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NEW BOOKS. 119 fact that the social question is to a large extent a moral question. The miseries which afflict society are the result of our passions, our greed, our want of solid convictions, the troubles of the heart and mind. Although a devout Catholic, M. Escartin maintains that morality is not necessarily supernatural in character. The ordinary sense of the word has its roots in the laws of individual and social life, in the nature of society and man : it is the indispensable condition of his harmonious development and activity. On the whole the book is an interesting pro- duct of modern Spain. If the author can succeed in impressing his ideas on his fellow countrymen, the Spaniards may yet have a future before them among the peoples of the west. Morale et Education. Par P. F^LIX THOMAS. Paris : Felix Alcan. Pp. 171. This little book is made up of ten essays which have already appeared in various reviews, but which have enough in common to justify their author in issuing them in their present form. From the educational standpoint the book is disappointing. The final chapter, covering eighteen pages, is all that is specially devoted to education. It is true that in addition to this chapter on " The Teaching of Morality " we have occasional references to education throughout the book. These, how- ever, are mostly near the end of chapters, and are rather suggestive of afterthoughts. Of the purely ethical matter there is little that is new. On the other hand, the arrangement of the book is excellent. The style is eminently clear and finished, and if the book is intended for the use of teachers who are not assumed to have any special training in ethics it is eminently suited for its purpose. The various theories of morality are very clearly stated and admirably illustrated. No doubt M. Thomas assumes that his readers can make the educational applications for them- selves if only he provides them, as he does, with an up-to-date statement of the position of the various ethical schools. The chapter on Indi- vidualism is very striking in its treatment of modern tendencies in France, the section on lefonctionnarisme being specially refreshing. Le Regime Socialistf,. Par GEORGES BENARD. Paris : Felix Alcan, 1898. Pp. 186. M. Eenard is a professor in the University of Lausanne and has a con- siderable literary reputation. In this sketch of the political and economic organisation of society Prof. Eenard has contrived to put his ideas before the public with great skill and lucidity. It is an excellently written little book. He looks at the social question from two points of view, political and economic ; and he attempts to show how the political and economic condition of society may be transformed by the application of certain general principles which are set forth in the first part of his book. These general principles are of two kinds scientific and moral. The scientific principles are the laws of social evolution. All social pro- gress must move along the lines marked out by these laws. The moral principles are, that every one should have free scope to develop his personal aptitudes and should be permitted to profit by the chances of happiness which nature has given him. On this basis M. Eenard tries to construct a system which will reconcile justice and utility, individual liberty and a rational organisation of society.