which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, are in the teaching of life revealed by God. And what he thus learned, though taught in a faltering voice and with the mingled hurry and diffuseness with which we always fulfill the morning's task in the late afternoon, was yet enough to make him to our fathers a teacher and seer such as the world has not often known in its whole history.

A RAILWAY TO INDIA.

Mr. C. E. D. Black pleads for the construction of a rail way to India, but unlike all others who have preceded him, he disregards the Euphrates Valley Railway, and would make the line run right across Arabia. It would cost seventy-five million dollars, he thinks, to build; it could be constructed in three years, and would pay a dividend: "The total length of the line from Port Said to Kurrachee is estimated at 2,400 miles, and it is intended to construct it on the Indian broad gauge, so as to admit of through trains, by which means the entire distance between London and Kurrachee would be covered in seven days. From an engineering point of view, I am assured that the line could be constructed in three years. The crossing of the Arabian plateau has, so far as I am aware, never been suggested before in any railway project to the East; but I am convinced that it is, from any point of view, the most advantageous."

M. CLEMENCEAU IN A NEW ROLE.

The editor draws special attention to a book called "The Social Conflict," which M. Clemenceau has just published in Paris. Mr. Maxse says: "The volume may be described as the very antithesis of Mr. Arthur Balfour's "Foundations of Belief." Not that it deals with religious questions, but that the whole outlook and philosophy of life is founded on the conviction that man terminates his ego absolutely with his terrestrial life, and that the future involves the annihilation of the human race as well as the glacial extinction of the planetary system. Yet such is the inveteracy of moral purpose that from the terrible aspect of life he presents there evolves the intense desire to mitigate human misery by human means. If nature is cruel and pitiless, man has to play the part of the redeemer and beneficent reformer. The book has made a sensation in Paris; it is the last word of the French advanced school upon the mass of problems which surround us.

BUSINESS PROSPECTS.

An anonymous writer upon finance discusses the financial outlook in England. His chief hope for the future lies in the chance of the Americans adopting a reasonable financial policy: "If a serious settlement is made to put the Republic's currency on a business-like basis by the cancelling of the superfluous paper money, the States will have to borrow heavily in Europe, and so may relieve Lombard street of some of its burden. Moreover, such a policy would at once restore confidence to European investors, with the result that the flow of money would, apart from Government borrowing, once more turn toward the West in payment for American securities."

THE CHOICE OF BOOKS.

Mr. Leslie Stephen publishes the admirable address he delivered at Toynbee Hall on "The Choice of Books." Mr. Stephen is delightfully eclectic. To the student who asks him what books he should choose, he replies: "Choose any book you please if it interests you-that is

everything-study it, and through that book you will enter into the commonwealth of letters, you will become a citizen of the whole federation of books, and once having established your footing, you may travel backward and forward. There is scarcely any book which may not serve as the match to fire our enthusiasm. What the precise impulse may be must depend upon your own temperament. Some people may be stimulated by a treatise on the subjective idealism and some by a fairy story or a collection of antiquarian records. The one thing is that the stimulus should be genuine."

THE GERMAN COURT THEATRE.

Mr. J. G. Robertson describes the work done in the last twenty-five years in the Munich Theatre, when it was nnder the management of Baron von Perfall. The figures as to the performances of different dramas are very interesting. Shakespeare heads the list, for, in the twentyfive years, 27 dramas were played in all 474 times. Benedix comes next, with 21 pieces and 370 performances; then Schiller, with 11 dramas and 281 representations; then Moser, with 11 pieces and 263, and Goethe, with 8 and 195. The 3 Sanscrit dramas were repeated 44 times, while 3 dramas of Sophocles were played 22 times. Ten evenings were devoted to Italian plays. Spanish plays were repeated 100 times, while Scandinavian occupied 169 evenings-Ibsen having 100 nights, and Björnson 69. Of the French plays, Molière had 154 representations; Sardou 175, and Scribe 123. Of Shakespeare, the most frequently represented was "Much Ado About Nothing," which was played 53 times, then "Midsummer Night's Dream," 45, the "Taming of the Shrew" 42, "As You Like It" 35, but "Hamlet" was only played 26 times.

