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HROUGH the courtesy of the publishers (The Werner Company, Akron, O.) SELF CULTURE is in receipt of the five attractive art volumes which portray, by means of the camera and half-tone reproductions, the pictorial journeyings through the North American continent and in foreign lands undertaken by Mr. F. G. Lamprey and the wellknown traveller and lecturer, Mr. John L. Stoddard. Few educational advantages better than a study of these volumes are available to the untravelled reader who desires to extend the range of his geographical knowledge and at the same time fire the imagination with the beauties of nature and the world's masterpieces of art. In these panoramic pages the great sights of the world, in almost every clime, are brought as it were to the fireside of every home and made to impress the onlooker with their varied majesty and beauty. When one talks to an acquaintance of sights seen abroad, of striking features of landscape, of some triumph of architectural or engineering skill, or of some scene of old-time historic interest, it is often exceedingly difficult to convey in words any adequate conception of the charm of the spectacle or the thrilling effect the scene has had upon the beholder. With such volumes at hand as these of Mr. Stoddard, with the descriptive account appended to each picture, one has the veritable scene before him and can realize for himself the attractions of the place

and whatever there is that gives it either artistic or historic interest. In the case of pictures illustrative of one's native country, there is the further advantage of stimulating patriotism by having the volume or volumes before one to con over and to delight at once the eye and the mind.

The Stoddard series embraces four volumes, each having on the average 128 illustrations. One consists of views of the American continent "From the Atlantic to the Pacific"; another treats of the "Famous Parks and Public Buildings of America.» The remaining two deal with pictorial journeys through tropical countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, "Sunny Lands of the Eastern Continent," and with "A Tour Through Northern Europe," in which are presented views of the famous cities, parks, buildings, and palaces of the upper section of the European continent. Mr. Lamprey's volume is the record of an independent tour by an intelligent observer, and embraces views of the more attractive scenery of all the principal States in both the Old and the New World, including the islands of Oceanica. If one desires the possession of a single volume only that will cover all the main paths of the world's travel and furnish the most striking views of city, tower, and hamlet or of nature's attractive aspects in the solitudes of the earth, we would commend Mr. Lamprey's most interesting and instructive volume. G. M. A.

« Napoleon, Lover and Husband≫

Much has been written about Napoleon's military career. His political achievements were of such a giant nature that they almost overshadow his human personality. Therefore, while everybody knows something about his wars and conquests, comparatively little is known about Napoleon the man, and few are acquainted with his private life,—a life that is no less interesting and fascinating than is his public career.

"If women had played no rôle in his life, Napoleon would cease to be the amazing example of masculine genius that he is, and would become a sexless being without interest to humanity because not subject to the failings and passions of other men, uninfluenced by the traditions which sway them, possessed of no sentiment common to mankind. As it was, this man, whose genius was astounding, who, served by an unparalleled fortune, accomplished the greatest task that mortal ever undertook, was precisely the man to whom no emotion was a stranger.

"It is human to be influenced by, to believe in, and to love woman, to experience by her and for her all the sensations and emotions which she inspires, and in that respect, as in all others, Napoleon was superior to mankind."

The foregoing words, with which Frédéric Masson concludes his interesting memoir of "Napoleon, Lover and Husband» (Akron, O.: The Werner Company), form the keynote of the book and fully indicate its character. It is one of the few works on the emperor that have survived the Napoleon craze, which raged a few years ago; and the fact that numerous reprints have been called for since its first appearance in 1893 demonstrates not only the great favor with which the work is regarded, but also its intrinsic value. While most books on Napoleon treat primarily of his military career and political achievements, the one before us shows in a series of fascinating pictures the human side of this towering genius of history; and deals not so much with Napoleon the conqueror, the leader of men, the erstwhile ruler of the world, as with Napoleon the man, with all the emotions of ordinary humanity, who was not indifferent to the charms and influence of woman. This is the characteristic that brings him nearer to our understanding, and makes M. Masson's work not only valuable to

