LITERARY NOTICES. 



127 



through the period in which religious wars 

 were a part of the order of the day. Not- 

 withstanding this, and the sharp religious 

 divisions between the cantons, union has 

 prevailed, and a federal government has 

 been established under which both Catholics 

 and Protestants live without serious friction. 

 Another peculiar feature of Switzerland is 

 the prevalence of three distinct and official 

 languages (besides the unofficial Romansch), 

 and the maintenance of as many national 

 characteristics, while in the United States 

 there is a tendency to assimilation in all 

 things of thiskind. The negro in the South 

 introduces a problem into our political life 

 "of which the population of Switzerland 

 gives no hint." Such class distinctions as 

 may exist there are those that may arise in 

 a homogeneous society under the conditions 

 of modern life, or are a survival from the 

 feudal age; but "they are not such as pro- 

 ceed from the existence in the population 

 of different races regarded as inferior and 

 superior." Illiteracy and general ignorance 

 in any part of the population are wanting in 

 Switzerland ; " in fact, in no country of the 

 world are the affairs of education adminis- 

 tered more zealously or with greater effi- 

 ciency. The problem of republican govern- 

 ment is, therefore, simpler in Switzerland 

 than in America, in spite of the proximity 

 of the Swiss to the monarchical rule of Euro- 

 pean states." The analysis of the Swiss Con- 

 stitution is introduced by a review of the 

 " Antecedents of Swiss Federalism," and is 

 applied in succession to the several depart- 

 ments of the government, its foreign and 

 internal relations, the army and finance, 

 "Rights and Privileges," and "The Com- 

 mon Fraternity." 



Kant's Critical Philosophy for English 

 Readers. A New and Completed Edition. 

 By John P. Mahaffy, D. D., and John 

 H. Bernard, B. L>. Vol. II. The Pro- 

 legomena translated, with Notes and Ap- 

 pendices. London and New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co. Pp. 239. Price, $1.50. 



This is the second volume of a work 

 whose first volume was noticed in this maga- 

 zine several months ago. While in the pre- 

 ceding part of this work the editor has taken 

 the more agreeable task of paraphrasing the 

 original, because the " Kritik" is already ac- 

 cessible in English, he has deemed it " due 



to Kant to put his ' Prolegomena' in all their 

 homeliness literally before the reader." He 

 has reprinted in the appendix the suppressed 

 passages of Kant's first edition of the 

 " Kritik." The work is unfortunately with- 

 out an index. 



TJie Modern Chess Instructor, Part I, by 

 W. Steinitz (G. P. Putnam's Sons), contains 

 elementary explanations for beginners, the 

 description of notations, a telegraphic chess 

 code, an essay on the principles of the game, 

 and analyses of six popular openings, with 

 illustrative games to each opening, while the 

 appendix contains the games of the contest 

 between Messrs. Steinitz and Tschigorin 

 which were played at Havana in January 

 and February, 1S89, with annotations by the 

 author. Pp. 193. Price, $1.50. 



Prof. Charles W. Kent, of the Univer- 

 sity of Tennessee, has prepared an edition 

 of the old English poem Elcne, which is as- 

 scribed to Cynewulf, with introduction, Latin 

 original, notes, and a complete glossary. 

 The introduction and notes are designed for 

 the use of students, and not with any view 

 to critical purposes. The glossary has been 

 made more complete than is usual in edi- 

 tions of old English poems. From the his- 

 torical notice in the introduction, it appears 

 that the manuscript of this poem was found 

 in 1822 in the Cathedral Library in Vercelli, 

 and the question of the way it got there has 

 given rise to considerable discussion, with 

 not very definite results. The author is sup- 

 posed to have been a Northumbrian, and 

 to have lived in the eighth century. The 

 poem is founded on the story of the search 

 for the cross and its discovery by the Era- 

 press Helena, wife of Constantino. While 

 the author has followed the story with con- 

 siderable fidelity, he has not bound himself 

 too closely to it, and those passages which 

 are all his own are the best in the work. 

 Besides the historical and critical introduc- 

 tion, a metrical introduction and a bibliog- 

 raphy are given. We last month published 

 a notice of a translation of this and two 

 other old English poems. Ginn & Co., pub- 

 lishers. Pp. 149. Price, 65 cents. 



Of two text-books in Greek published by 

 Ginn & Co., Mr. Isaac Flagg's edition, with 

 notes, of Euripides's Iphigcnia among the 

 Taurians commends itself, not only on ao- 



