The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 25, 1906, Page 27

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 1906. kg oMI- | ned men | nd merely him possibility of a| be gath- German philoso- | reckoned one of the great- the hand of | t least border on the mi ntended to be dead- | s destructive criticism that persuaded in their | pages will, t of infidelity that will probably be stians if in telling book I report some of the superiative greatness; | to my text and | higher | s about his views of | gins”’—the historic base in | t past on which this stupen- ay fact we call the Chris- | has been bullt. { » softened some by circum- | put, at least so far | al element goes, Chris- | mostly myth. Such| result of forty years’ the dy given to the subject by theologian. He traces ders our Christian myths ars ago back farther c myths about Buddba, teries of Isis, Eleusis and ical judgment of 2tor the legend of the birth ym a virgin is the same as he deems the gospel , “Hail Mary! among women, for the High shall over- Therefore, that holy born of thee shall of God.” Christian eucharist | T the Mithra religion me from Persia and min- worshiping the sun- tells us that 0 included a £ the sanctified | or even wine, ! e of the dis- life to the Mith- same origin he ¢ of baptism. “So ection of these ng of Christian / of death and that the on between ” These! ection of historical of Christian- ‘\ the opinion is | as due to St. Paul's eloquent | fons, and Paul's advocacy | ted from & conversion by vision, | vision was some sort of hallu- | in world religion, r Pleiderer does not believe was any objective reality to the f Christ which Paul saw, and f the words he thought were| Mpoken to him they were the prompt- | of his own conscience. ! the scripture sources, the au- | considers Mark's *Gospel as the st approach to being historical, | even that is dominated by apolo- | motives and Pauline views of which spoil its accuracy. To the' author of the gospel attributed to Luke high praise s given for his literary art, but the German theologian belleves in ! for { new | muaxe | not hesitate to say that the author of | | that go: | flict with the teaching of the doctrine of | rywhere | tions the sum total Luke only to the extent of tolerating | poetic license. He puts Luke in the position of adapting myths into his nar- rative for the purpose of accomplishing aith effects. For instance, in prelud- | ing his gospel narrative with an ex- | ¥ on of the birth of John the Bap- tist he draws on the stories of the birth of God’s men of old, Samuel and Sam- son. *“Probably employing a mythical tradition of John's disciples by which | they glorified their master, Luke made out John to be a sort of wonder child.” It is not wholly to condemn that Pflel- derer mentions this method of Luke. He evidences of great skill in au- e apparent, the transformation of rial and tbe poetic gift of enrich- adorning it with new features of rare he created the artistic form for the religion, the pregnant, noble picture-lan- which alone makes the gospel truth comprehensible in the garb of poetry and holds captive the heart and the Imaxination of | Christian peoples by its magic. In regard to Matthew the eritic does pel altered the original story as told by Mark of Christ's saying, “Why ! callest thou me good? there is none good but God” and made this change for apologetic reasons, 50 that as told in! Matthew the passage should show no con- | Christ’s perfection and divinity. This one item will show that the method of the critic is to apply to Matthew and the other gospel writers the same license of | analysis as scholars give to secular writ- ings. As for the Gospel of St. John, his doubt of the historical worth of that is the most sweeping of all. To accept the critic’s view is almost to consider St. John’s Gospel narrative an eloquent alle- gory invented to teach religious doctrine. Indeed some of the stories of St. John are plainly stated to be wholly allegorical, as for instance the water-wine miracle story of the marriage feast at Cana, and the account of the incident at Jacob's well when Jesus talked with the woman of Samaria. There is a passage on page 115 which glves a curious glimpse of this theolo- gian’s method of reasoning about the di- vinity of Christ. He says that Christ's power over sick souls and bodles, “mi- raculous as it might seem, was not an absolute divine omnipotence, but condi- tioned by the faith of the sick.” Now a Christian believer might reply that such en argument as that could be applied to God himself and prove that his power wags not ‘‘absolute, divine omnipotence;” for it is easy to concelve that God's