also, that he is the author of some of the best and most familiar pieces which they contain, as well as of some excellent standard religious works. There is much in the life of this eminent divine of interest and value to the general reader, and especially to the ministerial profession; and Mr. Harsha has made of this material a very readable and instructive book. From it we learn that Dr. Doddridge was born in London early in the last century, and at the commencement of Queen Anne's reign; that he did not, as is stated in the "New American Cyclopedia," pursue "for some time the study of the law," but passed directly from his student life to pastoral duties, at the age of twenty-one; that he spent nearly thirty years in the active duties of pastor, author and tutor; and that he died in Lisbon, whither he had gone in quest of health, in 1751. Dr. Doddridge was a man of fine genius, rich learning, great diligence and activity, and fervent piety. He had an extensive acquaintance with the great men of his time; and a very interesting feature of this book are the accounts and notices which it gives of Dr. Doddridge's contemporaries, among whom were such eminent divines and theologians as Richard Baxter, Job Orton, Dr. Kippis, Bishop Warburton, Dr. Watts, Jonathan Edwards, and James Hervey. The author considers, first, Dr. Doddridge's Times; then his Student-Life, his Pastorates, his Labors as Tutor and Author, his Last Days, and his Character; closing with some Specimens of his Style in prose and verse. The book is well printed on heavy tinted paper, with neat and substantial binding. WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS. Globe Edition. New York: Hurd & Houghton. Cobb, Pritchard & Co., Chicago. The last of the fourteen volumes which comprise the well-known "Globe Edition" of Dickens's works has just been published by Messrs Hurd & Houghton, and contains "The Uncommercial Traveler" (a series of short tales which were given to the public by Mr. Dickens in "All the Year Round "), "Master Humphrey's Clock," and "Additional Christmas Stories." It also gives a valuable General Index of all Mr. Dickens's characters, with the page or pages of their appearance in this edition of his works, and an index of his fictitious places, popular sayings, etc. Of all the editions of Dickens, the "Globe" is one of the most worthy and popular. The present volume contains over one thousand pages, well printed and handsomely bound; and it is a wonder, in the present day of high prices, that so fine a book can be manufactured for so small a price. This edition is sold, by the single volume or collectively, at $1.50 per volume. THREE SEASONS IN EUROPEAN VINEYARDS Treating of Vine-Culture, Vine Disease and its Cure, WineMaking and Wines-Red and White, and Wine-Drinking, as Affecting Health and Morals. By Wm. J. Flagg. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1869. S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago. Pp. 332; 12mo. Price, $1.50. A very neatly printed and bound book, containing the observations of an intelligent and practical American vine-grower, for three seasons, in the vineyards of Europe. It gives a clear and graphic description of grape-culture and wine-making in many of the most celebrated vineyards of the Old World; and contains much valuable information for American vine-growers. Not the least important part of it are the seventy pages of reprint of a pamphlet by H. H. Marès, of Montpelier, France, entitled "A Manual for the Sulphuring of Diseased Vines;" showing sulphuring to be a perfect cure if done at the right time. Every grapegrower will be profited by the study of this book. MENTAL PHOTOGRAPHS. An Album for Confessions of Tastes, Habits, and Convictions. Edited by Robert Saxton. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 1869. S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago. Price, $1.50. This book, as its title indicates, is intended to serve as a record for the tastes and characteristics of friends; in short, for their mental photographs, just as another class of albums serves to keep their physical ones. It has a place for an ordinary carte de visite on a page where questions like the following are asked, with blank space for answers: Your favorite color; flower; tree; object in nature; hour in the day; season of the year; perfume; gem; style of beauty; name- male and female; painters; musicians; piece of sculpture; poets; poetesses; prose authors; character in romance; in history; book; amusement; occupation; trait of character in man; in woman; what the saddest words; the sweetest words; your aim in life; your motto, etc. The volume is handsomely gotten up, with room for about forty photographs, and must serve well the purpose for which it is published. BOOKS RECEIVED. THE GATES WIDE OPEN; or, Scenes Co., Chicago. Price, 50 cents. PETERSON'S TWENTY-CENT EDITION OF SCOTT'S WAVERLEY NOVels. Complete in 26 volumes, at 20 cents each, or $5 for the complete set. PhilaS. C. delphia: T. B. Peterson & Co. Griggs & Co., Chicago. MONEY: ITS USES AND ABUSES. Coinage, National Bonds, Currency and Banking, Illustrated and Explained. By Lyman E. De Wolf. Chicago: Published by the author. 1869. Pp. 200. Price, $1.50. ΤΗΕ WESTERN MONTHLY. VOL. II.—AUGUST, 1869.—NO. 8. SAMUEL MERRILL. WHATEVER differences of opinion. W may exist as to the intellectual character of President Grant, he has demonstrated one great truth, at any rate; and that is, as wittily put by a daily journal, that though there is a time for public speaking, it is not all the time. The vice of our statesmanship has been the abuse of oratory. We say the abuse of oratory, because the use of that art is a gift which any statesman may be proud to possess; for it is a means of influence legitimate and powerful. In the earlier days of the Republic, and to this day in the South, the stump was a principle means of political education. What of politics the people did not thence learn, they learned from the reports of speeches in Congress. The ideas of political rights and of political economy of thousands of excellent elderly gentlemen now living are based on these flimsy foundations. Such being the school in which the ideas of statesmanship were supposed to be taught how to shoot, it is little wonder it was filled to overflowing, or that a great majority of the graduates have turned out to be failures. We have plenty of public But men who can stand on their legs and make their tongues wag, but very few who can be called orators, without needlessly insulting the English language. There are not more than six men in both houses of Congress who are genuine orators. Mr. Fessenden is a very great debater; he has great knowledge of affairs, intellectual movements quick as lightning, and enough of dyspepsia to make him completely remorseless in retort. Mr. Trumbull is a great lawyer, and can make a stronger, clearer legal argument than any other senator. his speeches are better read than heard. Mr. Sumner delivers a magnificent address, and is sometimes fairly eloquent. But since the death of Senator Baker, of California, the voice of eloquence has been seldom heard in the Senate Chamber, and then in voices cracked and spoiled by the demon of rum. In the House of Representatives there is no man a better speaker than General Logan, though Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, is a far more fiery orator, whilst Mr. Voorhees, the distinguished democrat of Indiana, surpasses either in the strength of his argumentation and the vigor of his invective. But you will Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by REED, BROWNE & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Illinois. |