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THE NEW BOOKS.

NOTES ON RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.

The late Edwin Lawrence Godkin was for thirty-five years a conspicuous figure in New York journalism. It was he who founded the New York Nation, one of the few American journals that have been able to maintain themselves for any length of time as the exponents of independence in politics. Later he became chief editorial writer on the New York Evening Post, and in that position exerted an influence out of all proportion to the circulation of that newspaper. In the closing decade of the nineteenth century he shared with Charles A. Dana whatever prestige remained for the individual journalist in New York. His life and letters, as edited by Mr. Rollo Ogden, managing editor of the Evening Post, in two volumes (Macmillan), are full of interesting allusions to the political events of his time. In organizing the Nation staff of contributors and reviewers he succeeded in attaching to the fortunes of that periodical a great number of university and college professors throughout the country. Many

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FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

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raphies" (Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co.), we have a life of the greatest black man of his time written by the greatest black man of a succeeding generation. The career of Frederick Douglass belongs to the period of antislavery agitation culminating in the Civil War, while the whole life of his biographer from childhood has been lived since the war. There is a remarkable coincidence between the theories that Douglass held for the advancement of his race and the actual achievements that Washington has been able to bring about along the same lines. Both men gave much thought to the same problems, but it was not for Douglass to make very much headway toward the solution of those problems. His life was devoted to agitation, which paved the way for the constructive work of his successor.

There are few more interesting figures in the period of the Renaissance than that of Vittoria Colonna, that remarkable woman whose personification of Italian aspirations has made her a figure of world interest through all the ages. Messrs. Dent & Co., of London, have just brought out Maud F. Jerrold's volume, "Vittoria Colonna, with Some Account of Her Friends and Her Times." Portraits from old authentic historical paintings of Cardinal Pole, Michaelangelo, Pope Paul III., and the heroic woman herself add to the interest of the volume. The author calls Vittoria Colonna a true child of the Renaissance, but characteristic of it only in its very best developments. "She was a star in every sense of the term." The portrait here

VITTORIA COLONNA.

reproduced is from the painting by Girolamo Muziano, which is now in the Colonna Palace,

Rome.

BOOKS OF INTERNATIONAL INTEREST.

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Few writers on the Far East can be as vivid, entertaining, and at the same time as accurate and informing, as Mr. B. L. Putnam Weale, author of "Manchu and Muscovite" and The Reshaping of the Far East," both of which have already been noticed in these pages. Mr. Weale. who knows China, Japan, and Siberia (as well as other portions of the vast Asiatic continent), as it is known by very few English-speaking travelers and writers, has just given us two other fascinating books. "The Truce in the Far East and Its Aftermath (Macmillan) is a sequel to "The Reshaping of the Far East." Mr. Weale does not "take back any of the statements made in his former volumes, but declares that the conclusion of the Portsmouth treaty and the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese alliance have so altered and modified far eastern conditions that not only "is the Manchurian question just as acute in a new and more subtle form as ever before, but it contains the germs of great future trouble." The present peace in the Far East, he believes, is only a truce, a truce which will last as long as the alliance between England and Japan. At the termination of this alliance.-if it be terminated,-Japan and Russia will fight again, unless,-which is more than a possibility, a new and vigorous China arises as a world power. Real peace, he declares, will come when the world realizes four facts: that Japan is an independent power in the true sense of the word, that China has risen as a modern

nation, that England is not a military nonentity, and that Russia has inaugurated a new policy. The volume is divided into three parts, considering (1) Japan and the new position, (2) China and the Chinese, and (3) the powers and their influence. There are nearly 200 pages of exceedingly valuable appendices, including texts of treaties, tables of national debts and war strength and several excellent maps.

The second volume is not written, but edited, by Mr. Weale. It is entitled "Indiscreet Letters from Peking" (Dodd, Mead), and is the notes of an eyewitness, setting forth in some detail the real story of the siege and sack of the Chinese capital after the Boxer uprising of 1900. For vivid descriptive writing this story of the siege, in the form of letters not originally intended for publication, has seldom been equaled in our experience. The volume is really the story, not the history, of the siege of the legations in Peking, of the relief of the besieged, and of the sack of the city. Interesting sidelights are cast upon the actions of the diplomatic representatives of allied Europe and America, and valuable, because honest and unpremeditated, comments upon the way the different international troops behaved during the siege.

To the many books already published upon that many-sided, many-peopled Austrian Empire there is a useful and worthy addition in "The Whirlpool of Europe" (Dodd, Mead), by Archibald R. and E. M. Colquhoun. This is not merely a travel book, nor yet one purely geographical or political, but a combination of the two. The paramount importance of the AustroHungarian question in European politics and the crisis which seems sure to follow in that monarchy upon the death of the aged Kaiser Franz Joseph are enough in themselves to justify such a volume. The subject also is full of interest, of historical associations, and of many of the problems of modern social and political life. This volume is illustrated with portraits and maps.

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AMERICAN HISTORY.

