Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-12-20
LITERARY NOTES.

| The CRokER PAPERS; The Correspondence and
is Dated sFsst s. 5hs ssi sa from s2
Two Volumes. with Portrait sew York: Charles
Som sealoners soma washington; VIM Salian'sne 8
The last half dozen years have been prolific In
autobiographies memoirs. diaries. correspon-
dence. and other forms of reminiscential litera-
ture, but nothing of the kind has been published
for long time that will better repay reading
than the two volumes named above. Mr. Crok-
er's observations covered an unusually interest
ing literary And historical period, and his posi-
lions and associations both public and personal,
were exceptionally favorable. qualifying him in O
degree possessed by few men for unGerst andng
and photographing his times. To these advau-
| ta.es he added quick eye. keen powers OF an
alysis, retentive memory, and a graphic and
incisive literary style. The result Is not a col
lection OF mere flttle-tattle of and about incOn-
seqnential nobodies, as many books of it's class
J turn out to be, but clear and interesting view
| OF the leading men and important events of the
| period embraced In the writer's observations
with occasional glmpses of the secret springs
| OF action not often laid bare. Mr.. Cookers re-
lations with men high in literary and political
| life were intimate. The confidence of many of
them he enjoyed in remarkable degree, aud he
was industrious and apparently faithful in re-
cording hat he saw and heard. 1t naturally
/
affairs thus obtained are unusually entertaining
and are perhaps the most fascinating parts OF the
DOCK. though the main portions OF both vol
umes relate to politics and public affairs, from
which the student of history will be able to gain
| much new and valuable information on minor
points. Especially interesting, for example, are
| the long and familiar talks of wellington. and
| the condolences reposed in Mr. Croker by King
| George w.. in regard to various affairs. are
| hardly less so. Indeed, there is no end of en-.
| tpftaininp mi
ecdote. taste Of the quality of these has al
| ready been enjoyed by the readers of this paper
IN the copious extracts therefrom published in
its columns a few days ago, but they were only
examples selected from page after page equally
well worth reproducing.
THE FIELD OF HONOR: Being Complete and
Comprehensve History of Duelling in all Countries:
Duel Of thu cvz WerS da SPec ae
,ons OF all the Notsd Hostile Mest:ng. in Enr9
THE south After the Wal" $ mi- Trcpica! Cali.
f Fnrds Hs scidsntn , sketches &C. New York:
Brothers
| So thoroughly has dueling been brought into
| disuse in the United States by the better senti-
ment of the age that Mr.. Truman might about
| as well have written history of the long given
up practice Of ''bundling." so tar as any current
sympathetic interest in his subject is concerned
But as the record of a brutal usage once COM
mon In this country. ana still practiced occa-
US people CHARMING a nlgl CIVILIZATION, IL
| has curious literary interest. and decided
value in historical point Of view. That the
author has given much time to research and the
collection of reliable data s evident throughout
and he has brought together much i'm relation
| to the subject that is new and Instructive as
well as entertaining. and good deal that is anus
ing IN the way of anecdote and humorous Incl
dents connected with hostile meetings From
the title of his book it might be supposed that
Mr. Truman considers the dueling ground 1.-The
| a n hnn R,fc,
the other hand its whole tone is distinctly con-
demnatory OF dueling, and one of the effects Of
readlng 1t Will be to rise up from its perusal
with greater adherence than ever of the bar
oarous practice. and wonder that it should
have been tolerated as long as it was
A MODERN MIDAS Romance. By MAURICE
JoKAL Translated from the German by Mrs Laura
Curtis Bnlard and Miss Emma Herzg: New York
Il Worthington. Washington: Brentano Brothers
Though sensational and improbable, as well
as not very healthy in tone, this story is not
without a certain fascination and power, and it
will be read with interest as the first translation
offered here Of writer popular in his own com-
try. and because it introduces scenes and char
acters entirely different from those found in the
usual novel of the day. The scene is laid in
Hungary. and the story is that of a man who
through wrong doing becomes wealthy-at
whose touch. like that of Midas. everything
turns to gold. He purchases wife, but he can
",
finally leaves all to find peace on barren island
in the Danube where with a woman he loves he
spends his latter days, the world believing him
dead. Contrary to the moral usually conveyed
by romance, the people who deserve to succeed
come to grief in this story, while the bad ones
prosper after their fashion and are happy In
their way; but for all that II will find good
many admiring readers who do not care so much
for the moral Of tale as for the manner in
which it is told.
AN AN. AMERICAN RI POLITICIAN A Novel. By Ma
Ballanty.e * Son.
In somerespects the literary style of Mr.. Craw-
ford has improved but on the whole his later
work does not compare with his earlier efforts
The plot is not happily developed; the attempt
to mix love and politics is not a success in the
authors hands, any more than in real life: so
much OF the story as is given up to the latter
theme proper is rather tresome, and there are
more slips in it than one would expect from
an author reasonably familiar with American
people and their ways. The conversations are
however bright and clever. and some of the pc
culiarities Of high Boston society are taken off
with humOr and effect II Mr. Crawford would
write fewer books and spend more time and
thought upon them it would, we fancy, be better
for both him and his readers.
YOUNG GIRLS wooING BY EDWARD P. Roe.
author Of Barriers Burned Awav'n etc New;
York York Dodd. Mead Co. Washington: Brentano
For ourselves. we have never been able to IN
derstand the great popularity of Mr.. Roe's
novels, and his latest effort throws no new light
on the subject Making the heroine follow the
object Of her affections until she captures him,
seems to be all right in the authors eyes, and
the moral as he points 1t is we'll enough Virtue
is rewarded and vice is punished, according to
regulations in such cases made and provided
and there are some clever bits of description,
but too many pages are used to tell the story,
which is unnecessarily padded with tri1ing con-
versations and tedious soliloquies.
HARRY COvERDALE'S COURTsHIP AND MAR
sMEDLEY author of Frank FairleShH etc phila
delphla: 1. B. Peterson Brothers.
This Is reprint of a story which found good
many admirers something like quarter of a
century ago. Although confirmed cripple.
suffering from painful and incurabIe disease.
the author excelled in depicting outdoor sports
and scenes, and many of his characteristics
were shown at their best in the courtship and
marriage Of the hunting hero of this novel. and
his afectionate young wife. The story is, how
ever, rather long for these days Of condensed
literature, and the reader will be in danger of
getting little tired before the end is reached.
SQUARE AND coMPAssEs: OF. BUILDING THE
HOUSE. By OLIVER OPTIC With Illustrations
Boston: Lee SHEPARD Washington j. c. Parker
In che form of story MIR. Adams gives in this
volume. which Is the third of the "Boat Builder
Series" continuation Of the history of the
Beech Hill Industrial School, where boys are
taught mechanics and shown how to work prac-
tically, instead of learning Greek and Latin and