SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice peek Books of the week as- have not been' reserved for review in other forme.] A Journey to Ohio in 1810, as recorded in the Journalof Margaret van Horn Duight. Edited- with an Introduction by Max Farrand. (Yale Univereity Press. 5s. 6d. net.)-Margaret Dwight was tirenty.3tears old when,. in 1810, she tria obliged to Make the long journey from New Haven, where she had been living, to Warren, Ohio. Her diary is a work of extraordinary charm and interest, fOr she peso:aged- it Most Vivacious Mind, was both Observant and imaginative, • and had moreover a. quite consider-. able literary gut: The frightfid disConffarts ore jetriiey across' America at the beginning of last century are vividly presented; with •a touch-of- cynical humour that prevents the story from becoming monotonous. She describes, moreover,- in the- most amusing way the, peadiarities- of her companions on- the-journey arid-of:the various- strangers that they met in the course of it. We'ntaY qUote-a- chatuderistie passage- desCribing a ." most rating rantinglelle*" called-Smitht-- "I never was more diverted-than-to hear him (he is certainly crazy-repealing prayerandavermon and forty other things in a breath) talk about thetaitehriien in Pennsylvania.. . . Hebegan by-stating his religions tenets, and at length; after everybody and thing was created; he says the under gods (of whom he sup- poses-there were -a great- number) took Dome of the skum and etir'd it up, and those fellows came out. . I believe he has been studying all his life for" herd WOrds and pompous speeches, and rattled them off at a strange rate. His language is very ungram- diatical.-bitt the Jaeksbnii are all in raptnree with him. They cannot understandrhis language (nor indeed could anyone else) and therefore' concludedhe must .be very- learned. Their observa- tions are almost as diverting as his conversation. I could make them believe inlet nabantes that I was a girl of-great larnin-if I *Ate
to sky over Kerracigenions-Hetereg,enious and- a few such siordis without any conneetionto Matter if I do but 'bring thein in somehow."
Mr. Farrand is to be congratulated on bringing to light this charming work.
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