Ballads," first edition, "Lord Donald " The ballad of "Lord Randal" introduces and "Lord Randal:" the word "weary in the refrain as in the poor buckra version: "Whare got ye your dinner, Lord Randal, my son? Where got ye your dinner, my handsome young man ?" "I dined wi' my true-love-mother, make my bed soon, For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down." With the changed conditions of industry in the South, the poor buckra will probably in a score more of years disappear. So far, I do not believe that they have been induced to become factory operatives. The crackers gladly take the position, but the poor buckra lives mostly on the edge of towns-in the winter sellbringing ferns, in the summer blackberries. ing little packages of pine, in the spring As the country becomes more populous and thrifty there is less room for him. Books and Authors William Morris' In all externals Mr. Mackail's "Life of William Morris" is nearly ideal; the type, form of volume, and cover-stamp are such as the founder of the Kelmscott Press himself would have approved; while the line engravings are admirably suited to their purpose, and give delightful glimpses of Kelmscott Manor, both exterior and interior, and of the Red House at Upton, which Morris built and decorated for his bride-the parting from which was such a grief to him that he would never revisit it even for a day-while the portraits include fine reproductions of such masterpieces as Watts's painting of Morris and Rossetti's portrait of Mrs. Morris. The work is, in truth, one for the book-lover to examine carefully and hold precious among library possessions. Turning from form to substance, we believe that the final verdict will be that Mr. Mackail's work falls short by some distance of the ideal, but it is in the main satisfactory. Certainly the author has put thoroughness and sympathy in his work, and he has had at his disposal abundant authentic material. The chief The Life of William Morris. By J. W. Mackail. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. Two Vols. $7.50. 66 defect is a lack of perspective and proportion, a tendency to dwell too long on less important phases and periods of Morris's versatile life, and thus to slight other and more vital phases. This is not to be wondered at when we remember how many were those phases, how productive that life. Poet, artist, manufacturer, Socialist, and author of the Earthly Paradise'" Morris has been termed in a biographical compilation, but even this terse summary is far from being all-inclusive. With such a man as subject a biographer has no easy task to bring out all sides of his work and thought saliently and in due relative value. Particularly does the reader miss as full and critical an account of Morris's literary achievements as one could wish-the facts are here, but the interpretation is unequal and slight. The man Morris, however-his personality as apart from his achievements— Mr. Mackail brings out in clear colors: his impetuosity, his indomitable energy, his quick temper, his enthusiasm for each new undertaking, his unflinching honesty of purpose, his love for the beautiful in art and nature, his " earth-hunger," his passion for "good work," his happiness in following his bent and in pushing his way to producing something tangible, lasting, and sound-something, if might be, both beautiful and useful. And whether he were making books, wall-paper, furniture, fabrics, or art-glass, he must know the technique in every point; he dyed with his own hands, he could and did. weave, print chintz, carve, set type, as well as design and illuminate, while his painting was by no means inferior (Rossetti long urged him to make painting his sole profession), as was shown by his lovelyQueen Guinevre," reproduced in this book; in architectural work he was also an adept, and for a time after giving up his Oxford plan of entering the Church he was fully resolved to make architecture his profession. There are those, to be sure, who lament that Morris turned his energy into so many crafts, holding that his literary genius was never given its full scope; but the author of the "Earthly Paradise," "The House of the Wolfings,' and "The Story of the Glittering Plain" needs no apology for giving also to the world such splendid specimens of bookmaking as the Chaucer on which his last thoughts were engaged, or for establishing a new standard of taste in English housefurnishing and decorating, or for expending his strength and money in trying to bring about through Socialism a better distribution of the benefits of civilization among the workers. "No work which cannot be done with pleasure is worth doing" was his favorite motto; and the best proof of his unbounded sympathy with humanity is the wide range of the things he loved to do and in which he excelled. In a letter to a friend (quoted by Mrs. Zueblin in an article on the factory at Merton Abbey, printed in The Outlook about the time of Morris's death) he used these words: "I am an artist or work man, with a strong inclination to exercise what capacities I may have and a determination to do nothing shabby, if I can help it; or, if I do anything shabby, to admit that I have done so, and to be sorry for it. This appears