he day was so large that both Napoleon and D'Albe
had marched seventeen miles.
would lie flat upon it, discussing the situations
Napoleon's camp was always an agitated and distances.
and distances. Occasionally in their excite-
scene. Neither his private secretaries nor his ment their heads came together violently.
aids knew when they would be called upon
D'Albe's knowledge was so indispensable that
for service, day or night. He would wake up Napoleon treated him more confidentially than
suddenly and ask for his maps and his secre any other officer in the army. He, if any one,
taries. When the work was done, his next knew what steps the master's mind was fol-
exclamation might be, “The carriage!" or lowing in arriving at a plan of the decisive
“To horse!” Horses were kept saddled and manæuvre.
bridled, and held by attendants. He had a | Another confidential officer, D’Ideville, was
campaign carriage, which could be driven in a both interpreter and statistician of foreign
few hours over the distance covered by the armies. Napoleon in military affairs as in
army in a day. On the night before a battle civil administration was systematic in obtain-
he usually reconnoitered the enemy's position ing and recording useful information. The
personally in order that his final directions to strength of foreign armies naturally interested
his generals might take account of the latest him. His officers and even ambassadors and
changes in the situation. At Jena he was so other diplomatic agents had orders to send to
venturesome that upon his return to his lines Paris every scrap of information about the
he was nearly shot by one of his own outposts. strength, position, and movements of foreign
Colonel Vachée regards the organization of armies. All this was carefully sifted and sum-
Napoleon's staff as defective. Indeed, it was marized, so that Napoleon often knew as
so complex that even the lucid account of it in much about foreign armies as about his own.
this volume leaves the mind of the reader On a campaign D'Ideville was always with
sadly confused. The machinery for recording him, and if a prisoner was brought in D’Ide-
and transmitting orders seems to have been ville questioned him in his own language, and
efficient, principally because it operated im- the information was classified with the rest.
mediately under the eyes of the master and Napoleon occasionally amused himself in
of Berthier, his chief of staff. Napoleon was times of peace by telling ambassadors about
not accustomed to explain to his corps com movements of their armies of which they had
manders, even when a great battle was immi- not been advised and requesting an explana-
nent, what his plan was. He did this to tion.
certain favorite generals, while to the others It is satisfactory to note that although
he gave specific orders, leaving them quite in Colonel Vachée sees much to admire in Na-
the dark upon the general scheme. Sometimes poleon as a military leader, he is not blind to
the consequences of such a method were un Napoleon's defects as a man and a statesman.
fortunate. This is the explanation, for ex Indeed, the selfishness of the Emperor, his
ample, of Bernadotte's inaction on October 14, egoism (to use the favorite word of French
1806, taking part neither in the battle of Jena writers), receives quite sufficient emphasis. It
nor going to the assistance of Davout in his is a question whether the author does not
struggle with the Prussians at Auerstädt. The overstep the limits of his task in stating how
most fatal consequences came when Napoleon's the baser imperial appetites were provided for
own energy was diminished, and when this through the solicitude of such distinguished
lack was not made up by the initiative of his panders as Talleyrand, Berthier, Murat, and
subordinates.
Duroc.
Two or three of the minor personages of Mr. Foord's volume shows how Napoleon in
Napoleon's staff are well described by Colonel 1812 instead of organizing victory sent his
Vachée. One was D'Albe, the topographical greatest army to final defeat and ruin, mainly
secretary, who had served Napoleon for seven through failure to estimate adequately the
teen years. He would stick colored pins into | climatic and geographical conditions of a cam-
the maps of the region to represent the exact paign in Russia. His transport system broke
position of the different corps, as this was down before the army reached Vilna, fifty
indicated in the latest reports. The same miles from the frontier. For one thing, the
would be done for the position of the enemy's wagons proved to be too heavy for the Polish
army, so far as it was known. In the night roads, which were turned into a quagmire by
time the map was surrounded by twenty five or six days of rain. In several of Na-
candles. If a despatch came, the conclusions poleon's decisions during the campaign the
from it were entered on the map; and Na- author sees not merely natural miscalculation
poleon, compass in hand, would bend over it but a decline of that mental alertness and
measuring the distances. Sometimes the map power of imagination which had accounted for
ii


1915)
261
THE DIAL
so many victorious campaigns. One of the when Eugène at Marengo is said to have
most striking instances is the order given at helped by “his repeated charges to drive the
Orsha on the retreat to destroy the reserve Italian troops back into Milan.”
bridge train of sixty pontoons. Mr. Foord “The Story-Life of Napoleon," by Mr.
says that Baron Eblé, chief of the bridge Wayne Whipple, is a selection of anecdotes
trains, “alive to the danger, pressed to be in regard to each succeeding incident or phase
allowed to keep fifteen pontoons, but in vain, of Napoleon's career, so arranged as to form
and he could save only 2 field forges, 2 wag a biography. There is evidently room for such
gons of charcoal and 6 of implements.” And a book, and the only question concerns the
this happened when the passage of the Bere- method by which it is constructed. If the
zina was imminent. The special qualities of reader should inquire what reason he has to
Mr. Foord's treatment are his careful atten-
suppose any particular story to be true, the
tion to details of food, clothing, discipline, editor offers him no assistance, for the stories
and morale at various stages of the campaign. are quoted indiscriminately from memoirs and
He writes with full appreciation of Welling- secondary works of all sorts, some of which
ton's dictum that an army "moves on its have no other merit than a readable style.
belly," and if that is empty the fate of the The collection would have been far more help-
army is sealed. The crowning disasters of the ful if the editor had traced the stories back
retreat he attributes to the lack of discipline, to the original sources. They could still have
due in part to a month of pillage in Moscow been given in the most attractive English form
and to the large number of non-combatants, available. A story may be worth telling, al-
including many women, by whom the army though · apocryphal, as, for example, the
was accompanied. Equally illuminating is story of Napoleon's smashing the porcelain
the author's handling of the military prob vase during his negotiations with Cobenzl
lems,- the question of Bagration's escape prior to the Peace of Campo Formio. This is
from King Jerome, the fiasco of the Drissa still told as historical by so distinguished a
camp, the refusal of Napoleon to put in the historian as Fournier. The author quotes
Imperial Guard at Borodino, and others. from Madame Junot's Memoirs the tale that
The handsome volume which is devoted to at his coronation Napoleon seized the crown
the vicissitudes of “An Unknown Son of Na to prevent the pope from placing it on his
poleon (Count Léon)” comes very close in its head. This tale is disposed of by Frederick
early chapters to the bounds of pornographic Masson in his recent work on the Coronation.
literature. After it leaves the story of the The legend of the drowning of the Russians
fath and mother and takes up that of the at Austerlitz is quoted from Emerson's “Rep-
son, it deals with melodrama,- often that resentative Men”!
which is on the edge of the gutter. Every In this group of books are two biographies
folly of the son is, however, another blot on of Napoleon, one a new edition of Viscount
the memory of such a father. One must pro Wolseley's “Decline and Fall of Napoleon,
test, furthermore, against the wrong of published first in 1895, the other a "Life of
dragging out into the light of notoriety the Napoleon" by Major Arthur Griffiths. Wolse-
descendants of the mother or those of the ley's narrative opens with the campaign of
child. This is cruelty which can hide behind
1812, and is professedly a piece of military
no shred of reason.
historical writing, especially interesting be-
A much pleasanter book is Montagu's “Na cause of its author's competence upon the
poleon and His Adopted Son." No figure in questions involved. The biography by Major
the Napoleonic gallery is more attractive than Griffiths deals with Napoleon's whole career.
that of Eugène, Viceroy of Italy. As ruler of It is written in a vigorous style, interspersed
Napoleon's Italian kingdom he deserves a with wholesome English denunciations of Na-
place among the makers of modern Italy. He poleon's conduct. It makes no compromise
was not a great statesman, and he was too with the “New History,”? giving hardly more
subservient to his step-father's will; and yet than allusions to the great constructive
during his reign Italy took certain steps in achievements of the Consulate and the Em-
administrative and military reorganization pire. The narrative is mainly concerned with
which were not wholly retraced when the political intrigue, diplomacy, and wars. It is
Grand Empire fell. This work deals almost brief, running only to the length of eighty
exclusively with Eugène's personal and mili thousand words. There are certain errors of
tary career. One will consult it in vain for statement which should be corrected. Young
any adequate account of the Napoleonic ré- Napoleon Bonaparte did not “beat the streets
gime in the Italian kingdom. The book is of Paris” from May until October, 1792,
not free from inadvertencies, as, for example, hoping for reinstatement in the army. He


262
[ April 1
THE DIAL
was reinstated with the rank of Captain on Frith of Tay, according to Holinshed, the
July 10, and his promotion was dated back to Scots were hard beset and about to give way.
the preceding February. On his return from Suddenly there appeared upon the scene a
Egypt, Napoleon could not have “tried the farmer named Haie, with his two sons. They
Jacobin Club," because this had been closed by had observed the plight of their countrymen
Fouché. Furthermore it is not true that the from the field where they were at work, and
financial successes of the early Consulate were grasping plough-beams in their hands they
due mainly to exactions similar to those which rushed upon the foe with such lusty vigor as
characterized Napoleon's first Italian cam to turn defeat into victory. “And the King
paign. After all, these are minor blemishes; gave them armes, three scutcheons gules in a
the chief question is the distribution of in- field of silver, a plowbeame added thereunto
terest. The significance of Napoleon's career which he used instead of a battell axe, when
for France and for Europe is missed.
he fought so valiantlie in defense of his owne
H. E. BOURNE. countrie." Of this family President Hayes
is said to have been a descendant. We know
of no reason to doubt the connection, but it
A HALF-FORGOTTEN AMERICAN would have been of interest to the general
PRESIDENT.*
reader to have had the evidence of it more
One would have expected an authorized fully stated.
biography of Rutherford B. Hayes long ago,
A third of a century has passed since the
as it is now twenty-two years since his death.
administration of President Hayes closed, des-
His friend William Henry Smith had in fact
tined to have its sharper features suddenly
begun such a work, but it was interrupted by
blurred in the public eye and dulled in the
the hand of death, in 1896. Mr. Smith's plan
public consciousness by the shot of the assassin
was an extended history of the time, woven
of his successor. That time has justified those
about the life of Hayes. A part of his ma-
features of his policy which brought the im-
terial was published some years after his
mediate wrath of a large section of his own
death in the form of two large volumes on
party heavily upon his head is now the opinion
“ The Political History of Slavery.” On his
of most students of the period whose views
death bed he had requested his son-in-law,
are worth considering. Few Americans would
Mr. Charles Richard Williams, to finish the
now tolerate the thought of bolstering up by
task. Mr. Williams did not immediately find
federal bayonets a state government wholly
the time to fulfil this commission, but brought unable to command the support or respect of
out the volumes on Slavery as a separate work,
any considerable portion of the educated and
leaving the biography to be taken up by itself responsible cit
responsible citizenship of the state, as had
when opportunity should offer. Finding it
been done in parts of the South for some years
possible to withdraw from other labor a few
before Hayes entered upon his high office.
The difficulty grew not out of the extension
years ago, he set himself seriously at work
upon the biography, which we now have be-
of the suffrage to the enfranchised negroes in
fore us.
itself, but out of the fact that the Republican
It is safe to say that this change from Mr.
Party of the time had not risen high enough
Smith's original plan means a much wider
to refrain from the temptation to organize this
reading for the biography. Indeed, the com-
immense new body of ignorant and inexperi-
pression of the subject into a single volume
enced voters into a solid partisan tool to be
would have had a decided advantage in this
used by party manipulators against the
respect, but anyone who is aware of the em-
southern whites. Hayes keenly realized the
barras des richesses which the author had at
abhorrent conditions to which this unwisdom
his disposal in the old Hayes mansion in Fre-
had led, and had the courage to withdraw the
mont will wonder only that he could have had
federal troops, which were the sole support of
the heart to practice a rigorous enough ex-
a number of wholly corrupt and inefficient
clusion to keep within the limits of the two Republican state governments,” in spite of
volumes here presented. Perhaps the Hayes
the fact that this action was sure to be con-
Diary, drawn upon constantly for this work, strued by many as impeaching his own title
may some day be published in its entirety. to the Presidency. For the same returning
The Western Reserve Historical Society might boards upon whose action his own title rested
find a useful field of endeavor here.
had declared these Republican state officers
During an inroad of the Danes into the duly elected.
* THE LIFE OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES, Nineteenth
In the opinion of the reviewer, the author's
President of the United States. By Charles Richard Williams.
very extended account of the contested elec-
With portraits and other illustrations.
Boston: Houghton MiMin Co.
tion is the least profitable part of his work.
In two volumes.


1915)
263
THE DIAL
Much more readily than could have been ex the ability and character of his opponent,
pected, the country settled down to the ac Samuel J. Tilden, whose services to New York
ceptance of the verdict of the Electoral were those of a great and upright statesman
Commission as giving Hayes a legally unim- and philanthropist. W. H. JOHNSON.
peachable title to the Presidency. The country
realized that a certain amount of discretion
RECENT FICTION.*
had to be lodged in this Commission, and at
no time was there the slightest danger of any The anonymity of so remarkable a novel as
forcible uprising against its decision. Of “Home," published about a year ago, could
course it was only to be expected that thou not long be preserved. It soon transpired that
sands would feel that this discretion had not the author was Mr. George Agnew Chamber-
been rightly used, and that some would feel
lain, the occupant of a consular post in South
that it had been corruptly used. Thirty-eight America. This accounted for the exotic graft
years have passed; those most intensely in-
upon the homely New England stock which
terested have largely left the stage of life, and made the work of such enticing interest. Mr.
but little of the deep feeling of 1877 lingers. Chamberlain's success has encouraged him to
What good can there be in laboriously trying further production, in consequence whereof we
the whole question over again, attempting to now have “Through Stained Glass,” a novel
prove what everybody knows, that there was which fairly matches "Home" in charm and
Democratic intimidation of colored voters in
depth of human revelation. Here also, we
the South; slurring over what is equally skip somewhat breathlessly about the globe,
known, --- that there was wholesale Republican from Virginia to South America, thence to
corruption in the same quarter; accusing London and Paris, and finally to New England.
Tilden of guilty knowledge of an attempt to A Leighton of Virginia, after fighting for the
secure an electoral vote by bribery, of which Confederacy, seeks a new home for his family,
there is neither convincing proof nor inherent and finds it in Brazil. Presently, a boy Leigh-
probability; defending Hayes against the now ton of the northern branch is consigned to his
forgotten charge of paying for electoral votes
care, and grows up in happy childish compan-
by appointment of certain election officers to ionship with his cousin Natalie. As he ap-
federal positions, of which there is equally proaches manhood, his father, who has been a
neither valid evidence nor inherent proba wanderer over the face of the earth since the
bility? All this is only stirring up a smudge death of his wife in childbirth, seeks the boy
which tends to conceal the real greatness of a out, and carries him off to Europe to make of
really great and good President, and was
him an artist and a gentleman. The boy is a
wholly unnecessary to the completeness of the perfect illustration of the way in which breed-
work, except in the briefest epitome.
ing will tell, for he fits into the ways of civiliza-
President Hayes had many lovable traits of tion without an effort, and knows by instinct
character. In the thick of the Civil War, with how to do and say the right thing. For years
southern bullets flying about him and oc- the father and the son live in beautiful and
casionally into him, he could write home to devoted companionship, the former supplying
his wife deprecating untrue aspersions against the worldly wisdom of his sophisticated intel-
the men of the South. His fundamental sense lect — illuminating life for the boy as
of right revolted against unnecessary destruc “through stained glass” — the son repaying
tion of property in war, and the soldiers under this solicitude with affection, and preserving
him applied the torch only when he himself his own purity of soul while realizing his artis-
was constrained by written orders from su- tic self. He needs no curb to keep him from
perior authority. The later years of his life going astray, except in the one case of his
were marked by untiring devotion to Prison infatuation for Miss Folly Delaires of the
Reform and other philanthropic activities. chorus, and here the father's persuasive tact
His beautiful Fremont home was a centre of scores a triumph. There is no blustering about
refined culture and high moral ideals, where it, or declared opposition, but simply a little
men and women of the highest types of Ameri subtle maneuvering to bring the boy to his
can citizenship loved to gather. Our political senses, and just the touch of cynicism that is
evolutionists will perhaps tell us that he be- needed to open his eyes. In the end, there is
longs to a type irrevocably past; but it re-
Natalie, who has found a home in New En-
mains true that the politics of the day would gland, and has never ceased to hope for her
lose nothing by a liberal infusion of some of
By George Agnew Chamber-
his most prominent characteristics. And all
THE SECRET OF THE REEF. By Harold Bindloss. New York:
this can be said, and should have been said by
THE HAUNTED HEART. By Agnes and Egerton Castle. New
Mr. Williams, without casting any slur upon York: D. Appleton & Co.
* THROUGH STAINED GLASS.
lain. New York: The Century Co.
Frederick A. Stokes Co.


264
(April 1
THE DIAL
e. The biography of a woman is set forth in much
cousin-playmate's return. The love story is heart, which breaks down after a few months
very tenderly and delicately managed; it of re-wedded life, and the former sharer of his
leaves far more to the imagination than it ex couch comes post haste from her Italian villa
presses, which is the way of all true art. The just in time to apprise him before his death
action of this novel extends so widely over that she is sorry for her precipitate desertion,
time and space that it is perforce swift, and and that she has been his in spirit all the time.
its jerky movement hurries us on where we His brother, the Catholic priest, although
would gladly linger, but it tingles with vitality overmuch given to moralizing, is the most sym-
and glows with beauty on well-nigh every pathetic figure in this hectic work of fiction.
page.
WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE.
“The Secret of the Reef,” the latest novel
by Mr. Harold Bindloss, is written upon the
stereotyped model with which his readers are
NOTES ON NEW NOVELS.
familiar. There is an energetic and courage-
It is a pleasant story that Mr. W. Pett Ridge
ous hero, down on his luck, a heroine toward has written in “ The Happy Recruit (Doran),
whom he aspires, and a villain who endeavors which tells of a small German boy in London,
to thwart him in his efforts to win love and orphaned and left with a baby sister while still in
fortune. This villain is none other than the school. He grows to manhood and a wished-for
heroine's father, which provides material for marriage in the progress of the narrative; and
a conflict between romantic and filial love on his career, from its humble beginnings as a waiter
the part of a high-souled maiden. There is
and boy-of-all-work in a cheap hotel to the propri-
never any doubt as to which love will come out etorship of a successful eating-house, really tells
ahead. The story is concerned with the sal-
the well-to-do and prosperous how the other half
becomes so. That a German should be given so
vage of a wrecked treasure ship, sunk on a reef
affectionate a history by an Englishman is doubly
in the Alaskan far north. The author has grateful in these days of international hatreds.
abundant knowledge of his material, but there The book has abundant humor.
is little of either imagination or literary grace
in the telling of his story.
detail by Mrs. Alice Birkhead in “ Destiny's
Time was when a novel by the Castles con-
Daughter” (Lane). The heroine inherits ability
noted joyous adventure and the very spring-
and an unusual type of good looks — with nothing
else. Sacrificing a good match for the sake of a
tide poetry of romance. But to "The Haunted
younger sister, she is compelled to earn her living.
Heart” we can ascribe no such qualities. The Failing as a schoolmistress, she becomes private
delicate sentiment that we used to find in their secretary to a self-made manufacturer with par-
work has become coarse and treacly; the col- | liamentary aspirations, a widower with grown chil-
oring is garish, and emotion is strained to the dren. His proposal drives her to the stage, for
breaking point. In the slang of a bygone gen which she had early shown aptitude, and the slow
eration, this is a novel for which too utterly path to success is courageously climbed. The end
utter” offers the only adequate description. foundation for it has been well laid nevertheless.
of the story is a surprise, almost a shock; but the
Moreover, it makes a frank bid for cheap popu-
To be able to write a story with sound historic
larity by depicting the smart set in London
foundations that reads far better than any of the
society with the pencil of the caricaturist, dreadful trash which passes current among many
much as Mr. Chambers describes the corre boys, is an achievement to be proud of. Mr. Zane
sponding abscess in our American social Grey has done this in “ The Lone Star Ranger”
organism. The heart which is here haunted is (Harper), which is dedicated to the gallant body
that of the Master of Stronaven, whose wife,
of men whose bravery and usefulness it records.
Half the stirring tale is devoted to the manner in
after fifteen years of devotion, discovers an
which Buckley Duane is driven by inheritance and
early lapse from virtue on the part of her hus-
environment into outlawry; the other half deal:
band, and runs away from him with an Italian
with his rehabilitation under the law as a Texas
artist. After cooling his rage by smashing the Ranger. Except for a chapter or two near the
furniture, the deserted husband goes lion dénouement, the record is as limpid as the story
shooting in Africa, and returns to England a itself is turbulent, making a glorified and respect-
few months later with the fixed intention of able “ dime novel.”
marrying the first attractive girl he meets, in Philadelphia society, assuredly not at its best,
order to show the errant divorced wife that he
figures exclusively in Mrs. Therese Tyler's “ The
Dusty Road” (Lippincott). The heroine is an
does n't care. The match is soon found in the
ambitious girl, brought up in genteel poverty by a
person of an heiress, the daughter of an un-
mother whose life is spent in maintaining her
speakably vulgar and snobbish parvenue from
social position in the face of huge discouragements.
the Argentine, and Ian weds her, while love for
The girl is not socially ambitious, but longs for
the vanished Morna is still gnawing at his better things. In the progress of the story she has
heart. The spooks prove too much for this several lovers. One she treats with youthful in-


1915)
265
THE DIAL
tolerance. Another she dallies with until the reader Without much schooling, with no help from kins-
almost loses sympathy for her, so much of a brute folk, relying little upon religion, (she nevertheless
is he. At the end she finds her mate, rather to wins her peace and solves her intricate problems
everybody's surprise — his, her own, and also the by the exercise of common sense and a pragmatic
reader's. The work is styled realistic, here syno- philosophy which leave nothing to be desired. The
nymous with disagreeable. It certainly upsets the character drawing is minute and striking; the
prevalent idea that Philadelphia is “slow.'
entire conception is dramatic and powerful; and
Miss Elsie Singmaster · las again dealt with the the leading character affords an example of human-
Pennsylvania Germans whom she knows and loves ness which may well be emulated. Social problems
so well, in “Katy Gaumer” (Houghton), a simple disappear in the face of an individuality as well
tale of a young girl who finds her heart's desire balanced as Mrs. Martin's.
after long wandering. Under the love story lies an Dartmoor is beloved of English novelists, and
even more absorbing current, based on the silence few have touched it without commending it to their
of a good man who has been led by one crime into readers. Mr. John Trevena is one of the best
making a blunder; and who allows an innocent known of these fiction writers, and his latest story
man's life to be ruined under accusation of crime. of the hills and moors, “ Sleeping Waters ” (Ken-
The book is truly an interpretation of a people nerley), is a work of unusual fascination, as re-
who are a real part of American life, yet have kept mote from the affairs of every-day living as poetry
old-country ways and habits of thought through and imagination can make it. A Roman priest,
generations of residence among us. With the stricken in health, is sent by a wealthy parishioner
knowledge given of them in such books as this, to the home of his ancestors, after having been
even this strangeness is bound to disappear. regaled with local and family superstitions and
The Philippines have produced an unusual novel traditions. He drinks of the waters of a spring
in Mr. Walter Elwood's “ Guimó” (Reilly & Brit which brings forgetfulness, apparently when fully
ton), which deals with the misfortunes of a young convalescent, in reality while still in a sub-species
half-caste, the illegitimate son of a Spanish priest of delirium. What follows is melodramatic, almost
and a native woman, who lends his name to the mediævally so, in the telling. A beautiful maiden,
book. There is much local color, laid on with a the spirit of the moors incarnate, wins him from
palette knife by the use on every page of native his priestly vows, and in his attempt to gain her
terms and native legends and superstitions; but he fights all sorts of queer persons,- a scoundrelly
the writer seems really to have penetrated below lawyer, a tool of a physician, a crazed and drunken
the surface of an inexorably alien people and to mother, an ignorant tenantry steeped in its folly,
disclose something of their thoughts and aspira and the elements themselves. The close of the
tions. Tragedy runs through the narrative to its book makes all sound and well again, though the
close. Such a book, could it obtain wide circula priest renounces his church to gain a real love,
tion, would have a beneficent effect upon the people shadowed at the book's opening.
of the United States, and might interest them a Mr. Booth Tarkington has written a vital criti-
little in their far Eastern possessions.
cism of American life in its bustling cities, and has
The title of Mr. E. F. Benson's new novel, called it, aptly enough, “The Turmoil” (Harper).
“ Arundel” (Doran), is the name of the country Where others have attacked moral, political, eco-
place inhabited by two of his characters, a widowed nomic, and racial problems, he has taken æsthetic
mother and a marriageable daughter. Next door ground, and has objected to our national quest for
lives an eligible young man, a broker by occupa Bigness and its ensuing consequences as being in
tion, but with a sincere love for and appreciation bad taste. He takes a family of father, mother,
of music, poor performer though he is. The story sister, and three brothers, every one of whom
opens in India, where the greatly loved daughter has lived with little knowledge of the amenities,
of an army officer is about to leave him and her either at home or abroad. But they would
step-mother, to visit his sister, the lady of Arun not be American if they had not some aspira-
del. She, too, is a musician, and such a performer tions. The father has made his fortune, built him
as the young man wishes himself to be. When she a mansion in a somewhat fashionable neighbor-
arrives her cousin and the broker are already be hood, and the family looks about for social con-
trothed,- one of those calm engagements based nections. Next their new house live people of
upon propinquity rather than passion. Music better position than themselves, but now reduced
opens new vistas, and brings about a tense situa to grinding poverty; and the only child of the
tion which is only to be solved by the rather house, a daughter, conceives it to be her duty to
awkward expedient of death. The narrative is her parents to marry one of the unmarried sons
unusually well written, but others of Mr. Benson's of the rich neighbors. The repellent sordidness
stories have been better contrived.
of her procedure, baffled once by accidental death
“Mrs. Martin's an” (Macmillan) is the skil and an awakening of conscience, is reconciled with
ful work of Mr. St. John G. Ervine, who will be decency at the end of the book. Mr. Tarkington
remembered for several plays produced in this succeeds in making the story not only eminently
country by the Irish Players. His novel, like these readable and a model of constructive ability, but
plays, has its scene near and in the Ulster metrop he keeps his readers in sympathy with all his char-
olis of Belfast, and deals with Irish Protestants. acters, so humanly are they depicted and devel-
Before the tale closes he places his protagonist, oped. But it is curious to note how carefully the
Mrs. Martin, in as difficult a position as can well moral element is eliminated in the process. Its
be imagined either for sister, wife, or mother. lesson is given by indirection.


266
(April 1
THE DIAL
of a humanist.
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
that there are things which cannot be made
That Mr. John Jay Chapman funny. He is a man in whose composition
Miscellanies
deserves to be called a humanist, something is left out. You cannot blame him,
not in the restricted Petrarchian
any more than you can blame the color-blind.
sense of the term, nor indeed in the peculiar He is beauty-blind, and amuses himself with
meaning attached to the word by Professor seeing what grotesques he can pick out of the
'Schiller, but with the larger connotations it carpet of life.” The author takes occasion to
carries with it in current speech, is abun- say a good word, and a needed word, for the
dantly proved, if proof were needed, by his study of the classics, more particularly of
latest book, “Memories and Milestones’’ (Mof-
Greek, “as a pleasure,” both in school and
fat, Yard & Co.), which is issued in the
after school; but he errs in calling Cæsar's
conviction that the putting forth of such col-
“Commentaries" the “dullest book in Latin."
lections of personal reminiscence and more or
That is the schoolboy's natural misconception.
less ripe reflection helps the general atmos-
There are many Latin books, especially of
phere of thought and enriches everyone a
post-classical authorship, that far exceed
little.” With brief but carefully considered
Cæsar in dulness, if Cæsar be dull. Now and
and always scholarly talks on art and ethical
then a misspelled foreign word, as Zeitgheist
culture, on modern drama and the negro ques-
and the unpluralized first element in morceau
tion, on William James and Horace Howard choisis, disfigures Mr. Chapman's scholarly
Furness and Julia Ward Howe, he both re-
page. Portraits of Dr. Furness, Mrs. Howe,
veals the range of his own interests and sympa-
and Charles Eliot Norton, to the last-named
thies and opens to the reader many new and
of whom he devotes one of his best chapters of
inviting vistas of speculation and inquiry and suggestive observation, find appropriate
Like William James, whose portrait serves
as frontispiece to the book, and whose person-
place in the volume, in addition to the portrait
ality inspires one of its most readable chapters,
of James already mentioned. The book is the
Mr. Chapman is perhaps even more suggestive
best of its sort that has yet come from its
than expressive; but he seems not quite to have
author's pen.
done justice to James's genius in asserting
of him that he had not the gift of expression,
The most recent of Mr. Frederic
Defects and
but rather the gift of suggestion." Nearer possibilities of C. Howe's three or four books
the truth would it be to say of that master of
the modern city.
on municipal affairs bears the
apt and original epithet, of brilliantly illumi ambitious and alluring title, “The Modern
nating phrase or idiom, that he had both the City and its Problems” (Scribner). In an
gift of expression and, in a still greater degree, earlier volume of the series Mr. Howe has
the gift of suggestion. A chapter on Har- developed with much ingenuity the thesis that
vard's distinguished and still active ex-presi- in the city lies the hope of democratic institu-
dent uses throughout the obituary past tense. tions, and in another book he has described
Was the article “released” prematurely? concretely the conduct of municipal activities
Certainly its very opening sentence, “For half in Great Britain and Germany. In the pres-
a century President Eliot was one of the great ent work he traverses ground considerably
personal figures in American life," with all more extended. Almost every division of the
that follows, carries implications that fortu- subject, historical and descriptive, which re-
nately are not yet true. In his discussion of ceives atte tion in the text-books is accorded
“Shaw and the Modern Drama” the author a chapter, and the more recently developed
shows himself fair-minded and not unappre- problems of municipal administration, such as
ciative of Mr. Shaw's undeniable genius, but city planning, housing, and recreation, are
a little severe in his opinion that “Shaw wants dealt with in considerable detail. Both Ameri-
merely to get heard of and to make money" can and European cities come within the scope
as if such a purpose were not sure, in the very of the survey. Mr. Howe is ready enough to
nature of things, to defeat its own ends. admit, as most people are, that the American
Rather, one might venture to say, Mr. Shaw is city “lags behind the work it should properly
immensely interested in his own ideas, in the perform,” that it is "negative in its functions
kaleidoscopic oddity of aspect that the world rather than positive in its services," and that
presents to him ; after that the money and the “it has so little concern for its people that
fame are probably not unwelcome. But Mr. they in turn have little concern for it." And
Chapman wins assent when he continues : his views concerning the cause of this state of
"You cannot say he is a man without heart: affairs and its remedy are rather out of the
he is the kindliest of men. But he is a man ordinary. The difficulty, he believes, is not
without taste or reverence. He does not know to be sought in the character of the American


1915)
267
THE DIAL
people, or in their supposed neglectful atti- Nietzsche's friend was Malvida von Meysenbug
tude toward politics and their tolerance of not “Mysenburg” (page 41); Vauvenargues
evil. It is only an assumption, he maintains, would not recognize himself as “Vanergues”
that they have willingly abdicated their re (page 45); Nietzsche's etymologies of bonus
sponsibilities and turned the city over to the and bellum have not been unreservedly ac-
professional politician as an easy escape from cepted (page 207); and Mr. H. L. Mencken,
the burdens which its management imposes. to whom the volume is dedicated, has not
The conditions of neglect, partisanship, and been “the critic who has given the greatest
tolerance of evil which exist are declared to impetus to the study of Nietzsche in this coun-
be traceable back to legal institutions, to con try,” — that was done by the separate intro-
stitutional and political limitations under ductions to the various translations published
which the people are compelled to work in in this country by Messrs. Macmillan, and by
municipal affairs. The remedy lies in less the works of Halévy, Kennedy, and Mügge.
rather than more restraint, greater rather There are three contentions, on the other
than less municipal activity. “These condi- hand, that are irrefutable: to know Nietzsche
tions can only be corrected by a programme of in part he must be studied as a whole; there
city building, of city service, through com are no important contradictions in his philoso-
pulsory co-operation, or socialization. To this phy; and he has had, next to Kant, the
co-operation there are no set limits. For many greatest influence on the development of mod-
years to come the city will continue to increase ern thought. It is difficult to think to-day
its activities and enlarge its services. This is apart from Nietzsche; he expressed himself
the lesson of the past; it is the promise of the
on every subject. What he says may not be
future.” Mr. Howe writes, as he remarks, pleasant; it does not lull to ease, but arouses
from the inside of the city. From the time
to action. On this account a careful selection
when, a good many years ago, he saw active of his commitments on burning questions is
service in the city council and on the finance
valuable. We may look in vain for some of
commission of Cleveland until his recent ap-
our most cherished apothegms, and we may
pointment as commissioner of immigration at
find others that strike us as negligible; but
New York, his tasks have fallen where the
on the whole, we find enough to make us
problems of the city loom largest. Whatever think, and that is a vast deal. Just as one
he writes bears the stamp of experience and
should begin the study of Nietzsche's works
of conviction, and is, in addition, eminently with “Human, All too Human,” so could one
readable. Inevitably one who writes so frankly most advantageously undertake the study of
for the casual reader falls into errors of gen-
Nietzsche with Mr. Wright's volume. Besides
eralization. Thus, Mr. Howe is led to make containing the essential facts of the great
the somewhat astonishing remark that even
Yea-Sayer's life, it contains also the greatest
to-day civilization in the rural districts "does
truths he expressed during his life. Each of
not progress beyond its simplest forms." But
the former may be a blind alley that leads
the fault is one which can be overlooked by nowhere; but each of the latter has a horizon-
any one who cares for fresh, vigorous, and widening quality that is most invigorating.
stimulating writing on a subject of vital
“The symbol of the modern soul,” Nietzsche
present-day importance.
says, “is the labyrinth." True, and he has
thrown out a number of life-lines by which
About one-third of the 333
we may work our way through it. The
Taking stock
of Nietzsche.
pages of Mr. Willard Hunting- strongest of these are contained in this book,
ton Wright's “What Nietzsche
which has also a bibliography compiled with
Taught" (Huebsch) is devoted to the life of
common-sense.
the philosopher and the genesis of his works,
Mr. Chesterton's opinion of Ger-
and the rest to excerpts from the works. It
many and the German Emperor
on barbarism.
is a helpful book for the beginner who ap-
is no secret to the world at large,
proaches Nietzsche with the query that will and the vehement expression of that opinion
not down: What did he say? It is not a as contained in the little book entitled “The
criticism, but a presentation; and as such it is Appetite of Tyranny” (Dodd) will give no
excellent, despite a few inaccuracies. Fr. W. shock of surprise to anyone who has been for
Ritschl did not "found the science of his the past few months even a hasty reader of
torical literary criticism as we know it to the daily hodge-podge of intelligence and mis-
day” (page 27), but the Schlegels; though intelligence printed by the newspaper press
Nietzsche meant the Fall of Wagner by his concerning the great war. It is his "Barbar-
*Der Fall Wagner," it is altogether wrong to ism of Berlin” and “Letters to an Old Gari-
translate the title in this way (page 38); 1 baldian” that are brought within the covers
Mr. Chesterton


268
(April 1
THE DIAL
of the above-named book, which shows its bril not be too ungrateful, even though this some-
liant author in highly characteristic vein what unreasonable hope has not been fulfilled;
as, indeed, what writing from his pen does let us be glad that we can add twenty-nine
not ? - and inevitably reveals some of the poems to our “complete editions” of Robert
faults inseparable from such astonishing clev Browning and six to those of Mrs. Browning.
erness of intellect and enviable facility of There will be a difference of opinion as to the
expression. The excellence of the book lies righteousness of these addenda,- à doubt
in its forceful and original and convincing whether it is just to a poet to rake his desk,
demonstration of that quality of German mili after he has gone, for what he has himself
tarism (and in fact of all militarism, though discarded. Seldom indeed does his poetical
the limitation is not removed) which Mr. reputation gain by such a proceeding; never-
Chesterton chooses to call barbarism, and theless when these discarded works are put
which indicates, not an insufficiency of twen up for sale at public auction, as many of the
tieth-century civilization, such as, with some present collections were two years ago, it
reason, may be urged in dispraise of the seems only decently respectful to beloved
Russians, but a ruthless disregard of certain memories to rescue them from almost certain
fundamental principles that cannot be sacri loss or annihilation. In the present volume
ficed without plunging us all back into chaos notes have been added by such competent
and black night. The less praiseworthy fea hands as those of Messrs. Frederic G. Kenyon,
ture of the book is found in its unsparing Bertram Dobell, and Edmund Gosse, telling
vehemence of invective, in its author's allow all that is known of the literary or biblio-
ing himself to be carried away by his own graphical history of the poems. Perhaps the
momentum, as when he writes: “So strongly chief interest, however, will be found in some
do the instincts of the Prussian drive against thirty-five pages of criticisms written by
liberty, that he would rather oppress other Elizabeth Barrett to her future husband on
people's subjects than think of anybody going his submitting to her in manuscript certain
without the benefits of oppression. He is a
of his poems.
“Saul" and "Luria" are two
sort of disinterested despot. He is as disinter of the poems which seem to have received her
ested as the devil who is ready to do any one's special care, and one has only to compare the
dirty work.” In further illustration of the lines as first written with their present form
book's tone, let this be added: “Wherever to realize how much they gain by the sensitive
the most miserable remnant of our race, astray and sensible suggestions. We discover some-
and dried up in deserts, or buried forever thing quite contradictory to the accepted tra-
under the fall of bad civilizations, has some dition that each worked entirely independent
feeble memory that men are men, that bar- of the other. A reproduction of the earliest
gains are bargains, that there are two sides to known portrait of Browning, made from an
a question, or even that it takes two to make a
old daguerreotype, and one of Elizabeth Bar-
quarrel that remnant has the right to resist rett from a miniature painting, are the sole
the New Culture, to the knife and club and illustrations.
splintered stone. For the Prussian begins all
his culture by that act which is the destruction
A travel-book which shows un-
An optimist
of all creative thought and constructive action.
usual sympathy and insight is
He breaks that mirror in the mind, in which a
Mr. Clayton Sedgwick Cooper's
man can see the face of his friend or foe.” “The Modernizing of the Orient” (McBride,
The two parts of the book are essentially one in Nast & Co.). It is the result of two world-
purpose and manner, and both are eminently journeyings, and its chapters deal with condi-
and brilliantly Chestertonian.
tions in North Africa, Egypt, India, Burma,
China, the Philippines, and Japan. Descrip-
The announcement of a volume tive passages are not infrequent, but Mr.
Some new
memorials of of “New Poems by Robert Cooper was most interested in the social, edu-
the Brownings. Browning and Elizabeth Bar- cational, and religious “modernizing” which
rett Browning" (Macmillan) must have been is now in process throughout the once "un-
hailed with joyful anticipation by thousands changing East." In gathering his information
of Browning lovers. Something of the old he was catholic and judicious, so that he is
thrill many of us recall upon the appearance able to present not only
able to present not only the views of Western
of “Ferishtah's Fancies, 'Asolando,
officials and missionaries, but also of thought-
“Aurora Leigh” stirred again, together with ful natives. The chapters on educational
a vague hope that by some good fortune progress in Egypt, India, China, and Japan,
something equally momentous might have on religious transformation in India and
been unearthed even at this late day. Let us Burma, and on social changes in India, are
in the
Far East.
or


