Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-19
BOOK REVIEWS.

IN DICKENS LONDON. BY F. Hopkin-
son Smith. Illustrated with charcoal
drawings by the author. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. Washing
ton: Brentano's
virtue OF this captivating
L. book F. Hopkinson Smith
qualities without challenge as
next friend to Charles Dick
ems himself III the task Of pre-
serving old hooks and corners of Lon
don wherein the company of Dickens
folks lived their immortal lives-Nr.
Pickwick and Sam Weller. David COP
perfeld. Peggotty. Little Emily and a
host of others. The method of this
writer's research is constant joy
y pocket copy of one or another of the
beloved tales, tradition, hearsay, docu-
Iueutary proof and a stick of charcoal
are his equipment. Entering, say the
coffee room of George Inn, where Mr.
Fickwick first met Sam Weller, the
writer, drawing out his little book,
promptly stages in this coffee room one
nr another of the familiar scenes be-
tween this Incompatible pair. Scene
Hnd stage fit together like hand and glove
No other spot in all London would have
served Besides. the landlady herself
tffirms il eagerly. the scullery maid
and boots" give color to it, the pass
ing cabby proclaims 1t and the gath
ering neighborhood stands. to man.
behind the fact that this is indeed the
very spot The place thus settled be-
Hond doubt by this reputable company
of witnesses and its own internal evil
.lence. the charcoal fixes it. both in
body and spirit, as suave certainty,
Neivet-deep assurance, that is as con-
Vincing as it is beautiful, that is as
saturated with the spirit of Dickens
London as it is the mastery express
sion cof; a charming art And this is
the way it rs all around the London of
The great romancer. One follows in
delight to~the George and Eulture.
where Mr.. Pickwick stopped when he
came up to London, and to Covent
Garden market. one of the haunts of
Tom Pinch. and to st. Martin's-in-the-
Fields, where Copperfeld found Peg
gotty. and so on from place to place
till he comes around to Westminster
Abbey. where there is a sacred cor
ner that needs no pointing out AS
something to look at this is a beautiful
book 1t is beautiful, also. in its redo
lence of Dickens own spirit, in )
sympathy and intuition, and whimsi-
cal geniality.
NRCADIAN ADVENTURES WITH THE
IDLE RICH. BY Stephen Leacock.
author of Nonsense Novels" etc.
New York: John Lane Company.
stephen Leacock is as entertaining
in "Arcadian Adventures With the Idle
Rich" as he is in his earlier nonsense
Novels" and Literary Lapses." And
this is saying quite enough to satisfy
the reasonable pride of any fun maker.
These adventures In Already with the
piutocrats are series of cartoons
struck OFF in print. Laughable sketches.
certainly. But there is much more than
,aere fun in them For a compacter
body of shrewd seeing and cleverly
satIrical comment, under a smiling
good natured front, it would be hard
10 find The writer throws a wide net
These. adventures take in finance. love.
culture. religion. government, all of
them nourished on the atmosphere of
Plutoria avenue and many of them or
iTinaffng in the exclusive airs of the
tract of the avenue itself Spread out
IN an Incompatible humor mere are
The suave methods of present-day brig
'tndage in that quarter and the expo
sure of the mythic superman of Wall
=treet Here too, is the childish and
stupid rivalry of the churches, and be-
side, II is the trail of the restless,
duesting woman through one and an
originated The various fevers and ar
doris of cleaning up the government
- AN lndescribably amusing bit of ex-
iiafagance-or 1t Is extravaganza? A
thoroughly modern outlook through
out. wherein the author makes clear
aud full demonstration of the fact that
the fundamental quality of human ma
tnre-or at least of human nature on
ness, unqualified self-seeking over
laid with every sort of preposterous
pretense. Mr.. Leacock has never made
more irresistible kind of fun than
n
psychology ever been keener nor his
characterization more lifeiike. nor his
innocent bearing more winningly to
the front, nor his all-round finished
work more conspicuously certain
THE WINNING OF THE FAR WEST:
lsS9-is67. By Robert McNutt Nc
of American history. Princeton Uni
versity. author of Kentucky in the
Nations History" etc. New YORK:
U. T. PutnamS Sons.
This volume is both in intent and ef-
feet. continuation of Mr.. Roosevelt's
winning of the West" The study
covers the twenty-year wave of expan-
sion In the United States that was
produced by the annexation of Texas.
by the territorial gains of the war
with Mexico. by the settlement of the
oregon controversy and by the pur-
The area of the country, the most i'm
portant both in substance and political
implication, was that acquired as a
direct result of the war between the
United States and Mexico. And TO this
war, in It's origin, its progress and in
the significant conditions of its close
the study, in full critical appraisal
devotes eight of its fourteen chap
ters. The history of Texas lays down
the logical approach to this conflict
And of the history of Texas in its vi
cissitOuS- course from dependency TO
Independence, and from this to state
hood. Dr. McElroy gives a complete and
spirited account. The Immediate Sc
queace of the Mexican war was ne
organization. by the United States of
the immense territory that came into
its possession at the close of this war.
of the political aeitations and COM
promises attending this organization
the writer here makes searching and
complete review. In proportionate
fullness of detail he discusses, also.
the various conflicting claims to the
oregon region, and reStateS the nego-
IIations that led to the purchase of
Alaska. AS a whole, the book presents,
IN convenient and availa BILE form, one
movement in our national growth, a
complete survey of the far west in its
origin. its political significance, its
settlement and its organization into
component parts of the republic The
fullest possible use of~--frst- ha nd
sources of information. much of Which