THE FINE ARTS Mr. George Iles is the general editor of the admirably annotated lists of the American Library Association (Boston). The Association now publishes in an attractive volume a Bibliography of Fine Art. Mr. Russell Sturgis has charge of the departments of painting, sculpture, architecture, decoration, and illustration, and Mr. Henry Edward Krehbiel edits that of music. We note some regrettable omissions; for instance, justice is not done to all the works of John Addington Symonds and Walter Pater; but these omissions are rare exceptions. The descriptive, critical, and comparative notes are excellent, and the volume is sure to be of great value. We are glad to learn that an appendix may shortly be issued by Mr. Iles to his "Readers' Guide to Economic, Social, and Political Science." OUT-OF-DOORS seemed unfair. There are women, womanly wo men, who ask for the ballot in a spirit of deep unselfishness; they believe it would improve the condition of wage earning women, and give the poor man's home a larger share in the decisions of the Government. They advocate woman's suffrage while they shrink from the personal responsibility it imposes. All the "manly women," to quote Dr. Parkhurst, are not found on one side of this question, nor all the womanly women on the other. On the subject of college education for women, Dr. Parkhurst should study more closely the history of the higher education of women, of women's colleges, and co-educational institutions of learning. He seems to have allowed preconceived opinions to control his judg. ment after some investigation into the subject The Talks to Young Men is a most valuable book; every man, young or old, will gain a new purpose, perceive a new revelation of the place he should fill in the world, and God's purpose in The author of Nature in a City Yard, Mr. Charles M. Skinner, seems to be a happy combination of John Burroughs, Charles Dudley creating him. Dr. Parkhurst knows man, his Warner, and H. C. Bunner, and he has succeeded in producing a book which would reflect credit on the collaboration of those skilled picturers of nature and life. With his John Burroughs pen he writes of the flowers, plants, insects, and sky effects that may be studied and enjoyed in a city back yard; then he dips into the Warner inkstand and gives us occasional descriptions of "that McGonigle Boy," with a running comment of modern philosophy from the urban point of view; and he introduces a Jersey peddler and other peripatetic street characters with all the gayety and precision of Mr. Bunner. It is decidedly a book for city lovers of country life to read. (The Century Company, New York.) EDUCATIONAL Miss Mary R. Alling-Aber's An Experiment in Education (Harper & Brothers, New York) is an account of certain methods of teaching children which were tested in a private school in Boston, and later in a public school at Englewood, Ill. They were made in the hope of discovering how far the traditional methods of teaching children are responsible for the defects of mental life which come to the surface later. The volume is a very suggestive contribution to current educational literature. MISCELLANEOUS The Talks to Young Men and the Talks to Young Women, by the Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, which appeared in 1896 in the Ladies' Home Journal" have been published in two neat volumes by the Century Company, New York. The "Talks to Young Women" aroused some feeling, when published, on account of Dr. Parkhurst's position on the woman's suffrage question; many women who oppose the extension of the franchise resented the position taken by Dr. Parkhurst. His analysis of the women who adyocate the extension of the suffrage to women strength and his weakness. The author of these "Talks" is too earnest and sincere a man to have approached the subjects he treats of in these books in other than a reverent spirit. Where he knows whereof he speaks, the world is better for knowledge his touch is uncertain. what he has written; where he has only partial Mr. F. G. Aflalo is the editor of The Literary Year-Book, 1897. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.) It is a pity that American authors, publishers, and booksellers are not represented to a larger extent in this publication. Nor does the volume meet all the requirements of a comprehensive work of reference in British literary matters. far as it goes, nevertheless, the book seems well done, and the various tables and directories are rot too dry reading, for sandwiched among them are some good portraits and biographical sketches. Literary Notes So -One of the chapters of General Wilson's new biography of Grant may be said to have been written by the great commander, for it consists of a series of most valuable war letters addressed during that period by the General to his friend, the Hon. E. B. Washburne, then a member of Congress from Illinois, and later American Minister to France. The new volume, which will appear early in May, is the twelfth of Appletons' Great Commander Series. -The "Journal of Germanic Philology" has just been added to the list of American periodicals. The editor is, Professor G. E. Karsten, of the University of Indiana, and he has associated with himself as co-editors the following specialists: For the department of Germanic grammar, Professor G. A. Hench, of Michigan; for English, Professor A. S. Cook, of Yale; for German literature, Professor H. S. White, of Cornell; for the European interests, Professor George Holz, of Leipsic. The journal is printed at the Norwood (Mass.) Press, and the publishers are Messrs. Ginn & Co., of Boston. It ought to have the support of all interested in Germanics. -The Boston " Literary World" publishes a paragraph out of a private letter from R. D. Blackmore, in which the author of "Lorna Doone "9 says that to Americans the English language owes nearly all its new expressions: "There does not seem to be left in us the power to hit out a new spark of language. We are like a lot of boys with their hands in their pockets, looking on at the blacksmith, and racing for his red chips." -The London journals are recalling the story of the visitor to Wessex who inquired of an old man if he knew Thomas Hardy, and received the following "delicious bit of depreciation" in an. swer: "Oh, the writen' chap! I've read some of his works. They say 'tis a gift. Seems to me 'tis just writen'-just sitten' down an' writen', an' not doen' nothen' at arl. What do 'e do? I ask 'e. Here be I doen' more proper work than Hardy ever did, an' they don't tark about I, an' say' 'There's a great chap,' like they do about 'e." -The San Francisco " Argonaut " tells of the downfall of a would-be wit who once tried to entrap James T. Fields at a dinner party. Before Mr. Fields's arrival one of the gentlemen informed the other guests that he had written some lines which he intended to submit to Mr. Fields as Southey's, and to ask in which of that author's works they could be found. This programme was carried out. "I do not remember to have met with them before," replied the publisher, "and there were only two periods in Southey's life when such things could possibly have been written by him." "When were those?" "Somewhere," said Mr. Fields, "about that early period of his existence when he was having measles or cutting his first teeth, or near the close of his life when his brain was softened. The versification belongs to the measles period, but the ideas betray the idiotic one." done something if he had only had a decent training and education.'" Books Received For week ending April 16 EDWARD ARNOLD, NEW YORK Bottome, Margaret. A Sunshine Trip. $1. THE CENTURY CO., NEW YORK Barr, Mrs. Amelia E. Prisoners of Conscience. $1.50. Dole, Edmund P. The Stand-By. $1.25. Pemberton, Max. Christine of the Hills. $1.25. "Alien." In Golden Shackles. $1.25. Gosse, Edmund. Seventeenth Century Studies. $1.50. Ford, Paul Leicester. The Great K. & A. Train Robbery. $1.25. FLEMING H. REVELL CO., NEW YORK Hillis, Newell Dwight. Foretokens of Immortality. 75 cts. E. P. DUTTON & CO., NEW YORK Abbott, Evelyn, and Lewis Campbell. The Life and Tait, J. Selwin. The Bravest of Them All. $1. Augier, Émile. La Pierre de Touche. Edited by G. M. HARPER & BROS., NEW YORK Alling-Aber, Mary R. An Experiment in Education. Pain, Amelia (Mrs. Barry Pain). Saint Eva. $1.25. Howells, W. D. The Landlord at Lion's Head. $1.75. Twain, Mark. How to Tell a Story and Other Essays. $1.50. D. C. HEATH & CO., BOSTON Carlyle, Thomas. Essay on Burns. Edited by A. J. George. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., BOSTON Whitney, A. D. T. The Open Mystery. $1.25. John Hopkins Morison. A Memoir. $1 50. Brown, Alice. The Day of His Youth. $1. LAMSON, WOLFFE & CO., BOSTON Harrison, Mrs. Burton. The Merry Maid of Arcady, His Lordship, and Other Stories. $1.50. LITTLE, BROWN & CO., BOSTON Mahan, Captain A. T. The Life of Nelson. 2 Vols. $8. Montaigne, Michael, Lord of. Essayes. Translated by John Florio. 50 cts. THE MACMILLAN CO., NEW YORK Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. (Part II.) 50 cts. D. H. M'BRIDE & CO., CHICAGO NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., PHILADELPHIA The Self-Pronouncing S. S. Teachers' Combination Bible. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK Workman, Fanny B., and W. H. Workman. Sketches Awheel in Modern Iberia. $2. Watts, William C. Chronicles of a Kentucky Settlement. $2. Jönsson-Rose, N. Lawns and Gardens. $3 50. R. H. RUSSELL, NEW YORK -An anonymous writer in "The Progressive Ireland, John. The Church and Modern Society. Review " tells some interesting anecdotes of Walt Whitman He writes especially of a talk with the Autocrat, who said: "Oh! Whitman ? well, well, well, Whitman is all very well-he has capacity, but it won't do-it won't do. I tell you what, it's something like this: you know skillful cooks say that the faintest odor, the merest whiff of asafoetida will give a piquant flavor to a dish-and I can believe that; but to drench it in asafoetida, no, that won't do. Now," he continued, "the other day Lowell and Longfellow and I were chatting together, and the subject of Whitman turned up. Said Lowell: 'I can't think why there is all this stir about Whitman; I have read a good deal of his poetry, but I can't see any. thing in it-I can't see anything in it.' 'Well,' said Longfellow, 'I believe the man might have Davis, Richard Harding. Cuoa in War Time. Illustrated by Frederic Remington. $1.25. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK Smyth, Newman. The Place of Death in Evolution. $1.25. Spofford, Harriet Prescott. An Inheritance. 75 cts. S. B. SHAW, GRAND RAPIDS FREDERICK WARNE & CO., NEW YORK The Religious World A Roman Catholic Jubilee The friends of Archbishop Ryan, of Philadel phia, during the last week celebrated with great enthusiasm and many marks of deep appreciation the jubilee of the distinguished prelate who presides over that diocese. A stranger in the city would have been impressed by the thronged streets, the crowds of marching men and children, the decorated houses and churches, which suggested some great holiday. It was a noble tribute to the work of a highly esteemed man. On the evening of April 21 a vast procession representing all the parishes of the city marched through the streets. A banquet was given in honor of the Archbishop. Addresses were presented in behalf of the clergy and the laity, and also in behalf of his friends in the Diocese of St. Louis, from which he was transferred to Philadelphia. It was said that some of the marching societies desired to carry the Irish flag, but the Archbishop responded that he would allow only the American flag. The address of the Archbishop in reply to the many words of appreciation was fine in its spirit and catholic in its expression. We quote his reference to other denominations, as follows: I rejoice at the good feeling that exists between Catholics and their fellow-citizens of various denominations. I rejoice when they unite in works of general benevolence. Many outsiders are models of devotedness to such work. As our divine Lord did not confine charity to the orthodox Jews, but pointed to the heterodox Samaritan as a model for them and for us, so may we learn lessons sometimes from those that are without, and always unite with them in relieving the sufferers of our race; thus united in deeds of benevolence toward others, we shall learn to love one another the more, and, with out compromising one iota of our honest convictions, become worthy of the name of our city. May sweet charity ever characterize our intercourse with one another and with all men, whatever be their faith or race. I know, Catholic people of Philadelphia, that this is your sentiment as weil as that of your Archbishop. Another Step toward Christian Union The Congregational Association of New Jersey, which held its sessions in the Central Congregational Church of Philadelphia last week, took action which may prove to be of great importance. It may be said, by the way, that while this Association is not as large as many others, it has taken a leading part in the affairs of the denomination. The report on Christian Union which was adopted at the last National Council had its origin in this Association. There were many sessions of great interest at the meetings in Philadelphia, but the most important for the outside world was the one which considered this subject of Christian Unity. It was felt that the first movements toward the unity of the Church must begin with those whose forms of government are essentially the same. Addresses on the general subject were therefore given by the Rev. William Hayes Ward, D.D., representing the Congregationalists, President Weston, representing the Christian Connection, and the Rev. A. B. Phi1but, representing the Disciples of Christ. All were catholic in spirit; all deprecated existing divisions; and all expressed their belief that union as a mechanism is impossible, but that it is sure to come as a growth. At the close of the discussion an address was delivered which recounted the progress made in the direction of the federation of the churches in Great Britain, known as the Free Church Congress. The question