| * | Ath. 1905, 2: 267. Ag. 26. 290w. | |
| Outlook. 79: 653. Mr. 11, ‘05. 90w. |
Mott, Frederick Blount. Before the crisis. [†]$1.50. Lane.
A book dealing with America before the outbreak of the Civil war, and during the campaign of John Brown and his sons. “The book is full of graphically told adventures; but though these are exciting reading, the picture of slavery is even more interesting. The slaves depicted are under good masters, yet in spite of this the author shows conclusively how the characters of both owners and slaves were corroded by an institution which involved the absolute dependence of one human being on the caprice of another.” (Spec.)
“Mr. Mott’s romance is a moderately deft piece of workmanship on familiar, melodramatic lines.”
| + | Acad. 68: 336. Mr. 25, ‘05. 180w. |
“It is a thrilling story, however, and well enough told for those readers living too far North to detect the author’s egregious errors in representing negro character and negro dialect.”
| + — | Ind. 59: 156. Jl. 20, ‘05. 200w. | |
| + | Spec. 94: 372. Mr. 11, ‘05. 140w. |
Mott, Lawrence. Jules of the great heart, “free” trapper and outlaw in the Hudson bay region in the early days. [†]$1.50. Century.
Jules Verbaux, a gaunt French-Canadian trapper, outlawed by the Hudson Bay company, which has put a price upon his head, lives the life of the hunted, cleverly avoiding capture. He flits like a shadow over the frozen north and thru the fury of its storms, trapping where he can, but wherever he rears his lone hut some relentless enemy reduces it to ashes. A prey to brute passions in a cruel world with all hands against him, the great heart of the man still beats warm beneath the “petite” cap of his “enfant” who is dead, which he carries constantly with him, the sole reminder of the wife whom he believes has deserted him. Again and again it prompts him to noble action while his whole being calls for vengeance. In the end he is given a bleak sort of happiness—but it suffices, and his great heart sighs, “Je suis content.”
[*] “The book offers interesting reading for boys, and even older readers may enjoy the vivid descriptions of the hard life of the trapper.”