The Washington herald., 1908-06-28

licatiOn Of Harper & Bros. The book
will follow the historic method Of clear
and precise statements. nowhere trench
ing on debatable ground. and will aim
to trace with appropriate examples the
evolution Of story-writing. 1t is expected
TO supply a much-needed text as a guide
for college work. at the same time that
1t should afford entertaining reading for
those who are interested In the qualities
that make or do not make a novel.
Henry w Lucy. known the world over
as Toby. NJ. p. Of Punch, has set down
in his "reminiscences Of Eight Parlia-
ments. which the Putnams published this
week. recollections Of interesting and
Incidents that have in his
memory varied the daily round Of par
lamentary life. He has made graphic
sketches. too, Of many great parliament
tarians from Disraeli 10 Mr. John Morley.
The book throws interesting sidelights
upon the characters Of many great or
distinguished men. II is an informing
book. That il is highly entertaining goes
without saying.
After a year of secrecy, during which
some pretty wild guesses have been
made as TO who was the author OF AS
The Hague Ordains: Journal OF a Rus
sian Prisoners Wife in Japan" CHolD.
ii is at last revealed that she is Miss
Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, a resident OF
Washington, a prominent member OF the
National Geographic Society. author OF
a number Of standard books. including
some on Alaska. "Jinriksha DAYS in
Japan. Westward to the Far East"
China, the Long-Lived Empire" Win
ter Indian &c or course, Miss Scldmor.
was In Japan during the war. but her
book is obviously based on fact. and the
Illustrations are from actual people.
4 volume entitled Literary Reviews
and Criticisms" by Prof Prosser Hall
Frye, Of the University of Nebraska. is
now going through the press. and will
appear under the Putnam imprint The
book might very properly be called
studies in comparative literature. for half
Of the essays are concerned with French
writers-Balzac. George sand. Zola. Mau-
passant, Cornenle. AnatoIe France
Sainte- -Beuve-and comparisons or con-
trasts between modern literatures and
classic literature, and especially between
the aims and methods Of French and
English letters abound At this time OF
day when impressiOnistic critics range
freely through the fields Of criticism il
is pleasant 20 find. as we find here in the
case Of Prof Frye. a critic who has
clear philosophy of life. fixed principles,
and definite standpoint. The reviews
and criticisms collected in this volume are
by no means the record Of the adven-
lures OF soul among masterpieces OF
literature The critical method put into
practice IN all the papers here brought
together may. perhaps. be described as
academic IN the best sense OF that word
II IS a critical creed TO the essence OF
which orthodox critics from the time Of
Aristotle 20 the present have subscribed.
and il follows the method that underlay
the practice OF Coleridge, and Arnold,
Lowell, and others.
According 10 an article in the Berlin
Arena. literary Italy has been divided
into two parties by a novel called Una
Donna" recently published by sibila
Aleramo. writer hitherto unknown. The
first gun-a cordial salute-was fred by
the poet and philosopher Arturo Graf. in
the leading italian magazine. the Nuova
Antologia- This was promptly followed
by salvos by well-knOwn critics in all the
more important journals. The power Of
the work was universally admitted and
the battle ragged simply over the ques-
tion raised by the novelist. Woman and
the marriage problem We're her theme.
and her treatment Of the subject took the
form of the confession OF a woman who
had abandoned her husband and child
because the man had proved 10 be a
brute, and the law Of the land afforded
his wife no relief or redress. The book
has been praised by Dora Melegari in the
Journal de Gcneve. by Miss Ellen Key.
the foremost woman Of Sweden, who says
that she believes Il will do for Italy
what Ibsens Dolls House did for Scan
dinavia, which showed women that they
had duty toward themselves" by Miss
Helen Zimmern and by the critic and
novelist. NJ. Edouard Rod.
Una Donna" has appeared not only in
italian. but serially in n Russian maEa-
zine. Il French edition has just been pub
lished in Paris, German and Swedish edi-
tions are now in preparation. and Messrs.
q. p Punam's Sons have arranged with
the author 10 publish in New York and
London an English translation by Maria
II. Lansdale.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps thirty years ago
wrote The Gates Ajar" and at that
time the story. because OF 4 gentle.
straightforward unorthodoxy in opposing
the stiff church notions of heaven, pro-
duced something Of the effect that fol-
lowed the Robert Elsmere' OF Mrs.
Humphry Ward. Now Mrs. Phelps is
offering. in a series Of articles which are
being published at the instance Of Miss
Elizabeth Jordan in Harper's Bazar, her
present theories upon immortality and the
| future life: and those readers who re-
member that it was this same interest in
/ The Gates Ajar' that firSt made Mrs
/ Phelps name so familiar in this country.
are much absorbed in her arguments.
/ Then people trcmbled a bit at an unor-
thodox heaven; now. says Mrs. Phelps
who expects at such a time to stand in a
row with musical ghosts around throne!
I II The Gates Ajar' appeared as a new,
/ publication now. the author asserts that
| il would scarcely excite remark. Who
anticipates a white robe. demands Mrs
Phelps and palm branch and a hymn
bOok-but who. on the other hand. does
not anticipate the restitution Of lost
/ things.
J The best fiction of to-day has really
more Of constructive art than that which
preceded il. though this art, following the
lines of life rather than an arranged
scheme, is not manifest in obvious fea-
lures. II las more varied traits. instead
of few emphatically pronounced OF
merely typical features. II has a deeper
dramatic interest, intellectually and emo
tionally. though the drama itself is Sc