Evening star., 1927-03-19
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By The BoOkIOrer

by James Henry Breasted In Part
of THE Conquest of Civilization. lie
says: The great empire wnlch We
have been studying, although III
condition seemingly so favorable, was
suffering from an inner decay whose
symptoms, at first hidden, were 1ast
becoming more and more evident
The first cause of this decay he rates
as the decline Of farming. which had
begun even before the fall Of the re-
public. The Oriental system of lana
ownership by the state and few In
dividuals spread. under the empire
until Il prevailed not only in Italy, out
also in Gaul, Britain, Spain and other
leading provinces. The great estates
were called VILLAS" Unable to com
pete with the great villas. and hnding
the burden of taxes unbearable, most
of the small farmers gave up the
struggle Such a man would often
enter upon an arrangement whlch
made him the 'Colonus OF some
wealthy villa owner. BY TINS ARA nge
ment the farmer and his descendants
were forever bound by law to the land
which they worked, and they passed
with IL from owner to owner when i
changed hands, 1t is prob
able that soil mpoverishment also
contributed to the widespread agricul-
turnl decline Small farmers, after
long cultivation of their land, unable
TO afford fertilization, yet unWllilng 10
become 'cOloni' forsook their farms
and migrated to the cities. Deserted,
weed covered stretches OF land became
a common sight. Soon the ancient
world was unable to raise enough food
to feed itself and prices mounted.
Efforts by the wiser emperOrS 70 re-
turn the land TO cultivation were un-
successful. THE destruction Of the
small farmers and the inability OF
Rome to restore them formed the
leading cause among whole group
of causes which brought about the
decline and fall of this great empire
y x X
other causes given by Mr. Breasted
for the decline and fall of the Roman
Empire are the decrease in popula-
ton. the loss of independence and
thrift the waste of time in barbarous
amusements. heavy taxation. the loss
of public responsibility, the decline OF
Industries, with consequent unemploy-
ment, exhaustion of the mines around
the Mediterranean and depreciation
of the currency. Paralysis or tne
government and Generalization OF the
army followed. THE time which
should have been spent in breadWin-
ming was worse than wasted among
the cheering multitudes at the chariot
races. bloody games and barbarous
snectacles. Everywhere the
leading men of the cities were IN
differently turning away from puDhc
life. Responsible citizenship,
which does so much to develop the
best among the citizens in any com
I.nI nrlfn
declined in Greece, was passing away,
never to reappear In the ancient
world. - At the same time the
financial and business life of the cities
was also declining. The country com
munities no longer possessed nu-
merous purchasing population. Hence
the country market for the goods
manufactured in the cities was SO
seriously reduced that city industries
could no longer dispose of their PROD
ucts. They rapidly declined soon
II was impossible for the emperors 10
find money enough to pay the army
Weakened by all these causes, the
Roman Empire became the easy prey
of the northern barbarians who poured
into Italy through the passes of the
Alps.
In 1925 Arthur christopher beHSoH'
one of the trio of gifted benson
brothers, died. soon after he had left
with John Murray number OF manu-
script essays from which to select for
The selection made by
Mr.. Murray has appeared under the
title. "Rambles and Reflections" Many
Of the essays included are on subjects
associated with his life at Elton, where
he was for years a master. and his life
at Cambridge. where he was master OF
College. Others are on SUB
iects suggested by English countryside
rambles. and still others are gently
Dhilosophical. as Modern Moralities.
'.Friendship," Talk" Social Pleas
ures." There are 40 essays altogether.
A pheasant journey through South
eastern Asia, from the HimalayaS to
Java and from Ceylon to Japan, was
William Beebe's travel program for
1901. This unusual journey was Tor
the purpose of seeing and studying the
100 species of pheasants, or as many
of them as possible, which have their
homes in this region. The result of
the study is published in his twO-vol-
ume book, "Pheasants, Their Lives
and Homes" A gorgeous company or
marches through the two
large volumes-blood pheasants, very
like partridges: Tragopan and Impey-
an pheasants; f1reback and roof-talled
orange and bronze pheas-
ants of Central Asia, green pheasants
of Japan. blue pheasantS of a certain
Of Formosa, golden pleas
ants and Lady Amherst pheasants.
peacocks and argus pheasants, of
which the most resplendent are the
blue .necked peacock of India and
Ceylon and the green-necked peacock
of lava. The history and habitats,
annearance. homes and food. domestic
and social manners of all the species
are described with knowledge and with
the affection of a genuine bird lover.
There are 32 colored plates and numer-
Gus photographs, which make 1t pos
sible to visualize this brilliant pheas-
ant family.
The West was late In the field in
American history, but once 1t had en-
tered, it Immediately began playing a
vigorous and dramatic part and has
kept it up ever since. One or the pio-
neers of Western conquest, George
Clark. is the subject OF re-
cent biography by Temple Bodley,
George Rogers Clark: His Life and
Public Services" The author repre-
sents Clark as a statesman as we'll as
a military hero, and says that the
whole plan of conquering the West
was his and that he proposed it to
patrick Henry. Governor of Virginia.
The outmost boundary of the West
was then the Mississippi River, and
Clark, starting from central Ken
tucky, reached this, after conquering
the territory held by the British be-
tween these two points. The capture
and recapture of Vincennes. in what
Is now Indiana, form one of the most |
stirring episodes of this pioneer cam
paign of conquest. 1t is one of the
tragedies of history that, after serv-
ing without pay and assuming re-
lol.A L.