The writer of "Impressions of India" gives us a very gloomy view of the monotony and triviality of the men, whether civil or military, who are governing India. He says: "All Anglo-Indian society superficially is provincial and most monotonous. One station is just like the station you have left; each member of society in the one has his counterpart in the society of the other. The talk of the people seems to the outsider trivial and commonplace almost beyond the region of yawns. You will scarce find through the length and breadth of the land a civil servant, "covenanted " 66 or uncovenanted," who would venture not to be keen about sport, least of all about those sports and games which have some element of danger in them, as big game shooting, pig-sticking, and polo. It is absolutely de rigueur to be able to ride. And round the eternal subjects of sports and games, which are graduatel from tiger-hunting down to playing at badminton, round the cost of cattle and dog-carts, round riding and driving in every aspect and interest, Anglo-Indian social life and almost all Anglo-Indian conversation revolve.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN AND THE NEXT CABINET.

An anonymous writer signing himself "Z," discusses Lord Randolph Churchill and Mr. Chamberlain from the

point of view of one who regards them as typical demagogues. The moral of his paper is that at whatever cost Mr. Chamberlain must not be allowed to assume a position which will enable him to dominate the next administration. Already, says this candid critic, "he has been suffered to take up a position which few or none can occupy to the advantage of the state. A dictator is a bad thing at the best; an irresponsible dictator is the very worst imaginable. There cannot be an end of this too soon. There must be no more of that "something outside the Treasury Bench which makes for unrighteousness," but the Unionist party must make Mr. Chamberlain a responsible minister the moment it has the opportunity. It will be good for the Unionist party, and good for Mr. Chamberlain. For no man in England is capable of better and more useful work so long as he is driven and is not on any account allowed to drive."

the northeast coast for refitting and protecting our fleets in case of war. He suggests that the Waldemar-Lillioswic method of constructing a movable battery upon a double railway line specially made and prepared for coast defense would be invaluable: "With the command that can be obtained for guns in the estuaries of the Forth, the Clyde, and other important rivers, Waldemar-Lillioswic batteries would be found formidable defenses indeed; but even in comparatively flat-shored estuaries, like those of the Thames and Mersey, they would be far more serviceable and far less costly than effective modern forts with guns in embrasures. They might also be utilized for the better protection of the naval anchorages at Spithead, Plymouth Sound, Portland Roads, etc. The cost varies, of course, with the situation and nature of the ground to be worked; but, at the worst, it is not great; and it may be safely said that one-half of the money which at Spithead alone was a few years ago invested in stone forts, most of which have never yet been properly armed, would cover it.

Mr. W. B. Duffield writes a somewhat genial criticism of the recent articles published by the candid friends of the Liberal party. Mr. Del Mar, writing on the historical aspect of the monetary question, pleads for bimetallism; Mr. John Brett A.R.A., criticises landscape painters at the National Gallery, and Janet E. Hogarth writes a few pages about Max Nordau's book.

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THE REVUE DES DEUX MONDES. OMTE BENEDETTI, now an old man of nearly eighty, discusses the character and the work of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. Benedetti spent four years in Constantinople, and was there in 1855. The result of his observations shows that he disliked the English Ambassador and his influence on Turkey, but he criticises severely the French Foreign Office for constantly changing its men. During the four years he was in the East, Benedetti served under three chiefs, and for fifteen months the embassy was left in his sole charge. In a period of twenty years, while there were but two successive English ambassadors in Paris-Lord Cowley and Lord Lyons-Count Benedetti reckons that fourteen ambassadors were commissioned from Paris to London. The article possesses much diplomatic interest.

