country and the movement toward the Far West. That part of the story which deals with the adventures of a party of young men who start to reach California in the time of the gold fever, and are destroyed by treachery and villainy, is distinctly thrilling and exciting, and is extremely well done. The story might almost end here; but it is carried on, rather too slowly, and is occupied with the life and love of a group of young characters, one or two of the most interesting of whom take part in the Civil War. Problem of Edwin Drood (The). By Sir W. Robertson Nicoll. The G. H. Doran Company, New There seems to be a fascination to many minds in the attempt to work out consistently the puzzling plot which Charles Dickens left unfinished. Dr. Nicoll, as we used to call him, or Sir Robertson, as we presume we should now call him, is ingenious in his theory, and also makes an attempt in a broad way, as his subtitle promises, to present not merely a plot study, but a study into the essential methods of the great novelist. Valiants of Virginia (The). By Hallie Erminie Rives. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis. $1.25 This story of Southern life is notable for its really captivating pen pictures of scenes in a little Virginia country town long after the war. In this place linger many of the old customs and social traditions which elsewhere have passed away. The rendering of the Negro dialect is exceedingly good-and this is not so common as many people may suppose. At times, and especially in the earlier part, the book is highflown and super-romantic; but in the main it is entertaining and cheerful. Behind the Dark Pines. By Martha Young. D. Appleton & Co., New York." $1.50. These are stories for children supposed to be told by an old Southern "mammy," who always began with "Behime de dark pines, chillen, behime de dark pines." The Rabbit, the Mocking-bird, Pre acher Crow, Miss Bat, and the Snake Doctor are foremost characters in these tales. The author is a past expert in Negro dialect, and a good story-teller besides. Soddy (The). By Sarah Comstock. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. $1.30. This little story has a claim on the attention, not as a piece of finely wrought literature, but because it tells with realism and homely vividness of pioneer hardships and courage in the Western country. "Terry," the young girl who sticks to her "soddy (possibly some of our readers may not know that a soddy is a house built of sod cut from the prairie), is a heroine in her faith, her devotion to her brother and sister, and her devotion also to the idea of conquering the opposition of nature and of making a home. This task, left to her by her father, she accom plishes with cheerfulness and girlish joyousness, and with a determination superior to that of most men. Of course there is also an enthusiastic young man pioneer, and the love story is true and simple. Cyclopedia of Education (A). Monroe, Ph.D. New York. $5. Edited by Paul Vol. III. The Macmillan Company, It is rare to find in a work devoted to the exhibition of modern knowledge in any branch of science-its history, progress, theory, and practice--an article whose delineation of a vanished type of savage life glows with the sympathy transmitted with its blood to its civilized and cultured descendant. The article in this volume by Dr. Charles A. Eastman, of Amherst, Massachusetts, a pure-blooded descendant of the once powerful Sioux, on "The Native Training of American Indians," possesses that unique interest, and is sufficient authority for the statement that their ideals of life were "surprisingly high" to correct the prevalent contrary impression. Such justice to the victims of a century of dishonor is in its way as serviceable to sound knowledge as the other contents of this invaluable work of reference are in lines more immediately practical. How many and diverse are these lines appears at a glance: eg., Household Arts in Education and Learned Societies; Heating of School Buildings and Educational Work of Insurance Companies; Journals and Journalism and Juvenile Delinquency; Games and Idealism; Harvard University and the George Junior Republic. The methods as well as the history of teaching in this and other countries are given with due criticism of defects, as in the article on Geography. A mine of minute information, historical, descriptive, statistical, is in the many pages given to Germany, Italy, and Japan. Many biographical articles with portraits commemorate great educators in this and other lands. It would be difficult to name a place from Iceland to India, or a subject from indeterminate equations to latrines, if it be related to education, that has escaped due notice. Thus thoroughly has this work covered "the general circle of education "—the literal meaning of encyclopædia. It is enriched with fourteen full-page illustrations. Roger of Sicily and the Normans in Lower Italy, 1016-1154. By Edmund Curtis, M.A. