The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1919-08-05
BOOKS FOR ERSKINE BOYS.

ShllS SOllSSS ~ ieS AiA ~
erything that shows the worthy at
tainment of her sons, and she has
much reason to be proud of their at
tainments in many felds-the min
istry, teaching, business, law, medi-
cine, statesmanahip, and general use
fulness in family, in church, and in
State. Somewhat in the language of
DR.. johnson on another subject, we
might say that Erskine's sons have
left scarcely any field of usefulness
untouched, and that they have touch
ed nothing that they did not adorn.
In this short article l wish to call
attention to some recent books by
Erskine men, all of them showing IN
high degree scholarship, research,
or skill of some kind. l take them
up in the order in which they appear
ed, and 1 speak mainly of those writ
ten by recent graduates. l am not
forgetting the excellent works of DR..
Morris on Home Missions and other
works by other men at an earlier pc
riod. In fact, DR.. Morris book, "The
Task that Challenges" the latest
book of his that l have seen, is one
of the ablest and most inteesting dis
cussions I have seen of the great
task now confronting the Christian
world. Every one ought to read it.
The first book by any of the re-
cent graduates is one by DR.. John
w. Good, "Studies in the Milton Ira
dition," 1915. This is careful and
scholarly discussion of Millions life,
work, and influence. The plan of the
book required an examination of the
various opinions concerning the
great Puritan author. This necessi-
tated a vast AMOUNT of reading and
careful weighing Of views favorable
and unfavorable. But DR.. Good did
not stop when he found the views OF
others. He shows an originality and
an independence Of opinion that IS
worthy of the scholar. The book
makes a volume Of three hundred
pages of valuable discussion and
criticism.
The next book to appear was
Georgia as a Proprietary Province
by DR.. Jas. Ross Mccain. This book
is based directly on original sources,
covering, as the publishers say
"points and problems not heretofore
discussed by any writer on Georgia
history" Besides giving an original
account of the political affairs of the
Province, the author gives two valu-
ohio chanters on "Education in
Georgia" and Religious Develop
ment of Georgia" The whole book
is fine example Of the scholarly
handling of the raw material OF his
tory. Some of the material was SO
inaccessible that a special act OF the
legislature was necessary before it
could be obtained; and when it was
obtained q vast amount of labor was
necessary in order to work it up into
readable history, volume Of about
three hundr ed and fifty pages.
The next book is one by DIR. I. W.
Baldwin, "An Edition of Philip Mas
singers Duke Of Milan" This is a
volume of about two hundred pages,
consisting of carefully edited text
of Massinger's play, a scholarly IN
PRODUCTION of about fifty pages, and
about fifty pages of explanatory and
critical notes. The whole volume
shows rot only painstaking care, but!
also high grade of scholarship both
accurate and comprehensive. Before
such a book could be produced, it was
necessary for the author to be fami-
lar with the whole history of the
Elizabethan drama and the general
spirit of the Elizabethan and Shakes
perean age. This familiarity is evil
dent in DIR. Baldwin's book. 4
The above named books al belong
to the strictly scholarly type. TA2y
required scholarship and their author
met the requirement. They could
not be expected to be popular VOL
umes. The next book to be mention
ed is of an entirely different type.