Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-07
BOOK REVIEWS.


A SEARCH AFTER ULTIMATE TRUTH:
The Divine Perfection inherent In
Man and in All Creation. by aaron
Martin Crane: author 3I h p,,, an1 :.
Wrong Thinking and Their results.
Boston: Lothrop. Lee N Shepard
Company.
N it's entirety this volume STANDS as
the concrete expression OF extend
ed research, scholarly acumen and
ID profound conviction, To which Is
added clear and feliCitouS speech
A superficial hut none the less valu-
able feature of the work Is the excel
lence of its mechanics, through Wnlcn
an extra degree OF simplicity accrueS
to an abstruse matter. In the begin
ming. with the economy of an expert
workman the author makes way Ior
his discussion by clearing the nelo OF
obstructive contradictions and con1u-
sions Then out of the surrounding
world of casuistry he threads "glcaliv
back to a first cause whose essent1aiS
and characteristics are revealed IN the
light of reason By the same process
man * traced to God as his original
and pattern out of whom he gamers
inherent perfection as the Srouho"oiN
of his plan AS a part of whom' TOO
he achieves eternal life Ihese Two
facts make the foundation for pract1cai
life plans working toward coHiHhoIi
brotherhood and UNIVERSAL peenCe' W
the development of man idteh' p
lection. Exhaustive WI'nin 'To~iStic
conventional in presentmeht. y noe 81
in form. confident In Statement: 81
allied in tone. this eNposi.on VI ~,
search after truth reaches lhrouen IL"
rI,xs
mans spiritual warnings the ihinioI
talitv of the soul In this Unparalleled
day of question and quest 1or d laIseI
spirituality the present ~
makes another arrestlhS an, .%nn9ht
tive focusing center of current 'hous"''
THE LIFE OF MARY LYON. BY Beth
Bradford GilchriSt- Boston. Iiouen
ton Miff1in Company
In addition to its biographical excellence
q real timeliness marks the appearance
of this record of distinguished career
In specific effort Mary Lyon was pio-
neer of the higher education of women
The whole spirit and logic of her lie,
however were such as rally today III
the broadcast and best of what Is known
as the woman's movement AGAIN lne
famous institution of her 1oundhS va
conceived and projected i'll democrauc
spirit of aim and opportunity, spirit
not then so fully in accord with tne gen
eral purpose of the time as IL Is Will
the more democratic forces that now
realization. The book. therefore, Is a
pure piece of good Opportunism- II Is
also good biography. in that the author
has been ardent and successful IN re-
search, sympathetic III lnterpre:!a.o ~.
keen. not only to what people wish to
know about leaders. but also TO what
lies at the roots of appreciation and In
spiration. Through an authorship art
fully multiplied by this wise blograpner
this volume carries the impression of
monument lifted by many devoted ana
skillfuI builders to the lasting memory
Of a great and abiding influence
NATHAN BURKE. BY Mary S. Watts.
author of THE Tenants" etc. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
Romance, history, biography. autobiog-
raphy. now one and then another. then
TWO of these. then three, and four, join
amicably In this engaging tale. Like an
overgrown and lazy stream idlinS to the
sea, with long. sunny hours given to gos-
siping with banking river grass and to
soft lippings of FURNISHED pebbles along
its way. this story meanders in and out
and round about, to build the fortunes of
Nathan Burke. With Nathan as ra-
dating influence it compasses. too. the
romance of early Ohio rousing to the
march of empire. in the days OF pioneer
men and pioneer towns when log-cabin-
and-hard-cider politics stirred Harrlsonlan
zeal 1t is a story of the old fashion.
told, De Morgan wise, with the leisure
and rejection and detail of an unhurried
time, There are in it hours and days of
lust plain work lifted into cheer by the
saving grace of humor. There are hopes
and some dreams, little folly, measure
of sadness, these all spread open Tor con-
temptation. not telescOped like events of
the present. 1t is, then. something 10
read in the expansive mood OF abundant
leisure. something to take up with So
Der. International pleasure, and 10 lay
down with a fOrw ard look toward taking
il up again.
Lexington Comfort. Philadelphia.
J. Z. LippincOtt Company.
Thrown upon this single canvas are
three immense pictures cunningly woven
into unity of effect, two of them dominant
ed by the third, d pervasive love story
Of great beauty and power. On one hand
is the Russo-Japane-e war, where bat
tie smokes and flames and thunders and
in which the splendid gloomy Slavic
courage CrunpleS before the endless mil
lions of little brown things swarming
over il and into death. laughing and I'M
afraid on the other land Is India IN
carnate, alocf. mystic. contemplate,
brooding and emacia;e. under the master
ship of England. III undercurrent. IN
surface. a stirring group of war cor
respondents. acting in PERSONAL as well
as professional capacity. move the pic
ture out into a story of :oldierS OF for
tune, with love and war and friendship.
with treachery, Self-Sacrifice, bitter
rivalry and the whole host of human
qualities used as the basis Cf adventures
of exciting and compellin-, cast. Along
its Swift-mOving course the story, In ef-
feet, elOquently arraiGns war as a brut-
jsh human episode. the tool of national
selfishness and duphcity. l.; effect, too,
il makes an intimate anC mastery con-
trast of races and nations the west
against the east, the new against the
old aggression against submission, ma
terialism against spirituality. The tale
is near to a wonder of clean ana expert
workmanship. over and above this II Is
a creation a creature of blood and mar
row. of flesh and spirit all soaked IN
their own fluids. the whole breathing out
the breath of life, vivid. powerful per-
sonal-
THE MARRIAGE OF THEODORE. BY
Molly Elliot Seawell, author OF The
Sprightly Romance of MarsaC." etc.
New York: Dodd. Mead * Co. WASH
ington: Brentanos.
The familiar English-Amer., episode
of social consequences is her. lifted out
Of the atmosphere of journalistic fin
pancy and operate extravaganza COM
monty surrounding it. and set up as a
matter for serious consideration and
artistic treatment Out of this comes a
love story OF the soberer sort, founded on
The yelI-wOrn double plank Of America