The

the student of sociology, but also sympathetic and attractive to the general reader. opening chapter tells us of the friends of Napoleon's youth. Though he was of a somewhat stern and studious disposition and not much given to idle flirtations, there were still a few young demoiselles who entered and left their impress on his early life. Among them was a certain Caroline du Colombier, at Valence, with whom he may have entertained some vague ideas of marriage, though he was then barely seventeen and she considerably his senior. He admired her, but his attentions to her were chaste, deferential, and boyish. It was not long, however, before she married an officer, M. de Bressieux, and left Valence.

"Nearly twenty years later, when Napoleon was in camp at Boulogne, he received a letter from her recommending her brother to his notice, and although he had not seen the object of his boyish admiration since her marriage, he answered by return of post, assuring her that he would seize the first occasion to be useful to M. du Colombier, and saying:

"The memory of your mother and yourself has always been dear to me. I see by your letter that you live near Lyons, and I must reproach you for not calling while I was there, as it would have given me great pleasure to have seen you.'

"This advice was not lost, and when, on April 12, 1806, Napoleon passed through Lyons on his way to the coronation at Milan, Mme. de Bressieux was among the first to request an interview. She was terribly changed, aged, and no longer the pretty Caroline of bygone days, nevertheless she obtained all she asked for,-the erasure of certain names on the list of émigrés, a position for her husband, and a lieutenancy for her brother. On New Year's Day of 1807 Mme. de Bressieux recalled herself to the Emperor's memory by a letter asking for news of his health. Napoleon responded promptly, and in 1808 he made her lady-in-waiting upon Madame Mère, called her husband to preside over the electoral college of Isière, and in 1810 created him a baron of the Empire.

"Such was the grateful memory Napoleon cherished for all who had been kind to him in his youth; there were none whose fortunes he did not assure, as there were none whom he forgot to mention during his captivity; women, if possible, received the greater share of his gratitude, and even when he had reason to feel some bitterness toward them it was enough that they had once shown him kindness."

In the subsequent chapters, the author continues to relate in a most entertaining manner Napoleon's relations with women who played a more or less important part in his eventful career, presenting us with a volume full of romance and human interest, that holds the reader's attention throughout. The present new edition, translated by Miss J. M. Howell, will, we doubt not, be welcomed and appreciated as a valuable addition to the many works that deal with this masterful figure in history. It is a book that deserves the heartiest commendation. E. A.

lightful sense of humor and a keen eye for droll situations. A flavor of Mark Twain penetrates the volume, and in some of the stories there is a reminder of Robert Hinchin and Bill Nye. "The Belle of the Dinner» is one of the best of the sketches, and the situation it portrays is highly ludicrous, with a touch of the romantic. In these days of serious reading the mind, seeking holiday amusement, will find in the book much healthy fun and some odd aspects of character-drawing in amusing situations which will enliven an odd hour, refresh the spirits of the reader, and bring a hearty laugh alike into eyes and voice. Nor will the reader complain of the range and variety of the themes treated of by the author, or of the occasional interludes of a light bantering philosophy. To the volume the author has appended some specimens of light verse originally contributed to "Life," "Truth," "Judge," and other humorous weeklies, while James Whitcomb Riley prefixes an introductory poem in the fluent vein of the writers of vers de société. G. M. A.

