The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-07-20


Tho Century Company. New York.
pubiiehers. The Bell Book and Station
cry. $3.50.
It has come to be recognized fact that
the success or non-success OF American
compositions in fiction depends not
alone upon the praise or blame OF critics
and reviewers: not, altogether upon the
Judgment In acceptance or rejechon OF
the great and discriminating reaoins
public, not as much upon any or au OF
these, as upon the fact of judtcious and
tacteully worded advertisement; as upon
the diplomatic and systematized manner
in winch a forthcoming book is heIa aided
and the amount of interest and eXpectau n
that IS aroused concerning 1t before 1t
makes its appearance
People realize to-day that advance en-
thusissm over such a tale OF adventure
rs Charles Majors when Knighthood
Was In Flower" became largely re-
sponsible for after immense sales and
almost unprecedented circulation The
tactics instrumental in creating a former
success are now being employed in be-
talf of a serial appearing under the
rather sensational title, THE Confess
eions of WIFE," In the Century Maya
zine.
The author OF this uncommon and
episodical history OF domestic life pl-
ronettes under the literary soubrique1 OF
Mary Adams. The mystery which IN
vests her real and thrilling personality is
darkly limited at, but really withheld. TO
stimulate curiosity and invest all that
the Confessions" enbody with due i'm
pressiveness She is said to communi-
cate with her editor even, through the
medium Of her lawyer. and an impending
sensation is supposed to hinge upon the
disclosure OF her true Identity, sensa-
ton far enough reaching to invade the
inner penatraia Of society. where Mary
Adams is said to have easy and assured
access.
In style of narration Mary Adams is
as frankly sincere and as truly self-cen-
tired as Marie Bash-Rirtsef or Mary
MacLane No incident, however small.
is too unimportant for her to set down
or elaborate. AS a book companion. she
becomes 80 tresome and so little enter
tanning that one is not surprised TO near
her heroine's husband finally announce
his intention Of going as consul to Monte
video. primarily. one infers, to get out
of feminine reach. A man could not be
blamed for seeking refuge In the Desert
of Sahara, no o1i1, escape being at hand,
rather than eudu he miseries entailed
by perpetuaily nagging and fault-1ino-
ing wife
This wife is nothing. if not up-to-date,
and is sufficiently cynical and dlsi!iu-
stoned to I'LL the measure even OF the
most exacting nlodernity. Her facts are
somewhat brutally stated. but they pos
sess the quality of strength and arc fond
" supposed on that score to be fascinat-
ing A sample of her stories may serve
better than anything else to illustrate
thes trend of her style and its quality in
expression. 1t has no merit and no es-
pecial point. her story. but this is what
1t says:
II heard Of a man the other day whose
wife went into his room to kiss htFn
good night, and he exclaimed: Mary,
why do YOU do this?" I do not love
you There is no other woman in the
case. I have not wronged you. But
no longer love you. Ii l were you, |
should not kiss my husband under these
circumstances"
nality, Mary Adams book woman voices
the insistent need Of the twentieth cen
tury for an audience as witness and
confdante Of its most intimate emotions
and feelings. Every phase in the gamut
OF feeling must be passed upon by the
great outside. who hold the power and
the exercise of finality. Without an out
side verdict the power of the most vital
emotions becomes "as sounding brass
and tinkling cymbals,' or now. more
than In Shakespeare's time. is
"All the world q stage where
All the men and women are merely
players.
ton goes through the PAGES. as she con-
ceiyes them, with ner eye fixed shrewG-
~ upon tho front row Of spectators. In
her role Of a neglected and much-tr!ed
wife she. in trying to obey her lords
Injunction and keep up with the rapid
progress of current thought. selects as
q suitable aid volume written by
French critic for her delectation. En-
PEASANT. she throws-to the front row
the following spicy crumbs OF the
Frenchrnan's genius:
..It is well that passionate love is rare.
Its principal effect Is to detach men
from all their surroundings. to isolate
them. and civilized So
c;etv composed of lovers would return
infallibly to misery and barharism.''
Then again:
'.M oman ought to put on every morn
ing the slippers Of humility, the shift
Of decorum. the corset Of charity. the
carriers Of steadfastness. the pins .
patience. But il is by no
would not find his wife little over
dressed
It seems that Mary Adams heroine
ecmplacently felt herself completely
clothed upon according to the old
Frenchman's standard. and that her
much-tried and long-sufering husband
found her more than little over
dressed" her fixed sense OF moral SUI
periority putting him unalterably in the
wrong attitude and finally inducing him
to embrace travel. distance and separa-
lion as means Of change.
The serial in its present stage Of de-
velopment is filed to the full with the
worst faults of modernity. dts intro-'
spect!on. Its self-love and conceit 1t
is devoid Of animation. Of cleverness or
Of incident. Yet such as 1t is. 1t will
soon appear in book form both in this
country and England. and all that in
s genuitr can accomplish viii go towards
. the giving 1t both a name. fame and
z local habitation. A. NJ. T.
Panson's Folly. By Richard Harding
I,avis. Charles Scribner's Sons New
York sl.5o. The Bell Book and Sta
uonerS Company.
The book called ..Ransons Follv' really