flowering of a divine purpose. Which is Which is the more reasonable supposition, and which will go further in explaining all the phenomena of nature? Which is easier, to ascend from the realm of material facts to the cloudland of spirit, or to start with the modulus of thought and let it work its way into the fabric of nature and into the consciousness of man? Face to face with the majesty of the unseen Spirit, the "sound scientific arguments" of the materialist shall steal away in chagrin, and shall be swiftly ruled from court, as we begin to see that the intuitions of the human mind rise above the instincts of the beast, as does the light of day above the shadowless darkness of the night. Books of the Week This report of current literature is supplemented by fuller reviews of such books as in the judgment of the editors are of special importance to our readers. Any of these books will be sent by the publishers of The Outlook, postpaid, to any address on receipt of the published price. Camp Venture: A Story of the Virginia Moun tains. By George Cary Eggleston. The Lothrop Publishing Co., Boston. 5x7 in. 401 pages. $1.50. Mr. Eggleston has few equals in the art of compounding for boys a story which shall have thrill and adventure enough to satisfy the youthful taste and yet avoid the sensationalism that might cause the parental frown. Moonshiners and their wild ways, fights with revenue officers, camping out in the mountains in winter, logging for railway ties, and the discovery of a rich iron mine are some of the things which keep the boy heroes in a state of constant activity and make the record of their doings lively reading. Colin Clout's Calendar. By Grant Allen. (New Edition.) E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 5x7 in. 237 pages. $1.25. The late Grant Allen was a versatile worker. We confess to being among those who vastly prefer his popular studies of science to his novels. It is no secret that he turned from science-writing to fiction for the simple reason that he could make the latter pay better than the former and his means were not large enough to allow him to follow his real bent. His heart really lay in his earlier work, and of his talks on nature the present volume is the best. It has not a little of the John Burroughs quality, and it tells simply and lovingly of common things seen in outdoor life from April to October. Daughter of Mystery (A). By R. Norman Silver. L. C. Page & Co., Boston. 5x7 in. 299 pages. $1.50. Elizabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. By Clara Tschudi. Authorized Translation from the Norwegian by E. M. Cope. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 512x9 in. 260 pages. $3. The author's popular biographies of Marie Antoinette, the Empress Eugénie, and other famous women have met with popular favor. So also will this sketch of the murdered empress who, Miss Tschudi tells us, is still called Saint Elizabeth by the common people. This book is less sensational and less feverish than "The Martyrdom of an Empress,” but is made readable by its abundance of personal anec dotes and incidents. One is glad that the author confines herself to stating only the known facts about the death of Crown Prince Rudolf, and does not find it necessary to reprint any of the many "true stories" of the secret history of the tragedy. Eton Boy's Letters (An). Selected and Arranged by the Author of "A Day of My Life at Eton.' Cassell & Co., New York. 42x7 in. 210 pages. $1.25. These epistles tell very fully the daily life of Eton boys-almost too fully, in fact, to hold the interest of the ordinary reader. There are traces of liveliness in the letters, but, as a rule, they are rather dull. Flower of the Tropics and Other Stories of Mexico and the Border (A). By Warner P. Sutton. The Abbey Press, New York. 5x8 in. 121 pages. $1. Geoffrey Strong. By Laura E. Richards. Dana Estes & Co., Boston. 4×7 in. 217 pages. 75c. Since her "Captain January" Mrs. Richards has written nothing of so great charm as this little tale of a young doctor, a young lady who failed to be a doctor and became a doctor's wife, and their sweet-natured old-lady friends. The scene is a New England shore village. The dialogue abounds in fun and includes some true character work. Goldsmith, Gray, Burns, and Other Romantic Poets of the Eighteenth Century. Complete Characteristic Selections. Edited with Biographies, Notes, and Hints for Teaching. (Standard Literature Series.) The University Publishing Co., New York. 5x7 in. 86 pages. 121„c. History for Ready Reference and Topical Reading. By J. N. Larned. Illustrated. Revised and Enlarged Edition. In6 Vols, Vol. VI. Recent History (1844-5 to 1901). A to Z. The C. A. Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass. 7x 11 in. 720 pages. This volume is even more remarkable than its predecessors which we have praised so warmly. It deals with the history of the past six yearsthe very period which standard histories do not yet cover, and which the writer on current questions constantly wants to be informed about-and it deals with this period without partisanship and yet without avoiding the themes upon which partisan feeling is most strongly aroused. Indeed, it puts these subjects into the foreground, as is illustrated by its articles on China, South Africa, the Philippines, and Trusts, but in treating them the substance of official reports and testimony before investigating committees is given without apparent fear or favor, and the whole narrative made almost spirited by the vigorous exclusion of the things which do not signify so as to bring into a strong light the things which do. There is nothing perfunctory or second rate in the work done upon this volume. It is all the work of men of judgment and