Evening star., 1925-10-18
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

Putnams Sons.
" ROM an entirely new point OF
l. departure Hilaire Belloc pro
jectS history of England
i that, excluding the long period
of legend and myth, covers tn.
history Of authentic record stretching
from the invasion Of Julius Caesar
to the close of the last century
Mr. Belloc's sustaining contention
throughout this work is that religion
is the determining force OF society.
that it is religion. not race, which
has shaped the succeeding civiliZt
tions of recorded history. Upon this
foundation OF theory he presents
pagan England. following sketch of
the country with a detailed study or
the first contacts with civilization
through the invasion of Rome In the
person of julius Caesar. The account
reads like something alive-inVasion'
conquest, the process Of paciiicahon
and ultimate absorption-not at all
like dead-and-gone events. One FOL
lows the record of an England that IL
governed from Rome, as our colonies
once were governed from England.
Then, in the fourth century, there
comes an end to the old pagan world
and the advent of a Catholic England
of the Dark Ages. "a period of great
icissitude--Britain cut off from the
rest of the world, then brought back
again, with uncertain efforts reach
ing toward unity, with the Danish
invasion, with the influence of AL
fred. with the end Of the Dark Ages
a period ending with 1866 and VIII
liam the Conqueror. Another volume
describes Catholic England of the
Middle Ages, an England that III es-
If a N
guage French until the urgencies Of
the Black Death blended the people
in a common lot of misery out of
which the English language emerged.
Beyond this point lies the Reforma-
ton, movement in England rising
out of the refusal of Anne Boleyn Of
anything less than legitimate queen
ship at the hands Of Henry VIII. A
recalcitrant Pope, refusing divorce,
and the English Reformation, with
its despoliation of the monasteries
and kindred reprisals is on, move
ment that not until the coming Of
the Dutch King in 1888. really sue
ceeded in making a Protestant country
of England. Out of this religious
change came, according to Mr.. Belloc,
the rise of an aristocracy in govern
ment, the destruction OF the monarchy
as a political issue. Out of IL also
as an economic result came the rise
of capitalism. a very interesting
standpoint, this one, standpoint
which the author sustainS with fervor
and brilliancy, with much in the way
OF authentic evidence, with a clear
ingenuity OF method. with a strong
religious bent of his own which how
ever, he uses only in fair advantage.
With. however. much of agreement or
disagreement you may read this study,
you will without any doubt read il in
an absorption of interest that is al
most never felt in the usual treatment
of historic themes.
HENRY CABOT LODGE. BY VII
liam Lawrence. Boston: Houghton
Miffiin Co.
THIS biographical sketch of Henry
Cabot Lodge by has lifelong
friend, the Bishop of Massachusetts,
was given originally as an address at
the invitation of the Legislature of
MaSsa chuSettS, a part of the memorial
service in honor of Senator Lodge
This sketch OF Mr.. Lodges life by
one allied to him in a long friend
ship. by one of the same New Eng
land birth and outlook, has a value
of its own out of these circumstances.
II has additional value by virtue OF
its direct simplicity and by a much
in little" that makes the book easily
available and insures for 1t an extend
ed distribution. a very straightfor-
ward summary of events influencing
the life of Henry Cabot Lodge and
an equally fair-minded estimate of
character are the outstanding fea-
lures of this little book. The author
projects his subject in the light of
Mr.. Lodges birth and early training
and then again in the midst of the
momentous national events with many
of which his name is SO closely con
nected. One of the important and il
Eliminating parts of the sketch is
Bishop Lawrence'S analysis of certain
acts and attitudes of Senator Lodge
on the basis. now of his temperament
and disposition and again on the ba-
sis of his rigid adherence to principle
and conviction. Through this famil-
lar and intimate treatment many
stands taken by Mr.. Lodge in his pub
lie life become here simply a part of
the warp and woof of the man him
self, not induced by eXtraneous and
alien influences. A most readable
account that gives nearness and real
ity to a figure whose position in the
national life tended to make remote G
and unfamiliar. A man of great serv-
ice and high character is presented
here for the easy approach of his
countrymen.
MAD MARRIAGE. BY George Gibbs.
author of The Love of Monsieur" "
etc. New York: d. Appleton & Co.
VOU recall Mark Sabre in IF Win
= ter Comes" and that astonishing
act of his for which the majority con-
demned him as every kind of fool,
while just rarely some one reflected
aloud that about 1000 years ago there
lived a man who would have done
just what this Mark Sabre did. Men
and women Of behaviors like this are
called idealists, for want of a potter
name than fool. George Gibbs pre-
sents Peter Randle. painter. another
one pf this little tribe. dreaming of
beautiful world in which kindness
is the key to every sort of happiness
the tribe Of idealists. And the read
err. about three-quarters sordid, like
the rest of the material world, and
only one-Quarter, or less, conscious of
the real beauty of life-this reader
many times in his reading here feels
like Joining the crowd in condemna-
tion of some of the acts of these
feckleSS wool -gathererS.
For instance, there was Peter
Randle, living on his island and paint
ing pictures that were every day get
ting better and better, with a good
brand of American fame right ahead
of him. Then what must he do but
take a girl into his bachelor house
simply because he found her crying
on the bank Of the canal one rainy
night, and in a carefully prepared
effect of sudden harm to herself. Then
warming up under Peters good shelter
she told her story-desertion, a baby
on the way. Married? Oh, no, but
trouble all the worse on that account
Priscilla Hardanger Book, No. 2.