matter and human intelligence? There is spiritism, or spiritualism, as it is mostly but unsuitably called, which has become a religious cult in the hands of those who believe that the causes are to be found in the actions of spirits extra-human or of the dead. So many emotions and human cravings for communion with the departed, for corroboration of the belief in human survival after death, cluster round this explanation that it is bound to be regarded at least with suspicion. The only experimental proof must be something that comes through the senses. The spirit must be made visible or handled or undoubtedly heard, not merely inferred, before spiritism can be admitted to be a valid theory. In the opinion of those of whom Dr. Richet is representative these conditions have not been fulfilled; and spiritism is a faith, not a science; a faith whose substance is things hoped for, and whose evidence is things not seen. An interesting test case has lately been put and an account of it given in a recent number of the Journal of the Psychical Society. The late Frederick Myers arranged with Sir Oliver Lodge that if possible he should communicate after death in some manner with a living person, and convey certain information as to the contents of an envelope which had been entrusted to Sir Oliver Lodge and deposited by him in secure custody. A lady professed that she was in communication with the spirit of Myers through automatic writing, and that she had received information as to the contents of the envelope. With all due precautions and formalities the envelope was opened; but the lady was found to have added only one more instance to the list of

The Saturday Review.

persons who have been self-deceived in these matters. The experiment neither proved nor disproved anything but this; and otherwise the result is negative. Again there is the supposition or guess. for it cannot be tested by experiment, that the explanation is to be found in the human organism itself. It has the power, it is said, of acting at a distance without contact, of discharging an effluvium or double, and of impressing others through sight or sound; when we have apparitions, premonitions of deaths and the like, of which there are many accounts. As facts such occurrences are admitted by those who do not accept the theory or guess; and yet it seems very unconvincing that they should say, as they do, that pure chance or coincidence may explain these things; and that the fact is a mere subjective phenomenon in the recipient of the experiences. There is no need moreover to drag in the "long arm of coincidence" by way of objec tion to an explanation for which there is nothing in the shape of proof. What remains for the prudent investigator in the shape of theory? Nothing but a theory of absolute nescience for the present, mitigated by the hope that when new facts have been discovered some theory will emerge which will knit together the inexplicable phenomena, as has happened in the history of all knowledge that can now claim to be regarded as science. Yet it is remarkable and laudable that in these materialist days there should be people who have faith in the possibilities of a science at present so surrounded with uncertainties, while its discoveries in any case would have no pecuniary value.

The continuing popularity of Dickens is attested by the fact that more than 200,000 copies of his various books were sold in England during the month of December.

Lady Margaret Sackville has almost ready for the press a second volume of verse. It will be published under the title of "A Hymn to Dionysus, and other Poems," by Mr. Elkin Mathews.

The Athenæum, remarking upon the death of General Lewis Wallace, characterizes "The Fair God" as the best of the general's stories, despite the enormous circulation achieved by "Ben Hur."

Aubrey de Vere used to say that he could easily be well off,-he had only to stop publishing. But the Irish poo” of Westminster, to whom he bequeathed his volumes of verse, have already benefited by the bequest in a substantial sum.

In "A New Paolo and Francesca," Annie E. Holdsworth portrays the conflicting loves of two brothers in a style too melodramatic and morbid to meet the best standards of either art or morals. But the story shows a strain of unquestioned talent, and one chapter in particular-that describing the burial service of Lady Elizabethhas haunting qualities. John Lane.

Mr. John Murray will publish a little posthumous work by Lady Dilke which she called "the Book of Praise," and with it in the same volume two of her fanciful tales, "The Last Hour" and The Mirror of the Soul." These latter were ready for an intended volume of stories, and bear on the same subjects as "The Book of Praise." A memoir

will be prefixed by Sir Charles Dilke, relating chiefly to the life and letters between 1858 and 1884 inclusive.

In "Farmington," Clarence S. Darrow gathers together recollections of his childhood in a Pennsylvania valley, describing his experiences at home, in school, on the play-ground, and among the quaint characters of the village, and commenting on them with a blending of humor and pathos which would be more attractive to the average reader if it were not so strongly seasoned with cynicism. The portrait of his father is drawn more sympathetically than any of the others and it is by far the most successful. A. C. McClurg & Co.

The Librairie Ollendorff has begun the issue of a new edition of the complete works of Victor Hugo, in forty volumes, of which four will comprise unpublished materials. This edition promises to be the final one, so far as such things can be final. It is being printed at the Imprimerie Nationale. The first volume in the series is "Notre Dame de Paris." Attention may be here called to the success which has attended M. A. Fayard's bold experiment of publishing novels by first-rate authors, illustrated by the best artists. at 95 centimes per volume. The series was started twelve months ago with M. Bourget's "Cruelle Enigme," with seventy-five illustrations by A. Calbet. It was intended to limit it to twelve volumes, but as over one million copies have been sold, the publisher has decided to continue it, and some hitherto unpublished works will be included. The books are beautifully printed on fine paper, and altogether marvels of cheapness.

The hills of aream behind us lie,
Above us in a placid sky
The stars, unchanged, look down on us
As when with pulses tremulous
We breathed to them our hopes and
fears

In the dear, dead, tremendous years
When life was all a rainbow mist,
A dawn that showed enchanted skies
Of amber and of amethyst,
When giants walked the world, and
when

Daughters of gods might smile on men,
Revealing sudden Paradise.

