The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-18
NEW BOOKS.
DRief Reviews OF Important ana Interesting
View Publication.

HFier Reviews OF Important ana nntsrestinR
View Publication.
There 10 a story Of q wood carver who sought
Tor years to attain an ideal. He procured for
himself a great variety Of exotic and costly
woods, all OF which were Of no help to him. and
rewarded him only with the memory Of their
great expense. Finally one evening as he sat
casing droamily and despondently into the nre.
an inspiration seized him; he caught up u half.
burned stick from the fading embers, set to
work upon II with a chisel that he was hardly
conscious OF directing. and produced q master.
piece. The moral OF this is, Of course,
that tho artist does we'll to avail
himself Of the material which lies close
at hand; a d It Is true that a great many sincere
friends OF MIR. II. Y. Chatne ED. Taylor desire
most earnestly that he would writo q novel
about the Princess Eulalia and the Duke OF
VeraguN, who enjoyed through him the free
dom OF the city OF Chicago when they came to
this country from Spain TO do honor to the great
columbus celebration OF several years ago.
contrary to what everybody has persistently
hoped and expected, none OF the several novels
which Mr.. Chatield. Taylor has published has
been concerned with the Princess and tho Duke.
Or course. literally this may be said to be exotic
material, but everybody feels that 1t Is pos
sessed of the potcntiality OF inspira-
tion, and that 1t would grow into an
oASoOuihkiy interesting mover unuer MT.
Chatield-Taylor's shaping. 1t can hardly be
said to DO strange and deterring material to
him. However, in the absence of that which We
desire. we should. doubtless be thankful for
what we can get, and Tho Vice OF Fools" by
this experienced and gifted author Herbert S.
Stone & Coz will keep alive q fame which
promises to DO secure. even through the Duke
and the Princess should be ignored forever. Mr..
Chatield.Taylor according to report, invented
q year or two ago the plan, said to be very val.
uable in Chicago. OF changing ones clothes in q
cab. so that one may 60 with the least possible
delay from business to any sort Of formal
evening entertainment. Whether this 70.
port 10 true or not, It seems to contain
. very valuable suggestion. and there is no
reason why anybody should.be ashamed to have
invented a plan OF the sort. At the same time
1t is not to be denied that there is no particular
need to elaborate such a plan In a novel, unless
one is a very scrupulous reRlist indeed, and we
hasten to say that in Tho Vice OF Fools" no.
body changes his clothes in q cab. and that 1t is
not at all essential to the plot or necessary to
the general interest Of tho story tina; anybody
should. A certain disappointment attaches to
the fact that THE Vice of Fools" is n story
of Washington instead of a story Of Chicago.
In an earlier novel Mr.. Ch~atheld.Taylor slew
the nearer wish and chilled the larger enthusiasm
OF his friends by slighting Chicago and devot-
tne his attention to the British aristocracy. As
we remember that story the heroine, who was
the daughter Of a Chicago shoe dealer, and who
always had u plenty Of very nice shoes in conse-
Quence, spent most of her time In England
riding race horses, p~lunging at cards and study
ing escutcheons dating back to the time of the
Conquest. returning to Chicago for a supper of
griddle cakes only at the very end Of the book.
The characters In the new story include O
worthy young Lieutenant of cavalry, who dis
tnguisbes himself In a labor riot by engaging
successfully In q boxing match with a burly and
arrogant butchers; an unworthy diplomutist, o
halfworthy General. a beautiful girl torn be-
tween love. avarice andlrevenge. and a widow
who says such rude things that she would surely
DO bastinadoed If she said them in Chi a. 1t
leaves an agreeable impression that the girl
should discover the perfdy of the diplomat; that
tho General, a sort Of jugger aut OF political in
Auence and wealth, should die providentially
after a due period Of remorse: that the beautiful
and distracted girl should reward the Lieuten-
ant who licked the butcher, and that the rude
widow shout succumb to the destinations of an
elderly foreigner a.-iost as rude as herself.
Mr.. Chatfeld-Taylor is to no congratu-
lated upon a story which deals out JUS
tice and provides n dialogue that is bril-.
liant. even tit is somewha formidable. The
reader will perceive that it is the desire of tho
eutuoT W pTcScnL IN IDlS mover a group or DeO-
PIE who are clever and worth while. Undoubt-
edly he has been successful. and we are free to
say in regard to the characters in 1.-THE Vice of
Fools that we have frequently been betrayed
into much worse company.
In king Washington, a Romance of tho
Hudson Highlands" by Adelaide skeel and
William II. Brearley (Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia we have another of the stories
founded upon the incidents, historical or tradi-
tonary, OF the colonial and Revolutionary
periods. Perhaps nobody nowadays is qualified
to tell us just what Washington was like. There
arc stories about him-s,ories similar to those,
In regard to other historic characters, which o
Columbia College professor has lately declared
are the most interesting things of record. In this
story there is no great liberty taken with Wash
ington. The utmost is a curtain lecture, in which
Washington Ia rebuked by his stately wife
for paying too much attention to the wife of
Gen. Knox. The dialogue Is not exactly veri-
similar, but 1t can only be doubted. and not
positively be denied, that anything like 1t ever
occurred. Probably these incidental matters
are no OF great consequence, since fiction Is not
yettaken as seriously as Mr.. Howells and others
like him hope that 1t will be. What is certain 10
that Miss Skeel and Mr.. Brearley have produced
. very readable story. Here is a woman spy in
che guise OF a man. plotting to kidnap Washing
Ton. and here Is q love story of much interest,
the outcome doubtful and properly deferred,
nicely interviewer with the main idea. Tho rec
ommendation Of the tale is its readableness-cer-
tainly a good recommendation. One wants to
know how the love affair will end, even If one
10 In no doubt as to whether Washington will be
delivered. Evidently a good deal OF historical
study has been expended upon the story. It
moves In an atmosphere which is reasonable IL
not absolutely accurate. Moreover. 1t is recon-
mended by the dramatic quality. 1t is we'll
written, except for an occasional cloudiness
as to the distinction between who and
whom" To say "The man whom he was
sure had been out for no good purpose"
(page 1914. and "Sallie had no mind to confess
an intimacy with one man to another whom she
fancied crayed "A like preference" Is not to be
quite accurate. But these are little matters in
q generally good story; and. as we say, king
Washington" is told with a good deal of dramat-
10 understanding, and is distinctly readable.