An useful book on
Persian Literature The literature of Persia, ancient and modern, offers several distinct fields, each of a good deal of interest to us Occidentals of the present day. The study of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, besides giving us one of the most interesting chapters in the history of scientific research, connects directly with our recollections of the Old Testament and of Herodotus. From another point of view the student of Comparative Religion and of Folklore finds, of course, in the "Avesta" the original sources for acquaintance with one of the earliest and most characteristic religions in mythological systems known to us. And in modern Persian Literature there is much of fascination for one of more general interests. With Fitzgerald's "Omar Kháyyám," Matthew Arnold's "Sohrab and Rustum," and Sir Edwin Arnold's "With Sa'di in the Garden" still fresh in mind, we need not be reminded of the strangely charming literary characteristics which mark the work of Firdausi, Omar, Sa'di, Hafiz, and Attar. A History of Persian Literature especially for English readers is thus an opportunity worthy of the scholar and the literary critic alike. Of this opportunity, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Reed, in her "Persian Literature, Ancient and Modern" (Griggs), has taken advantage, and has produced a popular manual of the somewhat discrete subject described by the title. Our chief criticism upon the work must be that it slights the modern Persian literature of which most of us mainly think when the subject is mentioned. But it is, on the other hand, very full in its treatment of the earlier periods, and includes an important section upon the "Koran." Mrs. Reed's acquaintance not only with her special subject but also with other ancient literatures, notably the Sanskrit, enables her to compose an account of the Cunieform Inscriptions and the "Zend Avesta" which stimulates curiosity and satisfies the interest. The work is beautifully printed, and has a gorgeous frontispiece in gold and colors, reproducing a portion of an illuminated "Shah Nameh" manuscript. It is published uniform with the author's admirable manual of "Hindoo Literature."
A correspondent
of Jane Welsh
Carlyle Miss Jewsbury's "Letters to Jane Welsh Carlyle" (Longmans) make up a bulky volume that does not call for extended notice. Miss Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury was Mrs. Carlyle's most intimate friend and corresponded with her for a long time. The two agreed to burn each other's letters, but Mrs. Carlyle did not fulfil her part of the agreement, while Miss Jewsbury did. So we have only the latter's share of the correspondence. What Mrs. Carlyle's letters may have been we can partly guess and perhaps will not wholly regret their destruction. As to the letters before us, their value is not intrinsically great; they are diffuse, occasionally bright, occasionally witty, and always tender. They show the writer to be a woman of large capacity to love and to be loved, and of disappointment in the attainment of her ideals. Miss Jewsbury wrote novels and reviews, but her letters are not literary. The only reason for publishing them is the light they might throw on the life of the Carlyles. But in the first place, from this selection we learn little that is new, and in the second place that little is materially dimished by the irritating mode of editing, which prints a dash for almost every proper name. Not only should names be given, but there should be an abundance of notes, which the editor, Mrs. Alexander Ireland, is able to supply. Her very readable life of Mrs. Carlyle showed her to be a capable worker in the field of Carlyle literature. This last volume in that field should be brought up to the level of her former volume. The sympathetic sketch of Miss Jewsbury's life is the most interesting part of the book.
Philanthropy and
Social Science Seven lectures delivered last summer before the Plymouth School of Applied Ethics appear now in a volume entitled "Philanthropy and Social Science" (Crowell). The first and second of the essays, by Miss Jane Addams, entitled "The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements" and "The Objective Value of a Social Settlement," are interesting sermons in behalf of this new form of social organization in cities, with Hull House in Chicago as a text. The third, by Robert A. Woods, discusses the "University Settlement Idea" from the point of view of the Andover House in Boston. Father James O. S. Huntington contributes the fourth and fifth, which deal with the general principles of modern philanthropy in an incisive manner. The sixth is by Prof. Franklin H. Giddings, on the "Ethics of Social Progress," and is by far the most valuable and original contribution in the book. The last, by Bernard Bosanquet, on the "Principles and Chief Dangers of the Administration of Charity," is a brief statement of some of the commonplaces of scientific charity. While this volume contains much that is true and sensible, it lacks somewhat in continuity and originality. These were undoubtedly interesting and profitable lectures, but they touch only very superficially a few phases of the philanthropic problem. They do not go deep enough for the scientific student, while the general reader can do better by devoting himself to manuals more specific and extensive in information.
Studies of Democracy
in Poets Mr. Oscar L. Trigg's "Browning and Whitman: A Study in Democracy" (Macmillan) is a book that is more suggestive than conclusive. Democracy is defined as "self-government," the "absolute and free control of one's self." All that tends to develop the soul to its freest, fullest limits, and all that tends to band together self-controlled individuals, is in its essence democratic. To point out these principles in the two poets is the object of Mr. Trigg's analysis. Not a difficult task, surely; for Browning stands for the independence and preëm-
