New-York tribune. [volume], November 20, 1915, Page 8, Image 8

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T
W1
v V '
AND COMMENT
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
The Belgium and Luxemburg Neutrality Treaties
?Mary Austin's "The Man Jesus"?
George Washington as Farmer.
BKI.GIAN NEITRAI.ITY.
LWt.l.AM'?- ?.I AKANT! 1 TU BILQII M AM) .
I ? \I.M1. BO v. .- . ? ?V Tr*a?!?a I
Kv ? v Sanj.r of LI ? 1 Harrtet?, and ?
H T J N.r?ur. Fcllo?? of Trlntta I ? "'' I
Urn.' ..' ' :
n?r'? I
Tin: \i;t traj.ity ?>r mn/ii'M * ?a
th? he'ar'.ai. ? a??i I'-. 1? III A ?.???? |g |- -?
. : . la
Tuel r. lKc'or ef Law ?:rr.... pfa. a. :t- Tl.a
funk * Wat a a I
A model of moderation and imparti?
ality, Meser? SonffOT and Norton's
little book will be found a mine of in
forrnation. It opens with a brief his?
torical survey covering the period
from the formation of the kingdom ?if
the Netherlands, through the aaoaaalon
of Rcigium, to th.- war of 1870 the
period during which the neutrality of
Luxemburg and Belgium frequently ?
came up for diplomatic discus- '
?ion. Thi? section i? followed by ori? !
on the nature of treaties of guarantee
|l general and on international lega
views of them, and on the meaning of !
neutrality and the circumstances in |
which the obligation? of a guarantee
arise. The Ottoman guarantees arc ,
then considered at some length, because
in international law and in diplomacy
they have furnished the best bases for
argument. There 1? a chapter on the
Luxemburg guarantee, and, Anally, the
ca?e of Belgium neutrality I? discussed
In all it? bearing*.
The matter i? not ?urh plain ?ailing
an ha? been generally supposed. When,
for instance, in 1867, Holland negoti?
ated with Napoleon the cession of Lux?
emburg, Iyord Derby tried in vain to
keep the word "guarantee" out of the
new treaty that followed the preven?
tion of the plan. He proposed Instead
the phrase, "The High Contracting
Parties engage to respect the principle
of neutrality of the tirand Duchy."
Bismarck insisted on the guarantee
?this is curious reading to-day), and,
won, but Lord Derby declared in the
'.ouse of Lords that "in case Oi
lectiva guarantee each guarantor has
Tales of the trenches by
war ? correspondents are
familiar, but what war
correspondent can tell us
about the British Grand
Fleet, the mightiest arma?
da the world has ever seen?
One man.
The official represent?
ative o? the whole Amer?
ican press.
The first correspondent,
American or British, to
visit the British Grand
Fleet.
His name is
FREDERICK PALMER
His book is
MY YEAR OF
THE GREAT WAR
It is a wonderful book.
Read it.
At all bookstores. $1.50 net
First Edition Sold Out
on day of publication.
Dodd Alead & Company
Publishers New York
A delightful novel
The atcry of a woman, written
with perfect intigbt into a ?omtn'i
???Klag? ?Mm i ?? - Saw?
The ^ ^
Prairie
Wife
By Arthur stringer. Pictures in full
tnlor by Dunn At all Storru, J/.25 ne:
Tho Robbt-M?rrill Contmamy, ruUitkon
When Owen
J o h n s o n
writes about
youth, love and
ambition you are
sure of a good novel,
and you get it, whole?
some, romantic and ex?
citing, in
MAKING
MONEY
fut?IIahet! by STOKE*
Books Bought
ft> C?Nte? 6-ti.iha ??Mtelr- Waettaj.
"?r? A?1in;n
latratoi? and ulaaWs
vail find It to their
??v*: ?>.aawnlcato ?run un t*?
for? <J:?;,<-?.r.?: of 1.,?-*.. or ?mall oas*tO<
non? ot Look? autoajrap?ks attela or
Ofh*r litrrar, property; prompt '?-mova!
rent, flowr, HENKT IfALKAN No?
K.iV ? Larg??t i look atora? 42 Mroadway
ai.Ot: Na-wKt . N. r Toi Broad ISOO-SMl
Autograph
a .. a ? )
1 ?tier?
-____________ ' Tut). "Tk? etileiUf, ' Her:
;
only the duty to act according- to ti
trsaty '.?hen all the other ;?uare.ntoi
??ere ready tc act Hke?vise: that, cons
qnently, if one of the guarantors hir
???.?If should violate the neutrality i
Luxemburg the dutv to act accordir
to the treaty of collective guaranti
?vould not accrue." Oppenheim, in h
"International Law," declares this di|
Inmatic viewpoint to be incorrect.
