last year in the fifty-first volume of the "Dictionary of National Biography," and which was at once recognized as a very strong and thorough piece of work, presenting within a brief compass all the ascertained facts in regard to Shakespeare's career. That arti cle, by revision, expansion, and change, has grown to the dimensions of a volume of moderate size, the aim of which is to present, in direct and simple narrative, the dramatist's personal history, based upon the attested facts and dates, avoiding æsthetic criticism or psychological inquiry; and, so far as literary estimates of the plays are introduced, using them solely with reference to biograph ical purposes. In the accomplishment of this design Mr. Lee has written a book for which all students of Shakespeare have long waited an exhaustive, well-written statement of the facts in the dramatist's life, with full references to the original sources of information. The book will take its place at once as an authoritative handbook for the Shakespearean student. It does not invade the territory occupied by Professor Dowden, George Brandes, Professor Ten Brink, or any of the extremely valuable expositions of Shakespearean art and genius; it is supplementary to them all, and essential to the student who has them all. The volume throws fresh light on the circumstances under which some of the plays were written; on Shakespeare's relations with Ben Jonson and the episode of the boy actors; on his relations to James I., and on his financial affairs. Mr. Lee has treated the sonnets from an original point of view, gained by a study of the contemporaneous movement in sonnet-writing all over Europe; and the student will find it an antipodal position to that taken by Mr. Wyndham in his very interesting treatment of this subject. Mr. Lee does not believe, in a word, that the sonnets have the autobiograph ical importance which has been attached to them. He dismisses the theories about the Earl of Pembroke and Mary Fitton, and makes a suggestion of his own. valuable part of this volume is the appendix, which covers the sources of biographical knowledge, the career of the Earl of Southampton, "The Vogue of the Elizabethan Sonnet," Mr. William Herbert, and other matters of interest to students of the great dramatist. The book will take rank among the foremost achievements of English literary scholarship. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) A very ESSAYS An attractive volume of literary essays has been made by putting together the short papers on literary subjects which have appeared from time to time in "Literature," by such well-known writers as Mr. Birrell, Mr. Lang, Mr. Dobson, Mr. Gosse, Professor Mahaffy, and Mr. Leslie Stephen. The title, Among My Books, is identical with that of a delightful volume of essays by Lowell, creditable alike to American scholarship and literature; neither in i ́s substance nor in its manner is this later volume likely to be confused with its predecessor. In these brief papers there is the touch-and-go interest which such a series, if well done, possesses. There is, of course, a lack of any kind of unity; but this is compensated in part by the variety of topics treated, and by the skill, in most cases, of the treatment. As a rule, contributors to this volume have touched current phases of literary or artistic activity, though occasionally they have gone back to Addison and even to Bacon. (Longmans, Green & Co., New York.) Mrs. Amelia E. Barr's essays which have been collected under the title Maids, Wives, and Bachelors deal with a great variety of social topics chiefly as they touch the question of marriage and home-making. Under such titles as "The American Girl," "Discontented Women," "Unequal Marriages," "Mothers-in-Law," "Flirting Wives," "The Servant-Girl's Point of View," and "Waste of Vitality," Mrs. Barr has many sensible comments to make. The volume does not pretend to possess a literary interest; its interest is the experience of a woman of large observation put into the form of brief chapters, which have no logical connection, but which are bound together by the unity of a general direction. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.) We have read with appreciation and pleasure a brief Essay in Dramatic Criticism written by Mr. L. D. Syle, the Assistant Professor of English Literature in the University of California. Mr. Syle adds to this essay some of the criticisms on modern plays written by him for the San Francisco press. In both the essay and the criticisms we find a commendable plain-speaking about all that is common and coarse and cheap in the modern play, while the general canons of criticism laid down are sound and true. (W. R. Jenkins, New York.) TRAVEL A most entertaining and instructive book is Mr. Edwin M. Bacon's Historic Pilgrim ages in New England. The pilgrim is a Western boy of New England parentage, who, under