marvelous escapes, and situations bordering on the absurd. It may amuse but it certainly cannot instruct children.

Reminiscences of a Very Old Man, 1808-1897. By John Sartain. D. Appleton & Co, New York. 8vo. 297 pages. $2.50.

This beautifully printed record of a long life devoted to art and literature makes very pleasant reading. Mr. Sartain throws new light on the temperament of Edgar Allan Poe, who was his personal friend and associate in the days of "Graham's Magazine," by telling some heretofore unpublished stories of the gifted but unfortunate poet.

Romance of Our Ancient Churches, The.

By Sarah Wilson. (Illustrated.) E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 12mo. 184 pages. $2. Miss Wilson has given a very readable, popular account of the English Cathedral in its various stages of development from the Saxon to the latest times with the aid of judicious and picturesque illustration. She has not attempted to follow rigidly any special order, although her book falls readily into chronological lines. She succeeds in setting forth in large outline, and with reference to many details of structure and ornament, the evolution of the English Cathedral, its significance, and, as the title of her book suggests, its romance. The volume is very

readable.

Saragossa. By B. Pérez Galdós.

Translated

by Minna Caroline Smith. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 12mo. 353 pages. $1.50.

To American readers the Galdós novels have been hitherto almost an unknown mine, rumors of the richness of which have come through the unfortunately too few who read Spanish. Señor Pérez Galdós is the Walter Scott of Spain. His twenty or more romances well repay the reading, not only, as literature, on account of their simplicity and charm of style, but also because, as history, they give to us a presentation, unparalleled in any language, of the dark days and years for Spain at the beginning of this century. Those unable to read Spanish have now an opportunity of becoming acquainted with "Zaragoza," published under its English name "Saragossa." It is as good an example as any of the author's historical judgments, at once informed and sane. The translation is excellent. We trust that the Doubleday & McClure Company will continue to publish translations of Galdós, and we trust that succeeding novels will appear in as appropriate dress as that of "Saragossa." Secret of Kyriels, The. By E. Nesbit. J. B.

Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. 8vo. 391 pages. $1.25. Leads to complications in the life of a young girl. Here are intrigue that defeats itself; love that knows no obstacle; friendship that is devotion; a large fortune, and two wills-elements enough to make a most exciting novel, which the author has cleverly used. The impossibilities of the plot become possibilities under his treatment. Soldier Rigdale. By Beulah Marie Dix. (Illustrated.) The Macmillan Co., New York. 8vo. 323 pages. $1.50.

One of the best books for boys of recent years. It tells the story of the landing of the Mayflower and the first year's adventures and sufferings of the Pilgrims-all from the point of view of a Pilgrim boy-a somewhat mischievous, sturdy, and active lad. There is also a dainty and lovable little Pilgrim maiden, one of the most charming children of fiction. Brother and sister run away into the woods and are held a little while in captivity by the Indians. In every way the book is wholesome in tone; in story interest it is captivating. Son of Man, The. By Gross Alexander,

S.T.D. Introduction by John J. Tigert, D.D., LL.D. Barbee & Smith, Nashville, Tenn. 12mo. 380 pages. $1.

As the first contribution to Biblical theology from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, this is both a noteworthy and a promising book. It is a series of studies of some of the more important teachings and experiences of Jesus. Their general tenor is conservative, with tinges of liberalism.

Son of the State, A. By W. Pett Ridge. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 8vo. 314 pages. $1.25.

Mr. Ridge has the Dickens-like faculty of bringing before the reader's mental eye the humor and oddity of the London cockney of the lower classes. This book tells the story of a London street urchin left to the tender mercies of the thieves and swindlers of one of the lowest quarters of the city. He has, fortunately, spirit and sense of humor and a certain latent self-respect. In the end he becomes a soldier and even a hero. A pleasant account is included of the workings of the English Cottage Home system of caring for waifs who have come under the charge of the law. Americans who are interested in modern and sensible ideas of reforming boys by building up character will here find valuable suggestions of methods not, we think, as yet adopted in this country. The book, while decidedly slangy and of a rough and ready character, is also decidedly well worth reading. Tennyson, Life and Works of. The Macmillan Co., New York. 10 vols. Crown 8vo. $20. The biography of Tennyson by his son was so largely made up of extracts from the poet's letters, reports of his conversations, and unpublished poems that it really constitutes a part of his work, and ought to be included in every complete edition. The publishers of this edition have taken this view and have included the "Life" with the other works in this set of ten volumes. The edition is satisfactory from every point of view. It is well printed on paper somewhat light in weight, but with the requisite opacity. The volumes are of convenient size both for the hand and the shelf, and are attractively bound in dark-green cloth which has something of the quality of silk, with gilt designs on the side and back. The books have the distinction of form with which the work of Tennyson ought always to be interpreted to the eye.

They That Walk in Darkness." Ghetto Tragedies. By I. Zangwill. The Macmillan Co., New York. 8vo. 486 pages. $1.50.

