New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-22

Engl,shman you've got 10 pc'o''o no '
and TO be happy with him you've got TO become
his second self" ard Cecil himself. IN MS pre-
nuptial days, says to his sweetheart: "He"
YOU have forgotten your false IDEAS OF inc y,
la,ions Of men and women ana acoei'eu '''
right one, you will not bother yoursei ao'"'
triHes; and there is no reason why any one vi
earth should be happier than We.
"After I have adapted myself: eNcia'ihS
the Californian.
No gave her little shake when you have
swung round to the Old World. and the OH!
,oc,cal noint Of view A state Of society is all
wrong where women rule-that is to say IL Is
IN a semi-chaotlc transition period When your
greatest country on the face OF the ear'h nus
shaken down, men and women will occupy eX-
actly the same relative POSITIONS 'ia' '''' W.
In older countries.
loo ,ests the question bravely and unselish-
~. Having a strong and wholesome nature
cood deal Of intellect and love for her honest
and clever Cecil that has existed since the'r
first meeting in childhood. she does adapt
herself and suppresses her American "individ-
uality" with apparent completeness The con-
. sequences are natural: we Will not spoh 'ne
readers pleasure by rehearsing them here.
Mrs Atherton's portraits Of her country peo-
Mo are generally good -natured and impartial
sometimes gently ironc. They are IN most
cases truthful-One cannot justly take excep-
lions even to that Of the fast pretty. ill-bred
and silly Chicago widow who exchanges her
money for the Earl's title. Such women there
be- The amiable vanity Of the SOutherner VINO
Is oppressively conscious OF birth and man
ners" lends pquancy to several Of the charac-
tiers described The book Is not exactly one
. that should be put into the hands OF a school
girl. and II has divers faults Of construction
Chief among them is an unnecessary monk
curse which brings false note OF medieval
, superstition into story full of practically and
modernity. There is an implication Of TRAGEDY
in the concluding passages which indicates we
fear that the author had not the courage 10
try a philosophic solution Of the matrimonial
problem she presents. 1t is to be hoped that
that solution may be found in sequel to this
most successful Of her literary attempts
One swallow does not make summer and TWO
farces do not make movement" yet with
Her Ladyship's Elephant following fast upon
the heels OF '"The Londoners' the reader is
fam to inquire whether it is not possible that
the Comic Muse has alighted suddenly in the
midst Of us and bestrred herself with un-
wonted energy. fortnight ago we found Mr..
too deliberately with some iudicrous types in
English society to produce prodigiously
funny book. The Londoners'' is too long.
Nevertheless II Is uproarious. Mr. Wells allows
his sense Of humor 10 play deftly around the
pcrtentiOus bulk Of an elephant. II plays also
about the personalities OF half dozen men and
women whose lives. for few brief extraordi-
nary days. inextrcably intertwined with
the life Of the aforesaid monarch Of the jungle.
The two merrymakcrs inevitably provoke com
PARSONS candid judgment will award a
neater gift in dialogue To Mr. lichens. but
truer understanding Of farcical writing to MI.
Wells Her I-adyships Elephant" does not
like its immediate predecessor take its point OF
. departure from absurd situation and then
= carry itself with something Of the air OF a
novel. 1t is frankly farce and moves with all
= possible rapidly to its close along farcical lines
Whether it could be adapted to the stage or not
II would be hard to say though the presence oil
live elephant in the plot ought naturally 10
count in its favor III an age of practical saw
mills diving bells, racetracks. tanks and other
theatrical properties. We can only say that
this book sInacks Of the footghts, and Of the
fun which can be created by clever actors
placed in overwhelmingly droll situations.
In her story OF two young sisters. one OF
whom is the "duenna ana the other th'
genius" Mrs Francis (or Mrs Blundell, 10 give
. her her real name) has exhibited an unusua
capacity for weaving about musicians hctot
which is not sentimentaly absurd. 1t IL a
task in which few novelis;s. especially Of the
feminine gender. have succeeded Charles
Anchester" We regret to say. is a type Of the
foolish book in which the musical genius plays
a leading part. The novel before US furnishes
,,.t % hn.i th,yr
. nonsense and shrewd humor playing round a
.inn Arn inx,if ich alcriD