the guidance of his father's college-mate, explores the landmarks of Pilgrim and Puritan days and of the Provincial and Revolutionary periods." They make thorough work of it, and bring out the story of the historic places and personages of eastern Massachusetts with great wealth of interesting details. There is not a dull page in the book, which, though dealing with old things, gives much that is new except to special students. It is copiously illustrated. (Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston.) The idea suggested by the Rev. Lyman P. Powell in 1893, in the "Review of Reviews," that the medieval pilgrimage might be revived and adapted to educational and patriotic uses, bore fruit the next year in a pilgrimage to historic places in New England, New York, and New Jersey, conducted by Mr. Powell under the auspices of the University Extension Society, with the co-operation of some noted men of letters. A fruit of this now appears in a handsome volume entitled Historic Towns of New England, edited by Mr. Powell-the first installment, he hopes, of a series of "American Historic Towns." The towns included are Portland, Rutland (Mass.), Salem, Boston, Cambridge, Concord, Plymouth, Cape Cod Towns, Deerfield, Newport, Providence, Hartford, and New Haven. The story of each is well told by the several writers, and accompanied with suitable illustrations. It would have been better, we think, if, instead of or along with the brand-new edifices of Yale, the "old brick row" had been introduced, as the ancient buildings of Harvard have been. Nor does it seem to us that the editor should have allowed such a misstatement to creep in as that the motive of the fortifications now going on at Portland is to secure the city against any possible attack by Great Britain. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.) Probably the most important work of exploration and travel of the year is Through Asia, by Sven Hedin. Mr. Hedin's journeys through Asia occupied the greater part of the four years between 1893 and 1897. His geographical work was extensive, and he has added very considerably to the accessible knowledge of little-known countries and provinces. He traveled, in all, fourteen thou sand six hundred miles, or, as he points out, more than the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole. Nearly half of this was over regions where railroads are unknown and even carriages cannot be used, while over two thousand miles were through regions where no European had ever preceded him. The importance and interest of the book call for a full review, which we hope to print before very long. The work is elaborately illustrated, chiefly from drawings and photographs by the author. (Harper & Brothers, New York.) The readers of The Outlook will remember an interesting account by Professor David P. Todd, of Amherst, of the ingenious devices employed by the Amherst Eclipse Expedition in Japan for the purpose of observing the total eclipse of the sun in August, 1896. The full story of this expedition is now told by Mrs. Todd (Mabel Loomis Todd) in a handsomely printed and illustrated volume called Corona and Coronet. The volume includes also a pleasantly written account of the travel experiences of the party, and of their ten thousand miles of sailing, together with an introductory chapter on 'Deep-Sea Yachting," by Mr. Arthur Curtiss James. It will be remembered that the Amherst party were indebted to the courtesy and liberality of Mr. D. Willis James and his son for the use in this expedition of the schooner-yacht Corcnet. In many ways the expedition was a notable one, and although unfavorable weather in part frustrated the scientific hopes of the expedition, yet much was demonstrated as to the mechanical possibilities of astronomical observation. The narrative is described by the author as an "unscientific account of a scientific expedition," and it is so written as to appeal to the taste and interest of non-scientific readers. Such titles as In Ainu Land," "The Lepers of Molokai," "Hawaiian Volcanoes," and "An Arizona Copper Mine" indicate the variety of observation included in the volume. Mrs. Todd has a keen eye for the picturesque, the curious, and the unusual, and she describes a thousand and one little things seen by the way, things that are typical and suggestive. