NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Evening Star, Issue 3476, 14 April 1874, Page 2

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Tht Student's Treasury of English Song. By W. Davenport Adams, Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh and London. William Hay, Princes street, Dunedin. Whatever may have been the difficulties in the way of acquiring knowledge in past ages, very much] less was expected from the learned than from well-educated men of the present day. Polite literature, a century back, included acquaintanceship Svith comparatively few authors. The Latin classics, to which it was considered better, if possible, to add the reading of a few Greek authors, were indispensable, but it was not thought requisite that a scholar should necessarily have read the works of English authors. The theory, not yet exploded, was firmly held that the English language was an unscientificmixtureofsoundacullad haphazard from the works of intellectual giants of past ages, and that its structure and interpretation were best understood by mastering the peculiarities of the Latin tongue. As reasonably would a person be employed in estimating the quality or arrangement of the bricks in one building by looking at those used in the construction ef another, because both happened to be on a blue-stone foundation. The hereditary superstition in favor of ancient classics remains almost unshaken ; but there is added to it a more thorough appreciation of the value of English literature. The additional labor, therefore, is thrown npon the scholar of the present day

of acquiring a knowledge of the works of both ancient and modem authors. The art of printing, and the general spread of education have, however, given such opportunity for the development and publication of works of genius, that it is impossible for any man who has the common affairs of life to attend to, to read even oureerily, the writings of those brilliant authors who have aided to ennoble and purify the mind of the period. A new field of literary labor has therefore been opened : it is become necessary to select passages worthy of special study from standard writings ; or many soulstirring thoughts, touching themes, or sparkling imagery would become the property of the few, and lose that influence over thought and feeling that it is desirable it should exert. The elegant volume, the title of which is placed at the head of this article, illustrates these observations. It contains extracts from the works of authors of the present century °uly, yet these number sixty-seven or eight. Regarded merely as a work intended to present the reader with specimens of the peculiar style and bept of thought of each author,

it would be valuable, biit it would hardly be worthy of the title “The Student’s Treasury.” The object of the compiler is to assist students to a critical examination of the works of the different writers. This-is not done by overloading the work with voluminous extracts. Each author’s writings are prefaced by a short biographical notice and occasionally brief notes, explanatory, critical, or historical; beyond this the work does not go. The aid it gives is in a very minute and laboriously-compiled index of reference or “Table of Critical and Biographical authorities, which will direct the student in his studies, to the best and worthiest guides, and assist him in forming a right estimate of the special excellences or defects of our modem poets. ” The work is beautifully printed on excellent paper, and

is illustrated by very superior engravings. The plan will be best understood by the following extr&pt from the title page —lb is “Edited with biographical and critical notices, parallel passages, index of critical authorities, and nearly fifteen hundred marginal quotations.” Ths last only, the marginal quotations, require a further word from us t they, as their name imports, are ranged round the margin of each page, and form a handsome border to the print. The judicious selection of them has involved much judgment

and labor. Mr Adams, in his preface, says of them:— The marginal quotations, it is hoped, will prove of great value. If committed to memory, tner will furnish the student with pleasant rood for the lancy and suggestive matter for reflection. Each quotation is, literally, a pearl of price”’ which will shine with an un* dying lustre as long us our language endures. Most of them inculcate, in melodious wrtreb o*

pithy phraseology, some truth well worthy of being borne in mind. Others are remarkable for their felicity of expression or imagery. And* at all times, they will serve to “point a moral ” or “ adorn a taleto refresh the mind with agreeable recollections of favorite poets, just as the dried flower or leaf reminds the traveller of landscapes which have delighted him in bygone years. Among these quotations will be found a large number of lines and phrases which have engraven themselves on the popular memory, are familiar in our ears as household words, and constantly recur in our everyday literature in the shape of allusion or reference. The work is elegantly bound in an embossed cover in green and gold. It is a beautiful specimen of both the printers’ and binders’ arts. The Adventures of Mark Willis. By Mrs George Guppies. Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh and London. William Hay, bookseller, Dunedin. This is a remarkable hook to have been written by a lady, whose design is evidently to combine instruction in geography with so much of personal adventure as will render it attractive to boys. In this she has succeeded. She has drawn the character of a well-educated and well-conducted boy, anxious to get on in the world, and who plays his part so well as not only to secure the friendship and esteem of all whose regard was worth having, but Jjo exert an influence for good upon his companions and shipmates. It is not a work written in the manner of a traot of twenty years ago, in which it was always the fashion to introduce some special interposition in favor of the good or punishment that fell upon the bad. Mark Willis, as drawn by Mrs Guppies, presents training and education in the concrete rather than in elaborate commendation of them. They peep out in his conduct, and their influence will not be the less on the mind of a young reader because they are not contrasted violently with reproofs framed on theological theories. The adventures are stirring enough and well adapted to a country many of whose youth will necessarily be called upon to follow seafaring .as a vocation. It contains many wed-executed plates, and a _ frontispiece and vignette beautifully printed in colors. It is a small work of only 160 pages, very neatly bound, and will prove an inexpensive but highly prized present to many a boy.

The Children« Treasury of Pictures and Stories, by A.L.0.E., and other favorite writers. Nelson & Sons, Edinburgh and London; TV illiam Hay, Princes street, Dunedin. Children are said to be very different now from the little'ones who were born and grew Op with ourselves. Wg fancy there may be some truth in this, for they are taught very differently. In our childhood, we had to Content ourselves and feast our imaginations ■With stories of the marvellous. We had nursery rhymes jingling in our ears that' meapt nothing or worse than nothing, becauat 1 they were untrue; stories of dragons and giants and dwarfs, and talking birds and easts. We had tales of flying horses and ■wonderful dwarfs. Our instructors in litera . ture were “Jack and the Beanstalk, ” “ Jack the Giant-killer,” “The Seven Champions of Christendom,” “Little Red Riding' Hood,” •* Who Killed Cock Hobin?” or if it was intended to be very moral, “ The Babes in the Wood.” It never seems to have occurred to the wisdom of our forefathers: that there were things on earth, in air, and sea, quite as marvellous as any of those! monstrosities, but which need no after-cor-' rection of the reason, because they are true. They only require telling in simple language, and illustrating by a suitable picture, and from babyhood facts are stored up that help to build up an intelligent man of the future. Such luckily is modern practice, and this may account for the fact becoming daily more palpably true that “a child raa teach its grandmother to suck eggs V The little work under notice has special charms for children, on account of the numerous pictures, the simplicity of style of the narratives, and their adaptation to the capacities and tastes of childhood ; nor will it be read with less interest by many who are not children of a larger growth, but men of culture, who look forward with hope to the effect of a pure and truthful literature ennobling the generation growing up around us. Among other attractions is the musical score and words of a New Year’s Hymn, so simply arranged that a child pianist can play it; and we have no doubt that it has been sung with delight in Great Britain and America by thousands of children in families and schqels.