The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 6, March, 1885

AMERICAN EXPLORERS. The United States has played a late but an honorable part in the work of Polar discovery. The names of Kane, Hayes, Hall and De Long recall memories of labors and sufferings in the cause which may be placed alongside the best achievements of the navigators of other nations. The stories of the adventures and hardships of these heroes and martyrs of the Arctic regions are not, however, easily accessible to the general public. They are either severally published in large and costly volumes, or are still only to be found in the official records of the United States Government. The scale, as well as the price, of these narratives makes them unsuitable for consultation, more especially by young readers. Professor Nourse has, therefore, done excellent service in preparing, chiefly from official sources, the records of American Exploration in the Ice Zones, and in giving them a popular form. The volume embraces notices of the expeditions sent out by Mr. Grinnell, under De Haven and Kane, for the relief of Sir John Franklin; the late Admiral Rodger's explorations in the seas north of Behring Strait; the voyages of Hayes and Hall up Smith Sound; Schwatka's remarkable sledge journey of three thousand miles in search of the records and journals of the Franklin Expedition; the disastrous cruise of the Jeannette, and the expeditions sent out by land and sea to the rescue of De Long and his crew. There are also short accounts of United States' explorations in the Antarctic regions, and a statement of the object, and position of the Arctic observers under the United States Signal Stations. One of these stations, as we know, has been placed at Lady Franklin Bay, Smith Sound, in the very forefront of the battle with the forces of the polar ice; for two seasons nothing has been heard of it, and relief ships are at this moment on their way to the north, in the hope of opening communications with Lieutenant Greeley and the other missing men. The history of American exploration in the ice zones is therefore still in course of being enacted. So far as it has already gone it is a record of which any nation might be proud. It could not well have been epitomized with greater skill and knowledge than has been shown by Professor Nourse; and his volume should have a popularity not confined to the United States.—The Scotsman, Edinburgh, Scotland.

EVENING REST. By J.L. Pratt. Young Folks' Library. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price 25 cts.

A simple, quiet story, whose character is adequately expressed by the title. Evening Rest is the name given to a little hamlet in the Blue Ridge region of Pennsylvania, remarkable for the beauty of its surroundings and the lovely character of its people. Thither goes a young man from the East to visit an uncle whom he has never before seen, and his experiences during the stay make up the contents of the book. One incident of the story is strongly dramatic in character. A family party, one of the members being the young man referred to, visit a coal mine. While passing through one of the narrow passages the guide fires a pistol to show the effects of the echo. The concussion of the air starts a loose part of the roof overhead and a portion falls in. The little company is shut up in the earth with little chance of ever seeing the light again. They have lights, however, and stumble across some tools, and by dint of many hours' hard labor they are at length able to communicate with their friends outside, who are at last able to rescue them. The author, throughout the story, dwells much upon the sweet and tender influences of home. In Evening Rest he creates an ideal household and community, and strives to show how much they have to do with the formation of character.

BABYLAND FOR 1884. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $.75. Anything more delightful for the babies in the way of a picture or story book cannot possibly be conceived than this bound volume of their special magazine, which has just made its appearance with the most attractive of covers and most bewitching table of contents. There are songs for mamma to sing, and stories for mamma to tell, and pictures which are better than both, because the little ones can read them for themselves, and there isn't one but what can be read in twenty different ways. To sum it all up, it is a regular dollar's worth of delight, and will go farther towards making the four-year-old heart happy than any other dollar's worth one can imagine.

CHRISTIE'S CHRISTMAS. By PANSY (Mrs. G. R. Alden). Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. This charming story will be heartily welcomed by young readers, who will find it one of the brightest and most interesting books of the year. Christie is a purely original character, and what she said and what she did is faithfully and delightfully chronicled. While the book is admirably adapted to use in Sunday-school libraries, it is also exceptionally suitable for general reading, and may well have a place beside "The Man of the House," "The Hedge Fence," and other popular stories by the same writer, in the home library.

