through matter, a possibility that cess for example as unmasking fraud or deception in a court of law. There is that unconscious knowledge and memory of facts which is never effaced from the organism, though we may think we have never known or have completely forgotten them. This unrevealed personality lying beneath the strata of race and individual experience, the hidden basis of our daily and superficial activities, may with our complete unconsciousness occasion selfdeception and lead us to deceive others without intention. This is a notion which has been arrived at in the ordinary course of physiological and psychological inquiries of recent years; and it is a weapon with which the psychical inquirer arms himself. And what is the conclusion of these longcontinued and patient inquiries in England, France, and elsewhere made by those who have investigated the whole body of so-called psychical manifestations? Assuming that they must be the effects of causes which are not those of any known physical forces, how far have they been provel to be actual occurrences in the opinion of those who have applied whatever tests of possible experiment or inquiry a philosophical or scientific scepticism might suggest? In Dr. Richet's opinion there are indeed but few of what he prefers to call metapsychical phenomena on which all doubt has been triumphantly dissipated, and there are perhaps but two or three elementary ones which can claim to be definitely established; as, for example, raps without contact, or veridical hallucinations. Thus the status of the ghost and his entourage is very ill defined and can scarcely be considered as free from doubt. radium suggests-of planchette, of hypnotism, of Mrs. Piper, and of many other abnormal persons and things quite as curious. If these things are facts they are interesting, they may be important, and if they are not, they are at any rate very puzzling; and we should be glad to know "how it is done." Why should not a number of English people who can listen to an address in French for an hour and a half without apparent weariness, employ some of their remarkable patience in elucidating these mysteries? They have done so, as is well known; and what was to be expected has happened. They have arrived at the conclusion which we others of the middle term have arrived at without corporate action. First of all they are not very certain about the alleged facts. From the days of Simon Magus downwards, and before, the magician has hardly ever known himself how far he was the possessor of an unexplained extraordinary power, and how far he deceived himself and others. Much less have other people been able to demarcate the two provinces. Nor has the Psychical Society. You may explode some ghost stories, but you cannot, with every exercise of ingenuity, explode them all. You may explode impostors and yet be conscious that you have not got to the heart of the mystery they have been exploiting. You end rather by disbelieving in the magician than in the magic. When our ancestors ceased burning witches it was not because they ceased to believe in witchcraft, the witch of Endor was too much for them, but because they got rather ashamed of burning the wrong persons. In such matters as the seeing of ghosts, the fulfilment of dreams, or premonitions of death, or in cases of clairvoyance, more delicacy of treatment is required than in such a pro But turning from the question of fact, of the amount of evidence there is of psychical happenings, and admitting there is some, what is the theory or explanation of them? What are the unknown forces presumed to act upon 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 objection 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 wh● 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. BOOKS AND AUTHORS. 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, We breathed to them our hopes and fears In the dear, dead, tremendous years Daughters of gods might smile on men, No rainbow now across our path Amber nor amethyst she hath- For ever through the fields of night, HOME FROM BATTLE. Here at the good king's tent stand I- come; And find me, and lift me, and carry me home. Three days will the journey be Shall they desire to make their stay 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;- 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 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 |