The Portland daily press., 1888-05-19

ternal and internal life is the part which
man has to take in the evolution Of the world
from chaos to order. His chapter upon the
relations of God to Nature is especially no
BILE. He rapidly traces the idea OF the crea-
ton and preservation of the world from Its
strong monotheism of the Bible to the prac-
tically polytheistic false science that sets up
its affairs to light, heat, electricity, chemical
affinity etc. He proves the absprdity of this
divided allegiance, and the philosophy
which pushes away the Maker from his
works. The theory of correlation of forces
oyerturns these idols of science. and explains
them to be varied manifestations of one
creative and sustaining Power. This is the
religion that he teaches, the immanent pres
ence of God everywhere and while we
must consider the material phases of nature
in. order to avail ourselves of their practical
forces, "this attitude of mind must be re-
garded only as our ordinary work-clothes-
necessary work-clothes it may be of our out
er lower life
AS an ignorant person is competent to 90
from car-wheel to car-wheel, tapping to find
any weakness in the iron; so it may be al
lowable to say here that the metal does not
ring true and seems liable to break under
Professor lie Conte's richly freighted train
of thought Mt the point VIII IRE he expresses
the belief that animals are not immortal
because they are not self-conscious. Here
Agassiz in his day-unless misreperted-was
in advance of the mere modern scientist in
liberality of belief. 1t certainly Is the first
time that self-conscionsness has been ranked
among the theological virtues if it were one
of them, all New England would go to
heaven en- masse, without regard to faith or
works! On the contrary, the faithfulness
aud nobility of the patient horse, the cheer
fulnsss of the Gagged canary, the trusting
| affection of the cat, wili-0ne cannot but be-
lieve-carry them higher on their way to a
more perfected existence than the most elab-
crate process of self-analysis that could be
| instituted. Our human hopes are founded
| so far as our own part in our salvation is
| coneerned-in doing our duty in loving
spirit; and the obedient and affectionate
dumb animal shares " it'll us duty and,
hence, reward.
The conclusion of Professor lie Conte's
work IS a triumphant declaration that SCI
ence supports faith in its claim to immortal
| ity; and sums up the reasons OF this har-
mony in pages SO mastery in thought and
Imagination that nothing is left to a review
but to commend the volume to the public as
an exponent of practical science and its rela-
lions to religion. New York: ID. Appleton
& Co. Portland: Loring, Short & Harmony
| Mrs Margaret Deland, in her novel John
| Ward, Preacher, has chosen a tragic motive
| distinctly of New England. Here we find
the dismal doctrines of total depravity, the
! torturing questions which presupposed a
| Deity more capricious and cruel than any
man would dare to be-made an inheritance
to ruin lives as utterly as the doom of the
| sons of Aureus. The narrow conscience and
| wider heart of John Ward are pictured with
great strength, as alse the independent and
| logical mind of his wife. Mrs. Deland mer-
its praise for the steady handling of these
| principal figures, and the skilful manner In
which she relieves their stern griefs agains,
a lighter and charmingly drawn background
of social life in a New England village. The
end is all that could be reasonably expected
and the reader will not fail to admire the
skill with which the novelist, without fall
ing into the fault of talking about her per-
sonages, contrives to secure respect and pity
for her most unloyely hero. The character
of Helen, the wife of the preacher, is a re.
markable creation. Mrs. Deland shows also
an unusually poetic and spirited touch in
landscape and accessories. John Ward
| Preacher is not a light novel, nor indeed can
it be called an agreeable one: but it is a
strong capable and legitimate study of the
remains of Puritanism IN New England
| Boston: Houghton & Mifflin; Portland
Loring, Short q Harmony
Messrs. Houghton and Mifflin publish q
tasteful little volume of verse translated
from the German by Rev. Frederic FL
Hedge and Mrs. Annis Lee Wister, whose
renderings of German romances prove Sc
popular. The collection represents a large
variety of authors: and the TRANSACTIONS ap
pear easy and careful. There is in it, how
ever, nothing to modify an opinion that
German verse does not readily lend itself ia
English words and metres; that its accents
are apt to lead into abrupt roughness Of
phrases, because of the more compact weight
of German words; and that its rhymes are
too often represented by series of present
participle supported by auxiliary yerbs-i'
ringing. acas bringing, were singing, etc.
feeble effect which should be used sparingly
Leaving TO philosophers to gauge the worth
of the influence of German literature or
English thought. perhaps it is not too much
to say that the Teutonic influence on English
literary technique is not good. 1t was able
to injure the style Of Bayard Taylor, one Of
the richest and most spontaneous of Ameri
can poets. He was endowed with the orien'
tai type of mind, his reflections expressed
themselves in leisurely superb decorations Of
poetry, his rhetoric was as natural to his per
as to his resonant declamation-whic nnct
heard, could not be forgotten. When Mr.
Taylor began to compress his poetry into tht
hard moulds Of Goethe's manner, he neglect.
ed part of his birthright of art; and the
beauty of his free large lyric manner was
much diminished by the new conditions i'm
posed.
To return to the subject of this notice, Mr.
Hedge and Mrs. Wister are to be credited
with volume of choice standard selections
from German poetry, which will not fail to
be appreciated by large and refined class Of
readers who perhaps have not had profes-
sional occasion to trouble themselves as to
the effect Of imported technique in litera.
ture. portland: Loring, Short & Harmon
GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY