plea that men are not responsible for their deeds, if they but mean well, should be forever revamped. If slavery was a crime against humanity, secession was a crime against a great nation with a God-given destiny to fulfill.

While we feel it our duty to emphasize this point, we feel that these lectures will make profitable reading for all who will take them up. In style they are direct and pleasing, though occasionally marred by inexact and careless use of words. A few minor statements are open to controversy, but the accuracy and transparent honesty of the work throughout are worthy of the warmest praise. One curious error is constantly repeated in connection with the oft-cited name of John Taylor, of Caroline, who invariably appears as "of Carolina."

ETHELBERT D. WARFIELD.

Lafayette College.

MARIA THERESA and JOSEPH II. By the Rev. J. Franck Bright, D. D. The Macmillan Company, London and New York. 2 vols. In their former issues, the publishers of this Foreign Statesmen Series' have given a single volume to each biography. In picturing the reigns of Maria Theresa and her son this method is abandoned, for, as the publishers explain, the reigns are too closely connected to be satisfactorily treated except as parts of a whole. During the period of the co-regency-1765-80-the influence of Joseph upon the great Empress was gradually increasing, and it is impossible "to attempt an account of her political action without taking into consideration the character and views of her son." Moreover, Dr. Bright regards the social reforms undertaken by Joseph during the ten years of his sole rulership as but the fulfillment of measures initiated in his mother's reign. However this may be, unity was given to the foreign policy during the whole period by the system of Kaunitz, which justifies Dr. Bright in making the volumes before us the first and second of a single work rather than distinct biographies of two rulers.

To any student interested in the political and historical development of Europe, it must be evident that the half century following the death of the emperor, Charles VI., was among the most momentous periods in history. It has, indeed, been somewhat neglected, owing to the overwhelming importance assigned to the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras succeeding it, yet it is by no means improbable that the earlier years give us the key to the later developments. Even if we neglect such reflected importance, it is no small claim for distinction that a period should possess four such giants in politics as Frederic of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, Lord Chatham, and the Austrian Empress. Nor were

Louis XV., of France, and Kaunitz pigmies, if indeed the latter was not the mainstay of the Austrian policy.

It is in harmony with other works in this series and to the credit of Dr. Bright, that neither hero-worship nor national pride prevents his assuming an attitude of impartiality toward the actors whom he presents to his readers. An Englishman, he does not hesitate to expose the utterly selfish and ignoble policy pursued by his country during the period of its alliance with Austria, including the abandonment of that ally when Russia made a higher bid for English aid. An admirer of the shrewd and powerful nature of Frederic the Great, he admits-as, indeed, all conscientious critics must admit the unscrupulous character of that prince. No deception was too low, no desertion too base, for use by the Prussian Government, if by that means its position in Europe could be improved. It was, indeed, the Prussian policy in 1756 which prepared the ground for Kaunitz's famous alliance with France, Prussian duplicity being the deciding argument at the French court. Even upon her new ally Austria could not place real dependence. For the listlessness of France we cannot hold Louis or his ministers directly accountable. The alliance had never been popular with the whole court, and it was this division of interests, together with the inefficiency of French governmental methods, which prevented the fullest co-operation of France with her Austrian ally. The effect was no less disastrous to the empress. When, in 1759, the Austrians and Russians had won the battle of Kunersdorf, or in 1760, when Laudon had regained the larger part of Silesia, a strong movement by France on Frederic's western frontier would have completed the triumph, but the opportunity was not improved. It is probable that France, as England before her, considered Austria more as a subordinate than as an equal, and that Choiseul was ready to use her victories as a basis for favorable terms of peace with England, even if such action should deprive the empress of the legitimate results of her active policy.

Finally, in the alliance with Russia we can see the same motives leading to the same results. From Elizabeth, indeed, much real aid was obtained, for she was as much incensed against Frederic as was her sister empress; but when Joseph tried to join forces with Catherine, he found, as before, that Austria was to be used only as a cat's-paw, this time in the war between Russia and Turkey.