to me to be the Socialist religion." This is sound industrial doctrine, and there was romance as well as practical force in the way that it was applied. As Mr. Mackail says, speaking of the beginning of Morris's business career, "The eagerness of the maker, the joy of craftsmanship, had come to him, and come to stay-so it was that, in half-unconscious adaptation to the conditions of modern life, the monastery of his Oxford dreams rose into being as a workshop, and the brotherhood became a firm registered under the Companies act." Three bits of extract may combinedly give an idea of Morris's personality better than analysis or description. Of his passion for external nature he wrote: Oh me! Oh me! How I love the earth, and the seasons, and weather, and all things that deal with it, and all that grows out of it! The earth and the growth of it and the life of it! If I could but say or show how I love it! Contrast with that this glimpse of a vigor which occasionally drove all before it : Once at the Red Lion Square he hurled a fifteenth-century folio, which in ordinary circumstances he would hardly have allowed any one but himself to touch, at the head of an offending workman. It missed the workman and drove a panel out of the workshop door. And finally add to the portrait this succinct statement of Morris's view of the relations of art and Socialism written in 1896 in reply to an American correspondent: entirely for the benefit of a privileged class; Society, so called, at present is organized entirely for the benefit of a privileged class; the working class being considered in the arrangement only as so much machinery. This involves perpetual and enormous waste, and the organization for the production of genuine This waste lands the whole civilized world in utilities is only a secondary consideration. a position of artificial poverty, which again debars men of all classes from satisfying their rational desires. Rich men are in slavery to Philistinism, poor men to penury. none of us have what we want, except (partially only) by making prodigious sacrifices, which very few men can ever do. Before, therefore, we can so much as hope for any art, we must be free from this artificial poverty. When we are thus free, in my opinion, the natural instincts of mankind toward beauty and incident will take their due place: we shall want art, and since we shall be really wealthy, we shall be able to have what we want. We can The Great Discourse is a compilation by an anonymous author. He has distributed the sayings of our Lord into over a hundred sections, each admitting of a caption, pointing to some specific department of truth, or trait of character, or line of duty. The author makes no pretension of criticism or of interpretation, and his work is in no sense a harmony or a commentary. He has discharged his task, not only with reverence, but with good sense. In it we feel conscious of what he tells us, namely, that the work is the outcome of his own search for spirit and life. We believe that it will have a wide use beyond the author's personal needs. Books of the Week [The books mentioned under this head were (with some exceptions) received by The Outlook during the week ending August 25. Prices will be found under the head of Books Received in the preceding issue of The Outlook. This weekly report of current literature will be supplemented by fuller reviews of the more important works.] Mr. Lucien Young has published, through the Doubleday & McClure Company, of New York, The Real Hawaii. Mr. Young was a lieutenant on the U.S.S. Boston, stationed in Honolulu during the revolution of 1893. The chief value of his book lies in his account of that revolution. He was an eye-witness of it, and he was also an important participant in it. His volume is dedicated to the late John L. Stevens, then our American Minister to Hawaii, and also to the late G. C. Wiltse, Commander of the Boston. The object avowed in the preface is to do justice to their memories. The book is prepared from notes made at the time. A proper regulation forbids the publication of such manuscripts by officers of the Navy Department without the authority of the Secretary of the Navy. This publication was refused under the Cleveland Administration, but has been granted by Secretary Long. Mr. Young's account states that Queen Liliuokalani purposed by a coup d'état to set aside the Constitution; that she had small support even from the natives in so doing; that the result of her effort was the counter revolution which issued in her dethronement; that, as a consequence of these two revolutions, there was danger of anarchy, bloodshed, and peril to American citizens and American property; that no troops were landed by Commander Wiltse until it became manifest that the coup d'état government was unable to protect itself, and could not protect life and property; and that thus several thousand American citizens and many million dollars' worth of American property were in danger. Furthermore, according to Mr. Young, while the troops were landed simply for the protection of Americans and their interests, Commander Wiltse was scrupulously careful not to give any sup port to either of the parties in the controversy. It is true