Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], August 16, 1917, Page 8, Image 8

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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8
BOOKS and AUTHORS
A DEFENSE OF GENIUS
PROFESSIONALISM ASSAILED
ORIGINALITY AND PROGRESS
Sigh-Strung Book in Which Con
servatism Is Seemingly Identi
fied With Prejudice
"Professionalism and Originality"
are the terms used in the title of F.
H. Hayward's new book (Open Court
publishing company; $1.75) to cover
a large number of related but
really separate things. For instance,
the book is an attack on the evils
Inherent in certain professions
through the excessive self-interest of
practitioners; but it is also an attack
on all who are so bound by traditions
and precedents that they are opposed
to new ideas and new practices. The
attack is pungently phrased, but it
would be more convincing if the
author had shown a higher de
gree of discrimination. On the
other hand, it is a defense of
originality, which is regarded as
an essential quality of genius.
And It is, by implication at least, an
even stronger defense of moral cour
age—a quality that leads a man. not
possessed of genius, to differ in
thought of his family, his friends
and his social caste and to single him
self out for the prosecution of some
necessary task or the propagation of
some necessary idea. But. instead of
being a philosophical study of con
servatism in thought and action and
the shock thereto caused by pro
nounced novelty, or of social soli
darity and individualism, it is a high
strung and loosely co-ordinated at
tack on all kinds of what we in
America, borrowing a phrase from a
celebrated national game, call "stand
patism.”
Still the ideas that the book agi
tates are capable of doing some good,
for, whatever the author's intention,
the book is a defense of certain injunc
tions inherent iu Christianity, but
seldom observed by western races.
The spiritually progressive man. who
lays aside the ordinary concerns of
society, and devotes himself to some
high task, is. by implication, de
fended; but the fundamental trouble
Is not, as Mr Hayward seems to think,
so much the stupidity and inertia of
professionalism, against which any
intellectually and morally active so
ciety would easily defend itself, as the
materialistic spirit which prompts
society, after it has attained to moder
ate economic security, to devote its
talents to the piling up of wealth.
Again. Mr Hayward errs sadly by
not considering to what extent genius
hi the modern world is employed in
the building of great fortunes. Ge
nius. for him. is merely creative
Originality in the arts or sciences or
professions. What about the genius
that goes to the making of the mod
ern capitalistic world? Here enough
originality, daring, patient application
and creative ability—the ability to
see the future in terms of financial
success—are every year expended to
solve all the problems of war and
poverty that confront the modern
world, if the forces mentioned could
be turned into disinterested, Dhilan
thropic activity. Air Hayward rightly
praises disinterestedness: but he fails
to see how much genius, the very
opposite of disinterested in aim. has
gone to the making of our material-
Jstic modern world. This kind of ge
nius finds itself honored, and it may
be said to produce its fruit in a favor
ing environment. How- to change this
environment is the real problem be
fore Mr Hayward, but he contents
himself by ill-balanced diatribes
against doctors, clergymen and still
Indiscriminate but possibly more jus
tifiable. diatribes against lawyers and
courts.
We get our clew tn Mr Hayward's
defects when on page (14 we come to
this opinion; "Even to-day the aver
age cardinal or bishop is an incom
parably feebler man than a Wells, a
Shaw or an Arnold Bennett." Does Mr
Hayward admire mere ideologues and
professional shock-producers? Evi
dence is available to show that no
author ever took a more professional
view of his craft than Arnold Ben
nett. And does not Mr Hayward see
that writers of the Shaw and Wells
type, whd write to create an impres
sion and furnish subjects of discus
sion, are the ver,.- people who make
intellectual and moral sincerity im
possible. What does. Mr Weils stand
for except the agitation of ideas that
come to him in helter-skelter pro
fusion, and that he never attempts
to, co-ordinate or follow in their im
plications? Mr Shaw, as a satirist,
lias his amusing points, but can it
be said that he is always on the side
of common sense? Sophistication bos
made even his socialism suspect. And
the man whose function it is to di
agree with everybody at the wrong
time soon loses his share of public
toleration- —a quality of which there
is a larger amount than Mr Hayward
neems to suppose.
Mr Hayward has made his Ideas
serve too many purposes. His criti
cism of those professions that regard
themselves as close corporations is
justified, but it is less the faults of
the professions that he attacks than
their hostility to originality. He
Roes back many years to show the
troubles of inventors with bureau
watic officials and the public, but
he does not take into consid
eration the fact that at on’
time mechanical inventions had
to establish themselves against op
position. while now a mechanical
invention is sought for ever.-, process
Where the saving of labor or the im
provement of the product is an ob
ject. Although the medical profes
sion has entirely reconstructed itself
in a century, Mr Hayward is very
wroth with it for not taking up ‘‘twi
light sleep.” which is yet an insuffi
ciently tried treatment, to commend
itself to the wise practitioner. Does
Mr Hayward imply that every time
n person makes public a new idea, it
Should be immediately adopted? Re
form in professions is needed, and
common sense as well as humility
Would grant that we mortals would
ail be better for some kind of reform.
(Mr Hayward touches on professional
envy, but does not observe that envy
is a human, not a strictly professional,
trait?) The law needs its Samuel
fdmsoll, and a conscientious doctor —
a type which is fairly numerous —
would undoubtedly find limitations In
.professional ethics, and might object
to the specialist's scale of charges.
Mr Hayward irritates rather than
convinces the reader by his constant
uso of the term “living man.” It sug
gests Nietzsche, Stirncr and other
literary apostles of individualism. He
neems on the whole, to mean “crea
tive'' rather than living, but he has
apparently been reading Bergson
(who has supplied a theoretical basis
for syndicalism) and tells us that the
"Hying man" la “a pari of life itself,
and is far too busy with living to
assert or deny theological dogmas un
less they bill his path." Just what
kind of monster would the “living
man” be who had no intellectual con
victions? Still. Mr Hayward's exam
ples of men of genius or eminent abil
ity who have disagreed with their pa
rents —Stevenson. Ruskin and Gosse —
are mostly sympathetic to the normal
reader, who has an admiration for
genius or ability that is the real thing,
and not mere self-conscious irrita
bility. coupled with eccentric habits
and a facility for writing.