This brings us to the causes of the unsuccess which seemed continually to follow the empress. At no time except in her alliance with Elizabeth were Austria's desires coincident with those of her ally. England and France were

fighting each other and Russia was opposed to Turkey; none of these powers had aught against Prussia, whose downfall Maria Theresa was seeking in every way to accomplish. In such a game it is not honor but unscrupulous ability which is the winner, and this quality was not possessed by the empress, nor would she allow Kaunitz free rein in his policy of calculating diplomacy. United with this loyalty to an ally, until that ally had broken the alliance, was her loyalty to old friends, which proved almost as fatal. It was this which kept Charles of Lorraine and Donn so long in command of the Austrian armies and prevented many military successes. It was this which decided the empress to retain old officials in service at Vienna because of faithful service in the past, although not in harmony with proposed changes in administration, and thus prevented the hearty cooperation between the head and subordinates necessary for the successful introduction of new measures; yet it was no less this loyalty which retained Kaunitz at his post, and maintained, as a consequence, unity in Austria's foreign policy so far as it concerned her motives in diplomacy.

While

Another trait of the empress, praiseworthy in itself, yet placing her at a disadvantage compared with her great antagonist, was her feeling of identification with all the interests of the state, and her desire to personally direct each department. Especially is this disadvantage noted in connection with the army. Frederic's sex enabled him to assume a personal command of his forces, the efforts repeatedly put forth by the empress to direct some movement of which possibly her generals disapproved, only served to weaken her military strength. In times of distress, however, the devotion to the state of which such interference was but a mask, stood her in good stead. It was this devotion, supported by a pride no less haughty than that of Frederic himself, which excited an enthusiastic admiration for the empress that has not yet disappeared. It was this which enabled her to confront successfully all Europe during the war of the Austrian succession, and won for her in return a devotion from her subjects remarkable when we remember the heterogeneous races of which they were composed. Here we may well compare her with her son. Joseph had the same feeling of unity with the state, but he lacked the tact and natural dignity of the empress, as well as the caution of Frederic. A theorist by nature, he tried to replace old institutions by new ones before his subjects were acquainted with their advantages. Such methods of reform can succeed only when proposed by a ruler in whom the people have absolute confidence, or by one who has an overwhelming power to support his innovations.

Hindered by foreign affairs from devoting all his resources to the promotion of his reforms, and hampered by the opposition which these reforms excited at home, Joseph was obliged to abandon many of his important measures, although some remained as active forces in the regeneration of the Austrian state. Of one point we may be sure. Had the empress been allowed to come into control of her dominions in peace, the same measures of reform which Joseph failed to carry into effect would have stood a far better chance of being put into successful operation. Each ruler failed to accomplish a full measure of success in desired administrative changes the first, because war kept her attention fixed on foreign affairs; the second, because of the additional weakness found in an impatient nature governed by impulse.

Although we may agree, therefore, with Dr. Bright that the fifty years covered by the two reigns are the period of trial of absolute monarchy as the agent of reform in Europe, we cannot agree with him that under the Austrian Empire there was a fair opportunity for the accomplishment of such reform. Louis XV. in France, or Frederic in Prussia, are much better examples of the advantages and dangers possible under such a system. The history of the Austrian Empire since the time of Joseph has hardly given us sufficient grounds for an unhesitating condemnation of absolutism. Both he and his mother sought the best interests of the state over which they ruled. The empress saved it from being divided among the neighboring powers, and both sought to introduce more liberal institutions. In spite of the most extreme difficulties, they succeeded in establishing reforms which furnished in large part the foundation on which later Austrian development has rested. This certainly was no insignificant accomplishment.

C. H. LINCOLN.

Contributed Verse.

A DEAD WOMAN.

(Alfred de Musset's "La Morte.")

And she was fair, if sombre night,

Sleeping within this Chapel where Great Angelo's hand has labored, might, In its pale silence, be called fair.

And she was good, if it be aught

Passing to fill the upstretched palms,
When God has nothing said or thought,
If gold without a tear be alms.

And she had thoughts, if in the tones
Of gentle-cadenced voice you find,
Or in the brook that sings and moans,
The music of the thoughtful mind.

She prayed as well, if two fair eyes
Now resting on this world of care,
And now uplifted to the skies,

Could ever in Christ's sight be prayer.
She would have smiled, if but the flower
That lies within the calyx yet
Could spread its petals in the bower
To winds that kiss it and forget.

