Social Ideals' In the midst of the strenuous activities and controversies which engross our minds, is it possible to gain a clearer vision of the line of progress than is found within the narrow horizon of individual interests? Those who have learned that literature reveals the social and organic instincts of life, as well as the individual experience and temper of the writers, discern therein, not merely the spirit of the time, but the prophetic soul of humanity, with its vision of the future that is shaping itself in the womb of the present. In this conviction the author of this illuminating book has set herself to "study the imaginative expression of some of the most interesting moments in the long struggle by which democracy and freedom are slowly realizing themselves, and the earth is becoming in a substantial sense the heritage of all the children of men." The period covered is long, dating from “Piers Plowman" (William Langland), Wiclif's contemporary, and, like Wiclif, the "morning star" of a reformation only longer in coming than that which Wiclif heralded. The organic impulse, discovered persisting from Langland to Carlyle, so strongly resembling each other, seems all the more massive. As we descend the stream from the England of our forefathers to the England of our fathers and of our contemporaries, this organic impulse is found voicing itself with greater frequency and greater clearness in the perception of social problems and the creation of social ideals. The conviction deepens that we are borne along by elemental forces, whether we will or not, that the old order changeth, and that we must work out our salvation by meeting the demand of the new. Although Miss Scudder is dealing wholly -barring a single chapter devoted to a "Glimpse at America "—with social phenomena in Great Britain, there is no lack of the de te fabula narratur. Chattel slavery was ended by the sword, but an "industrial bondage," in this as in other lands, still hinders the advance of democracy towards spiritual enfranchisement, and we are pointed to conditions which complicate the impending struggle more seriously here than abroad. Social Ideals in English Letters. By Vida D. Scud. der. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. $1.75. But one may question whether Miss Scudder is not taking a really serious matter too seriously in such a sentence as this: "One call of warning and of fear echoes down the decades, and if not wearied we must be awed by the iteration. We may well ask whether it has any significance; whether the social revolution is nearer in 1900 than in 1840 or 1860. Men asked a similar question at intervals through the eighteenth century; they were asking it in 1788, one year before the Bastille was taken." This suggestion is uncomfortable because it seems to suggest a parallel. But the situation, as Miss Scudder unfolds it at length, reveals a very comfortable contrast. In the Bastille era the flood engulfed a generation deaf to all warning and hostile to all change. But the special note of our times is a fair measure of hearkening to the proclamation of the prophets: "Change your minds, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What Mr. Benjamin Kidd and Mr. Grant Allen have noted as the unprecedented social phenomenon in the England of the nineteenth century--the voluntary abdica tions of privilege by the " Haves" in favor of the "Have-nots," Miss Scudder also recognizes, declaring that "in the literature of the Victorian age the next century will see paradox after paradox. It is the literature of the Privileged hailing the Unprivileged as masters of the future." And so, despite De Tocqueville's sinister generalization that revolutions break out when things are improving, we can see nothing but a hopeful augury in this latest series of readings from the social barometer. If Mr. Gladstone's saying that the British social order is based on inequality is borne in mind, what has already been effected there is little short of revolutionary, and the boast sometimes made that there is more of real democracy in England than here becomes at least plausible. The transformation of Matthew Arnold, the apostle of culture, into the apostle of democracy, and his appeal to the workingmen of England as the medium through which the collective life of society may be more nobly realized, has been bearing fruit in contemporary England. The children of sweetness and light are less engaged to-day in writing books. They are working out their visions in County Councils, Boards of Arbitration, Social Settlements and Organized Charities, with a vast increase of practical cooperation and fellowship between members of formerly alienated classes. Much of the same kind is on foot among us also, with the initial advantage, lacking in England, that here the stars in their courses fight for social freedom and equality in privilege. It is not from natural or political inability to obtain ameliorations of conditions that hindrances to social readjustments arise to-day in this Republic, so commonly as from a crass and gullible ignorance of the multitude, which foolish or knavish demagogues exploit for their own advantage. In this country, if Demos fares ill, he has only himself to accuse. But the issue of the near future lies for us, as well as for the British kinsmen to whom Miss Scudder limits her studies, in the capacity to evolve from a merely political democracy a democracy of higher type"spiritual" we may call it, with her, as animated by the ethical instinct of human brotherhood and by its valuation of nonmaterial goods, the riches of the mind and heart. That the Christian forces of the country are to be the decisive makeweight in this issue is evident enough. The social instinct and passion of Christianity were abundantly evinced at the outbreak of