The sun., 1919-06-22

i on Fifth avenue or Hatchards on
Piccadilly, in search of vacation reading,
and pick up a new book whose author
is unknown to you, how do you determine
whether it is worth buying CT mott Your
eye may light upon sentence or para
graph of compelling interest which in
duces an affirmative decision at once;
otherwise the name Of the publishing
house which produces the book is usually
a most trustworthy guide. There are half
a dozen firms-perhaps more-whose
names on the title page as publishers are
a guaranty that the purchaser of the vol
ume will not waste his money even if he
buys without looking any further into the
book
The Oxford University Press is con-
Germ of this character. 1t might have
helped A Century Of Hope with
American readers by enclosing it within
the usual protective paper cover bearing
a brief biography of +. S. Marvin, the
author; nevertheless, all who buy this
small green book on faith in the publish
ers as producers only Of good things will
not find their trust misplaced.
II.
A Century of Hope is an optimistic his
torical essay, in thirteen chapters, de-
signed to demonstrate the operation Of
spiritual forces during the last hundred
years for the betterment of humanity in
its individual, national and international
aspects. The author, Mr.. Francis Sydney
Marvin, NJ A., is divisional inspector Of
schools in England. He was educated at
st. Johns College, Oxford, where he won
high honors in scholarship, and lie has
written an earlier work treating of west
ern progress as whole, which was pub
lished in 1913 under the title of. The
Living Past. He has also translated the
Had and Odyssey of Homer.
To any carping critic who may look for
little interest or value from an author
whose daily work is the dry occupation of
inspecting schools, we may recall the fact
that the late Matthew Arnold was q school
inspector for thirty years, and a good one
at that! The pursuit, therefore, can
hardly be deemed inconsistent with a
high degree Of achievement as an essayist.
Mr.. Marvin traces the development of
humanity from 1915 to 1914 by discuss
ing the salient features of the successive
decades in the century preceding the out
break of fhe great war. He commences
by asking: "At what period in history did
modern life begin-life really Ike our
ownf' An Englishman, answering this
question, would probably fix upon DIR.
Johnson's time as that in which he would
first feel himself to be at home The lat
ter part of the eighteenth century was
obviously the beginning Of modern life
IN this country, which dates from our
acknowledged union as a nation. The
French Revolution was a new birth Of
humanity not only in France, but
throughout the Western world, which the
author likens to the advent of Christian
ity in the magnitude of knowledge and
force and idealiSm which it brought to-
gether to react upon mankind.
The factors of civilization in the nine
teenth century, as the author sees them,
were fourfold, namely: ~ The scientific
spirit, (2) the spirit Of individual free
dom, 80 the collective spirit Of nation
nlity, and a. the spirit of international
unity. In these factors he finds constantly
operative upon the minds and hearts of
men confident hopefulness in regard to
the future which has been one Of the most
profound characteristics Of the last hun
bred years. "Hisiory," he says, "has
helped UNNECESSARILY 10 fortify the early
hopes of reformers by sk1wing that, i'm
perfect as We are and blood stained as