Evening star., 1903-10-24

| ownership of books. a bibliomaniac of the
| deepest dye. In all else he was a kindly.
| proper man, but, his book habit dragged
| him and his faithful Quaker wife down into
the depths of poverty, and caused her great
| distress. That It. did not also distress him
| was because he was sublimely unconscious
| of the misery his self-indulgence caused.
| Mr.. Field has drawn his portrait with
| clever strokes. Ballinger had an eXtraor-
| binary idea of business, and when he would
| purchase a book for his old-book store he
| would lock it up In his own private case
and hold 1t ''for rise in value" even
| though customers might be clamoring for
| a chance to buy it at a big profit. The
story turns upon the beautiful friendship
between the bookworm and child, who
grows into womanhood under his tutelage.
| and who, in the hour of his direst need,
| proves to be his Maecenas An atmos-
| phere of rare charm pervades the story.
| PHOENIXIANA: or Sketches and Burlesques. By
John Phoenix A new edition illustrated by E.
| W. Kemblc. with an introduction by John Ken
drick Bangs. New York: d. Appleton & Co.
+ Fifty years ago Americans were laugh
| ing heartily over the odd conceits of John
| Phoenix" officially and socially known as
| Lieut.. George H. Derby, U. s. A His wit
| and satire were infectious, and whatever
| fell from his pen in his hours of relaxation
| from the faithful performance of his army
| duties was greedly seized upon by the
| public. But "Ploenixiana" is almost a
| forgotten title among the readers of the
present day. 1t is happy revival that is
| given such excellent form in this volume,
| with the appropriate sketches of Mr.. kem-
| BILE and with word of introduction by Mr..
| Bangs, who stand today in the front rank
! of American humorists In their respective
| lines 1t is always ticklish experiment to
restore to the view of readers the humor-
Gus writings of decades ago, for the fashion
| in fun changes abruptly and often. But
John Phoenix struck the keynote of the
A-lerican sense of the ridiculous, and in
| consequence his papers are entertaining
| today as when they were written, long be-
| fore there SO much hackneyed fun
making and SO much mechanical humorous
| writing.
THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF MARY QUEEN OF
author of The Conrtships Of Queen ElIzabeh
New York: Mcclure, Phillips & Co. Washing
| ton: Woodward * Iothrop
| The authors studies as editor of the
calendars of Spanish state papers, in the
| British public record office, have given him
access to many sidelights on the characters
AMI intrigues of those two remarkable and
| interesting women, Elizabeth Tudor and
Mary Stuart. whose careers touched SO
| closely the springs and the effects of the
| great Spanish propaganda for the estab
| lshment of the Catholic supremacy in Eng
| land. He has written this account of the
love affairs of Mary Stuart not as a study
in her moral character. nor as a contribu-
tion to romantic personal history; but 1t is
as an historian that he has analyZed her
amours, for he views them as having had
an important bearing on the great political
game which was ruthleSsly working out
the destiny of a people and which sacrificed
this woman as it did others. The Ques-
ton of how good or how bad she was as a
woman" he says, has been kept as much
as possible in the background. 1t is spe-
cially as a politician that 1 have wished to
regard her. for she represented in her own
person the principle which, If she had sue
ceeded, would have destroyed the Reforma-
ton and established the supremacy of
Spanish Catholicism in Europe. However
wicked she might have been personally,
that would not have altered the result, if
the ends she sought in her marriages had
been attained" The author notes as a con-
trast that Ellz0 heth succeeded l.: her
schemes by trifiing with the affections of
men without marrying, while Mary MR.
ried, failed and lost her life.
TITTLEBAT TITMoUsE; Abridged from Dr. Sam
lei Warrens Famous Novel, Ten Thousand a
Year BY Cyrus Townsend Brady. With illus
q Wdgnas Company.
This was one of the great novels of sixty
odd years ago, a story that inmedia tely
caught the fancy of the people as it was
serially published in Blackwoods Magazine.
Like most of the novels Of the day, 1t was
very long, and Mr.. Brady's judicious cur
taiIment has rendered it the more to be ap-
preciated by modern readers He has pre-
| served the spirit of the story and has elimi-
| mated only the surplusage, SO that 1t stands
as a compact and consecutive tale. follow
ing the varied career Of poor little Tittlebat
Titmouse to its melancholy end Mr. Craw-
ford's illustrations happily reproduce the
costumes and characters of the StOry'S per-
sonages and add sprightliness to the pa ges.
1t will be remembered in this connection
| = hot fnrx ID O;oI,.,
field revived play based on DIR. Warren's
novel, under the original title.
AFTER PRIsoN-WHAT? By Maud Ballington
Booth. New York: Fleming ii. Reyell Com
pany
Mrs. Booth Is the wife of Ballington
Booth at the head of the Volunteers of
America, an organization which he formed
when he severed his connection with the
Salvation Army on differing from his faith
er the commander-in-chiefo of the latter
| body. She has been for some years one of
the hardest workers for prison reform in
America. but has not confined her efforts to
proclaiming that need She has recognized
the vital Importance of laboring with the
prisoners themselves. for their families and
with the public for change Of attitude to-
ward those released from the prisons. On
the last-named subject she has now pre-
| sented book of great interest to every
| sociologist, every Christian worker, every
| thinking citizen who believes that much of
! the energy of the working classes Is use
| leSSly spent in prisons and in idleneSS after
prison confinement. Mrs. Booth pleads for
a broader. more charitable attitude on the
| part of the public toward the released con-
| victs and believes that they are held in a
| worse bondage after serving their time than
during their penance, owing to the re-
| lentless social barrier which only the
strongest can surmount. Her words are
earnest and impressive.
| THE STORY OF THE CHURCHES-THE METH
ODISTS. BY John Alfred Faulkner ID. d.
professor of historical theology in Drew Theo-
logical Seminary. New York: The Baker &
Taylor Company. Washington: VIM. Ballantyne
& Sons
| Two volumes Of this series have already
| been published. devoted to the Baptists and