The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-11
O1hcr hooks.

Mr. John y Firth's Constantine the
Great ~ in the Heroes Of the Nations So RES
C p Putnam's sons. is a spec imen Of a
kind Of book that modern historical meth DDS
are making annoyingly common. All the
evidence. carefully boiled down. is put be-
fore the render. and he il left TO draw his
own conclusions the author efacing 80
far as possible any impression his research
may have made on his own mind. The
method may have its value for students
but the general reader surely has a right
to ask for the fruits OF an authors study
instead Of partly digested raw material
In the book at hand the author see ms to
deli ght in making important things indis
tinguishable from triflinR matters. Tho
legendary donation. for instance, may
be an acknowledged forgery. but it certainly
played It capital part in the history of the
later papacy, and for that reason deserved
prominence Mr. Firth knows perfectly
well a. every modern scholar does that the
reorganization of the empire that enabled
it TO hold out for century or two longer
was due mainly to Docletian and says
so more than once: but his arrangement
is such that the reader cannot but retain
the traditional impression that all was
due TO Constantine. Ii might have been
well to emphasize the fact that Christianity
was the political csnker that ate away the
empire, and that Diocletian and other
prosecutors saw this. Perhaps the space
given TO petty warfare and to religious
disputes is disproportionate, az a result
Of following the sources too closely The
book ia valuable to those who know good
deal about the period and can pick their
way. It would do good if these newer his
torians would study Gibbon to discover
Why he il sull read and they are not.
The selection Of Mr.. George ". L. Russell
who has put together amusing volumes
of recolections. 10 be the biographer Of
sydney Smith in the English Men OF
Letters" series (Macmilansl would seem
n very happy one, but the result is a rather
mystifying disappointment If anywhere
there was room for anecdotes and reason
for deviating from formality. it surely
was here But Mr. Russell takes sydney
Smith very seriously indeed, and chooses
to take himself seriously, too. We have
therefore pretty dull account Of Smith
the reviewer and Smith the politician.
with more than we like Of Smith the hunter
for church preference The personal part
there ia relatively little OF his activity In
society. or course, the authors difficulty
was that the Sydney Smith anecdotes
are all well known, but they are all good
enough TO hear repeating once more
Throughout Mr. Russell shows a curious
lack Of sympathy with h Is subject that a
times seems almost dislike. His discrimina-
ton in tho humorous quotations is by no
means Of the best.
No man has had better opportunities
for studying the northern States Of South
America than the Hon. William L. ScrugRs
who for nearly quarter Of century was
Minister Of the United States in turn 10
Colombia and Venezuela, and who took
charge Of the latter oountry's interests
in the arbitration matter. His description
Of the lands and peoples, The Colombian
and Venezuelan Republics first printed
a few years ago, is published by Little,
Brown 4 Co. In a new edition, vithpa cha pS-