of the plan proposed, to Mr. Donisthorpe's book, merely observing that, in point of practical suggestiveness, we consider the two chapters last mentioned worth a score of such books as "Looking Backward." We do not say that every difficulty has been fully met; but we do say that Mr. Donisthorpe has propounded a scheme which is not necessarily Utopian, and which seems to contain great promise of good. Surely, on the face of it, it is evident that society must some day discover some better principle than that according to which the laborer of to-day professedly gives the least amount of work for the largest amount obtainable in wages, and the capitalist the smallest amount in wages for the largest amount obtainable of work. Such a principle means war, means waste, means wide-spread social demoralization; and it must, if society is to endure, be succeeded at no distant day by some true principle of accommodation and harmony, in virtue of which it shall become the interest of the laboring classes to promote the creation of wealth by faithful and intelligent work, and the interest of the capitalist class to extend the fullest measure of justice to those whose labor fructifies their capital.
The closing chapter of the book contains a most effective criticism of socialism in reply to a Mr. J. L. Joynes, who, if we remember rightly, was a co-laborer with Mr. Henry George in England. It is satisfactory, in these days of crude theories and doleful vaticinations, to meet with a book written in as sober and withal as cheerful and hopeful a spirit as this of Mr. Donisthorpe's. We wish very much that the more helpful portions of it could be presented to the public in briefer and more popular form; but, as it is, we trust that the book, as a whole, will be read and pondered by all who are interested in social problems.
Introduction to the Study of Philosophy. By William T. Harris. Comprising Passages from his Writings, selected and arranged, with Commentary and Illustration, by Marietta Kies. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 287. Price, $1.50.
This compilation has been made in order to adapt for class use the teachings contained in the miscellaneous philosophical works and articles of Dr. Harris. Many of the passages have been taken from the "Journal of Speculative Philosophy," others from the editor's prefaces to volumes in the "International Education Series," from Dr. Harris's lectures at the Concord School of Philosophy, and from his articles in various educational journals. The illustrations supplied by Miss Kies are such as she has used with her classes of girls at Mount Holyoke Seminary. The opening chapters deal with "Methods of Study," the "Presuppositions of Experience," and the "Philosophy of Nature." The rest of the volume deals with man as a self-active individual, taking up in successive sections sense-perception, representation, reflection, the syllogism, the absolute idea or the reason, the emotions, and the will. The concluding chapter discusses the immortality of man. "Philosophy as presented by Dr. Harris," says Miss Kies in her preface, "gives to the student an interpretation and explanation of the phases of existence which render even the ordinary affairs of life in accordance with reason; and, for the higher or spiritual phases of life, his interpretations have the power of a great illumination."
Problems of the Future, and Essays. By S. Laino. London: Chapman & Hall. Pp. 409. Price, 3s. 6d.
It is characteristic of man to take pleasure in measuring his strength against obstacles. In the youth of the individual or the race, he delights in athletic contests; in the prime of life, he enjoys the struggle to obtain subsistence and comforts for his family, and the rewards of social eminence; and at a more advanced period the study and more or less perfect solution of intellectual problems afford him satisfaction. The world, or at any rate the Anglo-Saxon race, may be said to have reached its maturity, and intellectual problems are exciting our interest and engaging our powers as never before. There have been a few philosophers in every age since the beginning of history, but scientific, social, and religious questions are now occupying the minds of many who do not claim to be philosophers. "There is a large and, I believe, rapidly increasing class," says Mr. Laing in his introduction, "who have already acquired some elementary ideas about