Hetween diplomacy and internationi
law the general question of guarantee
neutra!:i.v II a vague one, accordin
to the authors: "The fact that sorr
expressif stipulate that in cei
tain events military action fhall 1:
taken sho?vs 'hat it is not recognir.r
that a guarantee ccrtair.lv impo'-e
?BOS ." ObligatiOB." We have, ho??
ev-r. in the ca?e of Luxemburg an
Belgium, these facts:
Admitt.ng. for the sake of argu?
ment, that in ISM bellitrc rent
troop? Bais?t pa?s through .1 neu?
tral country, if the neutral did not
object, and that the Hague I (in?
vention of IfOI was riot intended
to alter the construction of all
earlier treaties in which the word
neutrality occurs, yet in fact, Bel?
gium did object. Belgium was en?
titled to object, and therefore Ger
mnny, by usine force, did breBk the
treaty of 1*39. By IM1 it was gen?
erally recognized that belligerent
troops must not pass through neu?
tral territory the Hague Conven?
tion only confirmed the generally
received opinion. Hence Germany,
although Luxemburg did not, and
could not, actively resist, broke the
treaty of 1R87.
Moreover, the Belgians, while havini
the right of non-resistance under th
treaty, did not violate neutrality b;
offering resistance to the invasion. A
for Sir Edward Grey, under the tradi
tionnl British diplomatic interpretatioi
of neutrality treaties two ways wen
open to him. On July II, 1914, he toll
M. Cambon that "the preservation o
the neutrality of Belgium might be,
would not sa?, a decisive, but an im
portant fnctor in determining our atti
tude." He chose the course which, thi
authors belie? c, Palmerston and Glad
stone ?vould have taken, Lord Derby'!
opinion to the contrary notwithstand
ing. "It is satisfactory' that S ft* Ed?var<
Grey ?should have adopted the tradi
tional view of our obligations."
In conclusion the authors complaii
that diplomatists do not appear to havi
the requisite training or capacity fo:
drawing up treaties which define wit!
accuracy the obligations intended to b<
imposed. One suspects that it is no
lack of training or incapacity, but de
liberate diplomatic purpose.
Dr. Fuehr's hook is based chiefly upoi
the secret diplomatic and military cor
rcspondence found by the Germans Ir
Brussels, proving, according to theii
argument, that Belgium broke th<
treaty herself by secret military con
vont ion a with England and France. Ac
cording to one of these document?, thr
plans of the general staffs of Great
Britain and the little kingdom wert
completed as long ago as April, 1906
but Dr. Fuehr admit? frankly that this
document contains the qualifying
phraaa, "in case of a German invasion.'
The mobiiiration plans of the French
army in 1914, the presence in Belgium
of French troops before the declaration
of war. all these points, already made
familiar to us, form part of the "case.'
The author lays most stress, however,
upon a secret compact assumed to have
been concluded between Belgium and
England in 190?, in payment for British
consent to the annexation of the Congo.
But of this Dr. Fuehr fails to adduce
proof of any kind. The best he can do
is to say that "there is hardly an?
doubt" of it. The diplomatic view, of,
Destral treaties explained at length in
the English book are adduced by the
German jurist, but there remains the
German Chancellor's admission in the
Reichstag that the Empire was com?
mitting a wrong under stress of neces?
sity. And, finall>, so fur as the weigh
of public opinion in this country is
concerned, the ??hole question is no
longer one of international lav. or
diplomacy, but of the manner in which
Belgian neutrality was broken.
THE MAN JESUS
A Modernist's Dogmatic Exe?
gesis.
mi ?IAN naroa R?tng ? -?m a -
? ?!. Uf? ?' '. T.S'-l.liig t,f Th.. l'rcpli?! of >?'??
??-?: lu Mai? Au-'ln. II?.
. Hr. .
Mr?. Austin's sprightly and strictly
up-to-date studies of some phases of
the charactc-i aad some .?ceres in the
life of Jesus might appropriately have
been called, after the fashion of vari?
ous biographieo of a few ?ears ago,
"The Real ,'o?hua hen Joseph." For it
la as Joshua, or Jesus, the son of Jo
sr-ph, arid not as a miraculous incarna
tion of Deity, that BBS endeavors to
prex-nt Hit?', and we are assured that
?Be talll us "??hat He believed and
did, ratket than what He i? reported
;?? Save said." By what authority ehe
BBS enabled to do this does not
appear. It II scarcely to he supposed
that she has BBS special and exclushc
knowledge nf arl at He believed arid d.d.
apart from the record which is open
to all; and to accept some of that
record as sure proof of what He be?
lieved and did, and to dismiss other
parts cavalierly, as merely what He is
reported to have said, docs not seem to
be an altogether convincing method
of exegesis.
