The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-19
, CONCERNING BOOKS.
BY e. cAvAzzA.


seriously and with project courage strives to
to wrest the truth from every fact and con-
dition of life. Her mind seems an inheri-
lance from the Puritans, her heart a protest
against them; and these two join their
forces In speculations at once audacious and
compassionate. Among the seven essays Of
which the volume is composed, perhaps the
first, What is Fact? is the strongest;
while the final paper, upen the Psychicsl
Wave is the most imaginative. Mrs. Wards
style is, as style should be, the close and
flexible expression of her thought. Not in
frequently 1t is highly dramatic and poetic !:
sometimes it falls into a nervously tense
staccato and an epigrammatic sharpness
that is less agreeable. Boston: Houghton,
Miffin & Co.; Portland: Loring. Short g.
Harmon. Price S1.25.)
The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to
Miss j. 1S34-1S5l. Edited by Christine Ter
hume Herrick. Mrs. Herrick is entitled to
the fame of the discoverer of the most hope
lessly unloyely woman who, probably ever
lived. All that self-conceit, sanctimonious-
ness, narr0wness of mind, ill-temper, imper-
Thence and jealousy can combine in doing
to make human being disagreeable is typi-
fed in this Miss j.
At the age of twenty she had succeeded in
converting condemned criminal to pious
frame of mind; and when he was duly hung,
she looked about her for new object for
ghostly admonition. She bethought her of
the Duke of Wellington--at the time, she
records. she was not aware that he was the
conqueror of Bonaparte and did not know
when the battle of Waterloo took place-so
her interest in the Duke seems to have been
on spiritual or social basis. She knew
he was man and brother, also Duke and
widower. After resorting to her Bible for
a text, taken at haphazard, which should
direct her. she entered upon the task of con-
verting the hero. One fancies that any text
from Genesis to Revelations would have
confirmed her in her own purposes! She
began the siege In a fashion oddly innocent
and impudent. The Duke tried all means to
rid himself of her unfortunate letters; he be-
gan with gallantry-if not excusable, at least
not unnatural under the circumstances-an
she Immediately posed as virgin martyr
He tried stately courtesy, and she com planned
In voluminous letters. He suggested, he
requested, he insisted that the correspond
ence should close; and was answered
with quires of querulous, incoherent.
peevish epistles. An. incomprehensi-
bly, enough, the Duke seems to have
had certain degree Of affection, the
result, perhaps. Of his great kindliness of
heart and Of the long habit of acquaintance,
for this impossible Miss j. She remains
psychological problem, of which bigotry and
hysteria appear to be two of the factors
At all events, her letters are very tiresome
reading; and except as a curiosity of history
connected with the Iron Duke, are hardly
worth the trouble of attenti N. New York !:
Dodd, Mead Sc Co.; Portland: Loring,
Short & Harmony Price $175.
Five Thousand Miles in Sledge. By
Lionel T. Gowing. Now that Russia and the
Russians occupy SO greatly the attention of
the more sophisticated and confirmed civili-
zations-any well-written book on the sub
ject is sure of interested readers. Mr. Cow
ing's account of his mid-winter journey
across Siberia is worth reading, both for its
material and its agreeable style. He does
not undertake to pronounce upon the social
or political conditions of the country, or the
wrongs and sufferings of the Russian exiles;
for he saw everything from the outside point
of view of traveller He processes to de.
scribe the vicissitudes and they were not
few--of a journey from Coroa, ACROSS 6lpe-
ria to st. Petersburg in the winter season.
Since Mr.. G0wiHg's sledge ride, has been
projected a railway connecting Tomsk and
Stretensk with the Baikal Sea and another
from Lake Khanka to Vladivostok, which,
If brought to completion, will enable the
traveller to cross the two continents Of Eu-
rope and Asia entirely by steam. Yet. in
Mr.. Gowing's opinion, cold, clean, sledge
town has many points Of superiority over the
heated, dirty. uncomfortable and mosquito
beset summer travel Ia Siberia, as described
by passengers on the steamboats, of its rivers
Mr. Gowing writes in simple, lively style,
with evident intention to describe truthfully
and without exaggeration. While his work
makes no claim to place near the wonder
full investigations of Mr.. Kennan-whose
descriptions Of the exile conveys and prisons
have been not inaptly compared to those of
Dante's Inferno-Mr. Gowing's book has
decided merit as record of unique travel in
a region little familiar. New York: d. APP
pletou; Portland: Loring, Short & Harmon
Lies Long Battle Won. By Edward
Garrett. From Mr.. Garrett's pen, it is natu-
raj to expect story of high and wholesome
ideals. and quiet, well-sustained interest.
This expectation is not disappointed In the
present volume. 1t may be criticised as
sometimes impractical, exaggerated, lacking
In knowledge of the world and social condi-
tions; but 1t must also be said that 1t Is a
book which would leave the reader better.
young heroines, Lesley and Mary. who are
left at the end of the story in different de-
grees and kinds of content; there is grace
less hero and an excellent one; there is a
benevolent middle-aged fairy who works
good somewhat Enthusiastically, who are the
leading personages Of the action. Some Of
the minor characters are sketched very we'll !;
for instance, Miss Bell and Miss Helen, two
maiden ladies with pronounced traits, the
Atdiiun puy anu bu6 lu6
story will please the readers who already
have enjoyed Mr.. CARROTS works. New
York: Dodd, Mead &c Co; Portland: Loring,
Short & Harmon. Price ST.
Allan's Wife and Other Tales. By Rider
Indeed, Mr.. Hsggard's imagina-
ton does not lose courage! The redoubtable
hunter of lions, Allan Quatermain, here tells
The story Of his married life, and the strange
capture of his Stella by woman who had
been brought up from childhood in a village
Of African balloons. Yet with this repulsive
theme, the genuine power of the writer's
style and certain simplicity and sweetness
Of feeling, sustain and relieve the painful
Interest. African magic, somewhat in the
line of that of the Indian Chelas, also plays
q part In the strange story. The three
shorter tales OF the volume are of thrilling
adventures with African lions and buffalos,
told in Mr.. Haggard's nervous and pictur-
esque manner. New York; Harper &
Brothers; Portland: Loring, Short & Har.
mon, Price rs cts)