Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-05
BOOK REVIEWS.
THE HIGHER MINISTRIES OF RECENT
ENGLISH POETRY. By Frank W.
Gunsaulus. DID. LID. New York:
Fleming II. Revell Company

Gunsaulus, DID. LID New York:
Fleming H. RevelI Company.
Next to religion, poetry. Is the most VITAL
and, at the same time, the most far-reach
ing of those movements of the human soul
by which it declares it's depths of feeling
and its heights of aspiration" Strong in
this conviction, which he states at the be-
ginning of bis interesting book, DR.. Gun
saulus, the eminent Chicago divine, pro-
ceeds to trace those spiritual victories of
Matthew Arnold, Tennyson and Browning
which have added to the religious heritage
of the race. The four essays which COM
pose the present volume were originally
given as lectures, and they have the clear
ness, the direct personal appeal and the
emotional power of the successful orator.
In the Introductory lecture, The Literary
Phases of the Religious Problem. DIR. Gum
sauus briefly sums up the spiritual in
heritance which in the early days of the
nineteenth century fell to the three poets
of whom he treats. Shelley, the poet of
the unsatisfied." stimulated sincere inquiry
| by his very doubt; Coeridge made a spirit
ual revival inevitable by his own dwelling
upon religious problems and by his popu-
larization Of the theories of German meta
| physics; Wordsworth TRANQUILITY reconciled
God and science and insisted upon the inn
manence of God in nature.
The value of Matthew Arnold, Dr. Gun
SauluS asserts, lies in his repreS entative
quality and function. That is, while few
can compete with his scholarship, vision,
classicism and freedom from emotional re-
ligiousness, every modern man or woman
mas been troubled to some degree by the
doubts that assailed him, and may arrive at
somewhat the same conclusions. While
Arnold insists upon his own unbeief, he yet
arrives at realiZa ton of the necessity for
divinity and. by reason of his rigid honesty
he is safe guide to the man who is deter
mined to face his doubt. - the white
sou!ed Milton, says DR.. Gunsaulus, had
no finer mental integrity" The author
veals a fine sympathy with the quality of
! Matthew Arnold's thought as well with
the too little appreciated music of the
verse. He purSueS the course of the poets
thought until it reaches the point whence
II can catch "murrnurS and scents of the
infinite sea" DIR. Gunsaulus says in conclu-
sion: He may disappoint you and me- at
this point or that, but one has only to pos
SIS Matthew Arnold's patience. honor of
mind and true heart. with ever SO little
of his culture and intellectual! acumen, to
find a throneroom in his own thinking,
which, if it ever be occupied, must be occu-
pied by Jesus Christ alone"
The conclusion which Arnold almost
reached Tennyson has achieved, and is
therefore able to carry assurance to others
Through the wavering faith of In Memo
RAM. sometimes almost uuenched in d.
spair over his loss. again rising into convic-
ton in the Strong Son of God, lmmort a.
Love- to the more mature thought of The
Idyls of the King" the author traces the
development of Tennysons spiritual life.
In the tragedy, the author holds. of the
Round Table, TennysOn has expressed
his conviction of an overruling God, of
the tlesence of the divine in human .,f-.
ard of the eternal distinction between sin
and righteousness. The changes which he
wrought in the original texture of the Ar
thurian STOKES still further illustrate the
irheMblity oi his moral purpose in t,
poem; the poem embodies Tennyson's eth
ical vision of God. which radiates with
what Tennyson names the Larger Hope.
Robert Brown lg's most devoted eulogist
will h1r I1 qG 4
expression he IS great and true In COLI
ception." Having granted so much DR..
Gunsaulus proce eos to the analysis Of the
sources of the tonic effect Of the great poet
Primarily, 1t comes from "blood-tinctured.
veined humanity by means of which he is
able to understand and reveal mel 20 them
selves and to each ether. So founded, and
with his clear concnption of the relation be-
tween the physical and the spiritual-"nor
soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps
soul'-Browning is fitted to be priest as
we'll as poet "Of COURSE DR.. Gunsaulds
says ut is not sch plastic or ecclesiastical
Christianity that he processes. That
Browning understands the whole range of
ecclesiastical argument and speculation the
number and subtlety of his poems. which
reflect, in some manner, the religious worlo,
prove But he makes his appeal to the
whole man. to the reason: it includes-more,
it is based upon-the scientific facts OF evo-
luton 1T Is in his Saul that Browning
rises to such faith in Gods Incarnate Love.
I know Of no discovery" DR.. Gunsaulus
concludes. "for which Browning will not
prepare the SOUL know Of no experience
for which his lines will not equip the minds
Of modern men,.
THE DOMESTIC ADVENTUROUS. By
Josephine Daskam Bacon. illustrated.
New York: Charles Scribners Sons.
Washington: Woodward & Lothrop.
The name of this author on the title
page is a guarantee that book contains
IaIo fofi nf
1.-The Domestic Adventures is another
proof of the fact. Like all of the work of
the erstwhile Josephine Dodge Daskam it Is
marked by ease and grace of narrative and
by a prevailing atmosphere of humor. The
basis of the story is slight enough. Three
bachelor girls of varying character and
attainments desert both flats" and apart
ments'' in New York for real rented
house. in the suburbs. Sabina is the edi-
tor of a magazine, nearly forty and hand
some Chloe is NEARLY thirty-too nearly
to assert it with any especial light-heart-
edness, and bewilderingiy pretIy ana mr.
tatious The third, who tells the story Is
thirty-four and a charming creature, who,
the reader learns at the END, is not TOO
old" and has various attractions The at
fractions of character nave peeh eVioent
throughout the story.
But the point that will appeal to most
weary housewives is the tragic record OF
the experiments and the heart-rendlng fall
ures in the great domestic problem. The
ladies in the real rented house entertain
a succession of experiments in the kitchen.
There is Mamie who is delightfully."- pretty,
but who finds it impossible to take time
from manicurng her nails and changing
her gown to learn to cook. There is May
with her melancholy impeachment and her
insolence to single ladies' who naturally
can't be expected to know how things
should be- There is Mary Bostwick, the
broken down college girl and her subdued
contempt for the household. There is Marie
the wicked, who is yet so restfully efficient.
There are few latter day housekeepers who
will not be entertained by the stories of
their varied offenses-and will not be able
to match them
POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN
DEVELOPMENT. BY Albert Shaw,
LID New York: The Columbia Uni
versity Press. Washington: Wood
ward & Lothrop.
This volume is composed of a series Of
lectures delivered the opening course
upon the new Blumenthal foundation in Co.
lumbia University. The author considers
that the United States is only at the begin
ming of the history of great blended fam
lily of white men of European stock. Thus
hat how