The Napoleon Myth by Henry Ridgley Evans is a very prettily finished book about the great emperor. He shows very clearly, what every scholar knows, that many stories grew up about the real man, thus creating a mythical hero. At the same time the reprinted "Grand Erratum" in which it was attempted eighty years ago to prove there never was a Napoleon shows clearly how easy it is to prove any historical event or personage a myth if one closes his eyes to the truth. The illustrations in the book are extra fine. (Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.)

Study to be Quiet is the name of a beautiful devotional message written by Edgar W. Work for use in the quiet hour. After an introductory study of the text itself, the author takes up in turn the quiet of trust, of prayer, of speech and of service. (Winona Publishing Company,

Chicago. 50 cents net.)

Dr. F. C. Monfort is widely known through his connection with the Herald & Presbyter. He has just published a small volume which he has called Applied Theology. The title is somewhat misleading. Naturally we expect to find the cnapters headed "Divine Sovereignty," "Reprobation," "The Atonement, etc. We do find such chapters but they are in the minority. Theology is so often intended to cover a very limited range that we almost forget that prayer and love are theology too. Today Presbyterians are emphasizing such without in the least forgetting the other great phrases. We are grateful to the author for his little volume. (Monfort & Company, Cincinnati, O.)

No word that we can speak will more than make more universal the commendation of the series of which What a Young Husband Ought to Know is one volume. Dr. Sylvanus Stall deserves world gratitude for putting in such shape his vital message. It should reach every young husband. (Vir Publishing Company, Philadelphia. $1.00.)

The How and Why of Electricity, by Charles T. Child, is called a book of information for non-technical readers. The author has been successful in accomplishing his purpose. A few questions are not clearly answered but there could hardly be a better book of the kind. (Electrical Review Publishing Company, New York City.)

Father Crowley's book on The Parochial School is a terrible indictment of the Roman Catholic school system as a curse to the church and a menace to the nation. Every one has heard of the author and no one can doubt his sincerity. Nor can any one doubt the truth of his charges. We pray that his earnest efforts may secure reform. (Published by the

author, Sherman House, Chicago.)

Bird Center Cartoons bears the label of McCutcheon on every page. Favorite as he is through his work on the Chicago papers, those who laugh at these story pictures of his will add fame. Had he done nothing else his "mysterious stranger" would be enough to remember. That same character will bob up serenly, with apologies to McCutcheon, through generations of newspapers. (A. C. McClurg & Company, Chicago.)

The Most Popular College Songs and Fifty New College Songs are two of the excellent collections of college songs offered by these publishers. Both these volumes are welcome, the first because it is in a number of ways the best general collection of this size and the other because new college songs are always sought after. (Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, New York City. Each, 50 cents.)

Muriel Strode has written My Little Book of Prayer into which she has put a good deal of herself. There is very little prayer in it all except that one-sided prayer which is rather a communion with self as much as with God. Some of the thoughts are beautiful but they come from a heart half empty. (Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.)

The Athenaeum Press Series offers us an excellent edition of The Sonnets of Shakespeare, by H. C. Beeching. The introduction is good and the notes are fine. The editor is original which is not often found in smaller texts and he gives us the best of all the different commentators. (Ginn & Company, Boston. 65 cents.)

The Story of Chisamba is a simple but interesting account of the Africa mission of the Canadian Congregational churches. The location is on the west coast south of the Congo. This work covers less than twenty-five years and the field is hard but the results prove the power of the gospel to redeem Africa. The book is worthy of a place in the missionary libraries of America. (Canada Congregational Foreign Missionary Society, Toronto.)

Under a very cumbersome title, Six Incursions (By a Predatory Pew) Into Some Theologic Fastnesses, Edward Augustus Jenks has given us a fairly readable book. His treatment of prayer is satisfactory in its appeal for reality. His idea of the eternity of matter in which he takes from matter all its material characteristics is unsatisfactory as it is unnecessary. Without raising the question of orthodoxy from any point of view, his idea of the trinity is not scriptural. There is nothing in particular gained by the book. (Robert Grier Cooke, New York City.)

We mention Honesty with the Bible simply to utter a warning. Some may be deceived by the statement that the author was pastor of a Presbyterian church for ten years. He is now reported dropped from the rolls and the only wonder is how he could have been left in charge of any church so long. Probably the author is crazy.

Proceedings of the Eighth General Council of the Alliance of Reformed Churches Holding the Presbyterian System contains a full account of the Liverpool meeting in 1904. The addresses are fine reading and the program as outlined is important in scope and in character. The length limit prevents any of the addresses from detracting by its individuality from the effect of the whole. (Wm. H. Roberts, Philadelphia, Pa.)

W. B. Maxwell's The Ragged Messenger is one of the unnecessary books which aau nothing to the reading mind. The chapter in which Morton tells about his boyish dreams and epileptic fancies is a fine piece of work. The characters are real except in a few places where they are overdrawn but there is no point to the story. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York City.)

