and consequently in the Czar. Politics and religion are one and the same thing to him. When the Russian people revolt, it is not against the Government. Said the Minister of the Interior further: "These outbursts of insurrection have nothing to do with governmental action. It is the aim of the Government to let the peasants alone, as the peasants desire. The authorities strive to save the peasantry from the troubles in which agitators and malcontents by their new ideas try to involve them. But the peasants can not be brought to believe that, as the revolutionaries repeatedly tell them, the Government is the cause of their sufferings. The rioters have no political end in view. The question with them is a purely material and local question. The organization of the Empire is something concerning which they know nothing and care nothing. They never criticize or blame the Government. At a given moment, on account of a bad harvest or some such reason, they find their material condition insupportable, yet they do not strike at the Government, but fall upon the nearest neighbor who is in better luck. They make depredations from house to house, but it never enters their heads that any one should interpret their action as a demonstration against the Government or as a political or revolutionary proceeding. The very word revolution is unintelligible to them. And you must bear in mind that when they start these riots they think that they are acting in conformity with the will of the Czar. Their sole complaint is that their sufferings do not come to the ears of the Czar. Their naïveté is such that they think the Czar would approve of their violence as soon as he learned of their distress." Plehve went on to say that a revolution in Russia is impossible. "Revolutions are produced by majorities, and the majority is for us," ie., the Reactionists. This dictum as to revolutionary majorities Mr. Ular stoutly controverts, but admits in general that Plehve estimates correctly the Russian peasant's political temper and attitude. He proceeds to investigate the causes of this condition, which he attributes first of all to the muzhik's narrow political conceptions, as these spring largely from the illiteracy which the Government imposes upon him, as well as to the pernicious influence of the Slavophil party. The muzhik he declares to be absolutely incapable of appreciating parliamentarianism. To quote: "The members of a mir, a commune, or village government, see nothing in a change of régime which could influence the conditions of communal life. This is, perhaps, the most curious fact in the political psychology of the muzhik. His interests are absolutely confined to his commune, and do not lead him to realize that he is part of a nation. He has no national conscience. He has no country, but belongs only to a commune or rather to a district in the commune. The shrewd policy of the State absolutely forbids him to think of the interests of others. The law of the Czar has connected him with a certain mir; he can not leave it; he is condemned to belong to it forever. The local law in each mir differs according to circumstances. Any union between mirs is out of the question. Well does the autocracy understand the maxim, divide et impera-divide and govern. He (the peasant) has no idea of parliamentarianism based on direct suffrage, with responsible ministers as an executive. . . . If he had a parliament, it would be filled with members for the most part illiterate, who would treat the Empire as a village, knowing nothing of the mechanism of the State, and voting for the rejection of every measure which seemed useless from a village point of view. A crushing majority of those who would constitute this grotesque company would adopt through religious atavism the views of any minister who spoke in the name of the Czar. The result would be a régime of sheer stupidity." The muzhik, too, is sunk deep in illiteracy. As Mr. Ular says: "The two mighty springs in the movement of Western progress, universal compulsory education and the press, have been broken by the régime dear to Plehve' in the interest of the people'; in order to protect them against perturbations'; to guarantee them tranquility'; and to permit them to cultivate natural ideas.' One muzhik in twelve knows how to spell out a few words; one peasant woman in twenty-five can read her own name; one child in twenty attends school occasionally; one in ten thousand receives the most miserable elements of primary instruction. A newspaper is unknown in the country." The Slavophils are the partizans of a group of littérateurs and politicians who support the views of the moujik on an intellectual basis. They denounce, however, the centralization of government in a czar and a bureaucracy. They are individualists and believe in Russia as it existed before Peter the Great. The peasant idea and that of Slavophil, if ever realized, he says in conclusion, would be neither the socialism of Marx nor the autocracy of the present time. The Czar would be a mere symbol of national unity, while local autonomy would prevail everywhere. But there could be no world policy" for Russia, no "high place in the council of the Powers"; but Russia would furnish an example of government which would "crush the pride of Western barbarism."-Translation made for THE LITERARY DIGEST. IF NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE DAY. USEFUL BOOKS ON JAPAN.