Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

— : o : — Books , Music , & c . intended for review , should be addressed Co the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , Hew Barnet . Concerning Children . By Charlotte Perkins [ Stetson ] Gilman ( 6 s ) . —G . P . Putnam ' s Sons .

THE education of children , by which we here mean their general up-bringing , is a subject upon which nuniberless writers have delighted to instruct us . Our shelves contain much collected wisdom , of this sort , but we confess to being disappointed with it all , front Locke to Mrs . Gilman . Indeed , although we have read portions of this volume with considerable interest , we cannot say we think so highly of it as

we could wish . We have always thought that writers who would instruct us upon the management of children are , albeit unconsciously , betwixt the devil and the deep sea . The class of persons who should study such a book may be supposed to at least include young mothers and younger nursemaids and governesses . The former class have seldom the time to read such a book carefully : the two latter classes

have seldom the inclination . Even should the reading become a ' fait accompli" it will , we think , usually be found that the lessons taught are either obvious or unintelligible , according to the status of the reader . Mrs . Gilman frequently expresses her meaning both wisely and well , but families , like everything else in this world , are apt to vary , and to vary so greatly that what would be wholesome discipline in one family would be useless in any other . In particular , the

questions involved in the subject which Mrs . Gilman discusses under the heading " Hie Child and the slipper ' are so many and frequently so antagonistic that profitable generalisation is almost impossible . Miss Katherine Gilman , to whom this volume is dedicated , could probably vouch for the success of her mother ' s methods ; but we have not the pleasure of knowing her , so can but read and judge for ourselves .

An essay on Western Civilisation in its economic aspects ( mediaeval and modern times ) . By W . Cunningham , D . D . Vol 2 ( 4 s 6 d ) . —Cambridge University Press . THIS is a somewhat elaborate essay on a very ihtpbrtant subject . The mass of materials which Dr . Cunningham hais read and sifted for the purposes of this essay are such as lie for the most part beyond

the domain of the historical student . It will ,- indeed , be possible to read largely amongst the annals of any of the nationalities here named—particularly the annals of the Viking , the Goths , and the Franks—and be almost wholly ignorant of the economic aspects of those subjects . If we may fetch an illustration from afar , we think that Dr . Cunningham ' s volume is to the ordinary histories of civiU

isation what Hallam ' s " Middle Ages " is to the popular histories of Europe , or what Guizot is to Alison . On .. the . whole , we think the merit of compression the most prominent-of the many merits of this essay . The whole topic , from whatever standpoint we regard it , is a very complex one ; there is something beyond ordinary skill in narrative required before a writer can set forth the political economy of any nation . Of the earlier chapters , we think the one on " Christian

Relations with Heathen and Moslems " deserving of special praise ; although the preceding chapter on " Natural and Money Economy " may perhaps appeal more forcibly to the many men who nowadays take a genuine interest in the literature of economics . We are not sure that we know of any essay of a similar character so entirety satisfactory ; for , as a rule , there is no choice save between some interminable history or an utterly inadequate primer . There are some good maps in this volume , and an excellent and exhaustive index .

The Story of Art in the British Isles . B y J . Ernest Phythian . With twenty-eight illustrations ( is ) . —George Newnes , Limited . THIS " Library of Useful Stories " is the most satisfactory undertaking of its kind since the publication of Messrs . Macmillan's Historical and Scientific Primers . We have read several of these

" Stories " on their first appearance , and have been uniformly gratified by the way in which the very diverse subjects have been treated . The little volume before us deserves as warm a welcome as its predecessors . Mr . Phythian , with admirable literary tact and a rare sense of proportion , has sketched , in the space of two hundred small pages , a graphic account of the rise , progress , and present condition

of Art in the British Isles . Like other volumes in this series , this handbook is well and beautifully illustrated , and it is certainly one ot the wonders of our wonderful age that so excellent a volume can be published at a shilling and purchased for niriepehce . We are under the impression that some of the opinions expressed by Mr . Phythian are not those of the orthodox Art critic ; but they may very possibly

be the more valuable on that account . We should like to know whether Mr . Phythian has read an article by the late Grant Allen on " The Celt in English Art . " We can hardly suppose he would endorse all that is there said of the art of Burne-Jones and the Celtic School ; for , so far as he touches the subject of the Celt , we cannot discern much enthusiasm underlying Mr . Phythian ' s periods . This book will well repay careful re-perusal .

