The times., 1898-04-03

dress is apt to be either a volume of
essays, volume of short stories, or a SER
ious work of some kind. The novel, pure
and simple, well written, possessing
plot and some characters, and not intro
duced to the public serially, through the
medium of some magazine, is thing con-
siderably rarer than it was fifteen or
twenty years ago.
AT the Sign of the Silver Crescent"
though in no way old-fashioned, is one
of these rare visitors, and in it's dainty
binding and clear type, and its elegance
of style, gives one very much the feel
ing that one has on meeting a well-bred,
well-dressed, thoroughly-educ maiden
among crowd of shop girls of the East
| Side, New York, type.
Aside from this first impression, due
10 the careful work of the Riverside
| Press and the good taste of the author,
no small qualities in themselves. there
| is a great deal to say about this book.
The story concerns a young Ameri-
| can, Grafton Blake; a French baronne
and her husband, Ernst de Beaulieu;
| a French cure, with talents for
| girl by the name of Suzette.
and several minor characters. The
plot. which is not very much of a plot,
is skillfully developed, and the atmos
phere of the little town in France, in
which most of the action takes place, is
| reproduced with equal skill. The char
acter drawing, however, is the strong
| point of the book. All the people down
n he M vi
individuals. and interest the reader pre-
cisely as do real people. The natural
ness of the book is its charm. There is
no attempt to teach anything, or to em-
body any theory in particular, unless it
| is the theory that good women are very
| much the same everywhere and that an
American man is capable of falling sim
! cerely and impetuously in love despite
the degeneracy of our times.
Whatever theory may be in the book,
| however, it is so subtle that 1t is rather
! dangerous to attempt to root ii out, and
| the safest conclusion is that the author
| intended merely to write a wholesome,
| sweet, natural story, which would hold
| the attention of the reader, especially of
| a young girl, and prove not only enjoya
| bic but refreshing. In this she has sue
! ceeded. The hero is a manly and in
| teresting fellow; the heroine is a delight
! ful type of the French young girl, and
| the character of the cure is deftly made.
| just malevolent and brilliant enough for
| the purpose of the plot, without being
too great a villain for his talents to be
! hidden in so small a town. In the char
| acter of the baronne. Diane, there is a
| piece of analysis which is somewhat new
| in fiction. The French novelist has
! portrayed the married fiirt ad nauseam: /:
the English novelist has portrayed her in
| way which suggested nausea not so
IL In Z H. rgla writ
| intriguing Frenchwopan is used by the
| uncompromising Briton when villainy is
| needed She is a sort of clothed and
| exaggerated Eve, tempting the other
| wise sinless Adam 10 forbidden fruit.
| But neither the French writer, to whom
| this type of woman appears only too
natural, nor the English writer who is
| inclined to regard her with virtuous hor-
ror, has ever tried to make a dispassion-
ate analysis of her and her bringing up.
| This is what has been done with the
| Diane of the present novel.
Instead of bringing her on the scene
| full-fiedged in her powers of temptation,
| the author goes back to her childhood
| shows us the girl Diane impulsive, i'm
| perious, fond of pleasure, full of vague
dreams, and about as well balanced and
experienced as girl of eighteen, brought
up in the country, with no companion
but her father the owner of broken
down chateau, would naturally be.
Brought to Paris. she is placed In the
care of an aunt who with the tact and
skill of a mature woman of the world
impresses upon the child the Importance
of being married as soon and as well as
| possible. After winter of the dullness of
| her aunt's house, and the monotony and
! humiliation Of successive parties at
which she. having no dot is a wall
! flower, a wealthy German Jew Baron
ENrflC ic Tara cd TO lnr 14-itk
fortune. musical tastes, a title (pur-
chased. reasonably agreeable manners,
! and a longing for the social position
which he might obtain through marriage
with the daughter of an old family And
! after some slight qualms the part of
the girl and her father the match is
made. After marriage the baron, find
ing that he has not got love, any more
! than he gave it. with his marriage, seeks
consolation in a beautiful Partisan wom-
an with tact sympathy, and a matchless
| talent for managing men.
Left in this position, more in accord
ance, perhaps, with the ideals of n
| Frenchwoman than with those of an
| American yet insufferably CALLING to any
sensitive woman. Diane seeks such con-
| ISOLATION as may be found in the knowl-
! edge that she is beautiful and is court
| ed. With all the admiration she receives,
| however her pride, her essentially re-
| fined nature, and certain moderation of
| temperament cause her to be known as
/ the coldest Of beauties. This is the state
Of affairs when, in the isolation OF her
| fathers chateau, without other society
| than that OF her father, her husband. and
| two or three chance iiCIuaintancSs, she
| meets the young American The fact
that the man in question, being occu-
| pied with his own special sweetheart
| does not discover that the baronne cares
for him, may be hooted at by some of the
people who love to call themselves real
| lists but il makes the book much more
| agreeable than the ordinary, hackneyed,
| stereotyped, cynical French novel, or the
imitation thereof, and il is not by any
means impossible.
| Here is. in short, a story in which
most of the characters are well-bred peo-
pie and the barbaric instincts of human
nature are neither paraded in the full
light of day nor covered up with more or
less elaborate phraseology. They are ig-
nored, as they are in the ordinary con
versation of well-bred and cultivated
people and the fresh, human, live inter
| est of the tale depends on emotions just
| as natural, and much purer and more
wholesome In her literary style the au-
thor reminds one of Arthur Sherburne
Hardy, whose novels are written in eX-
quiste English, but there is none of Har-
dys philosophzng, and it is not needed.
The book is a presentation of an old sit
uation in a new and pleasant way, and
that in this weary old world of cynicism
and repetition, is something to enjoy and
be thankful for.
CBoston: Houghton Miffiin & Co.
| Washington: All booksellers. $1.25)