Chapter 152

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The life of Emerson written for the “English men of letters” series. “‘The process of a soul in matter’ was his biography,” says Mr. Woodberry. The life is sketched thru the following chapters: The voice obeyed at prime, “Nature,”and its corollaries, “The hypocritic days.” The essays, The poems, and Terminus.

“The volume is charmingly written—the style so distinctive, the ideas so often luminous and so generally fascinating.”

“In our opinion this is the best of the American volumes that have so far appeared in the series, and it is about the best work of its author. But if the book as a whole deserves high praise, there are still grave reservations to be made. There is altogether too much repetition; certain ideas, such as Emerson’s relation to the clergy and the pulpit, come up with needless frequency. And again, there are a few apparent contradictions that call for reconciliation, such as the varying portraiture of Emerson now as practical and now as unpractical. Graver than these are the lapses in scholarship.”

“It is a book by which we may be content to have our Emerson and his critics judged on the other side of the Atlantic.” Edward Cary.

“More serviceable to the student than any previous biography or criticism, because it expounds Emerson from the inside out instead of from the outside in. Professor Woodberry’s study is a triumph of sweet reasonableness; but it is planned without abandonment and executed without ecstacy.” Clayton Hamilton.

“It is altogether the best among recent additions to the ‘English men of letters series’—indeed, quite the most satisfying interpretation of Emerson which has been offered.” H. W. Boynton.

“Professor Woodberry’s treatment of Emerson is adequate and dignified.”

Woodburn, James Albert, and Moran, Thomas Francis.American history and government: a text-book for grammar schools on the history and civil government of the United States. *$1. Longmans.

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An attempt “to combine in a single grammarschool text-book the related subjects of American history and civil government.... The combination consists of ... the interpolation, just after the account of the adoption of the constitution, of seven chapters descriptive of the skeleton of national and state governmental forms.”—Nation.

“The style of the historical chapters is not attractive; the subject-matter is too condensed to be interesting. In the main the spirit of the book is eminently fair and judicial.” Archibald Freeman.

“The historical narrative, while devoid of literacy merit, is, as a whole, accurate and well proportioned, and shows skill in selecting important incidents.”

“The author is admirably successful in bringing his subject down to the level of those for whom he writes. The style is simple and picturesque. In a few instances, however, he seems to forget that he is writing a condensed, general account.” E. D. Fite.

Woodrow, Nancy Mann Waddel (Mrs. Wilson Woodrow).Bird of time: being conversations with Egeria. **$1. McClure.

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“Contains a series of essaylike conversations on the subject of the many-sided phases and attractions of the typical person who came to be generally known a dozen years ago as ‘the new woman.’” (N. Y. Times.) “Sitting with Egeria and her friends in her ‘sweet, sedate, secluded’ garden, or around her birchwood fires, the reader may hear much good talk on subjects as old as the story of Joseph and as new as the balefulness of woman’s economic dependence.... A pretty wisp of story binds all the parts together.” (Nation.)

“Short crisp chapters of conversational give and take.”

“These conversations of Egeria and her friends are thoroughly delightful. The pages sparkle. Epigram is kept within bounds, and the style is natural and pure. The book is of the sort that makes waste paper of whole shelves full of ‘smart-set’ fiction.”

“A book by a woman largely about ‘us women’ naturally contains a good deal about ‘you men.’ But never does it fall into the humor-lacking acridities of its class. The proof-reading leaves very much to be desired.”

“A series of clever conversations.”

Woodrow, Nancy Mann.New missioner. il. †$1.50. McClure.

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“In this story the central figure is Frances Benton, a missionary to the mining camp of Zenith, and around her is woven a story of much originality and some force. Here, if we are not mistaken, blackmail as a missionary’s weapon is introduced into fiction for the first time. Miss Benson’s advent is not welcomed by the feminine population of Zenith, and her existence there is not an enviable one.”—N. Y. Times.

“The author’s delineation of character is clean cut and sympathetic, and her restraint in the use of thrilling situations, in which most western stories are too prolific, is commendable.”

“It is an unusual piece of fiction, and more than once really touches the heart.”

Woods, Francis Henry.For faith and science. *$1.20. Longmans.

