The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-12-16
LITERATURE.


t81f-1S75-wilh special reference 10
Germany by Wilhelm Mueller lf"',s'
lated. with 40 Appendix covering We
period from 1876 TO 1881, by Key. J"hh
p. Peters, Pb. D. New York Harper
& Brothers. Chicago: Jansen, McCiurg
e. Co. Price, $500.
The history of Europe, aud cosna'e ma
t;onali,ies of the East, has been abundant
" written up to the END of the Napoleonic
wars. so that no studen. need bc at loss
for means TO possess himself Gifts outlines
either com pactly or In detail. or the his
tory of Europe since 1915, however the
student will look IN vain tor any WORK
which will give him view at once inli
yet concise and satisfactory, until he taxes
nm this work OF Professor Mueller Of Tue
bingen. The labor of its construction
must have been hcrculcan. Pertaining 10
the period lnvolved comparatively few OF
the autheatic documents by which dis
puted facts of history are settled are as yet
IN the awhive state. The material to draw
from must have consisted mainly of re
ports and counter.reports, partisan histo-
rics, personal statements and remlnis p
cenoes distorted by passion and prejudice,
and SO on. That the author, from such a
Couglo1neraton of materials, has been able
TO construct history that Is accepted as
true and iar, while SO many of The leading
Al. ln,uil.I % u,ill hutpn
IS an achievement that may well be char.
acterlzcd as marvellous
The work of Prof Mueller, as now be
fore US in its English form, has been trans
lated by Mr. Peters, Professor of Modern
History IN Cornell University, who, with
the autor's permission, has somewhat
abridged the larger space naturally allotted
by the author to Germany, and wisely
omitted the United States entirely He
has also, using mainly as the source Of his
materials Prof. Mueller's annual pubIica
ton, Contemporary Political History
added several sections, bringing the history
down to 1882.
Thus modified, the History is divided
into six periods The first from 1916 to
1S30-covering the numerous congrt sses
and battles of the diplomats involved in
the restoration, and the vain popular
struggles for constitutional freedom. The
second period-frOm 1880 to 1s4S-in'
clu1cs the July revolution IN France and
us consequences for Europe. The third
from lS4S to 1S63-includes the February
revolution in France and Its consequences
and the history of Continental Europe rs
affected by the second empire. The fourth
from 1854 to lsg9-rcIates mainly to the
usurpation OF supremacy in Germany by
Prussia, involving a history OF the causes
and results of the Schlcsing Holstcin diff
Guilty, the war between Prussia and Aus
tria, the war in Italy, &c. The tifth-.irom
1870 TO l875-coyers the war between Ger
many and France, the establishment of the
German Empire and the struggle OF Bis.
'lnarck with the Vatican. And the sixth
1916 10 1S8l-includes the Russo. Turkish
war, the English trouble in Ireland, the
progress of the French Republic, &c
OF course, IN the space allowed us, be.
yond this very imperfect outline of the
contents of this really admirable work, we
cannot venture upon anything like dc.
tailed criticism or comment. We shall
only add, that the book is written in a
liberal spirit, friendly to all that savers of
progress and the advancement of tpve
liberty, while holding out no encourage
ment 70 anarchy or license.
THE THEORIES Or DARWIN, and their re
latIon to philosophy, Religion and Nor
ality. BY Rudolf Schmid. Translated
from the German by G. A. Zimmerman,
PHI. ID. With an introduction by the
Duke of Argyll. Chicago: Jansen
McClurg & Co. Ottawa Hapeman &
Graham. Price, $500.
Up to about the beginning of the 10Th
century the received doctrine among sclen.
Tits and religionists as to the origin o,
species was that Of Gen. /. 25: "And God
made the beast OF the earth after his kind,
and the cattle after their kind, and every
thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind" BY this time, however, the lnves-
nga,ion OF biologists had brought to light
certain "vestiges of creation" that cast more
than doub. upon the supposed biblical
idea OF n simultaneous origin OF the species,
and noted French naturalist named Jean
Lamarck broachcd the idea of successive
generation. The question thus started re-
ceived varying but upon the whole indif
fercnt attention for the next iitty years. I'm.
III, in 1859, Charles Darwin illuminated it
with the light of his splendid genius by
giving to the world his great work on "The
Origin of Species" Lamaick had pre-
sented an hypothesis; Darwin undertook
to complete 1t by demonstrating the fact
OF development of species and to unfold
in a scientific way the maHHer OF that de.
velopment. In his treatment of the prob
lem Darwin found HIMSELF as Prof. Schmid
explains, involved IN trinity of problems.
The simple question of the origin of size.