CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Church Quarterly, April. (Spottiswoode.)—The most important article in this number is that which treats of the "Textual Development of the Greek Liturgies." The main contention of the writer is that "an examination of the MS. text [of the Liturgies] proves that neither doctrine, nor discipline, nor ritual has remained unchanged, and that, in these respects, as far as the Altar Service is concerned, the Holy Eastern has altered as much as the Holy Roman Church." One portion of the Liturgy of Constantinople exhibits in a MS. of the sixteenth century nineteen ceremonial acts of one kind or another. In a MS. of the eleventh century seven of these are absent, and in one of the eighth seven more. In other words, five had been developed into nineteen. Bishop Temple's Bampton Lectures are discussed and commented on in an appreciative article, which heartily welcomes this valuable addition to the literature of Christian apologetics. An interesting paper bestows the due meed of praise on Edward Coleridge, to whose continuing energy, coupled with a certain quality of courage in asking (called os in good Latin, and face in slang English), missionary enterprise in England owes so much. We cannot assent so unreservedly to the commendations bestowed on the episcopal regime of Bishop Wordsworth. Of his piety, learning, and disinterestedness, indeed, too much cannot be said ; but he was surely wanting in tact and knowledge of men. There is a smart attack on the Nonconformists in "Dissenting Trust-Deeds, Creeds, and State Control." The writer goes a long way towards making out his point. The articles and creeds, interpreted as they are through many modifying influences, are a much milder bondage than the declaration of belief which an astute lawyer has drawn up for the very purpose of making it as stringent as possible. Modern trust. deeds, it is to be hoped, are less of a bondage. Cannot the old ones be revised by common consent ? The other articles are "Literary History of England," a somewhat late review of Mrs. Oliphant's work, "Gascoigne's Theological Dictionary," "The Failure of Vaticanism," and a rejoinder in a controversy which the Review has been carrying on about the Athanasian Creed.
Natural History Sketches among the Carnivora. By Arthur Nicole. (L. Upcott Gill.)—Mr. Nicole gives us here a really delightful volume. He has made acquaintance with the subjects of his chapters in other places besides the study and the museum, and writes out of a fall knowledge,—writes, too, in a very pleasant and agreeable fashion. His first chapter is given to lions and tigers, and the larger felidm. It is interesting to know that the wild boar will generally master a tiger. In America the tiger's first cousin, the jaguar, finds his match in a jackass. The second chapter is given to the smaller cats. We are sorry to see that Mr. Nicola has a mean opinion of the domestic eat, and even indulges in an unmistakeable sneer at the Spectator for its credulity about this animal. We sorrowfully acknowledge that the cat has not made that progress which a long companionship with man should have brought about. Still, there are individuals of the species who seem to rise to no small moral and mental height, and who ought to be sufficient to repel the reproach that the animal is a disguised but irreclaimable savage. It is doubtless significant that its physical form does not seem susceptible of any material modification under the hand of man, which, on the other hand, works wonders with the dog. We note some remarkably interesting experiments on the cat's sense of smell. Mr. Nicola seems to prove conclusively that it is very weak ; its hearing, on the contrary, is remarkably acute. By far the greatest portion of the book is very properly given to the dog, an animal so fitted to the companionship of man that even the wild-dog soon learns to be on amicable terms with him, whereas the wild-cat is quite untameable. The stories of dogs are very curious and interesting ; notably those which bear on the animal's wonderful power of tracking his master by the scent— (but is it by the scent ?). Dogs, we are told, recognise friends by meeting the scent in the air, just as we recognise them by seeing them. Mr. Nicola gives some striking instances of this power from his own experience. One of his own dogs always knows when a sister, the only other of the family with whom he is on really affectionate terms, has entered his study during his absence. But nothing in the book is more curious than the narrative of Dash,' a dog which belonged to Mr. Nicola's father, a clergyman, which had a perfect passion for attending funerals. He would pay visits to the village carpenter, who was also the undertaker. ; these visits were commonly very brief ; but if he saw that a coffin was in hand, he remained watching the work with much satisfaction. When the bell began to toll, he was in a state of great delight, capering and barking, but as soon as he was outside the parsonage gate "his manner changed to that of solemn decorum, maintained until the termination of the proceedings." We must not forget to say a word about the excellent illustrations. Mr. J. T. Nettleship's lioness is particularly good.
The Old Corner House. By "L. H." 2 vols. (Kogan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—The incidents and characters of this novel have already seen much service. We are well acquainted with the selfish father, the heartless beauty, and her plainer but more praiseworthy sister ; and we do not lose all hope, when the beauty seems to win the heart which rightfully belonged to another, that things will come right in the end. And then comes in the well-known incident of the railway-train doing the work of Nemesis. We should say that ingenuity of plot is not the strong point of this tale. Nevertheless, it has merits. Its tone is all that could be desired, and its descriptions are occasionally powerful, au, for instance, that of Arthur Haslit's illness in Paris.
