Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-20

First Bishop Of Massachusetts. BY Daniel
e Letters ana pa # HdasstSn
Mifin 4 CO. washington: mentano's
Edward Bass was .consecrated first
| bishop of Massachusetts, in f797, and con-
sequentiy one hundred years elapsed be-
fore the record of this important event was
written. The life of Bishop Bass has been
| ignored unjustly by maAy historians ard
! biographers. Puritan MASSACHUSETTS did
| not wholly approve the project of estab-
| fishing in that commonwealth a prelacy
such as had been inaugurated in Connect
| cut, Pennsylvania and New York, and the
| fight against the introduction of the Epis-
copate was one of the fercest conducted
in this country between the descendants of
the Dissenters and the representatives of
| the English Church. Bishop Bass served
! in that capacity seven years, and his pres
ent biOgrapher declares him to have been
| In every way fitted to head the list of dis
| tinguished Massachusetts bishops. a list
| which includes such names as Samuel
Parker, Alexander Grswold Manton East
burn, Benjamin Paddock, Phillips Brooks
| and William Lawrence. The present vol
| ume, the materials for which were gath
| cred with some difficulty, deals with more
| than merely biographical matters, giving
glimpSes of the history of the Church OF
| England and the Episcopal Church in
| Massachusetts,, touching also upon the
formative period of the Church of England
parishes, the prosecutions they suffered,
their controversies, the ecclesiastical causes
that led to the revolution and subsequent
| historical events intimately concerning the
| Episcopal Church. Thus it is of interest
to more than churchmen, as it bears i'm
portantly upon the early records of the re-
public.
THE DECORATION OF .-oUsEs BY Edith
Wharton and Ogden Goldman, ir New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. Washington: Bren-
tanO's.
The authors of this elaborate and beauti-
| fully printed work call attention to the
| fact that since the second quarter of the
present century many influences have op-
| Grated to sever the natural connection be-
tween the outside of the modern house and
| it's interior. A distinction between archi-
| lecture and decoration has been created
by the trend of the times until there is
positive discord in the relations of these
two really inseparable elements. This re-
| suit Is due to the failure of architects to
pay sufficient attention to interior details,
while celebrating the elevations. Mould
| ingS architraveS and corniceS, for instance,
are neglected and the upholsterer is ex-
pected to cover deficiencies with his color
schemes" Blu the collaborators of this
work, the first elementary treatise the
subject that has been published for half
century, see q change for the better in this
country and note that there has been of
late d most advance toward archl-
tectural decorations. The book is devoted
to comprehensive survey of the entire
field of interior decorations and treats in
order of walls doors, windows, fireplaceS,
ceilings, floors, entrances, halls, stairs, va
rlouS apartments, bric-a-brac, and the his
torical tradition that forms artistic at
moSphere about the entire subject. Hand
some plates give pictorial suggestions, il
lustrate the argument and afford samples
of a style of decorative art that is now
much copied. but not revived. These plates
| reproduce many famous examples and are
in themselves a strongly attractive fea-
ture The tone of the work is generally
optimistic. and out of the multitude of prac-
teal suggestions some good should flow.
SPAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BY
Elizabeth Wormley LatIrner Chicago: A. {.
Mc'tlurg g. Co. Washington: Brentano's.
The author here closes q long and yalu-
able series of volumes On modern European
history under similar titles. II Those works
that have gone before refer to France
Russia and Turkey, England, Europe in
Africa, and Italy. Spain is appropriately
at the end of the list in view of her pres
ent relations with the rest Iof the world.
She has gone through many changes dur
ing the century now closing, and it is for
tunate that SO skillful a writer has under
taken a comprehensive review of her en-
tire career during these hundred years.
AHcIe 10 otHeT Sucfl HISTORY now eXtant.
Spain's story of other days has often been
told and the shelves are filled with vol
umes of travel sketches concerning her
many interesting features. Yet the com
plete political record of the nation during
this century had mot been gathered into
one volume until the present work was sent
to press. The necessity for dealing with
still pending events is an embarrassment to
any historian, and especially so to one who
| writes of such n1ooted question as Spains
treatment of Cuba The author of Spain
in the Nineteenth Century avoids all pit
falls, gives the insurgents credit for MAIN
tanning a generally organized campaign
and declares that the results of the war in
the present year seem to favor the Cubans
A postscript tells of the assassination of
Senior Canovas. and thus brings the work
practically up to date.
PORTRAITS AND SILHOUETTES OF MUSI-
RIasnn AN Ema i"n the French Of Camille
Mead " Co. Washington: Brentano's
1t is fortunate that this work has been
translated in order that it may be fully
appreciated by English readers. 1t is less
biographical than critical, and at all times
| apDreciative of the genius of the masters
of music. Half of the book Is devoted TO
the three Italians-Palestrina, Marcello and
Pergolese. Their work is analysed at length
and details of the lives of these great art
lists and musicians are given in well-formed
phrases. The author is keenly sympathetic
in his treatment of the musical theme A
generous space is given to Charles Gou-
nod-indeed, this review is perhaps the
| most complete of any in the volume His
various works are dissected as far as
loving hand can WELD a scalbel and the
author investigates the motive and spirit
of each of the glorious productions of this
master mind. The rest of the book is
given over to 'silhouettes' of Hayden,
Mozart Gluck, Beethoven, Rossini, Web
er. Mendelssohn, Schumann, Auber, Ber-
lioz, Meyerbeer and Wagner. These brief
Papers are mere sketches, only slightly bio
graphical and artistically critical. The pa
pers on Mozart and Beethoven are espe-
cially fervent in their analytical praise.
Finely reproduced portraits are inserted
of all the subjects save Marcello and Per-
golese.
VICTORIAN LITERATL RE: Sixty Years of Books
ana Booknen. BY Clement X. Shorter, author
OF Charlotte BrOntG and He, Circle New
York: Dodd, Mead u Co. Washington: Brel-
tano's.
This volume was designed as Jubilee
publication, to commemorate the sixtieth
year of Queen Victoria's reign, and sure
| ly TO other equal period in English his
i