power is conditiomed on divine laws and the eternal fitness of things. For all we know it may be strictly in accord with the eternal fitness of things that some boons of healing be not granted, even by Di- vinity itself, except solely on condition of faith on the part of the reciplent. This volume is not intended for peo- ple who wish to study Christlanity as faith accepts it; the viewpoint is purely historical. The author at the very outset avows that if the faith-founded view of the supernatural origin of Christianity is accepted then that origin is a complete miracle, incapable of any historical ex- planation. The value of the work will be to those many men and women who have ceaséd to hold the traditional church- faith, but who are “possessed of an urgent desire to learn what is to be thought, from the standpoint of modern concerning the origin of thi science, faith and concerning the eternal and temporal in it” To the mind of this philosopher, who has madeé a life-long study of “The Philosophy of Religion” and written voluminously about it, it matters nat how completely criticism shatters belief in events supposed to have taken place it the past. The real sub- ject of pious bellef is not ‘what has been, but what is eternal. To express this view Ye' quotes: ““That alone which never transpired in any piace, never becomes timeworn!” Here are some extracts which will give an idea of the tribute paid to the pre- eminence of Christ by this religlous philosopher. The first one given might have been culled to express what is su- perlatively the Christian ‘origin, even as estimated by a denier of the divinity of Jesus; it also sounds like a subscription to the Carlylian doctrine of the rightness of hero-worship: eloe in historical Dew forma- into_ome channel by the personality; he fixes the gogl into -an_organism pos— sessing_vitality. Just Arst_impulse, to 80 the tion of coneregatis B i o R e Eves efforts is di deed of a herole and gathers them up bosom of Thomas Jeffersom, of the old Adam and the mother-loving wish to live | up to his new professions of righteous- | ness. This strugsle is kept up with al- | ternate victory and defeat all through the { youth and early manhbod of our hero. Tom fs not half bad, and it is his hu- | manness of liability to err that will ap- | peal to the reader. The early passage | which I speak of gives in brief what is the nature of this struggle between sinful and aspiring impulses as pictured all | through the story. Heré is some sugges- tion of it: Now, shortly after Tom's conversion he wandered out into the forest one day to enjoy a let-up from learning Bible verses and hymns. Just before he left the house he .heard his mother singing: “O For a Heart to Praise My God!” and the sound of the words nettled him cu- riously. It woke up in him the conflict between a yearning for sanctity and a desire to do something awfully: wicked. His reMef from the strain was to get under trees on the mountain side. This day he sought solitude in a favorite picturesque spot upon a rock that com- manded a fine view. Under the rock was a little spring that he, boylike, play-claimed as his own. His medita- tion was interrupted by ‘hearing a splash in the spring. He looked down. A girl about his own age, barefooted, and with only her tangled mat of dark hzir for a head covering, was filling her bucket in the pool. He broke a dry twig from the nearest cedar and drop- ped it on her. “You better quit that, Tnm. Jeff Gordon. I taken sight o' you up there,”” said the girl, ignoring him otherwise. ““That’'s my spring, he warned her dictatortally. The _girl looked up and scoffed. Hers was a face’made for scoffing; oval and finely lined, With & laughing mouth and dark eyes that had both. the fear and the flerceness of ‘wild thinzs in them. Nan Bryerson,” e soge PICTURE FROM A SEMI.BIOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT OF A GIFTED NEW B ENGLISH DEPARTMENT AT SMIT AL NOVEL BY FRANCIS ' LYNCH AND NGLAND WRITER, NOW HEAD OF THE - H COLLEGE. — el ticular peint, which, according to the testi- mony of the Apostle Paul and the oldest gos- pels, can be found only in the person, the life and death of Jesus. Stolcism grasped with remarkable clearness the fundamental religlous problem of the moral freedom of man and his dependence on God, but it did not solve the problem. * * * Its plous submission lacked the moral enthusiasm of thet love which at once loses and finds itself while serving for God's highest purpose and the common good of all. “‘Who ever heard and saw Christ got the tm- pression that something new had appeared, & teacher different from the law-learned; teacher by the grace of