LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



typed in universal usage than the term 

 " gospel," as applied to views or doctrines 

 which a party is engaged in propagating, 

 from the gospels of the evangelists to Car- 

 lyle's " Gospel of Dirt," and the " gospel of 

 dig " now discussed in the educational jour- 

 nals. The "coincidence" in the applica- 

 tion of this word we should hold to be of a 

 very innocent sort. 



And here all coincidence ceases. The 

 two gospels are not of the same kind. The 

 two phrases "gospel of rest" and "gos- 

 pel of relaxation " do not mean the same 

 thing. Instead of being alike, their mean- 

 ings are rather contrasted. We have sim- 

 ple passivity on the one hand, and activity 

 of a given kind on the other. The " gospel 

 of rest " is obeyed by inaction, by stopping 

 work, or going to bed ; while the " gospel of 

 relaxation " implies rather a change of ac- 

 tivity from work to play, and it connotes 

 recreation, entertainment, and amusement. 

 The " gospel of relaxation " means the sub- 

 stitution of agreeable diversion for tiresome 

 labor. The Puritanical Sunday would an- 

 swer to Dr. Beard's " gospel of rest," but it 

 would not answer to Herbert Spencer's 

 "gospel of relaxation." Dr. Beard's re- 

 quirement was made into a gospel of duty 

 by the ancient Jews ; Mr. Spencer's require- 

 ment has as yet been made into a gospel of 

 duty nowhere. The cases are, therefore, 

 conspicuous for their lack of " coincidence," 

 and the same thing will be observed in all 

 the other counts. 



The burden of Dr. Beard's pamphlet, as 

 we have intimated, is to show that he was 

 first in the field in the systematic treatment 

 of " American nervousness " ; and, as he en- 

 titles his pamphlet "Herbert Spencer on 

 American Nervousness," the impression is 

 sought to be conveyed that Mr. Spencer has 

 recently entered upon a definite field of in- 

 quiry which Dr. Beard had made his own 

 long ago. But in the first place the views 

 of the two men are far from being of the 

 same character, and, in the next place, Spen- 

 cer's views are much older than those of 

 Dr. Beard. As regards priority, it is only 

 necessary to say that we heard Mr. Spencer 

 give expression to the main ideas of his ad- 

 dress long before the name of Dr. Beard 

 was ever publicly heard of. It was an early 

 outcome of his evolution studies, that, as in 



social progress the fighting dispensation of 

 society gave way to the working dispensa- 

 tion, so the working dispensation must in 

 turn give way and become subordinate to 

 the higher objects to which work and wealth 

 are tributary. The stage beyond, to which 

 he maintains we are tending, will be char- 

 acterized by a more perfect organization of 

 the means of human enjoyment. That life 

 is for pleasure in its largest sense is a car- 

 dinal idea of the Spencerian philosophy, 

 and that the social fulfillment of this su- 

 preme end must come in practical forms, by 

 giving larger and more systematic play to 

 our pleasure-loving impulses and varied ca- 

 pacities of enjoyment, is an explicit and 

 leading inculcation of Mr. Spencer's works. 

 That completer living is to be attained by a 

 multiplication of pleasurable satisfactions, 

 and the perfected art of enjoyment was 

 taught ; for example, in his " Education," 

 written twenty-five years ago, and the doc- 

 trine is at the basis of the " Data of Ethics," 

 the most advanced treatise of his philo" 

 sophical system. Mr. Spencer took up this 

 cherished and long-familiar topic, in his 

 New York address, simply because he was 

 freshly and forcibly reminded of its impor- 

 tance by what he saw in this country. 



History of the Pacific States of North 

 America. Central America, Vol. 1, 1501- 

 1530. By Hubert Howe Bancroft. 

 San Francisco : A. L. Bancroft & Co. 

 Pp. 704. Price, cloth, $4.50. 

 This volume, the sixth in the great series 

 of historical works by Mr. Bancroft, gives 

 the history of the southernmost section of 

 North America which borders on the Pacific, 

 during the period of discovery and coloniza- 

 tion previous to 1530. The first chapter, 

 of a hundred and fifty pages, is introduc- 

 tory ; half of it being devoted to " Spain 

 and Civilization at the Beginning of the Six- 

 teenth Century," and the rest to a " Sum- 

 mary of Geographical Knowledge aud Dis- 

 covery from the Earliest Eecords to the 

 Year 1540." The summary includes a se- 

 ries of voyages by the Northmen to the 

 northeastern shores of America, extending 

 over five centuries ; and mentions many ex- 

 peditions both eastward and westward by 

 travelers from Southern Europe, the earli- 

 est of these being made in 1096. The value 

 of this account is increased by copies of fif- 



