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The later years of her life, from October, 1881, till her death in 1887, were spent in the quiet of the Trenton Asylum. She went, like other mothers, to die in the house of her child. This retirement, remarks Mr. Tiffany, was gladly offered and gladly accepted. She did not actually require it, but found it altogether befitting to receive it. And thus the accumulations of later life, when the habit of saving grows strong, could be reserved to fulfill her last intents of charity. At Trenton, in rooms overlooking a park-like view on the two sides of the Delaware, she exchanged earth for heaven, having, as Mr. Tiffany rightly describes her, in the most eminent sense "proved Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto her life's end."

ANDOVER.

THE ORACLES OF GOD.

Charles C. Starbuck.

Nine Lectures on the Nature and Extent of Biblical Inspiration, and on the special Significance of the Old Testament Scriptures at the Present Time. With two Appendices. By W. SANDAY, M. A., D. D., LL. D., Dean Ireland's Professor of Exegesis; Fellow of Exeter College; Oxford Preacher at Whitehall. London: Longmans, Green & Co., and New York, 15 East 16th Street. 1891.

This is a timely volume. It originated in the desire to give intelligent but non-professional readers a clear idea of the nature and drift of modern Biblical studies, and to show that critical research affords those who revere the Bible no just cause for alarm. The tone of the book is sympathetic and reverent, and its impression thoroughly reassuring.

That such a book should have been written by the Oxford Professor of Exegesis is a happy omen. Publications of this sort, like the work of "University Extension," cannot fail to do much towards silencing the murmurers against the wealthy scholastic establishments of England, as fostering literary idlers or recluses whose pursuits lie in regions remote from men's business and bosoms.

The character of Dr. Sanday's discussion is far less speculative and technical than the phrase "on the Nature and Extent of Biblical Inspiration" in the alternate title will be likely to suggest to a New England reader. It is an exposition of the truths that God's self-revelation as recorded in the Scriptures has been gradual and varied, adapting itself to changing conditions; that there is a human element in the Bible as well as a divine, and that this human element is larger than might have been expected beforehand; that no hard and fast line can be drawn between the two, their union being organic rather than mechanical; that the more punctilious and discriminating study of recent times, with its multiplied helps, has afforded proof that the Bible as a literary produet shares the nature and experience of other literary productions; yet that this study ministers to a more assured because more intelligent faith in inspiration, corroborating the testimony afforded by the experience of successive generations of believers; that the nature of inspiration is best learned from the testimony of the Book itself, which is explicit, unique, conclusive, the Bible becoming thus its own best witness; and that the newer criticism, so far from being "an inclined plane terminating in an abyss," secures to the Book its valid and legitimate rights. These truths, and others, are set forth by Dr. Sanday not argumentatively, but illustratively; with the aim not of presenting new facts, but rather of placing the facts familiar to scholars in their true light before sensible readers.

One lecture is devoted to a candid estimate of the losses and gains already accruing from the change of view respecting the Scriptures; in it the new relations into which the Bible is brought to human life are shown to be already full of promise.

In a discussion touching upon so many departments of learning, it is not to be expected that the author, even with his conspicuous modesty and reserve, has not prompted the reader at some points to question him. One would like to have fuller information, for example, respecting the relation of " inspiration" in the Biblical writers to heathen μarreía on the one hand, and to the common possession of the revua recognized in the sub-apostolic writers, or even in the apostolic church, on the other. Again, the conception of the theanthropic union in which the author seems disposed to find the explanation of Christ's language relative to the Old Testament books will strike many as rather mechanical, and his rejection of the theory of "accommodation," on the strength of a bad name, as over-curt. But these are matters lying quite beyond the main scope of the book. It would be unlike Professor Sanday, however, not to furnish, even in a popular work, valuable suggestions for professional readers. By such readers the chronological stages which the variant headings of the Psalms seem to imply (as illustrated in Appendix I.) will be found noteworthy.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

J. H. Thayer.

THE METHODS OF ETHICS. BY HENRY SIDGWICK, Knightbridge Professor of
Moral Philosophy in the University of Cambridge. Fourth Edition. 8vo,
pp. 522.
London: Macmillan & Co. 1890.

