The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-11-11
A cHrcKEREp LIFE.

CnKcKxRED LIFE: In OLD WORLD AND IN THE-
New. by Rev. J. L. Yer Mehr san Francisco: A.
L. Bancroft Co., 1871
A ..Checkersd Lie" is the autobiography o!
Episcopal clergy man OF Austrian birth, but quar-
tered on the Pacific coast, who In hts old age sits
down to record the many failures and successes OF
varied career the hope that his hardly earned ex
perience may serve guido to those who are just
beginning tread the rough and winding yoad which
he leaving. With this intention he has sought to
put every action Of his life In the cearest light,
neither concealng his motives attempting to shit
the responsibility Of his own deeds upon other
shoulders Where he has erred land his
those Of judgment, not Of prncpe) he acknowledges
his mistake with all humility The record OF his life
Is marked by such extreme simplicity and fairness
10 give 1t the appearance OF having been written Tor
private perusal and ediacalion rather than for tho
public eye This remark applies as well to the man.
ner as to the matter OF the work. though the STYLE
however familiar and unconstraiDed never falls into
sloveniness Many chapters are as Interesting, aud
In some cases thrilling as q novel OF adventure.
Mr.. Yer Mehrs recolections date back TO the year
1918, when boy Of four he stood by tho window Of
his family mansion and watched the wreck Of tho
Grand Army pass along the main street Of his native
village its return to France. The long line OF
horssmcn, wagons and foot soldiers continued almost
unbroken for many days. then an attack was made
Its reur and Woundeu sodlers were brought INTO
the room with tho gentle child 10 die. Again, a few
months later crowd OF Prussian hussars took pos
session OF the house, broke open tho wine cellars and
kept the peaceful mansion In continual state Of up
roar Similar scenes Of disorder prevailed Tor
Two long montha Then for more than year tnerc
was a reign OF peace. Finally In midsummer, 1915,
the boys ears were greeted with tho distant roar OF
cannon sometimes IN quick succession, sometimes at
long intervals II came from the battle OF Waterloo
aud with dying echoes ended the bright vision OF
wealth aud power US conceived In childhood. For
though directly opposed TO- yet not In iavor of tho
Emperor Napoleon my family had borne all the crush
ing insoleuco of the Restoration, and its nearly
prncsly wealth. exhausted by saxations and conribu
tons at last received It's death blow by the vandalism
OF those who came to restore. VI all the possessions
nothing renamed but the ancestral home, still occu-
p,ed by our family" Even this gone and
one sutry afternoon 10 summer the children put
into a carriage and driven of 10 a small but pleasant
dwelling on the banks Of tho Mcuse thor mother
| awaited them.
| The elder Yer Mehrs wealth and influence made
him an object OF suspicion aud danger TO the
| ment which he refused TO acknowledge and despite
the aid OF powerful friends. for long time he was
| compelled to fly from part OF the country to
| other without finding any place where ne would be
secure from arrest His son, the author Of this work.
| then a boy Of seven, accompanied his father with
niial devotion through all his protraced wanderings
At limos thcy enjoyed comparative security, but