was then asked, Why should we not, on this side of the water, do what has already been so weil accomplished on the other side? As a result a motion was adopted memorializing the National Council's Committee on Christian Union, and asking that steps be taken looking toward a movement among the churches of the United States corresponding to the Free Church Congress in Great Britain. It was adopted without a dissenting vote. It is hoped that, as a result of this action, at least by the year 1900, something like visible co-operation may be realized. We have already reported in these columns the growth of the Free Church Federation in England. Progress in Fifty Years The fiftieth anniversary of the Central Congregational Church of Bangor, Me., was celebrated on April 1. The chief event of the day was the address of the Rev. George W. Field, D.D., who for thirty years was pastor of the church, and who since his resignation has remained in Bangor. Dr. Field for years was one of the most unique figures in the pulpit of our country. He was repeatedly called to more conspicuous places, but was restrained from accepting, either by his modesty or his love of his people. It is related of him that he was once exchanging with an eminent pastor of the old school, and since widely known as a conservative leader. They met on their return from their respective services, when Dr. Field said to Dr. A., I hope you had a good time with my people--what did you preach about?" Yes," said Dr. A., "I did have a good time," rubbing his hands in delight, "and I preached on the damnation of the heathen.' Did you enjoy yourself in my church, Dr. Field?" The characteristic reply was to this effect: I hope the service did good-my text was 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'' Modest, witty, a spiritual genius, yet intensely distrustful of himself, Dr. Field has been content to be loyal in a small field, but the size of the field has been no measure of the ability of the man or the worth of his work. The following extracts from his ad 66 dress at the anniversary are worthy of careful perusal : The change of the central point of our theology from the decrees of the sovereign ruler to the love of the infinite Father manifested in the person of Christ; the exalting in our preaching of character above either formal works or a formal faith; the substituting in the place of excessive and unwholesome appeal to fear as a motive the more Scriptural appeal to conscience, to love to all the higher and nobler impulses of our nature; the larger hope for the future life; the assurance that if any are finally lost it is because the infinite resources of infinite love are baffled in the attempt to save them-these are some of the changes which have come over the faith of the Church and over the preaching of the pulpit during the fifty years since this church was organized. For that we bless God, and are thankful: by just so much is the Christianity of the Church purer and more powerful, and the outlook for the future more hopeful. Anniversary of the Training Home for The anniversary exercises of the Training Home for Christian Workers were held in the Assembly Hall of the United Charities Building, New York, April 23. This institution is under the care of the Woman's Branch of the New York City Mission. Its object is to fit young women to engage in mission work at home and abroad. Among those most prominent in the administration of its affairs are the Rev. A. F. Schauffler, D.D., and Mrs. W. F. Bainbridge, who represent the City Mission Society. At the anniversary addresses were given by three of the graduates, two being intended to illustrate the best methods of reaching, respectively, adults and children. The anniversary address was delivered by the Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D., and the diplomas were presented by Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, of New York. The Principal of this school is Miss Rosina D. Rowe. The instruction is practical and direct, as all can understand who know anything of the methods of Dr. Schauffler. Such schools as these, filled with earnest and consecrated spirits, are evidences of Christianity which no fine theories can disprove. Unitarianism in England This year's meeting of the Unitarians of Great Britain was held at Sheffield. The two things in the meetings which will be of the most interest to our readers were the sermon, and a discussion on the Spiritual Life of the Churches. