Through the Light Continent ; or, the United States in
1877-8. By William Saunders. (Cassell, Petter, and Calpin.)—The title of this book is not very happily chosen ; and were it the ,work of an American, would certainly have an arrogant sound. Is the continent of North America so very " light" ? Certainly, there are some dark spots in it,—" Garland City," for instance, a chosen haunt of miners, which, to judge from Mr. Saunders's description, could not easily be matched in the " dark " continent of Europe. But the book itself is excellent, the work of an intelligent and candid observer, adverse, on the whole, to aristocratic institutions, but quite alive to the evils which spring up in the democratic. The evils of an old country seem to have been speedily reproduced in the new. Indeed, the "sturdy beggars " of Now York and Boston, whom Mr. Saunders describes, arc such as would not be tolerated in this country. Some excellent ad- vice is given on the subject of emigration. Those who have labour only to dispose of, had far better stop at home than emigrate, anyhow for the present. " Working-men, without means, would not better their condition by going to the States." But " for persons with a small amount of capital, the case is quite different, as for them the time is specially favourable." A more orderly arrangement, and, perhaps, a little compression, would have benefited the book,—which, however, as it stands, is quite above the average of impressions of travel.
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