New-York tribune., 1901-11-03

|
BUCKEYE BARON. A Bura Story Of Buck
| eye Boy. By w. A. Paxssn. LID Illustrated.
Emo, PIP. vii. 575 Cincinnati: The Robert Elarke
| Company.
Human Nature. BY Henry van Dyke With
Illustrations by W. Appleton Clark l2mo, PIP.
296 Charles Scrbner's Sons.
| Mr.. Stephensons story of the Civil War has
| a charmingly unconventional form. "They That
| Took the Sword is hardly In fact, a novel at
all; it is rather kind of pictorial narrative,
which shows of the most interesting
phases of life in Cincinnati in the Sixties
hibits certain figures whom it would not per
| haps be difficult to identify with actual nota-
| bilities in the recorded annals of that life and
envelops background and action in atmOs
| phere which is half romantic and half histcri- .
| cal There is a plot and it is a good one 50
| far it goes; but the author is not interested
| in making it go very far. He prefers rather to
paint some Of the valiant and stately types
that adorned Cincinnati's society a generation
| ago. who of the old stock and pre-
| served much of the dignity and personal charm
| for which it distinguished. AS he lovingly
forms their portraits he shows how they met
| the shock OF the great conflict, how their family
| life disrupted by political problems to the
solution of which family ties only brought a
| deeper bitterness. Drama flows from the situa-
ton, and when it is necessary Mr.. Stephenson
knows how to be genuinely dramatic. That
part of the book in which the man who has
| resolved to remain neutral Is forced to choose
side. and. having chosen, is Immediately
hurried with his comrades into thrilling action.
| is written with capital spirit. The story moves
here with nervous force; it is a exciting it
is natural But it goes on the tone is once
more that of a book in which the writer only
makes his dramatic points as they serve to
| illuminate his narrative: he interests in the
plot and in the war, but he interests more
in the personalities of his characters Those
characters are strongly marked. The neutral
| and his two sons, his traitorous wife, his kns-
and his friends each has individual
| note Lincoln appears at the end Of the book,
as he appears in almost every novel of the
But in They That Took the Sword" his
| trance seems natural enough. The whole book
has the quality Of sincerity; of having been
written out Of knowledge and true feeling.
| "A Buckeye Baron illustrates an artless COM
| bination of facts with romance. The scene is
| laid in Ohio, and descriptions of the beautiful
! scenery in that State abound in the book. There
are studies also of the life of rural Ohoans in
war time, the author reinforcing his text here
and there with fragments of verse in which he
has embodied his Impressions of farm and viii
lage types. Side by side with the latter he
|
! in their paths, but presently is cast by fate
upon strange adventures and gives to the story
emphatically romantic turn This man
passes through poverty and suffering to riches
| and the possession of title. He has dreamed
of returning a baron to marry the woman
whose heart he possesses. but whose hand is
denied him by an obdurate father. A great deal
of water flows under the bridges before the
lover wins success Mr.. Paxson directs it into
picturesque channels, and tells a pretty tale Of
sentiment and adventure, of patience and its
due reward.
Dr. van Dykes short stories, eight in num-
ber celebrate very different motives, but they
all share the same merit; they are at once
thoughtful and well told. He writes as one who
has pondered human nature, and even has
his theories about its mysteries; but he never
purpose. This is to tell a story, to put
Adirondack woodsman in some situation which
is result of his possessing certain traits, but
which has a dramatic edge of its own and so
lures the reader on until having learned what
happened to Jacques Tremblay or Patrick Mul-
larkey he finds that he has acquired also
clear sense of what manner of man Patrick or
Jacques was-as is glad of it. Dr. Dykes
men and women are Of very likable sort, and.
as he has communicated a little of the flavor Of
makes an acceptable book. We cannot relin-