Mr Hayward is evidently a young
map. By profession he is an inspector
;of schools, and he no doubt Las oppor
tunities to view professionalism en
trenched in bureaucratic circles. But.
instead of judging his colleagues by a
Nietzschean standard, he wouM do
well to judge them by the standards
of th? truly-cultivated man. who is
not unduk’ averse to original achieve
ment when it is genuine, and who
has a sense of humor. Mr Hayward,
in defending genius and analyzing its
course through life and its posthu
mous fame, is often truthful as well
I as suggestive because he draws freely
on biographical literature. But he has
here got a long way from the de
fects of the professions. The gap
is hardly bridged by his very
absurd theory that every new idea
I is necessarily right because it is new.
His concrete criticisms of the British
press for its narrow and stereotyped
range of discussion are more relevant.
And some of his suggestions would
undoubtedly lead to a greater toler
ance of genius lv 7 infusing an atmos
phere of culture and moral progress.
Given a love of ideas, and an atmos
phere of sweet reasonableness, gen
ius would be tolerated and appre
ciated. even though its social habits
might not always seem worthy of
imitation.
Mr Hayward wisely says little
about art and poetry, for the
extremes to which the modern world
has gone in accepting the freakish
and abnormal would prove the funda
mental necessity of that conservatism
whose defects he has been so zeal
ously and methodically enumerating.
But. as has been said, he undertakes
no philosophical discussion of that taw
of life which demands of men that
they continually make the effort
to strike a balance between the
old and the new. preserving from the
old what is indispensable to well-be
ing, and grasping from the new (often
the old freshly discovered and applied)
what is necessary for progress.
RINGS FOR THE FINGER
Their Origin. Materials. History.
Sentiment. Uses, Etc.
A sumptuous volume, handsomely
bound, profusely illustrated, and alto
gether as ornamental as the jewelry
of which it treats, is “Rings: For the
Finger.’* by George Frederick Kunz.
(J. B. Lippincott company; $6.50). Dr
Kunz has the vantage point of the
metropolitan museum of New York,
with which he is connected, as an ini
tial source for his studies and his rank
as an authority on this and kindred
subjects is now established. This is by
no means his first venture in this
pleasant field of literature. "The Curi
ous Love of Precious Stones." “The
Magic of Jewels and Charms” and
“Shakespeare and Precious Stones”
are volumes from his pen. leading
logically to jeweled rings and all rings.
Dr Kunz seems to have covered the
subject fully in its various phases. He
might have made a larger book by
multiplying similar material, but as the
octavo volume is already more than
two inches thick. It is a case of enough
being better than more. The mere
skimming of the table of contents sug
gests the wealth of material farther
on and hints at the amount of research
preliminary to authorship of such a
volume. The chapter titles are: Ori
gin. purposes and methods of ring
wearing; Forms of rings and materi
als; Signet rings; Interesting rings of
history; Betrothal and wedding rings
and love tokens; Religious use of
rings; Magic and talismanic rings;
Rings of healing; Ring-making. Int“
these nine chapters with nearly 400
pages of text and 111 pages of illus
trations. three in color, the others
double-tone. Dr Kunz has packed a
great diversity of classified facts,
curious incidents, quaint customs, etc.
The reader will be amused and
amazed at the shapes and sizes of
some of the rings here pictured and
described; and not less so at the myri
ad uses to which they have been put
in different lands and ages. This arti
cle could be indefintely prolonged by
interesting quotations from every
chapter. Lovers of the unusual will
find enough of it here to occupy their
attention for considerable time; and
one can imagine the feeling of jubila
tion with which a high schol student,
for instance, or a woman’s club es
sayist. would greet a volume like this,
with a feeling of dismay following hard
after because of the difficulty of se
lection from such a wealth of material.
"THE CREED OF EPICTETUS - '
Abridgement of His Teachings
Published in Boston
Ulysses G. B. Pierce has condensed
and arranged in topical order many of
the teachings of Epictetus. His avowed
purpose, as the title of his book indi
cates, "The Creed of Epictetus" (Bea
con press), is to interpret Epictetus to
the modern mind. Epictetus wrote
nothing which has come down to us.
but a faithful pupil took copious notes
of his lectures. These notes were
published, seemingly without the
knowledge of pither Epictetus or the
pupil, under the well-known title.
"Discourses of Epictetus." But as
these were merely notes taken for his
own benefit and were not in the best
form to be given to the public, the
pupil. Flavius Arrianus. prepared an
abridgment called the "Manual.” This
is more formal and less inspiring that
the notes, but is more generally read
because of its brevity.
In condensing the philosophy of
Epictetus. Mr Pierce is careful to
choose passages that present the type
of philosophy and express the heart
of the great philosopher’s teaching.
As one reads them, he is impressed
anew with the fact' that Epictetus
was a man who belonged to all time,
because he received his wonderful
message through spiritual intuition.
Why Epictetus Is Still Read
The London Times Literary Sup
plement. in a long article apropos of a
new translation of Epictetus by P. E.
Matheson (Oxford university press),
says: —
“It is strange how little, in spite of
the lapse of nearly 1900 years, the
words of the old teacher have lost
their power to strike home. The Ox
ford university press has now put
forth a new translation with Introduc
tion and brief notes, by P. E. Mathe
son. It is always a difficulty in trans
lating Epictetus that for the numer
ous technical terms of Stoic philoso
phy. which were current coin in the
classroom, it is hard to find English
equivalents without bringing some
thing of heaviness and pedantry into
what is above all the straightforward
plain utterance of profound and com
pulsive beliefs. Perhaps Prof Hastings
Crossley in the little 'Golden Treas
ury’ volume of selections had sur-
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917
I mounted this difficulty as successfully
as any other previous translator, but
Mr Matheson has now given us a
translation of all the recorded utter
ances of Epictetus which has all
through the note of living speech, and
is not likely to be bettered.
