“HISTORICAL ESSAYS.” By Henry Adams. Chas. Scribners’ Sons.
In this volume are gathered a number of essays, chiefly on historical
subjects, which have appeared at various times in magazines. They are
characterized, as might be expected, by the clear and attractive style
and the incisive thought that belongs to all of Mr. Adams’ literary work.
Some of the essays are of pronounced value and interest. Notably the
essay on the Gold Conspiracy, which to any one who is at all familiar
with the details of one of the most remarkable episodes in American
financial history, will prove absorbingly interesting. It contains a
sketch of Jay Gould, which, in the light of recent occurrences, has a
peculiar interest.
In no field of investigation at the present time is the skeptical spirit
more active than in the historical, and the essay on Capt. John Smith
will provoke some criticism and more regret, as it is an effort to cut
away the historic basis from the beautiful story of Pocahontas. As Dr.
Schliemann has lifted Troy and its legends to the dignity of history,
perhaps some historical explorer may be inspired to undertake the same
task for the Pocahontas incident.
* * * * *
We have received in pamphlet form, as one of the published collections of
the Minnesota Historical Society for 1891, the account of the ceremonies
of the two hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Falls of St.
Anthony by Father Hennepin in 1680, and the different papers read on
that interesting occasion. This “Part” is a continuation of the series
of short sketches and papers which had been interrupted, and makes a
valuable addition to the data for Western History. It is a real pleasure
to praise the beautiful typographical appearance of this pamphlet.
* * * * *
“BEGINNINGS OF LITERARY CULTURE IN THE OHIO VALLEY.” By W. H. Venable,
L.L.D. Robert Clarke & Co., 1891.
Dr. Venable has been very successful in his undertaking to show the
progress of literature, education, art, politics and religion in the Ohio
Valley, from the days of the early settlers until the present time. He
has done this by sketching the careers of those who have been conspicuous
in these fields of culture and practical interest, and has gathered a
great fund of information, anecdote and biographical detail, which has
made his narrative very interesting as well as full.
* * * * *
“JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE.” Edited
by Edward Everett Hale. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891.
A book on James Freeman Clarke, by Edward Everett Hale, encourages “great
expectations,” and these expectations are not disappointed.
It is a delightful mixture of the handiwork of two bright thinkers and
recognized lights in our native literature. After a modest account of
himself, the subject of the sketch is delineated still further by a fond
and appreciative friend. The man, broad and free and catholic in his
thinking and in his feeling, opens his heart to us in diary and letters.
And what he fails to tell, as eminently improper for himself to tell,
Dr. Hale gives to us, so that the picture may be complete. The keynote
to the book, and the real use of it, are indicated on the first page by
Dr. Clarke himself: “I have lived in an important period; have known many
eminent men and distinguished women; have seen great changes in social
life, in religious opinion, in private morals and public manners. If I
can succeed in making a few suggestive pictures, or memory sketches,
it may be a gratification to my children and friends, and possibly
contribute matter for the future historian of this period.”
* * * * *
“HISTORICAL COLLECTION OF OHIO.” By Henry Howe, L.L.D.
The two concluding volumes of the Historical Collections of Ohio are now
published together, and complete a monumental work. Dr. Howe has given
many years to this undertaking, and is said to have personally visited
every locality of which he treats, and collected his facts from the lips
of living men and women as well as from written records. The work is
more than a formal history. It unfolds before the reader the whole life
and annals of Ohio, from the earliest settlements to the present day.
Geography and statistics go hand in hand with narration, reminiscence and
details of social life and customs.
* * * * *
“OHIO ARCHÆOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, VOL. III.”
We have received the third volume of the publications of The Ohio
Archæological and Historical Society. This volume is mainly concerned
with the anniversary exercises connected with the centennial of the
settlement of Gallipolis. Exhaustive papers on “The French Settlement
and Settlers of Gallipolis,” “The Scioto Company and its Purchase,”
and the “Early Judiciary of Ohio,” attest the historical value of this
volume. It also contains a report of the sixth annual meeting of the
society, February 19th and 20th, 1891. The secretary (Mr. A. A. Graham),
very pertinently says in his preface, “The State is now indebted to the
Ohio Archæological and Historical Society for three valuable historical
volumes, and if the society had done nothing else, its existence is more
than justified.”