Mohammed and Mohammedanism."'* AMONG the traditions of a New England college is one which may serve as a text wherewith to introduce our notice of this interesting volume. The story is to this effect. It was the custom of the college to require attendance at the religious services in its chapel, except in the case of students who had conscientious preferences for some other denomination than that to which the college church belonged. Such students were permitted to select some church of their own denomination, where they were expected regularly to attend. But, to the great perplexity of the college authorities, upon the entrance of a certain new class, one of its members avowed himself a Moslem; and, as the quiet college town, though abundantly supplied with churches of almost every Christian name, contained no mosque, the young man's religious privileges were seriously curtailed. But, if Mr. Bosworth Smith had been a resident rector near the college, it would seem that the disciple of Mohammed might have attended on his ministry without just ground of complaint or fear of offended prejudices. For the estimate in which Mr. Smith holds the Arab prophet is so lofty, and his apology comes so near to being a eulogy, that it is at times a little difficult to see what more he would claim for Mohammedanism if he were writing as one of "the faithful," instead of as an unbeliever; and the noteworthy fact about it is that his enthusiasm seems spontaneous and disinterested. Apparently, it is not because he is a student of the Arabic literature in its original, nor because he has been an observer of practical Mohammedanism in lands where it has become a prevalent religious faith, that his estimate of it is so high; but rather, having taken up his subject as one likely to be interesting, and one to which there is a side which has been insufficiently heard by Christian audiences, he glows with the fervor of his advocacy, and his enthusiasm " grows by going." We are forced to the conviction that it has grown unduly. And, indeed (if it be not too severe a criticism), Mr. Smith's enthusiasm for Mohammedanism seems to have grown at the cost of his admiration for Christianity. We may admit the study of "comparative theology," and of "the science of religion” to be a legitimate scientific study; but when we are asked to concede the improbability "that Islam will ever give way to Christianity in the East, however much we may desire it, and whatever good would result to the world," or that Mohammedanism is "perhaps the nearest approach to Christianity which the unprogressive part of humanity can ever attain in masses,"-we are asked to leave out of sight, in our scientific study, an essential characteristic of Christianity. For, while it is, in its spirit, tolerant of other religions, and while its master claims to have "other sheep that are not of this fold,"-yet it promises to be the universal religion, and claims more, a great deal, for itself, than a primacy inter pares, or a restriction of itself to the "progressive part of humanity." Its Mohammed and Mohammedanism. By R. Bosworth Smith. New York: Harper & Brother. divinity is largely proved by its fitness to succeed, and by its actual successes, among all nations and kindreds and tongues. And it is a strange misconception of its genius and spirit to suppose that such a compromise or such a partnership as Mr. Smith suggests is for a moment possible to it. Moreover, Mr. Smith is not fortunate in his assertions concerning the excellencies of Mohammedanism in practice. He has to resort, for example, to some special pleading, in an appendix, to defend Mohammedanism in Africa against the damaging testimony of Dr. Livingstone. Since then we have had Livingstone's "Last Journals," in which is additional testimony more serious and damaging than ever. It is hard to put confidence in his assertions of fact which have no personal observation to justify them, and which, in some instances, require special explanation, and some fervor of advocacy, to make them seem to stand. And yet there is something to be said on Mr. Smith's side. It happened years ago to the writer of this criticism to come upon a Mohammedan mosque in the remote Chinese city of Foo-chow. After a day spent among Buddhist temples, with their innumerable images, and in dirty streets and noisome alleys of the crowded city, it was an immense relief to come suddenly into the quiet and cleanliness of this mosque. There were no images; there was (comparatively) no dirt. The legends written on the walls spoke of the Unity of God. The calm and dignified old Tartar in charge of the place, recognizing us as Christians, claimed fellowship with us, as, in a sense, co-religionists. Nor were we any way unwilling to admit the claim and to reciprocate the fellowship. It was a purer spiritual atmosphere to breathe than that of polytheism. Mr. Smith's book is very readable; and the Messrs. Harper have greatly added to the value of it by giving in an appendix Mr. Emanuel Deutsch's famous "Quarterly Review" article on Islam. Gautier's Travels.