She would have wept, if she e'er felt

Tears in that chill, crossed breast, and knew That in her human clay there dwelt

The drops of that immortal dew.

She would have loved, perchance, had pride,
Like the vain light of lamps that rest
Enkindled by her coffin's side,

Not guarded safe her sterile breast.

And she, not having lived, is dead;

She made pretence to live-'twas all;

And from her idle hands unread,
The unoped book of life let fall.

HOPE IN GOD.

(Victor Hugo's "Espoir en Dieu.")

Hope on, dear heart, to-day, to-morrow hope anew,
And ever day by day, fearing the future less;
Hope, and each time the morn breaks through the

eastern blue

Let us be there to pray, as God is there to bless.

Our faults have brought this pain, this bitterness, dear child;

Perchance, if on our knees we weary not in prayer, When He has blest the pure, the innocent, the mild, He'll bless the penitent, and find us kneeling there. FREDERICK H. SYKES.

Book Notes.

Father Tabb's latest volume 'Lyrics,' (Copeland and Day), does and does not deserve its title. Undoubtedly these poems are not to be classed as dramatic or epical; but as a whole they do not possess the genuine lyric quality-they do not sing themselves into the memory. In very few are found the swing, the fresh bird-like lilt of the true lyric, or the simplicity of structure, the crystalline clearness of expression which is the natural dress of those phases of emotion adapted to lyric treatment. It is only necessary to think of almost any verse of the masters. Burns, Heine, Beranger, to see how defective these "lyrics" are. At the same time, they have excellences of their own. As Wordsworth would say, they are a string of valuable thoughts. They are all short, so satisfying one of Poe's requirements. They are tender, meditative, subtle, at times super-subtle, interpretative of nature, and nearly all with a moral drift.

The author, as a priest of the Church of Rome, is naturally and necessarily limited in his choice of subject. His calling shows itself also in the ecclesiastical imagery used in various places. In gen eral, he builds on the broad ground of common Christianity, and adherents of other confessions can find their account in his verses as readily as in the Imitatio. His sympathies are broad enough to include Keats, Shelley, and Poe, to whom he addresses sonnets. This shows how far we have advanced in the liberalism that Newman so deplored-a priest of Rome appreciating the poet of 'Queen Mab.' Many of Father Tabb's verses are so condensed as to approach the epigrammatic, notably such quatrains as 'Lanier's Flute' and 'My Secret.' Many of them are simply expanded similes, or concetti, which show his relation with Herbert and the German mystics of the seventeenth century. "The Fig-tree,' 'Pain,' and most of the devotional verse from p. 116 to 133 are quite in Herbert's manner. Granted the pietist temperament, and the inspiration, the resultant verse will be the same. The century seems to have very little to do with it. The praiseworthy effort at concentra tion finds its natural outlet in the allegory; the concetto and the language seem in many cases rather strained, as for instance the first stanza of 'Fraternity.' Again, the quaintness reminds one of Herbert. The final impression left on the mind is that these verses, like the narrative of Goethe's heroine, are the confes sions of a fair soul. A favorable example of Father Tabb's verse is 'Gone,' p. 33. The mood is simple and universal and is given back by the few words with absolute truth:

"The sunshine seeks thee, and the day Without thee, lonely, wears away; And where the twilight shadows pass, And miss thy footprints on the grass, They weep; whereat the breezes sigh, And, following to find thee, die."

As far as manufacture goes, the little book justifies the proud motto of the publishers, sicut lilium inter spinas. The works of other publishers are, of course, the 'thorns,' and undoubtedly there has been, and is, too much cheap and wretched book-making in Amer ica. Another danger which besets the young firms of reformers is mere eccentricity.

'Elementary Drawing,' written and illustrated by Elizabeth Moore Hallowell, and published by the Macmillan Company, consists, according to the author's preface, "chiefly of a series of papers originally

If one may judge by the number of books on musical subjects published within the last year, there is a growing desire on the part of the public to know more about the Art of Music and how it has grown to its present state.

Of all these books there is none more rational, more clear, and more thorough than Mr. Parry's small volume on The Evolution of the Art of Music.'

Within the compass of fourteen chapters he has compressed in a concise and intelligent manner, the whole history of its development.

