Book Reviews [pp. 223-224]

Book Reviews.
much is left of the character, life, and work, of Jesus
of Nazareth, when all that is supernatural, all that
can be touched by the sharpest rationalistic scrutiny,
is taken away. Mr. Crooker still finds Jesus "the
sublimest character in history."
Mr. Jackson's book, Tle Izmmanent God,1 is pleas anter reading, partly because of the fact that it is
constructive rather than destructive, but largely, too,
because the work of a man of more spirituality, master of a more sympathetic and eloquent style. He
is, of course, of the advanced school of historic criticism; as when, for example, he preaches on "Satan,
or the Genius of Trial," expounding the doctrine still
very new to most orthodox churches, though not
absolutely unknown, that Satan is historically not
properly Diabolos at all, but in his rightful place
when, as in Job, he appears unrebuked among the
sons of God. It is characteristic of Mr. Jackson's
broad charity that he should preach this sermon to.
make it seem that Satan is not so black as he is
painted.
The three sermons on God, "The Immanent
God," " The Unsearchable God," and "The Manifest God," are worthy of careful study. "Law, Prov idence and Prayer," and " Self-Abnegation," are
powerful sermons, and the final discourse on "The
H-eart's Plea for Immortality Accepted" should
bring comfort to many a troubled soul.
Briefer Notice.
The fact that we have the nineteenth edition of
Wheeler's Dictionary of No/ed Names of Fiction2 is
sufficient guarantee of its value. It contains about
twice as many (to give a rough guess) titles as the
one in Webster's Unabridged, and the treatment is
scholarly and satisfactory. The present edition has
an appendix of a large number of new titles by
Charles G. Wheeler. —-From the publishers of the
Tolstoi books recently reviewed in the OVERLAND
1 The Immanent God. By Abraham W. Jackson.
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. i889. For sale in
San Francisco by Samuel Carson & Co.
2 Dictionary of the Noted Names of Fiction. By
\Wm. A. Wheeler. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.
i889. For sale in San Francisco by Samuel Carson &
Co.
come neat paper bound editions of Aly Confession3
and Ivdzn Ilyitch. This is good, there cannot be too
wide a diffusion of Tolstoi's work in whatever form.
-Living Mafatter 4 is a small volume in which Mr.
C. A. Stephens sets forth his ideas on life and tries
to prove that physical immortality is not impossible.
He shows that what we call "growing old" is the
decrease in number and in activity of the biogens because of their being crowded out or encysted by
formed matter. If a method could be found to eliminate the earthy accretions as they form, and so
keep the organism plastic and "young," there
would be no limit to life. But alas, Mr. Stephens has
found no method of doing this. -Rather a formidable volume in title and bulk is Tze Law of Eqzivaleizts 5 but he who has the hardihood to attempt its
reading will not find it so bad as it looks. Thick
paper and large type swell the size much, but the
largest element in the size of the book is the rambling style of the author, whose method is that of the
philosophical student who gave a door as an example of some point under discussion, and then went
on to give as further instances another door and another door. Mr. Pavson's "Law of Equivalents"
is the law of cause and effect, in the shape that every
effect is a product of many causes, all of which -re
indispensable. This law he applies to many social,
political, and ethical problems, generally with the
approval of his reader, but sometimes with the dissent, -- which dissent occasionally becomes rampant.
Instances of this in the minds of many readers will
be his treatment of the " fanatic" (the man unwilling to compromise), the prohibition question, and
the woman suffrage question. He thinks the woman
suffragist is tarred with the Free Love stick, usually
if not always. All that is valuable in the book could
be put in one of its chapters.
3 My Confession. By L. N. Tolstoi. Translated by
Huntington Smith. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell
& Co. 1889. Paper.
Ivain Ilyitch. Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole.
Ibid.
4 Living Matter. By C. A. Stephens. The Laboratory Company: Norway Lake, Maine. i888.
5 The Law of Equivalents. By Edward Payson. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. i888. For sale in Sa
Francisco by Samuel Carson & Co.
224
[Aug,ust.