New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-04-09
Il French Scholars History of
III the Religions.

oBPHEUs. a General History. o. Relig-
tens. From the French OF Solomon
Roinscl. author az Apollo etc, by
Florence SimmoDdr. Revised hv the su-
thor. Svo. up, xiv, $50 .. +. putnams
Sons.
For the reason that those Infinitely
curious products OF mans Imagination
and - mans reason in its infancy"
called RELIGIONS are not equally interest
tnC. g. Is meet that the larger share n
our attention should 20 70 those faiths
thot have occupied the greatest place in
fistolv In these studies. offered as
modest summary Of religions in general
and % tl,ci~ histories. an entire chapter IS
devoted TO the Egg ptians. Babylonians
ans Assyrians the second to Eryans,
Tirdus and persiaus. She third 20 the
Greeks and Romans and the fourth 10
Celts. Germans snd Slavs. The fifth
chapter ~ twelve pages. deals with
Chinese. japanese. Mongolians. Firms,
Africans. Dcearians and Americans The
Mussulnans End She Hebrews have
chapter each and Christianity has FIVE
chapters With Judaism and the Christian
religion Cling more than half the pages
~ the book. Buddhism takes seven pages,
y lille the religions % china and Japan
fako three and two respectively. The
authors preocCupatjous prevent any very
close following of his own principle Of
allotment. The actual basis Of religion
~ ends is So long anterior 20 literature
that we cannot depend on the poets and
philosopher Tor our knowledge of 81.
Rather. II is bv primitive works Of art,
says II Reiuach. and stin more clearly
~ analysis Of religious customs. Of rites
which often survive the conceptions II
which they are she echo. that the real
structure 81 religion is revealed 10 MS.
Looked ~ ny The light - survivals and
ancient rites she Dezinuings Of cults
- refined as rho Greek are seen 10 he
identical with those Of all other religions.
even the most savage. only, whore the
Australian native remained. the Greek
merely passed by. The study 81 antiqui-
lics being. then. a necessary discipline
for understanding the subject. We are
provided in the present volume with
store OF materials that gives new witness
10 the authors lifelong researches and 10
his eucycl0pHdic enthusiasm in matters
not directly archaeological Whatever
the religion I'm question. some compact
account is always forthcoming, but il is
the illuminating and fun accompaniment
az examples OF early customs that con-
stitUtes the worth of the book. a worth
that need not be impaired by the authors
opinions about the essence Of religious
faith. Here are discussions. and they
are never dreary. as 10 pathological af-
fnIties between the Saxon and Scandi-
uavian mytholog1es as 20 the motive OF
magic IN the poems Of the Skalds, the
lied. and iu the Roman cGrH3cn; descrip-
tions Of animistic idolatries, sacrifices,
publications, masquerade. incubations
mystic and fuueroal rites. such an as
scmhlace ~ savage and civilized cults
is seldom seen, and the apparition may
lead some sitter in the scat Of the scorn-
1uI 70 call the mind Wild religions 7
have met" The alternative title So cheer
fully proposed for Professor William
Jamess Varieties OF Religious Expe-
riencc." True 10 The names Of that
OrpheUs who once upon a time intro
dlced 10 humankind as many as three
hundred and sixty gods. NJ Reinach has