Dumas'

Interest in the story of the hap"Mary Stuart less Mary, Queen of Scots, it may be safely hazarded, will never cease. Of recent years there has been an accession rather than a diminution of popular interest in her life and career, while history seems at length to be doing her justice and relieving her memory of the harsh judgments that have for long been passed upon the unfortunate Stuart Queen. Though not a few of the secrets of Mary Stuart's history, with many of the events of her tragic time, are buried in her grave, we now know, with almost the conviction of certainty, that the case against her has been far more darkly painted than truth would justify. This is the case with regard to Mary's alleged complicity in the Babington plot against the life of Queen Elizabeth, and especially with regard to the revelations of the famous Casket Letters, which are now known to be in part wicked forgeries. Those, of course, who take Mr. Froude as their authority on the facts of Mary Stuart's life, will not be convinced of her innocence; but there has been too great an accumulation of evidence, particularly in regard to Mary's supposed share in the murder of her husband Darnley, for any sane mind now to believe in the Queen's complicity in that hideous plot, even though her woman's weakness led her to marry the man who was really Henry Darnley's murderer. Nor can we credit the English charges against the fair Scottish queen, of conspiring to kill Elizabeth, in the face of her own passionate denial of all complicity-save in desiring to effect her freedom-in the Babington affair, which brought her to the block. this as well as in other matters in her troubled life Mary was the victim of the Catholic conspiracies of the time and of the calumnies of the flatterers of Elizabeth. Her very charms

In

proved often her own undoing, since in those who came under the influence of her beauty and culture it inspired a zeal in her cause fatal to her wellbeing and happiness. For these acts of admiring enthusiasts Mary can hardly be held responsible, while she is to be acquitted of much that is charged against her in the way of declensions from the path of virtue, which are the tales either of detractors among the rigid Reformers at her Scottish court or of libellors in the pay of her jealous virgin cousin on the English throne.

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Like Lamartine and Mignet, Alexandre Dumas writes of Mary Stuart's career with French sympathies; but the corrective of that, if needed, can readily be had in Froude's "History of England," which, however brilliant, should be taken with a good pinch of salt. Much the same view is taken by Burton in his History of Scotland," for in regard to Mary that eminent Scottish writer takes his cue from Froude's fascinating though not unimpeachable narrative. The disposition, happily, to-day, is to take a more dispassionate and even favorable view of the peccant queen, founded upon the researches of such writers as Hosack (vide "Mary, Queen of Scots and her Accusers"). The reader who is interested in the controversy should also make himself acquainted with Swinburne's essay on Mary, in his "Miscellanies," and with the pungent refutation of Froude's strictures on Mary Stuart from a Catholic standpoint, by J. F. Meline. For those interested chiefly in the main outlines of Mary's life, the new edition of Miss J. M. Howell's translation of M. Dumas' work (Akron, O.: The Werner Company) will be found excellent as well as entertaining and instructive reading. The fascination of the story is always great, despite the controversies that have for centuries raged about the luckless but winning woman and queen. G. M. A.

Henry Thompson, has just appeared from the publishing house of F. Warne & Co., London and New York. The edition, Sir Henry affirms in a new preface, is to be his final one, and to it he has made some important additions, embodying his views on the subject of "Slow Cookery»- that is, the cooking of food, especially that derived from the animal kingdom, at low temperatures and for a lengthened time, since the slow cooking renders the meats more digestible and nutritious as well as more agreeable to the palate. The author has also made a more simple and natural classification of the various processes employed in cookery and its staple products, and sought "to explain more fully the principles, on which they are employed, the objects aimed at, and the rationale of each procedure.»

Not a little of the work is necessarily addressed to an English audience, especially where the author deals with the overconsumption, so prevalent in England, of flesh foods, rich in fat and proteids, and causing dyspepsia and other ailments, besides inducing premature corpulency. Among the English the evil of this is minimized by the passion for out-ofdoor sports, walking, wheeling, and varied muscular exercise. The bulk of the work, however, will be found of great interest on this side of the Atlantic, where our cooking, especially in rural towns and country districts, is crude and unpalatable, and where almost entire ignorance prevails on the subject of wholesome and appetizing food and feeding, not to speak of the light and dainty dishes which tempt the appetite of the fastidious invalid and epicure. As an example of the author's soundness of judgment in advocating the method of slow cooking, the housewife ought to read Sir Henry Thompson's views on the subject of stewing and braising, and the importance of these simple and inexpensive methods of cooking meats and presenting at table a savory and appetizing dish. On other topics the author is well worthy of reading, where improvement is desired in the culinary arts, and where civilized and not barbarian methods of cooking are intelligently sought. G. M. A.

