Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-18

fsssor q. & Navy superintsade1t Nar ns, was
l y. Croweli and CoApany.
| Prof Rawson, very well known in Wash
| ington, is most admirably fitted to assem-
| BILE score Of such records as the sea, with
| all its tragedies and herofsms and sacri-
| fees, has produced within the range of his
| tory. His connection with the Navy De-
partment for many years has enabled him
to go deep in the research which has re-
| suited in these two beautiful and valuable
| books. Some of his material Is virtually
new, and the whole is treated with the
| hand OF a close student OF naval science.
| Beginning with Salamis, $50 B. c., he takes
| in chronological order the battles of Ac-
| tium, 81 B. c., and Lepanto. 1911; the de-
feat of the Armada, 1858; the last fight of
the Revenge" 1891; the fight off Dunge-
| ness, 1862; the battle of La Hogue, 1862;
| the contest between Bon Homme Rich
| Nile. 1913; the duel between "Foudroyant'
and ''Guillaume TELL" 1873; Trafalgar,
1905; the battle between Constitution
and "Guerriere," 1872; Lake Erie, 1913: the
| famous engagements between Monitor
and Merrimac, 1862, and "Kearsarge" and
Alabama" 1864; Mobile Bay, 1854; LISA,
Manila Bay, 1898. and Santiago, 1895
The introduction is most suggestive es-
say upon the development of naval war
fare and the tendency toward the humaniz-
Va
growing disposition to accord higher hon
ors to the naval victor in time of war and
TO the undistinguished but faithful seamen
| IN time of peace. Summing up the per-
sonai factors which have made the twenty
great naval battles famous in world history
by reason of the peculiar force of the re-
spective commanders, Prof Rawson con-
cludeS:
They have nearly all gone over the side
into the darkness of the ever-receding past
-admirals all: high admirals some of them;
the Greek with the olive skin. the black
haired Roman. the swart Spaniard, the
fafr-hafred Englishman, the quick Drained
Gaul, the stout-hearted Dutchman, the YER
satile American, all have gone from the
deck of the galley, the line-of-batt ship
from the decks where in the teeth of gales
they clawed off lee shores, when the
mouths of their guns drank in the or
fought the fogs or arctic cold from the
decks where they led the changing for
tunes of the. fight in the din of desperate
battle, where men take life at the utter
most hazard and clasp hands with fate
for all these men as they have been true
In admiration, the side is now piped, the
marines are on deck, the drums are muff1ed.
the yards are manned. as they disappear
over the side the salute is fired and those
OF us who remain, Seamen or landsmen, it
| matters not, are under orders to give the
vast shout y
TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS Selected
and Edited, with Notes and Introduction, by
Charles Scribner's Sons. Washington: Bren-
tano's.
SteveRson's life was divided into several
phases, but all made one by his unques-
toned genius and his steadily deteriorat-
ing health. His letters, fftfulIy repIete with
information about himself, disclose the
fluctuations of his circumstances, which at
times reached low ebb. The lowest point
probably, from a monetary point of view,
was when the young author journeyed
across the ocean and the American CONT
| nent as an emigrant roughing it with the
rest of the home seekers, but finding in his
raw surroundings much to ripen his char
acter and talents. The letters which flowed
from his pen during these various phases
of his life are collated by one of his most
devoted friends, Sidney Colvin, to whom
Stevenson formally intrusted the task in
a memorandum which he gave to his step
son in Tahiti in 1888 in anticipation of his
death. Mr.. Coivin prefaces the letters with
a general Introduction which embraces a
critical appreciation of the author and the
man. He divides the letters into the re-
spective phases of Stevensons life and pre-
faces each series with a very brief bio
graphical memorandum. just sufficient to
explain the purport of the references.
Many of the letters We're written to Mr..
Colvin himself, while others scattered
among a host of relatives and friends, all
breathing, however, the poetic spirit of the
man who has left such a deep impress
upon modern literature.
| LETTERS OF SIDNEY LANIER; Selections from
his Correspondence, 1866 1881. With portraits.
New York: Charles Scrfbners Sons. Washing
ton: Brentanos.
The growing world that knows Sidney
Lanier as the true poet he was can never
sufficiently express its grief at his early
death and the sufferings of his last days,
which unquestionably robbed literature of
some of its richest possibilities. The pa
thetic story Of the poets struggles, fnan-
cial and physical, is told in the letters
which make up this volume. But there is
brighter, sweeter story in it than that,
the story of delight for the companionship
with great minds, the JOY of progress and
thought the devotion of true friend, the
gratitude of the recipient of many atten-
tions. The letters are arranged in four
groups: First are those written to Mr..
Gibson Peacock, editor of the Philadelphia
Bulletin, who became Lanier's friend
through an apprecfatfve review of his first
long poem, Corn" next come letters from
Lanier to his wife, comprising "a poets
musical Impressions" followed by charm
ing series of letters which passed between
Laner and Bayard Taylor, between whom
there existed a strong affection; and the
book closes with letters which Lanier wrote
to Paul Hamilton Hayne. Lanier was an
exceptional letter writer, putting much of
his strong personality into his epistles.
AMERICAN HISTORIC TOWNS HISTORIC
TOWNS OF THE MIDDLE STATES. Edited
by Lyman P. Powell. Illustrated. New York;
G. p Putnams Sons. Washington: Woodward
and Lothrop
The first volume of this series dealt with
the historic towns of new England, and
the third one will be devoted to the south.
Thus the scope of the work is expanding
and will perhaps in time include the entire
American area. There is material enough
The plan followed is calculated to produce
good results. resident of the city or
town described is, whenever possible,
chosen for the authorship of the article.
Rev. Mr.. Powell is the editor of the saries.
The present volume includes Albany, Sara
toga, Schenectady, Newburg, Tarrytown-
on-Hudson. New York, Brooklyn, Prince
ton, Philadelphia. Wilmington, Buffalo and
Pittsburg. Albert Shaw contributes an in
troductory article covering the whole mid
die state area, from an historical point of
view.
THEY THAT WALK IN DARKNESS; Ghetto
Tragedies. By L. Zangwill. New York: The
Macmillan Company. Washington: Brentano's.
Zangwill is a determined realist, but with
q very narrow Scope. There are MANY