Log Cabin to White House," has now attempted a more
difficult sub- ject, more difficult because it has less of the attraction of novelty, in the "boyhood and manhood" of the first President of the United States. Bowes, Everett, and Bancroft are among those who have told the story of this great life before Mr. Thayer, and it is no small credit to him that he is able to hold his own with them. For young readers, this volume is, we take it, specially suitable. Many details —and the details of the War of Independence are often wearisome, except from points of local interest—are omitted, and the broad features of the narrative, as they go to make up Washington's heroic figure, preserved. A few words might have been given, as explana- tion, not excuse, of Benedict Arnold's conduct, indicating his unworthy treatment by the civil authorities.
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