The morning call., 1891-06-21

officer aud his true wife to the frontier and
all is well. The ex-officer is very careful
not to tell his wife Of his little affair with
his "offcial wife," and they return to
Paris, where all is well. Of course, there is
great deal of imprObabilty in the story.
but the author has drawn on Imagination in
such manner that the story 10 pleasing
one to read.
FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMs-By DR.. Paul
Carus. Chicago: Open Court Publishing
Company, cloth, 373 pp.J This Is second
and revised edition of this work. Originally
these essays appeared as editorial articles in
THE Open Court" where they were tried
in the fire of hostile criticism, receiving
such need of public favor as to justify their
reproduction as Fundamental Problems"
To the contents of the first edition have
been added an Introductory chapter on
ontOlOgy and positiviSm and an appendix
containing the authors replies to his critics.
OF his system of philosophy the author
says: 1.-THE fashionable free thought of
to-day is so closely connected with negativ-
ism and hedoniSm that most people are ac-
cuStomed to identify free thought with These
two excreScences. In this book, however,
is proposed a philosophy of most radical
free thought that is no negativism, no agno-
sticSm and no metaphysical mysticism. but
systematic arrangement of positive facts.
On the ground of positive facts it equally
opposes hedOniSm as well as ascetciSm,
prOpounding humanitarian ethics, which,
if obeyed, will keep our nation healthy and
must lead us not on the easy path Of least
resistance but on the thOrny and steep
road of progress onward and upward to ever
higher and nobler states OF existence"
The basal idea of DR.. Carus' system is
that 1t takes its stand on facts. In this he
differs from Hegel, who started with the
abstract idea of existence, which that phil
Osopher claimed was an absolute negation
of concrete being, and from the nOn-existence
above the clouds he reasoned down to the
concrete in the affairs OF men-thesls and
antithpSis and combination OF both. He
also differs from the agnOstic, whose con-
cept is the unknOwable, in that he reasons
from the real, while the real and the abso-
lutely acknowledge are self-contradict0ry.
His system differs also from hedoniSm,
which bases the rule of conduct upon mans
desire for happiness and places the ultl-
mate object of life in material existence
and its well-beng, while in mOnism as ex-
pounded by DR.. Carus he finds the purpose
of existence in the constant aspiration
of realizing higher and better, a nobler
and more beautiful state of existence.
While not original, DIR. CaruS furnishes a
book which presents in lucid and cOgent
style the main features Of Rants system,
as set forth in his ''Critique of Pure Rea-
son" and ''Prolegomena," of which it may
be considered as reflex, embOdying at the
same time the chief lines of philOsophic
thought of the present day.
MOULDING A MAIDEN-By Albert Ross.
New York: G.. w. Dillingham;. 355 pp.)
This is the latest production of the author
OF Thou Shalt Not" and Il number of
other novels that have in the past few years
attracted great deal OF attention. 1t is a
story that is strong, well told and enhancing.
1t deals with the experiences of three guard
ians of widely divergent views, in moulding
the character of girl left in their charge as
an infant. Two of these guardians are men
and the other a woman. There Is good
deal more to the story than eau be told in
the space of an ordinary review. The
determination of one of her controllers to
make of the child mental and physical
wonder, and the course he adopts for that
purpose; the undermining of the influence
OF his feminine associate; the growth of
love and Jealousy on one hand, and the
development of noble traits ON the other,
are all set forth as few authors have the
power to do it. From the moment when
Miss Resale appears before the reader In
her nurses arms until the final page is
ended she Is always interesting. The
student life of the Latin Quarter. where the
younger guardian spends some years, Is in
cidentally delneated and there are times
when the mystery connected with the child's
parentage absorbs ones attention like
page of Collins. Offered by the. Bancroft
Company.
STANDARD GUIDE TO CHICAGo-By
John j. Flynn. Chicago: Finn 81 Shep-
pard. Cloth, 543 pp.) A great many guide
books of various places have been prepared,
but none is more complete than the one
now presented to the public by the pub
fishers named. A gentleman connected
with the journalistic fraternity, who for
many years was general reporter in Chi
cago, stated a few days since. after care
fully examining the work: ut is perfect
guide, aud | fail to see that anything has
been Omitted. 1t tells everything that any
one, particularly strangers, might want to
know, and much that the residents Of the