No more fascinating, stimulating, or instructive volume than this upon a vital subject hedged about with difficulties, has been given to the world. Bridgewater Treatises, The, were the result of a singular contest in compliance with the terms of the will of the Earl of Bridgewater, who died in 1829. He left £8000 to be paid to the author of the best treatise on The Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation.' The judges decided to divide the money among the authors of the eight following treatises: - 'The Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man,' by Dr. Thomas Chalmers, 1833; Chemistry, The Adventures of Francois: Found ling, Thief, Juggler, and Fencing Master during the French Revolution. By S. Weir Mitchell. A romance of the French Revolution, of special interest and value for its picture of the lower life of Paris during the period known as that of the Terror. Its hero is not a creature of fiction, but a real personage, and Dr. Mitchell's pages tell a story based upon genuine historical information. In his earlier book, 'A Madeira Party,' the fine tale, 'A Little More Burgundy,' should be read for the light that it throws upon the scene of François's adventures. Admirable illustrations contribute to the interest of Dr. Mitchell's singularly effective novel. Meteorology, and the Function of Diges- Call tion,' by William Prout, 1834; History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals,' by William Kirby, 1835; Geology and Mineralogy, by Dean (William) Buckland, 1836; The Hand . . . as Evincing Design,' by Sir Charles Bell, 1833; The Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man,' by John Kidd, M. D., 1833; Astronomy and General Physics,' by William Whewell, 1833; 'Animal and Vegetable Physiology,' by Peter Mark Roget, 1834. All these essays were published as Tracts for the Times; and have had an enormous circulation, and no small influence in the modification of modern thought. Cambridge Described and Illustrated: Being a Short History of the Town and University. By Thomas Dinham Atkinson. With Introduction by John Willis Clark. (1897.) A very complete, interesting, and richly illustrated account of the English town and university, which has been in some respects even more than Oxford a seat of literature, as well as education, in England. To American readers especially, the work is of importance because of the extent to which Cambridge University graduates were leaders in the planting of New England. The story of the old town opens many a picture of early English life and that of the great group of famous colleges which constitute the university; and supplies chapters in the history of English culture peculiarly rich in interest, from the fact that Cambridge has so largely stood for broad and progressive views, while Oxford has until recently represented narrow conservatism. allista: A SKETCH OF THE THird CenTURY, by John Henry Newman. Cardinal Newman tells us that this is an attempt to imagine, from a Catholic point of view, the feelings and mutual relations of Christians and heathen at the period described. The first few chapters were written in 1848, the rest not until 1855. The events here related occur in Proconsular Africa; giving opportunity for description of the luxurious mode of life, the customs and ceremonies, then and there prevailing. Agellius, a Christian, loves Callista, a beautiful Greek girl, who sings like a Muse, dances like a Grace, and recites like Minerva, besides being a rare sculptor. Jucundus, uncle to Agellius, hopes she may lead him from Christianity; but she wishes to learn more concerning that faith. Agellius, falling ill, is nursed by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who is in hiding. A plague of locusts comes. Frenzied by their devastations and the consequent famine, the mob rises against the Christians. Agellius is summoned to his uncle for safety. Callista, going to his hut to warn him, meets Cyprian, who gives her the Gospel of St. Luke. While they discourse, the mob approaches, and they are captured. Cyprian and Agellius, however, are helped to escape. Callista studies St. Luke and embraces Christianity. She refuses to abjure her religion, is put to death by torture, is canonized, and still works miracles. Her body is rescued by Agellius and given Christian burial. Her death proves the resurrection of the church at Sicca where she died: the heathen said that her history affected them with constraining force. Agellius becomes a bishop, and is likewise martyred and sainted. Georgies, The, by Virgil. This great work, admittedly the masterpiece of didactic poetry, and considered by many superior to the Eneid in style, was begun, probably at the request of Mæcenas, in 717, and completed in 724 A. U. C. It is divided into four books. The first treats of agriculture; the second of trees; the third of the raising of cattle; and the fourth of bees. Virgil has utilized the writings of all the authorities on agriculture and kindred subjects in the Greek and Roman world. Thus, besides the Economica of Xenophon, the works of the Carthaginian Mago, translated by order of the Senate, and those of Cato and Varro, he consulted the Phenomena of Aratos for the signs of the weather, those of Erastothenes for the celestial zones, the writings of Democritus for the revolution of the moon; and so admirably are all his materials used with his own poetic inspiration, that precept and