The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-12-01
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
Via Crucis, Marion Crawford's Lat
est Contribution to Fiction.

repeated himself. For this latest story he has
taken a theme far apart from that OF any other
OF his works. and has made out OF it what some
will consider his greatest creation. Via Crucis'
Is a tale OF the Second Crusade-the one Of
which Bernard of Clairvaux was the prophet.
and which was undertaken by Louis VII OF
France. Eleanor. the beautiful Queen OF France,
is the real heroine OF the tale, and Gilbert
Warde, an English soldier OF fortune, the hero.
Eleanor accompanies the army with her train Oh
ladies, and with all the state and the trappings
belonging to court life. Ii Is a brilliant pageant
at the beginning OF the journey. and the author
makes US see il as he does. He is not an apostle
OF realism; it is his imagination and his poetic
sense Ia prose writer may be richly endowed
with this sense though he never write q line
Of rhyme). which enable him to picture this
cavalcade and its attendant features in a way
TO bring it vividiy before the minds Of his read
ers. His historical characters. unlike the per-
sonages in many historical novels. are more than
mere lay figures; they STAND out wildly. This Is
especially true OF Queen Eleanor and OF Henry
Plantagenet. though the latter. a mere boy, ap-
pears but briefly on the scene. and TO a some
what less degree of the King and OF the Abbot
Of Clairvaux. Probably no one who reads this
story will be able hereafter to read the history
of that period without finding the pages en-
livened by the Crawford portraits of Louis and
Eleanor, and by Crawford's accounts Of the
customs, occupations. amusements and thoughts
of the men ana women OF the middle ages. Here
is the way the Queen first appeared to Gilbert
Warde:
Her face and her throat. uncovered to the
richly clear as the tinted leaves or young orange
blossoms in May ana like the flowers themselves
seemed TO reJoice IN AIR anu sun. IA cew anu
rain. perfected, not marred, by the toucn OF heat
and coid. Inc straisnt white throat rose Ike a
column from the neck TO the delicate lobe OF the
tauitieSS ear, ana a generously mOueteQ line
spranS in a clear curve or beauty 10 the sudden
rounaIng OF the ivory chin, CLEFT in the midst by
nature s supreme touch. Low on her forehead
the heavy waves OF her hair were drawn pack
10 each SIDE under the apple-green coverchief
that was kept in place by the crown OF state.
But she wore no wImple and the broad waves
howed down upon her shoulders and hung be-
nina her like a heavy mantle. And they were
OF that marvellous living hue that the westering
sun casts through oak leaves on an ancient wall
in autumn. All in her lace was OF light, from
her hair to her white forehead. from her fore
head to her radiant eyes. deeper than sapphires.
brighter than mountain springs: from the peach
blossom bloom Of her cheeks to the living coral
Of her lips"
And here is a picture Of the holy abbot, whose
beauty was of soul. not body:
"A straight. thin figure came into sight, clad
in a monks frock scarcely less dazzling white
than the marvellous upturned face. In
the glorious autumn sunshine, Bernard of Clair
vaux moved like the supernal vision of a heaven
ly dream. His head thrown back. the delicate
silver-fair beard scarcely shading the spiritual
outlines of an almost divine face. his soft blue
eyes looked upward, filled with a light not
81 NAts . 80
emaciated cheeks We're LUMINOSITY pale and
seemed to shed a radiance OF their ~wn."
The author has evidently studied the chronicles
of the period long and carefully. and has ar
ranged the setting of his tale in strict accord
with facts. There is a convincing air Of accu-
racy in the smaller details that does not accom-
pany hastily-written fiction, and the reader has
the feeling. when laying the volume down, OF
knowing more of the spirit and life of that far
off time than ever before. But with all this
there is no visible effort at instruction on the
part of the author. nor an undue proportion Of
actual history. The romance is woven in so
s~killfully as to seem as truthful as the rest. II
a doubt as to the verify arises 1t is In making
Gilbert, the Englishman, OF such stern stuff that
he fails to succumb to the o~vertures OF the
beautiful Queen. who is enamored of him-his
own sweetheart. one OF the Queens ladies, being
a shadowy creature in comparison. But Gilbert
is a worthy knight, who fights bravely and loves
truly: the Queen repents of her unwomanly
course, and honor rules with both in the end.
The story is a genuine contribution to literature.
and will add TO Mr.. Crawford's already high
reputation as a novelist. The illustrations. by
Louis Loeb, are for the most part good. Pub
lished by the acmilla Company, New York.
Poetry of American Wit and HumOr
Compilations of verse seem to be a literary
TIL ScdSOu- ~ NOAitStich VI hiiDaNC W
books and another containing expressions of
many poets on the theme love have lately passed
through the reviewers hands. This latest vol
ume contains the humorous utterances of Amer
lean verse writer's. The compiler, r. L. Paget,
had no lack of material from which TO select,
for many writers usually given to serious work
bubble over now and then In gay rhyme.
Holmes and SAKE, Mr.. Paget says. were really
the pioneers in the field, but their verse was not
distinctively American. and might have been
written. for the most. in the mother country. A
newer school, Of which Low ell and Fret Hartc We're
the deans followed: the .'Riglow Parers'' of the
first and the California ballads of the latter. he
thinks, stood for a type Of humor worlds re-
moved from that which was dominant a century
earlier. Its success and point were not depend
ent on pun and epigram and metrical polish.
but rather on its homely truth to fact in the
depletion of novel. though perfectly real condi.
tions of American life. The most original type
Of our subsequent humorous poetry has been Of
similar character. We have become aware that
there is no necessity for torturing language into
fantastic shapes, for r~esorting to the conven-
tional devices Of European humorists. There is
a surplus of irresistible fun in the present condi-
tions of our great multiform people, and when
Riley gives us the Hoosier, Foss the Yankee
farmer. Irvine Russell the negro. Leland and
Follen Adams the German-American the whole
world laughs not at us. but with U.S." Out Of
the mass Of material at his command the editor
has made his selections with good judgment,
and nearly everybody's favorites in this line OF
verse are likely to be found In the volume. 1t
opens. properly enough, with Hartes Heather
Chinee,' and ends. also properly enough. with
Will Carleton's lines on The New Church
Organ" James Whitcomb Riley's name fire.
quently appears, as do c. +. Adams, S. w.
Toss, r. J. Burdette, r. X. Munkittrick and
C. G. Leland. Many other writers have one or
two poems each, and the collection may. on the
whole, be regarded as a satisfactory and repre-
sentative one. The book is geographically at
~tractive. l.. C. Page & Co, Boston. publishers.
Romance of ludwig III, of Bavaria.
When, shortly before midday on March 10, 1854,
e tolling hell announced the death of Macmillan
II. King of Bavaria, a deep gloom fell upon the
city of Munich and there was mourning through
out the country. Every one felt not only that a
good King had passed away, but that the future
OF Bavaria was now placed in somewhat incom-
letent hands. A ruler of only eighteen years OF
age was not a very sure guide to depend upon
at a time when the state OF Europe was causing
grave anxiety. All these doubts and fears. how
ever. were forgotten when the young King. in
deep grief and mourning, and surrounded by the
princes OF the blood and the mobiles OF the land,
appeared before his subjects as chief mourner at
his fathers grave. His extreme youth. his won-
derful beauty and the deep-seated expression OF
grief upon his face made instant capture Of the
good German ~burghers and their families. and