Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 9.djvu/393

Rh made by Thomas Aquinas, and the unfortunate route taken by science in consequence; in anatomy and medicine, the earlier growth of ecclesiastical distrust of these sciences; in scientific education, the dealings of various European universities with scientific studies; in political and social science, a more complete statement of the opposition of the Church, on scriptural grounds, to the taking of interest for money; and in the conclusion, a more careful summing up."

The distinguishing feature of this little volume, and which will make it eminently valuable and useful at the present time, is its copious and careful notes, which give authoritative support to the argument. Nothing important is left to rest upon mere assertion. The battle that Science has had to fight from the beginning, and without remission, with ignorance, prejudice, and intolerance, inspired and directed by ecclesiastical influence, is vividly delineated in the text, and the positions taken are so fortified by citations from works of the highest character as to leave little room for further controversy. That the history of Science has been throughout a struggle with the theologians, and that the Bible has been used by devout believers in its infallible inspiration to crush out the results of scientific inquiry, are perfectly well known; while that science is still dreaded and denounced on religious grounds, and that the Bible is still extensively appealed to against its conclusions, are now so obvious that there is certainly no reason for doubting its employment in the same way, in less enlightened times. But there are so many who are inclined to forget, and belittle, and explain away the uglier features of the past conflict, that it becomes necessary to array the evidence of it in book and page, chapter and verse, as President White has done. Nothing is to be gained, at any rate, by ignoring historic truth, and bigotry and superstition still offer too vigorous a resistance to the advance of rational inquiry to make it desirable that we should quite forget the painful lessons of the past.

author of the "Centennial Republic," during a sojourn of several years in the United States, was a critical observer of our social and political life. The result of his observations is a merciless exposure of all the vices and defects of republican institutions as they exist in this country. The work is in reality a pamphlet intended to influence the minds of Germans living at home, and to dissuade them from emigrating to the United States. Mr. Becker has three chapters on the condition of the working-class; several chapters on politics and government, rings, carpet-baggery, corruption, the lobby; finally, he treats of the family, education of children, and a number of other subjects. The author is an advocate, and does full justice to the cause he defends; the brighter side of American life is not his concern.

two volumes are numbered respectively III. and IV. in Putnam's series of "Brief Biographies," designed to acquaint the American public with the characters and services of eminent politicians and statesmen abroad. In vol. iii. we have sketches of twenty-three of the foremost political leaders of France, and in vol. iv. of nineteen men prominent in the political life of Germany. Both Mr. King and Mr. Tuttle have enjoyed the advantage of personal acquaintance with several of the subjects of their biographies; in all cases they have had the best opportunities for studying the men whose lives they describe. They are no transcribers of biographical notes and dates, their aim being rather to portray character than to inform the reader of the dry and impertinent details of a man's career.

is beyond question the best manual of the. history of the United States that has yet been written. The style is plain and marked by directness; and the author usually assigns to events their true proportions, as viewed from the standpoint of the impartial historian. Four graphical maps exhibit—1. The changes in territory; and, 2. The distribution of population in 1790, 1830, and 1870.