Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-12
BOOK REVIEWS.

SATURDAYS CHILD. BY Kathleen
Norris, author of Mother, etc
Frontispiece of F. Graham Cootes
New York: The Macmillan Company
- UsAN BROWN. the heroine OF
Mrs. Norris splendid new story
Is working girl, and. what is
~ more she is one of the whole
soonest and most winsome girls
alive. For Susan is very much alive
And whether as clerk in a downtown
shop and living in her aunt's cheap
boarding house, or as the paid COM
panion and half friend of pair OF
rich sisters, or, finally. as the wife OF
Billy Oliver, she is an unfailing de-
light. Mrs. Norris gathers in every es-
sential of a scene, or situation. OF
character, and gives these essentials
out with a fidelity that is amazing. She
has in full measure the saving grace
of humor and she Is never bitter. All
of her fine qualities and seasoned
equipment have gone into the making
of this remarkable story.
TODAY'S DAUGHTER. By Josephine
Daskam Bacon, author of THE In
heritance," etc. Illustrated by c. d.
Williams. New York: D. Appleton
Co.
Mrs Bacon has built a clever and
brilliant novel upon the discomfort OF
a group of modern women who have
hypnotized themselves into the notion
that they must be something vastly
different from that which God and ma
ture intended them to be. A good deal
OF humor and good deal more of the
pathetic enters into this circumstantfal
demonstration that women, most wom-
en-, cannot escape their common mani
fest destiny, and that the few who do
escape it are the most dissatisfied and
incomplete of creatures. The essential
fallacies of the whole feminist move
ment, as it now exists, come out boldly
in the strikingly clever story.
THE RISE OF THE WORKING CLASS.
By Algernon Sidney Crapsey, author
of Religion and Politics. etc. New
York: The Century Company.
Mr. Crapsey writes with uncommon
power and appeal on the rise of the
working class and the unacceptable eff
feet Of this upon society as it Is at
present organized. The book Is writ
ten from the point of view of the ris-
ing working class. It sketches in out
line at the beginning the social
changes that have taken place from
the period Of savagery to the present
This. to show that society from the be-
ginning has been, as it is now, an un-
stable and changing thing. In other
chapters the author discusses the re-
sponsibility of mothers; the emancipa-
ton of the children: the "out-family
woman" or the woman outside of fam
lily ties and obligations; the revolt of
the parasites. a topic which the writer
describes as an effort to appreciate the
feminist movement in its extreme man
ifestations. He examines working class
religion. its morality, its politics and
such philosophy as it has. tracing the
effect of each of these as an instrument
in the impending changes of society.
IN a forecast of the coming age a
clearly socialistic complexion is given
to that age. This is a very thoughtful
and fair-ninded study Of the salient
and potential features of the present
day.
THE RELIGION OF THE SPIRIT IN
MODERN LIFE. By Horatio W.
Power of Silence" etc New York:
6. p. Putnam's Sons.
At the bottom of DR.. Dresser's study is
the assumption that religion is life. This
means. one gathers. that some part Of
the universal spirit lives in the heart of
every man. and that of the presence Of
this spirit he is more or less aware. It
means further that the partaking Of this
spirit, with its inevitable self-searchings
and implications. is religion. and that this
religion is an essential part of every in
dividual life. Now the constant urge Of
all life is to express itself. In order to
do this, through the ever-changing tide
of external condition, life has become
fertile in creating new forms, sktllful IN
making rapid, revealing adaptations Of
many kinds. Religion, too. as part Of
life. needs new methods Of self-revela-
ton. new avenues of expansion. 1t is
with the practical purpose of opening up
this need of religion to re-estimate and
restate itself in the terms of modern life
that this penetrating and scholarly study
is made. Its aim is to interpret religion
from the standpoint of inner experience
as distinct from that of a creed and dogma
and other outer form. and. by this means.
to arrive at a standard by which various
types Of religion may be interpreted and
brought together In harmony.
ROMANISM IN THE LIGHT OF HIS
TORY. By Randolph H. McKim.
D. c. L. author of Christ and Mod
ern Unbelief,stet etc. New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
This book is a republication of the au-
thor's earlier contention against the Ro-
man Catholic Church. The first essay
summarizes the present outlook for Ro-
man;sm in the conclusion that it is In
dubitably losing ground but that 1t Is.
nevertheless. an acute source of danger
to America. The second essay makes
critical review of the Encyclical of Pope
Leo XIII on the Reunion of Christen-
dom The third is discussion of the
underlying principles of Professionalism.
The last one Is a denial of Cardinal Glib
bons public claim that civil and religious
liberty was first established on American
soil in the Roman Catholic colony OF
Maryland.
THE TwENTY-FOURTH OF JUNEs
Mldsummer's Day. By Grace 8. Rich
mond. author of "On Christmas Day
in the Morning" etc. New York:
Doubleday. Page & Co. Washing
ton: Woodward & Lothrop.
In Mrs. Richmond's new novel every
body is good. The women are. each and
all, beautiful The men without excep-
Iion are manly and compelling. ALI are
rich, or well-to-do, or, at the very worst,
safely removed from the neighborhood of
the moneyless. No problems perplex
these people Nothing distressful happens
to them. No big event either lifts this
story above the level of its generally
joyous course. or sinks II below this level.
And this body of conditions goes into the
proof that very engaging story, as well
rs a quite belevable one. may be built
upon these simple and uninvolved lines
The business of this romance is to con-
vert lovable, pleasure-seeking young
millionaire into a sober citizen and man
Of business. this being the standard set
by an adorable girl as the measure of her
flrf,1ra husband Tho caleritv rffb xubycb