New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-04-16
Some New Stories by Eden
PhiIlpottS and Others.

ftttf0kt1 ttt1 NaAiNtSf
THE TEIEF or VIRTUE. BY Fden Phil
potts. emo. NJ. SO. TIE John Lane
6cnpnnv.
fEE CROWDS A,n TErF YELLED
WOMAN. ~ Marion Cox. limo, 10.
s12. The Funk & wsgnalls Company.
rHE GREEN MorsE, BY Ro@e:t W.
inund Frederick l2Iao, -. Niii. 81.
=. Appletoa & Co.
LEGENDS or TIE CITY o. MExICo
Collected by Thomas a. Jsnvier. Illus
pleton Clark and with photographs OF
place. Svo. p2 SviH lef. Harper s.
III, ACHIEVEMENTS or LUTHER
NscEsrg Illustrated BY William obe--
hsrot. Emo. pp. %. Boston: Small.
Maynard & co.
Mr. Phillpotts long since corrected the
raw that qualified his success in his
earliest novels, a certain inadeouacy Of
plot which caused tremendous conse-
ouenoes 10 fow from trivial beginnings
The Strengthening az his later work in
this regard his been attained by a stead
Sly growing appreciation OF the artistic
value Of = direct relation between &C
ton and character. one being determined
h. the other. which. in its turn, has
been conditioned and shaped in his
stories by SITS environment. the stern.
briefly smiling grandeur Of Dartmoor
This unity Of place. character and plot
which has given Us The Port Reeve"
end The Secret Woman" now gives us
The Thief Of Virtue Mr.. PhiIlpotts's
rartr f,,,
one might well call him . psychological
novelist who interprets universal human
nature IS il manifcsts itself in unvary-
ing, strongly directing and combining sur
roundnCs. The fundamental weakness
O. p man confident and boastful Of his
strength is a subject that strongly ap-
pals 70 this author. He returns 10 it
here snd opposes 10 Il = woman OF i'm
inovs bic purpose, self-relisnt. self-con-
isincd. Infinitely complex and mysterious
below the apparent simplicity Of her life.
Hcr head rules her heart IL rules the
man whom she msrries from ambition.
81 rules the lover whom she dismisses
lonE enough % enable her 10 recall him
Tor her own immoral purpose the lover
who first hates and enyies, then pities
snd then loves his successful rival She
succeeds in her undertaking. which is TO
force from life all the material advance
meut that the lonely, isolated moor can
offer. Aad the price that is paid for It
81 IS not the price Of her strength bat
81 her husbands weakness and her
lovers resvakening religious conscious
ness. she is as interesting addition TO
she gallery or studies Of women In con
temporary fiction. The two men whose
lives are interWoven with hers are no
less well drawn, and there Is fourth
character worth mentioning. an old
woman returned 20 the moor after her
deliberate venture into the world with
out benefit o. clergy. who observes
soutely and safely comments. OF Mr.
FhiIlpotts's workmanship. of his land
Ecspe and the minor figures he places in
G. nothing need be said at this late day
The Thief OF Virtue" is a remarkable
riece Of work. and one Of his best novels
thus far
Tediously verbose. The Crowds and
the Neiled woman" contains splendid
;dea whose presentation is irritatingly
delayed by 4 mass OF unnecessary intro
dUctory material. end whose ending is
not strong" but simply nauseating.
''Tlctirns of our. parents we all are" says
the theorist of this story. in one Of his
lnternlinsble monologues: from infinities
they call us into their petty. close and
cramped Coop-home q square hole
which allowed Of no spnericities. There
he -,s-lr Of, ,o
dividuality which crowds outside wait
90 finish. Both are fatalities TO genius
The theorist has succeeded I'm shielding a
sounE painter from tie dwelling in
fUenCe 81 home and the crowd since
childhood. allowing him 30 hold con-
Nerse orly with the worlds greatest
minds I'm their immortal works. And
nov The youth Is ready to prove his
mentors theory ny painting tho portrait
a. the Ve.led Woman. weird, lnyster-
Sous conception presented r-ith consider
able power. He comes close 70 the solu-
ZION of tho soul ~ the mySterv without
love. by sheer strength 81 intellect and
luowledrc 81 his arr Chis thoc-izing
bout oolors reminds one cf Huvsmansl
but her ewes har7e him. and defeat MIN
81 the end The author has talent.
imagination, originality. and she thinks
Cor herself. The comparative failure a.
her book i~ dU~ 20 lack ~ technical
Judgment. she has nor learned - CON
dense 10 select 60 omit she would put
I'll sh- has 90 say in'o one book But
Notwithstanding is serious shortcom-
Sings. the storT demands attention. II is
worth reading with iudicioUs skipping
The end. we must repeat is sad error
Of taste. Such absurd purals as sub
strstas" and "csnde'abrFs" are a serious
reflection upon the proofreader.
SIR. Chambers has produced in The
Green Mouse" one II those bits Of irre-
Eponsible Eavetv which are well calcu-
lated 20 take even ? morose reader out
OF himself. There rs one trace Of con-
MENTION in the book. Here We have an
other pretty girl cliuging 10 the back II
runaway horse IN the park. Until the
usual handsome young man. down on
his luck. springs from his detection to
save the rider from IN untimelv death.
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