The herald., 1898-05-29
BOOKS AND THEIR MAKERS

We read hlstory-that is, the most of us
in fragments or in sections, and the special
treatment of certain great themes is COM
ing to be the fashion and the necessity of
our day. And so. one who would know the
curious and altogether remarkable woman
who governed England forty-five years,
the matchless manager of men as well as
affairs, should read this volume. 1t records
in an orderly and captivating style the
events, great and small, that attended
Elizabeth and tells us how
. 1.-The imperial votaress passed on
In maiden fancy free"
Though ever beset by courtiers and nations
anxious to make alliance with her. Nothing
in history equals Elizabeth's career in this
one domain of womans genius.
What many have called fickleness, others
have called statecraft; and to let the world
judge of her career our author has set
down in detail "the varying circumstances
and combinations which prompted the be-
wildering mutability of her policy" That
this work has been we'll done will become
plain when one has finished the reading
The object, as stated in the preface was to
show that even in all her seeming frivolity
and caprice. Elzabeth's main object
throughout was never lost sight Of, and
that was to make herself and England
strong. 1t was a mastery policy, and even
now battles the student of history as to
many of its twistings and turnmgs. But.
judged by results, the great Tudor queen
was great even on her apparently weak
woman's side.
The volume contains some striking por-
traits and is in all ways attractive.
O O O
THE KINGS HENCHMAN, a Chronicle
Of the Sixteenth Century, brought to
light and edited by William Henry
Johnson. limo. Cloth, extra, gilt top.
Price $3.50. Little, Brown & Company,
Boston.
In very ingenious introduction it is told
how a remarkable manuscript came into
the hands of the author. A desolate old
mansion, survival of the revolutionary
period, and an old man dead in his chair
while his only servant was in another por-
ton of the house preparing the evening
meal, terrible thunder storm that rem
dered approach to the house all unseen and
that washed away all sign of footsteps
these made 1t possible for the old mans
only kinsman to find and carry away a
precious diary in which was recorded the
things herein set forth. The introduction
to the volume limited at above, is very
neat bit of invention and curiously In
keeping with the mystery of the narrative
itself.
The whole is story of adventure told
1,,ro H.
Navarro, is as full of action and incident
as any "red" record of the last two years,
and is told with remarkable skill and eff
feet. The details we must leave to the
reader himself
aASSAN, A FELLAH, a Romance of
Palestine, by Henry Gilman. Crown
Svo. Cloth, extra. 600 pages. Price ST.
Little, Brown G. Company.
The author of this exceedingly handsome
volume, book in the very best style of
the art, is not new to the reading public.
AT least two volumes are to his credit,
Marked For Life" and 1.-THE Ancient Men
of the Great Lakes" The present volume
is just as it's title indicates, a romance of
the Holy Land-the deep and touching
whom we are introduced when a youth of
Is. The author lived in Palestine for sew.
eral years. and during his residence there
had unusual and peculiar advantages for
seeing and knowing the people and the
country, enabling him to enrich his story
with local color, characteristics, and in
FORMATION not found in any other work of
the Kind on the Holy Land. He has selected
the present time for the story, but ha
drawn freely from all the treasures of the
past for ornament. The pen portraits of
the people are studies made upon the spot
and the descriptions of Jerusalem and the
surrounding country are pictures of the
land as it is today, and therefore of value.
The portions connected with the Thar"
or blood-feud between the Syrian villages,
and the insurrection in Crete, are not only
of uncommon interest and power, but are
also intensely dramatic. Sensational and
extraordinary as some of the incidents are.
the author claims to have facts for all Of
them. The book is dedicated to Mr.. Glad
stone, with his special permssion-a very
unusual exception on his part
The style is exceedingly smooth and rich.
reminding one, in some of it's passages, of
Zenobia and other chronicles of the Won
derful far east, that magical land where
the shepherd was the minstrel and the
prince of the realm-at heart always a
shepherd, even as Hassan. 1t were pleas
ant to have space for liberal extracts from
such book, but ordinarily this is not per-
mitted in the multitude of mentions that
must be made in justice to our friends, the
publishers. But the claim for excellence
of literary form can be made on behalf of
worth. 1t is a satisfying and restful book.
and it's closing paragraphs breathe the re-
frain throughout: 1.-THE simple story is told,
why should more words be spent upon 1t ?
Though there is no end to what might be
said of the land called Holy"
1t is like the blowing of the wind over the
face of the deep, or the passing of the
clouds over the changeless blue of the sky,
or the stalking of the shadow across miles
of mountain. The background is unaltered
and remains inviolate.
The incidents-the waters raised by the
breezes Of circumstances and occasion
have settled back into the calm level of the
sea whence they had arisen, and all is well,
for God lives"
THE DUENNA OF A GENIUS. BY M. E.
Francis (Mrs. Francis BundelD, au-
thor of I'm North Country Village"
"A Daughter of the Soil,' etc. limo.
Cloth, extra, gilt top, $1.50. Little,
Brown G. Co., Publishers, Boston.
This is a musical tory and the puhIi shers