before us includes all this, together with an indexed atlas, in a volume of thin paper and very moderate size, printed in clear type. Queen versus Billy, and Other Stories (The). By Lloyd Osbourne. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 5x8 in. 309 pages. $1.25. There is a hard, unsympathetic note in many of these stories of South Pacific life, the same discordant note that jars in "The Wrong Box" and some other tales in which Mr. Osbourne collaborated with Robert Louis Stevenson. But from this criticism must be excepted "The Happiest Day of His Life," than which few more charming and idyllic tales have appeared in recent years.

Real Chinese Question (The). By Chester Holcombe. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 5x7 in. 386 pages. $1.50.

"The Real Chinaman " is one of the best books on China. Its readers will have, therefore, a ready welcome for the author's new volume, "The Real Chinese Question." Mr. Holcombe's long service as Interpreter, Secretary of Legation, and Acting Minister of the United States at Peking well fits him for his task. His book has atmosphere. His words are those not of the mere observer, no matter how clever the observations. His words, like Dr. Smith's in "Chinese Characteristics," are those of one who has lived long amid the scenes he describes, who has not merely learned to know China, but who has allowed China time enough to learn to know him. Men of the alert intelligence of these two have thus a right to speak with authority on Chinese problems. Mr. Holcombe points out in some detail the friction and conflicts necessarily resulting from misconceptions of the Chinese character; he analyzes that character, showing that the Chinese are not a decadent race; he describes their literati, their secret societies, their army and navy, and finally the missionary, mercantile, and diplomatic work of for eigners in China. He concludes that the real question is that of the continued existence of the Chinese nation, and that the solution of the question is not to be found in the partition of the Chinese Empire, but in wise aid given by the Powers to China, that she may aid

herself.

Reels and Spindles. By Evelyn Raymond. Illustrated. The W. A. Wilde Co., Boston. 5x7 in. 369 pages. $1.50.

A story for girls. The heroine, Amy Kaye, daughter of a sweet-natured Quaker mother, and an artist father whose life is passed in dreams without outcome, finds herself at an early age beset by trials of a most grinding and pressing poverty. Nobly unselfish and wholly ignorant of life, she faces the situation by simply taking up the first work that offers in a carpet-mill. How she triumphs over circumstances by simple strength of character, melts the soul of a sordid relative, and uses what she inherits for the good of others, forms the burden of a story ideal in purpose and admirably well told. A half-witted boy whom Amy befriends, and Cleena Keegan, the Irish

"help"-and practically the most resourceful member of the household-would alone make the story an entertaining one. While some of the incidents may be tinged with the improbable, the whole effect is morally wholesome. Religion of a Gentleman (The). By Charles F. Dole. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York. 44×7 in. 219 pages. $1.

Some years ago Professor Sumner, of Yale, commented on evil symptoms in American society by saying, "We do not need patricians, but we need patrician virtues." To expel the taint of a vulgar and mercenary commercialism our democracy needs the spirit of the oldtime gentleman ever ready at his own cost to serve the State, the knightly spirit self-pledged to defend the weak and succor the helpless. Such is the spirit of the religion that Mr. Dole here commends to young men as the religion of the truly civilized man. He appeals to those generous, soldierly, heroic sympathies that are peculiarly responsive in the earlier period of life. Nor does he leave unanswered those profounder interests that grope for satisfaction where religious thought is perplexed by doubts. Books of this sort are greatly needed to correct false and one-sided ideas of the spiritual life by duly accenting its manly and strenuous side, too frequently overshadowed, as it has been, by the gentle and feminine.

Representative British Orations. Edited by Charles Kendall Adams. With a Supplementary Volume by John Alden. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 5x7 in. 4 vols. (sold separately, $1.25); per set, $5.

These well-edited volumes have a particular value. They show more comprehensively than do ordinary histories the currents of thought which have shaped the policy of Great Britain during the past two and a half centuries. The historical notes are admirable, and in themselves furnish a history of England from Pym to Rosebery.

Return to Christ (The). By Amory H. Brad

ford, D.D. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 4x63 in. 155 pages. 75c.

That remarkable movement of religious thought during the century which is designated by this title Dr. Bradford here exhibits in various points of view. What has come to pass and is going on for the simplifying and ethicizing of theology, the socializing of ethics, truer conceptions of the Divine Kingdom and better methods for promoting it, is presented

with clearness and cumulative effect. Russia and the Russians. By Edmund Noble.

