Evening star., 1916-10-15

JULIUS LEvALLON: An Episode. By
Algernon Blackwood. author of
The Centaur." etc. New York: f.
p. Dutton & Co.
- IMMORTALITY involves past as
well as a future. If the soul of
man is to exist through the coming
Il cons of eternity. it must needs
likewise have had its being all
through the dim ages of the past and
up to the doorway of its present ex-
istence, the recognizable span Of hu-
man life. And this span is but a
single stage in the souls progress
toward the Deity-the soul of the uni
verse. Out from it's countless prece-
dent existences the soul brings into
this present stage haunting recollec-
tfons of other times and other where's.
1t brings, too, half-fnished tasks to
carry forward. old obligations to bear
toward fulflllment, broken dreams of
a thousand fugitive scenes and certain
aptitudes of the soul acquired by these
ancient schoolings. Be all this as it
may, 1t forms the groundwork of Mr..
B1ackwood's rarely beautiful romance.
Upon its surface movement, this is the
story Of two Englishmen, schoolmates
web Of circumstance that unfolds In
Kent. in the Pentland hills and in the
Swiss Alps Underneath. 1t is the quest
and partial recapture OF an old ex-
other. a woman-left an unfinished task
to be completed some time and some
where. This life proves to be the time
and the where for another trial of
restitution. AS story 1t is a strange
ly weird invention, that. curiouely
enough, leaves one Impressed with its
general truth. AS an effect, 1t is a
beautiful epic of the unity of the uni
verse, the oneness of life. Here the
wind and the sun, the rock and the
man is. Indeed. man is but a minor
strain in this great dominating nat
ural sentiency, and the soul Of man
progresses in proportion to his feel
etrates and vitalizes every atom of the
natural world. A wonderful Panthe-
ism is revealed here. A more beauti-
fully poetic work, a more thrilling
story of the secret forces Of nature, a
more appealing conception of soul
growth cannot be imagined than the
one set forth in this deeply serious
and profoundly divining study. whose
power lies not so much in the main
current of the story as in its illuminate
ing and numberleSS contributing side
currents.
THE NEST BU1LDERs A Novel. BY
Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale,
author of What Women Want"
Frontispiece by ]. Henry. New
York: Frederick A. Stokes Company.
An interesting novel. It's theme,
thoroughly alive. while expanding
spiritedly, still holds to the common
and convincing levels Of human natures
usual behavior. In a word, this is a
study Of domestic incompatibility, but
with a grace and charm and a kind of
marred and bruised love shining
through its undeniable failure. Love
il mortal Marriage is no miracle
worker. It can neither revive a failing
affection nor resurrect dead passion
It's best is. as often as otherwise
more often than otherwise sorry
and bedraggled substitute for the
winged thing that upon approach it
appeared to be. In this particular case
the pair is doomed beforehand. They
are too alien at heart. The ardors OF
wooing and being wooed are, as q
matter of course, mistaken for an in
finite unity of soul. Tried out by the
griiling facts OF marriage the residue
turns out to be, on the one hand,