is the "only book to which has been awarded the honor of a centenary commemoration" is, to say the least, incautious. The centenary of Kant's Kritik der reinen Vernunft was so commemorated in 1881. Somewhere the annual known as La Vie

Politique 'à l'Étranger, by Lavisse, should have been inserted. After what is said of Mr. Bryce's American Commonwealth (p. 99), M. Carlier's book-of which the title is wrongly givenis not sufficiently emphasized by being called "a masterly review" (p. 107). Professor Burgess has said of this work that it is "the most comprehensive and exhaustive in any language upon the public law and political institutions of the United States" (Political Science Quarterly, vi: 164). "Church and State" is very scantily treated (pp. 116-7), and the literature dealing with the relations of the state to education is omitted entirely, only a few titles being included incidentally under other heads.

The editors have attempted almost too much in endeavoring to compress so many subjects into a single bibliography, but they can do a great deal to improve this first edition. As it is, it is very useful; and as it can be made, it will be indispensable to students and teachers of political and social science.

N. M. B.

Shakespeare's Comedy of the Merchant of Venice.-Edited, with Notes, by HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A.M., Ph.D., President of the University of North Dakota. Chicago; S. R. Winchell & Co., 1890, pp. 188.

Numerous school editions of this most delightful of Shakespeare's comedies have appeared from time to time, and one wonders at the outset why President Sprague should have set himself the task of giving us still another. In his brief and modest preface he states four reasons: namely, (1) to furnish notes that may stimulate thought rather than supersede it; (2) to give the results of the latest critical research; (3) to present the opinions of more than one authority on all disputed points of any considerable importance; (4) to include for the teacher's guidance a symposium of the best thought and practice in teaching English literature.

It will need only a most cursory examination of the text and annotations to convince any one at all familiar with other editions of this play, that the foregoing claims have been fully substantiated. Without disparaging other editions of the

Merchant of Venice, some of which are excellent, notably that of Rolfe, it must be admitted, nevertheless, that most of them are not well adapted for school use.

In President Sprague's book one hesitates which most to admire, the erudition and scholarship displayed in the wide range of his critical annotation, his unerring discernment of what the pupil most needs, or the masterly skill with which he suggests rather than asserts the true interpretation of the author, thereby keeping the pupil's intelligence ever alert to discover and seize upon the nice distinctions of thought in which Shakespeare abounds.

In this last respect, particularly, the work of President Sprague is unique and difficult to excel. Instead of affirming in the ipse dixit manner, common to so many editors, that the text means thus and so, President Sprague is satisfied merely to suggest an interpretation where help is needed; but consistently with his avowed claim of "stimulating rather than of superseding thought," he puts his suggestion into the interrogative form and affords the pupil the opportunity to decide for himself.

Like so many editors who make a fetich of the old quartos and folios, President Sprague prefers to use alablaster instead of alabaster (1. 84), moe instead of more (l. 108), etc., although Shakespeare's own spelling of the same words is variable and elsewhere in conformity with present usage.

The annotations are placed at the bottom of the page, to which some teachers may demur, and comprise fully one-half of the 123 pages devoted to the text and notes. Not the least valuable features of the book are the critical comments on the play by distinguished Shakespearean scholars, suggestions and plans for study, specimens of examination papers, topics for essays, and so on.

The introduction, likewise, is most admirable. Taken as a whole, President Sprague's book is a credit to American. scholarship. It exhibits, besides, a pedagogical insight that is as rare as it is remarkable. It cannot fail to give a great impetus to the study of Shakespeare in the schools.

A. B. P.

Handcraft: Being an English Exposition of Slöjd as cultivated in Sweden. -By JOHN D. SUTCLIFFE, of the Manchester Recreative Evening Classes. New York: Charles E. Merrill & Co., 1890, pp. 79.

The publication of this treatise is one more indication of the widely felt need of introducing manual methods into the lower grade schools, and it is evident that the author is entirely satisfied that the adoption of the Swedish method will furnish a complete solution of the problem. There is no question that such a detailed receipt ready to the hand, and developed by actual experiment, would be a most desirable acquisition, if it were not that there are weighty reasons which prevent its meeting our own special conditions. In the first place, manual training exercises are helpful and efficient only in the degree in which they advance educational ends, and the particular operations selected must be those which best fulfill the requirements of economy in tools and material, neatness in operation, adaptability to class methods, and fitness to the varying capacities of the pupils. Froebel's gifts and occupations of the kindergarten are a happy illustration of the successful application of this principle to one set of conditions. The exercises of the Swedish Sloyd represent an attempt to meet another set of conditions by making use of an additional principle, viz., that by creating in each exercise some useful article, an added interest and moral value is imparted to the work. It is this principle, consequently, which has determined the exact form of each exercise and produced a series of pieces, useful perhaps in Sweden, but of little direct service among us; and the whole value of the utilitarian idea is lost when it is sought to apply them to other conditions. There is very little zest for an American boy in laboriously producing a key label or book carrier that he knows would never be used for that purpose. In order to obtain in every case a piece of useful application, the strictly disciplinary value of the exercise is subordinated to its constructive necessities. These, in many cases, involve the repetition of a few very simple operations, as in the long flower-pot stand, and the foot-stool, and consequently consume considerable labor and material, without a proportionate educational return.

