Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-08
Reviews of New Books

in support of the worlds contention
that democracy Is the lineal descend
ant of the righteous struggles of the
ages; that autocracy Is an unnatural
institution which. little by little and
secret struggle. is making way for
the steady progress of all peoples
toward self-government. From this
standpoint of survey the present war
marks a stage in this advance and
stands as one Of the many phases
ments. This consideration Of his
tory as a process Of evolution is not
UNUSUAL today. That, however. which
takes this work away. beyond all
except the most distinguished of his
torical studies, is the particular use
material brought to bear upon this
subject. The facts of history have
gone into the being Of DR.. Barry.
There. season by season. they have
ripened into a complete assimilation
OF their meanings and relations and
implications. There they rest, ready
to emerge in a far-fiung illumination
Of the. present and the future through
their complete seizure Of the signih-
canoe OF the past. Step by step,
through English history. we are led
to trace the growth of the demo-
cratic ideal. each crisis standing as
a beacon light that gathers the past
up as a herald for the future. The
exposure and proof of this ascent
toward universal freedom ia eloquent
of this easy master of the trend of
human progress. A study of high
intrinsic value. as it is one of many
an external beauty of word and
phrase.
GITANJAvr AVN uurrvm ~ rxyuu
ING. BY Sir Rabindranath Tagore.
New York: The Macmillan Com
pany.
two of the poems with which those
who know the Indian poet at all are
most familiar. And these two
Gitanjali and Fruit Gathering-stand.
in thought and art, as the most inclu-
sive of the work Of Tagore that has
come across to English readers.
These embody the kernel of his con-
templative and liberating philosophy
as 1t touches upon the different stages
and aspects of mans life in this par
These. too. embody and exemplify his
theory Of art as it expresses itself in
living and in poetry. An introduce
ton by W. B. Yeats sketches the
home setting Of this Hindoo poet in
it's highly intellectualized atmosphere
and influence. More than this. the
Irish poet pays high tribute, too, to
Tagore as one of the maipsprings of
his own intellectual and artistic JOY.
The illustrations of this publication
are remarkable in what is, to us.
a curiously exotic loneliness, a
strangely importunate out-reach of
meaning. These pictures come from
the hands of Hindoo artists, one of
them the brother of Tagore himself
THE RULE OF MIGHT, A Romance
of Napoleon mt sehOnbrunn. BY j.
A. Cramb, author of. Germany and
England" etc. New York: G. p.
Putnam's Sons.
History spreads the background of
this novel. Psychology supplies it's
motive power. A wealth of dramatic
detail colors and enlarges it. With
so much of circumstance the action
itself covers but three days. however,
in the life of Napoleon. A timely
novel of war and the ambitions of
that other would-be world conqueror.
1t is a highly objective drama. One
sees Napoleon with his marshals and
generals around him. moving in
brilliant drama IT. con conquest ss, and ana
dominant and picturesque group is
sketched the social life of Vienna in
it's brilliance and generally captivat-
ing appeal. Out from this center of
civic life steps the Austrian poet,
Heinrich Won Rentzdorf, who here en-
bodies the ideals of peace through
art and philosophy. as Napoleon en-
bodies. by contrast. the ideals of war
and heroic personal bravery. 1t is a
long novel that makes use of many
persons, of many interests, of many
variant lines of outlook. This null
tiplicity of detail. however. settles
appropriately and tellingly around
the central figures here. adding to the
splendor of these and to the lifelike-
ness of this historical novel whose
basis is authenticated historic fact.
THE DOGS OF BOYTOWN. By Wal
ter A. Dyer, author of "Pierrot,
Dog of Belgium" etc. New York.
Henry Holt & Co.
Two boys. dozens of dogs, more or
less, and Sam Bumpus-these are the
dramatis personae Of this tale. And
the three are pretty much alike. That
Is to say, the boys have lot Of dog
about them. and the dogs a good deal
of boy. while Sam Bumpus. grown up,
has never grown out of a joyous blend
of boy and dog. A promising combi-
nation you see. And such 1t turns
out to- be. For with it this writer
works out matter that is about half