Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-08
BOOK REVIEWS.
THE COMIC SPIRIT slN GEORGE
MEREDITH: An Interpretation. BY
Iosaph Warren Beach New York

N disiliusion' The author at
hand calls il "the sword of
common sense whose business
is the piercing of lies" Taking this view
OF comedy. Mr. Beach brings il to bear
upon the novels of George Meredith to
SHOW that these are in fell measure IN
der the contro, of the comic spirit. In
getting ready for this Meredithian excur-
sion the author makes fresh and inter-
esting study of comedy. describing the
forms that ii assumes. the work II is able
to do. the use that has been made of 1t by
earlier writers-among them Sterne, Dick
ems Thackeray. In contrast to these the
comic spirit seized by Meredith stands
uniquely lean. leading to thought. not fat
with mere laughter. In office primarily
destructive, Meredith opens up comedy
to the uses of construction and the resto-
raticr Of lest harmonies The novels are
grouped by the follies that these embody
and exPose-the wisacre the snob. the
egoist the sentimentalist, and on, all
pointing the abSurdlty of the false. the
preteRtioGs. tine unnatural Nature IS
Mcred!th's law and gospel. To learn ma
ture's way Of doing things and to follow
this to learn to live by nature is accord
ing 10 him. the present lesson set for
human kind. So clearly and so constant
IL is this his resource and pattern that
Mr.. lie Caffeine has made the brilliant
guess that George Meredith is an ncarna-
ton of the god Pan" 10 which this au
thor adds naive Endorsement. ''and there
cannot be doubt of this. One of the
good auxiliary services of this brilliant
Interpretation is that it leads the dazzled
reader of Meredith a little out from the
immediate splendor Of imagination and
the rapid fire of epigram. out from the
flashing personality and the altogether
amazing manner of the man himself,
where one may more clearly gather the
intent and movement of this royal in
teDectual pageant.
PARTING FRIENDS: a Farce. BY W.
d. Howells. Illustrated New York:
Harper and Brothers, publishers.
This genial farce gives out the delicate
Howells bouquet. With the ship about
to move the last moment of goodbye is
sweetened and saddened-for a young
man and woman by an avowal of love
and proposal of marriage. Then, in
the heart of a mountain of perishable
CONNECTIONS, popularity supposed to stand
q monument to the exclusive adorability
of each particular sailing woman, there
arises between the two the natural thrills
of desire to advance little way on this
delectabe road of being engaged. Diff
ficulties. amusing to the reader but
blackly tragic to the pair carry the mat
ter to its climax when the girl dares to
watt a kiss TO her lover-now on the
pier. This caught by another admirer
standing burlily athwart and fatuously
imagining it to be winged his way. causes
the girl TO sink back overcome. And the
Atlantic ocean is to stretch between.
THE ROYAL PAWN OF VENICE: A
Romance of Cyprus. BY Mrs. Law
renee Turnbull. author of The
Golden Book of Venice Philadel
phia: J. 3. Lippincott Company.
So good an authority as Maurice Fran
els Egan accepts, in all essentials. the
historic facts standing as the groundwork
Of Mrs. Turnbul's brilliant renaissance
story of Caterina Cornaro. Queen of
Cyprus. In political outline the narrative
Is normal and believable-the sacrifice OF
the individual to the urgency OF dominant
statecraft. The pawn, in this case. is a
young and noble girl sent by Venice to
be queen 10 the Cyprian king. and there
by TO hold in check the rich commercial
island. AS romance. it builds the true
love story of a young girl-a queen
widowed in the early bloom of marriage:
a mother bereft of her child. at the last
q woman of sorrows, glad, at the COM
mand of Venice. to exchange sovereignty
for solitude. The story gathers its dis
tnction however. from neither of these
high aspects of development This rests,
instead in the vitality of it's atmosphere,
the vividness of its swift and stirring
views. in the full warmth and spiendor
Cyprus and Venice. This is, without
question, a notable achievement. Full of
the story. one goes back TO study again
Titian's picture OF Caterina Cornaro, re-
produced in the front of this volume. A
constrained. depressed, shut-in personal
ity. with something back TO be thought
about, dreamed over like that other pic
ture made by Titian's contemporary. the
battling la Gioconda : only something
more Ike this maturer one, however.
THE SOCIALIST COT NTEsS: A story
Of Today. BY Horace w. {. Newte.
author of "Sparrows, etc. New
York: John Lane Company.
Mr. Newte is a serious writer con-
cerned with big and usually heart-break-
ing matters. "Sparrows" and The
Sins of the Children abundantly prove,
In The present story the author appears
10 relax and play. but one looks askance
a. any sembance Of frolicsomeness on
the part of this sober figure Things are
in far too bad a plight for Mr.. Newte
10 make light OF them. The story, even
a. suspected. turns out 10 be a clear
"a tire built around vain and ignorant
woman in pursuit of her cause. The
cause in TINS case. il socialism, the
incidents waiting upon ii are taken out
OF Yesterday and today. incidents which
might dytdcn 10 any one Oh the causes
blooming prolifcally. under current
feminine restlessness. The devotioh of
the countess 10 her cause gets it's death
blow when a handsome young working
man, q socialist pampered by his noble
friend. in short run of time. aspires.
not unnaturally 10 the hand OF the
lady's beautiful daughter. In the face OF
this fundamental thing both philanthropy
and politics fy away. taking the cause
with them. The countess then cuddles
IN Hfa a m
Grave and admontory in undercurrent
built out of sheer truth. too. as common
and composed for the purpose of dra-
matte represen alton.
PERPETIA: or. The Way to Treat .
Woman. BY Dion Clayton Calthorp,
author of "Tinsel and Cold" etc.
New York: John Lane Company.
IL the women OF the world. the wise
and qualified mothers. had met TO draw
the character Of child. a natural child
springing from good soil. but nourished
in arid and forgotten corners. neglected
by Gods sun and rain, IL is not con-
ceivable-if these had SO met-that they
would have made girl natural. so
free. so INFUSED, as Is This altogether
happy. joy-giving Perpetua Mary. Now
Perpetua Mary is the creation of man
That is, she is If may be permtted
TO draw conclusions of sex from the
creators name--Dion Clayton. IL is sim
ply one of those mysteries TO which there