level of present Scriptural knowledge, and at once evangelical and irenic. The Congregational document of 1883 is an ap proach to it, though too long, and in some points too elaborate. The Free Church Catechism of 1898 is a nearer approach, and in tone and method almost ideal. Witness a single question and answer:

11. Q. How did the Son of God save His people from their sins?

A. For our salvation He came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.

After such a pattern of clear, succinct definition, in the words of Scripture, affirm ing the Christian facts, the Presbyterian Church should construct a creed, based upon the sovereignty of God, and declaring how he wields that sovereignty in infinite love for human salvation.

This is what the Church of to day

T

needs. It is affirmative, not controversial. It opens the door toward other churches instead of closing it against them. It reduces instead of multiplying the number of points of difference among Presbyteri ans themselves. It can be put into the hands of men without a labored explaining away of its meaning. It can be used on the Foreign Mission field, where the present symbols are entirely out of place. It is a fit preparation for that united, aggressive work to which the Providence of God is signally calling the Church of to-day. It would lift many heavy burdens; relieve many sensitive consciences; clear many bewildered minds. It would remove the embarrassing and hindering need of constant apology. We shall hope that the first step so happily taken at St. Louis will in due time lead to the adoption of a brief, irenic, evangelical creed to be subscribed instead of the Westminster symbols, and to which every Presbyterian may heartily prefix his "Credo." Washington.

HE earliest works of philosophy were apparently written for the public; certainly it does not require special training to understand and be interested in them. Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are all included in the Wisdom Literature of the Hebrews, and are the nearest approximation to philosophy in their literature. The first is a quasidrama; the second a collection of aphorisms which were the current coin of the realm; and the third a philosophy of life in the terms of a realistic, though probably not real, human experience. If we pass from the Hebrew to the Greek world, it is quite safe to say that no interpreter of Plato has ever written with greater lucidity than Plato himself, and none has approximated him in interest. The only conceivable advantage of reading the interpreter is that he puts the Platonic philosophy in less space. It would someIt would some

Fundamental Ideas of Christianity. By J. N. Caird. The Macmillan Co., New York. $3.50.

The Conception of Immortality. By Josiah Royce. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.

The Divine Pedigree of Man. By T. J. Hudson. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. $1.50.

The Map of Life. By W. E. H. Lecky. Longmans. Green & Co., New York. $1.50.

I

times appear that we are returning to the methods of the ancients; that our moder writers have in mind, not the experts only or chiefly, but the ordinary educated reader, and write for him. The four books mentioned in the note below are popular in this sense, that they are written for the people, though not written down to them. To read and understand them requires thought, but it does not require scholastic attainment.

Principal Caird's work, "Fundamen tal Ideas of Christianity," is preceded by a memoir of John Caird, the author. by his brother, the Master of Balliol The one criticism we have to make upor the book is a criticism of the thing which, it seems to us, the author has attempted to do. This is to translate Christianity into terms of theology. That this is his object is indicated, not only by the am biguous title of his book, but also by the unambiguous titles of his chapters: "Naural and Revealed Religion," "Faith and Reason," "The Origin and Nature of Evil," "The Idea of the Incarnation." "The Idea of the Atonement," etc., etc.