the Reformation, but the spirit of Christianity found its prior task in achieving freedom for thought and conscience from the usurping lords of the soul. This done, it inaugurated, in John Howard's time, the new era of philanthropical enterprise. Too often has the Christian reformer been unsupported or even antagonized by the Church, and the times of this ignorance God, as we hope, winked at. But we have learned thereby not to identify Christianity too narrowly with the Church; while, as Miss Scudder says, "To trace the social awakening of the modern Church is to read one of the most interesting chapters of religious experience." And herein is the bright est of all the auguries of hope which these studies of Social Ideals bring out with cumulative power. To quote Miss Scudder's final words: "No one looking at the world to-day can fail to see that the social energy of Christians in every communion, and indeed quite apart from the visible Church, is as notable a factor in the situation as the crystallizing of the intellectual issue around the socialist position, or the practical growth of a new fellowship disregarding class lines. . . . Perhaps it is no dream that the long separa tion between democracy and Christianity draws to a close, and that, as the slow years pass by, the love of God and man may find in their sacramental union freedom for more perfect collective expression than has ever yet been seen on earth." Books of the Week [The books mentioned under this head were received by The Outlook during the week ending January 6. 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.] Carlyle's Sartor Resartus is a very difficult book to illustrate-so difficult that it will seem to most readers a mistake to make the attempt to visualize Carlyle's ideas and the personages in whom he has incarnated them. This impression of the inherent impossibility of successfully interpreting with the pencil this characteristic volume will be confirmed by the work of Mr. Edmund J. Sullivan, who has grappled with the task, and, it seems to us, unsuccessfully. Mr. Sullivan has succeeded in getting at the grotesque, the extravagant, and the bizarre in "Sartor Resartus," but he has not succeeded in bringing out the spiritual insight and power of the book. His illustrations are curious, and they are not without a certain quality of imagination, but they are not satisfactory. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) Professor Samuel Dill's substantial volume on Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire is not a general history of the period, but an attempt to get at the inner life of the last century of the Western Empire, the commencement of which practically coincides with the passage of the Danube by the Goths and closes with the extinction of Roman power. There are a number of writers-Symmachus, Ausonius, Macrobius, S. Jerome, Apollinarius Sidonius, and others-whose letters and other writings throw important light upon this whole period, which is, from the modern point of view, a very obscure one, and, in the main, poorly furnished with material. Dr. Dill, by careful searching of all this material anu sy study of inscriptions and monuments of every kind, has attempted to find out and describe how men lived in this important century and what they were thinking about. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) No conventional words of praise are needed for the bound volumes of Scribner's Magazine for the past year. There are, we imagine, few people who do not know that this magazine has emphatically reached its high-water mark, and must indeed be wonderfully attractive in the coming year if it is to advance that mark higher. To say nothing of the war articles and the editors of "Scribner's" seized that opportunity with promptness and foresightwe have complete in this year Mr. Lodge's well-written and beautifully illustrated "History of the American Revolution," the second part of Mr. Wyckoff's "The Workers," Mr. Page's Southern novel, "Red Rock," the charming articles on women's colleges, and excellent single features and stories so many that to attempt to select for special mention would be unfair. (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.) ing to the small and gallant country where I, my forebears and my grandchildren were born, and for the active part I took in nearly all the important events which have happened between 1848 and 1870." (The Macmillan Company, New York.) To the series of volumes of Historical Tales written by Mr. Charles Morris has been added one relating to Spain. There was no lack of romantic incident in this subject, and episode follows episode from the time of the Goths to the destruction of Cervera's fleet, with continuous interest. (The J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.) Books Received For the week ending January 13 D. APPLETON & CO., NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO., NEW YORK St. Nicholas, Volume XXV." Parts I. and II. The EATON & MAINS, NEW YORK Buckley, James M. Extemporaneous Oratory for Professional and Amateur Speakers. $1.50. THE EDITOR PUBLISHING CO., CINCINNATI Cunyngham-Cunningham, G. Tales from the Land of for Young Beginners. E. R. HERRICK & CO NEW YORK Boylan, Grace Duffie. If Tam O'Shanter Had a Wheel, and Other Poems. $1.25. Hall, Tom. When Cupid Calls. $1.50. An Experimental Wooing. $1.25. Who's Who, 1899, despite its rather skittish title, is a solid and useful book of reference. It is chiefly a compendium of condensed biographies of living people, prepared fron the English point of view, but by no means exclusively biographies of Englishmen. The sketches are condensed to a degree. The compiler, Mr. Douglas Sladen, tells us in his preface that he has reinforced his Seeligmann, Karl. Altes und Neues. A German Reader biographies