Good for Nothing : or All Down Hill . By G . J . Whyte-Melville . Illustrated by G . P . Jacomb-Hood ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Limited . WE understand that this volume , and that entitled "Bones and I , " ' , which we had the pleasure of reviewing recently , are the last two

volumes . in this excellent edition of the novels of G . J . Whyte-Melville . We can most heartily congratulate Messrs . Ward , Lock and Co . on the completion of their undertaking . We have always admitted the justice of the maxim " every man to his taste , " and consequently we are not averse to express our own with no uncertain voice' We wrote

Books Of The Day.

our opinion of the merits of Whyte-Melville ' s novels on a former occasion ; but will take this opportunity of saying that , after the most impartial consideration , we think tne collected works of this author are equal in value to those of any save three of our novelists . It is hardly necessary to say that those three are Scott , Dickens , and Thackeray . Of Thackeray we are often strongly reminded when

reading Whyte-Melville ; for the author of these five and twenty fine volumes , now once again completely and handsomely re-issued , had much of Thackeray ' s wide outlook , keen and ready wit , and fertility of invention . There are incidents in " Good for Nothing " that are happy , and some that are sad ; there are scenes in the drawing room , and scenes in the bush ; there are some remarkably strong characters ,

and some persons who , like the women in Pope's famous satire , have " no characters at all . " The story has not the historic interest of "Holmby House , " or the dramatic power of "The White Rose , ' but in change of scene and breadth of treatment it is inferior to neither . Readers who do not yet know it will thoroughly enjoy their first perusal of its pages .

Messrs . Digby , Long and Co . will publish shortly the following seven Novels : — " Devaytis , " by Marya Rodziewicz , author of " Anima Vitas , " & c , translated by Count de Soissons . "The Golden Tooth , " by J . M'Laren Cobban , author of " The Angel of the Covenant , " " I'd Crowns Resign , " & c . " Cruel Calumny , " by Mrs . Leith-Adams ( Mrs . De Courcy Lanan ) , author of " A Garrison Romance , " " Accessory ¦ » 11 ml ii 1 51 ft 1 ? 1

i * . . -n rr . . * 1 - " . {{ < - " . _ _ -CTT _ * _ . after the Fact , " " The l nnce ' s Feathers , " etc . " A Stolen Wooing , " by Seyton Heath . " The Emperor ' s Design , " by Surgeon-Major H . M . Greenhow , author of " Amy Vivian ' s Ring , " " The Tower of Ghilzan , " "Brenda ' s Experiment , " etc . " The Burden of an Honour , " by R . St . J . Corbet . " A Daring Spirit , " by Mrs . Bagot Harte , author of " Wrongly Condemned , " " The Wheel of Fate , " etc .

BOOKS RECEIVED . New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol . ) . —T . Nelson and Sons The Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT , BART . Vol . iii ., The Antiquary . Vol . iv ., Rob Roy . Ballad Stories of the Affections . From the Scaridi

havian . By Robert Buchanan . —Sampson Low and Co . The Words of Wellington . Collected from his despatches , letters , and speeches , with anecdotes , & c . Compiled by Edith Walford . —Sampson Low and Co . The Redemption of David Corson . By Charles Frederick Goss ( 6 s ) . —Methuen and Co . The Ending ; of my Day . By Rita ( 2 s 6 d ) . — -T . Fisher Unwin .

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