LITERARY NOTICES. 



S6s 



Tenants of an Old Farm, By Henry C. 

 lIcCoos, D. D. Illustrated from Nature. 

 New York : Fords, Howard & Hulbert. 

 Pp. 45(5. Price, $2.50. 



At the solicitation of friends, the au- 

 thor has adopted a narrative form for these 

 sketches of insect-life, and has introduced 

 two characters, an uneducated woman serv- 

 ant and an old colored man, who are well 

 versed in the superstitions concerning in- 

 sects which are current among the igno- 

 rant. The book contains many original ob- 

 servations, especially upon the author's spe- 

 cialties, ants and spiders, and aims through- 

 out to express the latest and best results 

 of scientific research. The one hundred 

 and forty illustrations have been pre- 

 pared expressly for the work, and many of 

 them are comical adaptations by Mr. Dan 

 Beard. Mechanically, the volume is a hand- 

 some one, but contains a few typographical 

 errors. 



The Wat Out. Suggestions for Social Re- 

 form. By Charles J. Bellamy, author 

 of " The Breton Mills." A Novel. New 

 York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 

 191. 



Having written his novel, Mr. Bellamy 

 proceeds to the trivial task of solving all 

 the problems of modern social life, by pro- 

 mulgating a grand policy of reform which 

 shall prove to be " The Way Out " for all 

 people who find themselves hemmed in by 

 limitations of any sort, and especially the 

 limitations of poverty. His case may be thus 

 summed up : " This is a government by the 

 people who are essentially omnipotent, and 

 can do what they like. The instrument for 

 cutting their way out of all their terrible pov- 

 erty and misery is the ballot. There are im- 

 mense accumulations of property, and what 

 is wanted is redistribution. The greatest 

 happiness would be secured by dividing up. 

 The politicians who have got the most bal- 

 lots are the parties to do this. What is 

 needed is greatly to enlarge the sphere of 

 government in the way of collecting and 

 scattering money. There are abundant pre- 

 cedents for this, as may be readily shown." 

 The author says : 



Government, both national and State, by innu- 

 merable acts of legislation, has established prece- 

 dents, if we seek for justification of our theory, or 

 to speak, I think, more correctly, prove that our 

 theory of the functions of republican government 



has already been practically accepted, although not 

 carried to its logical sequence. Government already 

 interferes to repair the banks of navigable rivers, to 

 improve harbors, to subsidize steamships and rail- 

 roads, with a view to the ultimate good they may do 

 the nation. The same national Government fits out 

 expeditions of exploration, and makes costly experi- 

 ments in agriculture and science for the benefit of 

 the people. The State governments have gone much 

 further. They have loaned money to railroads and 

 canals expected to redound to the benefit of the 

 people, provided large sums for education rendered 

 compulsory, and for the care of the poor, and filled 

 in marsh-lands. County, city, and town govern- 

 ments have carried the theory even further. These 

 last-mentioned governments make free bridges and 

 highways which they care for, establish free libraries 

 and reading-rooms, spend the pubUc money each 

 successive year in some new way, even to appropri- 

 ating the same for the observance of memorial days, 

 or the celebration of Fourth of July. It certainly 

 seems as if the principle must be acknowledged, 

 after such numerous and varied illustrations, that 

 it is the province of government to make a constant 

 care of the material interests and development of 

 the country, as well as the education and happiness 

 of the people. 



In the carrying out of this grand pro- 

 gramme the politicians who have got the 

 most votes should regulate all profits, cut 

 down the hours of labor, and, incidentally, 

 take possession of all the land, because, 

 "for the greatest good of the greatest num- 

 ber," "there should be no individual prop- 

 erty in land." Then will be found "The 

 Way Out" of "society as now organized " 

 into " the era of plenty." 



Like the author's former novel, " The 

 Way Out " is a work of the imagination : 

 the author seems to be concerned about no 

 other laws of the social state than those 

 made by the politicians ; and as for political 

 economists they are merely " apologists for 

 an iniquitous society." 



The Philosophy of a Future State : A 

 Brief Demonstration of the Untena- 

 BiLiTY of Current Speculations. By 

 C. Davis English. Philadelphia: Ed- 

 ward Stern & Co. Pp. 16. Price, 10 

 cents. 



It has been long agreed that science can 

 not demonstrate the doctrine of a future 

 life or the immortality of the soul ; but the 

 writer of this pamphlet seems to be of the 

 opinion that the untenability of current be- 

 liefs and speculations upon the subject can 

 be demonstrated. Holding, furthermore, that 

 truth is important, and that truth upon this 

 subject is supremely important, he prints 



