Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-28

| day with especial cloSeneSS In view OIL inc
fact that the great Muscovite empire has
become a world power Of first rank and Is
even now the mysterious element In the
Chinese problem The reign Of Alexander
was of high importance In the evolution OF
the Russia Of today. with its brilliant prom
! Use for tomorrow. Tho genius OF that gen.
tie. gracious monarch was the paramount
| factor in suppressing Napoleon and saving
4 Europe. Alexanders sagacity developed
| strong national spirit in Russia. He set an
| IDEAL before his people they had not known
| before His essentially modern
| character. 1t is clearly, If at times en-
| these charming memoirs. written by
! Polish woman who had many years OF
close acquaintance with the emperor and
| was. gifted with the literary spirit. The
portrait she draws Is warm and vigorous
F.! She recognizes Alexander's moral fault and
| does not condone it. But she nevertheless
| makes of him a most lovable monarch and
| man. and incidentally, while not pretending
to follow the political and military cam
paigns of his reign. affords an excellent
| sense of the state of Russia at the begin
ming Of the century. One passage of the
| memoirs is Of interest today for its ap-
proach to the spirit of prophecy. Writing
1924, on the eve of his departure to visit
| Siberia for the first time, she notes.
| when Alexander was speaking OF his
| journey l said that to make the tour
| through all his provinces Is far KAN
| skatka would take more than year, and
| that the other day NJ. de c. Cher husband)
| and had amused ourselves by making his
| ma esty take possession of China to round
| out his empire. OH my empire is already
| too round, and your idea Is very impolitic.
said his majesty. Russia is already only
governments make communication too slow;
| consequently governmental action is often
| delayed and disturbed
| Yet within seventy-i years Russia has
| n'arcp6 that nroviDcQ nf fharp
\ Asia with railroad. has taken practical
possession Of Manchuria. and is today sus-
pected Of designs upon China proper The
| ardor of his friends sagacous
| than the conservatism of Alexander.
THE FILIPINO MARTYRS; a Story of the Crime
Of February 4, 1880. By Eye witness, Rich
ard Brnsley Sheridan. Barrister flaw, Inner
Temple. London. New York: John Lane.
1t Is difficult In moderate terms to charac-
| terize a work clearly written from the
viewpoint Of violent prejudice despite prefa-
| tory declarations of disinterest. The author
| has revamped all the libels ever uttered
| against the American soldiers in the Philip
pines. has distorted the historical facts as
! to the early relations between Aguinaldo
and the American representatives and has
sought In fine to convict the United States
Of the vilest treachery. His demand that
the records be published Is amusing in view
of the ample official revelation of every fact
connected with both the early occupation
and the war of paciflcation. Aguinaldo in his
eyes Is creature of highest purest mo-
tives. and every American who has had to
do with the policy of this government is
painted as a trickster, prevarlcator or Il
| miscreant The book clearly lacks the
rational spirit of history that 1t can be re-
garded only as campaign document.
THE HEARTS HIGHWAY; a Romance of vir-
GINA In the Nth Century. BY Mary Z. Wilkins.
New York. Doubleday, Page & Co. Wash:
WIN. Ballantyne & Sons.
Following the latest fashion in novel max
| Ing, Miss Wilkins has carried her muse into
colonial Virginia and has wrought out
story which deals with the tobacco cutting
plot following the failure Of Bacon's rebel
lion. The picture of colonial intrigue is
strongly drawn, but the atmosphere Is
somewhat thin in places. A convict lover
tells the tale without a blush for his own
heroicS and to his reward at last
with his feet in the public stocks in James,
town. with the girl of his choice beside
him and the popuace cheering them. IN
fortunately. the plot is marred by an OBJ
scure explanation of the convict-lover's in
nocence The story lacks its authors usu-
al sure touch.
| THE REGENERATION OF THE UNITED STATES:
a Forecast of its Industrial Evolution By VIM
Morton Grinnell. New York: G. Z. Putnam j
Sons. Washington: Woodward & Lotlrop.
| A president optimist sees through the
years now at hand to a triumph of Ameri-
can prosperity. There are dark places in
| the vista. The darkest Is a period of war,
with the United States battling alone with
Russia and Germany, the foe at first VIC
torious. then swept from the American con-
tinent by the stubborn valor of the people.
Then follow years of regeneration. marked
| by territorial contraction, the evolution of
a new industrial system and the wide APP
plication to life Of the discoveries of science.
10 f,tn
| Of the future effect Of present causes, from
| a rather constrained point of view.
| THE CARDINALS SNUFF BOX: Novel. By
HENRY HAR1.ASD. New York: John Lane.
Although 1t may challenge the criticism
of those readers who are not Catholics,
this story ought to secure a wide vogue for
the delicacy of Its treatment and the charm
| of It's four or five characters. The scene is
| laid in Italy. Love and religion are in the
air. Three of the five speaking parts be-
| long to English men and women; a fourth
| is that of the Cardinal, whose snuff box
proves Cupids precious talisman to permit
genuinely happy ending The fifth is
the role Of an old Italian housekeeper.
charming in her simple faith and her brave
efforts to understand her quiZzical employ
| er. Few books of late years have had the
reason to appeal so strongly to the refined
| literary taste.
EXHIBITION PARIS-19OO; a Practical Guide,
Containing Information to Means of LocOmo-
tion. Hotels. Cafes. Theaters, Shops. Museums,
buildings and Monuments. Daily Life and Hab-
it's the Curiosites of Paris and the Exhibition.
Illustrated. London VIM. Heinamann. New
York: +. A. Stokes Co. Washington: Brcn-
tanO's
OUTLINE HISTORY OF ENGLISH AND AMER
| ICAN LITERATURE. BY Chas. F. johnson,
Lift Doc. Yale: Professor Of English Litera-
ture in Trinity College. Hartford. Illustra ted.
New York: American Book Company.
QUAINT NUGGETS: Brief selections from the
writings of Thomas Fuller George Herbert,
Izaak Walton John Selden and Joseph Hall.
Gathered by Ereline Warner Brainerd. New
York: Fords, Howard & Hubert.
| ROBERT ToURNAY: Romance of the French
Revolution. By VIM. Sage With illustrations
by Eric Pape and Mary Aver. Boston: Hou;h-
ton. Mitiiin & Co. Washington: VIM. Ballan-
tyne & Sons.
WIEN WE DEAD AWAKEN: Dramatic Epi-
lated by VIM Archer. Chicago: Herbert 8.
Stone 4 Co. Washington woodward & Lo-
throp.
RED BLOOD AND BLUE; n Novel BY Harrison
Robertson, author Of ''How the Derby Was
Won,' etc. New York: Charles Scribners
Sons. Washington: BrentanO's
THE WAYS OF MEN: Essays. BY Eliot Gregory
CAN Idler'D. author of Worldly Ways and
Byways," New York: Charles Scribners Sons.