insight, who, instead of merely compiling documents, have edited them so as to make them illuminating. To illustrate its value we give in their order half a dozen titles from a single chance page: Railways. State Purchase in Switzerland. See Switzerland, 1894-8. Raines Law. See New York State, 1896-7. Ramapo Water Contract. See New York City, 18991900. Rand, Gold-fields of the. See South Africa, 1885-1900. Reciprocity Treaties under the Dingley Tariff. See United States of America, 1899-1901. Reconcentrados. See Cuba, 1896-7 and 1897-8. Red Cross Society Relief Work in Armenia and Cuba. See (in this volume) Turkey, 1896, and Cuba, 1896–7. Referendum. In Minnesota. See Minnesota, 1896. Introduction into South Dakota. See So. Dakota, 1898. Its Exercise in Switzerland. See Switzerland, 1894–8. It is but the work of a few moments to turn to articles referred to and secure definite and accurate information upon the topic under inquiry. The occasions are so many upon which such a volume is needed that we are inclined to say that no self-respecting reference library can be without it. Introduction to Political Economy (An). By Richard T. Ely, Ph.D., LL.D. (New and Revised Edition.) Eaton & Mains, New York. 5×8 in. 377 pages. $1.20. We know of no better introduction either to the theme or to the literature of the theme. Its method is historical, not controversial, but it treats history so as to throw light upon questions now mooted. We are glad to see from the author's preface that the book has been made a part of the prescribed course of reading for candidates for the ministry in the Methodist Church. The present edition brings the discussion of certain subjects and the statistics of all down to date. Lake Geneva and its Literary Landmarks. By Francis Gribble. Ilustrated. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 5×9 in. 352 pages. $4.50. Bonivard, Calvin, Knox, De Bèze, Casaubon, Lisle, Milton, Rousseau, Voltaire, Gibbon, De Saussure, Madame de Staël, Benjamin Constant, Chateaubriand, Amiel-these are only a few of the famous names associated mere or less closely with Lake Geneva. It was a happy thought to co-ordinate a series of biographical papers around the common association. The result is a readable book, often amusing, and sometimes of serious biographical value. The volume is handsomely printed and has many good portraits in photo Abridged Edition, 1815-99. By William I. Fletcher, We cordially commend this work to the scores, perhaps hundreds, of The Outlook's friends who are wont to ask the editors for material which may enable them to master the subjects they propose to discuss in essays and club papers. "Poole's Index" has long been the key to storehouses of knowledge, but in its old form, with supplements, it had become bulky, and, moreover, contained hundreds of references which are now practically useless. This single-volume index really opens the way to all the best periodical articles for study. It covers thirty-seven periodicals, and reaches in date from 1815 to 1899. Purely Original Verse. By J. Gordon Coogler. (Sixth Edition, with Latest Supplement.) Published by the Author, Columbia, S. C. 4×6 in. 223 pages. $1. Slaveholder's Daughter (A). By Belle Kearney. Illustrated. (Fifth Edition.) The Abbey Press, New York. 5×8 in. 269 pages. $1. Verses. By Wesley Bissonnette. W. S. Bissonnette's Printing Shop, Colorado Springs, Colo. 6x8 in. 28 pages. $1. Wildersmoor. By C. L. Antrobus. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 5x8 in. 446 pages. $1.50 With a little more incisiveness of style and briskness of action, and sometimes a little condensation in the conversation, this novel might claim a high place in fiction. As it stands it is immensely superior to the hastily written, carelessly thrown together novels which have lately fluttered in flocks before the jaded novelreader's eyes. In thoughtfulness and sane views of life and character the story has real value. It seems to us an advance upon the author's first book, "Quality Corner," which has had a considerable degree of success. As in that story, the plot-interest rests upon a murder (in this case a manslaughter, almost an accident), and its consequences in the life conduct of its perpetrator. The plot is really of subsidiary interest. The real quality of the book is found in the portrayal of the heroine and of three or four of what might be thought minor characters. Neither the hero (custom seems to require the words hero and heroine for the most prominent characters, whether or not there be anything heroic about them) nor the villain, who in this case is a woman, holds the attention very closely, but there is a refined charm about the heroine, her father, her father's rough friend the Scotch doctor, and her intimate the parson's wife, which makes the reader thankful for an introduction to people of so fine instinct and such true culture. Correspondence Among the Strikers To the Editors of The Outlook: Political economy used to be called "the dismal science" largely because it dealt with cold facts and figures in a purely theoretical way, as if they were entirely unrelated to the human beings whom they most concerned, and as if those human beings were themselves just so many cold facts and figures. In treating of the phenomenon called a strike, for instance, the old school of economic writers would say that the success of a strike depended upon the number of unemployed laborers, the prevailing rate of wages in near-by localities, the danger of foreign competition, etc., etc. While all this may be true, there are other factors; and I found myself wondering the other day, after a trip to Pittsburg, Homestead, and McKeesport, whether the old economists of the dismal school ever went out among the strikers and got