Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-19

very real and human shape. In epite of
me maze ana maze OF words in which he
has cnveioped them mis- reliow-crafts-
men no doubt rerel in the marvellous IN
trlcacics OF his skill. just as active and
educated musicians relish the pvrotech-
mes OF the musical prodigy. while hum
bier readers, like the unlearncd lovers of
music, long for the heaven-se,n sweet
ness OF melody. and are touched more
deeply by sincere emotion than by the
most surprising skill
MY James has seen fit, too, to bring
into THO remarkable exhibition OF word
gymnastics many idioms and colloqui-
a!isms which, from a less distinguished
source, might easily be called slang: and
While It must be admitted that he condo
sccnds TO acquaint his readers with his
knowledge of his offenscs by a liberal
use of quotation marks. it cannot be
SAID that the fact that his fault is a de-
hberate one in any way ccndoncs the
offense.
The book is altogether a most sur
prisins production-a tragedy in a fog. as
IL were; mist Inhabited by a strangely
vivid people-a weariscme tangle Oh
words. harassns to read, yet oddly per-
sistent in the memory it leaves.
2HEhIMic AZ ARMS robert w.
Chambcrs. Cloth, sl.5O. Harper &
BrGs.. New York. For sale here by
Hunter & Co
FI~IR. CHAMBERS new romance OF
The Revolution is filed with the
stir and e;:.tIncs3 OF that event
sgF!SSaST. full time Ct our history and his
ss-.sxS choice OF Central New York
with its aristocratic PATRON life
as sccrta. and his introduction of Joseph
Brant, the Indian, Sir John Butler, and
~ hay s,l,
whose influence arrayed the cruelty of the
Indians against the American patriots,
gives setting and an atmosphere not
usually made use Of in similar tales. His
heroine is an unframed madcap of a girl,
who gains through her love for the hero
a Very sweet and stately dignity of char
actcr. She wins a quick hold on the af-
fcction in spite q The fact that she falls
far short of GttaiIing the rare sweetness
and strength OF the Lady Clorinda Mrs.
Burnett'S lady of quality, whose protrayal
is the most perfect presentation yet given
Of a character as difficult of achievement
in fiction as in real life. However, for all
The interest Of his revolutionary stories,
Mr. Chambers has not put his best nor
his worst chaTa cteristic work into these
American romances. In them he takes
lis place among number of other writer's
Who have told of those old time days with
a felicity equally as fortunate is his own,
ana his work makes no distinct nor indi-
vidual impression on its reader. But in
Lorraine Ashes of Empire THE Red
Republic, and his shorter tales of France
there is an alluring and evanescent sweet
ness, a lurking. brooding sense of the mys-
tcrious, an elusive beauty, tenderness,
and a fantastic oddness of style that give
to his tales a pOeTy-stolen charm whose
loss is not atoned for by the stir of ex-
citing events nor the interest of romantic
characters. At his best. his pen revels in
its touch of horror, Vet does not forget
beauty and warmth. the JOY of life, nor
the sweetness of nature, and in his strange
and constant blending OF the unreal with
the human lies a unique and unfailinG
hold on the fancy. 1t is given to him to
see into the very heart of pain, as he
looks, too, into the soul of nature and of
love, and through these stories there
-unS ever a strain Of that mysticism which
is a part of his thought and which seems
to give to his language a meaning
deeper than is found in the mere words
which set it forth. And so it can but be