sentiment, imagination and reality, are merged in one complete and harmonious unity. No matter how exact or technical the nature of the teaching, it is never dry. An image introduced with apparent carelessness vivifies the coldest formula: he tells the plowman he must break up the clods of his field and harrow it again and again, and then at once shows him golden-haired Ceres, who looks down on him from the Olympian heights with propitious eyes. Besides mythology, which the poet uses with great reserve, he finds in geography resources that quicken the reader's interest. Tmolus, India, the countries of the Sabæans and Chalybes, enable him to point out that every land, by a secret eternal law, has its own particular products; and to predict to the husbandman tha* he follow good counsels, a harvest as bounteous as that which arouses the pride of Mysia or Gargarus shall reward his toil. The episodes and descriptions scattered through the poem are of surpassing beauty. Among them may be mentioned: the death of Cæsar, with the prodigies that accompanied it, at the end of the first book; in the second, the praise of Italy, its climate and its flocks and herds; the pride and greatness of Clitumnus, with her numerous cities, her fine lakes, as broad and as terrible in their fury as seas, with her robust population and great men who gave to Rome the empire of the world; and, as a pendant to this sublime picture, the fresh, idyllic delineation of country life and the happiness of rustic swains, if they only knew, sua sic bona norint! then, at the end of the third book, the splendid games and the magnificent temple of white marble he proposes to raise to Augustus; the description of the pest that devastated the pasture-lands of Noricum, unrivaled for elegance and pathos; and the touching story of the love of Orpheus and Eurydice with which the poem concludes. Ca æsar: A sketch, by James Anthony Froude. (1880.) A life of the great soldier, consul, and dictator of Rome,a general and statesman of unequaled abilities, and an orator second only to Cicero. Mr. Froude calls his book a sketch only, because materials for a complete history do not exist. Cæsar's career of distinction began in 74 B. C., later than Cicero's, and ended March 15th, 44 B. C., nearly two years before the death of Cicero. The fascinations of style in Mr. Froude's brilliant picture of Cæsar are not equally accompanied with sober historical judgment. As in his other works, he exaggerates in drawing the figure of his hero. He is to be listened to, not for a verdict but a plea. Cæsars, The Lives of the First Twelve, by Caius Suetonius, 130-135 A. D. A book of biographies of the Roman emperors from Julius Cæsar to Domitian; and largely a book of anecdotes, mere personal facts, and, to no small extent, scandal, much of which may have been fiction. It throws hardly any light on the society of the time, the character and tendencies of the period; but gives the twelve personal stories with a care in regard to facts and a brevity which makes every page interesting. The first six are much fuller than the last six. In none of them is there any attempt at historical judgment of the characters whose picture is drawn. We get the superficial view only, and to no small extent the view current in the gossip of the time. A fair English translation is given in the Bohn Classical Library. and the high esteem in which he held him as a speaker. Still he feels rather inclined to congratulate him on dying when he did, since he has thus escaped the calamities that ravage the republic. Then he explains the occasion and the object of this dialogue, which is a complete history of Latin eloquence. He relates the origin of the art of oratory among the Romans, its progress, and its aspect at different epochs; enters into an elaborate criticism of the orators that have successively appeared; and gives, in an informal sort of way, rules for those who seek to excel in the oratorical art, and lays down the conditions without which success is impossible. The work is at once historical and didactic, and embraces every variety of style: being at one time simple and almost familiar, at another almost sublime; but always pure, sweet, and elegant. Cic icero, Marcus Tullius, The Life of. By William Forsyth. (2 vols., 1863.) A chapter of personal history, and of the story of classical culture, in the first half of the last century before Christ, of great interest and value. It deals not only with the orator and statesman, and the public affairs in which he played so great a part, but with Cicero as a man, a father, husband, friend, and gentleman, and with the culture of the time, of which Cicero was so conspicuous a representative. The picture serves particularly to show along what lines moral and religious development had taken place before the time of Christ. Cicero's public career covered the years 80-43 B. C., and within these years fell the career of Cæsar. Gleanings in Buddha Fields, by Laf cadio Hearn, (1897,) the sub-title being 'Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far East.' Of its eleven chapters, two are travel sketches, describing trips to Kyoto and Osaka, with additions of much versatile information. Japanese art and folksong are treated with affectionate care, while a discussion of certain phases of Shintoism and Buddhism unfolds them from within, the chapter on Nirvana showing deep reflection, and marvelous beauty of phrase. The story