Evening star., 1901-02-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE sACRE.6 FoUNT By Henry James New
York Charles Scribner's Sons Washington:
Brentanos.
The highest praise that can be given to a
book is that it will stand re-reading. Per-
haps the most equivocal praise Is that
1t requires re-reading. Assuredly of the
latter sort is this novel of Mr.. James,
which is an appeal to the patience rather
than the immediate understanding of the
reader. Speaking of the English country
house, where the story develops, the author
says in one of his Enthusiastically lucid
sentences:
NeWmarch had always, in our time, car
ried itself as the great asylum of the finer
wit, more or less expressly giving out that,
invoking hospitality or other counte-
nance, none of the stupid, none even of the
votaries of the grossly obvious, need ap-
ply"
Herein is the key to the problem. The
book is a protest against the grossly OBJ
vious." 1t is so vehement in its protest as
to be almost Historically allegOrical and
incomprehensible. The story is a rather
unwholesome tale Of the f1irtatlons of
group of society men and women. regard
less Of their matrimonial condition. 1t has
the rare virtue of reading almost as con-
secutively reversed as in the ordinary
method
Law in Easy Chapters. BY Frank Warren
Hackett New York: Mcclure, Phillips & Co.
Mr. Hackett, well-known Washington
ian, now assistant secretary of the navy,
has prepared an unique treatise on parlia-
mentary practice. 1t differs from the usual
code Of organization law by being framed
in the form of a series of chapters which
treat in literary style of the methods of
conducting meetings of all kinds. Thus,
rvho of rfi lar
has heretofore been obliged to grind his
way through a series of formal PROPOSE
tions, this work affords him an entertain
ment while he is learning how to conduct a
meeting, how to conduct himself as an Of
ficer or member of any assemblage and
how to understand the meaning of the pro-
ceSseS whereby the judgment of men in
ganiZation is recorded. The author goes
into the reasons which have guided the
trainers of parliamentary law, and his com
ments on the practices observed are edify
ing and interesting. In this way the work
is readable even though the purpose should
be far from a desire to seek knowledge of
how to WELD either the gavel or the mace.
ARGONAUT LETTERS. By Jerome Hart. San
Francisco: Payot. Upham and Company.
These letters were written from Europe
on the recent tour of an observant writer,
who saw many of the familiar objects of
travel with a fresh view. His turns of
phrase and his comparisons are entertain
ing. His comments on Italian art are
amusing to the general reader, however
they may offend the judgment of the
thusiast or the connoisseur. Botticelli in
particular arouses his mirth, and he gives
examples in the course of the illustrations
to Indicate how he believes this painter dis
regarded the canons Of perspective and
anatomy. There are many bright flashes
of humor in the pages and some of the
rough places of continental travel are dis
creetly indicated to guide the new arrival
in the well-beaten paths.
HISTORY OF THE SCANDINAyIANS AND Sue
CESSFUL SCANDINAVIANS IN THE UNITED
STATES. Compiled and edited by o. N Nell
son. Vols. and ii. Second, Revised Edition
Minneapolis: Q. N. Nelson and Company.
The American citizens Of Scandinavian
extraction constitute a strong, valuable
factor in the social, political and CONNER
cial life of the middle west. immigration
from the peninsula has settled largely in
Minnesota Wisconsin and the adjoining
states until there has developed a condition
which demands a special historical and
biographical consideration such as this ex-
years to his task and has produced a
volume which is eloquent in its historical
narration of the works of the scandinavian
Americans. The revision has been marked
by the injection Of number of new arti-
cles, bringing the record up to date. Among
the special features of the work is paper
on the nationality Of criminal and insane
persons in the United States, which Is an
exhaustive discussion of the subject.