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“The author’s purpose ... is to indicate how science as a whole is actually influencing Christian faith and the attitude of intelligent minds towards Christian faith.... There is a good discussion on the limitations of the Bible as the standard of faith and morality.... The main interest is in the third part of the book, which discusses such problems as ‘Is evolution consistent with the Bible?’ ‘Has science any valid ground of objection against miracles?’ and so forth.”—Ath.

“We confess that, amid much that is scholarly and sound, we find a certain lameness in apologetic works of this class.”

*Woods, James Houghton.Practice and science of religion: a study of method in comparative religion. (Paddock lectures, 1905–1906.) *80c. Longmans.

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Mr. Woods “classifies religious faiths according as the judgments they imply are individual,collective, or universal and normative. Under the first division he considers primitive beliefs not strictly religious, under the second ancestral systems, and in the third he includes various forms of mysticism, of the Vedânta system and Buddhism as well as Christianity.”—Nation.

“For the [embodiment of a method and system for solving religious] problems its data are too scant and its touch too light. Moreover, the employment of logical, ethical and metaphysical categories is so frequent and so apparently a priori as almost to belie the author’s initial appeal to the standards of inductive inquiry. There is present also a lack of clearness and incisiveness in the concepts which are described as involved in religious experience. The reader feels himself sometimes on shifting sand when he looks to deal with a clearly developed dialectic.” E. L. Norton.

“When describing the history of primitive beliefs and customs he is clear and interesting. But we must confess that his philosophy of religion is not so good; there he seems to us wordy and pretentious, without making any solid contributions to the subject.”

Woods, Margaret Louisa (Bradley).Invader.†$1.50. Harper.

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Sedate Oxford is made the setting for this astonishing tale of a dual personality, of the young Don who marries Milly, the quiet and adoring, and who loves Mildred the reckless, deceitful and captivating. These two natures struggle for mastery in the body of his young wife until after a series of strange happenings, Milly heroically sacrifices all in order that the rival within her, the invader whom she has come to hate and fear, may not embitter her husband’s future or ruin the life of the child, really Milly’s child, who has already felt the strange alternating maternal influences that play over him.

“It is a pity that a certain inability to rouse the sympathy and interest of the reader should make a dull book of what might be, at worst, an ingenious one.”

“The author writes crisply, and with a skilful command of her chosen medium. Decidedly a creditable venture.”

Reviewed by Mary K. Ford.

“The interest of this fantastic tale is but moderate, which is chiefly due to the fact that the author takes her subject over-seriously, instead of frankly abandoning herself to its possibilities of comedy and dramatic effect.” Wm. M. Payne.

“Distinctly repulsive ending.”

“It has in fact, a hundred good qualities, which make it well worth reading. It has one defect which, in our opinion, prevents it from taking its place beside the ‘Village tragedy,’ or the best of modern fiction. Our objections to Mr. Woods’s book (against so able a book we have no scruples about urging objections) is that it falls between the two stools of fact and fancy.”

“A sufficiently readable novel.”

“The story can be commended as readable, and its picture of life in Oxford is interesting. The background is very well filled in, and the author has some humor, plenty of sentiment, and appreciable feeling for inanimate nature.”

“The story is disagreeable and at times offensive to good taste, if not to good morals.”

“Mrs. Woods succeeds better with her female than with her male characters, which are rather shadowy.”

“It is impossible to deny that the narrative has a certain engrossing quality, but personally we have no hesitation in expressing our regret that so much talent should have been lavished on a theme which makes neither for health nor happiness.”

Woods, Margaret Louisa.King’s revoke: an episode in the life of Patrick Dillon. †$1.50. Dutton.

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Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“The narrative is clogged with details and embarrassed by the introduction of too many characters, but it is a careful study of the types and is written with unusual fulness of information.”

Woodworth, Joseph V.Punches, dies and tools for manufacturing in presses. $4. Henley.

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“The author has aimed to give to the practical man as much useful information as possible on the working of sheet metals, the design and construction of punches and dies and the manufacture of repetition parts and articles in presses. The book is a broader and more comprehensive view of the subject than that given in the author’s previous work.”—Engin. N.