An article by Jean Cruppi analyzes the tragic trial of the Chevalier de la Barre at Abbeville in 1774. This trial is known in England from Voltaire's eloquent pamphlet written at Ferney, from reports which must have been very incomplete, as the evidence was taken in secret. But the archives of the Parliament of Paris have now become accessible, and from the documents carefully preserved therein, M. Jean Cruppi has reconstituted all the terrible details of the story. La Barre was accused of sacrilege, and the account of his trial and execution is horrible in the extreme. Few facts are more extraordinary than the survival of the worst forms of capital punishment in the midst of the civilization of the eighteenth century.

M. Valbert takes as the text of a striking paper, "The Life of Warren Hastings," by Colonel Malleson. The French critic shares Macaulay's harsher view of the character of Hastings, and is much pleased by the statement made by Warren Hastings' latest biographer that British interests in India were never served by a man more penetrated with the imperial right of England to take and to

keep. Says M. Valbert, "This is at least plain speaking; now we know what is meant by the virile virtues which create heroes into whose careers enters somewhat of the ancient piracy of their ancestors. But I did think that an Englishman knew better how to keep a secret."

In the second number of the Revue, M. Albert Sorel writes of the Wars of the Directoire and the rise of Bonaparte, and makes much mention of Clarke, Duc de Feltre, a man who rose in the Revolution. He was of an Irish refugee family, and, becoming devoted to the new General, cast in his own fortunes with him. Clarke was sent on a diplomatic mission by Carnot from Paris to Milan, in November, 1796. This "diplomate on horseback" intended to unmask the "infatuated little Corsican, and set him down in his right place." Needless to say that he reckoned without his host. Bonaparte had conquered Italy, and he conquered Clarke. The story of the preliminaries of peace is carried on to 1797.

Sudermann's latest novel is carefully analyzed by M. Edouard Rod, who sums up his impression of the German writer in the following words: "That which most impresses me in M. Sudermann's work is its unity of idea. It nearly always revolves round one central idea-the discord betwen the individual and the family. Sometimes his heroes are superior to their surroundings; sometimes they are inferior, in which case the family is rendered very uncomfortable."

M. Fouillée contributes an article on the Psychology of Peoples, and, quoting Galton and Lombroso, cites endless details of the measurement of skulls.

A second article on Jean Jacques Rousseau is no less well worth reading than the first, and contains a great many particulars about Madame de Warens not recorded by Jean Jacques, and some of which were evidently unknown to him.

Other articles deal with a journey through Spain, taken

and described by M. René Bazin, and an exhaustive account of those industries connected with iron, by Vicomte G. d'Avenel.

THE REVUE DE PARIS.

INCE the death of James Darmstetter the Revue de Paris has become less academic and scientific and more literary in tone.

The place of honor is given to the publication of Jules Lemaitre's play, "Forgiveness," and in the same number M. Faguet analyzes the whole of that critic's dramatic work. Those who wish to know something of a singularly powerful and to a certain extent new dramatist, whose work is as yet unknown in Great Britain, will do well to read the latter clear description and summing up of each of M. Lemaïtre's plays, the more so that in "Forgiveness they will have an opportunity of realizing for themselves both his dramatic powers and weaknesses.

M. Lavisse continues his description of the public career of Victor Duruy, the democratic imperial minister, who alone of all his colleagues was really popular with the people, and to whom the present system of French government education is due. He alone, of all those gathered round Napoleon III, foresaw the Franco-Prussian war, for after the battle of Sadowa he indited to his Imperial master the following remarkable note: "We are in the presence of a young, ambitious power, eager to take its place among the nations. Sooner or later war between us is inevitable. I do not say that the Prussians will ever attack Strasbourg or Metz, but their boundless ambition will surely lead them into some enterprise which will cause us to find, ourselves in juxtaposition with them." When the disasters which he had thus foreseen came on his country, he acted with extraordinary sense and courage, and had he then been in public life he would probably have proved of the greatest value' and assistance to M. Thiers. M. Victor Duruy, who only died in November of last year, was the author of several historical works and an excellent history of France.

