LITERARY NOTICES. 



269 



scend our utmost efforts of intuition or im- 

 agination." Yet, she continues, " we can not 

 surely fail to recognize that partial mani- 

 festations of that nature are taking place 

 within and around us at every moment of 

 our lives." Science has revealed how the 

 First Cause proceeds in the creation of a 

 particular kind of plant or animal ; it has 

 shown, as no other testimony has been able 

 to show, that " his ways are not as our 

 ways," and that he is " without variableness 

 or shadow of turning," and it has made men 

 feel that every right or wrong act is sure to 

 have its proper recompense. The presence 

 of pain and strife in the world has long been 

 a mystery. The great scientific doctrine of 

 natural selection first gave a clew to their 

 usefulness. 



In both the animal and the vegetable 

 kingdoms the author points out that species 

 and individuals that satisfy the conditions of 

 their surroundings flourish, while those that 

 behave differently perish. From this she 

 draws the lesson that in order to attain the 

 highest life of which he is capable, man 

 must adapt his conduct to the will of the 

 Author of all things, as expressed in the 

 laws of the universe. Although one's con- 

 duct is largely influenced by heredity, this is 

 no excuse for resigning one's self to a down- 

 ward course. From the very beginning of 

 animal life we see a power of choice devel- 

 oping together with consciousness, and out 

 of this power springs responsibility. The 

 success and the enjoyment achieved by dis- 

 regarding moral laws are only a short-lived 

 success, and an imperfect enjoyment. 



The question of immortality Mrs. Fisher 

 deems a profound and difficult one. Regard- 

 ing it as intimately connected with all higher 

 morality, she feels obliged to state her con- 

 viction upon it, which is that "our moral 

 nature and the conclusions of science, even 

 apart from religious belief, all point to a 

 continuation of individual existence beyond 

 the few short years we pass in this world." 

 The reasons that she gives in support of this 

 opinion are not, however, as clearly teachings 

 of science as are those which she finds as a 

 basis of moral conduct. The chief argument 

 is that persons who suffer inherited disad- 

 vantages in this life ought to have compen- 

 sation. Thus it will be seen that the book 

 accepts the main principles of religious eth- 



ics, and supplies reasons for obeying moral 

 laws in addition to those which the most 

 enlightened religions contain. Its influence 

 on the adult or the young reader can not fail 

 to be elevating, and it should prove to be a 

 valuable textbook for the teaching of pure 

 ethics. 



Principles and Practice op Plumbing. By 

 S. Stevens Hellyer. London: George 

 Bell & Sons, 1892. Pp. 294. Price, 

 $1.25. 



This is one of the Technological Hand- 

 books issued by the London publishers, George 

 Bell & Sons, and edited by Sir H. Trueman 

 Wood, Secretary of the Society of Arts. It 

 appears to cover the subject quite completely 

 though briefly, and contains much informa- 

 tion that the householder would find it ad- 

 vantageous to know, though it is addressed 

 primarily to the plumber. The contents of 

 the volume range from a consideration of the 

 metallurgy of lead and tin to the proper fix- 

 ing in place of the various apparatus which 

 it is the business of the plumber to know 

 about. 



The Elements of Politics. By Henry 

 Sidgwick. London and New York: 

 Macmillan & Co., 1891. Pp. 632. Price, 



$4. 



Prof. Sidgwick has undertaken in this 

 volume a general survey of the field of poli- 

 tics, with the object of determining what 

 work a government may properly undertake 

 to do, and what form of structure is best 

 suited to the purpose. Holding to the in- 

 dividualistic view of social organization as 

 contrasted with the socialistic, and seeking 

 his sanctions in the main in the principle of 

 individualism, he yet departs widely at times 

 from the laisser-faire school of political 

 thinkers. He rejects the strictly individu- 

 alistic test of what things a government may 

 properly attempt to do as being inadequate, 

 and adopts instead the " general welfare," as 

 the test of what things are permissible and 

 what are not. From this point of view he 

 is able to find adequate sanction for 6uch 

 extensions of government activity as public 

 education, the care and relief of the indi- 

 gent, public hospitals, public parks, sanitary 

 supervision, etc., and the carrying on of cer- 

 tain businesses that are semi-public in char- 

 acter, such as the transmission of mails and 



