New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-02-16
Loeonera9erS scith Good and EuiL
Purposes.

"
TIKI IN $50 The Macmillan Company
,,ooEBN MADONNA. BY Caroline Abbot Stan
NJ 12no PIP. wifi, 4o1. The Century Company.
TUE SECOND GENERATION; BY DAVID Graham
1hPTb iIiips illustrated by Fletcher c. Ransom.
4q5o pp viii 344 y. Appleton & Co
,,,nr IN HIS IMAGE, 12rno, PIP 432. Philadel-
MAIIITa. George ". Jacobs Co.
e,nTH OF BEAR CITY. BY, George 7. Bgfgm.
Grafton Press
rba Mace from which Mr. Nicholson's new
,ovsI takes its title lies in a Virginian valley.
hr, the material with which the author deals
oIates almost entirely to q European throne
rza has seen the possibilities for romance In the
,,,sterv Of that scion Of the house of Austria
whose wanderings on this side OF the water
have been the subject of innumerable specula-
tive tales When this book opens Austrian
pJne Minister is talking at Geneva with a GER
.otn gentleman calling himself John Armitage
ho Is plainly in possession OF important facts
concerning the Elusive Archdu6e Karl. Among
,+her things he knows that the archduke is dead
.rs that his son Frederick Augustus Is like
rise dead; but for various reasons the conf
,nunIcation Of his knowledge TO the statesman
,rorn Vienna does not do anything to put stop
IN the conspiracies directed at the moment
ega,nst the Austrian line. on the contrary, the
prime Minister IS himself assassinated and
.henceforth Mr.. Arnitage is engaged in transac-
tions the full import OF which IS cleverly con-
cealed but the dangerous excitement of which
is never allowed for a moment to slacken. There
are thrilling encounters abroad; when Mr.. Ar
rnitage takes ship for America ne comes within
sn ace Of being murdered on the way, and once
on these shores he lives in constant peril Of his
life Mr.. Nicholson IS adroit in keeping up the
interest OF hts story. IN postpOning a full ex-
PLANTATION until the end Of his book is reached.
T~T,g
borne just the girl 70 capture Mr.. Armitage's
heart. But he is careful TO keep the valiant
young man from swerving aside from the path
Of duty until something has been done FOR Aus
tria." Then. and not until then. is love reward
ed II IS an amusing tale. and far more plausible
than one would expect It to be, considering the
authors point Of departure
The Kinsman" is book Of surprises It's
first two OF three chapters are almost intOler-
able IN their dulness. These make US acquaint-
&c with some Cockney types that are merely
wearisome and give US only the barest hint as
20 the entertainment that Is soon to come.
When the fun does begin, however. 1t is good
fun for all that II makes prodigious demands
upon the credulity Of the reader One Of the
Cockneys. a youth rejoicing in the name Of Gam
mage. comes from a family having rather SUI
perior branch On the seashore one day he falls
in with representative of this branch, a trav-
eIler Just landed from Australia, with plenty of
money IN his pocket. and in fact everything 10
make him happy. including the thoroughly pre-
Eentable name Of Roger Blois. It happens that IN
personal appearance these young men are as like
as two peas in a pod, so when one of them, Roger,
goes in bathing and leaves his clothes on the
shore his failure TO turn up after little while
naturally invites the discoDtented Gammage 10
borrow the abandoned plumes and forthwith take
his cousins place in the world He does so. with
results that are startling. to say the least ana
very comicaL Meanwhile Master Roger who
seems to have been drowned, concludes that he
VIII be only half drowned He opens his eyes
under the roof Of the girl whom Gammage has
recently promised 10 marry, and what with her
certainty that he is not himself. but some one
else, and the energy with which the neghbor-
ing doctors try 10 clap him into asylum, he
has his hands fun to win back his identity. his
clothes. his check book and divers other useful
things. to say nothing Of finding himself bride
The story slips into farce from time to time. but
this does It no harm. Indeed, il would seem to
have been Mrs. Sidgwick's purpose TO make the
reader laugh, and there can be TO doubt of her
success.
There was formerly in the District Of Colum-
bia a law by which a father had the power to
VIII away the custody and tuition of un-
born child. About ten years ago the law was
repealed by Congress. after considerable agita-
ton by the women Of the District. It has ac-
cordingly, long since ceased to be live issue. /
Nevertheless Mrs. Stanley has made effective
use Of II in a novel based upon a peculiarly cruel
application Of the law in a particular instance.
The probability Of such a combination Of cir
cUmstances as she describes is remote; but
granting the premises. the working out of the
later incidents is logical enough There is a
mystery associated with the death Of the hus-
band, which strengthens the determination OF
hts brother-tO whom he has intrusted the
bringing up Of the unborn child-to adhere to
the provisions of the VIII The efforts Of the
mother TO thwart the execution Of the law IN her
case give rise 10 a number Of lively incidents
and exciting situations When in the end her
endeavors have proved fruitless. she throws all
her energies into the movement to secure the
repeal OF the obnoxious statute only 20 discover
that since the amended law is not retroactive il
viii fail benefit her her son. Fortunately the
resources Of the author arc equal to the task of
providing q happy solution Of the problem. AL
though Mrs Stanley does not hesitate 10 avail
herself OF the machinery Of melodrama TO
heiEhten her effects, the story is not essentially
sensational. II IS not devoid OF Inequalities in
execution, and the title IS not altogether happy
one. but tho readers attention IS firmly held
from the first page TO the last.
Mr.. Phillips Is apparently one of those over
earnest writers who believe that fiction was de-
vsed primarily as a medium for promoting
social and political reforms. His ambition TO
disseminate his doctrines has deadened his sense
Of humor and blinds him to the absurdties with
which the desire 10 point his moral leads him
grotesquely 20 adorn his tale. The evil Of in