describes in a vivid style the pathetic yearnings of his soul for the relief of the people. It does not seem that superstition is the worst element of heathenism: but cruelty, abominations corrupt and degrading, the slave-trade existing among themselves and destroying the bonds of humanity and the sense of sympathy-these and other customs or wrongs, too deeply seated in the very character of the people to be at once counteracted, cry aloud for some agency of deliverance from their awful thralldom. Mr. Mackay alone was an insufficient force. He died at his post leaving Uganda unredeemed, but his spirit of consecration was as beautiful as his services were beneficent. The reading of this volume, prepared with loving care by his devoted sister, will enrich the mind of youthful readers, and perhaps inspire some of them to sacrifices for the Master by the model life it portrays. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Preacher, Author, Philanthropist. With Anecdotal Reminiscences. By G. HOLDEN PIKE, Author of The Romance of the Streets, etc. 12mo, pp. 397, New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. Price, cloth, $1. Charles H. Spurgeon: His Faith and Works. By H. L. WAYLAND. 12mo, pp. 317. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society. Price, cloth, $1.25. From the Pulpit to the Palm-Branch. A Memorial of C. H. Spurgeon. Sequel to the Sketch of his Life, entitled From the Usher's Desk to the Tubernacle Pulpit. Five Memorial Sermons by Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D.; Descriptive Accounts of Mr. Spurgeon's Long Illness and Partial Recovery; His Last Month at Mentone, including Verbatim Reports of the Last Two Addresses Given by Him, and the Last Two Articles he wrote; with the Official Report of the Services in Connection with His Funeral. 12mo, pp. 281. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. Price, cloth, $1.25. The life of no modern Christian worker now called to his reward is richer in biographic materials than Mr. Spurgeon's. Great in his life and ministry by every standard of measurement, men will long find an incentive to Christian faith and work in his written story. Among the numerous biographical volumes already issued, having the great preacher for their basis, are included the three above enumerated. Each has its excellencies. The first, by Mr. Pike, tells the general story of his life in an interesting way. The second, by Dr. Wayland, has its value in the fact that its author as a Baptist interprets the life work of Mr. Spurgeon from the standpoint of his own denomination. The third volume gathers up the closing experiences in the departure of Mr. Spurgeon, and therein is readable and important. John Wesley. By Rev. JAMES J. ELLIS. 12mo, pp. 228. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. Price, cloth, $1. John Wesley still lives in the numerous biographies his name is evoking, and in the more potent influence of his memory in the religious in stitutions of mankind. The present volume is not new in its facts or the details of his long career; but it differs from many in the modernizing process to which it has been subjected. The author writes in an everyday style, giving to his pages a freshness that almost amounts to a charm and a piquancy that relieves the reader of weariness. The common phrases of Wesley's day are plentifully used, sonic hat compromising the dignity of the biography, though it is confessed they would scarcely be noticed in a larger volume. We have only to add that he who reads this book will have presented to him an exalted idea of the character of Wesley and some knowledge of the great work he achieved. Sir Philip Sidney. Type of English Chivalry in the Elizabethan Age. By H. R. Henry Boynton Smith. By LEWIS F. STEARNS, D.D., Late Professor in Bangor Theological Seminary, Maine. 12mo, pp. 368. New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price, cloth, $1.25. Biography is more than the study of the individual life. In its philosophic sense it involves a notice of the relation which contemporaries bear to one another and to their successors; and in its pursuit to ultimate consequences it must arrive, by the very contrast between individuals of different centuries, at the value of the life which is under investigation. Hence it is that the biographical stories of the three men mentioned above borrow force from the very contrast. Sir Philip Sidney has gained an enduring place as a true type of that English chivalry which flourished in the days of Elizabeth. Mr. Bourne has prosecuted his pleasant biographic task with ardor, and yet with discrimination. Under his portrayal Sir Philip loses nothing of the renown which time has long since awarded him. As Greville wrote: "He was a true model of worth; a man fit for conquest, plantation, reformation, or what action soever is the greatest and hardest among men; . . . his chief ends being not friends, wife, children, and himself, but above all things the honor of his Maker and the service of his prince and country.” The volume belongs in the series of the Heroes of the Nations. ... John Kenneth Mackenzie belonged to the present generation, to which chivalry of the Elizabethan age has become traditional. Yet he illustrated in his living that later chivalry which is the consummate flower of a Christian civilization. Of English birth, and called by divine influences to the work of a medical missionary, he spent thirteen years of heroic labor in China, and then was suddenly called to his reward. His consecration is impressive and his story an inspiration. The name of Henry Boynton Smith is familiar in the department of modern American theology. He was no ordinary man. His sturdiness of soul, his large natural endowment, his richness of spirit, and his useful ness as a theological professor, literary writer, and student, are ably set forth in