New-York tribune., 1899-07-23
FICTION.
CONFLICT OF CONVENTION AND
INDIVIDUALITY.

Ernest Dowson and Arthur More. limo pp.
s42 Henry Holt Co
THE BUsHwHAcKERs. AND OTHER STORIES
BY Charles Egbert CraddoCk. 16mo, pp. 81
Herbert S Stone & Co.
THE JAMEsONS by Mary f wilkins. lsmo.
pp. IN Doubleday & Mcclure co. Curtis Pun
fishing Company
The hero Of Adrian Rome" is far from
being a hero in the customary sense OF the
term. He is an orphan with a large inheritance
Of wealth and sufficient amount Of inherited
temperament. artistic and morbid. The instinct
Of his youth tells him to marry the country
girl he loves Convention bids him 60 forth
alone into the fashionable world TO which he
belongs. and there find the kind Of wife with
which his equals would expect him to be pro
vided Had he not had the gift Of authorship
Adrian Rome might not only have acquiesced
in this arrangement but would have found
happiness In it, His fashionable wife not sym
pathizing wholly with his literary ambitions
however, his thoughts revert TO Sylvia. the
innocent maiden OF his school days and from
this combination Of a natural impulse with
the rCCrudesccnce of a family idioeynCracy The
tragic finale of the story flows. II is not
bad story as latter day stories 90. and II is
told with some Skill. a certain amount of which
would appear 10 have sprung from close study
Of Mr James At the same time the authors
lack the power to make their characters alto
lether plausible Perhaps it is because they
are not fitted To- collaborato and N trying 70
help one another only diminish the effect for
which both are striving. We suspect though
that the fault is more serious There is an
oxford Gon IN the book who IS always men
toned as a person Of brilliant wit The things
he is made to say are abysmaliy dull Thus
Adrian Rome Is described as most uncon-
vcntional and even charming man one is con-
stantly expecting him TO be interesting but h.
is never quite realized he remains always a
shadowy figure compact OF words not OF fFsh
and blood The novel is just good enough ID
intention to make the reader wish It had been
executed more from the inside Of things boy
collaborators Of greater capacities than Mr.
I0wson and MI Moore
Miss Murfree falters only when she leaves
her favorite environment and personages. Tn
last Of her three stories THE Exploit OF Choo-
lah the Chicksaw." is of very doubtful value
The action is dated from the middle Of the last
century II does not excite IN, emotions 10y a
hairs breadth. on the other hand The Bush
whackers" and The Panther Of lotions Ridg-'
are capital pictures Of types and scenes which
the author thoroughly knows and the episodes
celebrated in both stories are a. lfcke a. they
are dramatic OF course there is dialect. and
equally Of course. the pictorial motive is a httle
overdone Miss Murfree loves her mountain
scenery 50 well that she does not always know
when o. stop talking about it. But her mar
rative gift remains unimpaircd and she wreaHs
,.I..r .f fx aft 90
The author Of The Jamesons has SO often
UaCked so much within little space that We
are surprised at the tenuty Of book by her
running To- a hundred and seventy seven pages
In spite Of the many chapters there is very
little told What little there is, however. Is
not without a pleasing quality To the village
IN which the scene is laid there come the
-amesons Il family Of enough importance IL
the world 10 feel that II is justified in approach
ing its new neighbors with lofty air. Cir
cumstances wear of the strangeness IN time.
and friendship takes the place Of mlsunder-
standing The story OF the evolutionary process
is set down in Miss Wilkinss accustomed ad-
mirable manner Now and then touch Of fun
ls introduced as when the Jamesons are re-
ported as refusing to buy the COWS offered to
them because they haven't any upper teeth
The humor Is more than ordinarily obvious 50
also is the sentiment.