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work in every way, and one likely to have a similar popularity. Another book, notable because of its English interest, is M. Grand-Carteret's "Napoléon en Images : Estampes Anglaises (Portraits et Caricatures)" (FirminDidot, Paris), a rather elaborate work on the British caricatures of Napoleon, illustrated by nearly a hundred and fifty engravings from the original prints.

In religious history there are two books to be noted, and in history of a miscellaneous character two more. Dr. Allan Menzies' "History of Religion" (Murray) is necessarily, considering its size, a somewhat brief sketch of its subject. To provide an adequate account of primitive religions, beliefs and practices, and of the origin and character of the great systems, in some four hundred pages, is a difficult undertaking. But the book is readable and handy for reference. Mr. Richard Heath has only fifteen years for his province in his "Anabaptism from its Rise at Zwickau to its Fall at Münster, 1521-1536" (Alexander & Shepheard). The miscellaneous histories are, Mr. G. A. Sekon's capital "History of the Great Western Railway " (Digby), a sketch rather of the development of the broad gauge, of which Mr. Sekon is a determined advocate, than of the Great Western Railway to the present day; and Mr. William Pole's "The Evolution of Whist" (Longmans).

A very business-like book is "Aspects of the Social Problem" (Macmillan), a series of papers combining "trained observation in the social field with reasonable theory," which Mr. Bernard Bosanquet has edited. There are eighteen papers in all-some by the editor himself and some by Mr. C. S. Loch and others-of which nine have already appeared in the reviews. It is a cheap book obviously destined to provide ammunition in many an electoral contest in the near future. Its calm, sensible papers will be found very useful for reference. The late Thomas Hill Green's "Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation" (Longmans) is more abstract and historical in its interest. Practically the book is a reprint, with a brief supplement, of a portion of Professor Green's philosophical works. It contains a chapter on the different senses of the term "Freedom," and is now issued as "the best conceivable" text-book "for a projected course of instruction on political theory.' It is odd to see the Grey of "Robert Elsmere" the guide of a young generation of politicians. Then we have a new and very useful series of Lord Brassey's "Papers and Addresses" (Longmans), dealing this time with imperial federation and colonization from 1880 to 1894. The editors have so arranged and added to Lord Brassey's papers that the book is almost, as they say, "a history of the colonial question during a period of rapid and very important development."

In biography of a literary kind nothing is likely to be more interesting this spring than the two volumes in which Mr. Ernest Hartley Coleridge publishes "The Let ters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge" (Heinemann)—volumes containing many letters, never before published, to Southey, Wordsworth, Charles Lamb, and John Murray, and throwing no inconsiderable light on the character of the poet. The portraits in the volumes are not their least interesting feature. Then to the cheap and deservedly popular Great Writers Series, Mr. Francis Espinasse has added a "Life of Ernest Renan" (Scott); and a new edition has appeared, none too soon, of "Men and Women of the Time" (Routledge). With all its faults, both of commission and of omission, this is an invaluable book of reference.

Now for essays and literary criticism generally. The most welcome book is Mr. A. J. Butler's unusually good translation of the "Select Essays of Saint-Beuve, Chiefly

Bearing on English Literature" (Arnold), in which the style of the original is as well retained as it is ever likely to be in a translation. And the essays selected are of the best. They include "What is a Classic ?" "Of a Literary Tradition," and the papers on Lord Chesterfield, Cowper, Gibbon, Bonstetten and Gray, and M. Taine's "History of English Literature." It is a volume you will place near Matthew Arnold's "Essays in Criticism." In "The Elizabethan Hamlet" (Mathews), Mr. John Corbin has been at pains to study "Hamlet's" sources, and Shakespeare's environment, with the object of showing "that the mad scenes had a comic aspect now ignored;" and as his essay has the advantage of a commendatory introduction by the new Regius Professor of History at Oxford, Mr. York Powell, it is sure to win attention. But the "truth" is not nearly so new as the Professor and Mr. Corbin seem to think. Other critics have constantly pressed home the fact, in regard to "Hamlet" and other plays, "that the sixteenth century audience's point of view, and, of necessity, the playwright's treatment of his subject, were very different from ours of to-day in many matters of mark." And while we are on the subject of the theatre I had better mention Mr. William Archer's "Theatrical World' of 1894" (Scott), a reprint, with the addition of an index, of his World theatrical criticisms for the past year. Mr. Archer is almost the only critic worthy of sustained attention. The most trivial farce seems to suggest to him something worth writing. In "Thackeray: a Study" (Macmillan), Mr. Adolphus Alfred Jack flashes his critical sword to some purpose, for his "study" of Thackeray's work and character, if not wonderfully illuminative, is always bright and interesting. For the rest, in this section there are two volumes of essays reprinted from the Fortnightly and North American Reviews, by "Ouida" and Mr. W. H. Mallock respectively. "Ouida's" collection is called simply "Views and Opinions" (Methuen), and is to all intents and purposes a very unreasoned shriek against the present social state. She dedicates her book to Mr. Mallock, whose own volume is more pretentiously entitled "Studies of Contemporary Superstition" (Ward & Downey), displaying him once again as a clever man lacking entirely the sense of humor. It contains, inter alia, the series of papers on “Fabian Economics."

