Part 7

3. Prince Metternich. By G. B. Malleson.

4. O’Connell. By J. A. Hamilton.

5. Lord Bolingbroke. By Arthur Hassall.

6. Sir Robert Peel. By F. C. Montague.

This series presents in a concise and eminently readable form biographical sketches of the great leaders in the political history of the world. It will cover ancient as well as modern times and will include the representative men of all prominent nations. These books contain about 225 pages each, bound in uniform style, and are very cheap.

“The volumes and the series have particular reasons to engross the attention of students, among general readers; and it may safely be predicted that the series will afford quite as intelligent and clear a view of the course and expression of English politics as can be secured without long and laborious search of many and more or less conflicting volumes. The books are models in typographical qualities, and are inexpensive.”—_Boston Globe_.

CIVILIZATION.

The Beginnings of Civilization. By Prof. Charles Woodward Hutson. Ideal Ed., cl., 60c. (20c);

“To-day the secrets of prehistoric humanity lie beneath the surfaces of language and archæology. We gaze into the depths and see the objects lying along the bottom, but we do not all see alike. Perhaps we are not yet acquainted with the media through which we look. Whether we are contented or not to take as final the present conclusions of any one of the various schools of archæologists, it remains that the facts or data are intensely interesting. Touching the origin of man, it is probable that we shall never be able to determine from the Bible or from ethnology whether all men sprang from one pair or from many; and salvation does not depend upon a decision. Whether, with the Duke of Argyll, we believe humanity to have retrogressed as a result of the Fall: whether with the Jews of the Talmud and Book of Zohar, we suppose that man was created first as a beast, and after ages received the spirit by the breath of God; or whether we hold man to be the result of natural selection and survival of the fittest acting as forces upon some protoplasmic blobs of jelly, we shall never get beyond conjecture. These questions Professor Hutson has ignored as vain and profitless. In his volume he has succeeded in condensing and including more learning, philosophic thought, and curious and significant data than it has been our fortune to behold these many days. His object is to take up the prehistoric ages of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Hittites, Phœnicians, Hebrews, Assyrians, Teutons, Etruscans, Hellenes, Kelts, Hindus, Chinese, Slavs, etc.; and, broad as seems the field, he has not contented himself with easy and vague generalizations, but by a concise and compact style, has been able to introduce a great number of data. Small as this book is, we can hardly trust ourselves to express our sense of its value, lest we seem to exaggerate.”—_The School Journal_, N. Y. City.

_Artistically, it is, perhaps, the finest product of The Literary Revolution._ FLORIAN’S FABLES. Finely Illustrated Edition.

_The FABLES of FLORIAN._ Translated into English verse by Gen. J. W. Phelps, late member of the Vermont Historical Society, author of “A History of Madagascar,” etc. With numerous very fine illustrations by J. J. Grandville. Elegantly bound in fine cloth, gilt edges, ornamented, price _$1.15_

The above described work is presented to our patrons with an unusual degree of pleasure, and some pride. The fables are good reading—old and young will be delighted with them; they are worthy of place by the side of Æsop’s and La Fontaine’s; the illustrations are simply superb, true to the text, supplementing and enforcing the teachings of the author, and true to art, original, graphic, and charming.

“Of all the collections of Fables which have appeared since La Fontaine, that of Florian is, beyond dispute, the best. It is also, of all the works of the author, that in which his talent as a writer and as a poet shows to the greatest advantage. In regard to merit of originality, the author avows himself that he has put under contribution all his predecessors; Æsop, Pilpay, Gay, and above all, the Spanish poet Yriarte, who has furnished him the most pleasing apologues. It is worthy of remark that in this kind of literature, whose object is no less to instruct than to please, Florian has one advantage over La Fontaine, that of being in general better adapted to the unaffected simplicity of childhood.”—_Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xixe. Siècle._

“Good of every description prevails in this collection. You find here some fables of touching interest, others of a sweet and playful humor, others of a biting subtilty, and still others in a loftier strain without being above that of the fable. The poet understands how to vary his colors with the subjects; he can describe and converse, relate and moralize. We nowhere feel the effort and are always sensible of the metre.”—_La Harpe._

