The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-07
VIEW BOOKS.
Brief Reviews of Important and Interest,"
Ing New Publications,

| readable essays. They have charming flow,
ami they are full OF interesting illustration and
| suggestion. OF course II is a very com picated
| and mysterious world. In spite OF all the
essays that have ever been written II con-
| tinues to be that The wind blows as II iisteth.
even since the establishment OF the weather
bureau. Sometimes. and especially when II IL
| wished to have q yacht race. there IL no wind
| at all. and then whore are WEI 1t 10 to the
credit Of Mr.. Grant that he presents the two
| sides OF a question. and the three or four
sides, II there are 30 many. In the vol
ume entitled The Art OF Living" the question
| Is advanced as to whether 1t 10 proper to spend.
| $4,000 year. 1t 10 pointed out that Rogers.
| bookkeepsr in bank. spends only $4,000
Rogers seems happy. and 1t 10 notorious that
| he takes excellent care Of his daughters. Why
| 10 not Rogers doing exactly the proper thing?
Well. We find that Rogers dimes downtown In
lonely fashion at a daily expense OF fifteen
| cents. and that he spends his evenings mex
pensively at homo In his shirt sleeves. Should
. man having $4,000 at his command do thls2
There seems to be no reflection upon Rogers,
for he only has his $4,000 and It is not init
mated that he should fraudusntly supplement
his permitted income from the till. The only
| question 10 as to whether the superior Garner.
with $4,000 at his comm and, should live In
the manner OF Rogers. and this question the
| essayist decides In tho negative. Rogers Ia "a
neat-look'ng. respectable. quiet, conservative
| little man rising so. who. while In bank, in
| variably wears q nankeen Jacket all the year
| round. . narrow black nscktie In winter and
narrow yellow and red poneee wash tie in
| summer" and whose watch runs right to Q
| second. The thing 10 that the man with S10,-
| 600 income. Notwithstanding all these ap-
| parsntly fulfilling Manifestations on the part
| OF Rogers. feels that he ought to 60 to his
| limit-ought to live in desirable and there
| fore expensive neighborhood. pay $4,000 for
| his rent and so forth But In progressive con-
| sstenoy hyw can he2 How can he have an
autom oble In the form Of a brougham. which
costs $500 outright and 5000 month to rum
Suppose he feels II due to him self to support
| steam yacht and to do something nota-
Bile In orchids. whore then will he
ind himself with his meaGre $10.-
| 600 Year, Mr.. Grant does not call
| upon him for the automo bile and the steam
| yacht The question 10 whether Perkins 10
| doing tho right thing. Perkins 10 a thin
| breasted LAWYER evidently weary. who Is saw
ing for his daughters. VIII his daughters
| thank him for saving2 Would they not rather
| erjoy themselves In youth and take the chances
| OF their comfort In aRe2 Perkins himself Is
troubled by no doubts in the matter. They
| shall not 60 to a Home in their old age" he
| says: and so his daughters. while youth and
| opportunity are fitting by them. know that
they will be as comfortable as may be after the
| age OF TO- A couple 60 into q new street;
| the consequence Is due either to luck or under
! standing. Mr.. and Mrs. Julius Cesar domin-
| ate their street. Its baby wagons and
| lawns turn out to be just the thing:
! the right sort OF people are attracted;
| values In the street 60 up. But Mr.. and Mrs.
| George J. sprRRs 70 into q new street and
| things are altogether different. Mr.. and Mrs.
| spriRgs seem to lack the power OF initiative. A
| nsighbor comes In and paints his house crushed
| straw berry. and another neighbor sets up cast
| iron stays and Roddesses In his dooryard. Mr..
| sprggs has less than the success OF Mr.. Julius
Cesar. and he sells his house for less than ho
| paid for IT, Herein we see the determinations
| and linitati ons OF individuals. Mr.. Spriggs
| was not the peer OF Mr.. Julius Caesar. and
| Rogers. tho bookkeeper. might have lived more
| loftily IL he had had more money. There 10 no
| particular lesson to be drawn from 1t all. OK
| cept that things are as they are. "searchlight
| Letters" is tho title OF Mr.. Grants other
| volume Here are essays: To q Young
| Man or Woman in Search OF the Ideal"
ITO Modern Woman With Social
Ambitions" ITO Young Man Wish
| ing to be en- American" and To a Polit-
| cal Optmist" Miss Madeline Pollard is a
| character in one OF these essays; she appears
| in the guise OF a newspaper interviewer and
makes herself convincing. At the end Of The
AFt OF LlVlnR. uruuI says. nv Dost
| Amsricanism OF to-day and for the future 10
that which shall seek to use the fruits OF the
| earth and the fulness thereof. and to
| develop all the manifestations OF art and
gentle living in the interest OF human
| ity whole. But even heartless
| elegance is preferable to that seif-rghteouS
commonness OF spirit which sits at homo in its
| shirt sleeves and is graceless. ascetic and I'M
| ina ginativs In tho name OF God" The essay
| DaIi n,ti ;, lid, .
| "Seatchlight Letters" is not itse.f optimistic,
| but OF course optimism Ia not everything.
| There seems to be end to the curious
| things that one may prove about Shakespeare
| II one has mind to set about It, and. in a
| publication issued by the Shakespeare Society
Of New York, which bears the title In Re.
| Shakespeares Legal Acquirements' Notes NJ
an Unbslisrpr Therein" William G. Devecmon
ESQ. A. NJ. Of the Maryland Bar, proves most
| conelusivsly that the I'm mortal William was no
lawyer. The learned Lord Campbell. author
OF THE Lives OF the Chief Justices"
and other works. once declared that IL
would be very difficult to prove by
legal process that Shakespeare was never
clerk in an attorneys once and the
srudits Senator Davis OF Minnesota has pub
lshed a volume in which. among other inter-
ssting matters he made the discovery that
the poet uses law terms no loss than 3l2 times:
| u
gentlemen has concluded that the bard must
have been practising attorney. for the reason
l that. in the course OF his Investigations. he
found a record OF two suits instituted for the
recovery OF small sums OF money. wherein
| Shakespeare was the plaintiff. and In which no
appearance was entered; wherefore. clearly.
| Shakespeare must have conducted the suits
himself. But Mr.. Devesmon, perhaps not un-
naturally finds these arguments tnconclusive.
NAV wa think bA admttAl thar Shake-
spears. continually and OF malics aiorethought.
used language less exact than that OF the
learned gentlemen OF the long robe. Witness
this passage from Mark Antomv's grafton:
antony. Moreover he hath left you all his walks
His private arbors. and his new planted orchards,
On this side Tibor he hath left them you
And to your heirs forever 4"
Julius Cesar" Act ILL.,. scene 2.
In regard to this passage Senator Davis