later, in which Cotton Mather was so lamentably conspicuous.

A"

Ibert Nyanza, The: THE GREAT BASIN OF THE NILE AND EXPLORATIONS OF THE NILE SOURCES, by Samuel White Baker, 1866. The record of over four years' explorations in Africa, from March 1861 to August 1865, by which the geographical knowledge of the sources of the Nile was completed. Bruce, ninety years before, had found the source of the Blue Nile, and Speke and Grant were about to report finding in the Victoria Nyanza the remotest eastern source of the White Nile. Baker's explor

ations made known the immense lake, named by him Albert Nyanza, into the northeast corner of which the outlet stream from the Victoria empties, and out from the northern point of which the White Nile issues to flow through thirty degrees of latitude to the Mediterranean. The equatorial lake system, by which the Nile is fed for ten months in the year, became fully known when Baker had supplemented the discoveries of Speke and Grant. In a second work of great interest, The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia,' Baker completed the true story of the Nile, showing that the annual flood by which the special agriculture of the Nile valley is created, would not take place at all but for the Blue Nile and other Abyssinian branches of the main Nile. Baker spent twelve months in exploring all the Abyssinian tributaries of the Nile; and he was thus able to give an accurate account of all the sources through which nature gives to Egypt, not only a great river all the year round, but an immense fertilizing midsummer flood.

Cook's Voyages. The accounts of Cap

tain Cook's three voyages were written by as many hands: the first by Dr. Hawkesworth; the second by Cook himself; while Lieutenant King prepared the third from Cook's notes, and completed the narrative.

The first voyage was undertaken in 1768, to observe the transit of Venus. Having made successful observations at Otaheite in the Society Islands, Cook explored the South Seas, and determined the insularity of New Zealand, which had been considered part of a great Antarctic continent. He discovered the straits named after him, and amid great dangers explored the eastern coast of Australia, hitherto unknown. In 1772 he started on a second

voyage, to explore the hypothetical Antarctic continent. He investigated the speci fied latitudes, and sailed farther south than any previous navigator. Having satisfied himself that no such continent existed, he turned eastward and discov. ered New Caledonia, Georgia, and other islands. On his return he received many honors, and was elected to the Royal Society. His third voyage was in search of the Northwest Passage. Sailing about in the Pacific, he discovered the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands; and then, having explored the unknown coast of North America, he passed through Bering's Strait, and surveyed the coast on both sides. Baffled in his attempt to reach the Atlantic, he returned to winter near Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, where he was treacherously murdered by the natives in 1779.

The narrative is especially important because Cook was animated by the scientific spirit, and made valuable observations in many departments of science. Throughout the book appear the resources and courage of the man, and his humane discretion in dealing both with his sailors and with the savages; while its publication gave a new impetus to discovery and exploration.

Cotton Kingdom, The, by Frederick

Law Olmsted. These two volumes of "a traveler's observations on cotton and slavery" were published in 1861, being compiled from three previous works on the same subject, which had originally appeared as letters to the New York Times, between 1856 and 1860. The book, written with especial reference to English readers, was dedicated to John Stuart Mill. It is intended for the class of persons that would consider Uncle Tom's Cabin overdrawn and hysterical, and deals exclusively with facts. Authorities are cited, government reports quoted, names and places specified; everything is done to make the work convincing.

Though the author began his observations in a fair and judicial spirit, he was everywhere impressed with the disadvantages of slavery. Even in States like Virginia, where slaves were generally well treated, the economic evils were great, while farther south things were much worse. The slaveholding proprietors experienced so much difficulty in managing their estates that they had no energy for public affairs. There were no good roads,

and no community life existed. Though the railroad and steamboat had been introduced, they were operated in a primitive and desultory fashion, mails were irregular, and intercommunication was uncertain and precarious. Slave labor, of course, made free labor unremunerative and despised, and the poor white lived from hand to mouth on the brink of pauperism. In the cotton States the large plantations were worked with profit, but the small ones frequently failed to pay expenses. In every instance the cost of maintaining and managing the negroes was so great, and their labor so forced and reluctant, that much better results could have been obtained from free labor. In fact, had there been no other question involved, its monstrous wastefulness would have condemned slavery. But the moral evils were incalculably great. The slave was reduced, virtually, to the level of the brute, and all efforts to raise him morally and intellectually were regarded as unsafe and revolutionary. He lost the good qualities of barbarism, and gained the vices of civilization, and was deliberately made as helpless as possible. The degradation of the master was even more deplorable. His sensibilities were blunted by the daily spectacle of brutality, his moral fibre was loosened, and there was no incentive to self-control, since he was subject to no law save his own capricious will.