1915 ]
269
THE DIAL
that won
very suggestive. A prevailing note is that of has evaded and has missed thereby the oppor-
optimism. Although he visited China just tunity for a powerful dramatic appeal, with-
before the ill-starred counter-revolution, yet out which the crux of the story is merely an
he believes the Chinese “will bring victory episode requiring one act for its presentation
out of defeat in accordance with their im- instead of four. The conventional ending
memorial habit of stumbling along through would show Mary Ellen going away. Since
chaos to order, accomplishing often the seem- she stays, we demand another glimpse of these
ingly impossible.” And a sympathetic ap- strong characters to reveal whether they stand
preciation of the good points of the eastern or bend or break. There are promises here of
peoples is constantly manifest, the Filipinos a something which justifies Mr. Winthrop
alone proving a disappointment, — but then the Ames in the belief that his ten-thousand dollar
chapter on the Philippines is in itself dis- prize was wisely awarded. As it is, however,
appointing. In matters of opinion, although the play is incomplete. It does not satisfy.
Mr. Cooper will not have all the authorities on And, after all, should not all art, as George
his side, yet he will find very general support Gissing suggested, be “an expression, satisfy-
for his statements. Errors in fact are sur ing and abiding, of the zest of life''?
prisingly few : "five hundred lakhs" are con-
siderably more than "one-half million," and
BRIEFER MENTION.
a new definition would be necessary in order
to show that ninety per cent of the people of
Nothing new by way of praise or dispraise can
India are agricultural. There are, also, a few
be said of the English “Who's Who” for 1915
(Macmillan) which carries the volume to the sixty-
typographical errors, such as Banio, Morro,
seventh year of issue and usefulness. There are
Mindano, for Baguio, Moro, and Mindanao.
now 250,000 biographies included, together with
additional current information, within its 2500
pages.
Apple-trees and larkspur and
The play
And still the dimensions remain prac-
bloom, shimmering ticable.
$10,000.
gowns and rose-trimmed bonnets
The issue in attractive form and pocket size of
of an older time, sap mounting and everything Olive Schreiner's Woman and Labor,” deserves
Woman and War,” a chapter reprinted from Mrs.
breaking bounds because of springtime and mention, even amid the present deluge of war lit-
love in New England, — all this adds charm
erature. While much that is produced to-day is
to the graceful manner in which Miss Alice ephemeral, this essay, written à dozen odd years
Brown has presented her theme in the play, ago, still stands among the most distinctive and
“Children of Earth” (Macmillan). The story
forceful condemnations of war of our day. Messrs.
is that of Mary Ellen, whom Peter Hale per Stokes are the publishers.
suades that nothing else matters but love “ The Elements of the Short Story,” by Pro-
not even Jane, the drunken gypsy wife who
fessor Edward Everett Hale, Jr., and Mr. Fred-
has long been to him as one that is dead.
erick T. Dawson, is an eminently sane and useful
book. While most editors of recent collections of
Resolved to live their own lives, the two steal
short stories have striven for novelties in the way
away; unexpectedly Jane's grief at their
of translations and selections from recent magazine
going clouds their radiant and belated day of literature, Messrs. Hale and Dawson have had the
spring. They return to do what is right,'
courage to confine themselves to the best and best-
the three resuming their neighborly duties as known work of a half-dozen American authors
though the incident had never been. This is whose reputations have been tried by time. The
beautiful, perhaps; but it is not life. Did illustrations of various types of story are well
Miss Brown's idealism cause her to forget at chosen; and the editorial matter, while slight in
the end that her characters are children of amount, is pointed and suggestive. (Holt.)
earth? What if Jane's nature is still unsub-
Dr. Frederick Tupper and Dr. James W. Tup-
dued? Or if Peter wavers some day when
per have chosen a dozen plays for the volume
whose title explains their selection, “Represen-
impulse and passion catch noble resolve on
tative English Dramas from Dryden to Sheridan ”
the rebound? Or if Mary Ellen herself either
(Oxford Press). The inclusion of “ She Stoops to
revolts, in a moment of wild abandon, against Conquer,” “The Rivals," and " The School for
the instinct of imprisoning her emotions for Scandal” is necessary no doubt, on the score of
ever, or else lives to witness the slow and completeness; although these plays can be ob-
sordid death, for want of expression, of what tained in numerous satisfactory editions for a mere
she believed was love? The days to come will two-pence.
two-pence. By restricting the period covered, the
bring forth the real struggle, -- a struggle editors might instead have used the space for some
poignant, intense; not even the restriction of
of the more inaccessible plays,- in fact, those
from the very authors whose omission is referred
the sub-title, “a play of New England,"' con-
to with regret in the introductory note. The
vinces of the contrary. This struggle, together bibliography and the notes at the end of the vol-
with a solution, whatever it may be, the author ume are excellent in every way.


270
[ April 1
THE DIAL
NOTES.
ready. The author contrasts the works in question
with anti-Revolutionary fiction in England at the
“ The Chronicles of the Imp” is the title of Mr. same period, also devoting a chapter to the novels
Jeffery Farnol's forthcoming novel.
expressing the early feminism of Mary Wollstone-
Mrs. Mary Roberts Rinehart's new novel, “K,” | craft.
will be published in the summer by the Houghton The English and American rights in Sir Sven
Mifflin Co.
Hedin's “ With the German Armies in the West"
“Fidelity" by Miss Susan Glaspell is a novel have been acquired by Mr. John Lane, and the
which Messrs. Small, Maynard & Co. have in train volume will appear within the next month or two.
for publication this month.
The author had unusual opportunities for seeing
Mr. Frank Swinnerton's critical study of Robert things behind the German lines and writes from the
Louis Stevenson is ready and will be issued imme-
German point of view.
diately by Mr. Mitchell Kennerley.
Mr. Edward Hutton has written a study, based
M. Emile Verhaeren has written a new book of on contemporary authorities, of the attack of Attila
verse, La Belgique Sanglante,” inspired by the
upon civilization in the fifth century, and its de-
part Belgium has played in the war.
feat on the plain of Chalons, as well as its relation
to the Great War of the present day. The book
An appreciation of Mr. Edward Carpenter and
will be published during the spring under the title
his teaching, from the pen of an intimate friend,
of "Attila and the Huns."
Mr. Edward Lewis, will appear immediately.
Professor George M. Wrong, of the University
The first book General Friedrich von Bernhardi
of Toronto, has written a series of papers on “ The
has written since the war broke out is “ Germany
War Spirit of Germany," which the Oxford Uni-
and England," which will be published before long versity Press is bringing out immediately as a
by Messrs. G. W. Dillingham Co.
pamphlet. Mr. Edward Carpenter's essays on the
Mr. John Masefield has written a book called war, under the title of “ The Healing of Nations,"
“ John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollections, announced some weeks ago, are expected almost
with Biographical Notes," which will be published immediately.
in May by the Cuala Press, of Dublin.
New Rochelle's new library building has now
“ The Invisible Event," the final volume of Mr. seen a year of use, and the librarian reports an
J. D. Beresford's trilogy of novels dealing with the encouraging activity in the various departments
life of Jacob Stahl, has just been published in of the institution. Here is a significant scrap from
England and will undoubtedly be issued in this her annual record: “A review of the year's work
country before long.
shows a marked tendency toward sociological study
Among forthcoming additions to the “ Oxford and investigation. Several people have been aided
Standard Authors ” will be “ The Arabian Nights: in the production of books, and in one case the
A Selection,” with illustrations by Millais, Hough-location of an obscure town in England was the
ton, Pinwell, and others; and Kingsley's “Hypa means of establishing communication with the
tia," illustrated by Mr. Byam Shaw.
beneficiary of a will, an instance of the practical
value of reference work."
A volume of verse by Lord Curzon of Kedleston,
entitled “War Songs and other Translations.” is A new language, that of the Esquimaux, has just
announced by the John Lane Co. This house will gained a place in the world of books through the
also publish shortly, “ Ventures in Thought," a vol-
medium of a volume called “Singnagtugag” – in
ume of essays by Mr. Francis Coutts.
English, “The Dream," -- written by an Esquimau
Readers of the brilliant essays contributed to
clergyman, and published in Greenland in his na-
THE DIAL for many years past by Mr. Charles
tive tongue. The author, Mathias Storch, is the
Leonard Moore will be glad to know that a selec-
son of a seal-hunter in the far North, and his book
tion of these will appear during the early autumn
records incidents and impressions of his boyhood
in a volume to be published by Messrs. Putnam.
which throw much fresh light on the customs of the
Mr. H. S. Souttar, one of the surgeons in charge
Esquimaux. A Danish correspondent of the Lon-
don “Nation,” who has examined the book, states
of the British Field Hospital, describes his recent
that it has a distinct ironic vein which finds ex-
experiences in Malines, Termonde, and Ypres in a
pression in the conclusion — a dream of a self-
volume entitled “A Surgeon in Belgium,” which
will be issued immediately by Messrs. Longinans,
governed Greenland two hundred years hence.
Green & Co.
Dr. Charles R. Henderson, professor of sociology
in the University of Chicago, criminologist, author,
As American agents for the Cambridge Univer-
lecturer, and for many years past a valued con-
sity Press, Messrs. Putnam will shortly publish an
tributor to THE DIAL, died at Charleston, S. C., on
essay on
“ Alexander Scott, Montgomerie, and March 29. He was born in 1848, at Covington,
Drummond of Hawthornden as Lyric Poets," by Ind. Ordained a minister in 1873, he accepted the
Catharine M. Maclean. The essay gained the Lord
pastorate of the Baptist Church first in Terre
Rector's Prize in Edinburgh University in 1911-12. Haute, then in Detroit, and in 1892 became chap-
The novels of Godwin, Holcroft, and their circle lain of the University of Chicago. At the time of
as source-books on the life and thought of their his death he was head of the department of prac-
time are discussed in a volume entitled “The tical sociology in the University, associate editor
French Revolution and the English Novel,” by of the "American Journal of Sociology," and pres-
Allene Gregory, which Messrs. Putnam have nearly ident of the United Charities of Chicago. His


1915]
271
THE.DIAL
first-hand investigations and work in behalf of the "toy-books" are known to children everywhere.
oppressed and unemployed in Chicago and else The type of gift-book represented by his “ Flower
where established for him an international reputa- Wedding,” “A Masque of Days," “ Flowers from
tion as a sympathetic student of humanity. His Shakespeare's Garden," etc., and several others,
writings reveal a rare scholarship and cover a wide was extremely popular with an older generation.
range in the field of sociology, dealing, more specif “Studies in Philology" will hereafter be pub-
ically, with the study of crime, treatment of delin lished by the University of North Carolina in the
quent and defective classes, prisons and prison form of a quarterly journal. The first number,
reform, and modern methods of charity.
bearing the date January, 1915, contains a critical
“ The Nations' Histories" is the title of a new
edition by Professor James H. Hanford of Wine,
series of historical manuals which will be launched Beere, Ale, and Tobacco, Contending for Su-
during the present season. The volumes will differ periority,” a curious debate play, hitherto acces-
from other histories in the attention given to phys- sible only in a rare reprint. Besides being of value
ical and topographical features in determining the because of its numerous contemporary allusions,
development of the different European nations, and relating particularly to the manners and customs
to the archæological and architectural remains of the tavern, this text has special interest for the
which are the standing monuments of past achieve-
student of Elizabethan drama as a survival of the
ment. Each volume will contain an appendix giv- interlude and as a specimen of the minor entertain-
ing the present state of the country in full detail. ments in vogue at the universities. In his intro-
The first three to be published are as follows:
duction Professor Hanford has discussed the
“Russia" by Dr. Harold W. Williams, “ Ger-
sources of the material and shown the close con-
many" by Mr. W. T. Waugh, and “Poland" by nection existing between this piece and several
Mr. G. E. Slocombe.
well-known Cambridge University plays. The first,
A book of whimsical philosophy and banter, second, and third editions have been collated for
“ with an ambiguous introduction by H. G. Wells,"
the first time, and the text has been fully illustrated
will shortly be published in England under the title
in notes. In form, the new quarterly is eminently
of " Boon, the Mind of the Race, the Last Asses of
attractive.
the Devil, and the Last Trump," described as being
Charles Francis Adams, historian and publicist,
“ the table-talk of a deceased literary man, with
direct descendant of two United States presidents,
some fragments of his unpublished works,” com-
son of one of our most distinguished diplomats,
piled by his executor, Reginald Bliss. George
and otherwise claiming the regard and remem-
Boon, the author of irreproachable novels of
brance of posterity, died at his winter home in
world-wide fame,” is apparently not so much dead
Washington, March 20. Born in Boston, May 27,
as missing. These literary remains of the vanished
1835, and graduated from Harvard in 1856, he
author are published as a sort of satirical com-
studied law in the office of Richard Henry Dana,
mentary upon the times, and especially upon the
author of "Two Years before the Mast," and was
book world of to-day.
admitted to the bar, but had hardly entered upon
Twenty-one new volumes are to be added at once
the practice of his profession before the outbreak
of the war claimed his energies, and its close found
to “Everyman's Library by Messrs. Dutton.
him more interested in railway management, in
Among them are Professor Dowden's “Life of
Robert Browning," the second volume of Froude's
various public questions, and in historical and other
studies, than in the calling which he had at first
“ Short Studies," Dostoevsky's “Poor Folk' and
chosen. In the field of letters and learning he is
* The Gambler,'" translated by Mr. C. J. Hogarth,
whose translation of Erckmann-Chatrian's “ Story
to be remembered for his epoch-making Phi Beta
Kappa oration at Cambridge in 1883, when he
of a Peasant," in two volumes, is also added to the
delivered himself of sundry opinions concerning
department of fiction; Mignet's “ History of the
“A College Fetich” (classical studies) that are
French Revolution," with an introduction by Mr.
thought to have turned the tide at Harvard and
L. Cecil Jane; Josephus's “Wars of the Jews,"
beyond in favor of the sciences in education, for
with an introduction by Dr. Jacob Hart; Emer-
his biography of Richard Henry Dana, his “ Three
son's Poems, with an introduction by Professor
Episodes of Massachusetts History,"
“ Massa-
Bakewell, of Yale; Ibsen's “ Brand” translated by chusetts, its Historians and its History,” the life
Mr. F. E. Garrett; and an Anthology of British
of his father in the "American Statesmen series,
Historical Speeches and Orations," compiled by and several volumes of miscellanies on historical,
Mr. Ernest Rhys.
diplomatic, and military themes. Two years ago
Walter Crane, the English artist, author, and he delivered at Oxford a course of lectures on
lecturer, died on March 15, at the age of seventy. American history. His long connection with the
His first illustrated book, “ The New Forest," ap Massachusetts Historical Society, his repeated re-
peared in 1863. During his long career he has won election to the Harvard Board of Overseers, his
many high honors, including membership in several many appointments to public positions of im-
of the principal academies in England and on the portance, and the learned degrees and other honors
Continent. His published writings include "An conferred upon him, bore witness to the high esteem
Artist's Reminiscences," " India Impressions,” and in which he was held. A clear and ready writer,
“ William Morris and Whistler.” Of his work in with aptitude for historical research, he made
illustration, through which he was most widely notable contributions to the history of bis native
known, the sumptuous edition of Spenser's “ Faerie State, and wrote also with mastery of other sub-
Queene” is doubtless the best example. His famous | jects.


272
(April 1
THE DIAL
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS.
April, 1915.
.
Races : Inferior and Superior. Booker T.
Washington
No. Amer.
Railroad Valuation. A. M. Sakolski 'Am. Econ. Rer.
Rose-growing, Easy. Henry Wild
Am. Homes
Russia's Red Road to Berlin. Perceval Gibbon Everybody's
Russia's Struggle for an Outlet. Svetozar Tonjoroff No. Amer.
Science, Skepticism and Idolatry in
Unpopular
Screens for Decoration. R. H. Van Court
Am. Homes
Shaw, Anna Howard, Autobiography of — VI. Metropolitan
Social Customs in 18th Century America. C. H.
Sherrill
Scribner
Socialism, The Fall or Rise of. E. D. Schoonmaker Century
Socialism and War - V. Morris Hillquit Metropolitan
Soil Fertility. Robert W. Bruère
Harper
South American Politics. E. A. Ross
Century
Sportsman, Reverie of a. John Galsworthy
Atlantic
Statistics, Lies, Damned Lies and
Unpopular
Stefansson, Over the Ice with. B. M. McConnell Harper
Submarines, New Defence against. Cleveland
Moffett
American
System versus Slippers
Unpopular
Tahiti, A History of. Alfred G. Mayer
Pop. Sc.
“ Tirpitz the Eternal." James Middleton World's Work
Tsingtau, With the Germans in. A. M. Brace World's Work
Unemployment. Frederic C. Howe
Century
Villa as a Statesman. J. K. Turner
Metropolitan
Vitality, American, Trend of. L. I. Dublin
Pop. Sc.
Vitality, Defence of National. C. E. A. Winslow Pop. Sc.
Vitality, Racial Element in. C. B. Davenport
Pop. Sc.
War, Fundamental Cause of. B. W. Holt
Pop. Sc.
War, Social Effects of the. L. T. Hobhouse
Atlantic
War, The, and the Way Out. G. Lowes Dickinson Atlantic
War, The, at Sea. George Marvin
World's Work
War, The Cost of the. C. F. Speare
Rev. of Reve.
War and Our Foreign Policy. David Laurence No. Amer.
Women, Working, New Spirit among. Agnes C. Laut Century
Working Hours, Shorter. Ida M. Tarbell
American
World, Our Wonderful. John Burroughs
Harper
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
(The following list, containing 130 titles, includes books
received by THE DIAL since its last issue.]
Abruzzi, The Earthquake in. Thomas N. Page Scribner
Antiques, Fraudulent. Gardner Teall
Am. Homes
Artist's Morality, An. Horace Holley
Forum
Banking Problems. Thomas Conway, Jr.
Pop. Sc.
Bible-study in Colleges and Schools. E. A. Cross Am. Jour. Soc.
Block Printing, Early. H. D. Eberlein
Am. Homes
Book-collecting. A. Edward Newton
Atlantic
British Sea-power and South America. R. G. Usher Century
Capital, Rate for, and the War. B. W. Holt
Pop. Sc.
Carnegie Foundation, The Henry S. Pritchett No. Amer.
Carpathians, Fighting in. J. F. J. Archibald Scribner
Churches, Unity of the. Newman Smyth
Yale
City, The, as an Institution. R. E. Park Am. Jour. Soc.
City, The Brand of the. Walter E. Weyl
Harper
Clayton Act, The. W. H. S. Stevens
Am. Econ. Rev.
Cloture. Champ Clark
North American
Collier, William. Peter C. Macfarlane
Everybody's
Color in Western Art. Mary Austin
Century
Competition, The Conservation of
Unpopular
Competition, The Culmination of
Unpopular
Constantinople and the Turks. G. F. Herrick Rev. of Revs.
Cost of Living, The. Margaret S. Kendall
Atlantic
Cotton Futures Act, The. Luther Conant, Jr. Am. Econ. Rev.
Criminal, The New View of the
Unpopular
Dahlias for the Home Garden. J. H. Gardner Am. Homes
Debutantes, The Mobilization of the
Unpopular
Defence, National, A Book on. F. R. Coudert
No. Amer.
Defence, The National
Unpopular
Deffand, Mme. du. Gamaliel Bradford
No. Amer.
Drama : Upside Down. Brander Matthews
No. Amer.
Eastern Moat of Europe, The
Unpopular
Emeralds, Decreasing Supply of. Virginia
Roderick
Everybody's
England, The Changing Mind of. L. P. Jacks Atlantic
England and the English. Infanta Eulalia
Century
England and the War. L. P. Jacks
Yale
English Literature in France. Emile Legouis
Yale
European Cultures, War of the. J. S. Schapiro Forum
Farm Credit in Kansas. George E. Putnam Am. Econ. Rev.
Flowers : Changing Their Color. S. L. Bastin Am. Homes
Foreign Trade, A Message on. C. H. Sherrill Pop. Sc.
Foreign Trade, War and. H. E. Miles
Pop. Sc.
Foreign Trade of the United States. A. B. Farquhar Pop. Sc.
Fragonard Panels, The. Ernest Peixotto
Scribner
France, War Leaders of. Charles Johnston Rev. of Revs.
Free Ports, American. Frederic C. Howe
Pop. Sc.
Frost, Robert. Sylvester Baxter
Rev. of Revs.
German Spirit, The. Havelock Ellis
Atlantic
German Trenches, In the. John Reed
Metropolitan
Germany's Terms. Hans Delbrück
Atlantic
Hay, John, Letters and Diaries of
Harper
Health Examinations, Periodic. E. L. Fisk
Pop. Sc.
Henry Street Settlement, The - II. Lillian D. Wald Atlantic
Highbrow and Lowbrow. Van Wyck Brooks
Forum
Holland's Plan of Defence. R. J. Jessurun Rev. of Revs.
Imperialism and the Christian Ideal. B. W. Bacon Yale
Italy's Duty. Guglielmo Ferrero
Atlantic
James, William. M. H. Hedges
Forum
Josephus, Sir. George Harvey
North American
Lansing, Robert. J. B. Scott
Rev. of Revs.
Law, International, on the Sea. c. H. Stockton World's Work
Lawn, The. Andrew Hoeben
Am. Homes
Letter-writing in Walpole's Time.' ċ. B.' Tinker Yale
Liberty and License. H. M. Aubrey
Forum
Literature, Some Recent Philosophy of
Unpopular
Lombaertzyde, The French at. Arno Dosch World's Work
Louis XVI., Death of. H. Belloc
Century
Mather, Stephen T. Enos A. Mills
Rev. of Revs.
Merchant Marine, Extension of Our. G. W. Norris Pop. Sc.
Mexico, Cause of the Revolution in
Unpopular
Midwife in Chicago, The. Grace Abbott Am. Jour. Soc.
Motoring Abroad. Louise Closser Hale
Harper
Municipal Problems, American. C. R. Woodruff
Pop. Sc.
National Efficiency. Charles W. Eliot
Atlantic
Nationality, The Bonds of. Albion W. Small Am: Jour. Soc.
Nationality and the New Europe. A. C. Coolidge Yale
Neutrality, Economic Importance of. G. E. Sherman Pop. Sc.
Neutralization, Rights of. George G. Wilson
Yale
O'Keefe, Ellen, and Ex-prisoners. Henry Magill Everybody's
Old Maids, Apology for. Henry D. Sedgwick
Yale
Opium Question, End of the. Hamilton Wright Rev. of Revs.
Optimism, American. T. H. Price
World's Work
Ovid among the Goths. Gamaliel Bradford
Yale
Panama Canal, Building the — II. G. W. Goethals Scribner
Parks, National, Our. S. T. Mather
Rev. of Reve.
Peace. George E. Woodberry
North American
Perkins, George W. Harold Kellock
Century
Perret, F. A., Volcanologist. French Strother World's Work
Physics, The New John Burroughs
Yale
Politics and Prosperity. James B. Duke
No. Amer.
Pork Barrel Pensions. B. J. Hendrick
World's Work
Preparedness, Need of. Theodore Roosevelt Metropolitan
Property and Law
Unpopular
Railroad Crisis, The. Ray Morris
Yale
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
Footfalls of Indian History. By the Sister Nivedita
(Margaret E. Noble). Illustrated in color, etc.,
8vo, 276 pages. Longmans, Green & Co. $2. net.
The Secret of an Empress. By the Countess Za-
nardi Landi. Illustrated in photogravure, large
8vo, 344 pages. Houghton Mifflin Co. $4. net.
A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest
Times to the End of the Meiji Era. By F.
Brinkley, R.A.; with the collaboration of Baron
Kikuchi. Illustrated, 8vo, 784 pages. New York:
Encyclopædia Britannica Co.
The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom, 1795-1813. By
Hendrik Willem Van Loon. Illustrated, large
8vo, 279 pages. Doubleday, Page & Co. $2.50 net.
Abbas II. By the Earl of Cromer. 8vo, 84 pages.
Macmillan Co. $1. net.
GENERAL LITERATURE.
Shakespeare on the Stage. By William Winter,
Second Series. Illustrated, large 8vo, 663 pages.
Moffat, Yard & Co. $3. net.
Criticisms of Life: Studies in Faith, Hope, and
Despair. By Horace J. Bridges. 8vo, 295 pages.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $1.50 net.
Chief Contemporary Dramatists: Twenty Plays
from the Recent Drama of England, Ireland,
America, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway,
Sweden, and Russia. Selected and edited by
Thomas H. Dickinson. 8vo, 676 pages. Houghton
Mifflin Co. $2.75 net.
The Growth of English Drama. By Arnold Wynne,
M.A. 12mo, 281 pages. Oxford University Press.
$1.15 net.
Essays of Joseph Addison. Chosen and edited, with
Preface and notes, by James George Frazer. In
2 volumes, 12mo. Macmillan Co. $3. net.
The Soliloquy in German Drama. By Erwin W.
Roessler, Ph.D. 8vo, 121 pages. Columbia Uni-
versity Press. Paper, $1. net.
When a Man Comes to Himself. By Woodrow Wil-
son, LL.D. 16mo, 38 pages. Harper & Brothers.
50 cts. net.
Samuel Naylor and “ Reynard the Fox": A Study
in Anglo-German Literary Relations. By L. A.
Willoughby, Ph.D. 12mo, 42 pages. Oxford
University Press. Paper.
Poetic Romancers after 1850. By Oliver Elton.
8vo, 19 pages. Oxford University Press. Paper,


1915)
273
THE DIAL
DRAMA AND VERSE.
The Shoes of Happiness, and Other Poems. By
Edwin Markham. 12mo, 192 pages. Doubleday,
Page & Co. $1.20 net.
Songs from the Clay. By James Stephens. 12mo,
106 pages.
Macmillan Co. $1. net.
Fairyland: An Opera in Three Acts. By Brian
Hooker. 12mo, 137 pages. Yale University
Press. $1. net.
Collected Plays and Poems. By Cale Young Rice.
In 2 volumes, with portrait, 12mo. Doubleday,
Page & Co. $3. net.
Verses from Many Seas. By Fred Warner Car-
penter. 12mo, 27 pages. Paul Elder & Co.
75 cts. net.
War Sonnets. By Edward Robeson Taylor. 12mo.
San Francisco: Published by the author.
Paper.
FICTION
Bealby: A Holiday. By H. G. Wells. 12mo, 291
pages. Macmillan Co. $1.35 net.
Vietory: An Island Tale. By Joseph Conrad. 12mo,
462 pages. Doubleday, Page & Co. $1.35 net.
Angela's Business. By Henry Sydnor Harrison.
Illustrated, 12mo, 375 pages. Houghton Miffin
Co. $1.35 net.
A Dealer in Empire. By Amelia Josephine Burr.
Illustrated, 12mo, 298 pages. Harper & Brothers.
$1.25 net.
Who Goes There! By Robert W. Chambers. Illus-
trated in color, etc., 12mo, 340 pages. D. Apple-
ton & Co. $1.35 net.
Little Comrade: A Tale of the Great War,
By
Burton E. Stevenson. 12mo, 315 pages. Henry
Holt & Co. $1.20 net.
The Graves at Kilmorna: A Story of '67. By P. A.
Sheehan, D.D. 12mo, 373 pages. Longmans,
Green & Co. $1.35 net.
Barbara's Marriages. By Maude Radford Warren.
With frontispiece, 12mo, 351 pages. Harper &
Brothers. $1.35 net.
Happy Pollyooly: The Rich Little Poor Girl. By
Edgar Jepson. Illustrated, 12mo, 314 pages.
Bobbs-Merrill Co. $1.25 net.
The Edge. By John Corbin. With frontispiece in
color, 12mo, 403 pages. Duffield & Co. $1.35 net.
The Return of Tarzan. By Edgar Rice Burroughs.
12mo, 365 pages. A. C. McClurg & Co. $1.30 net.
Johnny Appleseed: The Romance of the Sower. By
Eleanor Atkinson. Illustrated, 12mo, 341 pages.
Harper & Brothers. $1.25 net.
The Diary of a Beauty: A Story. By Molly Elliot
Seaweli. Illustrated, 12mo, 212 pages. J. B.
Lippincott Co. $1.25 net.
Pals First: A Romance of Love and Comradery.
By Francis Perry Elliott. With frontispiece in
color, 12mo, 332 pages. Harper & Brothers.
$1.30 net.
The Gentleman Adventurer. By H. C. Bailey. 12mo,
345 pages. George H. Doran Co. $1.25 net.
The Flying U's Last Stand. By B. M. Bower. With
frontispiece, 12mo, 353 pages. Little, Brown &
Co. $1.30 net.
Dr. _Syn: A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh.
By Russell Thorndyke. With frontispiece, 12mo,
301 pages. Doubleday, Page & Co. $1.25 net.
The Ladder: The Story of a Casual Man. By Philip
Curtiss. With frontispiece, 12mo, 307 pages.
Harper & Brothers. $1.30 net.
The Little Missioner. By Nina Wilcox Putnam.
Illustrated, 12mo, 322 pages. D. Appleton & Co.
$1.30 net.
The Chalk Line. By Anne Warwick. 12mo, 278
pages. John Lane Co. $1.25 net.
The Cheerful Blackguard. By Roger Pocock, 12mo,
400 pages.
Bobbs-Merrill Co. $1.35 net.
Felix Tells It. By Lucy Pratt. Illustrated, 12mo,
355 pages. D. Appleton & Co. $1.25 net.
Lost Sheep. By Vere Shortt. 12mo, 312 pages.
John Lane Co. $1.25 net.
Molly. By Jean Louise de Forest. With frontis-
piece in color, 12mo, 304 pages. Sully & Klein-
teich. $1.25 net.
The Primal Law. By Isabel Ostrander. 12mo, 342
pages. Mitchell Kennerley. $1.35 net.
The Woman in the Car. By Richard Marsh. 12mo,
311 pages. J. B. Lippincott Co. $1.35 net.
John the Fool: An American Romance. By Charles
Tenney Jackson. Illustrated, 12mo, 325 pages.
Bobbs-Merrill Co. $1.25 net.
It Pays to Advertise. By Roi Cooper Megrue and
Walter Hackett; novelized by Samuel Field.
Illustrated, 12mo, 333 pages.
Duffield & Co.
$1.25 net.
The Taming of Amorette: A Comedy of Manners.
By Anne Warner. Illustrated, 12mo, 210 pages.
Little, Brown & Co. $1. net.
Can a Man Be True? By Winifred Graham, 12mo,
330 pages.
Mitchell Kennerley. $1. net.
The Little Mother Who Sits at Home. Edited by
the Countess Barcynska. With frontispiece in
color, 12mo, 193 pages. E. P. Dutton & Co.
$1. net.
Love Letters_of a Divorced Couple. By William
Farquhar Payson. 12mo, 216 pages. Doubleday,
Page & Co. $1. net.
Oliver in Willowmere. By Kathleen A. Lund. 12mo,
335 pages. London: Heath, Cranton & Ouseley,
Ltd.
Myriam and the Mystic Brotherhood. By Maude
Lesseuer Howard. 12mo, 370 pages. Elkhart,
Ind.: Occult Publishing Co. $1.25 net.
The Wii to Live (Les Roquevillard). By Henry
Bordeaux; translated from the French by Pitts
Duffield. 12mo, 326 pages. Duffield & Co. Paper,
75 cts. net.
Arrows of the Almighty. By Owen Johnson. New
edition; 12mo, 405 pages. Macmillan Co. $1.25 net.
A Tale from the Rainbow Land. By Katherine M.
Yates. Illustrated in color, 16mo, 30 pages.
Paul Elder & Co. 50 cts, net.
The Unknown Country. By Coningsby Dawson.
Illustrated, 12mo, 62 pages. Hearst's Interna-
tional Library Co. 50 cts. net.
Three Things. By Elinor Glyn. With frontispiece,
12mo, 114 pages. Hearst's International Library
Co. 35 cts. net.
TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION.
A History of Travel in America: An Account of
the Development of Travel and Transportation.
By Seymour Dunbar. In 4 volumes, illustrated
in color, etc., 8vo. Bobbs-Merrill Co. $10. net.
In the Oregon Country. By George Palmer Put-
nam; with Introduction by James Withycombe.
Illustrated, 12mo, 169 pages. G. P. Putnam's
Sons. $1.75 net.
Bohemian San Francisco: Its Restaurants and
Their Most Famous Recipes. By Clarence E.
Edwords. With frontispiece, 12mo, 138 pages.
Paul Elder & Co. $1.25 net.
In the Land of the Head-hunters. By Edward S.
Curtis. Illustrated,
8vo, 110
pages.
World
Book Co. $1.20 net.
Highways and Byways of California. Written and
illustrated by Clifton Johnson. "Exposition
Edition." 8vo, 323 pages. Macmillan Co. $1.50 net.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SOCIOLOGY AND
ECONOMICS.
Germany in the Nineteenth century. By A. S.
Peake, B. Bosanquet, and F. Bonavia. Second
Series; 8vo, 256 pages. Longmans, Green & Co.
$1.25 net.
Socialism as the Sociological Ideal: A Broader
Basis for Socialism. By Floyd J. Melvin, Ph.D.
12mo, 216 pages. Sturgis & Walton Co. $1.25 net.
The Nation's Library. First volumes: Socialism
and Syndicalism, by Philip Snowden, M.P.;
Modern_Views on Education, by Thiselton Mark,
B.Sc.; Eugenics, by Edgar Schuster; The Prin.
ciples of Evolution, by Joseph McCabe; The
Star World, by A. C. de la Crommelin. Each
with frontispiece, 16mo. Baltimore: Warwick
& York, Inc. Per volume, 40 cts. net.
Retrospection and The New Pacific. By Hubert
Howe Bancroft. Third revised editions; 8vo.
New York: The Bancroft Co. Per set, $ 4. net.
Money and Transportation in Maryland, 1720-1765.
By Clarence P. Gould, Ph.D. 8vo, 176 pages.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. Paper.
THE GREAT WAR — ITS HISTORY, PROBLEMS,
AND CONSEQUENCES.
Russia and the World: A Study of the War and a
Statement of the World-problems That now Con-
front Russia and Great Britain. By Stephen
Graham. Illustrated, 8vo, 305 pages. Macmillan
Co. $2. net.
The American Army. By William Harding Carter.
With portrait, 8vo, 294 pages. Bobbs-Merrill
Co. $1.50 net.
The World Crisis and the Way to Peace. By E.
Ellsworth Shumaker, Ph.D. 12mo, 110 pages.
G. P. Putnam's Sons. 75 cts. net.
Modern Warfare. By Henry Smith Williams, LL.D.
Illustrated, 8vo, 314 pages. Hearst's Interna-
tional Library Co. $2. net.
In a Moment of Time: Things Seen on the Bread-
line of Belgium. By Reginald Wright Kauffman.
Illustrated, 12mo, 272 pages. Moffat, Yard & Co.
$1. net.
Is It to Be Hate? An Essay in War-time. By
Harold Picton; with Foreword by John A. Hob-
son. 12mo, 32 pages. London: George Allen &
Unwin, Ltd. Paper.
The King, the Kaiser, and Irish Freedom.
By
James K. McGuire. Illustrated, large 8vo, 313
pages. Devin-Adair Co. $1.35 net.


