The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-27

daunt with The Family John Lane
Company. who is equally severe on
the mother. apparently because she
has eleven children who grow up.
The family is we'll to do and aristo-
cratic; why 1t loses its money Is not
revealed. The parents do not take
the interest in their offspring that
modern science demands; they are
particularly negligent in instructing
them In matters relating to sex.
Moreover the girls are taught nothing
that can help them to carr their W
living and the boys are In no hurry
20 set to work. Even the youngest
drink wine freely. which may be rep
rehensible. but seems to have no last
ing effect. The author fastens her
attention chiefly on one of the middle
daughters. an impulsive girl. who is
browbcaten into marrying a fanatical
clergyman, and watches intelligentlr
what happens to the rest. and on the
eldest son. a dreamer with the making
Of u scholar in him but no force "
character. who becomes a physical
and mental wreck. The others sink
into vulgar occupations. the more
energetic prospecting and the rest
drifting. 1t may have been more diff
fcult in England han in America
thirty or forty years ago for young
people to readjust themselves to al
tered circumstances. but so far as
those depicted in Thu story are con-
cerned 1t seems TO be their own char
acters that drag them down and IL Is
hardly fair to put the blame on the
parents. who behave as most British
parents did then. or on the discussion
Of sex. which Is a purely modern fash.
ion.
Romance OF h FREEHOLD.
II is a striking story that Richard
Matthews Hallet has written In Trial
By Fire (Small. Maynard g. Company.
Boston) with "a hero who can be ad-
mired. lie Is a fireman on u freight
boat on the Great Lakes. rough and
brutal and Allied with a great hate,
which he overcomes. He has man
aged 10 get on his boat a young bank
clerk. an embezzler, whom he intends
to kill. Instead Of being broken down
by the hard life the hoy pulls him
self together. gets TO see things in the
right light, manages to turn the tables
on his enemy and they become
friends. There Is a girl In the story,
OF course. and a melodramatic family
i, history. but these do not ring as true
as the ~deckhands and the firemen.
4 Family Curse.
calls fnr nrsfpf, alil1 %
apply to twentieth century surround.
ings the supernatural devices that Sly
Walter Scott used and to make an
automobile falter when ghosts APP
proach. as Constance Iiolme does in
The Home Coming tRobert NJ. Nc
Bride and Company, New York;. Back
in the days of the Armada Il Spanish
gentleman drifted to the coast OF
Westmoreland and married an Eng
lish girl. Abou, the same time a
flock Of Spanish sheep was taken from
a wreck. and the breed was perpetu-
ated. Every now and then In tn
family some member would revert t.
the Spanish type and be seized with
a mania for wandering: and when
ever there was to be a death In the
family the sheep would come down
from the hills and gather round the
house. Two brothers. the last Of their
race. have come together in the an.
cestral home: one. a country squire
full Of political and social business
driven by a very modern woman
whom he adm!res: the other. the
Spanish type. a diplomat and q scep-
tic. Over their up to date activities
the author let's the mystery creep very
effectively and POLITICALLY. the terror
of the sheep and the attraction OF the
sea. The people are lovable and the