HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT RYEDALES, and their Descendants in Normandy, Great Britain, Ireland, and America. From 860 to 1884. Comprising the Genealogy and Biography for about one thousand years of the families of RIDDELL, RIDDLE, RIDLON, RIDLEY, etc. By REV. G. T. RIDLON. 8vo, pp. 786. Published by the Author. 1884. Manchester, New Hampshire.

Some thirty-eight exquisitely executed steel portraits embellish this remarkably well printed genealogical work, together with twenty fullpage views of houses and monuments in color, and coats-of-arms in gold and heraldic colors representing twenty different shields and crests. Upon turning over the pages we find the volume something more and better than a mere statistical record. Genealogy predominates, but historical and biographical sketches of prominent events and characters are numerous. There is one comprehensive article on heraldry, which enables the reader to understand the significance of the coats-of-arms; and another is devoted to surnames and changes of orthography, followed by a brief account of the Christian names peculiar to the families that form the chief subject of the book. In the preliminary chapter a succinct history of the ancient clan of Ryedale appears, in which its branches are traced from century to century, and from land to land whither they have migrated. The period covered by the researches of the author is more than one thousand years; and his pains-taking and scholarly labors have occupied fourteen years. The results are eminently satisfactory, and will be welcomed by a multitude of American descendants and family connections.

ARCHIVES OF MARYLAND. Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland. April, 1666-June, 1676. Published by authority of the State, under the direction of the Maryland Historical Society. WILLIAM HAND BROWNE, Editor. Square quarto, pp. 570. 1884. Baltimore. Maryland Historical Society. Price per volume, $2.50.

The second printed volume of the Maryland Archives contains the Acts and Proceedings of the Assembly from the point at which the first volume closed to 1676. It also supplies the text of many laws missing from the Archives, through copies obtained from the Public Record Office in London. Mr. W. Noel Sainsbury has not only furnished the transcripts of many of these and other valuable papers, but has inter

ested Mr. E. Maude Thompson, keeper of the manuscripts in the British Museum, who has searched that repository for additional material. The most painstaking care seems to have been taken to secure minute accuracy in copying the text for the volumes, and we are told that the copy has in every instance been collated, word for word, with the original manuscripts before going to press, and that in this collation the use of the lens was often necessary when the text was almost illegible from stains or fading of the ink. It is a meritorious work ably accom plished, and one that will prove most acceptable to the students of American history. The Committee of Publication in their report, October 13, 1884, pay a deserved and appreciative tribute to Dr. Browne, whose careful editorship has contributed so largely to the prominence and value of the publication.

THE CRUISE OF THE ALICE MAY in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and adjacent waters. With numerous illustrations. Reprinted from the Century Magazine. By S. G.W BENJAMIN. Square 8vo, pp. 129. New York, 1885. D. Appleton & Co.

This delightful book should find its way into every household, as it is admirably adapted for the entertainment of the home circle. It is a continuous chapter of geographical information, vividly illustrated with maps and original sketches, and brightened with incident and story. Characteristic features of the towns along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are presented to the eye through the pencil of the expert artist, and the inhabitants and their manners and customs are deftly introduced to the reader with the author's ready pen, and in a manner so pleasing and picturesque that they will be apt to occupy a place in memory for evermore. Such works form excellent companions to text-books in the schools, and only need examination to be appreciated.

BOYS COASTWISE ; of, All Along the Short By WILLIAM H. RIDEING. With numerous illustrations. Square 8vo, pp. 365. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Another holiday issue, although a book that will be attractive all the year around, is Mr Rideing's new story for the boys. There is so much knowledge to be gleaned from the author's clever narrative of incidents along the wharves and chats about pilot boats. ocean steamers, coast wreckers, life savers, lighthouses, lightships, canal boats, and other kindred matters, that the reader grows in wisdom without effort, and while fancy

ing he is only entertained and amused, becomes really intelligent upon subjects which every one ought to understand. The description of the duties and perils of the life-savers is one of the best parts of the volume. The illustrations are pertinent and of special interest. The frontispiece is a picture of the boarding of an ocean steamer for news. In the closing pages we have two views of the Brooklyn Bridge; and a scene at Manhattan Beach, Coney Island.