Among miscellaneous literature there is an excellent little pocket botany book of an elementary kind in Mr. Edward Step's "Wayside and Woodland Blossoms" (Warne), an unfailing guide to all British wild flowers. The process of identification is aided by colored plates of some hundred and fifty species. The little manual will prove a good stepping-stone to the more scientific floras of Hooker and Bentham. I must only briefly mention the rest. Mr. Francis Walker's "Letters of a Baritone " (Heinemann) is published with the laudable desire "to make easier for others" the way which for the author was fraught with difficulties; Mr. Thomas Farrow's "The Money-lender Unmasked" (Roxburghe Press) describes and exposes in popular style the methods adopted by the majority of money-lenders in the ordinary course of their business; Dr. Yorke Davies's "Health and Condition in the Active and Sedentary" (Low) is a new edition of a popular work, whose object is sufficiently explained in the title; and Mr. Charles Eyre Pascoe's "London of Today (Hazell) is the eleventh annual edition of an illustrated record and handbook to London and its amusements. To the visitor "London of ToDay" will be invaluable. Finally, to the Library of Humor "The Humor of Russia" (Scott) has been added.

The short farcical story by Dostoyevsky shows the author of "Crime and Punishment" in quite a new light. Further specimens of Russian humor are by Gogol, Stepniak, and others.

Travel and topography of one sort or another comes off rather well this month. Miss Marie Fraser's "In Stevenson's Samoa" (Smith & Elder), "a chance record," says Mr. James Payn in his preface, "and therefore, in some respects, the more valuable, of the character of Robert Louis Stevenson," is one of the most interesting. It has for a frontispiece a picture of Mr. Stevenson, his family, and his horses at Vailima, and it gives an excellent description of Samoan life. The Rev. W. E. Cousins's "Madagascar of To-day " (R. T. S.), an illustrated sketch of the island, with chapters on its past history and present prospects, is up-to-date and efficient; while Miss Anne C. Wilson's "After Five Years in India; or, Life and Work

in a Punjaub District" (Blackie), is an illustrated account of native life and English government in a secluded district of the Punjaub well worth reading. Three other books of topographical interest are the Miss Quiller. Couch's "Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall" (Clark), an illustrated series of descriptions; a handsomely illustrated new edition of Lane's" An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians" (Gardner), which, although it was written in Egypt as long ago as 1835, is still fresh and instructive to a high degree; and Mr. Douglas Sladen's jaunty description of his Canadian tour, "On the Cars and Off" (Ward & Lock), a sumptuous volume described as "the journal of a pilgrimage along the Queen's highway to the East from Halifax in Nova Scotia to Victoria in Vancouver's Island," and illustrated in a profuse manner that would make the fortune of a far less interesting book of travel.

RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.

HISTORY, POLITICS AND BIOGRAPHY. Adoption and Amendment of Constitutions in Europe and America. By Charles Borgeaud. Translated by Charles D. Hazen. New York: Macmillan & Co. $2.

This work was the successful competitor for the Prix Rossi, awarded in 1892 by the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris. Dr. Borgeaud is a native of Switzerland, and writes with genuine appreciation of the institutions common to all modern democracies. American readers will naturally be chiefly interested in the author's discussion of questions connected with direct legislation-a subject which is now receiving more consideration than ever before in this country. It is to be regretted that the initative and referendum as applied to ordinary statute law could not be treated in the same volume, but the author's purpose comprehended only constitutional adoption and amendment. The introduction by Dr. Vincent contains several wise and helpful suggestions to students of the treatise.

