578 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 



Five of the October articles have been 

 separately noticed. Mr. A. R. Hinks gives a 

 vivid sketch of the life and work of Sir William 

 Herschel, who began as a drummer boy in the 

 Hanoverian Guards, worked as a musician in 

 England, and only began his study of astronomy 

 after he had passed his fortieth year. No man 

 has yet appeared, says Mr. Hinks, who can 

 write a natural history of the sky as Herschel 

 did for his time. Mr. Harry Graham gives a 

 sketch of the life of Wolfe Tone, whom he pro- 

 nounces to be the first of the Fenians. Mr. 

 V. G. Plarr publishes hitherto unpublished 

 letters of Sir Walter Scott to Joanna Baillie, 

 the poetess, with whom he was on terms of verv 

 great personal intimacy. The first Earl of Sand- 

 wich is the subject of a sketch. Mr. W. de la 

 Mare _ reviews current literature, and laments 

 that literature so feebly keeps pace with life. 



THE SPANISH REVIEWS. 



" A Precedent of Darwinism in the Middle 

 Ages " is the title of an article, in Espana 

 Moderna, on the doctrine of nominalism and the 

 controversy between Roscellinus and Anselm in 

 the eleventh century. Nominalism incurred the 

 censure of the Church in the Middle Ages some- 

 what after the manner of Darwinism in the nine- 

 teenth century; nominalism, according to the 

 believer, made the idea of Trinity in Unity quite 

 absurd. The story of Beatrice of Arago'n, who 

 became Queen of Hungary, is continued, and 

 we are told of the marriage with the Hungarian 

 monarch, the festivities lasting a month, and of 

 the influence of the intellectual young Queen and 

 the proud position she occupied by her husband's 

 desire. In another contribution, Sr. J. Perez de 

 Guzman gives an extract from a book on 

 " Trafalgar " which he is writing for the Royal 

 Academy of History ; he tells of the organisation 

 of the English Navy at the close of the eight- 

 eenth century, furnishing a wealth of detail that 

 speaks volumes for the historical value of the 

 book. 



A writer in Niiestro Tiempo has examined the 

 possibility of producing more- effective arma- 

 ments and weapons for warships. Can we go 

 one better than our present productions? He 

 thinks we can, and he tells us what he saw in 

 Sheffield, Manchester and other English cities. 

 He concludes with an expression of regret that 

 Spain does not make an effort to manufacture 

 more of her own war material. There is an 

 article on Caspar de Jden, nicknamed Jasparillo, 

 the mulatto poet who acted as jester to the Duke 

 of Alcala in the seventeenth century, with some 



examples of his rhymes ; like many another man, 

 he used his rhyming ability and his position to 

 attack and punish his enemies. There is a re- 

 view of a book on Remy de Gourmont, who 

 has written (among others) a work on a certain 

 phase or quality of love ; the work appears to 

 be well known in Spain under the title of "La 

 Fisica del Amor." Sr. Mariano Marfil writes 

 of the scheme for proportional representation 

 in France, giving copious details. 



Among the articles in the recent issues of 

 Cindad de Dios are two on forms of punish- 

 ment. In the first we have the opinions of 

 authorities on punishment being mere correction 

 or deterrent castigation, while in the second 

 the writer deals with the problem of corporal 

 punishment. Naturally, there are opinions for 

 and against in both cases, but it is interesting 

 to note that England is regarded as the chief 

 example of corporal punishment as a national 

 institution. Mention is made of the " cat," and 

 the regulations concerning the use of this puni- 

 tive instrument. Evidently there are very man\- 

 people in favour of corporal punishment in cer- 

 tain instances ; some appear to think that it is 

 not possible to maintain discipline in prisons, 

 reformatories and the like without recourse 

 to it. 



La Lectura contains a long appreciation of 

 the work done by the late Emperor of Japan, in 

 the course of which the writer quotes from the 

 Review of Reviews. The change wrought in 

 Japan is similar to a sudden transformation 

 from the time of the Plantagenets to the present 

 day — a change difficult to imagine. Another 

 article deals with the present mental condition 

 of the French people ; the author quotes largely 

 from a recent book written by a Frenchman, 

 and the picture is not exactly attractive. How- 

 ever, some of the statements apply to others 

 besides the French; the tendency to violence for 

 the purpose of gaining one's end is not peculiar 

 to modern Gaul. Crime is very prevalent ; some 

 of the causes are detailed, "including porno- 

 graphy and alcoholism. The extent and effects 

 of alcoholism are alarming. Among the reviews 

 of books is one on the Spanish colonies in South 

 America, lost (so we are given to understand) 

 because the mother country failed to compre- 

 hend the conditions prevailing in her pos- 

 sessions. 



The Treasury appeals to the serious reader to 

 whom the delights of fierce fiction are anathema. 

 Mr. J. G. Leigh sets down the opinions of Mr. 

 H. B. Irving on the vexed " Sundav opening " 

 question and " The Drama as a Moral Influ- 

 ence." This issue contains a too brief notice of 

 Miss Alice Ottley and her work at Worcester. 



