sages, in the early part of the work, in which Superintendent Hailmann has so highly praised Herbert Spencer for his "essential agreement" with Froebel. We believe the parallels between the two writers on education to be almost wholly superficial. With Froebel the Divine, self-conscious Personality, (we might almost say the doctrine of the Triune God), the spiritual authority of Jesus, and the free, spiritual communion of men with the Divine, are fundamental and controlling ideas. His system is avowedly an ethical and religious ideal. It would be difficult indeed to prove the same true of Mr. Spencer.

HEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF THE STATE AND OF HISTORY.*-This volume is the second of Professor Morris' contributions to the Griggs series of philosophical classics,—the earlier one being an exposition of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. It seems to us that the later is also the superior piece of work; for it is both more sympathetic and more closely confined to the effort at interpretation. Even here, however, we are by no means confident that the interpretation has always been exact; for example, Hegel's "Absolute Spirit" is the equivalent of Professor Morris' "self-conscious and self-revealing God."

The two treatises of Hegel, with an exposition of which this volume presents us, are of unequal merit and value for an understanding of his philosophical system. As we are informed in a note, p. 110, "Hegel's Philosophy of the State' ends with a number of paragraphs on the logic (philosophy) of Universal History, which is also the subject of the independent work, to the exposition of which the remainder of this volume is devoted." But the philosophy of State has been, not unjustly, reproached for regarding" the practical and political conditions existing in Prussia in 1821" as the perfect work to date of civic reason. On the contrary, the philosophy of history is generally, and justly, regarded as containing so mature an epitome of Hegel's philosophical system that it may be used with almost equal profit, both as a review of the entire system and as an introduction to it. The exposition of this work of Hegel by so competent a scholar as Professor Morris is therefore a very valuable help to the study of the German thinkers.

*An Exposition; by GEORGE S. MORRIS, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Michigan. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. 1887.

MISCELLANEOUS.

WHAT IS THE BIBLE.*-In this volume of 491 pages Professor Ladd has condensed and put in popular form the substance of his elaborate work "The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture." It will be reserved for a future number of the New Englander to discuss its merits. Let it suffice for the present to say that it is designed and is well fitted to aid candid students of the English Bible in their efforts at a more intelligent comprehension of it. It will be found of inestimable value to pastors who are seriously perplexed with the problem how to adjust their Biblical teachings to the results of modern Biblical investigation, and to the great number of intelligent lay members of our churches who are studying the Bible in our Sunday Schools; and especially to enterprising Sunday School teachers, who are anxious to give their pupils a more comprehensive and valid conception of the character of the Bible than is commonly given. All material that is not adapted to the wants of such readers is ruled out. The book is easily intelligible to the average student of the Bible. The style is clear and strong, and its spirit eminently Christian. It meets a real and urgent want in our churches, and will without doubt have wide circulation. The publishers have secured an attractive page and appropriate form for the book, and have offered it at a price that puts it within easy reach of all who desire it.

GREEK LIFE AND THOUGHT.t-Professor Mahaffy's "Social Life in Greece from Homer to Menander" was a distinct addition to our means of understanding and appreciating Greek life. Its deserved popularity has prepared a large circle of readers to welcome the sequel to that work which will introduce them to an important but comparatively unknown period of Greek history. The school books following the lead of Grote practically stop with the death of Alexander. The history from that point to the Roman Conquest where Finlay begins, a period of nearly two hundred years, is extremely vague and obscure to most readers, notwithstanding the light which has been cast upon its great political movement by Prof. Freeman's "History of Federal Gov

* What is the Bible? An inquiry into the Origin and Nature of the Old and New Testament in the light of Modern Biblical Study. By GEO. T. LADD, D.D., Professor of Philosophy in Yale University. New York: Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1888.

↑ Greek Life and Thought from the age of Alexander to the Roman Conquest. By J. P. MAHAFFY. New York: Macmillan & Co.

ernment." Prof. Mahaffy in a characteristic passage in his introduction comments on this ill-judged neglect as follows: "The Conquests of Alexander, the high culture of Seleucia and Alexandria, the profound thinking of the later schools, the deep learning, the splendid art, the multiform politics of Hellenism—all this is shut out from the school boy, as forming no part of the Greek he is to know, and none of it is ever again taken up with the exception of Theocritus-by the superannuated school boy who holds fellowships and masterships at English Colleges, and regards himself as a perfectly trained Greek scholar.