“In the writings of Florian we are solely interested with the meaning of the tale, with its moral, which is always refined and delicate, and with his ingenuous and even epigrammatic style. Florian loves Horace, Virgil, La Fontaine, is delighted with Montaigne and the poetic tales of the 16th century; he notices the caprices and little irregularities of human nature, without being a biting critic or a profound moralist. Under the gentle form of fables he threw an agreeable breeze of ridicule both upon the individual and upon society, as if he hoped to reform.”—_M. St. Marc Girardin._

“Few readers of French are unacquainted with the works of Florian. His style, at once elegant and easy, has universally recommended him to the teachers of language, and Telemachus is commonly succeeded or supplanted by some work of Florian. In the circulating libraries the Tales of Florian are almost as generally read as those of Voltaire and Marmontel. He possesses indeed very great attractions for the lovers of light reading. His narrative is spirited and interesting. Love, Friendship, and Heroism are his themes, and he commonly descants upon them with that genuine warmth which results from the combination of sensibility with genius.

“The feelings with him are never exalted at the expense of virtue. His women are tender without licentiousness, and his heroes daring without violating the laws of their country, or questioning the existence of their Creator. He combines the morality of Fenelon with the enthusiasm of Rousseau or St. Pierre. His writings derive an additional charm from his glowing descriptions of the beauties of nature. He seems tenaciously to uphold the poetical connection between rural life and moral purity, and loves to annex to tales of love and hardihood their appropriate scenery of rivers, woods, and mountains.”—_London Quarterly Review._

The Unity of the Truth.

The Unity of the Truth in Christianity and Evolution. By J. Max Hark, D.D. 12mo. 293 pages. Small Pica type, leaded, cloth, gilt top, uncut pages, _90c._

Few books of its kind recently published have aroused more discussion and called forth more varied and contradictory opinions. For example, _The Andover Review_ gave fifteen pages to a criticism of its positions; while _The Christian Union_, of equal authority, declares that “The volume deserves to take rank with the works of Munger, Newman Smyth, and Prof. Drummond.” The N. Y. _Independent_, though granting that “in many respects the volume is instructive and suggestive,” and “its aim merits commendation,” has devoted over four columns to combatting its arguments; whereas the critical _Sunday-School Times_ has heartily commended it in a leading review. While the _Presbyterian Quarterly_ (S. C.) condemns it as being “of no more use than to show the antagonism of the human heart to the things of God,” the _Reformed Review_ (Pa.) praises it as “an earnest effort towards the solution of a grave and difficult problem,” and says, “The author deserves the thanks of all who are sincerely interested in the progress of religion and in the welfare of the Church.” Such contradictions from such sources are the strongest proof of the importance of the work, and of the need of every intelligent person’s reading and judging it for himself. At the same time, however, by far the greater weight of criticism, religious and secular, is favorable to it, as will be seen by the following few

Critical Comments.

“A very remarkable book, written in a nervous, brilliant style, each phrase a squarely-planted and advancing step. That it will bring peace and conviction to many restless souls cannot be doubted.”—_The World_, N. Y. City.

“We have seen no volume which seems to us so thorough and intelligent in its purpose to consider the relations between modern evolutionary thought and ancient Christian faith and doctrines. Does not attempt to reconcile science and religion by tearing away either the one or the other.”—_The Christian Union_, N. Y. City.

“A good, wholesome book, brief enough for the busiest Christian, an honest untechnical book, of plain words, and powerful. It is an admirable essay, informed with the essence of true religion, and destined to bring light to many struggling Christians.”—_The Press_, Philadelphia.

“He speaks with freshness and enthusiasm. We are persuaded that Dr. Hark’s purpose and spirit are such that good will be wrought by his work.”—_Illus. Christian Weekly_, N. Y. City.

“A candid and thoughtful discussion; expounded with much earnestness and a fine religious spirit.”—_Literary World_, Boston.

“It can hardly fail to help the candid reader to a wider and more satisfactory view of God, of Providence, of Prayer, and of Religion. Whatever does this for man has proved an infinite blessing to him.”—_Christian Evangelist_, St. Louis.

