The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-18

great for the noble work done In the islands by
many selt-sacrihcing men and women, Cathol 0
and Protestant: but, on the other hand, no ono
who knows the Pacific will deny that tho Rev.
Gilead Bawl and his native colleague, the Rev.
Purity Lakolalsi, have many prototypes. The
ignorant South Sea missionary Is. as a humorist
once put II, q good deal like tho man who
tries to teach q COW to climb a cocoanut
tree-and tho native preacher is often like tho
COW who, finding the pasturager rich and luscious
In the cool shade OF the tree, will listen placidly
TO any amount OF exposition of the theory of
climbinE-but doesn't climb far. These Pacific
Tales" will not DO popular as Sunday school lit
%erature. nor will they appeal strongly to readers
who like their fiction watery and sentimental.
but to many they win be welcome by reason of
their strength and their exotic charm, and
there are pages here and there that will bring
back to any one who has lived in those far-away
lands where. rs Stevenson said, "lito 10 most
pleasant and man most interesting memories
Of pleasant beaches. with stretches OF simmer
Ing. sunlit sea and scented palm groves. where
laughing, brown.skinned girls sing love songs
that, once hoard, are never quito forgotten.
There Is an engaging frankness shown in the
opening sentence OF the preface to Mr.. George
saintsbury's monograph on Sir Walter Scott,
which forms the latest volume Of the Famous
Scots Series" tScribnersh. TO the probable
remark that Another little book about
Scott is not wanted 1 can at least
reply that apparently It is. inasmuch as
the publishers proposed this volume to me.
not I to them" A series of biographies of
famous Scots which did not include the author
OF Waverley would be a curious anomaly and
hence. from the publishers point OF view, there
can DO no doubt as to the necessity for this
book. From that Of the reader the necessity Is
not so obvious. Mr.. Saintsbury's prose is ever
polished and pleasant to read, and In spite OF
his tendency to fall at times into a mild face-
tiousness, his critical methods are always
scholarly and his conclusions usually sound.
and hence, though he has little or nothing
that is new to tell us about Scott, his narrative
Is not uninteresting. But in the Journal and in
' Lockhdrt the reader has long had access TO all
the salient facts in SCOTS career, while Mr..
Saintsbury's detailed criticisms of the poems
and novels are often evidently the mere pad
ding that flls out the frame OF c. volume made
to ORDER In spite of the fashionable tendency
among some OF the young literary lions and new
humorists to decry Scott, and to jibe at what
they are pleased to call his lack OF style. and
Notwithstanding the foolish attempts of some
per-fervid admirers of Il later writer to Glorify
their idol by ~exalting him above the earlier and
the greater man, most readers will probably
agree with Mr.. saintsbury when he says: "The
last as the first word about Scott should perhaps
be, Read him. And, as far as may be. read all
OF him."
The Macmillan Company publishes n new and
revised edition Of Mr.. Ernest vizetelly's au-
thorized translation OF NJ. Zola's "Lourdes.' -
the first OF the "Trilogy Of the Three Cities" OF
which the second is Rome" and the third.
which should soon be ready for publication.
paris" "Lourdes. says VI. lola in his preface.
1.-THE grotto, the miracles. are, indeed, the crea.
| A. "a A. !
credulity. which is a characteristic OF human
nature. . Lourdes grew up in spite OF all
opposition, Just as the Christian religion did.
because suffering humanity. in its despair,
must cling to something. must have some hope
and, on the other hand, because humanity
thirsts after illusions. In a word. 1t is
the story OF the foundation of all re-
ligions." This is the greatest OF all NJ.
Zola's books. and many passages are OF
exquisite beauty. while the Objectionable
features that have marred so many of his novels
are here far less conspicuous. The central story
of the young priest and the invalid girl. who
from childhood have loved each other and have
never spoken of their love, Is very tenderly told.
and the picture OF the daily life OF the pill.
grim band Is wonderfully vivid. But the
stifing atmosphere Of the hospital and
the lazar house and tho long and detailed
descriptions of almost every known form
Of loathsome bodily ailment leave the feeling
that In spite OF its vigor and logical power the
book Is the product of q mind that fingers all
too lovingly upon the morbid and the unwhole
some. Over the whole there falls the shadow OF
q dull, memorable fatalism. a hopeless creed that
finds expression in the last few sentences:
"Ah! unhappy mankind, poor. ailing human
ity. hungering for illusion. and in the WEAKNESS
of this waning century distracted and sore from
having too Ereedily acquired science; 1t fancies
itself abandoned by the physicians OF both the
mind and the body, and, in great danger of sue.
cumbing to incurable d sease. retraces its steps
and asks the miracle of its cure OF the mystical
Lourdes of a past forever dead!"
There is plenty Of rattle and bang and " go -
about the short stories told by Mr.. Cy. warman
in THE Express Messenger and Other Tales OF
the Rail" tScribnersb. Fights with Indians in
the old pioneer days OF the Union Pacific. ad
ventures with runaway engines and crazy
engineers, the romances Of the railroad thirty
years ago, are described with o breeziness and a
bluff, hearty humor. and with a touch
of rude poetry that no writer hitherto, with the
exception Of Mr.. K~ipling. has associated with
the locomotive. From the opening pages, with
their vivid. clean-cut description of a cloud
burst In the mountains, to the end, these
stories hold the attention. and here and
there a quaint figure In the vernaculaI
OF inc DTdkclDdu Ut lHc prairie Ballot
tickles the ear with its appropriateness
As when tn devil" engine, with a bad record
and fresh from the repairing shops, is described
as " wild. hayward. and disreputable sister
all gaudy in her new paint, with changing bel
and blowing steam, with polished headlight and
new flags iuttering at her shoulders" gliding
backward " like o gay girl ON roller skates
Mr.. Warman In all these stories writes
of matters that he understands. and hil
pages are fu ! of little touches that show thu
hand OF the man who knows his subject. mo
one railroad employee in a dozen" says he. "wil
admit that he is the least little bit superstitious
but watch them when they see a new moon. anC
II nine out OF ten don't go down in thei
clothes and turn over silver it's be
cause they are broke and In the lief
breast pocket Of three out Of every fv'
switchmen you meet. sand wiched In between
a lead nencil and a tooth brush, you will fnC
the fuzzy foot of a graveyard rabbit, killed in thu
dark of the NOON" Here are a few lines from