Welsh Journals

history, and beauty, which lies just off the beaten track; for the narrative is livel" and the author admires with enthusiasm tempered with discrimin- ation. The volume is admirably illustrated. W.W.D. Zermatt and Its Valley. Francois Gos. (Cassell; 15/- net). Every lover of the Swiss mountains should make haste to buy this book. It is a volume of pictures, to which the small proportion of letter- press serves only as a guide. No finer Alpine photographs have ever been published, and there are close upon two hundred of them. As a guide book for the pedestrian who really desires to explore one of the finest of Swiss valleys this volume is probably unrivalled. Even more, perhaps, will it be appreciated by those who, sitting by the home fires in Wales, will have memories of glorious days on the Cervin, the Findelen, and the Gorner- grat, freshened by turning over its pages. W.W.D. Along the Rivieras of France and Italy. Gordon Home. (Dent and Sons, Ltd; 7/6 net). This is a new edition of a thoroughly good book. The literature of the Rivieras is exceedingly voluminous (and no region in the world better deserves to be written about); and it is with jealousy that one is apt to regard any wanton addition to it. With the exception, however, of Baring Gould's well-known work (and that stops short at Savona, leaving the Riviera di Lev ante untoulched) the volume now lying before ue is probaibly the best in the English language. It deals with the whole coast from Marseilles to Pisa, and no place noteworthy either on account of its history, or of its beauty, is passed over in silence. For the intelligent traveDer no better guide could be found. The volume contains many extremely beautiful illustrations in colour, all of them the work of the author's own brush. W.W.D. Free-Thought in the Social Sciences. J. A. Hobson. (Allen and Unwin, Ltd: 10/- net). In this acute and interesting work Mr Hobson subjects certain social sciences (economics, politics, eugenics, and ethics) to a searching examination. His object is two-fold, namely:-(l) To afford some explanation of the slowness of these sciences in producing any considerable body of larger truths, in the shape of generally accepted laws and principles; (2) To show how the vindication of free-thought is linked up with definite reforms of social structure needed to libefate these studies from the hampering con- ditions which have hitherto cramped and malformed them. Some of the social sciences— e.g. polities'— are veTV old; others, like social psychology, are young; all of them, however, have made soundeist progress in isolation. Just over a hundred years ago, however, it occurred to Auguste Compte to blend them to- gether into a complete system of principles andl practice. The result was the coinage of the terms social science," social philosophy," and sociology." In France the new science was taught by Iittre and Taine, in England by Frederic Harrison, Herbert Spencer, and other leading thinkers. For a time it enjoyed a great vogue; then it fell into discredit bordering upon contempt. Interest in the individual sciences of which sociology is made up1-— politics, economics, eugenics, social psychology, ethnology, and anthropology— however did not decline; nevertheless Mr Hobson is right in accusing their students of sterility when com- pared with the valid achievements in all branches of the physical sciences won during the same period. Of not a single one of these subjects can it be said that it has produced a considerable body of generally accepted laws and principles. Neither in politics nor in economics is there a single generalization which is above dispute. The social sciences have completely failed to discover laws in the sense in which that term is used in the natural sciences. Mr Hobson examines the causes of this failure. Chief among them, he thinks, is the difficulty of pursuing the social studies in a really disinterested spirit which seeks knowledge for its own sake, free from bias and devoid of ulterior motives. In economics, for example, Mr Hobson suggests that the leading thinkers have been concerned, cons- ciously or unconsciously, to adjust them to the support of the existing economic practice and the dominant interests controlling it. The central chapters in which Mr Hobson shows up the short- pomings of economic theory, from Mill to Pigou, are the most solid part of the book, for here the author is most perfectly at home. The socialism of Marx, and tire theory of marginalism" are also ruthlessly criticised and condemned. W.W.D. Hymns of Western Europe. (Oxford University Press: Humphrey Milford, London). Small 4to. 6/6 net. There is a tendency at the present time to sing almost all hymns too fast, and particularly those which have broad and simple melodies. This means a loss of dignity and reverence which has no countervailing excuse." So writes Mr. Lloyd George in the preface which he has contributed to this collection of 280 hymns with tunes and 20 anthems, selected and arranged by three Musical Knights: Sir Walford Davies, Sir W. H. Hadow, and Sir R. R. Terry. The selection is notable for several reasons. It reverts to a more severe style of music and words than has been recently in vogue; it contains an inordinate number of German tunes; and it is enriched by a thicker stratum of Welsh compositions than we have previously noticed in any English hymnary. The sugary" tunes of even notable composers are ruthlessly excluded, and the hymns are free from the charge which the Ex-Premier levels against many now in use—" which in point of purity, dignity and reverence fall short of the ideal which warship should rightly demand." The Archdruid has interested himself in the production of this volume and several of his hymns appear. The editors deserve commendation for the omission of marks of expression. But we (must protest against the re-harmonisa.tion of most of the Welsh tunes. The glory of our country's congregational worship is the part singing of the traditional harmonies which per se are as atmospbetrilc as the original melodies. These arrangements we consider sa- crosanct and such handling savours of icomoclasm. English and foreign visitors when they hear Welsh- men and Welsh women give utterance to their emotions in (say) Crugybar," are lost in wonder. But what hope can there be of united harmony when we find the arrangements of our national tunes differ as those in. this volume do from the collection issued only six years ago by the National Council of Music ? W.P.P. Beethoven. Harvey Grace. (Kegan Paul; 7/6 net). As was to be expected the last few months have witnessed a great increase in our Beethoven liter- ature. Newspaper articles, and lectures, have abounded; nor have works of more abiding value been absent. The above is an addition to the series1 Masters of Music," edited by Sir LandoM Ronald. It is written for the ordinary educated man; but the author very justly remarks that th-6 ordinary man, if he is interested in music at all,' must make himself familiar with the simpler teohni- cal tejnms of the art. The biographical part of this work is distinctly good; for it is accurate, cleat,