CURRENT LITERATURE.
Under the title of Subjects of the Day, Messrs. Routledge have commenced the publication of a new quarterly, the fundamental idea of which is eminently original. For their notion is that every subject of the time should "in its turn and as occasion requires, be treated as exhaustively as possible within the limits of a Quarterly Review, and each number should form a volume in itself." The possibility of every quarter having its burning question is no doubt appalling, but beyond all doubt, if Mr. Samuelson, who edits subjects of the Day, can find such a question, his device of issuing a manual upon it will take very well with the public. At all events, his first essay appears to be in every respect a success. It is entitled Slate Education for the People, and is written by such authorities as Sir W. W. Hunter, President of the Indian Education Commission ; Mr. Hance, Clerk to the Liverpool School Board ; the Rev. E. F. M. MacCarthy, Vice-Chairman of the Birmingham Board ; and Sir Philip Magnus. The question of State Education in England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, India, the Colonies, and Continental Europe, is considered on all its sides. Then special aspects of the subject, such as commercial education, technical education, and the education and status of women, have special papers devoted to them. Finally, there is a judicious and yet enthusiastic chapter, entitled "Editorial Summary and Conclusion." Altogether, Mr. Samuel- son and his contributors between them have worked out their ides very well in this volume, which will prove a perfect arsenal of argyments to writers and speakers engaged in educational controversy. Of course, it is hardly possible to prevent small mistakes from creeping into a work so full of facts as this. But these seem singularly few.
With May, there is begun a new series of East and West, which is now published by Mr. William Heinemann, and a very resolute effort is evidently being made, by changing the nature of its contents, to give it the character of freshness. For one thing, there is commenced a work of fiction based on Scripture. Whether "Come Forth," the scene of which is laid in Judrea in the time of Jesus and Martha, Mary and Lazarus, will succeed, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, it is plain that the authors are not unambitious in the matter of style. Thus, of Lazarus it is said that he "gave the impression of a devotee called by fate to some practical mechanical occupation ; a man born for a vocation, but born into an avocation ; " and of Malachi, a Pharisee, that he "had the vague discomfort of dull self-sufficiency which feels itself criticised, but cannot perceive how or why." Another work of a very different sort is begun in Mr. Norris's "Miss Wentworth's Idea " The short stories and the light essays which make up the rest of this number of East and West are also above the average. Among the latter, "Keats and Fanny Brawne," and " Feminiana : English, French, and American," which is one of Max O'Rell's delightfully readable international studies, are especially notable. We are quite willing to take Max O'Rell's word for it that France is a nation of Darbys and Joans ; but it is surely going too far to say that in America "a woman looks down upon a man with a certain amount of con- tempt." Altogether, East and West is now a very attractive magazine, and that in spite of the absence of illustrations.
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