These are indeed Ghetto tragedies, and each bears the Zangwill hall-mark, than which, in depiction of Jewish life, none is better. Whether Mr. Zangwill's scenes are in the Whitechapel quarter of London, in the Judengasse of Frankfort, in the Judenstadt of Prague, in the villages of Poland or Bukowina or of our own country, their describer is always, and sometimes almost too insistently, a Jew, but he is much more. He is a citizen of the world As a frontispiece to the volume the publishers have fitly put an impressive sketch drawn by Mr. Louis Loeb, which we have already admired in one of the magazines. Ulric the Jarl. By William O. Stoddard. Eaton & Mains, New York. Svo. 459 pages. Miss Corelli took one of the Calvary thieves for her "Barabbas" Mr. Stoddard has taken the other for the hero of his story, "Ulric the Jarl." Christ himself appears in the tale. Mr. Stoddard has written more than one good book; the spirit of this is beyond any of his others both virile and reverent.

$1.50.

Via Crucis. By Francis Marion Crawford. (Illustrated.) The Macmillan Co., New York, 12mo. 396 pages. $1.50. Watchers, The. By A. E. W. Mason. Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. 8vo. 288 pages. $1.25.

An original and ingenious story, although somewhat sensational. In literary quality it is hardly equal to the author's "The Courtship of Morrice Buckier" and "Parson Kelly." Mr. Mason makes very clever use of a supposed practice of modern hypnotic methods by a villain of the last century; the mystery that would attend such a use of mesmeric suggestion for evil purposes at that time may easily be imagined.

White King of Manoa, The. By Joseph Hatton. R. F. Fenno & Co., New York. 8vo. 338 pages. $1.25.

In this story Mr. Joseph Hatton quite surpasses his previous efforts. In local color, in clearly drawn pictures of Tudor times, in a swing of style carrying the reader

easily from line to line and from page to page, "The White King of Manoa" is to be recommended. Winter Adventures of Three Boys in the Great Lone Land. By Egerton R. Young. (Illustrated.) Eaton & Mains, New York. 8vo. 377 pages. $1.35.

The winter life of three boys in a mission connected with the Hudson Bay Company is entertainingly, if not too grammatically, told in these pages. The boys' experiences in training their sledge-dogs, in fighting wolves and bears, indeed all the novel life amidst snow and ice, cannot fail to appeal to young readers. Incidentally the

1. Is not Abraham the first figure of human history who comes out in clear historic outline? If he is not the initial figure of trustworthy human story, what is the relation that he bears to history? 2. Where can I find Dean Stanley's essay, "The Blood of Christ"? 3. In what sense are we to understand that baptism saves a man? 4. What is the relation existing between Natal and England? 5. What is the nature of the "Orange Free State" as a State? Is it now, or has it ever been, a dependency of Great Britain's? 6. Did England, in the London Convention of 1880 or 1884, really release her sovereign control over the Transvaal? If she did, in what sense is our National relation with the Philippines a parallel case? 7. What book gives one the best view of the Transvaal crisis? J. S. B.

1. Abraham, whom we regard, notwithstanding certain critics, as a real historic character, is sketched with more of detail than any before him. But explorations in the East have brought to light others in equal clearness, as Sargon, the founder of the Semitic empire in Asia, 3800 B.C. Abraham's place in history is that of the first great ancestor of the Hebrews and the patriarch of their faith. 2. In his work on "Christian Institutions." 3. Only so far as it is a sign and symbol of the saving thing, as explained in I Peter iii., 21, the self-committal of a good conscience to God. 4. Natal has been a British colony since 1843. 5. It has been an independent republic since the treaty with England in 1854, which terminated British claims previously made. 6. Yes, in internal affairs; no, in foreign relations. England has always considered herself the paramount power in South Africa, with the same right of interference for sufficient cause that we claimed in Cuba. 7. We recommended lately the following: Theal's" The Story of South Africa," Bryce's "Impressions of South Africa," Bigelow's "White Man's Africa," Younghusband's "South Africa of To-day," Knox-Little's "South Africa," and Hillegas's "Oom Paul s People." See also the last "Edinburgh Review." In The Outlook for October 21 I note an article by the Very Rev. Charles William Stubbs, D.D., in which he speaks of the English Church as "older than the English Monarchy, older than the English Nation, older than English law or English literature.... a thousand years of national history," etc. Kindly state on what ground such claims are made. I. M. C.

On the ground that the Church of England has had a continuous history at least since A.D. 597, when St. Augustine introduced Christianity among the Saxons in Kent.

Who publishes Dr. A. B. Davidson's "Book

by Book," spoken of so highly by Dr. Sanday in his Bampton Lectures on Inspiration? What is the price? What is your estimate of the book?

E. G. F. The Lippincott Company, Philadelphia ($2.50), The volume is a series of popular studies, originally written as introductions to the several books in the "New Illus

trated Bible," and now collected and published sepa rately. Dr. Davidson is one of the twelve contributors, and Dr. Sanday another. You may place entire contidence in Dr. Sanday's opinion.