of The Rebirth of Katsugoro' is of unusual value and interest as belonging to the native literature of Japan. A translation of a series of documents dating back to the early part of the nineteenth century, it reflects the feudal Japan which is now passed away, and illustrates the "common ideas of the people concerning pre-existence and rebirth." Mr. Hearn's knowledge of, and sympathy with, his subject seem inexhaustible. Ecclesiastical Polity, The Laws of, by Richard Hooker. (1593-97.) A learned and broadly rational treatise on the principles of church government, the special aim of which was to prove, against the Puritanism of the time, that religious doctrines and institutions do not find their sole sanction in Scripture, but may be planned and supported by the use of other sources of light and truth; and that in fact the Scriptures do not supply any definite form of church order, the laws of which are obligatory. The course of church matters under Queen Elizabeth had so completely disregarded the views and demands of the Puritans as to give occasion for a work representing other and wider views; and Hooker's genius exactly fitted him to supply a philosophical and logical basis to the Elizabethan church system. Of the eight books now found in the work, only four were published at first; then a fifth, longer by sixty pages than the whole of the first four, in 1597; and three after his death (November 2d, 1600),—the sixth and eighth in 1648, and the seventh in 1617. The admirable style of the work has given it a high place in English literature; while its breadth of view, wealth of thought, and abundant learning, have caused it to increase in favor with the advance of time. Greatest Thing in the World, The, Henry Drummond, takes both theme and title from 1 Cor. xiii., wherein (R. V.) Love is declared to be the greatest of the three Christian graces. The author treats Love as the supreme good; and following St. Paul, contrasts it favorably with eloquence, prophecy, sacrifice, and martyrdom. Then follows the analysis: "It is like light. Paul passes this thing, Love, through the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect, and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements.» "The Spectrum of Love has nine ingredients: Patience-Love suffereth long.' Generosity-"Love envieth not.› The author then declares that Love comes by induction-by contact with God; that it is an effect,-"we love because He first loved us." The closing chapter dwells upon the lasting character of Love (1 Cor. xiii: 8), and asserts its absolute supremacy "What religion is, what God is, who Christ is, and where Christ is, is Love.» Fair God, The, by Lew Wallace, 1873, passed through twenty editions in ten years. It is a historical romance of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, its scene laid upon Aztec soil, in the early part of the sixteenth century. The title is derived from Quetzalcoatl, "the fair god," the Aztec deity of the air. Descriptions of the religion and national customs are pleasantly interwoven with the plot. The Emperor Montezuma is drawn as a noble but vacillating prince, whom the efforts of nobles and people alike fail to arouse to a determined opposition to the invading Cortez. At first thinking that the Spaniards are gods, he insists upon welcoming them as guests, ignoring the protests of his subjects, and even permitting himself to be craftily shut up, a voluntary prisoner, in the quarters of the Spaniards. Guatamozin, nephew and son-in-law to Montezuma, mighty in arms as wise in counsel, organizes the Aztecs for the overthrow of the Spaniards. A fierce conflict rages for many days. Toward its close the melancholy Montezuma appears upon the prison wall. fore all the people Guatamozin sends a shaft home to the breast of his monarch, who lives long enough to intrust the empire to his slayer, and also free him from blame for his death, explaining that the shaft had been aimed at his (Montezuma's) own request. The Aztec army now rallies, and the Spaniards yielding at length to starvation, disease, and superior numbers, leave the empire. Too shattered to regain its former vigor, even under the wise rule of Guatamozin, the State gradually totters to its eventual fall, Be a catastrophe which the author indicates but does not picture. Our Village, by Mary Russell Mitford, was one of the first books written which show the poetry of every-day life in the country; and Miss Mitford may fairly be called the founder of the school of village literature. There is no connected story, but the book contains a series of charming sketches of country scenes and country people. The chronicler wanders through the lanes and meadows with her white greyhound Mayflower, gossips about the trees, the flowers, and the sunsets, and describes the beauty of English scenery. The chapters on The First Primrose, Violeting, The Copse, The Wood, The Dell, and The Cowslip Ball, seem to breathe the very atmosphere of spring; while others tell interesting stories about the people and village life. In her walks, the saunterer is accompanied by Lizzy, the carpenter's daughter, a fascinating baby of three, who trudges by her side, and is a very entertaining companion. Descriptions of the country are dwelt on more frequently than descriptions of the people, but there is a capital sketch of Hannah Bint,-who showed great judgment in setting up as a dairy-woman when only twelve years old,- besides