Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-04
BOOK REVIEWS.

THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE IN
ENGLAND. An Account of the
Literary Relations of England and
Sidney Lee, Hon ID. Lit, oxford.
author of "A life Of William
Shakespeare" etc. New York:
charles Scribner's Sons. Washing
ton: Woodward e. Lothrop.
HB supreme excellence OF this
notable study lies in it's meth
cd, in the way Mr.. Lee uses
material to point his theme, TO
establish his theory. The debt
of Tudor England to France. not on!
for literary spirit. but for forms OF III
erature as well, is the subject here SET
down for verification. Broadly inc au
thor lines in the culture OF the frehch
renaissance, It's literary exuberance anu
srace--appealing. diffusive. THIS founoa-
tion set. there follows an altogether prii-
liant example of parallel study. HERE
under perfect generalship, seemingly IN
.xbaustible reserves of literary evidence
advance. combine, and rest In PROOF o..
the clear debt of sixteenth century Eng
land TO France in all fields OF literary
ac,i,-;tv French influence on Elizabeth
an prose: on the drama; on lyric poetry
.xDand into chapters richly illustrative
nf both fact and the comparative methou
nv which the fact is revealed. TO one
,h, roads I'm detached and unrelated
s the issue comes in the nature oil
,urnrise for in his belief, no uouo' d
cherished one, that ASTONISHING Eliza
bethan period sprang fuil-panopneu ~
life unhampered by ancestral iIi iue 20
\n,y ne must needs open his thousnt "
MT naiRhnOTnOOu
10 this special intellectual commerce.. ~
,bis broader view, he must, 700, ie
nosture himself before the literature OIL
the Elizabethan age. An au'hoii
educative, stimulating STUDY
SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT. by Seo1'
Nearing. PhD., Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania, n New
York: The Macmillan COMPANY
Washington: Brentano
Irpon society as it exists the au'ho,
laws. as a pattern OF measurements
contrasts. theoretical society III
,bo relations between men and their
surroundings are those OF ecoi'oiii'
monv. normal relations" i'll his own
r,hrase This process of measuring one
IF unon the other brings into sharp nent
the tact that society is weighted VIII, cel
lain abnormal relations, expressing 'ne i,
se.ves through conditions or extreme P 1o,,
,rty. unemployment, low w. ,ahor
standards. vice, overwork, chlio Iaool
"a the like These entail enormous
losses to the common life, great so
cost" They spring from a ueieo.ne H.
cial organization, a maiadJustIheHt VI .ite
working parts of the social Haciliiie &c.
IIo,irg clearly set out the existence OF
,raladIustment the author deVotes ing
bulk of this discussion TO an ahaly SiS %
its various appearances-their orlsin, or
crations, effects. TINS. IN tne 49, ;ts
convince society tndt ItS
malady is durable. the disease eraolcapie
Then. like the good physician. the au.Hoa
points the remedy-a qulckeneu ihciusi
sense of the solidarity or HE, colip' &c
mented by prompt legislative acuon 70
consummate desire in deed. Having swept
away Embellishments, the author taxes
up adjustment, defining 1t on the nio '':
arm theory that human capacity Is UNI
versaI. and shaping II upon ths eco nf So
argument that 1t Is the business vi 81
ciety. the cooperative business. 10 re-
move. or to make surrnountapie, the W
stacles to progress. hopelni. !iear. -
ing. working view. sharp In cohtrds. 70
the deadening one that things always
have been this way. therefore. they al.
wavs will be this way. decided couht
for this book. though in its nature
superficial one. is that II Is most inte d-
est{ng in its literary manner. one reaos
g ont of its personality, and. reading
gathers its substance and its promise.
ROMANTIC DAYS IN OhD no -.
The story of the City and Of It's
People During the Nineteenth Cen
turv. By Mary Caroline CRAWFORD,
author of "Old Boston Days ana
WAYS" etc illustrated. Boston,:
Little, Brown & Co.
With readers knee deep in volumes
about Boston-history, biography ana the
se,f-utterances of it's own geniuses-an-
other hook. more or less. is hardy
waiter to set down. In particular, too'
Poston of the nineteenth century, exalted
4, IFS anti-slavery crusade, is the theme
Of thousands. So one takes up this new
volume in a somewhat laggaro, An
other mood. Mind, though, only at tne
outset does this feeling hold. for clearly
within the first chapter the author grasps
the readers interest in no uncertain way.
Romance does not keep step WIN one
notions of this austere and Suoiiindlc
town, yet. setting on with 49, its pii III .
day as city, Miss Crawford weaves an
amazingly warm and vivid Bostonese
fabric warped in the substance or the
period-slavery agitation, social eNpeii.
inent, theories of political equality ana
plans of efficient philanthropy. The Pc
culiar and distinct pleasure in the book
comes from the pattern set upon this
groundwork by the deeply personal lhu-
mate, easy hand of. the author. Here
are hundreds Of little stories about peo-
nile who mean something, with free let
ters of friendship revealing them ana
pithy opinions characteriZing them Sto-
ries OF Garrison, Phillips, Parker, Howe
Sumner, in politics; of Hawthorne. Rip
ley, Dana. deep in the socialism OF Brook
farm; and, among Others most inter-
esting sketch of Margaret Fuller, the
pl,zzling subject of volumes OF dispute.
These stories and pictures gathered UP
front one familiarly upon a living piano.
rama of society. the stage. letters anu
the more general civic concerns OF BOs-
ton in one of its most dramatic periods
\ field so often CLEANED yields in sur
prising freshness and abundance here
through the personality of the writer
This is the kind of outlook that gives
body and blood to events, the kind OF
view that lights up and vitalizes history
in It's meanings and uses.
THE GOLD BRICK. BY Brand Whit
District" etc. Indianapolis: The
Bobbs- Merrill Company.
These stories by Mayor Whitlock, a
dozen in all, are built I'm the full three
dimensions required to set objects out,
away from Elusive backgrounds of fiat
surface. 1t Is possible TO walk quite around
them. examining parts and their jennings.
sounding for hollow spaces, measuring
drama, setting forth some single example
PROPORTIONS Each is in itself a complete
OF the union of common human frailty
and political inutilty. y candidate for
Office with great newspaper on his trail.
A policeman already corrupted, the lobby
Isl at his task lawmakers In the mazes of
legislative procedure, are among the mo-
lives of stories so astOnishingly familiar
l.,f sEsaft- fv,1v, ltAfA