We instinctively raise the question, Art

any ideas, properly speaking, to be included in the fundamentals of Christianity? It is true that there are certain ideas concerning Christianity which are fundamental to a correct conception of it, but this does not appear to be the author's meaning; the whole tone of his book indicates, as his fundamental conception, that Christianity is, if not primarily, at least necessarily and fundamentally, a system of philosophy. In this we cannot agree with him; a man may be fundamentally a Christian and yet in radical error in his fundamental ideas concerning Christianity. An idea signifies an intellectual conception; it is founded on a vital experience; and the intellectual conception follows on, grows out of, is built upon, that experience. Doubtless this process of intellectualizing the practical and spiritual experiences narrated in the Bible was, and is, a necessary process in the growth of the individual, of the Church, and of the race; but it appears to us a mistake to call these intellectual conceptions, or any of them, a part of the fundamentals of Christianity. Nor is this a mere hypercriticism. One of the most serious errors of our time, as it is one of the most widespread, is that which regards Christianity as a system of philosophy, like Platonism, for example, as though it consisted in certain ideas of God, immortality, redemption, but differed from it in the character of the ideas. While, undoubtedly, we do need some reconstruction of the intellect ual edifice which has been built on those experiences of God that find their clearest literary interpretation in the Bible, we need still more a retranslation of the intellectual conceptions into the terms of vital experience. We need not so much a new philosophy of the Trinity as an interpretation in terms of experience of that out of which the doctrine of the Trinity has grown; not so much a new "idea of the atonement" as a restatement of the experience of forgiveness of sin and unity with God which is itself the foundation of all theories of the atonement. Principal Caird recognizes, in his chapter on Faith and Reason, this truth that ideas are not fundamentals of Christianity. "Religion exists," he says, " and must exist as a life and experience before it can be made the object of reflective thought," a sentence which appears to us to be quite conclu

sive that no forms of reflective thought are "fundamentals of Christianity." We need go no further into criticism of this work than to say that it constitutes a sort of continuation of the "Evolution of Religion" by Edward Caird, and is conceived in much the same spirit; it may in general terms be described as Hegelian in its character; and for the student who desires to understand the intellectual philosophy which underlies the so-called "New Theology" we know no book more worthy of study than this.

To a certain extent the same judgment may be applied to Professor Royce's little monograph-it is less than a hundred pages-on "The Conception of Immortality." Professor Royce, however, does not assume to give the foundation of our faith in immortality, but only to put in intellectual form a statement of the philosophy of that faith. There are two questions, in experience indistinguishable, in thought different: one, Am I immortal? the other, Shall I be immortal? The one concerns man's present nature, the other his future destiny. Philosophically it may be said that one cannot know that he will be immortal, but he may know that he is that is, if he is. This faith in present immortality, that is, in one's possession of a nature which transcends the evanescent and transitory, is primarily a habit of mind; it depends largely, perhaps entirely, upon whether the life really is expended on the mortal and the transitory,

or on the immortal and the eternal. This is what Paul means by the phrase, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Professor Royce's object is to show that personality is one of those things which are not seen and are eternal. Suppose you had, he says-we condense his illustration-a description of Abraham Lincoln which was exact and exhaustive. You cannot affirm dogmatically that it is impossible certainly it is not inconceivable-that there might be another man who looked, felt, thought, and succeeded as Abraham Lincoln. And yet he would not be Abraham Lincoln-a consideration which makes it quite clear that the real individuality does not consist in his looks,

thoughts, feelings, actions, but in a mysterious and invisible something which lies back of all that he ever did or said or thought, and which does not, therefore, partake of the transitory character of what we call his life, but is really only the outward manifestation of his life. We cannot follow the argument further; and we are conscious that our condensation does it injustice-Professor Royce is not an easy man to condense; but we have perhaps given enough of his argument to 'show that immortality, in the true sense, as signifying a nature not temporary or transitory, and personality, are indissolubly connected. To deny the former it is necessary to deny the latter.

