The New York herald., 1878-11-11
AMONG THE BOOKS.

| ever, many Engshmen who believe that the claims
of Greece above the claims of Turkey. and that
| strong Greek kingdom would be more serviceabe to
| England and to Europe than strong Ottoman EN-
pire The author in this volume brings together the
| many reasons which have been or may DO urged
! on behalf of the Hellenic claims. The volume
/ is divided into two parts in the first of which
| assembled handful of sketches and statements
on the material and intellectual progress of the
try during the past few years and arguments to
their advance has been hndered by obstacles
which they not responsible. In the second book
the anthor inquiries into the theory of intervention in
general and gives the result of his search through
the pages of history for the mistakes which appear to
have been made in the establishment of New Greece.
Mr. Sergeant is very much in earnest in his espousal
of the cause of Greece. One central truth, he says,
stands out from the history of the past half century
which forces itself upon the conscences of the present
generation and which indicates duty to the English
/ government and people:-"We have set up New
| Greece not in benevolence, but after long
and gallant struggle waged by the Greeks against
their oppressors We compelled Turkey to acknowl-
edge the independence of her former subjects,
| and covered the latter with guar
| antee; but at the same time we fet-
| tered them with such bonds and conditions
that they were absolutely incapable Of exercising
| their nominal freedom. We made Greece, but we
| made her bankrupt. We have been benefactors to
the Greeks. they readily admit; but we have per-
/ sistently and advisedy cogged their advance par
alyzed their struggles and retarded their emancipa
tion We have pleaded their cause before other
| European Powers, but we have simultaneously
| grudged them every inch OF progress which they
have made at the expense of Turkey" There a
great many wholesome truths in Mr. Sergeants book
which England will not altogether enjoy reading
RUFUS cHoATE.
| Rufus Choate has been recalled to our minds Of
late first in volume of speeches. and second in q
little volume of "Recollcctions," by Edwin p Whip
| pie, published in Harpers Half series. Mr..
whippe does pretend to give life Of Choate but
| simply to record a few memories illustrating the
| force and hexibility of his genius and the
| genialty of his nature. Mr.. Whipple has
| the most sincere admiration for the dis
tinguished lawyers abilities Mr. Choate. he says,
possessed the art of concealng the art by which he
overcame opposition In his steady pressure on the
wills of the jury he appeared to be costly arguing
with them lifting them into a region Of impas-
stoned sentiment and imagination where he at
home and where the jury made to feel that they
shared with him all the delights Of such lofty
munion with everything beautiful and sublime. In
his arguments for persons who had become compli-
at least not so guilty they Of being
mastery way of putting himself. by imagination, in
the place his clients and exhibiting all the pathos
that could be elected from their embarrassmens and
struggles often drenched his clients themselves in
rrepressble tears Mr.. Whipple has accomplished his
pleasant task we'll and given capital idea Of New
highlands great lawyer.
= BENJAMIN DU PLAN.
gentleman. Of Alas, conveys meaning beyond thu
fact that he at time Deputy General of the
Reformed churches Of France and Bonnefon pastor
the Reformed Church ut Aais the birthplace Of Du
Plan He was born in 1883, and very little is known
OF his family his infancy. At tho age Of twenty
two he laid down the sword and devoted himself en-
tirely to the Church 1t not long before he be-
the representative Of the Huguenot churches in
France. The material for this biography has been
found in original letters written by its subject and
family papers. They have been arranged in
tive form. accompanied by running commentary,
which offers explanation to them. The book is
to be eagerly read by all who interested in the his
tory of Professionalism in France. and is written with
an earnest devotion to the memory Of Du Plan.
THE HAUNTED HOTEL.
In '.The Haunted Hotel (Rose-Belford Publishing
Company. wilkie Collins has let riot taste for
the supernatural that crops in nearly all of his
novels. 1.-The Woman in White is most comfort
able ghost compared to the that figures in this
story The heroine of the tale is the Countess
Narona. the hero, if . ghost be called hero,
Lord Montbarry. The countess is woman whose com
plexion has been made white by poison in her youth
her eyes have unnatural brightness. and she is
very wicked person. She wins Lord Montbarry away
from his honest English sweetheart marries him and
mn m lis back IN fy,a
scene Of the murder and haunts hotel in
Venice Mr.. Collins has been very success
full in painting the horrors of haunted
room that one feels as though he could not get
comfortable nights rest in Venetian hotel Ones
flesh creeps he reads of the bodess head hung
over the Engishwom bed and the mad countess
who unconscious in the chair. We would not rec
ommend the reading Of the Haunted Hotel" to o
nervous person after sundown. unless wished him
to pass a sleepess night The detail is carefully
worked out that s made to feel the story and
his flesh creeps he reads There is great liter
AIRY cleverness displayed this story the whole vol
ume Of which is not worth any chapter in the
woman in White" For right down sensational
story II has its uses we have no doubt that IL will
send many young person trembling to bed
HELENE"
Mrs. Mary Neal Sherwood is doing for the modern
French novelist what Mrs wister has done for the
German. She more than translates-she edits for
American readers. In her latest translation Helene
y love episode by Emile zola cr. b. Peterson Broth.
ers she uses the pruning knife with proper appre-
citation Of the limit Of American forbear-
ance in the matter OF morals. Emie Zola
is of the most powerful Of the young
French novelists. He is like Balzac in his minu-
te but where Bazac is psychological he is physico-
logical His truths are naked truths and he thrurts
them at the reader every page. He is realist in
the accepted meaning Of the term and to literature
what Courbe is to painting He takes passion from
its earliest bud and describes it until it Is
full blown. Mrs. Sherwood has pruned the
most Objectionable features from Helene. !"
yet there is enough of the original left
to prove what we have stated. When the story opens
Helene is young widow. with only child living
in Paris. Her companions an old cure and his