The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-10-20

n
ply, and the information furnished is
at once complete and brief, The achieve
ments of each individual, the reasons for
his or her notability, are given, together
with the chief events Of the slife-hstory
of each. The notice of each person,
whether widely famous or but little
known, is strictly limited to the recital
mentioned: there is no laudation, no crit
cisn,, nothing but bare facts. This gives
the work the value ofSunquestioned ac-
curacy. Who's Who in America" is
enc OF the indispensable reference books
of its time. T. Is. d.
ALASKA. Edited by C. Hart Merriam.
Two Volumes: Doubleday, Page &
Co.. New York.
Among the sumptuous books of travel
-,prriman's Alaska Expedition, ~
before US, must take high rank. The
mechanical excellence of these volumes
is worthy Of special commen6ation. The
binding is we'll done; the cover is most
attractive in it's sea-green and gold; the
paper used in the set is of high quality;
the illustrations are lavishly used and
are of great variety. These latter en-
Refreshments are worthy of special men
ton: they include colored plates, more
than usually we'll cone. rhotogravure
of text figures that add materially to
the value of information so attractively
presented. The books before are is
sued under the ed:torship of a number of
distinguished writer's, among them John
Burroughs, John Muir. George BIRD Grin
nell. William n. Dali, Charles Keller,
Henry Garrett William l.. Brewer and
NJ L. Washburn. The general editor
is G.. Hart Merriam.
Alaska is the direct result of the
expedition which Mr. Edward Fl. Harri-
man in the early spring of 1889 equip
for exploration in Alaska. The co-opcra-
ton of the Washington Academy of
Sciences enabled the protector of the ex-
petition to assemble leaders in several
branches of governmental scientific work
as we'll as experts in active professional
life The present results is not dull
compendium of scientific date. 1t is
live story of the trip itself. 1t takes
the reader to Alaska; it shows him the
country its people and its animals as
they are and all this With a fullness OF
detail. vividness al. description, and an
authortativeness of statement that causes
the book to be accepted as the most in
teresting and valuable volume in its sre-
cial field. q. w. Y.
THE MODERN MISSION CENTURY.
By Arthur r. Pierson: The Baker q
Taylor Co.. New York
The Rev. Arthur T. Pierson has al
ready a large number of readers. Ills
works, all on religious subjects. NUMBER
a dozen. The present volume IS per-
haps the most satisfactory OF any OF the
works of this author that have come to
our attention. thought all of them possess
interest and are fruitful in good. The
purpose of THE Modern Mission Centu-
rv'' is to sum up the work that has
been done during the last hundred years
in advancing the cause of Christ IN Tor
eign countries. The style of the author
is interesting. and, despite the mislead-
ing chapter-heads, the plan of the work
is satisfactory Our author commences
with what may be called an argument
for the foreign mission work. lie then
passes into discussion of the character
which the successful missionary should
possess. and then sketches the variety
of missions and the incidents attending
their inception and execution. In the
CHAPTER devoted to the translation of the
Bible anG to the extension OF Its use
among foreign nations we find many facts
of interest to the general reader. 1t is
extraordinary that such good work of
translation as is shown in the 400 diff
ferent langua ged editions of the Bible
has been accomplished. AS our autnoT
says: THE marvel is not that there
have been Sc many mistakes or confessed
failures, but that they have not been far
m ,re numerous and hopeless. If even
such a scholar as DR. Scha IF could. in
public prayer. thank God that we are
wcshel in the blood of the Lamb !rars-
1ators may be pardoned for absurd and
comical idomatic mistakes" Mr. Pier
SCI. covers almost every fed snf .'ssion
work and. while we do not agree with
him in several of his statements. yet we
may on the whole commend the 90 k
to all interested in mission woill.
E. Y. G.
THE GAGE OF YOUTH. BY Gelett Bur-
cess. Small. Maynard & Co. Boston.
We. are honestly puzzled what verdict
to pronounce on the little volume of
verse entitled ga Gage of Youth by &C.
lett Burgess If we take the verse at its
best. we must accord it very high praise;
if we take it at its worst, we must use
terms of reprehension. One thing is GER
tain: Mr.. Burgess is one of the most
sllillfulE of American versifiers of the
present day. In the mechanical portion
OF his.art he has indeed few equals LOOK