Evening star., 1924-09-21
Reviews of New Books

| passage of Percy Bysshe Shelley
| across the short measure of his years.
| Throughout Shelley is the dazzling
hero of this high adventure. Not ex-
| clusively the poet here, not even
| largely that. Rather. the passionate
child. the vehement lover, the reck-
less individualist, the defiant nom
| conformist. Into this life women
| Come-and go-as maids and mis-
| tresses and wives do in made-up
novels. These, however, are real
women. made in q sense historic by
the reflected light of Shelly's unfad-
! ing luster. In the hands of NJ.
Maurois these women come alive as
| Shelley himself does, all stepping out
or the stor., in warm and appreciable
.,ontacts with the present. Here is
Byron, too, as alive as life itself-not
| loVable, not even admirable-but
| very real. 1t is wayside hand that
| shaped this life" in the pattern of
| romance, ornamenting it's sweep of
| action with delicate art of tracery
nd shading, pointing its effect with
ubtletics of wit and CLEANS of satire,
'olidifying the whole to the recog-
nized requirements and uses of BIZ
ngraphy by way of dramatic fictional
form.
MARlFLOR. By Concha Espina.
| iIdHSldteQ Dy FRANCES douglas.
| New York: The Macmillan Co.
In one sense this is the romance
of place and people-the story
of bare and rocky corner of Spain
hat has sheltered and preserved for
| thousands of years a racial remnant
| roWded back into its protection and
| SecluSion. In another sense it is the
! romance of an individual the story
| OF unavailing protest against tradition,
| I'D custom, the fruitless claim OF the
| one against the many. Poverty, work,
narrow range of unchanging ideas
| these set the pattern which this author
has worked out in fidelity to both the
| form and the spirit of this primitive
| backWater of human existence. Against
| this drab background the vivid Marifior
| is projected. A young woman, come
! back to the old place after a childhood
| spent on the outside where life is
urrent sweeping and strong. The ro-
nance makes its way through the eff
| ,orts. all fruitleSS, of Mariflor to bring
| over into the hard life something of the
beauty and brightness of the outer
| world. something of the stir and in
| Splratlon of change, new thoughts, new
| aims. Marit1or brought love back with
| her also, the love of a wandering poet.
| to whom the surprising beauty of the
girl made irresistible, and transient, ap-
peal. The course of the story is down
ward-toward remuneration, toward final
| conformity. toward the old round of in
breeding that had contributed so pow
| erfully to the static condition of the
| little countryside. Its close comes with
| MarifiorS failure either to redeem her
/ sell or to mitigate in any measure the
! hardness and uglinesS of this aloof and
| perfectly preserved community. An eX-
ceedingly fine art has gone into the
| making Of this picture. 1t is realism
| of unqualified sincerity. II is moreover
q distinguished example of the eXcep-
| ton in realistic literature, since it is
d beautiful and distinguished structure.
! Its high merit has already been recog
nized and rewarded in a public award
where many competitors sought appeal
from the critics.
THE BUILDERS, 4 Story and Study
of Masonry. BY Joseph Fort New
ton, Lift. d. New York: George II.
Doran Co
What is Masonry What is it's
source and what does it teach? What
is it trying to do in the world? This
| book is Joseph Fort Newton's answer
to these questions. Its mission is to
put into the hands of members of the
order a simple and comprehensive
survey of the subject. \ text book of
.hdSoiI II lHdH lHlS. L OF,
the authors breadth of view, his
scholarly seizure of the subject. his
simplicity of approach and delivery.
the beauty of his presentation AMI
the high fraternal spirit of the whole
these combined in a beautiful en-
semble will place the story in many
hands outside the borders of Masonry
itself. The story falls into three parts
Prophecy, History, Interpretation.
The first has to do with the hints
and foregleams of Masonry in the
early history, tradition, mythology,
symbolism of the race-tinding its
foundations in the nature and need
of man, and showing how the stones
wrought out by time and struggle
were brought from afar to the max
ing of Masonry as we. know il. The
second part is a story of the order of
builders through the centuries, from
the building of the Temple of Solo
mon to the organization of the mother
Grand Lodge of England, and the
spread of the order all over the civ
ilized world. The third part is q
statement and exposition of the faith
of Masonry, its philosophy, it's re-
ligious meaning, its genius, and its
ministry to the individual, and.
through the individual, to society and
state" Pointed upon a special pur-
pose. this highly spiritual and beau
tiful advocacy of fraternalism in its
broadest sense, and the sound historic
content of the study, commends itself
to all readers, as well as to those
who accept it as manual of Ma
sonry.