The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-16

nationality Of the universe IN explanation
which implies that Whatever the dstails
OF the process may bo newly discovered
to be, IL has been, 10 and will be In its eaaencs
O process OF becoming perfect In and
through the Eternally Perfect
Mr.. Swinburne In New Light
The many admirers OF Mr.. Algernon
Charles Swinburne will rub their eyes
after reading the first few pages Of his
novel Loves Cross Currents' (Harpers)j
and the literary historians will have to
revise their estimate OF the man. Il 10 Q
wholly unknown, unsupported 6whburne
that LIS exposed here, and we can only regret
that he was not shown up years ago The
poet all recognize now. and the writer fs
noble and eloquent prose, but In all The
sixty odd years Of his life Mr.. swinburne.
80 far - We know, has never been aoous4d
Of humor. Yet here IL book fun from
cover to cover with humor. wit, brashs
epigram-and stranger still with boyish,
spirits and fun. It u by no means the
least service that Theodore Watts-DuntoU
has done to Mr.. Swinburne and hts friends
that he persuaded him to print this dis
carded bantling OF his literary youth.
The story Is very slight and suffers from
being told In letters. That, however, gives
Mr.. Swtnburne his opportunity TO ring the
changes on his philosophy Of love. II
relates the love affairs. or rather the hfrta-
lions, Of two pairs Of cousins, both the
young women being married That tn an
English novel Of the sixties was a guarantees
that matters should not get too serious-
The opening pages in which the author
presents his characters are more than pro
vokng for they show what q brilliant
novelist Mr. Swinburne could have been
had he chosen to. and they show. too, what
he might have made Of this story had he
kept on There Is a fine tale, too, tn ono OF
the letters, a savage romance such as the
troubadors sang or the Italian novelueri
told that shows what Mr.. Swinburne could
do with the short story. He deliberately
chose the epistolary form, however. for sis
Study thinking OF the days Of Richardson.
He could not have anticipated the outbreak
OF letter novels at the end Of the century.
There are Ave persons who write these
letters. four Of them young persons bet
little over 20 years Of age; the other an MI
lady Of sixty, their grandmother, bright
sharp sighted. q woman Of the world, who
IL trying to save them from their folly and
who provides the greater part OF the VOL
ume. Fault may be found with these let
ters. and justly. Those Of the sentimental
pair are natural and might be written by
young people, though their introspection
and self-analysis hardly belong to twenty
and twenty-one. The young wife's horror
at discovering that her fondness for her
cousin Ia disloyalty to her husband b put
very delicately. Those Of the other three.
though, are all clearly written by the author
1t il conceivable that the old lady's letters
might have been written to friend Of her
own age, but 1t Ia prepoeterous to think
Of them as addressed to young people and
those the ones concerned. The elements
Of diplomacy would have prevented that.
But what letters they arel A psychology
Of woman and OF love, after Balzac and not
after the Later French oharlatans; . sattrs
OF society that Is keen and bright. Ept-
grams in every paragraph. but crdgrarns
that come naturally and are not sought
after, and no hunting for paradox. 1hae
Is Q delightful conversation between two
boys in the prologue on the important sub
ject Of birching that Is real as photograph
and the calf love OF one Of these boys. .
little more grown up. for woman older
than himself Is described in way that would
make the realists jealous. There is q boyish
delight and sympathy in the dissection OF
both love affairs, an obvious pleasure In
writing the letters, that must completely
change the common view Of Mr.. Swinburne's
own character. especially In the legendary
days OF his youth.
Breaking into French is trick Of the old
dowager's and the French is always to tho
point, for Mr. Swinburne's French Is nearly
a. good az his English Du Maurier could
hardly use it better. There is one poem
in the book, charming and sentimental.
but at the same time an audaoious bit OF
fun for it is parody turning into admirable
Swinburnese themes from we'll known Eliza
bethan and Stuart poems-Shakespeare.
Sidney, Herrick, Lovelace. The attempt
Is to give the seventeenth century tone.
and the poet shows how shlfully he can
do it, but there ia no thought of conceaIing
the sources.
Mr.. Swinburne in his preface suggests
that the form that he has selected makes
the story something between a novel and
a play. II should be easy To turn it into q
play, for the action suffices for comedy OF
manners. The characters are distinctly
drawn ant living, and the dialogue seems
already made.
The letters have too much sameness to
bear reading at sitting, perhaps, for they
turn on the affairs of very few people,
whose amatory movements are very grad
ual. They must be read aloud to be fully
appreciated, and certainly no more inter-
esting book will he found this summer.
1t is not merely summer book, however.
but an extremely interesting contribution
to literature. We fancy several British
literary regulations would never have been
acquired had Mr.. Swinburne published his
book at the time he wrote It.
How Some Plants Hide.
From the Popular Science Monthly.
DIR Exla fo.