succeeded in making an entertaining as well as in structive paper on a subject of much psychological importance. "The Best Methods of Taxation," by the late Hon. David A. Wells, is the first portion of the final chapter in the series on '• The Principles of Taxation," and is full of practical suggestions for the legislator and tax-payer. An instructive article, un der the title " Mental Defectives and the Social Wel fare," is contributed by Dr. Martin W. Barr. The importance of the problems connected with the care and education of the weak-minded is not generally appreciated, and many absurd ideas, as Dr. Barr points out, are rife regarding the conduct of " imbe cile asylums." A number of striking illustrations add value, if not beauty, to the article. Edward Atkin son replies to a number of his critics, under the title "The Wheat Problem Again," and rather sharply arraigns the Department of Agriculture, in which one of his critics is a high official. The complete novel in the April issue of L1pp1nCOTt's is "The House of Pan," a romance of the eighteenth century, by Anna Robeson Brown. The reader's interest is sustained throughout by the thrill ing adventures of a young French girl and the Ameri can hero, valiant and true. .• Confessions of a Butcher," by William S. Walsh, has entertaining reminiscences of the author's experiences in a pub lishing house. Frank A. Burr's article on "The Men who Impeached Andrew Johnson" is especially good reading at this time.
WHAT SHALL WE READ? The Making of Hawaii is the title of a book by William Fremont Blackman, Professor of Christian Ethics in Yale University, which will be published immediately by The Macmillan Company. Hardly a problem in the complex movements of the century has been absent in the compact community of Hawaii. It has been Professor Blackman's aim to give a sober and comprehensive discussion of the forces which have been at work in the social evolu tion of the islands. As a field for the study of some important social problems Hawaii offers unusual scope due to the blending of temperate and tropical climates, the mixing of widely different races, the "contact of civilized and aboriginal people under unique con ditions, and finally to the control of industries by cor porations to an unusual degree, and the close juxta position in recent years of a very wealthy few and a very poor multitude. The Macm1llan Company have in press for early publication, The Government of Munieipalities, by the Hon. Dorman B. Eaton, formerly Commissioner
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of the United States Civil Service. The author has treated the subject theoretically in reference to Ameri can constitutions and the relations of the city to the State, and practically in the light of the experiences of both American and European cities. The causes of our municipal evils are set forth, and the author has explained the organizations and methods which he thinks likely to be most effective for their removal. The question of Home Rule and the theory of an autocratic mayoralty are broadly treated. Both the actual and the true relations of political parties to city government are set forth, and it is shown by what means parties have gained an unjustifiable con trol of American cities. The relation of Tammany politics to the government of New York City is very fully treated, as is also the new charter of Greater New York. A delightful story of travel, mingled with interest ing discussions on theological and philosophical ques tions, as well as pertinent observations on other familiar topics, will be found in the Rev. Reuen Thomas's Kinship of Souls.1 The author is one of our most distinguished preachers, a profound thinker, and a man of unusual scholarly attainments. The book gives an account of a trip made by a philosophi cal professor, his intellectual daughter, and a young theological student, including descriptions of various portions of England and Germany visited by the per sons of the narrative. Mr. Thomas shows a famil iarity not only with theology but with novelists, phi losophers, and poets as well. Kant, Hume, Hegel, George Eliot, Wordsworth, Arnold, Carlyle, Milton, Dr. Johnson, and many other thinkers and writers are touched upon. His undogmatic discussions of the ology and philosophy will appeal to the seriousminded. The work is one of more than ordinary interest, and we heartily commend it to our readers. Perhaps the most original contribution to recent fiction is The Miraeles of Antiehrist? by Selma Lagerlbf. This volume represents the more mature work of the author of " The Story of Gb'sta Berling." A more sustained interest is apparent in this later book; yet The Miraeles of Antiehrist, like "Gosta Berling," abounds in little incidents that reveal the nobleness and deep motives of life. It has the same power and poetic beauty of description, and the mingling of natural and supernatural by a wealth of legends and folk-lore. Treating of the South in stead of the North, Miss Lagerlbf seems to have ac1 The K1nsh1p of Souls. A narrative by Reuen Thomas. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1899. Cloth. $1.50. 3 The M1racles of Ant1chr1st. By Selma Lagerlof, author of "The Story of " Gfista Berling." Translated from the Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1899. Cloth. $1.50.