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 5x7 in. 285 pages. $1.50.

A close and thoughtful study by a fair-minded political philosopher. More than ever to-day the world is eager to understand Russia because of its prominence in world-problems. Mr. Noble treats in broad outline the founding of the empire, the origin of the autocracy, the impetus given to national growth by Peter the Great, the partial Europeanization that followed, the various revolutionary propaganda, the emancipation of the peasants, the exile system, the material and territorial expansion, and the language and literature. Finally, he devotes a chapter of supreme interest to a

discussion of the future of Russia. He believes that the process of political transformation, though certain, must be slow, because the autocracy is strongly upheld by the ignorant and unprogressive class, but that the measures for encouraging industry and spreading education introduced in the present reign must gradually bring about the conditions under which Russia will be regenerated. Even its present military supremacy must, he thinks, necessarily yield before powers higher in social and political development, while the traces of popular representation now existing might make it possible even in two generations to graft constitutional reforms upon the nation's life, when once the principle of such representation is admitted by the government.

Short Rails. By Cy Warman. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 44x7 in. 310 pages. $1.25.

A dozen or more spirited tales,

tersely told,

and with that surety of touch which comes only from intimate knowledge. In the management of a flying train over difficult passes the writer is as much at home as is the average individual at his own fireside. The romance, danger, bravery, plottings, and nobility of action incident to life on the rail are all realistically depicted, and the reader feels the charm which attaches to the new or strange. The literary form is good, the situations varied and kept well in hand."

Sleeping Beauty and Other Prose Fancies.

By Richard Le Gallienne. John Lane, New York. 4x74 in. 211 pages. $1.50. There is less of self-consciousness here than in most of the author's essays. Whether he is deploring Kipling's "Absent-Minded Beggar," defending Stevenson's style against Mr. George Moore, chatting pleasantly about his American visit, or writing from a new-found Danish bathing-place, the author for once is thinking more of the matter than the manner of his writing.

Social Teaching of the Lord's Prayer (The). Charles William Stubbs, D.D. Thomas Whittaker, New York. 44X74 in. 102 pages. 75c. The request of American friends, who heard the Dean of Ely on this subject in various cities which he visited last year, has drawn from him these four sermons given in his term as Select Preacher before the University of Oxford. Many as are the volumes upon the Lord's Prayer, its social teachings have not been adequately exhibited. We would earnestly recommend this volume as supplying the defect, and exhibiting the lessons of social order, social progress, social justice, social duty, and social discipline, which all who use that universal prayer should lay to heart. Stringtown on the Pike. By John Uri Lloyd.

Illustrated. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 5×734 in. 414 pages. $1.50.

Two causes will prevent a large class of readers from thoroughly enjoying Mr. Lloyd's novel despite its unquestionable originality. One is its excess of dialect, too painfully rendered, with almost every word misspelled. This may be accurate, but it is harsh to the eye and tedious to read; compare a page of it with the negro dialect writing of Thomas Nelson Page, or Harry S. Edwards, or Joel

Chandler Harris, and the force of the common remark that there is dialect and dialect is at once evident. The second fault is the mingling of the supernatural and the realistic incongruously-the first chapter repels those whose taste or imagination does not care for ghostliness; here again we do not refer to the depicting of negro superstition, but to those "spooky" things which the reader is called on to accept as actual occurrences. Apart from these drawbacks and a general over-intensity that often becomes melodramatic, the novel is remarkable for its dramatic situations and the vividness of its pictures of Kentuckian village life.

Theatre and Its People (The). By Franklyn Fyles. Illustrated. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. 44x71⁄2 in. 259 pages. $1.25.

The author writes not to encourage illusions things theatrical. He knows intimately the nor to detract from the popular regard for practical side of play-writing, acting, scenic art, and stage-management, and he lets the lay reader into many interesting secrets. Many people will question his belief that the theatrical"trust" system has raised dramatic standards.

Tongues of Conscience. By Robert Hichens. The Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. 5x71⁄2 in. 368 pages. $1.50.