274
(April 1
THE DIAL
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY.
The Early Church. By George Hodges. 8vo, 312
pages. Houghton Mifflin Co. $1.75 net.
Faith and Social Service. By George Hodges. 12mo,
270 pages.
Macmillan Co. $1.25 net.
The Cross and Passion: Good Friday Addresses.
By George Hodges. 12mo, 76 pages. Macmillan
Co. $1. net.
Dissenting Academies in England. By Irene Parker,
M.A. 12mo, 168 pages. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
The Bible and Life. By Edwin Holt Hughes. 12mo,
239 pages.
Methodist Book Concern. $1. net.
Judaism and St. Paul: Two Essays. By C. G.
Montefiore. 12mo, 240 pages. E. P. Dutton &
Co. $1.25 net.
Commentary on the Psalms, Psalms I-L. By E.
Sylvester Berry. 12mo, 377 pages. Benziger
Brothers. $2. net.
The Environment of Early Christianity. By S.
Angus, Ph.D. 12mo, 240 pages.
Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons. 75 cts. net.
The Archbishop's Test. By E. M. Green. 12mo, 107
pages. E. P. Dutton & Co. $1. net.
Nelson's Explanatory Testament: With Copious
Notes and Comments and an Introduction to
Each Book. “Standard Edition." 16mo, 356
pages. Thomas Nelson & Sons.
Liberal Judaism and Social Service. By Harry S.
Lewis, M.A. 12mo, 159 pages. New York: Bloch
Publishing Co. $1. net.
Old Testament Classics. Selected and edited by
Charles Elbert Rhodes, A.M. “Lake English
Classics." 16mo, 395 pages. Scott, Foresman
& Co.
Macaulay's Speeches on Copyright, and Lincoln's
Address at Cooper Institute, with Other Ad-
dresses and Letters. Edited by James Fleming
Hosic. Illustrated, 16mo, 169 pages. Henry Holt
& Co.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Who Built the Panama Canal? By W. Leon_Pep-
perman. Illustrated, Svo, 419 pages. E. P.
Dutton & Co. $2. net.
Sketches by Şamuel Prout, in France, Belgium, Ger-
many, Italy, and Switzerland. Edited by Charles
Holme; text by Ernest G. Halton. Illustrated
in color, etc., 4to. “ The International Studio."
John Lane Co.
Bookbinding and Its Auxiliary Branches. By John
J. Pleger. In 4 parts, illustrated, 8vo. Chicago:
The Inland Printer Co.
Economie Geography. By John McFarlane, M.A.
With maps, 8vo, 560 pages. Macmillan Co.
$2.25 net.
Commercial Work and Training for Girls. Ву
Jeannette Eaton and Bertha M. Stevens. Illus-
trated, 12mo, 289 pages. Macmillan Co. $1.50 net.
The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her
Qualifications. By Ellen N. La Motte, R.N.; with
Introduction by Louis Hamman, M.D. 12mo, 292
pages. G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.50 net.
The Truth about Twilight Sleep. By Hama Rion
(Mrs. Frank Ver Beck). Illustrated, 12mo, 366
pages. McBride, Nast & Co. $1.50 net.
Allusions, Words, and Phrases That Should Be
Known and where to Find Them. Compiled by
Florence M. Hopkins. Second edition, revised
and enlarged; 12mo, 116 pages. Detroit: The
Conover Press. Paper.
Neighbours. By Herbert Kaufman. 12mo, 144
pages. George H. Doran Co. 75 cts. net.
Flies in Relation to Disease: Bloodsucking Flies.
By Edward Hindle, Ph.D. 8vo, 398 pages. G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
The Art of Public Speaking. By J. Berg Esenwein
and Dale Carnagey. “The Writer's Library."
12mo, 512
pages. Springfield: Home Corre-
spondence School.
Prescriptions. By Richard C. Cabot; selected by
Edith Motter Lamb. 16mo, 87 pages. Houghton
Mifflin Co. 50 cts. net.
BUSINESS AND COMMERCE.
Advertising: Selling the Consumer. By John Lee
Mahin. 12mo, 260 pages. Doubleday, Page &
Co.
$2. net.
Railroad Accounting. By William E. Hooper. 8vo,
461 pages.
D. Appleton & Co. $2. net.
The New Business. By Harry Tipper. 12mo, 391
pages. Doubleday, Page & Co. $2. net.
The Business of Advertising. By Earnest Elmo
Calkins. Illustrated, 12mo, 363 pages. D. Apple-
ton & Co. $2. net.
How to Sell. By Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr. 12mo,
317 pages. A. C. McClurg & Co. $1. net.
American Chambers of Commerce. Ry Kenneth
Sturges, M.A.; with Preface by H. A. Garfield.
Large 8vo, 278 pages. Moffat, Yard & Co. $2. net.
Getting Start: First Aids to Success. Ву
Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr. 12mo, 247 pages. Sully
& Kleinteich. 50 cts. net.
THE
CHE Noh Drama of Japan, The
Count Fortsas Library Hoax, and
Ancient Paper-Making are among the sub-
jects that will receive exhaustive treatment
during 1915 in The Miscellany. They
will appear in addition to shorter articles
and the regular book-reviews and notes.
The Miscellany is an illustrated literary maga-
zine endeavoring to present its material in better
than ordinary format. Now in its second year.
Published quarterly: $1.00 per year.
THE MISCELLANY
17 Board of Trade Bldg., Kansas City, Mo., U. S. A.
BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.
A Cadet of Belgium: An American Boy in the
Great War. By Captain Allan Grant. Illus-
trated, 12mo, 286 pages. George H. Doran Co.
60 cts. net.
Short Plays about Famous Authors: Goldsmith,
Dickens, Heine, Fannie Burney, Shakespeare.
By Maude Morrison Frank. 12mo, 144 pages.
Henry Holt & Co. $1. net.
Biff McCarty: The Eagle Scout. By Edwin Puller.
With frontispiece, 12mo, 297 pages. The Abing-
don Press. $1. net.
The Squirrel's Pilgrim's Progress: A Book for
Boys and Girls. By J. D. Williams. Illustrated
in color, etc., 8vo, 174 pages. Chicago: Laird &
Lee. 75 cts. net.
The Boy from Reifel's Ranch. By J. S. Ellis. Illus-
trated, 12mo, 302 pages. The Abingdon Press.
$1. net.
EDUCATION.
Montessori Children. By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.
Illustrated, 12mo, 188 pages. Henry Holt & Co.
$1.25 net.
Making the Most of One's Mind. By John Adams,
LL.D. 12mo, 290 pages. George H. Doran Co.
$1. net.
The Wayward Child: A Study of the Causes of
Crime. By Hannah Kent Schoff. Childhood
and Youth Series." 12mo, 274 pages. Bobbs-
Merrill Co. $1. net.
The Teaching of History. By Oskar Jaeger; trans-
lated by H. J. Chaytor, M.A., with Introduction
by C. H. Firth, M.A. 12mo, 228 pages. A. C.
McClurg & Co. $1. net.
Commercial Education in Public Secondary Schools.
By F. V. Thompson. 12mo, 194 pages. World
Book Co.
Plant-Breeding. By L. H. Bailey; revised by Ar-
thur W. Gilbert, Ph.D. “Rural Science Series."
New edition; illustrated, 8vo, 474 pages. Mac-
millan Co. $2. net.
The Elements of the Short Story. By Edward
Everett Hale, Jr., and Fredrick T. Dawson.
16mo, 296 pages. Henry Holt & Co.
Pierrille. By Jules Claretle; edited by Victor E.
François, Ph.D. 16mo, 173 pages. Ď. C. Heath
& Co. 40 cts. net.
GEORGE INNESS
THE MAN AND HIS ART
By ELLIOTT DAINGERFIELD
Crown octavo. Ilustrated in color and photogravure.
250 copies on Italian handmade paper at $12.50 net.
"Must take first place as a document of the personality,
life and work of George Inness."'- International Studio.
"Mr. Daingerfield has rendered a sterling service to
students of George Inness in particular and to students
of American art in general.” -New York Tribune.
FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN
1790 BROADWAY
NEW YORK CITY


THE DIAL
7
A Fortnightly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information.
PAGE
THE DIAL (founded in 1880) is published fortnightly —
every other Thursday except in July and August, in which
PLAY OR PAMPHLET:
one issue for each month will appear. TERMS OF SUBSCRIP-
TION, $2. a year in advance, postage prepaid in the United After the debauch of wit in the Restoration
States and Mexico; Foreign and Canadian postage 50 cents
per year extra. REMITTANCES should be by check, or by Comedy and Jeremy Collier's triumph over
express or postal order, payable to THE DIAL. Unless other-
wise ordered, subscriptions will begin with the current num-
the stage, audiences became virtuous, and play
ber. When no direct request to discontinue at expiration of providers gave them what they wanted in
subscription is received, it is assumed that a continuance of
the subscription is desired. ADVERTISING RATES furnished on
tragedies which would turn them to repen-
application.
tance and comedies which would make them
Published by THE HENRY O. SHEPARD COMPANY,
632 Sherman Street, Chicago.
cry. The French called the new species of
Entered as Second-Class Matter October 8, 1892, at the Post
drama la comédie larmoyante. Diderot in
Office at Chicago, Illinois, under Act of March 3, 1879.
France, Steele in England, and even Lessing
Vol. LVIII. APRIL 15, 1915
in Germany gave in to the fashion, though
No. 692
the latter soon recovered himself. When the
real comic spirit rose again incarnate in Gold-
CONTENTS.
smith he had great difficulty in getting a
PLAY OR PAMPHLET? Charles Leonard hearing. His “Good Natured Man" was de-
Moore
287
nounced as “low," and the scene with the
CASUAL COMMENT
289
Bailiffs was hissed. “She Stoops to Conquer”
French appreciation of English literature.-
A promising profession for book-lovers. was rejected by one manager, and held by
Reading in Ireland. - Indexers' idiosyn another for a year.
crasies. The creator of Colonel Carter of
Cartersville.— Heavy reading. An exiled
Literary fashions, like those of women's
review.-Canada's contribution to polite
clothes, recur in cycles, and for a good while
literature.— A renaissance in Yiddish litera-
we have had a surfeit of what may be called
ture.- After forty years of novel-writing.-
Illinois public libraries.
the preaching mania on the stage. Where do
COMMUNICATION
293 all the wild-eyed faddists come from who in
“ The Doctor" and “ Tristram Shandy." their multitude have burst into the theatre
Russell Osborne Stidston.
with plays of every conceivable kind except
FRIENDLY LETTERS OF A WANDERING
plays of amusement, of poetic exaltation, of
NATURALIST. Percy F. Bicknell. 294
creative power? Every reform, or what fan-
IN PRAISE OF WAR. T. D. A. Cockerell . 295
tastic minds conceive to be a reform, must have
FANTASTIC SOLUTIONS
OF
SOME
SHAKESPEAREAN CRUXES. Samuel its play. We have had plays of sexology, of
A. Tannenbaum
297
education, of hygiene, and what not. The
OLD MAGIC IN A NEW CENTURY. Thomas
plays on hygiene seem to predominate. We
Percival Beyer
301
THE CASE AGAINST GERMANY. W. K.
suppose we shall next have a play on the negro
Stewart.
302 theory that you should cut your corns in the
Villard's Germany Embattled. — Dawson's dark of the moon. This would be harmless
What Is Wrong with Germany Allen's
Germany and Europe.- Chapman's Deutsch-
compared with the dramatization of medical
land über Alles.- Germany's War Mania.-
treatises with which we have been regaled of
Rohrbach's German World Policies.
late.
RECENT FICTION. William Morton Payne . 304
This pamphleteering drama seems to have
NOTES ON NEW NOVELS
had its origin with Ibsen. Now Ibsen was a
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS
playwright of the first water, and in his early
Handbooks on the art and craft of letters.
The fallacies of preparedness.” Essays,
romantic dramas and in his long dramatic
ethical and philosophic.- Disraeli during poems a genuine poet. There are gleams of
the decade 1846-1855.- The protection of
humor and of common sense in his comedies.
wild life.- Confessions of Frederick the
Great.-Lesser-known builders of the Pan But his formula for a comedy seems to have
ama Canal.- Mr. Markham's latest volume
been this: Find some sore spot in humanity
of verse.“ - Cogent reasons for not drinking.
- The most interesting of wild animals.
and make a play of it. And his lugubrious
NOTES
311 dramas and their progeny have filled the thea-
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
312 tres of Europe and America.
. 305
• 306
..


288
[ April 15
THE DIAL
Particularly is America favorable soil for The play with a purpose was preceded by
this pamphleteering seed. If anybody neglects the novel with a purpose. Dickens had
an opportunity to preach in this country, he usually some direct utilitarian or charitable
is suspect. Our public men go around like end to carry out. But it was always so
Joseph Surface, with his eternal “the man swamped by the overwhelming humor and
who.” The didactic instinct is rooted in us, creative force of his work that it gives readers
and has been strong enough to stifle any genu- of to-day no concern. Victor Hugo, too, in his
ine creative impulse, except in the case of a greatest novel tilted against all the wrongs and
few who have dared to “see life steadily and injustices of the world; but here, also, the
see it whole." That this didactic turn in us is interest of the narrative and the flood of
accompanied by any greater average goodness poetry sweep us along and make us forget that
than among other peoples may be questioned. we are witnessing a social insurrection. It is
Thomas Wentworth Higginson once rebuked perhaps too soon to criticize the purpose plays,
the present writer for using the stock phrase, but we doubt whether they are clothed with
“the New England conscience.” He thought enough poetry and humor and created flesh to
it a bugbear, and had lived more than four make us forget the grinning skeleton of their
score years among such consciences without didacticism. We are inclined to think that
finding any excess of them. But that the they have less staying quality than even the
moralizing strain outweighed the artistic one despised Victorian drama. Such plays as
among his neighbors is only too patent. "Richelieu," "The Lady of Lyons,” “The
That art should be immoral or even unmoral Hunchback," “Masks and Faces,
and
is nonsense. In the drama, more than any “Caste” have held the boards for a long time.
other form of art, there is a clash of opposites, Bulwer and Reade had probably as much intel-
of good and evil, of the beautiful and the ugly, lectual force as the problem men, and they
of the graceful and the grotesque.' That any seem to have produced figures and scenes of
sane dramatist should prefer the inferior permanent appeal to mankind.
qualities or things is practically impossible. It is perhaps in order to say what should
But he ought to have full liberty to set them take the place of the purpose play. Well,
forth in all their power and repulsiveness. there is the whole spectacle of life to choose
He ought to be fair to the energy, intellect, from. There are a billion and a half people in
and share of goodness in the personages in the world, and something is happening to
whom are embodied the lower principles. His them every day. There is the whole recorded
heroes cannot be all white, or his villains all past to furnish subjects. And the mind of
black. The faapría of Aristotle was that man can invent, and can at least make an at-
fatal weakness in the central character from tempt to pierce into the realm of death and the
which the catastrophe arose. Besides, there is unknown. The Moving Picture shows, what-
no fixed system of morality. Is war right or ever may be their shortcomings, can at least
wrong? Is divorce right or wrong? Must give us a hint of what is wanted. We believe
one, as Kant maintained, always tell the truth, the managers of these entertainments have
even to a' murderer seeking his victim? Is tried a few problem subjects, but that they did
it criminal for a starving man to steal food ? not in the least succeed. Stories of adven-
Is it murder or patriotism to kill a despot? ture, of romantic love and domestic devotion,
These and many other questions have always of great crimes, of moving accidents by land
been debated. Whole shoals of plays have and sea, of uproarious fun,- these take best.
been based on views of morality now obsolete Shilling shockers like the “Agamemnon,"
or partially so. The dramatist has wide lati- "Macbeth,” or “Faust” are really what the
tude. If he communicates the shock of vital world craves in the way of excitement: hero-
strength to us, or permeates us with a sense of ism and pure love and undying devotion al-
beauty, it is as much as we have a right to ways appeal to it. The taste of the public is
expect. But the pamphleteering dramatist always sound, — only it is not educated up
takes some abstract question of morality, or to the adequate literary presentation of its
some concrete custom, and argues it out by the favorite themes. When we consider that the
means of puppets to whom no fair play is Athenian public, with its wonderfully trained
allowed, who are merely punching-bags for his intelligence, banished Æschylus and preferred
intellectual exercise.
Euripides to Sophocles we can hardly expect


1915)
289
THE DIAL
perfect critical judgment from our own motley demand their innings; or, rather, men and
population.
women together may recur to the elemental
To be more specific, we think the drama things of life, - loves, hates, heroisms, sacri-
should confine itself more strictly to its various fices, and demand these from the stage. They
kinds. A tragedy ought to be a tragedy, and are demanding them from the Moving Picture
a comedy a comedy. Mixing of distinct breeds shows, and the speaking theatre is surely a
rarely brings good results. It would be pretty more satisfactory thing.
hard to classify some of the plays of Ibsen or
CHARLES LEONARD MOORE.
Strindberg Comedy ought to recover its
gaiety and shed its weeds of woe. Signs are
not wanting that the purpose-problem-pam-
CASUAL COMMENT,
phlet style of play is going out of fashion.
FRENCH APPRECIATION OF ENGLISH LITERA-
There have been produced in New York this TURE, so far as that appreciation is manifested
past winter a considerable number of plays by scholars and writers, has in recent times
calculated to amuse intelligent people. If to been greatly in contrast with earlier ignorance
these could be added some dramas of poetic of and contempt for the writings of those
exaltation, some tragedies that plumb the benighted beings so unfortunate as to have
depths, we should have the beginning of a
been born outside of France. Flippant dis-
serious theatre in this country.
praise of Shakespeare is no longer considered
The question of a drama poetic not only
smart in the literary circles of Paris. Of
in intent but in form is an interesting one.
course Taine is the conspicuous modern in-
stance of French appreciation of the writers
There is no real reason except a stupid preju- of England, but for one such sympathetic stu-
dice why verse should not be used again upon dent of those writers half a century ago there
the stage. It is a pity to banish it, for it is to are now a dozen or more in the France of
a play something like what a frame is to a to-day. Professor Emile Legouis, who holds
picture. It separates the play from the world, the chair of English language and literature at
and concentrates its effects. But we believe the Sorbonne, and is widely known for his
that blank verse, which is the most flexible and published works in his department, naturally
natural of metres, is impossible, simply be-
comes to mind in this connection. A notable
cause it has been preëmpted. A modern blank
article from his pen appears in the current
issue of “The Yale Review,” under the head-
verse play inevitably seems a faded copy of a
ing, “English Literature in France." His
Shakespearean original. The best poets and
opening sentence is significant.
metrists of recent times - Shelley, Tennyson, "The opinion now prevailing in England, and
Browning, Swinburne - have tried to galvan-
have tried to galvan- beginning to spread in America, seems to be,
ize this form into life, all to little purpose. if I am well informed, that, outside of the
But there are plenty of other metrical forms. English-speaking countries themselves, France
The heroic couplet reigned for a considerable is as distinctly ahead of other nations in En-
time on the English stage, and it might be glish literary criticism, properly so called, as
revived. The lyric choruses of the Greek Germany has long been and still remains in
drama lightened up the grave iambic verse.
English philology." A little later, in consid-
The Spanish drama used a great variety of tifie) mode” of studying English literature,
ering the erudite (historical, objective, scien-
metres and forms,- huddling together asso-
he has this to say in tribute to American schol-
nant verse, redondillas, canzonets, and son arship: "In some directions, it is true, and
nets in a single play. There is something like particularly in the field of research that we
this variety in the early plays of Shake are now concerned with, I wonder whether
speare - "Love's Labour's Lost," for in America has not actually outstripped Ger-
stance. Verse of some kind we ought to have,
many herself, after having been her disciple.
for we can never get with prose the concen-
As I was some time ago getting up a small
tration or the atmosphere requisite for the popular book on Chaucer and had to acquaint
myself with the most recent critical works on
greatest dramatic effects.
The purpose-problem play came into being dominance of Americans in the list of the
his life and poetry, I was struck by the pre-
mainly from one cause, — the unrest of women
latest discoverers. Foremost in the catalogue
and their desire to have their wrongs and were the names of Professors Kittredge, Scho-
rights expounded on the stage. Possibly this field, Tatlock, Root, Lowes, Young, and others,
has been sufficiently done, and now men may nearly dispossessing the country of Ten
He says:


290
(April 15
THE DIAL
as
Brink of her former supremacy.” In closing proverb assures us. In “Castle Rackrent,'
he emphasizes his impression of a prevalent though the mistress of the castle reads “The
“admiration and reverence for English litera Sorrows of Werther,” her lord and master is
ture” on the part of its students in France. far more interested in his own multiplying
troubles and difficulties; and at the present
A PROMISING PROFESSION FOR BOOK-LOVERS
day the Irishman who digs and delves for his
who would like to be book-writers, but who
livelihood has little time or inclination to go
somehow, in spite of undeniable skill in the deeply into books. A shelf of ancient and
manipulation of pen or typewriter, cannot
well-thumbed volumes is likely to be found
exactly hit it off when it comes to original
in the farmhouse, but the family reading is
literary production, has long been found in chiefly confined to “Old Moore's Almanack”
the pleasant task of handling, for the benefit
and either “The Irish Weekly Independent
of other book-lovers, the works of those envied
or “The Weekly Freeman." "Old Moore,
beings who have succeeded in becoming book-
by the way, in his last year's almanac pre-
producers. There is always the possibility, dicted “grave trouble in Europe about this
too, that in this close contact with the best that
time.” A writer in the current number of
has been thought and said in the world, the
“The Book Monthly,” Mr. Thomas Kelly, to
contagion of authorship will in some myste-
whom acknowledgment is due for various
rious manner be caught, with ultimately grati-
items here noted, reveals the rather surprising
fying results in renown and royalties. Was
fact, if it be a fact, that in the land of their
not the celebrated author of the world-famous nativity "Lever and Lover are very rarely
“Critique of Pure Reason” once employed in
seen, though ‘Handy Andy' is to be met with
this very task of handling the books of others
occasionally”-another illustration of the rule
in the Royal Library at Königsberg? And respecting prophets in their own country.
was there not a certain librarian of the Boston
Even Canon Hannay (better known
Public Library, and later head of the Harvard
"George A. Birmingham'') is rather roughly
University Library, who is now even better handled by those who pretend to be competent
known for his learned contributions to histori-
critics. But among the common people of lit-
cal literature than for his noteworthy services
tle book-learning, as already intimated, au-
to librarianship? Let us then, we who love
thors and their works are more likely than not
books and would fain write them also, embrace
to be held in reverence. Mr. Kelly relates an
the librarian's calling and see what will hap- amusing incident in this connection. “I re-
pen. But is it so easy to get a position as libra-
member seeing in one house a booklet whose
rian? Hear what they say about it at one of
author I knew. He lived in the neighbouring
our largest library schools. “For several town, and I mentioned this fact to the man
of the house.' 'Is it a man that could write a
years," it is reported from Madison, “the
number graduating from the Library School book,' he queried in no slight surprise, 'to be
of the University [of Wisconsin] exceeded livin' in the town o' Drumdallagh 'ithin ten
the number graduated from any other simi- mile o' where I stand? Man, oh man, do ye
tell me that? Where now would his house be
lar school in the country," but with all this
annual output “there never has been the
in the town, for I'll go an’ have a look at the
slightest difficulty in obtaining positions for
outside o it the next day I'm in at the
market.'
the graduates of the school. In 1913 out of
31 who were graduated 29 had positions at
the time of graduation. In 1914 out of 29 who INDEXERS' IDIOSYNCRASIES are often amiable
were to graduate 26 had received appoint- and harmless, and sometimes unamiable and
ments at graduation.” Could there be any injurious to the interests of index-users. A pas-
thing more alluring than the pleasant path sion for fulness of entry in the case of personal
leading through this semi-literary profession names may cause more consumption of time
to all sorts of delightful possibilities in a pro-
than is worth while, but no harm is done unless
fession that is wholly literary and supremely other more important duties are neglected in
soul-satisfying?
consequence. On the other hand, the scrupu-
lous substitution of a little-known real name
READING IN IRELAND, especially in western for a universally-known popular designation
Ireland, appears to be a pastime not much in may give rise to vexation and bewilderment
dulged in by people generally, though there is and smothered (if not eruptive) profanity.
an immense respect for books and those who Thomas Jonathan Jackson, for example, is
write them, a respect inversely proportional known to students of American history as
to the intimacy of acquaintance with things identical with “Stonewall" Jackson, but to
literary. Familiarity breeds contempt, as the the great American public the sturdy general


1915)
291
THE DIAL
even
is "Stonewall," and not Thomas Jonathan, sketches of travel and observation, and later in
and it has a right to expect the nickname to stories and novels. Best known among his long
appear in the index or catalogue, as in truth it list of books are such favorites as “Colonel
often though not always does. Mr. Rossiter Carter of Cartersville, "“Caleb West,”"
“Oli-
Johnson, in a protest published in the March ver Horn,” “Peter,” and “Kennedy Square.'
"Library Journal," complains of the misdi. Wholesome and hearty are these and other
rected scrupulosity of some professional index romances of his, a little obvious and old-
ers, and takes occasion to point out a common fashioned in their construction, perhaps, but
and rather unwise practice on the part of for that very reason, in part, of unfailing
book-indexers, who for some reason think it acceptability with the great novel-reading pub-
necessary to enter in the index the general sub lic. A more variously gifted novelist it would
ject of the book. He refers especially to biog. be hard to name, and his death is more than a
raphies, and cites a real or supposed life of grievous loss to literature.
General Putnam, the index to which contains
such entries as this: “Putnam, Israel, his en-
HEAVY READING in more senses than one was
counter with a wolf," which should have been:
the famous collection of all extant cuneiform
“Wolf, Putnam's encounter with a.” And he
literature in the royal library of Asurbanipal,
speaks of a recent admirable biography of a
famous American that devotes ten solid col- king of Assyria. Baked clay took the place of
umns of its index to the subject of the book,
paper in that formidable assemblage of books,
and the total tonnage of the library must have
as if any mortal reader would have the pa-
been tremendous.
tience to search for a needle in that haystack! golden age of Assyrian literature, and so must
But it represented the
He might have instanced an
more
flagrant recent example: the admirable biog- weight. A similar collection, though of much
have possessed other virtues besides mere
raphy of Mark Twain by his authorized biog- smaller proportions, is that which now has its
rapher gives almost thirteen columns of its
abode in a room of the New York Public
excellent index to the entry, “Twain, Mark.”
Library under the careful guardianship of
Mr. Victor Hugo Paltsits, known of old to
THE CREATOR OF COLONEL CARTER OF CAR-
many obliged readers as the assistant librarian
TERSVILLE. was fifty-three years old when this of the now vanished Lenox Library in upper
product of his invention placed him in the Fifth Avenue. In a recent number of the
front rank of those who have delineated the “Library Bulletin” Mr. Paltsits gives some
Old South felicitously in fiction. Francis description of the precious collection in his
Hopkinson Smith, a descendant of that gifted keeping. "The earliest records in the Li-
Francis Hopkinson who immortalized himself brary," he says, “are baked-clay tablets, cylin-
by affixing his signature to the Declaration
ders, slabs, etc., in the Sumerian language,
Independence, was born October 23, 1838, in
dating from the time of Naram-Sin, son of
Baltimore, and died April 7, 1915, in New Sargon, about 2600 B.C.; Gimil-Sin, King of
York. Early reverses in the family fortunes Ur, about 2200 B.C., and other reigns in Baby-
forced him to shift for himself with little of lonia. There are also cuneiform inscriptions
the educational equipment accounted neces in the Assyrian language of the reign of
sary for a fair start in life. A clerkship in his Ashur-nasir-pal, King of Assyria, 885-860
brother's iron works was cut short by the fail B.C., and of Nebuchadressar II., King of
ure of the business, after which came engineer- Babylon, 604-561 B.C., in the Babylonian
ing studies in New York and the opening of an language.
office as contractor. Much constructive work
- jetties, breakwaters, lighthouses, sea-walls, AN EXILED REVIEW, sharing courageously the
etc. was undertaken for the government, lot of many of its former writers and readers,
and a permanent and conspicuous reminder of will presently resume its activities under the
this phase of Mr. Smith’s varied activity is the protection of the University of Cambridge.
foundation of the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty, “Le Muséon," a long-established quarterly
as also the Race Rock Lighthouse, off New Lon-publication devoted to Oriental studies, edited
don, of which its builder was especially proud of late by Professor Philippe Colinet of Lou-
His vacations meanwhile were largely given to vain University and Professor L. de la Vallée
sketching in the White Mountains. Cuba, Mex Poussin of Ghent University, and published
ico, and later in Venice, Constantinople, and by the former institution, has been taken in
Holland. He had drawn and painted from charge by the Syndics of the Cambridge Uni-
boyhood, being chiefly self-taught in this form versity Press, which is about to issue the de-
of art. At about forty years of age he began layed first number of the current year. Both
to discover his genius in literature, in slight Cambridge and Oxford have shown generous


292
[ April 15
THE DIAL
hospitality to the expatriated academicians of Twain" (Scholem
(Scholem Aleichem) appreciative
devastated Belgium, so that this fortunate mention has already been made in these col-
rescue of the "Muséon" from extinction or umns, and the others here enumerated have
indefinite suspension is but an extension of shown themselves 'no less skilled in their sev-
previous good offices. Whether the future con eral departments of prose and verse, of fiction
tinuation of the review will be possible must and drama and well-turned poem. Increased
depend upon those who give their interest and means of approach to their readers have been
support to its department of learning. Among provided for these and other new writers by
the announced contributors to the next two the starting of additional magazines and other
issues are such recognized authorities in their periodical publications in the Yiddish tongue,
several departments as Professor J. B. Bury, together with a monthly magazine in English
Professor James Hope Moulton, Professor for the publishing of translations from these
E. G. Browne, Dr. F. W. Thomas, Librarian Jewish authors. One of the most interesting
to the India Office, Dr. Reynold A. Nicholson, figures in this new school of Yiddish writers is
Lecturer in Persian at Cambridge, and Mr. Mr. Perez Hirschbein, the "poet-wanderer,"
A. A. Bevan, Lady Almoner's Reader in as he has been styled, whose unmetrical me-
Arabic at the same university.
dium of expression seems well adapted to his
thought, and ought not to be summarily dis-
CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION TO POLITE LITERA-
missed with the ridicule so often visited upon
TURE is greater than is commonly suspected this form of literature. On the whole, it ap-
outside of Canada, or perhaps inside. The pears not unlikely that in the accession here
Department of Education of the Province of noted of fresh talent, perhaps even genius,
Ontario issues quarterly “A Selected List of among our writing folk, it may turn out that
Books Recommended by the Ontario Library American literature has been appreciably the
Association for Purchase by the Public Libra- gainer, and European literature correspond-
ries of the Province," and the current number ingly the loser.
contains bibliographies, not aiming at com-
pleteness but nevertheless impressive, of Cana AFTER FORTY YEARS OF NOVEL-WRITING, or
dian fiction, poetry, and biography, with a list nearly that, with a record, according to her
of Canadian magazines. These bibliographies, own account, of sixty novels to her credit, Mrs.
in which "titles have been chosen chiefly on Amelia E. Barr passes into her eighty-fifth
the grounds of availability and value," fill year with feelings of calm content as she looks
twenty-two large pages, and are of a nature back upon the road her feet have travelled. It
to commend themselves as aids to librarians was not until after the death of her husband
beyond as well as within the borders of the and three sons from yellow fever at Galveston,
Dominion. The pamphlet is obtainable from
in 1867, that she, with three daughters depen-
Mr. Walter R. Nursey, Inspector of Public
dent on her, turned her energies to literature
Libraries, Toronto, though to what extent and as a means of support. Those thirty-six years.
on what terms it will be supplied to applicants of her earlier life had certainly not been lack-
outside of Ontario, we cannot say.
ing in variety of experience on which to draw
in the writing of fiction. Born in Lancashire,
A RENAISSANCE IN YIDDISH LITERATURE seems
marrying early, and emigrating to this coun-
to be taking place in the Ghetto of New York.
try with her husband, Robert Barr, she gained
Present hard conditions in Europe have
an acquaintance with the ups and downs, the
caused a sort of Jewish exodus that may be comedy and the tragedy of existence, such as
found to have some points of resemblance,
can be claimed by few of our romancers. Two
however remote, to the emigration of the
years ago, in her notable autobiographic vol-
Moors from Spain in the sixteenth century,
ume, “All the Days of My Life," she said
and of the Huguenots from France in the sev-
of herself, what she would doubtless now re-
enteenth. At any rate, the sum of literary peat with no change except in the statement of
and artistic talent on the Continent has been
her age: “I have lived, I have loved, I have
diminished by the self-expatriation of not a
worked, and at eighty-two I only ask that the
love and the work continue while I live. What
few men and women unusually gifted and
accomplished, and of these there are some
I must do, I will love to do. It is a noble chem-
marked instances now attracting attention
istry that turns necessity into pleasure.''
among the Semitic population of our chief
city. This incoming tide of talent includes ILLINOIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES now number 222,
such names, real or pseudonymous, as Scholem of which 161 are maintained by taxation, and
Ash, Abraham Raisin, Scholem Aleichem, and eleven are endowed but are free to the public.
Perez Hirschbein. Of the “Yiddish Mark This we learn from the current Report of the


1915 ]
293
THE DIAL
a
or
Illinois Library Extension Commission, which In the material used, the two books resemble one
leaves unelucidated the exact nature of the another unmistakably.
“ The Doctor" is as full of
fifty libraries unaccounted for in the fore- quotations as “ Tristram Shandy," — quotations
going. Comparison, not unfavorable, is drawn
from the most surprising sources; but of course
with the library equipment of neighboring and so when Burton is used in the later work
all the quotations are attributed to their authors,
states, Wisconsin having 167 public libraries,
(vi., 227) his name is given with high praise. Yet
Indiana 145, Missouri 39, Iowa 152. Yet the
no one could find in Southey that clever use of the
undisputed fact remains, laments the statisti-
material which seems to justify Sterne's unac-
cian, that there are still seventeen counties in knowledged appropriation: Southey's product is
Illinois with no public library, and fifty-two a pretty heavy one. But, it may be asked, what
cities, of two thousand or more inhabitants, about those incidents of Sterne's which have been
also lacking in this important respect.
the subject of so much reproach and so much
apology? Surely Southey could not ! Two
of the incidents in “ The Doctor" would shock the
COMMUNICATION.
present taste quite as much as most of those in
Tristram Shandy.” Both of them are neatly im-
“THE DOCTOR” AND “TRISTRAM SHANDY.” plied,- full preliminary description and then
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
clever hints. The author shows his relish for them,
On opening the first volume of Southey's model. After the first, an adventure of the Doctor's
however, in a more honest way than his earlier
“Doctor," and noticing the delta with lines from
boyhood, the author in a conversation with Miss
the three angles meeting at the centre (it is pre Graveairs (chap. xix.) justifies his previous chap-
sented later in the text), one may or may not think
ter: she may banish Tristram Shandy as well as
of the astonishing illustrations to Sterne's “ Tris-
Smollett, Fielding, and Richardson, but she must
tram Shandy.” But as soon as the reader finds
not banish the Doctor! The other notable incident
that the first seven chapters run backwards, he can-
is of the origin of Nobs, the Doctor's horse, told
not but remember how the chapters of the Opinions with a capital comical-serious air. But when we
of Tristram were continually losing ground as his
are half way through the next volume, we are given
life progressed. Next comes a belated preface,-
Chapter Extraordinary," in which we are told
though not so long belated as was Sterne's. Then
that a certain club has excised a chapter in vol-
after the eighth forward-moving chapter there
ume four, and that the author is accused of " lese
one of a new sort, the heading of which, Inter-
delicatesse” tum-ti-tee." The author's defence
chapter I.," is given only at the end; and this
recalls the oddity of Sterne's chapters,- e. g., the
is remarkably amusing, not least so in the introduc-
tion of the name of Southey, - a common trick
empty ones. Nor does the mechanical resemblance
throughout the book.
end here, for (to pass by Southey’s various liberties
One reference to Sterne has already been given,
in pointing) on page 28 a secret is offered to us in
and there are several others. The bohemian con-
a series of groups of stars; it needs not to mention
versation between my Uncle Toby and Corporal
the use of this device in the early life of Tristram.
But to pass from these mechanical resemblances
Trim is quoted (iv., 376) and later referred to
to the similarity of style. The account which the
(v., 313). Here is a frank confession of the
author of “The Doctor” gives of the conception good reader, that the word itself, apart from all
author's taste (v., 163): “I will tell thee however,
of his book shows him to be a direct descendant of
Mr. Shandy: there is the same nonchalant descrip- for the same purpose to which the old tune of Lilli-
considerations of its mystical meaning, serves me
tion, the same scrappiness of conversation. But
really the best way to illustrate is to quote the first
burlero was applied by our dear Uncle Toby,- our
dear Uncle I say, for is he not your Uncle Toby,
paragraph:
gentle Reader? yours as well as mine, if you are
"I was in the fourth night of the story of the
Doctor and his horse, and had broken it off, not like
worthy to hold him in such relationship; and so by
Scheherezade because it was time to get up, but
that relationship, you and I are Cousins.” Our
because it was time to go to bed. It was at thirty-
Uncle's tune is mentioned once again (vi., 361).
five minutes after ten o'clock, on the 20th of July in In another place Southey says he agrees with Mr.
the year of our Lord 1813. I finished my glass of Shandy in disliking short noses (v., 231.- cf. vii.,
punch, tinkled the spoon against its side, as if making 489); why does he not mention him again in the
music to my meditations, and having my eyes fixed
consideration of Onomantia and Arithemomantia
upon the Bhow Begum, who was sitting opposite to
me at the head of her own table, I said, It ought to
(vi., 86) or that of Christian names (vii., 249) ?
he written in a Book!'.
A quotation from Sterne's Sermons (vi., 247,
And Sterne's style in addressing his reader, best
also vii., 181), and a criticism of his carrying his
remembered from his charge to the reader to go
secular style into the pulpit, will serve to show how
back and re-read so as to pick up a lost point, has
much more steady Southey's judgment was than
also been caught by the author of " The Doctor,"
Sterne's. Thus are we brought around to notice
at first, it must be remembered, an anonymous
the vigorous and stable views of life which make up
author. He says, almost at the end of the first
a large part of “ The Doctor”; while such views
volume: “Reader, you may skip this preliminary are not to be found in “ Tristram Shandy.”
account if you please, but it will be to your loss
RUSSELL OSBORNE STIDSTON.
if you do!"
University of Illinois, April 6, 1915.