various short discourses on schoolboys, farmers, and the trades-people of the town. The scenes are laid in "shady yet sunny Berkshire, where the scenery, without rising into grandeur or breaking into wildness, is so peaceful, so cheerful, so varied, and so thoroughly English." The first series of sketches in Our Village appeared in 1824. Margaret Ogilvy, by J. M. Barrie. This is Barrie's loving tribute (published in 1896) to the memory of his fond mother, who, according to an old Scotch custom, was called by her maiden name, Margaret Ogilvy. "God sent her into the world," he says, "to open the minds of all who looked to beautiful thoughts.» Margaret was a great reader; she would read at odd moments, and complete, the 'Decline and Fall in a single winter. It was her delight to learn scraps of Horace from her son, and then bring them into her conversation with "colleged men.» Barrie, after leaving the university, enters journalism, and his proud mother cherishes every scrap he has written. She laughs when she sees the title of 'An Auld Licht Community' in a London paper, and is eager to know if her son receives pay for such an article, being greatly amazed to learn that this is the best remunerated of all his writing. "It's dreary, weary, up-hill work, but I've wrastled through with tougher jobs in my time, and please God, I'll wrastle through with this one," said a devout lady to whom some one had presented one of Barrie's books. He feared that his mother wrestled with his writings in the same spirit. Margaret was a great admirer of Carlyle, but her verdict of him was "I would rather have been his mother than his wife.» She always spoke of "that Stevenson" with a sneer, but could not resist reading Treasure Island' and his other books. Barrie asks, "What is there about the man that so infatuates the public?» His mother's loyal reply is, "He takes no hold of me; I would hantle rather read your books.” Margaret is greatly pleased and very proud to find herself so often depicted in her son's books. She affects not to recognize it, but would give herself These two people strike up a close comradeship, and Bernardine discovers unsuspected depths of kindness and tenderness under the gruff exterior of the Disagreeable Man. Her own nature is insensibly softened and enriched by the sight of the suffering around her. At the end of the winter Bernardine's health is re-established, and she returns to the old second-hand book-shop where she lives with her uncle. Robert Allitsen parts from her with scarcely a word; but when she has gone, he pours out in a beautiful letter all the love he feels for her, and has fought so hard against. The letter is never sent. Bernardine confides to her old uncle her love for this man. In the meantime Mrs. Allitsen, his mother, has died; and shortly after, Robert Allitsen appears in the old book-shop. Bernardine requires him to continue the sacrifice now for her sake. That same day she is killed by an omnibus; and the "Disagreeable Man » goes back to Petershof to live out his lonely life. A sad picture is given of the thoughtlessness of the caretakers who accompany the invalids. away unconsciously. She says, chuck- But Yet a Woman, by Arthur Sher ling, "He tries to keep me out, but he canna; it's more than he can do." At the ripe age of seventy-six, Margaret Ogilvy peacefully passed away. Her last words were "God" and "love"; and her son adds, "I think God was smiling when he took her to him, as he had so often smiled at her during these seventy-six years.' .» burne Hardy, is a romance of real life, its scene laid mainly in Paris during the time of the Second Empire. Renée Michael, a fair young girl destined to be a réligieuse, shares the home and adorns the salon of her elderly bachelor uncle, M. Michael. They enjoy the friendship of M. Lande, and his son, Dr. Roger Lande. The four, together with Father Le Blanc, a kindly old curé, and Madame Ships that Pass in the Night, by Stephanie Milevski, make up a congenial Beatrice Harraden. This sad little story achieved notoriety when it was published in 1894, largely on account of its taking title. The scene is laid in a Swiss winter-resort for consumptives. Bernardine, a pathetic worn-out schoolteacher, of the new-woman type, who has had hitherto little human interest, finds herself one of the 250 guests of the crowded Kurhaus at Petershof. Her neighbor at table is Robert Allitsen, a man whom long illness and pain have rendered so brusque and selfish, that he goes by the name of the "Disagreeable Man." He declares that he has no further duties towards mankind, having made the one great sacrifice, which is the prolonging, for his mother's sake, of wearisome and hopeless existence. house party at M. Michael's summer home on Mt. St. Jean. Stephanie, the halfsister of her host, is the young widow of a Russian nobleman who has died in exile. She was associated with the eminent journalist M. De Marzac in the Bourbon restoration plot, and became the object of his ardent though unrequited love. Her affection is for Dr. Roger Lande; but he loves Renée, and not in vain. Stephanie induces M. Michael to allow her to take Renée on a journey to Spain. Upon the eve of their departure, De Marzac, angered by Stephanie's continued denial of his suit, accuses her of taking Renée to Spain in order to prevent Roger from wooing her until the time set to begin her novitiate shall have arrived. The unraveling of this situation |