God, fn whom a higher power was at work-—a divine spirit, so the faithful felt; * * * in any event a power wonderful in capturing hearts, banishing de- mons and healing diseased bodies. The mystery of such a personality can never be_revealed entirely. ““To this heartrending tragedy at his iife's close one thought alone can reconclle us. ® * * The grain of wheat must fall to earth and die in order to bring forth rich fruit; thi Jewlish Messiah had to disappear 50 that “‘the Christ after the spirit” could live in the faith of his congregation to be—to make way for bim who was in truth to become the world redeemer and the king of the realm. * ¢ ¢ The universal, spiritual kernel of his life work, the idéal of the kingdom of that God who is the good will and redeeming love in the hearts of his children and in the life of his realm—that remained and marched triumph- antly across the world so that even today it 18 the saving and educative force which gives eternal content and value to human life in the individual and the race. (B. W. Huebsch, New York; $1.75. Post- age, 12 cents.) Love and Religion in Novel by Lynde “The Quickening”” is a combination love ana religlous story written by Francis Lynde, who is thé author of the combina- tion political and love story called *“The Grafters.” The former novel impressed some readers with the idea that the-au- thor was more interested in the political than in the love affairs of his characters. In “The Quickening” so much attention is given to the love story that those read- ers who care nothing for a religious story will find this book complete as dealing with love, and they can skip, if they choose, the tracing of the religious devel- opment of the chief character. The scene of the story is laid In the val- leys of Tennessee and the time is the pe- riod succeeding the Civil War Thomas Jefferson Gordon is the hero of the tale, and we are introduced to him when he is & lad of twelve and we are made to ob- serve -the development of his character in three ways, business, religion and love. The heroine, who is the boy's inspiration, is Ardea, the daughter of an unrecon- structed old major, who objects very trenugusly to the coming of the North- ern mien, who bring their business enter- prises of rallroad development and mine exploitation into the lands which the old \ Boutherner regarded as his” ancestral do- mains that were never to be broken up. This old Major Dabney is not portrayed as bad or mean, but he is made ridicu- lous, and Southern readers will charitably hope that Lynde did not attempt in this case to paint a typical Southern gentle- man of the old school, although the pages do give the impression the author is giv- ing up his conception of such type. + The novel opens with a description of 4 revival in Paradise Valley which is quite good, and one of the branchings out from this revival meeting is the best passage to be found in it. It has also been chosen by B. M. Ashe, who illustrates the work, for his most interesting picture. It hap- pened this way: Thomas JefMerson had been dedicated by his mother's hopes and prayers to early conversion and to a life work in the ministry. True to her fond- est hopes the boy of twelve was one of those whom the revivalist preacher’s viv- 1d pictures of hell fire brought penitently up to the mourners’ bench. Then both the pathos and the merriment of the tale begins with the struggle, within the “Shucks! it ain't your spring any more'n it's mine!” she retorted. ‘Hit's on Maje' Dab- ney’s land.” “Well, > don't you muddy it none,” eald Thomas' Jefferson with threatening emphasis. For answer to this she put one brawn foot Geep Into the pool and wriggled her toes In the sandy bottom. Things began to turn red for Thomas Jefferson and a high, buzzing note like the tocsin of the bees sang in his ears. ‘Take your foot out o' that spring! Don't you mad ‘me, Nan Bryerson!" he cried. She laughed up at hith and flung him a taunt. “You dom’t darst to get mad, Tommy Jefty; you've got religion.’ be angry in It 18 @ terrible thing to shackles. There are similes—pent volcanoes, overcharged boilers and the like—but they are all inadequate. Thomas Jefterson searched for missiles more deadly than dry twigs, found none and fell headlong—not from the rook, but from xrace. ‘‘Damnl!' he screamed, and then in an access of terrified remorse, ‘‘Ob, hell, hell, hell “‘Now you've done it,”’ she remarked. ‘‘The dexil'll shore get you for sayin' that word, Tom ottt There was no reply and she stepped back to see what had become of him. He was prone, writhing in agony. She knew the way to the top of the rock and was bresently crouching beside him. “‘Go away; I don’t want you to talk to m he groaned.’ “Youre always ~making sin. ““That's because you're Adam and I'm Eve, ain’t {t? Wasn’t you tellin’ me In revival time that Eve made the ‘ruction 'twixt the man and God?"” 8o they quarrel for a spell—until the girl finally comforts the conscience- stricken boy with a fine red apple she iad in the pocket of her skirt. Thomas Jefferson ate it to the core. Then he thought he had attained sereme sanc- tity again, and he rose and said to Nan: “I forgive you, you wicked, wicked girl!” Her laugh was a screaming taunt. “But you've et the apple!” she cried. “That apple was stole, and you know'd it! And If you wasn't scared of goin’ to hell you'd cuss me again—you know you would! Lemme tell you, Tom-Jeff, if the preacher had dipped me in the creek like he did you, I'd be a mighty sight holier than what you are.” (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indian- apolls. $1.50.) “Uncle William," From Pen of Jenette Lee “Uncle Willlam: The Man Who Was Shif'less,” is a story of the simple life by Jenette Lee. It is the kind of a book that makes you want to know something of the personality of the author. Jenette Lee, for one thing, is quite a mistress of our mother tongue. She was instructor in English at Vas- sar, 1890-93; she was head of the de- partment of English at the College for ‘Women, Western Reserve University, 1898-96; then she married the Rev. Ger- ald Stanley Lee, writer, critic and lec- turer; now she holds the chairtof Eng- lish language and literature at Smith College. Mrs., Lee has written stories since as far back as 1886. Her best-known nov- ela are “Kate Wetherill,” “A Pillar of Salt” and “The Son of a Fiddler.” Last summer she won a prize for a short story called “A Village Child” from Collier's Weekly. She writes anony- mously for the Atlantic. An unpublish- cd book of hers on “Ibsen’s Dramatic Art” is to make its first appearance se- rially in the International Quarterly. She lives in Northampton, Mass., the natural beéauty of which spot has been highly praised by a number of noted writers and travelers. She loves life in the open and the simplicity of character whlcl‘ wakes an ideal of peace and uni- versal brotherhood, and so she writes of this rugged old fisherman, “Uncle William,” out of a strong liking for his type of manhood and manner of life. The story is about a kind-hearted old man who lives a bachelor in a little cot- | tage by the sea, and about a young ar- tist who visits him and paints sea scenes, and about = the delightful Russian woman the artist loves. There is a little bit of stery to it, but mainly the little book is.a' delineation of ster- ling character dwelling in simple envi- ronment and talking out and living out a wise and kindly philosophy—full of love for God and for all mankind. Un- cle Willlam was ‘“shif'less” in a way, but it was a noble kind of shiftlessness; and however little his wealth was on carth there can be no doubt that he laid up great treasure in heaven. Here are some bits of his thought: “You learn just about the same bein’ happy as you do bein’ miserable—only yau learn it quicker.” D RSP S “That's one o' the cur'us things—how different they be, men and women. I've thought about it a good many times, how it must 'a’ tickled the Lord a good deal when he found how different they’'d turned out—made o' the same kind of stuff so.” . e . DI T et “Wimmen and the sea are alike—some ways—a good deal altke. I've lived by the sea sixty vear and I've watched all kinds of doings. But what I'm surest of is that it's deeper'n we be.” SRS et e . “Seems kind o' rediculous, don't fit, when the Lord made a world as good as this one, not to enjoy it some.” & e e LT R idirie . “Livin’s the thing to live for, I reckon.” L “It's cur'us how you do mMiss a thing that's a comfort—more'n you do one't you reely need sometimeb.” e T Iy . “It's al'ays a resk to do your duty.” wie e e teoS w & ® . . “I'd a heap rather trust my friends and get fooled, than not to trust 'em and have 'em all right.” (Century Company, New York. $1.) Interesting Romance by Charles C. Munn “The Girl Fyom Tim's Place” by Charles Clark Munn, is a story of the New England forests by a man who is an enthuslastic lover of nature and of woodland scenery. It relates the adven- tures of Chip McGuire, the daughter of a rough mannered and tough moraled old backwoodsman, who has kept the moth- erless girl with him out in a lumbéring camp, called “Tim’s place,” until she is 16 and a beauty. Then he brutally sells her to a disreputable and ugly half- breed. The price is $300, and while ly- ing awake far into the night Chip over- hears the men haggling about the