The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-28

utes Of you wild, The Unread Books. L
pick up. ofttimes. a book of which little
is known or heard: 1 open its pages with
a feeling akin 10 pity for its loneliness and
neglected condition. 1t has been sent into
the world with a mission, and the world
has relegated it TO a corner; it came with
a message, and the world turned a dear
ear. And what is more pathetic than a
mission unfulhlled because a barrier has
been set in the way? or thar a message
undelivered because they would not hear
to whom 1t was sent?
/ do not mean that nobody reads these
books; for a book that nobody reads Is
worthy of neither your attention nor mine
and, indeed, a few of them have had very
great popularity in times past, but seem
to have been temporarily choked by the
great crop of tares which of late years
have grown up in the wheat fields of litera-
ture. BY 1.-The unread books L mean those
which, so it seems to me, are not occupy
ing that large place in the public attention
that, by reason of their Astounding merit,
is their due. Nor can 1 allude TO all or
many books of this class. but only to a
few, which impress me as being parlcu-
larly deserving of our careful considera-
ton.
"Sarchedon!"
What a trumpet blast to arouse interest
should be the sonorous syllables naming
this hero of G.. whyte Melville's~ legendary
tale of mystic Nineveh! He gives his name
to the story, and we follow his career
through the court of Semiramis, the great
queen, tabled founder of the city wherein
most of the scene is laid. From the open
ing chapter, describing a dying lion in the
desert. to the falling of the curtain on the
dove Of peace and domestic felicity as 1t
flies into Shareholders tent in the land of
Philistia, there is not a dull line in 1t. -Four
great characters occupy the center of the
stage and they are delineated with a
master hand. They are S~archedon, the
books hero; the Great Queen and her hus-
band the Warrior King, and Assarac,
eunuch and high priest. The plotting of
the queen, resulting iii the death of her
husband: her love for Sarchedon and its
rebuff; Assarac's love for her and his plots
in her behalf and for his own ambitions;
the rival plottings of the queen and her
effeminate son for the throne, and their
plOlkllb IOS0NLCA ~
and his love, the queen to put her out of
the way and the son TO secure her for HIM
self; the foiling of all these plots; Sarche-
don's flight to and Imprisonment In Egypt
and his contact with the Children Of the
Captivity; the thrilling description of a cam
paign in Armenia; the rescue of the hero
by Philistines led by the bride OF his heart
and their final escape from the machlna-
tions that beset them-an these and many
-- -, %Arf1fnU1r told nnA to
gether form a tale more enhancing than
any story of ancient days that II has been
my good fortune to read. And L do not
hesitate TO say that for elegance OF dlc-
ton it surpasses any novel that has APP
peared within the last two decades. Rand.
McNally & Co, Chicago, are the publishers
of a moderately priced and very attractive
edition.
Thy dream, and the visions Of thy
head upon thy bed, are these; and
we will tell thee the Interpretation thereof
before the king."-Daniel ii, Is and ii, Sc.
In these two extracts from the Word are
found the keynote of 1.-The Master of the
Magicians," by Elizbaeth Stuart Phelps
and Herbert d. Ward. No less interesting
than "Sarchedon' land to the Bible student
even more sol, it is. perhaps, in not so
classic English as that work. and the col
oring is less vivid. Measured by time,
it is separated from the other work by
centuries, but the scene is no further away
than the distance from Nineveh to Baby
lon. In this story, too, the wrongful love
of a queen plays a leading part. The hero
inc of the tale is the daughter of a Chal-
deaniZed Jew Of the Babylonian captivity,
and she stands between the queen and
Daniel. The plot TO put her out of the
way is foiled by Daniel and that AIlit
Arioch who figures in the biblical narra-
tive as the captain Of the Kings Guard.
and Daniel. who loves the maid, gives her
to Allit, who has proved his worth and
his love; witnesses their marriage as gov
ernor of the province Of Babylon, and as
sists them to escape to Judea, for there is
a price on Allit's head as the supposed
murderer of the queen. The story closes
with Daniel kneeling on the tower of the
temple of Bel-Merodach, watching the de
parting caravan as il bears his hopes and
happiness away. and the exiles TO safety.
Published by Houghton, Miffiin q Co., Bos-
ton, in 1890.
The era succeeding the crusades-that
time when knighthood was truly in flower
has been dealt with but charity by the nov
elist, but of the few books that nave been
written dealing with that period, all that
have come under my notice nave been read
able. The most fascinating of these un-
doubtedly is The White Company" by
DR.. A. Conan Doyle. The scene of the
initial chapters is laid in Hampshire, Eng
land, where the principal presonages Of the
tale come upon the stage. AS a picture
of early English life it is. I think. capable
of better appreciation than The Rival
Heirs or Crawford's Via Crucis." But
the scene soon shifts 10 the marches %
France. where. in one of the innumerable
wars between hat country and England.
a knightly company with it's ruder follow
ing is accompanied through a thrilling
series Of adventures on the field. in the
lists and in camp. OF even greater interest
TO the reader than the haps and mishaps
of the warning English gentry are the
adventures and amusements of that goodly
company of free companions who give their
name 10 the book. Rough and rude. hard
drinkers and hard fighters. full Of strange
oaths,' but withal Of "A simple IL rough
piety and with unbounded faith in licge
and knight and their own bow strings.
they throw a light on the military phase
Of that day hardly 10 be found i'm the his
tories: while their last gallant stand in
the mountains Of Spain, half "A millennial
before Wellington led their next success
sors through the same passes. was only
another and better Balaklava. because no.
body blundered. The chronicle is not with