their point of view before working out their theories. I had just had a conversation with a trio of McKeesport citizens whom I chanced to meet on a street corner in that now some what celebrated place. "Why is the town so quiet?" I had asked; "where are the strikers?" "Oh, most of them are at home enjoying a little rest," was the answer of one of the men; "some of them are down the river on a picnic; and you'll see a few around the depot when a train comes in." "Do they expect men to come in on the trains to take their places?" "No, they ain't looking for many that way. You see, there's a good many hotheaded Welsh and Irish among the strikers, and those that might take their places know there'd be trouble for them if they came. So they keep away. There's nobody here to make trouble. That's the reason the town's so quiet." This was plain human talk, and it was not at all dismal, whatever one might think of the frank justification of intimidation that it conveyed. All of the townspeople with whom I talked about the strike seemed to sympathize with the strikers. Sometimes, perhaps, there was an interested motive in this attitude, as in the case of the shopkeepers. But there wasn't any concealment of real opinion among the women. Women generally are more outspoken than men on matters of this kind, I have observed probably because they are non-combatants and feel that their only safety-valve is free speech. One laborer's wife with whom I talked expressed her sentiments in this way: "I don't know why the men shouldn't have their organization just the same as the bosses. The bosses have got the trusts that put up the price of everything; why shouldn't the men have their trust to keep up their wages?" I have not heard a cleaner-cut argument for the strikers' demands. This was an unusually thrifty and clear-headed woman. The miserable shanty that she lived in did not suggest thrift, but when I learned that she paid only five dollars a month for her house, and rented out a furnished room in it (furnished rooms for bachelor workmen were in demand in her neighborhood) for eight dollars a month, thus covering her rent and leaving something over, I thought, "Here is perhaps the mother of a Carnegie of the next generation." Possibly the great philanthropist alluded to might have done something to make strikes less frequent in the region where he accumulated his great fortune. The writer does not like to criticise, because it is so easy, and he prefers to get a reputation for doing difficult things. But when a man is spending as much energy and money in doing good as is Mr. Carnegie, he makes himself a target for those who are philanthropists at heart but who have not been brought up in the steel business. The writer admires the Carnegie spirit even more than he does the Carnegie libraries, and he has always wondered why Mr. Carnegie did not devote himself to a larger scheme than that of scattering libraries over the coal country. The working people hereabout say in conversation, "See what Carnegie got," rather than See what that good man Carnegie has done for us." They do not seem to regard Mr. Carnegie in the light in which, say, Peter Cooper is looked upon by the working people of New York City. "First be reconciled with thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Would not the People's Palace idea really have touched the workingmen's hearts and met their needs more effectively than merely providing books for them to read? The Carnegie libraries are, indeed, open to the criticism that somehow they do not draw the people. The fine buildings which house these libraries in Pittsburg and Homestead are in the summer (however useful they may be in winter) almost entirely without users. The empty reading-rooms and the very occasional applicant for a book show that something is missing. One of the missing things is attractive surroundings-trees, and flowers, and grass that can be walked on. Children might come to the libraries if there were attractive grounds around them-yes, even playgrounds, from which, when they got tired, they might be lured to the refreshment of the mind. The library is a civilizing influence indeed, but is not a comfortable home a far greater one? Where are the work ingmen's model houses or tenements in the steel-manufacturing towns? One of the pitiful things about Pittsburg and its environs is the contrast between the palatial homes of the men whom Fortune, or a favorable environment, or a shrewd grandfather, or whatever it is that confers the power of making money, has favored, and the laborers' homes in the slums. If Mr. Carnegie had put his great fortune and his greater generosity to the task of changing the slums into decent, respectable living-places, I think he would have done more to avert strikes and make himself loved by the people he is trying to benefit than by any attempt to make booklearning easy and popular, however meritorious in itself this may be. And yet it does not seem to be wages alone, or the ability to pay the rent of a respectable house, that makes men contented. I went late at night through one of the great iron-mills. The men were working stripped to the waist, or with only a thin undershirt on. Huge white hot masses of metal were being pulled out of the furnaces by the " drag-out." Fiery snakes of steel were unwinding themselves from giant machines, carefully assisted by grimy workmen covered with sweat. These men receive high wages, some of them seven or eight dollars a night. They are a remarkably fine-looking, intelligent set of men. And, being so, they are not content with the mere money they get. They have aspirations and desires. They want the liberty to do among themselves what others may do. They want to feel that they may organize themselves