Evening star., 1919-09-28

Fast and At Present. BY Edward
Raymond Turner, professor Of Eu-
ropean history In the University OF
Michigan. New York: The Century
Company.
is q pity that a book so finely
calculated for immediate useful
ness should be q book at all.
For book is limited in Its
reach. And this one, both by virtue
of its substance, it's spirit and the
way in which it is put, should be
open to the multitudes who are gath
ering their ideas about Ireland from
the inf1ammatory declamations of pas
sfonate propagandists. In substance
history survey of its past and it's
present. Beginning with ancient Ire
land. the writer advances in ener-
getic and spacious. movements through
the turbulent life of the island up
to the nineteenth century and through
more than half Of this hundred years.
This is history. And the writer pre-
sents its high points steadily-with
no desire to minimize the suffering Of
English AL right, the irish all
wrong-nor, on the other hand. to
claim perfection for the Irish and
sheer diabolism for the English. From
this point of time the writer de-
scribes what he calls the New Age;
Atonement and Redress. This Is the
age in which England, animated by
the spirit of humanity. of democracy,
of fair-dealing that is today the DOM
fnant spirit of the world. is trying
in al honesty to help Ireland to a
better self-realization. The study is
SO clean of outline, SO sincere in
spirit, SO warm in manner. while 1t
is able to draw from it ample cor
roboration of what he has discov-
cred. by way Of individual Irishmen.
to be an outstanding misfortune OF
all ireland. ireland has q memory
that brews in its own wrongs. Ire
land fails to count that when those
wrongs were inflicted upon 1t they
were the wrongs that every powerful
country was putting upon its de-
pendent neighbors. Flaming with
these memories. the Irishman Of the
present is failing to take into ac-
count that the world has changed
and, in consequence Of this failure,
sinister designs and refusing to rec
ognize her possible change OF heart
and purpose-a sad misunderstand-
ing which this book aims, in sin
cere competency, to Gear up. BY
long way 1t is the most Illuminating
consideration of this important sub
ject and the fairest that one has
yet been able to get in hand.
THE OLD MADHOUsE. BY William
de Morgan, author Of Joseph
Vance," etc. New York: Henry
Holt & Co. -
One spends almost 500 fascinating
pages here in the search for Uncle
Drury Cartsret. To be sure, the
search lets up now and then, to let in
the eatihgs and the sleepings, the
dressings and the undressings that
must be carried on even though ones
uncle-heAd master of school-did
disappear on the very day Of the
the market man. the mailman. the
boy and the old woman-all way
marks on the grand man hunt-each
in his turn proves 80 engaging that
one, for the moment. loses sight of
Uncle Drury's mysterious disappear
ance and galivants happily on with
in his own good time-Mr. de Morgan
leads one back to the real business
of this book. and the reader starts
all over again. his nose to the trail,
till another inconsequential but ir-
resistible nobody leads him astray
again. So the long matter goes on
through s,o thousand - la and S.;,.! sepa, a.
hand. the mystery ever deepening,
till, on the very last page, the fate
OF Uncle Dfury--the sad fate Of
Uncle Dfury = stands revealed To
read de- Morgan one must set aside
time and take on sense OF eternity.
De Morgan is. master OF the de-
tails of personality-the look. the
gesture, the turn Of word. the ram
shackle mental processes that the
majority have to make use of. the
dress. the special stamp-these
coupled with that amaEing sense Of
all time turned into ieisure-repro-
that are compounds, Just as we are,
of the serious and the trivial, of the
believable and the unbelievable. In
his plots de Morgan 10 romantic
enough. In his special touch and in
his humorous tolerance ne is both
realistic and phiiosophic. His first
novel written at the age Of sixty.
four, his particular method or lack
of method. his going back to the rich
f,illness Of the Dickens novel
these make OF the de Morgan litera-
ture unique and sumptuous thing.
STORM IN A TEACUP. BY Eden
Phillpotts. author of "OId Della
bole." etc. New York: The Mac.
milan Company.
Marriage tests endurance rather
than hsroism. Therefore, every man
stands average, instead Of heroical,
in the eyes OF his wife. The rule
works both ways, but, for the pur-
poses Of his new novel, Eden PHIL
potts applies this half Of It to develop
over her choice Of q nuSnands She
might have had Jordan Kellock in.
stead Of Ned Dingle. Good, open
hearted Ned, in no time at all, was
explored and left without a remain
ing surprise anywhere in his system
for the further Adventuring Of the
mystery-loving female. But Jordan
Jordan was deep. a regular well of
all manner Of alluring possibilities
that Medora was simply aching to in
vestigate and share. Indeed, the ache
intensified and spread to the turning
point Of an elopement. An odd per-
formance, this running away Of the
pair, for. in spite OF the sinister inn
plications of the act. it was. in reality,
as innocent and chaste a. Z monks
penitential pilgrimage. 1t 10 hard
work for Mr.. Phillpotts to play. At
his best he 10 . bit heavy about it, as
rule. But here he does play delight
fully. over the eager efforts Of this
pair to let each out of the scrape-
and to let himself out-without losing
any OF the high ground on which the
adventure originally rested. It is very
human and 1t Is this universal touch
that comes out here 30 sincerely and
adroit1y. The comedy is set in the
larger surroundinEs Of the industrial
life Of Devon-a means Of which Phill-
1t Re the paper-making business. as
once 1t was quarrying and onoe again