* GAUTIER had a captivating way of throwing himself into harmony with a new landscape, of getting from an old view new lights and tints. He was both poet and painter, and these two books on lands that lie at the two extremities of Europe, are models in the line of rapid, sketchy travel. They belong strictly to these modern times when the Correspondent flourishes, but their want of depth is made up by Gautier's sympathetic nature, his marvelous sensitiveness to color, and unequaled ability to flash picture after picture before the reader's eyes, all at their most favorable point of vantage. never nods; all is brisk life, hurry, and joyousness. In the Russian book we get, in the midst of a longsweeping sleigh journey over snowy steppes, a sudden photograph. It is only a beautiful young Jewess in rags in some squalid Polish town, but the hand that drew her was masterly in its own way, and the picture remains. He * A Winter in Russia. Translated by M. M. Ripley.-Constantinople. Translated by R. H. Gould from the French of Théophile Gautier. New York: H. Holt & Co. Nadal's "Impressions of London Social Life." THE leading sketches in this volume won recognition upon their first appearance in the magazines, not only for the correctness of their descriptions, but because they showed the touch of a new hand in our literature. In their present form, the reader will, we think, be more than ever impressed by the qualities which first attracted him. If we should say that Mr. Nadal's book bore the same relation to Emerson's "English Traits" that the study of the landscape gardening of England bears to the study of its geology, we should give, doubtless, a false idea of Mr. Nadal's book, which, while dealing in a discursive and very amusing manner with the surface of things, does not fail also to go occasionally to the very foundations. If in one chapter we are treated to a most graphic and entertaining account of the Dancing School in Tavistock Square, in others we find some of the most profound observations upon English life and character which have been made by any American. In Hawthorne's "Our Old Home" we are aware of a subtile (and not unnatural) assumption of spiritual superiority—a tone which was doubtless aggravated by the peculiar state of the author's mind-the bitter melancholy of a high and tender nature-at the time (during the war) when the book was in the making. The present author does not betray a tone like this, but certainly he does not seem to be troubled by any painful sense of inferiority in the presence of the mighty and the immemorial. There is no assurance; but, also, there is nothing that can disturb the writer's critical temper. On the other hand, whatever faults of style or treatment one might detect, it would be easy to refer to a literary modesty which prevents a proper self-appreciation. We sometimes feel that our author has not made the most of his sentence; sometimes that he has not done justice to himself in the treatment of his subject. We speak of the new touch that is recognizable in Mr. Nadal's writings. If we say that he reminds us of Charles Lamb, or of Thackeray, we only mean that here is a writer, altogether original, who has a charm of style, not borrowed from those masters, but legitimately inherited. He has, too, an esprit which will suggest the French, and is fortunate in having escaped influences which have given to some of our younger writers a self-conscious, microscopic habit, of whose hinderance they must themselves be sometimes keenly aware. And yet the self-consciousness of the book is one of its charms. There is a naïveté which is not the original, genuine article; nor is it, on the other hand, a matter of affectation. It is this literary naïveté which our author so skillfully makes use of. Take, for instance, this from the chapter on "Childhood and English Tradition: " "How ready is an American to greet in England any realization of these dreams of his childhood! With what pleased recognition does he exclaim: *Impressions of London Social Life, with Other Papers suggested by an English Residence. By E. S. Nadal. London: Macmillan & Co. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 'Oh, this is you!' and 'I have heard of you before.' I once went upon a visit to a friend of mine, who was an officer in a yeomanry regiment, at that time mustering in a town in one of the western shires of England. The colonel, to whom I was introduced, had been a younger son, had gone into the army, and been to India. But he had come into his property, and was now a country squire, with a large family and handsome fortune. I at once recognized the kind of man. They said he had eleven daughters. (What a fine old English sound they have!) During the mess dinner the regimental band played from a hall adjoining. The colonel, who had put me next him, said, 'I wanted to see if the band could play "Yankee Doodle," but I find they don't know it.' 'How good of you!' I exclaimed, deprecating the mention of such a distinction. 