Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-08

| lmpreSSeS himself on the reader with
quite extraordinary vividness. According
dominate. but according again to 1.-THE
ancient law" there can be no life Of per-
sonal happiness for him. His problem is
solved by his discovery Of happiness in
| the service Of the many. But here again
the man is SO human that this imper-
| sonal service becomes a matter of fasci-
mating. enthralling enthusiasm.
The other personages in the story are
! way Lydia, the wife; Alice. the daughter:
Emily. the faithful Banks. ard Baxter
who first believes in him. as we'll as many
others. are sharply individual Each one
ically and yet sympathetically conceived.
The Virginia life. used merely as back
ground with no problem or question
involved. is real and full of co'or. THE
Ancient Law" is a book of dignity and
distinction.
PATTY OF THE PALMS. 4 Story of
Porto Rico. BY Adam G. iiaesel-
barth. New York: The Kenny Pub
fishing Company.
| The author has utilized the novel setting
of Porto Rican life. with it's new set OF
governmental and social questions. as the
background of his story. The represent
tation of populat ion customs, scenery and
atmosphere is intimate and picturesque;
;
ness. 4 romance is enacted between a
visiting American who is an attractive
example of the modern newspaper man
and charming lady who is resident in
the quaint Spanish town of San Juan
| There is abundant humor in the incidents
and decided interest in the stofy.
THE BLACK BAG. BY Louis Joseph
Vance. With illustrations by Thomas
Fogarty. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Company.
| The opening chapter of this very ex-
citing novel finds the manly young hero
suddenly beggared. The San Francisco
disaster has swept away his inheritance
At the moment when he sees nothing
ahead of him but life devoted to plod-
ding industry devoid of romance. he is
swept into the midst of a brea thless sue
| cession of events. The magnet is a
charming girl with blue eyes and nys-
FERROUS black bag. knowing nothing but
that feels instinctively that she is in
danger. he disregards what the rather
duhious circumstances would indicate as
to her participation in a probable theft
and constitutes himself her champion
This championship leads him through
dangerous ways. He discovers the fact
that he is unexpectedly master Of cir
| low each other rapidly and always with
the element of surprise. 1t is not until
| the last pages that the actual identity
OF Dorothy Calendar is disclosed. and
/ klrkwood realizes that his pursuit of ro-
marco has been the soundest sense. 1.-The
Black Bag" is capital story for those
in search of mere entertainment There
is more than the ordinary skill in the
dellneation of the many chara cters who
take part in the action and in the realism
of some of the scenes of the sinister night
life of London.
THE NOVELS OF GEORGE MERE
DITH: STUDY. BY Elmer James
Bailey. New York: Charles Serb
ners Sons. Washington: Woodward
& LOthrop.
A good book of literary criticism is al
ways delight in that it may open to
the reader several sources of enjoyment:
The message of the author under discus
sion NAV have to be unfolded. the literary
epoch of which he is a part may Incl
dental!y be made clear and the personality
of the critic at the same time as clearly
revealed. The present volume is no dis
appointment to these possibilities. It is
apparent that Mr.. Bailey is full of a
real and discriminating enthusiasm for
the works Of the great fiction writer who
presented as a consistent whole. And the
century of the intellectual activity of
which the novelist was SO important a
part is shown to be SO essential part of
his genius that it becomes impossible to
consider one without the other.
Mr.. Bailey gives as his fundamental
theory regarding the ultimate position of
Meredith the following law: The duration
of attention attracted by novelist is in
direct ratio to the time consumed In
awakening adequate appreciation. In
other words. If renown is the growth of
night. its continuance will be hardly
more than for day: but if it is slow in
coming to maturity. it is likely to be per-
sistent and in some cases permanent
According to this test Meredith is destined
to be included ultimately among the great
novelsts. During the fifty years of his
literary activity he has but slowly grown
! into general recognition. and it is only
within the last few years that his repu-
tation has been established. The calm
ness and independence with which Mere
dith has persevered in following his chosen
method in the face of opposition and ad-
verse criticism are further sanctions of his
vocation.
The fifty years of the authors literary
productivenesS Mr.. Bailey divides into
four periods. The decade beginning in
1S49 was a period of experiment or prepa-
ration during which Meredith tried his