The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-03-06
Books and Authors
OF LITERARY WIVES

" : "
OF LITERARY. WIVES
Z The man with a literary wife ought to
find it very easy to please her. All he has
to do is to praise everything she writes |
and encourage her to use up all the paper
she can and see that she is attached to
ten or twelve literary clubs where papers
in great quantities are read. That ex
cellent, lady Margaret, Duchess Of New
castle, had the writing habit. She wrote
biography of the duke, who was Git
erary feller' enough to write book on
horsenanship, and she entitled it 1.-THE
Life Of the Thrice Noble, High and Puts
SAINT Prince, William Cavendish," and did
him ample and more than justice. The
duchess wrote twelve folio volumes of her
thoughts, fancies and speculations, which
she believed would, even if they were
found fault with in her life time, 'pre-
serve my fame to after ages" Like
other persons afflicted with the writing
disease, the thoughts and fancies of Mar
garrett Duchess Of Newcastle, have not in
f1uenced the latter ages and COMPARE
lively few people know anything about her.
and her twelve folio volumes. The duke
let her write and write voluminousy in
her private apartments and was happy.
The duchess is not the only person who
has labOred under the impression that she
is writing herself into literary conspicuity
Of an enduring character That is very
human delusion. But, it is we'll to con-
trast the work of the Duchess Of New
castle with that of Mrs. Harriet Beecher
Stowe, who wrote Uncle Toms Cabin"
with a high moral purpose in time she
snatched from hard, exacting Homework,
sitting at the kitchen table, rocking the
cradle with one hand and guiding her
pen with the other. And Uncle Toms
Cabin has been read by many millions
along the periphery of the globe.
TRUTH (vER1TE). By Emile lola. Trans
lated by Ernest S. Vizetelly. New York:
John Lane, 81 Fifth avenue. Price $3.50.
This is the last novel lola completed.
Had he lived he would have written a
fourth in the series he had planned and
named 1.-THE Four Evangelists." Truth"
| may be called a didactic novel. 1t en-
| bodies Zo.a's strong hostility to Jesuitical
| and general ecclesiastical intrigue and
| suppression Of the truth. 1t reveals his
strong sympathy with the Jews prosecuted
| as they were during the Dreyfus affair in
France and the course of the narrative
presents a parallel to the incidents In that
famous or infamous case, where one inno-
| cent Jew was set upon by the secular and
ecclesiastical power in France and was
released by a clouded decision after vain
efforts to prove him guilty. The spirit OF
Truth is scathing denunciation of
falsehood, such as characterized the chief
criminals in the Dreyfus case. The story
reveals the hostility Of the religious Or
ders in France toward the republic and
| their sinister influence over the young
| pupils committed to their care and the
| conflict between the advocates of secular
| education and the champions of the re-
ligious schools. Conspicuous is the reve-
lation of the divisions in families caused
| 1>xy md Z01 no
strongest way treated the estrangement OF
! Marc Froment and his wife Genevieve,
| through their religious Emergencies a
dreadful shadow being cast for some time
| over most devoted and loving couple.
lola would apparently counsel persons OF
antagonistic. religious beliefs not to marry.
Froment from the day of the finding OF
the body of young Zephirim, who was
strangled in his room, took the part of the
| Jewish schoOlmaSter, Simon, who was
charged with the crime through a member
of religious order who set in motion a
hideous ewbaitng by his charge, which
was ultimately proven baseless after SUBJ
jecting the poor Jew to outrageous treat
| ment. Truth is probably already on
the vatican's list Of books not to be read
In the character of Brother Gorgias Zola
portrays a liar and scoundrel of the first
class, grossly mendacious to prevent re-
Elections upon his church, and he handles
severely the clericals generally in relat-
ing the detective ingenuity which traced
the murder of Zephirin1. The arguments
of Froment against the views and preJu
dices of his alenated wife are favored
with the bitterness Gambetta used to dis
play toward the Roman church which he
declared to" be the chief enemy of the
French republic. The scene at the close
of Book II. where Froment's domestic
happiness is destroyed by priestly inter
~1ry1 So,o o,fy Zn1 a'c hos r
, and mind were so strongly enlisted In thf:
, subject that he condemns the Roman
church to generally and specifically. Marc
: Froment is his mouthpiece and hero ht
was to be admired genuinely. 'Truth' i:
, Zola's most serious book by far. 4.
THE w1TcHERY OF SLEEP. Compiled by
5 Willard Meyer. New York: Ostermoor s
Co.. Illustrated. Price, 81. .~..r -
| The author has shown himself a diligen
student and collector of the literature o
f sleep He probably dwells too much upo1
J the delights of sleep and dreams and to-
, little upon the hideousness of sleep whe1
the visions it conjures up are hair-raisin
and terrifying. He dlscourses on tn
philosophy of sleep; the physiology o
sleep; it's value and necessity and work
in cautionary chapter on insomnia an
how to conquer it and then, much spac
is devoted to the Importance of the bed a
an adjunct of sleep, for poor bed an
good sleep are inimical, and much de
ponds upon the quality of the mattress
which the author says is the jewel tn
/. bedstead being merely the setting. Hi
: remarks on this subject are interesting
and amusing and a good feature of tn
volume is the exhibit made of the beds 9
the ages from remote times. showing tina
comparatively small improvements hay
been made in the article except in shape
The author takes pains to tell us how vari
Gus living kings, queens, emperors an
2 expresses sleep. Some prefer beds c
| monumental size; some want very sol
! beds, some very hard beds. The book
full of interesting sayings and extract
l from the poets who have written on tn
topic. It is bright and piquant an
will make nobody sleepy.
3 THE MAGAZINES.
2 Current Literature (Current Literatur
+ COMPANY New York; having obsorbe