Evening star., 1934-09-23

HCHlBALD MARSfALL mas
| ~ for some time held among the
| ~ veterans of English fiction a
4 \ place dedicated to the English
country life of the ancient
regime with a few sad novels Of the
downfall of that regime. His earlier
novels. especially the four about the
delightfully."- individual Clinton family
The Squire'S Daughter" The Eldest
Son." THE Honour of The Clintons'
and The Old Order Changeth," show
all his best qualities-very human
Characterization, gentle, rambling
plots and charming, veracious English
atmosphere. His later ones, alto
gether too numerous, are more or less
repetitious and standardized. Apart
from his chief success. probably partly
responsible for it, Archibald Marshall
has had an interesting journalistic
life. involving associations with many
newspapermen of Great Britain, VINO
appear in these pages. This book Is
centered about his Journalistic expert
ences, and there is a hint OF other
biographical volumes to follow. Like
Hamlin Garland he is looking back
over full literary life and gathering
together recollections of friends and
colleagues who have travelled the road
with him.
Lord NorthCliffe is the most inpor-
tant figure among these companions
on the way Mr.. Marshall first met
him while living at Beaulieu, in the
New Forest, when Lord NOrthcliffe
was Alfred Harmsworth and had come
down from London as the guest OF
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu for speech
of Prime Minister Balfour few miles
away at Southampton. Lord Mon
tagu invited Marshall to join the party
with the kindly motive that an ac-
uuaintanCe might lead HarmSWorth
to ask Marshall to write for his papers
It was only after some years, however
that this happy result came about
Robert Hugh Benson and E. +. and
Maurice Barring Benson were early
Cambridge friends; Henry James
Hilaire Belloc. G. K CheStertOn. Ford
MADDOX Ford tthen Ford MADDOX Huef-
fer. and Edmund GosSe were friends
of later years. Mr.. Marshall makes
several satiric illusions to Ford MADDOX
Ford's claims in his book Return to
Yesterday" to intimacy with different
authors of prominence. among them
Henry James and GalSWorthy, and
devotes several pages TO Ford's mis-
representations about their friend Ar
thur MarWood.
The Boer War. during which he was
a pro-Boer, brought Mr.. Marshall into
regular Journalism, when he became
secretary to the editor of the Liberal
Daily News. with the opportunity OF
writing for the paper. The only other
paper with which Mr.. Marshall was
ever connected was the Daily Mail
and his account of his newspaper eX-
! periences shows him to have been al
ways much more of an author than a
! journalist He went into one pub
lishing venture, taking over, with L. j.
Bathurst and R. B. ByleS, the new
firm of Aston Rivers. Some Of Mr..
Marshall's travels find their way into
this book He went to Messlna TO
/ write about the earthquake, to Aus
tralia to represent the Daily Mail at
a meeting of the Chambers of Com
merce, to British Columbia to prepare
an article on timber for an advertising
firm, and to Switzerland, where he
lived for four years. William Lyon
Phelps, long an admirer of Archibald
Marshall, has written the introduction
to this book.
A SPY OF NAPOLEON. BY Baroness
Orczy. New York: G. P. Put
! MANS Sons.
ROUND the figure of the great
Napoleon, upstart, revolutionary
leader, military hero, conqueror, die
tator, emperor, gathered human speci-
mems Of all types, for whom he hac
one use or another. In his dangerous
climb to fame and the top of the un-
stable French state, he needed as
aides people who were not troubled
by scruples, and he had no difficulty
in finding them. Napoleon III. a
! man with none Of the genius Of his
| famous uncle. was vain because of his
! position as head of the Bonaparte
| family and early became possessed OF
| the fixed idea that he was destined
| to occupy the imperial throne as the
successor of Napoleon I. When fate
at last fulfilled his ambition, he inll-
| tated as far as he was able the meth
ods of his greater relative. For one
thing, he promptly plunged weary
France into war. first the Crimean
! War, then war against Austria, the
| Mexican War, the Franco-PruSSlan
War. In one respect he almost SUR
! ic in his
pionage organization, the Cabinet
Secret.
Baroness Orczy a specialist in the
| field of Napoleonic history, which she
has translated into stirring fiction IN
numerous romanceS, such as The
Scarlet Pimpernel' and THE Way OF
the Scarlet Pimpernel," centers this
new novel about the Cabinet Secret
of Napoleon III The young Vicomte
Gerard Paul de Lanoy. tall and hand
some of course, brother of the grand
marshal of France, is the victim OF
the espionage system because of his
fidelity to his dead friend and his love
for beautiful Spanish spy, Juanita
Lorendana. Pierre du Pont- -CrolX
whose friendship with Gerard is as
| tflaC CT Damon anu Ty lIlldo, 10 oiAO'
because Of an attempt to aSsaSsinate
the emperor, and Gerard is discovered
by the secret police in the act OF
burning his friends papers. He is
condemned to be shot and has pre-
pared his mind for the same disgrace
full end which he has witnessed in
the case of his friend, of being shot
in the back and thrown into fosse
Then. surprisingly, he is summoned
| before NJ Toulon. head of the dread
Cabinet Secret, and proposition is
made to him. He is to be allowed
to live, under certain conditions. He
is to leave France, be considered Off
cially dead, be allowed to retain gen.
erous portion of his property. pro-
vided that before he leaves he is tc
go through the marriage ceremony
with a woman whose identity he is
not to know. Life is sweet, especially
to youth, and he consents. He leaves
Paris, and the beautiful spy. Loren
dana, his official widow, remains be-
hind to use his name and social po'