The National tribune., 1896-01-09
RECENT LITERATURE.

LITTLE RIVERS A Book of Essays In Profitable
IdIeness BY Henry Van Dyke. Published by
Scribner, New York. Price u.
1t is so charming book one hardly knows
where to begin its praise. 1t is full of that
bright. hearty, everyday philosophy that one
finds in Charles Dudley Warmers Back Log
Studies" and with the love for outdoors. and
the wind and waters, the trees and sunshine
that Stevenson puts in his travels to make them
so delightful. There is just enough personal
ity in the essays to make them companionable.
He quotes Stevenson many, many times, and
evidently is as fond of that writer as one could
wish.
In the first chapter on "little rivers" and
profitable ideness in general, he says: If
an open fire is, as Charles Dudley Warner says
the eve of a room then, surely, 8 little river
NAV be called the mouth, the most expressive
feature of landscape. 1t animates and en-
livens the whole scene. Even a railway journey
becomes tolerable when the track follows q
running stream.
Again: "a river is the most human and
companionable of all inanimate things. 1t
has q life, q character, voice OF its own,
and is as full of good fellowship as sugar
maple Is of sap. 1t can talk in various tones,
loud or low, and of many subjects, grave and
gay. Under favorable circumstances it will
even make shift to sing"
And again: "See how the banks are all
enamelled with the pale hepatica, the painted
trillium and the delicate pink-veined Spring
beauty. little later in the year, when the
ferns are uncurling their long fronds, the troops
of purple and white violets will come dancing
down to the edge of the stream aud creep VEN
turously out to the end of that long moscow
cred log in the water. Before these have van
ished the yellow crowfoot and the ciDqaefoil
will appear, followed by the stargrass and the
loosestrife and the golden st. Johns wort"
He is an enthusiastic angler, and even to one
who loves not the sport, his descriptions OF the
trout. the graylings, the salmon, the stupid
chubs and his beloved ouanniche have q wild
woodsy charm His angling takes him to many
little rivers in Canada, the Adirondacks, in
Scotland, and in the Tyrol. and everywhere
that he goes the fresh breezes, the winds and
the sunshine go with him. and it is almost as
good as a Summer day in the woods to read his
chapters In one part of the Scotch trip. under
the title white Heather" comes an exquisitely
woven chapter about the rare white blossoms,
the Edelwess of the Scotch, and their meaning
truth, friendship and love.
cit is good to be in land, whatever be the
name of the church that teaches il, where the
people are not ashamed to pray. / have
shared the blessing of Catholics at their tables
in lowiy huts among the mountains of the
Tyrol, and knelt with Covenanters at their
household affairs in the glens of Scotland; and
all around the world where the spirit of prayer
is there is peace"
at is not the bonniest blossom of
Scotland (the white heather), but it's the dear
est for the message that it brings. And you
will remember that love is not getting but
giving; not wild dream of pleasure and q
madness of desire-oh, no; love is not that
it is goodness aud honor, and peace and pure
living-yes. love is that; and it is the best
thing in the world and the thing that lives
longest. And that is what / am wishing for
you and yours with this bit of white heather"
He has also some quaint wisdom about women
folk and their fashions, but we want to repeat
lust line or two Of his praise of the ouana-
niche, and then stop: Here let me chant thy
praise, thou noblest and most high-minded
fish; the cleanest FEEDER the merriest liver, the
Hottest leaper, and the bravest warrior of all
creatures that swim. Thy cousin, the trout, IN
his purple and gold, with crimson spots, wears
q moro splendid armour than thy russell and
silver. notified with black, but thine is the
kingier nature"