The Gods of Revolution by Christopher Dawson (review)

ß Rewews GENERAL The Godsof Revolution.CHRISTOPHER DAWSON. Introductionby ARNOLD TOYNBEE; Appreciationby JAMESOLIVER. London, Sidgwickand Jackson, [Toronto,GriffinPress], •97•. PP.xviii, i73. $I I.OO. Christopher Dawson,thefirstStillmanProfessor of RomanCatholicStudies at Harvard University,was an Oxford scholarwhosedistinguished careerwas markedbythepublication ofmanymajorworks ontheevolution of theChristian cultureof WesternEurope.Asa posthumous publication, the present bookis inevitablyto someextenta compilation, previously unpublished work being supplemented bymaterialwhichhasalreadyappeared in differentperiodicals. Essentially, a briefbutbrilliantfirstpart surveys thegrowthof conflict between religious faithandsecular philosophy fromtheMiddleAges tothelateeighteenth century;thebodyofthework,a reviewofthegreatFrenchRevolution from 1789 until thedaysof the Directory,thenfollowsdirectly;and the bookisendedby threeisolated andsomewhat inconclusive essays onaspects of theimpactof that Revolution on the modern world. As Mr JamesOliver anticipates in hisableintroductoryappreciationof the author,academic historians arelikelytolookaskance atwritingbased moreupon a generalgraspof the evolutionof Europeanattitudesof mind than upon familiaritywith the minutiae of recentresearch. Nor, indeed,will all welcome the appearance of a work which, far from dismissing all abstractideasas 'rhetoric,'unhesitatingly identifies ideological conflictasthe essential causeand central characteristicof the Revolution, which is itself seenas one of the most crucialevents in the historyof the modernworld.Suchthoughts and suchperspectives are,unhappily,out of fashion.But if thisbookisnot anotherdoctoral thesis, neitherhasit thedefects regrettably common tosuchwork.Not over-long or heavilyladenwith detail,it summarises muchof the complexhistoryof the Revolutionwithout casting asideilluminatingincident;and althoughit is not REVIEWS 435 written withfullknowledge ofrecent economic andsociological studies, itsbold interpretation of thesignificance of theRevolution isnevertheless foundedon a verythorough acquaintance with contemporary writings and ona remarkably perceptive appreciation of theinteraction of social change with politicaland religious convictions. It isalsoa booksingularly wellwritten,in whichstriking similes aremagnificently matched with precise expression. Thus,'theproudest andmost ancient aristocracy in Europe, whichhaditsroots deepin history, fell like a rottentree at the firstblastof the storm';but the two words'intolerant legalism' suffice to describe theattitudeof thedeistic deputies whosucceeded in dominating theNationalConstituent andLegislative Assemblies and led them into head-on collision with the Catholic church. It is, of course, by no meansdifficult to find historicalfaults in a book apparentlyuninfluenced by any writer on the French Revolutionsincethe appearance of Crane Brinton'sJacobins and J.M. Thompson's Robespierre. Economic andsocial history apart,wearetoldthat 'fearhadbeenthegreatdrivingforcebehindtheRevolution ':but theCounter-Revolution remains, asof old, a sortof petrifiedshadow, justastherevoltin theVend6eremains simplyand exclusively thereaction of a Catholicpeasantry outraged by thepersecution of itspriests anditsfaith.Today,too,it isa littledifficulttoseethewickedtriumvirateofMarat ,Danton, andRobespierre astheb19ody authors oftheSeptember Massacres, nomatterhowmuchtheymayhaveattempted to turn themto their ownadvantage. Nor does it seem altogether fair toignoreVergniaud, thegreatest of the deputies of the Gironde,andyet to describe Danton asovercoming 'the defeatist spiritof hisGirondincolleagues, Rolandand the rest.'Butwhilesuch examples mightbemultiplied,theycouldequallywellbe matchedby instances oftheauthor's unexpectedly stimulating insight intomanyaspects of hissubject. Few,evenamongtheexperts, will fail to learnsomething from thesepages. In itsessence, theargument of thebookisthatin theOld Order thestateand the churchhad becomeso interdependent that imperativepolitical change inevitablyimplieda new and greaterReformation;and while thisstimulated greatsocial changes, theRevolution remained fundamentally a spiritualconflict, the outcomeof which is still unresolved.The caseis no doubt overstated,but itspresentation isclear,concise, and concrete. Althoughthe priceof the book seems prohibitive,it can be recommended as a refreshingly well-writtenand well-balanced accountof what the Revolutionwas aboutand what happened in it; andalthough Professor Dawson's interpretation isby nomeans new,it is certainly onewhichurgently needed such convincing reassertion. M.J. SYDENHAM CarletonUniversity Florilegium Historiale: Essays Presented to Wallace K. Ferguson. Editedbyj.o. ROWE andw.a. STOCKr•A•.E. Toronto,Universityof TorontoPress, x97x.Pp.xiv, 4o•, illus.$•6.5o. 'For the past four decades, particularly since the publication ofTheRenaissance in x94o , andeightyears laterof The Renaissance in HistoricalThought:Five ...