. Review of reviews and world's work . rior, transplanted from the social soil of civil war,where sword and axe argued the Gospel of Peace onEarth, into some modern soil, where grow the arts ofa gentler warfare. If such an experiment could betried, I believe we should see a character not very un-like that of Bjomstjeme Bjornson. But he would not wish to exchange his modern warfor the old battles of Olav and Sverre. Nor do I thinkthat when Bjornson made his gallant crusade, throughNorway, Denmark and part of Sweden, against thedouble standard of sexual morality, he envied Sigurd Jorsalfar crusa
. Review of reviews and world's work . rior, transplanted from the social soil of civil war,where sword and axe argued the Gospel of Peace onEarth, into some modern soil, where grow the arts ofa gentler warfare. If such an experiment could betried, I believe we should see a character not very un-like that of Bjomstjeme Bjornson. But he would not wish to exchange his modern warfor the old battles of Olav and Sverre. Nor do I thinkthat when Bjornson made his gallant crusade, throughNorway, Denmark and part of Sweden, against thedouble standard of sexual morality, he envied Sigurd Jorsalfar crusading in the days of yore to the HolyLand. Some of Bjornsons countrymen think it a good,though involuntary, joke on his part, that he, of allmen, should have become an ardent aj^ostle of peaceand a fervid believer in the abolition of war. Buthe wants peace only in order to carry on a new andhigher warfare. I dare say his own personal historyhas shown him that the combative instincts, oncetrained and developed in the brutal struggle for. the rights of the stronger, may now be used in con-tending for the rights of the weak. War, apart fromits other abominations, diverts valuable and inheritedenergy away from the modern holy wars. CONTRASTED WITH TOLSTOI. Both as an apostle of peace and as an apostle ofpurity, Bjornstjerne Bjornson is exceedingly differentfrom his great contemporary, Leo Tolstoi. Whilethe latter preaches a kind of Buddhist non-resistanceto evil, Bjornson believes in the duty of activestruggle for right, even by arms, if need be, butmuch rather by moral weapons. For the enemy is I 414 THE REFIEIV OF REVIEWS. no tangible man, but certain evil or ignorant desiresin the minds of men. How absurd to maim andmangle their bodies, when we really want to get attheir minds, and correct something twisted in theircharacter ! These invisible enemies, which are be-yond the reach of any bullet piercing a mans brain,can often be reached by a soft and gentle are weapons,
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