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Stopford Brooke, who was so long known as one of the eminent ministers of the Established Church, and whom many of our readers have doubtless heard in the famous Bedford Chapel on Oxford Street. The Chapel has already been torn down, and Mr. Brooke is practically a Unitarian, although we detect in his sermon something far more catholic than limitation to any denomination. His text was, "The kingdom of God is within you." He said that the main subject of preaching is the human heart of man and the human heart of cant. God, and their natural relation one to another. He said also: "In sermons the preacher must subordinate all mere intellectual interest to the questions which affect the heart of man. . . . The world is a sorely troubled one; it is shadowed by sin; it is filled with strife, and the human heart looks to the preacher for the word of comfort, consolation, and rest." The sermon closed with a powerful appeal to the example of Christ as one who taught religion, the knowledge and love of God, out of the knowledge and love in the heart of common humanity. The discussion on the Spiritual Life of the Churches was signifiThe speaker indicated that he felt that the ministers are devoting too much time to merely intellectual questions; that they are preaching literature rather than religion. These were interesting questions: "Are not the ministers sometimes more concerned about problems than about souls?" "Do they not suffer because they fail to make enough of the simple, human, reasonable, natural Christ?" "In repudiating the supernatural have they not missed the potency of personality?" The other matter to which we refer is the somewhat singular statement that " many leave the Unitarian Church because they find it too restricted." There is a monopoly of real liberal. ity in no denomination. Not infrequently those who emphasize liberality most are actually the narrowest; and not infrequently those who seem to stand for bigotry are broad and liberal. There is no distinct line separating those who are essentially liberal from those who are essentially the reverse. Some one once asked, "What has Unitarianism done for England?" The happy reply of Mrs. Humphry Ward was, "It has If it had given to the world James Martineau." done nothing else, it would still have a record of which it might well be proud. But James Martineau has passed his years of active service, and the question will soon arise, What will Unitarianism in England do in the future? Will it find another James Martineau to act as a prophet and interpreter of its deepest and truest life? In India The religious world of India has recently been very much stirred over the visit of Dr. John H. Barrows, and the return of Swami Vivekananda. We have already reported the generous reception given to Dr. Barrows, and the excellent service which his lectures have rendered. Swami Vivekananda, as is well known, came to this country three years and a half ago to attend the Parliament of Religions. Being a man of some eloquence and of a certain oratorical power, he gained some notoriety. He has been lecturing in England and America on the Vedanta philosophy. Wildly exaggerated reports have been sent to India concerning the success of his work. It has been said that thousands of Americans and Europeans have been converted to Hinduism through him, and that among the converts are many of the "master-minds of science, philosophy, and theology." Naturally, his countrymen were roused to a good deal of enthusiasm, and planned to give him a hearty welcome on his return. It may be said, by the way, that we have never heard of a single person of eminence or special intelligence in this country being converted to the Hindu philosophy by Swami Vivekananda, or any one else. He has been listened to with much interest, and many have been glad to study what he has had to teach them. That is all the truth there is in that report. On his return, however, he was welcomed as a hero. The Swami has not expounded in England and America pure Hinduism, but a teaching peculiar to himself. The following is condensed from the "Madras Mail," and gives a very good idea of his beliefs: Every nation has some department in which it excels. The strength of the Indian people is their intense religiousness. In other countries religion is a minor thing a mere ornament of life, overshadowed by their commerce or their politics. To the Hindu it is the whole of life. His leaders have never been generals or kings, but sages. India will never compete with European nations in politics, but its contribution to the sum total of human knowledge is a spiritual philosophy. India may freely learn from the West in material things, but in the things of the spirit India must be the teacher of the world. There are two elements in Hindu literature-one consisting of eternal truth, and the other of ever-changing rites and customs and social institutions. The India of to-day is in bondage to these latter. It