sity; the South is conservative from education; the great West is expansive, radical, hospitable, a unit in its policies of progress, a believer in its manifest destiny. Such a book indexes the drift of things and locates the possibilities of national greatness.

Down the Great River. An Account of the Discovery of the True Source of the Mississippi, together with Views, Descriptive and Pictorial, of the Cities, Towns, Villages, and Scenery on the Banks of the River, as Seen during a Canoe Voyage of Over Three Thousand Miles from its Head-Waters to the Gulf of Mexico. By Captain WILLARD GLAZIER, Author of Soldiers of the Saddle, Battles for the Union, Heroes of Three Wars, Ocean to Ocean on Horseback, etc. Illustrated. 12mo, pp. 443, liii. Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers. Price, cloth, $2; half morocco, $3; morocco, $4.

American geography is undergoing revision as explorers explore our vastnesses, navigators navigate our principal rivers, and travelers compass our plains and mountains. Neither De Soto, La Salle, Schoolcraft, nor Nicollet discovered the sources of all our rivers, the extent of all our valleys, or the greatness of all our mountain systems. We must therefore expect correction of their figures, and modification of their reports, as new data are obtained and new explorers, with vastly increased facilities, go farther and survey more accurately and comprehensively. This book overthrows the commonly received opinion that Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi River. The author ventures a claim of discovery, based on actual exploration of the river, which deserves faithful study. A man of wide experience in travel, accustomed to the hardships of out-door life, scientifically thoughtful in his observations, and dissatisfied with the reports of former tourists, he undertook to ferret out the origin of the great river. It was not a riddle that he tried to solve, but a geographical fact he wished to find. After many days of searching and inquiring he stakes his reputation as a discoverer on the announcement that the source of the river is a lake south of Lake Itasca, and which through the courtesy of his friends now bears the name of Lake Glazier. There is much in this book besides this discovery relating to the experiences of a canoe voyage down the river which will interest the reader; but its chief value is the alleged discovery of the final source of the Mississippi. We are not in a position to refute or indorse the claim; but we commend it to the careful review of the geographer, the map-maker, and the citizen who wishes to be familiar with the geographical researches of our country.

Samuel Irenæus Prime. Autobiography and Memorials. Edited by his Son, WENDELL PRIME. 8vo, pp. 385. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co. Price, cloth, $1 75.

History relates to events, biography to instruments, though both are interesting elements in the world's progress. So eminent a divine, pastor, editor, and author as Dr. Prime owed to his age and country this autobiography, which, editorially supervised by his son, is an exhibition of preparation, difficulty, successes, and honors that usually accompany and crown the diligent and faithful life. Like all great and influential men, Dr. Prime was not the property of sect, or country, or age; he belonged to the Church

at large, to the world, and the race. It is true he was a Presbyterian; he was also an American; his work as to sphere was largely local, and as to nature was sectarian and national; but, with these restrictions, inevitable in every man's life, he was broad, philanthropic, a man of the kingdom, a thinker in the widest realm, an actor on the human stage. While, therefore, defining and approving the limitations of his life, we rejoice in the extended circuit of his influence and in his contributions to the world's welfare. As might be anticipated from the title, the book deals largely in reminiscence, even to details of his boyhood, education, ministerial career, and editorial range and achievements, being as stimulating and instructive as it is informing and personal. As its pages glow with consecration to life's superior ends, and exhibit little of that doctrinal tendency that dominates in Presbyterianism, it awakens no disposition to critical comment, or even the expression of a faith different from his own. He fulfilled life's work with earnestness, and his name is as ointment poured forth, to endure in the Church while it stands.

POETRY AND ART.

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Reprinted from the best editions. With Explanatory Glossary, Notes, Memoir, etc. 12mo, pp. 614. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co. Price, cloth, $1.

The Scotch poet gains by the lapse of time. Posterity forgets his pranks, lusts, vanities, dishonesties, and vagaries, and estimates his poetry according to its internal spirit and the best external standards of this phasis of literature. The author of The Cotter's Saturday Night needs not to beg for recognition from the present generation. As a poet he deserves eulogy, monument, fame, and whatever else the appreciative race can pay to his memory. There is a power, a vision, an inspiration in some of these poems that links their author with seers and prophets. Whether he wrote in the sonorous Scotch dialect or in the smoother English tongue; whether he moralized on plowed-up mice or on an insect on a woman's bonnet, or sang of the Highland Queen or of Caledonia; whether epistle or satire or epigram or political ballad flowed from his pen; the patriotism, sincerity, strength of purpose, and truth-seeing genius of a poet become manifest, and impress the reader most profoundly. He is a man of moods: tender, harsh, gay, grave, majestic, trifling, despairing, hopeful, but always patriotic, always poetical. This volume, with its Notes and Memoir, should go into the family library, the counting-room of the merchant, and the study of the literary worker. Its cheapness is also a recommendation not to be overlooked.

Songs from Béranger. Translated in the Original Metres by Craven Langstroth Betts. 16mo, pp. 253. New York: Frederick A. Stokes. For sale by Phillips & Hunt. Price, $1.

Béranger lived in an eventful and somewhat miscellaneous period of the history of France. Born before the fall of the Bastile he survived until

1857, meanwhile observing the political tendencies of the rulers and the preferences of the people, which led him to share in the frequent reactions against Bourbonism and general misrule. He was a Republican in his sympathies, and fearless in the expression of them. More than once he was the victim of the wrath of the ruling powers, suffering fines and imprisonments, but friends bore the one and the other were of short duration. He was the political singer of his country, and so effective in wit and satire and so polished and refined in sentiment as to be stronger with the people than either the court or the throne. He applauded the first Napoleon; he was reticent as to the third of that name. He wrote in the name of the people and won their allegiance; he denounced royal tyranny and excited the fears of the rulers. Schiller, the German poet, wrote but few poems on German subjects; Béranger, the French poet, wrote little else than on French themes, exciting the admiration of his countrymen, and revolutionizing political doctrine when contrary to the people's aspiration. The historical vein runs through this collection of songs, the meter, beauty, adaptation, and poetry of which are manifest to the patriotic and progressive reader. Béranger's songs are the outburst of a patriotic and progressive soul.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cranston & Stowe, Cincinnati, Ohio, have issued a special edition of the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church in morocco. As a specimen of book-making this is unexcelled, and in keeping with the record of the Western House for work of this kind.

The Life of John Price Durbin. By JOHN A. ROCHE, M.D., D.D. New York: Hunt & Eaton; Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe. Price, cloth, $1 50.

Dr. Roche is a rare biographer. He had, however, a rare subject for his pen, and could not fail to produce a book that will rank high in its class and be of stimulating value to all who read it. Its facts are its chief fascination; but the strong English with which they are clothed, and the sparkling enthusiasm of the writer every-where manifest in his work, add not a little to the excellence of the volume. We merely commend it now, deferring the full notice to the next number.

In Memoriam. John M. Phillips.

A small volume containing an account of the funeral services of Mr. Phillips, with the admirable addresses in full of Bishop ANDREWS and the Rev. Dr. W. V. KELLEY.

A Semi-Centennial Sermon, Historical, Biographical, and Itinerary. Delivered before the Cincinnati Conference at Piqua, O., September 4, 1878. By Rev. WILLIAM HERR, D.D. Third edition. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe.

The sermon is of rare value, abounding in staple reminiscences and the constituent elements of permanent and progressive history.