The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-04
BOOK NOTICES.

Life and Letters of Robert Lewis
Dabney, D. D. L. d. D." by Thomas
Cary johnson. The Presbyterian Com
mittee of Publication, Richmond, Va,
R. e. Magill secretary, 900 pages, cloth
binding, $3.50 net. Postage 1Sc. This
is one of those rare books which is in
teresting not only to the general read
er, but to the special student. AS pas
tor, educator, philosopher and soldier,
DR.. Dabney touched Southern life at
all points. He was a man of affairs,
practical and efficient. as well as a
scholar, he thought and wrote wisely
and sanely on politics, on society and
on theology, and the story of his life
1llumineS the history Of Virginia and
of the entire Southland during the
past seVenty-five years. His quick in
sight enabled him to grasp conditions
and problems in their entirety and his
keen observation made him invaluable
AS chronicler. The book is largely
photographed for Robert Lewis
Dabney was a great letter writer of
the old school and it is this personal
element which gives color and lone to
the narrative. he was always a Sc
rious student, but he had a fine sense
of hunnor. and told an anecdote well.
His letters to his mother and broth
ers and later sto his wife often sparkle
with fun and good stories. To former
students of Hampden-Si Sidney and OF
the University of Virginia "The Life
and Letters will be ofsespecial interest
for its pictures of the student body,
of the professors, and men of note con-
nected with the two colleges. In the
midst of his more serious reflections
young Dabney finds time to sketch pen
portraits. He writes to his brother of
the president of Hampden-Sidney, "a
nice, active man. little below mid
die size. great hand to run after
the students when they get into mis-
chief. He wears small whiskers and
combs his hair in a very classical man
ner, is quite handsome and has a fine
eye. 1 think that he has rather too
large portion of outside, but he is
nevertheless wise man, and well quail
flied for his Office He had q keen
hatred of shams and false standards
and writes to his mother with keen
sarcasm of the "dandies" of the Uni
versity of Virginia, who wore prunella
bootees, straw-colored pantaloons,
striped pink and blue silk vest and
crimson merino cravat; who spent from
$1,5oo to $1,000 a session and learned
about three cents worth of useful
learning and enough rascality te ruin
them forever. The students at the
great university spend less and study
more nowadays. The life of the
South as shown in his own home, and
in the letters of his more mature age
is simple and charming; he painted
with fidelity the hardships and dis
advantages as well as the pleasures
and attractions of the planters life
and throws real light on the social,
political and industrial organization of
the South and on the homes, employ
ments, culture, and religion of the peo-
pie. Students of our ante-bellum civil
lization and the historian, who is en-
deavoring to reconstruct a society
which disappeared with the Civil War
will find the book invaluable. The
fine account of the structure and
functions of the old Virginia Court,
the pictures of eminent jurists and
statesmen will be of great interest
to lawyers. while his personal reminis-
cences of Stonswall Jackson, whose d s.
tinguished chief-of-staff he was, his
narrative of camp life, and his under
standing of Jackson's campaigns, will
delight all old Confederate veterans.
Taken all in all few books have been
produced of recent years of greater
interest and value to all classes of
readers.
"Tuckahoe," by Joseph William Egg
gleston. The Neal Publishing Com
pany, New York. This is an old-fash-
toned story of an old-fashioned peo-
pie, and a charming story 1t is There
is love-making, a duel, a horse race,
cavalry charge and other exciting
things in it. There are bright scenes
and scenes of sadness, and examples
OF bravery and self-sacrifice. The
story opens just before the outbreak
of the Civil War; and the scene is
laid in one of the most picturesque
sections of Virginia. 1t runs through
the war and has a happy ending. 1t
is stirring story and is well worth