* F the Russo-Japanese War was the raison d'etre of numerous additions to the literature on the Empire of the Czars, it was even more productive of books dealing with the Land of the Rising Sun. Nor can it be doubted that, altho the war is at an end, interest in Japan and the Japanese will continue unabated. Apart from the natural desire to learn more of the David of Russia's Goliath, it is evident that the Far East is destined to figure more impressively than ever before in the economic and political life of the world, and that, in whatever events transpire, Japan will be preeminently the representative of the Far East. Consequently we may expect a steady flow of new books on the history, life, and characteristics of her people and a constantly increasing number of students of this subject. It may also be safely said that among the offerings there will be a growing proportion of treatises by Japanese authorities addressed to English-speaking readers. This, indeed, has been the most striking and most important feature of the output of the past few months, despite the fact that works of foreign authorship are greatly superior numerically to those by native writers. In point of comprehensiveness mention first must be made of Alfred Stead's "Great Japan," which is practically what his earlier " Japan by the Japanese" was avowedly—a compilation from Japanese sources of all manner of facts calculated to throw light on the achievements, aspirations, and problems of Japan. When “Japan by the Japanese" appeared, a year ago, it was rather severely handled by the critics who found no difficulty in pointing out errors which involved gross carelessness on its editor's part. But it was generally admitted, in the words of The Outlook, that with all its faults the work was "both interesting and useful, and especially so in the direction of giving an idea of the spirit and aspirations of the foremost molders of public opinion in the island kingdom." Similarly, the London Times finds its companion-volume-if the term be applicable of practical helpfulness to the seeker after knowledge, even though "readers of 'Great Japan' will look in vain for the charm and subtlety of interpretation which inform the pages of the late Mr. Lafcadio Hearn" and tho "the chapters dealing with what we may call spiritual and ethical Japan . . . are less suggestive than books which go deeper and bear more clearly the impress of a single penetrating mind." Mr. Stead's purpose, briefly, is to exhibit the efficiency attained by the Japanese in the various departments of life, and to show how this efficiency springs from the "earnest, thinking, and eminently practical patriotism of the people." With this as a text Lord Rosebery contributes a foreword which is a scathing denunciation of the "inefficiency" of his fellow-countrymen and has called forth considerable comment, favorable and otherwise, from the British and American press. Three books that indisputably bear "the impress of a single penetrating mind" are Baron Suyematsu's "The Risen Sun," a collection of the addresses, articles, and letters in which its distinguished author has sought to interpret to the Western world the spirit and polity of Japan; Dr. Nitobe's "Bushido: The Soul of Japan," a new edition of which appeared not long ago with an introduction by the well-known writer, lecturer, and *GREAT JAPAN: A STUDY OF NATIONAL EFFICIENCY. By Alfred Stead. With a foreword by the Earl of Rosebery, K.G. Cloth. John Lane Company. 500 pp. Price, 12s. 6d. net. THE RISEN SUN. By Baron Suyematsu. Cloth. THE JAPANESE SPIRIT. By Okakura-Yoshisaburo. Introduction by DAI NIPPON. By Henry Dyer. ner's Sons. THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN. By Gregoire de Wollant. Translated Duncan Baptist Academy, Tokio. Cloth. Pp. 205. American Bap- ALL ABOUT JAPAN. By Belle M. Brain. Cloth. Pp. 231. Price, $1.00 net. Fleming H. Revell Co. FROM THE YALU TO PORT ARTHUR: AN EPITOME OF THE FIRST PERIOD traveler, William Elliot Griffis; and Okakura-Yoshisaburo's "The Japanese Spirit." Mr. Okakura is a brother of the author of "Ideals of the East" and his little volume has the distinctive characteristics of breadth, lucidity, and felicity of expression which gained for the "Ideals" such a wide and appreciative audience in this country. The Boston Transcript echoes the opinion of George Meredith, who has penned a few words in introducing Mr. Okakura to his readers, that the treatment is so compendious and explicit "as to enable us to form a summary of much that has been otherwise partially obscure, so that we get nearer to the secret of this singular race than we have had the chance of doing before." Lectures delivered at the University of London form the basis of the work, which seeks to provide the student with those fundamental data necessary to the correct understanding of Japanese views of life. This is likewise the purpose of Dr. Nitobe's "Bushido," but Mr. Okakura treats the subject in a very different way, touching on such diverse topics as the history, religions, language, literature, climate, and topography of Japan in so far as these affect native thought; whereas Dr. Nitobe focuses attention on the evolution and influence of that unwritten code of ethics which, at first limited in operation to the warrior-class, the samurai, has gradually permeated the nation until, in its most brilliant exponent's opinion, "without understanding feudalism and Bushido, the moral ideas of present Japan are a sealed volume." The virtues which it is declared "Bushido" inculcates—rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, veracity, sincerity, honor, loyalty, and self-control-are discussed severally, beauty of thought and language distinguishing the exposition which is at the same time a spirited, though not always convincing, defense of national institutions. Mr. Dyer's "Dai Nippon" is of an altogether different order. It treats of the material rather than the spiritual side of Japanese life, and is largely concerned with the personages and events of the transition period. Of this period, Mr. Dyer is particularly well qualified to write, by reason of his residence in Japan from 1872 to 1882 as first principal of the Imperial College of Engineering, a position bringing him into close relations with the leaders of those years of travail, and with many young men who have since become makers of Japan. But it would be a mistake to infer that he wholly neglects the spiritual, or that his survey does not extend to the conditions obtaining in the Japan of to-day. On the contrary, he marshals many facts frequently overlooked by writers on twentiethcentury Japan, but essential to a proper appreciation of the problems— social, religious, economic, and political-now confronting the country, and, as the New York Evening Post observes, "most of the abundant statistical data are drawn from official sources, and are brought fully up to the date of publication." The Post, it might be added, finds Mr. Dyer "untrustworthy in theories," and The Outlook further criticizes his work as defective from the literary standpoint-"heavy with repetitions not only of idea, but of phrase; its diction is at times strangely awkward and at times imbued with the flavor of the 'blue book."" But Post and Outlook agree with all the other critical reviews we have seen in pronouncing "Dai Nippon" a capable introduction to the more detailed studies of such authorities as Sir E. Satow, G. W. Aston, B. H. Chamberlain, and Frank Brinkley. Far less informative, but of an easier style and written in a pleasantly personal tone which brings author and reader into friendly relations, is Gregoire de Wollant's "The Land of the Rising Sun." A book about Japan by a Russian writer is something of a novelty, and it is pleasing to discover that Mr. de Wollant, as a rule, maintains a purely objective attitude. In the closing chapters the vein is unquestionably polemical, the claim being advanced that the recent war was forced upon Russia without provocation. It is denied that Russia in any sense occupied or intended to occupy Korea, that she was insincere in her promises to evacuate Manchuria, and that her presence there constituted a menace to Japan. "When has it occurred," asks Mr. de Wollant, "that an insular power of such force as Japan was in danger of being conquered by a continental power? A genius like Napoleon desisted from attacking England, altho he had one of the most powerful armies the world has ever known and he had only to cross the Channel." Fortunately, as has just been said, the partizan discussion of recent history occupies only a small portion of "The Land of the Rising Sun," which is mainly given over to an account of the author's travels thro the many islands and of the impressions left on him by the localities and people visited. Where he has occasion to refer to authorities his choice is usually the best, and his personal comments on contemporary conditions reveal an observer of such insight that it is a matter for regret that he has not seen fit to delve a little deeper beneath the surface which he portrays so admirably. Dr. Scherer's "Japan To-day" and "Young Japan" not only supplement but overlap one another. The first was published more than a year ago, the latter only recently. They are the fruit of the author's experiences as a teacher in a government school in Japan and aim at giving, respectively, “a random portfolio of views, showing contemporary life in Japan under every ordinary condition and from every angle" and "the unified story of the nation in the simplest manner possible." Critical opinion radically differs as to the extent to which Dr. Scherer has succeeded in his aim. Thus, commenting on "Young Japan," the Brooklyn ... Eagle affirms that "it would be difficult to find a book that would give a better idea of this fit survivor of the Mongolian race." The Chicago Tribune sweepingly declares that "of the many books upon Japan none has been more fascinating or enlightening." The Boston Transcript rejoices that "in the midst of the flood of arlulation heaped upon Japan, there is at least one competent and qualified writer who has the courage to tell some wholesome truths about the people." On the other hand, there are those who feel that Dr. Scherer has largely vitiated the value of his conclusions by a studied disregard of the oriental viewpoint. Without indorsing the opinion of the Japanese writer in The Independent who "fears" that "the gentleman has never so much as read the A B C of the heart and mind of the East," it does seem that, whether in "Japan To-day" or "Young Japan," Dr. Scherer's writings lack that breadth so essential to a fair presentation of the characteristics of and motives animating the ever-puzzling Japanesc. Dr. Scherer himself expresses the belief that “no American can ever thoroughly understand a Japanese," yet he has no hesitation in endeavoring to assist Americans to a better understanding by applying wholly Western standards to gauge the national character. Naturally, he reaches