Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-22


Thought Studies of the Fourth D-
mension. BY Charles Brode Platter
son. author of The Will TO Be
Well" etc. New York: Thomas y
ERE is proclaimed the gospel
of personal power. the power
of the inalvilual to control and
II shape his own destiny through
conscious. devoted self-traininS
tn harmony, with the progressive. tran
scendent energy OF life. 1t is the theory
of self-salvation over against vicarious
means. 1t is confident rejection of the
various deadening forms of fatalism and
equally confident offer of selfreaiZa
iion by personal effort. out Of which. III
timdtcly, Will rise new material world.
Tie author sets out wiki The not unfamil-
lar theory that the body of man is built.
literally. by the soul and mind through
Their fundamental necessity for an in
strnment of expression. and that man. by
intelligent cooperation. can enormously
accelerate the perfccting of this medium
OF expression \ positive. conscious con-
formity 10 the enersizins forces Of life
works toward this end. Partial or passive
conformity is arestins, disintegratine
an explanation disease and death
10 the uses of the soul, does lie APP
proach and realize and interpret the
matters Of the soul, moving them out
of their psychic plane into the material
one 20 become elements i'm the building
of a new material world of causaIity Ac-
cordfng To the belief of this author, there
- surrounding us another world, or a
subimated part of this world. Migratory,
etIefic nlied with manifest ationS to which
The soul OF man responds. but to which
Tue BODY Is. as yet. dumb. This is the
Fourth Dimension" which the author
discusses at length, in its nature and
uses This psychic world will come into
The material plane when the body of
man has been trained 70 apprehend and
express what the soul knows about this
eiherlc world The transference from the
psychic 10 the material plane. through
the activities of the body perfected i'm
expressing the soul, produces not only
this authors new earth, hut his new
heaven as well. since the phenomenon of
death does not enSue when the body
becomes the souls perfect instrument. For
the practical working out of this theory
OF possible bodily perfection, the author
discusses physiology, psychology, ethics
ana eStheticS, in their fundamentals of
nature, function and growth, with much
In the way of special direction and Illus
uati"n- This book is clear. sincere
conservative presentation of subject
IN which a widespread interest is felt
natever else may be said upon this
SUBJECT. IT must be conceded that 1t gives
hopeful, energizing hold on life
RECOLIECTIONsO OF GROVER CLEyE-
LAND. BY George F. Parker. A. NJ.
LII. ID. New York: The Century
Company.
These recollections constitute more
than mere biography of Mr.. Cleveland
fihther do they picture a period of his
toflc scope. with political and economic
agitation the feature of its import
ance. From various sources, all of them
close TO the inner life of this distin-
suished man, are here gathered intimate
revelations of the stability of his charac-
ter. of the fearleSsness of his conduct, of
the Sagacity OF his craftsmanship. As
mayor of the city of Buffalo. as governor
OF the state of New York. as President
Of the United States. his characterize cs
and powers were used in the interests of
political integrity and economic reform.
Measured friend, neighbor citizen,
politician and puhafc- servant, ne stands
conspicuously as Il man of sterling metal
and high ideals The intimacy, the in
formality, the reorganization even. of
these recollections, make of them most
illuminating means of studying one of
the most impressive and significant fig
ures OF American pIlblic life.
THE AWAKENING OF Springs
Tragedy of Childhood. BY Frank
Weekend. TRANSLATED from the Ger
man by Francis ]. Ziegler. Philadel-
phia: Brown Brothers.
\ drama having the adolescent period
of childhood as its theme is unique
performance, open to a fairly general
drift of instructive pre-condemnation.
The specific objectivity of this play. the
realism of the dramatic form and the
straight course of its speech. in sharp
contrast to the comfortably remote alb
stractions of other psychologists, call ont
involuntary revulsion. To count children
in with the other glad things of life, with
flowers and showers and birds. is not only
traditional, but Ii Is esthetic and unruf-
fling as well. This play is a grim trag-
edy, a tragedy of childhood-a thing I'M
speakably painful and revolving! But are
there no tragedies of youth? The author
through the medium of this drama in
diets the guardians OF children, the par
ents and teachers, on a charge of stupid,
selfish ignorance, sinful in its flush fruit
age of disaster and death. II the charge
be false. the play is execrable from every
point OF view. But what if the charge
be true? Here, in a series Of loosely
welded acts, is drawn the home and school
life of group of boys and girls. living
out that unstable. emotional time when
life is sheer strain: that time when hero
and knight. and pirate, and saint are in
eNtricably tangled in a struggle for ex-
when the pictures of life are sharply
drawn, highly colored and Iavisl!ly pro-
jected Over against these children are
placed their guardians in home and
school. A ptiful band Of traditional SEN
timentalists. clinging tenaciously and
h!indly 10 view of life that goes back
tn the dim emerging period when artifice
and false modesty were invented in the
desperate struggle to secure the comforts
or exclusive privilege There Is no vision
here. not even vague and nebulous one
90 effort to meet this stressful per;oi in
the lives of children with comprehension
device. invention, by which this natural
ferrnent may he drawn off into channels
o. wholesome and compensating activity
There are. instead. on the part of these
guardians, personal modification. selfish
grief and wounded pride. In Germany
where methods are so effectively direct
this play runs night after night before
audiences that take it seriously as
study OF ethical purpose and educatiye
intent There. however, the theater is a
medium of instruction. while In America
IL stands. as Yet. almost exclusively In
Tho list OF diversions. a condition calcu-
lated To subject work of this class to
harmful misrepresentation and a con1plete
pe-version Of its true mission.
THE Up GRADE. BY Wilder Goodwin
Illustrated by Charles Grunwald
Boston: Little. Brown & Co
\ story of conquest. and better still, of