The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-18

REALM OF BOOKS
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BY PAUL PRY.

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 1 book to read most leisurely and when one
 Is in quiescent, dorman mood. but where we will find such reader is more than one can guess.
 "The Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- | pendence," by George W. Graham, M. D.
 Published by the Neale Publishing com pany.
 Within the borders of North Carolina
 the first resistance of British authority
 was organized, by her people the first
 battle of the American Revolution was fought, and to her must be accorded a
 unique dstinctlon-the honor of having
 drawn up an actual declaration of inde-
 pendence on May 20, some fourteen months before the Philadelphia declaration. In these pages Dr. Graham, the highest llv- ing authority on this aspect of his states history. tells the story of this document He tells of the causes that led to the
 meeting of the patriots of Mecklenberg;
 how the elected delegates met in Char
 lotte, N C., on May 19, 1775 the very day the news of the battle of Lexington
 reached them; of their resolve to cast off
 all allegiance to Great Britain; of the
 resolutions drawn up by Dr. Ephralm
 Brevard, adopted May 20, IT'S; of how
 copy of these resolutions was sent to the continental congress anu ldDltu dS pre-
 mature. and how, the original copy of the resolutions having been burned in 1SOO they were rewritten from memory by John McKnltt Alexander, secretary of the
 Mecklenberg convention, and published Then he tells how Thomas Jefferson was
 tremendously annoyed, and in a petulant letter denied the genulness of the Meek lenberg Declaration.
 As piece of historical writing, Dr. Gra-
 hams work is thorough and convincing; as bit of history for the first time fully told, it is valuable and timely; as an l appreciation of faithful patriots 1t Is just
 and kindly.
 l "A Government Countess by Martha Lemon Schneider Published by the Neale 1 Publishing company.
 Mrs. Schneider is thoroughly familiar
 with Washington life, where her hus-
 band, Mir Charles W. Schneider, has for
 many years been connected with the in- | terior department. "A Government | Countess" is a novel of departmental life | in Washington and of its many phases the author Is faithful in her portrayal.
 Her novel is a delicate and candid love
 story told with directness and force,
 and with that sympathy born of inti- | mate knowledge.
 
 Daniel. Published by the Neale Pub fishing company.
 While this is a story of reconstruction, 1 1t Is not a repetition of a whole of what
 has already appeared in the literature | which relates to the period of carpetbag 1 government in the south. It Is primarily a novel in which the author has used
 a wealth of material for powerful TO-
 nance, and 1t treats of the grim humor | of the oppressed citizens of the south | especially of South Carolina-in their | hour of trial in the evil days following 1 the way; shows the heroism of southern | women under their trials, lays bare the nefarious needs of those southern men | who joined the hosts of carpetbaggers | from the north, and supplies some of the
 most important missing links in the his- | tory of reconstruction.
 The author, now a well known clergy man, lived in the midst of those turbu- l lent scenes, and writes from the stand | point of an eyewitness. His novel not | only gives us a true picture of carpetbag l government but some of the most inter esting facts from the inside of those | southern organizations which resisted the | south's oppressors. As the Southern | Christian Advocate has said. '1t is story that holds attention and is full of I carefully gathered facts"
 | | Queen Maude, the newly elected sover- | egns of Norway have sent from Chris | tiania. to Mrs. M. E. Henry-Ruffin of l Mobile, Ala, a letter expressing their pleasure and appreciation in reading the account of the early Morse kings in her | novel. "The North Star" The book, they | say has proved acceptable to the Nor wegan government and people. It is reported that George Ade, play wright, fablist and farmer, Is to have | surprise thrust upon him on his return | to this country in the shape of nomi- nation for Congress. Recently, too, | town ir Newton county, Indiana, Ades birthplace, has been named for him In- | diana delights in heaping honors upon her authors. Though MT. Ade has forged far ahead since his first fables were written l these little volumes still have constant l sale. New editions were recently printed by the Harpers
 A beautiful heroine is half the battle, 1 Elinor Mccartney Lane. the author of "Nancy Star" certainly knows how to picture feminine loveliness. Here is the description of the heroine of All for the Love of a Lady" which D. Appleton ] X Go. publish th,s spring. " She was of m ivory fairness, and her hair. the color of a chestnut burr,
 
 Her eyes were a greenish gray. black lashed with silver sheen over them. She was willow slender, going always with great grace and no noise This is what Melville, the court chroni- cler, wrote concerning her in the Family Book and none but a dry old fool such as he is could have set her forth so | nadequately, saving not a word of her mouth which drew back like a scarlet bow over milk-white teeth: nor the dim pie in her left cheek, to kiss which a man might have surrendered his religion: nor her voice. like a birds call; nor the fine straight blackness of the eyebrow;
 nor the tender audacty; nor the nature
 that would craze the man she loved by day-long indifference. to smother him With kisses in surrender of tenderness at night"
 Senator Albert J. Heveridge makes a selection of four books of which one does
 not weary in his own remarkable book.