New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-06-03

Crosby l2mo PIP. X, 4So' Inc io
ton Mifilin Company
Five wears ago Mr.. William De Morgan
rave TO readers Of fiction a sehsa"o"
delight such as they had not en)oyeu !"
q long period. Joseph Vance discioseu
the originality and the charm winch We
SO seldom encounter that we
think of looking for those quaii'ies on
more. and, in fact, one does not heeu "
no pessimist in order to DOUBT 'n'''
turning I'D again at all. the mover Va
Tho day is not precisely thrilling aiia''
WHY should one have much commence
IN its suddenly being raised 10 ''s"'
mower? Well. the type may ruo a'one
tr, its familiar groove, but mere -
Henry Sydnor Harrison TO snow us '"u,
he at any rate. has nothing to 90 WIZ"
the tyne. He has written a mover 'ii 10
own way. on a good theme, ana ne si|''
us lust the surprise and the pieaS"'@
that we received from Mr.. De Morgan
with an added tang traceable both 10
the author and TO his material 1oseP',
Vance" owed much of Its strength anu
,eautv 10 the revival in its pages oi
what can only be described as the VIC
torian tradition of novel Wri'iis'
"Oueed" is book of to-day, written u!
en- American, and its appeal is 10 us
therefore peculiarly intimate and NOV
ing.
Besides being an American Mr.. Harri-
sen is an artist. point upon winch we
are the more inclined TO insist because
the earlier chapters Of his book make II
seem n little doubtful You wonder II
he is going TO give himself up TO anai!-
sic NJ eccentric character at the expense
Of his story as a story, the latter NOV
ing a little slowly and even somewhat
loosely. Presently. however you see
that the author knows quite well "ha'
he is about and is engaged in estaoiish-
ing analysis and narrative IN just 'he
right relation-the right relation, that Is
for the furtherance of his own very spe-
cial and individualized purpose. To put
THAT purpose in a nutshell, we shoulu
say that il was the Interpretation OF 'he
spirit Of things in American me- the
rortraval of a group Of human beings
mot for the sake of external traits pu'
for the sake of their souls ana thelr
really representative character Inc
scene is laid in the South, but there Is
nothing here of that mawkishness anu
that dreadful bounce" by when we
have been bored and fairly sickened IN
the pages of so many of the noVellsts
of that region. There is no ecstauc SEN
itimentality about the unparalleled love-
illness of the Southern women; we are
rot asked to bend the knee in awe before
lSouthern "chvalry," and. perhaps best
of all. we are spared initiation into the
.fainting blisses of Southern cookery
When he has occasion to treat OF the
South as the South MIR. Harrison goes
with a very delicate touch TO the heart
of the subject Let the reader turn TO
the CHAPTER over which is placed the
legend "Queed sits on the steps with
Sharlee. and sees Some Old Soldiers go
marching by" Surely we need not eX-
plain what the chapter contains but we
must note that it's tribute to Southern
patriotism is poignant, sane and sweet.
II is so for no other reason than that
Mr.. Harrison is simple and sincere
writing with honest feeling and lettpS
all emotional claptrap humorously alone.
The hero of this book is a young man,
very much alone in the world, who has
been brought up in ignorance of his
rarentaGe by New York policeman.
With diabolical precocity he has made
himself a scholar. but when he comes
from the North To live in the town of
this novel and complete great book
ON Sociology he knows neither parents
nor friends and carries himself as an
absolutely egotistical recluse. In the
first chapter he is knocked over in the
street by Behemoth the great pleasure
dog" OF the heroine. Miss Sharlee Wey-
land "Sharlee" being, by the way,
the short for Charlotte Lee Queed sees
nothing to laugh at in his harmless ac-
Cident. He sees nothing to laugh at in
anything, and in the boarding house
kept by Miss Weyland's aunt the bleak
youth moves like a machine. repellng
all those about him and altogether
promising to make a hopeless mess of
.his life. Something Of the tragedy Of
his situation may be gathered from
these touches in the portrait that Shar-
lee draws of him, for his souls good at
the middle stage OF their acquaintance
ship:
You are failure rs a socioogist for the
same reason as both your other failures.
lSou are wholly out cf relation with reai
tGie. Sociology is the science Of human so
ciety. You know absolutely nothing about
human society, except what other men have
3vOnd out and written down in textbooks.
,soioGlst Yet wonderful demo nstTatiCn
IN social evolution il going on all around
you, ana Bot 0CHt CceR kROtC IT, You are
!anding here directly between two civiiiza-
ftioitS. On me one side there are Colonel
SoWieS ana my OLD GrandmotEer-mother
o. your landiady, plucky dear, on the
other there are our splendid young men
me-, VINO with traditions OF leisure and
pitched in with their HANDS and oq heads say re
make this state kt;u and will soon he
meeting ana beating your Northern voung
men at every turn On one side there T.
,tpe Ola SiaVehOldlnS ariStOCracy. on fhe
other tho finest democracy in the world
and here and now human society is evolv-
ing from enc thing t. the other s real
soci"lo2ist would be absorbed in watching
This marvellous process. social evoiu;ion
'actually surprised in her workshop Rut
iyou-l Couht if YOU even knew IL YVES going
on: \ tremcrdous social drama is being
acted out under YOUR very window and va,
yawn and pun dozen the blind.
Obviously. sharlec has constituted
herself the guide, philosopher and friend
of Queed. and. Just as obviously. she has
an almost impossible protege on her
hands. Indeed. this passage. dcep as #
cuts, does not by any means. exhaust