some startling conclusions. To cite only one: "The two cancers at the core of the Japanese character are deep-set dishonesty and abandoned impurity; either would be sufficient to wreck the life of any nation." View this in the light of the progress of Japan for the past half-century, and it is difficult to believe that the generalization is altogether just. As an interpretation, therefore, we must deem these books liable to becloud rather than enlighten the student anxious to obtain a full view of the soul of Japan. At the same time, we gladly recognize the solid helpfulness of both in other respects. When he discusses Japanese history, Dr. Scherer is at once accurate and philosophical; and his descriptions of Japanese school, street, and home life in town and country afford instruction and entertainment. Archibald Little's "The Far East" contains only one chapter devoted to Japan, but that one embodies more information than many an impressive-looking tome. In conformity with the plan of the series in which his book finds place, Mr. Little opens with a summary of the geographical and geological features of the Mikado's realm, examining the empire as a whole and by its component parts; and then passes to a description of its resources, industries and inhabitants, interweaving a really remarkable amount of information considering the limited space. In fact, the entire chapter-and the entire book, for that matter-is a capital illustration of what may be accomplished by judicious condensation. Every sentence counts, and the ultimate result is not a confusing jumble of facts and figures as it might easily have been-but a clear-cut picture, the details of which are unmistakable. Cordial commendation may likewise be accorded Professor Clement's "Christianity in Modern Japan," a survey, as its title conveys, of the progress of missionary endeavor in that part of the world. Concerning this the New York Evening Post very truly says: "It would be difficult, we think, to handle the subject in a more liberal-minded manner. In literary proportion and breadth of view and in keenness of insight, this book is a model. It is all the more likely to be permanent in its influence because of its cool, judicial temper." High as is this praise, it is not undeserved. A few words will make clear the scope and treatment. After a brief historical résumé of the futile efforts of missionaries from Europe and America to effect an entrance into Japan during the first half of the nineteenth century, and of the early years of Christian endeavor following the treaties whereby Japan finally, opened her gates to the foreigner, Professor Clement discusses, in successive chapters, the work accomplished since then by each of the denominational bodies, Catholic and Protestant; next details the labors of interdenominational organizations; and finally examines special themes-the diffusion of Christian literature, and the growth and results of Christian educational, philanthropic, and sociological movements in Japan-closing with a detailed comparison between the condition of Christianity in Japan in 1903 and its condition in 1853. Remembering that of the 45,000,000 population of Japan less than 145,000 (according to the statistics of 1903) are professing Christians, it would seem at first glance that slow headway has been made. But a candid examination of Professor Clement's manual will speedily dispel this impression, and will lead to the further conclusion thatwhether or no in a Japanicized form, as some writers aver-Christianity will ultimately be the leading moral force in modern Japan. 'A Young People's History of Japan" and "Stories of Sunrise Land Told for Little Folks" are two aptly descriptive legends on the protectivecover of Belle M. Brain's "All About Japan." Miss Brain is already favorably known as a writer of "missionary" stories for children, and in her present volume she manages to incorporate, in a style peculiarly adapted to the juvenile mind, a great variety of interesting facts concerning the history, life, customs, and manners of the Japanese, as well as brief biographies of some of the most successful of those who have given themselves to the task of spreading the gospel of Christ throughout the islands. An excellent gift-book in every sense. Col. Wood announces in a brief prefatory note that the "basis" of his "From the Yalu to Port Arthur" is "the Japanese official reports daily more. received from the Imperial Headquarters before being given to the press, supplemented by important information from other reliable sources. As a matter of fact, the book consists almost entirely of "reports" arranged in chronological order, but not always with the necessary connecting links. So that while it is valuable as a compilation of campaign details, it makes uncommonly arid reading. Now and again Colonel Wood gives rein to personal opinion, and we could heartily wish for His views on the Japanese army-the book, by the way, takes no note of the naval operations of the war, save when land and sea forces cooperated—may be shown by a brief quotation: "The conclusions drawn are that to-day the Japanese army has no superior in many vital points; the discipline is superb, the men render absolute instant obedience to their officers, who are studious, well informed, and keenly observant in regard to all details. . . . Every Japanese in uniform, from the Field Marshal to the newest conscript in the ranks, exhibits an unquestioned loyalty and devotion to