if it succeeds in performing this feat, it is at the
expense of a clear and intelligent comprehension of the meaning of the
whole. We may succeed in reducing the mental structure to a mere
storehouse. But if in achieving this the mind has lost the power to
grasp, and to combine, its acquisitions have been dearly purchased."

Mindful of Huxley's definition of culture, that it "must consist of
criticism and comparison," Mrs. Parmele sweeps away all secondary
details, all the less important incidents, and proceeds to her narrative
of Columbus's discovery, the colonial period, the founding of our
Republic, and its subsequent life down to the present year, with the
simple directness of a dramatist; there is no halting in her impetuous
relation; it is infused throughout with the same degree of philosophical
ardor, and one follows as one does a wonder tale the rapid sequence of
events, tracing with an awakened interest the national issues, which,
presented in this new, concise, imaginative way, take on a fresh, an
enchanting charm. Nothing could be clearer to the mind of a child eager
to know the reason of things, nor to that of a grown person, fatigued by
the jostling memories of both important and useless events, than this
return to the fundamental, the philosophical, the moral causes which
underlie the life of the Republic. The tortuous channels by which the
currents bore us into the war of 1812 are described with such surprising
simplicity that one almost fails to realize how admirable a piece of
condensation the single chapter is; and the annexation of Texas is told
with equal precision. The earliest traces of our present policies, such
as the Monroe Doctrine, the protective tariff and free-silver issues,
are explained so clearly and impartially that the author's brevity helps
rather than mars the effect upon the mind.

"The history of America should be an inspiration, not a task. It ought
to be known in its grand, simple lines by every child in the nation. Let
it be so acquired first in its utmost brevity, then enlarged, and
enlarged, and again, gradually approaching to a nearer view of the
multiplicity of detail. Pleased at finding new truths which fit
precisely into those already familiar, there will be no difficulty in
keeping alive the interest, nor in remembering. It will be grafting on
to the living, not on to the dead." This is good advice, and Mrs.
Parmele proves it may make good reading as well.--_Republican_,