294
(April 15
THE DIAL
who he felt thoroughly understood and sym-
The New Books.
pathized with him. These letters are therefore
peculiarly revealing of their writer's person-
FRIENDLY LETTERS OF A WANDERING ality. Most of them were written from the
NATURALIST.*
Yosemite Valley, and they give a good notion
John Muir's autobiography, brief and in-
of the life Muir led there, sheep-herding,
complete though it unfortunately is, has guiding, and tending a sawmill at intervals
traced for us in delightful fashion the gifted
to earn his daily bread, but devoting his real
Scottish lad's development under the dis-
self to an ardent scientific study of glacial
cipline of a harsh but salutary schooling, and geology and a joyous and reverent communion
no reader of that book can have failed to
with Nature.'
hunger for further chapters in continuation
It is not surprising to find that one who as
of its fascinating story. Those chapters can
a boy had so wonderful a knack at inventing
now never be written by the same hand that
“machines for keeping time and getting up
penned the earlier ones, but a partial substi- in' the morning, and so forth,” was not lack-
tute for them is offered in a collection of ing, when it came to letter-writing, in the
“Letters to a Friend” covering the years literary devices that impart liveliness and
1866-79. But it is incorrect to speak of these
character to the written word — as will ap-
letters as covering the thirteen and a half
pear from such selections as available space
years over which they are scattered. The
will here allow the reviewer to reproduce. As
writer was too much interested in the won-
a continuation of what we already know from
ders of the world he roamed so extensively to
Muir's own story of his native skill in devis-
spare time for describing his travels in any ing and fashioning all sorts of strange and
detail. It is, however, this very impatience of
more or less useful mechanical contrivances,
the drudgery of writing that causes him to
the very first letter in the book, showing the
pack into what he does write as much signifi- young man as a factory hand somewhere in
cance as the words can well convey. Poverty
western Canada, is of interest. He writes :
of thought is the last fault that will be “I have been very busy of late making practical
charged against him. Hence the unusual
machinery. I like my work exceedingly, but would
readability, not to say charm, of these brief
prefer inventions which would require some artis-
letters, filling in all not quite two hundred
tic as well as mechanical skill. I invented and put
uncrowded pages.
in operation a few days ago an attachment for a
self-acting lathe, which has increased its capacity
They were written in the impressionable at least one third. We are now using it to turn
years of early manhood, soon after their broom-handles, and as these useful articles may
writer had completed his four years of unpre now be made cheaper, and as cleanliness is one of
scribed studies at the University of Wiscon the cardinal virtues, I congratulate myself in hav-
sin and had, as he picturesquely expresses it ing done something like a true philanthropist for
in his autobiography, “wandered away on a
the real good of mankind in general. What say
glorious botanical and geological excursion,
you? I have also invented a machine for making
which has lasted nearly fifty years and is not
rake-teeth, and another for boring for them and
driving them, and still another for making the
yet completed, always happy and free, poor
and rich, without thought of a diploma or of still another for bending them, so that rakes may
bows, still another used in making the handles,
making a name, urged on and on through
now be made nearly as fast again. Farmers will
endless, inspiring, Godful beauty. As to be able to produce grain at a lower rate, the poor
the fortunate receiver of these random letters
get more bread to eat. Here is more philan-
by the way, the reader is informed in a brief thropy; is it not? I sometimes feel as though I
prefatory note that “when John Muir was a was losing time here, but I am at least receiving
student in the University of Wisconsin he my first lessons in practical mechanics, and as one
was a frequent caller at the house of Dr.
of the firm here is a millwright, and as I am per-
Ezra S. Carr. The kindness shown him there,
mitted to make as many machines as I please and
and especially the sympathy which Mrs. Carr,
to remodel those now in use, the school is a pretty
as a botanist and a lover of nature, felt in the
good one."
young man's interests and aims, led to the
From Canada to Indiana, thence to Wis-
formation of a lasting friendship. He re-
consin, thence again to Florida and Cuba and
garded Mrs. Carr, indeed, as his 'spiritual
Panama and elsewhere in the South, and
mother,' and his letters to her in later years
finally to California and the beloved home of
are the outpourings of a sensitive spirit to one
mountains and glaciers and other manifesta-
tions of untamed nature, we follow the eager
Written to Mrs. Ezra S. Carr, and adventurous young scientist, finding him
Houghton Mifflin Co.
more nearly stationary for a considerable
* LETTERS TO A FRIEND.
1866-1879. By John Muir.
(Limited edition.)
Boston:


1915 ]
295
THE DIAL
period in the Yosemite than at any previous crystal blood all bright and pure as a sky, yet
stage in his journeyings. As exhibiting handling mud and stones like a navvy, building
powers both of observation and of description, moraines like a plodding Irishman. Here is a cas-
as well as a fine artistic sense, the following cade two hundred feet wide, half a mile long,
from this paradise of scenic delights is note-
glancing this way and that, filled with bounce and
worthy:
dance and joyous hurrah, yet earnest as tempest,
and singing like angels loose on a frolic from
“ “ The Spirit' has again led me into the wilder-
heaven; and here are more cascades and more,
ness, in opposition to all counter attractions, and
broad and flat like clouds and fringed like flowing
I am once more in the glory of the Yosemite.
hair, with occasional falls erect as pines, and lakes
I wish you could have seen the edge of the snow-
like glowing eyes; and here are visions and
cloud which hovered, oh, so soothingly, down to dreams, and a splendid set of ghosts, too many for
the grand Pilot Peak brows, discharging its ink and narrow paper.”
heaven-begotten snows with such unmistakable
Pathetic is the earlier record of an accident
gentleness and moving perhaps with conscious
love from pine to pine as if bestowing_separate
that threatened to incapacitate its victim for
and independent blessings upon each. In a few
seeing with full enjoyment such sights as
hours we climbed under and into this glorious those just described. An injury to the right
storm-cloud. What a harvest of crystal flowers eye in those days of work with machines gave
and what wind songs were gathered from the Mr. Muir what must have been in every sense
spiry firs and the long fringy arms of the Lam a gloomy month or two; and one is left to
bert pine! . . . After making a fire with some
infer that the impairment of vision was never
cedar rails, I went out to watch the coming-on of
the darkness, which was most impressively subt spondent was the last person to waste time and
fully made good, though Mrs. Carr's corre-
lime.
creation I ever beheld. The little flat, spot-like in
energy in making moan over the irremediable.
the massive spiring woods, was in splendid vesture
One closes the letters with a desire for
of universal white, upon which the grand forest more, for later and still richer records of
edge was minutely repeated and covered with a varying experience, for intimate interchange
close sheet of snow flowers."
of thought and personal history with such
Though lacking metre, this is as good as sympathetic friends and co-workers in na-
Lowell's poem,
“The First Snow-Fall," and ture's laboratory as, for instance, that other
in the next paragraph the writer surpasses John of equal fame and kindred tastes, the
Lowell in originality (though not always in “John of the birds” about whom Dr. Clara
beauty) of imagery when he adds: “The Barrus has recently written with so much of
common snow flowers belong to the sky and in understanding and interpretative skill. Is it
storms are blown about like ripe petals in an too much to hope that some such collection of
orchard. They settle on the ground, the bot- later letters may ere long be published ?
tom of the atmospheric sea, like mud or leaves Meantime we thank Mrs. Carr for sharing
in a lake, and upon this soil, this field of with us this feast of good things spread by
broken sky flowers, grows a luxuriant carpet the hand of her gifted friend.
of crystal vegetation complete and ripe in a
PERCY F. BICKNELL.
single night."
But such scenes
as these
beguiled him into no merely passive contem-
plation of their charms. The lure of the moun-
IN PRAISE OF WAR.*
tains beckoned him forth, and he went with Professor Cramb's book on “Germany and
alacrity. In another letter from the same England,” published last fall, aroused such
region we read:
interest that it has been deemed worth while
“I have climbed more than twenty-four thou to reprint a course of lectures he delivered in
sand feet in these ten days, three times to the top 1900, under the stimulus of the Boer war. The
of the glacieret of Mt. Hoffman, and once to Mts. style and general purpose so closely resemble
Lyell and McClure. I have bagged a quantity of those of the other book, that much of what we
Tuolumne rocks sufficient to build dozen said in THE DIAL of October 16 last is equally
Yosemites; stripes of cascades longer than ever, applicable here. We are, in fact, impressed
lacy or smooth and white as pressed snow;
glacier basin with ten glassy lakes set all near
with the idea that Professor Cramb's intellec-
together like eggs in a nest; then El Capitan and
tual activities revolved around a single great
a couple of Tissiаcks, cañons glorious with yellows
central postulate, which for all practical pur-
and reds of mountain maple and aspen and honey- poses he treated as an axiom. A close student
suckle and ash and new indescribable music im of recorded history, with all its distortion of
measurable from strange waters and winds, and the true facts of human development, he had
glaciers, too, flowing and grinding, alive as any on
come to see in Empire the consummation of
earth. Shall I pull you out some? Here is a
• ORIGINS AND DESTINY OF IMPERIAL BRITAIN and Nine-
clean, white-skinned glacier from the back of
teenth Century Europe. By J. A. Cramb. With portrait.
McClure with glassy emerald flesh and singing New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.
a
a


296
[ April 15
THE DIAL
man's destiny, and in war the means whereby should hesitate, or if we should decide wrongly, it
the highest good might be attained. Thus he is not the loss of prestige, it is not the narrower
viewed the modern world through ancient bounds we have to fear, it is the judgment of the
spectacles, and interpreted it according to his dead and the despair of the living, of the inarticu-
vision. As an extraordinarily able exposition late myriads who have trusted to us, it is the
arraigning eyes of the unborn."
of his particular point of view, one which is
widely shared and is very largely responsible
On the other hand :
for the present war, the work is highly signifi-
“ The earthly Paradise of the social reformer, a
Saint Simon or a Fourier, of a world free from
cant. As a revelation of truth or a contribu-
war and devoted to agriculture and commerce, or
tion to progress, it appears to have only a
of the philosophic evolutionist of a world peopled
negative value.
by myriads of happy altruists bounding from bath
It would be altogether unjust to Professor
to breakfast-room, illumined and illumining by
Cramb to fail to recognize that he was essen their healthy and mutual smiles, differs from the
tially an idealist, and therefore far removed earlier fancies of Asgard and the Isles of the Blest,
from those who would extend the bounds of not in heightened nobility and reasonableness, but
Empire or wage war for mere material gain.
in diminished beauty and poetry.”
After vehemently declaring that the South Thus the tables are turned upon us, and we
African war was being waged for ideal ends, find ourselves appearing as the apostles of
for the good indeed of those to be conquered, material good, ease, or inanity; while Mars
he refers to another theory in these terms: stands out as the great idealist, and he who
“ To assemble a host from all the quarters of this will not kill may not himself possess life in
wide Empire, to make Africa, as it were, the ren any true sense. It is the art of the conjurer,
dezvous of the earth, for the sake of a few gold, a of the skilled lawyer, eagerly presenting that
few diamond mines, what language can equal a part of the case to which the jury must assent,
design thus base, ambition thus sordid? . . . No
then passing rapidly to a conclusion, ignoring
man can believe that; no man, save him whose soul
the non sequitur, and skilfully fooling the
faction has sealed in impenetrable night! The
untrained audience, not nimble-minded enough
imagination recoils revolted, terror-struck. Great
enterprises have ever attracted some base adher-
to detect the break in the chain. In the case
ents, and these by their very presence seem to sully
of Professor Cramb, however, the deception is
every achievement recorded of nations or cities.
doubtless unconscious, and the author of the
But to arraign the fountain and the end of the high trick has succeeded in deceiving himself.
action because of this baser alloy? To impeach on What are the actual facts in the case? It is
this account all the valour, all the wisdom long true, in a large sense, that the British Empire
approved? Reply is impossible; the thing simply has been and is in a multitude of ways a benefi-
is not British."
cent institution; largely because it has put
On the positive side, the eloquent descrip-
down war and the petty struggle for dominion
tion of Britain's mission as a world ruler, with
within its boundaries.* Most of us believe, and
its acceptance of responsibility for the good of
have constantly in our minds at the present
the ruled, can hardly fail to awaken some sym-
time, that the ideals of the existing Anglo-
pathetic response:
Saxon race are the best, the most workable, yet
“But a greater task awaits Britain. Among the
evolved by any people in the world. We recog.
races of the earth whose fate is already dependent,
or within a brief period will be dependent upon
nize, of course, that still better ideals lie in the
Europe, what empire is to aid them, moving with
lap of the future, inform the minds of the
nature, to attain that harmony which Dante dis most progressive, and tinge the thought of
cerned? What empire, disregarding the mediæval multitudes who do not consciously hold them.
ideal, the effort to impose upon them systems, rites, Even these, however, seem to spring out of the
institutions, creeds, to which they are by nature, by civilization we have, though they may imply
their history, by inherited pride in the traditions of great changes in some of our major activities.
the past, hostile or invincibly opposed, will adven Each one of us, then, is in a sense the soldier of
ture the new, the loftier enterprise of development
an empire of thought which we desire to see
[developing ?] all that is permanent and divine
dominate the world. In many respects, we
within their own civilizations, institutions, rites and
creeds? Nature and the dead shall lend their un-
are more aggressive, less modest, than Profes-
seen but mighty alliance to such purpose! Thus
sor Cramb. Humbug is humbug, and error is
will Britain turn to the uses of humanity the valour error, and bacteria are no respecters of ancient
or the fortune which has brought the religions of religion. We propose to ourselves nothing
India and the power of Islam beneath her sway. * A few years ago the reviewer was conversing with an
... With us, let me repeat, the decision rests, with educated Hindu, a fervent apostle of " India for the Indians."
us and with this generation. Never since on Sinai
The point was presented, that in pre-British days the people
of India continually struggled together, and altogether suf-
God spoke in thunder has mandate more imperative fered greatly. Said the Hindu : “ Were the British to go, we
been issued to any race, city, or nation than now to
should not be so well governed, but we should prefer to govern
ourselves, even at the expense of loss of efficiency." This man,
this nation and to this people. And, again, if we however, represented a governing class.


1915]
297
THE DIAL
less than the genuine enlightenment of the tonomy, and special developments suited to
world as to the facts of nature and the ascer local conditions. The United States, by lan-
tainable natural laws which govern the affairs guage and by customs, is necessarily part of
of man. We propose even more than this, the whole great plan. We quite agree with
namely, such reformation of customs and of Professor Cramb that a momentous decision
conduct as shall meet the requirements of these awaits our race; but it is not, we hope, to be
laws.
made in the sense he desired. The real ques-
We believe in the struggle for progress; it tion is whether we can develop individuals
seems to us, as it did to Professor Cramb, that and groups of individuals to the best expres-
if it were ever to come to pass that mankind sion of their peculiar powers, without in-
had attained everything worth striving for, fringement on the rights of other like persons
Nirvana would be the best consummation. The
and groups.
Can we exercise that eternal
postulate is, however, absurd, contrary to all vigilance,- in this case principally over our-
experience and reasonable expectation. The selves, which is the price of liberty? If this
very fact that a new generation is constantly is possible, we need no longer ask ourselves
appearing on the stage is an eternal guarantee whether England or Germany, the United
against staleness. The extraordinary expan States or Canada, Australia, Japan, or China
sion of experience due to modern science does is to rule the world in the days to come.
but reveal untold vistas ahead. Thus the
T. D. A. COCKERELL.
black bogy of the militarists is as unreal as
any with which nurse ever frightened child.
Then, as to ideals: we may as well frankly FANTASTIC SOLUTIONS OF SOME
recognize that we have an eye on the practical
SHAKESPEAREAN CRUXES.*
thing, even on the bread-and-butter aspect.
Having read, in the publishers' advertise-
The revolt in philosophy known as pragmatism ment, of Mr. Charles D. Stewart's "astound-
must have its parallel in practical affairs. ing success in clearing up “the famous
The fallacy that all high emotion, all inflation
cruxes which have remained unsolved in
of soul, has some adequate relation to any sort Shakespeare's plays,” “forty of the most
of utility must be abandoned. It is the work perplexing passages which have heretofore
of the genuinely modern idealist to test all
baffled all attempts at explanation," we
things, to see the consequences of this or that,
turned eagerly - though with misgivings be-
and act accordingly. Thus the man with the
gotten by the overloud thunderings in the
microscope and the test-tube, not the man with index and by recollections of former expe-
the gun, has the real power to determine
riences – to Mr. Stewart's volume and de-
human fate.
voured the first chapter, dealing with the
It is not necessary to declare all war wrong.
notorious “runaway's eyes” in “Romeo and
Any one of us can imagine a situation in
Juliet.” Our disappointment was greater than
which he would kill a man without hesitation
we had anticipated. But undeterred by the
and with little regret. Forcible resistance to
author's wholly unwarranted cocksureness,
aggression, and the forcible suppression of
contempt for his predecessors, longwinded-
dangerous characters, remain as necessary ness, and other characteristics of juvenility,
ever. This, however, is a totally different
we faithfully - and hungeringly - read on.
thing from that proposed by Professor Cramb, Disappointment grew keener and keener as
- namely, the expansion of Empire through
we read, and steadily the conviction shaped
war, and a succession of wars to determine
itself that here was one of those books that
which of rival Empires is the most alive. That
had no other excuse for existence than the
is the ancient fallacy, founded in a classical gratification of the author's vanity (“ambi-
education and the distorted presentations of
tious ignorance,” Mr. Stewart calls it some-
historians, which we must down before any where) and, perhaps, the ill-advised flattery
real democracy is possible. The root of the of his friends.
trouble, as we said before, is educational, and
Mr. Stewart's book is intended, and can be
the question now is whether the modern intended, only for professed Shakespeare
teacher can rise to meet the need and the scholars; to others the discussion of some of
opportunity. At present, on the whole, his
the most vexatious and probably corrupt pas-
efforts seem quite inadequate.
sages in Shakespeare's text is of absolutely no
As for the British Empire, everything indi-
interest. Only a Shakespeare scholar is com-
cates that it is going forward along a true
petent to deal with such questions; for the
path of progress, of free coöperation, governed discussion of these problems involves a special
by like ideals, not by force. This means
* SOME TEXTUAL DIFFICULTIES IN SHAKESPEARE. By Charles
political disintegration, increasing local au-
D. Stewart. New Haven: Yale University Press.


298
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97
and thorough knowledge of the text, not only an excellent opportunity to test the true
as it is but how it came to be so, of the plays quality of his love and, pretending to be un-
as a whole, of psychology, of Elizabethan concerned, she says in effect: "Nay, give
English, and of kindred subjects. Mr. Stew heedful ear to the messenger.” And thus
art, we regret to say, not only lacks these this woman of infinite variety, whose mere
qualifications but is obsessed with a desire to presence is a challenge to her lover to hear his
prove that all his predecessors lacked common wife's message, taunts him into not hearing
sense and that he alone of all of Shakespeare's it. Much of this would have been clear to
readers possesses the ability "to follow Mr. Stewart had he remembered, or known,
Shakespeare in his dealings with the deeper that “to hear” was often employed by the
currents of human nature. But if there is Elizabethans in the sense of “to listen pa-
any one particular vice of which this latest tiently and attentively." Besides, would
elucidator of Shakespeare's text is guilty it is Shakespeare ever have been guilty of making
an almost mad desire to vindicate, at all costs, Antony do anything so superfluous and so
the readings of the First Folio,- a task that commonplace as to attempt “to tell the
has led him into almost as many absurdities amount of his love" just after he had said
as the number of difficult passages with which “there's beggary in the love that can be
he deals. To justify this condemnation of reckon'd!!
Mr. Stewart's methods and results, let us here Hamlet, meeting a Norwegian Captain at
epitomize and analyze a few of his readings the head of some troops marching through
and interpretations.
Denmark, inquires whether these extensive
In the first scene of “Antony and Cleo and fatal preparations had for their object
patra” a messenger enters the presence of the conquest of Poland, and is told-
the lovers and this colloquy ensues:
“We go to gain a little patch of ground
“Mess. News, my good lord, from Rome.
That hath in it no profit but the name.
Ant.
Grates me: the sum.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it.”
Cleo. Nay, hear them, Antony."
Mr. Stewart objects to the punctuation of the
Almost all readers of Shakespeare understand
last verse.
He says that according “to the
from this that Antony is irritated at the ar-
generally accepted interpretation the Captain
rival of news from Cæsar and Fulvia, and is supposed to be saying that he would not
that he does not want the messenger to go
undertake to farm it to make a total profit of
into details but to give a concise summary of
five ducats, and to be repeating the 'five' sim-
his message.
But this interpretation is too ply to impress that amount on Hamlet's
easy for Mr. Stewart. He says:
mind. But this is to miss the whole sense and
“ Antony's words, the sum,' are in answer to
spirit of the line." After some platitudinous
Cleopatra's foregoing inquiry as to how much he
comments on the nature of capital, he comes
loves her. (He] is beginning to expatiate
to the conclusion that the line should be
upon that pleasant theme, (when] the messenger printed “to pay five ducats five," because
arrives and interrupts him. ...
'an investment with no result but to pay
he begins, but is again interrupted. The line five ducats five would be the reductio ab-
should be printed with a dash after it to indicate surdum [sic] of investment." In other
that he has begun a sentence which is broken off.”
words, it would be absurd to invest five ducats
Mr. Stewart's arguments for his emendation if the venture did not result in a profit. A
of the accepted text are that the messenger better illustration of a simple passage dis-
does not immediately answer, that Antony torted beyond recognition we could not find
seems not inclined to listen to him, and that in a summer's day, or a better example of the
Cleopatra enjoins her lover to hear them.” author's perverse method of studying Shake-
But all this shows a complete failure on the speare, of his unfair dealing with his prede-
part of Mr. Stewart to understand this simple cessors, of his utter inability to shed light on
passage, or to enter into the feelings of the Shakespeare, and of his skill in smelling out
characters. Antony, conscious of guilt and cruxes where no one else ever suspected that
apprehending the nature of the news, and any lurked. We challenge Mr. Stewart to
knowing that he must hear it, wants the dis name a single editor, critic, or commentator
agreeable matter disposed of as quickly as who gives the above-quoted paraphrase of the
possible. Besides, he does not want to show Captain's words.
To every ordinary intelli-
Cleopatra that he is afraid to hear the news gence the Captain says exactly what the situa-
from Rome in her presence. Impatiently and tion demands, viz., that the patch of ground
frowningly he asks for the news in a nutshell; for which they are going to fight and for
whereupon Cleopatra, womanlike, knowing which so many valiant men are ready to lay
what is passing through his mind, finds here down their lives is so insignificant per se that
i The sum


1915)
299
THE DIAL
he would not pay five ducats, not even five, a
after intermission.' And this is how he
year for the privilege of farming it and taking interprets “I loved for intermission":
the revenue from it. The “five” is repeated “Here Gratiano gracefully acknowledges that
to emphasize his contempt for it.
his own love affair is quite secondary, in impor-
Let us now turn our attention to a passage
tance, to that of his master. It is figuratively
which does really present some difficulties to
referred to as a mere time-filling or stop-gap per-
formance,
the critics, although it is not generally classed
... a mere side-issue, quite subordi-
nate to the main event. . . . And this is quite in
among the cruxes. After the fortune-hunting keeping with the self-sacrificing [!] and devoted
Bassanio had luckily chosen the prize casket, [!] character which he upholds."
Gratiano asks his consent to be married too.
And this is the interpretation which Mr.
“With all my heart," says the happy Bas-
Stewart modestly claims “settles the mean-
sanio, “so thou canst get a wife.” Gratiano
ing so positively that there can be no more
replies:
doubt in the matter”'! And, quite true to
“I thank your lordship, you have got me one. himself, he again falsifies the interpretations
My eyes, my lord, can look as swift as yours: of former commentators. He says: "Those
You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid;
who render the passage so that it reads ‘for
You loved, I loved; for intermission
intermission no more pertains to me than you'
No more pertains to me, my lord, than you."
explain it as meaning that Bassanio was in-
Most modern scholarly editions of “The Mer- cessant in love-making, and that Gratiano
chant of Venice” print this passage as we was the same,
that Bassanio was always
have here given it. Mr. Stewart, however,
at it and that his man Gratiano was just like
with a few modern editors, proposes to read
him — always at it.” This is a complete mis-
the last two verses as follows:
representation of Theobald's, Furness's, and
“ You loved, I loved for intermission.
others' interpretation. Theobald said that
No more pertains to me, my lord, than you." “intermission” means “standing idle," and
His interpretation of the passage is unique. all readers of Shakespeare — Mr. Stewart only
After a long discussion he comes to this con excepted — understand Gratiano to say "that
clusion (p. 177):
he could not be idle, that he had to be doing
“What Gratiano means by this last line must be something, and that as he had nothing else to
evident enough. It is simply his way of saying, do he made love to Nerrissa." And this is
by way of graceful compliment [Gratiano graceful certainly preferable to having Gratiano, a
and complimentary !), that he has not gone outside gentleman and an intimate friend of Bas-
of Bassanio's household for a wife. When Bas-
sanio's, say before Nerrissa, who is a lady as
sanio won Portia, her household was annexe to
well born and as well bred as Portia, that his
his own, and this included the maid Nerissa
love was only a time-filling performance.
[Nerrissa a maid !]; thus the one who pertains in
so momentous a relation to Gratiano also pertains Besides, with Mr. Stewart's punctuation and
to Bassanio. Gratiano is allowing Bassanio to
definition of “intermission," Gratiano is
guess the truth while he approaches it with these really made to say (to ordinary intelligences)
general statements; and in his large point of view
that he and his friend loved only as a pas-
no more pertains to me than you, there is the time, that sincerity in love pertains to him no
fine implication that it has always been thus more than to Bassanio. With the generally
between them. Even in his marriage he has not accepted text Gratiano says, in effect: “You
gone outside of his master's [!] circle of interests;
came and saw and wooed, and so did I; my
they are now bound by a further tie.”
eyes can look as swift as yours, and I am not
To our thinking, if there was any such stuff a bit slower than you are.
in Gratiano's mind it would require not only It must not be inferred from what has pre-
the astuteness of the proverbial Philadelphia ceded that Mr. Stewart's interpretations are
lawyer but of the whole Philadelphia bar to
always wrong.
Now and then he is quite
find it in the words quoted. Staunton, whose right, as, for instance, in the explanation of
reading is that championed by our author, the word “ringlets” in the beautiful verse in
gives a far more satisfactory interpretation the “Midsummer Night's Dream" in which
of the last line, viz.: “I owe my wife as much Titania speaks of the fairies dancing their
to you as to my own efforts."
ringlets to the whistling wind. Curiously
Satisfied that the words “No more pertains enough, both Wright and Furness failed mis-
to me,” etc., may stand as an independent erably in their understanding of this line.
sentence, and that it therefore does so, and Wright said “ringlets” meant the little cir-
that it is “in strict keeping with the speaker's cular plots of grass known as “fairy rings.'
character,” Mr. Stewart concludes (he is to this interpretation Dr. Furness objected,
nothing if not logical) that “the preceding because fairy rings do not grow “in the
line is a statement by itself with a full stop beached margent of the sea”; in his opinion
..


300
(April 15
THE DIAL
Titania meant only that the fairies dance to And this is the explanation that, so Mr.
the accompaniment of the whistling wind Stewart tells us, makes the passage “as open
which meanwhile blows through their curly
to sense as any the commonest and plainest
locks. And now Mr. Stewart assures us that English that Shakespeare ever wrote''! It is
Titania means no more than that the fairies
a pity that our author has omitted to specify
danced in tiny circles. The only trouble with
to an admiring world in what respect a bullet
this interpretation is that it comes too late.
or leaden messenger of death is invulnerable
Had Mr. Stewart looked no further than into
**The Century Dictionary”, he would have a Hamlet, as we know, is one great crux. It
wasted energy, never perpetrated anything
found this very passage quoted in illustration might therefore be confidently predicted that
of the definition "circles" for "ringlets." one so gifted with a genius for making cruxes,
Dr. Chambers, in the “Arden” edition of the big and little, vanish into thin air as is Mr.
“Midsummer Night's Dream,” dismisses the Stewart would surely contribute his mite to
whole thing in less than a line, thus: "ring the solution of the Hamlet mystery. And so
lets, not curls, but dances in a ring”?; whereas he does. But he is not content with throwing:
Mr. Stewart devotes considerably more than a little light on the vexatious questions which
two pages to this bit of old news.
we associate with the melancholy Prince; in
A better example of Mr. Stewart's fantas-
a short chapter of twenty-six duodecimo pages
tic and supersubtle method of dealing with printed in large type, he removes Hamlet
Shakespeare's text than the following can wholly and for ever from the sphere of the
scarcely be found anywhere. That celebrated problematical. The occupation of the Ham-
quartet, Jackson, Seymour, Chedworth, and let commentator is gone! We shall quote only
Becket, whose tamperings with Shakespeare a few sentences from this chapter, leaving it
are living monuments of misingenuity and to the curious to read more in the original :
"Strange 'inconsistencies' arise to puzzle the
more impossible than Mr. Stewart in his dis-
commentators. All these are easily explainable.
cussion of this passage in the "All's Well": We cannot, however, make the least progress in
“() you leaden messengers,
the understanding of the true inwardness of the
That ride upon the violent speed of fire,
play until we have realized that Hamlet is a man
Fly with false aim: move the still-piecing air who has been incapacitated to have emotion. . .
That sings with piercing.” (A. W., iii, 2, 111-114.) To witness a display of emotion upon the part of
“Still-piecing," meaning "ever-closing, clos-
others was a torture to him because it reminded
ing immediately," is Malone's generally ac-
him of the faculty which he had lost. It made him
feel poignantly the difference between himself and
cepted substitute for “still-peering” of the
other men, a terrible state of isolation; and not
First Folio. This almost certain emendation
only that, it confronted him continually with a
is supported by several passages in Shake live contrast between his former self and the man
speare which speak of the air as being wound he had now become. . . . He makes a grand effort
less, invulnerable, intrenchant, etc., as well as at passionate feeling. ... Hamlet lives in the
by the words “the still-closing waters” in cold light of reason, bereft of all other relief,
“The Tempest." And Verplanck quotes as
[and] is quite at home in a deep, canny piece of
a very apt illustration of the passage, and as
detective work. ... The most tragic phase of his
situation in life — to be a dead self. .:. His emo-
a possible "source" for it, the following from
tions are but a memory. ... The whole world
the apocryphal book of “The Wisdom of
outfaced Hamlet because his insights had placed
Solomon”: “As when an arrow is shot at a
him in a terrible isolation; he was a man apart
mark, it parteth the air which immediately from the race. . . Hamlet was haunted by his
cometh together again, so that a man cannot dead self. Hamlet is not a mystery.”
know where it cometh through.” Besides, Had Mr. Stewart devoted himself to the
"peering” is a very likely misprint or mis-
study of Shakespeare, English grammar, and
reading for "peecing," an Elizabethan va-
psychology, with half the real that he has
riant for “piecing.” This is how Mr. Stewart devoted to discovering cruxes and to distort-
wrings a meaning out of the Folio text:
ing Shakespeare's meaning, he would not have
"Peering, as here used, is a verb form of the been guilty of many of the lesser errors that
noun peer, meaning an equal. In war (the present mar his book. There is no excuse for speak-
connection) a man's peer would be one whom he
ing of Gratiano as Bassanio's “man,” of
could not overcome. Still-peering air means that
Nerrissa as a “maid” (Gratiano's “maid"
the air, despite the leaden missiles that pierce it,
is ever unconquered, always unvanquished — in-
differs in meaning from Mr. Stewart's), of
vulnerable. . . . And so still-peering air' regards
Bassanio as Gratiano's “master.'
And one
the atmosphere as always and ever the equal of
has read his “Romeo and Juliet” very super-
these leaden missiles of war;- inconquerable, in-
ficially who speaks of the masked ball in Act
vulnerable.”
i., Scene 5, as a “wedding feast." The obso-


1915)
301
THE DIAL
"ginns,
lete expression “insight of,” which occurs lieving that enough serious essays and his-
frequently in this book, sounds very harsh to tories and enough lives of great magicians
a modern ear. In one place (p. 219) we read have been written, he aims at romance, the
of a “terrible [sic] deep insight of the hypoc- dramatic, the pathetic, even the humorous.
risy of mankind,” and in another (p. 166) Not himself an adept, he is thoroughly recep-
we find this sentence: "The human mind is tive to the facts of sorcery, and sympathetic
just that superstitious." In the statement toward all the characters he presents. Though
(p. 148) that "we only hope in a case of he tries hard to be fair, and speaks in a re-
doubt” the psychology is worse than the strained and guarded tone which at times is
English.
exceedingly effective, the absence of direct
Whatever this book is, it is not helpful to citation of authority, especially in the earlier
the Shakespeare student.
chapters dealing with the birth of sorcery,
SAMUEL A. TANNENBAUM.
“sibyls, "elementals,” oriental
oracles, and so forth, cannot fail to arouse
suspicion in the mind of a reader with the
OLD MAGIC IN A NEW CENTURY.*
slightest critical turn. References are always
It is not uncommonly remarked that the
of the most general nature; there are no foot-
new magic of a scientific age transcends the notes, no citation of chapters or pages. Some-
wonder of the old magic of a time outworn.
times he tells us, sometimes he leaves us to
The miracles of wireless telegraphy and radio- guess, the name of the author upon whom he
activity, though fast becoming commonplaces relies; Philostratus presumably provides the
of efficiency, still retain a place of honor among
information concerning Apollonius of Tyana,
amateurs. The assumption, however, that the
but it would be more satisfactory to know just
Old Magic has actually passed, that it has
where to look for confirmation of the story of
utterly faded out before the new sun, is de-
the raising of the Roman maid from her
cidedly unwarranted by the facts, especially funeral bier. Historical romances have been
the bibliography of the last few years.
commonly condemned as neither good history
The activities of the Psychical Research So-
nor good fiction, and in like manner Mr.
ciety do not so much constitute a new science
Rohmer may tread on his own toes. His pur-
as they aim to investigate some of the material pose is not solely or even largely entertain-
of ancient magic. The Spiritualist Societies, ment; he aims to persuade. And persuasion
Christian Science, Theosophy, Swedenborgian-
rests upon conviction.
ism, - all these have more than a trace of
In the first chapter, "Sorcery and the Sor-
sorcery in them. The revival of Buddhism is cerers," there is much curious information
significant. M. Maeterlinck, ultra-modern concerning Eliphas Levi, who “may justly be
though he is in “Our Eternity," exhibits him-
called the last of the sorcerers,
self as a spiritual atavist in "The Unknown “Magical Ritual”; also the famous "Magus
Guest.” Such books as Bayley's “Lost Lan-
or Celestial Intelligencer" by Francis Barrett.
guage of Symbolism," Jacks's “All Men Are Of Apollonius of Tyana the author says:
Ghosts,” and Rohmer's “Romance of Sor-
"There is so much of the marvellous in the
cery" speak eloquently of the vitality of the life of the man of Tyana, that if I am to
Old Magic. Indeed we are not sure but that begin by doubting the possession by Apol-
Pragmatism has been quietly insinuating a
lonius of supernatural powers, I can see no
kind of philosophical apology for the pre-
end to my doubts other than that of doubting
sumably unscientific.
that he ever existed at all.” Certainly this
“The Romance of Sorcery” is written not august Pythagorean philosopher, whose re-
for the adept, not even for the student, but
corded life presents so many analogies to that
for Everyman, the aim being “to bring out
of Socrates and Jesus, makes a worthy study.
the red blood of the subject." This the author
Michel de Notre Dame, called Nostradamus,
has succeeded in doing, despite the difficulties represents the magic of the sixteenth century.
in his path. The enormous mass of erudition Since there is no life in English of this great
that he must have investigated is appalling, wonder-working physician (1503-1566), the
and it is therefore not surprising that the
author devotes considerable space to him in
book leaves the impression of a scrappy his-
this book. The evidence here is more satis-
tory of palæontology, with vast ages unrepre- factory, and shows Nostradamus to have been
sented. The author's attitude toward his
a remarkable divinator. His “Centuries," in
task, as also his conception of his work, has rhymed quatrains, published in 1555, contain
undeniably the defects of its virtues. Be-
Be- many predictions more or less verifiable. In
1792 there was to be a “revision of cen-
* THE ROMANCE OF SORCERY. By Sax Rohmer. New York:
turies," followed by various reforms by the
and his ܝܝ܂
E. P. Dutton & Co.


