New-York tribune., 1910-04-23

| political boss. me Slrl, hNiHS III az
atnosphere of oldtime prejudice. can
not but begin TO take notice OF this man.
so different from her own kind, so dlf-
| ferent from the polished cousin who is
| her wooer. The author separates tne
sheen from the goats, right from wrong,
true pride from false, with the sharpest
of urinary contrasts. Her pictures or
Southern life, OF the old preJudices anu
their brealing up under the stress oil
modern conditions, OF the ways OF SOUTH
ern politicians and the habits and men
tai processes of the ignorant negroes are
conventional. but sufficient unto their
purpose. which is the complication ahu
| furtherance Of the plot, for this is
love story pure and simple. not study
of social conditions In the guise OF
fiction.
Planned on a large scale. covering the
period from the surrender OF Fort On
tario TO the close Of the War Of lnde-
pendence, Mrs. Foote's The Royal
Americans" offers a minutely detailed
picture of the daily life and circum-
stances of the settlers in the province OF
New York. from the old frontier to the
capital, with halts at Albany. Englsh-
man, Dutchman and Frenchman, Pres
byterian and Quaker. the men or the
Grants, and. Of course. the Indians play
their historic parts in a complicated
plot, whose thread passes from the hands
of one generation to those OF another
and is finally left in the care of a third.
which is the first of the children of the
Republic. Mrs. Foote does not pretend
to teach history in its large outlines:
she assumes her readers familiarity
with them, and proceeds 10 fill them In
with the minor figures. the everyday
men and women that are the real
martyrs and heroes. The realism OF her
descriptions is striking. Here is the life
| of the pioneer face to face with the
wilderness: here, also, is an intimation,
quiet, without heroics, OF what that life
meant to women, the burden 1t laid upon
them, the price II exacted, with, for con-
| trast sojourns in the home Of Mrs.
Schuyler at Albany and, more distantiy
glimpsed, in New York. The horrors in
lIOuuCcu lllNO lallS tAiSNNaANO ~
the Indian allies of English and French.
horrors that never can be told in full;
| the rancorous persecution OF Loyalist by
Patriot and of Patriot by Loyalist-mere
| incidents in the retrOspect-these, too,
are sufficiently indicated; nor is romance
| lacking, the romance of war and the
| eternal romance Of the generations.
Mrs. Foote leans noticeably toward the
Dutch in her view of the history of New
York in the Revolution. The book is an
exceptionally able and thorough piece of
work
| Comparisons are not always odious,
and are often unavoidable. We are con-
stantly making them in literature and
! the other arts, mentally II not In print.
| Miss MacGowan's work invites the proc
ess. for we still remember vividly her
predecessor in her chosen field, Miss
Murfree. the pioneer of the Tennessee
mountains I'm our fiction. And If the
younger writer do not dim the fame of
the older one, If she lack her intuitive
| perception and technical delicacy. she
has solid merits of her own. merits of
presentation and Interpretation, which
prove her right TO handle the material
OF her choice, with which she. too. is so
| intimately familiar. The Tennessee
mountaineers are picturesque survival,
| a lateral evolution OF the old native
/ stock, whose characteristics and life
cannot be jotted down too carefully and
minutely for future reference. for the
l IT.
! come. and tomorrow they will be as
simulated by our levelIing civilization.
| The Wiving of Lance Cleaverage" is
written with forceful simplicity. skill
/ fully planned 10 present motive behind
action. tradition behind motive, the
/ point Of tgew of a homogeneous settle
ment. and the salient traits developed by
life of primitive simplicity and hard
| ship in sparse settlement. The COM
| psrison once made is readily forgotten,
for this is good work in itself, and read
able from first ~ last.
II Is with feeling OF personal loss
that one takes up Little Aliens" pub
lished but A few days before the an
nouncement OF it's authors untimely
death. behind the kitkets she drew for
our entertainment, but also I'm appeal to
I our sympathetic understanding, Myra
Kelly drew herself. her wit that had no
sting. her humor that was so gentle, her
human kindness that was so ready to
see the humanity of others, TO meet IL
more than half way. and bring 1t out
and encourage 1t and make il known.
She. too, was a pioneer IN our sectional
fiction. This last book opens with a dis
sertation on the connection and collabo-
ration between home and school, parent
and teacher in which Miss Kelly sub
mits some serious truths in her light,
| humorous way. The stories are eight in
number, of which at least two may be
ranked among her best and freshest
work in the quality Of their hurnor and
sentiment. All of them were written,
fortunately before Eva Gonorowsky and
Morris Morogelewsky and all the other
children we have met before and taken
an interest in passed out of Room IS and
! out of the care of their beloved Miss
Bailey -Teacher-Ma am" Her work is
done. II was a good work, and IL was