Not only was this book of value at the time of its publication, but it is useful at the present day. It explains how the curse of slavery retarded the industrial development of the South; and by showing the condition of master and negro before the emancipation, it affords a better comprehension of the grave problems that confront America to-day.

Journey in the

Seaboard Slave

States, A, by Frederick Law Olmsted, 1856, first appeared as a series of sketches in the New York Times. It is the record of a trip made by Mr. Olmsted at that period, through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, for the purpose of noting the general aspects of those States; and particularly of studying the labor and agricultural conditions in comparison with those of the North. His personal observations, enlivened with humorous and anecdotal touches, are supplemented with statistics. This

"honest growler» found much to criticize. He detested slavery as an unmixed evil, and made it largely responsible for the prevailing ills. Everywhere he finds plenty of servants and no service. He is astonished at the familiar intercourse between blacks and whites, which however appears to be only tolerable to the latter as long as their mastership is recognized. He finds that the South has advanced far less in civilization than the North since the Revolution. Shiftlessness prevails everywhere. The slave system seems to enervate the whites, while rendering the blacks childish and irresponsible. It takes more of the latter than of Northern workmen to do a given piece of work. In spite of the abundance of labor, buildings remain out of repair, estates are neglected. The farming is unintelligent. There is a surprising quantity of uncultivated land, and of land needlessly impoverished by repeated plantings of the same crop. The Southern economic conditions need revolutinizing; and already Mr. Olmsted notes their instability, and anticipates the storm of civil war soon to break.

John Bull and His Island was trans

lated from the French of "Max O'Rell» (Paul Blouet) in 1884. It is a humorous exposition of his view of English life and character, which by its paradoxes attracted much attention when it appeared. The keen-visioned author was too fond of exercising his wit to be impartial. Some of his conclusions, drawn from sensational articles in the daily newspapers, are based upon insufficient premises. He presents a caricature rather than a portrait, but draws it so cleverly that even its subject is forced to recognize his own faults and foibles. His mockery of the conceited, domineering type of Englishman, always sure that he is right and others wrong, quibbling to preserve the letter of truth while disregarding its spirit, and referring all values to a money standard, is sharp but without bitterness. He hits off the national character in startling paradox; for example, he says that every year "a sum of money is spent in Bibles and alcoholic liquors alone, sufficient to abolish pauperism and allow every freeborn Briton to live like a gentleman.» But he recognizes fairly, too, the physical, mental, and moral qualities which make the English strong; and he finds much

to admire in their home life and social institutions.

Conflict of Ages, The; or, The Great

Debate on the Moral Relations of God and Man. By Rev. Edward Beecher, D. D. (1853.) A work of departure from strict Calvinistic orthodoxy, in which the idea was presented of a series of ages, previous to that of the present life, and coming after it, the previous one having affected our birth here, and the one yet to come being an opportunity still open to us for overcoming evil in our natures

His general ideas of science led him to supplement his History' with a second work on The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon their History' (1840.) This second volume Dr. Whewell described as "an application of the plan of Bacon's Novum Organum▸ to the present condition of physical science," and as an attempt "to extract from the actual past progress of science the elements of a more effectual and substantial method of discovery» than" Bacon's.

cord of Ages,' (1860,) and in his 'History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Future Retribution,' (1878,) Dr. Beecher further pursued the argument on behalf of Final Restoration.

onflict between Religion and Sci

Confli

ence, History of the. By Dr. J. W. Draper. (1874.) One of the earliest attempts by a competent scholar to tell the story of science in its slow and difficult development in ages dominated by ecclesiastical authority. The first ventures in research aiming to penetrate the secrets of nature encountered the same opposition as magic and quack medicine; and only after long struggle against the spirit, of repression, and of persecution even, were the great steps initiating our modern science successfully taken. Dr. Draper's ardor as an advocate is on the side of science, and he presses the indictment against church antagonism to free research with great vigor and wide learning. His book is a popular one, very readable, and very instructive, with due allowance for the possibility that the final verdict may be somewhat more lenient than his towards the church.

[nductive Sciences, History of the, by

Indu

William Whewell. (1837. Final edi

tion, 1857.) The story of the progress of

the physical sciences, from the earliest Greek beginnings, and from the groping physical science of the Middle Ages, down to a time now sixty years since. Although the book is relatively out of date, through the immense progress which science has made since 1837, and the greater accuracy and thoroughness with which parts of the history are known, yet the ample learning and great ability of Whewell, and the conception which he had of the progress of science, gives his work a permanent interest and value.

