Evening star., 1925-11-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BELSHAZZAR. William stearps Dav
/. G.. NJ.

same stuff, whether for the vilest slave
on the lord of the Aryans" Cyrus, son
or Cambyses, speaking. And the 5000
years, or thereabout. lying in between
the man OF the moment and Cyrus.
King of the Medes and Persians, have
served only to strengthen the fact
that throughout these long centuries
the heart of man has remained the
same. True, the raiment of life has
altered marVelously-the mere outer
garments Of religion and politics and
government and custom. These have
changed, but human nature not at all.
Ana this is the bond between the old
ana the new, this unchanging heart
OF man wherein the basic passions of
love and hate work out unalterably.
each III its own inevitable sequence of
good deeds or i'll. Such is the tie that
INKS with the present this ancient
story OF BelshaZZar the King, and of
Babylon his mighty city.
+ x x
Romance drawn from Bible theme
automatically sets up before itself a
barricade In the mind of the reader.
In all secular matters the Bible regis
ters with the average man a complete
unfeallty. Naturally, too. For here is
the sacred book of the Christian, its
purpose to set out the rules and pre-
cepts OF religion; a book pointed upon
a state OF mind preoccupied with a
world beyond this earthly one; a ritual
OF religious ceremonial q manual of
spiritual warfare. A book designed for
the nourishment of the soul. Therefore
IT'S characters are strange and unreal
liSureS moving in a shadoWy Oriental
SeltlnS, It's events are symbols rather
IMAM Facts. The Bible is remote in time.
"ileh III circumstances. exotic in atmos-
phere Religion has lifted it out of the
Sphere OF actuality and has set it in
lhe tenuous and elusive mists of spirit
uaI uncertainties. SO, IL comes to pass,
'hal only u daring man of valor counts
upon delivering, alive and sound. q
romance drawn in its substance from
the pages of Holy Writ. Far from los
ing heart, however, at so formidable a
Hdhdlcap, this author deliberately
takes on second one.
= X
Sail down the Euphrates. if you
VIII, questing great Babylon. royal
city 1900 Years before our own era.
Nj around your lone little craft speed
the ghosts of ancient argosies freight
ed with the fruitage of this rich old
garden OF the world. on either side
the river, the land-once opulent with
the pure gold of ripened grain-now
runs away in endless stretches of dun
ana lniertlle field. Where cities stood
mud nuts now gather in sparse settle
inents, like up-tiung hillocks of some
small burrowing beast. Great bare
mounds suggest the tombs of forgot
ten civilizations. Where great Baby
ION stood there is now built a greater
desoiation-place of the owl and the
wild beast and the midnight satyr
dance.
The first task set here is that of re-
creation, nf bringing a dead thing to
ne. Nothing less than 10 rebuild
Babylon within its great square whose
sides are, each, 15 miles long. with
walls so high and thick and enduring
as TO stand one of the wonders of the
ancient world. To erect again its
temples to the gods. each outvving
all the others in splendor, after the
world old way of the gods To set up
anew the palaces of king and priests
III their hanging gardens of delight.
To pattern the city with its old streets
ana shops and places of amusement
and dwellings, of the people whose
business Is 10 serve and protect and
fight for king and god and priest
This amazing task achieved. the sec
ond one is to reanimate the ancient
city with those who gave il life and
significance and splendur and power
Then, to move the Whole-the city.
its people, its king-up into the sym
pathy and understanding and interest
of the present.
Political intrigue and young love
both eternal modern themes-are in
control of this story of BelshazZar
and the fail of Babylon. Princess
Atossa, daughter of Cyrus. King of
the Persians. and promised consort Of
BelshaZZar, King of Babylon. becomes
! here a political pawn in the makeshift
peace between the two kin gdoms But
Atossa already loves Darius, the Per
sian prince and is beloved by him He
il is who as royal emissary of CYRUS
the king, accompanies the princess on
her way to the court of Belshazzar.
According to custom, Il year inter
venes between the coming Of Atossa
and the royal marriage. Darius, pro
teCtor of the princess and representa-
tive of his king, remains at the court
| during this period. 1t is within this
year that the amazing events of this
romance unfold. A year of intrigue
and plotting-Belshazza against Cyrus
and, in a more personal way, against
Darius. priests plotting
against one another for the royal
royal power. Factions among the
soldiery. schisms among the religion
lists. lend to the common fierce inten-
sity of feeling both in the court and
in the city itself. Dramatic moments
appear and then make way for those
of even greater dramatic force. Here
are Daniel, the prophet, and young
Isaiah, both of the Jewish captivity in
Babylon. The whole moves swiftly to
the gates of Babylon to Cyrus, CON
uueror of Belshazzar and deliverer of
his daughter. the Princess Atossa.
A deeply engroSSing romance
wrought out of an intimate knowl-
edge of the meaning of all history,
out of special grasp of the history of
this time and place. out of sympa-
thetic knowledge of the heart of man.
The author possesses, besides, the
poetic gift of sensing and reproducing
the music of the speech of the Orient,
of the Bible, to be exact. The whole
of this moving tale, gathered out of
the Bible and other records of ancient
history, reads like a poem whose ca
dences charm as much as the imme-
diate appeal of it's action captivates
the reader.
HELEN. Edward Lucas White.
George II. Doran Co.
Here, again. stands the clear pur-
pose of bringing the past to life and
setting it down before the reader in
the sure appeal of its common hu-
manity Edward Lucas White this
time puts his classical learning, his
special knowledge of history, his art
Of story telling at the service Of one of
the great enchanters of men-Helen of
TrnN 4 living theme. certainly. for