Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 35.djvu/437

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LITERARY NOTICES.
417

periodicals, or in book form—while some of them have never before been published—are grouped in these four volumes in as many sets, each having its distinctive character. In the volume containing the portrait and "Biographical Preface," the most important paper is on "Language," the first essay which the author produced, and one which, as he averred, contained the germs of all his writings. It attracted the attention of Dr. Channing, and was the origin of a lasting friendship between the two. Of the other papers the most notable are those on "The Adaptation of the Universe to the Cultivation of the Mind"; "The Bible," now for the first time published; "Intemperance"; "The Public Schools"; and "The Duty of Individuals to support Science and Literature." A second volume of "Economics and Politics" contains papers on public questions. The first of them, on the "Decline of Political Morality," is as good reading and as pertinent now as when it was spoken immediately after the election of the elder Harrison in 18-10. The others were related to questions of their time, such as the "Fugitive-Slave Law"; matters concerning railroads and their charges; "The Tariff"; "Bribery;" "Hours of Labor"; and questions of finance and policy that arose during the war or have arisen since. A third volume comprises the book "Freedom of Mind in Willing," which was first published by D. Appleton & Co. in 1864. It was prepared at the suggestion of Dr. Charming, as an answer to the position of Edwards, and is preceded by an analysis by Prof. G. P. Fisher of the author's philosophical writings. The fourth volume contains the letters on "Causation and Free Will," which were addressed to John Stuart Mill, with their appendixes, the "Existence of Matter" and "Our Notions of Infinite Space"; "Animals not Automata," which first appeared in this magazine, and discourses on "Man a Creative First Cause."

Some Chapters on Judaism and the Science of Religion. By Rabbi Louis Grossmann, D. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 190. Price, $1.50.

The author attempts to sketch in this volume a few agreements which he discerns as already noticeable between historical Judaism and the present science of religion, leading up to the thought that the science of religion is the science of Judaism—or, as he otherwise expresses himself, that the results of the science of religion and the doctrines of Judaism overlap each other. He first aims to show that religion is intuitive, or that the religious feeling is native and common to all men; that it is spontaneous, by which is meant that the feeling, having been suggested by intuition, is made active and manifests itself in some form of personification. In the chapter on "The Universal Religion and the Sects," religion is treated as in some sort a growth and an adaptation. A distinction is drawn between religion and theology: "Religion is a child of our heart, theology is a creation of our mind. . . . Religion is eternal; theology a make-shift, which the exigencies of time and the compelling agents of Providence may throw into a useless heap." The relations of prophecy and the value of religious books are considered. The standard of morality, theories of ethics, and the relations of religion and knowledge, are discussed. The relations of Judaism are treated of under the headings of its history and the foreign elements in Judaism. The book is full of suggestion, but the peculiarities of its thought and style make very careful reading essential to the proper appreciation of it.

The Indians: Their Manners and Customs. By John McLean. With Eighteen Illustrations. Toronto: William Brings. Pp. 351.

The information embodied in this book is based upon a nine years' residence of the author as a missionary among the Blood Indians of the Canadian Northwest, and some facts of a historical nature have been obtained from other sources. Finding that many of the books about the Indians are of' a sensational character, he has endeavored' to write an account that should be reliable and at the same time interesting. A large number of topics are touched upon, including family, war, and social customs, religions, languages, legends, and traditions, modes of communication, and Indian oratory. Sketches are given of Tecumseh, Red Jacket, and other Indian heroes, and there is a chapter consisting of frontier tales of adventure. The author tells of the results achieved by the missionaries in Christianizing and civilizing the Indians, and gives his ideas on the Indian problem. "Hand, head, and heart training must go together," he says,