The times., 1901-06-02

a dare-deVl lad of twenty; q Moorish boy
| and an English lad, heirs to part of the
| fortune; lovely Jewish girl, heiress to
another section of 1t; a Cockney Jew
with no principles and comic opera man
| ners, and wild tribe of Berbers, inhabi-
! tants of the city IN which the treasure is
| discovered. The plot is cleverly con-
J structed, the character drawing vivid.
and the interest holds from the first page
| to the last. There is a touch of horror
| here and there-iust enough to give the
! proper thrill to the readers nerves-and
in the deserted city which forms the stage
of the most stirring scene there is a
hint Of prehistoric art and mechanical de-
vices, and of the story of Atlantis. n de-
! vice which has not before been employed
! in novel writing is the Introduction of
! tribe of Yelled Men-lepers-who act as
| guardians to the treasure. Those who are
/ familiar with the work of this author
| VIII know what to expect and they are
| not likely to be disappointed in his latest
work. (New Amsterdam Book Company
1.-The Book of Genesis in the Light of
Modern knowledge" by Rev Ellwood
! Worcester, ID. D, is a somewhat bulky
volume which is likely to be of interest to
| that large contingent in orthodox
churches who have been studying scien-
| tifc theories of the world more or less
perforce, as they are brought to the at
tention in current literature, and who
are not quite prepared to reconcile science
and religion. to use a familiar phrase.
| 1t reads as if it might have been COM
| piled from a course of popular sermons.
There is an easy volubility about the style
which reminds one little of the syndicat-
Il
Jewish, Greek, Persian, and other itera-
ture is laid under contribution. He COM
pares the account of the creation given
in Genesis with that given in the sacred
books of other religions, and finds Genesis
the grander and more perfect account.
To the impartial observer it is evident
that he was bound to do that. What
would become of a man writing ID. D. aft
er his name If he happened to conclude
that the Hindu account of creation hau
| anything in it that the Book of Genesis
does not have? Yet the Hindu thinker
has at least a vague idea Of the processes
of evolution, while the cruder and less
metaphysical Semitic had none. The sum
| and substance of the matter is that books
like this, deriving their authority from
the position of the writer as a doctor of
divinity, are not worth much as evidence
anywhere. The reader who really wishes
to see Genesis in the light of modern
knowledge had better read Darwin, Hux-
ley, and other free writers, and then read
the Book of Genesis for himself This
thing is a rehash of Max Muller and
Henry Ward Beecher combined, and the
two do not mix well.
Moreover, the clerical author does not
always approach his subject with becom-
ing reverence, and If this is the result of
clergymen viewing their work "in the
light of modem knowledge" il is to be
hoped they will stop before their ideas
of courtesy toward their Creator are al
together made over. Here, for example,
we have him dealing with the story of
Noah in these words:
1.-The priestly writer's interest in
creeping, crawling. and swarminS
creatures is truly astonishing. His too
frequent allusions TO these disagreea-
Die animals rather chill our interest
in the story. One would suppose him
to have been an entomologist in love
with his darling science, and more
concerned in the late of bugs than of
men"
If modern knowledge has led to this
tacit funmaking in connection with a
narrative ostensibly supposed by the fun
maker to be inspired, there is some dan
ger of old Jonathan Edwards rising
fIom his grave and appearing to DR..
Worcester in the middle of the night to
vindicate the dignity Of the Scriptures.
CNew York: Mcclure, Phillips & Co.
5000
''The Tower of Wye" by William Henry
Babcock, is a romance of old Maryland,
dealing with the feuds between Clai-
borne and Lord Baltimore's men. 1t is
chiefly remarkable for a haze of imagi-
native, not to say superstitious, theories
OF life, through which the hero. who tells
the story, looks upon all his adventures
He obviously regards the New World as
a place where ghosts, devils, and war
locks are rampant and efficient and
where almost anything is likely TO happen
to him. In justice to the authors in
Yention let it be said that things do hap
pen, in swarms. There is comic opera
element in the beginning of the book,
when by series of curious mischances
the hero is left in charge of several scores |
of young women sent out as wives for the |
colonists. and is obliged to sail his ship |
and defend his camp when he reaches |
land with no other aid than that Of the |
damsels in distress.
Mr. Babcock finds occasion to deal in |
course of his romance with the legendary |
figure of Virginia Dare, the first white |
child born in America, who is said by |
some to have been brought up among the |
Indians, and to have attained a position |
of some influence ard authority. which |
was sometimes used for the benefit OF |
white settlers. There is talent in this |
romance-it can hardly be called a novel |
but it is certainly weak In construction. |
philadelphia: Henry T. Coates Co. |
$500
I'm Deep Abyss" by Georges Ohnet, is
a novel of Partisan life highly melodra- |
matte in its incidents and characters. One |
might almost call it detective story, for |
the plot turns upon the discovery of the |
real facts of a sensational murder sup
posed to have been committed in Paris
by youth of good family but dissipated
habits. Some of the scenes are laid in
San Francisco, New Caledonia, and else
where, but in the main the book is Pari-
sian in its atmosphere. 1t Will be perhaps
the more interesting to American readers
for having as one of the principal char
acters the daugher of an American mill
lionaire living in Paris. The young lady
and her father are portrayed with about
the success usually attained by a French
writer in picturing American life; but
there are no very glaring blunders
A part of the plot seems to have been
suggested by the Dreyfus case, for the
hero is exiled to New Caledonia, and the
description of his .sufferings is considera-
bly, like some of the entries in the diary |
of Dreyfus The strongest point in the
book is unquestionably the development
of the character of Lea Perelli, the sing