Here are five stories intended to deal with situations in which soul problems are involved. In one a painter is haunted into madness by dwelling on the supposed ruin of a child whom he tutored into becoming a mere puppet to his æsthetic requirements; another man ruins his family and meets a tragic death through a similar mania for "art for art's sake." In another a lady miser is converted into leaving all her wealth to charity, through finding herself haunted by the memory of a man driven to suicide through her refusal to give him bread. The working out of these stories shows a good deal of literary art and subtle penetration, but they result only in making the reader feel that they were written because of the author's own bias towards the æstheticism he condemns. They are soul stories with a morbidly unwholesome flavor. Twelve Great Actors and Twelve Great Ac

tresses. By Edward Robins. Illustrated. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 2 vols. $5. The author of "Echoes of the Playhouse has now put forth a work which may be of even greater popularity. In describing the careers of twenty-four actors and actresses he describes as well twenty-four real philanthropists, those who gave royal pleasure to the public. Mr. Robins's skill in narration is notable, and these two volumes will undoubtedly find special favor at the holiday time. The selections range from Garrick to Wallack, from Anne Bracegirdle to Adelaide Neilson. United States in the Nineteenth Century (The). (Old South Leaflets.) Old South Meeting House, Boston. 5x7 in. 180 pages.

United States in the Orient (The). By Charles A. Conant. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 5x7 in. 228 pages. $1.25.

The economic and political problems involved in the new position of the United States as a world-power are well stated in these pages,

Though the manner in which we have assumed our new duties may have had something of the appearance of accident, Mr. Conant shows that we are only following other countries in the general movement to find outlets for surplus capital and for the products of labor. Mr. Conant does well to call attention to the labor interest, since the laborer is the largest contributor to the vast fund of savings which seek investment in remunerative enterprises. His savings suffer by a fall in interest, and are permanently impaired in value if he permits the markets of the world to be closed to the products of his labor. Therefore foreign outlets become necessary if we would prevent idleness of wage-earners, commercial depression, and consequent suffering. In the case of the United States, by instinct of self-preservation, a great agricultural and manufacturing country is compelled to enter upon the field of international politics. While Mr. Conant devotes himself chiefly to the economic aspect of the problem, not so much to its ethical or political aspects, he admits that they are not "traitors" who are convinced that expansion is unwise and can give reasons for their belief. Then, however, he proves impressively that they are not without ethical ideals who believe that, both on the economic and the moral side, the application of American commercial enterprise and American civic standards to the Philippines, for instance, will result in benefits of high character, first to our island wards, and then inevitably to the home country.

Wanted: A Match-Maker. By Paul Leicester Ford. Illustrated by H. C. Christy. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 5x834 in. 111 pages. As amusing a little story as one could wish with which to while away a pleasant hour. With such every-day subjects as a rich young woman sighing for some object in life and too fastidious to marry without love, an impecunious doctor of soaring scientific ambition, and the most slangy of newsboy street waifs, the author of "Janice Meredith" is to be congratulated on having achieved an artistic successeven if reality is stretched to the snapping point!

Webster's International Dictionary of the

English Language. New Edition, with Supplement
of Twenty-five Thousand Words and Phrases; W. T.
Harris, Ph.D., LL.D., Editor-in-Chief. G. & C.
Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass.

The publication of a new edition of Webster is an important event in the book world. Since the last revision was issued, in 1890, other and larger dictionaries have been published, and those who wish to "follow Webster" will be pleased to find their favorite again fully abreast of the times in this new edition. While this is not, of course, a new book throughout, it is printed from new plates, and such changes as the advance in knowledge of a decade has made necessary have been made in the plates. In addition, a very valuable supplement of twenty-five thousand words has been added. The preparation of this sup plement has been under the general charge of Dr. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, and with him many well-known specialists have collaborated. A dictionary is

of value to its users just in proportion to the fullness of its vocabulary; and we are pleased to note that the new International contains many familiar terms of recent introduction not found in other dictionaries; as, for instance, commandeer, Harvey process, osteopathy, telephoto, fin keel. The very important feature that has distinguished the International from some of its rivals, that of ease of reference, each word having a paragraph to itself, is carried out in the supplement. Taking it all in all, we are inclined to say that, for the general reader and the average family, the new edition of the International is entitled to the praise given to the old edition by Dr. J. A. H. Murray, editor of the great English Dictionary now in course of publication, that it "is perhaps the best of one-volume dictionaries."" White Flame (The). By Mary A. Cornelius. The Stockham Publishing Co., Chicago. 5x7 in. 402 pages.