At the time when Epictetus found
his salvation in the Stoic creed the
individual man was confronted by a
rich and complex society, which rep
resented the greatest organization of
human power yet achieved on the
planet. We see the working of it as
the background to the discourses of
Epictetus—the officials going to and
fro between Rome and the provinces
*
opher at Nicopolis on their way. the
men able and avid to use the facili
ties for getting rich offered by the
wide economic connections of the
Roman empire, the men sensitive to
the artificial distinctions of fine so
। ciety. anxious to be in the fashion.
I the men who live in terror because
their seeking for the prizes in this
interplay of human wills may have
brought them into conflict with the
supreme will, the chief embodiment
of all this power. Nero Augustus.
“This vast social mechanism that
man has created crushes his soul;
the individual is caught in its wheels,
and the good of which some dim pre
figurement had dwelt in his conscious
ness from birth eludes him always.
All men. said the Stoic doctrine, are
miserable. But there is a deliverance.
That is what the old man at Nicopolis
has to proclaim. In a moment the
individual. whenever he wills, can get
clear of it all. can stand up a free i
man. For what is it that holds all
these men attached to the world of
unrest? Only two things: their own
desires and their own fears, the vain
imaginations of their own heart.
Those each man can deal with when
he wills and as he wills.
“The man who deals with them
rightly is no more drawn into the
pounding, restless machine by desire
for any of the false good things—
money, or prestige, or power—he is
beyond the reach of the arm of
Caesar: if Caesar wishes to break his
‘bit of a body.’ he is welcome to do
so. but he can never lay hold of the
man. To all whom the great world
crushes and tosses and drives Epic
tetus cries aloud that their salvation
is in their own hands. In a mement.
whenever they will, the world has no
hold or power upon them any more.”
HEBREW RELIGIOUS GROWTH
Development Traced to Time of
Christ by Prof H. T. Fowler
Prof Henry T. Fowler of Brown
university traces the development of
the Hebrew idea of God from the time
of Moses to the time of Christ, in his
book “The Origin and Growth of the
Hebrew Religion” (University of Chi
cago press). In this period, which
spans 12 centuries, the Hebrews pass
from the special guardianship of a
tribal god to the consciousness of the
universal God who is over all people
and all nations. This is a mighty ad
vance and, coupled with the great
moral and ethical features that un
folded with it, it becomes the supreme
religious achievement, excepting only
Christianity, which was an outgrowth
of It.
In the meantime a twofold develop
ment was going on within this idea —
the prophetic and the priestly. The
prophetic followed the line of the in
ner life in setting forth the moral,
ethical and spiritual obligations; the
priestly followed the formal, ritualistic
side, emphasizing the importance of
tithing and sacrifice according to the
law code. During the period from
Nathan to Jeremiah the prophetic was
the leading factor in forming the lines
of political and religious thought and
action. But after the captivity the
priestly gained the ascendancy and
kept it for many centuries.
Since Prof Fowler is following the
development of the Hebrew religion
he does no‘. carry it beyond New
Testament times, for since then it has
remained practically fixed. Nor does
he treat of Christ's work, since that
was rejected by the Jews. He fol
lows the biblical narrative, and while
he applies the results of higher criti
cism and research he does it so wisely
and unobsti usively that the story is
enriched, instead of erased.
“AT PLATTSBURG - ’
A Graphic Description of the Training
Camp. AVith an Element of Romance
Much has been reported of life in
the series of training camps at Platts
burg in the last two years without
giving a very intimate knowledge of
the rookie's routine. But no one can
complain of lack of detail In Allen
French’s new book. "At Plattsburg”
(Charles Scribner's Sons; $1.35). Nor
is there due any complaint at all
about the book. It is a delightful
blending of fact and romance; of
which the author acknot ledges the
blend and for which his readers sup
ply the complimentary adjectives.
Tn brief, the book consists chiefly
of letters from Private Richard God
win to his mother, reporting his ex
periences daily with graphic, almost
photographic, art. There ar a few
letters from his squadmates to their
families, and some others, but “Dick”
is the signature of most. And by the
evidence in hand, Dick was a most in
defatigable correspondent. He never
had to say. in time-honored phrase.
“I take mv pen in hand.” for it was
always In his hand except when his
gun or his knife and fork were in
hand. All the better for the reader,
because it's more like a moving pic
ture. Dick is presumably a Boston
business man who has worked hard
to attain the vantage ground whence
he might hope to have "all the com
forts of home" accepted by a certain
young woman of luxurious tastes, only
to have the engagement broken shortly
before camp season. And then. Ig
norant of each other's later move
ments. they meet at Plattsburg, and
there a«- complications for others
than Dick, with everything coming
out satisfactorily, albeit with a near
tragedy in the last chapter.
Dick finds himself a member or
squad 8. a group of strangely as
sorted personalities, who in thetr
month of family life develop a cama
raderie that some of them would not
have dreamed and one of the eight
would have repudiated with all the
emphasis of his Harvard and pam
pered background. In the develop
ment of this young scion of the aris
tocracy. fearing he will meet no one
of his sort in camp, the reader is sure
to rejoice, along with a general de
light in all the human life portrayed
in these 300 pages.
These men learn in their course of
drilling, range-shooting and hiking,
that there’s a lot more to a soldier’s
life than intellectual familiarity with
l>ooks of tactics, etc. However well
they have learned their book and field
lessons individually, they find that
squad unison and unisfon In larger
units is a much more difficult propo
sition; and the uninitiated lay read
er begins to appreciate why it is that
an army cannot he created over night
by the loyal volunteering of the re
quired number of men.
