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PROFESSOR Fiske has undeniably earned a right to the title of dean of American historical writers. His large and important contribution to American history has received a valuable addition in a history of " The -Mississippi Valley in the Civil War." The volume has just been published by Houghton, Miffiin & Co. With the exception of a treatment of the Civil War, such as was necessary for his school his tory of the United States, the volume marks his first entrance into this important field of historical re search and writing. The struggle for the posses sion of the Mississippi valley was a life and death struggle for the Confederacy, and its history in Mr. Fiske's hands is of the utmost importance and in terest.

GOOD BOOKS FOR SUMMER READING. The quaint old town of Marblehead furnishes the scene of From Kingdom to Colony? a charming story of the early days of the Revolution. Mistress Dor othy Devereux, the heroine, is an irresistibly fascinat ing little creature, and her love affair, which forms the principal theme of the tale, abounds in romance and is touching and tender in the extreme. The story is delightful in every way, and its popularity is evidenced by the fact that it has already passed through its fifth edition. Although his first essay in novel writing. Robert Tournay1 demonstrates that Mr. Sage is entitled to be regarded as a prince of story tellers. The scene is laid in France and covers the exciting period of the French Revolution. The story is that of a man of " the people.'' who loves his aristocratic master's daughter and finally succeeds in winning her love in return though not until after much suffering. The story is full of highly dramatic situations and holds the reader's breathless attention to the end. It is in fact one of the most absorbing narratives we have" read for a long time. We understand that it is being dramatized, and it certainly possesses the material for a most effective play. No better story tellers are to be found than in the ranks of the clergy, and this fact is made fully appar ent in The Parsonage Porch? seven stories from the 1 FROM KINGDOM то COLONY. By Mary Devereux. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1900. Cloth, $1.50. - KOHKRT TOURNAY. A romance of the French Revo lution. By William Sage. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1900. Cloth. clergyman's note book. By Bradley Oilman. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1900. Cloth, $1.00.
 * THE PARSONAGE PORCH. Seven stories from a

note book of a clergyman, by Bradley Oilman just issued by Litde, Brown & Co. The stories are capi tally told and display much originality on the au thor's part. They abound in humor, though the ele ment of pathos is not lacking in some of them; but their chief charm lies in the genial personality of the author, and in the humorous and truthful portrayal of the clergyman's point of view. Each story has a short preface which serves to increase the interest in the story to follow, and aids in giving the book unity. It is to be considered as a whole, rather than as the seven ingenious stories, told under ' the following titles: A Misunderstood Dog; My Old Silk Hat; A Frankenstein Family. Here Endeth the First Lesson; Willis the Dreamer; Wanted — A young Minister; The Rival Undertakers. We have de rived genuine enjoyment from the book, and com mend it as a most excellent companion for a leisure hour. Little, Brown & Co. have just published Talcs far Christinas and other Seasons,1 by François Coppée, a volume of stories not before translated, now done into English by Myrta Leonora Jones. These stories are among the most dainty, exquisite and artistic of their kind. The author knows how to take a simple, even a commonplace little incident, and so adorn it with literary grace and delicate fancy and sentiment that it becomes >• a thing of beauty." Especially noteworthy is the story of " The Lost Child," in which we are shown how M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroi, the wealthy deputy and astute financier, lost his son on Christmas Eve. and found him again sleeping in a hovel. The change of heart wrought in the great M. (iodefroi when he found that his boyhad been tenderly cared for makes a very human and touching climax to a well-told tale. The other stories are : The Christmas Lovers; A Forgiveness; The Louis d'Or; The Commendable Crime; The Hand-Organ; The Poet and the Courtesan; The Dressing-Maid; The Pillar of the Café; The Little Stationer; Adoption; and a charming introductor)' sketch of CoppeVs grandparents, entitled "An Un written Chapter of My Memoirs." A more delightful{book for whiling away a rainy day in vacation time it would be difficult to find. The Empress Octavia,' л book which has created something of a sensation in Germany, has just been 1 TALES FOR CHRISTMAS AND OTHER SEASONS. By Francois Coppée. Translated by Myrta Leonora Jones. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1900. Cloth, $1.00. - Тик EMPRESS OCTAVIA. Л romance after the reign of Nero. By Wilhelm Walloth. Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford. Little, Brown & Co., Bos ton, 1900. Cloth, $1.50.