Mr. T. J. Hudson, in the "Divine Pedigree of Man," reaches a similar conclusion to that of Professor Royce, though by a longer road. His volume refers to and is based upon his preceding volumes, "The Law of Psychic Phenomena " and "A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life." He assumes in this volume, as demonstrated in its predecessors, that "man is endowed with two minds:" "the objective mind is that of ordinary waking consciousness;" "the subjective mind is that intelligence which is most familiarly manifested to us when the brain is asleep, or its action is otherwise inhibited, as in dreams, or in spontaneous somnambulism, or trance or trance-like states and conditions, as in induced somnambulism or hypnotism." The objective mind, as we understand Dr. Hudson, acts through the brain, and is given to man to connect him with the physical universe, and serves as a means of educating the subjective mind, which acts independently of the brain and has no direct contact with the physical universe. This subjective mind is, if not a part of, a direct inheritance from, the divine or universal mind, coming to man through the very earliest stages of his development; or, as Dr. Hudson expresses it," The mental faculties of man are inherited from [does he not mean through his lower ancestors, beginning with lowest unicellular tissue." It is this subjective mind which is directly derived. from God, and links man to God—that is, spirit in man is linked with, because derived from, God, who is spirit. Answering to omniscience, omnipotence, omniprescnce, and infinite love in God, are in man

instinct or intuition, will-power, telepathy, natural emotions. This subjective mind we might not unnaturally identify with that mysterious personality which Professor Royce makes it so clear is the ultimate fact in every consciousness. Concerning Dr. Hudson's hypothesis, all we can say is that it is a possible although an unproved one-a statement which, however, might be made of more commonly accepted scientific hypotheses, such as the wave theory of light.

"The Map of Life" has about the same relation to the preceding books that the Book of Proverbs has to the Book of Job. They discuss theories of philosophy; this book discusses problems of conduct and character. Mr. Lecky's studies in the history of Christian morals have given him that wide survey of ethics in practice and their development in history which fits. him admirably to prepare such a volume as this. In the themes considered it might be compared with Samuel Smiles's "Character;" but whereas that is anec dotal and empirical, this is philosophical, though not abstruse. Mr. Lecky does not devote himself to abstract theories respecting the basis of morals, but to a practical consideration of what the moral laws really require in the practical conduct of life. Three or four sentences taken almost at hazard from the volume will indicate to the reader its general spirit better than any more elaborate critique could do:

Happiness is a condition of mind and not a disposition of circumstances.

I believe it to be impossible to identify virtue with happiness.

It is melancholy to observe how sensitive women, who object to field sports, . . . will be found supporting with perfect callousness fashions that are leading to the wholesale destruction of some of the most beautiful species of birds.

The constant watchfulness of external opinion is very necessary to keep up a high standard of political morality.

"The Map of Life" is not a great book; it is not a profound book; it might be compared with well-thought-out editorials on current questions of conduct and character; but that would be a fortunate journal whose ethical standards were as high, whose moral judgments were as discriminating, and whose interpretations of duty were at once as true and as practical as those of this book.

African Nights Entertainment. By A. J. Daw

sen. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 5x8 in. 346 pages. $1.50.

Morocco as a subject for fiction seems to be in much vogue this year. Mr. Dawson probably knows his subject better than did Mr. Mason, who used material of somewhat similar character in his "Miranda of the Balcony," and at least as well as the other writers of recent short stories who have made use of Morocco. These tales abound in cruel and hateful incidents growing out of passion and barbarism. They are certainly tragic enough, and one often wishes that they were relieved by more of humor or romance. A certain affectation of callous unconcern pervades them all. They are of the school of Kipling, but not of Kipling at his best. One wishes that the author had made more sympathetic and less strenuous use of his full knowledge.

Anima Vilis. By Marye Rovziewicz. Dodd,

Mead & Co., New York. 8x7 in. 323 pages. $1.25. The translator's preface has a tendency to mislead the reader in so far as it suggests to his mind that he will find in this story a defense of Russia's methods of government and of its treatment of Siberian prisoners as against the representations of Mr. George Kennan, Kropotkin, and others. In point of fact, the story does not touch this subject at all. It is a vigorous and even brilliant novel of Siberian life, and there is abundant internal evidence to prove that the author, a Polish lady of rank, is intimately acquainted with her subject. The hardships and dreariness of winter life on the steppes, even among those who are living in Siberia voluntarily and with some degree of prosperity, are brought out with dramatic force and intensity. The plot of the book is well conceived, and the characters live and move almost as vividly as do those of Turgenieff or Tolstoï. In short, the book must be considered as a work of fictional art, not as an argumentative treatise; and thus considered it is entitled to very high praise.

