seventeenth century Shakespeare took no active part; he was by nature free from the narrowness of partisanship, and there are indications that he was on friendly terms with men of all shades of literary opinion. In "Hamlet," however, he distinctly takes sides with the adult actors against the growing prominence of boys on the stage. The relation of boy choirs, and especially that of the Chapel Royal, to the theater in Shakespeare's time was pointed out in an earlier chapter. These choirs were, in an informal way, training-schools for the stage at a time when all women's parts were taken by boys, and there was, in consequence, constant need of their services. About the time of the appearance of " Julius Cæsar there was a sharp rivalry between adult and boy actors, the public espousing warmly the performances of the boys. The development of this rivalry cannot be traced, but in 1601 the theater-going public had become partisans of the boys and were deserting the theaters in which adults held the stage. This preference had become so pronounced that Shakespeare's company was driven into the provinces. In their travels the members of the company appeared at Cambridge, and it was probably on this visit that the new play of "Hamlet" was presented. The popularity of the boys not only jeopardized the fortunes of the regular companies, but seriously impaired the quality of the performances. When the Children of the Chapel were able to secure for their own use the new theater in Blackfriars, which Burbage had recently built, the Globe company began to feel the compe tition very keenly; and for a time, so marked was the popularity of the boys, their prospects and those of the art of acting were dark indeed. Shakespeare was at work on "Hamlet" in this crisis in his own fortunes and those of the theater, and stated his position in the controversy with entire clearness. In answer to Hamlet's question why the tragedians travel when it was better both for reputation and profit that they should stay in the city, Rosencrantz replies that their retirement into the provinces has been caused by the "late innovation:" Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? Are they so followed? No, indeed, are they not. How comes it [continues Hamlet]? do they grow rusty? Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace; but there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top of the question, and are most tyrannically clapped rattle the common stages-so they call themfor 't: these are now the fashion, and so bethat many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills and dare scarce come thither. 'em? how are they escoted? Will they pursue What, are they children? who maintains the quality no longer than they can sing? will they not say afterwards, if they should grow themselves to common players-as it is most like, if their means are no better their writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim against their own succession? 'Faith, there has been much to do on both sides; and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them to controversy; there was, for a while, and the player went to cuffs in the question. no money bid for argument, unless the poet Is 't possible? O, there has been much throwing about of brains. Do the boys carry it away? Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and his load too. HEERE LYETH INTERRED THE BODY OF ANNE WIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE WHO DEPTED THIS LIFE THE 6 DAY OF AVGV 1623 BEING OF THE AGE OF 67.YEARES Vbera, tu mater tu lac, vitamiq dedisti Sed nil võta valent venias cito Christe refurget THE INSCRIPTION ON ANNE HATHAWAY'S GRAVE This conversation between Hamlet and Rosencrantz is significant of the close touch with the realities of life which Shakespeare never lost for a moment, even when dealing with the greatest themes or creating works of pure imagination. To this period, in its final form at least, belongs the play of "All's Well that Ends Well," to which Meres, in his "Palladio Tamia," probably refers when he includes among the plays ascribed to Shakespeare "Love's Labour's Won." It was probably sketched and perhaps fully written at a much earlier date than its final revision. The plot is derived from a group of stories in Boccaccio's "Decameron" which narrate the fortunes of lovers who surmount obstacles and gain the rewards of love only after great or persistent effort; a phase of experience which is beyond doubt the keynote of the play. The story was translated by Paynter, and appeared in English in "The Palace of Pleasure" in 1566 or 1567. Shakespeare departed widely from the story in its earlier form by the greater prominence given to the part of Helena and the sin gular sweetness and devotion which irradiate her whole course. Coleridge thought her Shakespeare's loveliest creation. The portraiture of her character is touched throughout with exquisite delicacy and skill. Helena suffers, however, from the atmosphere of the play, which is distinctly repellent; it is difficult to resist the feeling that, conceding all that the play demands in concentration of interest upon the single end to be achieved, Helena cheapens the love she finally wins by a sacrifice greater than love could ask or could afford to receive. And when the sacrifice is made and the end secured, the victory of love is purely external; there is no inward and deathless unity of passion between the lovers like that which united Posthumus and Imogen in life and Romeo and Juliet in death. The play must be interpreted broadly in the light of Shakespeare's entire work; in this light it finds its place as the expression of a passing mood of deep and almost cynical distrust; it is full of that searching irony which from time to time finds utterance in the poet's work and was inevitable in a mind of such range of poem "The Statue and the Bust." It is vision. It is well to remember, also, that always a perilous experiment, because it in this play the poet, for the sake of involves so much intelligent co-operation