Mr French was himself in squad
8. and he puts into Private Godwin's
letters enough of the philosophy of
preparedness as It unfolds to Platts
burg students to make the book as
1 valuable from such an angle as it is
interesting as a story.
A CANADIAN POET
‘•Luudy's Lane and Other Poems,"
by Duncan Campbell Scott
Perhaps the most distinguished of
living Canadian poets is Duncan
Campbell Scott, whose new volume,
"Lundy’s Lane and Other Poems"
(Doran; $1.25), affords further proof
of a true poetic gift, though it con
tains no work to equal the simple
strength of the elegy in an Ontario
churchyard. Mr Scott is in the main
what may be called a simple poet;
that is. his language has that per
spicuousness and metrical vitality
without which poetic emotion can
never be communicated. This is ot
necessarily the same thing as
simplicity of utterance —the classic
simp ic ty of an Elizabethan lyric or
of Gray’s elegy, for instance. Mr
Scott has his modern complexity. But
he has the right to be called simple
in the sense that his images are not
recondite or obscure or his language
tortured into an expression of fine
ness that the poet has never truly
felt. While at his best Mr Scott
achieves no little power of sensuous
expression, he seems -at times to be
deliberately experimenting, and, for I
this reason, one cannot rate the
"Lines in Memory of Edmund Mor- |
ris.” or even "The Hight of Land.' I
with its powerful impressionism, so
high as “Spring on Mattagami.” The
very variety of meters in the two
former poems, and the occasional em
ployment of unrhythmical but richly
eadenced lines, suggests an exercise,
and it is an exercise that the reader
regrets the more because the poet’s
material is, as usual the product of
imaginative experience.
The best thing about Mr Scott is his
feeling for Nature. There is nothing
arbitrary or conventional about his ut
terance, yet it takes naturally to mark
edly rhythmical forms —whether these
are always wisely chosen is another
matter. Of the poets who have in
fluenced him Wordsworth is probably
predominant; at all events he mingles
his sensations in the presence of Na
ture with personal or philosophical
meditations. But it is Mr Scott’s great
gift that in realizing Nature he realizes
Canada. This deputy commissioner of
Indian affairs knows the Canadian
landscape, and the impression of Na
ture that he conveys is that of an
undeveloped country which the red
man still inhabits with only a limited
curtailment of his original freedom. A
poet of true sensitiveness, he dwells
on Nature in the forms in which she
is embodied in the country with which
he is most familiar. In “Spring
on Mattagami” the poet recalls
the girl he has unsuccessfully wooed
and wishes she were with him in the
magical air of Matagami in spring;—
She would hear the partridge drumming
in the distance.
Rolling out. his mimic thunder In the
sultrv noons;
Hear bevond The silver roach in ringing
wild persistence
Reel remote the ululating laughter of
the loons:
See the shy moose fawn nestling by Its
mother.
In a cool marsh pool, where the sedges
meet:
Rest, by a moss-round where the twin
flowers smother
With a drowse of orient perfume
drenched in light and heat.
She would see the dawn rise behind the
smoky mountain.
In a jet of color curving up to break,
While like spray from the iridescent foun
tain
Opal tires weave over all the oval of the
lake:
She would see like fireflies the stars alight
and spangle
All the henven meadows thick with
growing dusk.
Feel the gipsy airs that gather up and
tangle
The woodsy odors in a maze of myrrh
and musk.
His amorous vision departs, and he
reflects: —
But what would life be wirth without
the vision.
Dark with sordid passion, pale with
wringing pain?
What 1 dream is mine, mine beyond nil
cavil.
Pure and fair and sweet, and mine for
evermore.
He continues his reflection: —
Vaster <an the world or life or death my
trust Is
Based In the unseen land towering far
above;
Hold me. 0 Law, that deeper lies than
Justice,
Guide me. 0 Light, that stronger burns
than Love.
“Lundy’s Lane,” the first poem of
the book, is the story of a boy’s fight
ing in the war of 1812—on the side of
Canada, of course. The rhythmical
vigor and freshness of words which
are common characteristics of Mr
Scott are found in the poem, hut the
patriotism is that of the mid
tary song-writer. for whom the
union jack becomes the sym
bol of the highest devotion. It is
stirring, as such poems may be, when
■ written with spirit, but its timeliness,
rather than its poetic superiority, en
titles it to first place in the volume.
“THE CITY WORKER’S WORLD”
Problems of Poverty Considered by
Mrs Slmkhovltch
The everyday life of the city poor
is revealed in “The City Worker's
World,” by Mary Kingsbury Simk
hovitch (Macmillan; $1.25). No at
tempt is made by the author to write
in a dry super-scientific fashion.
Rather, the style is suited to the sub
ject, and the environment, customs
and manner of thinking of the city
poor are set forth in a direct and
appealing style. The book reflects
the 17 years of actual social expe
rience which Mrs Slmkhovltch en
joyed as directoif of the Greenwich
Village settlement house.
In this book the life of the indus
trial family is identified with the life
of the immigrant and his children.
Consequently, some interesting side
lights are thrown upon the charac
teristics of various nationalities as
they appear in this volume. All the
estimates of the good and bad quali
ties which come to the surface in
the foreigner are made justly and
correctly, without discrimination.
Some of the topics which receive
consideration in this volume are the
tenements, the workers’ standard of
living, education, health, poverty,
leisure, politics and religion. The
evils of the “dumb bell” type of
tenement, once thought so excellent
and now universally condemned, are
again set forth. Again, too. has the
estimate of the amount of money re
quired for the average family to
maintain a standard of living, been
raised. Several years ago SBOO was
thought sufficient. To-day Mrs
Slmkhovltch says that from SIOOO to
SI2OO is necessary for a decent main
tenance of the average city work
ing 1 family.
An interesting chapter is that for
leisure, where it Is shown how the
poor get their amusement. The in
ability of the five-cents “movie” to
lead to a creational reaction is de
plored. rather unjustly, for the poor
go to the movies for the same reason
the tired business man goes to the
Roof Garden —for amusement, not
for uplift. Here is one place where
the author departs from her own
rule of considering that the city
workers are human, after all. and
noi simply a class to be considered in
a lump.
