Literary Notes

FLAXIE ÜROWINQ UP. By Sopliie May. Boston; Lee A Shepard ; New York: Charles T. Dillingham. For sale by Andrews t Witherby, Anu Arbor. This Is one of the series of Flaxie Frizzie stories, and shows hoW agreeable a little girl of twelvecan be when she tries The book is pleasantly written ROd the deseriptioti ot' "The Spelling School," "Pudding and Pies," "Christmas at Old Bluff," etc., will delight the young folks. "Studying n Germany" will be the subject of an article in the Janunry "Popular .'Science Monthly," by Horace M. Kennedy, who opposes seiiding boys to ihat country as emphatically as lie indorses the resorting thither of older students. Professor Tyndall alsojwill give some interesting reminiscences of his studentlife in Germany, In a sketch entitled "My Scliools and School-masters," In the sanie number. Mr. Geo. W. Cable's article on "The Freedman's Case In Equity," weich will appear in the Januaty Century, is a timely contribution to current lkerature in the lljfht of recent discussions in the Southern papers. Mr. Uahle, who is a Southerner andan ex-Confederate soldier, calis upon the white people ot the South to rnake the position of the bl;iek race not that of "fiecdinen" but ot "freemen." THE FIELD OF HONOR: A Comprehinsi ve H story of Duelling in all Countrles, including the Judicial Combat of Kurope, the Private Duel of the Civilized World, and Specltie Descriptions of all the Noted Hostile meetings in Europe and America. By Major Ken C. Truman, author of " The South After the War." "Seint-Tropical California," ele. lümo. Pages 59). Extra cloth beveled, $2. New York: Ford, Howard & Hulbert. For sale by Andrews & Witherby, Aun Arbor. It must be said of this book that it is the only vork extant whlch professes to cover the round described in the title, and it may be said that this is done excecdingly well. Major Truman must have been a dili gent gleaner and collector of material trom a multitude of scattercd sources, and the result is a work of value. The historical and social student will trace with interest the rise, prevalence and decline of this characteristic institution in the variousEuropean nations, as separately treated, and its freor, wilder growth iu the less highly orgauized society of tne Xew World. It is claimed, and there seems mi reason to doubt, that when he enters upon speciticatious, every recorded hostile meeting which can be classed as a duel, finds here a mention, with ñames of the principáis, and verv generally of seconds, anU frequently of' causes or circuinstances ; while each of the especially notable coinbats receives a full description. This is naturally more apparent when he comes into the doiuain oi American duelling, which lie has made especially full and rich in fact and aneci'.ote, treating at large such noted rencontres as the BtiriHamilton, Decatiii-H.irron, GravesCilley, Terry-Uroderick. Having exhausted the duels by countries, the author takes Hp classes. And here we tind accountsof many modes of tighting, - with various weapons, in the air, on the water, in the dark, betweeu clergymcn, betweeu wo men. and divers topics naturally growing out ofthe subject, - bloodless duels, the bravery of duels refused, notable escapes, remorse of dnellists, pathos and sentiment of duelling, romantic duels, ' etc, - in all of which his faculty of enlivening facts by graphic word-palnting maintains the readers interest to the vei-y end. The close he has judiciously lightened by a couple of anecdotal chapters on "Humors and Pleasantries of the Field," and concludes his book by a careful index of some seveuteen hundred entries, referring almost exclusively to the names of principáis in the duels recorded in the work, modestly restraining his pen within one page of a round six hundred.