for mutual service, without the alternative of doing it in an underhanded manner or of losing their jobs. They want some measure of the liberty of action that their employers enjoy. They have probably chosen an unfortunate time and unfortunate methods to emphasize this desire. If they got it, they probably would abuse it in some ways. Nevertheless, I believe that it is in the main a reasonable desire. I believe that some greater Carnegie will yet arise who will recognize the legitimate side of the workers' demands, and, with the spirit that values men's friendship more than anything else that can be got from them, will win liberty for them and fame and gratitude for himself in a union of organized capital and organized labor. H. H. M. Concentration Camps To the Editors of The Outlook: Mr. Chamberlain's statement, quoted in your issue of August 10, that the concentration camps in South Africa are "humanely conducted" is not borne out by figures that have been submitted to me. It appears that three hundred and eighteen children died in these camps in May and five hundred and seventy-five in June. A letter received from Mrs. Bosman, wife of the Dutch Reformed minister of Pretoria, stated that the children in the camp at Irene Station near Pretoria "are living skeletons." Another letter of later date, June 7, says that the "women in Middelburg (north of Pretoria) are dying off and there are no funds." My authority for this is the Rev. Herman D. van Broekhuisen, pastor from Pretoria, now visiting this country to raise funds to buy food and clothing for the women and children in the "reconcentrado camps in the Transvaal. The wife of the British Military Governor of Pretoria also put out an appeal last April. The new appeal is now in circulation. The appeal is put out by independent signers, some of whom are members of this League, others not. JOHN V. L. PRUYN. Transvaal League of the Eastern States, 22 William Street, New York. Treaty Rights in China To the Editors of The Outlook: Your editorial of August 10 on Missions in China seems to me to have been written in fairness of spirit and with considerable insight. Your conclusion, however, that the article in our treaty with China calling for the toleration of Christianity is a mistake, will be objected to by many, and, I think, with reason. Article 29 of the treaty reads: "The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches, are recognized as teaching men to do good and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Hereafter. those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether citizen of the United States or Chinese convert, who according to these tenets peaceably teach [sic] and practice the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or molested." Article 4 of the Treaty of 1868 adds to this only the promise of religious toleration of the faith of Chinese in the United States. It should be observed that neither of these articles-and there are no others -puts the responsibility of the protection. of the Chinese convert upon the United States Government. This is assumed by the Chinese Government. If that Government fails to fulfill this pledge, our Government will never feel bound to resort to extreme measures. On the other hand, the existence of such a pledge gives our Government the opportunity of using its good offices for the extension and final establishment of the great principle of religious toleration. Until this principle is established, China will continue to be a dangerous and unpleasant neighbor. Your closing sentence appears to imply that there are those who expect "special privileges or special protection" for Chinese converts. This, I think, is misleading. Certainly the treaties call for no such special protection. They simply ask that the Chinese convert shall be under no special disability on account of his religion. The missionary as well as the consul must see to it that this reasonable position is not departed from. As a rule, I think, Protestant missionaries are very careful on this point. It is a matter of common native report that our Roman Catholic brethren are less careful. Even granting that there may sometimes be misuse of treaty rights, the radical measure of giving them up is not the only logical procedure. Rather seek to send to China officials and missionaries who can be trusted to use the treaty rights wisely. This is what China sorely needs, and there is no nation so well situated toward China for applying these rights wisely and effectively and with so little suspicion of self-interest as is ours. HENRY P. PERKINS. Thanks from Dr. Hale To the Editors of The Outlook: On the first of July you were so good as to print for us at the central office of "Lend a Hand" a statement which I wrote about the "Summer Outings" of broken-down men whose needs are referred to us at this office. It is a pleasure to write again to say that the prompt liberality of your readers and of other friends enables us to meet all such expenses for the present summer. We have acknowledged the sums received by letter where we had the names of the givers. Will you express our thanks for the sums remitted in bills to Huldah, $5; R. E. A., $1; A Friend, $2; Northampton, Mass., $2; Two Ladies of Rochester, N. Y., $2; Newton Centre, $2: Reader of The Outlook, $1; A Friend, $5. Yours and theirs with thanks, Getting Off Cars To the Editors of The Outlook: The Spectator evidently did not fully study the matter relative to the fact that so many people in stepping off a car do so with their backs toward the front; the reason why is very clear to me. We are a nation of right-handed people, and as long as the railroad persists in always running on the right-hand track, the accidents to which the Spectator refers |