Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-27
BOOK REVIEWS

/
TT HERE have been many motor
! guides" and "motor trips and
II novels where a thread of romance
a great deal of Baedeker. and con-
tinuous flavorlng of mortoring have
been combined with more or less sue
cess, but it is only at the publication
last week Of Edith Whartons "A Mo-
tor Flight Through France that any
record of travelling in automobiles real
ly entered into literature.
It is the story OF a trip through many
parts of France not to the larger cities,
| but to the smaller and Out-of-the-Way
| towns not often visited and little
| known, and, above all through the
country itself. With grace and light
ness of touch, Mrs. Wharton gives an
| impression of a town, a castle, church,
| suggesting its charm its story, and It's
| look today with inimitable skill. THE
motor car has restored the romance Of
| travel" she says. Freeing us from
the compulsions and contacts Of the
railway, the bondage to fixed hours
and the beaten track, the approach to
each town through the area of ugliness
and desolation created by the railway
| itself, it has given us back the wonder,
the adventure, and the novelty which
enlivened the way of our posting grand
parents. Above all these recovered
pleasures must be ranked the delight
of taking q town unawares, stealing on
it by back ways and unchronicled
paths, and surprising in It some inti-
mate aspect of past time some sill
houette hidden for half a century or
more by the ugly mask OF railway en-
banllments and the iron bulk of huge
station.
A Motor Flight Through France. BY
Edith Wharton. New York: G. p.
Putnams Sons.
There is a certain sort of patriot
happily becoming less common from
year to year, who will find more than
one unpalatable passage in Senator
Beveridge's new book, Americans of
Today and Tomorrow" The authors
own patriotism is unquestioned; but he
is not one of those blind and deluded
worshipers who find every American
trait and tendency so perfect and SO
unerring as to regard a word of warn
ing or of criticism as little better than
high treason. Indeed, one of the grear-
est merits of Senator Beverages book
| is that he makes US see ourselves as
others see us. An extensive and observ-
ant traveller he has had extraordinary
OppOIL LOT LIdllh anu lIIOTildl
talk with cabinet minister's army Of
ficers, captains of Industry and keen
men of affairs the world over. At home
we are apt to see only the points in
which we excel Abroad, with the At
lantic for perspective, some of the
shrewder foreign critics point out our
national weaknesses with amazing in
sight. Germany. for instance, confesses
us rich and powerful beyond belief:
ht1t ehh in the GnpJ1d-
thrift, wasting our inheritance of for
ests, mines and other natural resources
with incredible extravaganza. England
/ is WonderStruck by our extraordinary
| inventiveness and mechanical ingenu-
ity; but her not unfriendly indictment
charges US with lack Of thoroughness,
with Indifference to the maintenance Of
the highest standards in our manufac-
lures. And so the senator goes down
the line, using these foreign comments
only to reinforce his own observations
on the weak spots in our national ar
NOR.
To call Senator Beveridge a croaker
would be a palpable absurdity. A self
confessed optimist, he is never more
truly one than in regard to his native
land. The present generation, he thinks,
is witnessing the dawn of our golden
age whose possibilities shall be greater
than those of any era since the world
began. To reap the most bounteous
harvest of this destiny he declares We
need only cultivate belief in ourselves,
conservatism, thoroughness and ma
tional righteousness.
Senator Beveridge has a singularly
happy mode of writing-an intimate,
anecdotal style that makes even the
weightier problems of national polity
agreeable. and not too heavy, reading.
Americans of Today and Tomorrow,
BY Senator Albert ]. Beveridge. Phila-
delphia: Henry Altemus company.
A book recently issued entitled THE
Life of Mary Baker Eddy meets the
need of those who desire to know the
truth about this illustrious woman and
the work she is accomplishing for hui
mainly through her discovery of Chris
tian Science.
The account has much of dramatic
interest, depicting vividly the feat of
one lone woman, who in spite OF strong
opposition has built up an organization
of widespread and apparently increas-
ing power.
The story is full OF human interest
| and is told in a frank and convincing
manner, correcting many of the erro-
neous and prejudiced statements
heretofore published in various period
| icals. The author (Who is not Chris
! tian Scientist) says in her introduction:
"All statements of facts made in this
| narrative are founded on reliable evil
| dence, town registers, church books
| and court records. l ask the reader to
refuse to accept as biography such
| gossip which the ephemeral press has
! detailed. For truths sake, diVest your
mind of all speculation and conjecture
by which the true story of this life
| has been so ruthlessly caricatured; di-
vest it at least for the time, and ap-
proach without prejudice for an ac-
uuaintance with this truly great and
| singular character. We as human
beings owe something to the conscious
ness of the age, the great highway of
souls to come after us. We should
make the path straight By rejecting
wilful scandal, however amusing and
diverting, and by choosing to know the
| simple gospel truth
The Life of Mary Baker Eddy By
| Sibyl Wilbur New York: Concord
! Publishing company.
A collection of 200 favorite songs for
general use in schools and homes. This
is an especially attractive volume, both
in makeup and in contents. The Sc
lections are characterized by Yigor-
GUS and easily caught melody, and are
never complicated or involved. They
can all be sung by persons of ordinary
musical knowledge and can be played
readily by such persons on the piano
or organ. In short, the collection is un-
usually well adapted to stimulate a
love for good music, not by effort and