Mrs. Austin appears, in fact, to have
followed the method of other writer?
of "true" biographies, and to have at?
tained a result similar to theirs. In
gtoed of beginning with an open mind,
and searching thoroughly and impar?
tially to ascertain what manner 01*1
i man Jesus was, according to the only '
| sources of information accessible to
th* world, ?he seems to have begun
j with SSt own preconcuved notion of
what He waa, or what He should have
(ten, and then to have sought in the
r.'oid and in imagination proofs to
support her theory, rejecting or ignor- ,
mg all that ran counter to it. Thus I
?he dieail r? as mere legend all the
t<?rv of Hit birth and early Ufa, in
eladias H.? Judean origin, and dwell?
upon Ble identification with Nazareth
and Galilei rather than with Beth]?
tMH,??-<a'?' mm - -
MOUNT VERNON STAHLE. BUILT IN 1733. SHOWING THE POWELL COACH.
Irrru ' (IrTif U ??!,<. _-"?. Ia-ir.?r." The Ilcbha- Merrill CoiBDanr)
h?m and Judea. It i? not clear whet
er ?he does this for the purpo?e
discrediting his Mes?iah?hip, or ?imp
for the sake of "realistic" effect ai
without regard to it? significance,
like fashion ?he insists that John tl
Baptist "must have been a Galileai
because of the natural temper of h
mind and because of th?1 fact that
the last part of his life he was amcntah
to the civil authority of Herod; tl
fact that he is most explicitly dec?an
tc have been a Judean. and the re
sonable supposition that in the cour
of hi? peripatetic ministry he tro
elled from Ju?lea into Galilee, b?ii
quite ignored.
In ?onie place? the love of seen
effect, local color, and up-to-date reu
ism leads the author into ?trango co
tradictions of the reconl n.nd of tl
weight of reasonable assumption. Thi
shs 'inscribes the baptism of Jesus i
Doing performed by ?prinkling "on tl
muddy bank" of the river. Toi lb? to
Gospel writer? who tell of the scene :
detail specifically ?peak of Hi? comir
up out of the water after the cer
mony; snd, entirely apart from tl
controversy over the vslid form <
baptism at the present time, the pra
tically universal agreement of Ribiici
scholar? and historians has been tin
John led hi? disciples down into tl
water to be baptized. Again, she r?
gards Jesus as having been an "ui
learned" man, and yet decries tti
medieval notion that He was a so:
of respectable mendicar.t, insisting th.
Ho wa? a member of a well-to-do fan
II? and probably Himself a hou?ehol<
er. Now, there is nothing in the re?
ord that suggests that He wa? "ur
learned." On the contrary, it is to h
supposed that the eldest son in a wel
to-do family would receive a good cdv
cation. Certainly, He was exceptior
ally well versed in the Hebrew Script
ures and in all the Rabbinical lore, an
as a logician and rhetonc.an He ha
no rival among His contemporarie?
Nor are we ?ure that it is judiciou
to say that while the old prophet
?-poke "words full of the terrible thing
thunders, earthquakes, lire on th
mountain.-," the words of Jesus an' 'V.
of the small town: the candle and th
bu h el, the housewife's measure a
yeast, tha children playing in th
street," He ?!i?i adapt Himself to HI
audience, and the circumstances of Hi
preaching were far different from tho.
of Elijah's. Yet He, too, on occasioi
could ?peak of the lightning and of th
cloud? of heaven and of earthquake
and of nations warring against nations
His parables dealt with kings as wel
as with shepherds, and His discoure?
touched upon the most tremendous a
well ;i. the simplest thr-mer.
The narrative of Jesu?' temptatior
ii: the wilderness is ret down by Mrs
Aostit] as a "Go?i-tale," relate.1 l.j
to Hi? di.sciplcs as a SOll Ol
alleeorv. of things felt rather thar
actually seen: and she emphasizes the
point that this was the only thine ir
all His career which Ha did 1*11 tc
them. Bui there is at least one other
tran?cendent incident in His career o?
which the same might be ?aid; though
it is scarcely credible that in that ca?e
He was the informant, of the disciples
we refer to the prayer in the garden
of (it-thsemane.
The ?rial of the matter i? that Mrs.
Austin ha? in thi? volume indulged in
the very thing which she Would prob?
ably decry in others na!:ii\\, dag
matic exegesis. She ha- interpreted
and explained the Gospels In accord
anee with and for the support of bei
own conception of Jesus, she nay
have don?' SO unconsciously and unin?
tentionally Sh? has certainly done
so ?r. ? reverent and e-irrv !
with unimpeachable mol roa, Wa noy
Odd that In spite of .?unr blemishc? the
book la marked with an agreeable
nos ure of literary and drama?:,- art
Such colloouieliaasa a* "The kingdom
of heaven is up to BO," and
Jesus. 'I'm with you'"- add nothing
to the strength of tha hook, and they
may be unpleasant to many who ON
not given to the "psalm-savin,, and
long countenance" ?.vhich Mr?. Austin
d?cri?e. Nor are ?r? -ure that it is
quit? iu.liciou? to intimate that the
world to day understands the brother?
hood af Ban better than it was under
stood bv Jesus, "who thought first of
and then of the little dogs undei
the table." Hut even where |j pro
roh criticism the book will Btin .