302
(April 15
THE DIAL
mus.
people. This may have been merely a happy monial rites." It is evident from this that all
guess, but not often is a guess so accurate two of what Ennemoser calls true mysticism, "the
and a half centuries in advance. The death direct relation of the human mind to God,” as
of Henry II., the advent of Henry IV., and well as lower and superficial manifestations,
the execution by the senate of London" of true knowledge or vision adulterated with
Charles I. are all foretold in fairly unequivocal cunning and greed, are considered together as
terms.
having a common essence.
The chequered career of Dr. John Dee This unification of all these phenomena
(1527-1608), Fellow of Cambridge and Lou seems to be justified. It is the amalgam of
vain, and intimate of Queen Elizabeth, is false and true, of vision and cunning, of
handled sympathetically, though with an air White and Black Art, that makes the whole
of tolerant condescension, for the author subject such a mass of contradictions and
thinks Dr. Dee was very much the dupe of anomalies. For this very reason, also, it is
Edward Kelly, “the most sinister figure in surviving in an age of scientific curiosity.
the annals of alchemistical philosophy," the
THOMAS PERCIVAL BEYER.
man who claimed to have found the ivory
caskets of St. Dunstan, containing the red and
white powders necessary to the composition
THE CASE AGAINST GERMANY."
of the Philosopher's Stone.
It can scarcely be doubted that the most
Cagliostro appears in entertaining but fairly trustworthy and informing books on the pres-
authentic guise as a man of great accomplish- ent war have come from the neutral countries,
ments, if lacking the genuineness of Nostrada especially from America. Where passion is
The opinion of Lavater, the physiog not engaged, discernment is inevitably clearer.
nomist, is cited in conclusion: “I believe that Thus, the keenest studies of the diplomatic
Nature produces a form like his only once in preliminaries are from the American writer,
a century, and I could weep blood to think Beck, and the Italian, Ferrero. If these men
that so rare a production of nature should, by unite in finding a verdict of "aggression
the many objections he has furnished against against Germany and Austria, we may be
sure
himself, be partly so much misconceived, and it is not owing to national prejudice but sim-
partly, by so many harshnesses and cruelties, ply because the facts are so. Indeed, so far
have given just cause for offence." Lorenza, as the immediate occasion of the war is con-
the “Countess, moves through the account cerned, the case may be said to be virtually
with a tragic beauty she may not have actually closed. Even German newspapers and public
possessed.
speakers are now frequently referring to the
For associating Madame Blavatsky with struggle as a “preventive war,'' waged by the
sorcerers the author says he has already been Fatherland to forestall a possible future at-
taken to task. His answer is that many phe-
tack by the Entente powers.
nomena (a term which he singularly uses in Among recent American books dealing with
the sense of “strange occurrences’’)
con-
Germany's part in the great struggle, Mr.
nected with her career are legitimately in the
Oswald Garrison Villard's "Germany Embat-
realms of sorcery. Here, of course, we have tled” is the weightiest, not merely because of
purely a question of phraseology. Soldau, in its grave tone and solemnly drawn conclusions,
his "History of Witchcraft," says: "Sorcery
but also because it is a unique blending of
is illegal miracle, and miracle legitimate sor- sympathy for the German people and their
Ennemoser says in the preface to his aspirations with unqualified reprobation of the
“History of Magic,” still excellent even if motives and methods of the German govern-
archaic: “The Fathers of the Church looked ment in precipitating the war. The son of a
upon the heathen oracles, and the heathens on German mother, an officer of the Deutscher
the Christian miracles, as sorcery.”
Verein in his Harvard days, Mr. Villard has
Mr. Rohmer chooses to make "sorcery" for many years been a close student of German
cover the entire field of mystical and super-
conditions. He summarizes admirably the Ger-
natural: “By sorcery I understand, and in-
* GERMANY EMBATTLED. By Oswald Garrison Villard. New
tend to convey, all those doctrines concerning
GERMANY?. By William Ha putt
the nature and power of angels and spirits ; Dawson. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.
the methods of evoking shades of departed Mocmillan Co.
By J. W. Allen. New York: The
persons; the conjuration of elementary spirits DEUTSCHLAND UBER ALLES; or, Germany Speaks. Compiled
and analyzed by John Jay Chapman. New York: G. P. Put-
and of demons; the production of any kind of
supernormal phenomena; the making of talis-
GERMANY'S WAR MANIA. The Teutonic Point of View as
Officially Stated by Her Leaders. New York: Dodd, Mead
mans, potions, wands, etc.; divination and & Co.
GERMAN WORLD POLICIES. By Paul Rohrbach. Translated
chrystallomancy; and Cabalistic and cere by Edmund von Mach.
cery."
York : Charles Scribner's Sons.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH
GERMANY AND EUROPE.
nam's Sons.
New York: The Macmillan Co.


1915)
303
THE DIAL
a
man point of view in the introductory pages collective madness combined of persecution
of his book, and then coldly demonstrates the mania and the folie des grandeurs. This
impossibility of American approval. The fail-theory, which is more suggestive than con-
ure of the insistent propaganda in this country vincing, would possess greater cogency if the
is emphasized and the desirability of our re quoted utterances had not all been made in the
torting by a campaign of enlightenment in heat of passion after the conflict was kindled.
Germany is suggested. It would be well if Certain spokesmen of all the belligerents have
this education might begin at home, and if said things which they will doubtless regret
those German-Americans who have fed them when calmer days come. The late Dr. Emil
selves since the war began with the offerings Reich, an anglicized Austrian, wrote a book a
of the “Staats-Zeitung” and its colleagues few years ago to show that Germany was suf-
could be induced to read this book. But that fering from megalomania. His numerous
is perhaps a too fond hope.
quotations from books, speeches, etc., carry
Mr. Villard finds that the menace of Ger some weight precisely because they were not
many to modern civilization proceeds from words uttered in haste or fury but were pre-
autocracy and militarism. His chapter on
sumably intended at their face value. For the
“Militarism and Democracy” is the clearest same reason, “Germany's War Mania,”
exposition we have seen of the way the soldier compilation made in England, possesses inter-
dominates the civilian in Prussianized Ger est as a collection of ante-bellum documents.
many. Militarism as a result of autocracy is In addition to writers usually quoted, General
the text of Mr. William Harbutt Dawson's von der Goltz and Professor Delbrück are here
“What Is Wrong with Germany?” The writ- put on record in defence of militarism. The
er's answer to his own question may be stated evolution of the Crown Prince from an innocu-
succinctly thus: Germany is out of harmony
ous nondescript into a rather objectionable
with the rest of the world because, owing to jingo is also concisely traced.
the lack of popular control in her parliament, Dr. Edmund von Mach has rendered the
the government is in the hands of a military American public a service by translating Paul
clique. The author has no difficulty in show Rohrbach's "Der deutsche Gedanke in der
ing that Germany has only the semblance of a Welt,” which first appeared in 1912 and has
parliamentary government, that the Reichs since gone through many editions. The trans-
tag is a mere "hall of echoes," and that the lation bears the title, “German World Poli-
real driving force is the Federal Council, ap- cies,
cies," and though somewhat "edited" for
pointed by the princes of the various states. American consumption, reproduces substan-
Mr. Dawson is perhaps the best-informed man tially the original. Rohrbach may be de-
now writing in English on matters pertaining scribed as a moderate imperialist. Fearing
to certain aspects of German economics and that the world is becoming predominantly
administration. In his new book there is some Anglo-Saxon, he calls upon his people reso-
threshing over of old straw, with talk of lutely to assert themselves so that they may
Treitschke, Bernhardi, and Nietzsche; but not be left out of the reckoning. The motive,
there is also a vast amount of new information, it is to be observed, is not economic but politi-
well documented, concerning the growth of cal. Germany's resources are sufficient, he
Pan-Germanism as reflected in press and par thinks, to support a population much larger
liament. Not the least interesting chapter than her present, her trade ought to continue
contains a list of the bellicose utterances of the to expand as heretofore, her emigration is
Kaiser, which cumulatively constitute a for- negligible, she is even obliged each year to
midable refutation of the claim that he has import labor. There is, then, no urgent eco-
been a man of peace.
nomic need of expansion. But the task to
In comparison with Mr. Dawson's book, the which Germany must address herself is that
slender volume entitled “Germany and of spreading her language, her civilization and
Europe," by Mr. J. W. Allen of the University its influences, her Kultur (to use a word that
of London, seems commonplace. It appears to has lately been soiled by all ignoble use), to
have been written in the early stages of the the ends of the world. The author holds this
war, and offers nothing new. Only its equable to be a cardinal necessity if Germany is not to
temper may be commended.
be recreant to her native strength. And for
Mr. John Jay Chapman's little book, this high destiny colonies and spheres of influ-
“Deutschland über Alles,” is a collection of ence are essential. With many of these aspira-
the utterances of representative Germans in tions a neutral may readily sympathize.
defence of the policies of their country since especially as Rohrbach, unlike Bernhardi, does
it went to war. It is the compiler’s belief that not advocate aggressive warfare. He has even a
Germany is suffering from an obsession, a keen eye for German faults. Speaking of the
iii


304
(April 15
THE DIAL
failure of his country to placate Poles, Danes, traiture of the New Young Woman. In fact,
and Alsatians, he remarks upon the German the genuine creative talent of Mr. Wells is bet-
"inability to make moral conquests" for ter exhibited by his studies of “life among the
which “the North German character is most to lowly” — by his Lewisham, Polly, and Kipps
blame." There can be no doubt that Rohrbach -than by all his sociological vaticinations and
rather than Bernhardi represented the feel his monotonous criticism of the way in which
ings of the majority of Germans before the the world chooses at present to conduct its
outbreak of the war. All the more pity that affairs. Bealby is just a small boy of twelve
the government chose the Pan-Germanic path. or so, a gardener's stepson put out to service
W. K. STEWART. in the household of a local magnate. He goes
unwillingly to the scene of his labors, and
RECENT FICTION.*
things begin to happen as soon as he gets there.
It is something to plunge a toasting-fork into
Ho for the Spanish Main in the brave days
the face of an under-butler, but this deed pales
of the buccaneers! The ringing call comes to into insignificance when the boy, in his pre-
our ears with “The Gentleman Adventurer,”
cipitate flight from the wrath otherwise to
by Mr. H. C. Bailey, a romancer who has
come, upsets the Lord Chancellor (at that
proved his quality on several previous occa moment a week-end guest), and forces from
sions. Here is a pirate story calculated to
the latter's lips a word euphemistically de-
quicken the most jaded sense and to stir the
scribed as “one brief topographical cry.” The
most sluggish blood. It tells of Peter Hayle, Lord Chancellor has had a rasping experience
implicated out of good nature in a plot against already, and is not in the best of tempers; the
the life of Dutch William in 1695, and making
encounter with Bealby is the last camel — we
a hasty exit from England to save his neck. mean the last straw — and hastens his depar-
He is shanghaied in London, taken to the West
ture from that hospitable roof with anathema
Indies and sold as a slave, and there, escaping in his heart. Bealby also thinks it wise to
from servitude in the company of a burly depart, naturally with the utmost secrecy, and
ruffian named Luke Veal, captures a ship, runs thus enters upon a veritable odyssey of adven-
up the Jolly Roger, and carves out for himself
ture. He attaches himself for a few days to a
piratical fame. He is a considerate buccaneer,
party of three ladies engaged in a care-free
who never scuttles a ship for the fun of the
tour of the countryside in a caravan; then,
thing, and his chief exploit is the putting out getting into further trouble, takes a new flight
of business of Estevan, a pirate of the most
and sets by the ears the population of a neigh-
reprehensible sort, whose villainies make
boring town already posted with bills offering
Peter's gorge rise and inspire him with loath-
a reward for his capture. He is finally seized
ing. Estevan is ruler of a private pirate king- and taken to the Lord Chancellor to explain
dom on the coast of Honduras, and his store of the innocent cause of the original offending,
treasure suffices to set Peter up for life when but his lordship does not believe a word of the
he returns to England and his erstwhile hon-
confession, and sputters anew the conviction
est existence. The tale is romantic in the
that he has been made the victim of a damna-
extreme; the French maiden whom Peter res-
ble conspiracy. Finally, Bealby, much chas-
cues is taken home as his wife, while the tened, returns to the step-parental roof, and
serpent-woman, the mistress of Peter and Luke
begs to be allowed another chance. This rol-
in their days of slavery, kidnapped by them licking story has many other elements of
and wedded to Luke, seeks to betray her lord interest - the romance of the officer and the
and master to Estevan, and is properly slain actress-lady of the caravan, the tramp with
in the ensuing fight, another woman having whom the boy consorts and eventually “does,"
already appeared upon the scene to fill the
and Lord Chickney, who tries to figure as deus
place thus made vacant. The book has an
ex machina, and distinctly does not succeed in
ingenious fertility of invention, and a raciness
straightening out the tangle. It is all broadly
of style that is a constant delight.
farcical, of course, but it keeps the interest
“Bealby” is the best fun that Mr. H. G.
sharpened at every juncture, and the author
Wells has given us since “Ann Veronica," and
resists measurably the temptation to digress
it is sheer unadulterated fun beyond anything into social homiletics.
that could be claimed for that startling por-
It was a safe prediction that many months
By H. C. Bailey. New would not pass before Mr. Will Levington
York: George H. Doran Co.
A Holiday. By H. G. Wells. New York: The Comfort seized the occasion offered by the
Macmillan Co.
RED FLEECE. By Will Levington Comfort. New York: George
world-war for a novel upon that engrossing
H. Doran Co.
theme. “Red Fleece" is not the big work
AN EMPEROR IN THE Dock. By Willem de Veer. New York:
John Lane Co.
that he might have written had he taken longer
• THE GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER.
BEALBY.


1915)
305
THE DIAL
about it, or that he probably will give us in the of the German spy already mentioned, seek to
future, but as an impressionistic preliminary gain command of the yacht, incidentally com-
sketch it is very acceptable. Its hero is an mitting murder in the attempt. An im-
American newspaper correspondent, and its promptu court is organized for the trial of
action is upon the Austrian frontier. Its bat- the imperial offender, who is obliged to listen
tle-pictures suggest to us those of “The Red
to some very plain speaking about his own
Badge of Courage,” although they are not character, and who, "with an expression on
evolved, as Crane's were, from the inner con his face of mingled prussic acid and disdain,"
sciousness of the writer, for Mr. Comfort has replies to his accusers with what one of the
seen war at first hand, and knows all its children in "The Golden Age" calls “horrid
ghastliness. Since this knowledge is combined implications." When the subject of his con-
with an intense missionary zeal in behalf of duct has been thoroughly inquired into by the
human brotherhood, and deep sympathy for court, the decision as to whether he shall be
the hapless lives reared only to become set free or hanged as a pirate is decided in
Kanonenfutter, Mr. Comfort's message is de- favor of clemency, and he is landed at a Dutch
livered with poignancy and force, and his port. The treatment of this highly dramatic
didacticism is hardly of the censurable sort. material is meant to be serious, but it hardly
The habitual mysticism of his treatment of escapes being burlesque. The dock in which
woman is once more exemplified in this novel, the case of this Exalted Person is eventually
and Berthe Wyndham is a worthy addition to adjudicated will, we imagine, prove an entirely
his gallery of consecrated souls. Our old different affair.
friend Fallows of “Down Among Men' reap-
WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE.
pears in these pages, and preaches his good old
gospel of the cause of the People. As a stylist,
Mr. Comfort has never done better work.
NOTES ON NEW NOVELS.
“His clothing smelled of death; and one morn-
Given a good-looking man of New England up-
ing before the smoke fell, he watched the sun
bringing, who is afraid of women to the point of
shining upon the pine-clad hills. That mo avoidance of them, and has no just notion of what
ment the thought held him that the pine trees to do with them when he has passed the point of
were immortal, and men just the dung of the avoidance, and "A Reluctant Adam” (Houghton)
earth.” It is not given to many men to write stands forth in Mr. Sidney Williams's novel of that
such English as that.
It is a recital of the rather pawky hero's
If Mr. Willem de Veer, the Dutch author
love affairs, from adolescent spooning down to a
of “An Emperor in the Dock,” were to set
suddenly acquired and as suddenly dismissed
foot on German soil, we tremble at the thought Though there remains a feeling that it serves him
grande passion which comes to nothing whatever.
of what would happen to him. The ordinary right, so brief a time and space are allotted this
penalties for lèse-majesté would clearly be
latter episode in the narrative that a sense of dis-
inadequate, and “something lingering’ would appointment remains. The protagonist seems to
have to be devised for his special case. The be a man without either respect for womankind or
title of this book arouses pleasurable anticipa- the code of a gentleman to keep him out of mis-
tions, which are, however, not realized, as the chief, and he deserves to have his punishment made
author is evidently an amateur, and his yarn more explicit.
is badly written, and devoid of all probability.
“ Barbara's Marriages' (Harper), by Mrs.
Such as it is, we may recount it in brief out Maude Radford Warren, has been written with the
line. Two Englishmen are fishing in Norway
earnest desire to cast light upon the vast problem
when the war breaks out, and accept the invi-
of love, in and out of marriage. The heroine is of
tation of a Dutch yachtsman to be his guests
an excellent Virginia family that has somewhat
on the homeward voyage.
gone to seed. Her first lover is much her elder, and
One of the boat's
is killed so soon after marriage that she may be
officers is a German spy, who does his best to said not to have been married at all. Her second
cripple the yacht on its way back. Presently lover is as disagreeable a cad as one is likely to
it encounters a German cruiser, which gives meet, who exhibits a supermannish selfishness in
chase,.but soon comes to grief when its career his love that makes one wonder why he should have
is ended by a mine. The yacht speeds to the
consented to a secret marriage. He is duly divorced;
rescue of the survivors, and picks up two
but there is a child to come, of which he is igno-
drowning men, who are taken aboard. One of
rant. The third matrimonial engagement is with
them is discovered to be “The Disturber of
a gentleman of Barbara's own class, a lifelong
friend. The interest of the book is in the second
the World's Peace in propria persona”; the affair, the last being rather carelessly developed.
other is his devoted attaché. The distin-
The Union of South Africa is intimately treated
guished visitors are locked up, but contrive to in Mr. F. E. Mills Young's “ Valley of a Thousand
break loose from their cabin, and, with the aid Hills” (Lane). A young Englishman seeking a
name.


306
(April 15
THE DIAL
new career as manager of a cattle-growing estate, Seawell records it. Her lovely creature had one
and a daughter of the Boers with more education bad time, but that was when she temporarily lost
than her parents, play the leading parts. Much of her good looks; the world was at her feet the rest
the laxity of living which crops out where widely of the time, except when she most needed it to be,
differing civilizations meet and mingle on frontiers and then it flatly failed her. Beauty, we learn, is
is written into the narrative. The disagreeable more highly prized in Europe than in America,
part in the story is taken by a young native of because of its greater rarity over there.
English blood who is weak rather than vicious, the As a title, "August First" (Scribner) suggests
hero supplanting him in the affections of the beauti the war; but there is nothing about war in its
ful Dutch girl. The dramatic climax comes with pages, except the war of a soul with itself. It is
the uprising of the Hindu coolies in Natal, which the joint work of Mrs. Mary Raymond Shipman
permits discussion of the racial difficulties almost Andrews and Mr. Roy Irving Murray, and its chief
certain to appear when Asiatics are admitted to characters are an anglican curate and an unhappy
Caucasian communities in numbers. The book is rich girl. The latter has nearly every trouble that
admirably put together.
can come with wealth, and the former has the cure
A rare figure is the protagonist of Mrs. Eleanor
of her soul through circumstance. A difficult prob-
Atkinson's "Johnny Appleseed" (Harper). That
lem is permitted to solve itself through details not
the American wilderness a hundred years ago
inherent in the problem itself, and it all ends pret-
should have given birth to lives of fine self-sacrifice tily. The book gives curates another valid reason
was to be expected; but here was a man with a
for existing
sense of social service such as the world is still more
than a hundred years away from. Jonathan Chap-
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
man was, and must have been, a New Englander.
The new series entitled “The
He conceived the idea of going about through the
Handbooks on
the art and Art and Craft of Letters"
new settlements of the central west and planting craft of letters.
appleseeds, that the children of the pioneers might
(Doran) promises to be, for the
have the joy of orchards. He devoted a life to it,
most part, authoritative in text, as it is inex-
and few lives have been better or more profitably
pensive and attractive in form. Four little
spent. Mrs. Atkinson's pages show much research, volumes have already been issued: “Satire,'
and bring to life a figure and a time which should by Mr. Gilbert Cannan; “History," by Mr.
never be forgotten.
R. H. Gretton; “The Epic, " by Mr. Lascelles
In America, such a title as Mr. Oliver Onions Abercrombie; and “Comedy," by Mr. John
has given his new book, “Mushroom Town” Palmer Of these the first is the least satisfac-
(Doran), would mean something in the oil regions, tory. Though often happy in its obiter dicta,
or mining regions, or other newly opened terri-
as most critical books are these days, it is too
tory, which had grown up in a day,- as Okla-
offhand, too slight, too vague, and suggests a
homa City did, for example. In more leisurely
Wales, with all the assistance England can afford,
lack of background. Much of it is merely
it takes thirty years or thereabouts to turn the
celebration of the author of “Erewhon,”
sleepy village of Llanyglo into a lively and popu- whose service to English life and letters may
lar seaside resort. How it was done, and what
be “not less great than that of Boileau to the
was the effect upon both early inhabitants and pro French.” Mr. Abercrombie's study of the
moters, is told with vivacity and discernment. epic is much better in all respects: it is closely
Incidentally one learns a good deal about the reasoned, interesting, and sound. Regarding
Welsh people, who have played an astonishingly epies "primarily as stages of one continuous
small part in English fiction hitherto.
development,” the author discusses the na-
When out of sorts with the world, especially ture of the epic from the hoary beginnings to
with the world of city-life, such a book as Mr.
our own day. He questions “whether it is
Walter Prichard Eaton's “ The Idyl of Twin Fires "
really justifiable or profitable to divide epic
(Doubleday) may be taken as both a sedative
and an alterative. « Twin Fires" is the name
poetry into the two contrasted departments of
a weary instructor in English, escaped to a New
'authentic' and 'literary.'” Avoiding rigid
England hillside farm, gives to his place on the
definition, he indicates the nature of the epic
suggestion of a girl doctor of philology who comes
by noting that “It must be a story, and the
to a neighboring boarding-house. How the old story must be told well and greatly; and,
house is made better and lovelier than new, how the whether in the story itself or in the telling of
landscape is made beautiful, the garden glorified, it, significance must be implied.” To the
and the farm made reasonably productive, consti-
process of epic poetry the “Nibelungenlied”
tutes half the idyl; the feminine doctor of philol-
contributed "plot in narrative”; the “Argo-
ogy provides the better half.
nautica” contributed analytic psychology,
Given a young American girl of good stock and
and love as one of the primary values of life;
rustic training and allow an elderly maiden lady
of strong will, large means, and excellent social
Virgil, besides heightening old aims and
position to take her in tow from purely selfish rea-
effects, contributed the expression of “social
sons, and “ The Diary of a Beauty” (Lippincott) consciousness" by celebrating the Roman Em-
is likely to come out much as Mrs. Molly Elliot pire. “In 'Paradise Lost,' the development


1915)
307
THE DIAL
of epic poetry culminates, as far as it has yet lives, misery, and money has been exagger-
gone. “After Milton, it seems likely that ated; that there are many compensations for
there is nothing more to be done with objective the horrors of war, and that more has been
epic. But Hugo's method, of a connected gained than lost in many wars; that the sol-
sequence of separate poems, instead of one dier and sailor are often slandered; that mili-
continuous poem, may come in here." Mr. tary force is not opposed to the interests of
Palmer's essay on comedy, though less bril the average man; that our past wars show the
liant than Meredith's, has wider vision. He need for a definite military policy; that the
makes much of the varying sources of laugh- recommendations of the General Staff and of
ter. “We laugh,” he says, “in different lan the Naval Board are reasonable and wise.
guages. .” The essay by M. Bergson that has Mr. Stockton deserves praise for the usually
attained such a vogue is based almost entirely dispassionate tenor of his work. He shows
upon the comedies of Molière."
These are
considerable respect for Mr. Norman Angell,
comedies of “social gesture.” They are come whom he pronounces "the most practical of
dies of "la parfaite raison.” But they are pacificists." He has less patience with Dr.
not of the same type as English comedy. The Jordan, whom he considers “a dreamer” who
Englishman “is incapable of seeing things is “apparently better acquainted with the
critically, as a being of simple intelligence, for military possibilities of the various nations
five minutes together. His feelings intrude.'' than are the men who, as professional soldiers,
His is the comedy of humor. Shakespeare's make these matters their life study.” Follow-
“Troilus” and “All's Well” are between the ing up this thought of professionalism, Mr.
two. Falstaff is representative of English Stockton declares it unfortunate that civilian
comedy; "Falstaff is not judged: he is ac bodies (which must mean the President, the
cepted. . We are asked to become part of Secretary of War, and Congress, representing
his folly." “A national English comedy the people) should control our military estab-
might conceivably have grown out of Jonson, lishments. But he is not at all satisfied with
humanized by Fletcher. But Congreve killed America's military past. He deplores the
the comedy of 'humours' and the pastoral impression given by our histories that our
comedy of pretty feeling, putting in their soldiers in past, wars have shown superiority
place something the English have never un- | to the enemy. The unhappy result of this
derstood and were unable to continue, " — the teaching is that the nation continues to rely
comedy of manners. For the present and the upon volunteers, when the facts of war show
future, Mr. Palmer would have English comic that trained troops alone are equal to modern
writers put aside purely intellectual comedy campaigning. Our own past military history,
as alien to their spirit, and, instead, recreate says Mr. Stockton, proves this most conspicu-
the comedy of humor. Let their model "be ously. “Throughout the entire Revolution,
Shakespeare's way with Hermia and Rosalind, the militia continued to run, desert, mutiny,
not Molière's way with the ‘Précieuses Ridi- and generally imperil the welfare of the Thir-
cules.' This is sound advice, and it is teen Colonies." And witness Bull Run, in
needed.
which the volunteer Union army took flight;
whereas an army of trained troops might have
A capable presentation of the crushed its opponents and ended the war.
The fallacies of view that military force insures That the victorious Confederate army at Bull
preparedness."
against defeat in war and there Run also consisted of volunteers seems to
fore against having war at all, is contained have escaped the writer's notice. But if Mr.
in the volume entitled “Peace Insurance" Stockton is not satisfied with our military
(McClurg), by Mr. Richard Stockton, Jr. Of past, he is able to secure much comfort and
course the writer's fundamental contention is moral support for his cause from utterances
that the United States ought to take out more by former Presidents (some of them civilians,
insurance of this kind than it has done; by the way), especially Washington. This
though he offers no explanation as to why dependence upon the past is one of the chief
Europe, which has long carried very heavy points in which those who strive to avert war
insurance of this sort, has now so destructive differ from the militarists. The latter see
a war upon its hands. The book contends that only war in the past; the civilist (as the anti-
the Army and Navy are not a burden during militarist chooses to be called) sees a continu-
peace, and may if properly managed become ous development of law and order and a
paying business institutions; that however corresponding objection to war. The militarist
desirable, arbitration, disarmament, or finan finds his warrant in what has been; the civil-
cial pressure offer no prospect of relief from ist in what ought to be and can be if man will
national rivalries; that the cost of war in but determine to have it so.


308
(April 15
THE DIAL
the decade
1846-1855.
Both knowledge and wisdom, instance, he speaks of Mr. Chesterton's aston-
Essays, ethical
both book-learning and acquain- ishing and not always admirable productivity
and philosophic.
tance with life, speak in the thus: “We find him every week in the 'Illus-
pages of Mr. Horace J. Bridges's ethical and trated London News' and the London 'Daily
philosophic and speculative essays grouped Herald'... and almost every month in al-
under the general title, “Criticisms of Life: most every magazine” — which is obviously
Studies in Faith, Hope, and Despair"
Hope, and Despair" untrue as well as impossible even in the case
(Houghton). Mr. Bridges, English by birth of that inexhaustible genius. In general, how-
and breeding, but now a candidate for the ever, Mr. Bridges is temperate as well as
citizenship of this Republic," as he declares agreeably readable; his sanity and sweet rea-
himself, is the leader of the Ethical Society in sonableness are qualities of which we cannot
Chicago, and his book is to be taken as an have too much in these days; and it is to be
earnest endeavor to apply the principles of the hoped his book will have the wide reading it so
Ethical Movement to the several problems, richly deserves.
religious and social and moral, which the vol-
ume discusses; or, in his own words, “it is in
The revival of interest in the
Disraeli during
the light of these two principles — the princi-
problems of the British Empire,
ple of Idealistic Naturalism and the principle
which came in the last quarter of
of the Supremacy of Ethics — that I have re the nineteenth century and which has been
examined the special problems dealt with by especially prominent in English politics since
the writers and thinkers whose works I have the great struggle with the Boers, has natu-
used as texts.” Lest the occurrence of the rally turned the thoughts of Englishmen back
word “despair" in his sub-title should mis to the statesman who more than any other
lead, the author explains at the outset that in Prime Minister strove to enlarge the domin-
adducing illustrations of that state of mind ions of England over the seas. It was found
“the purpose has been not merely to criticize to the regret of many that no adequate biog-
the doctrines rejected, but to justify faith and raphy had been written of Benjamin Disraeli,
hope by destroying the grounds of their op that no author had ever attempted to trace the
posites.” After this and other preliminary development of the seemingly contradictory
remarks the book opens with a study in relig. principles of his political philosophy. A few
ious experience, with Francis Thompson's years ago Mr. Murray, the English publisher,
poem, "The Hound of Heaven,”! as a text, undertook to bring out such a work, the writ-
re-enforced by an abundance of apt illustra- ing of which was to be done by Mr. W. F.
tion. Then follow a sharp attack on Mr. Monypenny, a young journalist who had
Chesterton as a theologian, a scorching criti achieved great distinction in his profession.
cism of Professor Haeckel's philosophy of the Two volumes appeared in due time, carrying
universe, a calmly rational consideration of the narrative down to 1846. “When Mr.
Sir Oliver Lodge's famous Presidential Ad Monypenny was completing for the press the
dress, of two years ago, before the British second volume of this biography his health
Association for the Advancement of Science, was rapidly failing, and he died ten days after
a critical review of “The Inside of the Cup,” its publication."
its publication." Mr. George Earle Buckle,
a strong protest against the "new morality" at one time editor of the London “Times,
advocated in the writings of Miss Ellen Key assisted the author in putting his last volume
and Mr. Bernard Shaw, an arraignment of through the press, and to him the publishers
M. Maeterlinck and Colonel Ingersoll for have assigned the task of completing the biog-
daring to maintain the justifiability of sui- raphy. Volume III., which has recently ap-
cide in certain circumstances, a panegyric on peared, is therefore almost entirely Mr.
Captain Scott, and a brief epilogue on the Buckle's work; Mr. Monypenny had collected
European war.
Notable amid other pro and sifted a large amount of materials, but he
nounced features of the book is the author's left only one chapter completely written
disapproval of Mr. Chesterton as an argumen analysis of Disraeli's novel “Tancred.” Mr.
tative writer; he is “the supreme genius of Buckle has followed faithfully the plan origi-
inaccuracy, as we are assured more than nally adopted; to a large extent the docu-
once, in varying terms, both in the chapter ments, as in the earlier volumes, are allowed to
devoted to him and elsewhere. But, by a sort tell their own story; but on the whole, Mr.
of nemesis familiar to those who have studied Buckle maintains a better proportion between
the habits of that two-edged sword called criti documents and narrative. Like his predeces-
cism, the critic himself falls into the trap of sor, he writes from a Tory viewpoint. The
inaccuracy and exaggeration in the very act new volume covers the period from 1846 to
of accusing the other of those failings. For
For | 1855, the period of Disraeli's rise to leadership
ܕ
an
-


1915 ]
309
THE DIAL
the Great.
among the protectionist Tories and of his suc killing of non-game-birds has been stopped ;
cessful effort to reshape Toryism along (2) the killing of game has been restricted to
broader conservative lines. The most notable open seasons, which have steadily been made
feature of Mr. Buckle's study, aside from a shorter; (3) long close seasons, usually for
detailed history of protectionism in its de five years, have been extended to a very few
cline, is his defence of Disraeli against the species threatened with local extinction; (4)
charge that he was insincere when he came the sale of game has been prohibited in seven-
forward as the champion of the corn laws. teen states; (5) the importation of wild birds'
The author believes that he was thoroughly plumage for millinery and the use of native
honest in his support of the agrarian interests, birds as hat ornaments have been completely
but that he regarded protection as an expe- suppressed; (6) the creation of a large num-
dient, not a principle, and that he abandoned ber of national and state game-preserves and
it because he realized that England was done bird refuges has been brought about; (7) a
with corn laws. Lord Derby, who was Dis- partial suppression of the use of extra-deadly
raeli's chief, is treated with some severity; firearms in killing birds has been effected; (8)
Mr. Buckle finds him lacking in foresight and the enactment of a law placing all our 610
especially in political courage. The volume species of migratory birds under the protec-
contains some discussion of personal matters, tion of the federal government has been se-
but on the whole it is chiefly a history of Dis cured. Dr. Hornaday's book should do much
raeli's activities in parliament and of English to widen and deepen the interest in the protec-
politics generally during the period under re tion of our wild life, and particularly the
view. The original plan was to complete the saving from imminent extermination of sev-
biography in three volumes; three have now eral important species.
appeared, and Disraeli has scarcely been
launched upon his great career. Unless some
A timely publication is Messrs.
different plan is adopted for the remainder of
Confessions
of Frederick Putnam's reprint of "The
the work, we may look for at least three vol-
Confessions of Frederick the
umes more. (Macmillan.)
Great,” edited by Mr. Douglas Sladen, with
a “Foreword” by Mr. George Haven Put-
In his book entitled “Wild Life nam, and a translation of Treitschke's “Life
The protection Conservation in Theory and of Frederick the Great” appended. If to-
of wild life.
Practice" (Yale University day's interpretation of the “Confessions” is
Press) Dr. William T. Hornaday has brought different from that which historical criticism
together the substance of a series of lectures would have accorded it a year ago, this dif-
delivered in 1914 before the Forest School of ference shows how even criticism must bear
Yale University. Mr. Frederic C. Walcott has its burdens in the face of upsetting facts.
added a chapter on private game preserves as Mr. Sladen explains that Carlyle's "million
factors in conservation, and a useful bibliog words” are too many for the curious of these
raphy of the more recent works on wild birds days: a smaller book about Frederick has its
with special reference to game preserves and place. The text of the “Confessions" is
the protection and propagation of game. Dr. taken from an eighteenth century translation,
Hornaday, in his noble fight on behalf of the and one regrets that Mr. Sladen did not tell
wild life of America, has realized the impor- us about the text of Frederick's original,
tance of awakening the interest of the univer whether it is included in the Berlin edition of
sities. “What is needed,” he says, “and now his works, and what those editors said of it.
demanded of professors and teachers in all our No one can hope to write of Frederick with
universities, colleges, normal schools, and high authority who has not made himself familiar
schools, is vigorous and persistent teaching of with that remarkable set of books. That Mr.
the ways and means that can successfully be Sladen is not ignorant of the collected edition
employed in the wholesale manufacture of is evident in his criticism of Treitschke's
public sentiment in behalf of the rational and praise of Frederick's “Anti-Machiavell," as
effective protection of wild life." In empha- indicating views long held by Frederick, pre-
sizing the vital importance of conservation, sumably after he came to the throne. Mr.
from an economic even more than from a Sladen might have added that the “Anti-
sentimental standpoint, Dr. Hornaday offers Machiavell” was written before the invasion
encouragement to further effort by setting of Silesia gave the lie to all that was genu-
forth what has already been accomplished by inely noble in the earlier writings of the
a comparatively small body of earnest-minded Crown Prince. It would be unfair to satisfy
men and women. This work may be summar curiosity by quoting from the “Confessions";
ized as follows: (1) seventy per cent of the they are worth reading, and one may duti-


310
(April 15
THE DIAL
latest volume
Panama Canal.
fully record a sense of loathing at the doc chief of the last-named being, of course, Mr.
trines they reveal. Mr. Putnam's “Fore Shonts. Noteworthy on its artistic side are
word” prepares the reader for the political the book's reproductions of Mr. Joseph Pen-
purpose of the “Life of Frederick the Great” nell's deservedly famous pictures of Panama
by Treitschke. This is the work of what one Canal scenes.
To these are added good por-
may call the Historian-Laureate of the traits of the chief architects of the great work.
Hohenzollerns. It is small wonder, after the Mr. Pepperman's book was needed to help
testimony of such foreigners as Macaulay and round out the story of the big canal.
Carlyle, that a scholar of the Court should
try to outdo the hero-worship of Frederick.
There is a lilt and rush of mel.
Mr. Markham's
But nothing in Treitschke reaches the level
ody in much of the recent verse
of verse.
of Macaulay's paragraph describing Freder-
of Mr. Edwin Markham, now
ick's unification of the Germans. One may
collected under the title of “The Shoes of
indeed acquit the Germans of having origi- Happiness, and Other Poems” (Doubleday),
nated the Prussian epic: the stuff of Prus-
which make the worm-eaten lines of the
sian history was first made eloquent for all “new” poets seem shabby by contrast. Wit-
time by these masters of English prose. And ness this from “Virgilia":
it is significant that no complete collection of “ What was I back in the world's first wonder? -
Frederick's writings was made until some
An elf-child found on an ocean reef,
years after the appearance of Macaulay's
A sea-child nursed by the surge and thunder
brilliant essay.
And marked for the lyric grief."
Or this from its sequel, “The Crowning
Lesser-known
Mr. Theodore P. Shonts sowed, Hour”?:
builders of the and Colonel George W. Goethals “ We are caught in the coil of a God's romances
reaped; the Second Isthmian We come from old worlds and we go afar:
Commission labored, and the Third Isthmian I have missed you again in the Earth's wild
Commission entered into its labors. Such, in
chances
brief, is the burden of Mr. W. Leon Pepper-
Now to another star!"
man's argument in “Who Built the Panama The poet is represented in various moods.
Canal ?” (Dutton), the story of the big ditch
Best of the narrative verse is “The Juggler of
as told by the Chief of Office of Administration Touraine," the juggler being described as a
of the Second Isthmian Canal Commission.
jolly punchinello trotting out on tipsy stilts
Naturally enough the hero of the Panama from a strange old mediæval legend of the
Canal is, to most of us, he who carried the Madonna. The title poem is rich in imagery;
great engineering enterprise to a triumphant it is otherwise adequate in the main, but it
termination; and almost without exception leaves the suggestion that the search for the
the published accounts of that undertaking blue flower, the blue bird, the shoes of the
ascribe the glory to the present Governor of shoeless beggar, or whatever the symbol, is
the Canal Zone, whom in this season of na-
not the theme, for Mr. Markham at least, that
tional rejoicing over the completion of the will most nobly “shake the soul and let the
mammoth task all are eager to honor with the glory out.” Nor do the songs of war and
recognition he unquestionably deserves. Hence peace, of social vision, of religion, strike depths
there is room, and to spare, in the book-world as unerringly as do those of love and youth.
for a volume calling attention to the man who, Of unusual distinction is “Villon: He Still
as one of the engineers expressed it in speak Complaineth of His Piteous Plight,” for there
ing of Mr. Shonts and those under him, built is more than the cynic's philosophy about the
the machine and started it going, and then
vagaries of fortune in the recurring last line
gave the handle to Goethals, who turned the of each stanza of the poem, which begins as
crank and ground out the results." Mr. John
follows:
F. Stevens, Chief Engineer under Mr. Shonts, “Here am I now in a piteous plight,
is also duly honored in Mr. Pepperman's
Doused and dour in a hell, you see;
pages, and,
still further to discharge a
For I slipt and fell in the mortal fight;
neglected duty, the abortive efforts of the
I was one, but the fates were three!”
French to cut the western continent in two
A pity it is that those who would
are made to appear of vast though commonly
for not drinking most benefit by a thoughtful
unrecognized importance. In fact, the author
and fair-minded reading of Dr.
contends that “the three controlling factors in Joseph H. Crooker's book, "Shall I Drink?"
the final construction of the waterway across (Pilgrim Press) are the very ones least likely
the Isthmus of Panama were the French, Theo to give it even a glance. Its arguments, sup-
dore Roosevelt, and the railroad men, " the ported by the best of medical and penological
97
-