Bernstein, Herman: "The Flight of Time, and Other Poems," with Portrait. 12mo. London and New York: F. Tennyson Neely.

De Amicis, Edmondo: "The Heart of a Boy (Cuore): A Schoolboy's Journal." Translated from the 224th Italian edition by Prof. G. Mantellini. Illus. Chicago: Laird & Lee.

Fraser, Mrs. Hugh: "Letters from Japan: A Record of Modern Life in the Island Empire," with 250 Illustrations. New York: The Macmillan Co.

Levisee, A. B.: "Christianity versus Orthodoxy; or, The Deception Unmasked." Akron, O.: Geo. C. Jackson,

McClure, President James G. K.: "The Great Appeal." 18mo. Chicago, Toronto, and New York: Fleming H. Revell Co.

Morris, Charles: "Our Island Empire: A Handbook of Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands," with maps. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.

Otis, James: The Telegraph Series." 3 vols. 12mo. Illus. (1) Telegraph Tom's Venture," (2) "Messenger No. 48," (3) "Down the Slope." Entertaining books for boys. Akron, O., New York, and Chicago: The Werner Company.

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LL authors of rhetoric and writers upon similar subjects testify to the importance of an extensive vocabulary; but few, if any, tell us how many words constitute a good working vocabulary. It is certain that one who has many words at his command has a great advantage over one with few. Only he who understands the finer distinctions between apparently synonymous words can express exact shades of meaning. By long circumlocutions or descriptive clauses he may generally make himself understood; but he cannot be accurate or concise; hence he is seldom forcible. In the schoolroom we often hear a child say, "I know, but cannot tell." While frequently this is only a subterfuge it is sometimes true that because of his meagre vocabulary he cannot express himself clearly.

Again, if a man knows but a few words, he must use those words so often that they become distasteful to his auditors or readers. His language becomes threadbare. The reason the average school-girl uses "awfully nice,» «horribly ugly," and similar superlatives is that she has a very limited supply to select from, and must therefore use those few very often. The lady who has but one dress for the street, the church, the ball, the theatre, and the funeral, even though it be a fine one, cannot always be considered well dressed. A man who has at command a few very excellent words, phrases, or clauses, but who uses them on all occasions, will not be a good speaker. The orator or writer who commands a large supply of words and can use the right word in the right place has a charm, nameless though it be, for both the cultured and the uncultured. Many people do not succeed as public speakers because their vocabularies are insufficient. The limited supply of words needed for familiar conversation is entirely inadequate and insufficient for the more formal public address.

What may be considered a good vocabulary? How many words does a good speaker or writer use? How many does a person of average intelligence use? These are questions which will receive widely varying answers from those who have not studied the matter. The number is perhaps larger for the highly educated and lower for the comparatively unlettered than is generally supposed. I give below a few statements from the rather meagre statistical reports upon this subject, and then present the results of some experiments and observations of my own.

Preyer, in the "National Educational Series,» records the results of some tests upon three lit

tle girls who at the age of two years had used respectively 483, 399, and 173 words; but he states that each of the girls knew at least a thousand additional words. A boy somewhat older, but with inferior advantages, knew 397 words. Humphreys, in the "Transactions of the American Philosophical Society" for 1880, quoted by Preyer, states that he knew a little girl two years old who had used 1,121 words, excluding proper names, numerals, and some others. Nine children tested by Preyer had, at two years, an average vocabulary of 400 to 500 words, though he found one child that understood well scarcely fifty. He refers also to the test Prof. E. S. Holden made upon himself. By a reference to all the words found in Webster's "Unabridged Dictionary," he found his vocabulary was 33,456 words. If he could have used the more recent "Standard" or "Century» dictionaries, not then published, he would have found his vocabulary much larger. Preyer also states that for grown persons of average intelligence a vocabulary of 25,000 words is not unusual.