mainly from two sources-Americans and the Companions of the various orders-and the American reader is rather amused at the lament that heretofore "your C.B., C.M.G., C.I.E., C.S.I., or D.S.O., decorated as one of the numerous columns upon which our vast empire rests, has been treated by biographers as of less importance than writers or painters!" Besides these condensed bits of biography, the book has many useful and some curious tables and lists-Govern ment officials, army and navy lists, obituaries, clubs, peers and their heirs, American women married to men of title, bishops, newspapers, names pronounced peculiarly, railways, etc., WILLIAM R. JENKINS, NEW YORK Carrington, General Henry B. Washington, the Sol- LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., NEW YORK Trevelyan, Sir George Otto. The American Revolution. Part I. 1766-1776. THE MACMILLAN CO., NEW YORK Jackson, A. V. Williams. Zoroaster, the Prophet of Fisher, Herbert. The Medieval Empire. I., II. $7. $2. Addy, Sidney Oldall. The Evolution of the English Wilson, Lucy Langdon Williams. Nature Study in Hume, Martin A. S. Spain, its Greatness and Decay MAYNARD, MERRILL & CO., NEW YORK Yale Verse. Compiled by Charles Edmund Merrill, Jr. etc. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) Sullivan, W. R. Washington. Morality as a Religion. Count Enrico Della Rocco played an important part in the events that led to the independence and unity of Italy. Under the title The Autobiography of a Veteran he has written the story of his experiences in council and in the field, quite without the restraint of the formal historian, and with readable comment and exposition. The author, who is now over eighty years old, thus states his general aim and motive: "I shall try to recall the memories of a past which I love for several reasons-my good fortune at witnessing the awakening of the noble idea of an independent and united Italy, seeing it realized, chiefly by the exertions of men belong- Her.derson, W. J. How Music Developed. $1. THE MURDOCK PRESS, SAN FRANCISCO War Poems, 1893. Compiled by the California Club. $1. THE PILGRIM PRESS, BOSTON THE QUADRANGLE PRESS, CHICAGO Cleveland, Frederick A. The Growth of Democracy in the United States. $1.50. R. H. RUSSELL, NEW YORK Crockett, Ingram. Beneath Blue Skies and Gray $1. The Religious World Dr. van Dyke and the Johns Hopkins University for non-resident students. The trained nurses department of the woman's work is one of the most needed and most effective methods of entrance into the homes of the poor. The development of the social side of the work is in recognition of this great need of the mothers in the tenements of New York. The opportunity afforded for recreation under right conditions is welcomed and well used. Mrs. Bainbridge, the Superintendent, is a woman of rare judgment and broad sympathies. Woman's Work for Missions The election of the Rev. Dr. Henry van Dyke, of the Brick Church of this city, to the Professorship of English Literature in the Johns Hopkins University seems quite natural to those who have kept pace with Dr. van Dyke's growing power and reputation as a writer and a student of literature. It was, however, a great surprise to his congregation; and his announcement that he was considering seriously the invitation was a shock to the city of New York; for Dr. van Dyke has made himself a position of the first importance in the metropolitan pulpit. A preacher of singular force, persuasiveness, and charm, he has been an outspoken citizen on all public questions; uniting in rare degree the quality of moral leadership with the interests of a man of culture and literary taste, Dr. van Dyke has gained a peculiar influence with the young men of the country. The Brick Church during his pastorate has reached a position of the greatest strength. Those who know Dr. van Dyke's literary interest and his growing ability as a writer will understand the attraction of so important a position as the Baltimore professorship; on the other hand, those who know how necessary his work is in the city of New York, and how valuable it has been, will be very unwilling by the recent war: to have him give up his pulpit. It is a misfortune that there are not two of him. Woman's Branch, City Mission The twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Woman's Branch of the New York City Mission was held January 16. The amount of money raised by this branch of the work is evidence that the generous public fully believe in the work and methods of the Branch. The Woman's Branch raised over $27,000 last year, and expended over $26,000. Children from one of the industrial schools, a group of colored children, and a group of Chinese children born in New York, were present and took part in the exercises. All of these children are connected with some of the schools of the Mission, but they are directly under the care of the Woman's Branch. The training-school has enlarged the scope of its work by providing lectures and opporPrities for practical work among the poor, The third Conference of the Woman's Boards of Foreign Missions of the United States was held in the Broadway Tabernacle in New York, beginning January 11th. About one hundred delegates were present, and nearly all the religious denominations were represented. Addresses were delivered by various missionaries and Christian workers. The occasion was one of singular interest. So far as we have observed, the address which attracted most attention was that of Miss Crosby, who for seven years had been a missionary in the Caroline Islands. We quote from her address a passage which will be of much interest to many readers, in view of the attention drawn to those islands To one who has been in the Caroline Islands it seems impossible to regard them from any other than the missionary