Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-09
BOOK REVIEWS.
THE BROwNINGs: Their Life and Art.

Nv Lillian Whiting, author of italy
the Magic Land etc. illustrated.
Boston: Little. Brown X Co
p ILIAN WHITING will fare de-
servedly well at the hearts of
the lovers of Robert Browning
IL and his wife Elizabeth. SO full
and intimate is this amazing and
poetic portrayal of the two. that one.
with their books in hand. can touch the
impulse out of which their almost every
poem sprans. and can trace the circum-
stances of it's growth and fuihllnehI
Ones volumes are already written over
with these illuminating sidelights cast by
this inspired hand. This is the great serv-
ice of Lillian Writings work But there
are other distinct values. One Is the
parallel life story of the two. each COM
pIcte in the essentials of biography and
each happily clear of its lumber me
atmosphere of this work Is perfect; also
the Italian setting is unspeakabIE peau-
tfUI and poetic. The literary circle. or
which the Brownings are here the center
In an Inspiration. Here are literally nun
dreds about whom readers are proper!
curious and ardently open. There is the
love f3yl of the two. left by this IN
tuitivc author to make its own poem
Then there is the boy, never before
brought quite So wildly within the
charmed circle a he Is III this neautil"i
study II one love the Erownings lie
must have this book. IF lac nave the DOCK
he will love the BrowninSS.
rIIE HEALER. Ply Robert Herrick.
author of together etc, Ne"
York: The Macmillan Company
Moliere said it more than 2oo years
ago. Recently Bernard Shaw, after
long and savage preface. gathered up
MoIiere's thought and his own in *Ihe
Doctors Dilemma. Now Mr.. Herrick
embodies the same conviction i'll this
strong and finished story. All three in
effect declare that the doctor, oet OF the
necessities of his accepted situation. Is a
hyrocrite, a charlatan, an lmpostor
playing upon the credulity OF SICK ana
.mportunatc world. According 10 these
three, healing should he a gift II must
ue a gift. free to all. Otherwise, IL ceases
20 heal. Between the healer and the
sick no shadow of COmmerci2llsm IN any
II it's vaGarious forms should rise, for in
,nis lies the supreme evil from which all
others swarm. What would they do, these
reformers. They would nationalize the
profession. leaving the doctor free 10 he
At least honest. In Mr.. Herricks story
ne healer is a man of the wild. giving
health TO all that come. out OF mis- own
compelling personality and open hand
soon after the story opens he makes
-ouantiC marriage. This Is the turning
point. Deeply. POLITICALLY in love, he
fields little by little. unconsciously at
lrst something Of his high aims With
out at once realizing it, he gradually
steps down To where his wife lives. Her
,ieiou is the common one of wealth and
place and name. Then he begins 10 sell
MS sift-and so loses it. At the last he
-egains it 10y going barehanded among
he city poor, once more the free healer.
This is the story. Incidental to 1t runs
another one. 1t is the story. rather the
yicture, of the separate and hostile lie
planes along which the male and female
move. So alien are these two, the man
and the woman. that marvel lies IN
their even remote approach to each
other Nor would they, Of themselves,
dare to meet Lifting a curtain mere
and there the author gives SGmpses or
he compelling power behind them There
sits nature. bargaining playfully 20 get
seedlings Tor her garden-plot OF ne
Crafty busy. she blooms d cheek, paints
and dews a pair of soft lips, films the
eyes with u false lure OF unhnoWable
things and the two are swept together
nature turning cannily TO other harvest
inge. Hardly another writer accepts dis
llu-ionment with Mr.. Herricks phllo-
sophie calm Hardly another presents the
TWO or three big facts of human exist
ence with so complete d devotion TO
their fun and far-reaching truth AS
scientist philosopher and artist Mr.. Her
rick is a great count for American liter