New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-04-14


ANi, $50. @. +. Putnam's Sons
Or. Ragg sets a good example to the many
scholars who are always writing about Dante.
lie shows them how easy il is to study the poet
a. a credible human being, instead of swathing
him, like some portentous idol, in the mummy
cloths OF pedantry. He, too, has his stores Of
eruditon, and he draws upon them freely: but
he does this only that he may insnuate himself
The more closely into the company of Dante and
me and women of the Trecento. Having
anus contrived in a measure. TO see eye TO eye
Rith the people OF his period. ne proceeds 10 I'M
fold kind of panorama OF Italian religious. po-
lteal. social and humanistic development, treat
ins the whole the background against which
Dante's personality is relieved. II is a delicate
task. Documentary evidence is not always
farthcoming for the support OF this that point
which the author desires 10 establish. In his
ysry first chapter devoted TO the year 1900. the
var Of jubilee, he asserts that Dante was in
11e throng Of pilgrims drawn TO the Rome OF
Bauiface VIII at that time. yet in a footnote he
has 10 admit THAI the poets presence in the city
just tnen lis purely a matter Of inference"
In general, however he treads upon firm ground.
and adds few details to the picture for which he
cannot give chapter and verse. The result is
one Of the most vivid and intimate contributions
made in recent years 10 the popular literature Of
Dante
Italian unity a thing only dinly dreamed
Of Ia the poets time and DR.. Ragg well brings
the fairly chaotic condition Of the land. But
b. shows, too. how the distraught conditions
against which men had TO struggle, permitted
and even invited the free play Of individuality
II was an age of the survival of the fttest; the
strong had his way and his weak brethren
the wall. The account of Roniface at
the opening Of the book discloses in clear out
linz hp trait az ~
When Benedetto Gaetani was elected to the
Papal chair Rome had fallen upon evil days
II was a squaid and peril0us city, "a veritable
group Of robbers dens." Boniface. he chose
70 be named. made up his mind TO reha bilitate
the ancient seat OF the pOpes, and made what
Or. Ragg calls a triumphal progress from
Naples 10 its gates. 1.-The magnificent cereno-
mics Of his coronation. BIRD January 1894"
says the historian "narred though they were
Tor the more supersttiOus by the evil auguries
Of a thunder storm and street braWl in which
no little blood was she'd had left an ineffaceable
impression Of splendour and dignity" He had
done much for Rome by the time the jubilee year
was reached. ana in THAI year the multitudes
touring into the city bore profound testimony
90 the worldwide power OF the Church. DR..
Ragg clearly distinguishes between Dante's at
titude toward the Pope and his attitude toward
Abe papacy. He came 20 hate BOniface, but If
he did indeed attend the Jubilee. it is certain
that he knelt beneath the shadow Of ST. Peters
a devOut servant Of the Church. Though his
denuraiations of Boniface not precisely dis
counted, by the way, in this volume. the author
is nevertheless at pains 10 show that the Pope
had guOd as well bad qualities He is care
fIl Also 20 point out the Indebtedness of litera-
ture 20 the enmity between pontiR and poet
No doubt if Boniface had not meddled in Flor
entine affairs, the whole current of Dante's life
would have been changed and the ''DiYina Com
media would have taken different shape from
that in which We know It
This gneddlesomeness OF the POpe's counted
heavily An she general disturbance of political
and social conditions, which causes not only
Italy but al the other states Of Europe TO seem
Is If in a nnonstrous ferment all through the
period Nov and then the papal Interference
was checked ruthlessly enough. DR.. Ragg CITES
the episode OF BOniface's demand upon Philip
the Fair for q prompt cessation of the kings
free dealings with benehoes ia the realm Fear
God and keep His c0mmandments." the Pope
begins. and then Issues his ordsrs With sub9ime