The sun., 1899-02-04
NEW books.
Brief Reviews of Important and Interesting
New Publications.

| tellers continue in the slavery mposed upon
them ny the glamour Of the romantic PERIOD
the period Of fsilken doubtlets. exposed hosiery.
cloaks rapiers. feathers and ilne phrases. Ot
course there Is exposed hosiery nowadays IL
is proper among little girls andimproper some-
times on the stage. and the wheelmen wear
| prcpostorous Scotch stockings. But. alter ali'
the chief thing exposed in this plain and cir-
cumspect age is the plumbing in fats. which Is
| device in sanitation rather than a sign IN det-
| erence to mere beauty: and. as we say. the ro /,
| mantle age still has strong hold on the story
| teller An Indiana lawyer, whose name Ia WITH
! held, is the author OF when Knighthood Was
| in Flower" Bowen Merrill Company. indiana
| apolis) A printed slip inclosed in the book 10
devoted in part to a consideration of Indiana
authors. 1T will he recalled perhaps, 1t says
! "thnt the first really successful religious move u
| the book which has had one OF the largest sa'i8
| OF any American book. Ben Hur.' Is tc
! product of an Indiana author. Gen. Lew Wall !
! lnre From Indiana also come those charming
| Hoosier songs. read eagerly eVerywhere. am
| which have made the name OF James Whitcom
Riley household word" 1t must be said tina
! the expression, the first really successful re-
| lgious novel," is Il little sweeping, since The
| Pilgrims Progress" still lives and has or >
| recently been reprinted in very handsome iol I
| by the Century Company. Mr.. Webster on
| remarked OF Massachusetts that that Common
| wealth needed no encomium and that it otl
| for itself. The same il true. we imagine. =
| Indiana. which has not only given TO us BE
| Hur" aud "'rhc Raggcdy Man. but whicl
| also as we remember. encompasses Pose'
| county. Mr. George Francis Train was onct
: hired to go around the world in order to tain (
| up some community He is an artist who can
| be warranted to talk conscentiously, and IL is
| to be hoped that the community in question
| prontcd by his expert labors but surely In
| .li 30. al, md ~, h,, rnI
| about. Literature that lives is made in IN
| diana" the slip says. OF course it is What
Of it? II Is made also in China and in
| Finland The story itself is excellent. 1t IL
| the love story Of Charles Brandon, Duke Vt
| Suffolk. and Mary Tudor. sister of King Henry
| VIII. or course there are things In it which
| the querulous have the right 10 call in ques-
| tion. Mary. throwing her head back, says to
| Brandon: 81 do many things for which | am
always sorry. Oh, you don't know how 6itl-
! cult it is to be good princess The Indiana
| lawyer adds: she shook her head. with a
! gathering of little trouble wrinkles in her fore
| head. as much as to say. There is no getting
away from il. though Then he continues.
she breathed n soft little sigh of trbulation
| as they walked on" There is Il modern air 4
| about this it sounds more like the explanation
of things they would be explained to-da' 4
| in Indiana than like an explanation OF tn 4
time of Henry VIII. according to our under
standing of the facts and the differences in
these things. on" the Princess says. but !
what is good and what is wrong? SO often We |
cannot tell them apart until we look back at 4
what we have done, and then it is all too late.
truly wish to be good more than | desire any |
thing else in the world am so ignorant and /!
helpless and have such strong inclinations t.
do wrong that sometimes seem to he almos3 4
all wrong. The priests say so much. but tell Il 4
so little. They talk about st. Peter and S>4
Paul and host OF other saints and holy father A
and what nots. but fail to tell us what we nee,I
every moment OF our lives: that is. howl
to know the right when we see it andh
how to do it and how to know th%
wrong and how avoid it. They ask us
to believe so much. and insist that
faith is the sum Of virtue. and the lack OF it '
the sum OF sin: that to faith all things are
added; but might believe every sylla- \
BILE OF their whole disturbing creed and then ,
spoil it all through blind ignorance of what
is right and what is wrong" This does
not seem to be exactly correct in its archaic
quality; it does not sound from the time and
from the Kingdom OF Henry VIII. and it does
sound in its venturesome and plain speculation,
from the Indiana of to-day but what of it?
Mr. A. c. Gunter has gone to far greater lengths
and is still very successful and popular He
has the Duke of .sva's daughter call her father
"Old Goosey." and nobody. so far as we know.
has ever objected. Perhaps she really did call
him that 1t is the shortcomng OF history that
it has frequently put itself on stills and has
not informed us in regard to many OF
the intimacies OF speech in what are called ro-
mantle times. Shakespeare has done better
than many chroniclers, and In the interstices OF
his exalted poetry has often made us feel at
home: but we do not know that anything that
he has written has carried quite the air that
we find here and that binds us to the past with
hooks of welcome steel. Her lustrious eyes"
we take to be phrase of the printer indcat-
ing something more than lustrous and less
than illustrious. In this novel Mary arranges
for meeting with Brandon. You bring him
up she says to her dragoman. Il will have
Jane there with her lute. ana we will try his
step l will have cards. too. and we will see
what he can do at triumph. Just we four-no
one else at ALL You and Jane. the new Dukeot
Suffolk and /. Oh. / can hardly wait" and,
the answer says IS she fairly danced with Joyous
anticipation" Brandon was not yet the Duke
of Suffolk. but they made believe that he was.
= Your Grace. good even" said the Princess.
Brandon's bow was as deep and graceful. IL
that were POSSIBLE as theirs. and when hs
moved on into the room it was with little halt
in his step and la big blowing ont of his cheeks.
in ludcrous imitation Of his lato amented
predecessor that sent the girls into pcals OF
soft laughter and put all Of us at our ease i'm
mediately" This shows how fun went and
how there was unbendng and good fellowship.
even in the time of Henry VIII. who was fat
and stormy and disposed traGically Of his wives
The Duke Of Buckingham came to Brandon
when the latter presented himself at the Prn-
cess's ball. Sir, you Will move out ofthis." said
buckingham pompousiy. Brandon responded
with quiet sarcasm. :" Ny Lord of Buckng-
ham. he said, lis pleased to make rather more
OF an ass OF himself than usual this evening".
Buckingham was driven to a retort. Now.
by heaven fellow. make but another step and
Will run you through. he said In an instant
his sword went whopping against the ceiling
OF the palace; Brandon with a confident twirl
of the wrist. had dsarmed him. Brandon wac
quite cool. My lord has dropped his sword"
he said. simply; and so it came that Brandon
married Mary and achieved "A dukedom. ena-
bling the story to end happily. Itisa good story.
full of good dascrintinn Wo 40 not l.,~u, ,,l =.