'Yes, yes,' he answered, with the determined manner of one who, though now an old rustic, perhaps, had yet, in his youth, seen something of the world, and knew how things should be done, 'I believe in every honor for the diplomatists.' As I sat there listening to his honest talk, my mood grew strangely friendly. Should war's dread blast against them blow,' I felt that I wished to be ranged on the side of the kind colonel and his eleven daughters." The British swell is analyzed in these pages with great cleverness. "When in England," the author writes, "I saw that a swell, so soon as he perceives that his distinctions do not pay, relinquishes them. It will be seen that these distinctions appeal for admiration to persons in a certain middle condition of education. Those who appreciate such graces to the full must be somewhat civilized, and yet some. what immature. A degree of impressibility in the men who look on is the condition of the exercise of the swell's talent. What sort of impression would insouciance make upon a hungry tiger? Nor would it impress an educated and acute man who insists upon submitting reverie to the test of definition and criticism. It is to the shop-boy, and the writer for the spring annual, that such graces appeal." Americans who suffer severely from the effect of these graces when brought to bear upon themselves, and who find a sweet solace in the critical pages of Emerson, Hawthorne, and Lowell, will delight in many such wittily philosophical passages as the above; but they will, too, find some bitter in their cup of rejoicing, for the author does not spare Amer. ican any more than English character. The word bitter is, however, not well chosen, for we fail to find bitterness here. The criticism throughout is good-natured, though penetrating, and the author purposely refrains from writing about the disagree. able people whom he had the misfortune to meet. Perhaps the most timely word in Mr. Nadal's book is his view of "English and American Newspaper-Writing." We think that newspaper men of the more intelligent class will read this paper with interest, and be glad to give its statements currency. It is the faith of many newspapers, he says, that the people do not like sense and information; that they prefer nonsense or commonplace which has the appearance of originality. Our author thinks, on the contrary, that the "average man" is well contented with either. "He likes sense and information, if they are not put in such a way as to tire or shock him. He is willing enough to put up with commonplace which imitates originality, for he finds nothing to object to in the commonplaces; but he has not sufficient confidence in his own judgment to detect the counterfeit originality. But it is a mistake to imagine that there is always a popular demand for any foolish fashion of writing which happens to exist. That very lack of discrimination which marks the uneducated man renders him quite as ready to accept sense as nonsense. But as nonsense only is given him, he accepts nonsense. Who is he that he should set up his opinion against persons who express themselves in such fine and confident words, whose sentences are printed in such elegant type, in papers sold at such grand hotels, and scattered by the thousand in such great cities? What is known as a popular demand might be more accurately described as a popular acquiescence. It seems very formidable when we think of the immense number of persons who form it; but then it is only skin-deep. Instead of a popular state of mind being, as we are apt to think it, a recondite and almost inscrutable matter, it is oftener the result of an obvious and even contemptible cause. Instead of there being a deep-seated and characteristic taste with which public caterers must comply, the fashion is often given the people from above. After the fashion is fixed, men write in accordance with it, and explain its existence by the fiction of a demand." Mr. Nadal has given us a very delightful volume, -full of good things that one feels like marking with the pencil, or reading aloud, or quoting in a "book notice;" but we confess that these "Impressions" most interest us by the promise of their qualities. There are phases of American life,-and one of them at least he himself points out in the paper on "English Sundays and London Churches," -which are waiting for appropriate treatment at the hands of a writer whose tone is so high and reverent of truth, who has just such quick and subtile insight, just such exquisite poetic feeling, free from all taint of sentimentality. Miss Phelps's "Poetic Studies."' * ONLY those whose occupation it is to listen closely to all the utterances and echoes of the period, in imaginative literature, can fully know the relief that comes with hearing unexpectedly, amid the uproar, a single note of genuine, spontaneous song. Such a note we seem to distinguish in Miss Phelps's modest volume, though the manner of uttering it is not quite so much her own as we could wish it to be, seeing how fine and how distinctive is the quality of her feeling. It is not that one blames a poet for resemblances which may be as natural as that close friends should have kindred tastes, and members of one family develop like features; and, if Miss Phelps's poetic accent * Poetic Studies. