348 Civilization and Decay 



conviction, even in his bitterest cynicism, such as 

 we are apt to associate rather with the prophet and 

 reformer than with a historian to whom prophet 

 and reformer alike appeal no more than do their an- 

 titypes. It is a rare thing for a historian to make 

 a distinct contribution to the philosophy of history; 

 and this Mr. Adams has done. Naturally enough, 

 he, like other men who break new ground, tends here 

 and there to draw a devious furrow. 



The book is replete with vivid writing, and with 

 sentences and paragraphs which stand out in the 

 memory as marvels in the art of presenting the vital 

 features of a subject with a few master-strokes. The 

 story of the Crusades, the outline of the English 

 conquest of India, and the short tale of the rise of 

 the House of Rothschild, are masterpieces. Nowhere 

 else is it possible to find in the same compass any 

 description of the Crusades so profound in its appre- 

 ciation of the motives behind them, so startling in 

 the vigor with which the chief actors, and the chief 

 events, are portrayed. Indeed, one is almost tempted 

 to say that it is in the description of the Crusades 

 that Mr. Adams is at his best. He is dealing with 

 a giant movement of humanity; and he grasps not 

 only the colossal outward manifestations, but also 

 the spirit itself, and, above all, the strange and sin- 

 ister changes which that spirit underwent. His 

 mere description of the Baronies set up by the Cru- 

 saders in the conquered Holy Land, with their loose 

 feudal government, brings them before the reader's 

 eyes as few volumes specially devoted to the sub- 