1915)
311
THE DIAL
and other competent authority, against the
NOTES.
use of alcoholic liquors are so obvious as well
“ The Socialist and the War," by Mr. William
as unanswerable that the only wonder is they
English Walling, is a volume announced for April
should have to be stated at all. But it has
issue by Messrs. Holt.
long been a self-evident truth that men are
Two novels scheduled for publication this month
governed, not by their reason, but by their
by Messrs. Putnam are Miss Ethel M. Dell's “ The
feelings; and hence it is that all the world
Keeper of the Door" and Miss Leslie Moore's “ The
does not eagerly accept and profit by such Jester."
convincing demonstrations of its folly as this
Mr. Ernest Rhys has prepared a biographical
from Dr. Crooker. Without fanaticism he sketch of Rabindranath Tagore, his ideals, achieve-
urges the desirability, from almost every ments, and ambitions, which Messrs. Macmillan will
point of view, of having nothing to do with publish.
alcoholic drinks, marshalling his facts and Baron de Kusel (Bey), formerly controller gen-
figures and other instruments of persuasion, eral of Egyptian customs, has written a volume of
or dissuasion, in ten well-considered chapters,
reminiscences which will be issued by Messrs. John
Lane Co.
beginning with the ancient origin of what he
calls “the drink superstition,”
A book on
proceeding
“Methods and Aims in the Study of
with a calm examination of all that can be
Literature," by Professor Lane Cooper of Cornell
said in favor of a more or less restricted indul.
University, is soon to appear with Messrs. Ginn &
Co.'s imprint.
gence in intoxicants, exposing the failure of
“ The Little Man, and Other Satires,” studies of
even the famous Gothenburg system and show-
various phases and types of modern society by
ing that “liquor selling and liquor drinking
Mr. John Galsworthy, is promised for early issue
can no more be made harmless than gambling by Messrs. Scribner.
and leprosy," and concluding with an encour-
M. Pierre Berger's study of “ William Blake:
aging survey of present “signs of promise."
His Mysticism and Poetry," which has attracted
Sixteen copyrighted charts of the Scientific much attention in France, is soon to appear in an
Temperance Federation are inserted by per English translation made by Mr. D. H. Conner.
mission as a graphic aid to the enforcement of In his forthcoming volume on “Arms and the
the argument against drink.
Race," Professor R. M. Johnston shows the diffi-
culties in the way of disarmament and considers,
No subject of natural history
as a matter of history, the effect of war upon
nations.
interesting of offers a more fascinating field
wild animals.
for study than the life-history
The first book dealing with the author of
of the American beaver. The beaver has
Erewhon” is soon to appear in Mr. Gilbert Can-
nan's “ Samuel Butler: A Critical Study.” It
probably been the subject of more pure fiction
would be edifying to have Butler's own comments
than any other known animal; yet when one
on this enterprise.
has read such a book as Mr. A. Radclyffe Dug.
A new volume of Mr. L. P. Jacks's stimulating
more's "Romance of the Beaver" (Lippin-
essays is soon to be published under the title,
cott), in which every statement is supported
“ Urgent Themes.” Mr. Jacks is editor of The
by indisputable evidence, generally the result
Hibbert Journal,” and the author of several pre-
of the author's own painstaking observations, viously published books.
one is left with the feeling that the true life During the month Colonel S. B. Steele's “ Forty
of the beaver is quite as wonderful as the Years in Canada,” the record of a frontiersman and
fictitious exploits with which the industrious soldier, will be issued by Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Co.
little animal is credited in some of our early The Rt. Hon. Lord Strathcona has written an intro-
narratives. Mr. Dugmore makes no more am-
duction for the volume.
bitious claim for his book than that he has Mr. A. C. Benson's memoir of his brother, Mon-
tried to keep the subject free from exaggera-
signor Benson, soon to be published under the title
tion and technicalities. He has done that, and
Hugh,” is not intended as a formal and finished
a good deal more. He has brought together
biography. It was only written. “ to fix scenes
an extraordinary mass of material relating to
and memories before they suffered from any dim
obliteration of time."
the life, habits, and wonderful engineering
feats of the beaver; he has presented this ma-
Mrs. Hugh Fraser, whose several volumes of
terial in a most attractive and convincing way,
“ Reminiscences of a Diplomatist's Wife" have
been widely read and enjoyed, will give us some
and he has illustrated every point with a
additional chapters of autobiography in a book
photograph or an original drawing. Inci-
entitled Seven Years on the Pacific Slope," to
dentally he makes a strong plea for the pro appear during the spring.
tection of the most interesting animal to-day
The first volumes to appear in the “ New Poetry
extant." The book makes a welcome addition Series,” announced by the Houghton Mifflin Co.,
to the scanty literature on the beaver.
are the following: “ Irradiations,” by Mr. John
The most
66


312
(April 15
THE DIAL
Gould Fletcher; “Japanese Lyrics," by Lafcadio the pieces now first published. Reproductions of
Hearn; “The Winnowing Fan," by Mr. Lawrence the recently discovered portraits of the sisters and
Binyon; and an anthology, “Some Imagiste Poets." facsimile MSS. are also included.
An autobiographical " Revery on My Childhood The “Reminiscences and Letters of Sir Robert
and Youth,” by Mr. W. B. Yeats, is likely to prove Ball,” edited by his son, Mr. W. Valentine Ball,
one of the most interesting publications of the will appear at once in England. The reminiscences
season. The volume will bear the imprint of the were begun by Sir Robert Ball some years before
Cuala Press of Dublin. We note also the announce his death toward the end of 1913, but failing health
ment of an impending critical study of Mr. Yeats, prevented him from completing the work.
from the pen of Mr. Forrest Reid.
revising and editing the material at his father's
Mr. Albert Bigelow Paine is preparing to com-
request, Mr. Ball has interwoven letters to and
pile a collection of Mark Twain's letters, which
from many distinguished correspondents, and added
Messrs. Harper will publish. In his recent biog- the personal recollections, among others, of his
raphy he was forced to restrict the inclusion of any
uncle, Sir Charles Ball, and Sir Joseph Larmor;
correspondence of Twain to such letters as illumi-
while Professor E. T. Whittaker has contributed
nated the text, but now his aim is to print all the
an appendix dealing with Sir Robert's mathe-
available correspondence which will come into his
matical work.
hands.
One of our most noted English scholars, Profes-
Professor Gilbert Murray's “The Stoic Philoso-
sor Thomas R. Lounsbury of Yale, died April 9 at
phy," to be published this month, is the sixth of the
New Haven. Born at Ovid, N. Y., January 1, 1838,
memorial lectures founded in memory of Moncure he was graduated in 1859 from the college to which
D. Conway, and delivered annually at South Place he gave the best of his energies and talents for
Institute. The five preceding lecturers were Mr. nearly the rest of his life. Literary work of a hum-
J. M. Robertson, Mr. Norman Angell, Mr. H. W.
ble sort occupied the two years following his gradu-
Nevinson, Mr. William Archer, and Mr. John ation; then came three years of military service in
Russell.
the Civil War; five years after its close he became
Still another series (the third) of monographs
instructor in English at the Sheffield Scientific
on prominent writers of the day is announced by a
School of Yale University, and from 1871 we find
London publisher. It will bear the general title,
him holding a professorship of the English Lan-
“ Studies of Living Authors," and in the first three
guage and Literature. He was librarian of the
volumes to appear Mr. H. G. Wells will be dealt
Sheffield Scientific School from 1873 to 1906, and
had been Professor Emeritus after the latter date.
with by Mr. R. W. Talbot Cox, Mr. Arnold Bennett
by Professor J. R. Skemp, and M. Anatole France
His membership in the American Academy of Arts
by Mr. Geoffrey Cookson. The books will be full-
and Letters, and in other learned societies, bore
length studies, rather than brief outlines.
witness to his scholarship and repute. Apart from
his well-known Chaucerian and Shakespearean and
A ten-volume translation of the most important linguistic writings, which hardly need to be ezumer-
works of Martin Luther, from the Ninety-five The-
ated here, he made not many contributions to litera-
ses of 1517 until his death, is announced by Messrs.
ture, but will be remembered for his biography of
A. J. Holman Co., of Philadelphia. Each volume
James Fenimore Cooper in the "American Men of
will be provided with an introduction and explana- Letters” series; and not very long before he died
tory notes. The translation has been done by schol-
he published some lectures on The Early Literary
ars who have devoted the past five years to a study Career of Robert Browning.” He had also edited
of Luther's treatises, and the work aims to reveal
the complete works of Charles Dudley Warner, with
the reformer in all his many-sided activity. The biographical introduction. Vigor and independence
first volume of the set will appear this month. distinguished his work as a writer — even to the
Indiana librarians, as is announced in the “Li- point of espousing the spelling-reform heresy.
brary Occurrent" of the Public Library Commis-
sion of Indiana, are advocating the passage, by
their State legislature, of a librarians' licensing
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
bill authorizing the appointment, by the Commis-
sion, of a board of library examiners “ whose duty (The following list, containing 58 titles, includes books
it shall be to establish grades, hold examinations,
received by THE DIAL since its last issue.)
and accredit library schools." The examiners are
GENERAL LITERATURE.
to be four in number and to serve, after the system Letters to a Friend: Written to Mrs. Ezra S. Carr,
is well started, four years each, without pay, and
1866-1879. By John Muir. 12mo, 194 pages.
Houghton Miffin Co. $3. net.
with one vacancy to fill every year.
A Critical Study. By Frank
For the volume entitled “Brontë Poems: Selec-
Swinnerton.
photogravure frontispiece,
8vo, 216 pages. Mitchell Kennerley. $2.50 net.
tions from the Poetry of Charlotte, Emily, Anne,
The English Essay and Essayists. By Hugh Walker,
and Branwell Brontë, including Some Poems Hith LL.D. “Channels of English Literature." 8vo,
343 pages.
E. P. Dutton & Co. $1.50 net.
erto Unprinted,” which is now nearly ready for
James Russell Lowell as a
By Joseph J.
publication, the editor, Mr. A. C. Benson, has laid Reilly, Ph.D. 12mo, 228 pages. G. P. Put am's
under contribution all the poems hitherto printed.
Sons. $1.25 net.
King Albert's Book: A Tribute to the Belgian
The object has been to make accessible for the first King and People from Representative Men and
time in one volume all the best poetical work of the
Women throughout the World. Illustrated in
photogravure and color, large 8vo, 188 pages.
Brontë family. Each of the sisters is included in
Hearst's International Library Co. $1.50 net.
R. L.
Stevenson:
With
Critic


1915)
313
THE DIAL
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
The French in the Heart of America. By John Fin-
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$2.50 net.
Memories and Musings. By John Widdicombe. Il-
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$ 4. net.
My Life Out of Prison. By Donald Lowrie. 12mo,
345 pages.
Mitchell Kennerley. $1.50 net.
Narrative of Johann Carl Buettner in the American
Revolution. With frontispiece in color, large
8vo, 69 pages. New York: Charles F. Heart-
man.
The Solitaries of the Sambuca. By Daniel Maulds-
ley; with prefatory note by Montgomery Car-
michael. Illustrated, 12mo, 252 pages. E. P.
Dutton & Co. $2. net.
Letters Written by Ebenezer Huntington during
the American Revolution. With portrait, large
8vo, 112 pages. New York: Charles F. Heart-
man.
DRAMA AND VERSE.
Poems. By Maurice Maeterlinck; done into En-
glish verse by Bernard Miall. 12mo, 131 pages.
Dodd, Mead & Co. $1.25 net.
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Profitable Vocations for Boys. By E. M. Weaver
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"The Ethical Value of Oriental Religions
under the Roman Empire"
Ву
PROFESSOR CLIFFORD H. Moore of Harvard
The Harvard Theological Review for April


314
[ April 15
THE DIAL
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Published monthly at lowa City, Iowa. $1.50 a year.
Sample copies gladly furnished.
FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN
1790 BROADWAY
NEW YORK CITY
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Catalogue of Greek, Etruscan and Roman
Bronzes by Gisela M. A. Richter.
Will Find
THE MISCELLANY
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literary interest not always adequately treated by
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STATEMENT of the Ownership, Management, Circulation,
etc., Required by the Act of August 24, 1912, of THE
DIAL, published fortnightly at Chicago, for April 1, 1915.
Editor - Waldo R. Browne, Wyoming, New York.
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Sworn to and subscribed before me this Twenty-second day of
March, 1915.
(SEAL]
HARRY H. FLINN, Notary Public.
(My commission expires February 8, 1916.)


THE DIAL
A Fortnightly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information.
PAGE
.
Entered as Second-Class Matter October 8, 1892, at the Post
Office at Chicago, Illinois, under Act of March 3, 1879.
A COMMODITY OF GOOD NAMES.
Vol. LVIII. APRIL 29, 1915 No. 693
98 Language is all names. Nouns, of course,
are the names of persons or things; adjectives
CONTENTS.
and adverbs are the names of qualities; verbs
A COMMODITY OF GOOD NAMES
325
the names of actions. If you say “ John ran a
CASUAL COMMENT
327 mile briskly" you are simply naming first the
One who lived the life of a poet.— The fount
of fictive tears.- Germany's appreciation of
person, second the kind of action he indulged
Shakespeare.—The reading of school children.
in, third the division of space he covered, and
- The improbabilities and impossibilities of fourth the way in which he did it. Pronouns
fiction.— One year's work of our largest pub are simply signs substituted for names to obvi-
lic library.- A printer with the spirit of an
artist.— Greedy readers.— A Washington Ir-
ate their repetition. Thus we say: “John
ving anecdote.- Whetting the reader's appe went to his house" instead of "John went to
tite.- From gown to khaki.
John's house." The articles, conjunctions, and
COMMUNICATIONS
331
A Correction and Some Other Matters. prepositions are more abstract, but they are
Louis C. Marolf.
merely a thin cement to hold together the
Literary Reciprocity with the Latin Americas.
name-bricks of language.
C. L. M,
A Quotation from Sophocles in Meredith's
To name is the poet's trade; but collective
Letters. Wm. Chislett, Jr.
humanity has been at work at it from the be-
Jefferson's Architectural Work. Fiske Kim-
ball.
ginning, naming and re-naming, forming airy
OUR PAINTER OF THE SEA AND THE symbols for the realities of the world. All the
SHORE. Edward E. Hale
ELIZABETHAN TRAGIC TECHNIQUE. Gar:
333 languages and dialects are its attempts at
land Greever.
piecing together images so they can be passed
335
AMERICAN EXPANSION IN THE FAR
from mind to mind. And the vast web so
WEST. William E. Dodd
336 fabricated is ready to the hand of the still
AMERICA AND THE GREAT WAR. Frederic
Austin Ogg
more definitely purposed poet or prose writer
337
Roosevelt's America and the World War.-
to cut up into garments for the creations of his
Greene's The Present Military Situation in the imagination. Language is the exercise of the
United States.- Wheeler's Are We Ready?
world before it becomes the skill of one or a
- Usher's Pan-Americanism. - Beck's The
Evidence in the Case.—Whitridge's One Amer-
score or a hundred; just as myriads of minute
ican's Opinion of the European War.- Can insects contribute to the building of a coral
Germany Win? - Münsterberg's The Peace
reef before palms and cocoanut trees can wave
and America.- Baldwin's The World War,
SOME VARIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO PSY.
their fronds above the sea.
CHOLOGY. Joseph Jastrow
340
As far as permanency is concerned, the
Shand's The Foundations of Character.-
Watson's Behavior.- Freud's Psychopath-
anonymous haphazard naming of the multi-
ology of Everyday Life.— Goddard's Feeble tude may outlast most of the labored work of
mindedness.- Goddard's School Training of the poet. It does not write on paper or parch-
Defective Children.-- Wallin's Mental Health
of the School Child.- Mrs. Burr's Religious
ment, but on the face of the earth — on places,
Confessions and Confessants.- Wallas's The houses, waters, woods. A good percentage of
Great Society.- Münsterberg's Psychology. territorial names must have been originally
Ogden's Introduction to General Psychology.
RECENT FICTION. William Morton Payne 344
the work of fancy; they were appellations
NOTES ON NEW NOVELS
346 which had a meaning of honor, irony, con-
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS
347 tempt. In a desert island story, when the ship-
Explorations in the ruins of Babylon.— A
successful American opera.- A posthumous
wrecked people have mapped out their domain,
volume by Sister Nivedita.- Modern fiction they proceed to give names to the various
in Latin dress.- A plea for Belgium by an
places, such as Cape Fear, Bay of Good Hope,
eyewitness.-- An Englishman's adventures on
land and sea. —
- Life in America a century ago.
Snug Harbor, and so forth. This has probably
- Our picturesque Western gateway.
been the method of the world in general. The
VOTES
350
TOPICS IN MAY PERIODICALS
nomenclature reflects the mood of the discov-
351
LIST OF NEW BOOKS
352 erers, as in Bret Harte's country with its Dead
•
.
.
.
.


326
(April 29
THE DIAL
Man's Gulch and Roaring Camp and the like. turals. There is a place in Pennsylvania called
In earlier days the territorial appellations be- Wapwallopen; translated, this means War-
came the names of the persons who dwelt in rior's Rest, which is pretty enough. Then there
such places; so people were called Ford, Field, are Mauch Chunk, Manuka Chunk, Tamenend,
Wood, and innumerable other name words. In Wissahickon none of which would seem to
fact, though that collective poet, the world, is be conceived in the style of great poetry.
continually at work at language or naming, its It is a sign of genius when a writer is as
efforts in personal nomenclature display a cer much concerned in the selection of his names
tain poverty of invention. There are said to as in the ordering of other words. Just what
be only three names to-day in Wales, which makes the names appropriate or beautiful
we suppose are Jones, Lloyd, and Llewellyn. would be difficult to say. Euphony counts for
China has proportionally even fewer sur much, association for much. But after all, it
names; and most modern races betray the same is more or less of a mystery why Pembroke
narrowing of this kind of nomenclature, as should be a beautiful name and Hodgins an
though humanity had grown weary of mark- ugly one; why Beatrice should be noble and
ing out its innumerable children,
graceful, and Sophronisba a trifle ridiculous.
One of the ways in which humanity has par The taste of the best judges decides, and the
ticularly exercised its naming faculty is in the world comes around to their opinion. There
designations given to homes, and more espe are three great divisions of names in fiction,
cially inns. The inn names throughout En and the appropriate and beautiful form the
gland are a delight to the student of the
first. These, perhaps, give a writer the least
grotesque, the bizarre, the unexpected. A list trouble. He has simply to select from the
ought to be compiled of them as a work of large stock which use has approved. How
national humor. Excluding the various much of the effect of Horace's Odes is due to
“Arms" and "King's Heads” and “Saracen the lovely Greek and Latin female names
Heads,” there are a multitude of inn signs which they enshrine! We must brighten up
ranging from the quaint to the inexplicably our page with some of them,- Lydia, Lalage,
queer. Pretty nearly all the animals, existent Myrtale, Phryne, Glycera, Terentia, Cynara,
or imaginary, have lent their names and Chloe, Pyrrha, Leuconöe, Tyndaris, Barine,
painted semblances to these signs. There is Asteria. Such names have the perfection of
or was- "The Mermaid," "The Griffin," "The the classic world. They sound like fountains
Elephant,” “The White Hart," "The Boar's rippling over marble; they gleam like moon-
Head," "The Three Cranes in the Vintry.” light in old gardens. The names of Shake-
There are a great many trios, -" The Three speare's girls are far more richly colored, are
Angels, 'The Three Tuns," "The Three
“ The Three wilder, more full of romance. Rosalind, Juliet,
Nuns," “ The Three Cups,” and so forth. Viola, Miranda, Perdita, Portia, Beatrice,
“The Goose and the Gridiron " is understand. Imogen, — these are double roses compared
able; and The Bull and the Gate” is sup with the Latin poet's simpler flowers. Shake-
posed to be a corruption of Boulogne Gate. speare was equally fortunate in his men's
But what does " The Salutation and the Cat” names. In his historic plays he came into the
mean, or the “The Cock and the Bottle”? inheritance of the Norman-English nomencla-
Our American inns have rarely such pictur- ture, than which there has never been anything
esque names as the English, though we know more impressive. In his other plays an almost
of one in Jersey called " The Blazing Rag." infallible taste guided him in his selection of
Speaking of the supposed monotony of no names. Sometimes, indeed, we think he picked
menclature in Wales to-day, we are reminded out stories for the sake of the names. His first
of Matthew Arnold's remarks about the lofty child, born before he left Stratford, was named
and penetrating beauty of the ancient Welsh Hamnet. Was he already brooding over the
and Cornish names,— Tintagel, Caernarvon, Danish Prince, or did he choose that subject
and others. We used to think that there was because of his son Scott, also, came into a
something of this "large utterance” in the commodity of good names: Waverley (who
American Indian names; Pocahontas, Pow almost gave his name to an epoch), Redgaunt-
hatan, Manhattan, Mohawk, Pawnee, have a let, Montrose, Douglas, Marmion. Surely
high order of style about them. But too many names were more splendid in those old days
Indian names are composed of grunts and gut than now,- they were like banners flung upon


1915)
327
THE DIAL
the air. The old lady who thrilled at the down to Sheridan, but Shakespeare, the great
sound of the blessed name Mesopotamia was essayists, and the novelists are full of them.
certainly not alone in her love for lofty appel. In Shakespeare, side by side with such char-
lations. And when names are concatenated in acteristic cognomens as Falstaff, Caliban, Mrs.
poetry, as they are in passages of Milton, Mar- Quickly, we have Pistol, Sir Toby Belch, Shal-
lowe, Scott, they can move most readers still low, and Slender. A vast number of the people
by their inspiring harmony. To the English in Scott, Dickens, and the lesser novelists have
lyric poets, names are almost the captain jew artificial names of this kind.
els in their carcanets of words. Lovelace, It may be objected that we are making a
Burns, Shelley, Tennyson, all lift up single great deal out of nothings,- that names are
names until they glow like stars. Landor's mere airy breath and have no reality or fitness
immortality is perhaps best assured by the or prophecy in them. The Neo-Platonists
eight lines which exhale the fragrance of that made the Logos, the word, the beginning of
perfect name, Rose Aylmer.
everything. The hero of Poe's story, “The
The second division of fiction names is that Power of Words,” breathes a new star into
of the perfectly characteristic; and here the words simply by naming it. We think there
writer has to labor terribly. We are told how is hardly any reform which would work more
Balzac used to ride around Paris studying the good in the world than one by which the whole
shop signs, in search of a name for some char race would gradually come to possess appropri-
acter he had in mind. Dickens turned and ately beautiful or majestic names. However,
twisted his names, until by some subtle instinct there is always a danger that the christening
he recognized that he had the right one. When may come to naught. Miss Mitford tells a
this did arrive it was a stroke of genius; it story of a couple named Rose. They had a
was half the battle. It was like adding the daughter whom they thought it would be poeti-
necessary chemical to a solution,— the char cal to name Wild. This did very well until
acter was the precipitate. Would it be possi- she grew up and married a man named Bull.
ble to imagine Sairey Gamp, Dick Swiveller,
CHARLES LEONARD MOORE.
the Wellers, Micawber, or Pecksniff under
other namesIt is hardly necessary to read
the novels to have some idea of these person-
CASUAL COMMENT.
ages. At their very best, such names become
ONE WHO LIVED THE LIFE OF A POET, faithful
proverbial. Don Quixote's name has been
in thought and word and deed to a poet's
made into a noun and an adjective. Shandy- ideals, has lately passed from among us with
ism is the label of a certain quality of humor. little public demonstration of grief at his go-
The Pickwickian sense excuses everything. ing. Those who have read Mrs. John Albee's
Here, again, the reason for the fitness of the “Mountain Playmates" will retain pleasant
cognomen is a mystery. Why should Quilp be memories of the poet and nature-lover whose
the pre-ordained name for Dickens's funniest name, with that of his wife, has made Pequa-
fiend! Why should "My Uncle Toby" ex-
ket, in the New Hampshire hills, a place of
press so much of simplicity and good nature? peculiar interest and charm on the map of
New England; for here has been the Albees'
The third species of names in fiction are
summer home, as also at times their winter
those exploited in the “comedy of humor." home, and here both books and Abnákee rugs
Compared with the perfectly characteristic
have been called into being in a memorable
ones, they are like a ready-made suit of clothes manner, concerning which there will be found
besidé one made to order. They are created some notable chapters in “The Gleam," from
by simply labelling your personage with the Mrs. Albee's pen. Mr. Albee's books include
name of a certain quality. He is introduced as “Literary Art,” “Poems,” “Newcastle, His-
the embodiment of an abstract idea. It is an
toric and Picturesque," "Prose Idylls," "Re-
membrances of Emerson,'
” “Lake Chocorua,"
easy way to give a character a start in life;
and if he or she wakes up and becomes a real
Confessions of Boyhood," and a life of
human being, there is no great harm in it. The Bellingham, Mass., April 3, 1833, was edu-
Henry Dexter, the sculptor. He was born at
great successes in the characteristic nomencla-
cated at Phillips Academy, Andover, and the
ture are comparatively few; in the nomencla- Harvard Divinity School, and preached for a
ture of humor, they are many. For they not short time — long enough to discover that he
only pervade the old comedy from Ben Jonson had greater aptitude for poetry than for pul-


328
i April 29
THE DIAL
pit-pounding after which he lived for many “They have reverence akin to awe for Wash-
years at Newcastle, an island settlement off ington, they admire the military prowess of
the coast of New Hampshire near Portsmouth; Dewey or Grant, but Lincoln they love."
and it is this little place that he has celebrated There is certainly no morbid craving for the
in one of the most attractive of town histories, lachrymose in the small boy's eagerness for a
a work which his friend Mr. Sanborn, of Con new book about Lincoln, which when he has
cord, speaks of as “more resembling Hesiod's found and read with approval he recommends
recollections of Ascra than Felt's 'Annals of to the other boys with a “Gee, it's great!
Salem. His debt to Emerson, a kindred
soul who like himself had found the pulpit GERMANY'S APPRECIATION OF SHAKESPEARE
untenable, may be partly learned from the seems not to have suffered very much from her
fifth book in the foregoing list. The poet's present rupture with Shakespeare's country.
later years were years of painful illness, cheer When the Tageblatt' of Berlin not long ago
fully borne, of enforced seclusion, submitted solicited the opinion of German scholars and
to with contentment, though the recluse en men of letters as to what books. were best
joyed society and was fitted to be its orna adapted to current tastes and needs, the au-
ment, of failure to reap any adequate fruits thor to receive the most votes was found to be
from his literary industry, but of no depar- Shakespeare. His “Henry V.” led the list,
ture, through it all, from the modest dignity and it is worth noting that it was immediately
of bearing becoming one who was, in the best followed by three other English works, -Sir
sense of that term, the captain of his soul. Sidney Lee's “Life of Edward VII.," Seeley's
account of “The Expansion of England,''
THE FOUNT OF FICTIVE TEARS, in which the
and McCarthy's' History of Our Own Times."
sane and sensible Katie Willows was not wont
German interest, naturally a somewhat ma-
to dabble, has nevertheless a certain unde-
levolent interest just now, in the three last-
niable charm for many other equally normal named works is not hard to understand; but in
and healthy representatives of young girl.
German, admiration for the spirited historical
hood. Juvenile readers take their fiction in
drama mentioned above one sees something
tremendous earnest, and rather resent than
very different. In the Bishop of Ely's ex-
enjoy any appeal to their still undeveloped hortation to the young monarch beginning,
sense of humor. Those who have had expe-
“ Awake remembrance of these valiant dead
rience in reading or telling stories to children And with your puissant arm renew their feats:
will appreciate an article in the current
You are their heir; you sit upon
their throne,"
“Library Journal ” on “The Foreign Child
“The Foreign Child it is not difficult to shift the scene and imagine
and the Book," by Miss Aniela Poray, who the apostrophe addressed to the heir of the
evidently knows whereof she writes.
Great Elector, of Frederick II., and of Will-
boys and girls," she has observed, “care very iam I., especially as the purpose of the appeal
little for humor in their reading, for it hardly is to arouse the king to war against France.
comes in their scheme of life. A common As was declared by Professor Brandl of the
request from girls is for weepy stories. They University of Berlin, this play is an inspir-
like 'Sara Crewe' for many reasons, but the iting thing to read when there comes the call
fact that it is sad and pathetic is the greatest
to arms. He is further reported as saying:
attraction. When books of appealing human
"All that Shakespeare says of his Henry is
sympathies can be found which combine also applicable to our Kaiser, and the aggressive
literary merit, all is well; but when this crav humor with which he treats the French does
ing for weepiness seeks satisfaction in such particular good in these days." German schol.
lollipop books as those of Nina Rhoades, the arship has spent itself so unsparingly on
librarian has a hard task before her. It is not Shakespeare study that no one can fairly be-
easy to persuade and convince the little girl grudge the Germans such comfort as they can
that not having Nina Rhoades there may be in present trials derive from his pages. It
something else that she would like as well. even appeals to the sense of humor to find
With apologies to Dickens, I found him an them turning to their own use against En-
excellent alternate for Nina Rhoades and oth-gland the greatest of England's poets.
'ers of her kind. The stories of littlé Paul
Dombey, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and THE READING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN tends to
Little Nell are pathetic, and the strange En- become, in these opening days of the ever-
glish setting is forgotten in the meeting of a inviting outdoor season, a negligible quantity:
familiar type.” With both boys and girls of and this is in great part as it should be. Still
foreign 'extraction this authority has found the problem of how to bring together at the
Lincoln to be a prime favorite in biography. psychological moment the child and the book
“ Both


1915)
329
THE DIAL
he most needs loses none of its importance example from current fiction, in "The Awak-
with the shifting of the seasons. At the ening,
ening,” by Henry Bordeaux (if that be the
Library School in Albany, as explained in the author's real name), we read in the third
current record of things accomplished there chapter about a certain “telegraphed letter”
during the past year, added attention is given which in very explicit terms is distinguished
to this question in a newly established “li- from ordinary mail correspondence; yet only
brary institute open only to district superin-two pages later a person to whom the mes-
tendents of schools.” This is one branch sage is handed for perusal is made to recog-
merely of the regular summer activity of the nize the sender's handwriting, “although it
New York State Library School, and the ses was stiffer, firmer, with sudden flourishes and
sions were attended by thirty-one superin- unfinished letters."
unfinished letters." Apparently this com-
tendents, who took an energetic part in the munication, so painstakingly impressed upon
discussions and showed a genuine interest in us as a telegram, changes its character in a
the topics discussed. What aid the State twinkling and becomes an autograph docu-
gives toward the furnishing of small school ment. We have here to do with an old com-
libraries was learned in detail by those attend plaint of novel-readers against novel-writers,
ing; and, further, as we are informed, “an as old as novels themselves, no doubt; but the
important feature was an exhibit, classified fact remains that it is just such disconcerting
by grades, of several hundred books suitable tricks, or lapses, as this that make the judi-
for the first eight school grades. The prac cious novel-reader grieve.
tical character of this exhibit was shown by
the fact that a number of those in attendance ONE YEAR'S WORK OF OUR LARGEST PUBLIC
used it as a partial basis for books to be recom LIBRARY, epitomized in statistical form, makes
mended for purchase during the coming year." a showing that is, to say the least, impressive.
Among the lectures delivered are to be noted In the twelve months ending last December
several on such generally intereşting themes as the New York Public Library lent 9,516,482
'What is Education and Who are Educated ?" books for home use, opened four new branch
“ The School Library in Agricultural Educa- libraries, added 201,805 volumes, supplied
tion," and "Selection of Historical Material 83,319 books by inter-branch loans, served
for Schools," while to those who delight in 1,267,879 readers in adults' reading-rooms,
technicalities were offered instructive talks lent 26,224 embossed books to blind readers,
on “Some Essentials of Cataloguing,” “Clas lent 973,856 books by travelling libraries, lent
sification of School Libraries," and kindred 4,114,515 books to children, served 1,502,185
subjects.
readers in the children's reading-rooms, con-
THE IMPROBABILITIES AND IMPOSSIBILITIES OF
ducted 48 reading clubs for children, supplied
FICTION surely need not be so numerous and so
rooms for hundreds of public meetings, gave
glaring as they are. Creative authorship is
away 300,000 copies of the “Branch Library
not incompatible with some degree of critical News," lent 649,727 books in 26 foreign lan-
sagacity even in regard to one's own inspira- guages; the Reference Department of the main
tions. Why should Trollope, to cite an old and library served 711,122 readers, supplied for
familiar instance, allow himself such absurdi- reference use 2,127,328 books, added to its
ties as are encountered in his description of
collection 41,727 books and 2,320 pamphlets,
the pecuniary embarrassments of the hero of opened a Manuscript Division, held exhibitions
*Ralph the Heir"? Ralph Newton, a young
of etchings, prints, books, and manuscripts,
man of twenty-seven, has but recently run
and answered thousands of questions by word
through the greater part of a considerable for-
of mouth, by letter, or by telephone, through
tune, and is reduced to the necessity of asking the Information Division. The Municipal
credit from the tradesmen with whom he deals.
Reference Library in the Municipal Building
To his boot-maker he is represented to be in
was also taken in charge. With pardonable
debt to the extent of two hundred and seven-
pride New York now turns to the other great
teen pounds - a thousand dollars, approxi- cities of the world with the classic interroga-
mately, for boots within perhaps two years! tion, “ Can you beat it?”
And for leather riding breeches his debt to
Neefit of Conduit Street is equally absurd. A PRINTER WITH THE SPIRIT OF AN ARTIST
There is no excuse for this straining of the may raise typography almost to a fine art, if
reader's credulity. Sheer carelessness, or not quite. As long as the world reads books it
wantonness, on the author's part, it must be will be interested in the Elzevirs and Aldines
called. Of course it is a small matter; but and De: Vinnes of the printing craft. The
why wreck the verisimilitude of a good story famous English printer, John Baskerville, has
in this needless fashion? Again, to take an recently been made the subject of a rather


