Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-19

been tapped in preparation for
IL the making of this novel. One
can imagine an indefatigable
student. porting over official reports and
old newspaper files: talking here and
there with everybody, or anybody, having
frst-hand knowledge OF any part of the
civil war or its nearby influences: TAX
ing little Journeys, map in hand, to one
or another of the battlefields so wildly
described here, perhaps re-envisaging the
battles fought at these points. the VIC
tories won. the defeats suffered. In a
word. one imagines this writer filling
himself to the brim with the real facts
and the true feelings of this time More
than likely he then waited till this COM
plex of information and emotion had
soaked into his blood, as the body as
Stimulates food. Hardly in any other way
can one account for its immediate pres
ence or effect. Upon some such founda-
ton Mr.. Dixon erected this drama of the
civil war. the living, devouring body of
il ravagins up and down Virginia and
into the neighborinS states. Men and
battles, and leaders, stand in the BODY
before one Beyond the borders of
smoke. and flame, and heat. secessionists.
unionists and abolitionists prolong the
turmoil. AT the heart of all this stands
the great figure of The Southerner
Abraham Lincoln. the man for whom this
wonderful setting is created. In depot
ing these surroundings of Lincoln. the
rage of inconclusive battles. the clamor
OF a divided people. Mr.. Dixon possesses
great dramatic power. With Lincoln MINI
self he becomes a man OF amazing artlS-
try. One questions if there is anywhere
a nobIeT, finer. tenderer conception OF
Lincoln. or one i'm which the man stands
so completely embodied before one. as
ne does in this SURPRISING Interpretation
hnr
source does one gather the full force of
this lonely. this grandly pathetic ngure;
The study for it is a study, is by all
odds Mr.. Dixon's finest achievement
THE JEWS OF TO-DAY. BY DR.. Arthur
Ruppin Translated from the Ger
man by Margery Bentwich. An. in
PRODUCTION by Joseph Jacobs. Lit.
Statistics" New York: Henry Holt
X Co.
-pr. Ruppin. German in high author
on the subject. makes here an eN-
austive and important study OF the
,.1odern Jews. He does this, on the one
hand. to point out and emphasize the
manifold influences that are operating in
the present to incorporate tho Jew, by
assimilation, with the general body or
national life surrounding him. And on
The other hand. he takes this as occasion
10 furnish what Or. Jacobs in his nitro
duction terms "a propbylactic AGAINST
assimilation. but wfrat Dr. Ruppin
names. more austerely. the last
stand of the Jews against annihifatlon.
In a short historical sketch the author
reviews the earlier status of the race.
setting the conditions, both religious and
secular. by which ii was held separate
and apart-a truly peculiar people He
gathers UP here the large influences that
in the present and the immediate past
nrI ha1-e royt-e .r6 hya. L.
ing up OF. Jewry- These are the rise of
an industrial ard capitalistfe era, the
dispersion Of the Jews-either voluntary
or compulsory-and the educative forces
Of the large cities in which as rule.
they co1gregate- Language. the prepon-
deranee- of custom about them and de-
cline of interest in the religion of their
fathers are the day-by-day inroads on
the integrity of the Jewish nature as
such. With this inclusive summary of
assimlative foreess DIR. Ruppin turns to
a constructive study Of a renewed Jew
ish nationafism. This he bases. broadly,
on the race and cultural value of the
Jews. Its aim is the formation of a Co
herent Jewish population in Palestine,
with agriculture as its economic basis
and Hebrew as the national language
The instrument of this rehabilitation.
'Ziorfisn.' an ism whose origin and
present state are given as argument for
Its future possibilities as means of re-
viying Judaism. An instructive and ao-
sorbing sIudy-whether one reads il in
full assent or in partial pEotest-schol-
arIy. thoughtful and tremendously III
earnest.
THE INFLUENCE OF MONARCHs:
Steps In New science of History.
BY Frederick Adams Woods, NJ D.,
lecturer in biology in the Massa
chusetts Institute of Technology;
edity in Royalty" New York: The
Macmillan Company.
Of the opinion that what passes muster
today as the philosophy OF history is
neither the one thing nor the other
neither proper philosophy nor adequate
hIstory-Mr. Woods proposes to make at
least a start in TIE development of a
science. of history To take the place of
the makeshift affair now standing in it's
stead This. when achieved In full. to be
comparable in certainty and efficiency to
any other recognized science-the science
OF biology. or physics, electricity. medi-
cine. sanitation. AS in the development
OF these sciences, so in the development
Of this science of history. the inductive.
laboratory method is to be the agent
subjecting bodies of historic fact to OBJ
Jective processes of measurement for the
discovery of their true correlations and
causations. THE Influence of Monarchs''
is a study in support of Mr.. Woods con-
tention, study OF the scientific method
applied to period of history. AS ma
terial for this purpose, fourteen European
countries, widely representative of the
various people of Europe, are chosen. The
time covered BY the investigation reaches
from the eleventh 70 the nineteenth GEN.
fury. To each country double line of
scrutiny is applied. One deals with the
economic and political changes that have
affected the nation during the period set
for study The other analyses the per-
Sonalities. the mental and moral force
Of the monarchs ruling il in this period.
Matching up the periods Of national prog
TESS. or decline, with the characters and
personalities of the rulers of these re-
SpectiXe periods. there appears between
these two bodies OF fact "A correlation OF
sufficient certainty and force 10 warrant
a ia ton progressed In it's political and
economic aspects save under the leader
ship OF IA strong sovereign Internal
evidence Ia produced here to show that
these periods of national advance, or de-
cline, were brought about by the mon
archS. and not, is commonly ass IEflsd
To the contrary. that the rulers them
selves Here the product of environment.
This discovery fiIters the study off into
an investigation of these kings and en-
perors to determine. il may be. the native
this becomes a study of heredity. with the
implication that heredity is. after all. the
keynote of history If all this reckoning
be true then thief genealogical method
supplies the Chew to correct interpre-
taton of history. as it already furnishes
the Only CoTect Interpretation for natural
history, making heredity and persona ity
one of the first forces to be measured in
any historical calculation. perfectly
IT,.