VOCAL AND ACTION LANGUAGE. Culture and Expression. By E. N. KIRBY. 16m0, pp. 163. Boston, 1885. Lee & Shep

ard.

An interesting little hand-book just issued by the enterprising house of Lee & Shepard is entitled as above. It is not generally conceded that the art of expression can be acquired from the printed page; but with a good book the earnest student will undoubtedly make progress. The author gives a brief history of elocution, and happily alludes to the appreciation of the power of persuasive speech among the ancient Egyptians. The birth-place and early home of oratory, however, was in Greece, where it rose to the highest perfection, and from where its fame has spread over all the earth. In regard to the conditions for successful oratory, good health and a cheerful mind are among the chief mentioned. Dyspepsia and other infirmities easily influence the voice. Occasion," says Professor Kirby, "must exist for splendid oratory as it does for heroism; but every speaker who desires to serve truth and who has something to say can make an occasion for usual, perhaps for unusual oratory." The book abounds in useful lessons, and will be an ever-present help to its possessor who has any tact or ambition for vocal culture.

46

SI-YU KI: Buddhist Records of the Western World. Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A. D. 629). With Map. By SAMUEL BEAL, B.A. Two volumes, 12mo. Boston, 1885. James R. Osgood & Co.

This work was prepared by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang, from documents brought from India by himself in the seventh century. It embraces an account of his travels in that country and through some portion of Central Asia, and is full of legend and old-world folk-lore. It contains the best account of the condition of India at that ancient period extant, and being the result of personal knowledge on the part of the author, is of the utmost value, showing as it does the wonderful effect which the rise and development of Buddhism had on the old national life of India and neighboring countries.

The Chinese original, now translated for the first time into English, is one of the works included in the magnificent collection of Buddhist books sent to the India Office in 1876 by the Japanese Government. It consists of twelve Books, or Chapters, and the translation is inIcluded in these two volumes. The introduction and an elaborate index are the work of the translator, who is the Rector of Wark, Northumberland, and Professor of Chinese in University College, London. Speaking of the Buddhist literature of China, he says its discovery has had much to do with the progress made in our knowledge of Northern Buddhism during the last few years. The chief points of interest in these volumes before us are the references to the geography, history, manners and religion of the people of India.

KENTUCKY.

A Pioneer Commonwealth. By N. S. SHALER (American Commonwealths. Edited by HORACE E. SCUdder). I vol., 16mo, pp. 427. Boston, 1884. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

The reader is requested by the author of this work in his preface to kindly remember that it is not entitled a history. The one main object has been to interpret the motives that guided the people in shaping the Kentucky Commonwealth. quire the space of several volumes and much A full and faithful history would relonger devotion to research than practicable in the present instance. It is not an easy matter to discernt he forces that have made a people what they are. These lie hidden beneath the surface, like the functions of the well-conditioned individual body. One hundred and fifty years elapsed between the first settlement of Virginia and the settlement of Kentucky. The origin of the Kentucky population is so marked that the Commonwealth may with propriety be called the child of another commonwealth; Kentucky history goes back to the parent state even more directly than that of America to Britain. Such budding of a new state from an old colony has hardly a precedent in the history of America. The Kentucky spirit was the offspring of the Revolution. The most important element of the Kentucky colonists was from the soldiery at the close of the war with Great Britain. The various reasons which led to this westward migration are forcibly presented by Mr. Shaler, and among other important topics he discusses the interesting problem relative to the absence (at the period of its settlement by the Virginians) of resident Indians in the fertile territory of Kentucky, with its mounds, ditched and walled fortifications, and other evidences of extensive and permanent occupancy by a considerable population. He believes that the mound-builders were of the same race, of the

THE STORY OF MY LIFE. By J. MARION SIMS, M.D., LL.D. Edited by his son, H. MARION SIMS, M.D. 12mo, pp. 471. New York, 1884. D. Appleton & Co.