Whitney, in his "Life and Growth of Language," says that a "large estimate for the words used by the cultured persons would be 30,000, and that for the ordinary needs of cultivated intercourse from 3,000 to 5,000 are necessary.

President E. D. Murdaugh, of the Oklahoma Normal School, informed me that he had made a test of his boy's vocabulary at the age of 5 years, and he had used 830 words. He also stated that Dr. M. A. Newell, of Maryland, had tested the vocabulary of his son, and found that at 6 years he had used 960 words. Both boys had probably used many more, as they had excellent advantages in their home life.

An unusually talkative parrot of my acquaintance had a vocabulary of 59 words, many of which I heard it use very fluently. It could no doubt speak many more, and it seemed to understand the meaning of those used. It spoke Spanish, French, and English.

Here are the results of my own tests made

on about 300 persons ranging in age from 2 years to 40. In a brief and incomplete test on a little girl 2 years old I found she used 161 words in about 10 days. My own boy, at the age of 9 years and 2 months, in a school essay containing 353 words, used 191 different words. In another school essay, written at the age of 11 years and 2 months, and containing 717 words, there were 353 different words. When he was 11 years and 5 months old I made a careful estimate of the words he had used, by comparing 113 pages of Webster's Academic Dictionary, and then taking the same ratio for the remainder of the book. This estimate indicated that he had used 4,812 words. A careful and extensive test, both oral and written, showed that he could define and use accurately about 8,000 words.

Under my direction, Principal C. E. Daily, of the Edmond, Oklahoma, public schools, made a careful and prolonged test to learn the number of words that could be defined by the pupils of the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades of his school. He used Webster's High School Dictionary, and from the number defined in the test I estimated the whole number that they could define in that book. I give the results tabulated according to classes:

works, and in a few manuscripts, I found that I had employed about 5,000 words. How many more in conversation and on the platform I made no effort to ascertain. Not many of my public addresses have been written in full. A test to determine how many words I could define gave rather larger results than I expected. Using the Century Dictionary for comparison, and making an extensive trial, I found that I could define at least 75,000 words.

To many people these results seem incredibly large. Well-educated men with whom I have talked upon the subject have sometimes very dogmatically asserted that it is impossible; and I have been reminded of the oft-repeated statement that the immortal Shakespeare used only 15,000 words, and the great Milton but 8,000. People who make this statement generally do not know that at the death of Shakespeare the only dictionary of the English language contained just 5,080 words, and that at the time of Milton the language had been enriched, according to the best dictionary, to 13,ooo words. If Shakespeare had lived in this age, when the number of words has increased to 300,000, we dare not estimate how many he would have used. There are many men of modern times who have used more words than

did Shakespeare or Milton. Whitney and Preyer, previously quoted, put the number used by well-educated people at from 25,000 to 30,000; and at the same time Whitney estimates the whole number of words in the language at 100,000. But a few years later, when Whitney put forth the great Century Dictionary, he found about 225,000.

Another part of this investigation proved no less interesting and surprising. We have all heard about a woman's having the "last word" and her tendency to "wordiness"; hence, I sought to ascertain whether a woman really knows a larger number of words than a man; or, more broadly, the influence of sex upon vocabulary. For this purpose I utilized the records of some of my previous experiments, and made many more, the results of which fol.. low.

Reworking the material from the Edmond, Oklahoma, public school, I get the succeeding

table:

BOYS

WORDS

Sixth Seventh Eighth

12 years 11 months

13 years 4 months

13

I

12

Average.. 12

66

3

13

class; and one member of the class, a printer, probably had the best vocabulary in school.

I made also a test of my own vocabulary. By a careful count of the words used in my published

It appears from the above table that the boys are several months younger in each class, and know several hundred more words. It happened that there were but two boys in the