It and Stil,.;.-, and in thou.
discreetly yield to thai stimoloi it ?rill '
conduce to a more "profound anil ?irr.
.i.cpt of the place of Jesus in
inin' M consideration."
WASHINGTON AS FARM]
The First Scientific Agricultu
of America.
CtaOBQB ??ABHITtr.TON rAHMKM Brim
? ? i; ? B ? ? i Ifg ?? ! AagleaUB-al
?'? "I'- 11? Pi .. U ?i.-l lia rstta. With :
IU';?'??il<;n, Kj -?'ri.".-. af Privat? Pap*?**,
' *j> ? i ? ? ? l?:?-. Dtaara ?I .
?elf. ?- >. |. nu- BjO1^ Warrlll i
i'??
Washington the Soldier we kn
W.-siiington the Statesman, and Wg
ingion the Father of his Country
I.ce's sentcrtious phrase, Fir.-t in V
First in IVace, First in the Hearts
his Countrymen. All this is ?veil, i
of perpetual pertinence and value. !
there were other phases of
n an also well ?vorthy of remi
hrance and of study, and among th
not the lea?.t was that which was s
Rested by Byron's eloquent tribute
"the Cinerinnatos of the West." It
r.ith that title O? Washington's 1
that Mr. Hav.-orth deal?.
Wa.-hii gton has been credit..! or
th?s-- days shall we say charged
with having been the richest Amern
of his time. That estimate in proba'
an ejtagferatisB. But ho irai certa
ly a man of what was then exc
tional wealth, ranking among the fo
most. i-'ew probably have reflect
upon the source? of hi? wealth, thou
they aro of instructive inter<??t and i
not puzzling to discern. He did r
inherit fortune. Ho ?vas not a bat
er or a iners'har.t.. He was an ext<
sive landowner, and he ?vas an indi
trious, practical farmer; and he hi
self got his Health from the soil.
From his father, as a younger t
in the days of primogeniture fav<
itlsm, he inherited less than 'iOO acr
But in his youth he obeyed t
promptings of land hunger and f
quired i e?v tracts at every opportun il
Bia earnings as a surveyor enabl
him in a few years to acquire, at noi
mal pnces, more than I'.iKM) acres moi
chiefly wild land. Then, soon aft
his half-brother Lawrence's death
17?_'. he came into possession of t!
Mount Vernon estate:, af more thi
tJ?V00 acres. Thus at the outbreak
the French and Indian war he had
domain of nearly 5,0?<0 acres, or b
Uceen lerea Sad eight square mile
That, however, was only the beginnir,
He married the Widow Custls, WBS hi
the then large fortune of perha]
$100,1. aad aritJi 'hut ea|
other neana bia acqui?itiun i
land proceeded apace. Before the Re
olotion he had added to bia Virata
eatatea iiM1".:'. acres mor", beeide 20
CsSjO acre? in the upper Ohio Valle
which was given to him for hi.? s-1
vies in the French and Indian wa
; But he did not -top there. At th
close of the Revolution he ?vrote th;
he haii paten's for 30.000 acres in th
West, and -urvcys and patents pene
i.;; foi 10,000 acres mor?'. By th
time he became President he had 60
000.
Me ?vas not satist.-d. however, wit
being n mere landowner, po.-sessin
\:i.t tracts which would rapidly in
cease ifl value. He aimed still more a
being a land cultivator. ?So he culti
vate.l as much of his holdings as h
could, and with intensive cultiva*r>n
Which he ??as probably the nrst Amer:
can to practise. It was the fault o
American farmers, he said, that the;
just scratched over the surface of thi
Itround and cultivated and iaaprovet
BOBC af it as they ?hould. That wa<
because here land was aheap anil laboi
dear. In England, on the contrary
??.here land ?vas dear and labor cheap
they improved and cultivate.1 the l:.tn
:;? IligBl* Bl possible, ?o a. '<> ?,'? t largt
crop.? from small area?. With Englrh
and other European farmer? getting
twice as much from an acre Bl Ameri?
can farmers do, it is obvious that agri?
culture relatival*? has not changed
much in the last ISO years.
Th?re was then little attention paid
to rotation of crops, or to fertilizing
the land. Said Thomas Jefferson, him
lelf a practical fi.rmer on a large scale.