ALL THE YEAR ROUND By American Authors and Artists. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. Of all the collections of stories for juvenile readers that have come under our notice the present season we have seen nothing to compare with this in point of variety, interest and abundance. In its beautifully printed pages provision is made for every variety of taste; there are stories for the boys of hunting, and fishing, and camping out; stories of adventures on land and water; stories for the girls of school and play; stories of oldtime life of the days of our grandfathers and grandmothers; stories of eminent men and women, and mingled with choice poems by popular authors. Altogether it is one of the most charming compilations of the year.

HOW THEY WENT TO EUROPE. By Margaret Sidney. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. Everything that Margaret Sidney writes is sure of an audience, and though most of her books are prepared for the delectation of the young, they have an equal charm for all classes of readers. Some of her stories, in a household of children, have been literally "read to pieces," and judging from the frequency with which the tattered leaves are brought out, some delightful sort of flavor hangs round them still. The title of the present book might be aptly extended so as to read How They went to Europe, and yet didn't, go to Europe, for the journey made by the little party of tourists is in plan something like The Voyage around My Room, which everybody has read. Two or three bright girls, who are disappointed because they can't go abroad with more fortunate relatives, determine to form a club in which they shall, to use a common phrase, "go through the motions" of going; that is, they shall at their regular meetings follow on the map, and by guide books and accounts of travel, the exact route taken by those who are really journeying. The idea takes, and the club is organized; other members are taken in, and before the next season it has so increased in size as to include the best young people in town and render a change of place of meeting necessary from private parlors to a large public hall. Lectures and stereopticon exhibitions are added, and some of the more enthusiastic members, after a course of French travel, form a supplementary club for the study of French. The story is brightly and naturally told and in a way that will be certain to bear fruit in the way of other clubs of the kind, wherever it is read. Margaret Sidney's stories have this peculiarity, that aside from their fascinating qualities of dialogue and narrative they leave something to be remembered. The aim of the author is not obtruded, but its spirit is there and the mind is roused to thought and action. What child can ever forget that most delightful of juvenile stories, The Five Little Peppers, or the entertaining narrative of What the Seven Did, or the author's latest of books for young readers, Who Told It to Me, and what better book for boys is there than Half Year at Bronckton, a story whose moral effect upon young and imaginative readers cannot be over estimated. The Pettibone Name, which appeared a year or two ago in the V.I.F. series, was an instance of the author's power in appealing to readers of mature minds, and gave evidence of unusual power in the line of the better class of fiction. All these books have made a reputation for the author which will at once give her latest story a prominent place among the books of the season.—Boston Transcript.

WIDE AWAKE "R." Illustrated, Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.75. Of all the annual WIDE AWAKE issues this is by far the most attractive, and when this is said it is hard to conceive what, more can be said in the way of praise. Its illustrations, which are all drawn expressly for its pages, represent the best work of the most prominent American draughtsmen, while no stronger show of names in the line of contributors has ever been presented by an American magazine. Among the strong features of the volume is Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's serial complete, A Brave Girl; Mr. Brooks' capital wonder-story, In No-Man's Land; Mr. Talbot's A Double Masquerade, and Rev. E.E. Hale's To-Day Papers. Either of these would alone be worth the price of the volume, but when added to them are the additional attractions in the way of brilliant short stories, breezy sketches of life indoors and out, chapters of biography and history, bits of description, poems, and essays, the volume becomes, a treasure-house seemingly inexhaustible in variety and contents. In turning over its pages the eye falls upon such names as Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney, Nora Perry, Sarah Orne Jewett, Sophie May, Mrs. M.H. Catherwood, Margaret Sidney, Mrs. Mulock-Craik, Celia Thaxter, Lucy Larcom, and others as well known in the annals of magazine literature. The volume is elegantly printed and beautifully bound.

HOW TO LEARN AND EARN. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. It is not often that one finds between the covers of any single book so much information so pleasantly given upon a special subject as in "How to Learn and Earn." The sixteen illustrated essays which make up the contents are descriptive of as many institutions in this country for the instruction of children and young people in the useful arts or professions. Some of them are institutions under the auspices of the State, like the academy at West Point and the Indian School at Carlisle, Pa.; one described is a school of reform; but most of them are the outcome of private benevolence or charitable and religious endeavor. Among the more notable of these are the Perkins Institution for the Blind at South Boston, the Boston Chinese Mission School, the cooking schools in various cities, the blind children's kindergarten, etc. Among the authors whose contributions are included are Amanda E. Harris, Ella Farman Pratt, Mrs. John Lillie, May Wager Fisher, Margaret Sidney and Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont.

