South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-09-05


paint a picture Of the rise in his
country OF that trading bourgeoisie
which is so much IN the talk OF to-
dav. The leaders IN the strife are
Edward the Fourth, trader-king
and Richard Neville. Earl OF War
wick. Kingmaker and Last OF tho
Barons. Around them cluster the
lives Of many others in the great
struggle. The scene is set for the
Battle OF Barnet, April a. l4tl' IT
the Wars OF the Roses.
Raw. cold and dismal dawned
the morning OF the fourteenth OF
April. the Easter Sabbath. In the
fortunes OF that day were involved
those Of all the persons who hither-
~ IN the course Of this narrative
NAV have seemd 20 move IN sep
arate orbits from the fiery star Of
Warwick. Now, in this browning
hour the vast and gigantic destiny
Of the great early comprehended an
upon which its darkness or its light
had fallen. not only the luxurious
Edward. the periured Clarence, the
haughy Margaret. her gallant son.
the gentle Anne, the remorsetul
Isabel the dark guile OF Gloucester
the rising fortunes OF gifted Has
tings-but on the hazard Of that
dav dested the hopes Of Hiyard-
and the interests Of the trader Al
yvyn. and the permanence Of that
frank. chivalric. hardy, still hair
Norman race. Of which Nicholas Al
yvvn and his Saxon class were the
rival antagonistic principle. and
Marmaduke Neville the ordinary
TYNE Dragged inexorably into the
whirlpool OF that mighty fate we're
even the very lives OF the simple
scholar. Adam Warner. of his OBJ
scure and devoted child, Sibyll.
Here. into this CORY ocean, all scat
erred rivulets and streams had has
tened 20 merge at last.
But grander and more awful
than individual interests were those
assigned 10 the fortunes Of this bat
tie. so memorable in the English
annals-the ruin or triumph Of a
dynasty: the fall of that warlike
baronage. OF which Richard Neville
was the personifcation. the crown
ing flower. the greatest representa-
tive and the last.-assOciatedl with
memories Of turbulence and excess.
il is true. but wit htne proudest and
yrandest achievements in our early
history: with all such liberty as had
been vet achieved since the Nor
man Conquest: with all such glory
as had made the island famous
here with Runnymede. and there
with Greasy: the rise Of a crafty.
Noting. imperiOus Despotism, based
upon the growing sympathy of
eraftsne nand traders. and ripening
on the one hand 10 the Tudor
tyranny. the Republican reaction
under the Stuarts. the slavery and
the Civil war. but on the other
hand 10 the concentration of ali the
vigour and life OF genius into a
single and strong government. the
s.races. the arts. the letters of
polished court the freedom, the
energy. the resources of a CONNER
ciaI population destined 10 rise
above the tyranny at which it had
first connived. and give to the EN-
ancipated SaNons the markets of
the world. Upon the victory Of
that day these contending interests
this vast alternative in the future.
swayed and trembled."
Despite the stilted language Of
another DAY and the pOrtly size of
the volume. "The Last Of the Bar
ons" rs read today because the
characters who play so large a part
in one Of the great human strug-
giles toward liberty are all human
beings and not mere puppets. The
story is one Of intrigue and OF bat
tie. centering nominally in the Wars
of the Roses and the struggles OF
the two great houses OF York and
Lancaster: yet the interest IS far
larger than a mere dynastic one
the rise OF the middle class 10 pow
err az the expense OF the baronial.
the growth Of a national spirit in
pIace of mere individual loyalty &c
"a feudal Chieftain, is the important
thing i'm this manifestation of class
consciousness, the plain people unit