WATTS’S LITERARY GUIDE. B E I N G A M O N T H L Y R E C O R D O F L I B E R A L A N D A D V A N C E D R U B R IC A T IO N S .

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No. 98 ]

JA N U A R Y 15, 1S94.

[P rice One Penny.

N E I V R U B R IC A T IO N S .

OUR L I B R A R Y S H E L V E S .

M essrs. Watts & Co. have just sent to press a valuable treatise, by a new author, dealing with the question, “ Is the ISiblc a Revelation from God ?” (2s. 6d.). The work is written in the form of dialogues between a Sceptic and an Evangelical Christian; and the argument is well sustained on each side.

Messrs. B ickers & Son have decided to issue the whole of the poems by the late Constance Naden in one large volume. It is expected that a distinguished philosopher will contribute an Introduction.

Messrs. Williams & Norgatk have published Mr. Moncure I). Conway’s recent discourses on “ The Centenary History of the South Place Society” (5s.). The volume is reviewed in our present issue.

T h e ■ Rationalist Press Committee will issue early next month, through Messrs. Watts & Co., a neat little volume under the title of “ Songs of Love and Duty for the Young ” (6d.). The compiler is Mr. Gustav Spiller, of the East London Ethical Society, and it is believed that various organisations will readily avail themselves of this brochure to brighten and popularise their weekly meetings.

What, in characteristic American phraseology, is described as “ the most magnificent work ever published by the Freethought press ” is to be issued early in the coming Spring. It will be entitled “ Four Hundred Years of Freethought” (21s.), and will be written by Mr. S. P. Putnam, a bright and always entertaining chronicler. The object of the book will be to present the course of Freethought throughout the civilised world for the last four centuries, from the time of Columbus and Bruno to the present day ; and it will show what Frccthought is in itself, how manifold are its influences, and with what hope and promise its future triumph may be anticipated. The first part will deal with Frecthought as a universal power, as a spirit, a method, a prevailing but organised influence in every department of human growth. The second part will treat of Freethought as an organised movement. A prominent feature of this colossal undertaking will be the portraits of those who, up to the present time, have been identified with Freethought work—editors, lecturers, officers of Societies, and those who, as representative men, have won distinction in other fields of thought. There will also be about one hundred biographies, and in these will be given a graphic picture of Frccthought progress. The book will contain over six hundred pages of printed matter, and will be elegantly bound. Copies may be subscribed for through Messrs. Watts & Co.

Mr. C harles Watts has written an entirely new pamphlet, dealing with “ The Bible Up to Date ’’ (ad.).

“ An attempt to lay down an ethical doctrine in harmony with the doctrine of evolution.” That is how, in the preface, Mr. Leslie Stephen characterises his work on

“ the science ok eth ic s”

(Smith, Elder, & Co.; 18 82 ; 462 pp.; 16s.). Mr. Stephen very frankly admits that, in the present state of our knowledge, our science of human nature must fall very far short in accuracy of the physical sciences. Astronomers may foretell the date of an eclipse, and mechanicians the course of a projectile. But who can predict the appearance of a new creed, or the development of a social reform ? Still, a large measure of certainty is attainable. For practical purposes we are enabled to rely upon a careful estimate of the probable conduct of our fellow-men under the influence of sentiment, passion, and principle. Assistance is rendered by the fact that society is an organic growth governed by physical and psychological laws. So that it is possible for us to arrive at some useful solution of the ethical problem— ».<■ ., discover, with some correctness, the nature and direction of the moral sentiments. In searching for this solution, the author is careful to state that he bases his inferences on observed facts, not on an ideal moral code created by intuition or transcendental speculation. Whatever system of morality we may uphold, we all confess that ideal and actual ethics arc very far from coinciding.

Conduct is determined by feeling, and not, primarily, by a conscious calculation of the factors which make for happiness. Reason makes this calculation more and more efficiently with the progress of civilisation, but does not modify the main purpose of human action. But, as man is a creature of society, it is impossible to guage his motives without considering him as actuated by social instincts, which express themselves in politics, religion, industry, and the family life. And it may be noted that Mr. Stephen proves himself to be in no wise a moral revolutionist when lie remarks of the family life : “ As a fart, the family represents that kind of association which is beyond all comparison the most vitally connected with the happiness of the individual, and the condition of which most immediately affects the gratification of all his strongest instincts. For a great part of everyone’s life the family is the whole world.”

Social customs and habits are conventional embodiments of underlying and unwritten laws of human nature. And law, in the technical and constitutional sense, is but the set \crhal formulation of a social tendency. Or, if it is not, the law will collapse. Coercion may be a necessary aid to the law against a minority of savages or criminals or relrels ; but no social constitution can ultimately rest on coercion. “ Coercion itself is only possible by virtue of the co operation which implies the existence of every other social motive.” And, as custom stands for secret social forces, so a moral law is not a thing imposed from without, but “ a statement of the conditions essential to the vitality of the social tissue.” It is natural, not supernatural. It comes from the heart, not from the rocks of Sinai. It is internal,