1. What is the origin and significance of the Grecian Mundane Era, of which this is the year 7497 ? 2. Is it not true that Ignatius, who died in 115, taught and employed the dignity and Apostolic power of the episcopate? If the Apostolic government of the Church had been congregational, could this idea of Ignatius's have arisen so early? Is it not an indication of a belief which obtained from the first? W. P. E.

1. See article "Chronology" in the Encyclopædia Brit annica, Volume V., page 714. 2. Persecutions without and heresies within gradually developed the Episcopal polity out of the Congregational by the need of a centralized organization and authority. Between Ignatius and the formation of the first churches some eighty years intervened, during which these causes of change operated with gradually increasing force. The inference you suggest therefore lacks support.

Will you kindly give me the names and pub

lishers of two or three of the best books on Art of the
period of the Renaissance?
W. A. N.

Mrs. Bell's "History of Art" (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York); Professor Goodyear's "History of Art" (A. S. Barnes & Co., New York); Symonds's "History of the Renaissance "-also in condensed edition (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York); Hoppin's "The Early Renaissance" (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston). Kindly explain and discuss Dr. Abbott's understanding of the Immaculate Conception.

W. O. S. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin-a doctrine not held by any Protestant.

1. Can you suggest three or four good books for a somewhat general and superficial study of the field of art from early Christian times to the present? 2. Do you think this is an advisable method of study for amateurs? F. W. K.

1. Read the histories of art by Goodyear, D'Anvers, Lübke, and Reber. 2. Yes.

"M." asks (October 14) for comprehensive but cheap books on "Religion of the World" Let me add to your list that of the "Guild Text Book" Series, The Religions of the World in Relation to Christianity," by Principal Grant. Its price is something less than 50 cents, and it is an excellent work (A. & C. Black, or the Macmillan Company, New York). A. E. L. Where can I find a story by Amelie Rives, "Arnon"? It is quoted by Mary E. Burt in "Literary Landmarks," E. H. R.

The animals in the barn were getting excited. For a week and over their friends and owners had been going up to the loft where the apples and nuts were stored, had been talking in the barnyard where the hens, turkeys, and ducks lived, and the moment a hen announced that she had laid an egg some one came running from the house as though he feared the egg would fly away.

The barnyard people had talked about it at night when the moon shone in the barn through the windows in the loft and down through the chinks in the floor. You have to be the very best of friends with animals, know them a long time, and love them dearly, to understand their language; even then you have to be very quick to read signs, for their language for humans is the sign language.

If you had been in the red barn that night, you would have seen Kit stretch her neck over the low stall wall and say:

"Nelly, it's Thanksgiving day after tomorrow.'

to-morrow. We

The sentence was not finished, for Kit was asleep.

The next day they were harnessed early in the morning, and started for the village. Half-way to the village there is a drinking-trough, and of course Nelly and Kit wanted a drink. While they were drinking a man from the village over the hill came along, and Kit and Nelly's friend, who was driving, got out of the wagon to talk with the other farmer. "There! hear that! Thanksgiving." whispered Kit. Here a chipmunk came scurrying along the fence and stopped to look at the two horses. Kit winked, but Nell nodded politely. The chipmunk flirted his tail, which was his way of returning recognition.

Thanksgiving to-morrow; come to the barn to-morrow night. Red barn in the meadow down by the chestnut woods."

The chipmunk looked puzzled, but gave them to understand that he would be at the barn. He did not mention Thanksgiving. He was afraid of the word. The farmer

"How do you know?”

"The biggest turkey has gone from the yard, has not been there for a week. You know what that always means."

Nelly nodded her head.

"Sounds cheerful, sounds right, that word Thanksgiving,'" murmured Nelly, while Kit nodded approval, as she was apt to do, no matter what Nelly did or said. "Kit, we ought to be thankful—”

"Yes, yes," interrupted Kit; "suppose you were some other horse, or I was some other horse, what would we do?"

Both necks were stretched high, and two brown noses were rubbed together. There was silence for a time. The very thought of either one being some other horse kept them silent. They would not have had each other, then!

"Nelly, we must have Thanksgiving

interrupted. The horses trotted along comfortably for a mile, when the farmer met the minister. No one has ever attempted to explain it, but if a farmer and a minister meet on the road there is always a long rest for the horses.

Kit called attention to some lovely green grass a little further along the road, and the horses crept slowly toward it, leaving the farmer and minister talking.

Here a squirrel came, and a crow lighted on the limb of a tree. Kit tossed her head and winked, but Nell bowed again and extended an invitation to the crow and the squirrel to come to Thanksgiving at the red barn the next night.

"Well, well! you two are getting spry, leaving me to walk this morning with my rheumatiz worse than it's been for a week." Nell and Kit hung their heads, as their friend got in and sat down with a groan.