In all the rest of the book, ho .t-
ever, she is consistent in maintain
ing the attitude that the poor man ts
just like any other human being, only
with more limited opportunities. The
solution of the immigrant problem,
the problem of assimilation, is as a
rule put on educational measures—
whether this view is expressly stated
or only implied. On the whole, the
book should be equally interesting to
the sociological student and to the
layman.
WAR SPIRIT IN GERMANY
Heroine of "Salt of the Earth"
Marries a Prussian Officer
A striking picture of the impulses
which drove Germany to war is pre
sented in "Salt of the Earth” (Watt;
$1..”5). by Mrs Alfred Sidgwiek. It
is a romance, but its action is so
placed as to permit a frank expose of
the sinister activities of the Prussian
military caste and the poisonous ef
fect of the propaganda of "welt poh
tik" upon the German masses. The
situation is singular, too. because the
principals are all Germans. The hero
ine's family, to be sure, have spent
their life outside Germany and prin
cipally iq British dominions, while she
herself is I orn in London. Because
of this they are. in sympathy and
inclination, essentially British." The
other side, however, is virulently Ger
man.
It is not to be supposed, of course,
that all Germans, even Prussian offi
cers are as contemptible as Lieut
Lothar Erdmann. But in spirit at
least he is doubtless wholly represen
tative of the environment in which
he moves. It is hard to understand
why charming Brenda Muller, with
her knowledge ot personal freedom
and consideratiin as it is in England,
should marry him. Also he is her
cousin, and on his first visit to her
London nome she had ample oppor
tunity to discover his narrow, shallow
character and ovetbearlng manner.
Eventually she marries him and her
education ;n the ways of feminine sub
serviency to the whims of the kaiser’s
officer is not long delayed. Lothar’s
quarrels with his family and his fits of
temper at his wife remind one of the
acts of a thwarted child.
But perhaps Brenda’s brother-in
law. August, the professor, is the most
typically German of the group into
which she is thrown at Berlin. Au
gust is so violently Anglophobe that
he is threatened with a fit each time
he gets on the subject. But his -va
porings are perhaps less harmful than
is the weight of quiet, didactic ar
guments brought to bear on the girl
from all sides to enforce on her the
purity of Germany’s world ambitions
and the sinister hatefulness of Bri*
ain’s. Here the author very vividly in
dicates now ' the government has
shaped public opinion to its own ends
and created in the people the spirit
of “Deutschland über alles."
Brenda’s nominal happiness is not of
long duration, but she is patient. Her
husband openly flouts her and (spends
his time with a flashy matron of his
own set. When the war begins Bren
da is very unhappy, but her husband
insists on her staying with his par
ents in Berlin. Eventually she fol
lows him to Belgium, where she comts
into intimate touch with the havoc
kultur wrought there. We are glad
that she finally reaches her parents’
home at London, and do not weep
when Lothar is shot as a spy In the
tower of London. It is an entertain
ing story, narrated with spirit, and
intimately pictures the effects of the
war spirit in Germany.,
“PETUNIA”
Farcical Tale About a Capricious
Father and an Unmarried Daugh
ter
The persistently farcical tone of
‘Petunia" (Dutton; $1.50), by Mrs
George Wemyss. begins to pall before
the reader learns the result of the
efforts of Petunia’s well-wishers in
her behalf. Of course, it is the polit
est English farce, with much witty—
not humorous —dialog, and a mini
mum of action. But one wearies of a
too great abundance of such fare and
longs for variety—an occasional touch
of broad comedy to give it movement.
The story has a typical English atmos
phere and setting, and Petunia is the
typical sweet maiden of English fic
tion. She sweetly endures her iras
cible father’s pctulences and explo
sions of temper—but then she under
stands him.
Petunia’s father has a hobby for
building cottages; and plenty of op
portunity. be it said, to gratify it. He
has built cottages on h's estate for
four of his five sons when they have
married. But not for Philip, the
eldest, because Helen, Philip’s wife,
prefers a flat in London. Helen takes
his peppery manner very lightly, and
while outwardly he is aggrieved at hsr
refusal of a cottage, he secretly feels
a greater affection for her than for
any of bis other daughtera-in-law.
Petunia continues to remain un
married. When the father dies, it is
found that the big house and ail his
money goes to Petunia until she mar
ries. There is a subtle method in
this seeming peculiarity which the
daughters-in-law are not slow to dis
cern. Straightway they set about It
to get Petunia married, and many
schemes in this direction go awry.
Quite unconnected with the matri
monialy schemes is Petunia’s invita
tion to Aunt Jane to come to the big
house. Father had long hated Aunt
Jane because she, told the girl he was
going to marry that he "looked mon
strous plain in bed." It may be in
ferred from this that Aunt Jane is a
rather plain-spoken old lady. So she
proves—a feminine edition of her au
tocratic. deceased brother. But Aunt
Jane takes matters in her own capa
ble hands in the big house, and puts
the plans of the sisters-in-law com
pletely out of joint. Later she takes
Petunia to London, where the matri
monial problem is solved to the satis
faction of all. Three naive children
are responsible for about the only
hearty fun in the story.
“OLIVER HASTINGS, V. C.”
In “Oliver Hastings. V. C." (Dut
ton; $1.50), Escott Lynn continues
the narrative of the war exploits and
experiences of Oliver Hastings and
Vivian Drummond, begun in “In
Khaki for the King.” The young
men were subalterns in a crack Brit
ish regiment at the outbreak of war,
and concluded their participation in
the 1914 campaign by being invalided
home, wounded. On recovering, they
obtain transfer to a newly-raised
regiment of territorials of which
Hastlng's father is colonel.