Arabia: The Cradle of Islam. By the Rev.

S. M. Zwemer, F.R.G.S. Introduction by the Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D. Illustrated. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 5% 81⁄2 in. 434 pages. $2. This volume (such is the dearth of information on the subject) comes at once into the vacant place of an up-to-date authority for Englishspeaking people upon "the neglected peninsula." It is the fruit of ten years' residence in missionary service at Bahrein on the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, a place noted for its pearl fisheries. It is one of many notable instances in which missionary explorers have laid the civilized world under obligations of gratitude for contributions to general knowl

edge of the world. Students of international problems will find interest in the account here given of political conditions under the control of England in Arabia—a most beneficent influence, according to the testimony of the Arabs themselves. The comprehensive scope of the volume covers a still wider range of interest, both scientific and commercial, historical and literary, sociological and religious, in which the author, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, has availed himself of the most recent authorities in supplementing his personal observation. Mr. Zwemer writes, of course, in a missionary interest, as a representative of the Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church of America, the spirit animating which is well expressed in the saying, "It is lives poured out that these people need." A great work awaits the Church in that land, where to-day a region of 120,000 square miles is still as unexplored as the Antarctic Continent. Art of Debate, The. By Raymond M. Alden, Ph.D. Henry Holt & Co., New York. 7×5% in. 279 pages.

A remarkable text-book. The author never loses sight of the fact that debating is an art to be learned through practice, and not a science to be taught by skillfully framed generalizations. He generalizes, of course, but his generalizations are concrete suggestions to debaters, and not abstract formulations of the philosophy of debating, such as teachers are apt to write for other teachers to admire. Realizing that the practice of law has trained better debaters than the study of logic, he makes effective use of legal arguments in exemplifying the art of putting things. In fact, the book is as well adapted to the needs of law students as to those of college classes in debating. The author's style makes the book agreeable reading, and his pre-eminent common sense gives to every chapter practical value.

Art of Study, The. By B. A. Hinsdale. The American Book Co., New York. 7×5% in. 206 pages. $1.

We deem this a valuable book. Its design is to correct the ill-adjustment of the teacher to the pupil. It would revolutionize many schools if it could effect its object, "a partial shifting of the center of gravity by making the pupil the center of the system, and placing the teacher in his orbit." This is rational: schools and teachers are for learners. In these thoughtful pages from the occupant of the oldest pedagogical chair in the country there is light and quicker ng for teachers, and for parents also. A punt of special interest is the judgment of Dr. Hinsdale on the superior progress made by the German as compared

with the American method. The New England college presidents, some years ago, accounted for the fact that an American boy of sixteen is no more advanced than a German boy of fourteen by the waste of time in some unnecessary and barren studies. Dr. Hinsdale considers the cause to be mainly in the constant employment by German teachers of the study-recitation," the method of which is analogous to the laboratory method of instruction. This process of aiding the pupil to attack the lesson is making way into our schools, but much work of this sort Dr. Hinsdale criticises as defective at" the vital point of grounding the pupil in the art of study," while assisting him in acquiring knowledge. Battling for Atlanta. By Byron A. Dunn.

A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. Illustrated. 7X5 in. 380 pages. $1.25.

This is an addition to the series of patriotic stories for boys called "The Young Kentuckian Series." Its title sets forth succinctly the subject of the book, and the author carries his youthful hero through the campaigns of General Sherman against General Johnston and General Hood, with due attention to romance as well as to battlefield.

Church Past and Present: A Review of Its

History by the Bishop of London, Bishop Barry, and Other Writers. Edited by the Rev. H. M. Gwatkin. Thomas Whittaker, New York. 92×6 in. 195 pages. $2.50.

