Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-11

life at Rome and In our own day" The
greater number of these papers have APP
peared In magazine form, but two OF
them. Literature and the Common Peo-
pie of Rome" and Roman Women in
the Trades and Professions" are now
published for the first time. The latter
essay credits Hortensia enunciatinS
for the first time in history the principle
of mo taxation without representation,
In that she led other women to the Forum
to protest to the triumvirs against giving
their property to equip an army for civil
war. when We have no part In the
honors. the commands, the Statecraft. for
which you contend against one another
with such harmful results" That the
medical profession is not new field
for women is shown by a glimpse at the
Justinian code, which refers to "phySi-
clans Of either SEX" The edict forbdding
women to appear advocates seems to
imply that they had attempted to do so,
and there is at least one recorded in
stance of ''man-woman" who, filled
with presumption" pleaded her own case
in court. The earliest Latin document
Of any length which we have lis a decree
of the senate from 1S6 Be, directed par
ticularly against the excuses into which
women had run in carrying on the rites
of Bacchus." which shows woman's part
In the religion of that day, and the au-
thor cites many instances to show that
the indirect influence of women upon
Latin literature must have been very
review Of the occupations of women that
Domitia Lucilla the Elder and her daugh-
ter had the leading brick business in
Rome for half century. 1t is Prof.
Abbott's opinion that the social, political
and literary questions discussed in his
essays-the participation of women in
public life. municipal politics. the ten
denotes of parliamentary government,
realism in fiction, the influence of the
theater and like matters-were not pecu-
liar to Roman civilization. but are of all
time and confront all civilized peoples.
A MAID AND A MAN. Bv Ethel Smith
Dorrance. Illustrated by Oh. Weber
Ditzler. New York: Moffat, Yard &
Co.
Mrs. Torrance, now living in New York
is well known in Washington. where she
formerly resided. This is her first novel
and it promises we'll as the Introduction
to literary career. Tie mode of the
story is a difficult one. An insufferably
conceited young Journalist and an I'M
guesSable girl hold number of talks,
progressing from mutual tolerance to
keen personal interest and to love on one
side. The narrative is almost exclusively
in dialogue, form of composition which
requires an exceedingly deft touch for
effective maintenance. Mrs. Torrance has
written some fine passages, with a brisk
ness of wit and a cleverness of express
sion rarely encountered in later day fic
ton. Her work deserves more conscien-
tiouS illustrations. Mr.. Weber-DitZler's
pictures, artistic in themselves, are sing
ularly out of relation to the text For
instance the frontispiece presents the
heroine in a sleeveless evening gown, and
refers to a passage in which she is de-
scribed as tucking her handkerchief up her
sleeve. This and other inconsistencies be-
tween text and pictures, SO striking as
to be inevitably noted. suggest the urgent
need of an art commission in publishing
houses to prevent ludicrous errors.
HOME LETTERS OF GENERAL SHEER
MAN. Edited by M. a. De Wolfe
Howe New York: Charles Serb
ner's Sons. Washington: Woodwa I'd
& Lothrop.
Many Americans think of Gen. Sherman
as man of war exclusively, his only
conspicuous expression being a single
aphorism. AS a matter of fact he pos
sessed graceful. sincere literary style,
not brilliant, but direct, forceful and elo-
quent of deep reverentiaL spirit. In
1875 he put forward his memoirs. In
1904 one of his children gave publicity to
some of the correspondence passing be-
tween him and his brother, Senator Sher-
man. and now the third installment of his
writings. and doubtless the last, comes in
the form of these letters to Ellen Boyle
Ewing, who became his wife In 1850. In
sented deal with incidents of the pro-
longed absence of Gen. Sherman from his
home and are. therefore, strikingly de-
scriptive of the chief incidents of his
career, and singularly expressive of his
temperament In these letters he voices
his sentiments freely on many subjects
which in official correspondence were
necessarily dealt with discreetly But
there is nothing in the epistles them
selves warranting in the least degree any
departure from the previous concept of
Gen. Sherman's character, that of a loyal,
devoted citizen and soldier. He frequent
ly takes issue in these letters with the
policies of the government discussing
situations calmly and philosophically
Those who seek to know Sherman, the
man. will miss an important contribution
to the reflection of him in the written rec
ords If they do not read this volume
OLD BOSTON DAYS AND WAYS; From
the Dawn Of the Revolution Until
the Town Became a City. By Mary
Caroline Crawford. author of st
Botolph's Town., etc. Illustrated.
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Miss Crawford's volume entitled "St.
Botolphs Town tells the history of Bos-