The story embraces the outstand
ing features on the fighting line on
the second year of the war. Hast
ings and Drummond are the only ex
perienced junior officers in the regi
ment; but the newly-trained officers
of like rank prove their mettle and
resourcefulness. It is also shown
how the volunteer army proved Its
worth by its steadiness and bravery
In the hard fighting at Loos. Hul
luch and Ypres. Well authenticated
acts of conspicuous courage are re
told. some of which Hustings is made
to perform. He and Drummond are
assigned to difficult tasks which they
complete with success, assisted by
Dicky Rock, a hard-bitten old cock
ney regular who attaches himself to
them in the role of servant, The
story, which is apparently intended
for boys tn their late ’teens, is told
with spirit, and adheres closely to
known facts. It is also of interest
to adults.
THE WAR FEVER OF 1898
Diagnosed by English Anti-Im
perialist—“lllustrations of Posi
tivism’’
A doleful view of democracy as a
force for world-peace was entertained
by the English positivist writer, J. H.
Bridges, whose collected papers ap
pear in a new edition under the title
of “Illustrations of Positivism” (Open
Court publishing company; $1.50).
And an American will be chagrined to
think that his view was based almost
entirek’ on the conduct of this coun
try. The paper on “Democracy and
war” is dated 1898 —the year of the
Spanish-American war. Mr Bridges
writes: "As gratuitous and unpro
voked a war as history records has
resulted in developing the latest
greeds of the American democracy,
and in bringing her before the world
as a new aggressive power, prepared
to take her share in plundering the
planet.” Happily, the event did not
justify this view, and one would be
glad to know Mr Bridges’s revised
opinion of America’s relations with
Cuba and the Philippines. Also, he
could not to-day regard democracy as
a force making for war.
In the year of the Spanish-Ameri
can war. when Mr Bridges was re
flecting thus gloomily—and with much
apparent justification—about «»ur na
tional destiny, he asked an Eng'ish
man, long resident in America, how
he accounted for the sudden ex
plosion of the war fever in this coun
try. The Englishman's reply was:
“Sensational newspapers and Sunday
school philanthropy.” Possibly this
Englishman, like Mr Bridges, was an
enemy of revealed religion, and there
fore unfriendly to Sunday-schools and
all their works. But neither this
diagnosis nor Mr Bridges’s comment
on it can be lightly dismissed. The
popular press, in Mr Bridges’s opin
ion. “has to flatter popular prejudice,
to prophesy smooth things, to lay hold
of startling events, to use the strong
est colors, to listen readily to wild
conjectures.” This is an interesting
opinion, considering that it was writ
ten in 1898 before the most notable
developments of “yelloW” journalism
in this country and before the advent
of the half-penny press in England.
Mr Bridges also defends his
acquaintance’s use of the phrase “Sun
day-school philanthropy." He deplores
“unreasonable gushes of benevolence.’’
A deeply ethical anti-imperialism sup
plies the animus of this passage:—
A story reaches us of gross misgovern
ment or cruelty committed by some for
eign potentate. Special co-respondents
are sent out: vivid pictures of atrocities
are placarded throughout the country. The
cry arises. "In the name of humanity let
the government be suppressed, lot civil
ized rule be established.” Whether ac
tion follows the cry. or whether it is*
allowed to dies out. depends on whether it
suits the purposes of aggressive states
men to push the boundaries of empire In
that particular direction. All this we
have seen over and over again. When
we want to annex Burma, we All the
newspapers with denunciation of King
Thebaw. Americans who wished for Cuba
fed their countrymen for years with exag
gerated stories of Spanish misgovern
ment. Atrocities committed by the
Khalifa are inducing Englishmen to listen
with perfect equanimity to the tale of the
massacre of 10.000 Africans at Kartum.
Political subjects do not predomi
nate ?n this positivist’s book. He is
oftener concerned with philosophical
and ethical than with political ideas,
but. with the positivists, politics is
applied ethics, and his keen and poised
mind cuts into many hypocrlcies of
the day. Although the articles have
no integral connection except as show
ing one man’s consistent application
of his principles to various questions
as they arise, reading of the book is
both agreeable and educative. The re
ligious issues are less acute to-day
than when Mr Bridges wrote, but that
fact does not alter the truthfulness of
his observations on Jowett’s remain
ing an honored member of the church
of England after he had ceased to be
lieve the church’s doctrine. The intel
lectual and moral earnestnes of these
slightly astringent papers is a quality
that will be appreciated by those who
do not see eve to eye with the author
in matters of religion.
MILITARISM AND EDUCATION
Prof Peabody’s “Religious Education
of an American Citizen’’
“The Religious Education of an
American Citizen.” by Francis Green
wood Peabody (Macmillan; $1.25) is
an attempt by the emeritus professor
of Christian morals at Harvard to
analyze the various influences which
direct and go to make up the religious
training of the average American. Dr
Peabody has not written under the
guidance of the hard and fast rules of
pedagogy, but with keen insight and
freedom. He selects cases of real
religious action and seeks to discover
the source and then to develop and
apply the discovery.
In the environment of the home he
finds the truest and best chances for
developing religious feeling in the
child. He goes on to discuss the in
fluence of the university and college,
quoting the remark of a recent Har
vard students. “I am not religious
but I would like to see Harvard some
thing more than a winter watering
place!” Dr Peabody feels the Ameri
can college has great opportunity tor
religious training if it would set
to work.
Particularly helpful at this time is
the chapter on “The conversion of
militarism." Dr Peabody thinks the
youth of America should be given
constructive social work to All the
place which some would gladly see
assigned permanently to military
training. What is chiefly needed is
a challenge to respond to.
The book is written with distinction
of thought and style.
AN INFANTRY GUIDE
All Available Knowledge Brought
Together in 2074 Pages
Officers and non-commissioned offi
cers of our land forces especially will
be interested in the “Complete U. S.
Infantry Guide," compiled from gov
ernment publications, and published
by the J. B. Lippincott company. The
material is well selected and ar
ranged. and the book contains a de
tailed index. The only difficulty re
sults from the size of the publication,
with its 2074 pages.
