416 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



multiply descriptions of the various species. 

 If my younger readers will try and become 

 familiar with the types selected, either 

 alive in zoological gardens or preserved in 

 good museums, they will, I hope, acquire a 

 very fair idea of the main branches of the 

 Backboned Family." 



This acceptance of the evolution stand- 

 point, this tracing of the stream of life 

 along the great course of terrestrial changes, 

 this marking of the epochs of advancing or- 

 ganization in the ascending movement, and 

 this tracing of genetic relationships, all con- 

 cur in giving a new and impressive signifi- 

 cance to the idea of unity in the great 

 scheme of life, and give to natural history 

 a new element of almost romantic interest. 

 Miss Buckley has given attractiveness to the 

 subject by her wealth of information, the 

 clearness and simplicity of her descriptions, 

 and she has heightened the effect by the 

 skillfully conceived and finely executed 

 illustrations with which the volume is 

 filled. 



Herbert Spencer on the Americans, and 

 the Americans on Herbert Spencer. 

 Being a Full Report of Mr. Spencer's 

 Interview, and of the Proceedings at 

 the Farewell Banquet. New York : D. 

 Applcton & Co. Pp. 96. Price, ten 

 cents, or $5 per hundred. 



This pamphlet contains the most for the 

 money of anything that can be found in 

 the market. It has been carefully prepared, 

 so as to be entirely correct and authentic. 

 The newspaper reports were defective and 

 incomplete. The revised addresses of Hon. 

 William M. Evarts, Mr. Spencer, Professor 

 W. G. Sumner, Mr. Carl Schurz, Pro- 

 fessor 0. C. Marsh, Mr. John Fiske, and 

 Rev. Henry Ward Beecher are given in 

 full ; and to these are added the unspoken 

 speeches of Mr. E. L. Youmans, Mr. Lester 

 F. Ward, and Mr. E. R. Leland, together with 

 all the letters sent to the committee, and 

 which have not before been published. 

 The document is weighty with important 

 thought that can not fail to dispel much 

 prejudice, and every one who cares for the 

 dissemination of truth should send on his 

 five dollars and get a hundred to distribute 

 among his neighbors. They will be sure 

 to appreciate the favor. 



Unity Pui.pit. Sermons of M. J. Savage. 



Vol. IV. No. 9. Herbert Spencer : his 



Influence on Religion and Morality. 



Published weekly. Boston : George H. 



Ellis. Price, $1.50 a year, or six cents 



single copy. 



There is no more encouraging sign of 

 the times than the indications we see that 

 the pulpit is beginning to yield to the spirit 

 of progress. As science slowly advances in 

 the reformation of knowledge, bringing new 

 subjects under the influence of its method, 

 regenerating the ideals of mankind, and 

 making truth the supreme object of quest 

 and devotion, it is, of course, impossible for 

 the pulpit to remain unaffected by the gen- 

 eral movement. The highest victory of 

 evolution will be to transform the biased 

 preacher into the unbiased teacher. The 

 pulpit, as we have inherited it, is becoming 

 more and more anomalous in these times. 

 It is the place that has been sacredly pro- 

 tected from the competitions of inquiry. 

 Everywhere else error goes merely for what 

 it is worth, and must take its chances in the 

 open conflicts of discussion, but in the pul- 

 pit error is consecrated. It is the bulwark 

 of tradition. Beliefs that are outgrown and 

 abandoned everywhere else find refuge in 

 the pulpit. The preacher is the expositor 

 of ancient creeds, the leader of a sect, a 

 rhetorical homilist, anything except an in- 

 dependent seeker after truth. The virtue of 

 the pulpit is submissive faith, its crime free- 

 thinking. This characterization, of course, 

 applies more to the past than to the pres- 

 ent, but it is still too extensively true. 

 There is, however, a silent, insidious, but 

 inevitable change going on in a great num- 

 ber of pulpits that is loosening ancient 

 prejudices, undermining past bigotries, soft- 

 ening theological asperities, and tending to 

 a larger liberality in all religious matters. 

 The position of the clergyman in a time of 

 transition like the present is difficult, and, 

 if he be a deeply conscientious as well as 

 a clear-sighted man, is often painful. But 

 many of them are learning how to meet the 

 emergency, to yield gracefully that which 

 must go, and to accept cordially that which 

 must unavoidably come. Some pulpits, in- 

 deed, and their number is increasing, are 

 already free. Their occupants are content 

 to be simply teachers, and have liberated 

 themselves from all trammels that tend to 