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The fourth edition of this valuable work is an evidence of the appreciation which it has met with at the hands of the philosophic public. Few works of the kind ever receive so much favor. It exactly meets the wants of those students who desire direction in the discussion of Methods" and theories rather than elementary treatises or even elaborate systems of ethics. This fact partly accounts for the demand which has carried the work through so many editions. But a more important influence has been the supreme value of Professor Sidgwick's discussions. No writer for a century has been so fair and so candid, or so free from philosophic sectarianism. The style is very heavy and compact, and this may be due to the persistent endeavor to avoid the extremes of various schools, and to carry out an analysis that keeps the reader out of the pitfalls laid by theorists. This edition needs no special criticism, as it embodies few changes from the last edition, and these are not important. In Book I., chapter v., § 3, the author makes some additions to meet the criticisms of Mr. Fowler and Dr. Martineau. A part of chapter xii., Book III., has been rewritten to deal with the latest expression of Dr. Martineau's views after the passage at arms between them in "Mind" where Professor Sidgwick had reviewed Dr. Martineau's "Types of Ethical Theory." Chapter xiv., Book III., is expanded to meet objections ably urged by another author, and the concluding chapter altered for a similar reason. The opinions of the author are not modified in any important way by these changes. His discussion of the freedom of the will remains almost exactly the same as before, which was remarkable for the statement that the cumulative argument in favor of Determinism was overwhelming, and that against it was the only and to him conclusive argument drawn

from the immediate testimony of consciousness at the moment of deliberate choice. We could criticise his fundamental assumptions which lead him to admit the force of the argument for Determinism, but cannot take the space to do so. He confesses to the possibility of illusion in regard to the testimony of consciousness in favor of freedom, but we cannot see how he can, after such an admission, accredit it with greater security and strength than those in favor of Determinism. Besides, the cumulative argument for Determinism is purely ratiocinative, and that for Freedomism purely intuitive. It is the former that we have been taught, ever since Aristotle, to believe was peculiarly exposed to fallacy and illusion, a fact which discredits its force very greatly, and then when the testimony of consciousness, upon which ultimately the value of reasoning rests, is impeached, the cumulative argument for Determinism, based on reasoning, is eviscerated of all its certitude. Its fallibility is evinced by the double fact of exposure to the ordinary fallacies and the confessed illusion of consciousness. Had Professor Sidgwick seen that ordinary discussions of this problem mistake the true relation between freedom and responsibility, and that Kant has changed the very conception of it, he would not have fallen into these errors.

CHARITY ORGANIZATION.

J. H. Hyslop.

By C. S. LOCH, Secretary of the London Charity Organization Society. 12mo, pp. 106. London: Swan, Sonnenshein & Co.

1890.

This little volume consists of a paper which was read before the International Congress of Charities, held in July and August, 1889, and was first published in its report. This was in the French language, however, and in order to make the material more accessible to the general public it was afterward published in English as we now have it, but with some revisions. It is confined to two questions: first, the lesson of the Poor Law, and second, the principles and methods of charity organization. In ordinary circumstances we would not expect it necessary to consider the "Poor Law" on the statute book. But in England, we must remember that all efforts at charity organization and assistance must start from the conditions produced by what is known as the "Poor Law," an enactment that at one time threatened to turn a large portion of the population into beggars. Charity organization in England, therefore, first took the form. of modifying the laws on the subject of "the rates for the poor," and afterward devoted itself to the work of help. It seems, then, that, in order to understand the organized efforts in behalf of the poor in England, we are compelled to examine conditions that have not existed in other countries in the same form. This is the reason for the first part of the author's work, and it gives a good lesson on the effects of misdirected sympathies. After this part of the discussion, the problem is the same as in other countries. It is upon general methods of dealing with the poor and the necessity of organization for the best results which shall be accompanied with the least evil incident to so much charity work. It is a very valuable book for students of this practical question, and contains many good hints and suggestions.

J. H. Hyslop.

HOW TO HELP CASES OF DISTRESS. A Handy Reference for Almoners and Others. By C. S. LOCH, Secretary of the London Charity Organization Society. Fourth Edition. 8vo, pp. 208. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1890.

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This little volume is the introduction to the complete Charities' Register and Digest," and is a very useful essay to those who are either interested or engaged in charity work. It covers in all seventy different aspects of the question, suggesting the principles and practical rules which should govern in the treatment of all who require assistance in the unequal struggle for existence. We cannot go into details about the book, as it would require too much space to do so adequately. But we can recommend the volume as an indispensable manual to leaders of charity organization, or to all who are seeking to inform themselves in regard to work connected with such efforts. Uneducated sympathy or undirected enthusiasm often issues in increasing the very evils it tries to prevent, and hence if such a book as the present one could be at hand, cautionary advice and suggestions in regard to the real or possible conditions under which sympathy and help may be bestowed can be found respecting every phase of the subject. In fact, no student of practical ethics ought to be without the book. It is published separately from the larger volume of which it forms the introduction, and can be obtained very easily. The "Register and Digest" itself would be very valuable for details in regard to the rules, conditions, material resources, etc., of English charities, but the introduction suffices for general purposes.