No rainbow now across our path
Shines promise-laden; cold and gray
Sank in the West the sullen day;
The pale moon quits her couch of
cloud-

Amber nor amethyst she hath-
Cold, white and dead, condemned to
glide

For ever through the fields of night,
For ever flaunt her silver shroud
Through the waste places of delight
Where, in the ages ere she died,
She bore her beauty and her pride.
Too soon the giants of the dawn
Shrank as our shadows shrink at noon;
Fair daughters of the gods, too soon
Back to your native skies withdrawn,
With you the unheard melodies,
The unseen that almost could be seen,
Sweet voices, half articulate,
Strange sails upon enchanted seas,

HOME FROM BATTLE.

Here at the good king's tent stand I-
All the night is in the sky.
To-morrow, I trow, in battle I die.
There as I wait, stark, cold, and dumb.
Shall Brian and Denis and Roland

come;

And find me, and lift me, and carry me home.

Three days will the journey be
These dear comrades must carry me-
I shall be home at the end of the three.
At sundown, marching the first long
day,

Shall they desire to make their stay
In a strong house beside the way;
But the lord of that house shall ask and

know.

I, the dead man, am his mortal foeAnd he shall drive us from him so. And the second day, by moonlight clear,

To a castle once more shall we draw

near;

And men will ask: "Whom have ye here?"

There she, who is queen of all the land

My lady will by me stand;—

Will lift above me her tender hand! When, with sad voice, they answer

make,

Pale for pity will be her cheek;But she will not know whose name

they speak.

Then with the dawn we forth shall fare;

And when the high stars shining are, Me through my father's gates shall they bear.

By the pit side shall crouch my hound
As they lay me in the ground-
There I think to sleep full sound!

Florence Hayllar.

To police the world for the purpose of putting a wholesome restraint upon emigration is within the power, even now within the line of duty, of the greater nations. This can only be accomplished by an international and binding agreement making the power conferred impressive, absolute and compelling. The benefits of such an agreement would be mutual and its results conducive to the safety, happiness and prosperity not only of the strong but of the weak, not only of the free but of the oppressed.

The purposes of such an agreement as is here suggested may be briefly outlined as follows:-To encourage a high moral, physical, political and educational standard of admission for immigrants; and to these might well be added a financial or self-supporting qualification of sufficient scope to prevent the possibility of immediate dependence upon charity. To guard against the spread of disease from one country to another. To check undue activity on the part of transportation agents. To maintain a world-wide system of police identification and re

straint of criminals. To persuade each nation to live up to its full responsibilities in the care of its own deficients. To induce the amelioration of political or economic wrongs in given areas, where such influences are driving people from one country to another to the discomfort of the latter.

To avert war, to assist each other in times of great disaster, or to work together for any purpose tending towards the mutual welfare of two or more peoples, has always been accepted as a legitimate function of governments and a satisfactory object of international conference or agreement.

Emigration has now become an international as well as a national question. All peoples welcome the selfsupporting, intelligent and healthy foreigner, but unfortunately for the peace and safety of prosperous and well-governed communities the world over, a very large proportion of those now on the move cannot even by courtesy or sympathy be placed under this classification.

Between a million and a half and two

million people annually are now moving from one country to another seeking a change in their place of permanent residence. Seven-eighths of those taking part in this exodus are from countries where the inhabitants are but partially civilized from the Anglo-Saxon point of view, or they are being forced out of their native environment by political or economic wrongs. No nation can effectually control this movement single-handed, even in the matter of admissions to its own territory. There is a more or less well organized conspiracy to break down or evade barriers which may be erected, and it succeeds to a remarkable degree, for the influences at work are international, hence cannot be neutralized from a single, or national, point of operation. This conspiracy is none the less effective because it is peaceful, intangible, and does not come within the jurisdiction of law. It originates in the disinclination of Governments to assume their full responsibility, in the pernicious activity of those who profit from the moving of thousands of people, and in the inclination of the oppressed to follow the line of least resistance towards final relief.

The concern of all nations is with emigration as well as immigration. It is not to the best interests of any country that a desirable element of its population shall depart for foreign lands, taking with them perhaps not so much in worldly goods, but reducing the productive power, decreasing the military strength, and weakening the social fabric at a most vital point. In times of great industrial development it is necessary there should be an influx of labor from abroad, but except in remote sections, or where local conditions are not favorable to the wage-earner, this need is generally promptly and naturally supplied. There is also always a floating population the world over, usually well able to take care of itself,

floating because of innate restlessness, or moved from one country to another because of various but ordinary reasons, personal to each individual. It is not with the usual and natural migration of more or less responsible human beings that nations are especially concerned at this or, in fact, at any other time.

The present emigration movement is neither usual nor natural. The countries which these emigrants are leaving are sustaining by their departure a distinct and appreciable loss in productive power, military strength is sapped, and the general tone of the districts thus depopulated drops below the normal point for the reason that those who go are mostly males in the prime of life and at the height of their value to the community. The consequences of such an outward movement are most farreaching. Labor becomes scarce and wages low. This may sound contradictory, but it is true, as is shown in southern Italy.

Economic conditions in central and southern Europe are such that the cost of production must be small or industry is impossible. Hence, when labor becomes scarce, and the natural tendency would be towards higher wages, industry and development are almost altogether checked, and the condition of the people left behind is soon even worse than when a larger number occupied the competitive field. Many other evils besides that of small earning power follow in consequence. Tax collections grow less, hence school conveniences and other community needs are supplied in less satisfactory manner. business grows slack and unprofitable, and the country rapidly loses its vitality. The spirit of unrest and discontent is rife among those left behind by very reason of their inability to follow. Patriotism, loyalty and other civic virtues necessary to the welfare of a State sink to a low ebb.

All