New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-11-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE WOMAN WHO DARED.

TIE WOMAN WHO DARED. BY EpEs sARGENT' u
mo on 270 Boston; Roberts Brothers.
When the History of American Lltera'uFoIs wiz
ten should "The Woman Who Dared be eShumcd
from it's mountainous debris oil verse; the iu'N'''9
historian who shall be called TO sit in Judgment upon
Mr.. Sargent will probably speak of him the man
who daredD Not that Others did not dare. he VIII
observe and refer the reader to his resume OF LII
monss "FredoniadD and Whitman's Leaves OF
Grase.D but no one before, he will continue ever
dared 80 much rs this author, who was not satlscu
TO invent story that was not worth telling pu'
must needs tell il so that would care 10 near
H. What the language of Boucicault was 10 inc
audiences Of that time, who never carried away
word of the thrilling dramas they wltnessed,-sncn
was the diction of Sargent which never rose TO SUB
Unity and sank to bathos, but lay on the dIi
dead level of the dreariest desert OF prose- 10 DO
Hatter than the atest Of his cOtemporares was NOT
| much, perhaps; but it demanded courage, ana 'his
courage was possessed by the author of The Woman
Who Dared.n This or something similar, Is hAeiy
to he the Judgment of the future historian of our
letters as it is the opinion of the present chroncler
thereof who has arrived at it through conscientious
WEAKNESS and "more in sOrIow than in anger"
The story of "The Woman Who Dared may be
! summed up thus: An American gentleman OF wealth.
is whcedlcd into marrying 81 girl of the PERIOD VINO
is unfaihful to him, but so adrot in her unfaithiul
ness as TO succeed in obtaining divorce with all
nony, and the privilege of marrying again. which
latter blessing the law Incredibly denies her cnlrn-
chised husband. He goes to Europe, where in due
time, he meets young English girl, who consents
to live with him as his wife, which she cannot Dc
| legally. OF this connection is born Linda, the
heroine, upon whom her fond parents dOte, and
| whom they educate in the accomplishments OF her
sex, not forgetting geography and the use OF the
globes beside music and painting. The family set
off on a journey together ono Summer, and, rs II
yentUring in the direction of Boston not sur
fc,ent test of their haTdibUod, they tempt Fate by
going on the Long Island Railroad where, rs mat
ter of course they are Charlcked to death That 49,
! pare and mere are, for Linda is spared 10 dare
| further. She takes to Art for living as
! Young ladies are now beginning 10 do-in ilctioni
paints lower-peces and such like tribes, which che
is fortunate enough TO SELL and which unscruru-
lous picture-dcIler acknowledgements without her
| knowledge to his own great profit and eventually
TO hers for his lscaity being discovered be hes To
| nav a large amount of "smaTt money" On one OF
her excursions TO the seashorc. Linda isthrown INFO
the society of a young gentleman who has been chv-
! arous enough TO rum himself to save the credit OF
his aged father for which lac is compelled TO do PEN
! ance as a scboolmaster Him Linda loves, and him
she determines to marry she pays his debts and pro-
poses to him. OF course she is accepted aud they
| are married. and live happily ever aferward. Such
| in brief is the story OF The Woman Who Dared"
1t must be evident to tho cOmmonest capacity that
| the Woman Question, or certain phases of 70, are
! involved in this production but how much Of the
| Woman Question. or what particular phases OF It,
are so involved, exceeds capacity to determine
! The concubiuage Of Lnda's parents for instance
whether Mr. Sargent justifes, or condemns H.
escapes our recollection; butwo imagine be would
| no more condemn such "a connection than we would
Justify the fraud that engendcrcd it. What it was
that Linda dared, We do not exactly perceive. 1t
cannot be that it was labor for hundreds Of interest
ing young ladies have dared that ever since novels
were written. Perhaps her daring consisted in re-
versing the ime-honored custom of women, who
still, like their great progenitress,
| "WOEd be wOOed. and not unsought 10 won :"
if So We are afraid IT not original wl,h her, aud
| we are certain il was not commendabe in her. Such
at any rate is the feeling Of mankind. aud the best
Of womankind TO ,whom tho witty couplet of the
satrist has not yet become dead letter:
"The fruit that will fll 10 the ground without picking
L. rather too mellow for mo-"
| For the form in which Nr Sargent has east his
poem have we mentioned vet chat it is poem y IL IS
intended we suppose 70 be blank verse, but really
! it is nothing OF the sort. We do not insist
that poet shall write thus thus as in this case.
that Mr. Sargent should have modelled his blank
verse after that Of Tennyson. Wordsworth. or
Bryant; but we have q right 10 insistat least. we
think so-that he should have done more than meas
IRE of prose in lines of ten syilabes in length. No.
that il is not musical for Dryden said of Se;tles
| numbering prose-
! "Iocs, though without knowing how or why.
| Mad sill laundering KIND ~ melody
Fured boldly or, and dashed through thick md thin,
! Iurougn sense aud nonsense, never ont roriui
! Free from ull meaning, whether tood or bad,
| Aud, IN one word, ncruIcaIly mad
With which bit Of old-fa.honod criticism, II Mr..
Sargent will excuse It, we vii, close our notice OF
The Woman VINO Darcd'