New-York tribune., 1901-12-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
BLACKS CULTURE AND RESTRAINT
THE LATE DR. BABCoCK'S
THOUGHTS FOR EVERY
DAY LIVING

One Of the most attractive volumes brought
out by the Fleming II. Reven Company is Hugh
Blacks new volume, Culture AND Restraint
bound in myrtle green. with gold. uncut ana
soft creamy toned paper. From the fact tnat
Mr. Blacks book on Friendship reacheo
sale of twenty thousand and was everywhere
used as a gift book may argue ike use
for this charming volume The problem sug-
rested by the opposing ideals Of culture and
seIf-denial is not academic but in some form or
other is very real and practical difficulty
which demands some solution from every one
and Mr. Black raises the question, Should
man obey his nature or thwart II, seek self
Limitation or self-expansion" He shows the
aesthetic ideal-culture-and its defects. and the
ascetic ideaI-restraint-and its failure. He
draws culture as a religion. the origin and
growth Of 4stheticism and conversely of as
ceticisn showing the medieval conception of
sainthood and the physical treatment Of the
spiritual life The whole discussion leads up to
the Christian solution the teaching of Jesus on
asceticism, in which the author says, ''One Of
the deepest principles Of the teaching, and it is
in line with the whole Biblical view, is that the
world is to be used. not abused. and God has
given His children richly all things to enjoy.
Asceticism is opposed to every spirit Of the
Gospel and Lords manner OF life. 1t
is religion man needs. not culture itself
The birthplace of modern civilization is not
Athens but Calvary The chapter the
saints OF medieval times is a revelation Of the
meaning of the word saint and of the con-
ception Of sainthood. New light is thrown on
many things in this study of culture and
restraint that 1t will prove a delight to many
people tired of the accepted manner Of treat
-nent of these subjects.
Either because of the rarefied atmosphere of
the Heights or because the plane on which
they are written hardly suits the name the
connection between the title of Gardner S. Ell
drfdge's last publication Unto Heights Heroic"
lEaton & Mains), and the sermonettes included
does not appear. Instead Of beings moulded on
heroic proportions. the essays if they may be
called such. suggest statuettes or pastels-dainty
bits Of truths likely to be appreciated by the |
connoisseurs Of the fine art of literature, rather
than by the great public. There seems to be no |
central motif running through the book The |
introduction, long one, is a sermon in itself, |
and too important to be put into a place usu- |
ally overlooked by readers. Mr.. Eldridge |
arouses the attention Of the reader by saying, |
The value Of controversy is net the victory Of
one side over the other. The main value is in
the controversy itself-through 1t the vision Is
enlarged. A revelation is not what find. but
what comes TO US. The revelation is always
larger than our grasp of III If the value Of
book is not IN what it says, but what It sug-
zests-where 1t Ieads-then Unto Heights He
roic'7 has double value 1t discusses the
literature the history. the life and the person
of Christ in q new and suggestive manner, and
leaves such thoughts this, as high lights:
tsThe real burden of life is not in the great
world about US but IN the little world with
in us"