that the testimony is not that of an impartial witness, but of one who frankly avows his prejudices to be those of a strong believer in the view represented by the American or so-called missionary party; but it is also true that at the more important points it is confirmed by the somewhat naïve autobiography of Queen Liliuokalani, of which notice has already appeared in these columns. Who's Who in America is modeled after the eminently successful English "Who's Who." It includes 8,602 brief biographical sketches of men and women of the United States, Canadians being excluded. It would be easy to point out faults of omission and admission-we note, for instance, that such well-known New York clergymen as E. B. Coe, Charles E. Jefferson, H. A. Stimson, William Lloyd, Rabbi Mendes, Henry Mottet, Arthur Ritchie, Merle St. C. Wright, and C. H. Eaton are not in the book-but in a work of this extent and scope such faults are almost inevitable. In the main the editor, Mr. J. W. Leonard, has done his work with skill and discretion. The usefulness of the book as a work of reference, and especially in newspaper offices, can hardly be exaggerated. necrology from January 1, 1895, to January 1, 1899, is a welcome addition. (A. N. Marquis & Co., Chicago.) A Anything from the author of "In His Steps" is sure to command wide attention. The Rev. C. M. Sheldon's latest volume is entitled John King's Question Class. John King is a clergyman, and his class is of course composed of inquiring young men and women. Some of their questions are as follows: "A boy is beginning to read trashy books. I have tried to get him interested in Scott and Cooper and Trowbridge, but he does not seem to care for any of their works. How can I get him to read good books?" "Is not football brutal and degrading, as shown by recent games played between college teams?" "What are the two best books for the average young man to read?" "Is the possession of money really a necessity to happiness?" "Do you believe in a personal devil?" John King answers these and many other questions, and his answers are generally to the point. The author endeavors to make the questions and answers incidental to the telling of a story, and it is an interesting story. (The Advance Publishing Company, Chicago.) Across the Campus, by Caroline M. Fuller, is a book full of the charm of the life at a woman's college. A group of girls are followed through their four years' varying experiences, from the tentative Freshman days to the end of the Senior year. Very natural, wholesome, sane creatures they are. Their growth in grasp and perception, and their loyalty towards one of their number who fails in uprightness, are shown in a way that cannot fail to delight any one who cares for a girl's story of the most attractive kind. (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.) Black Rock, by Ralph Connor, is a Canadian story having as its theme the history of a crusade against the liquor evil in the northwestern territory. It is full of tragical and sad incidents, but at the same time it is, considered merely as a story; vigorous and abounding in incident. (The F. H. Revell Company, New York.) Two good stories for young people are A Village Contest, by I. T. Thurston, and The Whistle in the Valley, by Edward A. Rand, both published by A. I. Bradley & Co., of Boston. The former is more particularly adapted for boys, the latter for girls, while both have considerable humor and story interest. Two little books have just been published, the one of practical help to Sundayschool workers, and the other of no less practical help to missionary society work ers. The first is entitled The Spiritual Life of the Sunday-School, and is by the Rev. Dr. J. W. Chapman. The second is by Mr. A. R. Wells, and is entitled The Missionary Manual. Both are published by the United Society of Christian Endeavor of Boston. In Terms of Life is the title of a book compiled by the friends of the late Wilbur W. Thoburn, of Stanford University. It consists of his sermons and lecture-frag ments, to which are appended certain appreciations of Thoburn himself by members of the University. His loss must have been a real one, for in the sermons and lecture-fragments we discern a crisp, energetic, manly style, revealing an admirable character. (Published by Stan ford University, Palo Alto, Cal.) Manual of Psychology (Hinds & Noble, Ecce Clerus; or, The Christian Minister in Many Lights, by A Student of the Times, is a series of interesting papers on a variety of subjects specially concerning pastors, and relating to their character, their functions, their methods, and their achievements. It bears the marks of a ripe experience, and is pervaded with a warm evangelical spirit. In referring to the question of the future state of the wicked as "the bugbear of the presentday evangelical pulpit," the author discloses his conservatism. His discussion of itinerant as compared with settled pastorates indicates a Methodist connection. (Eaton & Mains, New York.) The reply of Dr. John P. D. John, exPresident of Depauw University, to Robert G. Ingersoll, which has been given as an address more than five hundred times, is now in book form, entitled Did Man Make God, or Did God Make Man? It