the humor of the whole treatment is whimsical and telling. Jonathan himself is skilfully characterized by his quiet remarks, and the author herself has made no mean self-revelation. The book is worth reading and re-reading afield. Houghton Mifflin Co.

A most readable book on the most abstruse of all subjects, metaphysical philosophy, written by Bertrand Russell and named, "The Problems of Philosophy" is published in the "Home University Library" (Henry Holt & Co.). The author writes on the level of the ordinary reader and every point in his profound argument is illustrated from the simplest details of life. The first chapter, for instance, takes up that well-worn example concerning the reality of a table and infuses new life into it from all the forces of art and science in their most modern expression. The book is constructive in purpose and studies reality, matter, idealism, induction, knowledge, universals, and intuitive knowledge. There is not an obscure word or phrase from cover to cover.

"Tales of a Greek Island" by Julia D. Dragoumis is unusual for two reasons; the freshness of its material and the skill with which the short stories are told. There are nine of them, remarkably even in interest. The author is a Greek lady, devoted to her island of Poros, so thoroughly understanding the life and aims of the peasants that one is reminded of the Roumanian lady who gave us "The Bard of the Dimbovitza," though in this case none of the material is folk song or story. The tales are all of modern life on the island. In particular the author seems to have enjoyed doing the descriptions of the country. An American reader will perhaps enjoy most the beautiful diction and the charming phrasing of the every-day speech of the Greek peasant. The collection is far

from relying for merit on its local color or diction, however. The author really gets at the heart of things, the vital moments of life. "The Stepmother" and "The Only Son of His Mother" are full of real human passion and sympathy. The author does not need to "crave the indulgence of the public for one writing in a foreign language." The gratitude is on the other side of the balance. Houghton Mifflin Company.

A

What better ingredients for a mystery story could there be than those which go to make up "The Bandbox," by Louis Joseph Vance? Not only are there duplicate bandboxes which appear and disappear bewilderingly in the fates of the book's chief characters, but a case of continually mistaken identity adds greatly to the confusion. rising playwright, a temperamental actress, another young lady, refined and unobtrusive, a whimsical humorist who proves something of a hero, and a real villain, are the principal actors of the swiftly moving plot. London, a great steamship, New York, and a lone island off the Connecticut shore form the background for strange adventures. A pearl necklace of immense value proves "the direful spring

Of woes unnumbered."

With a deft hand and quick humor the author weaves and unweaves the web whose unravelling the reader seems compelled to follow in a single reading. Mr. Vance has the knack of writing a mystery story as it should be written, with a touch light but sure. Little, Brown & Company.

John Kendrick Bangs' "Echoes of Cheer" (Sherman, French & Co.) is well described by its title, for the verse which it contains is wholly simple, unaffected and light-hearted. From cover to cover of this slender volume there is

no tragic or passionate note, nothing that is strained or artificial. There breathes through the verses faith in humanity and faith also in things unseen; the spirit which prompts them is sunny and the purpose behind them is helpful. Here, for example, is a bit of jovial yet true philosophy, "Where the Fun Comes In."

To hev all things ain't suited to my mind,

Fer, as I go my way, I seem to find That half the fun o' life is wantin' things,

And t'other half is gittin' em, by Jings!"

And here is a fragment of a longer poem, "The Use of Life."

He'd never heard of Socrates;

He'd never heard of Irving;
He loved the mediocrities

Much more than the deserving— But when the frost was in the air he knew the fox's hole;

The haunt of deer and beaver, and the woodchuck and the mole;

And he could joy in arching trees,
In Heavens blue, or starlit,
And in the cold, crisp autumn breeze
That paints the country scarlet.

And here is a cheerful invitation, "A Call":

O come. let's all be Poets!
What though we cannot rhyme?
'Tis easy when we know it's
Just singing all the time;
Just sounding on the tabor
God places in our hearts,
And taking to our neighbor
The message He imparts.

