have been taught to believe it to be the standard authority on the English colonization of America, the records concealed by the Privy Council, and which, until now, have never been available to the public, tell a very different story. By giving these records publicity, Mr. Brown has supplied a national historic deficiency, and his work is one of the most valuable contributions to the historic lore of our country which has yet appeared. For light reading, Mr. Garvice's Her Hearts De sire1 will be found an exceedingly interesting story. The heroine is as charming a girl as it often falls to the lot of man to meet, while the hero is one of nature's true noblemen. After many trials and tribulations the course of true love finally runs smooth, and the lovers attain " their heart's de sire." It is just the book to while away a leisure hour. The scene of At the Sign of the Golden Crescent 1 is laid, as in all of Mrs. Prince's books, in France, where she has lived for several years. The hero is a most attractive American artist, who falls in love with a French maiden in a country town in the Loire valley. The baronne of the castle, who has married unhappily, falls in love with the artist. The indiffer ence of the artist, the intriguing of the husband to get a divorce, with the connivance and aid of the cure (who is an indispensable character in a French country town), are all faithfully delineated. The story is very interesting, and holds one's attention to the end, although, to our mind it is not as strong as either of Mrs. Prince's other two books, " The Story of Christine Rochefort," and " The Transat lantic Chatelaine." Caleb West, Master Diver? is, we think, the best of all Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith's stories, for in it he deals more with the deeper emotions of life, with love and sorrow. The love of Caleb West for his young wife, and his silent sorrow when she runs away with Bill Lacey, are so well depicted that one feels that these people really lived, and that their story is a " really true story." We know for a fact that Captain Joe is living now, although perhaps known under another name. The description of the setting of the four derricks at Shark's Ledge Spindle, where the lighthouse is to be built, is fine, and one fairly holds one's breath until the last hook on the chain holding them is slipped into place. Another thrilling description is that of the lighthouse keeper, 1 Her Heart's Desire. By Charles Garvice. George Munro's Sons, New York. Paper, 25 cents. !Ai The Sign Of The Silver Crescent. By Helen Choate Prince. Houghton, Mittlin & Co., Boston, 1898. Price, $1.25. ' •Caleb West, Master Diver. By F. Hopkinson Smith, Boston, 1898. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price, S1.50.
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the civil engineer, Mr. Sanford, and Captain Bob Brandt watching Captain Joe and Caleb West trying to reach the ledge in a smal. boat, in a howling southeast gale. The " distinguished Pocomokian," Major Tom Slocomb, again appears in this story, and keeps up his reputation of a jolly good fellow, who believes thoroughly in himself. We feel that we shall hear more of Mrs. Leroy in some future story of Mr. Smith's, for her life story is surely not finished. We recommend this book most cordially to our readers who enjoy an exciting, interesting and wholesome story. The cover is designed by Mr. F. Berkeley Smith, the author's son.
NEW LAW-BOOKS RECEIVED. General Digest, American and English, Anno tated. Refers to all Reports, Official and Un official. Vol. IV, New Series. Lawyers' Co operative Publishing Company, 1898. Law sheep. $6.00. This volume covers all the reported decisions of the American and English Courts published between July 1, 1897 and January I, 1898. The publishers', with a device to make the Digest as nearly perfect as possible, are constantly introducing new features, the most important one in the present volume being a device by which authorities of any particular State or jurisdiction on any question can be separately ex amined as rapidly as if this were a separate Digest of that State or jurisdiction only. This Digest is one which no lawyer can well afford to be without, and is meeting with the cordial approval and com mendation of both bench and bar. Memoirs and Letters of James Kent, LL.D. Late Chancellor of the State of New York. By his great-grandson, William Kent, of the New York bar. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1898. Cloth. In American jurisprudence, Kent's Commentaries stand preeminent, and the distinguished author proved himself the peer of the immortal Blackstone, whose Commentaries are the fountain-head of English law. In this volume, the Chancellor's great-grandson, by means of letters judiciously se lected, gives us a clear insight, both into the char acter of the man, and the conditions of our country during one of its most interesting periods. We have already given in The Green Bag a very full biographical sketch of Chancellor Kent, so it is un necessary here to revert to the principal incidents of his life. These memoirs and letters bring us in close contact, not only with the man himself, but also with many of the distinguished persons who were living at the time. The volume is one which will