Woman Tenderfoot (A). By Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson. Illustrated. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. 5x8 in. 361 pages. $2. Mrs. Seton-Thompson has been her husband's companion in many of those expeditions in forest and cañon which have aided to give him the marvelous knowledge of animal life and animal thought (if the word may be used) so charmingly drawn upon in his books and lectures. Here we have the story of camping, hunting, and mountain-climbing in the far Northwest from the woman's standpoint. The author's experience was not by any means free from disagreeables, but hardships overcome only added to her joy in free, exhilarating outdoor life. Incidentally she gives other women expert advice as to camp outfit and dress. The volume is odd and attractive in decoration and illustration, but the figuredrawing is sometimes rather queer. Wonders of Nature: As Seen and Described by Famous Writers. Edited and Translated by Esther Singleton. Dodd. Mead & Co., New York. 512x814 in. 366 pages. $2.

This beautifully illustrated volume is likely to be welcomed most by those who may desire some acquaintance with the varying styles of famous authors without spending the time required for studying them at large. Among the authors from whose works excerpts are selected are Balzac, Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, Pierre Loti, Shelley, Keats, Sir Edwin Arnold, Kingsley, Lamartine, Eugene Fromentin, Von Humboldt, David Livingston, Gautier, Sir Richard Burton, Gordon Cumming, Lady Brassey, Amelia B. Edwards, Lord Dufferin, John Ruskin, Rudyard Kipling, and others. The author says she has purposely confined herself to the grand, the curious, or awe-inspiring, eschewing topographical or detailed description; the aim has been to reproduce for the benefit of the reader the effect upon the author. Hence those who would look for such beauty as might smile from the Lakes of Killarney or the vine-clad hills of the Rhine must await it in another volume.

Works of Theodore Roosevelt (The). 15 vols.
Each containing Frontispiece. G. P. Putnam's
Sons, New York, 4x6 in. $7.50
Although still a young man, Mr. Theodore

99.66

99 66

Roosevelt takes his definite place among the makers of literature, if the collection of his works in a uniform edition may be taken as an indication. There are fifteen volumes in this edition. It comprises Mr. Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," The Naval War of 1812," "The Rough Riders," Civil Service," "American Ideals," and his four books on hunting-"The Wilderness Hunter," "Hunting Trips on the Prairie," "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman," and "Hunting the Grizzly." The publishers have put these works before the public in volumes extremely light and convenient to the hand, in irreproachable binding both as regards cloth and color, and in paper and print very agreeable to the eye.

Works of Honoré de Balzac (The). Edited

by Professor W. P. Trent, of Columbia University, New York. Illustrated. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York. Popular Edition. 16 vols. 534×8 in. $1 per vol. $16 per set.

That permanent regard for Balzac's works exists among American readers is put beyond

doubt by the appearance of three comple translations of his monumental "Comédi Humaine" in less than ten years. That now before us is in sixteen volumes, is sold at a extremely moderate price, and is in typo graphical form satisfactory and even surpris ingly good if price be considered. Professo Trent, of Columbia, has evidently devoted care and thought to the editing of the work he furnishes an adequate biography of Balzac an accurate bibliography, and introduction to the several stories. Through all thes means the reader may readily gain full knowl edge of the author's life, and especially of his purpose and proposed system in this in many ways the most ambitious and wide-embracing work of fiction ever planned. The freshnes and clarity of Balzac's style have held their own for fifty years, and despite the difficulties of translation. His amazing acquaintance with the society of his time and country and with universal human traits make his fam

secure.

1. Please give the underlying basis of Kant's

philosophy, as you kindly did of Hegel and Lotze.
What is the best exposition of his teaching that can
be secured? 2. What do you think of the story of
the Witch of Endor? Can it be explained by mod-
ern hypnotic revelations? 3. Mention two or three
of the best histories of the Jews.
J.

1. The basis of Kant's system was like the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's image, part of iron, part of clay. The clay was his doctrine of the inadequacy of “pure reason to transcend the sphere of common consciousness and to attain the knowledge of ultimate reality, or "thingsin-themselves." The iron was in his doctrine of the "practical reason," postulating God, Freedom, and Immortality as necessities of the ethical life. Ethical considerations are the basis of Kant's positive teaching. 2. She is prototype of the modern trance-medium, well known to Spiritualists. For this view see a chapter in Early Pupils of the Spirit" (T. Whittaker, New York, 80 cents). 3. Graetz's History of the Jews is a standard work in five volumes (Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia). Kent's and Riggs's three volumes are valuable (Scribners, New York).

Please answer the following question: How do you interpret John i., 1-3; xvii., 5; Col. i., 15; Heb. i., 2, 3? Do they teach that Christ existed be fore the incarnation? If so, how? F. K.