throwing a single quality into the highest on the part of the reader. It is a triumph relief, secured entire concentration of of Shakespeare's art that Helena's purity attention by disregarding or ignoring not only survives the dangers to which other qualities and relations of equal im- she exposes it, but takes on a kind of portance and authority. This was what saintly whiteness in the corruption in Browning did in his much-misunderstood which she plays her perilous part. Books of the Week This report of current literature is supplemented by fuller reviews of such books as in the judgment of the editors are of special importance to our readers. The absence of comment in this department in many cases indicates that extended review will be made at a later date. Any of these books will be sent by the publishers of The Outlook, postpaid, to any address on receipt of the published price. Açvaghosha's Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana. Translated by Teitaro Suzuki. The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago. 5x8 in. 160 pages. $1.25. Açvaghosha, who lived nearly two thousand years ago, is the philosopher of Buddhism. His principal work, here translated by a Japanese scholar, is used to-day in its Chinese version as a text-book for the instruction of Buddhist priests. The form of his thought is so alien from that of the Western mind as to require patient endeavor to get at its substance. In this Dr. Carus finds his own interpretation of Buddhism fully justified. The translator hopes that his labor will result in removing misconceptions and relieving Buddhism of unjust criticism. Areopagitica, and Other Tracts. By John Milton. (The Temple Classics. Edited by Israel Gollancz.) The Macmillan Co., New York. 4x6 in. 155 pages. 50c Art of Optimism, The: As Taught by Robert Browning. By William De Witt Hyde. 5×74 in. 35 pages. 35c. Some Ideals in the Education of Women. By Caroline Hazard. 5x74 in. 31 pages. 35c. The Problem of Duty. By Charles F. Dole. 5x74 in. 38 pages. 35c. Spiritual Lessons from the Brownings. By Amory H. Bradford, D.D. 5x7 in. 38 pages. 35c. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York. subject of an experiment by an Eastern scientist, and is transformed into the most beautiful young woman in the world! Bennett Twins, The. By Grace Marguerite Hurd. The Macmillan Co., New York. 5x73⁄4 in. 313 pages. $1.50. A vivacious, wholesome story of the adventures of two young people-a brother and sister-who are bent on becoming artists, and who are permitted, very much against the will of their guardians, to make the experiment of coming to New York and setting up for themselves. Arriving in the city, they begin bohemian housekeeping in a studio building which is crowded from morning until night with a group of rollicking art students, and in which life rises at times to a feverish height. The description of life in the studio of a teacher of painting is evidently done from first-hand knowledge. The book has no marked literary skill, but it is fresh, breezy, and full of spirit. Black Gown, The. By Ruth Hall. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 434x734 in. 318 pages. $1.50. A story of Dutch life in Albany about the time of the outbreak of the French and Indian wars. The author knows a great deal about the peculiar social customs of the American Dutch of that time, and in this respect the story is decidedly interesting. But both in construction and in style there is something lacking which prevents this book from being a thoroughly satisfactory story; a certain As You Like It. By William Shakespeare. abruptness and roughness in the narration be A series of small volumes of less than forty pages each which have a high educational value, and which are extremely profitable reading for all those who wish to know how to get the best and the most out of life. Illustrated by Will Low. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 6x9 in. 130 pages. $2.50. 66 Mr. Low's art readily lends itself to decoration, and he has been very successful in giving books of the imaginative and idealistic temper an appropriate and taking dress. His treatment of Mr. Mabie's "The Forest of Arden' has met with a popular approval which it well deserves, because of its poetic quality. In Shakespeare's beautiful comedy “As You Like It" he had a subject which affords the fullest play for his poetic insight and artistic instinct, and he has made a very charming volume. Probably no artist can sketch the ideal Rosalind, but Mr. Low has been very successful in presenting the characters of the play; his figures are vivid, characteristic, and spirited. The text is handsomely printed with decorated borders in red, and the volume is one which any lover of Shakespeare or of good artistic book-making work will appreci ate. Bacillus of Beauty, The. By Harriet Stark. The Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. 5x71⁄2 in. 340 pages. $1.50. In plot this novel may well claim freshness and originality. A young Western girl is made the come monotonous. The general impression left is that the material is excellent, and that the author is capable of doing better work than is here offered. Bob Knight's Diary at Poplar Hill School, with Sketches by Bob. By Charlotte Curtis Smith. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 32X5 in. 242 pages. $1.50. Brethren of the Coast: A Tale of the West Indies. By Kirk Munroe. Illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 5x7% in. 303 pages. $1.25. Certainly an exciting if not always an entirely credible story of West Indian piracy and crime, from which the boy hero of course emerges triump....nt and prosperous. Carlyle's Essay on Burns. Edited by Willard C. Gore. The Macmillan Co., New York. (Pocket English Series.) 4×534 in. 186 pages. 25c. Dictionary of the Bible, A. Edited by James Hastings, M.A., D.D. With the Assistance of John A. Seibie, M.A., and Others. (In Four Vols.) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. III. 7×101⁄2 in. 896 pages. $6 per volume. Last week the third volume appeared of that new and monumental work, “ A Dictionary of the Bible," edited by Drs. Hastings and Seĺbie. Despite some dry and unclear if not uncertain statements, we think that the clergyman who has no Bible Dictionary can probably find none which, on the whole, will be as good as this. Dr. Dumany's Wife. By Maurus Jókai. Translated by F. Steinitz. Doubleday & McClure Co., New York. 434x72 in. 312 pages. $1.25. The latest translated novel from the great Hungarian romancer is hardly equal in point of dramatic unity or clear characterization to his "Poor Plutocrats," but, like all his many novels and who has ever published so many? -"Dr. Dumany's Wife" could not be other than picturesque. Of course it deals with a remarkably labyrinthine plot; this particular one is that of a marriage under a misapprehension not dispelled until years afterwards. The lively opening scene of a railway wreck, due to a landslide in Switzerland, and the description of stock speculation during the Franco-German War of 1870-71, are perhaps the most notable scenes and themes in the book. Evangelization of the World in This Generation, The. By John R. Mott. The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, New York, 42x74 in. 245 pages. The title of this book is the watchword of "The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions," one of the most significant phenomena in the Church history of this century. Originating in 1886, it has already sent forth two thousand well-educated missionaries, and a larger number are still preparing. By "evangelization" is not meant the conversion of the world, but the adequate presentation of Christ's Gospel to the world. This does not discard educational, medical, and literary work as auxiliary, but it emphasizes the work of the evangelist. Nor does it regard his work as other than preliminary to the development of the spirit of Christian service among the evangelized, until the life and laws of the nations shall be thoroughly Christianized. Thus interpreting his "watchword," Mr. Mott presents the idea in various points of view, to show that it can be realized, and ought to be. A bibliography of important missionary publications is appended. Five Books of Song. By Richard Watson Gilder. (Fourth Edition.) The Century Co., New This is a new edition, revised, of the single volume into which Mr. Gilder has put the five small books in which his poetry has appeared from time to time. In several cases he has made additions to the text. The book is well made from every point of view. Foundations of French. By Fred Davis Aldrich, A.B., and Irving Lysander Foster, A.M. Ginn & Co., Boston. 42x7 in. 177 pages. 95c. Foundations of Knowledge. By Alexander Thomas Ormond. (In Three Parts.) The Macmillan Co., New York. 52x9 in. 528 pages. $3. in one convenient volume the two volumes previously published separately. Frederic Lord Leighton, P.R.A.: His Life and Work. By Ernest Rhys. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co., New York. 5x8 in. 144 pages. $3. This is the third edition of Mr. Rhys's capital biography of Lord Leighton, and is published in a smaller form. Golden Legend; or, Lives of the Saints. As Englished by William Caxton. The Macmillan Co., New York. (The Temple Classics. Edited by F.S. Ellis.) Vols. III. and IV. 4×6 in. 274 and 306 pages. 70c. each. 66 Half a Dozen Thinking Caps. By Mary F. Leonard. The Play Lady. By Ella F. Pratt. Playground Toni. By Anna C. Ray. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York. 5X7 in. 50c. each. A group of three attractively printed stories for younger, if not the youngest, children. Half a Dozen Thinking Caps "may be taken as representing the three, and is very well told, with a sympathetic insight into child life, a dash of mischief to save it from monotony, and a good deal of good sense in dealing with the high spirits of children. Hidden Values. By Joseph the Writer. Stettiner Bros., New York. 5x7 in. 148 pages. History of the Devil. By Dr. Paul Carus. Illustrated. The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago. 7x11 in. 496 pages. $6. History of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and Addresses delivered at the Celebration of the Thirty-fifth Anniversary of the Pastorate of the Rev. George L. Kalb, D.D. The Index Printing and Publishing Co., Bellefontaine, O. 5x7 in. 278 pages. Image Breakers, The. By Gertrude Dix. Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. 5x7 in. 392 This remarkably realistic novel is a romance pages. $1.50. of modern communistic ideas and life. Intimate first-hand knowledge, presumably through actual experience, is evident on every page. Indian Club Swinging. By Frank E. Miller. Illustrated. The Saalfield Publishing Co., New York. 5x7 in. 182 pages. $1. In the Desert. By George Ebers. Translated by Mary F. Safford. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 5x7 in. 329 pages. $1.50. The last of the novels of George Ebers to be translated is a short sermon on that particular and insidious form of selfishness masking under the impulse" to live out your own nature." Neither plot nor characters nor style seem to us so admirable as in the author's earlier romances. In the Irish Brigade. By G. A. Henty. Illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 5x7 in. 384 pages. $1.50. Two other of Mr. Henty's books are mentioned elsewhere. This deals with the famous war in Flanders and in Spain, and has the usual France. By John Edward Courtenay Bodley. English lad placed in extraordinary situations Two Vols. in One. (New Edition.) The Macmillan Co., New York. 5x8 in. 504 pages. $2.50. It is within the mark to say that this work is the most important and most philosophic published in our time dealing with modern French political conditions. The present edition puts and exercising considerable influence on the events of the war. To American boy readers we suspect that Mr. Henty's style seems rather heavy; but his methods are always clean and not unduly sensational. The popularity of his books is unquestionable. |