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Author of "The Gates Ajar," etc. Boston: James R. Osgood & Com pany. | recalls, here and there, the time of Browning or Emerson, it is no less a ground for pride that she can write in their modern strain two poems like "What the Shore says to the Sea" and "What the Sea says to the Shore." It is, perhaps, not doing Miss Phelps justice to call attention first to these hints of poetic kinship; but rather the offering of a crumb to very strict literary consciences. The maxim of some readers as well as critics seems to be, "First catch your poet:" we have shown them how to do it in this case. But even in "Petronilla," a poem, the peculiar lace-like texture of which we should be tempted most strongly to call Point of Browning, we find a strange, visionary effect in the description of miracle, which seems quite new and very notable. The most simply pleasing, and possibly therefore the healthiest verses in the book are, we think, those called "Did you speak?" They relate a childish anecdote of the sort which women poets have brought into literature; and we owe humble thanks for the simple, naïve, hearty sweetness imparted through them. Of "The Light that never was on Sea or Land," we must speak in a very different This is a poem which brings criticism into the attitude of silent awe; not so much for its art (though that is singularly subtle) as for its pure, far-reaching feminine holiness. Here again is a revelation which only a woman could have made, because she alone knows the depths of feeling whence it came. tone. If we speak solely of literary value, we must think Miss Phelps wise in calling her poems "studies." In the main, they are simply this,—not, of course, cold, mechanical studies, but efforts in certain directions carried only to a given point. Some go farther than others, and several deserve a degree higher than that assigned by the title. But if these also are only" studies," we look with great hope for "works" to follow. "An Idyl of Work." * A DEFENSE may be found for the strict literary conscience which we have alluded to in speaking of Miss Phelps. It is this. The alien notes in a poet's singing come there in two ways,-either through a semi-unconscious demand of a voice strong enough to carry them without hurt, or through adoption on theory. In the first case, of course, the defect excuses itself, in a measure. In the second, though the theory may be as unconscious as the distinctive demand was in the first case, it proves itself theory by the weakness of the voice, and cannot excuse itself— can only be excused. When a poem in blank verse, something over four thousand lines long, is about to be written, it is advisable to reflect long and seriously whether the subject-matter takes the proposed form voluntarily, and whether it has in itself the peculiar elements and tendencies which will uphold the ponderous shaping, and keep it buoyant and battle-proof to the last. It seems to us that this was not safely to be * An Idyl of Work. By Lucy Larcom. Boston: James R. Osgood & Company. predicated in the case of Miss Larcom's work, and a thorough reading of it has made us wish that, with such high intentions, and such a knowledge of the life to be described, the poetess had cast her story in a more elastic form. All along through this tale of mill-girls' life there are gleams of that austere, pathetic kind of beauty which has made the far more meager peasant-life of Norway, for example, famous. A natural error seems to have led to the adoption of the (in some ways) most poetic of all forms but the pure dramatic, in order to escape a strong sub-current of prosiness in the scenery. But this has only emphasized the obstacles. The verses are broken on the mill-wheels, as it were, at every turn; whereas a strong, musical prose would have put a spell on the machinery, and made the commonplace forcible and attractive in spite of itself. Take this scrap of talk: "If she were from Connecticut, "That is her native State." "Permit me, sir, To call upon her with you." This is clear and unrelieved prose, and is by no means an exceptional passage. Yet we sympathize entirely with Miss Larcom's brave effort to rescue, even by a mistaken method, the recondite and valuable romance of obscure lives; and we must add that, not only is her sentiment always true and dignified, but often her expression is very fortunate. These two facts, two extracts will prove: "Woman can rise no higher than womanhood, This has the right luster, but in a more successful setting it might have met readier recognition. "One baby sister blossoms like a rose Among her thorny brothers, all grown rough is like a breath of pure country air. The plot is light and vague, but, with more distinctness and a poetic pitch more clearly sustained, the book might have been what we may still look to its author for, a long lever to advance American poetry on its true path. "Foreign Dramatists under American Laws.' THE recent case in the New York Superior Court, brought by Mr. Sheridan Shook of the Union Square Theater, to prevent Mr. Augustin Daly from producing at the Fifth Avenue Theater the French play "Rose Michel," is the same in its main features as those discussed in our article on " Foreign Dramatists under American Laws." "Rose Michel" is a manuscript play from the pen of M. Blum, a French dramatist. It has been represented in Paris, but has not been printed there or here. A copy of the French manuscript, and one of the English