A man may

consider himself, and be considered by the classical English public, an adequate and even distinguished Greek professor, who has never read or even possessed a copy of Strabo, Diodorus, or Polybius, who has never seen the poems of Aratus, Callimachus, or Apollonius, and who does not know a single date in Greek history between the death of Alexander and the battle of Cynoscephalae." Doubtless there is a measure of exaggeration in this, as Prof. Mahaffy is not moderate in his references to that fashionable classical scholarship in England which so highly esteems the mechanical facility of writing Greek and Latin verse. Yet his jibes at pedants agree too closely with Prof. Freeman's for us to assume that the clever but narrow classicist is a character of the past. But the general ignorance of this important period in the history of civilization, Prof. Mahaffy has powerfully contributed to dispel. His "Story of Alexander's Empire" published last year is a brief sketch of the political history of the time and consequently the proper introduction to the present volume. It is difficult to give an idea of the variety of interesting matter comprised in the six hundred pages of "Greek Life and Thought," and impossible to discuss it within the compass of a notice. It will be sufficient to call attention to some of the topics. Among the interesting features of the time was the increase of town life so like the influx of population to the cities in our own day. Prof. Mahaffy says "it seems to have been a sort of religion in those days for every king or dynast to found his own capital." These did not lack for population and there was a marked growth of older towns. In fact we are struck with similarities between that age and our own, and so wide-awake a writer as Prof. Mahaffy does not miss the opportunities for effective comparisons, many of which he has set forth in a very spirited and striking manner. For instance he compares the Roman toleration of the new comedy to the English toleration of French nov

els; he tells us that philosophers were called in to give consolation as the modern clergymen are; and the economic effects of Alexander's Conquests are shown to have been strikingly like those which followed the discovery and conquest of America. Not the least interesting features of Prof. Mahaffy's work are the vivid and life-like historical portraits which he has drawn of the great men of the time, such as Alexander's successors and Pyrrhus. The Jews and their Hellenistic literature receive considerable attention. The books of the Maccabees are drawn upon to show the attitude of the East toward the rising Roman power and for other side lights upon the time. The book of the son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom of Solomon are discussed and utilized to illustrate three separate stages in the progress of Hellenistic influence over the Jews. Ecclesiastes is regarded as the work of a Jew who has been strongly under the influence of Hellenistic philosophy yet who is still Hebrew and Oriental to the heart. The full index and the elaborate chronological table of the period will prove of great convenience to the student.

EDWARD G. BOURNE.

CHADWICK ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK.*-This is the second number of the series issued under the name of the "Expositor's Bible." The plan is to extend the series over the entire Bible, publishing six volumes a year and selling them by subscription at the low rate of $6.00 for the annual issue. The work is, in no sense, a critical commentary and will add nothing to the outfit of the specialist. It is designed to present in the form of lectures or essays a popular exposition of the meaning and suggestions of the various narratives or teachings. Dean Chadwick's book admirably attains this purpose. It is written in a clear and graphic style and brings the scenes of the Gospel and the words of our Lord vividly before the reader's mind and sets forth the lessons to be drawn from the passages in hand with striking gracefulness and force. The essays which compose the work evince study and thought on every page. They are not careless and superficial because they are rhetorical and popular. This volume, which we have reason to believe, is representative of the character of the series to which it belongs, will serve a useful purpose in the clear

* The Gospel according to Mark. By the Rev. G. A. CHADWICK, D.D., Dean of Armagh. A. C. Armstrong & Son, New York. pp. 446.

and vigorous statement of the content and meaning of Jesus' words and deeds and especially to clergymen, will serve as an aid and example of popular and, yet painstaking and scholarly exposition of Scripture. It is our hope that this series of volumes will do much to stimulate a revival of the well nigh lost art of expository preaching, not in the line of the superficial and haphazard methods of the modern Bible reader, but in the line of logical, genetic treatment based upon scientific interpretation. GEORGE B. STEVENS.

THE NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS, VOLS. I. AND V.*—A new illustration of the Unternehmungsgeist-that spirit for new undertakings-undertakings, it might be added, of a highly useful character, which distinguishes Dr. Schaff, is presented in the series of patristic writings, to be issued under his editorial superintendence. They are to include the principal works of the principal fathers of the Nicene and Post-Nicene eras. The translations have been previously published, in one form or another, in Great Britain; but they are to be reproduced in revised editions and to be accompanied by introductions and expository notes. The 1st volume, which comprises the Confession and the Letters of Agustin, is edited by Dr. Schaff himself. The Prolegomena are from his own pen. In these opening pages a great deal of instructive information respecting the life and works of the prince of the Latin Fathers is clearly presented. Vol. V. is made up of the AntiPelagian writings of Agustin. The translation is revised and judiciously and ably edited, in a scholarly spirit, by Professor Warfield. It is a pleasure to commend this series of works to the attention of ministers, and of students, whether lay or clerical. They will be a substantial and highly valuable addition to the literature of Church History.

GEORGE P. FISHER.

KER'S "PSALMS IN HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY."―This little book is not a commentary on the Psalms, yet it is illustrative of their meaning and application to the human heart in all its experiences. By various incidents gathered from history and

* A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Edited by PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D. New York: The Christian Literature Company.

The Psalms in History and Biography. By REV. JOHN KER, D.D. Robert Carter & Bros.