Among the contents are army regu
lations. infantry drill regulations,
manual of interior guard duty, per
sonal hygiene and first aid, signal
book, regulations for field maneuvers,
army ration issue and conversation
tables, automatic pistol. Instruction for
care and repair of small arms and
ordnance equipment. United States
rifle, model 1903, instructions for as
sembling the infantry equipment,
small arms firing manual, general
orders, circulars and bulletins of the
war department, engineer field man
ual. manual of courts-martial, field
service regulations, rules of land war
fare. Infantry unit accountability
equipment manual regulation for
the uniform Of the United States army.
Infantry drill regulations for automa
tic machine rifle, field firing and the
proficiency test, extracts from tables
of organization, model remarks for
muster rolls, and the manual of the
bayonet.
LIBERIA IN THE WAR
WHAT IT MEANS TO U. S. A.
WAS BECOMING PRO-GERMAN
America Will Have to See the Lit
tle Republic Gets Fair Play
(Written hr Srßnr.txc. Hemin.]
PARIS. July 21. 1917
It Is no laughing matter—this
week’s news ot Germanv threatening
Liberia for after the war and the
Liberian president answering back
bravely ’ ■ a formal -ration of
war against Germany. At the end of
April, when Liberia informed the world
that she had broken off diplomatic
relations with Germany. Secretary of
State Lansing declared—llttie Liberia
as well as big China gives valuable
aid to the allies in “a deadly blow to
Germany’s overseas trade." Ger
many's threats show she feels the
blow. It is time to finish up with
the “Good mornin’. Mr Johnson!”
manner of speech to the Liberian peo
ple who came out from ourselves,
whom we were slow to recognize as
free and independent, but whom lat
terly we profess to have been keeping
in financial order. How many Amer
icans—or how very few —believe that
Liberia's declaring against Germany
will have an effect here and now on
the war—and. what is more, that It
will have to be the object of very se
rious consideration by Americans
when the time comes to settle peace?
The effect of breaking off diplo
matic relations was that Herr Buesing,
who was representing the uerman em
pire in Monrovia,, the capital of the
Liberian republic, had to face difficul
ties that extended up and down the
West African coast. He had been at
the same time German consul for the
English colony of Sierra Leone on tne
northwest and for the French colony
of the ivory coast to the south of Li
beria, Now both England and France
long ago agreed with Liberia on their
fron^er lines —and Liberia touched
nowhere any German possession. For
reasons we shall soon see. Herr Bues
ing held on desperately in this last
neutral port of Africa —and so did his
vice-consul, Lange, who represented
Germany in the “international finan
cial control” of the Liberian govern
ment.
How many Americans know that
this financial control exists and that
Germany forced herself into it—and
that a citizen of the United States was
always to be its president? In fact.
Liberia was becoming rapidly a Gel •
man dependency, and since the war
began she has been Germany’s
stronghold and last hope for her war
fare of the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In the allies’ black list (May 2, 1916)
there were more than 60 German bus
iness houses noted in Liberia. .One
was the Bremen colonial trading com
pany. Another was significantly the
"German South American telegraph
company A. G.”—initials which refer
to one of the most active electricity
agencies of this war. With these were
mixed up •apparently neutral Spanish
houses and German business firms
were trading under English and even
French names.
After the rupture of diplomatic re
lations, Germany’s interests in Li
beria were confided to the consul of
Spain, bearing the very Spanish name
of Hoenigsberg! Cabling, privateer
ing, doubtless revictualing of long
distance submarines, went on as be
fore. The situation became intoler
able for the allies, and. moreover.
Liberia had to look out for her own
liabilities. At the beginning of July,
the Liberian government decided to
deport all German subjects and to
liquidate their business affairs. It
forbade expressly aJI Liberian cit
izens or others —neutrals, for exam
ple—to take over the business of
German firms or agencies. Instantly
the queer-named consul of Spain pro
tested with all his strength present
and future. Legally, he declared that
the rupture of diplomatic relations
could not interfere with the work
ing of the treaty of commerce exist
ing between Liberia and Germany.
By the way, this treaty, like those
which Germany has forced on other
nations, reduces Liberia practically
to trade vassalage toward Germany.
Next, the Spanish consul notified the
Liberian government in the name of
Germany that—after the war—Ger
many would hold the Liberian repub
lic responsible in money and kind,
damages and indemnities, for all in
terference with German business in
Liberia.
This is why the Liberian presi
dent has called his Congress together
this week —to declare war formally on
Germany. For the German empire,
in its very first treaty—the treaty of
Frankfort, by which it tore 2,000,000
inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine
from France—laid down as a founda
tion principle: "War annuls all
treaties!” Americans must remember
fj hat principle when they help to set
le Liberia’s rights and obligations
toward Germany after the war. There
is an interesting story here. How did
we Americans. first, let our own chil
dren slip away from us and only
after many years join with England
and France in guaranteeing their
freedom and independence—and then
let them drift into German vassal
age? The story is short. In 1822,
the American colonization society
planted a settlement of freed slaves
from the United States at the mouth
of the river Mesurado on the Grain
Coast of West Africa- The next year,
their first governor, Ashmun, after
fighting and pacifying the native
tribes, founded Monrovia, which is
still the capital, and decided the coun
try should be called Liberia. The
name, meant a free country and Mon
rovia ought henceforth to mean the
irreaitiblb extension of the Monroe
doctrine.
In 1866 Liberia’s exports were
valued at $400,000. and went out to
England. Holland. America and Ham
burg. There was n.o German empire
yet. In 1891. 25 years later. Liberia
still exported to England. Holland.
America and Hamburg, whose trade
had been attached to the German em
pire’s consul. The consul for Ham
burg before the empire and the consul
of the German empire afterward were
connected with two trading houses—
Jantzen and Jager—still existing at
Monrovia and now on the allies’ and
Liberia’s black list. The German em
pire had Long since taken pains to
have Liberia sign the treaty of com
merce. on which the consul of Spain
now bases his threats against Liberia.
