New-York tribune., 1899-12-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE RETURN OF MR.. AND MRS. MARCH

d HowelIs. Illustrated In Two NoiuneS'
octave. pp V. 40i; " 46i Harper * bros'
Mr.. Howellss new novel appears IN sooer
rrav binding. on which the title, inclosed in a
pattern Of hearts and wedding beils' is stamped
in silver. This gala form, further enriched by
numerous Illustrations and by luxuries OF press
work, is doubly significant
Mr. and Mrs. Basil March celebrate their s'l-
yer wedding by Journey to Europe IN the VOL
umes. 1t is true that the celebration Is not al
together delightful to those most directly con-
cerned Mrs March is only too glad 10 return
20 bar native shores. declaring that her Silver
Wedding Journey was the last she ever "isheu
to take "and tried to convince them all that
she had been on the verge of nervous collapse
when she reached the ship" 1t is not plain that
the pair were entirely successful In recreatihg
the illusions of their earlier years. But Basil
March and his wife are genial folk with
the typical Americans faculty for getting fair
amount Of amusement and contentment out OF
the commonplace occurrences Of everyday life;
and II is perhaps with more art than ne alo"s
lis TO see that Mr.. Howells gives us in these
volumes strain of felicity, chastened' but sun
felicity. And If the novel signifies a mood OF
celebration in its two principal characters II is
also in the nature Of a festive demonstration on
that he published Their Wedding Journey
and that book, as his readers we'll know, did
much to win for him his repute.
In returning-and not for the first time-to its
central figures. he testfes to his fondness for
them and TO his confidence in the welcome
which has hitherto been accorded to the dis
cussion OF their affairs Those affairs are large
ly colored by elderly sentiment in the present
novel The matchmaker's instinct Ia strong IN
Mrs March. and March himself while preserV-
ing the demeanor, semi humorous semi-ndiner-
ent and all-indulgent. Of the American husband
in such matters aids and abets her. AT the
end Of the book when Burnamy. their young
protege reappears upon the scene. hopeless alike
Of fortune and Of favor in the courts OF love.
March readily befriends him, and when the
gods good humoredly lead Agatha Triscoe to
his door TO mall 1t up with BurnaDiy and
give him her hand. the editor laughs cynically'
but adds with kindness: Il hope they'll take
us on their Silver Wedding Journey" Besides
the sentiment embodied in innumerable touches
Of this sort Mr. Howells brings TO the evolution
OF his rather slender story a quantity OF i'm
pressions OF travel which serve TO expand the
narrative and give variety to its effect Their
Silver Wedding Journey is indeed, fragment
of the European tour seen through the spec
taces Of fiction.
In writing of this sort Mr.. Howells has always
been happy. "A FIorentine Mosaic and "Vene-
tian Life" are among his best books. In the
present work the scene changes, and, 10 some
extent. the manner changes also When In
Wurzburg the contrast is noted by March be-
tween the reactionary traits of the town as 1t
once was and the association Of It's name now
with modern scientific discovery. Mr.. Howells
links the name Of R6ntgen with that OF Walther
Won der Vogelweide at Wurzburg, and similar
collocations OF romance and prosaic modernity
are not uncommon in his book. Formerly. de-
spite his realistic preoccupations he fingered
longer over romance. in his travel notes, and
such things R0ntgen rays went by the board.
But the old agreeable method remains, with its
elements of ease, lightness, quiet humor and
taste for picturesqueness in either human annals
or inanimate things Thus he writes Of what is
left Of the old garden Of the Schloss at Ddssel-
dorf:
II consisted Of two or three low trees, and
under them the statue Of the Elector by which
Heine sat with the little Veronica II he really
did fresh gale blowing through the trees
stirred the bushes that backed the statue, but
not the laurel wreathing the Electors head and
meeting in a neat point over his forehead The
laurel wreath is stone. like the rest Of the Elec-
tor who stands there smirking in marble ermine
and armor, and resting his baton on the nose
Of very small lion. who. in the exigences Of
foreshortenings obligingly goes 10 nothing but a
tail under the Electors robe.
This was prince who loved himself in effgy
so much that he raised equestrian statue to
his own renown in the market place. though he
modestly refused the credit Of 1t. and ascribed
its erection TO the affection Of his subjects. You
see him there in a full bottomed wig, mounted
a rampant charger with tail as big round
as barrel and heavy enough to keep him from
Hotr hfc lonC no lkaa
10 hold them up 1t TO this horses back
that Heine clambered when a small boy, to
see the French take formal possession Of Dusse
dorf and he clung to the waist OF the bronze
Elector who had just abdicated, while the bur-
gomaster made long speech. from the balcony
OF the Rathhaus and the Electoral arms were
taken down from the doorway.
The Rathhaus is a salad dressing Of German
Gothic and French rococo as 20 its architectural
style, and is charming in It's way. but the
Marches were in the market place for the sake
OF that momen, Of Heine's boyhood. They felt
that he might have been the boy who stopped
as he ran before them and smacked the stomach
OF large pumpkin lying at the feet Of old
market woman, and then dashed away before
she could frame protest against the indignity.
From this incident they philosophical that the
boys OF Dusseldorf are as mischievous at the
end OF the century as they were at the begin
ming. and they felt the fascination that such a
bounteous. unkempt old market place must have
for the boys OF any period. They were mag
nifcent vegetables OF all sorts in It, and II the
rainy summer. perhaps.
Obviously "Thei- Silver Wedding Journey
,s book for the tourist as much as book for
the novel reader. II Is at once study Of middle
age character. love story and panorama IN
which German scenes are most conspicuous The
abundance OF descriptive matter has facilitated
the publication of the work in holiday form with
the wealth OF illustration always so welcome in
sio ,ha
delineation Of any of the personages in the tale
Mr.. ". T. Smedley uses his cleverness to good
effect, contributing number Of capital sketches,
but as a rule the camera has been relied upon
Scattered generously through the volumes In
full page plates and in headpieces there are
apposite views Of places, buildings, statues and
landscapes. These from good photographs
and are we'll reproduced. Altogether, Their
Silver Wedding Journey is put before the pub
lie in perfect form.