sum to be pald for her. She is very much frightened and disgusted. Although it is sixty miles through the wilderness to the nearest settlement the brave young girl decides to run away and try to reach some people in the settlement who ‘would protect her. She slips out into the night and makes her start. There is a long description of the perils and terrors of the night. The girl was not only afraid of the wild beasts of the forest and of the pursuit of the brutal man who had .bought her, but she was superstitious and had been taught by the ignorant people among whom she lived in childhood that the forests were inhabited by spirits called spites. Just as she is on the point of exhaustion Chip chances upon the camp of some kind people who are rusticating in the woods and they take care of her. This gives her the opportunity of developing into a civilized woman of fine education, and she ambitiously avails herself of it After her transformation she is known as Vera Raymond, and her history un- der this name forms part II of the novel. (Lothrop, Lea & Shepard Company, Boston. $1.50.) New Novel of Byron and Maid of Athens “‘Maid of Athens” is the name of a new novel, and of course it is about Lord Byron’s Inamorata for whom he wrote “Maid of Athens, ere we part—Give, oh, give me back my heart!” The story is by Lafayette McLaws, author of “When the Land Was Young,” and “Jezebel.” The author is a Georgia girl, from Au- gusta, who is now doing literary work in New York City. The maid of Athens, whose name is Thyrza, is the daughter of the Countess Riga, who when her daughter was a child committed suiclde in order to escape the Turks. The child’s father had just been killed by Turkish bullets and the mother sends Thyrza to Constantinople to be cared for by a friend. She grows up at the Turkish court, and it is there that Byron meets her. He falls ardently in love with her, and the famous poet, in order to be with her, disguises himself as a slave and rows her about on the Bos- phorus and there wooes her and composes poetry for her. His love is warmly re- ciprocated by the maid of Athens. The story pictures Byron as a romantic lover, not as a bad man. Pathos is given to his wooing by describing him as very . sensitive about his deformity. Because of his lame foot he was afraid Thyrza could never love him. When for other reasons she hesitates, he imagines it is his de- formity that repels her. Bryon's famous dedication of himself to the cause of Greek freedom is represented in the novel as having its lead motive in devotion to the Maid of Athens, who had when she was a child been pledged by her parents to Greclan patriotism. The romantic lovers planned to be married, but a Turk who wanted Thyrza for himself craftily ' planned to separate them, and succeeded in spoiling the love affair. We get this bit from the author's description of a hap- py night of anticipation spent by Thyrza when she thought she was going away to be the wife of Byron: “What does a girl dream about on the happiest night of her life? Few of us can answer, for the dream passe§, swept away by memories bitter and more sweet. The sweeter memories are the caresses of baby fingers; the bitter are those of neglect.” (Little, Brown & Co., Boston. $1.50.) California Authors Reach a Wide Field It must be very encouraging to Cali- fornia authors to notice how this big city shows its appreciation of the work of our home workers when their tasks are thor- oughly well done. I will give just two {llustrations to prove that the people of this community are living up to that principle. Let us look at the records of the books most read from the two prin- cipal libraries in the city, the Public Library and the Mechanics'-Mercantile, and notice the favoritism given by the readers to two books by local writers: “The Levantine Log-Book,” by Jerome Hart, editor of the Argonaut, and “Loser’s Luck,” by Charles Tenney Jack- son, who began his literary career by l love him.” - TENNETTE LEZ AoTrHEOP UNCLE HTLLLZAA o= < winning ‘a fifty-dollar prize offered by the San Francisco Call for the best short story. At the Mechanics' Library for the week ending Cliristmas day “The Levantine Log-Book™ held fifth place on the list of favorites; December 30 it was fourth of the week's lendings; the first week in | January it was fourth and was only sur- passed in popularity by the three re- markably fine successes, “The Conquest of Canaan,” “The Gambler’ and “Ths | House of Mirth.” January 27 Jerome Hart's book was agalin fourth and for the weeks ending February 3 and 17 it still | held that high place. For several weeks | at the Public Library “The Levantine Log-Book” stood from