The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-03-27
Books Of fbe BAY.



New AZ some flower. or human face. or sky.
With silent tremble Of snfinity.
Or ~ some watt 81 fields IN midnight sweet.
Or soul Ct summer dawn in the dark
street
word 10 say Of Mr. Phillips poems, which
10 not nearly 30 datiertng. 1t comedies
him "a considerable mastery of poetic
form. with a real gis; for STYLE" and finds
in hsn fine single lines but wishes his
poetry we're mere Immediately ccnvinc-
.ag. The reader ~so Aesifzt@ 10 ioef, !"
says the Aihenasum. and goes on.
Now. whenever We read what Is BIS;
IN Mr.. Phillips. We find ourselves won
dering whether II Is really excellent or
not--whether Milton or Lander has been
the influence here Tennyson the influence
there. Matthew Arnold the influence some
where else We ind ourselves asking
why such good wilmington II Is certainly
good writiDg--does not hold US with a
more instant and a more unmistAkabie
power
'sWeIi. the answer TO all this is that the
verse. good as il Is, y poetieaI feeling rath-
err than poetry. or. at the best. ls,etry Of
faint, not quite convincing kind. There
is a high general level. but n-y.r the abb
sniufs. Now. a high genera ievsl with
out the absolute. means infinite
iy less than general level i'm
perfect either in substance or IN
Workmanship. but with here and
there the absolute. A single achieved
poem is enough to weigh down the whole
Of an interesting, serious. careful, accom-
pilxhed. generally poeticai volume like
Mr.. Phillips Poems In real poems,
slight or brief as they may be. we have
the single imaginative act hawiess: some
thing has been done which II Is possible
10 Imagine readers sensitive 10 poetry
reading in an anthology hundred years
hence. and with an enjoyment, peculiarly
similar TO our enjoyment today. The alb
soiute once attained. we have TO consider
the question of personality. the question
OF balk. the question OF development.
many important questions But can we
imagine editors Of the future coming upon
Lazarus with shock OF delight. and
reprinting IL In their autholagies as one or
the poems OF the close Of the nineteenth
century which they would not willingly
LET der
MODERN FRANCE. l7ss-isa5. (The Story
OF the Na..onsD BY Andre Lebon. q.
r. Putnam's Sons.
The latest volume In THE Story OF the
Nations" series Is Modern France" by
Andre Lebon IL 1.-THE hAppiest nations
have no history" France should not have
been very happy during the last century,
for she has been making history at
a rapid pace. II. LNbon deals only with
modern France, which Is In every sense
a different country from the France OF
Louis XIV. and XIV. He begins with the
meeting of the states general on May 5.
1879, having rapidly sketched the position
of France under the ancient regime. and
then p.unges at once into the maeistrom
OF revolutions. wars, dynastfes and min
istries with which We are all more or less
familiar. bringing his story up to the be-
ginning OF NJ. Felix Faure's presidency
In 1886. The book Ia an excellent sum-
mary of a period of volcanic upheaval.
and Is extremely useful as a groundwork
OF further study, or as means OF re-
freshing the memory. SIN. NJ. Lebon has.
of course, "A thorough grip OF his subject.
and he makes II clear that our OF the three
ideals OF the reyolution~-lIberty, equality
and Internationally civil equality has
really been realized. Since 1870 the dem
ocracy has done It's best with parliament
airy Institutions. which are by no means a
success. but which have weathcred the
quarter OF n century owing chiefly TO the
fact that they are the form OF government
which divides Frenehmen the most His
concluding sentences In his final political
chapter tfor the English OF which the
author Is not responsihiel are:
mo strong political party has been
formed since the spring Of Iss5. and no
premier has made any profound or dur
able mark upon the country; nor do the
constituencies. offspring as they are of
universal suffrage. seem 10 have a very
clear idea OF what they expect the gov
ernmeat 10 do. Bat In spite of all. France
Is peacefully living and developing Its re-
sources eide by eide with ana indepcnd-
entity OF the sterile agitation OF her poI-
;icIans."
This Judgment In significant when II is
considered thar IL is delivered to a foreign
audience by ens OF the most successful, OF
the younger Fremchmen engaged In poilt-
icai llse. NJ. Lehon modeStiy remarks In
tho opening chapter OF the penult.maae
chapter that he il engaged IN POLITICAL
t.fe.' which does not reveal TO the or.si-
nary reader that NJ. Lebon il one Of the
most promising ministers Of the Third Re.
public. Although the author IL an active
politician oe pronounced views the VOL
une - from beginning 10 end a sno.lcl of
lmpartsalisy. Even In his chronicle os the
years since the sscond Empire fell. thu
author Ia frequently ii&apessianate even
20 NkepsicsSSza Several useful and inter
esting chapters on letter.. Arts ard
Sciences" which are admirable suu,-
raartes, form third OF the volume.
GODS FOUNDING. ny 4. J. nawxoa
II Appleton a 10,
TaiS story tells hos Mr. Morley ran.n-..
married aad come Ia fullest wisdom
solved problems connected with his nm
aekaow lodged san. Harold Foster Harois
- yeeng medical student whose .a.s
tps. sensitive as al Aeoitan harnss
wsraegs. reflected every neetiag thought
which crossed nis srssns. ani seemed "a
stage with HssitAnep's graymess ths vlvs,
rsFSsaeacs - nash that Re said Ma~h
tsat BE says @>uFds ike that The ers "a
happier sra more conventional tAst she
reader might expecs.