The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-06
4."WHEN LOVE IS LOVE-

% &
."''WHEN LOVE IS LOVE-
Another View Of Mrs. Kate
Longley Bosher's New Book.
rho charm about Mrs. Bos llcr's book Is a
tho beautiful picture she has drawn OF
southern wolnnnhood. There aro, several
women in tlle story, foui'Hof whom arc
OF southern birth and each attractive IN
her way but there IS one who stands q
head taller than her associates. ard IS AZ Il
together SO lovely and noble and engng,
Ing to ovcrshadow all tho rest. 1T Is not
necessary to say to those who have read
The book that this character Is virginia
}Demlng. She has been reared oy a SIS
ter, who Is 4, southern e aristocrht, poor
and dIsa ppoIntcd ii. love. bit neither
ctst down by her misfortune nor soured
by her distress She keeps her disup-
polntment q sacred secret, rs many an
other trrIo woman has done, and gives her
life to her younEal sister llcr many
southern boys and girls have been rearod
and nobly reared BY such sistcr-
motllcr!
Virginia irlcrits her character from
parents of the true southern aristocracy
and under the caro- of her sister, ana
under the instruction OF the cst!teachers,
Instruction for which her sister pays out
of her daily earnings, she develops INTO
81 v
.somencss, grace and sentiment keen per-
ccptlonf OF honor and heroic devotion TO
duty that characterize the southern Wo.
man and diffcrentiatc her from other wo-
mon the world over.
Such a woman IS capable OF gran"
passion. IL only the right man comes
along to arouse it, and such wonan's
character Is never fully developed until 4
her affectiors have been stirred to the
depths. a =,
MANS love is of mans life thing
apart,
his womah's whole existence"
a womdr's fancy sometimes turns TO
art and sometimes to music. sometimes
TO literature and sometimes to Summing.
She may have a sort Of affection for ono
or the other Of these things and she may
be elevated by her love, but the ,all-ab-f
sorblng affection, to which tho poet re-
fors, is. her lovo for man. and It is
that love, IL the man be worthy, which
develops all that is sweetest and purost
in her nature, which rounds out her
character and makes her only little
lever than the angels
In the rpeness OF her glrlhood, ut the
tmo when the woman succeeds the maid, :
in the freshness OF youth and yet in
the maturity of womanhood, she meets
a kindred spirit. She meets the one
man In all the world who Is capable OF
sounding her steps and causing the finest
fibres of her nature to vtbrate and tlnEic
with the music OF first and passionate
love" Her graced passion comes like
a storm and almost overwhelms her with
its suddeness and tremendous force.
But the man to whom she gave her
heart was divorced and the woman who
had once borne his name was alive.
Virginia knew this and when this man,
Jonathan Livingston, urged her to be-
come his wife. It was then that tho
struggle with herself began. Il struggle
between her all-consuming love for the
man Of her choice and her duty to
society, to tradition and to religion.
It is Uncomfortable to man that a wo-
man SO situated 4 young WOmnn, who
had never battled with anything save
herself, should have been able, In spite
Of the plendings Of her lover, and more
than all, in spite Of the plendngs OF her
own heart. to resist this temptation.
and 10 sacrifice her own happiness and
the happiness of her lover upon the altar
OF duty. But she was equal to the test
ana we MI know that SO far from being
a freak, or oven an exception, she was
the true type Of southern womanhood.
With every such woman, duty is first
and all things else are made slltseryicnt.
But in tho case of the man the picture
is somewhat overdrnwn Mrs. Bosllcr
makes her hero willing party to V!r-
ginia's sacrifice. At her request he agrees
to abandon his suit for her hand and
to become her friend instead of hcr lover.
There may be mon Of such generosity in
the world but they are the raro except
ions, and by no means Il type. 4 man in
love Will make all sorts OF sacrifices for
his sweetheart. but lie will ncyer willing
+ ~ agree TO give her up, even for her own
happiness. Ills chivalry Is equal to most
demands that may be made upon It, and
he Is ever ready to defend his sweetheart
against all other men. But when 1t
comes to defending hor against hlnsef.
that is another proposition, We think
that Mrs. Kosher has made the mistake
OF trying to create Il hero who Is alto
gether as noble and devoted to duty MS
,, her heroine, Manifestly she understands
women better than she understands men,
| But her ideal man Is a man worthy OF
| attention and worthy Of Imitation. He
| lis notYonly n self-sacrificing man, but he
| is II civic hero, and recognizes tho duty
| which every man owes, and especially
every rich man, TO aid In all movements
working toward the promotion OF public
cleanliness public education, pure politics.
good government and civic righteousness.
| We cannot say much for the other
| characters in the book. Some OF them
| are nnnatnraly good and others are
| unnaturally bad. Some OF the scenes
and situations are overdrawn; yet
there Is little of dramatic force In any
of them, But there Is good bit Of
| practical philosophy, sweetened md
| Favored here and there by pure. wo-
| manly sentiment, and the book Is nj
together 80 clean from start to finish
that IN laying it down at the conclusions.
| one has the pleasing sensation of having
enjoyed pcrfumed bath,
There is much In the story TO COM
mend 1t, but above all the author has
pictured for the delight Of men and for the
imitation Of woman the Ideal Southern
girl and Il there We're nothing In . Where
Love Is Love" except Virginia Deming,
1t would still DO a book worth reading
and book with mission. 1t IL an
honor to the author to have created such
a character and sustained her through
out. II Is a tribute to her heart. as we'll