The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-06
NEW BOOKS
The nsl srlRRur CUP. By j. Aubrey Tyson. Ne

THE STlRRUP CUP BysJ Arbrerr,r.r.., No.
YORK: Q. Appleton & Co. Price $i.25.
lnls is an extraordinarily good story
OF the period of the Revolution. Never
was romance OF that period written in
more graceful style. Mr.. TYSON has intro
duced real characteristics ington Rurr
Iheodosla Provost, who became Burr's
wile' ana the mother of Theodosia Aston
OF trag1cal memory; and others Of historic
lnehtlon. Inc narrator. Sergeant Hart
rlgg. IS sent by shington to Nine. Pre-
vost,s home, The Hermitage. which, by
~ .,le chances OF war, was sometimes within
tne american and sometimes within the
British lines in New Jersey. "The Her
mltaSe became a regular callinp-nIace
Tor American and British officers. attract
ed by the great beauty Of the hostess.
VINO entertained graciously Washington
wanted TO Know if she was favoring the
British with news, and O'Trigg was or
dered to keep his eyes open and deliver
a letter to the madame according her pro-
tectlon When under American jurisdiction
the lady being the widow of a British
officer. O'Trigg saw more love ma king
IMAM treason or fighting. The chief events
were the counting of the madame bv Sir
Henry clinton of the British army and
Colonel Burr's activity in the same line
The latter's courtship is finely told. Burr
male f1lrt was surely caught this time
ana, IN his ardor, came near suffering
the death OF a spy. Sergeant O'Trigg is
a hrst-class raconteur, fully appreciative
OF the love campaigning he witnessed
even to the confession Burr made at the
drinking of the "Strrup Cup"
ANNA OF THE FIVE TOWNS. BY Arnold Ben
nett, author of THE Grand Babylon Hotel"
etc. New York: Mcclure, Phillips & Co. Min
neapolis: n. Mccarthy.
The central male figure in this book Che
q no h~~ 11~J tkI.
OF somewhat revolving kind, with wealth
to repletion, and heart of stone as to the
hun1an1tles. albeit he was a pillar of the
Wesleyan Methodist church in group of
five contiguous little English towns, where
the furnac esxneWer go- out and smoke sti-
fled vegetation, IS MIR: Te]lwright. had two
daughters one from each of the two wives
his from rule and tparsimCny had killed.
These girls Anna and Agnes, were slaves
to the fathers will He half starved them
to increase his hoard and he made Agnes
say grace over food more attenuated in
quantity and quality than that of ANY
workman in the five towns. On Anna s
attainment Of her legal majority, her
father informed her that a fortune left
for her by her mother was at her dis
posal amounting to 100000. The poor
girl was afraid to spend cent of her for
tune, and was a crushed woman thruout
the period Of the story, only once revolt.
ing and securing a hundred-pound note to
send her lover to Australia. She married,
in obedience to the command of her father,
a man she Gid not love- Each step in her
conscientiousness brought her into deeper
misery. Every glimmering of hope was
quenched. The book is an Iliad of mis-
cry, and yet there is even some pictur-
esH"eness in acute misery. The author
has portrayed a. very dark side Of human
snature-a very weak side Of it. too, and
he has done his work very faithfully and
realistically. Perhaps it is an advantage
to one to read such books at intervals.