The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-12
xEK RooKR.
,r,.s Reviews or Important and Interesting
New Publication.

Rrief HeNtoNN ~ hnFVEtaae ~ hHtNbNANN"b |
View Publications.
u 4. probablo that authentic history does not
,ocord the fact that any man has refused three
lines to DO a candidate Of either Of the regular
narties for the Presidency OF tho United States.
Tbc vanity Of Americans In this particular In
BADLY to DO measured, and, even II they havo
,he fortitudc to refuse once, the second offer In
nrctty sure to catch them. Tho late Horatio
SEYMOUR, n man OF undoubted determination
md s~eltpoise. 10 an instance In point. Ho do
CARED, with forcible and unquestionable sin
o,rily, Your candidate I cannot be" but whom
Tho convention, with the overpowering en-
,husiasm that occasionally distinguishes such
bodies, rose to its feet and insisted thunder
ou.ly upon It's w view of tho mat
lar. he became . candidate notwith-
,rg. EXCEPT in tho school OF Mr.. Howells.
hovoycr, 1t lie hardly to DO contended that q
.hor.ctor OF fiction In bound by tho facts reeu-
l,tInc an actual nominee. and in Gertrude
Athcr;on's clever story. II Fortunate Grace"
ID. Appleton & Cob there can DO no question
that the distinguished Wall street operator. Mr..
Forbes, whose refusal to run any risk Of being
made the head OF the nation 10 persistent and In.
,urmountablc, is q reasonable and proper figure,
because, OF course, he is accountable to Mrs.
Atherton alone. Caesar is supposed to have been
,omething OF a hypocrito whom. upon three
0kICUlhllOhn ' - ~ N"Ns $50 SahNh
crown; but Mr.. Forbes, according to Mrs.
Atherton, was perfectly sincere. He was salts.
0ed TO rule tho stock market. and to put
one million upon another at intervals
az nbout a month. As he was So years
old, there Is no reason to doubt that he was
worth a great deal. He was incontrovortibly in
A position to afford to his beautiful and ambi.
,ious wife "a cool million in jewels alone" and
he could hardly have folt in u material way tho
rif, of SIS, 900. 900 to the perfectly ingenious
English Duke who married his daughter.
though the Circumstance was exceedingly gall
ing to a certain primitive Americanism which
distinguished him in a high degree. These ex-
al,ed pcrsonagcs In fiction are frequently found
ed upon n writer's observation of individuals in
actual life, and we have no doubt that Mr..
Forbes will readily be fitted with a living
prototype. though we cannot at tho mo-
ment recall anybody who would be
likely at tho sam time to spurn tho
American Presidency and to object to a
duke Of the British peorage for n son-in-law.
Mrs, Athcrton's story illustrates the manner in
which British dukes conduct their conquests Of
heircsscs in this country. The Duke of Bos.
worth. here celebrated. is a fairly intelligent por.
son, though he is not exactly calculated. as Mrs.
Atherton points ont, either intellectually or by
reason Of any OF his manly charms, to hypnotize
ANYBODY. He is rather bored by the several
heiresses that he undertakes. but he is fortunate
In a certain dull fxity of purpose. and it may be
that he apprehends the possibility of a Just
compensation. and understands that, II tho
heiresses bore him. it is further true that
he is fitted to be depressing to the heir
esses. Mrs. Anterior satiriZes everybody very
well-at least, everybody that deserves 1t.
The circumstance that Mrs. Forbes refur-
nishes her husbands bedroom every four years,
while Mr.. Forbes is away at the national con-
~vention, illustrates the fact that a man. no mat
ter how powerful he may be in his public asso-
Citations, is very likely to be subordinate and
oppressed at home; and Mrs. Atherton's re.
marks concerning the American named Davis,
who, having visited London, calls himself
"Daivis," and speaks Of the Princess OF
WALES " and of the daily newspaper" will
afford matter for reflection to those zealots in
this community who have modelled their pro.
nunciation of the English language upon that
afforded by Mr.. Albert Chevalier in his songs OF
the costers. 1t Is true. we believe, that neither
Mr.. Disraeli nor Cardinal Manning spoke coster
and il Sir Henry Irving, in the character Of Mac
beth. uses language that is rather noticeably in
genious and queer. it il still certain that one
may speak otherwise without violence to cor.
tain high English precedents-
The many readers to whom NJ. Maurice
Naeterlinck is known as the author Of La
fTnCeSbe llhloinc dnu othcE Nj
may now. in Tho Treasure Of the Humble -"
Dodd. Mead & Col, Judge Of him in his
more congenial character Of philosopher and
estheticisn. The present volume is made
up of ten short essays. translated from
the French by Mr.. Alfred Sutro, and preceded
BY a short critical introduction by Mr.. A. B
Walkley. Reversing the course prescribed by
Mr. squeers for his pupils" says Mr.. walkley
IN. Maeterlinck, having cleaned w.i-n-d-e-r
winder. now goes and spells it. He began by
viSualizing and synthetizing his ideas Of life
here you will find him trying to analyze those
ideas and consumed with anxiety to tell the truth
that is in him. 1t is not q truth for all markets
he is at no pains to conceal that. He appeals. al
every mystic must, to the elect" To those whc
make no claim to be OF the eloct, or to possess
the power Of grasping the shadowy abstraction.
Of modern mysticism, the volume will be inter
esting as one of the most notable contribu
lions to that literature OF quietism, o.
delicate sadness, that has succeeded the lit
srature OF pain. revolt, and blasphemy that
In France, was the product Of an era o.
spiritual and intellectual doubt. In "Tht
Awakening OF the Soul, ;" Mystic Morality
"The Tragical in Daily Life" THE Invislbl,
Goodness" Tho Inner Beauty" and othel
essays II. Maeterlinck proclaims his belief il
the Importance Of those things pertaining to tn,
Invisible world as compared with the merely
physical side of daily life. To him it is tn,
mysterious and the inexplicable that makel
life worth living. He avows himself .
disciple Of Novalis, Of Ruysbroeck. and
above all. of Plotinus. whose intellect
"of all known to me. draws neares
TO the Divine:' and. while he makes no attemp
to proselytize, to formulate a creed. or oven t
persuade his reader to follow him in his wan
derings amid the shadows OF tho unseen world
ne yet whispers very softly and seductively o
those noble thoughts that pass across the hear
like great white birds. ofthe significance OF hum
Die gestures and Of futile words. tho beauty o
our higher nature, and the power Of the humbles
to fashion, after a divine model that he choose
not,a great moral responsibility, composed il
equal parts OF himself and the ideal;' and
behind all his sadness is a spirit of childlike can
dor and .belier in mankind that compels respec
and should make the scoffer silent. In his essa!
on Women" as in his presentation of thos
symbolic phantoms that figure as women In hi