Henry Holt and Co. certainly are to be congratulated on the excellence of that series of little books which they are pouring out in their "Home University Library." Not yet has any volume proved dull or unenlightening. W. H. Lathaby takes up an important subject and handles it scientifically in "Architecture." Beginning in the far ages of Egypt, Babylonia and Greece,

he lays his foundations sure; then goes on to Athens and Rome; sweeps through the schools of the Middle Ages; and slips in a chapter of that lessstudied side-line, Eastern architecture. He is surprisingly full of detail through all the Romanesque and Gothic periods, considering his limited space; but dismisses the Renaissance briefly, for "on the whole it has proved arid and sterile." He adds an important chapter on modern art, laughing at the "picturesque" revivals of the grand old styles, and pleading for simple structural lines in all our great endeavors. J. J. Findlay's "The School" is a rampantly modern, but absorbing, book. The author is an iconoclast and his is about the most radical book admitted into this series. The three Rs, so worshipped down the generations and so badly drilled into the present, occupy for him only "the third place" as "empty of content." He advocates the drilling of trades, a very large number apparently, into all the children in the school, the production of wellknown dramas for æsthetic culture, the teaching of music to a degree now unknown, the increase of the recreation time, and the extension of the elective system to boys and girls of twelve years. The style of the book is as vital as its argument. "Canada" by A. G. Bradley is a study of the British Dominion. Starting with the geography of the land, the author slips easily into the history; then takes up, one by one, "The Maritime Provinces," "The Pralrie Provinces," and "British Columbia." An enthusiast on his subject, the author is candid concerning the defects of his beloved land. He admits that it is cold, that huge cities are few. Very enlightening is his elucidation of Canada's slow growth and sudden revival in these last decades. His outlook at the end is most hopeful. His figures bear out his prophecy.

A war postponed is often a war prevented, therefore the new chapter in Anglo-German relations inaugurated by the mission of Baron Marschall von Bieberstein to London may lead both nations to discover how to live alongside one another in peace. The present writer is a warm admirer of the system of government for which Germany is distinguished in Europe, and unlike most of the patriots who warn their countrymen of the German peril, he would regard the downfall of the German Army and Empire as a great misfortune to Europe and to the British people. If the German Empire is once again broken up into small States, the result to England will be the removal of the rival whose concurrence at present saves her from utter lethargy and decadence, and the substitution after an interval of years, during which English power would steadily decrease, of a new rival on the western shores of Europe. That rival might be France once again, or it might be some new military and naval Power whose capital is not even suspected at present. Lisbon, Amsterdam, and Stockholm have each been the metropolis of an aggressive empire in the past. The one thing certain is that wherever wealth is owned by weakness, an enterprising enemy is generated to execute the justice of history and fate.

Great difficulties beset the Ministers who seek to improve British relations with Germany. The feud, with its newspaper polemics, has gone far enough to create a widespread suspicion in both countries. The average Englishman cannot understand why Germany should want a fleet except for evil purposes; the average German is persuaded that England regards the material prosperity of the Fatherland

with bitter jealousy, and is only awaiting the favorable opportunity to sweep his mercantile marine off the sea. Even when the official relations of the two Governments are friendly, the two peoples continue to snarl at one another; and, in Germany at any rate, this state of things forms an irresistible temptation to the ruling powers. It is so easy to use anti-English sentiment in the struggle to promote patriotic enthusiasm, to maintain the taxation necessary for the armaments of the Empire, and generally to combat the Socialist propaganda. If in England there are fewer appeals to passion, yet there is far more profound ignorance of international politics and of the pressure of force in the sphere of international rivalry. Even members of Parliament and Ministers are woefully ignorant of history, strategy, and the elementary conditions of the game they are playing on their country's behalf. For some time past the solution of the difficulty lay ready in our hands. Every five years that solution becomes more difficult to realize.

If England and Germany were paired off in a rivalry which either did not concern the rest of the world, or concerned it but indirectly, the problem of the relations between the two might. iest Empires on earth would be difficult enough; but as it is, this problem is singularly complicated by the state of Continental Europe. France has never acquiesced in the relative inferiority to which she was reduced by the war of 1870, and recent disputes have at once awakened her patriotic pride and her anxious concern for the future. While the French population remains almost stationary, the German increases by 800,000 each year, and promises to exceed this ratio in the near future. In another generation