The San Francisco call., 1904-09-04

-ng q Irving Bachelors latest
romance. -Tergilius" - disap-
po5n-ze-c because there Is not enough
~ IT, pleasure since what there Is n
he novel Is artisrically wrought The
-herre q The book is great one, its
treatment incoumensUrate- II select
-- for his motive The 6aWning OF e
-ew and great love over The earth with
he birth q the Re6eemer. NJ Bachel-
-er has set for himself z frame which
demands much more than ne sketch
he has done. the rounded picture he
should have given Us could never be
ercr-ussse6 By limits such as bound
-T-erEl-ius" Either the creator ct
Eten Holden" has come 70 the belief
rhe- long novel is never justified.
even bv The sublimes- theme. or he has
failed ro grasp the full significance Of
MS opportunity
Bscheue-- chooses for the underlying
thread Ct his story the same motive
rhsr inspired Ben Eur," or the less
widely known Darkness and Dawn.
bv Dean Fsrrsr. Catching the swing
4 The wo-Id O. that great pivotal
point, the coming of Christ, he seeks
70 reflect The advent of new and
SPLENDID humanity which cast its glow
over the peoples ot the world even be
fore the great glory shone around the
stable 81 Bethlehem OF the night o.
TIE Nativity. Into the brutality, the
hssrtlessness ard the despair that
steeped The decsdent society of the
early Roman empire there came from
CIT the mysterious East cry:
Eezs ericklv ss-6- TIE rev E.zg whose Arrows
49, - --Iehty sf-zi6 s-d fhe p-o1d 20
boE lev and re wicked 70 trelhle
Rome had passed the SUBMITS and
stood locking into the dark valley OF
fourteen hundred years Behind her
TIE graves ot Caesar and Ssllust and
Cicero ard CatuIlus and Virgil and
Horace; before her centuries of mad
ness ard tres6ing down: round about
her q multitude sickening of luxury,
their houses filed with spoil. their
mouths With folly, their souls with dis
content: above her ouly mystery and
silence"
This IS the background 1or the story,
set in the opening paragraph Into
shis souber shadow the author casts
TIE fortunes of the love OF Nergilius,
e young Roman tribune. and ARIA,
ward ard favorite OF Emperor Angus
tus himself Out CT the uissms and
the slime q the 6ebSuched life al
Rome. these Two. fred by the faint
strings of new and indefinite sense
q putty. raise their affection IN
rrigue and treschery. threatening their
1or6est hopes a. Rome. are doubled
WHEN VergIliUs is sent by Augustus 70
T. -
he ESCAPES the entsngiing mesh OF
Saloue. the witching daughter Of the
King. only to fan al unwittingly into
the ve-y vortex q = plot against the
th-o-e. The raid of armed men upon
midnight meeting, the insensate and
disbo,ic wrath of Herod vented il
the red6ened sands OF the arena and
The fual orgv q the feast al Caesares
--hese are incidents which by their
contrast throw into SIS place OF prom
inence the final picture q the story
Bethlehem and the birth Ct the Savior
II The light cf the guiding star and
with the heavenly chorus in their ears,
Tereuius and his love. Aria, are
brought together in this the first hour
20 he worlds new birth
BatcheIier-s book IS manifestiy the
work OF elaborate study From the in
sis-ence upon the classic e" il the
name of The hero. on through all the
pictured scenes OF past grandeur, ais
work shows a psinstsking adherence
~ the word OF the authorities It's
Iablezur q banquet hall and arena. in
-l-lnE comparison. o. course. with
those Of -Quo Tadis." are high with
cClC-. though falling in the vivid
minuteness Of description that makes
the Polish writer's book panoramic in
It's character Faithful. too, according
10 contemporary chronicles. is the au-
-hor's 6elinesrion CT Augustus-whose
flu name q many parts he delights
in rolling about the tongue-and OF
Eer06. The Lion OF Judea-"
With AL reverence The author
handles the element OF the divine il
Eis tale. though one would instinct
lively iook 20 ind The actual picturing
n The nativity IN z book q greater
pretensions than ~Vergilius." 10 fault