New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-05
SOME NEW BOOKS.


~,arpa e. Co, IT Is professediy reply 10 'hc No
which for many years have been MADE III uu'o'e",
narts of the country upon traispor'a" -.
principles ana the general conouc' y. w - -, no
botb financial and commercial III ' -. -
ssc,,sson Mr. Morgan attacks the Interstate va"
o ,,s constitutional side, and by practlcai
.,,s,.t,ons socks ,o demonstrate It's miScmeVous COLI
,.rcos and its General futiliiy lie uca's a'So 'no
sLong Haul. and the short HAUL anu """' -,
eulty in showing that the principle "p'on ~ -,
have adopted is scientifically ana necessary ~
.,,r tho normal conditions Of transpof'a'oh' an.
cannot he ab1pgafed save at the cost vi eN'o' 80
r,:,.,w 4, tho service; results which, al COURSE
wound nt,re the shipper and the transportation ason
.,Sc The question of Government coh'r"i VI la"
uaxs &c considered impartialy, ana TIE conV'u'io"
reached that the proposed plan woua result ~ ",u
.s,.h,,sbment of huge Railway Trust, dwariihs a."
other combinations of the kind. and erecuns o'o' tho
people what would in the natural course Vi ueNeop
MON, tend 10 become an insupportabe tyranny NH
Morran examines several other moot problems CON
nected With transportation ana IN every case tan,
a strong position in favor Of the largest amount VI
liberty In modification and expansion Tor me ra'"
s., stem compatible with thorough conservation VI no
public rights and interests. The author nus "''0 MS
work with ability.
.Tbe Ethic of Freethousht,' by Karl Pearson, NJ A.
,cer,hper g. Wefor is a manual Of advanced Socialism
20 the Anelicized German type. We have iouha II
far more interesting as a study in morbid pSychoiosS
than as a contribution TO either etihcs UT ooo"o
The author is not seductive In manner. ITO - w
those cock-sure omniscient folks VINO, having "o
c,sed that all religion is mythology imparl 'hcr
opinion to the rest of the world In io'y' Instant
and half-contemp!uous fashion, as who snouiu say
sPoor creatures, 1 see you are stli uei"ue" w -
couldn't be expected that you should De as "iso d"
amp Christianity, according 20 Mr.. PEARSON Is 50
completely dead that he coniesses 10 nave ie''"',
avavned over vigorous Indictment Csic) OF lt' anu
{. .l,a o>fn
ore ortc outside the field of profitable discussio'
uqe ground thus swiftly and easily cleared he pro
ceeds TO formulate the opinions which ra'o"'i
bcicc CT today may hold Will. regard 10 'he PnS s
and Intellectual worlds" 1t appears ua' ai0i az
the outlook for rational being of to-day" Is not
suDcrlatvely brilliant The goal OF amoi"oh
,s IN effect identical with that which George
Eliot tried TO substitute for the nope
of Immortality; the vague ana eAuchiois
dubious consolation of a surviving memoiy-"ioh' u
course can be OF possible concern 10 ule ioNuuai
who has undergone humiliation. Mr. Pearson eX-
Wounds his dreary soulles creed with facuous eeei
fulness. Like other socialists, he can ma DO way oi
enlareing human liberty by destroying H. ne Is
for state PateInasm, extended even to the Ieguaio
of the brthrate by legislation. In short his phnoso
phy is as perverse fantastic and unsats1yins as 'he
whole body OF thought which commits suiclue III inc
hour of its birth by dlscardng the spiritual element
in man.
Times" Mr. James Baldwin has prepared three manu-,
some volumes (Scribncrs which respectively present
the Roland Legend, that of the Nibelungen Lea ana
those of the Had and odyssey, In forms which arc
calculated TO attract the young Whether, indeed any
prose version of Homer'S tales can be as Fascinating
10 the youthful mind Popes metrical versions may
be seriously doubted and the same doubt apphes 10
tho Roland stories, which embalmed in verse GER
family offer greater picturcsqueness and poeuc spirit
than any prose rendering can endow them "iul
There is also eXtant English translation Oh uie
Nibelungcn lied in Spenserian stanzas, whlch peE
ter conveys the sombre fire and barbara Destiny
movement Of the original than an unrhymed para
rbrase II is true that the Nlbelungen Lied as a
whole Is a kind OF chronicle of the slaughter-house,
being so full of carnage that the most enthusiastic
ediaevalist is apt TO sicken Of the pervadng smell
Of blood; and that is sufficient reason 1of 'ohhs he
grim legend down Mr.. baldwin has performed MS
task with care good TASTE adherng as closely as
possible 10 his originals and endeavorng to preserve
The local tone and color. He has appended notes ana
cossarIes wherever necessary. The volumes are IL
Illustrated with considerable spirit by Howard Pyle and
r. b. Birch, and together they constitute niue
library of legendary bero-lore well calculated to
interest and stir the imagination of the ingenious
readers for whom they intended.
A new edition of Dunlop's History of Fiction
revised and extended by Henry Wilson, has been
added to Bohn's Standard Library. The chapters
added by Mr.. Wilson are written on a principle The
meaning of which is difficult TO grasp. compre-
hensive resume of Continental fiction down quite
a recent period has been undertaken; but English
and American fiction have been neglected. Dunlop,
second edition appeared in 1916; that i to say, be
fore the beginning of that literary period which is no"
generally spoken of as the Victorian era scarcely
any of the great nOvests of the century had thef
begun to write Between 1916 and 1888 the materials
for an entirely history of fiction have beer
evolved while the art Itself has under gone radica
. changes Nothing of this. however will be found il
Mr. Wilson'S edition of Dunlop, which consequently
must remain what 1t has been heretofore namely,
book of reference early felton, and not in any true
sense history of fiction as know 1t. The ap
pendix deals with German, scandinavian and Russ al
fiction. French literature is ignored, well Iecen
English and American. In Short the plan of ex
tension 10 be both arbitrary and irrational
The original notes have been enriched by citations
from authorities recent than the author haI
access to- and the index has been amplihed and rem
dered more useful. II IS 10 be regretted that tn
editor should have availcd himself of the oppor
tuny to bring down the work 10 the present day
or that having decided 10 add only brief sketches o
modern felton, he should not have given at least equa
space TO the most important fctive literature wit
that which he has devoted the less known and de
veloped.
The first volume Of History Of Freemasonry fl
New-York, by Charles 7. McClenachan, has been pub
lshed by the Grand Lodge. IL embraces the histol.
of the Grand Lodge of the State from its formation
in 1871, and sketch Of each lodge under its juris
dichon This record IS preceded by short accoun
of Masonry England, Scotland Ireland, and severa
continental countries, together with outline Of th
origin OF the institution in the thirteen colonies Of h
Union. The present volume comprises the frs
division of the history, and relates 10 Masonry
stng home and abroad prior to the granting Of the
Grand Warrant 10 the Fraternity of New-York, IN
1881 and including sketches of the individual lodges
the Institution of which preceded that of the Grand
Lodge The work contains several steel portraits
and is handsomely printed.
A. and +. Randolph q Co. have printed in pamphe
form Mr. Gladstoncs review OF " Robert Eismere,
which appeared in The Nineteenth Century" for May
1t is entitled. Robert Elsnere and the Battle Of lie