is characterized by much of fitness and force, but is hampered by a defective theory of divine inspiration. We do not think that Mr. Ingersoll can be adequately confuted by any one who feels bound to maintain that the Israelites massacred the Canaanites by divine command, and that the creation story in Genesis is in full harmony with modern science. (Frank Caldwell, Indianapolis.) A series of six addresses on sanctification by self-surrender to the Holy Spirit, given at parlor meetings in Cobourg, Canada, has been published under the title Happy; or, The Holy Spirit in the Heart, by the Rev. Melville A. Shaver, minister of the Congregational church in that place. Over against the author's fear The great merit of Dr. G. F. Stout's that few Christians know the Holy Spirit may be set the encouraging fact of a great and increasing output of books of this sort. This one is characterized by brevity, simplicity, and practicalness. (William Briggs, Toronto.) Money's Worth, by John Henry Norman, "expert in the science of and practice with money, author of Norman's Unit of Weight System,' Norman's Universal Cambist,' etc.," is, as its titlepage implies, a badly written and egotistical volume, containing quotations from the author's former works and authoritative tables by which to reckon the value of the coins of different countries in terms of one another. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.) the image of an orange. Such is the translation into psychological terms of the formal syllogism of logic. We cannot find, however, that M. Binet recognizes any motor behind the movement of the mental mechanism. He rejects, indeed, the theory that the mind is passive in perception, but its activity is for him merely an activity of "images," which he describes as living elements, which "attract each other," etc. It would seem, then, that previous to the formation of images by stimulation of the brain cortex there is no mind, nor any after the brain is stilled forever. (The Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.) Two interesting and often even thrilling records of missionary devotion, daring, and suffering come from the press of the 1. H. Revell Company (New York). In Missions in Eden Mrs. Crosby H. Wheeler, who has been for forty years a missionary of the American Board in Harpoot, tells of life and work in the valley of the Euphrates, with many picturesque glimpses of Armenian domestic and social customs. In Among the Wild Ngoni Dr. W. A. Elmslie, an English medical missionary, gives an account of the history of the Livingstonia Mission in British Central Speer, William W. Advanced Arithmetic. Africa, Native beliefs and superstitious practices are described, with many curious incidents. Both books are illustrated. Books Received For the week ending September 1 AMERICAN BOOK CO., NEW YORK Heyse, Paul. L'Arrabbiata. Edited by Max Lentz. Montaigne. The Education of Children Translated THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS'N, CHICAGO A lucid exposition of the mechanism of mind is given by M. Alfred Binet, Director of the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology in the Sorbonne, in a compact monograph on The Psychology of Reasoning, Based on Experimental Researches in Hypnotism. He holds that "the fundamental element of the mind is the image," resulting from an excitation of the sensory centers of the brain cortex; that "reasoning is an organization of images," determined by the properties belonging to them; that "the images have merely to be brought together to become organized," and then "reasoning follows with the inevitable. necessity of a reflex." E.g., an orange being presented to the eye, there is first an image of a yellow round; this calls up an image of a fruit before eaten; then the image of an actual orange succeeds, and the reasoning process completes itself in the identification of this third image with the first this image of a yellow round is FORDS, HOWARD & HULBERT, NEW YORK Aucassin and Nicolette. Rendered into Modern French by Alexandre Bida. Translated into English by A. Rodney Macdonough. Educational Nuggets: From Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Herbart, Spencer, Harris, Butler, Eliot. Compiled by John R. Howard. 40 cts. GINN & CO., BOSTON HARPER & BROS., NEW YORK Forman, L. L. A First Greek Book. HOME JOURNAL PRINT, NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN CO., NEW YORK Bax, E. Belfort. The Peasants' War in Germany, 1525- Shakespeare, The Works of. Volumes VI. and VII. Plutarch's Lives. Volumes VII. and VIII. Englished by Sir Thomas North. 60 cts. each. Turgenev, Ivan. The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories. Translated by Constance Garnett. $1.25. G. & C. MERRIAM CO., SPRINGFIELD, MASS. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. $4. NOVELLO, EWER & CO., NEW YORK Standard Anthems by Gounod, Martin, Stainer, Stanford, and Others. 5 cts. each. FLEMING H. REVELL CO., NEW YORK McCulloch, Catharine Waugh. Mr. Lex. 35 cts. tianity. $1.25. Super, Charles W. Between Heathenism and ChrisBeardslee, John Walter. The Bible Among the Nations. $1. Torrey. R. A. Ought Christians to Keep the Sabbath. Vance, Rev. James I., D.D. Royal Manhood. $1.25. |