The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-01

that phrase, "a means of grace" Ward s name for the Confederacy, "Conthiever- acy,' will appeal to other senses than that of hunor in those dear men who shouldered the musket on either side, and their numerous descendants as well. 1t requires sort of humorous sanctification to laugh at cartoons of ones self. Let us remember, however, that the smell of the moth balls is on these pages. But the fun bacilli are by no means dead. You must still laugh at this gentleman as he indulges in the antics of 8 literary clown. Yet some there are who vote all circuses a bore.
 It would be very foolish to deny to Ar temus Ward permanent place in Ameri- can literature. What could be better than the adventure at Utica, where hs says:
 T was givin dsscripshun of my Beests and Snaiks in my usual flowry stile, when I saw a big burly feller walk up to the cage containin my wax flg- gers of the Last Supper, cease Judas Is- carrott by the feet and drag him out on the ground. He then commenced fur to pound him as hard as he cood."
 What under the sun are you abowt?' cried I.
 "sez he, What did you bring this pus- sylanermus cuss here fur? And he hit tho wax fgger another tremnjiis blow on the he'd.
 'sez l, You egrejus ass, that airs a wax fgger-a representashun of the false 'Postle.'
 "Sez he, That's all very well for you to say, but I tell you, old man, that Judas Isearrott can't show hisselt In Uticly with impunerty by a darn sitei with which observashun he kayed in Juassis he'd The young man belonged to I of the first famerlies in Uticky. l sood him and the Joory brawt in verdick or Arson in the Sd degree"
 Aremus Wards designation Of "Politi- cal Elerfunts," by which he means prob lems' apparently, is worth quoting in these busy days.
 .'They air as ugly and revengeful as cusscororous injun, with thirteen inches of corn whiskey in his stomach
 When asked what his principles were, Ward replied, q hain't got eny, not principle I'm in the show business
 The utterly impartial nature of hlunor is illustrated in the story of William Barker, the Young Patriot" whose hand is refused by the father of the lady, but who returned, This daughters equal and his," in an incredibly brief time to claim her hand.
 Pointing to the proofs of his enormous N~-N~E he supplied the army with beef. The old father surrenders, only hesitating to in- quire:
 Are you loyal? Throughout all this have you been loyal?'
 .'To the core!' said William Barker.
 And" continued the old man. in a voice husky with emotion, ''are you in favor of vigorous prosecution of the war;"
 1T am, I am@
 "Then. boy. take her! Maria, child, come hither. Your William claims thee' Be happy, my children, and whatever our lot in life may be, LET US ALL SUP PORT THE GOVERNMENT!'
 I suppose it was in England that Arte- mus Wards most numerous admirers were to be found. His books had an im- mense vogue there. His absurd spelling of English words was greatly enjoyed by those children of propriety, and his too early death greatly lamented; but he was elementally and specifically an American If he could have lived to the same age as his compatriot, Mark Twain, what a magnificent pair of old men they would have been.
 Alas. the nights grow cold, the fire dies down and the laughter Is lost in the wind that howls across the waste. I think no pIeasanter way of remembering Ward than this good-looking little volume with It's introduction by Howells is likely to be found.
 THE ADVANCE OF WOMAN" By Jane Johnston Christie. Illustrated.
 ]. R. I.ippincott Company, Philadelphia.
 All thinking men and women recognize that woman is assuming tremendously important place in our entire life. In this
 .Nt...a e,rna self Il tHf,f,1 n of affairs, as well as a leader in thought has traced the rise of the feminine from earliest times down to the present. The book is not an argument for 'Woman's s Rights," but it is a most absorbingly in- teresting and convincing picture or her place in the whole scheme of things, With illustrative examples from the lower or ders of nature, as well as from woman hood in general in the ancient and mod ern world.
 DO SOMETHING! BE SOMETHlNG!'
 A NEW PHILOSOPHY OF EFF'ICIEN-
 CY." By Herbert Kaufman. George H.
 Doran Company, New York.
 Herbert Kaufmans essays have made him famous wherever men of our speech hire or are hired. And they have done vastly more than this, have taken the ache out of many and many toil-tired back and work weary heart; have rooted up the weeds of despair and planted new hope in many a field of unprospering en- deavor: have scourged out unfaith and distrust and summoned back that belief in self and self's fellows without which there is no succeeding.
 Do Something! Be Somethins' his latest book is no exception to his other finer writings. Tn all of them there Is simple philosophy and true one, else they would not have gone home to the hearts of men. You may amuse ana even nlea Sc with mere words, deftly sorted out and cunningly strung together with such trick of color and rythm as to make A kind of prose music. but those words must bear a message and say truth if they art to live and breathe and be be- lieyed. It is the essence of kaufman's s writing that he has a gospel and creed. Woods are his willing servants. For him they alow and shine, ranging themselves in swift companies and hinging them selves upon the understanding. But the real merit of his work is not thing Of form or manner; it Is in the vital truths he ilhumines with his many faceted fancy; if is. in fine, his philosophy and not the verbal felicity and facility in which he garments 1t. ii,
 "Optimisn,, . sturdy, red-blooded, mill tant optimism, seems to me the master note of Kaufman's philosophy. The un- soul he sings, and strength and courage and energy"
 GRIT LAWLESS.' By r. F. Mills Young. The John Lane
 Company, New York.
 "Grit, Lawless. the hero of this tale l.- II, IT Mills Xoung by welding to an