"Doctors seldom write autobiographies. They never have leisure and their lives are not so full of adventure or incidents as to be interesting to the general reader," writes the foremost surgeon of the age at the opening of the story of his eventful life, in which is narrated the origin and growth of those original and valuable achievements in the domain of surgery, which, by the general judgment of enlightened men, have stamped him as a benefactor of his race. Dr. Sims was born about ten miles south of the village of Lancaster, South Carolina, the 25th of January, 1813. He graduated from Columbia College in December, 1832. "I never was remarkable for anything while I was in college, except good behavior," he writes; "nobody ever expected anything of me, and I never expected anything of myself." Of his choice of medicine as a profession, Dr. Sims writes,

There was no premonition of the traits of a doctor in my career as a youngster, but a graduate of a college had either to become a lawyer, go into the church, or be a doctor. I would not be a lawyer; I could not be a minister; and there was nothing left for me but to study medicine." The father of Dr. Sims was grievously disappointed when his son declared his intention, as he held the medical profession in the utmost contempt. "There is no science in it; no honor to be achieved by it; no reputation to be made by it," was his emphatic verdict. But he finally yielded a reluctant consent, and the future doctor, whose genius and intelligence have since challenged the admiration of the whole scientific world, entered upon his studies. The path chosen was by no.

means strewed with roses. But like a heroic soldier the student pushed forward regardless of obstacles. His trials and triumphs are recorded in these pages in simple, straightforward language; and to all those who remember that as early as 1863, Dr. Sims had not only risen to distinction in his profession, but had received general and authoritative recognition, both in Europe and America, as the greatest clinical surgeon of either country, the story of his career becomes one of the most interesting on

record. It is to be regretted that the autobiography does not cover the latest twenty years of the eminent physician's life, but for all the purposes of a life-record it is sufficient. His professional fame rests upon his successful treatment of certain hitherto supposed incurable diseases; on his invention and introduction of surgical instruments which have advanced medical knowledge in certain directions to a point which could not have been reached in a hundred years without such aids; to his establishment of the Women's Hospital in New York; and to his valuable contributions to medical literature.

HAND-BOOK OF BLUNDERS. Designed to prevent 1,000 common blunders in writing and speaking. By HARLAN H. BALLARD, A. M. (Principal of Lenox Academy, Lenox, Massachusetts). Pocket size, pp. 60. Price 50 cents. Boston, 1885. Lee & Shepard.

The inelegancies and inaccuracies of speech that jar our ears daily, and offend our eyes in written communications, and in manuscripts intended for publication, would diminish in rapid ratio with such a hand-book as this of Mr. Bal

lard's in popular use. Many educated people are prone to carelessness in expressions without giving a moment's thought to the subject. Others cling from habit to words acquired in childhood, and would be shocked and chagrined to be accused of blunders-which are observed by every one but themselves. The little work does not offer much that is new in the line of rhetorical or grammatical criticism, but it is in an exceptionally convenient form for reference, and we commend it heartily.

THE CIVIL, POLITICAL, PROFESSIONAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL RECORD OF THE COUNTY OF KINGS, AND THE CITY OF BROOKLYN, New York. From 1633 to 1884. By HENRY R. STILES, A. M., M.D., Editor-in-Chief, assisted by L. B. PROCTOR, Esq., and L. P. BROCKETT, A.M., M.D. With Portraits, Biographies and Illustrations. 2 vols., square quarto, 1408 pp. W. W. Munsell, 458 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

