Evening star., 1920-03-28
Reviews of New Books

RAYMOND ROBINS OWN STORY. By
William Hard. Illustrated from
photographs. New York: Harper
& Bros.
ROM the press and common
X hearsay one has gathered in
many odds and ends Of impress
sions concerning the work Of
Col. Robins in Russia as a member OF
the American Red Cross mission to that
country. A bolshevik himself. says
one. Not a bit OF 1t. retorts William
Hard. A socialist, then. Not that
either. An officious fellow. at least.
one who plays the dickens with red
tape and other forms of correct pro-
cedure, one who refuses to sit at a
desk fumbling reports that never re-
port anything. one who tramps the
streets in outdoor mind" rubbing ell
bows with every brand OF Russian
available, who breaks into the sacred
presence of Lenin himself, and makes
use of Trotsky to meet his irrepressi-
BILE will to get something done Yes
he Is all of this admits Mr.. Hard. Then
he goes on to tell the informing ana
exciting story of Russia as II was en-
countered and studied and interpreted
by Col. Robins. An obvious difference
between this man and the remaining
ninety-nine out of every hundred is
that he makes use of the tools at
hand to gain his ends, instead OF SIG
ing away time and opportunity Tor
ideal means that do not and cannot
exist Bolshevism is dead wrong. ac.
cording to Col. Robins himself. wrong
in principle. wrong in aim and enect-
But, at the moment. II is working In
Russia. and II is the only thing mat
is working in the interests OF order
IL hn1
there exists in the heart of Russia
enough of essential democracy 10
work out. finally. from this most un-
democratic theory into a forward-fac-
ing march toward national unity ano
strength. His message-and the point
of this story is clearly a messages
to let Russia alone, politically rms
is a civil war that resents interfer-
ence, Just as we resented even an ap-
proach to interference when we were
settling our own supreme problem OF
national unity Help Russia with ma
terials and trade Keep hands off from
it's domestic political revolution. The
book is most informing. Its manner is
of the convincing knd-frank. fear
less. unsentimental. substantial and
wholly sane.
THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
BY William E. Barton. author of
"A Hero in Homespun." etc. New
York: George H. Doran Company.
This book treats Of the religion OF
Abraham Lincoln. Religion. however.
is a matter of ones life. and not
merely the statement of a body of
theological opinions. Therefore. the
book is a study of Lincoln's life from
the standpoint of intellectual and
spiritual development. Books have
been written about Lincoln's religion.
Controversy has arisen over this
point. This author takes into account
not only what has been written on
the subject. but he brings to bear
also new lines OF investigation that
have opened to research. To this bulk
of material he applies a scientific i'm
personality in the evaluation of the
evidence at hand, and upon this evil
dence he constructs an argument in
support of his conclusions concerning
the faith of Abraham Lincoln. One
may not be deeply concerned over the
subject under discussion, but he is
interested in any new material. any
new point of view, any superior
method of Interpretation of the great
American. The intimacy of this study.
the vividness of the personality which
it evokes, its touch of originality and
freedom from conventional treatment.
combine to make this a highly valu-
! able contribution to the literature
that has grown up around the great
President and liberator.
WOHLDLlN6S. by Leonard Merrick.
author of Conrad in Quest of His
Youth" etc. New York: E. p Dut-
ton e. Co.
| tale in the Kimberley diamond mines.
There he goes most terribly wrong.
deliberately taking upon himself the
role of impostor. After this one sees
him in stately English home-the
prodigal returned after years of wan
dering to rejoice the heart of his
old father. Not new theme. you
see. Quite a threadbare one in fact
| Its wholly fresh effect here lies in
the skill with which MIR. Merrick
| creates hero to whom one warns
! in spite of the shameful deception
that he puts over on confiding old
man. Not alone in this single char
acter, either. does the clear fascina =
tion of the story rest. since each of
| the four other people engaged in
| ing personality in his own individual
right With atmospheres Leonard
Herrick is as facile as the sun itself
so. whether he is dealing with Sout h
Africa or an English countryside, he
produces rich and satisfying illu-
sion of the place itself. 1t is a pleas
| ure to say that. without any real
overstrain to ones sense of plausi-
bility. this delightful story extricates
the hero. in measure at least from
the difficulties of his own crowning
| misdeed. Plain Justice in his case
would have offended the reader most
! woefully.
LEGEND. BY Clemence Dane, author
of First the Blade" etc New
York: The Macmillan Company.
A story of unusual structure. this.
1t is all talk. No paddings of descrip-
tion are used here. no connecting
links OF narration. Instead, a dozen
people-more or less-come together
selves out. Their theme is a writer.
Madala Grey. Their aim is to make
literary appraisal of her novels.
Madala Grey belongs to this group of
writer's but. on this particular even
ing. she is at home. having a baby
and. incidentally. dying. BY virtue of
Madala's preoccupation along these
lines the company ignorant of her
special dilemma. have a splendid
chance to sum Madala as a novelist.
to label the school to which she un-
doubtedly belongs despite certain
literary indiscretions that might set
her off with an inferior order of in
vention. The exercise Of the evening
exhibits many strains of pure huma n
nature on the part OF the disputants.
Notwithstanding the central fact that
an acknowledged writer of genius.
Even the best of human nature ha $
feline traces about it. Certain side
lights reveal that nobody is right
about Madala as a writer, about her
own conception of her work, about
her own deep-seated aims and desires
but the talk goes on creating the
legend of Madala Grey. Hints of an
old romance, and a new one, develop
;,, ocin n ha fro