The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-29

Minor Fiction.
In The Princess Sophia, &c Mr. E. T. Ben
son has done an amusing bit Of romance
which will serve very well for summer
reading II is not like "Dodo" or The
] Capsina." but rather in the style of Antho-
ny Hope Al any rate it was Mr. Hope
( who first conceived the idea Of writing
novel OF modern life laying the scene in
mythical kingdom. and Mr. Benson has
/ done the same thing very cleverly in his
present work
! Il is reminiscent. but not unpleasantly so.
/ When We find the Princess Sophia smoking
| a cigarette in the stable yard. at the ten
| der age OF ten. we are reminded of the
Lady Of Quality" but fortunately. the
father OF this princess understood how to
/ deal with her considerably better than Sir
! Godfrey Wildairs krew how to train his
! Clorinda. The heroine at maturity is a
| good deal like the CaUsina in some re
! spec;s, but a much more spicy character.
/ The gradual development Of the kingdom
/ along ;he lines Of Monte Carlo. the plot
/ against the Princess. the counterpart so
cleverly carried out and the denouement in
| which the kingdom is rescued from its ma
( MIA for gambling by the agency OF So
/ phia son and heir. are all admirably man
aged, and the interest is sustained through
/ out This latest book of Mr. Benson s is rot
! q grand success but it Is not a failure BY
any manner Of means no1 has il any start
/ lingly weak points. CNew York Harper &
( Bros. sl.25.)
RED Blood and Blue" by Harrison Rob
7 art &c mo lH..r~ In
! lucky, and as may be imagined the plot
/ hinges on the relations between one of
/ the old families Of the State, and a man
! whose father was a nobody, and not a
/ very honest nobody at that The author
evidently sympathizes decidedly with his
/ hero. and the story is rather a contrast to
/ those sketches Of the South in which all
! the Chivalry, nobility. seusitiveness. and
! honor are represented as being possessed
( by the patrician element II fact. it seems
/ to have been written expressly to prove
/ that nothing Of this sort is true, and that
/ a man of unknown ancestry may be the
/ born gentleman. not only in material
/ achievements. but in delicacy Of feeling.
/ honorable generosity and other attributes
| Of what is known as gentle blood.
Andrew Outcault is certainly manly, up
right and generous There is no ostenta-
! tion about him and 10 nonsense Of any
/ hlIL We are meant 70 Ike Mn. anu We
| do, The heroine. Victoria Torrance is less
! wcll-dedned and decided character. She
! is a type rather than a woman. Arthur
! Ferne. the sensitive. Eentlemanly man who
! Yet lacks the vigorous manly instincts OF
/ Outcault, is also well drawn and the mi
nor characters are sketchsd with consid-
/ cradle precision. The book seems to show
! signs Of haste and hack-work but the con-
/ ception is certainly good, and the plot well
f#.wFr
ner's Sons. S1.5o)
Curiously enough. Robert Tourney" by
! William Sage though published by anOth-
er firm and dealing with another time and
/ country. bears in plot certain resemb-
/ lance to Red Blood and Blue" and might
/ almost have been printed under that title.
! In point Of finish artistic feeling. realism.
/ and strength OF conception. however. il is
/ by far the better book. II is a story Of the
! French Revolution: the heroine is a wom-
I an OF the nobility, Edme de Rochefort. and
/ the hero is Robert Tourney, son of her
/ fathers steward. One Of the particularly
| agreeable features Of the work is that
! while the heroine is a charming woman,
! she is also distinctvey French not an
| English or American maiden put into q
! French gown. Her character is thoroughly
! wrought out as that Of woman Of the old
| regime in France. OF the centuries when
( French noblewomcn were delicately bred
| tenderly nurtured and shielded from ev-
cry possible hardship except those which
/ come from unhappy and sometimes shame
/ ful marriage. The pride engendered by
/ all these centuries Of tradition is in Edme
! de Rochefort and she is a creation as per-
feet as "a Jacqueminot rose
In making his hero manly enough TO
/ conquer all obstacles yet strong and SEN
man. by obedience 10 all the sweet fantas-
tic observances of chivalry, Mr.. Sage has
| fulfilled a most difficult task. He also did
/ rather a daring thing in choosing for the
| setting Of his story a period so thoroughly
/ thrashed over by historians and novelists
as that Of the Revolution. but in this, too
! he has been successful His picture Of
| Danton is equaled only by that Of Robes
| pierre, and both are mastery. He gives
| glimpses and sidelights on the life Of that
| terrible period, and is not so busy in max
ing his hero go through impossible Jdven-
! lures that he neglects the depletion Of mi
! nor persons In the drama One OF the tell
] ing incidents in the book is the execution
/ OF La Liberte, the wild peasant girl who
! for time was the leader of the Paris mob,
and another-which II would be hard TO
| match without going to the classic novels
| Of Francis the little scene in the prison
read out and the aristocrats rise and take
their places in the line. one has the SEN
sation Of being present at the pathetic.
terrible scene. One Of The most delightful
characters Is Gailard the actor who is
| throughout the comrade and friend Of
| Robert Tourney. Altogether, Mr.. Sage is
| to be congratulated on having written
| good historical novel. thing which is pos
sible 20 only one clever author in hun
dred. His work is marked throughout by
a certain reserve power, carefuness Of fin
! ish and transformations strength. which
make it notable among the sloyenly, crude
and hasty romances viii n have lately been
| flooding the bookstores under the name Of
| historical fiction. Boston; HoughtOn,
| Mifln & Co. SL50)
"Tte Conspirators" indicates that Mr.
| Robert Barr Chambers has not yet gotten
| rid of the habit Of writing pot boilers. This
book is fairly good. considered in that
| light, but il is not likely to be remembered
very long 1t has Just enough cleverness
to give one patience to follow it through to