330
(April 29
THE DIAL
notable study from the pen of Josiah Henry in the same light, because, when I was arrang-
Benton, LL.D., but the fact that the book ing the books the next morning, I found seven
is privately printed will debar it from the copies of our most attractive fairy tales packed
wider circulation it might otherwise have been very neatly behind a row of the Expositor's
expected to attain. This Birmingham writing. Bible." By what precocity of shrewdness did
master and improver of the process of japan- that child know that of all books the Bible was
ning turned his manual dexterity to good the least likely to be disturbed ?
account, toward the middle of his fifth decade,
in designing and cutting type, and it was only A WASHINGTON IRVING ANECDOTE, by no
after becoming a type-founder that he devoted
means new, but perhaps all the better for its
himself to the allied industry of printing. The seasoned quality, was appreciatively received
story of his famous editions of Virgil and Hor- | the other day by the students of the Hackley
ace and Milton and Addison, and many others, School at Tarrytown, to whom Mr. George
is too long to tell here even in outline; but Haven Putnam, son of Irving's publisher and
from the concluding paragraph of Dr. Benton's close friend, was relating some reminiscences
book a brief passage can be given. What is of the famous author. In his infancy Irving
it,” he asks, "that makes the life and work of had enjoyed the honor, or at least submitted
this middle-aged, vain, and silly Birmingham to it, of receiving the blessing of the great
Englishman interesting to us! Why do we man after whom he was named. “But you
collect his imprints, and why do we talk about cannot see the place where his sacred hands
him? I think it is because he had the true touched my head," the one thus honored used
artistic vision and courage. He conceived the to add in his later years when he recounted
idea of a perfect book, such as had not been the incident; and the reason of this invisi-
printed in England. . . . He conceived the bility was such a puzzle to the boy Putnam
book as an artist conceives a statue before he
that he questioned his father on the subject.
strikes a blow with his chisel into the marble."
The answer, if not already known, will sug-
Baskerville made or supervised the making of gest itself easily enough to anyone familiar
everything that went into his books; he printed with Irving's portrait and the artist's rather
of course on a hand press, and there was noth obvious indication of the distinguished au-
ing of the roar and rush of a modern printing thor's indebtedness to his perruquier. This
establishment in his little office, which was but story, recalling the quasi-godfatherly relation
a room in his dwelling-house. Thoroughly an of our first president to our first writer of more
artist in his chosen calling, he touched nothing than domestic repute, prompts the renewed
that he did not adorn in the field of printing query why Irving should have habitually sup.
and book-manufacture.
pressed the first element of his baptismal
name and not taken pride in calling himself
GREEDY READERS give less offence than do George Washington Irving. A letter of his,
gluttonous eaters. Still it is an unpleasing written in Spain, is said to have recently come
spectacle to behold a person in a public read-
to light with this full signature appended, in
ing-room sitting on a half-dozen of his favorite proof that he had a good right thereto.
magazines and holding as many more under
the periodical he happens to be reading at the WHETTING THE READER'S APPETITE with
time. The unpleasantness is intensified when tempting titbits from an author's works may
perchance one has urgent need or compelling seem inexpedient to most makers of library
desire to consult one of the pre-empted pub- catalogues, who naturally account it a suffi-
lications. At one of the branches of the Enoch cient task to record fully and accurately a
Pratt Free Library of Baltimore the younger book's author, title, place of publication, and
readers have developed a most astonishing in- date, with any important peculiarities in its
genuity in hiding their favorite books for mechanical make-up. Not so, however, does
future use. From the current Report pre the matter present itself to the compiler of the
pared by Dr. Steiner - a rather notably inter- ' monthly book-lists in the New York Public
esting contribution to this special department | Library's “Branch Library News, a late
of literature we quote an incident as related number of which devotes a section to “Poets
by the assistant to whose knowledge it came. of To-day” and not only names their chief
“One little girl," she writes, “came to me at works but spares sufficient space to quote, in
the close of the first day after the opening of most instances, an illustrative bit of verse
the branch] and very proudly told me she had from those works. Moreover, the fair page
of
put away enough good books to last her a week. this inviting catalogue is undeformed by any
I tried to explain to her why this should not | Dewey or Cutter or other cabalistic symbol
be done, but she evidently did not view things denoting the book's place in the ranks of its


1915]
331
THE DIAL
66 The
fellows, so that one may the more sensibly feel its failure to measure up to high poetic standards.”
that one is reading, not a “finding-list,”' not a The war verse appearing in “ The Poetry Review”
mere inventory of goods, but an anthology. of London, for instance, I think is largely of this
Sixty-one contemporary poets are honored
nature. Why elaborate in metre and rhyme, some-
with a place in this florilegium. The follow- large generality of history may most likely over-
times even in the most ambitious forms, what the
ing lines are from Mr. W. 8. Davies's “ Songs shadow, or prove untrue, within perhaps the next
of Joy”:
generation? Poetry is the twin-Muse of history,
“Sing out my soul, thy songs of joy; if not her elder sister, and scarcely lends herself
Such as a happy bird will sing
readily to argumentation and debate. Mr. W. N.
Beneath a Rainbow's lovely arch
Ewer's poem, “ Five Souls," although on the whole
In early spring."
a step in the right direction, to my mind gives forth
a certain cynical breath, which in true lyric poetry
FROM GOWN TO KHAKI has of late been so is rather disturbing than agreeable, especially if
generally the rule at the English universities such lines strike us as being inclined to preach the
that probably not a third of the customary essential folly of war.” War is, or has so far been,
number of students are now in attendance at a permanent and indisputable fact of life, and we
Oxford and Cambridge, and those that still
have no assurance that it will not be as recurrent in
pursue the pleasant paths of letters and learn the future as it has been in the past. War cannot
ing at these seats of culture are said to be
so easily be spirited away out of human history,
chiefly our
and for that reason has almost as much right to be
own Rhodes scholars or other
considered and recognized as a fixity as has peace.
American students, East Indian seekers after
Anyone convinced of this cannot in the reading of
knowledge, and invalids very manifestly in-
anti-bellum verse, feel the pure and unalloyed pleas-
capacitated for military service. An able ure which true poetry ought always to give.
bodied young Englishman would naturally Finally, I feel constrained to take friendly excep-
shrink from showing himself in academic at tion to the attitude expressed in this sentence from
tire at this time; the training camp or the your leading article, in the same issue:
battle-field is, unfortunately, likely to be the
sooner we recognize that life and literature are
scene of his activities for some months to
separate businesses the sooner we shall begin to
come.
produce something worth while in the latter field.”
Amid the general economic waste of
the war must be reckoned the enforced idleness, forth is indisputably sound,- namely, that litera-
While I believe that the main principle here set
partial or entire, not only of workshops and
ture, especially “ absolute poetry," " " must be more
factories, but also of educational “plants" rep or less removed from life," — it might be well not to
resenting incalculable investments of money emphasize this axiom too strongly in that form just
and talent and noble endeavor. With English, at the present time, when the unstable transition
German, French, Belgian, Russian, Serbian, period through which modern poetry is passing
and Austrian higher institutions of learning would seem to demand that we show the close con-
thus reduced to more or less complete inactiv-
nection between the “special language, movement,
ity, who can any longer have a good word to
ordering of words and atmosphere" of poetry.
Certain influential modern poets have already been
say for the “educational” influence of war?
so thoroughly overwhelmed by the idea of the essen-
tial separateness between poetry and life, that they
COMMUNICATIONS.
are dangerously near to "prosifying " the classic
Muse of metre and rhyme. It would therefore seem
A CORRECTION-AND SOME OTHER MATTERS.
to be more feasible to demonstrate, if possible, the
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
close connection between poetry and the facts of
Perhaps I owe THE DIAL and its readers an apol- life; between the movements of life and those of
ogy for a certain annoying slip of the pen which rhythm and metre; between the changing aspects
occurred in my communication published in your of life, and the heart and the soul, and the varied
issue of March 18. In that number (page 198, line order of words, of cadences, rhymes, and even
5) the word “imperative" should have given way speech-sounds, in true poetry, as long as the latter
to “imperfect." The error certainly escaped my bears the unmistakable ear-marks of really being
notice until it appeared in cold print; but the such. Restrained freedom is the law of beautiful
reader who is sufficiently interested may make the living, of nature in her most pleasurable aspects,
correction in his own copy, as I have done, and may and consequently also of true poetry. True poetry
perhaps be charitable enough to ascribe it to such is in itself a restraint on the “huge, confused, and
a pre-occupation with the poetic subject that sub- haphazard” mass of life's facts, and the supreme
consciously I could not resist the temptation to task of the critic of poetry is the establishment of
rhyme upon“ narrative " the erratic “ imperative." some standard by which the fine balance between
Let me take this occasion for expressing my the comparatively lawless freedom of life and its
agreement with Mr. Ralph Bronson, in the state often cruel restraints might be judged with some
ment contained in his communication on War and accuracy, as well as sufficient flexibility; and not
Poetry” in the above-mentioned issue, that "the only this, but the constant advocacy of the princi-
violently partisan spirit pervading most of the ple, that this free-restrained, beautiful balance of
verse of the present war is chiefly responsible for life-facts be made more and more permanent, and


332
(April 29
THE DIAL
kept inviolable, in the preservative pages of true graphical and national names -Asia, Africa, Italy,
poetry. If our critic of the future could be great England, Spain, etc. And it would not be an inno-
enough even to approximate such a working crite vation, but merely an abbreviation of the old title.
rion of judgment, he might conclusively and con We could call ourselves Usonians, which would be
vincingly demonstrate the intimacy between life a mellifluous and mouth-filling appellation. The
and true poetry; then he might really weigh in this idea is a new one,- at least, I have never heard of
delicate balance all verse that came within his ken, it before; and it really seems worthy of considera-
and cast aside what is found wanting; and then he tion.
C. L. M.
might be an agent in preserving the purity of true
New York City, April 20, 1915.
poetry unto the generations to come.
LOUIS C. MAROLF.
Wilton Junction, Iowa, April 15, 1915.
A QUOTATION FROM SOPHOCLES IN
MEREDITH'S LETTERS.
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
LITERARY RECIPROCITY WITH THE LATIN
AMERICAS.
In a letter from Box Hill, Dorking, 1901, to Lady
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
Ulrica Duncombe, George Meredith quotes lines
94-5 of Sophocles's “ Trachiniae” (Roman letters).
It seems singular that we who are embarked on
They read as follows (“Letters of George Mere-
these two Western continents should be separated dith," Vol. II., p. 519):
by idea-proof bulkheads. The lanes of intellectual
Ou aróla nox enargoména
communication all run east and west. Now that the
Tiktei kateunásoi te phlogesomenai."
great war, like an iron curtain dropping to cut off
the conflagration on the stage from the audience in
They should read thus (Jebb's text):
the theatre, has measurably interrupted our com-
“ 'on aiola nux ena rizoména
munications with Europe, perhaps we neighbors
tíktei kateunázei te phlogizómenon.”
will begin to pay some attention to each other. Thus it will be seen that, in Meredith's version,
I am moved to these remarks by a communication seven out of eight words contain errors.
from Señor Arturo R. de Carricarte, who has been These errors are due, however, not to Meredith's
the most persevering friend American literature ignorance of Greek; for Mr. S. S. McClure says in
has had in the countries south of us. In a review his autobiography that Meredith recited long pas-
first established at Vera Cruz and continued in sages of the “Iliad” to him. They must be attribu-
Cuba in the pages of the Havana “Figaro,” and ted, rather, to his obscure handwriting, of which
more lately in the “ Heraldo de Cuba," he has for Mr. B. W. Matz has written in “ George Meredith
years reviewed and exploited American literature. as Publisher's Reader” (“Fortnightly Review,"
He has tried to break down the prejudices, literary N. S. 86, p. 283, 1909).
and political, of his countrymen and kin. He writes The lines are translated in “The Nation's" re-
tbat it is incredible how many books and articles
view of the “Letters" (December 5, 1912), as
appear in the Latin Americas directed against the follows:
United States. All the reactionaries in religion or “Whom spangled night, as she dies away,
politics, and most of those who claim descent from Brings forth, and again lulls to sleep."
Spain or Portugal, are more or less inimical to us.
The last word of the quotation is therefore omitted,
He thinks the present is a good time to break down and no comment on the incorrectness of the Greek
this hostility and inaugurate an intellectual confed is offered. Other reviewers, as far as I can dis-
eration between the Anglo-Saxon and Latin races cover, take no notice of the passage.
of America. I think he is right. Perhaps now that
Europe is closed to our globe-trotters and sight-
WM. CHISLETT, JR.
seers, the tide of travel may turn southward, and
Stanford University, Calif., April 15, 1915.
people of culture may satisfy themselves as to the
interest of the Latin American countries and the JEFFERSON'S ARCHITECTURAL WORK.
culture, courtesy, and charm of life to be found
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
there.
In this connection I have a suggestion to make in
The writer, having been entrusted by the heirs
regard to the name of our own country. We are
of the late Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., with
all Americans, North or South, as all the inhabi-
the publication of the architectural drawings of
tants of Europe are Europeans. Over there, how-
Thomas Jefferson collected by him, and of an ac-
ever, they make no account of this vague geograph companying essay on Jefferson's architectural work,
ical title, but pin all their pride and patriotism on
is desirous of knowing of other drawings by Jeffer-
their national names. It seems to us a case of
son which may be in other hands, and which he
poverty, not a cause for pride, that we have no
might be given an opportunity to consult. He
national name. Our official appellation, United
would also be glad to know of relevant letters and
States of North America," is formidable enough, repositories of Jeffersoniana, and to secure photo-
memoranda existing outside of the principal public
but poetry is appalled at it and it must take up a
good deal of room on a passport. Nobody could
graphs of buildings, locally believed to have been
possibly use it affectionately or intimately. Why
designed by Jefferson, which may help to identify
studies for unknown buildings existing among
should we not take the initial letters of this title
Jefferson's drawings.
and turn it into a name-Usona. This would be
FISKE KIMBALL.
brief and musical, as are most of the great geo University of Michigan, April 20, 1915.


1915]
333
THE DIAL
The New Books.
his contemporaries. But the work that is now
deemed his best came later than the chief
work of those others, indeed after the death
OUR PAINTER OF THE SEA AND THE of several. Homer was one of an earlier gen-
SHORE.*
eration lasting on into our own time, not with
Everything that really adds to our knowl- decreasing power and impaired vigor, but
edge of American painting and our love and with a power and vigor that enabled him to
appreciation of it is good, and especially do his best work. And this is certainly a
when it comes in such form as the essay by noteworthy thing. In a generation of all sorts
Mr. Kenyon Cox in a now well-known series of of new ideas in artistic aim and technique, the
monographs on American painters. We have fame of so great a man as George Inness
spoken of these monographs several times and varies; people who once admired him above
of the excellence of their production, their
all will be found to be cold to his art. Homer
printing, and their pictures. The earlier vol Martin was never popular in his life-time;
umes have been on George Inness, Homer and if I can judge at all, he is not popular
Martin, and Ralph Blakelock, and there have
now.
Hunt and Fuller are not well known
been additional numbers with more pictures by the average picture lover of to-day. But
by Inness and by Martin. It is a pity that Winslow Homer, who cared nothing for popu-
these very useful books should be so expen-
larity, and in his later years was apt to say
sive, for the knowledge of American painting he cared nothing even for painting, would
should be as wide-spread as possible. But one
seem to be growing in public estimation.
can hardly have a quarrel with the publishers More of his pictures are seen in the great
on that score, unless one should be willing to collections; more is said and written of him.
guarantee (if in thought only) the disposal There are, for instance, eight pictures by
of a popular edition. We should like to have Homer in the Metropolitan Museum of New
the public able to have and see the material York,— which is more than there are of any
to be found in these handsome books, even in of the other artists just named, beside a dozen
less elegant form; but it is doubtful whether remarkable water-colors. I would give them
the public would back that desire in any sub all for my pick of the Innesses and the Homer
stantial way. THE DIAL has also in previous Martins; but that personal view has nothing
reviews expressed regret that these volumes to do with the general interest that with little
should not be furnished with some matters
doubt now holds Winslow Homer to be one of
that would be useful to the student, such as a the three greatest of our later American
bibliography or a list of the artist's paintings. painters (not living), the other two being
But criticisms like these may be made (and
Whistler and Inness.
have been) on the whole series, and need not Such a position naturally offers reason for
be repeated now. The interest in the present such an estimate as that of Mr. Kenyon Cox's,
work lies in its presentation and estimate of and for especial interest in it. How was it
the work of Winslow Homer.
that this painter who did nothing so wonder-
During the last years of his life, and since ful before 1885, say, should at a time when
his death in 1910, Winslow Homer has con his contemporaries were beginning to cease
stantly risen in general estimation. One of production, be able to create work which
the great figures of what may be called the should gain for him a greater interest than
second period of American painting, he did
that of any of the others, and should do so at
not come to artistic maturity until the end of a time full of new ideas in painting, both as
the last century. But when he did get to regards the thing painted and the way of
the power of actual self-expression, he had painting it?
personality that he became almost at once a quality as a painter. He does not attempt a
figure of the first rank. He was born in the study of Homer's life, but accepts the results
same decade as Whistler, Homer Martin, and of the work of W. H. Downes, which appeared
Wyant, and only a dozen years or so after shortly after the death of the painter. What
Inness, Fuller, and Hunt. But Homer did is of chief interest in his view, to my mind, is
not come to that power of expression by that we have here the view of one painter by
which he is really known until he was fifty another, put simply and in language that the
years old. He was recognized early; he was ordinary person can understand. Generally
elected to the National Academy before any when you talk with a painter about art or
of those just named, who might be considered artists he aids his explanation by gesture or
by painter's phrases, which give his criticism
• WINSLOW HOMER. By Kenyon Cox.
a character, but make it hard to understand
reached so strong and so original an artistic Mr. Cox's essay is an estimate of Homer's
Illustrated.
New
York: Frederic Fairchild Sherman.


334
[ April 29
THE DIAL
except by others of the craft. Here is a view and he had a certain definite and exceptional
of a wholly competent observer, expressed power. So now his pictures may stand clear
with ease and force.
in our mind; he is a definite personality,
Winslow Homer was a man noteworthy in more so, I take it, than William M. Hunt,
his generation for the force and singleness of who was a greater influence, or than George
aim with which he went about his business. Fuller, who to many is more delightful. Mr.
He saw much of American life; in a country Cox, in looking over his contemporaries, thinks
town as well as in New York, in war as well of no personalities more striking than his,
as in peace, in the great woods as well as on except, as we have said, Whistler and Inness.
the New England sea-shore. But he had I should like to add Homer Martin, and would
especially, or perhaps finally, a definite per be content to leave the four as representative
ception such as no other American artist had of painting in America in the generation be-
of the greatness and beauty of the sea and of fore our own. I do not know who else ought
the lives lived on or near it. Other things he to be mentioned; Wyant, Tryon, Vedder,
painted too, but this was the thing he loved Blakelock, La Farge,- we might think of one
and observed and studied and knew best. He or another for a moment, but they hardly
was something like Millet. Mr. Cox says: seem to me to belong with the four who have
"To paint a simple, every-day occurrence, a
been named. Of these four, much has been
part of the routine of life, and by one's treat written and printed on Whistler; this series
ment of it to reveal its deeper implications and
of monographs has presented worthy consid-
make manifest the dignity and the romance of
eration of the others. We shall watch with
the life of which it forms a part — that is interest to see who will be the next selection.
what Millet did for the tillers of the soil and It may add to the value of these considera-
what Homer does for the fisherman and the tions if I add that - perhaps owing to the
sailor.”
lack of them — I have never been able to care
And with this fully American aim and in- much for the pictures of Winslow Homer.
terest Homer had such powers as enabled him Perhaps if I had been better instructed, if I
to paint fine pictures. He was direct; care had had in mind the finer points of design, of
less of convention, of talk, of considerations; composition here spoken of, I might not be so
he wanted the real thing. Further (and here impressed as I am with some other things
Mr. Cox's professional testimony is of great that I feel in Winslow Homer's pictures. A
value) he was a remarkable master of observa- stray remark made about the “High Cliff
tion, and saw things that no one else saw, and when the Evans Collection was exhibited some
painted things that no one else had painted. years ago, at the Union League Club I think,
So when he had settled with himself what he gives opportunity for some explanation. The
wanted,--and it took him a good while to do critic noted the actual quality of foamy
80,— he was apt to render it very truly, or at water, the soft yielding of it, the invertebrate
least with a truth that people could appre yet unconquerable weight that is its own."
ciate. Besides which he would make any If a sea-painter could render just those things
effort to render what he saw and indeed was all would be impressed. But in those expres-
inclined to feel that his “art” consisted sions (excepting that about the weight of the
merely in resolutely confining his painting to water) the critic seems to me to have picked
what he saw.
But however that was, he out just the qualities that Winslow Homer's
desired his painting to grow out of his own pictures do not have. His water to my eye
experience, for he studied with no one. And has by no means the actual quality of foamy
here we need especially what Mr. Cox can water, it is not soft or yielding; and if it is
give us; for here the artist sees easily that invertebrate, it is more like the turtle than the
Homer had certain artistic gifts of which per jelly-fish. But this feeling of mine — that
sonally he was inclined to make slight ac Winslow Homer is singularly stiff and solid
count, chiefly the great gift or sense of design for a great painter — seems quite opposed to
and composition, so that he naturally painted the general opinion, and is certainly very
and selected in such a way as to give the different from that of Mr. Cox. I shall not
things he painted the sense of life and move pretend to a finer feeling than most, and I
ment that is so remarkable in them.
shall certainly confess to smaller opportuni-
Something like this is Mr. Cox's estimate of ties. But I cannot refrain from stating the
Homer, and one can see that it makes him at way it appears to me.
And I urge anyone
once an interesting man. We would not so who thinks I am wrong to go to the Metro-
much comment upon the judgment, as present politan Museum (or any other place where
it and call attention to it. Homer had a very there is a like opportunity; best would be
interesting and even a very American subject, the National Gallery, Washington, where is


1915 ]
335
THE DIAL
the picture in question) and look at the sea like Gulliver by the cables of Lilliput. It is
pictures by Homer. Then if he has ever seen a record and investigation of the successive
the masses of the sea come thundering in problems that confronted, not the mere crafts-
upon the rocks, he can form his own opinion. men, but the artists of varying greatness, who
Whichever way he decides, it is not probable wrought in Elizabethan days.
that Winslow Homer will care much. He felt With fresh illustrations and orderly pro-
deeply the beauty and force and greatness of cedure, Dr. Fansler traces the evolution of the
the sea and the shore, and he rendered it with elements in the dramatic heritage which fell
all the power of his genius, and was content to Shakespeare. The religious drama was
to let it go at that. I would not say a word formless, but it had good situations; it was rich
which would prevent another seeing that in "acted scenes presenting a not inconsider-
great spectacle as he saw it. , And Mr. Coxable amount of realistic spectacle and making
has said much that will help.
a strong emotional appeal.”
Curious par-
EDWARD E. HALE. allels are shown between some of these scenes
and scenes in Shakespeare. The religious
drama may also in part, through the promi-
ELIZABETHAN TRAGIC TECHNIQUE.*
nence it gave to the crucifixion, have caused
The study of dramatic technique which has English tragedy, in much more nearly a uni-
become so general of late has its unfortunate versal way than Greek or Latin, to associate
side. It has been perverted. We are well death with the catastrophe. The Senecan
enough pleased that courses of instruction drama furnished a clear dramatic motive, usu-
should be given, and books written, to pry into
ally the motive of revenge. Marlowe showed
the advantages and disadvantages of such mat the importance of the protagonist. The first
ters as having the hero's cigar go out or the distinct mark of Shakespearean technique was
phial shown suggestively three times over in the development of the antagonist, who was
preparation for the drinking of the fatal vested with individuality and an equal impor-
potion. We realize the need of good technical tance with the protagonist in the catastrophe
workmanship and of the skilful use of theatri of “Richard III.”
cal devices. But playwriting has its strategy By far the greater portion of the book is
as well as its tactics. Or, to put the distinction devoted to Shakespeare himself. His tech-
in other words, the trivialities so often taken nique is presented as an evolution; the trage-
for the whole of technique are only a part of dies are examined seriatim with reference to
it; necessary of course, but subsidiary, auxil large problems of dramatic art. Thus“Julius
iary; not the essential stuff of which great Cæsar" is treated under the caption of "The
plays are made. There is a mental as well as Rise and the Crisis-Emphasis, Including the
a mechanical aspect of drama: an artist's prob- Tragic Incident." This somewhat formidable
lem as well as a juggler's problem ; a work for title loses its terrors when we perceive certain
creative imagination as well as a work for con things. Brutus, though in part sharing with
triving judgment. Against the notion that Cassius, is regarded as the protagonist, and
“technique” is drama we positively rebel. As the play is held to be the first of our extant
well say that a sleight of hand mastery of allit tragedies in which we see the protagonist defi-
eration, assonance, variety of pitch and pause, nitely and steadily rise to a single crisis deed,
can produce unaided an “Eve of St. Agnes”; willed by him, expected by the audience, and
or that an observance of the thou shalt's and elaborately executed in a well-organized scene
thou shalt not's of argumentation can produce or scene-group, unpreceded by violent and dis-
a “Reply to Hayne.
tracting incidents." Hence the word "Rise"
At a time of so much lecturing and writing in the chapter-title. The term “Crisis-
by those shrewd wits and little souls who fancy Emphasis” is equally justified. “Shakespeare
that, since the tricks of the trade are necessary meant to set Antony forth as a retributive
to drama, drama is to be measured solely by its antagonist of Brutus, not a contestant from
employment of the tricks of the trade, it is the beginning as Hereford with Richard, but
refreshing to find a painstaking study of the as one roused to action by a deed. ....Julius
technique of a great period in tragedy that Cæsar' is the first of Shakespeare's extant
does not stop with external things. Dr. tragedies in which there is clear evidence of a
Fansler's study, made under the direction of consciousness of the crisis-emphasis as a func-
Professor Thorndike, is not mindless of the- tional point of structure."
atrical details; neither is it tied down by them, There is the obvious risk that intentions will
* THE EVOLUTION OF TECHNIC IN ELIZABETHAN TRAGEDY.
be detected which were never in Shakespeare's
By Harriet Ely Fansler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of En mind. Dr. Fansler obviates this in part by
glish, University of the Philippines. Chicago: Row, Peterson
warning us that artistic processes are not al-
& Co.


336
(April 29
THE DIAL
>
ways conscious. There is the possibility like AMERICAN EXPANSION IN THE FAR
wise that the validity of an idea depends upon
WEST.*
the point of view. Thus Freytag is attacked
It is not an easy matter to tell the story of
for censuring Shakespeare because the scene
the annexation of Texas and the conquest of
is not given wherein Antony decides to return
New Mexico and California with full enthusi-
to Cleopatra. But were not two possible
asm and endorsement, especially when one is
effects open to Shakespeare, one through a consciously supplementing the work of the
scene of decision, the other through the undi-
inimitable Roosevelt. Yet both these tasks
vided emotion of the catastrophe; and shall
Professor McElroy has set himself in the four
we either praise or condemn absolutely, since
hundred pages of his “Winning of the Far
a choice was necessary and the emphasis had
West."
to go one way or the other! Finally, there is
How far he has succeeded may be left to the
the danger that aspects of a problem will be
overlooked. “The introduction of Macbeth'
reader. But the important events and move-
is therefore so far better than that of 'Lear,
ments which have a bearing on the far west-
says Dr. Fansler, “as it shows the protagonist 1867 are interestingly dealt with.
ward expansion during the period of 1829 to
rew
before the crisis in a rise long enough to assure
the spectator that the doer of the deed appre-
Jackson and Henry Clay are duly praised,
though the two leaders were diametrically
ciates his own act. .. We see Macbeth rise
opposed to each other all their lives. That
from thought to deed.” In so far as this
statement commends the introduction of
Jackson was right in counselling and even in-
“Macbeth," it will hold. But in so far as it triguing for the annexation of Texas, and that
implies that the rash act of Lear should be Clay was also right in opposing and intriguing
made deliberate, it is entirely at fault. Shake-
against the same movement, Professor McEl-
roy does not attempt to prove; though some
speare here had to do with stubborn material ; readers might think he had actually done this.
with an act which was indispensable if the Sam Houston is another “hero” depicted as
play was to go on at all, and which yet was
doing pioneer service in the great cause of
unbelievable. The more he could inveigle his
American expansion — as if the expansion of
audience into accepting it as a postulate, the the United States were the most natural and
more he could turn attention from its inherent righteous things in the world. There is a bit
improbability, the better the play would fare of chauvinism that reminds one of French-
and the surer sympathy the old king would German phraseology in the terms “crowning
evoke. The introduction of “Lear” shows a glory" (p. 292) and "glorious conquest” (p.
dexterous lessening of insuperable difficulties: 297) with which the author describes the move-
Many objections like this might be raised, ments of the American “army of invasion," as
but in the majority of cases no definite conclu- though the very term invasion were not sug.
sion can be reached; tastes and interpreta- gestive of a wide departure from the national
tions will continue to vary. Dr. Fansler's professions.
study is a helpful one. Its opinions are not al-
Still one may not cavil at an author for
ways new, but they are well-considered. Here doing what everyone regards as lawful and
is its summary of Shakespeare's contribution:
proper: writing anew an oft-told tale; and in
“What, then, is a Shakespearean tragedy? Is general these chapters present in good form
it a story? Yes; in the sense of a hody of facts and brief space what one finds more elabo-
of special significance. All Elizabethan dramas rately in H. H. Bancroft's books, or more scien-
were stories. But a Shakespearean tragedy is not
tifically (if one may use an awkward term) in
primarily narrative.
Its action is not narrative; Professor Garrison's volume in the “American
and herein is Shakespeare's distinction from all
predecessors. The action of a Shakespearean trag-
Nation Series." Professor McElroy does not
edy is the presentation through stage devices of the attempt to be exhaustive or final, and hence
issuing of events out of character and the issuing one must not apply the standards which might
of catastrophe for that character out of those be applied to more ambitious writers. His aim
events. . . . Character-action is Shakespeare's con-
is to re-present the subject, and to add to the
tribution to the world's dramatic literature. Char-
national interest in and admiration for the
acter-action is Elizabethan tragic technic at its
supreme evolution. In a large sense it might be
leaders who brought such princely domains
said, for contrast, that Greek drama presents the
under the ample folds of the American flag.
struggle of man with events super-beings create; Of penetrating analysis or keen criticism of
Senecan, the struggle of man with events fellow the materials used there is little; nor is there
beings create; but Elizabethan, the struggle of man anything “new."
with events his own being creates.”
By Robert McNutt
GARLAND GREEVER. | McElroy, Ph.D. Illustrated. New York: G, P. Putnam's Sons.
* THE WINNING OF THE FAR WEST.


1915 ]
337
THE DIAL
An opportunity for adding something to the quently he leaves the reader in doubt now and
store of our present knowledge of the far west then as to whether it was “manifest destiny
ward movement was offered in the unrecog or something worse that dictated the course of
nized leadership of Robert Walker, and in the our national evolution. To say that the story
amazing intrigues of the American diplomats of the period still remains to be told is not to
in Mexico during the period just preceding the say that this book is a bad one; on the con-
great war between the States. And there were trary, it is a handy and a reasonably accurate
certain features of the Mexican War which a work.
WILLIAM E. DODD.
more ambitious hand might have essayed to
describe, though the author's story of Nicholas
Trist and General Scott is interesting and AMERICA AND THE GREAT WAR.*
trustworthy.
As the stream of books pertaining to the
The following exchange of compliments be-
war flows from the presses of Europe and
tween General Scott and Nicholas Trist, the
America it brings at intervals a volume which
envoy of the Government, makes amusing by reason of the vigor of its thought and the
reading now, though it must have been exas-
force of its language stands some chance of
perating indeed to the President, who would retaining a place in the literature of the sub-
not punish either party. Scott: "I see that
ject a decade hence. Unquestionably, one such
the Secretary of War proposes to degrade me,
book is Mr. Roosevelt's America and the
by requiring that I, commander of this army,
World War." Not that what the ex-President
shall defer to you, the chief clerk of the De- has written will commend itself to all classes
partment of State, the question of continuing of people. The “ peace prattlers," as the paci-
or discontinuing hostilities.” Trist: “You vists are contemptuously denominated, will
will now, Sir, I trust, understand that greatly find small comfort in it; and the defenders of
deficient in wisdom as the present (and indeed the foreign policy of the Wilson Administra-
any democratic) administration of the govern-
tion will not enjoy the flaying which is admin-
ment must necessarily be, it has not fallen into
istered to them. The book may be admitted
so egregious a blunder as to make the trans-
mission and delivery of that communication points distinctly unfair. Nevertheless, as a
at once to be partisan in tone and at some
[a message to the Mexican Minister of Foreign straight-from-the-shoulder exposition of the
Affairs] dependent upon the amiable affabil-
elements of strength and weakness in the pres-
ity and gracious condescension of General
ent position of the United States, by a writer
Winfield Scott.” Few presidents of the United
whose opportunities to acquire knowledge of
States ever contended with so many recalci-
the subject have been unsurpassed, Mr. Roose-
trant or unruly spirits as did James K. Polk.
velt's volume must be regarded as one which
One recalls Scott, who openly snubbed the challenges the attention of every serious-
chief executive more than once; Senator
minded citizen. It is a book which, at the
Benton, who demanded of him almost impos- least, should be provocative of thought and of
sible things; and Commodore Stockton, who
discussion. The course of the author's argu-
declared in public addresses that nothing less ment can be indicated in a few words. The
than the annexation of all Mexico would sat-
United States should be equally friendly to all
isfy any sensible man. Polk could not remove
European peoples " while they behave well,”
Scott, lest Benton, a civilian without military and should be considerate of the rights of each
experience, should force his own nomination to
of them. Peace is ardently to be desired, but
the vacancy; nor could he punish naval and only as the handmaid of righteousness. The
army officers who clamored in public addresses
peace congresses, and the other activities of the
for governmental action wholly inconsistent
with the President's policy. Really we have
* AMERICA AND THE WORLD WAR. By Theodore Roosevelt
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
fallen upon better times.
By Francis V. Greene. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
A most interesting subject is this of the win ARE WE READY? By Howard D. Wheeler. Illustrated.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
ning of the far west; but only a philosopher
A Forecast of the Inevitable Clash
or an historian without national or sectional between the United States and Europe's Victor. By Roland
G. Usher. New York: The Century Co.
bias could possibly treat it aright. Think of
By James M. Beck.
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Colonel Roosevelt describing the fall of the
Alamo or the storming of Chapultepec, the
Answer to Germany's Appeals. By Frederick W. Whitridge.
“imbecility of Polk," or the “asinine stupid CAN GERMANY WIN? The Resources and Aspirations of
Its People. By an American. New York: G. P. Putnam's
ity” of those who defeated the plan for United
States control of the Panama canal zone in
THE PEACE AND AMERICA. By Hugo Münsterberg. New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
1846! Of course, Professor McElroy does not
How It Looks to the Nations Involved
and What It Means to Us. By Elbert F. Baldwin. New York:
attempt the finality of Roosevelt, and conse The Macmillan Co.
THE PRESENT MILITARY SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
PAN-AMERICANISM.
THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE.
New
ONE AMERICAN'S OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN WAR.
An
.
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.
Sons.
THE WORLD WAR.


338
(April 29
THE DIAL
"ultra-pacivists” during a generation past, men, as some ill-balanced enthusiasts demand;
have amounted to “precisely and exactly we are not compelled to, and we will not, enter
nothing in advancing the cause of peace. the battleship race of England and Germany.
All-inclusive arbitration treaties of the kind England must run this race or die. We are
hitherto proposed and enacted are utterly not so situated, and it would be supreme folly
worthless, are hostile to righteousness and for us to waste our resources or our thoughts
detrimental to peace. “From the international in any such contest.” It is the judgment of
standpoint the essential thing to do is effec the author that, notwithstanding the happen-
tively to put the combined power of civiliza ings of recent months, and barring a clash
tion back of the collective purpose of civiliza- with Mexico, which would amount to little
tion to secure justice. This can be achieved more than the exercise of police duty by our
only by a world league for the peace of right present forces, the possibility of a war in
eousness, which would guarantee to enforce by which the United States should be engaged is
the combined strength of all the nations the still remote. From Japan there is, he believes,
decrees of a competent and impartial court very little danger; at any rate, if war with
against any recalcitrant and offending nation. that country comes, it will be "made in Amer-
Only in this way will treaties become serious ica." Still, there is a possibility of a Japanese
documents.” Such a world league for peace clash, even as there is an insignificant chance
is not now in prospect. Until it can be brought of a conflict with one or both of the other two
about, the prime necessity for every free and nations “ whose attack would be serious"
liberty-loving nation is to keep itself in a state Germany and Great Britain. Arbitration has
of preparedness such as to be able to defend been proved to be not a cure-all. And, despite
by its own strength both its honor and its vital present appearances, we must yet believe that
interest. “The most important lesson for the military preparedness, up to a certain point,
United States to learn from the present war does in the long run operate to prevent war.
is the vital need that it shall at once take steps The conclusion at which the author arrives is
thus to prepare." The preparation which that Congress, supported by the sentiment of
the author advocates includes the immediate the country, should accede to the requests con-
strengthening of the navy, the enlargement of tained in the last annual report of Secretary
the regular army and the establishment of Garrison by increasing the mobile forces to
a reserve, and the inauguration of a certain 50,000 men and by taking the first steps
amount of military training for all the young toward the creation of a reserve. To any per-
men of the country, after the manner prac son desiring a temperate and well-informed
ticed in Switzerland.
presentation of our actual military status, such
A more temperate plea on the same lines is as can be read and pondered over at a sitting,
contained in General Greene's “Present Mili this book can be commended.
tary Situation in the United States." This A volume traversing similar ground, but in
little book consists principally of an address a sketchy and somewhat frivolous manner, is
delivered some months ago in Portland, Maine, Mr. Howard D. Wheeler's “Are We Ready?”
at the request of the Economic Club of that the contents may have served some purpose
city. In it the author recognizes that the hab when printed as a series of articles in
itual indisposition of the American people to i “Harper's Weekly," but they were hardly
think seriously upon the question of national worth reproducing in book form. If one cares
defense has been both natural and inevitable. for an imaginative record of an attack on New
The chances of war have ever been, as they York by “the enemy,” lent vividness by a
have been deemed, remote, and social and eco lurid picture of Madison Square "after an
nomic problems without number have usually aerial raid," one will find it here.
seemed much more pressing. Within the past The writers of the volumes thus far men-
months, however, as was true in 1898, our peo tioned agree that at some time, and from some
ple have had their eyes opened to the fact, not source, the United States may be involved in
only that war is not obsolete, but that the a great war. Professor Usher assumes more
United States may well be less immune from confidently the role of the prophet and boldly
its ravages than had been supposed. General gives his newest book the sub-title, “A Forecast
Greene asks simply that the occasion be taken of the Inevitable Clash between the United
advantage of to reckon up the facts of the States and Europe's Victor." The United
existing situation and to derive any lessons | States, he tells us, is now facing a crisis with-
that may be contained in them. “ There is no out parallel in her history since the signing of
need," he says, “of excitement about it, no the Declaration of Independence. It is not
cause for hysteria. We do not need and will the causes of the European war that concern
not have in this country an army of 700,000 us. It is the ending of it; for, "whatever the


1915)
339
THE DIAL
result of this war may be, whoever wins it, even startling, statements. It is true that
whenever it ends, the victor will be able to assertions hardly less startling made in an
threaten the United States, and, if he chooses, earlier book have been verified beyond all rea-
to challenge our supremacy in the Western sonable expectation by the recent course of
Hemisphere.” The decision which the United events; also that in an appendix to the pres-
States makes in relation to the questions thus ent work Mr. Usher acknowledges freely the
suddenly thrust upon her is to be big with necessary tentativeness of much of that which
consequences. These questions, we are told, is said in the discussion of contemporary
cannot be evaded. There was a time when the affairs. Nevertheless, in many portions of the
country was defended by its isolation rather text the fault of incautious statement appears.
than by armies, and when we had little or no Issue may be taken with many specific asser-
motive for interfering in international poli- tions made. In respect to the methods by
tics. That day is past. Distance has been which her territorial dominion has been built
annihilated, and with the extension of our up, the United States is given a bill which is
economic interests so that they cover the entire too clean to be true. And in relation to the
world the pursuit of firm and even aggressive major premise of the book one may query
policies has become a possibility, if not a whether, after all, the war is likely to “destroy
necessity. The United States has been drawn that close balance of power in Europe upon
into the broad current of international affairs, which our past immunity from European in-
and cannot expect longer to enjoy the advan- terference has in large measure rested ”; in
tages of aloofness. The great bone of conten other words, whether there will arise from the
tion is to be Latin America. Of the two conflict any one
conflict any one “victor" so supremely tri-
powers which alone, so far as America is umphant as to be disposed to cast about at
concerned, can be victors in the war, Great once, or soon, for a fresh field of conquest.
Britain and Germany, both are known to be de- There would seem to be a considerable chance
sirous of monopolizing Latin American trade; that the ultimate outcome of the war will be
and both, in the event of triumph in the pres so inconclusive that the American situation
ent conflict, may be expected to be greedy for will not be greatly affected by it.
political dominion south of Panama. With Among books written by_Americans upon
the victor the United States will inevitably be the war in its more purely European aspects,
brought into conflict, and if there shall not be
one of rather unique character is Mr. James
war there will be, at the least, grave danger M. Beck's “The Evidence in the Case.” Mr.
of it. To have war it will not be necessary for Beck is a lawyer, and he was a short while ago
the United States to become an aggressor; she Assistant Attorney-General of the United
will need only to seek to maintain her present States. In the present book he has brought to
policy of trade extension and political hege bear his legal temperament and talent upon
mony. The question of what, precisely, the the much discussed question of the moral re-
United States should do in the emergency that sponsibility for the war. He enumerates his
now confronts her is propounded forcefully roster of witnesses — the sovereigns, diplo-
and discussed at much length but not fully matic representatives, ministers, and other
answered. At least, it is answered negatively: official spokesmen of the various belligerent
We are told that we need not conclude of nations. He then presents the record in the
necessity that armament is our true recourse”; case,- that is, the White Books, Yellow Books,
although the whole drift of the author's argu- | Gray Books, etc., and takes some account of
ment leads to the conclusion that the defense the question of suppressed evidence. Finally,
of the nation's economic interests means a he examines critically the evidence and ar-
readiness to use force, and force means arma rives at conclusions concerning all of the im-
ment. Another suggested course is the organiz- portant episodes and interchanges of the weeks
ing of a close Pan-American Confederation to in which the war was started. The judgment
protect the Western Hemisphere against Eu- rendered is wholly adverse to Germany and
rope's aggressor; yet in a succession of chap- Austria, and doubtless by the partisans of
ters which form the most carefully considered those powers it will be pronounced unsup-
portion of the book there is demonstrated in ported and unjustifiable. It may be agreed
convincing manner (if it required demonstra- that it bears an appearance of conclusiveness
tion) the fact that differences of race, man which neither Mr. Beck nor any other man can
ners, and temperament are so fundamental as really attain at the present juncture. Years,
to preclude entirely the practicability of this and probably decades, will elapse before all
plan. Of criticisms which suggest themselves the evidence will be available and before the
to the reader, the most important relates to supreme court of civilization will render
Professor Usher's propensity for strong, and its final verdict upon the issues involved.