must cast off the bonds and get back to the original and eternal spiritual philosophy-that is, to the doctrine of the Vedanta, which, it is maintained, will supply the only philosophic basis for ethical and moral codes. The strength of Hinduism as compared with Christianity and other faiths consists in the fact that it is independent of any historic persons. Christianity must stand or fall with Jesus Christ, and Islam with Mohammed, but Hinduism rests solely on spiritual truth. The Swâmi attributes all that he knows to his master Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (an illiterate but remarkable Brahman devotee who lived near Calcutta a few years ago, and of whom Professor Max Müller recently wrote an account in the "Nineteenth Century"). "As the Lord," says Vivekananda," has incarnated himself in time past in Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and others, so for the present age he has incarnated himself in Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who is worshiped to-day by thousands of men in America and Europe, because his teachings are just the teachings which modern circumstances require. The modern world must bcw and sit at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna." Missionaries to the Latin Quarter in Paris The free and careless side of life in the so-called Latin Quarter has been so clearly portrayed in recent fiction that anything regarding student life in Paris is of interest. In the current number of "The Open Church" the Rev. W. M. Paden, D.D., tells of the religious work begun there by the Rev. Charles Wood, D.D., during his few months' service in the American Chapel. Dr. Wood was much interested in and had intense sympathy for these young men, and realized their perils and temptations, and the meager opportunities which there existed for strengthening even a nature inclined toward religion. Finding that the students would not come over the river to hear him, he went to them. A series of Sunday evening meetings was inaugurated in the atelier of one of the larger schools. There, amidst the surroundings of an artist's workshop-some seated on stools and some on rough chairs-a large company of students meet every Sunday night to listen to an unconventional service. One student presides at the piano; a half-dozen others with various instruments form an orchestra to lead in the singing of the hymns. After the Scriptures have been read a programme of vocal and instrumental musicthe best they can obtain in Paris-is listened to. The leader then talks to the students for twentyfive or thirty minutes, usually on some theme of special interest to them. These Sunday evening meetings have been very largely attended, and have become a wholesome place of rendezvous for the students. 66 They give the Christian students an opportunity to show their Christian sympathies, and bring them into closer touch with each other. They keep the ideals of Anglo-Saxon morality before the colony. They are of immeasurable encouragement to well-doers, and keep the fire burning under the consciences of many who are not doing so well. In individual cases men who have drifted far have been won back to Christian allegiance. Some have been enlisted in a weeknight service for prayer and conference, and many have been brought into helpful relations with the churches across the river. The sick are visited, the despondent are counseled and encouraged, and, above all, the essentials of ethical conduct and Christian faith are discussed with the students almost daily in the frankest and most personal way for the art student, instead of resenting such conversation, invites it and likes it." This work, which has been so well begun, we believe is being carried on by the Rev. John R. Paxton, D.D., late of the West Presbyterian Church in New York. An Incident On Sunday of last week the Rev. John W. Chadwick, of Brooklyn, found himself suffering from a severe cold. His voice grew more and more husky as he proceeded, and at length, after struggling with the impediment unsuccessfully, he stopped in the middle of his discourse and said: "I shall be obliged to ask Mrs. Chadwick to finish my sermon for me." As she came up into the pulpit he pointed out the place in his manuscript which he had reached, and, turning to his congregation, explained, "My wife has not read the manuscript, but I think she can get along with it." She gracefully completed the discourse in a clear, firm voice, notwithstanding the sudden emergency and the unusual position; after which her husband came back into the pulpit to conclude the services of the morning, saying as he did so. "A friend in need is a wife indeed "—a felicitous benediction to which the congregation must have wished to say "Amen." |