Evening star., 1928-04-29
BY IDA GILBERT MYERS.

MIND barred and locked upon
" its own personal prepoSSessions
II would better not stop beside
\ this book On the other hand.
a mind more or less open to
the influence of scholarship both ex-
tensive and thoroughly seasoned. to the
influence of perfectly co-ordinated
body Of fact brought to bear upon
definite point in history, to quite re-
markable example of selective detail. to
clear logical sequences and to the SIM
plest ways Of speech, such an one
would do we'll TO stay beside MIR. White 3
new outlook upon the question in hand
You should know at once. whether
you belong TO either of these two
classes. that the thesis projected and
sustained by Mr.. White is that "the
positive. active, major and paramount
cause of the ruin of the Roman EN-
pre" was Christianity. SO take the
book or leave 1t, as you please.
For my part I took 1t. finding there
in, first the most reasonably illumlnat-
ing study of the causes for the phenom-
email rise of Rome TO its summit OF
civilization. and finding. next, the
clearest summary OF the substantial
and enduring achievements of the en-
pire, Contributory to these achieve
ments there Is a study of the Roman
under whose immediate
and constant influence Rome rose TO
her great heights Now many OF US
have vague, and condemnatory, notions
OF paganism, of what it was or was not,
of what 1t could do or could not do.
Here. however, is an intimacy and
simplicity of portrayal bearing upon
the influence of the many gods OF
paganism that open the whole subject
to a rational conception OF the system,
If II were a system, to which the gen.
eral reader has been wholly blind and
uniformed. Against this Towering OF
culture and civilization under the en-
eouragement of the Greco-Roman gods
Is set of the austerity of the new re-
ligion. the Christian religion, ITS sole
preoccupation that Of a future life and
the salvation of the soul. preoccupa-
tion that not only discouraged but con-
demned any of the cultural works or
this world. And. buttreSsed by the bare
facts Of historic record, MIR. White lists
What the World Has Lost by the Fall
of Rome"-an astounding summary OF
material and cultural loss.
Hardly anywhere else will you be able
to And in such compaSt. concrete SIM
plicity q general picture of the early
Mediterranean world as you will find
here. Then come the beginnings Of
Rome. its growth and rise. its succeed
ing civil vars. and, finally. the sum OF
its achievements. After this comes the
astonishing Illuminating study Of pagan
ism. From outside and inside gather
the agencies contributing to the decay
Of the empire, and these are carefully
set out In the very essence of the his
tOric facts. And then comes the study
OF Christianity in its effects upon the
culture of the times.
Understand. this Is no religious con-
trOyersy. This is history. these are the
things that happened, actually hap
pened. as constructive and destructive
forces in the Mediterranean world. We
are all Christians. and goodly part OF
us are Puritans. SO In our own small
corner we know the stern and rigid face
OF puritanism against even the most
innocent OF the easements of life. Ex-
pand this spirit TO the making or the
unmaking OF an empire--and there you
are. And, as for book TO read. clear,
compelling. though stirring. and TO n
degree electrifying-why here 1t is in
why Rome Fell"
CHILDREN OF THE FOG: A Novel Of
Southwark. BY Carmel Haden Guest
New York: G. p. Putnam's Sons.
DRIvE.N at every page TO cut and
~ run away from this story, YOU viii
be held by an even stronger urge to
pursue 1t TO the end. Here Is thing.
real. that excites both wonder
and fear at the occasional maladroit
handiwork OF creation generally al
legged to be benign. II Is, besides, an
unmiStakable bit of art--hideous, 10 be
sure, but the essence of art Is not beauty.
except the beauty of truth itself. Here
a CHASTITY handhreadth OF human ex-
istence Is set out--a tangible thing, Ike
q statue or bridge or a church. to DC
walked around and tested and proved
Across the Thames at the south end
of London Bridge sprawls the tenement
slum of Southwark. This district pro-
vides both stage and actors for the
tragedy of Children OF the Fog" Lit
tie Joan. with no father at all and
only q mother of sorts. Is the scrap
of humanity with which this story is
chiefly concerned. There are others
certainly. all real as want
and suffering are real. but 10 this lit
tie girl has been given. from God
knows where, an odd inside stir over
any faint phantom OF beauty that
may have wandered into the Slum,
II il by virtue Of this gift or curse,
added To her own prettineSs that Joan
moves straight 10 her own inevitable
end.
Thomas Hardy might have written
this story. II il Sourced IN the same
outlook upon life and destiny as are
the romances OF this writer. II Is as
austere in its fidelity 10 that outlook
Al - VAVe IL Ia L
to readers, also. Though
his appears To be q FIRST novel, there
Is not sign anywhere about II OF
or of that manifest first
ness that marks initial romanees.
JOHNNY RuRGOYNE;
MisadventuTeS OF an English Cen
eral in the Revolution. BY F. ],
Hudleston. librarian of the British
war once. author OF Warriors III
UndTess.' indianapolis: The Bohos~
Merrill Co.
I'm days when the London fog at its
~ thickest drifts into the long rooms
of the British war Office. shutting them
I'D In q smother OF gray mist. they do
say that strange figures may be seen
stepping down out OF muAty volumes or
dusty piles OF other war record to
gather around the desk OF the librarian,
Mr.. Hudleston. A man of odd powers
and potencies. Mr.. Audleston. as YOU
&ill presently see. These moving to-
waFd hlm or waiting decosously for
speech with him are war officers of high
'ank, gorgeous In uniforms OF wears
ong gone. The one before him iS,
,learly, reviewing In pride some old and
glorious Victory. Another less buoy
lntly. appears 10 be explaining the
,auses of his own historic loss and de-
'eat The one stepping forward az this
minute is truly q gallant and winning
figure. Handsome Jack" was his Ion-
Ion name. so we are told We In
America know him as Gen. Rurgoyne,
defeated at Saratoga IN l7T7 by Gen,
Gates. Therefore IN him we have very
egime ol France, particularly In the
il ltAhlliEation of the trade balance, We
nav antichata a steadily increasing in~