The Reviews Reviewed. 



303 



IIS. per day during the session, with free railway 

 tickets, etc. 



Elsevier is a good number, with reproductions of the 

 pictures of J. S. H. Kever ("' Mother's Help " and 

 others), followed by " Japanese Colour Prints," and a 

 very readable article, with illustrations also, on the 

 French occupation a century ago. There is also a con- 

 tribution on Dickens, with reproductions of the original 

 pictures of Cruikshank, John Leech, Robert Seymour, 

 " Phiz," Luke Fildes, and others. 



It would not be easy to find two articles more inte- 

 resting than the first two in the current Tijdspiegel. 

 The first traces the origin of the streams of water which 

 we see running down the mountains of Switzerland and 

 elsewhere ; the second takes Frazer's book, " The 

 Golden Bough," as its starting-point, and gives a most 

 entertaining summary of comparative mythology, 

 using the word in a wide sense. Legends and super- 

 stitions of widely-distant countries are noted. The 

 next instalment will be eagerly awaited. 



THE ITALIAN REVIEWS. 

 There is no article of outstanding merit in the 

 Italian magazines this month. In the Rassegna Contem- 

 poranea the Senator. R. De Cesarc, gossips about the 

 diplomacy of Leo XIII. and his relations with Cardinal 

 Galimbcrti, in an article mainly noticeable for its 

 bitterness against Cardinal Rampolla. The Duke of 

 Gualtieri, who, as a fellow duke, has much sympathy 

 with English peers, writes of the Parliament Act from 

 an extreme aristocratic standpoint, affirms that 

 the admirable British constitution has been finally 

 destroyed, and laments "the low social and moral 

 level " to which the House of Commons is now reduced. 

 The Rassegna, like other magazines this month, has an 

 article on the Sicilian poet, Mario Rapisardi, whose 

 recent death has revived memories of the bitter literary 

 controversy of past days between him and Carduc( i. 



In the Nuova Antologia Professor Lino Ferriani 

 writes with extreme outspokenness on the cruelty of 

 society towards infant prodigies, who, he declares, arc 

 often ruined morally and physically by being com- 

 pelled to give public performances. Where its pleasures 

 are concerned, the professor asserts that society is still 

 as cruel and selfish as in past ages. Professor C. Segre 

 discusses Sterne's " .Sentimental Journey " with much 

 intimate knowledge, and adds notes on his relations 

 with Elizabeth Draper. Romolo Murri writes lengthily 

 on the re< ent tendencies of Sdalism, identifying 

 himself completely with the movement. Helen Zimmcrn 

 describes with enthusiasm the aim<; of the Workers' 

 Educational .Xssoriation. L. Einaudi gives a detailed 

 account of the admirable system of workmen's railway 

 tickets in lone in Belgium, which, by their cheapness 

 and their variety, have pone far to settle the housing 

 problem by allowing workmen to live outside the towns, 

 ■md have greatly inrrci^ed the mobility of labour. 



The Rassegna Niizionale publisius a striking his- 

 torical study of the hitherto unsolved problem. Did 



Alexander I. of Russia die a Roman Catholic ? That 

 all his life religious preoccupations filled the Emperor's 

 mind is well known. From among much that is legen- 

 dary- it is now clearly established that through General 

 Michaud, Alexander was in communication with 

 Leo XII. with a view to his formal reception into the 

 Catholic Church. It is probable that his talk of abdica- 

 tion at this time was connected with his intention. 

 The Emperor's sudden death at Taganrog put an end 

 to negotiations which had been conducted in strict 

 secrecy, but of which documentary evidence exists 

 both at the Vatican and in Turin. The well-known 

 deputy, Attilio Brunialti, discusses lengthily and with 

 great moderation the position and prospects of Italy 

 in Tripoli, points out the suitability of Cyrenaica for 

 the cultivation of oranges, figs, olives, etc., in which 

 Italians are experts, and recommends that colonisation 

 should be undertaken in the first instance through 

 agricultural co-operative societies which will have 

 capital at their disposal. Hopeful as he is, the author 

 cannot refrain from showing some impatience at the 

 slowness of military progress. 



Emporium, which keeps up its high level of artistic 

 excellence, describes the successful results of the 

 restoration that is being carried on in the Palazzo 

 Riccardi at Florence, many of the architectural 

 features of which have been concealed by modem dis- 

 figurements. Another profusely illustrated article 

 describes the architectural treasures of Prague. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 



I NOTICE elsewhere the three most important papers 

 in the February North American Review, which is .1 

 very good number. 



Booker Washington exultantly points out that the 

 negro is betaking himself more and more to farming : 

 " Fully three-fourths of all the total increase in the 

 number of farms in the United States during the past 

 ten years is in the Southern States."' 



Mr. W. Jell Lanck says that the new immigrants 

 now arriving in the States are responsible for much 

 of the increased crime : — 



Increases in the number of cases of homicide and abduction and 

 kidnapping, and other crimes of personal violence, may be l.irjjely 

 traced lo the heavy immigration from southern and eastern 

 Kuropc, and especially from Il.aly. To immigrants from Italy, 

 Greece, and Russia may also in considerable measure be 

 ascrilxrd the growth in the number of ofTences .against public 

 policy, and ;o the Greek and Russian the violation of' local 

 ordinances in large cities. 



Mr. R. Le Gallienne exults in the fact that Walter 

 Pater is coming to his own. Lucy M. Salmon explains 

 that history has constantly to be rewritten, because 

 new sources of information are constantly turning up. 

 Mr. Livingstone urges the .Americans to lake practical 

 possession of San Domingo. But the most remarkable 

 article of all is that in which Mr. H. L. Sallerlee main- 

 tains that every Slate in the American I'nion should 

 possess a Dreadnought, for the navy is the best 

 national university in the world. 