The list of tools given for carrying out the system is somewhat formidable, including as it does, practically, all of the ordinary tools of the carpenter; and as some of the most expensive are used but a few times during the course, the prac

tice obtained can hardly be sufficient to impart much benefit. But with our well-developed methods in high school work, our direct interest in Sloyd is limited to the lower grades, and here the employment of a large number of expensive tools is quite out of the question. The only methods worth considering for these stages are those which need but two or three tools of the simplest character, and which can be prosecuted for the most part in the regular class-room.

The general use of sandpaper to secure the final finish of the work is another point which must be strongly objected to. By its employment a purely mechanical operation is substituted for the consciously guided hand movement, and a superficial smoothness is obtained at a sacrifice of exactness. The use of models instead of working drawings is also a weakness of the system. Nothing develops the power of clear imagination and exact thinking like the dependence upon a drawing in constructive work, and it should be made use of wherever practicable.

In fact, all that the system herein described has of benefit for us lies in its suggestiveness. Neither its exact exercises nor its methods can be applied to our conditions with advantage, but, in the simplicity of its first exercises and in the freehand character of some of the knife pieces, there is much that is helpful. In these pieces of free outlines and delicate curves much good training may be given in the principles of design and in the appreciation of graceful form and good proportion. CHARLES R. RICHARDS.

PRATT INSTITUTE,

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

Notes on Recent Pedagogical Literature.

Tabellen zur Geschichte deR PÄDAGOGIK. Ein Repetitionsbuch für Seminaristen und Lehrer.-Herausgegeben von W. Pätzold. Jena Fr. Mauke's Verlag (A. Schenck), 1891, S. 30.

:

This is a compact compilation of names, facts, and dates, for use in preparing for examinations. The author has omitted many educationists of the first order of importance, apparently because they were not Germans. Conversely, many Germans of merely local reputation are inserted. The book lacks proportion.

ANNUAIRE DE L'Enseignement PRIMAIRE. Publié sous la Direction de M. Jost. Paris A. Colin et Cie., 1891, pp. 644.

M. Jost's valuable annual is in its seventh year. It is a

veritable mine of information concerning elementary education in France, the personnel of the administrative and teaching bodies, the newest laws and ministerial decrees. The annexed essays are even more interesting than usual, and of particular merit are that by M. Gréard on "Le rôle des femmes dans l'Enseignement primaire," and that on "Le Concentration dans le plan d'Études," the latter being a study in the Herbartian pedagogy. The many American readers of M. Gabriel Compayré will be glad to see that he has become Rector of the Academy of Poitiers (p. 132).

BULLETIN DE L'ASSOCIATION NATIONALE POUK LA RÉForme de l'EnseiGNEMENT SECONDAIRE, Nos. 1 et 2. Paris: Au Siège de l'Association, 1890, pp. 23, 31. The association which issues this Bulletin is organized to bring about such reforms in French secondary education as will adjust it to the needs of contemporary society. The association forcibly attacks the classical course in the Lycées as inefficient. The alternative course, in which the modern languages are substituted for Greek and Latin, is preferable, but not satisfactory. A new organization is demanded for the secondary schools in order that a broad and modern foundation may be laid before any specialization is undertaken. This is to include instruction in morals and "civics," in the French language and literature, in English and German, in history, geography, and elementary science. Specialization, whether toward the classics or natural science, should not be permitted until such a general course has been completed. The proposition, then, involves an enseignement secondaire uniform for all, and an enseignement secondaire supérieur, diversified to meet all rational needs. The similarity of this plan to some of the propositions for an Einheitsschule in Germany (EDUCATIONAL REVIEW, I: 378), is apparent. The president of the association is M. Georges Berger, the famous director-general of the exposition of 1889.

BULLETIN UNIVERSITAIRE DE L'ENSEIGNEMENT SECONDAIRE, Nos. 1, 2, 3, et 4. Sécretaire de le Reduction, CH. SEIGNOBOS. Paris Armand Colin et Cie., 1891, pp. 144.

This Bulletin, like the one just mentioned, is an interesting sign of the times. It marks the recognition of a common interest on the part of the university professors and the secondary teachers. The Sorbonne has organized a very simple and yet effective course of instruction for those students who look forward to becoming secondary teachers. The central figure