J. P. Cooke. (Revised Edition, 1884.) A book of very exceptional value as a most interesting literary treatment of the chief principles of chemistry. It originated in a popular Lowell Institute course of lectures delivered in Boston in 1872, and published as a book in 1873, the design of which was to develop the general principles of chemistry in a systematic order, with no more description of substances and processes than the illustration of principles called for. For this presentation to popular hearers, and to readers, Professor Cooke's qualifications were higher than those of any other modern teacher of chemistry except Faraday; and his chapters, or lectures, form a book as readable as it is instructive. Ten years after its first issue, Professor Cooke not only rewrote many parts to make "a popular exposition of the actual state of the science," but he added much new material, and left a volume of which it is not too much to say that it stands before all others as a work opening the gates of science to the general reader, and giving the story of chemistry a place in literature. For the studious inquirer it is to be placed by the side of Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity.'

Israel, History of, by Ernest Renan.

(5 vols.) The 'Vie de Jésus,' or Life of Jesus, of the most accomplished of recent authors, the charm of which has carried its sale in France alone to over 300,000 copies, came out in 1863; and was the first of a series of seven volumes devoted to a review of the origins and early development of Christianity, down to the date in Roman history marked by the death of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Upon the completion of this work M. Renan set himself the task of adding, by way of introduction to

his history of Christian origins, a history of the Jews; and on October 24th, 1891, he was able to write, at the close of a fifth volume, that the task was finished. There are two "books» in each of his five volumes, and the successive stages of the history are these: (1) the Israelites in their nomad state, until their establishment in the land of Canaan; (2) the Israelites as settled tribes, until the establishment of the Kingdom of David; (3) the Single Kingdom; (4) the two kingdoms; (5) the Kingdom of Judah alone; (6) the Captivity in Babylon; (7) Judæa under Persian Domination; (8) the Jews under Greek Domination; (9) Jewish Autonomy; (10) the Jewish People under Greek Domination.

As a philologist of distinction, an expert in the whole field of Semitic studies, a traveler and archæologist familiar with the scenes and the surviving monuments of Palestine, Renan brought exceptional knowledge to the work of restoring the past of the Israelite race. The freedom of his opinions led him away from traditional paths; while the warmth of his sentiment, often ardently Jewish, and the richness of his imagination, gave to the more significant pages of Hebrew story an illumination rarely found in sober history.

Jew, The, by Joseph Ignatius Kraszew

ski, is a story of the soil, simply told by one of Poland's best-known writers. When Jean Huba, a Polish exile, enters a tavern and swoons at the feet of the guests, Signor Firpo the landlord wishes to send him elsewhere to die; but the stranger regains consciousness, and finds himself surrounded by a motley society of Russians, Italians, Poles, Jews, Danes, and Tsigane (Gipsies), gathered at little tables enjoying themselves. A strange friendship is set on foot between Jacob Harmon, an educated Jew, and the exile Jean Huba, familiarly known as Ivas. Their conversation serves to put the reader in possession of many facts in Jewish history Jacob undertakes to convert Ivas to Judaism; and argues well, using politics and philosophy as well as religion for illustrations. They agree to return to Poland to improve the intellectual condition of the Jews, become involved in political intrigues there, and are forced to quit the country. One or two love affairs give a slight tinge of romance to the story.

The book is powerful, but possesses little interest for those readers who do not care for the ethical and ethnical questions it discusses.

Majesty, by Louis Marie Anne Couperus. This is one of the great works of modern Dutch fiction, said to be based on the life of the present Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Othomar, Crown prince of Liparia, is the son of the Emperor Oscar and his wife Elizabeth. He is a delicate, nervous, morbid, overconscientious boy, who loves his people, but dreads the responsibility one day to be his. Oscar, on the contrary, is confident that majesty is infallible; while Elizabeth lives in constant terror of an anarchist's bomb, not for herself, but for her husband and children. Othomar is led into a love affair by the Duchess of Yemena, a beautiful coquette, much older than himself. He falls ill, is sent away with his cousin Hermann, visits his grandfather (King of Denmark) Siegfried of Gothland, and is betrothed for state reasons to the Archduchess Valérie. He wishes to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, who however dies, and he is forced to take up his burden. Soon after his marriage, his father is assassinated and he is crowned. The story of

his noble deeds (a romantic forecast) as Emperor is told in a second volume, called The Peace of the World.' Couperus is the leader of the Dutch "sensitivists who within the last fifteen or twenty years have revolutionized Dutch taste. He is still a young man, having been born in 1863. Majesty' was published in 1894, and may be regarded rather as a prose poem than as a novel.

