3M 



The Review of Reviews. 



Harch SO, 1906. 



. THE LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW. 



With the exception of Mr. J. E. Borland's vigorous 

 criticism of worsnip music in the Methodist Episcopal 

 Churches of America, there is little in the January 

 number to suggest the distinctively Methodist charac- 

 ter of tlie liecicw. Mr. Geoffrey Hamdton closes 

 his general description of the Garden City 

 Movement by recalling from the "Mutual Improve- 

 ment of Mankind," written by Thomas Dick, 

 author of "The Christian Philosopher," who was born 

 in 1774, the expression of certain ideals in urban de- 

 velopment that are quite up to date. Dick advo- 

 cated the demolition of most of our crowded cities, or 

 trebling the width of their streets. He would have 

 no street less than 80 ft. wide, in large towns lees 

 than 100 ft. or 120 ft. He would also have garden 

 plots in front of each house, with room for washing 

 and bleaching. Robert McLeod gives a fascinating 

 resume of Captain Scott's voyage ofthe"D.6covery in 

 the Southern polar regions. Latin hymnology in the 

 Middle Ages is discutised, with illuminative specimens, 

 by Mr. R. M. Pope. 



THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



The Mneteenth Century has no notable Election 

 article. Mr. Herbert Paul's chromque is elevated to 

 the dignity of the first place. 



THE DECLINE IN THE BIRTO-RATE. 



Profe^or John W. Taylor says that the open secret 

 of the decline of the birth-rate is that the use of pre- 

 ventive checks is increasing. He holds that their use 

 is wrong and has mischievous results. He says : — 



(1) Our biith-rate is steadily declining. 



(2) This is due to •artificial preveJitioii. 



(3) The illegitimate birth-rate is affectetl as well as the 

 "legitimate,"' and from the same cause; therefoie, the 

 illegitimate birth-rate is no longer a criterion ot morality 



(4) Ihis is slowly bringing prievous physical, moral, ana 

 social evils on the whole community. 



"THE SONS OF THE MANSE." 

 Bishop Welldon, after examining the whole of the 

 ■ Dictionary of National Biography," has come to the 

 conclusion that the sons and daughters of the clergy 

 and ministers of religion are the best element in the 

 communitv. There are 1270 of them in the Dictionary 

 against 510 children of lawyers and 350 of doctors. 

 From this he 'deduces the moral that the Church 

 which enforces celibacy on its clergy is a telfish Cliurch 

 and seriously impoverishes civic and national life- 

 The list which lie gives of notable sons of the manse 

 is very interesting. 



THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICAN NATIVES. 

 Mr. W. F. Bailey, writing on "The Native and 

 the Wiiite in South Africa," takes rather a gloomy 

 view of the future. He sajs : — 



We are entering on a period of struggle and controversy. 

 The power of the native to force a consideration of his 

 claims will become greater and more menacing- He will 

 produce leaders of more or less political capacity and in- 

 stinct. Concessions will from time to time be given to him, 

 sometimes freely, sometimes grudgingly, mainly with the 

 object of warding off dangerous combinations and to get 

 out of serious situations. But this means constant agita- 

 tion, embittered controversy, and an unsettled history. 

 There is the possibility that we may find the country 

 plunged into a savage Native War. 



WHAT DO OUR GIRLS READ? 



Miss Florence B. Low reports the result of an in- 

 teresting inquirv into the reading of 200 girls between 

 fifteen and eighteen in secondary schools in various 

 parts of England. She thinks thev mostly read trash. 



She recommends the practice of reading good books 

 aloud in the family, and the discoutinuauoe of litera- 

 ture as an examination subject in schools. Above aU, 

 teach them to read good books early in life : — 



■ Give me a child up to seven years old," said Loyola, 

 "and anyone who likes may have him alterwarus." Letthe 

 girl during her school-Uays read poor stutf, and in nine 

 cases out of ten she will ever afterwards be incapable of 

 reaaing anything but poor stuff. 



A PRESS TRIBUNAL FOR JNOVJiLISTS. 

 Mr. K. Bagot is distressed at the happy-go-lucky 

 method in vogue for the reviewing ot novels in the 

 Press. He suggests that the Press should organise 

 a species of " clearing-house " for works of fiction, 

 believing that some such process as this would also 

 tend to give the public a more weighty opinion as to 

 what to read and what to ignore tlian the Press can, 

 under existing circumstances, supply. If the entire 

 Press should agree to ignore all works of fiction sent 

 in for loview which did not bring with them to the 

 editorial oflices a guarantee' that tliey had duly passed 

 an initial stage of examination, and had been declared 

 worthy of the notice of the journalistic critic, some- 

 thing would be done to stem the tlow of trash that 

 now inundates the market. It is not exactly clear 

 how ho would have "the Press" to constitute this 

 proposed substitute for an Acadiinie des Belles Let- 

 trcs. 



THE POWER BEHIND THE RUSSIAN THRONTi. 



Mr. J. Ellis Barker, in a remarkable article ou 

 Church and State in Russia, maintains it is the 

 Church and not the Tsar who really governs Rus- 

 sia : — 



The Church, after having been a weak reed to the State, 

 has now become its strongest pillar. Alter having been its 

 creature, it has become its master, 'though the Russian 

 Cliurch is a State Department, it has acquired a dominant 

 position in the State, and the policy oi the Church has, 

 by sheer necessity, become the policy of the Tsar and his 

 Government. Without ostentation and display, the Russian 

 clergy, not the Russian bureaucracy, governs the coimtry 

 and airect-8 its policy. But freeing the mind of the Russian 

 people means destroying the basis of both Church and 

 State in Russia. Russia's malady is perhaps not so much 

 absolutism, favouritism, or her bureaucracy as her Csesaro- 

 papism. 



HOME RULE AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 



Lord Rosmead's formula, " You must federate or 

 perish, and Home Rule will compel you to federate," 

 recurs to the mind on. reading the admirable paper 

 by Mr. George Fottrell on Local Autonomy and Im- 

 perial Unity. He shows that Bismarck dared to con- 

 cede Bavaria and other German States a Home Rule 

 against which the Unionists of his day raved as our 

 Unionists rave against Home Rule in Ireland. The 

 result, however, signally justified the statesman who 

 made Home Rule the corner-stone of Empire. Ba- 

 varia, for instance, has complete control of her rail- 

 ways, of her army in time of peace, of her education, 

 of religion, of police, of land tenure, of local govern- 

 ment, and of direct taxation. 



OTHER ARTICLES. 



Mr. T. E. Kebbel discourses upon " The Centenary 

 of Pitt," Mrs. S. Arthur Strong pleads for an oflBcial 

 Registration of Private Art Collections, Mr. C. Ver- 

 non Magniac describes his visit to the Court of the 

 Tashi Lama, and the Dean of Lichfield discourses 

 upon the Dean's Memorial on the Athanasian Creed. 



The Dolphin Press of Philadelphia has just issued 

 the first number of a half-crown Catholic quarterly 

 called Church Music, copies of which may be procure*] 

 in London from Messrs. Burns and Gates. It contains 

 interesting articles on Gregorian Chant, the " Motu 

 Propria" of Pius X.. etc 