The Rise and Development of the Bicameral System in America. By Thomas Francis Moran, A.B. Paper, octavo, pp. 54. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. 50 cents.

Mr. Moran has concerned himself in this study with the evolution of the bicameral system in our federal and state legislatures rather than with the philosophic aspects of the subject. He concludes that the separation of each legislature into two houses was an American device, furthered by English influence. The immediate causes of this separation were different, he thinks, in the different colonies. The principle was opposed by Franklin, whose influence postponed its adoption in Pennsylvania.

Chronicles of Border Warfare. By Alexander Scott Withers. Edited and annotated by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Octavo, pp. 467. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke Company. $2.50.

The publishers have rendered a notable service to students of trans-Alleghany history by reprinting this rare work, the value of which is materially augmented by the notes of the editor, Secretary Thwaites of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and of the late Dr. Lyman C. Draper, who died while engaged in the task of editing the "Chronicles" for this republication, but whose memoir of Withers had happily been finished and appears in this volume. The original edition of the " Chronicles was printed at Clarksburg, in what is now West Virginia, in 1831. The work embraced the narratives of many actual participants in the later Indian wars and of immediate descendants of the pioneers who had taken part in the early border fights. It was long regarded as the best description of Western frontier life in existence.

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tive departments and in federal legislation, but this has been done by others, perhaps quite as effectively. The stronger demand at present seems to be for treatises on the various phases of local government. People are showing less interest in the doings of Congress, and more in the conduct of city councils and state legislatures.

The Building of a Nation. pp. 272. New York:

By Henry Gannett. Octavo, Henry T. Thomas Company. Sold by subscription. $2.50.

Mr. Gannett's book might be fairly described as a popular manual of the census. It succeeds admirably in the difficult art of picturing statistics. Graphic illustration is the strong point of the work. There are forty colored plates, numerous maps and diagrams, and a coloritype reproduction of a watercolor sketch of the Capitol at Washington, by Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith.

The American Republic and the Debs Insurrection. By Z. Swift Holbrook, M.A. 12mo, pp. 48. Oberlin, Ohio: Bibliotheca Sacra Company. 35 cents.

A reprint of recent articles in the Bibliotheca Sacra, which have been quoted in the REVIEW OF REVIEWS. Prof. G. Frederick Wright, of Oberlin, has written an introduction to the present edition.

The Great War with Russia: The Invasion of the Crimea. By William Howard Russell, LL.D. Second edition. 16mo, pp. 334. New York: George Routledge & Sons. $2.

That veteran war correspondent, W. H. Russell, has compiled his personal reminiscences of the Crimean War in an attractive volume which has now reached its second edition. The battles of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman are vividly described, and the distinctness of events is apparently undimmed in the writer's retrospect of forty years. While in no sense supplanting, the book well supplements, the exhaustive work of Kinglake.

Julian, Philosopher and Emperor, and the Last Struggle of Paganism Against Christianity. By Alice Gardner. 12mo, pp. 384. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.50.

To rank the Emperor Julian among national heroes may seem to the cursory reader hardly permissible. Yet it may be said of the title adopted for this excellent series of biographies-"Heroes of the Nations"-that so long as the works themselves are well written and treat of men whose lives were for any reason worth writing about, slight exception can be taken to the caption under which they are grouped. Judged by the reforms he attempted, rather than by what he actually achieved, Julian was an eminently worthy leader and citizen, if not a popular "hero." Miss Gardner has written a bright and readable sketch of his career, and the publishers have heightened the effect of her work by the use of a large number of admirable illustrations.

Prince Bismarck. By Charles Lowe, M. A. 12mo, pp. 245. Boston: Roberts Brothers. $1.25.

Mr. Lowe, who is the author of a large two-volume biography of Bismarck, which appeared ten years ago, has been

able to incorporate in this brief sketch much material that has come to light since the publication of the former work, and to cover the closing years of the Chancellor's political

career.

Historic Doubts Relative to Napoleon Bonaparte. By Richard Whately, D.D. 16mo, pp. 88. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 75 cents.

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A neat reprint of Archbishop Whately's famous essay. The postscripts" to various editions are appended. The work was first published, anonymously, in 1819, and has been a popular book ever since, if we may judge from the number of editions.

Historic Doubts as to the Execution of Marshal Ney. By James A. Weston. Octavo, pp. 310. New York: Thomas Whittaker. $3.