Prof. Leon C. Prince has given us an admirable Bird's-Eye View of American History (Scribners), from the discovery by Columbus down to the Roosevelt Administration. This survey necessarily touches only the mountain-tops, and omits much of the detail which ordinarily has place in our school histories. Any student of American history who finds himself confused or overwhelmed by the mass of material that is presented in more elaborate works should make it a point to read Professor Prince's book for the sake of its clarifying effect.

In the series of "Original Narratives of Early American History," reproduced under the auspices of the American Historical Association and edited by Dr. J. Franklin Jameson, of the Car

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negie Institution (Scribners), one volume is devoted to Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528-1543," containing the narratives of Alvar Nuñez Cabeca de Vaca, the narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto, by the Gentleman of Elvas, and the narrative of the expedition of Coronado, by Pedro de Castañeda. The first and third of these narratives were edited by Frederick W. Hodge, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the second by Theodore H. Lewis, an honorary member of the Mississippi Historical Society. It is believed that when interest and historical importance are both taken into account these three narratives stand pre-eminent among the existing materials of this character which constitute an extensive literature.

A noteworthy addition to the subject of Americana in its largest sense is Dr. Edward S. Meany's volume on the discovery and exploration of British Columbia, which he brings out under the title "Vancouver's Discovery of Pu

DR. REGINALD J. CAMPBELL.

get Sound" (Macmillan). The volume deals with the broad general subject of western Canadian discovery, and is based principally upon the second edition of the journal of Captain Vancouver, published in London in 1801. Many interesting portraits supplement the text, and there are biographies of a number of the men whose names now appear conspicuously upon the map of the North American continent. Dr. Meany is professor of history at the University of Washington (State) and secretary of the Washington State Historical Society.

RELIGIOUS WORKS.

Dr. Campbell, of the City Temple, London, whose theological views have raised quite a tempest in religious circles in England, has embodied these views in a volume just brought out by the Macmillans, entitled "The New Theology." This volume is really an answer to the criticisms made upon Dr. Campbell's preaching.

A work of unusual clearness, dealing with the entire question of the so-called conflict between religion and science, is Mr. Phillip Vivian's "The Churches and Modern Thought," which has just been brought out in a new and revised edition by Watts & Co., of London. Mr. Vivian's book is an honest inquiry into the grounds of religious unbelief.

Among recently published books on religious subjects which make more or less real contributions to theological thought we note Dr. William Adams Brown's "Christian Theology in Outline" (Scribners). Dr. Brown is Roosevelt professor of systematic theology in the Union Theological Seminary of New York, and author of a volume now well known, entitled "The Essence of Christianity." The present work is an effort to treat from a scientific constructive standpoint, and from a modern point of view, the subject-matter of Christian theology.

Dr. Walter Rauschenbusch, professor of

church history at the Rochester Theological Seminary, in a recent volume brought out by the Macmillans, treats "Christianity and the Social Crisis." The conscience of Christendom, ne says, is halting and groping, "perplexed by contradicting voices, still poorly informed on essential questions, justly reluctant to part with the treasured maxims of the past, and yet conscious of the imperious call of the future." It is to throw some light on this situation that he writes the present volume.

Sir Oliver Lodge, perhaps the first living scientific man, at least, of the English-speaking peoples,-is the leader of a new movement to show complete harmony between science and religion. His views, in the form of a catechism, questions and answers, are embodied in a recent volume (Harpers) entitled "The Substance of Faith Allied with Science."

A new edition of Dr. Daniel S. Gregory's "Why Four Gospels?" has been 'brought out by the Bible League Book Company. For thirty years Dr. Gregory's book has been considered a master-work upon its special theme.

An account of the experiences of the Chicago Preachers' Committee which, in 1894, led in the movement for religious liberty in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, is given in a volume brought out by Jennings & Graham, entitled "Religious Liberty in South America." It is written by Rev. Dr. John Lee.

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Among other volumes treating religious and ecclesiastical topics recently published, are: "The Psychology of Religious Belief" (Macmillan), by Dr. James B. Pratt, of Williams College; The Religious Conception of the World" (Macmillan), by Dr. Arthur Kenyon Rogers, of Butler College; "Freedom in the Church (Macmillan), by Alexander V. G. Allen, of Cambridge University; "The Religious Value of the Old Testament' (Crowell), by Ambrose White Vernon, of Dartmouth College; "For the Work of the Ministry" (American Baptist Society), by Prof. T. Harwood Pattison, of the Rochester Theological Seminary; "Persecution in the Early Church (Jennings & Graham), by Herbert B. Workman, of the Westminster Training College; "Kosmos, the Soul, and God" (McClurg), by C. L. Arnold; "Between the Testaments" (Funk & Wagnalls), by Rev. Dr. David Gregg, president of the Western Theological Seminary; "What India Can Teach Us" (Jennings & Graham), by Albert E. Cook, Methodist missionary; "Intimations of Immortality" (Small, Maynard), selected by Helen Philbrook Patten; The Messiah Idea in Jewish History (Jewish Publication Society), by Dr. Julius H. Greenstone; The Union Haggadah' (Bloch Publishing Company), edited by a committee of American Rabbis; "Christ's Secret of Happiness" (Crowell), a sermon by Lyman Abbott; "The Proprium, or What of Man Is Not His Own?" (New Church Board of Education), edited from the writings of Swedenborg, with an introduction by John Bigelow; "The Joyous Miracle"

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(Doubleday, Page), by the late Frank Norris; The International Critical Commentary (Scribners), the volume on St. Matthew, edited by Willoughby C. Allen; and four volumes of the "Little Books on Missions," published by Jennings & Graham.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DISCUSSIONS.