The book is written from the point of view of a thoroughly trained musician, but, at the same time, with a clearness of expression and an avoidance of unnecessary technical terms that make it available for the general reader.

The chapter devoted to Folk Songs is especially interesting in its analysis of the characteristics of primitive music in different countries, and in showing how climate, and conditions of life have affected it. From these early tunes-unpremeditated and genuine the art of music sprang, and one's appreciation of all that has been done since then is increased tenfold by a knowledge of what the early writers had to say. The only way to learn to listen to music-as we are beginning to see is by the careful study of its history. This may be done with Mr. Parry's guidance, as he is a thoroughly competent teacher in this field.

E.

We notice the following in a recent issue of The Publishers' Weekly: 66 Students of music will be interested to hear of a new enterprise in the literature of their subject. The Clarendon Press is to bring out a series of five books of musical history. W. H. Hadow is the general editor, and he will write the volume on 'The Viennese School and Its Times.' Dannreuther has been assigned to write the volume on 'The Romantic Movement;' Fuller-Maitland will write on the age of Bach and Handel; Dr. Hubert Parry has in hand the music of the seventeenth century, and Professor Woodbridge will prepare the volume dealing with the ecclesiastical period."

not a quite convincing hero, it is undoubtedly because the author chose to alter the lines here and there, and his running up of the English flag is one of the situations which thrill with the emotion, clear and uncomplicated, which Mr. Parker imagines so readily. It is a daring thing to make the laughing, cynical, unprincipled Irish nobleman a thief as well. Of course, if he had been a pirate or a highwayman it would have been another matter, but it is hardly a Captain Macheatte whose adventures we are following, and it is something of a shock to our sympathy, which has apparently been appealed to for other reasons, when we find him pocketing other people's funds. But what could be better than the introduction of the dancing bear and his master? "In one of the pauses, a song came monotonously lilting down the street. Yet it was not a song, it was only a sort of humming or chanting. The man's voice was not unpleasant; it had a rolling crooning sort of sound, a little weird as though he had lived where men see few of their kind and have much to do with animals. The bear, a huge brown animal, upright on his hind legs, was dancing sideways along the road, keeping time to the lazy notes of his leader's voice." It is as if they stepped out of another world into the consciousness of the reader as they came down the street to halt before the Hotel France, where "the bear danced round and round in a ring, his eyes rolling savagely, his head shaking from side to side in a bad-tempered way," and "some one cried out 'It's Vanne Castine! it's Vanne!'" It is in the surprise of such unhackneyed effects as this, that some readers find much of their pleasure in Mr. Parker's work-as much perhaps as in the bizarre types of character he chooses, with all their primitive force, and in his perception of the values of harmony and contrast in their environment. (Lawson, Wolffe, & Co.)

Professor Newman Smyth is biologist as well as theologian. The battles of theology, like those of biology, are really waged, he thinks, about the cell. In "The Place of Death in Evolution' (Charles Scribner's Sons) he would fain pluck out the secret of the cell and make it speak for immortality. He accepts the assumption of biology that the simplest form of life, the cell, buds, divides, increases, multiplies, but never dies unless some accident occurs. What seems to be death is merely nature's way of keeping life, giving it variety, richness, and plastic power of adaptation to a new environment. Death preserves the form which is capable of the better life, and teaches it to grow into its best. In appearance an enemy, death is in fact the faithful friend and untiring servant of life. law, one Spirit, one love pervades the universe, Professor Smyth tells us, and death which reigns a while is overcome at last in the self-conscious immortality of love. But this is no conclusive argument to those who would inquire if personal identity persists through all eternity.

One

There is perhaps nothing so badly taught in the public schools as American History. A most useful little book to teachers and advanced students is Channing & Hart's 'Guide to American History,' published by Ginn & Co. This book is the best of its kind that has appeared. It deals with American History alone, and treats the subject exhaustively. It is divided into three parts. In the first there are many useful suggestions as to the preparation of teachers, method in teaching, written and oral work, proper use of text-books, and other practical subjects. The bibliography of American History is excellent, having evidently been prepared with great care. A most useful feature in this department is a chapter on working libraries. It begins with a "five dollar collection," naming a few short works, then gives a "ten dollar collection," and so on up to a "hundred dollar collection," giving the titles and the names of authors and publishers.