"We cari buy an acre of new land
pe? than we can manure an old
one." Not so George Wa-hington. He
h;n!. ii Cartier*? '.'.unis, reaped for the
future. He was the pioneer af con?
servation. T. heap the ?oil fertile and
productive, rather than to exhaust it.
was his rule. Be he fertilized his land.
Bl priir*!-e<| a rotation of crops which
would pla| oil BBi agaiaat the other
and let the land, while it was producing
one crop, recover from the strain of
producing it.- predec s?or. Bl Itudied
sells and crop-. 80 Bl '?< adant ihe eru?
to the other. He ?vas our first inten?
sive farine!. I!. ?.?,-,- the Brat in this
country U) gm?v alfalfa: as also the i
firal to I \?'.rk mul?-. He de?
voted much attentiea to the l.n. -i
first-class cattle and horses. He ss>
periaieBted wltb new piaata and new
BETWEEN THE LINES
By BOYD CABLE
Pictoret of tk? Treack War tkat will make you re?liz? wk?t kama? keinft arc
caduriaf, _no?th ?Her month. Your blood will itir ?I Ik? patient keroitaii, Ike (rico
kumori, and ?kof? ?U al tk? poignant bi.toamty here revetted. Tk? very terror and
?picador o? War are kcr? -???Je known.
$135 net. At any Bookitorr.
THE UNDYING STORY
By W. DOUGLAS NEWTON
Detcriked in tke twifl. latkiaf ptn-tlrokei of ? auiUr. it it a ?lory wkick
?ak?t tk? ?lind tbriil and lb? blood run fatter la Ik? v?i?i.
"When I had read this." tayi T. P. O'Connor, "I knew tkal I bad foand tk? man
who could k?,t wrile a ?tory of battle."
JUS act. Al any Bookttort.
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY, 681 Fifth Avenue, New York
varieties, and with new kind? and new
misture? of fertilizers. He introduced
the practice of rolling young wheat,
end he invented invpioved ploughs, har?
row?, drill? and otner implements. He
wa? an enthusiastic horticulturist and
gardener, and had on his estate about
every kind of fruit and nut that would
grow in tnat climate.
Th" details of such a career are fas
cinating. They are full of human in
tere-t, eouaisg BS to realize that this
gri-a'. austere master of men was after
all a "man of like passions." espe?
cially full of such interest are the
chapters on his dealing? with his white
?en-an!; and with his negro slaves, his
agricultural and domestic bookke?p:ng.
hii participation in rural society and
its amusements, and v. hat not else.
Mr. N.-.worth has told 'I i story with
sympathy and arith dlacriasinatlon, and
ha? made It racy of 'he ?oil and pul?
sating with the vitality of tha man. He
has embellished it with many photo?
graphs of actual scenes on the Wash
inetf'ti e-tate, an?l with most in'
ing facsimile? of maps, diagrams, ac?
counts and ?ther documenta of Wash?
ington's ovn authorship, l? Is a won
which no appreciative ami comprehen?
sive student or ?impie lover of the
Father of his Country can v.?-!, afford
to miJ'.
THE G'f?AM.
By V. H. Friedlaendcr.
Coming we know not whence.
Going we know not whither,
Lacking control, defence.
To?sed here and drifting thither;
The blind begetting the blind.
The millions living for bread,
Grave-dust on the master-mind,
The riddle for ever unread,
What proof in life, in death,
That the soul has eternal breath?
This: on the night of the blind
A burning and ?tuning light!
Thi?: that a call may find
The deaf in his own de.spite;
A Whisper may wake the sleeper,
A thief be the roe of theft,
A sluggard his brother's keeper,
A lover self-bereft;
For nought but the ?pirit's asking
A miser shall greatly give,
And, the god in his soul unmasking,
A coward scorn to live. .
This, this is our hope immortal,
And this the gleam in the dark,
That a man will pass death's portal
For love of that mystic spark!
The Athen_eum.
A BIOGRAI'IFi IN BRIEF.
John Trevenna, the British novelist,
has written the following brief sketch
of his life:
At the age of sixteen I was at?
tacked by lung disease, brought on
by the cruelties of a schoolmaster,
and the disease remained with me
until, in my thirty-seventh year, I
.-hook it oft upon Dartmoor, a re?
gion for which I have little affec?
tion despite my books. Four early
years I ?pent in <",-?nada, and upon
returning to London I wa? reduced
to something uncomfortably like
starvation, until certain stern,
Puritanical relatives gave me a
home. I'nder the rigorous treat?
ment I received there 'hey looked
upon literature as a form of idle?
ness and novel writing as one of
the dea'lly sins, according to their
lights, placing every possible im?
pediment in my way my health
broke down entirely. At the same
time Providence sent me an unex?
pected legacy of four hundred
pounds. I went to live in the
Italian Alp?, but grew rapi.lly
worse, so came back to Kngland;
wa? sent by a doctor to Bourne?
mouth, where I entered the last
stage; finally was carried to Dart?
moor where I recovered. With few
pound? left I took a cot!ag<\ and
there made my final throw again
fate by writing "A Pixy in Tetti
coats." If it failed I was done for.
