The sun., 1899-07-01

right time to several persons It is likely that
the love affair OF the heroine would have
run more smoothly In Mr.. Martin ].
Pritchard's tale. The Passion OF Rosamund
Keith Herbert 8. Stone 4 CO... and that the
reader would have been spared various unex-
pected jolts. Rosamund Is the beautiful and
charming athletic English girl who rides to
hounds and plays golf. and is proposed to by
all men. and keeps sensible under all circum-
stances. Her surroundings do not differ from
| those we are accustomed to in stories OF Eng
lish lfe so that 1t does not seem unfair to count
upon something like the usual conduct OF society
| from conventional people. 1t Is accepted. for
| instance. that the British matrons heart Is set
| on securing husband from the nobility for
| the young woman under her guidance. but
| the reader. as well as Rosamund. is naturally
| startled to find the passion so strong In Rosa
muhd's aunt. who has shown no special affec-
| tion for her niece. that when that independent
young woman refuses an earl the old lady
drops dead. The behavior OF Rosamund's
lover, too. complicates matters. for he com
bines an unusual aptitude for becoming mixed
| up in ineNplicable messes with total lack OF
| common sense when he IL once in them. He takes
walk after ball. and has an encounter In the
street with vicious drunken woman. who Is a
| total stranger. that lands him in the police
station. In accordance with English customs.
| 1t seems. the newspapers print the news with
sensational comments and society closes its
| doors to him. Rosamund. nevertheless, be-
lieves in him and becomes engaged to him.
| whereupon he withdraws into Catholic
| retreat until the storm blows over. becomes
| converted or brought back to the faith he was
| born In. and is apparently on the way to be-
| come a monk. He returns to the world to
marry Rosamund and all the preparations for
| the wedding are made when friend reminds
| him Of the slight complication that he Is al
| ready married a fact that he has apparently
| forgotten or else has considered Of no interest
| to Rosamund. The tange is an ingenious one.
| and so far as we know. original to Mr.. Prit-
chard. The lover had divorced his wife. which.
| Of course. did away with legal difficulties and
| might have raised no eccesias ones had
| he belonged to the Church Of England: but
| having become again q Catholic In good stand
| ing, the marriage must hold. as the Church
| does not recognize divorce. We do not feel
| sure about the soundness OF Mr. Pritchard's
canon law in this matter. and h ave the impress
| sion that it might be difficult to get into the
particular tang!e he devises. or. at any rate,
comparatively easy to get out Of 1t; but his
| lover's chief talent is to stay in messes. and
| unless he stayed in this one there would be no
/ need for the last half Of the book. Here the
scene changes. Rosamunds uncle goes crazy
and drags the girl with him to Switzerland. and
| then to q monastery in Albania. They are
robbed by gypsies on the way. meet with other
unpleasant adventures. and on reaching the
monastery are showed in for the winter. and
the uncle dies. Rosamund is cared for by the
monks and finds her lover among them. as a
novice. and they make up. When the SHOWS
| melt she is sent off alone. is attacked by Mus
sulman fanatics. and is tied up on a waysile
cross From this her lover rescues her. 1t Is
to lead up to the picture Of the naked girl upon
the cross that the second part Of the book is
written apparently. and this rather bias
phemous comparison alone suggests ming
in the title 1t is procedure as inartistic as 1t
is needless and repulsive.
Studying history from the sources " Is being
run into the ground by certain profess. re-. and.
with the assistance Of some enthusiastic
scnooteachers. they are trying TO force that
form Of study into preparatory schools. il not
into the kindergarten. With this object in
view. numerous compilations of original docu
ments have appeared from which school chill
dren are TO reconstruct history A great deal
Of time and effort Is lost in this process. The
chief value of the study Of originals is that the
student has all the evidence on a given point
before him and can form his own judgment
definitely on that point. 1t demands the exer-
else OF critical powers that belong to a late
stage in education rather than to the early
stages. School children. even those in high
schools. are better occupied in finding out the
facts and stories They certainly can form no
critical judgment from a mere selection OF
documents however important. though OF
course their interest may be excited by read-
ing accounts OF events told by eyewtnesses
Even small boy will be enthusiastic on read
ing the Declaration Of Independence II he Is
not obliged TO learn 1t by heart. with the
names OF the sgners. and to recte il in school
Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart OF Harvard Uni
versity has put together number OF interest
ing papers. ranging from CHRISTOPHER Column
bus's letter announcing the discovery OF the
New World to President McKinley's mes
sage to Congress reciting tho results of
the with Spain, in "A single volume
which he calls Source Book of American
History and the Macmillans publish The
documents are preceded by short hints as
to how they should be used and by, what
must be looked for without fail in books
by Prof, Hart. short photographers and list of
subjects for topical study. We should like to
see tho results of school children's investiga-
tions into The Early Theatres and Horse
Racing" in the eighteenth century. among
those suggested. particularly IL they attend
:fnrriau Hptrls.