New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-04


washed in, and placing the feet one upon the other
while bathing" These are fair specimens OF inc
whole. Occasionally one lights upon pithy
apophthegm OF a morsel of religious common sense,
but these are rare GASES in desert OF platitudes
and Canon Farrar evidently does not oyersiaIe the
case when he remarks that II would DC nhppfssii-
BILE to nd less wisdom, less eoquence and less mGh
morality imbedded in Vaster bulk OF what Is W
tery valueess to mankiud-tO say nothing OF those
parts of it which are indeicate and even ODsGene
IN any other national literature OF the same extent
Yet this volume has, none the less solld Vaiu''
Biblical scholars IN the last few years have Deen
RAPIDLY awaking to the Importance OF the Iamnd IN
Scriptures of both Testaments Canon
Farrar, for example has greatly enriched ms pOpu-
lar Life of Christ and his more recent Lie a,IS
Work of Paul. by his studies in this hed III W0uIu
De strange indeed If the rabbnlcal te2chlng Nuc1
first shaped the mind of Paul, and which prevadeq
the atmosphere of Jewish thought in the days OF
the first Christian disciples, did not furnish the
kew to many biblical phrases and to many thouRns
of the Apostles. These fragments, with the edtOr
cCplous and learned annOtatIOns, viii help 10 open
the eyes of biblical students to this TACT. AT me
same time this and every similar work whlcn shall
lay open this mass Of mingled WISDOM anu sunny Nv
will do good service in showing how much Oh ne
reverence for il IS born of ignorance; how greatly
the senility is IN excess OF the WISDOM 10 Cah
hardly fail to happen that the muldtudes OF lntell
gent and thoughtful Jews. to whom the Ialnud is,
after all but q name will be entirely disencnanIeu
of the eZtravagant veneratlOn when they now Gu
terrain for it, and Will see Tor the IIst tie i no
absolu iely Unreasonable inferionty TO the living
Oracles OF Cod"
DUTY: With Illustrations of Courage Patience ana
Endurance. By SAMUEL SMILES. LLD.' Ne"-loiA'
Harper d Brothers 1881. II mo- Az pp
DR. Smiles has been long and justly popular Tor
his sensible and vigorous treatment of the quantes
of true manhood, and for his interesting DloTa-
phies of some Of the men who have llusuateu
Them Every one has read his Self HELD" ana MS
lives Of the Stephensons and of Thomas Edward the
Scotch naturalist. have q permanent value and
foit in no Value of
ecdote as a means of impressng TRUTH and by ms
nrodral use of it lures his reader easily through his
volumes. He has a high and generous ideal
of manhood, and grasps aud emphasizes It's
radical elements He insists on tho paramount
value of character as compared with mere achieve
mont and measures achievement by its relations to
character: refusing to accept even intellectual
brilliancy as q cover and substitute for moral
deficiency. If he IS a hero-worshIpper his worship
is discriminating that it Is paid lessto the herosm
which figures on battle-feds or parliamentary
arenas than to the inward vaor of conscience, OF
honesty of sef-sacrifce. He revereS and exols the
parient endurance of women no less than the bril-
liant exertions Of men the illustrations OF Flor
ence Nightingale less than the charge OF the Light
Brigade.
The present volume is in a similar vein to that OF
the previous books" Self Help" Character" and
description OF duty founded in mans relation to
his Maker and interpreted by conscience he Illus
trates its development in acton. truth and honesty
courage and endurance. sympathy aud philanthropy.
These illustrations are drawn from great variety
of sources and deal AT some length with several
characters such as Wellington, John Howard, John
Williams, the Pclynesan missionary and especially
Savonarola. chapter is devoted to the heroes OF
Christian missions and two chapters to the
subject of humanity TO animals. Ut.
Smiles renders real service. to younger readers
especially, in exhibiting duty not only in its more
obvious forms of outward action, but IN Its deeper
relations to the affections and sympathes Men
are regenerated" he truthfully says, not so much
by truth IN the abstract by the divine inspiration
that comes through human goodness and sympathy"
The chapter on sympathy as an element OF duty
touches one Of the subtlest errors in the modern
lie Of benptcence-n namely that duty to the suffer-
inl Is discharged solely by gfts. There may he large
iheraity without much charity, and even CHRISTIAN
glvers would be at the same time more Hpersl ana
knowledge and keener feeling OF their brethrens
needs.
paration for death is the most meagre IN the book
though with the immense treasures Of Christian
biography at his disposal. the author might easily
have made 1t of the richest. The religious ele-
meut appears sufficiently in other parts OF tue book
to lead to expect more emphasis upon lis relation
to the close of life.
DR.. Smiles, ike so many OF his English brethren,
is supposed to he hard upon America. He ventil-
ates the old grievance OF internal Onal copyright,
rakes MP the reputation of '3S an unsavory
enough subject certainly tells how bribery is con-
dutted IN wholesale way" and how the highest IN
Office is bibed by presents of carriages
aud horses, aud even by hard cash." says
the Missouri" but the almighty dollar" ana tells
a bo0d.curdling story OF q young man in Illinois
who advertIs ed that he would lecture and then blow
his brains both of winch he did, to rhe euiica-
ton, doubtless, of large audience at 81 per head
At the same time it IS OnIt far TO say that the
Doctor does not spare his little island, and lays
work aud the deterioration of British publlcisis.
On tbe whole, the book IS a healthy one, like tho
pleasant 10 read aud any parent will do a good
thing for his child by putting it into MS hand