The herald., 1898-11-13

THE MODERN MAN AND MAID. by
Sarah Grand. I. Y. Crowell Il Co.
THE Modern Girl" 1.-The Modern Young
Man." 'On the Choice of Wife" and ION
| the Choice Of a Husband" are the four sub
| titles of this wise and sensible treatise.
| Nine. Grand has much sympathy with the
new ideals of the new woman. She speaks
with admiration of the girl alert and
strong, proud of her superabundant vital
| ity, her joy in life and action. steering her
way on her bicycle through the crowded
| street, and bound also to make her way
| through life with the same grace and skill.
but she thinks there is danger lest the Pc
cuiiarly feminine qualities of gentleness,
kindness and truth may suffer. and that
the women exposed to all the rivalries of
the world may become hard and coarse
and unladylike.
There is something very plain and very
strong in this volume. and nothing better
in style or more wholesome in tone can be
found in all the books of the year. Such a
volume makes a most sensible gift for any
season.
THE CITY OF BROTHERLYl LOVE
ILLUSTRATED PHILADELPHIA !:
THE PLACE AND ITS PEOPLE. By
Agnes Repplier, author of Essays in
Miniature" Points of View" etc. Full
page Photographic reproduc ctions and
drawings especially prepared by f. c.
Peixotto. Cloth, crown Svo., 80. The
Macmillan company.
What Miss Grace King made of New Or
leans in her remarkable book Miss Agnes
Repplier has made of Philadelphia. If it
was ever thought to be dead, as some jokers
have said. she has made 1t alive and throb-
bing with interest. Mr. Peixotto's draw
ings have added greatly to the picturesque
ness of the volume. which, all in all, is one
H., Of
Carlysle 1t was who said that a peoples
history should be their bible. and surely the
annals of the fine old city of Philadelphia
should be enough to inspire her citizens
to great deeds and great hopes in all the
future for no American city is richer in
history.
In her introduction Miss Reppiier says:
Every community, like every man, car
ries to old age the traditions of its child
hood, the inheritance of those who bade it
live And Philadelphia, though she suf-
fered sorely from rude and alien hands,
still bears in her tranquil streets the i'm
press of the founders touch. Simplicity,
dignity, reserve, charac teriZe her now in
colonial days. The pride of the past min
giles and is one with the pride of the pres
ent. She is not eager for the unknown;
she is not keen after excitement; she is not
enamored of noise. Her least noticeable
hesself the arduous labor of forming new
opinions every morning by recollecting and
chershing her opinions of yesterday. 1t
is a habit which promotes solidity of
thought"
These are wise and true words, as we'll
as witty ones. They are justly spoken,
and inspire respect for the grave old city.
There is subtle charm in all her ways
that makes for peace and which is felt by
all within hOriprS Who
shall say that such lives as those of William
Penn, BENJAMIN Franklin and SO many
others have not kept their saving grace and
power even to the present moment? Who
shall say that PENIS pathetic appeal when
he bade farewell to the colony he had
founded has not been remembered in the
hearts of the people? "And thou, virgin
settlement of this province, named before
thou vert born, what care, what service
and what travail has there been to bring
thee forth, and preserve thee from such as
would defle thee. Oh. that thou mayest
be kept from the evil that would overwhelm
thee; that faithful to the God of thy mer-
cies, in the life of righteousness, thou
mayest be preserved to the end"
Let no one think this book is dry reading,
as so many local histories are. There is
not a dull or improbable page in it, for 1t
is full of vital facts and philosophy, and is
in the most charming literary form.
TALES OF THE ENCHANTED ISLES
OF THE ATLANTIC. BY Thomas
Wentworth Higginson. Illustrated by
Albert Herter. Legends showing that
the people of Europe were for many
centuries fed with tales of marvelously
rich and beautiful countries beyond the
western seas. Besides the old Atlantis
fable which gave an ocean its name,
this book treats of the cycle of ro
nance that lies within the early Irish,
English Spanish and other traditions
of the happy islands of the west. The
Macmillan company.
From the story of Atlantis, the opening
essay of this fine volume, to the story of
"The Fountain of Youth" which ends it,
it is all vastly entertaining. Excellent IL
lustra tions accompany the text and the
makeup of the volume is admirable. Every
tale bears reference to some actual legend,
followed more or less closely, and the au-
thorities for each are carefully given in
the appendix. The author says that some
of the imaginary islands actually remained
on The charts of the British admiralty up to
the last century, showing how real had they
become in the public mind.
Col. Higginson's style was never shown
to better advantage than in the telling
again of these wonderful tales.
O O o
THE FUTURE OF ALASKA
Under the present conditions, says David
Starr Jordan in the November Atlantic,
when the sea otter are destroyed, the fur
seal herd extermina ted, the native tribes
starved to death, the salmon rivers depop-
uated, the timber cut and the placer gold
fields worked out. Alaska is to be thrown
away like sucked orange. There is no
other possible end, if we continue as we
have begun. We are mot in Alaska for
our health" and when we can no longer
exploit it we may as well abandon it.
But it may be argued that it will be a
very costly thing to foster all Alaska's
Wide-separated resources, and to give good
government TO all her scattered villages
and posts. Furthermore, all this outlay is
repaid only by the enrichment of private
corporations. who, with the exception of
the fur seal lessees, pay no tribute to the
government.
Doubtless this is true. Government is a
costly thing, and its benefits are un-
equally distributed. But the cost would be
less if we should treat other resources as
we have treated the fur seal. To lease the
salmon river and to protect the lessees in
their rights would be to insure a steady
and large income to the government, with
greater profit TO the salmon canneries than
comes with the present confusion and in
dustrial war.
But, admitting all this, we should count
the cost before accepting Colonies" 1 { is
too late to do so when they have been once
annexed. If we cannot afford to watch
them and care for them, to give them pa
ternal rule when no other is possible, we
do wrong to hoist our flag over them
Government by the people is the ideal TO