Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-09
BY w. HERBERT BLAKE

when 1t Grew Dark" and its theme
was an imagined conspiracy to con-
vince the Christian world by falsitied
records that the resurrection of Christ
was a myth. The story was eXcelentiy
told, the plotters duly foied and the
climax well worked out 1t was II
clever piece of work, quite apart from
its tremendous spiritual conviction,
The bishop of London preached a SER
mon about it, to which the publishers
paid obedient heed.
1t is too bad, but I fear the bishop
will never preach a sermon on Mr.
Thornes second novel, THE Socialist"
which comes with the Putnam imprim-
atur. And one reason is that the author
seldom leaves the pulpit himself, so
the bishop has no chance. You can
preach a sermon about novel, To
preach a sermon about a sermon is
more delicate business. l am not going
to attempt it in this review.
MIR. Thorne suffers from an ailment
very common to persons of deep and
sincere conVictions-he is too full of
his subject. He is a Christian and a
Socialist, in fact a Christian Socialist,
and except in the few pages of his
novel devoted to the melodramatic cap
ture of an English duke by a band of
ruffians whom Stevenson would have
loved. he is telling us about his twin
allegiance all the blessed time. Moth
ing is more natural under these cir
cumstances than that he should unduly
idealize his characters, and, sure
among them is "the Man with the
Mustard-Colored Beard" lit sounds
like Fergus Hume). otherwise known
as James Fabian Rose" and an APP
parent literary etfigy of one G. b.
Shaw. Fabian is the deus ex ma
china of the plot 1t is he who hires
a theater expressly for the staging of
plays to bring the superciious upper
class Englishman to his social senses.
1t is he who engages a charming young
woman TO play the leading role, and
by the fortutous accident of the dukes
kidnapping it is he who helps them get
acquainted, very democratically over
the footlights. The duke becomes a
Socialist and gives up the greater part
of his estate to the cause of the party.
He also marries the actress. Apropos
of this sacrifice of material prospects.
the author has a significant paragraph
which is at least worth thinking over:
We must do again" Zone of the char
acters is speaking) ''if we are to real
ize the ideals which burn in our hearts.
what the Christian church did in the
old days of the Roman empire, and
was meant to do in all ages, by means
VI tiiO blu icllH OilCe ana Tor all de-
livered to the saints In those dim,
faroff days the historian knows that
Christianity succeeded actually in
creating a new middle ciass-just what
was neeaed-of poor men made richer,
and rich men made poorer in one com
mon brotherhood. It's motto was For
all who want work, work. For those
who won't work, hunger! But for the
old and infirm, provision. And this
the Church of Christ actually achieved,
neither by denouncing nor inculcating
dogma, but by insisting on and carry
ing out in practice its own remarlza-
BILE dOgmas....... Christianity and So
Cialsm are inextricably entwined. Sep
arate one from the other, as so many
Socialists of nowadays are endeavor-
ing to do, and one or the other, per-
haps both, will fail of their high ideal,
tFeir splendid mission. Combine them,
and success is real and assured
Because he does. or tries to do, just
this, the duke of Paddineton feels
very quickly the iron disdain of society
and the bitter opposition of his old
associates. He retains his title. Guy
Thorne might be a revOlutionist but
one feels instinctively that he would
make a mental reservation to spare
the nobility in the general overthrow
His characters of rank. indeed, do not
ring quite true One feels the author
is drawing them as his idealizing imag-
ination pictures them. not as they are.
His portraits of the lower class BritOn
on the other hand, are exact and true
to type. One fault throughout the
volume is the authors failure to differ
entiate between his characters in con-
versation. Most of them speak alike
the buoyant and optimistic tongue of
Guy Thorne This is very jolly, but
it is not novel writing.
One gets the impression, too, that the
novelist is a photographer, rather than
a creator, in his characterization He
seems to have met his people, rather
than made them. He is their discov-
erer, not their parent. By similar
realistic method his story zigzags ir-
ritatingly from one group OF characters
to another at times going back to mar
rate omitted details without the tanta-
liZing grace which makes us pardon
such recurrence in Sterne or Thack-
cray The concluding chapters are the
best in the book, and are well worth
rereading. In the statement of his po-
sition the author Is engagingly frank
and Winningly persuasive. AS novel;
list his powers are open to CONSIDER
able cavil, but as the proponent OF a
religious philosophy which numbers
many earnest and devoted adherents.
he commands at least respecttu
attention.
The Socialist. BY Guy Thorne. New
York and London; G =. Putnam's
Sons.
Emory w. Justus, who has recently
come to Los Angeles to make his home,
has published an attractively printed
and bound volume of his own poems
which he entities "Life's Golden
Dreams" They are in variety of
meters and cover a multitude OF
themes in a mood of hopeful and ire
uuently helpful philosophy. There
may be a difference of opinion as to
the poetical merit of the collection
but there should be none as to the
authors wholesome and single-heart-
ed point of view. The book has, in
addition, as footnotes, frequent quo
tations from the thinkers of the
worlds history. which are in pleasant
accord with the mood and sentiment
of the authors own verses.
Iife's Golden Dreams. BY Emory
w. Justus. Copyright, 1909, by the au-
thor.
Mr.. Frederic S. Isham has come into
his own. His graceful romances, I'm
der the Rose" and 1.-THE Lady OF the
Mount" revealed him the possessor of
a rose -colored fancy, delicate turn OF
sentiment, a polished style. But here
we have robuster matter, sturdier plot,
stronger style-more blood in things
Here is, indeed, a vigorous story told in
vigorous way. The thrill of an III
tense excitement keeps the reader al
ways in a state of breathless suspense.
because his sympathies are aroused anu
he is personally concerned from the
start for the central character, a very