his Emperor and his country that is marvelous to contemplate, and is the keynote of discipline. There is but one conclusion-such men with such leaders are invincible." Tributes to the Japanese transport and “military intelligence" systems follow, but Colonel Wood appears to have overlooked the excellent work done by the military medical and hospital service. Just how excellent this was has never been better told than in Major Seaman's "From Tokio through Manchuria with the Japanese," whose testimony, as the Dial observes, "shows that remarkable people to be as far in advance of European and American civilization in these respects [the treatment of the sick and wounded in times of war] as they appear to be in all others that constitute an effective army and navy." It is unnecessary to make further comment on a book already so widely known. We allude to it here simply to remind our readers that it is one of the most interesting and intrinsically instructive of the now numerous studies of the Russo-Japanese War. THIS is a examinican the direct influence of public opinion `HIS is a careful examination of a complex subject. No one knows upon new legislation, both upon the making of the law and the enforcement of it. Yet nothing is more difficult than to fix upon what public opinion is. Is it that which makes most noise, or that which is firmest rooted and is scarcely conscious of itself? Is it the public opinion among legislators, or strictly the opinion of the public who are to be legislated for? Is it the opinion on principles, or on particular applications of those principles? All such problems have to be solved, for each special case of a change of legislation. Professor Dicey, who has earned a merited reputation for works on the English constitution, devoted a number of lectures at Harvard to this interesting topic, and the present book is the result. It can scarcely be considered a success from the general point of view. Tho full of illuminating aperçus, these are scarcely capable of wide application to other than English affairs, owing to a remarkable phenomenon of English legislation in the nineteenth century. The genius of one man dominated English public opinion on legal affairs for nearly half a century, and this book is accordingly in the main devoted to the influence of Bentham upon English legislation in the middle of the nineteenth century. In other words, it is rather the effect of private opinion on legislation which forms the main subject of Professor Dicey's farrago than the nominal subject of its title. He divides the course of English legislation in the nineteenth century into three divisions: first, that of Quiescence, when there was practically no legislation, and the effect of public opinion was merely negative; then the influence of Bentham; and finally, the influence of that vague desire for social regeneration to which he gives the name of "Collectivism," but which is better known as socialism. It is practically only in the latter section of his work that he deals with the real topic of his lectures. Here he is more concerned with the disintegrating effect of agnosticism, imperialism, and historical method on the fundamental ideas of Benthamism, so that in the end his treatment consists of the influence of Benthamism on English legislation, and the reaction against it, and it would perhaps have been as well if he had indicated this topic as being the real subject of his treatise. Aside from this point of view, the book is of considerable value as supplementing the work of Professor Dicey's brother-in-law, Sir Leslie Stephen, on "The Utilitarians," giving definiteness to the general statements of Stephen. It is, indeed, curious that only a single mention, and that in a mere list of names, is made of Sir Samuel Romilly, with whom is associated the practical association of Benthamism to law reform. Apart, however, from the main topic of the book, there is much of interest even to American readers, owing to the intimate relation between American and English law. "Animal Heroes." Ernest Thompson Seton. (Charles Scribner's Sons, $2.) "A Satire Anthology."-Carolyn Wells. (Charles Scribner's Sons, $1.25 net.) "An Eye for an Eye."-Clarence S. Darrow. (Fox, Duffield & Co., $1.50.) "The Love of Great Composers."-Gustave Kobbe. (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.) Rhymes of Little Boys." Burges Johnson. (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., $1 net.) "What To Have for Breakfast."-Olive Green. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, $0.90.) The Speculation of John Steele."-Robert Barr. (Frederick A. Stokes Company.) "At the Sign of the Dollar."-Wallace Irwin. (Fox, Duffield & Co., $1.) "Vital Questions."-Henry D. Chapin. (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., $1 net.) "The Works of Lucian of Samosata."-H. W. Fowler. (Clarendon Press, 4 vols.) "Dante's Divina Commedia."-Translated by Rev. H. F. Tozer. (Clarendon Press.) "Greek Reader," vol. 1.-E. C. Marchant. (Clarenden Press.) "Grimm's Popular Stories." (Henry Frowde.) Handbook of United States Political History." THE MERIDEN COMPANY invite your attention to their new designs in smokers' articles and THE MERIDEN COMPANY, Silversmiths THE UNIVERSITY PRINTS Carefully selected and systematically arranged for the historical study of Greek and Italian Art. In sets of 500, $4. One cent each or 80 cents per hundred. Address postal for catalogues. 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