While awaiting publication I lived
by selling a few engraringa. The
book was not a great ?ucees?, but
it was enough to .-.-t me upon my
feet
-WALTER LIPPMANN'S
STRIKING NEW BOOK
THE STAKES of DIPLOMACY
By the Author of "Drift and Mastery," "A Preface to
Politics," etc. $1.25 net.
MR. LIPPMANN makes s proposal in this book which might
do sway with the prime cause of international friction, by
preventing the emotion of patriotism and questions of nstionsl
prestige from becoming involved in the protection of citizens and
commercial interests in the backward placea of the earth.
"It is with exactly those question-, ?vhicli all of us arc now rather
anxiously asking sansSVSS that th<- author grapples. By far his most
logical, most coherent, best roundrd book.' -Huston I ranscript.
-LILLIAN D. WALD'S
FASCINATING BOOK ABOUT A GREAT SOCIAL SERVICE
The HOUSE
on HENRY STREET
'Tliis remarkable bo..],. 'Ibis not.tide addition to the literature
of ?.'?dal reform ami reconstruction."?Tk? /.'.mi in?; Peat,
Illustrated from *?>/;??? Ht) etching* ami drawing* SS Abraham Phillips,
mendier of thr Settlement, and from photografih*. .*>.!.iH) net.
* ?HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY ???SE
THE OLD AND THE NEW
IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE
Influence Upon American and English Fiction-Th
inant Note?The Masters and Their Follower
Gorky's Autobiographic "My Childhood."
RUSSIAN LITERATIRE.
am?is A*" mmt?xrttt? ej r? s"ia* J.-,?/
l-hAI'I'i Ha rl?rte-J Kr?usln >"* f?'-,?l
MV ? iiii,iiH??i?I' ny Mas?a? Q??*j>. ?J?JC
ir?'.-, ap.il 'llti?tr?ih;.t. *?o 9P STI in? leu
'i.yany
l'I'AD SOl'LS. By M?o:?: ?;.>|..J VVith ?n VV
. Mef *n ?ir?::xm .-tno Pr ??
I --.:.?-: ?* A ?'ok?? Cw ?
OBLOMOT l-> I-.-en QmdUMt FYom t?;? Rut?
il garil. I-rao. pp S?I. lM>
Ma.T.I. ?'i ? -..Tipiny
TIIK OI.ATI! ?H- ITA? HAIT? H AM) OTJ-M
r?TuHIKS H? Cotinl Tr?n?lat??l by
?a OanMtt Popular EJltlcm. l-nio. PI>.
?T,p?11V.
CHKLKABH. AM? "THKR STORIES Frira the
RtiMUn ?' Maxta 0??S| ItOm PP -? New
V.rk kthti A K: M
Till- I.ITTI.r AXOSta ASP OTHER STORIES
Krom ?i? R?!??l?n ,)f 1. N Ardr^et. l.m?. 0,'
?p -Y Alfre.l A Kanal
Till; SIGNAL, AM' l'TUKK SToRlK* By W ?l
Otrtbl! From >lie Rnaaien t.v CaiPialn Ro?;?;-l
Hniltli itao pp. -:?>? It** ttt9 Alfr'"1 ?
Kaoef.
THE SWUXT s. K?TTO NAMK. AN? OTIILR
FAtBT TALES KARl.KS AHD ?TORIES l'y
F-lir S?K?b Klltol l.y Slepi.e? ??rthtiii.
Urn?, pi f.. IM ?I T. I'u.ntn, a -
Rt SSIAN aiLROI'IUM Mor? Storlet of Rja
rial I.if?- By Aataa T.-hekofr from th? Km
ria? b* Mari.?: rVl 1-mo. pp. tl, 31S. ?'hat'.,'?
- ? -
More than twenty years have passeil
since "the Russians" the brief expres?
sion it in itseif a tribute began to
exert their influence upon the literary
art of the West. The French discov?
ered them first; it is to Melchior de
Vogue'? "The Russian Novel" ?nd to
the early French translators, rather
than to Kropotkin's history of Russian
literature, now repubhshed by Mr.
Knopf under its original and far more
appropriate title, that America owes it?
first deeper knowledge of these mas?
ters and the not altogether judicious
initial enthusiasm aroused by their dis?
covery. For, behold, the first champions
of Russian realism among us Mr.
