The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-11

tons which stoned him, and hated
bravely the world in which his youth
had found no love. 1.-THE genius which
might have created was exerted to de-
stroy. The brilliancy which might
have won love was given in hate.
| The strength which might have emo
! bled could only embitter. He had suf-
fered, and against the things where
! by ne had suffered his voice was lift
! ed. Had his life been otherwise, the
! strength might have been welded to
| gentlenesS, the courage to humanity.
! But otherwise it had not been. Cir
cumstances are mighty, and man is
weak. The wheel of the potter grinds
on and the clay is moulded into symme-
try and distorted by mishap. If it Is
misshapen by the mishap, is 1t the
| fault of the potter or the clay?"
Against the institutions of society
! that had made him what he was, he
| took up the weapons of bitterness and
scorn that had been forged by them
for his destruction. Nothing had come
| into his life to teach him self -knowl-
edge or self-control, everything had
| entered in to develop resistance and
1 destructiyeness. What wonder that in
the violence Of his blind struggle he
! destroyed himself and those who had
| come to love him!
In subtle contrast to Michael Acker-
| SHIN is John Driscoll, his friend y
! man whose nature contains every shade
/ Of delicate complexity-the complement
! to the almost primitive directness of
the nero; man who possesses the
| self understanding and restraint almost
| unnecessary for him. but which would
| have been the salvation of the other.
| But perhaps the greatest difference be-
| tween the two friends is DriscoIl's
! acute sense of humor which poor Mich
| ael absolutely lacks.
! The loadstar of the book is Rachel
| Gavin, woman constant, wholesome,
! beautiful. Clear-eyed and soul-con-
! scious, she chooses her way and makes
! it pure because she is so.
| THE Descendant" is a novel with
| out guide posts, and great will be the
! clar2Or of those who are unable TO
| perceive the moral trend of a story
uL-ess these indicators are at all ques-
| ionable corners. Certainly in this book
| there are no set hands pointing in old,
| fashioned phrase: This is the way
! that leadeth to destructiOn;" and those
! who can not judge the morals of a
tale by its fruits will find here much
! to declaim against.
1t may be claimed that there is
nothing conclusive about The De-
| scendant;" that the snarls of circum,
| stances are left unraveled and social
| problems ~propounded to which the
! novel offers no solution. The artist $
| work is not always to level dangerous
mountain passes, but to paint them;
| not to provide shelter from the rain,
i but to catch the colors of the bow. We
/ accept from the painter a picture of
| turbulent water, Of trees flashing in
| the violence Of mysterious winds, OF
| drifting clouds and uncertain distances
| hidden in formless mists, and do not
| ask from the artist a scientific ex,
| position of the phenomena or a reason
able charm for the quelling of natures
storms. Why not accord an author the
| same grace?
C'The Descendant" published by Harper &
Brothers. $1-25 For sale by the st. Paul
Book and Stationery company)
| Death and Afterwards" is a little
volume bound in grewsOme black and
red and avowedly intended for Lenten
reading. After reading Sir Edwin Ar
nold's beautifully written essay, re-
! printed now from the fourteenth Eng
| lish edition. one is persuaded that it
| is offered to the American public in a
! mistaken dress and with a misleading
! introduction.
| The essay should be called "ImmorI
tality, be bound in white and gold and
recommended for Easter reading
! Never the spirit was born, the spirit will
cease to be never;
Never was time it was not; end and beginning
are dreams;
Birthless and deathless and change,ess re-
maineth the spirit forever;
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though
| the house of it seems.
This, from the Song Celestial" strikes
| the keynote Of the essay. 1t has been
| deserVedly popular in England, and will
dl.I lNt find Il
ers on this side.
| C'Death and Afterwards" by Sir Edwin
Arnold. New Amsterdam Book company.
| New York. 60 cents)
| kitty the Rag is an Irish story by
| Rita, in which the incidental charac-
| tiers are very much more edifying than
the main props of the edif1ce Kitty is
a very beautiful and very dirty little
! girl. who resides with Biddy Mcguire
| and is the mystery of the country side
| The ambition of her soul is to be a
''lady'-an ambition which carefully
| arranged circumstances most kindly
| fulfill. Through the help of Mr. Mas
! den, the English landlord, who has a
scheme of vengeance which he thereby
gratif1es, Kitty is sent to school, and
| eventually becomes lady" of the larg-
| est estate in the county. Biddy Ma
| guire is really interesting and pathetic,
| Is perhaps lIlo pest excuse the
| author offers for the books existence.
| CtKitty the Rag" by Rita" R. F. Fenno
& Co. $1.25. For sale by the st. Paul Book
| and Stationery company
In "Tatterley. the Story Of a Dead
Man" the hero is given that rare ad-
vantage. ito see himself as others see
him." Gable Fry is an old man whose
| whole life has been given up to money
| getting and money keeping. He is a
| nothing Of his relatives and greatly
| fears that his nephew and rightful
heir, a young artist Of promise. will
| make ducks and brakes" of a for
tune. so he changes his will. Tatterley,
his servant and other self in appear
ance, when called upon to witness the
new will pleads with Gable not to cut
| off the boy; Fry goes out to post the
| will to his lawyer and on his return
| finds Tatterley dead. He changes clothes
| with his dead servant and announces
that Gable Fry is dead. In this way he
| thinks he will be able to see how his
| death affects his relatives and what
use they will make Of his money. When
IL is too late he realizes that his story
| will never be believed and that he
must remain Tatterley to the end. Pow
| erless to hinder he sees his unworthy
| heir misuse his wealth and realizes the
! worth of his discarded nephew. How
| ever, as "Tatterley," he does more good
! in the world than Gable Fry had ever
| dreamed of and as Tatterley he died
| and was mOurned as Gable Fry had not
| been.