The above is the very extensive title to a historical work of very great magnitude. There is no good reason why county histories should be produced in the patchwork and unsatisfactor manner which has hitherto characterized so man 7

nearly all, indeed, that have made their appeaance within the past ten years. When projecte

in the proper spirit and executed with intelligence, good sense and ability, they cannot fail to be invaluable to the scholar and treasures of importance in the household. Evidences of improvement in works of this character, we are happy to say, have not been wanting of late, and we now have the pleasure of welcoming the best county history that has yet been issued from the American press. We congratulate the Kings County public on an achievement in which they will ever have occasion to rejoice. The two monster volumes before us have been edited with conscientious care. Dr. Stiles seems to have borne constantly in mind the general scope of the whole, and the relations of its several parts to each other, and thus has been able to secure a nearer approach to harmony of detail than is usually found in similar productions. He was admirably equipped for the sifting and arranging of the mass of historical, biographical and statistical material through his former labors and experience in the same field. We find traces of the best part of his "History of Brooklyn" running through these pages, with much added information. His tact and talent in gathering personal and family history, and his happy presentation of the facts in their proper light and place, contribute greatly to the interest as well as permanent value of the work. One feature commanding special notice is the record of growth and development in all departments of material interest-as the industrial, manufacturing, commercial, architectural, the parks, the water supply, and the professions. The chapters devoted to the charitable institutions and the ecclesiastical organizations of the county would together fill a good-sized volume, and as they were prepared under the personal direction of the indefatigable and painstaking editor, their authoritative worth is assured. The history of Sunday-school work, the rise and progress of medicine, educational institutions, fish culture and the markets, are among the chapters to which we would direct the reader's attention. Chapters are also devoted to each individual town in the county, written by leading and well-informed

men.

The volumes abound in steel portraits, many of which might be designated as choice works of art; for instance, those of the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, Henry E. Pierrepont. Hon Seth Low, Hon. John K. Kiernan, Edward Ridley, Darvin R. James, Henry Sheldon, Benjamin D. Silli

man,

ought to be abolished. We believe, however, that it was the original intention in this instance to comprehend the whole work in one volume. It is printed in clear type, on heavy paper, and is well bound.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF BAYARD TAYLOR. Edited by MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR and HORACE E. SCUDDER. In 2 volumes, 12m0, pp. 784. Boston, 1884: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

We have in these engaging volumes a portrait of Bayard Taylor-the delightful story-teller, the poet, the critic, the lecturer, the editor, the man-which is as perfect as was ever traced unconsciously through the private letters of a busy writer. "Beyond any book of the time," writes one of Ir. Taylor's best friends, "this biography is a disclosure of the secrets of the guild, the hopes and fears, the pleasures and the pains of literature." Mrs. Taylor and her critical associate have selected with rare good taste and judgment the letters appropriate for publication, and such as best illustrate the poet's life and the beauty of his character. We can almost as we read hear the sound of his voice. The sketch of his career, with which the letters are tied together, is also intensely interesting. All who are familiar with the varied productions of Bayard Taylor's pen will be glad to learn of the conception and growth of those productions as revealed in these pages. His correspondence was by no means a literary exercise. He wrote as he felt, and of the matters uppermost in his mind at the moment, without a thought of his letters reaching the eyes of others than the familiar correspondents to whom they were addressed. He wrote, for instance, to Paul H. Hayne. in August, 1876: "I have been unsuccessful with your poem, as I feared. I am very sorry to an nounce this, but I am hardly surprised at the result since learning that this summer is the blackest period ever known since we began to have literature. The publishers say they never knew the like; absolutely no books are sold, and the papers and magazines are living, as much as possible, on already accepted material. I have not been so pinched pecuniarily, driven by necessity, thwarted in all reasonable expectations, for twenty years past. I have sent my wife and daughter into the country, but cannot go my

Bayard Taylor was a man of strong per. sonal attachments, noble, generous and upright.

ANNOUNCEMENT.-Among the eminent contributors to the February Magazine will be Dr. William A. Hammond and Rev. Ashbel G.