Bowella at their head practised it ac?
cording to a perhaps hardly realized
formula: "All the Russian realism that
is fit to print under the restrictions
laid down by the Anglo-American liter
1 ary tradition." When our busy novel
' ists of the school saw the old, familiar
danger signal ahead there have been,
there are no ?uch signals in Russian
fiction they sheered off in frightened
haste. Thin ice was not for them. Ac?
cording to the tradition, there was no
such thing in life; they did not dare,
nor care, to plunge below the surface.
They would not even look into the
depths. And so they did their best
with the unessential, with photographic
renderings of trivialities, minute analy?
se? of perfectly permissible and ?vow
{ able everyday moods, impulses, expe
'] riences and reflections. What looked
1 like great art afar off in that mys
' tarions, chaotic country became down?
right disreputable in our own well-or?
dered lives.
A? a matter of fact, we must look
for the real first impulse toward a
greater freedom in our fiction ?and
h -aven knows we have a great deal of
?I nowadays! toward the Frenchmen.
toward Flaubert and Maupassant and
Zola, in the nineties of the last cen?
tury. The Russian influence, was tar
less direct; it reached us in a far more
roundabout way. To-day it is percepti?
ble in almost every new novel that the
young Englishmen ?end us, with this
paradoxical result, however, that their
heroes and heroines are all too often
S!av< masquerading as English men and
?a omen, rather than Anglo-Saxons. This
transformation of influences into
models to be slavishly copied is seen at
its fullest development in an Ameri?
can novel, recently published, George
Bronson-Howard's "God's Man."
It was. if we mistake not, Kropotkin
who Brat told us that foreigners can?
not understand Russian literature un?
less they know Russia well, and that
only a Russian can understand it thor?
oughly. Certain it is that the remark
has been made over and over again
since by Russians enlightening Ameri?
can enthusiasms ?md attempting to ex?
plain the inadequacy of our early
translation? 'mostly liia the French I,
which often got entangled beyond com?
prehension in so minor a matter as the
infinite wealth of endearing diminu?
tives lavished by the Russian in daily
intercourse upon relatives, friends and
Rtrangers. And, indeed, one can say of
Russian fiction what can be said of the
fletion of no other country in such full
measure: that every one of its products
is Russian, whether it be the intermi?
nable chaos of one of Dostoievsky's
novels, or a short story by Tchekov. In?
deed, one wonders if the great Rus?
sian's formlessness is not as much part
0? the national, the racial quality of
his work as are its psychology, its in?
finite sympathy with suffering and sin,
its faith in redemption.
Howe-.er. since the days when every?
body was reading "Anna Kar?nina" we
have progressed steadily toward a bet
1 ter understanding of Russian fiction,
thanks to th?- pioneers who admired but
did not dare to emulate in the right
direction, thanks t0 the experiments of
the bolder spirits that followed, but
most of all, perhaps, to more recent
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681 Fifth Avenue
writers upon Rusiia. foremoet among
them Stephen Graham, ?vhose book*.
"Cndiscovered Russia" and "Changing
Russia," are a more sympathetic, more
understanding and interpretative intro?
duction to Russian fiction through Rus?
sian life and feeling than either Kro
potkin or Vogue, tie tells us in the
one book that to know the Ru?sian
peasant woman is to understand the
meaning of the reverent phrase "Holy
Russia." And Maxim Gorky proves him
right in that unforgettable portrait of
his grandmother in "My Youth." which
is undoubtedly the greatest work he
has yet ?vritten. And when Mr. Graham
deplores the changing of Russia -the
transformation began before the ?var
under the influence of industrialism
are may turn to Tchekov's play, "The
Cherry Orchard." and understand all
the better. Here is the passing of the
old order, the coming of the new, ex?
pressed in terms of art.
But if Chekhov here carries the old
into the new, he mostly deals with the
static life of what remains of the old
r?gime in city and country. His char?
acters are still the Russians of the
masters of a generation ago, who can?
not see the wood for the trees that are
in it stunted trees, crooked trees,
dwarfed trees, burned trees, ?. bit of
lichen on the bark even. Thus they
are and thus they must continue to
grow, mysteries of fate to be despon?
dently mused over. That the wood
needs thinning out, that the under?
brush must be cut away that forestry
will raise a new generation of saplings
aspiring straight and free toward sun
! light and air, does not occur to them.
Nor do they have the energy to under?
take the work, even should they per?
ceive its necessity. For it is this ab?
sence of will power, this acquiescence
in whate\'er is, this fatalism- "Nitche
vo" which is the great mystery of
Russian fiction to the Occidental mind,
a mystery all the greater for the very
frankness with which it is confessed.
