S CIENTIFIC LIT ERA TUBE. 



133 



sound basis for education, but more partic- 

 ularly those instructors to whom we look 

 for guidance from kindergarten to college. 

 Mr. Frank Sargent Hoffmann's book on 

 The Sphere of the State * is the substance, 

 chiefly, of lectures delivered before the senior 

 class of Union College in 1898, and is in- 

 tended to set forth clearly and concisely the 

 ethical principles involved in the rights and 

 action of the state, and to show how they 

 may be applied under present conditions 

 and principles. Tn the author's view the 

 state is the primal and universal unit of so- 

 ciety ; it is coextensive with the human 

 race, and is independent of the existence of 

 nations, and every man is born into it. It 

 is manifold, for many distinct divisions of 

 mankind called states may exist at any 

 given period. The supreme control of all 

 persons and commodities must be with it, 

 and there can never be an individual right 

 to anything in the state that is not subordi- 

 nate to its right. Dismissing such concep- 

 tions as base the organization and extent of 

 the state on geography, race, family rela- 

 tion, language, or religion, the author ac- 

 cepts that which founds it on brotherhood 

 and the needs thereof, and makes the chief 

 and ultimate end of the state, to which all 

 other ends must be subordinate, the perfec- 

 tion of the brotherhood ; and all this, the 

 state, the entity, is distinguished from the 

 government, which is only an instrument. 

 The state's first duty is to enlighten its 

 members respecting their ever-vai-ying rela- 

 tions, and what they require education. 

 AVhile the true and distinctive ground of 

 proj>erty is labour, by which it is acquired, 

 and that is performed by individuals, the 

 natural right to property is ultimately re- 

 solved into a state right, and the individual's 

 right must in the end be controlled by the 

 needs of the state or the good of the whole 

 brotherhood ; and " only from the concep- 

 tion of property as ultimately owned and 

 controlled by the state can we come to a 

 true conception of the property right of 

 each citizen of the state." The principles 

 thus laid down are followed out in their ap- 



* The Sphere of the State, or the People as a 

 Body Politic ; with Special Consideration of Cer- 

 tain Present Problems. By Frank Sargent Hoff- 

 mann. New York and London : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons, pp. 275. 



plication to the various functions and fea- 

 tures of civic and social life ; to the crea- 

 tion of corporations and the assigning them 

 their places in the state ; to the matter of 

 transportation and its relation to the state ; 

 to taxation, the right to impose which be- 

 longs only to the state as a whole and is 

 absolute there, but not to any individual i 

 to questions of money ; to the treatment of 

 criminals; to relations with the poor; to 

 the government of cities, the family, the 

 Church, and relations with other states. 

 The author's reasoning is profound and com- 

 prehensive, his tone is conservative, and the 

 book is full of thought. 



Of all the leaders in the late war for the 

 preservation of the Union, General Sheridan * 

 probably comes nearest among the Unionist 

 commanders to fulfilling the popular ideal of 

 a hero. Brave, alert, often brilliant, and 

 nearly always successful, he acquired his full 

 measure of glory while in active service, 

 while nothing happened in his after-life to 

 dim his renown. His biographer was for- 

 tunate in his subject. We may say that the 

 subject is as fortunate in its biographer. 

 General Davies sei'ved with distinction in the 

 cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac 

 under General Sheridan from September, 

 1863, till the end of the war, and his brigade 

 was present in all Sheridan's battles. It was 

 mainly for this reason that he was chosen by 

 the editor of this series to be Sheridan's bi- 

 ographer. He was an officer of correct mili- 

 tary information and was, as his narrative 

 proves, a writer with clear perception of what 

 should go into a biography, and was able to 

 estimate correctly the value of each action 

 and to describe his hero justly and without 

 exaggeration or extravagance. He died one 

 month after he had completed this book. 

 He regards General Sheridan as having pos- 

 sessed to an eminent degree the most indi-'- 

 pensable qualities of a commander. " He 

 had the ability to think and act promptly 

 and energetically, and, if need were, independ- 

 ently of instructions, and to assume and sup- 

 port with ease whatever responsibilities his 

 situation might require ; he had the power 

 to impress his will and personal influence 



* Great Commanders : General Sheridan. By 

 General Henry .y. Davies. With Portrf.it and 

 Maps. New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 332. 

 Price, $1.51 



