Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-19

ships, love and lords, fairy tales and
dream children, the "laurels of gossip,
the marketry of words. books as medi.
cine and so on. and so on. These
'avowals'' make a most fascinating
blend Of mellowness, wisdom. modesty
with the precocious. the whimsical, the
arrogant. The second talk-there are
twO-is In a quite different vein. This Is
the wise reverent reflection of a man
in love with literature, absorbing it. d.
vining 1t. feeling the balm Of it. and the
stir-the poet, here. The friend. too
for much Of this Is a personal remi-
niscence of friendship. Grant Allen
George Meredith, Maurice Hewlett. Ana
tole France. Sidney Lanier. Bjornson
Hawthorne and Tennyson. are among
these to whom he pays his full due OF
keenly fine appreciation. The first OF
this volume passes with the hour-or
standing medium between this group
of modern writer's and less gifted in
terpreters than this author himself.
HOME LIFE IN AMERICA. BY Kath.
crime G.. Busbey. New York: The
Macmillan Company. Washington
Brentano's.
Under the .hospitable roofage of home
life this energetic book bushes itself will
a somewhat full exhibition of the do
nestle wares of the United States. The
Introductory, I'm General" pictures tho
nations of the earth representative
gathered in our great cities as little" OF
new" this, that or the other-"Italy,'
Hungary" Jerusalem" 1t Slices the
United States up into slabs of national
ity-Irish, German, what nOt-and piece:
these together again in a congress OF
nations, for the purpose of specializing
in racial American futures. From this
point the book moves regularly and rap
idly. always rapidly, out from the be-
ginnings of things-thc child. Here is
the child in the home, and in the school
some of whom emerge from the latter
place as types of young persons 1.-The
in her capacity of mother and house
keeper. There are no fathers in this
Israel. or, at best. not enough for con
sideration. There are. among other do
nestle views, sketch of New England
a photograph of Washington. an impress
sion of the west. The book moves b.
sprightly. exuberant anecdote, with a
sprinking of statistics and touch-and
go at anything-and everythng-tha1
comes under the EMBEDDING wings of ''cul
ture. Out of its nervous energy and q
certain unregulated. spasmodic quality
the book leaves one breatliless, windef
SO to say. and worse yet, ii possesses
him with a curious feeling, homeless.
nomadic sense.
OUR HOUSE: And the People In II. BY
Elizabeth Robins Pennell. Boston
Houghton Miff1in Company.
Having settled themselves in a London
ITO Let ''J'' went Off to Spain-Or
maybe Italy-to sketch cathedrals, leaving
Mrs. Pencil behind to mind the household
stuff. Now il he, on his mission of high
art, contributed to it, as no doubt he did.
as fully as she did to the plain, solid
enjoyment of common things-Why. then!
both large and small circles are d ep.y
delight Of good housewives. Mrs Pennell
begins below stairs First, there is
Enrie:ter, perfect in promise. demure, but
alas-drunken, Then. the Trimmer and
Louise, and Clementine. all generals OF
greater or less capacity to bring out the
genius, the fine humanity, Of the lady
"aboye stairs. Not that the lady Is
thinking of this in her pictures-not at
al! But, out Of her wholly human heart
and also out of her genial humOr, one
gets clear-and dear-nOtiCnS of the ups
and downs of domestic happiness thrOu gh
this conjunction of above stairs and be-
low. Just when one Is keenest In the
hope that Mrs. Penneli will have other
generals and will take the time to tell
us all about them. she slips adrotly into
an Negotiating friendship with the house
keepers, old and new, with the char
woman, with the beggars and the
tenants. In the case Ct the tenants Mrs.
Pennell grows ancient and historic, tel
ing us how. In this very house according
to the plaque on it's outside, Pepys once
lived, and others, all together stepped In
the fragrance of the past. Then. elusiveiy
again. she slips out in the Quarter,
from which she brings other fugitive.
lavender essences. of historic date A
completely charming thing. dedicated TO