Aline, what tortures me night and day is the thought that it might unconsciously have been the pill which — . Never to be free from that! To have such a thought gnawing and burning always — always, like a moral mustard poultice ! (He takes more punch.)
"Mrs. Herdal.—Yes ; I suppose there is a poultice of that sort burning on every breast — and we must never take it off either — it is our simple duty to keep it on. I, too, Haustus,
am haunted by a fancy that if this Miss Wangel were to ring at our bell now —"
At this juncture, Miss Wangel does ring at the bell, but what follows must be left to imagination, or found out by our readers for themselves.
Statistics of crime
and poverty
in the United States. The endeavor of Mr. Henry M. Boies in "Prisoners and Paupers" (Putnam ) is to state and emphasize
the alarming increase in the United States of our
criminal and dependent classes. The ordinary
reader will be led by his pages to conclude that our
nation is fast going to ruin. Statistics of crime
and poverty are given, which, on their face, show
that vice is growing with tremendous rapidity and
that destitution will soon become general. The
author discusses the problems of intemperance, immigration, our urban population, the negro race,
and jails and poor-houses, in a way to multiply our
fears rather than to enlighten us respecting causes
and remedies. These are indeed great problems,
worthy serious attention and in need of wise action.
But while Mr. Boies is a gentleman of earnestness
and experience, it is clear that he has no such skill
in handling statistics as Mr. Carroll D. Wright,
and no such scientific ability in studying social phenomena as Dr. Amos G. Warner. In some cases,
he does not seem to understand the figures which
he uses, while in other cases he indulges in careless
statements. He shows that since 1850, criminals
have increased three times as fast as our population.
This is indeed what appears upon the face of returns. But it is evident that we are not three
times as wicked a people as forty years ago ! When
we look at the statistics more carefully, we see
that the comparison is vitiated by several factors :
(1) The criminal acts of the negro race are excluded from the census of 1850, but included in
that of 1890, — a fact of great importance. ( 2 )
The census of 1890 was more thorough than that
of 1850 along this line ; it not only reports the
facts more accurately but it reports new classes of
facts. So that conclusions based upon a literal
comparison must be manifestly erroneous. (3) New
laws and police regulations lead to arrests and
convictions where acts would have been considered
innocent forty years ago. Cruelty to animals and
children caused few arrests then ; violations of sanitary regulations were unknown ; offences against
public order, such as drunkenness and the selling of
liquor ; all these and many other acts, like the purchase of lottery tickets, though innumerable, did not
enter into our criminal records as at present. That
our list of criminals has grown in this direction is
evidence, not of our increasing depravity, but of our moral progress. We have more patients in hospitals than the Esquimo, but it does not follow that we
are physically a more feeble people. Mr. Boies
does not make any such discriminations, he only
alludes to the fact respecting the negro race. These
defects vitiate all his discussions of these problems,
which are indeed great and serious problems. His
incapacity in this line is farther shown by his use of
a statement from Professor Ely to support his
claim that there are three million paupers in the
United States (p. 205), and by his astonishing assertion that there are 17,058 county jails in our country (p. 193).
Poland
in history. Mr. Morfill, among Englishmen,
seems to have a monopoly of product on Slavonic subjects, in the field
of history as well as of literature. He now gives
to the "Story of the Nations" series a "Poland"
(Putnam). No writer of English would seem better qualified for such a work, yet Mr. Morfill has hardly added to what one may get from an encyclopaedia on this subject. His book is sketchy, and
one ends it by wishing for a guide through the maze
of aimless energy which it portrays. What one
needs is an explanation of Poland's failure in history, which Mr. Morfill does not give in his pages
devoted to that purpose. An unpatriotic nobility,
an intolerant clergy, a lacking middle class, and a
degraded peasantry, were characteristics of all
feudal states. That Poland did not change all this
was not due solely to the fifth cause suggested the
want of rulers of talent and energy, although a
Louis Eleventh, a Henry Eighth, or a Ferdinand the
Catholic, would have been a great blessing to Poland.
But all these men had their opportunity only be-
cause the principle of hereditary succession was al-
ready established in their dominions. The curse
and the ruin of Poland was an elective monarchy,
which, as in the case of the Holy Roman Empire,
made a feudal condition of anarchy possible long
after the age of feudalism was gone by. The failure of success of this volume is not due to a lack of knowledge, but to a lack of historical insight on the
part of a man whose forte is linguistic.
A readable and
practical guide
for amateur
photographers. Many a guide for the amateur photographer has appeared of recent years, written either in the interest
of the general public, or in that of some firm engaged in the manufacture of photographic materials.
It has been left for Miss Alice French (Octave
Thanet) to produce a book upon the subject which
serves its readers not only as guide, but also as
philosopher and friend. Every beginner in this
intricate art knows how deep is at times the need
of philosophy, and how consoling may be the ministry of friendship. Miss French has pursued photography through trials to triumphs (as some of the
pictures in her book clearly show), but she has not
acquired the air of superiority that makes the successful amateur so cordially detested by all less sue-