With reference to the point of your inquiry, all these passages, if the first be connected with its sequel in John i., 14, teach the pre-existence of Christ. The mode of it is nowhere explained except in Philippians in., 6, "the form of God," which is more properly translated “a divine form."

Please name six best books for our Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, to be re viewed before them to encourage those who read little to read. They are young people of limited education, from fifteen to eighteen years of age.

A. R. P. Biography seems to us the most promising field for your undertaking. Christian ethics are best taught in that line. Try the "Missionary Biography Series" (75 cents per volume), the lives of eight Christian heroes; also

Buckland's "The Heroic in Missions" (50 cents). Be sides these, others of great interest are "The Story of Mackay of Uganda by his Sister," Dr. Hamlin's "My Life and Times" ($1.50 each), and Tiffany's "Dorothea Lynde Dix" ($1). You can conveniently order all these from the Pilgrim Press, Boston.

Please inform me where I can obtain the Apocalyptic books under one cover. If this is impossible, where can copies of the separate books be ob tained, especially of the Book of Enoch?

X. Y. Z. See "The Sibylline Oracles," Dr. Terry's version (Eaton & Mains, New York, $2).

Our recent notice of the Seminar conducted by Dr. Moxom in the South Church at Springfield on the Book of Psalms has brought him many letters from readers who suppose him to have prepared an outline for a course of general Bible study, of which they desire copies. Dr. Moxom has no such thing for distribution, but only a very brief and simple exhibit of what his seminar is doing on the Psalms. He has distributed these to applicants, but cannot do so indefinitely.

Kindly state who is the author of this quotation, and where it is to be found:

Vol. 66

Every year at the Lord Salisbury's Speech Lord Mayor's banquet the British Premier makes the principal speech, and, as far as it can be divulged, outlines the policy of the Government. Last week the Marquis of Salisbury, in fulfilling this function, was unusually pessimistic, even for him. He even admitted that "the trend of recent events has almost put an end to the hopes of the Russian Emperor and those who took part in the Peace Conference at The Hague." Mr. Kruger and the Empress of China, he went on to say, had forced war upon Great Britain. He earnestly maintained that the idea of invading China with "our scanty force," or of "approaching the stupendous task of governing China instead of leaving it to be governed by the Chinese," was extremely dangerous. The Anglo-German compact, he remarked, "represents the feelings of most, if not all, the Powers allied. It is impossible to lay too much emphasis upon the integrity of China and the open door,' and I think it a matter of great advantage that the Powers should have expressed themselves in favor of these fundamental principles, for, if they are achieved, the issue of the China problem need not concern us very anxiously." Lord Salisbury appealed to the people of England to maintain their home defenses in such a perfect condition that "we shall not be exposed to any sudden interruption of the peace upon which our prosperity depends." To Americans the speech is especially memorable from the Premier's references to America. He said that the one circumstance which had gratified him most during the past year was that the heart iest and friendliest feeling had been displayed between Great Britain and the United States; and, turning to Ambassador Choate, who was one of the Lord Mayor's guests, Lord Salisbury added:

No. 12

"It is quite wrong for a Secretary of State to make observations in regard to the internal politics of another country, but I am soon to relinquish that office. I therefore hope that the Ambassador will forgive me for expressing the extreme satisfaction with which we have all heard of what has recently taken place in the United States. We believe the cause which won is the cause of civilization and commercial honor. We believe those principles lie at the root of all prosperity and progress in the world."

China

Last week the rebellion broke out afresh in the provinces of Kuangtung and Kuangsi; and Marshal Su, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial forces, is asking for more men. The British have despatched additional infantry and artillery from Hongkong to guard their Kaulun frontier. In the north, on the other hand, the news is more encouraging to the peacelover. The foreign envoys in Peking announce that they have reached an agreement regarding the punishment of the main culprits, the mandarins and princes; the witnessing of the execution of such punishments by representatives of the Powers; the principle of paying damages to the several Governments for the costs of the China expeditions, and for damages sustained by private persons and missions; the permanent stationing of sufficient guards for the Peking Legations; the razing of the Taku forts; and, finally, the maintenance of secure and regular communication between Peking and the seashore. China also seems to be doing her share in this direction. Minister Wu informed Secretary Hay last week that the Board of Punishments-directed to consider the cases of Prince Tuan and other officials named in the recent edict-has made its report. Prince Tuan is sentenced