New-York tribune., 1884-11-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE HILBERT LECTURES.

Wrxspssp, NJ A. Charles scrbners Sons
a,erhans II ia because Of the character OF the SUD-
ct that the Hilbert Lectures for 1884 are inferior
In interest to those of former years but whatever
thc cause the fact Is so. The native religions OF
Mexico and Peru do not indeed afford solid ground
for useful inference as TO the genesis OF religious
tentiment aud ritual Pariaking as they do OF the
characteristics which are common to nature re-
iiyirns everywhere. they present also so many
soerlid and ferellent features that no theory OF
tbs o,ialp of snch monstfosltes serves to
,,ake n clear how the human mind conid
have satisfied any desire Tor Worship IN
s.eb petyefss aid hideons ways. To the modern
student however the inost interesting question is
as 10 che eaase ~ the many strange fesembahees
~ the t,aaiisa, the ssniboiisii, the aft anu the
We,ips ~ Religious eknfessiaA W other races an'
countries, found IN i'aW and Mesiee The hfst emu
,aest natural idea vt course Was that thesa tesem=
hiaaees we're the result 1T actual communication
with atbeF peoples, Later research ana efitieism
have haweyer failed o. support this hypothesis,
and the view now taken nv advanced 'hlhheis ah"
held nv NJ Neyie in these lectures, u that Tue TO
samblanoes spoken Of are hut evidence that the
human mind under like conditions, reaches Ike
conclusions everywhere
Itmust, however, he said that this view is only,
after all, a good working hypothesis, ana not
sufficiently established TO warrant dogmatism.
NJ.
settled and indsputable fact, ignoring the by no
means unimportant arguments which have been
made ON the other side by competent as Iyiar'
for example. 1t is no doubt true that the ancient
inhabitants Of Mexico and Peru present most per-
picking admixture of national characteristics, ana
that 1t is difficult if not impossible, for us 10 com
prchend races which were at once singularly
poctical and sentimental, and slnguiarly
ferooious and cruel. But the significance OF their
~. l,oI
religion seems to be, finally, that they had gone
wholly wrong in the line of the higher culture, ana
that even if they had not been wiped out Oy tne
Spanish conquest they must have decayed and
fallen hack into barbarism toward which they were
pls,Dly tending when Cortes and Pizarro entered
upop the scene NJ. Reville has brought great
deal of interesting information concerning the OLD
American religions into convenient compass, Dut
he can scarcely be SAID to have thrown any new
light upon the subject
DIARY AND CoRREsPONpENcE OF SAMUEL A n1d
PEPYs, Esq, F. r. S.With Life and Notes by Kio s1
ARD LORD BRAYPEooKr Dseiphered, Win aqan Tan
volumes. Dodd Mead & Co.
Dodd g. Mead have issued very neat and handy
edition of Mynars Bright's extension of Pepys, III
ten volumes, duodecimo, cloth binding. The N.Y.
mars Bright edition contains fully third more
matter than that edited by Lord Braybrooke. and
II has the further advantage of careful revision
eases were wrongly translated The list of correc-
lions made is gwen at the end of each volume IN
this edition. and the aggregate is large to DEM
onstrate the need for revision. In this latest form
we probably have the fullest edition OF Pepyss
Diary that will ever be made public. 1t is indeed
possible that hereafter entcrprisng decpherer
NAV imagine it a duty to give the world literal
and complete rendering of the old Naval Secre-
tary's records as Messrs Payne and Burton have
thought fit to do IN the case of THE Thousand ana
One Nights But it is certain that other reason
can exist for further translation of the Pepys's
short hand than desire TO add to the plquancy of
The recolectlons that element of impudcity which
until recently has been the literary monopoly of
continental nation.
As they stand to-day, Pepyss Diary and Core
spondence constitute the most agreeable reading to
be found The perfect candor of the recori Is the
explanation of their charm Pepys never intended
his diary to the light. He wrote it for his own
peculiar pleasure. He set down in 1T all his own
faults without perphrasis. He drew so exact a
portrait of himself with a thousand subtle uncon-
scious touches, that we know him better than
almost any historical parsonage. And though the
world has laughed very heartily over his confess
eions his manifestations of innocent conceit and
vanity. his pride in his belongings, his too OBJ
vious amativencss, and the many scrapes
into which his appreciation of pretty faces
brought him with his loving but jealous
wife Il Ia very certain that the datist was
really man of considerable distinction and mark.
that hc worthily and by hard aud good work won
oil hia elevation, that bc was highly csteomed by
,neu like John EVELYN. whose indotecment mnpt be
accepted unhssitalnelv, aud that while he per
formed his public duties with rcal aud talent he
was good husband. friend aud kinAmen elto'
Ills information was varied an6 extensive lilo
possessed rare powers OF observation and deseiip-
Ii0n aud he has left us n most invalnabe ana
altogether unique picture of an age tho salient
features Of which can he seen with like cearness
nowhere else than in his pages,
Ills judgments ON his contemporaries are not al
WAYS sound but they are al least honest, ana
usually he gives his reasons. Lake most OF the men
Of his time he undervalued Shakespeare, and not
0uly Shakespeare, but many other writers VINO
have since been restored their rightu emiDencc.
Thus we find him denouncng Webster's Duchess
of Malf as poor stuff, though it is now admitted
10 be only second TO Shakespeares tragedy. But
Pepys's errors of criticism those OF his day,
while some of his best points were beyond the
standard of his time Thus be was an honest man
in an exceptionally corrupt period, and indeed it
may almost be said that his public spirit and in
tegrty more than seem to have been the only
safeguard of Navy iii danger OF perishing through
the venality of it's official heads
The popularity OF fepys, however, VIII Piopapiy
always be due in the main to his geniality. SIM
plicIty and candor. 1t has been said by great
thinker that the complete record of the life of even
the meanest cannot fail TO possess deep inter
est for humanity, aud autobiographical experience
confirms this view. When, i'll addition to frank
disclosure of the springs of action and the conclu-
sions of meditation fund of valuable information
on known habits, customs and people belong
ing TO past generation is laid before us, clothed
in quaint and archaic language the whole newt
ably forms a literary treasure the appreciation OF
which is certain TO increase as time bears us further
,on liz,