Tue "Franklin Square Lil is pro-fossedly designed to bring light literature ofa healthy character within reach of the narrowest means, and it amply fulfils its jose. We have already remarked on the excellence of its paper and printing, and the almost incredible cheapness of each volume in the series. We have now before us Christine Brownlee's Ordeal, A Beautiful Woman, Honours Worth, and Kingsdene, no one of which stands in the very front rank of fiction, though each reaches the mediocrity which is probably more appreciated by the average reader than the excellence which in real works of art calls away attention from the immediate incidents of each chapter. Much the same may be said of The Curate of Orsiéres, The Lady of Launey (A. Trollope), and Back to the Old Home, which have just been added to the dainty little "Half-hour ies." In this also we find A Primer of German Literature, by Miss Conant, which is necessarily very sketchy, but which as the author modestly observes will serve as an introduction to a more intimate acquaint ance with the subject, to be derived from more imposing works. Within the small compass of a shilling volume a great amount of information is collected, correct so lar as we can judge, and varied by brief critical usages displaying sound discrimination, to Women on the care of Property are addressed specially to American women, but the eminently practical advice they contain will be found useful whenever a oman, married or single, no matter what her nationality, finds herself in the possession of property of any kind and without a natural protector upon whom she can rely. Mrs, Frenont's Year of American Travel tells of life in California in the very early days (1849) before the society described or invented by Bret Harte and Mark Twain came into existence, It is pleasantly written, and if it be rather deficient in incident, that can hardly he imputed as a fault to the writer. Colonel Dunwoddie, Millionaire, is an anonymous contribution to the "Library of American Fiction," which latter we hope soon to seo taking an important place in current literature. As yet, most of the writers are we suspect untried, and it would be unfair to judge them by avery high standard, This last volume is the best of the series that we have seen, It represents without exaggeration the feelings nnd the condition of great Southern families after the close of the American, civil war, and as a study of character as influenced' by sudden changes of fortune, displays very considerable power and insight.
'The China-hunters' Club gives a complete history of modern pottery manufactured in and for the United States, and is richly illustrated with woodcuts from collections, Many of these are very curious, and it would almost appear that a history' of post-revolutionary times could be compiled from a chronologically arranged complete series of the decorated ware now either in use or hoarded in cabinets of American connoissours, China-hunters will welcome the
touched by the ceramic craze will read with book with avidity, and even, people un-interest the story of the Club, how it arose, how it was laughed at, how it was supported and how it ended. Much collateral information is given about ceramic art in general, and many a pretty tale is told in the course of the narrative, one at least exquisitely pathetic, and all related with the sia that comes of unstudied simplicity, Mr. Watx's Student's French Grammar, like all the modern grammars that we have looked into, appears to us to go too much on the principle of "showing how thin; came to be 80," to be suitable for early educational purposes. We dare say we are very old fashioned, hut we cannot help believing that the critical faculty may be too early aroused in young people, and that there is a certain advantage in seizing the period when memory is retentive for the Purpose of storing up material acquired by rote. Let all this be analysed later, but we would answer no questions, or very few, until a great body of facts in the shape of declension, conjugation, syntactical rules and peculiar constructions had been accepted on mere faith. But for the advanced student who has passed through the drudgery which we hold to be inseparable from the acquisition of any language, this French grammar is admirably suited. Its merits under one aspect, and its consequent demerits under the other, are indicated clearly in the closing sentence of a highly appreciative and laudatory introduction by M. Littré, than whom we need hardly say there is no greater authority Your respect for the historical development of the language has made your footing sure,"
All the books above enumerated are published by Harpers, and sold by Kelly and Ws
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.