“There is probably no other one place where so much valuable data on this specialty can be found.” W. W. Bird.

Worcester, Dean C.Non-Christian tribes of northern Luzon. Bureau of ptg., Manila.

“Professor Worcester, a secretary of the interior in the Philippine government, has charge both of the ethnological study and the government of the wild peoples. He has made many trips, some of them heartbreaking ‘hikes,’ on occasions also incurring serious danger in regions previously unexplored.... He points out our lack as yet of detailed studies of these various mountain communities, and publishes his views only to help ‘awaken interest’ and to stimulate thus the study needed either to verify or to correct such conclusions as he has ventured.”—Nation.

“This is the latest, and to date the most authoritative, discussion of the mountain people of Northern Luzon as a whole.”

Wordsworth, William.Poems; selected with introd. by Stopford A. Brooke. *$3. McClure.

Mr. Brooke’s introduction “dwells on the poet’s life at Grasmere, the effects of the scenery on his genius and moral being, and his interpretation of that scenery and those effects in his verse.” (Ath.)

“For one who has never yet come under the spell of Wordsworth no fitter passkey could be imagined than is found in [this book].”

“In this well-got-up volume literature and art are happily associated.”

“Mr. Stopford Brooke is always an agreeable literary companion, and in his introduction to these selections from Wordsworth he is particularly happy. Several of his touches give usa very human and intimate knowledge of the poet.” Bliss Carman.

Workman, Herbert B.Persecution in the early church: a chapter in the history of renunciation. *$1.50. West. Meth. bk.

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A discussion of persecution in the early church based upon all the actors both in the inner life and outer environment to which it was due. The treatment covers the “legal, historical, ecclesiastical and experiential aspects.”

“Mr. Workman’s book is a valuable contribution to the ecclesiastical and political history of the first three centuries of Christianity, and an authoritative study of a very interesting but partially known subject.”

“The volume covers much the same ground as Mr. Allard’s recently published work on Martyrdom, though with differences characteristic of the two writers. It may be said at once, without any offence to Dr. Workman, that his writing lacks the charm of style which seems almost inevitable in a Frenchman: where, however, critical questions are involved the advantage rests with the English scholar, whose sound judgment removes him as far from M. Allard’s excessive adherence to tradition as from the scepticism of Père Delehaye.” P. V. M. Benecke.

“This is a really valuable book.”

Worsfold, Basil.Lord Milner’s work in South Africa. *$4.50. Dutton.

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An intimate view of the official labors of Lord Milner in South Africa. “Mr. Worsfold has written a straightforward, connected account of events that are nowhere else so compactly and coherently set forth; he not only knows his subject thoroughly, but has evidently had opportunities of gathering much personal information directly from Lord Milner himself and from other leading actors in the South African drama; his analysis of the moral and material factors at work is, in the main, to our mind at least, just and convincing.” (Lond. Times.)

“It is neither journalism nor history, and it has the air of being hopelessly out of date. Mr. Worsfold, then, has a twice-told tale to tell, and he tells it with becoming gravity. He does full justice to a great public servant.”

“A large part of Mr. Worsfold’s volume seems to us wide of his subject.”

“Mr. Worsfold is frankly a partisan, and a thick-and-thin partisan, of Lord Milner; and is unsparing in his condemnation of the Liberal leaders who showed any sympathy with the Boer republics.”

“His thought and his style alike lack that distinction which so strikingly characterizes the extracts from Lord Milner’s own despatches and speeches which make no small portion of the present volume. He may not have given us ‘a possession forever,’ but he has compiled a volume which no one who professes to take an intelligent interest in Imperial politics can well afford to leave unread at this present juncture.”

“The book is on a high level, but it is all admiration of Lord Milner.”

“A valuable footnote to the history of the South African war and the reconstruction period immediately following.”

“What he does not know at first hand he has been at great pains to verify by the documentary evidence of blue-books. His story is consecutive, and the sense of perspective is not wanting. His style is clear and occasionally dramatic if somewhat diffuse and iterative.”

Wright, Sir Almroth Edward.Principles of microscopy: being a handbook to the microscope. *$6.50. Macmillan.

