634- 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



full of the apotheosis of individuals, and has 

 such a copious calendar of saints, and makes 

 men the objects of its worship. 



Gerrit Smith: A Biography. By Octa- 

 tius Brooks Frothingham. New York : 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 381. 



Whether this work is to be regarded as 

 a success will depend upon the ideal formed 

 of what a true biography ought to be. If 

 we accept the Boswellian standard, which 

 makes biographical excellence to consist in 

 the copiousness of gossip, trivial particulars, 

 and idle tattle about its subject, Mr. Froth- 

 ingham's volume must be pronounced a 

 failure. Sueh details are usually not only 

 worthless, if true, but, originating in a spirit 

 of adulation, they are generally so partial 

 and false as to be of little use for any se- 

 rious purpose. Moreover, the cast of mind 

 that can produce such books is pretty cer- 

 tain to be wanting in the insight, the ana- 

 lytic capacity, and the critical judgment, ne- 

 cessary to form a true estimate of character. 



Mr. Frothingham's book has not been 

 made on this model. Though strictly a 

 biography, that is, the description of a life, 

 and though freely delineating those circum- 

 stances, incidents, peculiarities, sayings, and 

 habitual actions, which mark and define the 

 personality he is dealing with, yet all such 

 details are made subordinate to the purpose 

 of so unfolding and representing the nature 

 of the man that readers may form their own 

 judgment respecting his greatness. Thus 

 regarded, the book is able, eminently suc- 

 cessful, and worthy of its subject. Gerrit 

 Smith was a most admirable man, a noble- 

 hearted philanthropist, who put his great 

 fortune at the service of society, and devoted 

 his life to the skillful management of his 

 immense wealth, that he might dispense it 

 for beneficent ends. He was a radical and 

 thorough-going reformer, taking deep in- 

 terest in all projects of moral amelioration, 

 such as peace, temperance, antislavery, and 

 other philanthropic schemes, for which he 

 worked with vigor, and which he aided lib- 

 erally with his means. He was also from 

 youth an uncompromising democrat, living 

 plainly, carrying out his theories of practi- 

 cal equality, and never betrayed into the 

 aristocratic ostentation which he might 

 have indulged on an imposing scale. The 



radicalism of his nature, moreover, asserted 

 itself strongly in his religious experience. 

 Beginning as a devoted Christian of the or- 

 thodox stamp, he held steadily to the prac- 

 tical observances of a pious life, but gradu- 

 ally freed himself from the trammels of the- 

 ology, and, at length,, emerged as a liberal 

 Christian of the extremest sort. Christian- 

 ity was with bim a purely practical affair, a 

 carrying out of the principles of human 

 brotherhood, and the extending of sympa- 

 thy and help to all who needed them. Doc- 

 trinal matters were therefore held lightly, 

 and he told somebody late in life that he 

 had not yet made up his mind whether he 

 had a soul or not. In a variety of respects 

 his character and position were unique, and 

 his career altogether forms a study of spe- 

 cial interest to those concerned with the 

 philosophy of charities and benevolence. 



Transcendentalism, with Preludes on Cur- 

 rent Events. By Joseph Cook. J. R. 

 Osgood & Co. Pp. 305. Price, $1.50. 



This book emanates from the same mind 

 that wrote the "Biology," and is, probably, 

 of similar quality. Osgood well knows the 

 length of his customers' ears, and puts in 

 the " applause " all the same. 



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Foundations. By J. Gandard. New York : 

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 New York: W. J. Widdleton. 2 vols., pp. 495 

 and 568. $5. 



Comparative Psychology. Bv J. BaFCom. 

 New York: Putnam's Sons. Pp. 2S6. $1.50. 



State Regulation of Vice. Bv A. M. Powell. 

 New York : Wood & Holbrook. " Pp. 127. $1. 



Journal of the Academv of Natural Sciences 

 of Philadelphia. Vol. VIII., Part III. (New Se- 

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