Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-29


Courtesy of Mcclure, Phillips K Co.
! mary associates 1t needs no stretch of
| the credulity to accept such possible as
sociation. Nearly every family has a ira
dition or positive record of such cases.
Mrs. Burnett's story is subtle and beauti-
full. 1t tells the tale with a simple direct
| ness. arguing nothing, explaining nothing,
merely giving the story to the reader in it's
delicate, appealing form as something to
| take and think about and wonder over, and
to weep over as well. For it touches the
heart where perhaps it was never touched
before, and yet when it ends peace comes,
to lead maybe. to understanding. In this
work Mrs. Burnett has been assisted by
Jessie WILCOX Smith. whose eight colored
Illustrations perfectly express the senti-
| ment of the story. The text is printed on
| broad-margined pages with green dec
grafton.
MY LITERARY LIFE. By Nine Edmond Adam
lJulette Lamber). New York: D. Appleton &
In order to appreciate fully Nine. Adams
literary "reminiscences, which are given at
some length in this volume, it is necessary
to understand something of the French
temperament, the volatile exuberance of
spirit, the intensity of emotion character
istic of the nation. These pages are pun
gent with the true Partisan flavor. There
is no concealment of the sentiments of the
writer. She thinks aloud in her chapters
as she tells of her misfortunes following
her first marriage. her struggles for an in
tellectual freedom from her husbands rigid
restraint. She gives little intimate details
of her intercourse with the thinkers or the
period during which her literary aspirations
were forming and developing into works.
The men and women whom she loves are
presented almost in person. Their habits
of speech, their EXPLANATIONS of wonder,
anger and affection, throughout the
pages. 1t Is. in fact, vivid picture of in
teliectual France during the middle and lat
ter part of the past century. Nine. Adam
concludes her volume with an account of
how she founded her salon, at the sugges-
ton of her friend Madame d'Agoult, whose
advice to her on the subject is interesting:
Happiness comes only from abnegation
and wisdom To gather round one a group
of men and some intelligent women, one
must preserve serene or happy appear
ance. One must simplify ones life, letting
no complications appear to the eye, even
though life be troubled. To keep friends
round one it Is necessary to create an i'm
personal and peaceful atmosphere, which
gives repoSe. Consult the first members of
salon before admitting others, that there
may be founders, or some who believe
themselves so. Avoid the exchange of con-
fidences which creates too great an in
tmacy and compels advice which at some
time you will be reproached with. Be mod
est without etfacing yourself; combine SIM
plicity and elegance. Inspire confidence in
the strength of your opinions, that you
may appear at once immovable and toler-
ant The first duty of her who would hold
a salon is to keep up the interest of those
whom she has gathered round her. TO i'm
press upon them that she is more taken
up with them than with herself
RECoLLECTIoNs AND LETTERS OF GENERAL
ROBERT E. LEE. BY his son. Captain Robert
York; Doubleday. Page y Co. Washington:
William Ballantyne x Sons.
So many are the controversies which still
rage about certain figures prominent in the
records of the civil war that it is to some
extent relief to read a biography of so
prominent a parsonage as Robert e. Lee
without finding attempt to adjust an an
cient dispute to strengthen faltering
claim. Captain Lees book tells the story
of his father in simple terms, which will be
of interest to every American, whatever
may be his position or his sympathies with
reference to the struggle between the sec
tions. 1t is the record of a great mans
pure life as drawn from his own letters and
the recollections of his son. Captain Lee
writes reverently of his father, as of one
whose character is beyond criticism. Yet
there is no strain of eulogy in the work
The facts are set forth, the letters are
printed, to stand for themselves. Many of
these letters, being of the most private ma
ture, have never been printed before, and
their publication now adds richly to the
records of the war Some of them cast light
upon Lees motives in his courses of con-
J duct. Some are merely personal notes,
| often of endearment and thoughtfulness
I and loving anxiety. Sometimes they ex-
press the soul-sickness of the captain of
the confederacy facing gigantic and re-
voting task of slaughter and suffering. The
nearest approach to criticism of any OF
his fathers associates which Captain Lee
permits himself is the declaration that II
General Lees advice to abandon Richmond
had been taken the war would probably
have been prolonged and might have re-
suited differently. He quotes Lord Wolse-
ley's opinion in support of this view.
AN IRIsHMAN's STORY. By Justin Mccarthy,
author of "A History Of Our Own Times" BE.
New York: The Macmillan Company. Wash
ington: Brentano's.
This "Irishman's story" was first told
serially in The outlook. where 1t competed
successfully for public interest with articles
of direct news value and comments on the
events of the day. Mr.. McCarthy's rem
iuiscences are necessarily of men and cir
cumstances long since passed out of the
mind of most people He belongs to the gen
Grafton that is now closing its record of
activities But he is familiar to the readers
of today, for, although he has retired from
public life, his pen has not tagged, and
much that he wrote in the days of his
greatest literary enterprise remains in cur
rent reference. This volume Is virtually
an autobiography, written in an easy vein
of chatty communication with his reader,
devoid of formality of statement and often
aggressive. He writes of men and meas
ures of the period with the intimate knowi
edge of one who participated In many of
the parliamentary debates on the ever-burn-