The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-02-18
BOOKS AND
U Us

u we, 1ltOltlPSOh, w. ''''S-s"'
and Emlen Mcconnell Boston: Hough-
ton Miffln and Company. Bound in
cloth, crown yo., 400 pages, price,
$50.
The thing that most impresses the read
er of. ITO Have and To Hold, Miss
Johnston's second novel, just received IN
book form. is the peculiar vividness OF
style. You know the writer must nave
lived in that day and among the people
of which she writes. 1t is no tar-a"as
picture of tho past but the years have
rolled pack and by the force of the
authors own vivid imagination, and by
the subtle skill of her pen, the reader
loses sight of this closing year of the
Nineteenth Century and lives again the
stirring life of Colonial days 1t is
! book that will live and will rank with
| Richard Carrel.
1t is a story OF the early Colonial
days, when Sir George Yeardley was
| Governor of Virginia and the scene is,
| for the most part, laid at Williamsburg
! and in the country about the Famunkey
river. The book is Of historical value as
an accurate picture of life in that early
| day of our country, and as giving a more
| intimate acquaintance with such heroes
| as Rolfe, who mourned so long and faith
| fully the death of his Indian Princess.
Pocahontas; Jeremy Sparrow, the noble
but eccentric preacher: Francis West and
| other students of Virginia's early history.
| The Indian character, with its subtle
treachery, is magnificently portrayed.
| the vivid word-painting OF old Opechan-
canoush. the description OF the Indians
sacrificing to their gods. their Tnerciiess
cruelty to defenceless women and chill
dren, are all of historical value.
AS work of fiction it must take high
rank A plot of unusual originality,
rapid in movement, abocndinS i'll Incl
dent the characters drawn with clear,
vivid touch, that they stand out with
the distinctness and yet with the delicacy
of a beautiful cameo; a hero who eXeIn-
plifies the old couplet,
1.-The bravest are the tenderest,
The loving are the daring;
a. dainty hish-born. heroic maid, whose
love is won by faithful devotion. I'M
swerring courage, and a chivalrous
spirit-all these are there
1t is a pure, clean story, told with a
vividness of descriptive power rarely
eGualled; here a beautiful word-painting,
showing intimate acquaintance with
the natural beauties of the locality OF
which she writes: then q character
sketch. clear cut and discriminating. Is
not this description of a ride in the
forest in the early morning full OF poetry
and of the spirit of nature, clad in her
summer garb? Each twiS had its row
of diamonds and the wet leaves that we
pushed aside spilled gems upon US. Ihe
horses set their hoofs daintily upon fern
and moss and lush grass. In the purple
distances deer stood at gaze, the ar
rang with innumerable bird notes, clear
and sweet; squirrels chartered, beeS
hummed and through the thick leiiy
roof of the forest the sun showered gold
dust.
Another beautiful picture is the de
scription of the friendship between the
hero and his man Diccon- What could
be more pathetic than the scene in Whlch
Dccon dying in his masters arms, pegs
PARDON for q past offence in these words:
You said you would never strike me
again and that I was man of yours no
more and you gave me my freedom In
the paper which I tore. I'll be gone in q
few minutes now. If I might go as your
man still. and could tell the Lord Jesus
Christ that my master on earth forSaVe
and took back it would be q hand in the
dark. 1 have spent my life IN gathering
| darkness for myself a the last
When there is so much deserving praise,
| so much that is well done it seems almost
ungenerous to suggest a fault. II fauls
there be- it is the improbability or ine
leading idea, of the plot, and especially
of some of the minor incidents, notably
the adventure with the pirates.
The publication by Harper brothers OF
CIV O GENTLEMEN OF X +, n
| TUCKY," taken from James Lane Al
| lens '.Fluta and Violin puts before
| tho world of readers in most attrac-
tive form one Of the most exquisite
| bits of prose which it's gifted author has
! ever produced. No tenderer, truer
| picture has ever been drawn OF a day
| and a generation that for the coldly
! curious of the present possess only an
| Of nj like the
| stamped bricks of Nebuchadnezzar. In
| tho life of man. as in that Of nature,
! so true it is that
THE woods ara hushed, their music is
no more;
The leaf is dead, the yearnins passed
New leaf, navy life-the days of frost
| New life, new love. to suit the newer
| day
THE FCOT-PATHS TO PEACE by
| Dr. Henry Van Dyke. clear concise, COM
| plate, is a characteristic of one OF the
| most charming of American writers and
! thinkers and SO helpful an indicator for
/! the beginning of q new year-if not OF
| n new century-that wa reproduce 1t In
! full here:
ITO be glad Of life, because it gives
| YOU the chancs to love and 10 work and
| play, and to look up at the stars; to be
! satisfied with your possessions, but not
| contented with yourself until you have
| made the best of them; to despise moth
! ing in the world except falsehood and
| meanness. and to fear nothing except
| cowardice; to be governed by your adj
| miraltion rather than by your disSusts;
( to covet nothing that is your neiGhbor $
J except his kindness of heart and gentle
| ness OF manner: to think seldom of your
| enemies often OF your friends, and every
! day of Christ, and to spend as you can,
| with body and spirit, in Gods out-of-
| doorS-these are the little guide-posts on
the foot-path to peace"
| Mr. Kipling's contribution to the fund
| for the wives and children OF British
! soldiers in South Africa, takes the form
| Of poem. entitled THE ABSENT
! MINDED BEGGAR." This poem has
been enthusiastically received; has taken
John Bull by storm. and has sweued the
! fund for which it was written enor-
| mously 1t bids fair to rival in popu-
| lar favor the ''Recessionaf and the
| much-parodied "White Mans Burden
In its last stanza it admonishes the Eng
J ,isa stay-at-homes thus. in reference to
! ."rhe Absent Minded Beggar":