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. $1.50. The history of Sicily is certainly many-sided. The country has been ruled by Greeks and Romans, by Saracens and Normans, by Spaniards and Italians. Among its rulers one finds many an interesting and inspiring name. One of the most striking is that of Roger II. In 1045 Robert Guiscard, the Norman, arrived in lower Italy, and so great was his military prowess that the Pope some years later had to make him Duke of Apulia and Calabria. A generation of fighting finally gave Sicily to Roger, Robert's brother. Roger became Count of Sicily, and thus the formal dominion in the Mediterranean was solidly established. With this first Count of Sicily, says Mr. Curtis, there appeared a spirit in politics new to the Middle Ages. For Roger, first among mediæval princes, gave full play to the varying creeds, races, and languages. Latins, Moslems, and Greeks were equally tolerated. Such was the background for young Roger II, who was to become the crowned Count of Sicily. By his mother he was half Italian. Not a great warrior, as were his father and uncle, his was the courage of the council chamber, and he became a very notable monarch. He died in 1154, at the height of his power. The traveler of to-day finds a reminder of him in the most exquisite sight in Palermo, the Cappella Palatina in the royal palace at Palermo. It is, as Mr. Curtis says, "the most gorgeous of all Western churches, a gem of color and lightness, the highest product of that diverse and cosmopolitan civilization over which Roger presided." In the "Wars of the Nations” series there are many extremely interesting and suggestive volumes, but Mr. Curtis's account of Roger II will, we think, rank with any of them. Religious Liberty. By Francesco Ruffini, Translated by J. Parker Heyes. G. P. Putnam's In this monumental work of historical research an Italian scholar traces from its rise in ancient times through its development in modern times to its triumph in the nineteenth century the progress of religious liberty as "an idea and principle essentially juridical." He has done this as it has till now been never so adequately done. The story of the long struggle is followed through all states and all churches in large detail, and with ample recognition of its chief prophets and promoters. To Faustus Socinus, the organizer of Unitarianism in the sixteenth century, is awarded the merit "of having determined, more or less immediately, all the subsequent revolutions in favor of relig ious liberty." Americans flatter themselves that the American separation of Church and State has produced a larger religious liberty than has been given where the State has exercised authority in ecclesiastical affairs. On the contrary to cite the most telling case adducedProfessor Ruffini shows that by our laws "the fron, absolutist hierarchy of the Catholic Church is recognized and protected in such a manner that, in the alleged régime of full religious erty and of common law, the laity, in the adistration of its societies, has power infinitely to what it enjoys in Prussia, and even dging from the fullness and general wy of the chapter devoted to the progress zberty in this country, the rest, 1. ropean countries, may be accepted y careful and thorough. Some slips there are. The Mayflower Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in December, not in September. The reformer Zwingli was not "hostile to every form of persecution;" he persecuted the Anabaptists in Zurich. Viewing religious liberty as incomplete while individual citizens are at all disadvantaged by their religious opinions, Signor Ruffini doubts whether it has yet been achieved anywhere. Whether it fares better under State patronage, as in England, or apart from the State, as here, is a question which he discusses at length with remarkable impartiality. Americans in Panama (The). By William R. Scott. The Statler Publishing Company, New York. $1.35. Most of Mr. Scott's book is taken up with a firsthand and lively description of the Panama Canal. As to his qualifications for the work he says: In the five months the author spent in Panama, he was for slightly more than three months an employee of the Isthmian Canal Commission, living the routine life of a Canal employee. He discovered that, had he followed the usual method of coming into the Canal Zone on one steamer, taking notes, and leaving on the next steamer, he would have missed many fundamental facts, which absolutely must be known if a really trustworthy account of the greatest task of the age is desired. The volume is distinctly interesting on the historical side. In a book entitled "The Amerians in Panama" we do not look for much account of the discovery of Panama by Bastides (1501), or Columbus's exploration of the Panama coast in 1502, or Balboa's discovery of the Pacific in 1513, or of Panama's revolt from Spain in 1821. But we do look--and we are not disappointed--for a compact account of the events from 1850 with which we are connected. In that year the construction of the Panama Railroad was begun. Particularly interesting is this account of the relations between Panama and Colombia: Panama's relations with the parent Government had been characterized by intermittent revolutions which never had attained a decisive and final result. There had been fifty-three revolutions in fifty-seven But any advantages so gained by Panama had been lost by voluntary or involuntary resumption of subordinate relations to Colombia, with the net result going to prove that Panama, unassisted, never could hope to achieve independence from the mother country. years... The United States, on many occasions, had intervened in these quarrels between Panama and Colombia, frequently on the invitation of Colombia. ... These interventions were based on our treaty with Colombia, ratified in 1846. As noted before, this treaty provided for the joint sovereignty of Colombia and the United States over any canal that might be built in Panama, and further guaranteed the neutrality of the Panama Railroad. . . . Colombia, in 1902, appealed to the United States, under its treaty, to maintain the neutrality