Captain's Daughter, The, by Alexan

der Pushkin. This story, published in 1832, narrates the adventures of a young officer and his sweetheart, during Pugachéf's rebellion, in the reign of Catherine II. Piotr Andreyevich Grinef, son of a wealthy Russian noble, joins the army, and is sent to the small fortress of Byělogorsk. Savelich, an old family servant, accompanies him thither, and with wonderful love and devotion acts the part of guardian angel. Captain Mironof, the commandant, a kindly old soldier, receives him with much affection and offers him the hospitality of his house; where Vasilisa his wife, good-hearted but inquisitive, oversees the affairs of the whole fortress. Piotr and the sweet-faced

daughter Maria soon fall in love; but Schvabrin, the girl's rejected lover, causes the devoted pair to undergo many trials. In time, Emilian Pugachéf, a Cossack, assuming the title Peter III., arrives at the fortress with a band of insurgents, among them the traitor Schvabrin; and overpowering the garrison, captures the town. Captain Mironof and his wife are murdered, and Schvabrin, the traitor and deserter, is left in charge. Pugachéf, with unexpected gratitude, remembering a former kindness of Piotr, pardons him and permits him to leave the town, although Piotr will not swear allegiance. He goes to Orenburg with his servant; and while there receives a letter from Maria, who prays for help from Schvabrin's persecutions. Piotr rescues her, and she goes to his parents, who gladly welcome her, while Piotr joins a detachment of the army under Jurin. Here Schvabrin gives information that leads to his arrest as a spy and his sentence as an exile to Siberia. From this fate he is saved by Maria, who obtains his pardon from the Empress, and he is released in time to see Pugachéf hanged as a traitor. The author, who also wrote a serious history of the Pugachéf rebellion, gives in this delightful romance a very true account of that remarkable uprising.

Neighbors, The, by Frederika Bremer.

The scene of this every-day romance is laid in Sweden, and the descriptions give a delightful glimpse into the domestic life of that country. Franziska Werner tells the story by a series of letters to a distant friend. She has lately married "Bear," a country doctor; and the first letters describe her impressions of her new home, her neighbors, and her stepmother-in-law. "Ma chère mère," as she is called, is an eccentric woman possessed of great ability and an iron will. Years before she and her own son Bruno had quarreled, his fiery temper had clashed with hers, and he ran from

home with his mother's curse ringing in nis ears. After fifteen years of dissipation, he returns under an assumed name and settles at Ramm, as a new neighbor, hoping to win his mother's forgiveness. He is discovered by Franziska and her husband; and at their house he renews his love for Serena, his childhood's friend. She is pure and good, and his passionate, stormy nature is quieted by

the strength and beauty of her spiritual one. She loves him, but feels that her duty lies with her aged grandparents; and despite his violent love-making, remains firm in refusing him. At the risk of his life, Bruno saves his mother by stopping her runaway horses, and a reconciliation is brought about at last. Bruno next saves Serena's life, and they become engaged. Hagar, a Hebrew woman, who loves Bruno and has followed him to Ramm, is jealous of Serena and attempts to kill her. Failing in this she tries to take her own life, and dies confessing her sin and clearing Bruno's character. Serena and Bruno marry, and the letters again continue in a pleasant domestic vein. There are many interesting situations in the book, much poetry of thought and feeling, besides an atmosphere of country life that is most refreshing. Miss Bremer has been called the Jane Austen of Sweden.

Ar

round the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne. Phileas Fogg, a respectable English gentleman of phlegmatic temperament and methodical habits, maintains, during a discussion at his club in London, that a man can travel around the world in eighty days; and to prove it, he makes a wager of half his fortune that he can do it himself in that time. The bet is accepted, and he starts the same night, taking his French servant Passepartout with him. He wins his wager, after a series of adventures in which nature, man, accident, and the novelist combine to defeat him, but are all baffled by his unfailing resource, iron will, invincible coolness, and Napoleonic readiness to sacrifice verything else to the one essential point; -everything except humanity, in whose behalf he twice risks defeat, first to save from suttee the beautiful young Hindoo widow Aouda, and second to save Passepartout from murder by a Chinese mob. His virtue is rewarded by success and Aouda.

Kate Beaumont, by J. W. De Forest,

is a tale of good society in South Carolina, in the prosperous, chivalrous, slaveholding, hard-drinking, quick-shooting days before the war. The Beaumonts and McAllisters, each a powerful family, with many ramifications, have been at feud with each other for years, till at last young Frank McAllister comes back from Europe to fall in love with Kate