This volume of thirteen essays by ten Anglican clergymen speaks for those who oppose the movement Romeward into which many of their brethren have been drawn. It deems a restatement of the principles of the Reformation "a paramount necessity." It admits with apparent satisfaction a defect apparent from the Roman Catholic point of view in Anglican orders, which exhibit "a succession in which there is so much uncertainty, and where the secular has governed the ecclesiastical." Toward Dissenters its tone is sympathetic; it admits that "the average Dissenter is a more tolerant man than the average Churchman." As to the Church of Rome, it concludes from a historical study of "Romanism since the Reformation" that it is gradually losing ground. So far from the Old Catholic movement being a forlorn hope, as popular opinion holds, it finds the contrary to be true-"their publications are slowly and surely leavening the mind of Europe." Theologically, it anticipates, in this time of return from mediæval thought to the first principles of Christianity, that the presentment of these principles likeliest to find favor is that made by the Alexandrian school in the third and fourth centuries. The main objection it makes to Calvinism is that it is "too Romish." But we can only touch these few among many points which give this volume claim to the attention of thoughtful readers.

Gateless Barrier, The. By Lucas Malet Dodd,

Mead & Co., New York. 734x5 in. 357 pages. $1.50. The heroine is a ghost, inhabiting a luxurious apartment in the country house of an English gentleman. The hero is heir to the estatean American, married, and blasé. He forms a pleasant friendship with the ghost, who takes him for his own grandfather, to whom

she was affianced before the battle of Trafalgar, where the grandfather was killed. The reader finds his sense of chronology rather violently strained, but he enjoys the literary quality of the book, and finds several of the characters interesting.

Handsome Brandons, The. By Katharine Tynan. A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. Illustrated. 72x5 in. 384 pages. $1.50.

Mrs. Hinkson's stories are always wholesome and quietly entertaining. Some of her short stories to our mind give clearer and better pictures of Irish characters than do her longer novels. The present book relates the fortunes of an Irish family who have fallen upon evil days financially-not exactly a new subject in this class of literature. The total impression made by the book is one of gentle pleasure, but it is without any great vigor or dramatic

power.

Her Next-Door Neighbor. By M. S. Comrie. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 5x7 in. 288 pages. $1.25.

History of England, A. By J. N. Larned. Illustrated. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 5x7% in. 673 pages. $1.25.

Well planned, well written, and well illustrated. With a clear sense of historical perspective, the author tells the story of the development of our Anglo-Saxon civilization in England, and he accompanies the narrative with occasional glances at the progress of events on the Continent of Europe, so that the reader gets his English history as an inseparable part of the world's history as well as an inseparable part of our own.

History of Greece, A. By J. B. Bury, M.A.

With Maps and Plans. The Macmillan Co., New
York. 434X7 in. 909 pages. $1.90.

Dr. Bury is eminently successful in occupying middle ground between the ordinary school history and the very elaborate and exhaustive works on Greece. His scholarship is recognized in English university circles, and it is the reader's good fortune to find joined to that scholarship a style essentially readable and illuminated. Literature, art, philosophy, and affairs, are treated in admirable proportion, religion, as well as political and military and with wise and shrewd comment. For a student or reader who desires a history somewhat higher in purpose and fuller in scope than the ordinary school history, we can cordially recommend this new work. It is well provided with maps, and contains many illus

trations.

Lighter Moments: From the Note-book of Bishop Walsham How. Edited by Frederick Douglas How. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 42X7 in. 143 pages. $1.

Under this title the son of William Walsham How, Suffragan Bishop of Bedford, England, and author of hymns loved in all churches, reveals his father's love of innocent fun. Amusing anecdotes gleaned during a long experience of all sorts of people had been noted by the good Bishop in his private record of "Ecclesiastical Jottings." Queer happenings in church services, ludicrous answers by schoolchildren, preposterous "bulls," and various other matters for laughter, make up the collection. All these good things the Bishop made