Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-10-27

| his father one Oh nis peSs .t---.,,t
| Grubbs. marine, whom ne sno, Iii
career In the navy was . most nonor-
| able and inspiring one, and In strIhins
| contrast with that Of the son OF drupos'
who was ashamed Of his fatner.
| The theme of the second story - tns
| occlpation OF Newport. r. J.. by the br,.-
| .sh during the Revolutionary war. anu ..e
capture OF General Prescott by the Amerl-
cans. and the interest centres AZ Inc
adventures OF a patriot boy.
Roth stories are graphically told, ana
abound in dramatic Incidents. yet no
where are the bounds OF probability iran
scended. There Is a healthy lesson IN
each. and the book Is one that we can
strongly advise being placed In the nanus
of boys. The death OF Gruobs' ana tne
hurricane scene In the nrst story; anu .ne
scene in the second story, where the
Young hero sings to an assemblage OF
british officers, testify forcibly to Miss
seawell's diversity Of talent as de-
scrjptiye writer. She has throughout the
volume shown high literary art In as
eliminating between the thrilling and the
sensational and has aimed conscientiously
to draw sharply the line between the ma
tural and the exaggerated. These are
merits which. unfortunately, are lacking
In many Of the boys books Of the day.
A WOMAN IN IT. A Sketch Of Feminine
Misadventure. BY Rita, author Of peg
the Rake" etc. IL mo. 2S5 pages. j. u.
Lippincott & Co. 1895. Price, 81.
The author Of this book writes under
nom de plume" A commendatory
notice on the ny.leaf from the Chicago
Times tells US that her stories are very
gracefully and touchIngly told. Here and
there are CLEANS Of acute and incisiye
thinking, always modest and never
pushed 10 the unpleasant preaching
point"
The presentation OF the author on
the title page sets out In the front the
authorship of precedent literary ventures
the initial of which was peg the Rake"
But for the information Of the Chicago
Times we should never have imagined
that the nom de plume concealed the
name of a woman, to whom could be ac-
credited the merit of being always modest
either In thought or speech. Nor Is the
surprise at the charity of the Chicago
Times. Of readers to whom the type OF
woman, with which they have been IA
miliar has been enshrlned In the daily
life and conversation Of the Virginia
mother wife, sister, and daughter
lessened by the portraits Of the heorine
and the other women who figure In this
work. 1t is a very clever story. very
cleverly told, OF the career Of wonder
fully smart but a very bad woman. an
exaggerated specimen OF the "BecF<1
Sharp" style. The incidents OF her liz
are interesting, and the recital OF her
Screenings and their results Is entertain
Ing but the author puts 1t In very
bad form when she entities the DOCK.
| "a Sketch of Feminine Misadventure
| The truth is, that the book. while not
| subject to the reproach Of the gross SEN
suousness of the offensive French school.
| fingers on the ragged edge Of the debata-
| BILE land, with decided squint in the
direction of the forbidden ground. With
| the "unflattering frankness" which the
author tells us was "the charm or Mrs
Noel Gray" she very well describes
the story OF her life as almost as moral
and interesting as a page Of lola"
It is natural enough for the author to
palliate the offendings Of the child OF
her fancy, and the charity OF "Rita' Is
much more pronounced for the escapades
OF her heroine than it is for the pru-
derry OF the ''unco guild" who do not
relish her type Of womanhood. But 1t is
not over prudish to keep In mind the
trite warning Of the poet, that
Vice is a monster Of so frghtful mein
AS to be hated needs but to be seen
Yet seen too Oft familiar with her face
We first endure, then pity-then en-
brace,
and with this warning in mind. to be
| ever cautious lest too much induigenci
In this style Of literature place the reader
no less than the author. before he or she
| is aware of 1t, in perilous proximity to
| the border lire OF the plying stage.
LEIGHTON COURT. A Country House
Story. BY Henry Kingsley. lSmo.; D.
go. Charles Scribner's Sons. 81. From
]. w. Randolph & Co.
This volume does no discredit to the
established reputation Of the author. AS
the name imports, 1t is story OF moral
| life in the higher social circles OF Eng
land. The moral tone Of the book Is
above exception, and while some Of the
characters are pronouncedly infamous,
their offendings are not portrayed In any
attractive form to enlist the sympathies
of the reader or palliate vice with the
| glamour OF romance.
The heroine is a young woman Of many
graces Of mind and person-educated by
| mother and grandmother according to the
strictest ideas Of feminine propriety OF
| the Hannah More School-and under her
fathers tutoring trained to be good
horsewoman and second to few OF the
sterner sex In fox-chase. She was. how
ever, guilty of the very unmaidenly in
discretion of falling In love. With the
| perverseness not unusual among the vo-
taries or victims Of the little god. her
hayward fancy rejected the urgent suit
OF high-born and distinguished lovers
and expended itself upon a young man
occupying an almost mental position in
| her fathers employment, and so far as
his antecedents were known. bearing the
disrepute Of the bar sinister. She appre-
ciated. however. as fully as any OF her
family the mesalliance which the indul-
gence OF her fancy involved, and main
tains throughout the whole narrative Of
her sore trials the high dignity Of her
maidenly birthright. How she does so.
and how through maze Of impenetrable
darkness her relief is finally worked out
is the thread of this story. We need not
say after this that 1t Is full Of interest.
The unexpected perhaps too frequently
presents itself, but however improbable
never in a form which the Judgment re-
pels as among the impossibilities.
| The characters of the few actors in
this drama are generally well drawn,
and easily recognizable among the asso-
clates Of our personal acquaintance or
contemporary repute. But one Of them
is overdrawn. The creations OF Mephis-
topheles and of Faust are confessedly
mythical. and to this same mythical
class we would assign such an imagined
travesty Of mankind as the Sir Harry
| Poyntz OF this story. Not even the sug-
gestion Of lunacy all the while can re-
! concile our ideas Of man-with all the
faint Of Adams guilt. under the human
izing influence of a Christian age and
| Christian county-with this prodigy OF