The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-26
ROCK NOTICES.

THE Eternal City" by Hall Game.
d. Appleton & Co., Y Fifth avenue,
New York. II mo-, cloth. $3.50. The story
of 1.-THE Eternal City" is a story of
the peoples power. On it's human side
and on the side of it's intellectual inten-
ton, the story of Samson and his life
long struggle with the lords of the
Philistines. Considering the story of
Samson-surely one of the great stories
of the Bible--and thinking of it as the
foundation of a modern romance, the
imaginative writer sees at once that,
great and even titanic as it is, 1t la
bors under a grievous advantage. The
character and position of Delilah are
entirely outside human sympathies.
She is the unmixed traitress, and there
is nothing to redeem or justify her The
| masterpieces of imaginative art never
present a character like that. There is
always the soul of good in things evil
| and even Iago has his ground of right.
Therefore it will not surprise the read
ers of Mr.. Gaines novel that, in making
an attempt, however feeble and made
quate, to deal with the great story of
Samson and Delilah in a narrative of
modern life, it seemed to him above all
things essential that the woman should
undergo complete change, both in
character and position and stand in
some proper relation both to the motive
of the story and its ultimate denoue-
| ment. Mr.. Game says he has always
desired that, in addition to its interest
of character and incident, story
should have it's intellectual message as
well. The message, whatever it may be
worth, of 1.-The Eternal City," will
sooner or later come under the criticism
of the public, and 1t would not be be-
coming to deal with it here in any
other way than that of a guide to its
intention. The strong man in Mr..
Gaines story is intended to stand for
the great power which during the nine
teenth century has, more than any
other, asserted its rightful place in the
order of the world-the power of the
people. Time was when the powers of
the world were arrogated by the peo-
pies rulers. The king stood for the
state, and the only right the people
| possessed were those he granted to
them out of his absolute power. That
condition has entirely changed. We
| now see that the rights of the people
are in the people, and that kings and
rulers can do no more than curtail
them. This is, perhaps, the greatest
revolution that the world has ever wit
messed, and the nineteenth century has
done more than any previous century
to bring it to pass. But though the re-
atty of absolutism has disappeared
with it's claims of divine right and of
| infallibility in temporal affairs, the
shows and paegants of the old order
still exist. More than that, they are
constantly making new efforts to re-
cover their lost places. One of these
| efforts takes the name of Imperialism,
| another the name of militarism, a third
| the name of temporal power of the
| Pope. They are being met and fought
| by the Samson of popular right, and
the prediction may be hazarded that
the great struggle of the twentieth CEN
| fury, both in political and religious
life, will be concerned with the ulti-
mate triumph of the will of the people
| over the absolute wills that have hith-
| erto curtailed or controlled it.
"The Naval Battle of Santiago" by
A. K. Mcclure. The Anvil Printing
Company, Market and Fourteenth
streets, Philadelphia, Pa. Paper, rs
cents. The pamphlet contains two ar
ticles written by Mr.. Mcclure, as re-
views of books-the first being a re-
view of Rear Admiral Evans book,
"A Sailors Log" and the second re-
view of Edgar Stanton Maclay's His
tory of the United States Navy" They
are very interesting articles and well
worth reading.