The Washington herald., 1907-12-15
THE WORLD OF BOOKS
LITERARY GLEANINGS AND GOSSIP

author Of The Pennsylvania Pilgrim" g"
Save for their lack OF creed and for
mula, Whittiers hymns might have been
composed in the thirteenth century. so
utterly simple is their faith. He believed
that altar. church priest, and ritual will
pass away yet his hymns, ike those Of
many another former hereto and icono-
clast, are sung to-day in all the churches.
Ernest Thompson-Seton in his new
book, The Natural History of the Ten
Commandments which has Just been
published, demonstrates a most interest
ing and novel theory governing the life
of animals. He claims that the ten COM
mandments are not arbitrary laws given
10 man, but are fundamental laws OF all
highly deEelOped animals. He says in his
preface:
We can learn an unwritten Law only by breaking
1t and suffering the penalty. Ny task was. there
fore to discover among the animals disaster follow
ing breach Of the ten great principles which
human society is founded. There are two disasters
commonly discernible; the first is direct punish
ment Of the individual by those he wTonged. the
other. a slow and general visitation the whole
race Of the criminal as the working out Of the law
The former. the objective, is more obvious the
latter the subjective. more important. But they
are fundamentally the same since the agents in the
first case were compelled by their own recognition
that wrong had been done that law had been
broken.
He works out this theory with some
very ingenious proofs.
The January number Of the Popular
contains fourteen pieces OF sterling fc-
ton. In the Smoky Hills. by Bertrand
W. Sinclair. shows how a cowboy may be
square and generous, even Il he possesses
a bad reputation as powder burner.
The reason why college man refused 10
take part in athletics. and what he did
on the day OF the big game. is told in
"Runcie's Cowardice." by W. b. N. Fer
suson In "The Pride of a Man" a NJ
Chisholm naTrates the rare case Of a
man who recovered his lost nerve THE
Deserter." by b. NJ Bower, illustrates
the pathetic case Of mistake sometimes
made in the West. The mission of peace
on which two Irishmen came 20 the Re
/ public of Balcaria is told of by Freeman
! Harding IN THE Great Volunteer Em-
/ bassy." The sometimes sad necessity OF
"a soldiers obedience 10 orders is dWelt on
in "On ManZRnita HILL by Charles X,
Moser. with the Tide by T. Jenkins
/ Hams. tells of the remarkable system
employed by a Dutch sea captain for de
! fraudng the insurance companies. There
are seven other stories equally good, in
cluding two serials and complete novel
Red Reef
a. Henry Savage Landor, the author OF
! Across Widest Africa" besides being
one OF the greatest explorers OF the day
"a war correspondent and author has now
become interested in the problem of aerial
navigation. and is at present in Paris
/ perfecting and experimenting with an
aeroplane of his own invention. While
| making his now famous trip across Africa
/ his SOmaH servant went insane at Lake
| Tchad. Instead of giving him up or leav-
/ ing him with the natives. LandOr took
the greatest care possible of the boy and
/ brought him over 10 London in the hope
/ that the change OF climate and medical
attendance would restore his reason The
treatment proved entirely successful and
the boy recovered his mind and was pho
I tcgraphed and interviewed IN regard q
/ his Impressions of the underground rail-
Z WY NNu blitI i-Nuuoh SibnlS. " Atu ne
] began TO show signs OF desiring 10 return
/ 20 his own country Landor accompanied
/ him as far as Marseilles. put him or
/ board a ship bound for Africa. besides
giving him enough 10 make him COM
/ Portable in his home land for the rest OF
| his life Ii is that boy that appears be-
| side Landor in the frontispiece Of the
| book.
! Richard Harding Davis. in his new
book, The Congo and Coasts Of Africa, y
states very clearly the conditions as he
found them in this part of Africa In his
! chapter on the American concessions tC
Mr. Ryan and the Guggenheims he shows
how easy it would be to overthrow the
power in the Congo. He says: How
really fine. how really wonderful. IL would
i De If these same men. working together
decided 90 set free these 10000 600 people
/ if. instead OF joining hands with Leopold
they would overthrow him and march
into the Congo free men. and open it tc
the trade Of the world. and give justice
and right to live and to work and to
sell and buy millions of miserable human
! beings. These Americans. working To-
gether. could do it, They could do il
/ from Washington. OF 500 men with two
Maxim guns could do IT, The Kingdom
| OF the Congo is only a house Of cards
\ Five hundred nlibusters could take Bona
proclaim the Congo open to the traders
Z OF the world. as an act Of Berlin declares
/ il TO be, and in Il day make Of Leopold
the jest of Europe They would only BE-
taking possession Of what has always be-
longed TO them"
Days of" by Henry van Dyke. is full
Of the mellow, genial spirit which has
made its authors other books so beloved
In speaking Of this new book the Chicago
Evening Post said: Days off are always
CHEEKY with Henry Van Dyke. If ii rains
/ it only makes the grass and the trees
] greener. if 1t blows there's always a tent
and shack and "A fire. and cold-why
/ frost turns all the world TO purple and
gold and scarlet Days on. Just pub
lished, breathes the same joyous optimism
that pervades all the sketches and stories
OF this Princeton professor. who. loving
his neighbors, dedicates his book To that
other Princetonian. who loves DAYS of
with rod and gun. Grover Cleveland"
''Will YOU please tell me- wrote some
one recently to the Harpers. what is an
! English remittance man? Is it anything
like an American minuteman?" This non
est inquiry arose. 1t appears, over "The
Settler Herman Whitalers new book
whicl the questioner had heard discussed
but evidently did not possess for refer
ence, for in the novel Mr. Whitaker left
little room for belief that a remittance