J. H. Hyslop.

By HIRAM CORSON,

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF SHAKESPEARE. LL. D. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. 1889. The title of Professor Corson's book is so signally misleading that it seems proper to correct any misapprehension that may have arisen as to its character. From the title we should not unnaturally conclude that the book was a Shakespearean primer, intended for those who may wish to enter upon the serious study of the poet and his work. The student approaching it with such expectations will look in vain for any information in regard to Shakespeare's life or time, except of an incidental and desultory character; for any hint as to the origin and history of the English drama, or view of its condition when Shakespeare wrote; for any help towards the understanding of Shakespeare's mental growth. through the chronological study of his plays; for any grouping of those plays, or idea of his work as a whole. Indeed, it is a brief and accurate description of Professor Corson's book to say that it avoids nearly all those topics of which an Introduction to Shakespeare is justly expected to treat. Professor Corson may very naturally have felt that the wellknown works of Dowden, Hudson, Moulton, and others answered the needs of the student in this direction. Nevertheless, the topics treated of by them are essential in any Introduction to Shakespeare, and their omission necessarily makes Professor Corson's book of value to students only as a supplement.

The author's avowed object is to lead the student to study the "plays as plays," that is, primarily from a dramatic point of view. To this end six plays are analyzed, but the eight articles relating to them are wedged in between a quantity of more or less miscellaneous matter. Some of this is valuable, notably the interesting paper on Shakespeare's verse, but

the most of it is out of place. In the earlier part, fifteen pages are given to the authenticity of the first folio, and seven to the ShakespeareanBacon question, which Professor Corson intimates is one "which does not call for an answer." No less than forty-one pages are devoted to Jottings on the Text of Hamlet," an attempt to demonstrate the superiority of the first folio readings to those adopted in the Cambridge edition. This is followed by miscellaneous notes of a minute and textual character.

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This desultory and rambling character extends beyond the general arrangement, and shows itself in the erratic and inconsequent handling of the separate topics. Often the guide is attracted from the highway, and involves us in a labyrinth of side streets, and blind alleys, from which we return with difficulty. Often again, after not a few digressions, we seem to have arrived at nowhere in particular. We are told in the preface that "no one line is carried to any extent," and the statement is, unfortunately, but too true. To add to the confusion, the style is unequal, involved, and parenthetical, and consequently wanting in the precision and clearness indispensable in a book of this character.

Thus we have such a maze of English as the following:

"Could we possibly have known more of the real man, Shakespeare, more of that immanent something, that mystery of personality, that innermost of the inmost, most interior of the interne,' as Mrs. Browning designates the mystery of personality, of the hidden soul, which is projected into and constitutes the soul of the plays, could we, I say, have possibly known more of this, than we know from his plays, even if he had written for us his own biography, as Alfieri, or St. Augustine, or Goethe, wrote his, or even if he had had a Boswell to record his life as minutely as 'sleek, wheedling James recorded Samuel Johnson's'?" (P. 13.)

On the other hand, the style sinks in places from such tortuous rhapsodies into an undignified colloquialism:

"Paris observes the etiquette of bereavement. He's a nice young man, he is, who would n't neglect any of the conventional proprieties of life for the world." (P. 144.)

A criticism of Dryden's is characterized as "bosh" (p. 272), and one of Swinburne's as "crazy" (p. 274).

In one instance, at least, the English is so careless as to be almost unintelligible:

"Hamlet is the protagonist of the tragedy; he is in fact the all, the entire play. It is this which gives the meaning to the common saying, expressive of nothing remaining, The play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out."" (P. 194.)

This unfortunate carelessness, or whatever it may be called, interferes even with accuracy as well as clearness. Thus we may be sure that so competent a scholar as Professor Corson, with Ajax, Lear, Ophelia. Orlando Furioso, and the rest, in evidence in open court, was far from wishing to indorse such an astounding statement as the following:

“Insanity, that degree, be it less or more, of mental derangement which does away with the responsibility of a man for his acts, cannot, of itself, be artistically treated.”

Yet on page 177 this statement is made, and enlarged upon with no reserve or qualification.

While the above are perhaps extreme instances, they are far from

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