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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and handsome dwelling-houses — in fact, 

 merchants' offices and merchants' houses. 

 The alpha and omega of the whole is trade." 

 Mr. Jevons, as is well known, met an un- 

 timely death by what was called drowning 

 while bathing in the sea at Galley Hall, 

 near Hastings. His death is ascribed in 

 this book to the shock of the cold water, 

 which was no doubt too severe for his en- 

 feebled health, and produced such an effect 

 upon the weak action of his heart as to 

 cause syncope and render him, after the 

 first plunge, quite unconscious and pow- 

 erless to help himself. The Rev. Robert 

 Harley said of him, in the Royal Society, 

 that he " was a man as remarkable for mod- 

 esty of character and generous appreciation 

 of the labors of others as for unwearied in- 

 dustry, devotion to work of the highest and 

 purest kind, and thorough independence and 

 originality of thought. The bequest which 

 he has left to the world is not represented 

 solely by the results of his intellectual toil, 

 widely as these are appreciated, not only in 

 England but also in America and on the 

 Contiuent of Europe. A pure and lofty 

 character is more precious than any achieve- 

 ments in the field of knowledge ; and though 

 its influences are not easy to trace, it is oft- 

 en more powerful in the inspiration which 

 it breathes than the literary or scientific 

 productions of the man." The editor of the 

 "Spectator" said that he had other quali- 

 ties than those of the philosophical thinker, 

 u not always found in men of science, which 

 make his character as unique as his intel- 

 lect. At once shy and genial, and full of 

 the appreciation of the humor of human 

 life, eager as he was in his solitary studies, 

 he enjoyed nothing so much as to find him- 

 self thawing in the lively companionship of 

 his friends. Something of a recluse in tem- 

 perament, his generous and tender nature 

 rebelled against the seclusion into which 

 his studies and his not unfrequent dyspep- 

 sia drove him. His hearty laugh was some- 

 thing unique in itself, and made every one 

 the happier who heard it. His humble es- 

 timate of himself and his doubts of his 

 power of inspiring affection, or even strong 

 friendship, were singularly remarkable, when 

 contrasted with the great courage which he 

 had of his opinions ; nevertheless, his de- 

 pendence on human ties for his happiness 

 was as complete as the love he felt for his 



chosen friends was strong and faithful. 

 Moreover, there was a deep religious feeling 

 at the bottom of his nature, which made the 

 materialistic tone of the day as alien to him 

 as all true science, whether on material or 

 on intellectual, or on spiritual themes, was 

 unaffectedly dear to him." A bibliography 

 of Mr. Jevons's writings, by the year and 

 month, is given at the end of the volume. 



The Origin of Republican Form of Gov- 

 ernment in the United States. By 

 Oscar S. Straus. New York : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 1885. Pp.149. Price, 

 $1. 



This treatise is an enlargement of a lect- 

 ure which attracted much favorable atten- 

 tion when delivered first in New York, and 

 subsequently before the Long Island His- 

 torical Society in Brooklyn. The author's 

 purpose is to examine into the reasons why 

 the republican form of government was 

 originally selected by the people of the 

 American colonies upon their separation 

 from the mother country, in preference to 

 every other form of polity. He ascribes 

 such selection " mainly to ecclesiastical 

 causes which operated from the time the 

 Pilgrims set foot upon our continent, and 

 to the direct and indirect influence of the 

 Hebrew commonwealth." 



Mr. Straus makes out a much stronger 

 case for his hypothesis than might at first 

 be supposed. He has industriously collect- 

 ed a good deal of pertinent historical matter 

 tending to exhibit the religious causes of 

 the American Revolution, to indicate the 

 controlling Biblical ideas which influenced 

 in one way and another the minds of the 

 founders of the republic, and to prove how 

 potent those ideas really were in molding 

 the scheme of the new government. He 

 has also traced out and made very evident 

 some striking analogies between the United 

 States government as finally constituted, 

 and the Hebrew state under the judges. 

 He considers, indeed, that the Hebrew com- 

 monwealth was the first well-developed dem- 

 ocratic republic. This is seen in the divis- 

 ions of general governmental functions, in 

 the preservation of the tribal governments 

 in federation under a national administra- 

 tion, in the recognition of civil equality, in 

 the elective franchise, and in the separation 

 of church and state — which la.st is a fact 



