The Portland daily press., 1899-07-01

morals and mannN;s Of she social high
life Of today, they are nevertheless de-
generate and unworthy. Mr. James is
the prophet of style, and apparently his
topic. good. bad or Indifferent, IL of no
consequences 10 him. It Is all, what one
OF his own characters calls, "morbid
inodernlty." and his latest books are
ike bad French novels, angli-
cised and brought up to data II may be
said that 1.-THE Awkward Age" has not
the vileness of 1.-THE Turning of the
Sciew," which 1.-THE Independent
pronounces 1.-THE most hopslessly evil
story that we have ever read In any liter
ature ancient OF modern" and adds
"how any man or woman could choose to
make such a study OF impersonal human
debauchery, Is unaccountable. while
its theme is Objectionable, 1.-THE Awk-
ward Age" Is fascinating book. one
must admit Nanda Is delicious, Mr..
Langion charming; and what could be
more enchanting than the shade of that
delightful grandmother But the ques-
tion reinains,-can book be great, II the
subject Is worthlesse And is it not a
waste of slendid power for literary artist
like Mr.. James to lavish his skill upon
evil problemsf When man can write
such books as The Tragic Nus" and The
Princess Cssamassima,' why should he
give us a distinctly vulgar story like ''In
the Cafe" or such immoral ones. as "The
Turning of the Screw" and 1.-THE Awk-
ward Age" II is prostituting . superb
talent.
The First Book of Birds, by Olive
Thorne Miller (Houghton, Miffin s. Co.
Is above everything work to charm as
well as instruct the child who is SO fortu-
nate as to possess It, 1t has eight colored
plates, twelve plain plates and twenty
figures In the text, and for an adult who
has not been trained to a knowledge of
birds 1t is invaluable. The book is In
tended to interest young people in the
ways aud habits of birds. and to stimu-
late them to further study. The author
has been peculiarly successful In talking
to schools, and telling the boys and girls
how the birds live.
She adds: at has therefore seemed
TO me that what is needed at first Is not
the science OF ornltnology, however dl.
luteu, but some account of the life and
habits to arouse sympathy and interest in
the living bird, neither as target nor as
producer OF eggs but as q fellow tr,at-
urc whose acquaintance it would he
pleasant to make"
Mrs. Miller's statements are from the
very best authorities. and can be relied
on, and the bird portraits are so faithful
to the originals In form and coloring that
one would recognize them at glance.
The cedar bird, the goldfinch, the oriols,
the scarlet tanager, the redstarts, the
American robin and the meadow lark,
are represented in their gay and beauti-
full plumage, and 40 true to life that
they are delight to the eye This is
what the art Of photographlng these
winged creatures has done for us. port.
land, Loring, Short g. Harmony
The July Atlantic is opened by Profes
sor William Cunningham, of Cambridge,
England, who has valuable paper on
English Imperialism. Horace Howard
Furnace contributes a study of Much
Ado About Nothing; Jacob Riis writes
about The Tenement; Curing Its Blight;
Charles Johnston analyses and compares
the work Of Bret Harte, Gable, Miss
wilkins, Mark Twain and others and
Leon II. Vincent has an entertaining
sketch of A Virtuoso of the Old School,
one Fitzpatrick Sharpe, a famous wit.
writer and society leader, who hourished
in England fifty years ago.
Mark II. Leddell treats of The Right
Approach to English Literature, the
teaching Of which today. he thinks en-
tirely inadequate; and Prince Kropotkin
proceeds with his thrilling experiences
There are more of the Lanier- Taylor
letters, and Miss Johnson's brilliant
story To Have and TO Hold. develops an
exciting plot. Such writers as Agnes
Repplier, Vernon Lee. Francis Lynde,
Elizabeth Nashhurn and VIII Payne,
contribute interesting matter; and Gin
ton Scotland writes of The Wood Thrush
at Eve:
"From out the dim oopse that hid the
swale
Welled Of sudden fiute-like harmonies