The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02


 own peculiar theological doctrines. Lest We forget" said Kipling. And the answer came, quick and sharp, rom the agnostic William Watson:
 Best, by remembering God, say some.
 We keep our high imperial lot
 fortune, fear, hath oftener come
 when We forgot-when we forgot,
 A lovelier faith their happier crown.
 But history laughs and weeps it down,
 In the domain of history we have had this year the second, third and fourth volumes of Professor William Mflligan Sloane's Life of Napoleon Bonaparte," a work that is remarkable principally for it's perfectly impartial treatment of Its great subject. Professor Sloane re- gards the Man of Destiny" as no ob- Ject for hero worship, yet he defends him from the attacks of prejudiced writers.
 The fourth volume of Justin Me- Carthy's History of Our Own Times" bringing that notable work down to the diamond jubilee, is another valuable contribution to history, as is the same authors Life of Gladstone" issued several weeks ago. There have been r. thy permits his prejudices to influence his writings, but this cannot be said of the two works named. The we'll known member for North Longford possesses a remarkable faculty for giving in few lines lifelike picture of person. age, and his sketches of Parnell, Dis raeli, Cardinal Manning, Tennyson, Browning and Stevenson are really re- markable studies of these men. The history of the Victorian era as it is written by Justin Mccarthy is worth reading even by those who read for entertainment only and we commend his fourth volume and the Life of Gladstone" to any who desire a clear exposition of the Irish question in all it's phases.
 Works on travel have been few and far between this year. Two large and handsome volumes, very completely il- Illustrated, contain that record of stren- uous endeavor, the journal of Nansen's trip to the Pole-"Farthest North" Here again the reader associates the personality of the author with his work, and regrets ill-adyised action mani fested in large advertising with it's ac- compartment of Sordid statistics. Nan sens courage was put to a terrible test in those three years which he spent in the frozen regions, and he has received ample recognition from learned socie- ties the world over on this account With these laurels the highest which can be gained, he should be content The native dignity of his race should prevent him from exploitation by cheap 4or |, fallen a victim to the prevalent craze. and that in a way which is not to his credit.
 Turn we now to the most important branch of literature, to that division which treats of men and is therefore possessed of the strongest human in- terest. biography. It is to this division of belles lettreS that our introductory remarks most nearly apply, and one feels almost compensated for disap- pointment in other directions by the wealth of good matter that has poured in from the three or four competent bi- ographers whose work mas cast a ray of light. across the path of the ha- rassed book reviewer. In point of or der there is Captain Mahan's Life of Nelson" It seems strange that it should have been left to an American to write standard history of an alien commander. Of course there are the histories of Southey, of Nicholas and of Russell, to name the three best, but Captain Mahan is the only biographer who has done justice to one of the greatest characters in English naval annals, his work at the same time be- ing free from the technicalities which are ever a stumbling block to the lay reader. Particularly worthy of admira- tion is his treatment of the unfortun- ate episode of Lady Hamilton, which has never received careful attention former historians being often blinded by the prejudice acquired from con- temporary writers. The life of Nelson as narrated by Captain Mahan will without question take precedence over all others, and it is gratifying to note that this opinion is shared by every competent critic on both sides of the water
 With a word mentioning "The Let ters of Benjamin Jowett," "e"The Mem ories of Hawtherne.' by his daughter, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop; The Ro- nance of Isabel. Lady Burton" and the Private Life of the Queen" all of which have received notice in the book columns of The Call during the past twelve months, we come to Margaret Ogilvy," J. NJ. Barrie's memoir of his mother, which merits some comment and that of a not altogether fiattering character. MT. Barrie has fallen into the pit that opened to receive Forster when the latter wrote his Life of Charles Dickens" At that time it was said that the proper title for the book should have been "The Life of Forster. With "Reminiscences of Charles Dick ems" With equal force might it be