ot be turned
into a bad one;" and this commandment, as far as we can see, he has
not broken in a single case, while in some instances, we are bold
enough to say, the translation is better than the original.

History of the Army of the Cumberland, its Organization,
Campaigns and Battles. Written at the request of Maj.-Gen.
George H. Thomas, chiefly from his private military journal
and other official documents furnished by him. By Thomas B.
Van Horne, U.S. Army. Illustrated with campaign and
battle maps compiled by Edward Ruger, late Superintendent
Topographical Engineer Office, Head quarters Department of the
Cumberland. 2 vols. and atlas. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.

It was natural that General Thomas should make choice of some one to
whom he could entrust the task of writing his military history. For
that purpose he chose Mr. T.B. Van Home, a chaplain in the regular
army, and the work, which was begun in 1865 and finished in 1872, was
subject to Thomas's own examination. The result is now, after this
long delay, presented to the public in a shape that does great credit
to the publishers, whose imprint is almost synonymous with good
workmanship. Of the literary skill, or want of it, on the part of the
author not much need be said: he is evidently zealous in his anxiety
to do honor to the memory of General Thomas, and to do justice to all
who served with him; but he is sadly lacking in the art of suitably
clothing his ideas with fitting words, and much of his elaborate
composition is badly wasted in trying to find extravagant language
for the recital of important events. In some cases, where the official
reports printed at the close of each chapter recite in simple words
the actual occurrences, the text of the book is overlaid with unusual
words and involved sentences, in which the statement of the same facts
is lost in a cloud of phraseology of a very curious and original kind.
"Primal success," "the expression of a stride," "the belligerence of
the two armies," "philosophy of the victory," "palpable co-operation,"
"the expression of an insurrection,"--these are some of the odd
inventions of the author; and for instances of passages just as odd,
but too long for citation, we refer to the description of the battle
of Shiloh--a weak imitation of Kinglake's worst style--where we
are told that "change is the prophecy of unexpected conditions."
Fortunately, the second volume is much les