translation, were purchased from the assignee of the author by Mr. Shook, with the exclusive privilege of representing the play in the United States, except ing New England. Mr. Shook thus acquired a common law right of property in the manuscript, just the same as he would in a lot of scenery or costumes purchased in Paris. The Court protected this right as a common law right, and not under the copyright statutes. This general principle of law was not disputed by Mr. Daly, but he had also bought a copy of the manuscript which purported to come from an alleged assignee of the author in England. The question, therefore, before the Court was, whether Daly's title was good as against Shook's, and the decision was in favor of the latter. Daly, therefore, himself claiming title from the author, was not in a position to raise the question whether the public representation of the play in Paris was an abandonment of the author's rights. If this issue had been raised, it could have been argued only on the ground that the play had been obtained through the memory of one or more persons who had witnessed the performance in Paris. But it is probable that even this theory will never again meet with any favor in our courts, which will, doubtless, hold to the better doctrine, that the representation of a manuscript play is not a publication destructive of the author's proprietary rights. Some of the comments on the decision in the case of "Rose Michel" assume that the rights here accorded to a foreign dramatist are withheld from other foreign authors. This, however, is not so. Any foreign author has the right to make exclusive public use of his work in this country, provided it be kept in manuscript. The same protection thrown around the play of "Rose Michel" will be extended to a lecture or a musical composition given from manuscript to the public, or to an original painting on exhibition, notwithstanding they are foreign productions. Mr. Charles Reade may read in public a manuscript novel from New York to San Francisco, and his common law right of property therein will be protected by our courts. A Reading-Room for the Blind. To the Editor of "Scribner's Monthly": Within the limits of New York city, there are now about six hundred blind. Nearly all of the children thus afflicted are in the Institution for the Blind on Ninth Avenue, near Thirty-fourth street; a few are in the Asylum on Blackwell's Island. Of the men, most have become blind since they reached manhood, and sadly remember what it was to see. The amount of literature accessible to the educated blind is very small. Of this, there are two kinds: the raised letter, which, with some slight modifications, is the same in form as the Roman, and the point-print, in which the alphabet is represented by an arrangement of raised dots. The two systems are so dissimilar, that a proficiency in reading one is no assistance whatever in the acquisition of the other. The bound volumes of this print are cumbrous and expensive, the Bible consisting of some eight volumes, of a total weight of fifty pounds. Despite the greatest care of experienced attendants, the raised letter often becomes flattened by finger-reading, and wholly illegible to the blind. To the greater number of those who are educated in it, finger-reading is a process too slow and laborious to afford much pleasure. As a rule, the blind are very poor; moreover, their relatives are in the same condition, and can spare neither the money to buy such books, nor the time to read them to their sightless friends, were the books provided. Very few are self-supporting; their life is one of enforced leisure, with many a dreary waste of time; and yet, in none of our great cities is there a reading-room for the blind. The writer believes such a project not only practicable, but comparatively inexpensive, and desires to offer some suggestions on the subject. A reading-room of this kind need not be a separate institution. One of the many side-rooms of our large libraries, with the addition of a few fixtures, would be sufficient to make the experiment. The cases should contain at least one copy of every book printed in blind letter. Tables and writing materials should be provided for those who are able to take notes in point-print. The chief feature, however, should be oral reading by some intelligent person employed for that purpose, who might also act as librarian. The reading should be of two kinds: the daily news and literature. The part of the newspapers which would interest the men could first be read, and afterward that which would interest the women. The hours of these various readings should be well known and rigidly observed. The intervals between the oral readings would be the time for the consultation of the raised-letter books. The second class of readings should be given in two courses in consecutive hours, so that those who desired could attend both without extra travel or tedious waiting. For example, a two hours' daily reading, for two weeks, might comprise history for the first hour, and poetry for the second. This reading should be strictly secular, embracing in the year's course, history, science, poetry, and fiction. Perhaps the plan might include those who, though not blind, are unable to read. If a number of blind persons should desire religious reading, and agree upon the matter to be read, no doubt a special arrangement could be made, which would be open to no objection. This experiment must not be labeled charity—a word that has become an epithet, except when used poetically-or it will be a failure. It is the establishment of a means of education for a class of people shut out from our common schools, and debarred from the ordinary and the greatest avenue of knowledge. Yours very truly, French and German Books. P. B. K. Das Sprachstudium auf den Deutschen Universi täten. In D. Delbrück.