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston.) Commercial Cuba, by William J. Clark, is a very well collected and fairly well digested compendium of facts relating to business conditions and prospects in Cuba. The author has made personal investigations in the island, and has supplemented these by the pains taking examination of consular reports and other documents to make his survey as complete and authoritative as possible. Many of the facts he brings forward are of great political as well as commercial importance at the present time. Particularly is this true of those relating to the sugar industry. Before the beginning of the present revolution the island was producing over one million ́tons of sugar annually, or half as much as our Nation consumes, and producing it for but little more than half of the present price of sugar in this country. As annexation would mean the remission of this tariff on all this sugar, or about $40,000,000 a year, it is not strange that the Cuban sugar-planters-or rather the Spanish, English, French, and American planters, who practically monopolize the industry-should be unanimous in its favor. The whole work is copiously and well illustrated. (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.) HISTORY The Story of the Revolution, by Henry Cabot Lodge, is a brilliant piece of historical writing. The narrative is so full of life that not only all lovers of history, but all lovers of stirring stories, are swept along by its cur rent. There are times when the author seems too much bent upon a spirited style, and too little upon accurate generalization; but there is thorough scholarship back of the work, and careless statements are rare. By reason of the attractiveness of their style, supplemented by the attractiveness of their equally spirited illustrations, Mr. Lodge's volumes are likely to prove the most popular historical work of the year. (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.) The Provincial Governor, by Evarts Boutell Greene, is an exceptionally scholarly treatise upon the Executive Department of the American colonies in which the executive was appointed from without, instead of elected by the constituency governed. It is, of course, distinctively a book for students of the history of constitutional and administrative law. (Longmans, Green & Co., New York.) RELIGION The "Devotions" of Lancelot Andrewes, who was Bishop of Winchester through the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I., are valued by many for whom the story of his life deserves to be told. Lady Mary Wood has done this in her short Story of a Saintly Bishop's Life. He was a man of piety and peace, but history has recorded few details of the life and character which are embalmed in his prayers. (Longmans, Green & Co., New York.) Bible Difficulties and their Alleviative Interpretation, by Dr. R. S. MacArthur, of New York, does not go to the root of the matter at all, but breaks the path a little way for those not now ready to go further, but likely to do so after further study. Dr. MacArthur is prepared to explain the story of Joshua arresting the sun as a poetic figure, and the story of the speaking ass as a subjective transaction in Balaam's mind; but he still thinks that Methuselah lived nearly a thousand years, and that God commanded the Hebrews to massacre the Canaanites. He refuses to admit the existence of a legendary element in the Old Testament, but at the same time opens the door for its proper recognition by declaring that, even if the historicity of the story of Jonah, which he affirms, were disproved, our faith in the Bible would remain unimpaired. We therefore regard his book, which comprises the substance of recent Sunday evening lectures, as a helpful pedagogic for those who are cautiously beginning to adjust their traditional ideas of the Bible to the requirements of modern study and reflection. (E. B. Treat & Co., New York.) A fresh volume of sermons by the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke, the well-known Unitarian minister in London, entitled The Gospel of Joy, needs no other introduction to many of our readers than his name. We commend it to friends whom we have heard in their conferences discussing an acknowledged lack of religious life in Unitarian pulpits and congregations. It is just this element, blended with robust moral vigor, which suffuses Mr. Brooke's sermons, and makes the reader conscious of the presence of a man of God. Considered simply as literature, these discourses bear the hall-mark of sterling exce'lence. But their distinctive quality is that of the words of the Spirit. To read them is to traverse the uplands of religious thought and breathe an atmosphere both bracing and pure. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.) Instinct and Reason: An Essay Concerning the Relation of Instinct to Reason, with Some Special Study of the Nature of Relig ion, by Henry Rutgers Marshall, M.A. In this elaborately critical essay the author, defining reason as the exercise of intelligent choice, finds its office to be that of conserving those variations from the typical forms maintained by instinct which tend to the production of still higher organic life. In other words, reason and instinct represent severally the progressive and the conservative tendency. On the other hand, the function of religion, which he classes as an instinct, is in subordinating to racial, i. e., fundamental processes and ends, the variant tendencies of the individual. This view has affinity with that of Mr. Kidd in his "Social Evolution," but differs from it in holding that religion in no way militates against reason, though tending to subordinate it to instinct. As to the relation of religion to ethics, Mr. Marshall holds that, while religion is based on moral capacity, "a morality without religion is an unstable product." Evolutionary ethics, properly understood, he regards as leading to the same practical conclusion as intuitional ethics, viz., that" conscience is in general the safest guide that he can have to lead him to the fulfillment of the law of God." While religion does not of itself perfect the moral code -a matter involving discriminating intellectual effort it so sustains the effort to develop the best that is in us that even the best of men cannot afford to dispense with it. Mr. Marshall's argument is long and discursive, and might be more effective if condensed. It is eminently free from any color of personal bias. The point where we strongly dissent from him is in his regarding the rites of phallic worship as the cradle of religion. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) SCIENCE Two small volumes in Harper's Scientific Memoirs are The Free Expansion of Gases, an account of the researches of Gay-Lussac, Joule, and Thomson (Lord Kelvin), from which one of the most important contributions of the century to physical science resulted, and Prismatic and Diffraction Spectra, memoirs by Von Fraunhofer, on whose results all modern work in spectroscopy is based. Each volume contains a bibliography. (Translated and edited by Professor J. S. Ames, of Johns Hopkins: Harper & Brothers, New York.) The Duke of Argyll has put together his recent articles in the "Nineteenth Century" in criticism of Mr. Herbert Spencer into a volume, entitled Organic Evolution CrossExamined, or Some Suggestions on the Great Secret of Biology. The "great secret," of course, is the origination of life. Darwin himself, whom the Duke calls wiser than his followers, recognized the futility of all efforts to get rid of the idea of creation, as distinguished from mere procreation. Furthermore, while it is certain that organic life must have had this inexplicable beginning, it is equally certain that fresh increments of life have from time to time appeared, inexplicable by any factors previously apparent. The thesis of these papers is that the notion of a mindless and mechanical evolution has broken down; that the physical forces are servants, not masters, of the House we live in. (Little, Brown & Co., Boston.) BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Every intelligent lover of children knows that a book bearing the name of Emilie Poulsson will present only those stories and verses that will carry a message of truth and love and will interest the child and stimulate his imagination. Her Child Stories and Rhymes bears the imprint of the Lothrop Publishing Company, which publishes also Laura's Holidays, by Henrietta R. Eliot; Bilberry Boys and Girls, by Sophie Swett; Buz-Buz, by Charles Stuart Pratt, illustrated by L. J. Bridgman; and Reuben's Hindrances, by "Pansy" (Mrs. G. R. Alden). "Laura's Holidays "is the record of the holidays of the year as Laura Sturgis, the little heroine, passed them. "Bilberry Boys and Girls" is a series of chapters devoted to the several boys and gir's of Bilberry. Each is interesting in his or her way, and the reader wishes it had been his privilege to know these young people. "Buz-Buz recites the adventures of a fly, told by himself. The illustrations are charming. Reuben's Hindrances" is the story of a poor orphan boy whose many hindrances seem necessary to the development of his character, and incidentally to the character of those about him. (Lee & Shepard, Boston.) The delight of picking up a book, written for a child, that does not preach, but lets the punishment fit the crime as the natural result of the action, can be appreciated by any one familiar with the little prigs and their sisters who have crowded out the real children from the children's books of to-day. Doubtless The Two Little Runaways, by James Buckland (Longmans, Green & Co., New York), are very naughty, but they pay the penalty. The author acknowledges his debt to "Les Adventures de Jean-Paul Choppart," by Louis Desnoyers, for his story. The illustrations are delightful-as fanciful and extravagant as the story. The artist, Mr. Cecil Aldin, visited Normandy for his studies. Braided Straws, by Elizabeth E. Foulke (Silver, Burdett & Co., New York), is a collection of short stories and verses designed for little children. The illustrations are, with one or two exceptions, uninteresting and inartistic. The same house publishes Poetry of the Seasons, compiled by Mary I. Lovejoy. The editor has expressed good judgment in her selections. A delightful collection of verses is edited by Charlotte Brewster Jordan, under the title Mother-Song and Child-Song. (Frederick A. Stokes Company.) The selections are eclectic. Every school and age has been called upon, and the result is a most delightful book of poetry for mothers and children. Books Received For the week ending December 9 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, PHILADELPHIA Hill, Grace Livingston. Lone Point: A Summer Outing. D. APPLETON & CO., NEW YORK Spencer, Herbert. The Principles of Biology. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. $2. Anstey, F. Paleface and Redskin. $1.50. BARBEE & SMITH, NASHVILLE, TENN. Preston, Rev. South G. Key-Words and Phrases of the New Testament. Edited by Rev. John J. Tigert. THE BOWEN-MERRILL CC., INDIANAPOLIS Reed, Myron W. Temple Talks. A. L. BURT, NEW YORK Otis, James. Sarah Dillard's Ride. $1. A Tory Plot. $I. A Traitor's Escape. $1. With Warren at Bunker Hill. $1.50. The Capture of the Laughing Mary. $1.50. Corporal 'Lige's Recruit. $1. A Cruise with Paul Jones. $1. Morgan, the Jersey Spy. $1. COPELAND & DAY, BOSTON Hemenway, Crabtree. Doomsday. THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., NEW YORK Jefferson, Charles Edward. Quiet Talks with Earnest People in My Study. $1. DODD, MEAD & CO., NEW YORK Arbiter, Petronius. Trimalchio's Dinner. Translated by Harry Thurston Peck. $1.50. DREXEL BIDDLE, PHILADELPHIA Benson, E. F. The Money Market. $1.50. FORDS, HOWARD & HULBERT, NEW YORK Pennington, Jeanne G. Some Marked Passages and Other Stories. $1. GOVERNMENT PRINTING-OFFICE, WASHINGTON Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897. Compiled by James D. Richardson. 8 Vols. HARPER & BROS., NEW YORK Bangs, John Kendrick. Peeps at People. $1.25. Voss, Richard. The New God. Translated from the German by Mary A. Robinson. $1.25. Ralph, Julian. An Angel in a Web. $1.50. D. C. HEATH & CO., BOSTON Bernhardt, Wilhelm. Auf der Sonnenseite. 35 cts. Peabody, Francis Greenwood. Afternoons in the College Chapel. $1.25. GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO., PHILADELPHIA Murray, Andrew. The Spiritual Life. 50 cts. Von Rhoden, Emma. An Obstinate Maid. Translated by Mary E. Ireland. $1.25, Blanchard, Amy E. Thy Friend Dorothy. $1.25. WILBUR B. KETCHAM, NEW YORK Burrell, D.D., David James. The Wondrous Cross and Ayres, S. C.. and Charles F. Sitterly. History of the JOHN LANE, NEW YORK Grahame, Kenneth. Dream Days. $1.25. LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., NEW YORK Haggard, H. Rider. Doctor Therne. $1. THE MACMILLAN CO., NEW YORK Caird, D.D., John. University Sermons. $2.25. Fitzgerald, Edward. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam. Macaulay's Essay on Milton, Edited by Charles Wallace French. 25 cts. MUNN & CO., NEW YORK Robinson, William E. Spirit Slate-Writing and Kindred Phenomena. $1. THE PENN PUBLISHING CO., PHILADELPHIA Wright, Jessie E. An Odd Little Lass. $1.25. Dromgoole, Will Allen. A Moonshiner's Son. $1.25. Wright, Julia MacNair. Astronomy, 50 cts.; Botany, 30 cts. Rexford, Eben E. Flowers. 50 cts. Shoemaker, Mrs. J. W. Shcemaker's Best Selections for Reading and Recitation. 30 cts. Select Speeches for Declamation. Compiled by John H. PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND Davis, D.D., John D. A Dictionary of the Bible. (Illustrated.) $2. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK Lane-Poole, Stanley. Saladin. Edited by Evelyn Abbott. $1.50. Ramsay, W. M. Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? $1.75. Smyth, G. Hutchinson. The Life of Henry Bradley Plant. $2.50. James, Alice L. Catering for Two. $1.25. Historic New York. Edited by Maud Wilder Goodwin and Others. (Half-Moon Series.) Vol. II. $2.50. R. H. RUSSELL. NEW YORK Gibson, Charles Dana. Sketches and Cartoons. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK Scott, Sir Walter. Peveril of the Peak. Three Vols. (Temple Edition.) $240. Dixon, W. Macneile. In the Republic of Letters. $1.25. Carlyle, Thomas. German Romance. Translations from the German. In Two Vols., each $1.25. Stables, Gordon, M.D. Courage, True Hearts. Illustrated. $1.25. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Two Vols. $4. Symonds, John Addington. Sketches and Studies in Hodgson, James Muscutt, D.D. Theologia Pectoris. $1.40. Gillespie, A. Lockhart. The Natural History of Digestion. $1.50. Dickens, Charles. A Child's History of England. Introduction by Andrew Lang. (Gadshill Edition.) $1.50. Byron, Lord. Letters and Journals. Vol. II. Edited by Rowland E. Prothero. New Revised and Enlarged Edition. $2. Gulland, W. G. Chinese Porcelain. $3.50. Field, Lilian F. An Introduction to the Study of the Renaissance. $1.50. Lanier, Sidney. Music and Poetry. $1.50. Longfellow, William P. P. The Column and the Arch. $2. Larned, Walter Cranston. Holland. Rembrandt: A Romance of FREDERICK A. STOKES CO., NEW YORK Besant, ir Walter. South London. |
