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Condition of the Working Class. In each case the author has revealed the struggle of the wage-earning poor, and of those who have been worsted and have sunk below the level of the wage- earners ; and in each case the extent and dimensions of the picture are such as had not been attempted by a previous author in the same field.
Frederick Engels' book has not been superseded by the work of more recent investigators. It remains the classic presentation of the life of the poor in England in the decade 1840-50. Some of the prophecies of the young author have not been fulfilled after sixty years, because it is given to no man unerringly to read the future. Recognizing this fact, Robert Hunter has striven to avoid the allure- ments of prophecy and to confine himself to describing and inter- preting the phenomena among which we all live, though few of us possess the vision requisite to the work of interpretation.
No student of philanthropy, or of sociology, can afford to ignore this book. Its main contentions concerning the extent of poverty and the active immediate causes thereof may well become the subject of wide and fruitful discussion. It is reasonable to expect that the charge of exaggeration may be brought with regard to the extent of poverty as defined by the author and also with regard to the influence of immigration. But candid effort to refute the author's position will only bring to light once more the sorry inconclusiveness of the official figures upon the collection and publication of which the individual states and the federal government expend vast sums for sadly unscientific results.
The list of authorities cited is, perhaps, somewhat weakened by the inclusion of names so little convincing to the scientific reader as those of Mrs. Van Vorst and Mr. W. J. Ghent ; but when all deduc- tions on the grounds of inclusiveness have been made, the arsenal of facts here brought to the attention of the critic must command the respect of the candid.
FLORENCE KELLEY.
Politique et religion: Questions du temps present. By J. B.
RIPERT. Paris: Pen-in, 1904. Pp. xi + 287. Fr. 3.50. This book, which is easily read, contains a little of everything, but nothing very deep. A few titles of chapters will give an idea of the book : " Politics ; " " The Parties in Parliament ; " " A Few Out-
