The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-06-10

4
fondness for handling crude emotion,
wherever 1t can be torn off raw. bleed-
Ing and alive, and she appears the more
strongly drawn to- a situation, human
rela tionslip, the harsher and more uh.
lovely Its capabilities. No one could have
calico the theme Of her last . oooK, Ing In,
| Open Question:" II pleasing theme. anu
few would be disposed to lay this tribute,
II tribute 1t be, at the feet OF THIS new
book. 81,
| Kitty Derehan is fair Flower Of q
girl, at least when we arc first presented
to her engaging, highly loved ana charm
Ing, and seemingly deserving OF nothing
less than all tho decorun and graces OF
| life, yet of tho two loves that wound
themselves intoyher youth, each, IN It's
own way, was the sort TO prove revolt
ing. Prince Anton, OF E,reitenlohc-W wall
| denstein. she could not rsTry when she
would, because Anton was royalty and
| offered only Inorganic satisfaction, ana
later, when he was free and still con-
sumod with his passion for her, she would
not marry him when she could. This
was because In the meantime she had
come TO- know Garth Vincent.
Vincent Is n womans conception Of q
truly masterful .mnn--a sort OF Rochester
gone mad with brutality. He is the Dark
Lantern Of the title, that sobriduct having
been scornfully flung at him by Lady
Peterborough,Iw who would have died
rather than see Vincent In her drawing
room. The name, as Kitty saw, had pos
sibilities connotation, suggestivcncss, and
to her, OF few, Vincent was less dark
than lantern. His character in the book
Is badly overdrawn. For no especial rea-
son, Mrs. Robins has endowed him with
the meanness Of an Intoxicated stcvcdore,
and no woman could, without loss of self
respect have put up with him for an In
slant. His oaths, his bitter insults, his
ri l~S tx1l tpv Ia 1,t
an intolera BILE boor, yet women, from
august patients to his frightened nurses,
fawned on him, with all the we'll known
longing of the gentler sex for man
who will master Mem. In ones mind 1t
Is hard to conce Q how woman like
Katharine could i've tumbled, 4 willing
victim, at Vincen feet. There are some
things too strang% for even q woman to
do. Not a woinah In a book, however.
katharine loves Vincent like whipped
dog, and goes to live, apparently at her
own instance, at Vincent's country place,
where he treats hcr5to several hours in
his society each week This was Vim
cents lovnble way OF showing his graft
tude to the woman, infinitely his superior
In birth, breeding and I'LL personal at
fractions, who had given up everything
for him. Everything, for no ceremony had
preceded I<atharlne's departure for High
Winston. It is one of the particularly un-
pleasant fea turesGof4a not over pleasant
book that, when there was no reason
why the pair might not marry, except
that Mrs Robins does not wish it so,
Katharine Is forced to this dishonor.
And Vincent whose whole uncouthncss
is held up to the reader as a strong mans
glorified protest against hypocrisy, in
PRODUCES her into his home as Mrs. Vim
cont, and makcs.of their whole relation
ship, to this extent at least, kind Of
living lie. ~ sE-.-s
Mrs Robips az IA novelist OF. ia Their
unusual ability, and she has talents that
may some, day carry her far. She has
made her bbok intellectually interesting,
even whcnfslle has not succeeded in car
rying the reader with her, The life that
she deals with she knows, and that is
more than may be said Of many of our
writer's. But on the whole her book falls
short Of success because she, fails in the
demonstration of its rcasonableness, its
truth 1t might be worth her while, as
a minor consideration, to reflect, too
whether 1t is true that the disagreeable
things in life are the only things worth
writing about.
WILLIAM HINCKLING PRESCOTT
by Harry Thurstoni Peck. PIP, 1856.
IS cents net. The Macmillan Co,
New York.
Prescott, the historian, Is the second
American to be the subject of biography
in the well-known English Man OF Let
ters series, published here and in Eng
land under the general editorial super
Vision Of Mr.. John Morley. That Prof.
Harry 7. Peck, editor Of the Bookman,
is the author Of this little volume Is
sufficient guarantee that the ma terial is
presented IN a lively and attractive way.
Beyond the mere agreeableness of liter
airy style. however. Prof. Peck has In
vested his book with the accuracy and
acknowledgements that come only from
conscientious study of the original
sources of information. Tichnor's life
of w. H.. Prescott" has, of course, been
freely drawn upon, but the authors re-
search has led him also deep into ali a
other available sources, Ills admiration
for the subject OF his work, in which
Ill Prescott's readers will unhesitatngly
share, is controlled by a critical Impair
TALLY and cool Judgment. Prof. Peck
shows himself no partisan here: and in
his final summary he says nothing less
guarded than that con the whole, one
may accept the dictum of a distinguished
scholar Dr. c. X. Adams). who. in sum
ming up the merits which we recognize
in Prescott, declares them to be so con-
splcuous and so Astounding as to place
him ut the head of all American hlsto-
rams" In an earlier chapter, in which
he traces the origin and development of
the art of writing in the South. In tho
Middle States and In New England, he
points out that Prescott's name stands
for something more tlanSa mere land
mark in the field of historical composi-
ton. 1t signaises the beginning OF
richer growth In New England letters
the coming of a time when the barriers
Of Puritan scholasticlsm were broken
down"
Just rs Prescott was far from being
q disciple Of what Prof. Peck calls ''the
dismal school of history" $50 this little
book has, without loss of value, COM
pletely divorced itself from the dismal
school of biography. 1t Is an excellent
piece of work, to be commended both for
matter and manner
THE DRINK PROBLEM, BY Henry G,
Potter. PIP. IS, 80 cents. net. Thomas
7, Crowel and Company. New York.
| Bishop Potter's dedication OF the fa-
| nous Subway saloon IN New York
10 ave IF n large nlhllC