The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-04-30
VIEW BOOKS RECEIVED.
Some Recent Publications of Notc-"To
Iceward."

THE STORMY PETREL. An historical
romance. BY Colonel John Bowles.
New York A. Lowell & Co. London:
Walter Scott. 81. For sale by West,
Johnston & Co.
On looking backward from the present
time. II is difficult to realize that almost
half a century has passed since the
events related In the opening chapter OF
this little volume occurred. and what
wonders have been wrogght by that
master magician-Timel
on the banks OF that great river, wnere
the little Petrol. bound by law to A
merciless master, was cast, before the
wondering gaze OF the author, upon the
troubled waters OF a stormy life. there
now waves the flag OF freedom for all
men. white and black alike, encompassiag
within it's sacred folds the lowly and the
lofty, the rich and the poor, from the
Gulf of Mexico 10 the St Lawrence. and
from the Atlantic TO the Pacific. The
angry passions OF the border strife, then
Just awakening into fury, have we'll
nigh burned out after terrihc contest
of four years. and the more than TWEEN
ty-five Of recuperation and repose. The
contents OF this story are In a great
measure reminiscent, and the impeiiing
motive in writing. or rather In publish
u.
tiers whose acts and motives have been
too long and widely misunderstood.
Since the passions OF the hour. together
with many OF the chief actors. have
passed away. the author feels at liberty
TO do this act of justice to the memory
of the innocent, without harm 10 the
guilty or fear Of giving pain 10 tne
misguided Of either section. In dealins
with historical events. the author has been
careful to state only what he knows per-
sonally or has upon reliable testimony
while I'm that which relates TO the south-
ern people, he has quite naturally oelns
himself a Southerner, earnestly strlVeh
10 be fair. Having hut few friends 10
reward. and no enemies TO PUNISH 'here
has been nothing extenuated nor aught
set down in malice.
This is a literary copy Of the larger por-
ton of Colonel Bowles' preface TO his
book-and ii furnishes as clear state
ment OF the aim and nature OF the story
as the space allotted for a book notice VIII
allow. AS the author intimates, the
foundation of the novel is fact upon
which a romantic structure has been
built. The literary style is very good:
but I'm no degree distinctive; II is that OF
a hundred stories. based upon episodes OF
slavery days The conversations are
1lN
done. Altogether, "The Stormy Petrol
is pure. interesting. healthy story,
which. II not marked by any very phe-
nomenal power is nevertheless very much
better told than nine out OF ten nara
tives dealing with the same era in the
country's history.
TO LEEWARD. BY F. Marion Craw-
ford. author Of "Mr. Isaac" "Dr. Clau-
dius." "A Roman Singer" etc. Mac
milan & Co. New York and London.
1893. One dollar. For sale py West,
Johnston & Co.
This Lenora was no ordinary girl.
She belonged 10 a small class Of young
women who take n certain delight In
being different from the rest higher,
OF course She had the mist ortuue to be
of mixed race. so far as blood was
concerned for her father was English
and her mother was Russian. It would
probably be hard TO find people more
utterly unlike than these two. for the
beef eating conqueror is one and the
fire-eating Tartar is quite another. while
this unlucky child of an international
parentage had something Of each Her
history-she was twenty-five years OF
age, then-might be summed up in
very few words. An English child, an
Italian girl, a Russian woman Her
father had many prejudices and did not
believe in much: her mother had no
prejudices at all and believed IN every
thing under the sun. and in n few things
besides so that certain evilly disposed
persons had even said OF her that she was
superstitious. There is something in
finitely pathetic about such a growing to
maturity as had made Lenora Carnethy
what she was. Imagine such an ano-
maly as a poor little seed, of which no
one can say whether it is a rose or
night shade. alternately treated as
fair blossom and as a poisonous weed
That is Crawford's mastery painting
Of the early influences that made the
'Lenora'' Of his stQry-it Is also a pro-
phecy and an extenuation of her great
mistake and error-her misplaced love
and her infinite fall. 1t is the fall of a
woman who must be forgiven much be-
cause she loved much" The story is as
familiar TO all Crawford's admirers as
to render a resume Of it's plot and char
acters unnecessary and tiresome. but we
will not weary OF reading IL. woven to-
gether as the incidents are by the hand
of wonderful weaver; a master OF all
the secrets Of the artist to whom all
that is in human nature is an open book.
A RIDDLE OF LUCK. BY Mary Z.
Stone. author OF The Doctors Pro-
tege." "A Fair Plebian," etc. J. B.
Lippincott & Co, Philadelphia. s1.25.
THE POLITICAL WORKS OF ALFRED
TENNYSON. Houghton, Miffiin e. Co..
Boston and New York. For sale by
all newsdealers.
A household edition Of these popular
poems The volume is handsomely IL
Illustrated and the work already has a
large sale.
STORIES OF A WESTERN TOUR. BY
Octave Thanet. illustrated by A. b.
Frost. Charles Scrbner's Sons. New
York. For sale by ]. w. Randolph