Evening star., 1925-09-20
IDA GILBERT MYERS.
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM IL

LIE LIE Il Of AbhAhAM LIN
COLIN. BY William Il. Barton. au
thor Of The Soul of Abraham
Lincoln etc. Illustrated. Indi
!. annapolis: The Bcbbs. Merrill Com
pany.
IT is not greatly out of the way tc
look upon Abraham Lincoln, his life
and influence, as the vocation OF VII
liam E. Barton, so many years and
:" much of energy has thelatter spent
In the pursuit of this subject from,
every vital point of view. Already
has his research produced two i'm
poftant volumes, one projecting the
early life and paternity of Lincoln the
other having to do with the spiritual
side of the man. with his ideas or re.
.licion, with his attitude toward the
orthodox view of Christianity.
Sixty Years have passed since the
death of Abraham Lincoln. This Is a
period sufficiently long to temper the
feeling reused by his tragic death,
time to correct errors Of fact and jude
ment. time for the discovery Of mate
rial hitherto disregarded as unimpor-
tant, and time to set the whole out in
the fairer relations that this perspec-
tive OF so years is able to insure. II
Is from this substa ntial vantage
ground that Mr.. Barton produces the
work in hand. Here he adds new ma
torial to the old. Here he corrects
many errors that have grown up
around the general conception of Lin
coin. Here he sets his work in the
perspective of seasoned conclusions.
More than this. He takes up the work
with a deep sense of personal re-
sponsibility. He has lived on the Lin
coin ground. He has in great fidelity
travelled the Lincoln trail mile by mile
hunting for more facts and new facts
from all reliable sources. AS child
he knew men who We're neighbors of
Lincoln. In word, he came up along
side the real Lincoln tradition, and
this he drew into himself in an inCreaS.
ing ardor as the years went by. All
of this-clearly most uncommon
equipment for the work from both
material and spiritual angles-he has
woven into the story of Abraham Lin
coin. History and biography. both of
most authentic type, stand here as the
result Of this painstaking and eXhaus-
tive study. But, there is story here.
too, with its lure of adventure, its
touches of Imagination. its glamour of
personal triumph in face of great OBJ
SFacles. The simple spirit of Lincoln
himself gets into the story, the spirit
" n:ch made the man great in the
midst of uninSpiring surroundings
midst of the most momentous events.
\ big and beautiful story whose origin
rests in the authors devotion to an
ideal that took possession of him in
early life. an ideal that pushed him
forward to embody. as well as he
might, the life of a great man by way
Of this geographic study.
MONSIEUR RIPOIS AND NEMESIS.
By Louis Hemon. author of Maria
.Chapdelaine," etc. Translated by
William Aspenwall Bradley. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
7 >OUIS HEMON'S new story is about
young F'renchman making his
way in London through some un-
important and uncertain clerical &C.
cupation. A situation that might be
found in any city in any part of the
world. Average young men engaged
In inconspicuous makeShifts of work
ere a worldwide commonplace. This
Is an important feature OF Mr.. He
mons story. 1t fits everywhere. 1t
Is the story of millions of young men.
And one of the clearest and simplest
Hemon achievement. The apparent
business of young Ripois is to get
along in the world-to earn a living.
His real business, however. Is that of
pleasing himself. And in order to be
pleased with himself Ripois must
crafty his taste in women. Now this
rne, now that one. Ostensibly pass
Ing to his work, he is in reality upon
an adventure of conquest. So. through
all the months and weeks and days
of several years here the thoughts
and. passions and conquests of Ripo:s
are really making the fellow--the kind
OF person he is to be. Heartless. when
each session is ended he betakes him
self away to a newtpriZe. And after
a while a shadowy something begins
to follow, now far and then nearer
and near. the man that Ripois has
come to be. This shadow now and
then becomes embodied for a moment
in some slight misfortune that Ripois
attributes to mischance and bad luck.
Not that at all. A consequence this
of what he has himself done. Uncon-
scious that he is creating his own
Nemesis. Ripois pursues his self
indulging way. More and more conf
dent and capable, the Nemesis begins
10 pay. him promptly and in fun for
his own heartlessness, for his own
small dealings with life. And the end?
The end lies in the beginning. and
with that Louis Hemon leaves it and
Ripois. Set on a common level of
middle ground. presented in a crystal
flarltE, SllnDIe as me DlaJneSt moment
in any ones life. the story is marvel
of striking power and tremendous ef-
feet. Even stronger than Maria
Chapdelaine' this new story
ALAN. BY F.. F. Benson. author of
David sPlaize Of Kings etc.
New York: George Fl. Doran Com
pany.
OUT Of the even progression which
- is the way of Mr.. Benson. there
mere emerges a. man whose compost
tion proves to be all self. Not any
where about him does there appear to
he an atem of un-self. Mr.. Benson's
new novel is the story of a distin-
suished writer. man in middle life.
whose outer manifestations of vanity
and narrow jealousy and exactins
service bear no resemblance to the
artist inside him who is able to create
orthily-certainly at first. or until
the bad quality of the outer man be
gan to vitiate the artist. The novel
is in substance an exacting study of
character. Upon the surface it is a
deeply interesting story. The role of
wife To the complete egotist Ia com
pleX and difficult one. To this role
and to the egotist himself Mr.. Benson
bends his seasoned powers of .annlysis
and his suave art of Storv-tclIinc.