November 22, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



357 



The Works of Waller Bagehol. Ed. by Forrest Morgan. 

 Hartford, The Travelers Insurance Co. 5 vols. 8°. $5. 



This fine edition of Bagehot's works will be very welcome to 

 students of theoretical and practical politics. The editor's original 

 intention was to issue simply a reprint of such of the author's writ- 

 ings as had already appeared in England ; but he soon found that 

 the text was badly corrupted, owing mainly to Bagehot's slovenly 

 style of writing, and to the fact that he often failed to correct his 

 proofs. Proper names were found to be misspelled in many cases ; 

 grammatical blunders of the worst kind were numbered by scores ; 

 and, worst of all, the quotations, which are so frequent in the essays 

 and elsewhere, were more often wrong than right. Many of these 

 errors Mr. Morgan has corrected silently ; but some of the quota- 

 tions are so badly mangled that he has left them in the text as the 

 author wrote them, and has given the correct form in a note. The 

 works are prefaced by a memoir by Mr. R. H. Hutton, which was 

 published in England soon after Bagehot's death. Then follow 

 three volumes of essays, mostly biographical or literary ; while the 

 two concluding volumes contain the more elaborate works on 

 " The English. Constitution," " Physics and Politics," and others. 



That Bagehot holds a high rank as a political thinker and writer 

 is undeniable, for he was not only the author of the works here 

 collected, but also a leader of thought on practical affairs by means 

 of his editorials in the Eco7iomist ; yet his writings are very unequal 

 in merit. His political views were too oligarchical, and he even 

 went so far as to applaud Louis Napoleon's cotip d'elal, and to 

 hail the perpetrator of it as a savior of society. The work on 

 " The English Constitution " is the best known, and in our opinion 

 the ablest, though Mr. Morgan gives the preference to " Physics and 

 Politics." The studies in economics are suggestive, and serve to 

 correct and complete some theories of the earlier writers. This 

 edition is a very handsome one ; and, as it is sold at the extremely 

 low price of five dollars, the publishers can only find their recom- 

 pense in the reputation the work will bring them. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 

 John Wiley & Sons have in press the first part of a Ruskin 

 bibliography. 



— An interesting table of contents is presented in Belford's 

 Magazine for November. Besides a complete novel, " In God's 

 Country," by D. Higbee, there are several shorter stories and 

 poems by well-known writers, some timely editorials, and a few 

 book-reviews. Felix Oswald writes interestingly on the " Curiosi- 

 ties of Longevity ; " " The Labor Problem " is discussed by Alfred 

 F. Jury ; and, under the title " The Failure of Democracy," Clinton 

 Furbish points out the way to prevent such a catastrophe. 



— Dr. William Perry Northrup has written for the December 

 Scribner some picturesque impressions of a summer in Brittany, 

 describing particularly the pardon of Ste. Anne d'Auray, a unique 

 religious festival. Ex-Minister Edward J. Phelps, in his article on 

 the age of words, writes rather disparagingly of contemporary 

 fiction. Edgar Mayhew Bacon will present a humorous view of 

 Bahama negro character. 



— In an article on " Building Associations," in the December 

 Lippincoll's, Thomas Gaffney describes the benefits that accrue to 

 the members of these institutions, tells how to form and run such 

 associations, and points out their influence for good upon the na- 

 tion at large. In " Novelistic Habits and ' The Morgesons,' " 

 Julian Hawthorne gives his theories as to how novels should be 

 written. In the same number William Shepard tells about " The 

 Evolution of Famous Sayings," and shows how many famous bon 

 viols and epigrams antedate the existence of the men who are gen- 

 erally supposed to have originated them. 



— Robert Bonner's Sons have ready " Great Senators of the 

 United States Forty Years Ago (184S-49)," by Oliver Dyer, at that 

 time a reporter in the Senate for the National Inlelligcncer, which 

 was forty years ago a widely circulated newspaper. The author 

 came into close contact with the distinguished statesmen of his 

 day, and gives personal recollections of Calhoun, Benton, Clay, 

 Webster, Gen. Houston, and Jefferson Davis, and many less-known 

 men. 