The Harmonized and Subject Reference New Testament is a handy little volume prepared by James W. Shearer. By a division into parts, sections and paragraphs he makes possible easy reference and a quick grasp of the harmony of the gospels. As far as the reader is concerned he has defeated the purpose of paragraph division rather than verse division by introducing his paragraph headings which break up the text worse than the verse divisions of the authorized version. The reference system is fine. (The Subject Reference Company, Delaware, N. J.)

The Almanac for 1905, issued by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions is different from the year book of the Presbyterian church already reviewed in that it contains an almanac, a number of fine pictures of mission fields and workers, information of the work and of the interdenominational mission work. It lacks the prayer arrangement of the missionaries for daily remembrance. (Congregational House, Boston.)

William Morris himself would be proud of this edition of his Golden Wings. We must confess to very little liking for his writings and this is a fair specimen of his style and conception with all its misty undermeaning. The book is a beautiful piece of workmanship. (H. M. Caldwell Company, New York City.)

Under the Care of the Japanese War Office is the diary of Ethel McCaul on a tour of inspection at the front in the interest of the Red Cross

Society. She had remarkable opportunities and this account, covering the period from April 28th, 1904, to July 4th, is full of value. (Cassell & Company, New York City.)

Gustav Kobbe is an authority on opera music and singers which adds value to this beautifully illustrated volume on Opera Singers. From the front cover to the kodak pictures at the end the opera devotee could ask for nothing better. (Oliver Ditson Company, Boston. $1.50.)

The Florentines is a drama of Benvenuto Cellini, the great sculptor. The author, Maurice V. Samuels, has caught the spirit of the times; the plot is good and though the poetry is not remarkable the result is strong. (Brentano's, New York City.)

Our People of Foreign Speech is an excellent handbook, prepared by Samuel McLanahan, treating of those in the United States whose native tongue is other than English. We are awaking to our duty in regard to the foreign born Americans and this book is full of information which will be of value in studying conditions and awakening further interest in work among these people. (Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, New York City.)

Ernest U. Smith has written a story of the great deluge under the title Rachel. In this he locates Eden in Peru and traces the Indians to the descendents of Cain, their red skin the brand of Cain. The story is fitted into this strange setting. It is rather slow moving and hardly exciting but its strange mixture of Hebrew and South American elements is out of the ordinary, to say the least. (The Grafton Press, New York City. $1.50.)

Songs of Praise, number one, is prepared by J. Wilbur Chapman for use in evangelistic services. A large number of familiar revival songs and others less familiar make it a valuable book for such work, especially for a short change. (Winona Publishing Company, Chicago.)

A Street Guide and Map of the City of St. Joseph, Missouri, for 1905 is quite indispensible for anyone who desires to become familiar with that city. The map is good and the information is excellently chosen. (W. P. Tracy, St. Joseph. 25 cents.)

Miss Katharine R. Crowell's Japan for Juniors is a fine outline for study. Our one criticism would be that not enough attention is given to using simple words. The illustrations are just what are needed to make the account picturesque. Leaders of children's mission bands should all examine this booklet. (The Board of the Southwest, St. Louis.)

MAGAZINE NOTES

We have before us copies of the seven leading Presbyterian weekly family papers. From a western point of view we must begin with The Interior of Chicago and the Herald and Presbyter of Cincinnati. The Chicago paper is more literary, its editorials in more finished style, its special articles more important. In many ways the Cincinnati paper is more of a home paper, and its theological position is more popular through the conservative West. It is inclined to be illogical in some of its stands, but during the last year or two has been more liberal toward the honest opinions of others. In church news and articles these are the only papers giving any special attention to the western part of the country. The Westminster is unique today in being the only Presbyterian paper which is the embodiment of a personality. The names of Dr. Moffat and Dr. Devins are doubtless more widely familiar through the church, but neither of them are identified with their papers as Dr. Holmes is with his. He has his peculiarities and the paper reflects them, but it stands alone among all its older companions, and perhaps a little ahead, in its message, certainly in its individuality. The Presbyterian is the other Philadelphia paper. It also has a distinct character, though not in the same way. It owes its personality not to any editor, but to its conservatism. We might have said its hyperconservatism, only that might have troubled its editor just as Dr. Warfield was flurried over being called a hypercalvinist. So we shall call it ultraconservative, in the hope that word will do better. In practice it is obstructive though probably not so in spirit. The Presbyterian Banner comes from Pittsburg. It is specially strong in its editorials, and is marked by important articles along lines of church history and problems. Its theological point of view is practical. The New York Observer is now our only representative in New York City. There is less change in this paper since the old days of the blanket sheets than in any of the others. Even the change of editors has left the most familiar features undisturbed. Its influence is largely local. We must not pass by Christian Work and Evangelist, though it is an interdenominational paper. When the historic New York Evangelist failed, largely due to editorial complications, it was absorbed in this other New York paper. There is a decidedly Presbyterian flavor to every number which is pleasant. No other weekly is as strong along missionary lines. The survey of the religious world and thought is also always good. We would also say a word for three other Presbyterian papers. The Christian Observer of Louisville is a strong representative of Southern Presbyterianism. In theology it is wisely conservative, in editorial thought and comment practical and progressive, its articles are varied and suggestive. The Southern Presbyterian is a sister to the Louisville paper, or at least the editors are