Books that are the Hearts of Men. By Alfred T.
Story. (Arthur C. Fifield. 2s. 6d.)—It would be better if Mr. Story would abstain from comparisons. "When will this civilization of ours," he cries, " begin to breed true men ? " Well, we might mention not a few who have been bred in it, or, Mr. Story might possibly say, in spite of it. His estimates of books and their authors—he begins with Job and ends with Thoreau's " Walden "—have some merit, but they do not always comprehend the whole subject. The account of Marcus Aurelius, for instance, neglects the essential question of the difference between Stoicism and Christianity. The Roman Emperor had "no Gospel for the poor" ; he had no message even for the weaker natures among his own class. Much, however, in the book will be found useful. Perhaps the account of Jacob Boehm is as good as anything in it. Why, we would ask, include Vespasian in the quartet of "monsters" which " a base imperialism can breed" ? Vespasian was not an Aurelius, or even a Trajan, but he was an honest old soldier, not by any means a " monster " either of goodness or badness.
Previous page