“Significant as showing very clearly the drift of the orthodox creed in the hands of its intelligent supporters.”—_Sunday News_, Charleston, S. C.

“A sincere and reverent endeavor to help all inquiring souls, in trouble concerning the conflict between evolution and the doctrines of Christianity.”—_The Interior_, Chicago.

“No writer could approach any question with a more candid spirit or more honorable motive. We wish every clergyman could read the work, and every other person indeed who is interested in the question of evolution.”—_Herald of Gospel Liberty_, Dayton, O.

The Spirit of Beauty.

The Spirit of Beauty. Essays, Scientific and Æsthetic. By Prof. Henry W. Parker. Large 12mo, cloth, 85c.;

“I have already read a large part of the book, and I have been delighted, instructed, and morally animated. It gives rich, delicate, and robust expression to a various knowledge, as well as to fine, devout and far-reaching thought. I have not for long taken up a book which has interested me so immediately, or refreshed me so abundantly.”—Rev. R. S. Storrs, D.D., Brooklyn, N. Y.

“An admirable treatment of a widely related theme. The book is none the less profound for being so pungent, and its sharp raciness of style is quite befitting its keen discrimination of thought.”—Pres. Julius H. Seelye, LL.D., Amherst College.

“I appreciate it highly. The incisive but graceful style is worthy the pure and elevating sentiments and conceptions which it inculcates. I feel a singular sympathy with its way of thinking, and shall embrace every proper opportunity to call attention to a book so brilliant and so noble in its aims.”—Prof. Alexander Winchell, LL.D., Michigan University.

“I know Prof. Parker chiefly by the articles he gave me for the _North American Review_. These gave me the highest regard for him as an original, sound and deep thinker. I have repeatedly characterized his article on the natural theology of art as the best paper that passed under my hands during the ten or eleven years of my editorship. My belief is that Mr. Parker’s æsthetic capacity and culture are unsurpassed among us.”—Prof. A. P. Peabody, D.D., of Harvard University.

“Prof. Parker, like the late President Hitchcock, was continually laying in rich stores of facts and principles in the several departments of natural history. At the same time he was contributing to the _North American Review_ articles in natural and ethical philosophy unexcelled for richness and beauty by any contemporaneous productions of American periodical literature.”—Prof. W. S. Tyler, LL.D., of Amherst College.

“By personal knowledge of the manuscript I know that Prof. Parker has investigated the subjects of Animal Intelligence and Animal Æsthetics in a new and fresh way, as never has been done before, in defence of a spiritual philosophy. It is a work that was greatly needed, and is thoroughly done by Dr. Parker, as only an accomplished naturalist, a skilful literateur and a clear reasoner could do it.”—Ex-President G. F. Magoun, D.D., of Iowa College.

“The title is a gem in itself, and I have named my wife after it. I have had a copy presented to the Philosophical Society of Great Britain, and have urgently recommended the author for honorary membership, and am assured of success. These deeds are better encomiums than words like the following:—that I deem it one of the best displays of the connection between science and religion I have ever met with. A grand book.”—Ephraim Cutter, M.D., LL.D., Hon. F. S. Sc. (London), Mem. Victoria Inst., etc.

“The author is a naturalist and in quite familiar with the facts and views of Darwin, Spencer and Haeckel; and, whatever restrictions he may make upon them, he has made as a man who has studied the subject from the inside. The observation of facts in the organic and inorganic worlds is good.”—_Science._

“In Prof. Henry W. Parker’s volume we have just one of those protests against the recent schools of philosophical sensationalism which are sure to be raised, sooner or later, in the name of esthetics. We welcome everything that will bring intelligent people to see that it is not dogmatic orthodoxy alone or the limited and perhaps narrow interests of sectarian religion which are assailed by this philosophy, but the whole spiritual theory of man, the basis of his esthetic ideas and of art in all its higher relations. This is the value of Professor Parker’s book. It is attractive in style and indicates an abundant familiarity with the subject, both as a naturalist and a student of esthetics. The chapter on the Divine in Art can hardly be surpassed in the literature of the subject.”—_N. Y. Independent._

“_The Spirit of Beauty_, by Prof. Parker, is a fresh find in John B. Alden’s literary gold mine. It is a series of essays, æsthetic and scientific, inspired by a reverent passion for purity and beauty, and clothed in the language of a ripe and finished scholar. The essays are all overflowing with beauty, melody and fragrance, as well as charged with learning and profound thought.”—_Southern Criterion_, Atlanta, Ga.