IMITATIONS OF BABYLAND. The great reputation won during the past eight years by D. Lothrop & Co.'s unique and charming illustrated magazine and annual, BABYLAND, has induced certain publishers to attempt imitations under similar titles. The public should beware of these inferior imitations. The publishers deem it proper to inform the public that the only genuine BABYLAND invariably bears the imprint of D. Lothrop & Co. By noting this fact the dissatisfaction which follows the purchase of inferior imitations will be avoided.

DEAN STANLEY WITH THE CHILDREN. By Mrs. Frances A. Humphrey. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. In this tastefully printed volume are brought together five sermons to children, preached by Dean Stanley, prefaced with a biographical sketch by Mrs. Humphrey and with an introduction by Canon Farrar. Every reader knows what a charming man Dean Stanley was, and how ardently he loved children, and devoted himself to pleasing them. The sermons here given are full of exquisite tenderness, and form admirable models for discourses of like character. Canon Farrar says that there was not one sermon ever preached by Dean Stanley which did not contain at least some one bright, and fresh, and rememberable thing. His metaphors, his anecdotes, the invariable felicity of his diction, his historical, literary and biographical illustrations, his invincible habit of taking men at their best and looking out for the good in everything, the large catholicity which rose above the mean, squabbling of religious parties, the calm of spirit which seemed habitually to breathe in the atmosphere of whatsoever things are true, and pure, and lovely, and of good report, made him a preacher to whom one would rather listen than to any other living man. Mrs. Humphrey's sketch not only gives us an excellent idea of the man himself, but also tells us many interesting things about the great English public schools. The volume is well illustrated.

IT IS THE CHRISTMAS TIME. By Miss Mulock, with Twelve Ideal Christmas Hymns and Poems. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $2.50. Nothing more exquisite in the way of a Christmas presentation book, or one better adapted to the spirit of the holiday season has yet been presented to the public than the volume before us. Printed in large, clear type, on the heaviest of paper, with broad white margins, and a series of twenty illustrations by famous American and foreign artists, engraved in the highest style of art, it forms a book of exceptional beauty, and one of which the publishers may well be proud. The opening poem, Miss Mulock's "Hymn for Christmas Morning," is followed by Naham Tate's "While Shepherds watched their Flocks by Night," a hymn which has held place in the hearts of the people for nearly two hundred years; Wesley's stirring hymn, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing;" Herrick's "Star Song;" Bishop Heber's "Epiphany"—

Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning;

Keble's "Christmas Hymn;" The Rev. E.H. Sears's "Angel's Song;" William Drummond's "The Angels;" George MacDonald's "Babe Jesus;" James Montgomery's "Christmas Vision;" Wordsworth's "Christmas Carol," and Whittier's "Christmas Carmen." All those diverse in form and expression, breathe the one pure spirit of Christmas tide.

AMERICA. Our National Hymn. With Twelve other Patriotic Poems. Illustrated. By Rev. S.F. Smith, D.D. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $3.00. For the past two or three years there has been a strong demand for a new edition of this unique and elegant volume, which was originally published in 1879. The publishers have responded to the call by its reissue the present season, the work being extended by the addition of twelve new poems, all upon patriotic themes. The words of America, were written fifty-two years ago, while the author was a theological student at Andover. An American gentleman, who had spent some time in Germany, on returning home brought with him a number of books used in the German schools, containing both words and music. These were presented to Lowell Mason, who placed them in the hands of the young student, asking him to translate anything he might find worthy, or to furnish original words to such music as might suit him. In the collection was the air—unknown at that time to Americans—to which Dr. Smith set the words now so widely known and sung. There was not the slightest idea on his part that he was producing a national lyric, but it caught the popular taste at once, and every year has fixed it more firmly in the hearts of the people as an expression of patriotic feeling. It was first sung at a children's festival at Park Street Church, July 4, 1832, and very soon found its way into district schools, Sabbath-schools, concerts and patriotic gatherings throughout the country. Some years ago a delegation from the Boston Board of Trade sung it together at the summit of the Rocky Mountains. It has been used at the celebration by Americans of the national holiday in nearly every country on the globe, and served during the war to brace the hearts and stimulate the courage of our soldiers in camp and hospital and in prison. The author's college friends for more than fifty years made it the first song sung at their annual class dinner.