This book was written not merely to show the grounds of doubt as to the alleged execution of Napoleon's great marshal, but to exhibit what the author regards as positive proofs that the Peter Stuart Ney who lived in America nearly thirty years and died in North Carolina in 1846 was the real Marshal Ney. The evidence cited consists mainly of the statements of persons who knew P. S. Ney in North Carolina as his pupils, and of supposed resemblances in his handwriting to that of the Marshal's disclosed by fac-simile reproductions of autographs. As to the weight to be given to this testimony, each reader must decide for himself. Probably few, if any, will be so thoroughly convinced of the truth of the hypothesis as the author seems to have been.

The Science of Finance. By Gustav Cohn. Translated by T. B. Veblen. Octavo, pp. 800. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. $3.50.

It augurs well for the "Economic Studies" of the University of Chicago that the very beginning of the series is marked by so substantial a service to the cause of sound economics in the United States as is rendered through the publication of the first English translation of the great German treatise on the science of finance. The proof-sheets were revised, it is stated, by Professor Cohn himself, and there is every reason to believe that the translation is in every respect a successful one.

Monetary Systems of the World. By Maurice L. Muhle

man. 12mo, pp. 198. New York: Charles H. Nicoll. Most of the essential facts related to the money problem seem to have been collated by Mr. Muhleman in this volume. The necessity of bringing so much statistical matter within the compass of a brief manual has required condensation and abridgment throughout the book. The work seems to have been done with great care and discretion, and the author's twenty years of experience in the Treasury Department should afford assurance of his intimate knowlege of the topics which he has essayed to treat. His manual should be in the hands of every one who attempts to write or speak on current financial questions.

Money. By Abbot Kinney.

Paper, 12mo, pp. 24. Los Angeles : Stoll & Thayer. 10 cents. Pocket Edition of the Wilson Tariff Bill, as Passed by Congress August, 1894, together with Schedule of 3,000 Articles with Rate of Duty and Paragraph of Law. Paper, 16mo, pp. 100. New York: American News Company.

Municipal Consolidation: Historical Sketch of the Greater New York. By Albert E. Henschel. Paper, 12mo, pp. 72. New York: Published by the Author.

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY. Comte, Mill and Spencer: An Outline of Philosophy. By John Watson, LL.D. 12mo. pp. 322. New York: Macmillan & Co. $1.75.

This "Outline" was originally prepared for the use of the author's students, and it aims to fix the main lines of a complete system of philosophy. Dr. Watson declares his creed to be "Intellectual idealism, by which I mean the doctrine that we are capable of knowing reality as it actually is and that reality when so known is absolutely rational." He attempts to prove this view by showing that our ideas underlying mathematics, biology, ethics, religion, art, etc.. are related to each other as developing forms or phases of one idea-the idea of self-conscious reason." He examines, in order to discover their inadequacy, certain views of Comte, Mill, Spencer, Darwin and Kant. Dr. Watson's

argument seems eminently clear and his new rolume may be commended for either private reading or class room use There is no index, but the table of contents is closely analyzed.

The Unity of Fichte's Doctrine of Knowledge. By Anna Boynton Thompson. Paper, octavo, pp. 215. Boston: Ginn & Co. $1.50.

In noting the appearance of the seventh in the series of "Radcliffe College Monographs" (originally "Fay House Monographs") we can only call attention to the profundity of the studies undertaken at that institution for the education of women. Professor Royce introduces the monograph with an interesting discussion of some of the philosophic points. Esthetic Principles. By Henry Rutgers Marshall, M.A. 12mo, pp. 201. New York: Macmillan & Co. $1.25.

Mr. Marshall's new contribution to Esthetics embodies the substance of a series of lectures given under the auspices of Columbia College, and it is based upon the author's earlier work, Pain, Pleasure and Esthetics." The six chapters present "The Field of Esthetics," and "Pleasure and Pain.' from the observer's standpoint; "The Art Instinct," from the artist's standpoint; "Esthetic Standards," from the critic's position; the Negative Principles " and the "Positive Principles" of" Algedonic Esthetics." Mr. Marshall approaches his subject in an independent, stimulating spirit, and discusses it decidedly in the analytical, psychological method, as distinguished from the historical. His treatment is intelligent and will prove fascinating to students of the philosophy of art, liberally interpreted. The work is not intended for the technical psychologist.