The Talmud: What It Is

and What it Knows about Jesus and his Followers. By Rev. Bernhard Pick, Ph.D. Ideal Edition, Small Pica type, cloth, 60c.;

One of the most interesting and valuable of recent contributions to religious literature. It answers the great popular curiosity as to what the Talmud is, and gives to clergymen and theological students information of transcendant value, not heretofore accessible to many.

“That wonderful monument of human industry, human wisdom, and human folly.”—Dean Milman.

“In the history of the origin of Christianity, the Talmud has hitherto been far too much neglected.”—Ernest Renan.

“The Talmud may compete with the _Constitutions of Loyola_ for the right to be considered the most irresistible organ ever forged for the subjugation of the human will.”—_Edinburgh Review._

“The Talmud is the slow growth of several centuries. It is a chaos of Jewish learning, wisdom and folly, a continent of rubbish with hidden pearls of true maxims and poetic fables.”—Philip Schaff.

“But glimpses of profound metaphysics, stray parables of real beauty, and occasional sentiments of true spiritual breadth and elevation, are only the rare grains of wheat in mountains of chaff.”—Dr. Geikie.

“Anything more utterly unhistorical than the Talmud cannot be conceived. It is probable that no human writings ever confounded names, dates, and facts with more absolute indifference. Some excellent maxims may be quoted from the Talmud where they lie imbedded like pearls in a sea of obscurity and mud.”—Canon Farrar.

“A most curious monument, raised with astonishing labor, yet made up of puerilities. An immense heap of rubbish, at the bottom of which a few bright pearls of Eastern wisdom are to be found. The book composed by Israel _without_ their God, in the time of their dispersion, their misery, and their degeneracy.”—Dr. Isaac Da Costa.

“Here, then, we find a prodigious mass of contradictory opinions, an infinite number of casuistical cases, a logic of scholastic theology, some recondite wisdom, and much rambling dotage; many puerile tales and oriental fancies; ethics and sophisms, reasonings and unreasonings, subtle solutions, and maxims and riddles.”—Benjamin Disraeli.

“It is a vast debating club in which there hum confusedly the myriad voices of at least five centuries. In its way, a unique code of laws, in comparison with which, in point of comprehensiveness, the law books of all other nations are but Lilliputian, and, when compared with the hum of its kaleidoscopic Babel, they resemble, indeed, calm and studious retreat.”—Prof. Delitzsch.

“It has proved a grateful task to wander through the mazes of the Talmud and cull flowers yet sparkling with the very dew of Eden. Figures in shining garments haunt its recesses. Prayers of deep devotion, sublime confidence and noble benediction, echo in its ancient tongue. Sentiments of lofty courage, of high resolve, of infantile tenderness, of far-seeing prudence, fall from the lips of venerable sages. No less practicable would it be to stray with an opposite intention, and to extract venom, instead of honey, from the flowers that seem to spring up in self-sown profusion. Fierce, intolerant, vindictive hatred for mankind; idle subtlety; pride and self conceit amounting to insanity; indelicacy pushed to a grossness that renders what it calls virtue more hateful than the vice of more modest people; all these strung together would give no more just an idea of the Talmud than would the chaplets of its lovelier flowers.”—_Edinburgh Review._

A Remarkable Story.

Strange Threads. A Novel. By J. Douglas. 12mo, cloth, 60c. (15c); 22 oz

This is not only a remarkable story in itself but is really wonderful in its power to interest its readers, and in the various ways in which it impresses them. A gentleman whom the _Christian Leader_, Cincinnati, calls “a wise and critical connossieur” pronounces this book, with the possible exception of Vanity Fair, “the most original novel I ever read. * * I should have to go back as far as ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Villette,’ to name a novel as good as ‘Strange Threads,’ and I am not at all certain that this is not as strong as either of them.” And the _Leader_ calls the book the “creation of a master imagination” and declares it to be “evidently the product of a genius.” The burden of testimony is along this line. Still there are

A FEW CONTRARY MINDS

whose opinions we quote in connection with the favorable criticisms.