Democracy in the Old World and the New. By the author of "The Suez Canal, the Eastern Question, and Abyssinia," Arc. (Regan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—In dealing with a subject such as that indicated in the above title, it is necessary that an author should especially possess a lucid style and be capable of setting-forth his ideas in argumentative sequence. Our present author certainly has not these qualities. His sentences are too involved, and it is difficult at times to see clearly the relation of one paragraph to another. Take the following, the structure of which, also, is not correct :—" The present writer has long felt that writings and speeches and talk generally having to do with Socialism were apt to be very inaccurate, and, in proportion to the degree in which they were so, confused, and, so far as they were not as a consequence inconclusive, to be misleading." "Property or money, which is one form of property in civilised countries, represent most things, and is represented by them, and moral considerations not less than material well-being depend on property and money to an extent not easily to be estimated." The book deals largely with the relation of Socialism to Democracy, and the most noteworthy question it propounds is "How far Democracy can afford safeguards against the mischiefs to be apprehended from the development of Socialism ?" To this the author finds his answer in the benefits to be derived from "the prevailing influence of a sound education." We can hardly say that he has put forth any very original ideas upon a question which at the present time, and for some time to come, is likely to be of the greatest significance to all classes. The work is, however, worth reading, because it cites opinions which have been expressed and collects important facts, all having a deoided bearing upon the subject in hand.
The Doom of Daslandour : a Chronicle of Two Races. By Mrs. Cornwallis West. 3 vols. (Wyman and Sons.)—We do not know whether the authoress considers that as she has designated her work a chronicle and not a novel, she is thereby exempt from adhering to those numerous but, nevertheless, well-defined rules which are the guide of a true novelist. She has, however, attempted to depict character, and has not wholly ignored a plot ; and we may presume that it is on these two points that she relies for engaging the interest of her readers. But the style and clump construction seem tons to preclude the possibility of anyone reading the book for its own sake. Its lessons are moral enough, but they are set forth rather in chapters of sermons than in the words and actions of the characters. Moreover, there is a considerable amount of useless padding. The work is dedicated by Mrs. Cornwallis West to the Duchess of Bedford, and its word-matter, abounding in quotations from Italian, French, and other remote sources, seems rather to be intended for the commendation of its noble patroness than for that of the general reader. The Doom of Dos
icnulour is a proof of the authoress's extensive reading, but little else. We do not care to be exacting; but from such a writer we may fairly ask whether the word "dormioile " (Vol. I., p. 65), or the clause "if him it were in the body" (Vol. II., p. 44), is good English ?
A Good Hater. By Frederic R. Boyle. 3 vols. (Bentley and Son.) —We are introduced in the first scene to a family in Eaton Square, consisting of a mother, a son, and a daughter ; in the second, to "Battery X3, B.A.," encamped on a snowy plain in Afghanistan ; and in the third, to a certain house called Scarsholme, inhabited by the mother of one of the officers of the battery aforesaid and by his cousin and betrothed wife, Grace Palliser. These are the chief actors in the somewhat complicated drama which Mr. Boyle contrives under this title of A Good Hater, though there is a certain Lord Danscombe who also plays a prominent part in it, and a Mr. Beaver, a strange sort of mixture of " Pelham " and "Monte Christo," and as we cannot help thinking, not at all a happy effort of Mr. Boyle's imagination. The story is ingeniously complicated. It would not be fair, and it would certainly be difficult, to give anything like an outline of it. We will be content with saying that it does not suffer the reader's attention to flag, but keeps it up with more than one excellent surprise. We especially admire the way in which Mr. Boyle makes it bring him to a familiar scene which he has evidently a great pleasure in describing,—the land of Ashanti. This part of the book is undoubtedly the best, as it is the most novel. There is more than ingenious plot and smart dialogue in A Good Hater. The characters of the two heroines are contrasted with great skill. Lord Danscombe, too, is a particularly lifelike sketch.