In 1901. 10 years later still, the
German empire had the governor of
Its colony of Kameroon for Its consul
general in Liberia; the captain of the
Togo country was consul, and A.
Humplmayr was chief German official
resident in Liberi- itself. Kameroon
and Togo, into whose company Liberia
was thus officially taken up, formed
• the west coa-* division of the G man
protectorate in Africa. No time had
been lost by Germany. Ever since
1871 England had financed the Libe
rian government, with the result that
Liberia owed England $1,322,500 prin
cipal and unpaid Interest. Exports
still went out to England. Holland.
America and Hamburg.
In 1910, only nine years later, Ger-
many had extended b»r Liberian con
sul's jurisdiction to the neighboring
English and French colonies. In that
year Spain took for her consul a con
venient G. Havennigoberg—which, to
say the least, is not a Spanish name.
The debt of Liberia to England had
not yet begun to be paid—but exports
were now going in this order; Ham
burg. and then England. Holland and
America. Also, in thqt year. Monro
via became a station of the German-
Brazilian transatlantic cable.
Meanwhile, in 1909, the United
States had waked up to the need of
Liberia, its neglected child, that some
one should take care of the little re
public’s finances. The debt, no • re
duced to a little over $1,000,000. was
still owing to England; England and
France occupied with their colonies
the entire frontier of Liberia —and a
good I>art of Liberia’s exports came
down to the coast really from France’s
hinterland. That is perhaps one rea
son why the United States commis
sion. of which Roland P. Falkner was
chairman, when it finally organized
the international financial control of
Liberia, gave a fourth and equal place
on it to Germany. It is true that by
this time Germany had 70 per cent of
the total commerce of the Liberian
republic. And since that time until and
after the w-r German agents haw
acted and threatened as it they were
the masters.
To him that hath shall be given.
That is why the German-named consul
ot Spain has just threatened to make
Liberia pav the last cent if she joins
the United States now. Ot course,
she has informed the Liberian presi
dent that Germany is going to win the
war. and, along the way. take Liberia
as a German colon- disguised under
the name of pro.ectorate. It.is up to
the United States to say if the Libe
rian republic, which came out from
their own, shall remain a free and
independent country.
THE HOUSE OF ILLUSION
In the House ot Illusion 1 tarired long
sy lie,
When the Morning of Life set the skies
all aglow.
And the beautiful gold ’broldercd visions
of mine
The splendors thrilled thro' my bosom
a longing divine
In the House of Illusion where dwelt 1
Lang Syne.
In the House of Illusion where dwelt I
lung syne.
The cup of my being with bliss over
brimmed;
My soul mar.eled much over wonder and
sign
But the torch of my hope t either fal
tered nor dimmed.
And Joy was the priestess and Truth was
the shrine,
In the House of Illusion where dwelt 1
lang syne'.
In the House of Illusion, where once I
sojourned.
My soul was made glad by the fancies
I knew;
Life's cruelest lessons were all to be
learned.
And my thoughts were as joyous as
daisies and dew.
And I guessed not life's imporc—such rap
ture was mine
In the mystical. House of Illusion lang
syqg!
In the House of Illusion where dwelt I
lang syne
Came voices—came visions—of sweetness
so rare
That I shared in a spell that I cannot
define.
And Paradise, almost, encircled me
there;
And bright Inspiration poured freely her
wine.
In the House of Illusion where dwelt 1
lang syne!
In the House of Illusion where dwelt I
lang syne
Through casement of crystal ’he World
1 behold;
The soug of the swallows was mingled
with mine
And my heart with a gladness unspeak
able swelled!
There found we no arrow of Envy malign
Nor Hatred her hovering and terrible
sign!
The House of Illusion is tenantless, now;
Its casements are clouded and bolted its
door.
Its treasures are tarnished and faded I
know.
And the earth feels the tread of one
vagabond more.
And the stars on my pillow unhindered
may shine,—
Though I dwelt in the House of Illusion—
lang syne! .
Abthub Goopenough.
West Brattleboro. Vt.. July 23, 1917.
CHARITY
Throughout the 1:1th chapter of I Corin
thians the revised version instead of
"charity,” translates the Greek word
“love.”
Is love the all of charity?
Though what God is. what man aspires
to be.—
Wisdom in chtldlikeness—
Yet greater charity, love's source.
“They know not,” liberated pity's force.
Hate's chained antithesis.
Greater than Vision, given to know
The mind of God. events in image show,
While yet in act unwrought:
Than miracle of tongues more great,
Than knowledge and on eloquence that
. wait
Upon majestic thought.
Greater than faith that heals the sick
Aye lights anew life’s death-extinguished
wick:
Commands, and mountains move;
Greater than all of sacrifice
Of lands and gold, of power and life,
Though constant love these prove.
For these, ay. even these, shall fail.
But vain shall vast eternity asasll
The bond of charity,
That makes men Man, the son of God,
Smitten by hate and marred by scourge
and rod.
Love in his soul to free.
„ Lucy Mitchbli..
Parkton, Md., Jnly 10, 1917.
FROM THE GOLDEN BOOKS
The Parting of the Ways
(Joseph B. Gilder.]
Untrammeled Giant of the West,
With all of Nature’s gifts endowed.
With all of Heaven’s mercies blessed,
Nor of thy power unduly proud-
Peerless tn courage, force and skill,
And godlike in thy strength of will,—
Before thy feet the ways divide:
One path leads up to hights sub
lime;
The other downward slopes, where
bide
The refuse and the wrecks of
Time.
Choose then, nor falter at the start,
Oh choose the nobler path and part!
Be thou the guardian of the weak.
Of the unfriended, thou the friend;
No guerdon for thy valor seek.
No end beside the avowed end.
Wouldst thou thy godlike power pre
serve.
Be godlike in the will to serve!