Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

Books , Music , Sec . intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , New Barnet . — : o : — The Mystery of Mr . Bernard Brown . By E . Phillips Oppenheim . Illustrated ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Ltd . A CRITIC has recently warned Mr . Anthony Hope that he is writing too fast , and we are fearful lest Mr . Oppenheim should need

the same warning . The volume before us contains something of the author's best manner , but it shows , we think , a distinct falling away from the masterly power and finish which characterised almost every page of "A Millionaire of Yesterday . " That unconscious ease , that freshness of conception , and vigour of narrative which we all recognise when we see them , are with difficulty summoned to the aid of a writer who finishes one novel only that he may commence

another . We hope that Mr . Oppenheim will tempt providence- m no such fashion , for we have read such excellent stories from His pen that we should be sorry indeed were his merits to decline . " Mr . Bernard Brown " is not ill drawn , but we believe Mr . Oppenheim could have drawn him more skilfully still had lie taken longer in the limning . The volume is printed and bound in a style uniform with the printing and binding of many of the good novels recently issued by the same publishers .

The Disciple . By Paul Bourget . —T . Fisher Unwin . THAT M . Paul Bourget is a thinker and writer of the first order is known to most men , and we are pleased to see so handy an edition of "The Disciple" published . The story contains not only a finely worked out love episode and some excellent narrative , but is in reality a philosophical study . A story told in the first person

is , we think , more likely to hold the attention of the reader than if narrated otherwise , and certainly this method has been used very successfully by M . Bourget in the chapters entitled " Confession of a young man of the Period . " The last interview between Greslon and Charlotte is sketched by a deft hand and is a fitting climax to a powerful drama . Whether or no M . Bourget's book proves that

when a man is in love he is a fool , it certainly shows that he is prone to become unscrupulous . We should like to see more of the work of the greater French novelists published simultaneously in this country ; for our own writers will readily acknowledge that we are behind the Frenchmen in the power of introspection and self analysis . A complete edition of the works of M . Bourget , uniform with the volume before us , would find many purchasers and more readers .

Arrows of the Almigrhty . By Owen Johnson ( 6 s ) . —The Macmillan Company . . IT is no matter of surprise that this novel has already been largely reprinted , for its author is the able exponent of a far greater diversity of gifts than is commonly accorded to man . The canvas here filled is unusually large : but the artist has bestowed

loving care even upon the most trivial details with which it is adorned . Some clay , perhaps , a learned modern will explain to us the psychology of comparative reminiscences ; but in the meantime we find ourselves reminded strongly of one novel when reading another , and are wholly at sea as to the why and the wherefore . " Arrows of the Almighty " has , if we err not , more than one angle of resemblance to Grant Allen's "Babylon , " but who shall explain

where the resemblance lies ? Perhaps it is at least safe to say that Owen Johnson has that adroitness in transition , that versatility of style , that shrewdness of insight , and that unflagging spontaneity which characterised so- much of the multifarious work of Grant Allen , and these gifts are themselves sufficient to account for the success which the volume before us has so deservedly attained . The book is printed with a type of exceptional sharpness of definition , and is pleasant to read and to handle .

A Modern SlavedeaEer , By Archer Philip Crouch . Illustrated by Henry Austin ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Ltd . THE adventures of Ned Chaloner are so many and so varied that he will elicit the approval of most readers . The West Coast of Africa , or rather , an unknown island near by , is capital country for the purposes of romance , and has been used as such by many

writers less skilful than Mr . Crouch . And when the adventurer contrives to lose his heart to a girl who already belongs to somebodyelse , but manages , through the play of circumstances , to obtain his heart ' s desire after all , and when , moreover , he is captured by the secret slavedealer and has his share of fighting and fleeing , we are

grateful to him for having existed at all , even in the imagination of a modern novelist . We cannot pretend to regard "A Modern Slavedealer" as anything more than a yarn , pure and simple ; but as a story it is agreeably told , and by no means clumsily conceived . The picture on the cover certainl y promises excitement , and readers will mostly agree that such promise is fulfilled .

Vice Versa . By F . Anstey ( 6 d ) . —George Newnes , Limited , Donal Grant . By George Macdonald , LL . D . ( 6 d ) . —George Newnes , Ltd . a t THESE excellent reprints at sixpence each are multiplying so quickly that we need supplementary libraries to contain- them , f ortunately , most publishers—and certainly Messrs . Newnes must in in

t ^ anked tllat majority—have exercised such care the selection of the fictions to be reprinted that in many cases a sixpenny book is now better worth keeping than a six shilling one . These two that Messrs . Newnes have sent us are books by authors of widely differing sympathies and aims ; but both are sound literature at the core , and if we receive no worse as the publishers continue- to extend their

Books Of The Day.

issues we shall be content to reiterate such unstinted praise as we have on former occasions bestowed upon these cheap reprints . Particularly would we like to think that the volume by Mr . George Macdonald will be extensively bought and read : The publishers are still issuing their autumn announcements :

Messrs Macmillan are to publish "The Mystic Rose : A study of Primitive Marriage , " by A . E . Crawley , M . A . ; " Philosophy : its Scope and Method , ' by the late Prof . Sedgwick ; and " English Local Government , " by Dr . Josef Redlick , translated by Francis W . Hirst .

Messrs . Bell are about to issue a series of excellent though cheap monographs of the great Painters . Among the earliest volumes will be " Velasquez . " " Fra Angelico , " " Romney , " and " Burne Jones . " The volumes are to be illustrated , and will be published at one shilling each .

Messrs . Cassell promise some good novels : " The Giant's Gate , " bv Max Pemberton ; ' The Laird ' s Luck , and other Fireside Tales , " by A . T . Quiller Couch ; and " Lepidus the Centurion : A Roman of To-day , " by Edwin Lester Arnold . These will afford excellent reading unless their authors disgrace their good name .

Mr . Heinemann is about to issue a series of volumes describing the " Great Peoples , " under the editorship of Prof . F . York Powell . Early volumes will deal with " The Spanish People , " " The French People , " and " The Russian People . " We have not heard at what price this series will be published .

****************** Freemasonry cannot be honoured by the introduction of any man , be his station the highest in the lan . d ; it matters not whether he is distinguished by political , civic , or military position , by great wealth , by a leading place in society ,

whether he be a successful merchant , a leading lawyer , a distinguished divine , or a great scientist . In Freemasonry we meet upon the level , all are equal , we stand upon the broad platform of manhood . —George E . Wagner , Pennsylvania .

**********

The finances of our Lodge need the same watchfulness and care that should govern our private affairs ; fine furniture and trimmings are perfectly proper if we can afford them ; but if they are to be had at the expense of an empty treasury , or what is still worse , a heavy debt , the Lodge will suffer , and our interest , except the 10 per cent , paid , will rapidly grow less . —John C . Muerman , Idaho .

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