The Teaching of the Vedas. By Maurice Phillips. 12mo, $1.75. pp. 248. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

As a missionary of many years' experience in India Mr. Phillips has had unusual opportunities for close continued study of the Vedas. His present volume is mainly occupied by a detailed analysis of the literature, theology, cosmology, anthopology and soteriology of these ancient Aryan works. The arrangement of the matter seems excellent, and foot notes offer the reader numerous references. The author's extended investigation of successive stages in the development of religious thought in India leads him to the conclusion that the tendency has been uniformly downward, and that "the theory of a Primitive Divine Revelation alone is capable of explaining all the religious ideas of the Vedas, such as are objects of worship, sin, mercy, sacrifice, a future state." Mr. Phillips' work, aside from this theoretical leaning, is commendable for thoroughness and lucidity. It seems to fill well a niche, heretofore not occupied, as a popular English exposition of the primitive Aryan religion.

Occasional Addresses and Sayings. By Rev. Samuel J. Wilson, D.D., LL.D. 12mo, pp. 415. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. $1.25.

Rev. Samuel J. Wilson, D.D., LL.D.. was for more than a generation a professor in the Western Theological Seminary, at Allegheny, Pa. (Presbyterian), and for some fifteen years before his death, in 1890, the senior professor of that institution. A memorial volume has been prepared by his friends which includes a memoir, press tributes, and extended selections from Dr. Wilson's biographical and historical addresses, patriotic speeches and sermons. These pages reveal a man of strong, consecrated personality, loyalty to his denomination, intellectual, impassioned as an orator, stern with something of that persistent seriousness which we associate with the old Scotch Presbyterianism-a man who under any circumstances must have become an important influence among his fellows. It seems well to preserve a printed record of such characters as Dr. Wilson. The book is given a striking portrait in photogravure.

Story of the Life of Jesus for the Young. Told from an Ethical Standpoint. By W. L. Sheldon. 16mo, pp. 148. Philadelphia: S. Burns Weston. 50 cents.

Mr. Sheldon is lecturer of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, and in relating once more the story of the life of Jesus he has presented matters of ethical significance only, desiring to waken no questions of theology. His account, intended for young readers, has had the benefit of criticism from teachers and parents. Many sayings of Jesus are printed in italics, and a memorization of them is advised. From the orthodox point of view Mr. Sheldon is open to criticism; the method by which he explains portions of the New Testament narrative may be considered arbitrary; but his spirit is intelligent and reverent, and his unpretentious, picturesque style will be attractive to many children. Aside from its intrinsic merits, the volume is of significance in connection with a large and growing movement toward ethical instruction of the young.

Introduction by the 12mo, pp. 321. New $1.50.

Christ and the Church. With an Rev. Amory H. Bradford, D.D. York: Fleming H. Revell Co. This volume, introduced by Rev. Amory H. Bradford, D.D., contains twelve lectures, delivered before the American Institute of Christian Philosophy, at Chatauqua, in July, 1894, and bearing largely upon the subject of the unification of Christion sects. The lectures were presented by eminent American clergymen and theologians of various Protestant denominations and fall into three groups, dealing respectively with the Incarnation, the Church and the Reunion of Christendom. There is considerable theological theory in the course of the book, but a practical view of the problems is prominent and the general spirit is that of modern inquiry and co-operation. The volume is of value to serious students of the functions of organized religion in our complex civilization.

The World as the Subject of Redemption. and Rev. W. H. Fremantle, M.A. With tion by Richard T. Ely. 12mo, pp. 431. Longmans, Green & Co $2.

By the Hon.

an IntroducNew York:

It is significant that a second edition of this volume of lectures, which is described in the full title as "an attempt to set forth the functions of the church as designed to embrace the whole race of mankind," should have been demanded by American rather than English readers. The author states in his preface that his lectures have excited little attention in England. Their preservation, he says, is due to their reception in America, and particularly to the interest shon in them by Professor Ely, who contributes an introduction to the present American edition. All who believe in the social mission of the church universal will find in Dean Fremantle's pages much of stimulus and inspiration.

Civic Christianity. By William Prall, S.T.D., Ph.D. 12mo, pp. 209. New York: Thomas Whittaker. $1. A series of sermons on the present duty of Christians, some of which have appeared in the Churchman and in other journals. Dr. Prall's point of view, as a clergyman preaching civic righteousness in Detroit, is not unlike that of Dr. Parkhurst in New York. Among the specific problems attacked in these sermons are "The Education of the Young," "The Prevention of Crime and the Reformation of Criminals," "The Sin of Gossip," "The Social Evil and the Low Saloon," and "Good Government.

