The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-11

II SnOulQ De read cafeIuIy anu SLOWLY
as it was written. For without doubt
is the result of nearly a lifetime of
reading and research. One. is impress
ed on every page with the idea that
Mr.. Hewlett has put into this the best
of his mind, the best of his thought.
1t is truly a great book, and yet 1t
will satisfy but few Of the students
of that remarkable era when Mary
played her pitiful drama in Scotland.
To those who have invested the Queen
of Scots with the halo of martyrdom,
Mr.. Hewlett1s Characterization will be
little short of proclamation, n to 9TH
ers who saw in her a w~antonness the
exact opposite of Puritan excellence,
his picture will be too kindly drawn.
For 1T Is a most human Mary Stuart
which he gives us; a woman full of
feminine weaknesses, longing for love
and yet never satisfied when she gets
it. But whatever faults critics may
find with his ideas of his characters, no
one can ~gainsay the excellence of his
book as a piece Of literature. One al
most forgets of whom he writes in the
enjoyment of hts style, his perfect die
ton. r
The story begins when Mary is sent
out of France by the scheming Of the
q-ueen-mether, to Scotland, where she
arrives in the heyday Of youth, newly
widowed, her heart beating high at
radiance of a weakly boy husband.
The sour, black locks Of her Scots u b
jects are matter of surprise and regret
to her, but she does not begin to. realize
the contempt the followers Of Mr.. Knox
feel for her. For. according to Mr..
Hewlett, Mary's nature is one that bor-
rows trouble; the pursuit of pleasure
is her chief occupation. He paints her
as frivolous, f~irtatious, fascinating,
SnOi1Q6 yyil1f,11 ond xyi1d for vyhof oho
wants until she gets it. when, 10, it is
something else or somebody else which
attracts her I'M she is off in full pur-
suit. Bound to conquer ever the dis
Hke of a woman is painful to her, but
1t must be said for her that she has
few pains of that kind, as there was
almost no who came near her but
fell under her spell.
Her love for Darnley, the marriage
to him and her quick firing Of him are
well told, and. we follow her with
GREATNESS interest as she goes from
one affair to another, never satisfied,
h goal a little further off each day.
And over all the baleful shadow of
Boutwell,, who second to Mary, is the
character of greatest import in this
recital. Boutwell, is cold, calculating,
bold, but after all, a man, as Mary said.
and Mary dearly loved a manly mar
After RiZzio and Darnley, no wonder
that Boutwell, could play the hero with
the queen. Mr.. Hewlett does not make
it entirely clear whether or not he fa-
vors the allegation which has been
made that Mary conspired to the death
of Darnley. but at this time he records
that she was wildly in love with Both
we'll and much under his influence.
According to this chronicle, Mary's
love of her child, who afterwards be-
came James VI. of Scotland and James
r. z ~ rlax1 -.~-L -
turn her away from frivolous pleas
ureS.
1t is the six years of her life in Scot
land of which the author spins his tale,
n though no hint of her tragic end
is given here it hangs like a black
shadow over all. We part from her
after she has been deserted by Both
well, who really loved her not at all
n which made the real tragedy of
her life, according to some chroniclers,
when her brother was made regent
n she began the downfall which
brought her to a shameful death. Sur
n as she was by lovers, syco-
plants add followers of every descrip-
ton, Mary had but two true friends
during the years of her life in Scot
land, Mary Livingston, one of her wom-
en-, who had a real appreciation of the
dangers TO which her royal mistress
appeared so Indifferent, and the French
boy Des Essars, who loved her nobly,
increasingly to the end, when he died
cheerfully in her service. For 1t was
characteristic of her that that every
one who served her loved her, even
those who most condemned her. Pos
sibly there is nothing new in MI, Hew-
let's book of this fascinating Scottish
queen. but he has evidently read all
the numerous chronicles of her time,
~pondered well upon them and made her
h the consensus of opinion made
her, a frivolous, laughter-loving wom-
an possessed Of a charm that has
nothing to do with beauty, sometimes
all the more potent without it who
sang her way through life regardless of
everything but the pleasure of the mo-
ment. But the book Is literature and
will more securely than aver establish
M. Hewlett's fame as n of the fore
most living writer's.
Holding the Ropes-By Belle NJ. Brain.
Funk and Wagnalls company. For sale
by st. Paul Book and Stationery COM
pany.
The writer of this book is known
throughout the evangelical missionary
world for her labors in trying to
arouse interest in. missions among
those who remain at home. Miss, Brain
has written several books to stir UP
the stay at homes and inspire them to
give time anu money tOWard the I'M
portant subject of foreign missions. In
the present volume she has summed up
and systematized all her original ideas,
and her clever application to mission
work of the most approved methods in
the pedagogical and evangelical fields.
She writes Of h use Of the. Bible in
missions. Of mission Sunday schools, of
h children can do. of the need Of
money, of schools, libraries for mis-
sions n rehearSes attractive pro-
gratnmes for mission meetings.. In
clude are quotations from well known
men and famous missionaries attest
ing to the need of workers in foreign
fields and Of the value Of much al
ready accomplished.
Rachel MARRY Morley Roberts. L. c.
Page & Co.e For sale by the ST. Paul
Book and Stationery company.
One of the strangest things in liter
allure is the different kinds Of books
one man q write. In the case of
Morley Roberts It Is almost Incredible
that he could nave written this
strange. painful study of a woman.s
soul. The book is strong, powerful.
but the reading Of 1T leaves one with q
disgust of life n its realities. The
story concerns The awakening OF a girl
to the physical facts Of life and to a
realization of the ~contending forces
that are hers by inheritance. We fol-
low her struggles and hopeless love
fhro1Iph Am naOoc ta tLa ~ 80,