In the same number is another fascinating installment of Balzac's letters to Madame Hanska, full of interest to those who care about his public life and work, for in them he tells his friend the history of each of his books, their reception by the public, the prices he received, and so on. Very different, but valuable from many points of view, is an early letter from Napoleon I to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. This epistle, never before published, now belongs to a Corsican barrister. It was written on June 22, 1792, when the future Emperor was twenty-three years of age, and a lieutenant of artillery. No more vivid account of what the beginnings of the French Revolution were like has been written by an eye-witness: "The day before yesterday seventy or eighty thousand men, armed with pikes, hatchets, guns, and pointed sticks, made their way to the Assembly in order to present a petition; from there they went on to see the King. The gardens of the Tuileries were closed, and one hundred and fifty thousand guards drawn up to protect the Chateau. The mob stove in the doors, entered the palace, forced their way to the presence of the King, and presented him with two cockades, one white and the other tricolor. Choose,' they shouted, whether you will reign here or at Coblentz.' The King behaved well, and put on the red cap, as did the Prince Royal and the Queen. The mob stayed four hours in the palace. All this is very unconstitutional and dangerous; it is hard to say what will be the future of the country."

Mme. Arvède Barine contributes a very interesting account of the little-known daughter of Galileo, a humble nun, who spent her life in sewing garments for the poor and making jam; in the intervals between these occupations, writing and receiving letters from her father, long epistles in which they told each other all that was going on in their different spheres. The letters of Galileo have never been found, but those written by Suor Maria Celeste were preserved by her father, and are from many points of view of exceptional interest.

Even in the convent, Sister Maria Celeste seems to have been of great help to her father in all his domestic difficulties; she made and washed his clothes, embroidered collars for her brothers, and even when necessary cooked Galileo's meals. He, on his side, kept the great clock of the convent in order, and, thanks to his intimacy with the Grand Duke, procured the Abbess and her flock many little favors. With his daughter, Galileo was in complete intellectual sympathy, and often, after asking him a piece of gossip, she would plunge into a scientific and philosoph. ical discussion full of shrewd power and knowledge. Indeed, she alone of all his family, including his mother, seems to have loved and admired him, her influence over him being acknowledged by all his friends. There is little doubt that the anxiety and anguish caused to the poor young nun by Galileo's many differences and quarrels with the ecclesiastical authorities of his day led to her early illness and death. Among the astronomer's papers preserved to posterity are a packet of letters of condolences written to him after Sister Maria Celeste's death.

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THE NOUVELLE REVUE.

ADAME ADAM gives in her March Review the place of honor to the Prince de Monaco, who under the somewhat misleading title "The Life of a Navigator," describes at some length his experiences of mountain wild goat and chamois hunting in the islands off Madeira.

In the same number Pierre Loti concludes his picturesque description of the Holy Land noticed elsewhere.

M. Sully Prudhomme contributes to the second number of the Nouvelle Revue a very curious discussion, treated from a metaphysical point of view, on "Curiosity and the Limits of Human Knowledge."

In the same number the Prince de Valori attempts, with more or less success, to prove the right of Francis Bourbon, Duc d'Anjou, to the throne of France. The vexed question is solely interesting from a theoretical point of view, for neither the Orleans Princes nor Don Carlos are likely to regard the claims of their relation as being of the slightest validity or serious consequence.

M. Ledrain dissects with somewhat pitiless logic several of M. Jules Simon's best known works, notably "La Liberté du Foyer," in which, says his critic, so far from guarding the home and natural morality, the writer does his best to make even more difficult the already existing condition affecting French marriage laws. As is well known, M. Simon has always been one of the most determined opponents of any bill having for its object that of making more easy the position of French children born out of wedlock. M. Ledrain evidently takes exception to Jules Simon's puritanic temperament, and his otherwise ably written notice of the latter's literary career suffers from his evident lack of sympathy with, and misunderstanding of, the nature of the man whose theories and actions he criticises so severely.

