Comment on New Books
Sociology and Politics. Easy Lessons on the Constitution of the United States, by Alfred Bayliss. (W. W. Knowles & Co., Chicago.) We can hardly call these lessons easy, for, though their main purpose seems to be to construe the written Constitution, and give the student a familiarity with that instrument, there are sprinkled all over the pages questions which are easy enough to ask, but call, in the answer, for a maturity in the pupil which the book does not suppose.— How the Other Half Lives, Studies among the Tenements of New York, by Jacob A. Riis , with Illustrations chiefly from Photographs taken by the Author. (Scribners.) The temper in which one undertakes such a work as this must largely determine its value. Mr. Riis appears to have made his studies with no design to satisfy a diseased curiosity, but with an honest endeavor to get at the facts in a sketchy rather than a statistical fashion. His moderation is evident as well as his earnestness, and there are occasional twinkles of humor to relieve the appalling gloom of the book. Indeed, without a faith in God and a sense of humor, we hardly see how one could make these close studies and keep his sanity.
Political Economy. Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking, by Charles F. Dunbar. (Putnams.) Mr. Dunbar speaks of his book as the result of “ the need of some convenient statement of ordinary banking operations ” felt by him when lecturing to students. The convenient statement proves in this case to be an exceedingly lucid and yet compact presentation of those methods of transacting business which transcend an ordinary cash exchange, methods which have become so familiar by use that only now and then does one stop to consider what is involved in them. Thus Mr. Dunbar treats of discount, deposit and issue, banking operations and accounts, the check system, bank notes, and combined reserves, and then proceeds with an interesting summary of information respecting the banks of Amsterdam, France, and England, the Reichsbank of Germany, and the National Banks of the United States. He has done a real service not only to the student, but to that overburdened creature the intelligent reader. — Number LXV. of Questions of the Day (Putnams) is A Tariff Primer on the Effects of Protection upon the Farmer and Laborer, by Porter Sherman. This cut to truth is rather too short to be of much value.
Fiction. The Speculator, by Clinton Ross. (Putnams.) A first draught for a novel which the author is content to publish. The theme is somewhat worn, but there is a certain moderation of tone which shows that the writer feels his subject and sees the possibilities in it. He has sketched in some conversations, and jotted down notes of contrasted scenes.— Phil and the Baby, and False Witness, by Lucy C. Lillie. (Harpers.) Two stories for the young. Phil and the Baby is the story of a boy who ran away from a circus, carrying with him a baby that had been left mysteriously by a stranger who died of a fever shortly after joining the circus. The experienced reader, when told further that Phil suffers a temporary loss of memory through an accident, and that the family in which he finds refuge is the baby’s family, will recognize the general order to which this story belongs ; but the readers who will take up the book are not experienced, and we may expect them to find all the novelty in this venerable framework which the experienced reader found before he was experienced.
Philosophy and Religion. Mechauism and Personality, an Outline of Philosophy in the Light of the latest Scientific Research, by Francis A. Shoup. (Ginn.) The metaphysic, the author explains, is in the main that of Lotze, or perhaps better the Lotzian phase of Kant. Personality, in his view, cannot be a phenomenon. — King’s Chapel Sermons, by Andrew Preston Peabody. (Houghton.) The characteristics of these sermons are none the less noticeable because they are obvious. The sanity, the mellowness, the frank use of homely and familiar material to be found in contemporaneous life for the illustration of eternal truths, render these discourses attractive to reasonable men and women, who ask not to be startled into some uncommon thought, but made to see the fuller meaning of the common thought.
Travel and Art. Japanese Girls and Women, by Alice Mabel Bacon. (Houghton.) Miss Bacon has made a distinct contribution to our knowledge of the feminine side of life of Japan. She has written both as an outside observer, and as one who has been as much on the inside as a foreigner well could be. Her narrative is orderly, detailed, lively, and comprehensive. Moreover, she manages to convey something of the charm of Japanese womanhood ; yet she is not a mere enthusiast, but writes with a keen discrimination which goes far to creating a confidence in her knowledge of the subject. — New York and its Environs, by Gustav Kobbé. (Harpers.) A handy little book, with good maps, clear though on a small scale, and a few somewhat murky illustrations. It is compact and well digested. But why does Mr. Kobbé use the word “ itineracy,” which means what he does not wish to say, in place of the accepted “itinerary,” which means what he does wish to say ? — The magazine L’Art has discontinued the issue of the accompanying Courrier de l’Art, but incorporates within its own pages some of the features of the annex. The numbers for February 15 and March 1 are before us. The most interesting print is an etched portrait of President Carnot. There are also some studies in red chalk after nature by Emile Levy, which are noticeable for their frank simplicity and dignity of attitude. The text is taken up largely with the serial reviews.