340
(April 29
THE DIAL
There have been published several other form, of the earlier stages of the conflict, the
American books less judicial in tone and simi book may be commended. It comprises, not at
larly anti-German. One is Mr. Frederick W. all a history, but an interesting record of the
Whitridge's “One American's Opinion of the impressions which Europe assembling in arms
European War,” which is taken up chiefly with made upon a well-informed and conscientious
an explanation of the failure of the German ap American observer.
peals for American sympathy. Another is the
FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG.
anonymous volume, Can Germany Win?”
The author of it, we are told, is an American
citizen who has constantly been back and SOME VARIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO
forth to Germany since the beginning of the
PSYCHOLOGY.*
war.” The answer given to the question raised The accumulations upon a reviewer's table,
in the title is that, while Germany can win, and with their chance conjunctions and opposi-
while she has unsuspected strength, the Allies tions, may at a favorable moment reflect the
also can win, provided England shall nerve active trends and movements in the selected
herself to bear the brunt of the struggle. The sphere of knowledge, and in so far be pro-
author predicts that the war will be prolonged phetic of its future development. In psychol-
- that before it ends “there will have to be ogy, the salient impression is one of diversity
put in the field armies which are as yet unre a symptom of fertility. The psychological
cruited and guns the designs for which have spirit is permeating inquiry in domains out-
not yet been made."
side the psychological territory, and is assum--
In his book entitled “The War and Amer-
ing new forms within it. In the technical field,
ica," published last autumn, Professor Mün-
more critically conducted, more elaborately
sterberg gave expression to his well-known
equipped, and more ambitiously conceived
views concerning the righteousness of the
projects are under way. Applications to edu-
cause of his native land in the conflict now in
cation and to vocational pursuits are promi-
progress.
In a volume just off the press,
nent, while the amplification of the first aids
“The Peace and America,” he returns to the
and the more advanced guides to the psycho-
subject and renews his plea for a change of logically inquisitive proceeds with the multi-
attitude on the part of Americans toward
plication of chairs and students.
German statecraft, and especially toward the
The most notable recent contribution is Mr.
German Emperor. Intention or desire to be
Shand's book, “ The Foundations of Charac-
scholarly is specifically disclaimed, and only a
ter: A Study of the Tendencies of the Emo-
purpose to be sincere is affirmed. Of sincerity
tions and the Sentiments." Those familiar
the book bears satisfactory evidence. But the
with this writer's able papers in the English
fact remains that it is simply a piece of special
philosophical journals will realize the value of
pleading, and that it can hardly be expected to
the systematic statement of his illuminating
change the opinions of any thinking person.
conceptions. The position implied by several
It exhibits an irrepressible tendency to glorify psychologists, and nearly articulate in James,
Germany and everything German; while non was first distinctly enunciated by Mr. Shand
German nations and peoples come off with
and disseminated by its incorporation into
mention only of their shortcomings. Such
Mr. MacDougall's “Social Psychology." The
writing can have little interest save as a dem-
principle is that the emotions and the instincts
onstration of how unscientific a scientific man,
of response form a mutually illuminating and
upon occasion, can be; and demonstrations of unitary system of expression and direction.
this sort of thing have grown so numerous * THE FOUNDATIONS OF CHARACTER: A Study of the Tenden-
within the past six months that they may be
cies of the Emotions and the Sentiments. By Alexander F.
Shand. New York: The Macmillan Co.
supposed to have lost their power to cause BEHAVIOR. An Introduction to Comparative Psychology. By
John B. Watson. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
surprise or comment.
By Sigmund Freud,
Finally may be mentioned a book of very
LL.D.; translated from the German, with Introduction, by
A. A. Brill, M.D. New York: The Macmillan Co.
different character, Mr. Elbert F. Baldwin's
Its Causes and Consequences. By
Henry Herbert Goddard, Ph.D. Illustrated. New York: The
". The World War.” Mr. Baldwin was in Eu Macmillan Co.
rope at the outbreak of the war, and his book
SCHOOL TRAINING OF DEFECTIVE CHILDREN. By Henry H.
Goddard. Yonkers-on-Hudson: World Book Co.
comprises virtually a record of the occurrences THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE SCHOOL CHILD. By J. E.
Wallace Wallin, Ph.D. New Haven: Yale University Press.
that came under his observation as he moved
RELIGIOUS CONFESSIONS AND CONFESSANTS. With a Chapter
from place to place, first on the Continent and
on the History of Introspection. By Anna Robeson Burr.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
later in England. Many chapters of the vol-
A Psychological Analysis. By Gra-
ham Wallas. New York: The Macmillan Co.
ume were published in “The Outlook" shortly
PSYCHOLOGY, General and Applied. By Hugo Münsterberg.
after the events which they recount took place.
New York: D. Appleton & Co.
INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY. By R. M. Ogden.
To one who desires a light sketch, in diary New York: Longmans, Green & Co.
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS.
THE GREAT SOCIETY.


1915)
341
THE DIAL
Fear is emotionally the flight (or other pro character - on the basis of an illuminating,
tective) response instinctively; anger emotion- clear, and definite analysis. Its place in the
ally is in terms of impulse a harder and more standard literature of psychology is assured.
determined assault. With this clue the emo Professor Watson's volume sounds the
tional nature finds its map in the organized “Behaviorist” note as a challenge to the con-
impulses. But the boundaries, though largely servative psychologist. It also presents the
natural features, are promptly rearranged by results of careful research on animal responses,
the acquired affiliations of the psychological and a review of the present status of compara-
realm. The wealth of impulses is their embar tive psychology. To the behaviorist, the stone
rassment and their redemption. Fusion and which the builders rejected has indeed become
competitions enter with increasing levels of the corner-stone of the temple. If psychology
complication. Most distinctively the emotions will realize that consciousness is as dispensable
are played upon by intellectual elements and
as the soul, and if psychologists will experi-
the products of their elaboration. Emotions ment upon men as the behaviorists do upon
thus mature as sentiments, and in that expan- animals, some practical results will be availa-
sion find an outlet and the direction of their ble and the lessons of psychology be respected.
growth. Here and here alone, as the founda- In the experimental field the series of re-
tion of the psychical life, is established also the searches reviewed, digested, and interpreted
foundation of character,- its only authentic show more convincingly than has yet been done
psychological basis. Character is the total how rigid must be the conditions upon which
aspect of the organization of the endowment, sound conclusions may be drawn, especially
and its focus is in the emotional life. A cen when the object is to determine not alone how
tral point in the elaboration of this position is animals behave but upon what orders and
the clustering tendency of emotions and im- varieties of distinctions their distinctive be-
pulses, the manifold outlets and interactions havior is founded. The technique involved in
of psychic trends. Such organization produces determining the color-perceptions of animals,
the system of the emotions and the system of and in registering the manner of their learn-
the sentiments. Emotions are primary as they ing their way through a maze, is an admirable
stand close to the definite regulation of vital example of the logical rigor of modern psychol-
responses or participate in their regulation, ogy. Professor Watson is an equally trust-
while about this original centre develop the worthy guide in interpretation. His account
supporting trends in ever-enlarging spheres of of the highest forms of training yet reached in
influence. In the secondary field lie the nice the animal mind is highly to be commended.
ties of psychological issues and the actual arena It includes consideration of the marvellous
of human qualities. With this admirable pro horses whose performances are recorded in
gramme, Mr. Shand has formulated a strong weighty volumes, the trained dogs that find
statement. Yet the source of its strength is equally enthusiastic champions, and the en-
also in a measure a hindrance, in that the fer- gaging chimpanzee whose anthropoid manners
tility of the theme has produced an expansion are quite deceptive. Yet all these stories carry
of the material quite legitimate and interest a wholly different flavor and bearing when
ing but confusing. The book is really three in analyzed by the critical psychologist than
one: a statement of the psychological develop- when told by the proud trainer. The source
ment of character and its central emotional of the satisfaction in believing that one's own
basis; a descriptive and analytical account of dog or horse or chimpanzee can do what no
the varieties of emotional functioning; and a other horse or dog or chimpanzee can do, is
diagnostic elaboration of the finer "esthetic" itself a psychological trait worthy of explana-
responsiveness of the sophisticated, particu- tion. If one contrasts this masterly study of
larly the moral agent. Each of these interests Professor Watson's with such books — equally
is well sustained, yet the singleness of purpose representative in their day — as those of Ro-
suffers. Keen diagnosis and suggestive dis- manes, one appreciates the important advances
tinctions abound, and illustrations that really which this phase of the study of mind (or, to
illustrate support an argument that is always satisfy the behaviorists, conduct) has made in
adroitly handled. Yet so many principles are
recent years.
formulated, so many excursions (some of them No more striking contrast to the direct ob-
discursive: hence a volume of five hundred jectivism of the behaviorists could be found
pages) are undertaken that the trail is readily than the involved subjectivism of the Freudian
lost unless the reader is as keen in following as tendency in psychology. Dr. Freud's thesis
the writer in leading. The value of the volume has become a common topic of informal as well
lies in its psychological contribution to the as informed conversation, while the practice of
analysis of the emotional life — as a support of psycho-analysis caters to the interests of those


342
(April 29
THE DIAL
fond of viewing personal details in an engag acter of the taint, and to a remarkable degree
ing light. The thesis holds that trifles are (considering the complexity of the data) their
significant because uncensored, and that the conformity to the requirements of Mendelian
mind is a maze of suppressed and distorted heredity. The defect is of many degrees, and
motives; that lapses are not accidents but re is best expressed by the mental age as revealed
pressions, usually with a sex clue; that dis-by special tests and general conduct. The idiot
agreeable things are put out of the mind to has the mentality of a three-year old or even of
hide the trace of our guilt, though it will out a less mature child; imbecility carries on the
when the psycho-analyst gets you. Dr. Freud's development to six or seven years; while the
Psychopathology of Everyday Life" is now lighter grades of defect and the moron show an
accessible in a good translation made by Dr. irregular capacity comparable in many re-
A. A. Brill of New York, a prominent repre- spects to that of a normal child of nine, ten, or
sentative of the Freudian practitioners. The eleven years. Here development stops, though
volume carries the thesis to such common inci- physical growth (itself at times stunted) con-
dents as forgetting a name, a foreign word, an tinues. Some cases deceive even the expert
impression; as mis-speaking and mis-writing; teacher, and encourage him to look for a nearly
as doing things unintentionally, or other types normal issue, when progress sets in; but there
of lapses, faults, and habits. In all these there is always disappointment in the end. The
is method in one's momentary madness, the story stops and the limitations of heredity are
secret of which lies in the unconscious and final. The moral of the silk purse and the
unsuspected if not disowned past, which is sow's ear remains. This lesson is an unwel-
retired in the interests of the present. The come one to an optimistic democracy, to which
thesis is attractive, though the details are often opportunity is a solvent or a magic potion,
tedious; some parts of the book read like the and native ability a disturbing intrusion into
inflated notes of an ingenious mind. But is a well-ordered society of unobtrusive equals.
this the true picture of the normal course of The lesson may be extended: for it implies
the mind's daily habit; and are we deceivers that for every score of high-grade defectives,
ever, for lack of better subjects deceiving our there must be hundreds of just higher endow-
selves? Doubtless privacy is essential to psy- ment who form the great armies of the dull
chical complexity, and reticence grows even to and dense to whom the work of the world must
an obsession in an ingrown mind. But to ban be adjusted. It is the poor in intelligence that
ish the casual from psychology is to deny it we shall always have with us. The problem of
small talk and vacations, and to make recrea incompetence is scarcely as serious to the social
tion a misnomer. A jest, it is true, often masks philanthropist as the problem of crime, so
a deeper purpose; and yet the spirit of it is much of which is due to mental defect. A
for the most part just fun. If sleep were high-grade defective leads a safe life in the
always a sojourn in a chamber of Freudian sheltered environment of the Vineland School;
dreams, it might be more restful to remain the environment of a city dooms him utterly;
awake; while with the best of intentions and and society pays the bill in the cost of crime
an adequate psychological insight many a psy- and institutional care. In this field the eu-
chologist can find in his own errors and slips genic argument is convincing; if we cannot as
and gaucheries nothing but stupidity, defec- yet secure the best parentage, we can cut off
tive observation, brain wandering, and the the worst. Dr. Goddard's tables are illumi-
idlest of fancies. That a slight tinge of abnor- nating, as are in general his interpretations of
mality may readily give the mind a Freudian the several conditions which aggravate the
twist, or that an intellectual over-introspec menace of mental defect. The modern note
tiveness not quite adequately supported by dominates the volume, giving it the flavor of a
critical control may do the same, is a plausible laboratory study, a case record, or a field
view. But that such an occasional interlude report.
dominates or does anything but intrude seems Dr. Goddard has also reported upon the pro-
questionable. To certain temperaments, be- visions for “The School Training of Defective
tween the dark and the daylight of health or Children," and the means to be taken for their
mood there comes a lull in the mind's occupa- recognition and special consideration in the
tion that is known as the Freudian hour. public schools. Dr. Wallace Wallin's volume on
As painstaking as the studies of animal be The Mental Health of the School Child " con-
havior are the records of the feeble-minded tains a series of careful studies (reprinted
contained in Dr. Henry H. Goddard's authori from the technical magazines) dealing with
tative volume. The conspicuous lesson of the special aspects of the educational and the psy-
three hundred and more cases of mental defect chological questions that arise in the care and
here recorded is the inevitably hereditary char- study of the mentally defective. Special at-


1915)
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THE DIAL
tention is directed to the hereditary aspects of religious experience of which the confessions
the problems (eugenics), and to the corrective are an expression. The trends that lead to
measures (euthenics), that promise the relief mysticism, to introspective indulgence, to an
of these unfortunate conditions inherent in the ascetic self-castigation, as well as those illus-
distribution of human quality.
trating the abnormal hazards of the mind
The very title of Mrs. Burr's book, "Relig- (such as the witchcraft confessions and accusa-
ious Confessions and Confessants, seems a tions), further extend the scope of the inquiry.
refutal of the Freudian principles of suppres- By a discerning combination of the inductive
sion, yet it is actually its complement. For the method
method — so variously fruitful in modern psy-
relief which the psycho-analyst releases is bychology - with a sympathetic insight into the
way of confession, — by way of a verbal ex- significance of very complex phases of the
plicitness which, like the flow of tears, finds a inner life conferred by a well-trained histori.
vent for pent-up tension. Nature and religion cal sense, Mrs. Burr has made a valuable con-
are sympathetic psychologists. Mrs. Burr's tribution to the psychology of the religious
essay is an able venture in a difficult field. It life.
requires a comprehensive historical grasp of The strong if not dominant sociological
the moving centuries and the setting which trend in recent psychology is well represented
they give to the documents in the case, and a by Mr. Graham Wallas's “ The Great Society,"
psychological grasp of the underlying affinities which he properly terms “A Psychological
of expression and mood, despite the local color Analysis.” The “great society” is the result
and the imposed limitations of their origin of the radical reconstruction of the forces of
The result is a contribution of sterling value. social control brought about by the extension
The written confession is a phase of the auto of mechanical aids and economic development
biographical intention (the subject of an ear and the insight into the forces responsible
lier volume by Mrs. Burr) which, if carried out for human progress. Conscious evolution has
with Dantesque singleness of purpose, would replaced subconscious strivings and groping
approach the inviolable sanctity of the psycho- subjection to forces beyond control because
analytic moment. The tenuous duplicity is beyond the ken of attained comprehension.
involved in the intention to be read, - in the What remains permanent is the dominance of
extreme reaching Heine's satirical view of the fundamental psychological trends which
feminine writers who are described as having have brought mankind slowly to the present
one eye on the manuscript and the other on a stage. Habit, fear, pleasure and pain, the so-
man. The religious confessant has least temp- cial impulses leading to love and hatred, and
tation to be a poseur; for despite the protean the trend of thought intertwining weakly
type, he or she has the courage of self-knowl among them and in later stages supporting the
edge that divides between the lure of introspec- total growth,— these were and are the actual
tion and the shriving self-communion. The forces competing in society for expression and
most naïve or candid or healthy-minded (as organization. As one or another of these origi-
James would say) of the confessants are the nal trends is made central, there arise “habit
Gurneys (one of the many Quaker records societies and a “habit” psychology among the
which Mrs. Burr has incorporated in her re students of human affairs; similarly a “fear”
searches), for whom meditating and journal-society and a "fear” psychology; a "sympa-
izing were the family dogmas; the young ladies thy” society and a “sympathy" psychology;
of the family intermingle reflection upon God a “thought "society and a "thought" psychol-
and a future state with attention to very ogy. Mr. Wallas's volume is a popular one,
worldly and innocent pleasures. The central
The central and the theme is reduced to the sharp contrasts
portion of the volume is inductive, and pre- alone possible when a coarse brush is used. The
sents an array of data the interpretation of effect is impressionistic but strong. It is signifi-
which, despite the contrasting setting of time cant that a student of society finds it essential
and place and religious affiliation, results in to present his views on the basis of a careful
an orderly set of conclusions. The correlation psychological analysis of the motive sources of
of feeble health with introspective intensity is human conduct; though it must be admitted
clear, as is also the special relation of periods that his strong interest in social trends of the
of decline in physical vigor with moments of day make his transitions from principle to con-
conversion. The encouragement of the environ- clusion somewhat violent or detached. We all
ment, the strong hereditary trend, the precipi- look upon the tendencies operative here and
tation of the crisis by gripping experiences, now through the powerful microscope of prac-
the vestigial character of the manifestations, tical interest; the corrective of the large evolu-
the influence of the group contagion, all these tionary distance is indispensable. Mr. Wallas's
play a part in the genesis of the varieties of practical motive is to influence opinion in the


344
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organization of thought and will. The sociolo brilliant student might adapt to his own pur-
gist often runs away with the psychologist. It poses. With the purpose so definitely con-
is important that a book of this type shall be ceived, and the position (approximately that
available, because so many persons are busy of the Würzburg movement in psychology)
with one or another aspect of the problem of equally pronounced, the execution follows the
social control, and these require a presenta perspective of importance which the several
tion suitable to their needs and habits of com topics are assigned in the instructor's mind.
prehension. In the psychological view, the The divisions are clear: an analytical review;
European catastrophe (which, by the way, is a synthetic construction; an applicational sur-
foreshadowed by Mr. Wallas with a startling vey. All this has been done with skill, patience,
prophetic insight) is far less a battle of arma discretion.
ments than a contest of ideals. The decision at A survey, like the present review, which in-
stake is the perspective of importance to be cludes in one sheaf the psychology of charac-
assigned to the directive trends of human na ter, of obscure moments in every-day life, of
ture in the socially matured system under religious experience in autobiographical data,
which life must proceed.
of the defective classes, of the social move-
For the making of texts in psychology, ments of the day and generation, is sufficient
classes and publishers are largely responsible, to indicate the perplexities of the writer of
- unless the inadequacy of professors' salary texts who wishes to present the established
is the efficient cause. Such texts must usually doctrines and to reflect the current trends of
be reviewed from the pedagogical aspect: Will interest.
JOSEPH JASTROW,
the student mind accept them and profit by
their use? It is safe to predict that whatever
Professor Münsterberg writes will reflect the
RECENT FICTION.*
fertility of his versatile endowment and the Mr. Harrison has scored again with "An-
comprehensiveness of his command of the sub- gela's Business," although not quite as effec-
ject. To the teacher of psychology his latest tively as with its two predecessors. The hero
text-book will be distinctly helpful. It is a lives in some idyllic town where it is possible
well-sustained presentation, and differs from for him to earn, as a private tutor, not merely
many texts in its inclusion of applied psychol- a living, but the means of providing for a
ogy in a readable survey of education, law, luxurious apartment, and the services of a
medicine, industry, and culture, as they em- private secretary. He is also by way of being
body psychological principles and their work à writer of novels and short stories, but as
ings. What is ordinarily incidentally noted in these effusions are almost invariably returned
connection with analysis is here brought to a
to him with complimentary regrets by unap-
systematic presentation. As for the adapta- preciative editors and publishers, they do not
bility of the text to the student, one man's view contribute materially to the elucidation of the
or guess is doubtless no better than another's. economic mystery of his existence. The chief
It seems to the present reviewer that the stu subject of his researches as a fictionist is
dent's reaction to this type of text will be Woman, which he thinks he understands in all
either neutral or belligerent. It seems pecu- its manifestations, and he jots down felicitous
liarly neglectful of the psychology of the stu- epigrams about it as they occur to him. He
dent's mind; and it errs in one essential respect eventually discovers that his psychology has
an error almost scholastic in its temper: been superficial, and that intimate emotional
namely, the insistence upon “methodology.” relations with individual specimens of the sex
The division of "causal psychology” and must enter into a novelist's equipment before
“purposive psychology,” the contrast of "the he is really qualified to write about it. His
two psychologies," is the very basis of the book. chief personal contacts are with the two speci-
This is precisely what the student should not mens Angela and Mary. The latter is a some-
be troubled with; it is the teacher's business to what strenuous creature of the type commonly
conceal the fact that he is troubled by it him known as "advanced," a teacher in the local
self. It is in despite of the plan of the volume, high school, whose chief ambition is to secure
rather than by virtue of it, that the result is the secretaryship of a national educational
valuable.
organization. She is not presented in a very
Professor Ogden writes his “Introduction to alluring light, whereas Angela is charmingly
General Psychology” with the literal purpose * ANGELA'S BUSINESS. By Henry Sydnor Harrison. Boston:
of surveying the essentials of the field in the
Houghton Mifflin Co.
By Harry Leon Wilson. New York:
briefest possible compass. This involves a sum Doubleday, Page & Co.
WHO GOES THERE! By Robert W. Chambers. New York:
mary manner throughout, even to the sugges-
A Tale of the Great War. By Burton E.
tion of the replacement of the notes which a Stevenson. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
RUGGLES OF RED GAP.
D. Appleton & Co.
LITTLE COMRADE,


1915]
345
THE DIAL
>
feminine and appealing. Her“ business," un A little of this sort of thing goes a long way,
blushingly avowed, is that of being a "home and such humor rather palls when supplied in
maker," which means that she is primarily bent the generous measure with which Mr. Wilson
upon ensnaring a suitable male with whose aid
bestows it upon us.
to construct the home of her imaginings. It It will be a long time before we get the real
looks as if the hero were destined to become fiction of the great war — such work, for ex-
her prey, but Mary is the one who finally car ample, as "Richard Dehan" and Mr. Frederick
ries him off, a success to which we are not alto Palmer have it in them to write. Meanwhile,
gether reconciled. The author brings this
those among our novelists whose aim is pri-
about by a series of deft moves whereby Mary marily entertainment are rapidly seizing the
grows upon us and Angela grows away from new opportunity, and giving us episodical tales
us, the former developing hitherto unsuspected of essentially private and sentimental interest,
qualities of womanliness, while the latter is having the war as a decorative background.
revealed as the embodiment of selfish calcula Such stories are the “Who Goes There!” of
tion and insincerity. She does not exactly Mr. Chambers and the “Little Comrade" of
appear in the character of a minx or a cat, but Mr. Stevenson. The former is the more serious
her development is obviously tending in that and full-bodied of the two, but we expect
direction at the time when the hero discovers something much better of the writer to whom
that Mary is the realization of his ideals, and
we owe the series based upon the Franco-
informs her of the conclusion that he has Prussian War and the American Revolution.
reached. The manner in which this story is Mr. Chambers puts his historical judgments of
related is sparkling and whimsical; it is far the war into three prefatory pages of prose
from being a remarkable novel in any serious
and verse, leaving them otherwise to be in-
sense, but it is undeniably an entertaining one. ferred from the action of the romance that
“Ruggles of Red Gap," by Mr. Harry Leon follows. His verse yields such a picture as
Wilson, is the story of an English valet trans this of martyred Belgium:
planted to the wilds of western America. His
“ Withered the magic gardens which were mine;
master, the Honorable George (surname unin-
Eden, in embers, blackens in the sun;
dicated), enticed into a game of "drawing Rooting amid crushed roses the Wild Swine
poker" by some Americans visiting in London, Still root, and spare not one."
stakes Ruggles and loses him, which means In his prose he gives a succinct statement of
that the valet must depart with his new master the reasons why America can have no sym-
for Red Gap, which seems to be a metropolis pathy for the German cause, concluding with
situated among the Rocky Mountains. The
these words: “We know that the cause of
saying that men change their skies but not Imperial Germany is wrong; her civilization
their souls is measurably illustrated by Rug- is founded on propositions impossible for any
gles's career in his new surroundings, but he
American to accept; her aims, ambitions, and
finds himself, despite his efforts to keep his ideals are antagonistic to the progress of com-
place, elevated by circumstance into a social
munal and individual liberty as we understand
position of some consequence in Red Gap, and the terms. And that settles the matter for us.'
when we take leave of him, he is by way of The hero of “ Who Goes There!” is an Amer-
developing into a passable imitation of an
ican of Belgian descent, who is about to take
American citizen. His experiences are sur his place in the Belgian army when the coun-
prising, and often farcical, but he remains un-
try of his ancestry is violated by the barbarian.
perturbed by a rise in the world of which he
Taken prisoner by General Baron von Reiter,
could not have dreamed in the early days be-
he is reprieved on the condition that he will go
fore he became the arbiter elegantiarum of
to England and rescue the General's ward, and
Red Gap society. The story abounds in a
escort her to his Luxembourg estate. Failing
species of humor of which the following is a
this, he promises, like Regulus, to come back
typical specimen :
and be shot. He finds the young woman, and
“I gathered at once that the Americans have sets out with her for the Continent. But she is
actually named one of our colonies 'Washington' already under suspicion of being a German
after the rebel George Washington, though one
spy, and has, in fact, certain important papers
would have thought that the indelicacy of this revealing the whereabouts of the English fleet
would have been only too apparent. But, then, I
recalled as well the city where their so-called par-
and other matters. Every step of the journey
liament assembles, Washington, D. C. Doubtless
is dogged, and there are many exciting escapes
the initials indicate that it was named in honour'
from arrest. As for the compromising papers,
of another member of this notorious family. I the hero gains possession of them, and thus
could not but reflect how shocked our King would prevents them from falling into the hands of
be to learn of this effrontery."
the enemy. The General, who has hoped to


346
[ April 29
THE DIAL
wed the young woman, finds, when they meet, possessing the climate necessary for their well-
that the American has stolen her heart, and, in being. It has been understood between her and her
a hand-to-hand encounter, is badly wounded. complaisant husband that she will return when she
Thereupon, with incredible magnanimity, he
hears a nightingale sing. He, after what he regards
relinquishes his suit, and provides the lovers
as a sufficient deprivation, arrives in Paris, where
he buys what he is told is a nightingale, and takes
with every facility for going over the lines
into Belgium. The expected happy romantic
it over to her in England that she may hear its song
and justify his arrival. She, meanwhile, has been
ending is inferred rather than portrayed. The acting the part of a beneficent fate for various lov-
story has an excess of the conversational pad ers, one of them a plumber and the other a chanf-
ding at which Mr. Chambers is an adept, but feur. It is all pleasantly plausible and amusing.
it has also much dramatic action and a quan What an intelligent husband and wife can do in
tum satis of sentimental interest.
avoiding divorce by removing the causes for sepa-
Mr. Stevenson's story is of the thinnest tex ration is set forth by M. Henry Bordeaux in “ The
ture, and is also concerned with the romance Awakening ” (Dutton), which has been translated
of an American hero and a beautiful spy.
by Miss Ruth Helen Davis rom the ninety-fifth
This girl is from Strasbourg, and has in her
edition in French. A brilliant writer marries a
possession some plans of the fortifications at charming girl, who, having borne him a son and
daughter, is quite content to rest on her ante-
Metz, which she hopes to place in the hands of
marital laurels so far as charm is concerned. Au-
General Joffre. The police are on her track, other woman, brilliantly intellectual, crosses the
and she flings herself into the arms of the
writer's path after years of baffled hopes and an
American hero, a surgeon on his way home almost complete waning of mutual interests. The
from Vienna, and caught in Aachen at the out outraged wife returns to her people and begins a
break of the war. A deft manipulation of his suit for separation, holding herself innocent of the
passport adds to his name the words “accom collapse of their married life. A diary kept by
panied by his wife," and upon this pretence,
him is placed in her hands, and her failure to meet
she persuades him to extend to her his protec-
his ambitions is made clear thereby. She sets
tion. The pair have a lively time in getting
about rehabilitating herself in her own eyes, thus
across the Belgian frontier, and have to hide
opened; and in the course of years attains to her
husband's standard of what a wife should be. The
in wheat-fields and gullies, make forced book deserves wide reading.
marches by night, and swim the Meuse. They Mrs. Edith Henrietta Fowler's latest romanee,
are both wounded, but evade capture, and the
“ Patricia” (Putnam), has a genuine, if somewhat
hero takes the plans to the French camp, where worldly, piety running through its pages. Patricia
the invisible ink is made to yield up its secrets. is the only daughter of an eminent man of letters,
We leave the heroine in a German hospital, widowed at her birth. His death sends her to an
where she is being nursed back to health with uncle, vicar of a rural parish, as earnest and gener-
out any suspicion of her real character on the ous of self as he and his family are narrow. The
part of the authorities, and we are left to girl's impressions of religion as a dull and rather
imagine the reunion with the man to whom she
sordid business are confirmed by the life her kins-
folk lead, her agnostic training blinding her to the
owes her safety. She makes a very charming
spiritual beauty beneath. She is awakened by her
and resourceful heroine, and the ingenuity
love for a clergyman of high rank, who takes her
with which she extricates herself from difficult
into a society even more cultivated than her father
situations excites our deepest admiration. had thrown about her, and eventually brings her to
What the author thinks about the whole busi the Light. Patricia is an excellent example of a
ness of the war is made fairly evident by his witty simpleton, to say nothing worse of her; but
hero's comments upon the invasion of Bel her slightness of character detracts little from the
gium, and by his offer of his professional
interest of the story.
services to the French army.
In the death of Monsignor Hugh Benson, the
Roman Catholic Church has lost the ablest novelist
WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE.
in her cause she has ever had in England; and his
posthumous story, “Loneliness” (Dodd), serves to
NOTES ON NEW NOVELS.
confirm this fact. It deals with contemporary life,
and its protagonist is a young Catholic English-
Something of Frank Stockton's delightful irre woman who achieves a marked success on the oper-
sponsibility and inconsecutiveness appear in Miss atic stage. This success so interests the scion of a
Ellenor Stoothoff's “The Nightingale” (Hough recently ennobled house that he secretly affiances
ton), which tells of a New England wife and mother himself to her. Meanwhile her youthful devotion
who flies from home and family to effect her own to religion grows pallid, until she determines to
cure from a serious attack of nerves by rambling marry her Protestant lover regardless of churchly
unprotected through Europe. In Italy she takes regulations. A slight surgical operation deprives
on a young girl as maid, and adopts two lambs. her of her glorious voice; she turns to the old
These latter ail slightly, so she embarks for the religion and dismisses her lover, now grown luke-
spot where Southdown mutton comes from, as warm, and the close suggests the cloister.


1915)
347
THE DIAL
in the ruins
It is inevitable that the fascinating figure of the
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
fourth Amen-hotep, self-named Akhenaton, should
be connected with that of Moses, since the purity
At desolate Babylon, once mis-
E.plorations
of the Pharoah's religion bears no slight resem-
tress of Hither Asia, excavations
of Babylon.
blance to that of the great Jewish lawgiver. Cer-
by the Royal Museums of Berlin
tain chronological obstacles have not been allowed in conjunction with the Deutsche Orient-
to stand in the way by Mr. Frederick Thurstan in Gesellschaft have been in progress since 1899.
“ The Romances of Amosis Ra” (Lippincott), the An account of net results up to the spring of
hero of which is none other than Moses himself. 1912, written by Dr. Robert Koldewey, in
Such portions of the Scripture as could be made to charge of the work, and first published in 1913,
fit are utilized to the full, and a magical atmosphere
has already reached its third German edition.
is created, in the spirit of the miracles of the exo-
dus. The romances are two, the first ending with
The hoped-for English version is also now
available in a volume entitled “The Excava-
the birth of the prophet, the second with his retire-
ment to the land of Midian after his slaughter of
tions at Babylon” (Macmillan). Mrs. Agnes
the Egyptian. The author's earnestness and learn-
S. Johns has made a free and idiomatic trans-
ing are much in excess of his ability to write
his ability to write lation which well reproduces the effect of the
convincingly.
original. Awkward sentences occur rarely,
“ The Graves at Kilmorna: A Story of '67" likewise minor discrepancies of fact. Suc-
(Longmans) is an earnest tale of the abortive cessive discussions of the separate features of
uprising of the Irish against British oppression in the city form the bulk of the volume; a retro-
1867, when veterans of the American Civil War
spect sums up the career of Babylon as a
returned to their native land to assist in obtaining whole. Its site was inhabited even in prehis-
its independence. It is the work of the Very Rev.
toric times (pp. 88, 261, 311). The water-
Canon P. A. Sheehan, D.D., and is a close and con-
clusive picture of the times in which it begins, and
level, however, higher now than in antiquity,
a profound criticism of these later days. A youth-
prevents excavating below the stratum of
ful Irish idealist and freedom worshipper seeks
Hammurabi (2123-2081 B.C.), the great law-
death in the cause in order that his countrymen giver of the Babylonian First Dynasty. The
may gain the stimulus that he believes will follow residence district of Merkes best reveals the
this voluntary martyrdom. His life is spared, but course of Babylon's history, from the early
he spends ten agonizing years in prison before he state of Hammurabi down through the inglo-
is pardoned. The end of the tale is tragic in every rious Kassite sway and the period of Assy.
sense of the word. Few more sincere stories have rian domina