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The Jew and the German; or, From Paul to Luther. A Historical Study. By Franke Kelford. 12mo, pp. 212. Philadelphia: John C. Winston & Co.

A condensed sketch of church history from the time of St. Paul to that of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. The book is intended for the use of Sunday schools. A brief introduction is signed by the Rev. Dr. J. G. Morris, of Baltimore.

Man and the Bible in the Light of Reason. By William Waldo Brimm. 12mo, pp. 251. Atlanta: Franklin Printing Company. $1.10.

Another volume, from a rather severely orthodox standpoint, which deals with such weighty questions as the nature, origin and destiny of man, the inspired authority of the Bible and the punishment awaiting infidelity. The author's argument is apparently sincere and serious and may satisfy a belief; it can hardly prove convincing to a critical questioner. God's Light as It Came to Me. 16mo, pp. 128. Boston: Roberts Brothers. $1.

The anonymous author of this booklet laments the prevalence of self-interest and the lack of faith, ideal truth, a vital religion and a deeper sense of God. An account is given of personal religious experiences which developed in a mystical, symbolical manner through visions withheld from our lower moments and through utterances of an "inner voice," restful belief in the presence of the Divine amidst human difficulty and suffering. The record is given in simple, refined language.

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How We Rose. By David Nelson Beach. 16mo, pp. 86. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 60 cents.

A reverent vision of heaven, penetrated by an optimistic, somewhat mystical feeling, and by a faith in the "newer religious thinking" which finds Buddha and Jesus both incarnations of one divine being. The language has a certain remoteness from every-day style, befitting the subject matter. Make Way for the King. By Flavius J. Brobst. 12mo, pp. 248. Boston: Lee & Shepard. $1.25.

Dr. Brobst prints in this volume a series of religious addresses delivered before audiences of young people in Boston.

They present in a reverent, practical spirit conceptions of Christ as rules of the individual and society. The thought is simple and the style has the freshness, directness and force of an enthusiastic speaker. There are frequent references to Biblical passages.

ESSAYS, CRITICISM AND BELLES-LETTRES.

A Literary History of the English People from the Origins to the Renaissance. By J. J. Jusserand. Octavo, pp. 565. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. $3.50.

M. Jusserand is the author of the well-known "English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages" and other works in the domain of English history and literature. He is now preparing a "Literary History of the English People, of which the first part, forming one volume now published, deals with the records from earliest times to the Renaissance. It does not seem probable that the careful student of Taine and more particularly of Stopford Brooke's history of early English literature will find much absolutely new material in this first volume. M. Jusserand has written, so his preface states, because he could not help it; because he loved the subject so much. This delight in his work is constantly manifested and will be shared by the reader. The volume is divided into three parts, devoted to "The Origins," "The French Invasion" and "England to the English. M. Tusserand has given particular attention to the "growing into shape of the people's genius " Two chapters which present matter not usually treated in much detail in the ordinary text-books are those upon "Literature in the French Language under the Norman and Angevin Kings," and upon the Latin literature of the same period. M. Tusserand's style is admirably lucid and attractive. In this volume, at least, he writes rather as a historian than as a literary critic. The influence of Taine is evident, and he is mentioned in the preface as "the master who first in France taught the way." Footnotes give an extended array of valuable references and an index is given. The book is handsomely printed and bound, and is graced with a frontispiece view of medieval London, reproduced from a manuscript in the British Museum. The lover of English literature will eagerly await the second and third parts of M. Tusserand's work.

The Arthurian Epic. By S. Humphreys Gurteen, M.A., LL.B. 12mo, pp. 437. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. $2.

Mr. Gurteen has made an intelligent comparative study of the Cambrian, Breton, Anglo-Norman and Tennysonian versions of the Arthurian stories, considered as a single epic. His chief aim has been to assist the investigations of lovers of the early English literature and he believes that in the popular mind, at least. the character and purpose of the cyclus of romances he examines have been greatly misunderstood. He gives a very high place in literature to the Arthurian legends as treated by Walter Map and considers that Tennyson in important respects falls short of the excellencies of the earlier writer. Mr. Gurteen's style is clear and pleasant. His study is attractive, profitable reading for many outside the circles of English scholarship. Notes and a carefully prepared index add to its value. "The Epic of the Fall of Man. A Comparative Study of Caedmon, Dante and Milton," by the same author, is announced as in preparation.

