The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-19

S'iiu ~ hPiiiHtNS tlt uOnlnant AN-
Against the BcamiuSter spirit in
general and against the Duchess in
particular there are two :sbels. Eut
they are not of the people in any
sense; indeed. they are both grand
children Of her Grace Of Wrexc. Ra-
chcl Beamiustcr. Il daughter of a
wild son. who married u Russian, and
Francis Breton. Il son OF beautiful
dauShtor. who married rcprobate
Both of them hate the Duchess. and
in return the fierce old woman hates
them both. The grandson is a typ-
cal black sheep. Stunned not only 10y
his family. but by all London. except
that part which is not. but ought to
be, submerged. but the granddaugh-
ter lives with tn" Duchess.
y marriage is arranged for Rachel
with Roddy Seldom. fine. upstand-
ing figure OF a man. vino is. never
theless, 'all Beaminster." Soon after
the marriage Rachel finds this out and
begins TO rebel against him as we'll
as her Rrandmothcr. \nd this
bellioN is strengthened 10y her unfor-
tunatclN, discovering hcr husband bust
ly engaged in kissing another wom-
AN Hut even before this she and her
scapcgrace cousin. Francis. have
learned that they love each other. and
disaster threatens. ouly to be avcrted
by a fearful accident to the husband.
which serves to bring them together.
And In the end. other members OF
the family join in the revolt against
the duchess. after which. her decline.
both in power and i'm health. is speedy.
When she dies. Dr. christopher. who.
though me WAS her constant and faith
ful attendant. was not of the Beamin-
ster faith. toas;s tho memory OF the
last Great Lads in England"
Interesting. is not absorbing. 1t is
well enough as a mere story. hut it
is study of what ono Of tho char
actcrs calls the end OF an era that the
boob should bc most highly considered.
Will, as has been suggested. tho con-
nict between AutocracN and Democracy.
with Aristocracy standing half way
between. is not portrayed by the cm-
ploymcnt Of chara clcrs taken from the
formally distinct divisions Of English
society. II is, nevertheless. very clearly
indicated by the revolt of individualis-
tic thinkers against tho old order. ono
of TN" few concrete Illustrations Of tho
evils tina; exist under the \utocraCy
that the author pictures in his novel
j. 10 he found in the Srm lesson
taught 10y the misconduct of the Hoer
War.
This is heavily stressed. but the rest
of his significant commentary is cx-
pressed i'm the conduct of the rcocis
aGainat the duchess. and in the philoso-
phic speeches of another character
one Felix Erun. vino. speaking Of the
war. SAYS. And now this--it will
finish your duchess. your Eeaminsters
your queen in her bonnet. Your sun
days and Your religion aud your Wings
and Tories. and all your hypocrisjes---
No names any more taken just because
they've always been taken, hut new
names made by men who're doing
things" irun's radicalism. however.
is partlN countcrcd by Dr christophcr's
quiet creed. IN explaining what he
means by his idea OF his pictured
Kissing CITY" u" asserts that ne be-
liavcS in AN a2e W,~n a mans neigh
Dor Viii matter luors 10 Il man THAN
himself. when ii wont hc prieEish or
weak to help some ono in worse plight
than Yourself
Brun has ~ interesting theory that
every man has i'm nlm a tiger with
whom ho must deal all his life: it may
he an ambition. q passion q temptation,
or virtue. hut Win il he has TO live.
II he faces IL boldly. he may. he can.
use tt--"ven magnitceutly. Bu, If h..
hides II. prctcndS tina; it isn't there.
builds up walls against it. some day
1t will spring upon MIN. ana then there
VIII bc crisis
Nnd II may be said that il one ac-
ccpts Bruns theory and :hiIcs nv
Christophcr's creed, he may change the
old order-t" IN" benefit uf the world
and OF himself
In many respects The Duchess az
WreXe'' j. - duc novel it is ccri;iulv
a thoughtful treatment OF an evcntfui
period MIR. Walpoie announces that
this is tn" first of a sequence OF three.
10 he connected in place. idea and
time. under the hcaoin. Of The Ris-
inI city Though he asserts that
these three novels. being each COM
plete and independent. VIII not form
a tril"SN, IL viii To- Interesting To com
spar" the completed effort with several
one ia pariicular-of our loudly pro-
claimed trilocics
1t Is To bc hoped aud expected tha,
IN" -" following novels will be bet
ter printed than "rho Duchess Of
Nr"Nc." which, strange TO say. abounds
IN typographical errors.