Does the American national tendency toward a small family point to race suicide or race development? This is the question which is asked. and to which an answer is attempted, in Lydia Kingsmill Commander's recent book "The American Idea" (Barnes), which is dedicated to President Roosevelt. The book, the author claims, is not an elaboration of a new theory, but an assembling of facts and opinions from widely varying sources. It is an attempt,-by personal

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canvass, reading, and inquiry,-to represent the American idea on this great subject.

The Gold Supply and Prosperity" (Moody the title of a little book compiled by Byron W. Corporation, 35 Nassau street, New York) is Holt, the editor of Moody's Magazine, dealing with the effect of the increase in the supply of gold upon prices, interest rates, and industry. Many able financial writers contribute to this Symposium, several of the contributors advancing the theory that more gold means not only continuously rising prices, but high rather than low interest rates.

BOOKS OF REFERENCE.

The third volume of that most excellent standard and really unique work on music, "Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians," has just come from the press of the Macmillans. The entire work will be complete in five volumes, under the editorship of J. A. Fuller Maitland, M.A., F.S.A. The first two volumes of this

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great work of reference (the modern issue is a revised edition of the original Grove) have already been noticed in this REVIEW. The present volume handles subjects in M. and P., and is illustrated with a number of portraits of individuals, reproductions of famous scores, and some other interesting diagramatic illustrations. The frontispiece is a portrait of Mozart.

Dr. George Kriehn (Leland Stanford, Jr., University) has translated from the German and edited, with annotations, Prof. Richard Muther's "History of Painting." This scholarly work, in two volumes, treating of the subject from the fourth to the early nineteenth century, illustrated with many reproductions of famous paintings, has been brought out by Putnams.

Another of the invaluable "Who's Who" publications comes to us under the title "Who's Who in New York City and State". (New York: L. R. Hamersly & Co.). This volume includes sketches of every army and navy officer born in (or appointed from New York and now serving, all of the Congressmen from the State, State Senators and judges, and ambassadors, ministers, and consuls appointed therefrom. Besides these official names there are biographies of thousands of New Yorkers who are leaders and representatives in various present-day activities, including some who live in other States and work in New York, as well as some New Yorkers whose legal residence is still in the State, but who are located at Washington in the Government service. This work makes an attempt to list the children of all those whose lives are sketched, thus adding an important factor to many biographic records. In this case, as with "Who's Who in America," the editors have secured the data from first hand, the completed sketches having been submitted to the subjects for verification or amendment. It may, therefore, be regarded as a thoroughly reliable publication.

Apropos of the peace conference held in New York City last month there has been published (by the Progressive Publishing Company, New York) a little volume entitled "Among the World's Peacemakers." This, as its sub-title indicates, is an "epitome of the Interparliamentary Union, with sketches of eminent members of this international house of representatives and of progressive people who are promoting the plan for permanent peace which this union of lawmakers has espoused." The volume has been edited by Hayne Davis, secretary of the Interparliamentary Union. While the illustrations are interesting, it is rather strange that they do not include among the international peace advocates a portrait of Mr. William T. Stead. Recent issues of Elbert Hubbard's "Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers consider John Wesley, Henry George, and Garibaldi. These "Little Journeys are now issued in the form of a monthly periodical.

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A second edition of Gen. Henry L. Abbot's "Problems of the Panama Canal" (Macmillan) is especially welcome at this time, containing as it does full explanations and discussions of the new projects resulting from the studies of the Board of Consulting Engineers appointed by President Roosevelt to advise as to plans for the canal, together with much new information

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NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE.

"Birds that Every Child Should Know," by Neltje Blanchan (Doubleday, Page & Co.), is an attractive_description of those birds that frequent our Eastern States. The photographs from life, by A. R. Dugmore, add much to the interest and permanent value of this work. There are sixty-three of these full-page pictures. By the aid of this little book American children may easily acquaint themselves with the forms and habits of many of our native birds.

"Good Hunting" (Harpers) is the title given to a collection of President Roosevelt's papers upon big game in the West, which were published in Harper's Round Table about ten years ago. Some of the animals described in these entertaining papers,-for example, the elk, bear, goats, and deer,-have suffered marked diminution in number within recent years, and President Roosevelt's influence has been constantly exerted in favor of the preservation of these animals by the maintenance of national parks and forest reserves.

"My Garden Record" (Dodd, Mead & Co.) is a convenient blank book prepared for the use of the gardener, whether amateur or professional, in helping the memory to carry from one season to the next, in accessible form, a list of the successes and failures of the past. It is intended primarily for use with annuals, whether flowers or vegetables, a page being used for each sowing. It can, however, be adapted for recording treatment of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, or trees.

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Under the striking title "Three Acres and Liberty (Macmillan) Mr. Bolton Hall, of New York, gives an account of what has been

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