The Washington herald., 1913-05-25
BY A. ID. JACOBSON.

Inc PatlOS OF NichNSShe
phrase which Mr.. Huneker borrows Tor
the title for his book, suggests poeucally
its material, which is composed OF papers
written at various periods of his career
but. since the interest in the topics Is
abiding. easily brought up TO date py the
authors dizziness, and hence constitutes
q volume of unique quality. 1t Is com
pact of personality. and every part Oh
It is colored with Mr.. Hunekers charac-
teristic genius, which unihes the most
superficiaIly desperate subject by In
dividuaI treatment.
One might speculate without certainty,
perhaps on Mr.. Huneker's philosophy,
but his Temperament appears in every
thing he writes. Owing to it. his writ
ings stand out against the American
writings of the same order. Whatever
its special subject, everything Mr..
Huneker writes betrays his French ap-
premiership. He is what is termed a
thorough American. But since cosmopoli-
tanism became a recognized element of
intellectual culture, II has been perceived
that il is rather an increment than an
impairment of a writer's or an artists
native force.
Mr.. Huneker is a cosmopolitan in the
wider sense. He is as much at home in
Germany. in Italy, as in France But it
native years, and in France that he
acquired his artistic point of view, as
well as. no doubt, as his active interest
in plastic art. He duplicates for US that
sensitive, appreciative, instructive and
fastidious product of a distinctly artistic
civilization-the French artistic ''chron-
iQueur. And like the authors Prom
enades of an Impressionist," The
Pathos of Distance" is largely con-
cerned with art. One of its most i'm
portant sections, in fact. is entitled New
.Promenades of an Impressionist," and
We have, besides, chapters on various
American painters. and on "Matisso.
Picssso, and others" the Others" being
examples of the very latest fashion in
painting
But there is much more in the volume
than this order of subjects. Metaphysics
is as much the domain of this versatile
writer as aesthetics. He gives us a racy
account, most critically commented, of
"A Philosophy of Philistines," meaning
pragmstism. And what a piquant title
for an examination, not less searching
than brilliant, of Bergson. is THE Play
boy of Western Philosophy" These are
topics much too fresh 10 enjoy THE
PathOs of Distance" but they are as
genialIy treated as if they were not still
the themes of excited current contro-
versy.
The Magic Lantern" Is a Paris expert
ence with the late Villers de Lisle-Adam;
"A Half-forgotten Romance" summarizes
the extraordinary career of Helena Won
Doenniges. the betrothed of Ferdinand
Lassalle. and the original of Meredith's
Clotilde in The Tragic Comedians"
pendant is The Real Isolde" of Wagner
CMathIlde WesendOnck). in which Wag-
ner is not handled with gloves long
-
particularly entertaining reading as well
Z : criticism. other titles are The Celtic
Awakening, The Artist and His Wife
browsing Among My Books" and I'm
Praise OF Fireworks
The volume is in short. but a vertabe
kaleidoscope OF literary color and form.
Macmillan Company
Filled with intimate glimpses of peasant
life in Kent and with lifelike portrayal
Of the Kentish peasant character, will
sam holds the reader in spite Of its
"ccentricities Of style, Of its constantly
shifting point Of view. Of its obvious af-
feCtauons Of speech. and of its excess of
sentlmentality that betTays the feminine
writer. II IS a plain tale, and ii should
he plainly told, Yet the novelist seeks
often &c cloud her ideas in allegory. and
frequently lost themselves in a compli-
Gated verbal problem. Unfortunately.
this is scarcely in character. for Mercy
Farm. according tC the novelist $ own de
scriptlon. was scarcely the girl 10 write
as she supposedly writes in the chapters
entitled "MerCv's Word The novelist
Il very obviously speaking at times. and
IT is one Of the faults of her method that.
with exceptions here and there. especially
he of Hfal aRf he iC
the mind of one person.
With all its shortcomings. "Wisam"
: the work of novelist who is bound
I" find herself From Mercy's coming
ashore OUT of the wreck of the vessel
in which her mother lost her life,
through the varied existence in the home
of her Aunt Milly, and her mental
service with her Aunt Caroline, to her
becoming mistress of Lucksboat Farm
and her marriage with Sibert Gatehouse.
through continuous struggles in which
misfortune and misery loom large we
have a graphic narration of incidents
and a view of scenes in Southeastern
England during the transition period be-
tween the nineteenth and twentieth CEN
turtles.
They were, for the most part, sober,
slow-speaking men and women, very
keen of sight, their steady eyes seeming
as if painted in sea water, so made I'D
Of blues and greens and grays were they; |
some Of them dull Of hearing, as though |
the long call of the sea, slumberous and |
incessant, had worn the edge of the |
ears drum; not overquick in movement. |
unless some great ana untoward hap
pening quickened them. Not many liv- |
inEs were made here, or trades to be |
for at Lucksboat a man must |
be his own carpenter, his own bricklay- |
er: even bricks We're few. and stones |
I licked from the fields were set in mortar. |
made chiefly of sand bound by hair of
COWS hide, but they made thick walls |
and defied all weathers.
This and similar scenes come to the |
eye OF the reader constantly through |
the pages of "Wilsam." /
GENERAL JUBAL A. EARLY: Autobiography |
with Notes by B. n. Early. Phiadelphia-J. B. |
Lippincott Co.
At the time of Lieut.. Gen. Jubal An |
derson Early's death, in 1894 an auto |
narrative of the war was |
left in manuscript. Its preparation had /
begun at the close of the war and had |
continued until the time of his death. |
His labor had been conscientiously per-
formed, and had received assistance |
from those of his comrades who had /
survived the conflict.
Gen. Early, a member of the Virginia |
convention at the opening of the war.
had voted against secession, but he went |
out with his State. He participated in
most of the great military operations
in which the Army of Virginia was en-
gagged, and commanded a separate corps
which threatened Washington, and went
through the eventful campaign of Vir-