-These are some practical remarks for students of philology from a Jena Professor of Sanscrit, which will be of service in telling what languages are the most important in a modern comparative study of tongues. Besides Sanscrit, he considers Greek, Latin, and German indispensable but sufficient, laying great stress upon Greek. scriptions should be well studied for the variations of language which they exhibit. The grammars which treat these languages in the best scientific way are mentioned for the benefit of students, and some short remarks indicate the value of the science itself, an allusion to which might seem unnecessary, if persons were not still to be found who, irritated by the continual mention of Sanscrit, lose no opportunity to underrate the importance of that great elder sister among Indo-European tongues. Of course Professor Delbrück considers languages from their philological point of value, and not with reference to speech or literature. Der Islam im XIX. Jahrhundert. Vambéry.-A man who has seen as much of Asia as Vambéry, and in such an intimate way, is at once an authority. It will be remembered that he traveled up and down Asia disguised as a dervish, and thus came in contact with the real people, sharing their misery and hardships, and learning to feel himself one of them in all their characteristic traits of fanaticism, sluggish resignation, and, it may be said, vice and filth. Since that time he has traveled in more conspicuous positions in Persia and elsewhere, has become a Professor at Budapest, and has followed the Eastern question with the singular advantage of knowing both Asia and Europe thoroughly, without having cause to lean unduly in favor of one or the other. Hence we read his absorbing book with good faith in his knowledge of the subject, and that faith is not betrayed when we meet impartiality and calmness of reasoning on every page. Vambéry is not a Humboldt; he might be called a light weight when compared to some men Germany can offer, but he is a capital observer, a strict holder to the truth; and, as far as these qualities go-and they go farthe right man in a little-explored field. Heinrich Heine. Essay by S. Born.-After reading what Vambéry has to say about Asia, it is not a little striking to come upon an essay on Heine, himself an Asiatic-an Oriental mind looking about in a sea of German Philistinism. His was the romantic soul, the witty, tuneful brain that Vambéry finds nationally at home in the East, but also the will too weak to resist temptations successfully and bear with ugly and trivial things; least of all, to apply the brain persistently to one end. The essay is excellent in its sympathy with a poet, and in pointing out the large lines on which he failed. Reden und Vorlesungen. F. Hecker, LL.D. St. Louis.-A German refugee of 1848, Friedrich. Hecker has further claims upon our notice, because he fought in our Rebellion, and is the possessor of a gift of public speaking, which makes him a mouthpiece of our fellow-citizens of German tongue. If we may trust the portrait that accompanies these his Speeches and Readings, he is in appearance as thorough a Teuton as his enthusiastic, close-pressed sentences argue him to be in mind. It is this quality which makes his words pleasant reading; there is no half way with him; he has not only the courage of his opinions, but wields a trumpet with which to blow them abroad in the ears of men. It is a pity there is not an English translation of all that he has to say, both because we ought to know what our German neighbors think, and because there are many among ourselves whom this kind of writing and no other will reach. He is not unlike some of our own public speakers of the past generation; not as fine as the best, but without the failings of the second best in the way of knowledge and good taste. The samples of his work before us combine speeches at festivals and meetings of Turnvereine, a Defense of the Republic, a parallel between officeholders here and abroad, another between Lincoln and Cromwell, much to the advantage of the former, and an impressive bit of German thunder against woman's rights. Although very unequal, all these pieces possess a vital breath of conviction, and are well disposed to stir slothful minds into looking about them, and seeing what manner of land this is, espe cially what advantages they possess in their own country, and what national sins must be crushed. Like many persons of positive temperament, Herr Hecker is sometimes a partisan, even to inconsequence. He should not slur over the difficulty in Alsatia by say |