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strive to cultivate a right appreciation of real excellence-a correct judgment.

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A rare condensation of the total pedagogic science is the second method principle laid down by the author: "Ideas of right disposition and conduct which are clearly, vividly, persistently, and agreeably, with great variety, kept before the mind tend to take possession of the thought and pass on into emotion and action." The practicability of greatly changing-improving-the habitual mental attitudes and moral estimates of a company of prisoners by means of persistent operation of what is usually understood by "moral influences cannot be denied; but it should be remembered that such changes are by their very nature unconsciously developed-more the product of the total environment than of any single item of individual effort; and that the good influence of preacher or teacher depends more upon virtuous outgo from individual character than upon the choicest selection of sentiments and words expressed. That there may be such completeness of organization and harmony of adjustment between all functions and functionaries of a reformatory prison (the true character school) as shall effectually obsess the mass of prisoners with right ideas of disposition and behavior, may unhesitatingly be affirmed; for I have known of at least one instance and institution where that attainment was quite accomplished, or very nearly approximated. Most certainly such should be the aim. The character school in prison should insist on right doing for the benefit of good habit, for the influence of tone of the whole establishment, and for the unexplained but actual psychical and moral taste to which such good conduct does unquestionably contribute. To this end strict disciplinary control is absolutely required: if it is wise to assume a virtue if you have it not, it is surely wisdom to practice virtuous conduct under compulsion, if one is not himself voluntarily, virtuously inclined.

It is possible that the third principle stated in the address is a fundamental pedagogical principle which, as Professor Henderson says, may be duly appreciated by the best of trained teachers, but is not properly regarded by all preachers and prison chaplains. The principle is that self-activity helps to make ideas one's own and more effective than when ideas are poured from pulpit or platform upon merely passive listeners. The sincere man who has something to say will get a hearing from his prisoner audience, but the persuasive power of public discourse and the prisoner's attitude of sincerity are ordinarily much overestimated. After an exceptionally impres

sive sermon to prisoners one of them said to me: I rather think that man may himself believe what he said." Lodgment of moral ideas is, however, better made by the Socratic method, and indirectly a religious or moral topic treated discursively, or by conversation between two competent conversationalists in presence of the prisoners, or discussed pro and con by speakers and auditors, has proved the most efficient method. Too bald style of talk about God and goodness obstructs the aim. Prisoners instinctively close their minds against such pulpit ministrations. But when such topics are indirectly presented, their minds remain more open and receptive. Wonder is so akin to worship that to excite it leads on to selfdiscovery of high ideas, which is infinitely better than simply to be told about them. I shall not soon forget the evident religious impressiveness of three Sunday-morning talks to prisoners by a preacher broad-minded enough to omit for the time the common devotional items of Scripture reading, prayer, and singing from the service. The topics were: "A Morning in My Garden;" "An Evening with the Stars;" and "The Ocean - A Voyage Thereon." Another, on another occasion, by a teacher-perhaps the most powerful religious discourse of all I have known-was entitled “The Seen and Unseen "—the latest science on these subjects. In none of the above-named addresses was there any mention by name or direct allusion to the Deity; yet, throughout each and all of them the thought obsessed our minds.

Professor Henderson well says that the teacher of a character school in prison, if he is to be of any real use as educator of moral sense, must himself have insight into the universal. But he should not ostentatiously proclaim it; rather let the prisoners feel and find it for themselves.

ELMIRA, N. Y.

Z. R. BROCKWAY.

A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Chiefly in England and the United States; with an Introductory Analysis of the Literature and the Theories of Primitive Marriage and the Family. By GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD, PH.D., Professorial Lecturer in the University of Chicago. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1904. 3 vols. Pp. xv+ 473; 497; 449. $10.

THIS work is veritably a magnum opus. No work of similar scope has heretofore been attempted, and Dr. Howard has carried

out his plan with great ability and conscientiousness - evidently at the cost of an almost inestimable amount of labor.

As a preliminary to the study of the history of marriage in historical times Part I is devoted to the analysis and discussion of the theories of the origin of marriage and the family. This discussion is designed to serve as a background to the more special studies of marriage in England and the United States, but it cannot be ignored by specialists. Its value is increased also by the very full bibliographical notes preceding each chapter.

