Evening star., 1932-01-16
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookIopW

There is great advantage In reading
a fiction ~trilogy one part at time. IN
stead OF as whole after publication
| in one volume. In this way each part
of the trilogy has the freshness OF a
new novel and reader is not as likely
to become bored with the prolonged
doiugs of the fictional family. The
second part Of Hugh Walpole's tetralogy
Ca trilogy was not sufficient Tor nus
plan) dealing with the Herries family
of Cumberland, Judith Paris" ap-
peared in the Autumn. The third vol
ume, THE Fortress" is promised 1or
the Autumn of 1882. Because the cnar-
acter of Judith Paris is not as striking
as that of her father, Judith Paris
Is not as original novel as Rogue
Herries." But it is sufficiently interest
ing and well done to be worth reading
To many the charm Of the Cumberland
or English lake region setting IS by
itself sufficient to justify time spent on
the book. The period Is generatlon
later than that Of Rogue Herr1eS, SO
that the events narrated take place IN
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. Sometimes the scene is
transferred to London, when the story
promptly lags, because 1t belongs m
herently to Cumberland. Judith Is the
child who Is born in the last cnaptet
of Rogue Herries" to the Rogue and
his gypsy wife, Mirabell, bob OF whom
die a few moments after the chlld
birth. The last sentence OF the former
novel is the first sentence OF the latter .
THE old woman and the newborn
child were the only living things In the
house"
In Judith Paris we meet many OF
the characters familiar to us In Rogue
Herries." There are David Herries, son
of the Rogue: his wife, Sarah, and
his children, Francis, Deb and Wlll'
Deborah Sunwood, daughter OF the
Rogue; her husband and sons, hum
phrey and Reuben. One part OF tne
double plot centers about the unhappy
marriage Of Francis, son OF Da'lo
| Herries, and the pursuing hatred ol
him by his brother Will. The other
part concerns Judith, her French hus-
| band. George Paris, and her 1llegltl-
mate son Adam, who is, we feel sure,
to be the chief character in the next
volume, In fact we are inclined tc
feel that his existence is due rather
i to Mr. Walpole's need Of him for TINS
next volume than to any demand Oh
Judith's temperament. Judith complnes
many Herries traits, the practical, man
aging urge and the dreamy 1deansn
which brought to the Rogue MS
visions of the great white horse plung-
ing into the lake. She is capable, herolc
and has q strong protective impulse
toward those whom she loves, but Sne
loves only q few-her husband, VINO Is
entirely undeserving; Francis Herrles
Reuben Sunwood, Charlie watson, mel
Cumberland neighbor and friend. Emma
Furze. and later her small son Adam
Adams father she never loves. y.
Judith's ability to manage the at1alrS o.
others Mr.. Walpole says: she asket
no questions. She hated people Wht
asked tiresome questions at an urgeH
manage him cher husband) as sn'
.rnanaeed, old Ritson's rheumatism
Mrs, Ritson's bad clumsy sewing, TOM
Ritson's carelessness about money
voung Alice Ritson's love affairs, ana
like all managing people, she AWAY!
a little despised those VINO succuiiloe'
to her management.
An interesting feature OF Juolti
Paris" is the introduction into its mar
retive of certain famous authors o.
the Romantic Age who were living a
The time of the action of the story
We have plinpses Of Wordsworth ane
his sister Dorothy, Coleridge and M M
wife and Hartley, Southey and MS WIZ
at Greta Hall, Keswick; Shelley ano
Sir walter Scott. Walter Herrles, tne
arrogant son of Will lives near tne
Wordsworths in Cumberland and de.
spises them as half-crazy poeLs. nc
had been slowly riding oy GrasnleIs
Lake when he encountered ehat Iia1s ..ss
old poet, William Wordswortn, anu 1,,i liH
mad sister as they walked along: wal,
ta~ with his accustomed geniality, hac
stonned his horse to speak to them, a.
King might to his subjects. every
ono knew that Wordsworth, as poet
was mock and a dertsion, and M
sister Dorothy was as mad as hatter
Wordsworth wrote poems apout ooIi
kevs and daffodils. He was JOKE u
the neighborhood and that little sister
Of his. with her shabby clothes ane
fierv eve. 80 And yet, speaking to tnen
with all courtesy, he had been IN some
wav rebuked. The comical pam
wordsworth was going fishlng; ms SIS.
ter said something about olrd on
tree. They did not seem at all grau'
fed that he had spoken 10 tneHl
Good day to you, MI; aelip i :,
tpouob he were impatient to be gone
and his sister had wandered about the
road following some bird with hei
aI;ttsrinu sJat eve, = Oh, mad, mac
both sio' Of them! But mad or not, they
should have been impressed by hi
sreeting," In Paris, after the battle
Of waterloo, Judith sees Sir Walter
Scott She attends a ball, where
Plucher and Wellington meet anc
shake hands, but for her that is moi
the climax of the evening, for she
saw standing quite close to her whom
hut Mr.. Walter Scott? His expression
was one of rapt and intense fervor
His eyes, from under their heavy eye
brows, glittered with emotion. Sht
thought there were tears IN them. Al
he leaned forward, his high-domeo
forehead rising into an odd peak, his
strong shoulders set, the nobility oi
his mouth speaking of all the kind
ness (and yet flrmness and stlH oo'
stinacy. tool that Scottish gentle
man is capable of, she felt that she
must speak to him, wisdom, folly OF
no is it not wonderful to be present
at such a moment2' He turned and
saw a modest, stout little body in 9
white gown. As he greatly preferred
modest and simple people to any other
he smiled like brother and gave q
little bow. It is indeed, madame He
turned his eyes back to Wellington
and Blucher. She did not venture
any more" When Judith goes with
Francis and his wife Jennifer to tea
with the Southeys, with whom Mrs
Coleridge is staying, Mrs. Southey was
the conversational one; Mrs. Coleridge
had a tendency to peevishness (which
YOU could understand II 1t were
true that her husband was always
away from her and was a slave to
opium)."
|
The French writer, Paul Morand
showed great powers of observation
and considerable acuteness of interpre-
tation in his book, New York" Even
New Workers could not fail to recognize