New-York tribune., 1908-03-01

=
,oor ,hat the latter is the first fruit Of his
-.h,I.-sAin Had the words hos p7ifnitidS been
,..,-irr We fear that the conscientious author
-. naye Jared hardly with many critics For
- ,=,rrarbicaI essay before US, in spite of GER
-, ;r5phtable merits, is spotted and streaked
- s-~steg.risrn. II requires no little boldness
=, -,-,sertake biography of a famous medieval
.s-r. OCCUPANTS # the Vatican have usually
-, .7inIo1ats skilled in concealing their mo-
- and methods when desirable and their
---s-fva mode OF life has helped to veil their
-s,ra.;ties from critical eyes. Thus it comes
.,r.- nat tn historian must oftenest choose
,,.v-aer TWO alternatives: either he must accept
.sa testimony OF ecclesiastical writers at ap-
--7xi-rlately face value, or he must draw largely
MON his Imagination, assisted grudginsly by
.-7r7nentary disclosures from miscellaneous,
s,-et.-nes highly questionable, sources. In the
e-sr case he is destined to produce a panegyric,
81 the second Z pleasing historical romance with
rrknown proportions Of truth and fiction.
NJ Pi-ie-Gordon has honestly endeavored to
=. Down the truth and nothing but the truth in
rlassnE manner. but he has actually succeeded
o-lr il echoing inchoately the partisan praise
q the churclmen- The causes Of this failure
seen 70 be two. The author is apparently loyal
Rrrznist, as appears-to mention only one
rrsr4-iu the capitalization of pontifcal pro-
-auns "a usage which is now happily revivfng-'
Secondly. he has been overwhelmed by the null
,rude' Of facts. which, not having thoroughly
eiees,ed. he repeatedly jots down with all the
t-,tal blind disjointedness Of a medieval
rb-onicler This latter offence is peculiarly irri
tzring II one instance the writer fills en-
tie page with the names of the principal per-
do hing
Isl has absolutely no bearing whatever upon the
narrative The same weakness manifests itself
II tie Use without accompanying explanation,
Ct Byzantine terms like ''protoVestarios,
tsetastocracy' etc, and in the OF trans
rte-ated Greek words. such as --BasiIeus." which
NJ Pirie-Cordon pluralizes Hellenically. Why
he does lot preserve datives and ablatiyes we
cannot guess. Naturally, the historian who
Cznnot use his native tongue in such cases viii
be fond Of phrases like "tolutiloquent fulge-
Ezn.' 'sanctisIiritual in inspiration ''uncon-
cavial IN its freedom from party bitterness"
singular Callirnaufry," and this triingual
-onstrosity: 'Byzantion which is dcfcndeRdRm
g -cfiHeH6n-a. would afford a point d'dpDUi for
{ successful crusade"
Tie merit OF Mr.. Pirie-Gordon's study lies in
its faithful, sc-upulous coliocation of evidences,
1ssr,y al OF which have been published long
ago L great detail by Migne and Potthast. The
.-merous genealogical and dynastic tables and
he catalogue Of Pope Innocent's letters are
loyal excerpts from the great chroniclers Of the
Church; they may be Of some value to students
Z ecclesiastical history. although every scholar
des1ng 10 use their information is. Of course,
.1Iiiiar with tha original sources. 1t is a pity
. rat the tioE-aTher did not make his study
Syllabus OF TIE frst-hand evidences about the
great pope o. else a readable account of the
-ays Of the Third, Fourth and Fifth CTusades.
Ether Of these might well have proved useful
cc-tribution, but the present work, notwith-
sanding the erI6iton it displays, is but little
more than an object lesson illustrating the dam
gers Of premature publication.
Nr. Pirie-Go-5on ought to try again. He hasl
'hosen hero of almost unparalleled strenuosity,
about whom q fascinating history could easily
r written. The author realizes this when. in
'1e one vel handled chapter of the essay, he
fags: 1T is by no means impossible that the