The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-16

longer tho botrayer Of 1ucrezin and the crafty
rake Of the EARLIER edition and Of Brown
ing's poem. but "a man VIII gave up
his ecclesiastical b~onoGcos and lived poor,
hat he might profit by the disponsation
OF tho Vatican and mako Lucrczia his wife"
Perugino' the mlsor. 10 proved to have boon q
generous Riyer, and Andrea Dial Castagno, Tor
four centuries held up as an assassin, is snow
known to have died some years before his sup
posed victim. The short preface gives a survey
OF the Held OF art criticism and research from
1850 to the present day, while the photography
pre1xed to each life. and the copious notes COM
plete one OF the most valuable, and certainly tho
most interesting, contribution 10 the literature
OF art that has been issued in recent years.
Mr.. Grant Allon IN tho role OF q modern
prophet Is by no means unamusing. Seated
upon his hilltop. his head in tho clouds. and the
barbario British empire at his feet, and
launching, from time TO time, a pronunciamento
against marriage or such other institution as
may not meet with his approval, ho is a majes-
tic figure upon whom the Spirit OF Comedy.
lowering In tho upper mir, might not disdain to
smile. As an unconscious humorist no is sec
ond only to Mr.. Hall Came, who, as an OK.
ponent OF the art of being funny without
meaning 1t, has reached tho point OF genius.
In A African Millionaire" edward Ar
noldl Mr.. Allen, having put Off, for the mo-
mont, the robes of the prophet, writes dcliber-
ately as a humorist-with serious results. Sir
Charles Vandrift, n millionaire and famous
1nancier from South Africa, is pursued and VIC
tinized by n most accomplished scoundrel.
gifted with a phenomenal facility in assuming
disguise. The story, which consists OF a series OF
episodes in which the sharper, in various wigs
and false noses, swindles the millionaire, is told
by tho private secretary and brothcr-in-law OF
Na-IrtfN eco n,,n ~ t,, ax,,,lIan ho 10 hnop
described, the story. through lack of construc-
tive skill and lightncss OF touch in its narration,
begins to grow monotonous. The characters. in
themselves, are all equally unattractive. and
such interest as Is aroused in tho first few chap
tiers soon flzzles out. We prefer the prophet on
his hill top.
Phyllis was a pleasant girl VINO wore pretty
clothes and lived in Arcadia, which, Is situated
somewhere in the moro remote parts OF New
England. She had. to amuse her, the society Of
her maiden aunt and n young man who talked
beautifully and sang German songs with a
Boston accent-not to mention the geese and
the brindle COW. And yet she was not happy.
She wanted to go to Bohemia and see tho
people that mako the world" Now Bohemia,
as, by this time. everybody knows. lies duo
south of Washington Square. SO Phyllis and
the young man (who Is very rich and Is to
marry her some dayl. came to New York, rented
a fiat. hired q chaperon, and set out to study
genius in Its native haunts. Their adventures
are pleasantly told BY Messrs. L. II. Bickford
and Richard tillman Powell in Phyllis In
Bohemia" III. 8. Stone s. Co.I The land Of
spaghetti and bad claret has Of late received
rather moro attention from young writer's than
It is worth. but these gentlemen have studied it
from q fairly non.sentimental point Of view,
and there is some truth in their estimate Of tho
joys Of a life about which much nonsense has
been written.
Up the Matterhorn in o Boat the Century
Company Ia the title of a story by Mrs. Marion
Manville Pope, in which two men and a dog set
out in an airship on an imaginary voyage among
the Swiss mountains. In the appreciation Of the
humorous, as in so many other Of the things In
life. much depends upon the point Of view.
Whereas for ono species of intelligence the very
essence of humor will lie in q luminous contem-
plation Of the eternal incongruities of life, for
another the fact that some funny fellow makes
q simple statement and then says init" at
the end Of 1t, will be matter sufficient for most
satisfying mirth. Hence any expression of opin-
ion on what is obviously meant to be a work Of
humor is unnecessary, and might also be mis-
leading. On page 81 the travellers find an Eng
lshman buried in the snow. They dig him out
and thaw him, and on page 1919 he manages to
" - JohS bAd ess SNto " @NAA - - -
pen.and-ink sketches are neat and finished.
Bishop W. J. Gaines. d. D.. of Georgia. says,
in the preface to his book 1.-THE Negro and tho
White Man" "a. NJ. E. Publishing House, Phil.
adelphia, Pal: at has been my purpose for
years to put my views on the so-called Negro
Question into permanent form. . Sc
far as I know I am the first Of my race
to take up and discuss in q systematic
form 1this question in all its aspects and
phases. " . = have striven to divest myself
OF all prejudice and bias, and to discuss the
great question with honesty, candor, and, above
all, with a purpose TO accomplish good. have
no resentments to indulge. no race prejudices to
ventilatc. no animosities to crafty. . 1
would close. rather than widen the breach, II
there be any. between the races. . l
would. in these pages, reach the heart and
conscience OF my own race and help thom to
broader views. better living. and nobler aspira-
lions. . . "
The gradual growth and development in
America of the negro race is traced In a series OF
interesting chapters marriage. homo life, and
the capacity for higher education are consid.
cred, and in the final chapter, entitled IAN APP.
peal to Our Brother in white" Bishop Gaines
concludes with the statement that all his people
ask is a fair show in the struggle of life.
Mr.. Charles Thaxter Hill, an artist who for
| many yenIS uho tuAcu u BICdL lutcTcSJ III tlo
work of the Fire Department, has prepared a
volume entitled Fighting a Fire" tthe Cen.
tury Company. with u number of illustrations
from his own drawings. These illustrations are
full of spirit and excellently reproduced, and the
book, which is dedicated to the officers and men
Of the Fire Department of Greater New York,
gives a full and interesting account of the
working Of the greatest fire service Of any city
In the world.
Mr.. William u. P. Bliss has edited and the
Funk s. Wagnalls Company has published an
Encyclopedia of Social Reform" which will
be of considerable value to the students of DO.
liticai economy and OF social science.' In
spite of imperfections, the work IL accurate on
the whole, and is brought down to a very recent
date. The imperfections would seem to lie not
SO much in mistakesand misstatements as In the
bias given to several Of the articles by their
writer's. and to the inadequate treatment OF
other articles. Instances OF the latter fault are
the articles on the pullman Strike and on
Lord Brassey, called In the encyclopaedia ISL