The times., 1901-06-16
A New War Novel.


| been widely read had there been no CO
lonial novel preceding it. 1t is a strong
book in itself. and deals with period
which is fun of good material for fiction,
and which has been treated by the author
| in manner original in the best sense of
| the word. To be original, a man need not
| say anything startlingly new; it is enough
! If he treats old subjects in a way which is
his own and not that of anyone else, and
| if he have personality which is not bor-
! rowed either. These conditions Mr..
| Churchill has thus far fulfilled.
| He has selected for the scene of his
! present book St Louis with its mixed
Northern and Southern population, its
| strong German element, and its border
! bitterness of feeling; and he has chosen
for the time of it the years just preceding
and during the civil war. His heroine is
d descendant of that Dorothy Manners
| who figured in his former novel, and he
! thus cleverly links past with present
| success. Virginia Carvel has not much
! of Dorothy Manners in her; she is a dis
| tinct Individuality; and Stephen Brice the
! hero, is a BostOnian, and does not resem-
/ bic the son of the Maryland planter As
| for the other character, they are in no
! sense repettions, and in place of John
I
/ of this book is Abraham Lincoln. The
! Elimpses of Lincoln which are here given
reproduce better. perhaps, than any pre-
! vious work Of fiction has reproduced the
! impression which the great American
made upon his contemporaries-the min
| gled surprise and contempt with which
! he was at first regarded, and the loyalty
| with a tinge of awed reverence which
! came later to be given to him. 1t was
! the most curious transformation scene in
! history.
| The book is succession of scenes, much
I as a recent elaborate production of Hen
/ ry W was a succession of pictures. Rap
/ idly, one after another, come revelations
| of the character of the hero and heroine,
! and of the various other personages in
the story, notably Lincoln; and the
| scenes change the story hurTies to its
climax. One of the finest characters is
Silas Whipple, the old-time Abolitionist
| lawyer; opposed to this high type of
Northerner and to Brice and his mother
is EIiphalet Hopper, Yankee of the kind
most despised and hated in the South and
West - the Yankee who "callated'
through his nose with shrewdness ut
terly beyond the reckoning of his neigh
boTs; and who lived in a small bedroom,
like rat in his hole, lining it with mort
gages and valuable papers gathered from
these same improvident nelghbors.
But somehow or other Mr.. Churchill
has managed, without dimming the lustre
of the hero, TO make Lincoln the most
fascinating character in the story, and
that without blinking one of those traits
which caused fastidious opponents to call
him the illinois baboon" and other un-
lovely names Several of Lincoln's char
acteristic stories are given, and various
phases Of the man are revealed The
first glimpse of him is in the midst of
the campaign In which he ran for Sena-
tor against Douglas. The hero encoun-
ters him at a country hotel, just before
the FreepoTt debate The history of the
deliberations which preceded that debate,
as indicated by the novelist, is fascinat-
ing as only good historical fction-which
is practically history-can be. Here are
two bits of this conversation, as recorded
in The Crisis"
Mr.. Lincoln took I'D his
silk hat and thrust the letter into the
worn lining. which already filed
with papers lie clapped the hat on
his head and buttoned on his collar.
- 1 reckon III go for a walk, boys
he said and clear my head, so as to
be ready fortn Little Giant tomorrow
at treeport. Mr.. Briee, do you feel
like walking
Stephen, taken aback, said that he
did.
Now, Abe, this is just burned
foolishncss.' one of the gentlemen
expostulatod. We want to know if
you're going to ask Douglas that
question
If you do, you Kill yourself, Lin
coin said another. whom Stephen
afterward learned was Mr.. Medill, I
proprietor OF the great Press and
Tribune
Lincoln, gravely. Suddenly comes the
quiver about the corner Of his mouth,
and the grey eyes respond. Boys,
said he, did you ever hear the story
OF Farmer Bell. down in Egypt? II
tell ii to you, boys, and then perhaps
youn know why III ask Judge Doug
las that question. Farmer Bel had
the prize Bartlett pear tree, and the
prettiest gal in that section And he
thought about the same of each OF
en-. All the boys were after Sue Bell
But there was only one who had any
chance of getting her, ana MS name
was Jim RiCketS. Jim was the hand
soonest man in that section He's been
hung since But Jim had a good deal
out of life-all the appetites, and some
of the qualifications lie liked sue
and he liked a luscious Bartlett. And
ne intended TO have both. And 1t Just
so happened that that prize pear tree
had d whOpper on that year, and old
man Bell couldn't talk of anything
else
Now, there was an ugly SaiOut
whose name isn't worth mentioning.
He knew he wasn't in any way INT for
Sue, and he liked pears about as well
as Jim RiCkets. Well, one night mere
comes Jim along the road, whistllng,
TO court Susan. and there was the
ugly galout a-yearning on the bank
under the pear tree Jim was all
fixed up, and he says to the galout,
Lets have a throw Now. the
gaIoot knew that Old Bell was looking
over the fence, so he says, All right,
and he give Jim the first shot. Jim
fetched down the big pear, got his
teeth in it, and stTolled off to the
house kind of pitiful of the galOOt for
the door there was the old man
What are you here fOr?' says he.
Why" said Rickets, in his oft-hand
way. for he always had great conf
dence Ito fetch Sue
d" The old man used to wear brass
toes to keep his boots from wearing |
out said Mr.. Lincoln dreamily.
Next day, on the train, this hap
Neither Stephen, nor Medm, nor
Judd, nor Hin guessed at the pTeg-
nancy of that moment How were
they to know that the fate of the
United States of America was con-
cealed in that question-was to be de
cided on a rough wooden platform that |
day in the town of Freepurt, Illinois?
But Abraham Lincoln, the uncouth
man in the linen duSter, with the
tousled hair knew it. And the stone !
that was rejected of the builders was to
become the cornerstone of the temple.
Suddenly Mr. Lincoln recalled him
self, glanced at the paper, and cleared
his throat. In measured tones, plainly
heard above the rush and roar of the
train, he read the questions;
Can the people of a United States
Territory, in any lawful way, against
the wish of any citizen of the United
States exclude slavery from its limits