of the Panama Railroad during the most important revolution that Panama ever had attempted, and the military intervention by the United States in that year largely enabled Colombia to crush the revolution. . . . By maintaining the neutrality of the railroad, through the use of marines, the United States kept the line open, and so enabled Colombia to get its troops across the Isthmus to strike down the revolutionists. Had not the United States thus assisted Colombia, it is doubtful if she could have retained sovereignty over Panama with mit the exertion of considerably stronger forces than were mployed. Colombia had promised, in consideration of the intervention of 1992, a treaty to the United States for a right of way for a canal in Panama. Weeks before this treaty was killed-on August 12, 1903-a few leading business and professional men in Panama saw the drift. Then follows a detailed account of the "drift," in which Mr. Scott expresses his opinion that the American Government made the Panaman revolution successful. He concludes, as to the future of Panama : Many confidently expect the United States to abolish the government there sooner or later, because it is clear that the republic cannot stand clear of American sup ort. On three occasions already the Americans have prevented the disruption of the republic. In 1904 General Huertas, who had assisted the Junta, became dissatisfied with his rewards, and started to overturn the administra t'in by force. The marines had to disarm his small army. In 1948 the United States had to interfere to insure a fair election, and in 1912 this writer saw the Presidential campaign reach a point where the marines and infantry had to be placed at the Panama polls to prevent rioting and fraud. Foam Flowers. By Stephen Berrien Stanton. Moffat, Yard & Co., New York. $1. Mr. Stanton's thought and style in this slender but suggestive volume are well reflected in his sonnet" There Was No Room for Them in the Inn:" *The world is full; not men, the need, but space! The day-long idle on the market-place. And jo, to us both earth and heaven belong." Here is a quatrain worth quoting: Time was, when time was young; Drained of its red desire." Mr. Stanton's verse is full of feeling, of intimate and exquisite appreciations. Its form and substance somewhat suggest the poetry of Leconte de Lisle and the French Parnassians. L'Orientation Religieuse de la France Actuelle. Those who read French and would inform themselves amply and exactly as to religious conditions in France may do so by consulting these recently published volumes. No Roman Cathoic, we believe, could describe more truthfully than does M. Sabatier the reasons why France ought to be grateful to a Church which created the sentiments of unity, tradition, and eternity; on the other hand, no modernist could point out more keenly how scientific activity is now in creasingly permeating that Roman Catholic communion. As an independent critic, however, M. Sabatier is well within the mark in showing that, after the Franco-German War of 1870-71, the Church was not equal to the task imposed upon her. From that day to ours, with its philosophy of Bergson and Boutroux, the history of the Roman Catholic Church in France has been picturesque, pathetic, and deeply moving. But it has also been suggestive of the better things in the future, which, we believe, await the expression of true religion in France. Despite its regrettably small type, the volume by an anonymous author entitled "Ce qu'on a fait de l'Église " merits attention in connection with the present period of religious and ecclesiastical transformation. Marken and Its People. By George Wharton Edwards. Moffat, Yard & Co., New York. $2.50. The traveler in Holland who has not visited the Peoisland of Marken should certainly do so. ple go to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague, and then think that they have seen Holland. They have indeed seen three interesting cities, but they have not seen what is still more interesting-the country. And in order to see the country one goes away from the cities first of all through the suburbs-from Arnhem to Oosterbeek, from Utrecht to Driebergen. But if these suburbs are worth while, the wide country is still more so. Who can ever forget the wonderful road stretching through it from the Rhine at Nijmegen to Venlo? Who can ever forget that other road over the pine-covered hillocks from Utrecht to Ede? But even this is not the real Holland, as Holland is distinguished from other countries. To feel that distinction one must go to the coast and must visit those regions saved by the Dutch from the sea. Above all, one must visit the Zuyder Zee, still in process of reclamation. Of all the points in or about the Zee, no one is more picturesque than the island of Marken. It well deserves a whole volume of description. We are glad that Mr. Edwards, whose book on Holland found deserved welcome, has now brought out a book on this particular part of Holland. In it we find detailed descriptions of the people and their pecular costumes and cusAs might be expected from such an author, his illustrations are especially worth while. For the most part they are, as they should be, sketches in pencil. toms. New Poems. By Dora Sigerson Shorter. Maunsel & Co., Ltd., Dublin and London. These "New Poems" of Mrs. Shorter are almost as severely simple in diction as the work of the true balladists. The verse in this slim volume has that freshness and directness of thought which is the surest indication of a genuine poetic power.. |