Mme. Jeanne E. Schmahl, a prominent worker in the

Paris Woman's Right Movement, discusses in a short, able paper what she styles "The Prejudice of Sex; "she pionts out that Shakespeare alone, of all poets past and present, seems to have been superior to sex prejudice. The only other lady contributor to the March Revues is Mme. Matilda Shaw, who contributes an amusing account of the Connecticut of to-day and yesterday, its blue laws past and present.

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THE ITALIAN REVIEWS.

HE Rassegna Nazionale contains obituary notices of two recently deceased Italians, both pre-eminent in their respective spheres, and both devoted sons of the Church. Father Francesco Denza, a Barnabite monk, crowned a life of arduous toil as one of the foremost astronomers and meteorologists of his day, by founding and developing the new Vatican Observatory, where a special feature is made of taking astronomical observations by photography. Father Denza may very properly be quoted as a proof of the compatibility of high scientific attainments with unquestioning religious faith. A lady, Signora Luisa Anzoletti, describes in a few pleasantly written pages the deathbed of the venerable nonogenarian historian Cesare Cantri, whom both Pope and King delighted to honor, and who retained to the very last day of his life not only the full use of his intellectual faculties, but also his cheerful serenity of mind. The inevitable

articles on the eternal question of the relations between Church and State in Italy are to be found in both March numbers, interesting as signs of the times in so far as they both indicate a hoped-for harmony between the hostile elements of Italian public life. The Rassegna, with praiseworthy persistence, holds out the olive branch to both Clericals and Liberals alike; the Civiltà Cattolica, on the other hand, in an article entitled "Clericalism and Liberalism in Social Action" (March 16) carries the war into the enemy's camp in its usual intransigéant and provocative tone. In the Nuova Antologia (March 1) Count C. Nigra, Italian Ambassador in Paris at the time of the Franco-German war, gives in his "Diplomatic Reminiscences some interesting details concerning the part played by Italy in international politics at that moment, the gist of his revelations being that his country acted persistently, though unsuccessfully, in the interests of peace, and was throughout well disposed toward France. A suggestive article by Signor Venturi traces the development of the Annunciation as a theme for pictorial art from the date of the earliest rude representation of the scene, as still to be seen on the walls of the Tomb of Priscilla in Rome, down to the painters of the Renaissance. To the mid-March number, Signor Bonghi contributes a very solid disquisition-inspired by the recent proceedings against Signor Giolitti-concerning the special privileges of deputies in respect to the judicial authorities, and pronounces in favor of a curtailment of those immunities from ordinary legal proceedings to which the elected representatives of the people have frequently laid claim.

Swede, which accounts for her presence in Idun's Portrait Gallery of Notable Women. The biographical sketch is sympathetically written by Miss Elin Ameen, who is best known to us by her story, "Released," which formed the groundwork of that stirring play, "Alan's Wife."

Nordisk Revy (No. 24) is a decidedly good number. Ellen Key contributes a finely written article, entitled "Snap-shots at European Art," and Bengt Lidforss gives in amusing style an account of his last conversation with Strindberg on the subject of natural science, from which we get the notion that the dramatist's taste and ability for scientific research, which have obtained such solemn acknowledgment in Le Temps and the Revue des Revues, are so much "gas and gaiters." Bengt Lidforss himself remarks that Strindberg's ideas on natural science are more likely to interest the psychologist than the scientist. That being so, and the whole of the modern structure of chemistry being, according to Lidforss, a veritable terra incognita to Strindberg, I only mention-and this merely as a matter for amusement-the fact that the dramatist, who is, I believe, as notorious for his contempt for his mother's sex as he is famous for his literary gifts, sought to prove to Lidforss that woman is not necessary even for the propagation of the species, and that it is quite possible for man to emancipate himself entirely from any need of her! Kongstad Rasmussen, apparently an anti-Ibsenite, and clearly a critic of ability, reviews "Little Eyolf" in an interesting manner; and Gotus contributes an article on the stage interpretation of the drama in Gothenburg, which he says shows up the faults of it more clearly still than is done in the mere reading of the play, although in this case the respective rôles were in undeniably good hands.