the present biography. The book has its place in the series of American Religious Leaders London. By WALTER BRSANT, Author of All Sorts and Conditions of Men Fifty The knowledge of London is fundamental to the understanding of English history. For so many centuries has the great metropolis been an integral part of the public life and a commanding factor in the national growth, that her records must necessarily be mastered and appreciated by the true student of history. Since the investigation of metropolitan life is also a study of fashions, architectural growth, social customs, and other general forces of civilization, the inquiry assumes a concrete form which is both easy and engaging. Mr. Besant's volume proceeds upon this order, its purpose being defined by the author himself in the admirable words: "It has been my endeavor to present pictures of the City of London-instantaneous photographs, showing the streets, the buildings, and the citizens at work and at play. Above all, the citizens: with their daily life in the streets, in the shops, in the churches, and in the houses; the merchant in the quays and on 'Change; the shopkeeper of Cheapside; the priests and the monks and the friars; the shouting of those who sell; the laughter and singing of those who feast and drink; the ringing of the bells; the dragging of the criminal to the pillory; the riding of the lord mayor and aldermen; the river, with its boats and barges; the cheerful sound of pipe and tabor; the stage, with its tumblers and its rope-dancers; the 'prentices, with their clubs; the evening dance in the streets. I want my pictures to show all these things." Obedient to this impulse Mr. Besant shows himself a skillful portrayer of the composite London life. His pictures have a vivid quality. From the fifth and sixth centuries to the days of George II he continues his survey, making use of the AngloSaxon Chronicle, of Riley's Extracts from the City Records, and of other reliable sources of information. The volume deserves high commendation. In matter it is valuable, in illustrations and mechanical preparation it is most attractive to the eye. The Boy Travelers in Central Europe. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through France, Switzerland, and Austria, with Excursions among the Alps of Switzerland and the Tyrol. By THOMAS W. Knox, Author of The Boy Trav elers in the Far East, etc. Illustrated. Svo, pp. 532. New York: Harper & Brothers. Price, cloth, $3. The two boy travelers of the present story are untiring and enthusiastic tourists. Already we have noticed their visits to various countries of the globe, and have remarked upon their interesting experiences. In their present tour through Central Europe they show a no less eager scrutiny of national customs and a no less intelligent power to reach correct conclusions than on former pilgrimages through European lands. France, Switzerland, and Hungary are now the countries visited by these youthful students. A generous use of illustrations occurs in the volume and makes it a worthy sequel to its predecessors. Mr. Knox has chosen a delightful way in which to teach his young readers national history and customs. The present book should whet the desire of his boy patrons to visit in person the strange lands of the continent. MISCELLANEOUS. Stories About Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour: His Wonderful Words and Works. With 389 Pictorial Illustrations. By Rev. C. R. BLACKALL and Mrs. EMILY C. BLACKALL. Quarto, pp. 271. Philadelphia: Benjamin Griffith. Price, cloth, $2 75. The construction of a life of Christ for the young is not an easy undertaking. Mary of the requirements for such an ideal volume seem, however, to combine in the present case. For its many authorities consulted, looking toward accuracy of statements; its simplicity of language, without adherence to the monosyllabic method; and its frequency of illustrations, as emphatic object-lessons for youthful readers, it merits approving words. Americanisms and Briticisms. With other Essays on Other Isms. By BRANDER MATTHEWS, with Portrait. 16mo, pp. 190. Price, cloth, ornamental, $1. From the Books of Laurence Hutton. With Portrait. 16mo. pp. 182. Price, cloth, ornamental, $1. Concerning All of Us. By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. With Portrait. 16mo, pp. 210. Price, cloth, ornamental, $1. From the Easy Chair. By GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. With Portrait. 16mo, pp. 231. Price, cloth, $1. As We Were Saying. By CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. trations by Harry Whitney, McVickar, and others. cloth, ornamental, $1.25. With Portrait, and Illus16mo, pp. 201. Price, Criticism and Fiction. By WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS. With Portrait. 16mo. Price, cloth, ornamental, $1. These handy volumes belong to the series of American Essayists, published by Harper & Brothers. As to authorship the miscellaneous papers here found are beyond criticism; in their attractiveness of print they are altogether satisfactory. Tributes to Shakespeare. Collected and Arranged by MARY R. SILSBY, 16mo, pp. 246. New York: Harper & Brothers. Price, cloth, $1.25. This book is constructed on an unusual basis. What many of the world's lesser poets think of the great English poet is worth the knowing. Many of these judgments are here gathered by Mrs. Silsby. She has done the reading world a service in their compilation. Columbus. An Epic Poem giving an accurate history of the Great Discovery in Rhymed Heroic Verse. By SAMUEL JEFFERSON, F.R.A.S., F.C.S., Author of The Epic of the Invincible Armada. 12mo, pp. 239. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Company. Price, cloth, ornamental, $1.25. An opportune poem, told in good versification, and interesting to all who prefer to read in meter the story of the great discovery. |