— Gebbie & Co. have just issued a publication on a subject that 

 is at present attracting attention, electricity. It is entitled "Baby- 

 lon Electrified," and is written by A. Bleunard, a French scientist, 

 and not only comprises an account of travels from London ta 

 Babylon, but demonstrates by imagination the present possibilities, 

 of electricity. It is illustrated by numerous engravings by Mon- 

 tader. 



— Messrs. Putnam have issued a reprint of " Money," by James 

 Piatt, — a book that has had a large sale in England, though why it 

 should have it is not easy to see. It is, indeed, a sensible and conscien- 

 tious work ; but it contains nothing new or striking, and the style is 

 rambling an d somewhat garrulous. It may be this very style, however, 

 that makes the work popular. Mr. Piatt's views are sound and prac- 

 tical, being in fact the views held by most English economists. He 

 justly holds that a correct knowledge of money and credit is essen- 

 tial to the prosperity of a nation, and that such knowledge is not 

 to be had without some study. He gives an account of the nature 

 and uses of money and also of its history, and then follow chapters 

 on banking, interest, panics, and other matters connected with the 



■ general theme. He shows a thorough knowledge of the subject, 

 both in its theoretical and in its practical aspects, and the reader 

 who is not familiar with the economics of money will obtain a goo<i 

 deal of information from its pages. 



— In The Chautatiqiian for December, Professor James A^ 

 Harrison of Washington and Lee University has the first of a series 

 of papers on thearchceology of Italy ; " The Humors of Ignorance " 

 is an article by W. S. Walsh, in which many instances are cited to 

 show how ignorant an intelligent person may be on subjects which 

 everybody expects him to know ; W. T. Hornaday tells of the de- 

 struction of our wild animals ; Dr. J. M. Buckley continues his 

 discussion of " Traits of Human Nature ; " an answer to the ques- 

 tion " How can I become a distinct speaker? " is given by Professor 

 R. L. Cumnock of North-western University ; Ernest Lambert 

 tells about the Island of Jersey, its history, its relics and antiquities, 

 and the peculiarities of its people ; the issue contains a study of 

 " Modern English Politics and Society," by J. Ranken Towse ;, 

 there is an article by Professor R. F. Weidner, D.D., of Augustana 

 Theological Seminary, on " Recent Objections to the Bible An-, 

 swered ; " some statistics are given in an article on " Working- 

 Girls ; " " An Indian's Memory, How Long is it.' " is discussed by- 

 Egerton R. Young ; and " Convict Labor in Alabama" is treatedi 

 by Ernest IngersoU. 



— The Hon. Edward S. Phelps, lately minister to England, has 

 prepared for the December Forum an article on divorce. A con- 

 tribution to the literature of the controversy about Romanism will 

 be made by Bishop McOuaid of Rochester, N.Y. He undertakes, 

 to show that the common-school system is paternalistic and social- 

 istic in its tendencies, and that a gross wrong is done to CatholiC; 

 parents by taxing them to maintain the public schools. The or- 

 ganization of farmers into granges, alliances, wheels, and combina- 

 tions by other names, has for two years been going on at a much 

 more rapid rate than ever before. The limit of the old grange, 

 movement has long ago been passed. These organizations now 

 contain a membership of a million, and a movement is on foot to. 

 consolidate the granges, the alliances, and all the other combina- 

 tions. An explanation of this movement, as well as of the aims, 

 and methods of each organization (all of which are secret), will be 

 published in this number by W. A. Peffer of Kansas. An old plan 

 to solve the race question in the South, namely, by promoting emi-. 

 gration to the West Indies, to Mexico, or to Africa, is revived si-, 

 multaneously by persons who approach the problems from many- 

 points of view. The Mexican Government is reported to have the 

 subject under consideration. A colored man from the South is^ 

 lecturing in some of the Northern cities in favor of this scheme, 

 and advocates of it are presenting it in books and periodical litera-. 

 ture. Professor Henry A. Scomp of Emory College, Georgia, wha 

 looks at the subject from the Southern point of view and with 

 sympathy for the colored race, has prepared an article for The. 

 Forum, in which he undertakes to show that assisted emigratior>, 

 is the only solution of the negro problem, and affords the onlj;r 

 means of escape from dangers that constantly become more men. 

 acing. 