fourth to fifth in demand. The Bookman, summing up for | the first month in the year, gives among | the “best sellers” in San Francisco the sixth place to “The Levantine Log-Bgok.” Charles Tenney Jackson's book had an opening career equally brilllant, and in | some of the library heats “Loser’s Luck” outran “The Levantine Log-Book.” 1In| the race of the month's sales it held fifth place. ARy one who reviewed the story | might safely have prophesied a good run | for the book just as soon as his eye glanced over that verveful page which describes the burst-away as the pirati- | cally stolen yacht scudded out of San | Francisco Bay under the commana of the beautiful descendant of the Montezumas, Dolores Delgardo. Gee! but it does you something of the same kind of good as | watching a horserace to recall just a | fragment of the pen-picture of the way the white-winged “Itaca” sped through | the Golden Gate and defled the pursuit | of the swiftly following United States cruiser under full steam: ‘‘From the deck came cries, the rattle of hawsers, the quick burst of a sail, then.the surge of | the yacht's bows as her great boom swing to port. She gathered herself; she leapt from the anchorage; there came the smart spatter of waves against her steel plates.” Even as it is true that all the world loves a lover, so all the world cheers a succeeder. Some successes we love to witness more than others, and one of the causes that puts the plus to our enthusi- astic congratulations is to know that the winner when aforetime he had met the fate of being loser was absolutely game under his losers’ luck. Such a loser was once young Charles Tenney Jackson. Such a winner let us hope he will many times be—one to whom our natural enthusiasm for winners goes out with a plus some- thing that is as deeply felt as it is diffi- cult to express. Here's luck to his “Loser's Luck”—and to his career in whatever other race wherein we find his name among the entries! .. . Otto Pfleiderer, the German phil- osopher and theologian, whose work on “Christian Origins” has just been is- sued simultaneously in London and New York, visited this country in Sep- temter, 1904, and delivered an address before the department of philosophy at the Congress of Arts and Sciences held in the Louisiana Purchase World's Fair grounds. Hg is ranked as among the greatest livihg theologians. The subject of his address was “The Rela- tion of the Philosophy of Religion to the Other Sciences.” The following is an extract from his address on that oc- casion: “It becomes the task of the phil- osopHer of religion to examine whether this correspondence of religion and morality recognized in history is al- ways found in the very nature of morality and religion. This question, in the main, is answered without.doubt in the affirmative, for it is clear that the feeling of dependence upen one all-ruling power is well adapted, not only to make keen the moral consclous- ness of obligation and to deepen the feeling of responsibility, but also to endow moral courage with powep and to strengthen the hope of the solution of moral purposes. * * * The more ideal the moral view of life, the higher and greater its aims, the more it recog- nizes its great task to caré for the wel- fare, not only of the individual, but of all, to co-operate in the development of the welfare of all forms of soclety, the more earnestly will the moral mind need a sincere faith that this iz God's world, that aboye all the changes of time an eternal law is on the throne, whose all-wise guidance causes every- thing to be for the best unto those who . Miss Frances Powell, the author of “The House on the Hudson” and of “The Prisoner of Ornith Farm,” does not live on the banks of the Hudson River, as has been generally supposed. She lives in a qulet lttle hamlet on Long Island, but she was born on the banks of the Hudspn and has a thor- ough knowledge of that region. ces Powell is only part of the author's real name. Shyness prevented her de- claring herself with her first novel, but her friends soon guessed the authorship of the book, as the concealment was very slight—New York Herald. .. . The death of Dr. John Willlamson Pal- mer, the distinguished Southern poet, editor and novelist, at his home in Bal- timore, on February 26, recalls the fact that he was the pioneer in writing stories of old California life, in which Bret Harte afterward won a world- wide fame. Dr. Palmer went to the Pa- cific Coast in 1849, and was the City Physician of San in 1850, a position which gave him a splendid op- portunity to study the strange and ro- mantic scenes and characters which the stories so picturesque and realistic that he contributed to Put- nam's Monthly, after his return from California in 1853. _Before returning to the Atlantic Coast, however. | and other American magazines, | travels in the East. . he visited | Shevard Co.. Boston. nd China and wrote a book. ew and the Old.”, One of his greatest litérary feats was translating Michelet's “Femme" in forty-eight hours. This was done under an agree- ment that he was to forfeit $10 for every hour after the expiration of the forty-eight. He accomplished the task | within the specified time, and was well rewarded for the work. Having won his literary spurs, Dr. Palmer became a welcome contributer to the Atlantic Monthly, the Cen!