LITERARY NOTICES. 



371 



made by Thomas Aquinas, and the unfor- 

 tunate route taken by seience in conse- 

 quence; in anatomy and medicine, the ear- 

 lier growth of ecclesiastical distrust of these 

 sciences; in scientific education, the deal- 

 ings of various European universities with 

 scientific studies ; in political and social sci- 

 ence^ more complete statement of the oppo- 

 sition of the Church, on scriptural grounds, 

 to the taking of interest for money ; and in 

 the conclusion, a more careful summing up." 

 The distinguishing feature of this little 

 volume, and which will make it eminently 

 valuable and useful at the present time, 

 is its copious and careful notes, which 

 give authoritative support to the argument. 

 Nothing important is left to rest upon mere 

 assertion. The battle that Science has had 

 to fight from the beginning, and without re- 

 mission, with ignorance, prejudice, and in- 

 tolerance, inspired and directed by ecclesi- 

 astical influence, is vividly delineated in the 

 text, and the positions taken are so forti- 

 fied by citations from works of the highest 

 character as to leave little room for further 

 controversy. That the history of Science 

 has been throughout a struggle with the 

 theologians, and that the Bible has been 

 used by devout believers in its infallible in- 

 spiration to crush out the results of scientific 

 inquiry, are perfectly well known ; while 

 that science is still dreaded and denounced 

 on religious grounds, and that the Bible 

 is still extensively appealed to against its 

 conclusions, are now so obvious that there 

 is certainly no reason for doubting its em- 

 ployment in the same way, in less enlight- 

 ened times. But there are so many who 

 are inclined to forget, and belittle, and ex- 

 plain away the uglier features of the past 

 conflict, that it becomes necessary to array 

 the evidence of it in book and page, chap- 

 ter and verse, as President White has done. 

 Nothing is to be gained, at any rate, by ig- 

 noring historic truth, and bigotry and su- 

 perstition still offer too vigorous a resistance 

 to the advance of rational inquiry to make 

 it desirable that we should quite forget the 

 painful lessons of the past. 



Die Huxdertjahrige Repcblik. Von John 

 H. Becker. Augsburg: Lampart & 

 Co. Pp. 440. 



The author of the " Centennial Repub- 

 lic," during a sojourn of several years in the 



United States, was a critical observer of 

 our social and political life. The result of 

 hi3 observations is a merciless exposure of 

 all the vices and defects of republican in- 

 stitutions as they exist in this country. 

 The work is in reality a pamphlet intended 

 to influence the minds of Germans living at 

 home, and to dissuade them from emigrat- 

 ing to the United States. Mr. Becker has 

 three chapters on the condition of the 

 working-class ; several chapters on politics 

 and government, rings, carpet-baggery, cor- 

 ruption, the lobby ; finally, he treats of the 

 family, education of children, and a number 

 of other subjects. The author is an advo- 

 cate, and does full justice to the cause he 

 defends ; the brighter side of American life 

 is not his concern. 



French Political Leaders. By E. King. 

 Also, German Political Leaders. By 

 Herbert Tuttle. Pp. 264. New 

 York : Putnams. Price, $1.50 each. 



These two volumes are numbered re- 

 spectively III. and IV. in Putnam's series 

 of " Brief Biographies," designed to ac- 

 quaint the American public with the char- 

 acters and services of eminent politicians 

 and statesmen abroad. In vol. iii. we have 

 sketches of twenty-three of the foremost 

 political leaders of France, and in vol. iv. of 

 nineteen men prominent in the political life 

 of Germany. Both Mr. King and Mr. Tut- 

 tle have enjoyed the advantage of personal 

 acquaintance with several of the subjects of 

 their biographies ; in all cases they have 

 had the best opportunities for studying the 

 men whose lives they describe. They are 

 no transcribers of biographical notes and 

 dates, their aim being rather to portray 

 character than to inform the reader of the 

 dry and impertinent details of a man's career. 



History or the United States. By J. A. 

 Doyle. New York: Holt. Price, $1.40. 



This is beyond question the best man- 

 ual of the. history of the United States that 

 has yet been written. The style is plain 

 and marked by directness ; and the author 

 usually assigns to events their true propor- 

 tions, as viewed from the standpoint of the 

 impartial historian. Four graphical maps 

 exhibit 1. The changes in territory ; and, 

 2. The distribution of population in 1790, 

 1830, and 1870. 