Miss Ellen Key has a finely written paper in Ord Och Bild, entitled "From Goethe's World," which will be appreciated by all students of the poet. The article is accompanied by portraits of Goethe, Charlotte von Stein and Corona Schroeter, as well as by some pretty views of Gartenhaus. Hjalmar Söderberg contributes a good critique on the poetry of Oscar Levertin, whose portrait heads the article. Pelle Molin does his best to liven up the readers with a humorous sketch entitled "Thanks to You!" N. V. E. Nordenmark gives an interesting paper on "Amateur Astronomy."

THE MAGAZINES OF THE MAGYARS.

'HE Bndapesti Szemle (Budapest Review) is a montheminent Hungarian writer and Professor of Hungarian Literature in the University of Budapest. The main object of the paper is to acquaint the Hungarian public with the ruling ideas of the civilized world, and to serve at the same time as an intermediator between professional science and the lay, but educated public, as well as between Hungarian and foreign literature. The contents of the March number are: "Baron Nicolas Vesselényi and the Question of Nationalities," by Michael Zsilinsky; 2, "China and Japan on the Field of Modern Culture," by Prof. A. Vambéry; 3, "The Infancy and Juvenile Age of Molière," by Jules Haraszti; 4, "Our Health Conditions and their Reform," by Dr. T. Thim; 5, "Countess Immaculata," a novel by Charles Vadnai; 6, Poems," by Lévai and Solymossi; 7, "On Chemical Elements," by Prof. B. Lengeyl; 8, "The Literature and Our Newspapers," by the Editor; 9, reviews of recent publications, such as"History of the Hungarian Nation" and "Reform of the Medical Faculty in France."

We published an extended notice of this work soon after its first appearance, one year ago. (See REVIEW OF REVIEWS for June, 1894.) The popularity of the book in this country has been remarkable, and now that an excellent cheap edition is on the market its readers will be multiplied. It is a book for the times. The quality of the print and paper of this 25-cent publication is an ocular refutation of the well-worn arguments formerly used against an international copyright. The best of current English literature was never, in the days of literary piracy, offered to the American public in such a dress at so reasonable a price.

The Evolution of Industry. By Henry Dyer, C.E. 12mo, pp. 322. New York: Macmillan & Co. $1.50.

A broad outline, rather than a minute study, of modern industrial development. The work is written from the altruistic reformer's point of view, and embodies the latest thought of the advanced British school of social philosophy on the questions of municipal and state control of industries, cooperation, trade unions, guilds, industrial training, the position of women, etc. The author quotes approvingly Professors Ely and Clark among American economists, and seems to have given much attention to the rise of trusts and like industrial phenomena in the United States. He insists on a recognition of the ethical as well as the economic side of the organization of industry. He seeks to find a social organization corresponding to modern conditions of production, and this desideratum will be obtained, he contends, not by a revo lution, "or a brand-new organization, but by the evolution of movements at present going on, and by the development of intellectual and moral training."

Hull House Maps and Papers. By Residents of Hull House. Octavo, pp. 230. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. $2.50.

The maps and schedules prepared by residents of Hull House, the well-known Chicago "social settlement," to illustrate social conditions in a crowded portion of the city, will be eagerly welcomed by all students of American city problems. There has been in the past far too little of the patient, painstaking, discriminating gathering of the facts of modern town life to which the Hull House workers have for several years devoted no small part of their energies. The plan of Charles Booth's elaborate study of wages in London has been followed by Miss Addams and her colleagues. Even more interesting are the nationality charts. The papers on the sweating system, child labor, the Jewish quarter of Chicago, the Bohemians, and the Italians were contributed by persons peculiarly qualified to speak from the closest of personal knowledge of their subjects. A paper by Ellen Gates Starr on "Art and Labor" is suggestive of the possible importance of high art as a factor in the settlement of the labor problem. The place of the social settlement in the labor movement is treated by Miss Addams. An appendix gives a description of the present work carried on at Hull House.

