The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-21

position is way ahead of anything yet
 written before by this author. MT. Oppen-
 helm Is really growing in workmanship,
 and when as many of each of his novels
 are sold as there are, there is not but one
 answer, to-wit: Nothing succeeds like suc-
 cess or MT Oppenheim. The Missioner"
 is well worth the price, and the time re-
 quired for the purchase and reading.
 If MT. Oppenheim shows as much im-
 proyement in style, composition and so
 on in his next weeks book as he has
 shown in this's week production, there is
 no means of telling how far this author
 may or can go. Here's to himl
 "In the Valley of the Shadows" by
 Thomas Lee Woolwine. Doubleday.
 Page & Co)
 Mr Thomas Lee Woolwine has re-
 gently made for himself great reputa-
 tion the district attorney under the
 new regime in Los Angeles, Cal.
 Mr. Woolwine has written a book, 0
 touching story of the Tennessee noun
 tains, showing how the love of two young
 people proved too strong for the bloody
 fued between the families.
 For an author who can send forth such
 lines as these:
 Great mountain ranges, the silent sem
 tries of countless ages, kept their eternal
 watch over Twilight valley, and reared
 their pine-hooded heights far up the sky
 to the east and to the west of the fertile lowlands. The first rays of the morning sun streaked high across the heavens, far above the slumbering vale, and long before the fall of night the orb of day sank beneath the lofty summits of the westward ridges and wrapped the little
 valley in the restful, soothing shades of early twilight.
 Winter was upon the land A steady snow had fallen throughout the day and long ere the shadows of gloaming length ened across the narrow vale, the leafless branches of the great trees creaked and swayed under their heecy burden; and the
 earth lay snug under a thickening coverlet of unblemished down.
 Two roads cut their devious way
 through the clearing and woodland and
 met and crossed at right angles midway the valley. In their guise of white they | lay like mystical untrod highways, fash toned by some strange, invisible power, and wrapped in spotless folds, awaiting the tread of myriad angles''- it does seem such a waste of time to spend any of 1t in his possession on the old hackneyed theme of bloody fued in or out of the Tennessee mountains. Bloody fueds seem to have a fascination for authors something should be done about 1t. It was all right 90 years or so ago, when 'fueds" were more or less new to us, but we have had so much of good thing. It does seem such a pity that Mir. Woolwine, who has with this old
 worn out. sanne-old-story made charm ing book out of it, that he doesn't take hold of a subject more of his own size. Out on the Pacific coaSt--a man with MT. Woolwines talent should not find it necessary to hunt up the fueds in the Tennessee mountains to tell us a great
 story. Idealize those meeting places of the desert and the green spots, say near Ban ming, right at you in California, MT. Wool wine! Of course, you will have to put some mental products as to people in | your book, for nobody would believe your 1 book true if you put the real inhabitants | in a novel; readers wouldn't believe that | such people ever lived in California or 1 elsewhere.
 Tn the Valley of the Shadows' is a | real good story if you can forget the | fued therein, which, of course you cannot The book Is illustrated in color by Charles M. Relyea and the book itself is a departure in get-up, for the pages are printed on only one side. Why? '"The Character of Jesus." by Charles E.
 Jefferson, D. D.. Pastor of the Broad way Tabernacle, New York. (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.)
 The contents of .'The Character of Jesus' were delivered in the form of discourses in the Broadway Tabernacle on the Sunday evenings between Jan uary l and Easter of the winters of 1907 and 1908. Twelve discourses in 1907 and IA in 1908.
 They are meant to be and are simple studies in the character of Jesus, the two-fold purpose of Dr. Jefferson be- ing to incite protesting Christians to a deeper devotion to their Master and to
 awaken in non-Christians desire to know more of the Founder of the Chris tian church and to persuade them to become His followers.
 The congregations to which these dis courses were delivered were composed largely of young men, not a few of them being students. In response to numerous requests of these young men Dr. Jeffer- son agreed to put these addresses in book form.
 The sermons have been allowed to re- tain for the most part the unstudied form
 of extemporaneous discourse, not even the repetitions being eliminated, which are inevitable in a course of sermons ad- dressed to congregation changing from week to week.
 After a study of considerable portion of the voluminous New Testament crit icism of the last 30 years, pr. Jefferson
 has no hesitation in asserting his con- viction that the Gospels give us credible history and that they, while not inerrant, present us a portrait of Jesus sufficiently
 accurate to do the work which God willed it shall do.
 In spite of all that has been written to the contrary Dr. Jefferson has Iound no solid reason for thinking that the relia-
 ble passages in the Gospels are few or that the portrait Is a work of imagina-
 tion inspired and colored by affection. In Dr. Jefferson's judgment the men who
 wrote the Gospels are more trustworthy than any of the men who have endeav- ored to discredit them.
 '"The Character of Jesus' Is a good
 book. Dr. Jefferson gives the reasons for study of Jesus and the sources avail able.
 He discusses in his sermons the
 strength of Jesus. His sincerity, reason
 ableness, boise, originality, narrowness,
 breadth, trust, brotherliness. optimism,
 chivalry, firmness generosity, candor, en-
 thusiasm, giadness, humility, patience,
 courage, indignation, reverence, holiness
 and greatness.
 "Julies Diary" Personal Record.
 (John W. Luce Co)
 This reviewer doesn't recall when he
 has ever read prettier love story than
 that contained in "Julie's Diary"
 As a general proposition we all agree
 that diaries as diaries should have some
 law applied against them. But "Julie's
 Personal Record" Is a gem-that is what
 1t really is.
 The reader of newspaper will recall that
 in prosecuting the night riders of his
 asked one witness how did he happen to
 vub ha