SCHOOL BOOKS.—In German we have a new German Grammar. By Clemens Schlomka, M.A. (Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow.)—Mr. Sohlomka claims to have introduced some new features. An early chapter on the interchange of sounds between English and German is certainly a thing to be commended. The volume has a more attractive appearance than publishers commonly see fit to give to grammars.—We have two German readers from America, A Reader of German Literature, by W. H. Rosenstengel (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London), and Colloquial Exercises and Select German Reader, by Wm. Deutsch (Ginn and Heath, Boston, .S.). Of English "Readers," there is, of course, an unintermittent supply.—We have also received The Leading Questions in German Grammar, by C. Heimann (David Nett), and German Pronunciation, by W. Piller (Heumeyer Bros., Heilbronn).—Of editions of classics, there is The Tale of Gamelyn, edited, with Notes and a Glossarial Index, by Rev. Walter W. Skeet, l,LA. (Clarendon Press), a very full and satisfactory treatment of a curious and interesting specimen of early English literature. Professor Skeet is sure that the tale is wrongly assigned in the ordinary editions to the Cook, but should belong to the Yeaman. And King John, with Notes and Examination Papers (W. and R. Chambers).—In Messrs. Ginn and Heath's (Boston, U.S.) series of " Educational Classics," we have Rousseau's Emile, translated by Eleanor Worthington. It must be understood that not the whole work, but extracts "containing the principal elements of pedagogy found in the first three books," are given ; and that the selection is due to M. Jules Stegg, who has also added an introduction and a few notes.—Of "Readers," we have four numbers of "Historical Readers." Stories from English History, by Oscar Browning, M.A. (Griffith and Ferran); Senior English History, from the Earliest Times to 1884, for Standards V. and VI. (W. and R. Chambers) ; Historical Biographies, by S. R. Gardiner (Longmans) ; Standard Reader, Book III., edited by Professor Meiklejohn (Blackwood and Sons). And from the same editor and publisher, A History of England for Junior Cla.sses.—Chambers's Geographical Readers, Standard III., England and Wales (W. and It. Chambers) ; and Geographical Reading-Book, V., by Charlotte M. Mason, The Old and New World (E. Stanford). With this may be also mentioned History of Religion in England, by Henry Offiey Wakeman, MA. (Rivingtons), belonging to the series of "Highways of History ;" Dictation Exercises for Schools and Students preparing for Examinations, by the Editor of "Poetry for the Young" (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.), is a volume of which the utility is obvious. Miss Kate Greenaway has given a new charm to a very old friend, Dr. Mayor's English Spelling-Book (George Rentledge and Sons).—We need hardly say that her pencil works as pleasingly as ever.—We have also to mention Guide-Book for English Teachers, by James Beveridge (W. and R. Chambers) ; and from the same publishers, Materials for Object-Lessors, by Charles McKee, MA.—Recitations for Infant-Schools, arranged by Wilhelmina L. Rooper (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.)—In Divinity we have Outlines of Early Church History, Anti-Nicene Period, by the Rev. W. H. Wallis Smith ; and The Life of the Apostle Peter, by Professor Salmond (T. and T. Clark), being two volumes of a very convenient little series of "Bible-Class Primer," edited by the last-named writer.— A Primer of Bible Geography, by E. R. Conder, R.E. (Sunday School Union), a book which comes sufficiently commended by the name of its author, of whose services in Palestine exploreation we need not remind our readers.—Lesson Notes for Sunday-School Teachers, by Stafford C. Northoote (Griffith, Farran, and Co.).—We have also to acknowledge A Collection of Arithmetical Exercises, by A. E. Deakin, M.A., and C. H. Hodges, M.A. (Rivingtons).—Mineralogy, by J. H. Collins, Systematic and Descriptive Mineralogy (William Collins and Sons, Glasgow), a volume of the "Advanced Science Series."—With this may be mentioned an elementary little text-book on the same subject, First Lessons in Minerals, by Ellen H. Richards (Ginn and Heath, Boston, U.S.).---:Passing on to subjects less commonly studied, we have three volumes of Triihner's Collection of Simplified Grammars," The Pali Language, by E. Muller, Ph.D. ; The Swedish Language, by E. C. Otte; The Polish Language, by W. R. Morfill.—The Hebrew Language viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, by Dr. Frederic Delitzsch (Williams and Norgate) ; and The Russian Manual, by J. Nestor Schoanmann (W. H. Allen and Co.) BOOKS RECEIVED :—The Fifth Standard Reader, an addition to the "Educational Series," published by Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sous. —A fourth edition of Gotthold's Emblems, translated by the Rev. B. Menzies (T. and T. Clark).—The Advertisers' Guardian for 1885 (L. Collins).—The Educational List and Directory for 1885 (Evans and Co.)— Civilisation and Progress, by J. B. Crozier (Longmans, Green, and Co.)—The Hunterian Oration, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons on February 14th, by J. Marshall, F.R.C.S. (Smith, Elder, and Co.)—The Temple ; The Complete Angler; and The Pilgrim's Progress; facsimile reprints of the first editions issued by Herbert, Walton, and Bunyan (E. Stock).—A Method for the Idiomatic Study of German, by Otto Kuphal, Ph.D., Part I. (Trtibner and Co.)
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