CURRENT LITERATURE.
British Quarterly Review. January. (Hodder and Stoughton.)— This is a good number, though it does not contain any article of com- manding excellence. It is not the less pleasing because it is literary rather than controversial. The only article, indeed, which partakes of the latter quality is that on "Comprehension." By this is meant not proposed comprehension on the part of the Church of England, but aspirations after unity among all that "profess and call themselves Chrifitians." The writer argues for a dogmatic basis, and would find this in Trinitarian orthodoxy, though he would probably not insist on the rigid definitions of the Athanasian Creed. There is a sympathetic notice of the life and works of Professor Henry Rogers. The writer of "Capital and Labour " uses some plain words about workmen and em- ployers, and makes out what seems a damaging case against the Trade Societies. Another useful article on an important social subject is that on " Savings and Savings-Banks." "Christmas Bills," it is clear, do not afflict the class which makes deposits. There is no month in which so large a sum is deposited as in January. There is some admirable criticism in "Parody and Parodists." We have never seen the real nature of parody better defined. The writer, however, does not seem to have seen one of the beat volumes of the kind ever published, "Diversions of the Echo Club." The distinguishing feature of the "Diversions" is that the style of the author, not any particular poem, is parodied. The other articles are, " The Mikado's Empire," "The Americans in Turkey," and "Precious Stones ;" and there is the customary etunmar7 of "Contemporary Literature."—In the Quarterly Journal of Science, edited by William Crookes, F.R.S. (Office of Quarterly Journal of Science), the most generally interesting article will be that on "'Continuous Railway Breaks," the conclusion of which may be stated briefly as a decision in favour of the "Westinghouse Automatic Air- break." The editor, if we may conjecture the authorship, describes a ." New Theory of Trance," put forward by Dr. Beard, of New York. This theory may be briefly described as attributing the phenomena of trance to a concentration of the central activity in a limited region. "If all the burners of a chandelier," says Dr. Beard, "are fully lighted, that is the normal waking state ; when all the burners are turned down low, but not turned out entirely, that is ordinary sleep ; if I turn out entirely all the burners except one, and that one, as often happens, flames all the more brightly from increased pressure, that is trance ; if all the burners are turned out entirely and permanently, that is death." Dr: Beard thinks that trance is entirely subjective. But are there not authenticated instances of what is called mesmeric influence being
e 16:feified, when the person operated upon is at a distance and wholly unprepared for the operation ? The other essays are,—" On Residual Phenomena," "The Action of Light upon the Colouration of the Organic World," and " On the Discovery of Stone Implements in Glacial Drift in North America.—In the International Review, January, February (A. S. Barnes, New York), we have a number of varied interest. Four of its ten articles are contributed by non-American writers, Dr. Freeman giving a very interesting account of " First Im- pressions at Athens," in which he insists on the gap in the continuity of Athens' history as "a city which represents the three centuries of Turkish rule; Dr. Ernst Curtins contributes an article on " The Second Hatvest at Olympia," while a Bavarian contributor discusses " Imperial Federalism in Germany," giving an account interesting and instructive to Englishmen of the progress made in codification ; and Mr. Hamerton continues his series on "European Art." Mr. David A. Wells argues in an able article, "The Elements of National Wealth," for the freedom of capital. Other articles deserve notice, but we shall occupy our space to the best advantage by quoting the second of two sonnets on Thiers, by J. G. Whittier :—
" Death called him from a need as imminent As that from which the Silent William went, When powers of evil, like the smiting seas On Holland's dikes, assailed her liberties. Sadly, while yet in doubtful balance hung The weal and woe of France, the bells were rung For her lost leader. Paralysed of will, Above his grave the hearts of men stood still. Then, as if set to his dead lips, the horn Of Roland wound once more to rouse and warn. The old voice tilled the air! His last brave word Not vainly France to all her boundaries stirred. Strong as in life, he still for Freedom wrought, As the dead Cid at red Toloso fought."
--In The North-American Review, January, February (New York, D: Appleton), among other articles we notice " A Crumb for the 'Modern Symposium,'" written by Mr. John Fiske, from the Berkleyan stand-point ; an article on "The English Aristocracy," by Mr. W. E. Lecky, which can hardly fail by its favourable estimate of its subject to excite the surprise of Transatlantic readers ; some interesting "Reminiscences of the Civil War," by General Richard Taylor ; and an essay on " The Capture of Kars and Fall of Plevna," by General G. R. M‘Clellan, sharply criticising the strategy of Mukhtar Pasha, and expressing a very decided opinion that the defence of Plevna by Osman, obstinate as it was, was a grave mistake of generalship.
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