But ?vith it goes that unshakable con?
fidence in the destiny of the race, in its
future mission to all thu world. Is ''-;
power to ?vork out its own salvation,
which will reject English influences 10
raoiTOW as it externrr.a'e? German in?
fluences to-day, but which patiently
awaits the a?vakening without attempt
in?; to has'en its coming. Strangest of
all, whoever reads this literature, im?
patiently often, ?vith irritation some?
times, but rarely without deep interest,
comes to believe in that destiny, that
mission, himself. It may tslowly, pain?
fully evolve, or, again, this war, which
has stirred the race as nothing has
ever stirred it before, may touch it
into sudden, amazing energy "Po
Russki."
It was Goncharov ?vho gave to this
apathy, paralyzing (he highest aspira?
tions, a name, "Oblomovdom." from the
name of the hero of his best-known
novel. Oblomov was an aristocrat; his
type is not unknown in the Occident,
??here, for instance. W. B. Maxwell has
drawn it in "In Cotton Wool." But in
Russia the word has a national mean?
ing, from the nut of the moujik to the
palace of the noble.
It ?s well that .vc arc to have the old
Russian masters in new, competent
translations along with their succes?
sors. Of the admirable quality of Con
BtSflCO Garnett's English renderings of
Dostoievsky, published by the Macmil
li.ii < onipuny, mention has been made
repeatedly in these columns. The sixth
volume, "The Insulted and Injured,"
A charming novel
No mam could hare taken a
woman apart and put her together t?gttin
a? it is done in this Barrel. **sI*a*aflaaaBi *????
The ^
Prairie
Wife
By Arthur Stringer. Pictures in Full
', Color by Dunn. At all .Sfo***s. flJt net
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers
? Christmas
Scribner
Seven Better
Short Stories
Beautiful color pictures.
An article telling "When
Payne Wrote ' Home I
Sweet Home ! '" A prose
poem about "The Ant?
werp Road," by Henry
van Dyke. A real Christ?
mas poem, among others.
A number to read and
keep. 04/i* iVo-rssfende
lias just been leased, and a sev?ntk,
"A Raw youth," ia already announce!
It may be well. abo. te 'nention hen
this exceptionally able translator'! ???
"Anna Kar?nln," ? ith its sin
Ebc?Iis)
superfluous final "a." The F. A. Stektg
.'. ha? ,-su,.,! Coal's dame,
Souls," and from Alfred J?
Knopf, who specializes in Rusuan lit
erature, we have the same author"i his?
toric tale of the Cossacks. "T?ru
Bulba." Mr. Knopf also announces
a ne?v edition, revised by Mm Hga
Continued on page 9.
Just published
Che Christmas
HARPERS
MAGAZINE
8 Notsble Short Stories
Beautiful Pictures in Color
Travel, Adventure, Humor
History, Science, Etc
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A woman, an American woman of rare ?sensitiven ?s too tytn
Eathy, has seen the war?from an interview with King A.berttos
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find hi? own self. " M ?'*
AI/CD TUP DP Beeaeo of! War on th? Wsij?
??2{"aB Kr,m':draw??v"- Ua"r?ft
Mr. Henti' it'? own first-iiand imprcueions after a lona P"11?,1?
th? French trenchos._ Net, oj_t?
TH? WORLD'S HIGHWAY J.Vtf
going to do about the Anron.jf What would M BB ' ~Pr?l<^
or war or ajommercial restriction ? Mr. Angell. kirnest ? "_
authoriti*? on international relations, shows what t??reign ijoliO
America must have._?_?_. i]
LOT & COMPANY ^h|; Tim
_the b . .:h?'?>-!' ?'^ ?"?*[
ove and courage and fear fighting for ?.iprj* -
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THE BRONZE EAGLE ;. '^
Ieo? Is ?Viied in fclba \ courier rides breathless, ihrie
loon has landed." Thi drowsy land leaps to life. S
braa'.hleaa tale.
another, adrift in a ema.l boat
a sky of braes?1
a-v it is a s"cne
\m\t\ROnV ^'hat would you do if vou were a ?tuest at
n\JO\JUl einart hou(M. party on ft Main? Aid M
ig nom your windows at midnight, discovered afe!!o??u<T
g a band of what seem?*! to be smugglers'.' The answer *
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jcjsningi
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TH? GOLDEN SCARECROW
When the ?mu?an ?rouas are aogu\ with rstu, summers goM?*
gardens and the sound of children's play are brought '"^f?
thm story of perf?vt_beautv._ _____*v',t: I*?*?
VAGRANT MEMORIES ?&BR?
town the davrj M I>iugii'II<i?rV?an?iiioV, au?l M makes that woo*
darful time of the CoMOfd culture live again in this 'x**??
theatrical anal literarvjfcollections. Illustrated. N*>*j B .
THEISM and HUMANISM 2&?l5
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GEORGE H.
I* u b II ? h ? r ?
A T A 1.1. ? G OK i U IMS S
DORAN COMPANY ??.im?. New York
la Initiai far HOOOIR * i T O U 0 N T ? ?