The Washington herald., 1913-05-11

peal to the people Of Rome to ask the
return OF Cola because of all he had
done for them previously. This appeal
was granted, but Cola had scarcely re-
turned to the city before he was assas-
sinated.
To the end of his life Petrarca regarded
Cola uprising with Kindness He tongeo
unabatedly for a renewal of the golden
days Of Rome, and five centuries too early
he had the vision Of a united Italy.
Among the most interesting chapters Of
this study is the pastoral poem written
by Petrarca and sent to Cola at Rome.
II is an allegorical eclogue, and gives the
poet a chance to express freely his In
tense feeling in regard to the Roman
barons
PATCHWORK Comedy BY Humfrey Jordan.
New York-G. r. Prtnam's Sons
The unfolding of the plot of Patchwork
Comedy" reminds one of the method and
manner of Phillips Oppenheim. For years
wealthy English country gentleman had
been paying blackmail to a shrewd scoun-
drel in order that the story of an unhappy
episode In his wife's early life might be
kept quiet. Just prior to his death he
tells his son the secret and secures from
him the promise that the honor Of the
family must be kept inviolate at all haz-
ards. But his son Ia not content. He
tracks the blackmailer to his lair, finds
him a man Of the world with unlimited
intellectual resources. and succeeds In
beating him only by discovering a means
of bringing him within the power of the
law.
Mr.. Jordan Is a somewhat discursive
story-teller. But he possesses a knack
of holding his readers undivided interest
Il. .Is,4 h.a dnr &c
one who is an adept at hurrying over I'M
important pages and at the judicious
omission of unnecessary paragraphs. The
craft and resourcefulness of the accom-
plished blackmailer entail prolonged
period of anxiety for the hero and for
those to whom he is attached, and the
result is a story in which there Is con-
tinual suspense.
There is plenty of swift action. sharp
character drawing, and lifelike depletion
Of scenes, and the author does not miss
the opportunity OF injecting some pen =
trating observations of life and pointing
out contrasting features i'm the English
and French character.
THE PASSING OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE IN
EUROPE: BY Capt. b. Granville Baker, late Of
the British and the Prissan Hussars, &c With
map and thirtythree illustrations. Philsdel-
pha--J. b. Eppncott Company. PRICE, $50.
Capt. Baker has been on the spot dur
ing the war of the Balkan allies, though
he had been in Turkey before. He wit
messed the making OF history, and his de-
scriptions are therefore very interesting,
beginning as they do with the earliest
DAYS of the Goth invasion, who came
down the valley of the Martha River and
met the Roman cohorts at Adrianople, de-
feating the latter and leaving the Roman
Emperor valens among the slain. Yet
those Goths were only the fringe Of that
great movement (the "Voelkerwande-
rung'D which broke the power of Rome.
In those remote days Europe seethed with
strong young nations bent upon expan-
sion, forced by their growing numbers.
Slav pressed on Wend and Teuton, and
both races overlooked the boundaries
within which they were confined by the
Caesars.
The main line of advance since the first
Aryans crossed the Balkans, swarmed
over the Peloponese, peopled the islands
Of the Eegean Sea. and found their way
to India, always has been to the south
ward. Their movements to the north and
west might be considered merely as
guarding their tanks.
The main line Of advance of the peo-
Vosges Mountains (Vogesen) is. like in
former centuries, from the Baltic to the
Balkans. Teuton and Slav are pressing
slowly but surely southwark as rivals,
each being conscious of the others aims.