Jewish Literature, and Other Essays. By Gustav Karpeles. 12mo, pp. 404. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

There have been many evidences of late in the way of book publication of a growing interest in the history and present condition of the Jews. Mr. Karpeles' volume contains fourteen addresses delivered in the past decade in the large cities of Germany. They were "born of devoted love to Judaism" and appeal primarily to adherents of that religious faith; but the natural, agreeable style and the interest of large portions of the matter will undoubtedly attract many Gentile readers. Among the more valuable essays-all seem to offer worthy instruction-are those upon "A Glance at Jewish Literature," "The Talmud," "Women in Jewish Literature," "Humor and Love in Jewish Poetry," Heinrich Heine and Judaism " and "The Music of the Synagogue" In external details the volume is a credit to the Jewish Publica tion Society of America, whose issues have had occasional mention in the REVIEW heretofore.

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Chaucer, Spencer, Sidney. By Gertrude H. Ely. 16mo, pp. 117. New York: E. L. Kellogg & Co.

As bef ting a book intended for "boys and girls," considerable space in this volume is given to interesting biographical matter, though detailed account is given of the principal works of th.nors mentioned in the title-a title not strictly accurate as some attention is paid to writers between Chaucer and the Elizabethans. The style strikes that tone

of genial familiarity which children enjoy, and many will doubtless find in these pages a pleasant introduction to the three great English poets considered. The scholarship of the book seems reliable, though naturally it does not give evidence of great research.

FICTION AND THE DRAMA.

Tales of Mean Streets. By Arthur Morrison. 12mo, pp. 242. Boston: Roberts Brothers. $1.

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The "mean streets" of Mr. Morrison's title are in the East End of London, a district with which duties and literary inclination have made him very familiar. The fifteen stories now gathered in this volume have for the most part appeared in British periodicals during the past four or five years. The book is dedicated to Mr. W. E. Henley and the introduction to the American edition informs one that Mr. Morrison has received valuable hints as to the story-teller's craftmanship from Mr. Henley. The "Tales of Mean Streets are intensely realistic; they deal with rough, degraded types of humanity and it is to be expected that the sordid, the pathetic elements, will predominate. But when humor appears, as it now and again does, against this dark background its effect is intensified. Mr. Morrison is not a painter of idyllic pictures, but his harshness is the harshness of actual human life; his London men and women have not a little in common with some of Hamlin Garland's agriculturists, though their dialect and habits are so different. It must be a hard reader who is not stirred to a profounder human sympathy by such glimpses of the "submerged " populace. As a recent correspondent of the Critic has written, one will learn from the pages of this book "more of the degradation and misery of a certain side of London life than they could in many weeks of philanthropic 'slumming."" The reader regrets that this life exists, but knowing that it does exist he must give welcome to all serious and masterly efforts to present its facts in the form of fiction or otherwise.

Bog-Myrtle and Peat. By S. R. Crockett. 12mo, pp. 389. New York: D. Appleton & Co. $1.50.

Mr. Crockett takes the title of his latest volume from the refrain of Andrew Lang's "Ballad of Mine Own Country," "With the smell of bog-myrtle and peat."

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This ballad is given entire at the close of the book, and the preface-in itself a charming piece of writing-is preceded by a ballad, "Kenmure," written by Mr. Lang especially for this collection. Mr. Crockett's new stories-about thirty in number-are arranged in groups, entitled "Adventures," "Intimacies," "Histories," Idylls" and "Tales of the Kirk." The stories are nearly all quite short, and each is preceded by an appropriate bit of verse. They are written largely in dialect and present the humor and pathos of Scotch character in the manner of Mr. Crockett's exquisite art. It may be affirmed without hesitancy that among books for pleasant summer reading of a high order, "Bog-Myrtle and Peat" deserves a conspicuous if not a first place. The tales are chiefly of Galloway, and Mr. Crockett has added an " Epilogue," eight or ten pages, in praise of that section and giving some descriptions of its bird life. Many passages in the stories themselves also give charming pictures of the natural scenery of Galloway.

Tom Cringle's Log. By Michael Scott. 12mo, pp. 593. New York: Macmillan & Co. $1.25.

