ying much for
it.

--Why Miss Thacher should call a little book, which contains a little
collection of little sketches, "Seashore and Prairie," we do not see. It
is rather a big and an affected name for such a slight thing. But it is
bright and pleasant, and well suited to the needs of those who cannot
fix their attention long upon any subject. We regret to see in it marks
of that extravagance and affectation in the use of language which are
such common blemishes of style in our ephemeral literature. For example:
a very sensible and much needed plea for the preservation of birds, is
called "The Massacre of the Innocents;" and we are told that "a St.
Bartholomew of birds has been _inaugurated_." Miss Thacher should leave
this style of writing to the newspaper reporters.

--The large circle of readers who are interested in Palestine, and the
lands and waters round about it, will find Mr. Warner's last book of
travel[N] very pleasant reading--full of information and suggestion. He
observes closely, describes nature with a true feeling for her beauties,
and men with spirit and a fine apprehension of their peculiarities. He
is not very reverent, and breaks some idols which have been worshipped.
He is not an admirer of the Hebrews, or of anything that is theirs,
except their literature. His style is lively and agreeable, but we
cannot call it either elegant or correct. He tells some "traveller's
stories;" for instance, one about catching an eagle's feather on
horseback (pp. 103, 104). True he "has the feather to show;" but on the
whole he makes not too many overdrafts upon the credulity of his
readers, and does not color much too highly.

--In his latest tale[O] Mr. Yates introduces American characters,
following what seems to be the prevailing fashion among English authors,
especially those who are not of the first rank. Mr. Yates manages his
foreign scenes and characters with good judgment, but his Americans we
should not recognize as such without his introduction. The scene of the
story is in England. Sir Frederick Randall, a dissolute young nobleman,
is condemned to imprisonment, under an assumed name, for forgery. Making
his escape, he woos a beautiful and innocent American girl, the daughter
of a petroleum millionaire from Oil City. As he is already married, it
is necessary to dispose of one wife before he takes another. This he
does by throwing madam over a cliff by the seashore. Caught by
projecting bushes, she is,