The times., 1899-05-28


the frontier or the unimportant doings OF 4
two lone women as in picturing Doilard
and the great Bishop Laval. Her work is
always artistic, and now and then 1t is |
great. She is one Of those who are laying |
foundations for the fiction and poetry OF |
the Middle West, which bids fair to be our |
finest American literature; and she has al
ready supplemented with her fiction Park |
mans histories of Canada Boston:
Houghton, Miffiin & Co. $1.25)
THE Awkward Age" is one of the char
acteristic works of Henry James, and when
that is said everyone will know what to
expect. The scene Of the story is laid IN
London. in the most modern of modern
society-according to the author. AS near
ly as one may discover from the delicate
style in which things are implied. and hint
ed at, and talked about, most of the peo-
pie in the book are engaged in finding
themselves except, of course, the hollow
worldlings, who always know where to
find themselves. There is an old gentle
man, who has been sequestered from the
world for a lifetime SO, and is under
stood to be tremendously fascinating, and
of a very high, noble, and simple charac-
ter. All the other people in the book are
continually telling him how far above them
he is, and intimating that he is as sweet
and fresh as a breath of spring-which is
of course gratifying to the old gentleman.
There are two young girls in the book,
both at what is called "the awkward age"
1t would make most girls of fifteen, in this
country, feel awkward to have their pa
rents frankly speculating on their mar
riage prospects and the chances of mar
rying them off to this, that, or the other
suitor or possible suitor; but perhaps they
manage those things better in England
Another salient point in the book is the
way in which all the characters continual
| iy approach unsayory subjects, give a gen.
| tie sniff just to make sure of the nature
Of the thing and delicately turn around
and go the other way. The wit is all some
what shopworn and shabby-smart, and
| most OF the sentiment is in similar con-
dition. Nobody, in buying flowers. cares
TO have the vender pick up this, that, and
the other bouquet and descant on the mer-
its and fresh condition of the blossoms.
One likes to keep up the fiction that they
have not been handled. So in novels. But
Mr. James pulls his characters to pieces,
| puts them together again, and holds them
| up for the world to admire. New York:
Harper e Bros. $500
| THE Kinship of Souls" by Reuen Thom-
| as. is a book-one can hardly call it a
story-so intensely intellectual that it is
painful. The denizen of other parts of the
| United States, reading this alleged novel
| written by a Massachusetts clergyman viii
be inclined to think that the comic papers
are right and that all Boston people do
| talk in mixture of Greek and classic Eng
| lish poetry. The characters in this book
are simply saturated with literature. They
cannot open their mouths without pouring
forth information. 1t seems actually to
exude from their pores; wisdom hovers
about them as a fragrance. No mysterious
kinship Of souls is needed to explain the
attraction between Ismene Lucilla daugh-
| ter of Prof. Jerome Eveleth Norton, and
Warwick Langley. The moment Warwick
heard lsmene speak and saw her prophetic
gaze he must have felt that this was the
mate for him. He never could have found
another not even in Boston. This is the
way in which he expresses his feelings
when he does realize the fact:
When the intellectual and emotional natures CO.
| ordinate in full enjoyment how excellent the de-
light.
He is lying awake at night analyzing his
sensations, and thus communes with him
self;
II was in these hours that I began distinctly
to recognize how the being of this cultured young
| lady had entered into mine, and had brought
illumination and sense of companionship which
| never before had known.
We should think not. Warwick Langley
is a man of a thousand Ii would take a
combination of Diana, Minerva, and the
owl to mate with him. When he talks
with his love he discusses with her the
question whether or not he can be an in
differentist" or form an "undenominational
sect" The ordinary young lady would
have thought, if she did not say, that Mr.
Langley was too much an indifferentist to
suit her. But Islnene does not. This is
the kind of thing size says:
have conviction, ever deepening that ths
divide ct imperia principle, which the Protest
! ant part OF the ecclesiastical world has been act
ing long, is a seed sown by the Anticllrist
If the average young man were to hear
young lady talk in that manner he
would not stop to analyze his emotions.
He would ruin. Clearly Ismene was saved
for Warwick. We are expressly informed
that her remarkable mind disposes OF
household duties as easily as OF abstruse
intellectual problems. so there need be nc
fear that Warwick's beans will not be
properly brown, or that his fishballs will
not be crisp, nice, and well seasoned
But the children!
The young Langleys undoubtedly will
live up to the highest comic paper ideal oi
the Boston baby. When they begin to ia h
they will say:
Mamma, have been subjected TO the pett,
prosecutions Of reprehensihle mosquitoes, whicl
were much more persistent than i found 1t con
venient for them to be.
They will converse, by preference, in
poysyllables. They will play in ecclesi-
astical formations. They will quarrel il
poemical phrases and propositions They
will even squall in Greek. Well is it tha
| in the classic shades of the highly Gu ii
waited family it is not considered artistic
, to hang up signs saying God Bless 0ul
Home" For how is home TO be blessed
in the longest words contained in the die
, tionary?
, Dr. Thomas is a clever man, and car
! preach good sermons, but he should neve
( try again to write novel. He makes
worse failure OF II than Henry Ware
Beecher did when he wrote Norwood Il
g prove that he could not have writer
t Uncle Toms Cabin"-and proved il mos
e conclusively. (Boston; Little, Brown
, Co. Sl50)
a Pursued by the Law" by ]. Maclarel
t Cobban, is a sort of combination Of detec
g tive story and love story, with a plo
, | which is rather weak and not particular,
b well worked out. II is as much like ba
n dream as anything else-one of thos
= nightmare dreams in which one is alway
:, being chased about by officers of the laN
e for some crime which has not been com
= mitted. The hero James Graham, ha
= come with his mother to live in a manu-
: featuring town, in hiding from his father
: who is a scoundrel. He comes home on
: evening to find his father dead on the par
= lor floor from apparently no cause, and [
= save his mother from the possible accuse
e ton which might follow this event, he de
: clares that he himself killed his father
# Owing to the advice and assistance of