The poems which are added in the present edition include among others, "The Pilgrims," written some years ago for Forefathers' Day; "The Flag;" "Washington;" "The Student Soldiers;" "The Sleep of the Brave;" "Decoration Day;" "Abraham Lincoln," and "My Native Land." They are all imbued with the fervent spirit of patriotism and represent a high poetic standard. The volume is splendidly illustrated by Harry Fenn, Robert Lewis, and other artists of reputation.

MY CURIOSITY SHOP. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.25. The little boy or girl who finds this book by the bedside Christmas morning, ought to be supremely happy. From cover to cover it is filled with the most delightful stories and rhymes and pictures, all written and drawn expressly for little readers, and by those who love them, and understand their likes and dislikes.

WIDE AWAKE. Bound volume for 1884 Boston: D. Lathrop & Co. Price 4.00. Newspapers all parts of the country have repeatedly given the first place in American periodical literature for the young to WIDE AWAKE. Among its contributors are the very best and brightest writers in America and England, and many of its articles are the same that give reputation to Harper's and the Century. Indeed, nothing better has ever appeared in either of these periodicals than some of the full page illustrations which have found place in WIDE AWAKE within the past two or three years. The list of writers who are regularly employed include the best names in our literature. It is by the liberal outlay of money on the part of the publishers, coupled with the determination to have the best at any price, that WIDE AWAKE has reached its present high position. The present volume, which includes the twelve numbers of the present year, is, in general excellence, an improvement upon all preceding issues. It is a library in itself, and will be a source of perennial pleasure to readers of all ages.

OUR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN. 1884. Illustrated. Boston. D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. This beautiful annual comprises the twelve numbers of the year just closing, and will make an admirable present for the little members of the household. Its stories are just such as they will read with delight, while the illustrations make them double attractive.

A ROMANCE IN SONG. Heine's Lyrical Interlude. Translated by Franklin Johnson, Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $3.00. The best of the modern German song-writers is unquestionably Heine, and thousands who know and sing his verses even in their translated form can testify to their exceeding sweetness and to their strange insight into the passions and emotions that stir the human heart. Especially is this true of the sixty brief poems which he published in 1823 under the somewhat singular title of "A Lyrical Interlude." What gives them special interest is the fact that they are genuine records of his own feelings and experiences. Heine was engaged to be married to his cousin, whom he loved deeply and ardently. She broke her vows and married another, and Heine carried through life an unhealed spiritual wound. In the translation of these songs Mr. Johnson has been peculiarly successful, while in all cases retaining the original measure of the songs, he has endeavored to make an exact rendering of the thought rather than to be literal. And yet in some cases he is both, as for instance in the much quoted Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne, and Nacht lag auf meinen Augen. The publishers have done their part to make the volume outwardly attractive. It is printed on heavy paper, is beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound. Coming at this season it makes an appropriate gift book.

ANNA MARIA'S HOUSEKEEPING. By Mrs. S.D. Power. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. Of all the books that have been written about housekeeping there have been few that have treated the subject in a practical, common sense manner, and this is decidedly one of the best of the few. The suggestions and directions contained in its pages are given in a pointed, straightforward manner, and appeal at once to the good sense of all housekeepers who will save themselves an infinity of trouble and worry and fret by giving them the consideration they deserve. The twenty-four chapters of the book deal with different subjects, the all-important one, "How to make Housework Easier," properly taking the lead. Other chapters which we especially commend to housekeepers are those headed "A Good Breakfast," "A Bill of Waste," "A Comfortable Kitchen," "Blue Mondays," "Over the Mending Basket," and "Helps that are Helps." There is not a chapter, however, but contains advice which, if heeded, would save ten times the cost of the book in a year, to say nothing of the time and trouble saved.

