St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-09-04
Gbe Californian
A ST. JoHNsBURY AUTHOR.


audience with the severe trials she
had undergone. As most of her lis
teners were tired women upon whose
faces household cares and household
drudgery had left drawn deep lines,
her frequent reference to her retinue
of servants failed to produce the de-
sired impression. Determined not to
fail she said with strong emphasis,
For three whole years the roar of
the ocean was never out OF my cars.
felt like exclaiming as the tramp
did, who heard that in a steamer
which carried ten missionaries to
India there went ten thousand gal
Ions of rum, What luck for the
missionaries" To me there is no
music which can compare with Nep-
tunes voice as he losses the white
capped breakers on the shore When
| can endure the dust and din of a
great city no longer, betake myself
to the coast and struggle back to
average humanity again. OF all the
beaches which | have visited my IA
vorIte Is my first love, dear, old Mar
blehead. love its grand old rocks,
its peaceful harbor and its tender
memories of witch dinners and i'm
prisoned psalm singers. While there
| revive delightful memories of my
schoolgirl days as | visit the home
of one of my best beloved mates; the
l. l., I. L
been missed many long, weary years
The delightful home is in one of the
houses which date back to Rcvolu-
tionary time and which is rich in
hand carving and quaint and inter
esting in countless ways. There |
find Meta Lander" whose name has
been familiar to all readers for more
than half century. 1t may be that
1T is not known that she is he widow
of Rev E. a. Lawrence, who was q
St JOhnsbury boy While in Marble
head in June | pleased myself with
reading her new book, Marion Ora
ham, just fresh from the publishing
house of Lee & Shepard. The exter-
nal appearance of the book is very
attractive and as | opened it | knew
that Il feast awaited me- | was not
disappointed.
In vivid and thrilling way the
voice from two generate comes to
us. The story takes us back a quar-
ter century, and though speaking to
us with that distant voice, yet feels
the thrill of our own day. 1t shows
most effectually the wonderful change
in the society girl in the last twenty
five years. AS we run over the
Browning clubs, the Endeavor socie-
ties, the Kings Daughters, organiza-
tons, and many others, we can
hardly realize that there was ever a
day when girl did not know who
wrote 'Thanatopsis, y or when she
was so tedious and tasteless as Julia
and LenOra. Marion Graham and
Maurice V1ntOn are really in love,
though their St1lted way of express
ing IT somewhat cOnceals the fact.
They are in every way worthy of
each other, SO far as culture and So
cial position and character are con-
cerncd. Her religious faith and his
unbelief separate them, and the dis |
cusSiOns between them on religious |
topics are conducted with dignity |
and refinement. The theological |
critics will attack the book as too |
progressive or as too conservative,
as breaking always from old moor
Ings or as not striking boldly out to
sea When the heresyhunter puts in
his thumb, he can pull out plums like
these: Suppose one of the three
wise men from the East had died on
his way to the Manager seeking Jesus,
but not having found him, seeing the
Star of Bethlehem but not the rising
sun, would he have been doomed to
hell, while the others who found
what they sought were admitted in
to heaven ?" Il trust it is not pre-
sumption for me to say that some
where, somehow, sOmewhen | be
lieve, | cannot help believing that He
will provide an opportunity for
every one to behold the Light of the
world, to embrace the Life of the
world, even the Lord Jesus Christ"
Old Elsie is an exceedingly interest
ing character, and her conversatiO tons,
though far from grammatical, are at
tractive and valuable SeIfsacrifice
is not usually reckoned among the
manly virtues, so that Messrs. Sun
derland and VintOn stand out in
grand relief from q background of
selhshness and tyranny. The story
Is fascinating, its characters admira-
bly, drawn and its plot skillfully de
veloped. The average novel reader
Will be disappointed that Marion
does not marry Vinton but banishes
him to China, but this whole NOR
tai life is full of miseries and signed
on every side with crosses"
Bishop Huntington of New York,
who would like to see the book III the |
homes of all classes, says: 1T IS a
thank-wOrthy service to letters when |
the genius of authorship consecrates |
itself to the sacred interests of char |
actcr and Christian truth; and it |
will be blessing to our people and |
our age when books like this are sub |
stItnted in the homes of all classes, |
for fictiOns that are without princi-
pie, without faith, and without intel
IectuaI ability" 1t was never so true
as now that "ofmaking many books
there is no end" Among the many
there Is only now and then one wor-
thy of careful reading and exhaustive
study. gladly leave the diaries of
empty-headed, cOnceited children. |
even venture to breathe a sigh of re-
lief as place George Meredith on the
shelf and turn to the refreshing leaves
of the book which is fragrant with
memories of the grand old rocks and
musical surf of Marblehead.
{. NJ.
Brooklyn, n. Y, Aug. 10.
HOW NEWS COMES OUT OF THE SEA.