Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-03

Zola's life ran the gamut of the direst
poverty and the most affluent prosperity
He had sunk to the very bottom of the so
cial scale twice before he began to rise
Each time. when starvation seemed at hand,
a friend interviewed to rescue him. The
first time he sent the young author to a
publishing house, where he was given en-
ployment in the stock department. The
second time the good Samaritan recon-
mended him to Charpentier who assumed
Zola's contract with a bankrupt publisher
and started the novelist forward once more
on the road to complete his cherished chain
of Rougon- Macquart stories. From that
day his star rose to sink temporarily
| during the period of his exile under the
ban of the French government for his In
trepid championing of the cause or Drey1us.
Mr.. Vizetelly undertakes to prove Zola's
| high moral motive in the utilization OF
! realism in his novels He admits that Zola
| compromised at times for the sake OF gam
| ing a living. He had to do so or starve
But his purpose was steadfastly to depict
| life it is in order to awaken his readers
| to q realizing sense of suffering ana deSfa-
| dation ard thus to lead to reforms. His
| biogra pher holds that lola was essentially
] a reformer, and that his espousal of the
| Dreyfus cause was a natural expression OF
! his temperament. He hated shams and
| frauds. He lived a sad life and looked
| rather pessmisticaliy upon the world. He
| was a hypochondriac during the greater
| part of his life. relaxing only occasionally
and briefly from his acute sense of his
|
| in this aspect. but that phase of his charac-
| ter may perhaps be understood in terms of
the acute sufferings that he endured in his
| days of privation.
| Zola's works are described CHRONOLOGICAL
| ly, although this is a difficult task. mas
| much as the man was marvel of indus
| try, and was often carrying on half a dozen
| literary ard journalistic enterprises at the
| same time. The account of his reasons for
| writing this and that story is entertain
! ing as 4 romance. Zola's connection with
| the Dreyfus case, which Mr.. ViZetelly traces
! clearly and without allowing his account to
| be confused by too close a scrutiny of the
| remarkable ramifications of the 'affaire.''
| is too we'll known to need summary in this
| review. Especially interesting is the por-
| ton of the book which rela ties Zolas exile.
| which was largely spent in the company of
| his English translator The book is amply
| illustrated with portraits of lola and pic
| lures of his various residences.
| THE LETTERS WHICH NEVER REACHED HIM.
New York: E. L. Dutton * Co.
| Here is novelty in the line of letter
| novel; story told exclusively through the
| medium of the letters of one person. There
| were no other letters, and these were never
| read by the addressee. According to an ap-
| pendiX, these letters genuine, having
| been written by the sister of the writer of
| this memorandum to a friend then engaged
| in Chinese exploration He lost his life
Boxer uprising, and she died in New York
shortly after the news of his death was re-
ceived. After the letters, which had accu-
mulated at Shanghai had been returned
the brother decided to have them printed
anonymously. and here they are, constitut-
| ing a tender romance, and including some
| beautiful passages of description and phil
| osophizing. The book makes a strong.
direct appeal to the sympathetic under
| standing. If genuine, they stand for the
| outgivings of a rare soul She was a Ger
| man woman, married to a man who had
| forfeited her love and at the time the let
| tiers were written was dying in an asylum
| for the insane. His death occurred during
| the course of this one-Sided correspondence.
| Between her and the explorer no word of
| love had been spoken, for both respected
| the requirements of the difficult situation,
| but it is plain that there was strong men
! tai attachment and had not death inter-
| vened there would have been doubtless per-
| feet happiness for both The mans person.
ality shines through the woman's ideal of
| him as expressed in little touches in her
| letters, Her writing is chiefly of her trav-
| els homeward from China, after her friend
| had warned her to get out OF That country
| He had scented the rising danger. She ana
her brother journey to Vancouver and Banfr
and New York, and later to Germany upon
the announcement of the last illness OF her
| husband Then comes a return to New
York Amusing descriptions of people pune
tuate the pages. Exploiters of Chinese re-
sources fit through the letters, types OF
men who have sown the seeds Oh olscoru III
the great empire The German feminine
mind gropeS for leading lines OF comparison
| between the American people ana those Oh
Europe, and many amusing comments re
| suit Apart from the subtle fomantlc III
| nuence which emanates from the letters,
they constitute an entertaining commentary
on the times which repays reading. IL
the letters are not genuine tuey stal!u e ,oi
an unusually clever bit of literary crafts
| manship.
HISTORY OF MARYLAND. BY James McSherry.
| Edited and continued by Bartlett b: James.
| PHI (Johns Hopkins, Western Maryland ooi-
| lege. Baltimore: The Baltimore DooA oon
! pany.
| In some respects McSherry's history OF
MARYLAND is regarded, so far as it ex-
| tends as one of the very best available
| records of the early progress OF the colony
and the commonwealth 1t was published
| in 1919 and has remained in unavailable
| editions since then, despite many calls for
| its restoration to use. Professor James re-
| Gently undertook the rather formidable task
of continuing it and upon his assumption
of the role he found that it was necessary
! in some respects to change McSherry
original text. The portion relating 10
events prior to the close of the war of the
] revolution faulty. chiefly in point o.
literary style, especially in the eulogies OF
l
| relating to events following the war, th.
record was too sparsely stated to he Of
best use forming virtually groundwork
| Upon that basis he edited the whole his
tory, curtailing 1t somewhat In the earlier
parts and expanding its meager records In
the latter portions. The story of Mary
land since 1S4S he has told himself in sim
| pie, direct style. which attracts and holds
| the reader and demonstrates a perfect ac-
} quaintance with the facts. He has written
in a perfectly non-partisan spirit. He views
| the exciting events of the civil war dispas-
, sionately. displaying feeling only in his
! treatment of the severity of the admins
; tration following hostilities. when the test
oath was applied with especial rigor in
Maryland. The events following the civil
, war call for but brief treatment. Some
space Is devoted to the rapid educational
development of Maryland and the leading
/ facts in the later history of the state are
explained sufficiently. He brings the rec
I | ord down 10 the inauguration of Governor
Z Warfield. The whole is eminently sat
9 | isfactory account of one of the most inter
esting of the American commemorative
Its diction Is dignified and explicit, and it.
;, | scope broad.
| COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LECTURES TIL
c PR0RIEN A0NOpOIY Of n