“One can conceive that with less effort the author might write a passable book. As to the present book it is fairly unreadable, and the veriest devourer of romances cannot possibly get past the opening chapters without the feeling that he is in for a bad time.”—_Daily Bee_, Omaha, Neb.

“The publisher has done more than the writer for this book. The type and paper are so agreeable that one is tempted to read on, long after the discovery that there is little in the matter worthy of serious consideration. The author has shown a certain shrewdness, however, in filling the vacuum produced by absence of intellect in the book by cramming it with sentiment.”—_The Epoch_, N. Y. City.

MAN OR WOMAN?

Another matter about which the critics are puzzled is the sex of the author. Some affirm that J. Douglas is a man, others are equally sure that it is a woman’s name, while some are content to say they do not know.

“J. Douglas is a new name in our list of novel-writers, but if ‘Strange Threads’ is his maiden effort, he is surely a phenomenon. Regarded as the first work of a new writer, it is simply wonderful; even as the product of mature experience it is still worthy of being termed remarkable. It is original without being strained or whimsical, wholesomely terse in construction, frequently bright in epigram, and the story grows stronger with every page to the close. It is not too much to say that it will bear reading along with the novels of Charlotte Bronte, and the writer succeeds even better than she in picturing his characters in life-like presence without making an elaborate study of them, while there is a more perceptible and worthier motive in his drawing.”—_Paper World._ Springfield, Mass.

“J. Douglas is evidently a woman. The adventures of a party of American novelists in Europe, their love-making and their heart disappointments, are the author’s stock in trade, and she has certainly succeeded in weaving a very tangled web. There are here and there a strong portraiture and a keen analysis of motives, while the descriptive portions have a picturesqueness and vigor which give old and well-traveled roads a new beauty.”—_Record_, Philadelphia.

“It is probable that “J.” stands for Jane, Josephine or some other name feminine, for the book is thoroughly a woman’s book. It certainly is very well written, and, if by a new aspirant for literary honors, as it seems, she is certain to make her mark.”—_The Republic_, St. Louis, Mo.

“A new American novelist of considerable originality and force has appeared. The name is J. Douglas, though whether it stands for man or woman must be gathered from the book. The dialogue is bright, the situations are dramatic and the book is thoroughly readable from beginning to end.”—_Illus. Christian Weekly_, N. Y. City.

PRE-EMINENTLY A LOVE STORY.

“A love Story; a bright sketchy tale of a wayward young lady—that is, wayward in her loves. It is certainly very original; on the whole, is a novel to be liked by the public.”—_Times_, Kansas City, Mo.

“A most interesting work, which engrosses the attention of the reader from the first to the last chapter.”—_Morning Call_, San Francisco.

Lang Syne, or the Wards of Mt. Vernon.

Lang Syne; or The Wards of Mount Vernon. By Mary Stuart Smith. 12mo, paper, 30c. (10c)., cloth, 60c. (20c).

In this book, which is dedicated “To the Memory of Washington and to American Womanhood,” we have an interesting love story of the revolutionary era, in which are interwoven in a skilful manner many excellent descriptions of prominent events and of the eminent men, Washington, Lee, Franklin, Cadwalader, and others, who were foremost in the great struggle for independence. It also shows the important part taken by the women of that period and the valuable service which they rendered the patriot army. About one-third of the book is specially devoted to “the Women of the Revolution.” A great deal of information regarding the character, habits, tastes, and labors of the people of that stirring period is conveyed in an entertaining manner. The author, who styles herself a “Daughter of Virginia” (and who might have stated the interesting fact that she is a direct descendant of Gen. Washington’s only sister) has done well to write this book, and its appearance at this centennial period is appropriate and timely.

Patriotic Hymns.

Rankin. Hymns Pro Patria. By Rev. J. E. Rankin, D.D. Ideal Edition, cloth, 60c. (20c).