New-York tribune., 1907-08-18

= .ea~irr a title like that of Mr. Widneys s
=, The temptation Is almost irresistible 10
:-a 1,p in imagination pudgy German or
,.-izea rhilologist, seated in the midst OF
,o,sand rrusty tones. written in fifty Ian
g and evolving out OF his inner conscious
and his ignorance of practical affairs the
tor and history Of the thousands OF mill
mild nornads who. under the cloudy des-
,;on Of Aryars. began at an unknown epoch
- ,,-,aesilv in their unknown homes and for
' TONS wandered hither and yon upon the
= ...e farth. The Aryan and his migra-
- ..la = theme calling for dexterous treat
- ;, which wisdom and lively but not over
,,,,z frraEination must be combined The
=. -n1ls- be al adept at hurting citations
=. e,,s-- corner Of an historical library, so
-. +,,.,- Viii land squarely upon the middle of
= ,,,,7s~-iTt He must write as though he
=, roer the lifelong friend of the ancient and
-..,-al Arvan who first conceived the folk
wandering
end sI- Widney frankly filling in his first few
-, nth probably and possibly And he
:, he delighted 10 discover that il is not love
= c.relzrit and anthropology that has stirred
=, ..,,a,r- 10 publish these volumes so much as
1--we interest in emigrants, bred of per-
al *
INNS Atr Widney feels himself q nomad,
--..nv descended from the shifting clansInen
.+a AsIa1ic stepFes: he grew up in Ohio in
oos-ly 6avs when Z rife was farms best
=. o,5 instincts now dormant in most Of US
- with every mornings sun. TO tell men of
:. ,vea,ber the Indians and the hope Of better
= 1e,-orf the Western skyline Later, in
eng v-ren z post surgeon at Camp Bowie,
che rrea; Southern migration 10 California
- i-s beisht and the sons OF the James
4 . -,s- s+-acsled across the continent within
srA- the author felt that he was living
= srain The TrehistoTic adventures Of his
j -. ne felt shat If the wanderings Of his fore
-. co,ld be made in1elligible at all 10 modern
/ = = Witness Of the great American migra-
ions must tell the tale
v7ether this Is fancy or not, at all events
a., Uianev has succeeded in infusing an air OF
s1rr and 1hrobbing life into his sketch that
..nv 2 German philologist and archive rum
-agpr must envy. As we read the book we re-
80 10 be strenuously critical; here history
5aver conjecture. intense pride and poetical ap-
-rsoiation blend SO softly that the stern stand
ards Of historical criticism and anthropology
MS, waver and be waived Mr. Widney has
Hr45 n danger and hardship in the desert, where
~ has known the dawn coming almost as q
,-ian- thing as the long perilous night
L vatches passed away: the desert wind breathing
sr-oss The waste as with the voice OF an unseen
form: The torrid hush Of the MONDAY heat rest
-r down upon the land with the weird spell of
sgra strange enchantrnent; the consultations in
lie loneness of the midnight seeming in their
solemn march across the sky as unceasinS
vrocession q the great silent gods Of nature
How could he write prOsaically accurate his
trx? TnadUiterated panegyric comes naturally
70 him.
The first volume gives US the story Of the
s-rans II the Old World The existence Of an
s-yzn race Is assumed unquestioningly. The
author proves himself q true Aryan by his speed
I migrating from one land and age TO another
With his facne zen Within few large-typed
rages Nr Kidney carries his readers from the
soenes ot the first known Aryan wanderings
5oEn 10 English rnigraIions in the nineteenth
century After picturing the primitive Aryan as
"a rnasterful man. intensely alert and active,
spiritually alive and healthy. not morbid, nor
rner!bund but IL the end overcome by climate,
he writer sketches the many streams Of oIni-
grants that presumably poured into the PENN
ssas Of Europe and grew into the nations there
Known 10 his-ory- The scenes Of Greek and Ro-
raaa life are vivid indeed; they show wide read
ing and vast enthusiasm. Chips Of phiology
snd Archaeology are tossed into the current OF
he torren-iaI discourse. that races in eddles
rom age u a-e backward and forward. at al
most rnadde1inE speed; comparisons of racial
,ypes arc also given. often with much keenness
and a7Vays We'll told and II there is nothing