us. ix. APRIL n, i9i4.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
299
The People's Books. (T. C. & E. C. Jack, 6d.
each net.)
MESSRS. JACK send us another dozen of their useful and well-written series.
Mr. Stanley A. Cook in The Foundations of Religion treats his subject in its widest sense. He discusses the permanency of the religious feeling and the " psychical reality " of existence after death, the relationship between low and high forms of religion, and the influence and advantages of totemism. He holds that man's knowledge of God is limited by his capacity to understand Him, that increase of knowledge permits a greater knowledge of God, and that consequently the increase of knowledge is in- variably for the good of religion. His own stand- point is shown in the words : " The gulf between man and the Ultimate is so profound, and man's indebtedness to his fellows so complete, that before the Supreme Power of the Universe all men are equal, and those who have most privileges and are most gifted have the heaviest burdens. Those who have the keenest realization of the psychical relationship .... are those to whom the question ' Lovest thou me ? ' always brings the command ' Feed'my sheep.' "
Mr. Leonard D. Agate in Luther and the Refor- mation begins with a sketch of the condition of the German people and the Catholic Church, and writes throughout in a spirit free from bias or partisanship. He shows that the Reformation originated in an attempt to correct moral and spiritual abuses of the time, not doctrine, and that Luther was not a systematic thinker either in theology or politics. He gives a sketch of Erasmus and the humanists, and devotes a chapter to the Peasants' Revolt, and the political considerations that divided Germany into Catholic and Protestant states. He then passes to the progress of Protestantism in Switzerland, and follows this by a sketch of the Counter-Reforma- tion and the reforms effected by the Council of Trent. Mr. Agate concludes his chapter on Luther's theology thus : " Luther is a most interesting character to study ; he is in many ways, though not in all, an attractive one. He touched life at many points ; but it is as a man of religion, and as that alone, that he was really great."
Two other aspects of German thought and history are described by Miss Margri eta Beer in Schopenhauer, and by Prof. F. M. Powicke in Bismarck and the Origin of the German Empire.
The Period of the Industrial Revolution, by Mr. Arthur Jones, embraces more than its title indicates, for it is almost a condensed history of England from the Revolution of 1688 to the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. The first third of the book is taken up with an account of the Peace of Utrecht, the long rule of the Whigs under the first two Georges, the struggle between Spain and Britain for trade, and that between France and Britain in America and India. The " Industrial Revolution " briefly describes the transforma- tion effected in spinning and weaving by the inventions of Kay, Hargreaves, Arkwright. Crompton, and Cartwright ; the impetus given to manufactures generally by Boulton & Watt's improvements in the steam-engine ; and the
facilities for transport afforded by the canal
system, steamboats, and the introduction of rail-
ways in 1830, " the conventional limit of the
Industrial Revolution." A section is also devoted
to the " Agrarian Revolution " brought about
by enclosures and the introduction of scientific
agriculture ; and the effects of these changes
upon both industrial and agricultural workers,
including women and children, are considered.
Kindred subjects are dealt with by Dr. G. S. Veitch in Empire and Democracy, and by Mr. F. Verinder in Land, Industry, and Taxation.
The Manor Book of Ottery St. Mary. Edited by Catherine Burning Whetham and Margaret her Daughter, with a Note on the Manor of Cadhay by W. C. D. Whetham. (Longmans & Co., 7s. Qd. net.)
THE WHETHAM FAMILY is responsible for, amongst other publications, a book on the subject of ' Back to the Land.' And to-day, when this and all other matters connected with land are burning questions, the present volume is to be welcomed as an interesting and valuable contribution to our sources of knowledge of land tenure in England.
"The natural way to learn history is.... to study the records of a familiar country -side or town, whether they be written on vellum or kept in the muniment chests of church, hall, and council chamber, or be traced in furrow and fence, cob and thatch, bricks and mortar over the face of the land. This little book [continues the Preface] contains the result of a series of school- room lessons in local history .... The difficulty of understanding the condition of even a small portion of a county during a selected century without reference to the events occurring over a much larger extent of time and space led step by step to the putting together of the introductory chapter, in which the part might be seen to take its place in the larger drama of national develop- ment."
The introductory portion deals with the topo- graphy of the neighbourhood in which Ottery St. Mary lies, in a general way with the origin of the manorial system in England, and in a more detailed manner with its constituent parts the various classes of tenants, their holdings, and the duties and payments they rendered to their lords. Clear and succinct explanations are given of many points upon which controversy frequently turns, such as those connected with the Common Lands, Ancient Dues, and the Farm System.
We can trace how the change from payments in kind to money payments developed the more individualistic basis of English country life ; how the fall in money values in the sixteenth century and in our own time appreciated the copyholders' vendible interest almost " entirely an unearned increment," the product of American and South African mines ; "how the increased demands of the populations of the towns pro- duced new methods of food production, involving the consolidation of holdings ; and how, yet again, the vast industrial development initiated in the last century drained the peasant class, causing its definite status to decay, and replacing it by a number of landless labourers, who are in too weak a position economically and socially to contend with adverse times. On the other hand, the landlord, too, was placed by these changes " between the devil of rack-rents and rural