The Canadian Banking System, 1817-1890. By Roeliff Morton Breckenridge, Ph.D. Paper, Octavo, pp. 476. Baltimore: American Economic Association. $1.50.

Dr. Breckenridge's monograph is the first attempt at an exhaustive and systematic treatment of a subject which is now engaging the attention of financiers in this country to an unprecedented extent. The work is based on a thorough study of statutes and other public documents. The scanty secondary materials in existence proved of little use, and the writer found it necessary to review the original sources of information on the subject with more than ordinary care. He has also made diligent efforts to get fresh light on the practical workings of the Canadian system, and our own bankers will find the results of his researches of great interest and value in their bearings on the current agitation for improved banking and currency laws in the United States.

A Sound Currency and Banking System. How it may be Secured. By Allen Ripley Foote. 12mo, pp. 110. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 75 cents.

Mr. Foote's treatise is mainly devoted to an exposition of the shortcomings of our present currency system and the amplification of the author's proposed plan for the establishment of a new banking organization for the whole country. He advocates the immediate adoption by Congress of various measures for relief, notably issues of temporary loan certificates and interest-bearing treasury notes, and the organization of a monetary commission.

Short Studies in Party Politics. By Noah Brooks. 12mo,

pp. 205. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. $1.25. These papers, which appeared recently in Scribner's Magazine, are intended to give an insight into the tendencies and working principles of American politics, rather than the party machinery and methods. Nearly every page bears interesting allusions to persons_prominent at one time or another in our political history. The interest is enhanced by the fact that the writer has had intimate acquaintance with the men and measures that have been most in evidence at Washington for the past forty years.

The City Government of Boston. By Nathan Matthews, Jr. Octavo, pp. 289. Boston: Published by the City.

The very unsatisfactory condition of the public documents issued by most American cities leads us to cherish the hope that public-spirited citizens of other municipalities may be induced to follow the example of Boston's ex-mayor and prepare convenient résumés of the information embodied in official reports. Mr. Matthews gives detailed descriptions of the organization and functions of the various departments of the Boston city government, together with full financial statistics and chapters on the civil service, the relations existing between city and state, labor matters and related topics. The Statesman's Year-Book for the Year 1895. Edited by J. Scott Keltie. Thirty-second annual publication. 12mo, pp. 1,188. New York: Macmillan & Co. $3. The statistics compiled in this useful publication have been renewed and brought up to date. Some fresh information is contained in this number for the first time relative to the systems of customs valuation in vogue in various countries. This information is the result of a special inquiry instituted by the editors during the past year.

The Story of Vedic India, as Embodied Principally in the Rig-Veda. By Zénaïde A. Ragozin. 12mo, pp. 468. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.50.

It is not often that a writer of history is compelled by the absence of secondary authorities to rely so exclusively on original sources as in this instance. Indeed, one of the chief services performed by the book consists in the popularizing of ancient Vedic lore, much of which has not heretofore been accessible to the American reader at a distance from great libraries The writer, who is well known to many of our readers through her books, in this "Story of the Nations" series, on Chaldea and Assyria, is practiced in narrative and description, and presents in an attractive form the results of a long course of painstaking investigation. There are thirtyfive wood-cut illustrations.

The Early Relations Between Maryland and Virginia. By John H. Latané, A.B. Paper, Octavo, pp. 81. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. 50 cents.

We are glad to note that the Johns Hopkins University, through the publications of its historical department, continues to make known the results of recent investigations, by its students and others, in the history of the Southern and border states, which seem to lie naturally within the special field of the university's explorations. The present paper deals with the Virginia opposition to the granting of the