The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-11-11
JAMES LANG ALIENS LATEST.

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JAMES LANE ALIENS LATEST.
"The Reign of Law" by James Lane Allen.
is having an exceptionally hne sale. so the
publishers and booksellers tell us. | venture
TO express my belief that this sale Is moro
upon the strength OF Mr.. Aliens reputation
/ than upon the intrinsic merit or tho book II
/ is difficult TO place The Reign OF Law"
with perfect justice. II could scarcely be
placed under the head of 'hctionr' for when
( We say "hcton" we arc supposed to refer
to the books that tell us stories. and there
IS no story in 1.-THE Reign OF Law" As a
\ study OF Nature II Is beautiful, but there Is
too much psychology in 1t for II 10 De
placed under the head of Natural History
and too much natural history for 1t to be put
on the shelf of books on psychology. 1t
seems 10 be message 10 the world which
MIR. Allen has been impelled to send forth.
The telling of this message is more beauti-
i full than any words of mine can express
1 Take Mir. Allen into the woods and helds
and he Is almost without equal. Not tho
, falling Of a leaf the brush of a birds wing,
, nor the iutter OF a butterfly escapes him,
and he paints Natures work for US with such
strong aud yet tender touchc5 that one feels
that tho man has lived close to Nature--has
!, loved her all his life. He DEALS too as ten
Q det1y and lovingly with bird and animal lite
rs ho does with the woods and fields but
when he comes to humanity, ! think he
renches his limit We feel for the sheer
ana COWS In tho fierce cold OF winter, but
he arcuscs no sympathy for his people.
~
n He takes a poor rough lad from the fields
t carries him, with heart full of high pur'
nose. 10 the life of university and shows
G him ploddlng through the hard work OF thu
g school life-takes him through the darl
: waters of doubt Of the faith in which he ha
o been brought up and back home, turned
" out of school and church for loss OF that faitl
= and nj this without gaining any sympath
y for him. Take the father and mother of thi
y man, David, with what hard lines are the
L drawn! Not here does Mr.. Allen use an
d of the tenderness that he gives so iayishly I
d the sheep In the fold or the dog that watche
n them In David, he insists upon bignes
Of heart and greatness OF purpose that seer
IN unnatural when one reflects upon his parent
- age. Mr. Allen bridges this over very clev
rs erly thus: "They (the parents) are like slue
gsh canals running between far-separate
OF oceaus-from the deeps Of life to the deer
Of life. allowing the freighted ships to pas
And no more does the stream understan
~ what moves across its surface than do sue
"a commonplace agents comprehend the sor
,h who have sprung from their lons" This
ed carrying ataysm very ofaJii indeed. ollnglr
en- to Nature as Mr.. ALIEN docs, ] think tn
IN here be does her an 1njuslIce-surely 81
,rt would have asserted herself either in makir
a. the parents more or the son less humane
,d When he deals with the woman whom
ID creates for Dayld's love he goes astray aga
,te and again fails to adhere TO Nature for
an speaking OF Mr.. Aliens work we must spe
cd Nature with big n. lie describes a womi
IN of the highest culture Of the Old South
N that day when the sensiblties of wom'
N we're trstned in the finest and most sensit
school; an aristocrat schoolcd to fastidlo
thought and fashion, then makes this wom
llu fall IN love with a man who comes to h
IS? from feeding his pigs, cutting his wood al
i h plowirg his heldi His hands coarse, !
ION feet in clumsy shoes, and shock Of hail
nat MIR. Allen insists on the hock'-gulltless,
IN wouiI seem. of comb. Mir. Allen, VII
would Mother Nature say ito that? Wor
tbs she not cry out against anything so far fro
ced true to her? Such woman could not 10
ves such man.
o o,. AS to the main purpSrt of the book,
tno soul history of David. his struggle betwe
=. faith and uufaith Mr.. Allen is not We
clear, and leaves us ultimately in doubt as
which he thinks is best-the simple faith
the woman, Gabrielle or the vague no-crt
Of David He leaves them together, 1
lxie happy in her church, he protesting his hap
ike ness il having thrown off all allegiance
ION church, and yet each happy in the 9th
'i'u MIR. Allen is the acknowledged Apostle
,r,v Nature" and yet l am afraid that sh
tho Nature-will yet take her revenge on him
,ted having broken so many of her laws in
cg dealings with his men and women. II
4, are not men and women after all, they
,oro simply figures whom he dresses up and t
us they think so and SO. but they do moth
say nothing to make us love them and
close the book without caring whether
= in ever hear OF them again. ! hate to tn
ngs, that the same man wrote THE Reign OF La
dis that gave us Flute and Violin and -
yots Two Gentlemen OF Kentucky" In th
vote sweet chronicles of Kentucky's past tn
and were people whom we could love. to wi
memory elngs with aifeetionate tenacity,
, in "The Reigu OF Law" the few eharac
~. portrayed are unnatural, untrue and UNI
-" ohio Margaret Hadley Foste