"In making up the lists care has been taken to include, so far as possible, books which balance each other, either by treating different phases of American history or by taking different sides on the same general question." These lists will be found helpful to University Extension Centres that are founding libraries. Parts second and third are devoted to "Topics and References in Colonial and United States History.' These topics are accompanied by bibliographical references. There is also a carefully prepared index covering more than forty closelyprinted pages.

'A Story-teller's Pack' is an excellent title for the new volume of short stories by Frank Stockton, just issued by Messrs. Scribner's Sons. We scarcely expect the Bearer of the Pack to be veracious, and when we find a piscatorial flavor to the tale, as in "The Widow's Cruise,' we understand his wink and say nothing. If he is clever, he may vamp up old favorites, as our Pedlar does in his clever travesty of Dickens called 'Stephen Skarridge's Christmas.' But for the most part these stories are love-stories in which romance is presented amidst the incongruous surroundings of a prosaic world. Here, as elsewhere, Stockton finds his favorite subjects in situations that suggest lovers trying to be sentimental while driving over a corduroy road. One of the best bits of this flavor is in 'Love Before Breakfast,' where the miller's wife, learning that the young landlord has been lurking about his country estate merely to make love to his fairest tenant, advises him not to be in a hurry to tell her husband and the neighbors--"They might be a little disappointed at first, for they had a mighty high opinion of you when they thought you was layin' low here to keep an eye on them tenants of yours." Several of the character-sketches have the

:

interest of freshness and reality in "The Staying Power of Sir Rohan' that of Uncle Beamish, and in 'Captain Eli's Best Ear,' the two sea captains, one of whom grins as if a leak is sprung in the side of a vessel, stretching nearly from stem to stern. On the whole these stories will be found rather inconsequential and unsatisfactory, except to a complacent mood on an idle afternoon. They will add nothing to the reputation of the author of 'Rudder Grange The volume is excellently printed, bound, and illustrated.

Professor Richardson, of Drury College, has writ ten and the Macmillan Company have pub lished a very interesting study in English history, "The National Movement in the Reign of Henry III., and Its Culmination in the Barons' War.' The task which Professor Richardson sets for himself is a very modest one, but the student will find on every page evidence that it has been well performed. In brief, the objects of the work are: First, to give a statement of the efforts of the thirteenth century to establish in England the doctrines of the Empire Church and the French monarchy; second, to set forth the opposition to them, which resulted in the development of English nationality and the beginnings of the revolt from the Papal power. Three chapters, with subdivisions, make up the book, and treat respectively of The Forces Which Made England a Nation in the Reign of Henry III.,' 'The Forces Which Roused England to Armed Re sistance', and 'The Outbreak and the Culmination of the National Movement.'

English history of the thirteenth century has long been treated as showing the birth of English political liberty, but here it is given a further significance. Our author says,

The true culmination of the na tional movement in the reign of Henry III. was reached in the sphere of thought when the poet in his silent chamber realized that the royal power was lim ited by the divine will, that the divine will was exercised for the welfare of all people on the earth, whatever their rank or station, and that of this will the community was the true interpreter; it was reached in the sphere of action when the founder of the House of Commons withdrew this thought from the realm of the observer and gave it concrete exist ence by giving to the people of England a share in the exercise of sovereign power." This states fairly the conclusions of the book, but the student may well ask whether a national movement can be realized elsewhere than in the minds of the people, and whether the English of the thirteenth century, by feelings of geographical unity, unity of race origin, unity of language or common industrial interests, had come to regard themselves in any true sense as one people. In other words, it seems that a nation must realize itself before there is a true national movement, a fact not clearly kept in mind by the author. The usefulness of the work is much im. paired by the lack of an index.

D. C. Heath & Company, of Boston, have in press, for immediate issue in Heath's 'Modern Language Series, First Spanish Readings,' by Professor J. E. Matzke, of Leland Stanford University. This book contains one hundred and fifteen pages of very care fully selected stories descriptive of Spanish life and customs, and is provided with excellent notes and a full vocabulary.

The Macmillan Company have brought out the lat est piece of work by Professor Giddings of Columbia University, under the title The Theory of Socialization.' It is a pamphlet syllabus or outline, dealing with sociological principles. In the case of the