standpoint. It is a matter of amazement that the nations of the earth should ever reach out after them. When, in 1885, Germany laid claim to them, Spain suddenly remembered that, over two hundred years before, the Spanish flag had been raised over them, and, although for all those years she had left them to their degradation and savage traditions, she suddenly felt an excess of interest, and determined to circumvent Germany. After the two nations had nearly come to war, the matter was referred to the Pope for arbitration, and he cut the Gordian knot by giving the Marshall Islands to Germany and the Carolines to Spain, which forthwith took possession of them, but did nothing toward the civilization of the natives. Such was the character of the people that when it was first suggested that missionaries be sent them from this country, even rough seafaring men remonstrated, declaring that they would be killed if they endeavored to land. Unless these islands are wanted for coaling and naval stations, there can be no object in taking them, for Spain has lost many thousands of dollars there ever since she has occupied them. There is abso lutely no revenue to be obtained from them, save from the missionary standpoint of "laying up treasures in heaven." Two other addresses of great value were delivered by Mrs. John R. Mott on Higher Education for Women in Mission Fields, and one on The Missionary Spirit in Women's Colleges, by Dr. Grace Kimball. State Conference on Religion A notable letter has been addressed to various ministers and Christian workers in New York State, in the interest of something like a Parliament of Religions. Perhaps the better and more exact name is "Conference on Religion." The letter says: "If 'toleration in religion is the best fruit of the last four centuries,' should not the beginning of the twentieth century mark an advance to a still nobler position, that of reciprocation in religion and of religious co-operation-the attitude of men open-minded, spiritual, and loving enough to acknowledge that there is truth to be learned from, as well as truth to be offered to, neighbors, and that a great deal of good, now undone in the world, waits for the hour when the Churches shall join hands in a new brotherhood? The immediate organic unity of the Churches is impossible, however desirable; but could they not, and, if they can, should they not, set the example of union, of good-will and good-deed relations, instead of continuing the long-lasting, historic example of indifference and even hostility one to another?" The proposals are the following: "(1) Thata Biennial Conference, continuing three or four days, of all who may care to attend, be held, at which Conference prominent ministers and laymen of various religious bodies within the State of New York be invited to read papers, or lead discussions, on themes of religion and morals and social reform. (2) That the first of these conferences be held in 1899. (3) That the arrangements for it be made by a committee representing the different Churches and different parts of the State. All the time the separate interests of every denomination are cared for by churches and colleges and missions and conferences, each denomination having its own, and these things are bound to continue. Our suggestion is that once in two years the churches should come together, in the name of the Spirit common to all, to promote the things that make for the common good. Have we not, at last, reached the point when such meetings would be possible and profita ble?" Among the names approving this letter are those of Leighton Williams, D.D., and President A. H. Strong, D.D., Baptists; Dr. H. A. Stimson and Lyman Abbott, Congre gationalists; President J. R. Day and Dr. F. M. North, Methodists; Chancellor H. M. MacCracken and Dr. Charles Cuthbert Hall, Presbyterians; Rabbi Gottheil, Jew; Dr. B. B. Tyler, of the Disciples of Christ; Dr. R. Heber Newton and President Robert Ellis Jones, of Hobart College, Episcopalians; Dr. Charles H. Eaton, Universalist; Revs. J. W. Chadwick and W. C. Gannett, Unitarians, and many others of various denominations. The movement is an important one, and we shall watch its development with interest and sympathy. If it succeeds in New York, it may be possible in other States. Another New Professor for Union Seminary But a few weeks ago, the Rev. Thomas C. Hall, D.D., was called to be Professor of Christian Ethics in Union Theological Seminary. This was considered by all who knew Dr. Hall to be a distinct and notable addition to the strength of the Seminary. The Faculty has now been further strengthened by the choice of the Rev. George William Knox, D.D., of Rye, New York, to be Professor of the Philosophy and History of Religion. Dr. Knox for some time was a missionary in Japan and a professor in the Imperial University of Tokyo. He is a man of large ability and admirably fitted for the responsi ble position to which he has been called. He is a son of the late Rev. William E. Knox, D.D., of Elmira, New York, and is a graduate of Hamilton College. The League for Social Service ་་ The League for Social Service, in furtherance of its aim to become a clearing-house for practical philanthropy, has just issued a list of topics, such as “The Institutional Church," "Public Baths," Recreation," "Vacation Schools,"" Play-grounds," "The Problem of the City Child," and many others, on which it already has 1,400 lantern slides; thus making it possible for any organization to secure a concrete presentation of present-day problems by means of lantern photographs. On a recent visit to Boston, the Secretary of the League secured the co-operation of Mayor Josiah Quincy, who promised the League material illustrating the more important phases of the great Departments of that municipality, so that they might serve |