Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-11-13
"PRINCES' FAVORS."

1k4AV NLO II Al v OAtOs
This is the title of book of 266
pages, written by our friend, Wilson
J. Vance, Esq. 1t purports to be
story of love, war and politics. 1t is
supposed to be a work of fiction, of
course, but a human being who
has lived long enough to have be-
come a citizen, husband and a
father, and who has struggled to go
to the front, where men, in the true
meaning of that word, should go,
living, suffering, toiling and endur-
ing as much agony as did ever a
martyr at the stake, will readily re-
cognize how true to life is the nara
tive, and ayow anew that "truth is
stranger than fiction"
The title, "Princes' Favors," is in
itself suggestive, for they touch but
to dishonor, they favor but to ruin,
and the great poet has written
o, how wreiched
Is that poor man that hangs on Princes
favors
There is, betwixt the smile we would
aspire to,
That sweet aspect of Princes, and their
ruin,
More pangs and fears than wars or wo-
men have;
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to arise again
We suppose that skilled critics will
decry somewhat what might be
termed the breaks in the thread of
the story and the moralizing of the
author, who, himself, served through
the war and then had charge of the
Washington Bureau of the Cincin-
natl Commercial, and served as Chief
of the Appointment Division of the
Treasury Department, but to our
mind those seeming pauses lend the
more interest to the volume, as the
wayfarer readily takes into view the
level and open road, but wonders
what will meet his gaze when he
reaches the hilltop, and the moraliz-
ing is fitting fruit, born from the OBJ
of years, in an atmosphere
where struggling office-seekers and
deceitfnl ofiica-hnlders
lold high carnival; where the grow
cling serpent succeeds oftener than
IN honest man. 1t is faithful por-
5raiture of political life with all its
ms and outs; the mean, petty jeal-
ousies and chickering's; the unmanly
cuts and stabs in the dark; the bar
ter and sale of voters; the stump or
ators, white and colored, especially
the "colored gemman from Ala
bama,' who, because he couldn't get
pay from one committee to please him
took pay from the other side in de-
fance Of his sentiments, and the key
to his name need not be either Smith
or Parks, but he is a true character.
There are some thrilling scenes
that will bring tears to an honest
mans eyes-others that will start
the life's blood through sinews and
muscles and nerve the arm in de-
fence of right, and yet others that
will bow the head in shame for hui
man frailty. The entire edition of
this book was sold within twenty
four hours of its completion, and the
second edition is now going through
the printers hands. We do not pre-
tend to say that this, our friends
first effort, is perfect, because none
are perfect, but we do say that it is
better than the average-a subject
we'll chosen, style purely original
and out of the beaten course, and
dressed with consummate skill and
chasteness. We predict for it rapid
sale and trust that it will prove suffi-
GENTLY profitable to provide leisure
for a more careful and, if possible,
more extensive literary produc-
ton.
WE LEARN from Judge Faulkner