Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-14

in It may we'll excite national pride. AS
a piece of literary criticism, the book
Is admirable. Mr.. Greenslet has not made
the mistake Of exaggerat1ng either the
genius or the ach evement of his subject.
to the litterafeur his precise place among
the authors of his day; he has defined
his limitations and made impressive the
beauty and distinction of his work. Mr..
Aldrichs own expression Of his proper
ambition" Ito do the largest sort of
work within ones own limits is borne
out by the biographers analysis of his
work
1t would not be fitting to leave the
subject without an fusion to the letters
Adrich was at his best In his informal
and graceful letters to his many friends.
Fl gayety. wit, impersonality toward his
own work. and the warmth of his SYM
pathies, together with the ineffable at
mosphere of breeding that permeates all.
make the letters worthy to be reckoned
with those of Stevenson and the few other
masters of that gentle art.
THE GENTLEMAN; a Romance Of the
Sea. BY Alfred Olivant. author Of
Bob Son of Battle" etc. New
York: The Macmillan Comp ny.
Washington: Brentanos.
The keynote of this remarkable romance
is struck in the poem which serves as
preface. Our Sea-" For Mr.. Ollivant
has made it the mouthpiece OF that spirit
of mingled alteration and domination
which has made the glorious history of
the British navy. To those born to the
love of it. the sea is actually
.Our own.
Vice regents under thee.
Ours. ours. and ours alone,
Anglo Sa yOn sea-
incidentally The Gentleman is study
of bravery and of the lighting spirit
There is every species of daring In II.
The bravery ranges from that OF poor
BLOB" with his british mate. pudden
and killin'-that's what OF loike. to the
compound of daredevil. patriot and poet
known solely throughout the romance as
THE Gentleman" Naked passions. her.
oisms. crimes. greatnesses stalk un-
ashamed through Mr. Ollivant's fantasy
world. There are brutalities n both fore
castle and quarterback; there is also pros.
tration of self before the twin IDOLS or
England and Nelson; and there is al
ways the rough chivalry that loves a
brave enemy Mr. Ollivant loves to
fashion his warriors of heroic size. There
is someth ng of the gigantesque In his
method. But the general erect is OF dy-
manic power, of almost frightful energy
that can scarcely be expressed In any
space short of that in which ne hmseii
has taken to express 1t.
The plot turns upon a plot to kidnap
Nelson in order to make 1t possible Tor
Napoleon to invade England. Whether or
not there is h storic authority for the
part that Lady Hamilton plays in the
plot Mr.. Ollivant himself knows better
than the average reader. Nelson him.
self and his destructive romance are
both conceived IN somewhat of tragic
vein, and the great admiral Is seen chief
ly as the OBJECT of the fanatic love Of his
followers. In the foreground of the pic
ture is q notable group: The young MID
shipman Kit. the ex-guardsman. fighting
Parson. the little cockney fighter Knapp
the wonderful Pipes. saint and marks
man. and half-witted Blob" And by
these strangely assorted champions the
dispatch is carried to Nelson and Eng
land saved. Fighting counter to them
is the uncomfortable brutality of the
Boney"; and there is the chivalrous Gen
tleman," in league with Englands enemy
because of Ireland's wrongs-these are
warriors the very imagining of whom
quickens the lima gination.
SALTHAVEN. BY w. w. Jacobs New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Washington: Brentano's.
The fun and rollicking dry humor, the
quaint characters and unexpected COM
plications that make Mr.. Jacobs short
stories noteworthy. in this new nove
help in the working out of most in
senious and highly amusing plot. The
love story of the son OF the head of the
firm and the pretty daughter of the old
est clerk the stratagems and plots OF
the lovers and of the old sea captains
and ngshoremen, W dows and sailors OF
the little seaport town, carry the story
through with an invigorating glow OF
humor Surely there have been few more
original or more resourceful lovers than
young Mr. Vyner. Salthaven is a thor
oughly delightful book. and Mr.. Jacobs
is seemingly exhaustless in the creation
of genially humorous situations and
characters.
A WOMAN AT BAY (UNA DONNA).
By Sibilla Aleramo, authorized
translation from the Italian by
Maria H. Lansdale. New York: &.
p Putnam's Sons. Washington
Woodward & Lothrop.
Transplanting a reform is always dan.
gerous experiment. and crossing the ocean
is apt to work a sea change in reform
in point In Catholic countries. where the
weight of law and of authority is against
divorce, the poignant sufferings expert
enced by the woeful heroine of this move
may be reason enough for the very un-
pleasant details she insists on exhibiting
to the public eye. In this country, where
the divorce laws certainly do not err or
the side of severity, "A Woman at Bay
will impress the general reader as the toe
self-conscious and analytical chronicle Of
a life unnatural because of its unmittgated
somberness. 1t may be the experience OF