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“A scientific treatise on the optical technique of the microscope, exclusive of actual microscopic work and study. The theme is illustrated at every step by an exhaustive series of experiments.”—Nation.

“An exhaustive index leaves the critic with nothing but praise for the thoroughness which marks every step in the treatment of the subject.”

Reviewed by Thomas H. Blakesley.

Wright, Carroll Davidson.Battles of labor: being the William Levi Bull lectures for the year 1906. **$1. Jacobs.

6–14781.

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Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“Colonel Wright, in this latest book, takes a historical point of view which lends special interest to his discussion.”

Reviewed by W. B. Guthrie.

“With good sense, wide learning, and ripe experience the eminent statistician opens to young theologians that world of conflict in which ethical and religious principles are put to severest strain.” Charles Richmond Henderson.

“Especially interesting are the last two lectures, which are based largely on the personal experience and observation of the author.”

Wright, George Frederick.Scientific confirmations of Old Testament history. *$2. Bibliotheca sacra co., Oberlin. O.

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“This volume embodies the results of his latest investigations besides those found in the authors former writings. They show, what other investigators have held that certain occurrences recorded in the Old Testament as miracles—the deluge, the destruction of Sodom, the Hebrews’ fording of the Red sea and the Jordan, the overthrow of Jericho—belong to the history of the natural operation of geological causes. These causes however, Dr. Wright holds to have been touched off by the direct act of God to meet the occasions, as really as the hunter fires his gun.”—Outlook.

“Is one of the most thorough books of its kind, in a popular form, lately published. The author’s unabating enthusiasm, his obvious sincerity, and simple and forcible manner make the book interesting.”

“Whether in the Old Testament or in the New, Dr. Wright is uncompromisingly opposed to the conclusions adopted by the majority of Biblical scholars. Geology is his forte, and the value of the present volume comes from his researches in that field.”

Wright, Hamilton M.Handbook of the Philippines. **$1.40. McClurg.

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A book for the student or traveler which is the outgrowth of investigations made in the Philippines in order to furnish a complete report to the Manufacturers and producers association of San Francisco. It is a practical reference book recording interesting factsabout commerce, productions, industries and prospects. The illustrations are numerous and suggestive.

“Not only is it written with the roseate optimism of promotors’ literature but as a compilation of facts it has been carelessly prepared, from inadequate study of sources and hasty observations, and is far from being either accurate or complete.”

“In which is compactly set forth a great amount of information concerning the islands and their peoples.”

“It is, as an indication of Philippine industrial conditions that the book has chief value. It is emphatically a reference book, not only for the tourist but in a greater measure for the business man, the promoter, the industrialist, the capitalist.”

Wright, Harold Bell.Shepherd of the hills.$1.50. Book supply co.

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The crude mountaineers of the Ozarks are the people of this story, and those of them who were not really born to this wild life have come to it satiated with the ways of men in the world outside and have here been born anew. It is a strange tale of love, of hate, of deception and retribution but, although it deals with tough folk and their rough ways, about it is cast the glamour of the everlasting hills. These men are men of action and their brawn and muscle when exerted in a good cause, have all the force of oratory.

“There are many bits of excellent description, in the course of the story, and an atmosphere as fresh and sweet and free from modern grime as one would breathe on the Ozark trails themselves.”

“Both in the more melodramatic and the more sentimental parts of his tale he is apt to overdo the thing. With all its crudeness, however, the story does appeal to one’s admiration of pluck and honesty.”

Wright, Mabel Osgood.Birdcraft. 7th ed. **$2. Macmillan.

A new edition of a book whose “especial value lies in the way in which the principal facts concerning a bird—length, color, song, season, distribution, nest and eggs—are set off in distinct paragraphs, making reference easy and direct. The only change from the old editions is the absence of the badly colored plates of minute figures of birds and the substitution of eighty uncolored plates by Fuertes, including some of this artist’s best work.” (Nation.)

“The bird is, so to speak, a guide to the realm of bird-land, well composed and arranged.”

*Wright, Mabel Osgood.Gray Lady and the birds: stories of the bird year for home and school, il. **$1.75. Macmillan.

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