New-York tribune., 1900-08-04
FICTION.
A MASTERPIECE OF HUMoR AND WIS
DOM

per & Brcs. --'''''
HILDA WADE; Woman with Tenaeity Of Pur-
pose; BY Grant Alien. With IS sS ILLUSTRATIONS ton
by Gordon Browne. 12mo, pp X, SSS. g. p Put
nams Sons.
ELISA, THE DOOM OF THE ZIMBABWE--
BLACK HEART AND WHITE HEART Fart.
I2mo PIP 25i- Longmans, Green & CO.
THE PASSING OF THOMAS, And Other Stories
BY Thomas a. Janvier. Illustrated. 12mo, pp
$50. Harper x Bros.
DANIEL wHYTE. An Unfinished Biography BY
A. J. Dawson. 12no, PIP. 341. Brentano
Mark Twair's new book might fairly be re-
garded as a summary of his lifes philosophy.
1t contains fiction and satire. criticism and de-
scriptive writing, photographed hints and
remarks on the art of telling a funny story.
Through all the stories and essays there runs
what may he called a thread of conviction. The
book seems to say that he looks back over
a long experience the author has finally made
up his mind not to take human nature too
seriously but to believe in it's better impulses
and 10 reckon with its meaner ones in 4 mood
OF Indignation that is the less effective
because it abounds in good humor. There is
only one subject which Mr.. Clemens finds it
impossible TO speak without bitterness; he can
not endure the French. Perhaps there was a
time when he was merely amused by their
foibles. but that must have been before the
Bourgogne disaster, the burning of the Charity
Bazaar and the Dreyfus incident. Those three
topics turn up in his pages like the head of
King Charles I in the conversation of Mr.. Dick,
and every time they arise he whacks the Gaul.
The castigation is neatly administered and
always rouses the sympathy Of the reader.
Mark Twain is indeed sure of his reader
throughout this volume. Whether he is advo-
eating the publication of cur stage or pleads
for reform among public servants we are bound
to agree with him, because of the sublime com
mon sense which underlies his quaintest argu-
ments. But not only agree, we are infinitely
delighted with the story that gives the book it's
title. THE Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg"
takes its place at once among the best things
of the author and among those fragments Of
homely wisdom which count precious posses
sions Of literature. 1t is a great sermon on
hypocrisy; it is alsc masterpiece of humor In
it tragedy and farce are blended in exactly the
right proportions. One laughs as at a spectacle,
one weeps as al disaster, but. best of all. one
takes this narrative as an unforgetable lesson.
When Grant Allen died not long ago a good
deal was made by his journalistic biographers
of the necessity under which he labored of
writing fiction for living We were told that
his novels were pot boilers, and that if he had
had enough money to follow his own inclina-
tions he would have lived and died simply and
solely a scientist. For part, it has al
ways seemed to that Allen mistaken
in his ambitions. If he had possessed scientific
gifts of a very high order may feel quite
certain that the absence of fortune would not
have caused them to rust in neglect. Nowadays
no genius is permitted TO so to waste Further
more, Aliens best fiction none of the
marks Of the pot boiler. "Rosalba." published
just before his death, is a charming book and if
the author was diverted from the composition
Of Iilyai Ct n i6c
dilections, but by the foolish ideas on social
matters which led him to throw away his time
on Hilltop" novels "HilIa Wade" suggests
by its subtitle, that it sprang from a kindred
mood TO that which gave US The Woman Who
Did,; but, a matter Of fact it is free from
morbid dogmatizing woman's position in life
and is simply an ingenious work of the "Sher-
lock Holmes sort. The heroine's wits are
pitted against those of a venerable savant who
is incidentally scoundrel and has committed
a crime against Hildas father. Ultimately Pro
fessor Sebastian is forced his deathbed to
atone for his sin by accepting the terms of his
frail, but tenacious antagonist. Conan Doyle
writes the chapter left unfinished at the au-
thor's death. The task was, Of course. fitted to
lin, and the book ends as it begins and pro-
ceeds, in an interesting manner.
In both the stories that go TO fill Rider Hag-
CARDS latest volume there are elements which
according to all the rules, ought to spoil them.
ELISA aims at the reconstruction of the past
by the aid Of archaeology. In Black Heart
and White Heart the African and Englishman
are contrasted with results from which it is
almost inevitable that the reader should draw
moral. But Mr.. Haggard is a novelist first and
an archaologist and a moralist afterward
He has the sense of romance. the narrative gift
and the value of this book lies in the fact that
it contains two absorbing stories Of love and
passion. In both the authors power triumphs
over difficulties. The scenes and person
ages of ELISA" are drawn from ancient Af-
rica. yet they as clearly realized and the
drama is as thrilling though Mr.. Haggard
dealing with the newest material Again
in his Zulu idyl he has had TO interpret the
most secret emotions Of reticent and even mys-
terious savages, but he is as successful in his
analysis of the African heart as in that of the
white mans. That is to say. he makes the
one as human the other, while he preserves
the essential difference between the two.
The most noticeable thing about Mr. Janvier's
work is the deft and graceful way in which it
presents an amusing situation. The author
knows his Philadelphia very well, and he pokes
fun o. its best society with an authoritative air
But the stateliest Philadelphian dame could
read his book with pleasure His satire is al
ways in perfect taste. His language is re-
strained. one gathers that even Mr.. Port the
crusty old fellow whose peevish faults he ex-
poses. Is nevertheless n gentleman In the
ST. Peters Set" ruthlessIy unveils the snobbieh-
ness which exists IN The quaker City. and at the
same time we may be sure that Mr. Janvier
will stir no angry passions. The Passing OF
Thomas" describes the amazing adventures of a
lady too deeply devoted to her pet cat She
has dreadful troubles in disposirg of its corpse.