Part II, "Matrimonial Institutions in England," is the best and most accessible treatment of old English wife-purchase, the rise of ecclesiastical marriage, the rise of civil marriage, and the history of separation and divorce in England. A vast amount of literature on the subject of marriage has been digested. The bibliographical notes are continued in the section (and throughout the book), and the whole forms an introduction to the most important and original portion of the work- Part III, "Matrimonial Institutions in the United States." In this part the writer does a great deal of pioneer work of the highest value. He goes directly to the sources, making exhaustive use of the records of the colonial and provincial courts, the publications of historical societies, and the various compilations of statutes. Much of the material used in this section was consulted in manuscript form. The marriage customs of New England and of the southern and middle colonies are dealt with in an intimate and thoroughgoing manner, and this portion of the book is very fascinating reading, surpassing, without a doubt, the historical romances dealing with the same period. The history of divorce in the American colonies is treated in chap. xv, marriage legislation in the United States from 1776 to the end of 1903 is treated in chap. xvi, and divorce legislation for the same period in chap. xvii. From one standpoint that of the reformer-these last chapters, and the last chapter of all—“ Problems of Marriage and the Family,” — are the most important ones in the work.

The anxious attention of the legal and social reformer is being especially directed to the character of our state legislation regarding marriage and divorce. To him therefore it is hoped the last three chapters may prove helpful. Summaries of statutes as they stood at particular dates have indeed appeared. The digest contained in the government Report is of great value for the time of its compilation; but no attempt seems ever to have been made to provide a systematic historical record. In these chapters the result of

several years' labor the laws of all the states and territories enacted since the Revolution have been analyzed with some regard to details. (Preface.)

A very valuable and commendable feature of Dr. Howard's great work is the bibliography of marriage appended to Vol. III, comprising 138 pages, and the most complete published. There are in addition a case index, and an excellent subject index.

It would be difficult to name a recent work which is of so great interest at once to the historian, to the sociologist, and to the man of law as this one. We predict also that it will appeal strongly to the intelligent public.

WILLIAM I. THOMAS.

Organized Labor, Its Problems, Purposes and Ideals, and the Present and Future of American Wage Earners. By JOHN MITCHELL. Philadelphia: American Book and Bible House, 1903. Pp. 436.

AFTER the works of Webb, Ely, Wright, Lloyd, Levasseur, Brooks, and others, it is difficult to make any new contributions to the descriptions of trade unions. Only when Mr. Mitchell touches the anthracite coal strike are we taken behind the scenes and made witnesses of the inner working of a great union under trial. But even the repetition of old material comes with a certain directness and sense of reality from one who has risen from the ranks of the miners and continues to be identified with them. Almost all the arguments for trade unions are developed and the stock objections met, and all in a candid, intelligent, and judicial temper. Assuming that he is both honest and well informed, the book will remain a primary document for the history of the trade-union movement in America. It will be corrected by criticism and supplemented by writers who bring to the subject more theoretical and historical learning; but economists and social philosophers must derive material from such a mine as this, if they seek to understand and explain the movement of the wage

earners.

C. R. HENDERSON.

Getting a Living. By GEORGE L. BOLEN. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1903. Pp. 769.

MR. BOLEN tells us his views of elementary economics, trade unions, and all the proposed methods of improving the lot of wageworkers. The form of treatment is not systematic in the academic

sense, and the field covered is too great for final treatment of any one topic. Perhaps there is no absolutely new argument in the volume. And yet it is a useful book for its purpose, which, the author says, is to interpret the scholar to the people; and for this task his experience as a newspaper man has fitted him in a high degree. The industry of compilation is in itself impressive, and the explanations of many social phenomena show power of thought and insight which only a man in daily contact with business is likely to reveal in details. The materials in the footnotes often interrupt the flow of the argument, but they are convenient to have at hand, and the survey of opinions, richly illustrated with quotations, is brought up to date. The spirit and temper of the writer seem to be eminently judicial and fair.

C. R. H.

L'Alcoolisme et les moyens de le combattre, jugés par l'expérience. Par JACQUES BERTILLON, chef des travaux statistiques de la ville de Paris. Paris: Victor Lecoffre, 1904. Pp. 232.

In the earlier part of this volume the statistician considers the physiological aspects of the problem, and reaches the conclusion that alcohol, even in moderate doses, if taken regularly, is poisonous. In the later part he discusses the results of experiments with regulation in various countries- monopoly, license, local option, prohibition, the Norwegian system, and all the forms of suasion. His conclusion is in favor of the Gothenburg system and the instruction of children in the schools. There is no use to reason with a drinker; he is beyond argument. And the prospect for France: "On ne fera rien. Laissez faire! Laissez passer! . . . . La France périra donc pour ce double motif: moindre nombre des homnes, moindre valeur des hommes. Le pis est que la France mourra déshonorée." Sterility and drunkenness will destroy her. A lugubrious outlook for the final C. R. H.

sentence.

A Handbook on the Prevention of Tuberculosis. Published by the Charity Organization Society, New York city, 1903. Pp. 388.

MEDICAL men are primarily the fountains of knowledge in respect to the nature of a disease and the best methods of dealing

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