CURRENT LITERATURE.
The present, or April, number of the Quarterly .Reriew is a little flat. The articles are all good, but there is little distinction in any of them, nothing which gives any one of them special attraction. The paper on "India under Lord Elgin," for instance, is a fair enough account of a much-tried viceroyalty; but we gather from it little except that Lord Elgin, under circumstances of exceptional difficulty, made no failure, but added five thousand miles of rail- way to the number existing in the Empire. The articles which interest us most are those on " Medimval Warfare," on The Wages and Savings of Working Men," and on "The Catholic Reaction in France." The first is really enlightening as to the causes of victory and defeat in the middle history of Europe, when, as the writer says, the art and science of war had suffered an eclipse like all other arts and sciences ; while the second reveals under a strong light the immense benefits which English working men have received from their friendly societies. The writer contends with a vigour remark- able in a Tory organ that the problem of rehousing the poor can never be solved except by that free multiplication of houses with which municipal competition and the increase of statutes defining the proper qualities of a house directly interfere. A free market in houses is, he believes, as essential as a free market in food, a point of view which should at least be steadily considered. It is a pity that we cannot try various experiments in different countries. The third article is an assertion, by a writer who evidently knows his subject well, that the recent explosion of hatred in France against Jews and Pro- testants is only one sign among many that clerical bigotry has revived, and that in the recoil against the ideas of Gambetta and the anti-religious persecution the clerically minded have allied themselves for mutual support with the military caste. Persecu- tion has, in fact, produced its natural consequences,—a virulent hatred of the ideas of the persecutors, and a disposition to persecute them in turn. A new " Marseillaise " directed against Jews, Pro- testants, and infidels has actually become popular in France, and a fresh attack upon the Church on the old lines has been rendered for the time nearly impossible. Unfortunately the Church, surprised and elated, is almost certain to abuse its victory.
Previous page
