The San Francisco call., 1909-04-04
New Books Briefly Noted

New Books Briefly NOted
Cardinal James Gibbons. the only
American who wears the biretta or
prince Of the Roman church. has just
published a most interesting book
''Discourses and Sermons on Vari-
Gus Subjects" II is a collection
OF IS sermons which he has de-
livered on various occasions our
ing the last so years The cardinal Is
now T5 years old. and though he is In
the best OF health. it is probable that
this will be his last book. He says
that what he hopes will appeal par
ticularly in these sermons Is their
brevity, for long discourses are usually
tedious and fatiguing. No matter what
ones creed may be, these sermons are
inspiring and well worth the reading.
(John Murphy company, Baltimore;
$1.50.)
Orison SWEET Marden, the editor OF
Success magazine. Is too well known
10 need more than q mention or his
name to advertise him. He has col
lected his good advice articles from
time to time IN book form, but the
most ambitious of any OF these IS
peace. Power and Plenty" Never
before in the history OF mankind"
saws the author, has there been such
an awakening to the great possibilities
of the power of right thinking as we
are now witnessing in all civilized
Countries" This thought power is the
subject of the book. and Its tone
throughout is optimistic. sunny ana
tnspiriting The author has many
friends throughout the country VINO
will welcome this new book from his
pen. (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.. New
York; SD
IT Is difficult, indeed. to do justice to
the thousands of books dealing with
New Thought They are written by
all sorts of people-those who have had
no religion at all and those who have
been cramped in some bigoted belief
All are striving for light, and each
book probably finds some few who
need lust the sort OF thing found In IL.
.aThe Open Door Of the Soul,' by De-
borah Morrison, is along the new hne'
and will appeal to some. II is poorly
written, but is plainly in earnest, ana
il one can skip the cant and anecta-
ton in style. some OF the thoughts VIII
be found helpful. &C. NJ Clark publish
ing company. Boston; SID
n I,owes Dickinson has long been
fayorabiy known in this country by mis-
Letters Of John Chinaman," which was
a wonderful success. His new oook,
"Justice and Liberty, is very cleveriy
eonceived. but is not so successful
piece a work. 1t is written IN the
Platonic form. dialogue between
banker, a professor and gentleman OF
leisure. These characters criticise the
r.st and present and construct the pol
icv of the future. Whether the reader
agrees with the arguments or not, they
are well put and very interesting read
ing. and the book is sure to be provoc-
ative of serious thought. The author
himself Is thinking socialist, ana ne
makes one of his characters advance
some ideal views on the subject. (Mc-
Clure. New York;
Another book on Ibsen will not be OF
any great interest to Ibsen lovers, for
II Is a sort OF compilation OF the many
books which appeared last year. This
one. Henrik Ibsen. the Man ana HIS
Plays" is by Montrose ]. Moses. ana
like other work from his pen is crude.
rough and often very disconnected In
style. The book Will be useful'
however. to numerous students who
have not the time to go through the
..lives," the studies of his works and
the synopses OF his plays which have
appeared from time to time Each OF
the dramas is treated geographically
and critically and complete bibliogra-
ply Is appended. tAltCneh hchAch1s .
New York; s1.6e.)
"The Confessions OF Seymour yane'
is a highly moral and exceedingly dull
little book. purporting to be the self
examination OF a man in the form OF
letters. He thinks he has found an
affinity. but he still loves his wife
devotedly. However, IL one perseveres
and finishes the book one finds that ths
hero realized his mistake. but lays
most OF the blame upon the lady. She
hypnotized him. The author, Ellen
Snow. is a well known reformer. hav-
Ing written books against vivisec-
tion and along kindred lines. Gig
arctic smoking Is the subject OF one
OF her reform pamphlets, but kindness
TO animals Is usually the theme (R. II.
Fenno & Co.. New York;
The Word is a monthly magazine
devoted to philosophy science, religion
eastern thought. occuitism. theosophy
and the brotherhood OF humanity. A
series OF articles on "Karma" has beer
running through the last six or sever
numbers OF the magazine and In mar.
ticularly interesting. The one in the
February number was entitled "Menta
Karma" and shows its connection with
the various movements OF the present
day. 1t shows some of the conse.
quences not usually considered by those
who favor such teachings. but which
nevertheless, It would be we'll to iool
into. (Single copies $50; $500 pei
Toprx uronr. Nour vorkl