\:lrl{ work always displaying a warm, glow- ing, Oriental style, caught during his New York Times. . “The Quickening. Francis Lynde's new novel, is so close and intimate a revelation of a man's life that some have suspected it to be autobiographical The author, in reply to letters from in- terested readers, has recently acknowl- edged this to be true, at least in part “The peculiar spiritual tangles in ‘The Quickening” are my own,” he writes, “though I am far from velieving that they are unusual. As a matter of nece: sity, the author translates more or less of his own thoughts and feelings—his personality—into one or more of his characters; -and while I-did not do this with conscious emphasis in the drawing of Tom Jeff, the completed story showed me that I had done it to a greater de- gree with him than with any former fle- tional character of mine.” . . . Professor Lounsbury of Yale again de- molishes the purists in verbal criticism in the April number of Harper's. He champions the every-day free man who says “Tomorrow is Sunday,” and he erit- icises the earping critic who interrupts the other with the remark, “Pardon me, you should say tomorrow will be Sun- day.” The professor adds: “If any per- son take exception to the expressiom, it is perfectly legitimate to ask him if the day specified be not Sunday, what day s it? Important engagements will usually compel him to betake himself elsewhere before he finds time to answer.” The prefessor produces arguments and ex- amples which silence opposition. And his text is always that language was made for man and not man for lan- guage. . According to a statement recently made by Hamilton W. Mable, s good novel should be able to successfully withstand three tests: First, that it shall be interesting, for no matter how able it may be, a dull novel is a dreary failure. Second, that it shall either tell a story so well as to command atten- tion, or describe a character with such insight and feeling as to create genuine dramatic interest. Third, that it shall be, in point of style, clear, strong. pic- turesque or etirring. The five novels of the year just passed mentioned by Mr. Mabie are: “The Masquerader,” “The Conquest of Canaan,” The Debtor,” “The Divine Fire” and “The House of Mirth."—Harper’s Literary Gossip. .. . Te Gerald Stanley Lee. (Used as dedication of her new book, “Uncle Willlam,” to her husband, by Jenette Lee.) Let him sing to me Who sees the watching of the stars above the day, ‘Who hears the singing of the sunrise On its way Through ail the night. Who outfaces skies, outsings the storms. T PR . Let him sing to me Who is the sky-voice, the thunder-lover, Who Rears above the winds fast fiying shrouds The drifted darkness the heavenly strife, The Mm on the sunny sides of all the el Of his own life. New Books Received From the Publishers THE BUILDING OF THE CITY BEAUTIFUL—By Joaquin Miller. Albert Bnndt.n?ublhher. Trenton, N. J. 850, mail MAID OF ATHENS—By Lafayette Mc- Laws. LiRle, Brown & Co., Boston. $1.50, THE EDGE OF HAZARD-By George Horton. Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolls. $1.50. HEARTS AND CREEDS-By Anmna Chapin Ray. Little, Brown & Co., Bos- ton. $1.50. THE GREEN FLAG and other stories of war and sport—By A. Coman Doyle. R. F. Fenno & Co., New York. Popular edition 50 cents net. THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIF- TIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SET- TLEMENT OF THE JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES. (Addresses delivered at Carnegie Hall on Thanksgiving day, ew - York Co-operative Soeciety, New York. & THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CHRIST—-By Paul xl".hhi wLothnp, Lea & Shepard Co.r Boston, . UNDER TOGO FOR FAPAN, or Three Young Americans on Land and Sea—By Edward Stratemeyer. Lothrop, Lea & Shepard Co.. Boston. $L35. THE GOLDEN GREYHOUND-By Dwight Tilton. Lothrop, Lea & Shepard Co., Boston. $1.50. 4 THE GIRL FROM.TIM'S PLACE-By Charles Clag’ Munn. Lothrop, Les &