New-York tribune., 1906-07-01

Shinn. i2mo, ID. xii. a. The MacmiiIaz C,r,..
pany.
In his new novel. ''COnistOn." Mr. Chu-caM.
as was to be expected. weaves his romance in:o
the fabric OF period" OF American history.
The period he has chosen IS that which MARKS
the rise Of ''boss power In state politics. is
development and its decline before the greater
power OF corporate consolidation AS this peTOI
according 20 the authors reckoning. lasted from
the Presidency Of Andrew Jackson to the close
OF Grants second term. it has naturally been too
great a tax upon his ingenuity to cOntrive
romantic interest elastic enough to stretch over
fifty years and at the same time strong enough
TO command the readers attention He has
compromised. accordingly. by giving two 70
uances. the former with sad. the latter With
a happy ending as he is careful to fOrewarn Is
II thereby he removes the element Of suspense.
he at least offers in its place the promise OF a
reward 20 those who will persist with him .
the end Of the volume. Mr. Churchill has taken
New Hampshire as the scene of his exposition
OF peculiar phase of American political deve'-
Opment. and the life Of a well remembered isure
in that state as the basis Of his story As Jetro
Bass, we follow him from his first success in
village election, through his career as the loIs
dominant force in state politics. 70 his down
throw by the united power of the railroads
state is drawn with an apt skill in characteIiza-
tlor that is hardly exhibited by the author in his
attempts TO make living types Of most Of the
other figures in the book Whatever strength
the story possesses lies in the strength which Nj
Churchill has put into the character OF JelhIo
Bass Rude. ignorant. UnScrUpulOuS and ruth
less, he is redeemed in part by his unre"aFled
early love for Cynthia Ware and by the unselfsh
devotion he shows in later life 20 her daughter
Cynthia Wetherell his ward and the heroine of
the romance with the happy ending Il me
romance ends happily, it is. at all events, car
ried on under difficulties enough. for Cynthla
the second loves and is beloved by the son Of
the hypOcritical railroad 'magnate' VINO Is
Tetbro Bass's most malignant political foe The
climax of the tale. in which Bass sacrifices his
ambition to secure Cynthias happiness. is more
dramatic than it is convincing This Cynthla IS
more charming in character than original in
conception and her lover, a manly Harvard
student is even more conventional The story
though in many respects the best that MI
Churchill has written, is marred by the same
faults that have been conspicuous in his former
novels. He still employs far too many words
to express a given idea: he still endeavors 70
cover too much ground. 20 begin hts story too
far back. instead Of centrins 1t around some
significant episode. or group Of episodes; and oY
his frequent confidential "aSides" TO the reader
he makes his own personality too prominent
and 20 that extent destroys the reality Of his
fictitious characters. One feels that he IS wrie-
inc about them rather than OF them. using them
TO illustrate moral instead OF permitting the
reader TO draw q possible lesson from the play
OF character upon character.