MATTHEW ARNOLD BIRTHDAY BOOK. Edited by his daughters, Miss L. and K. Arnold. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. This beautiful little volume resembles in its general plan other birthday books, the usual blanks being left for autographs. The selections have been made with great care, and under the direct supervision of Mr. Arnold himself, who contributes besides, an introductory poem, which is reproduced in fac simile.

A DOUBLE MASQUERADE. By Charles R. Talbot. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.25. Mr. Talbot's reputation as a writer of brilliant stories for young readers is well established. Few have been more successful in striking the popular vein. The Juvenile libraries are rare that do not contain some one or other of his books, and happy the boy or girl who possesses them all. "A Double Masquerade" is a romance of old Revolutionary times in Boston, in which historical characters take part. It is a careful study of the events of those days, and the young reader will get a clearer idea from its pages of the struggle between the colonies and Great Britain, and of the men on both sides who were leaders in the Revolutionary movement, than from mere statistical and documentary history. One of the features of the volume is a description of the battle of Bunker Hill, which a critic has pronounced to be "one of the most graphic and telling accounts ever written of that famous conflict." It is splendidly illustrated by Share, Merrill and Taylor.

YOUNG DAYS. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $.75. This very attractive volume is made up of instructive stories for children, entertaining rhymes and verses, and most delightful pictures.

CAMBRIDGE SERMONS.

Few publications of like character have ever been received with a greater degree of favor, than the volume of sermons by Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D.D., of Shepard Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., published under the above title by D. Lothrop & Co. The following expressions of opinion in letters to the publishers, are indicative of the general sentiment concerning them.

Rev. Geo. L. Prentiss, D.D., Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Union Theological Seminary, New York City, says:

"The Cambridge Sermons have both refreshed and edified me in a high degree. They are full of spiritual power and light and sweetness. I have read them with real delight."

Rev. Edward B. Coe, D.D., pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City, writes:

"It is a volume which it will do any man good to read, as a broad, fresh, eminently spiritual presentation of Christian truth. Coming from under the shadow of a great university, these sermons are not scholastic, but in the best sense popular and practical. They show unusual felicity of statement and illustration, and are thoroughly alive, with a keen sensibility to the thoughts and the wants of living men. Quickening and suggestive to the mind, they have the rarer power of touching chords of feeling which few preachers reach."

Rev. Cephas B. Crane, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston, says:

"The excellence of these sermons is manifold. They are such sermons as the distinguished preacher is in the habit of giving to his people, sermons for instruction and help, and not exceptional sermons for conspicuous occasions.

"They are structural; but the beams and braces are out of sight. They are living things supported and shaped by their skeletons, not caged in them. Remarkable for scope and freedom and boldness, they are guided in all their movement by the spirit of the Sacred Word. They both stimulate thought and invigorate faith. Fresh and fragrant and breezy, one delights himself in them as in a garden in a June morning. From their exquisite diction one might almost infer the graceful elocution of their author. They are sermons to which the reader will often return." (12mo, $1.50.)

A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

The following brief extracts from the large number of favorable notices of this valuable book show the great cordiality with which it has been received.

"We have nothing as good."—N.Y. Independent.

"The most attractive."—Boston Literary World.

"Nothing better."—Boston Transcript.

"Valuable as a book of reference."—Pittsfield Eagle.

"Its accuracy will stand."—Boston Transcript.

"Easy and readable style."—Boston Journal.

"Graceful style … Marvellously full … Animation of the book is a still greater marvel."—N.Y. Independent.

"Will be read in all sections of the country with equal interest and esteem."—The South.

"The author writes with entire candor in regard to the history of the secession movement, and yet there is nothing in his history that can properly give offence to the readers in any section of the country."—The Capitol, Washington.

"The tone of the book is candid and impartial."—Boston Journal of Education.

"Probably the most intensely national of American histories."—The Star, N.Y.

"The style is cultured, and therefore simple and expressive."—Detroit Post and Tribune.

"The chapters form pleasing and finished pictures."—The Standard, Chicago.

"Interesting and instructive."—The Gazette, Barre, Mass.

"Admirably written."—Boston Herald.