Messrs. Macmillan & Co. are publishing in attractive form, but at a popular price, a series of standard old works in English fiction. "Tom Cringle's Log" was first published in serial form in Blackwood's Magazine from 1829 to 1833, and appeared in somewhat altered shape as a book in 1834. It is an exciting account of a seaman's life, crowded with incidents of sea adventure-warfare, pirating, smuggling and wreckand no less stirring events in Jamaica and the West Indies, Panama, etc. The book is pleasantly introduced by Mowbray Morris, who tells us that the author was born in the outskirts of Glasgow, was engaged in mercantile life and passed many years in Jamaica. "Tom Cringle's Log" is a good old-fashioned tale, to be classed, broadly speaking, with Marryat's works, with sufficient bloodshed to keep the reader's fancy alive, and written in a vivacious, frequently intense style. It is extended, but the movement is rapid and the reader's thought is not occupied by psychological analysis or questions relating to intricate ethical problems. This edition is well printed and well bound and is graced by some two-score fitting illustrations of various size, by J. Ayton Symington.

The Son of Don Juan : An Original Drama in Three Acts. By José Echegaray. 16mo, pp. 131. Boston: Roberts Bros. $1.

José Echegaray is among the foremost of present-day Spanish play writers. Mr. James Graham, in an interesting introductory sketch prefixed to this translation of El Hijo de

Don Juan, ventures the opinion that "in any selection of names of the greatest dramatists ever sprung from Spain, Lope de Vega and Calderon de la Barca will find the place nearest to themselves occupied by José Echegaray," The drama was inspired by reading Ibsen's "Ghosts," but the colors are of a deeper hue than those used in the Scandinavian work. The spirit of the play is eminently modern, and the evil results of dissipation, inherited and personal, are portrayed with an intense realism. The translation-graced by a portrait of the dramatist-is worthy of attention from all who are studying the Zeitgeist as manifested in literature, and it will entertain many less serious readers.

Under the Man-Fig. By M. E. M. Davis. 16mo, pp. 323. Boston Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.25.

The scenes of this distinctly American story are laid for the most part in a small but historic Texas town, before, during and after the Civil War. In her somewhat complex and artificial plot and in her treatment of the two principal lovers the author employs more or less the traditional methods of the romancer in her portrayal of negro character-which receives considerable attention-of Southern feeling during the war and in other respects her art impresses the reader as realistic. The characters of the story are distinct; the human interest is large. While the novel cannot be considered great it is a very acceptable addition to the long list of works of American "local fiction," and its easy style adapts it for restful summer reading.

Jim of Hellas; or, In Durance Vile, and Bethesda Pool. By Laura E. Richards. Octavo, pp. 72. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. 50 cents.

Mrs. Laura E. Richards has achieved a remarkable success in her short stories of humble New England life composing the "Captain January" series. Her latest booklet includes two tales in her best style-simple, wholesome, human, mingling genuine pathos and a rich humor and reproducing an amusing dialect. Both are love stories of Yankeedom; one about "Jim of Hellas," a Greek sailor whom fate brings among the quaint folk of an Atlantic Coast island, the other about Bethesda Pool," and the way in which she made four people, including herself, happy in the affairs of Amor. The publishers have given the little volume an attractive ap

pearance.

The Story of Sonny Sahib. By Mrs. Everard Cotes. 12mo, pp. 112. New York: D. Appleton & Co. $1.

Mrs. Cotes' latest venture in the domain of Anglo-Indian fiction is especially a children's story, but it offers very delightful entertainment to older readers. It records something of the history of a brave little son of an English officer living from babyhood to boyhood amidst the natives of India, during the years following the mutiny. The story has more than a touch of pathos, and it is told in Mrs. Cotes' direct, transparent style. Ten full-page illustrations add to the attractiveness of the narrative.

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Actual Africa; or, The Coming Continent. A Tour of Exploration. By Frank Vincent. Octavo, pp. 564. New York: D. Appleton & Co. $5.

After a quarter of a century devoted to travel and exploration, Mr. Frank Vincent declares that his enterprise has been fully accomplished and that no worlds remain unconquered. The book that signalizes his final achievements as a globe trotter surpasses its predecessors, both in the interest of the narrative itself and in the form of its presentation. In wealth of illustration no American book of the year has made a better showing. Nothing heretofore written so well supple

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