The Portland daily press., 1869-04-07
DAILY PRESS.
Wednesday Morning, April 7, 1862
"The LAST A,heniau.,, So
PORTLAND

The novelist who chooses for the period OF
his story one so far removed into the past as to
De wholly separated in manners, in ideas, and
In spirit from that in which his readers are
found, has doubly difficult task to perform.
10 hold the mirror up to the life of ones own
time to paint-eontemporary manners with
anything approaching to fidelity-is by no
means easy, if we may Judge by the number
OF those whose attempts in that direction have
been most lamentable failures; but to repro
duce the manners of an age that has long gone
by, to call up again the features of life whose
very cities are in ruins, and make it live be-
fore us is task which few have achieved sue
cessfully. 1t is this which the Swedish Ryd-
berg has done for us in The Last Attenian.
The scene of the story is laid in Athens, and
the time of action is the brief reign OF the Ro-
man Emperor Julian, that grand heathen who
ngures In history under the title of the ,Apos-
tate. 1t was time when the Christian relig-
ION, become dominant in the empire, had been
corrupted from its original purity by the lust
for power, and when persecution had changed
sides, and found its martyrs among the paean.
Inc polite and lettered Greek, imbued with
the spirit of speculative philosophy and deep
~ attached to the old forms of thought, saw in
Christianity only monstrous delusion. terri
BILE through the grim fanaticism of its victims;
and he regarded with mingled fear and detesta-
ton system which threatened the subver-
sion of all he most valued The conflict be-
tween the old philosophy and the new belief
the conflict, which has continued even to our
time, between freedom of thought and priest
ly domination, is well delineated, and the way
in which, in that chaotic time, truth and er-
ror, honesty and fraud. heroism and selfish
ness, were blended on both sides is strikingly
exhibited.
The grouping of characters, and something
in the general scope of the story recall the
"Hypatia' of Mr.. Charles Kingsley, but the
handling is very different. Kingsley's story is
essentially modern one; there is nothing an
tque about it bat the framework. His char
acters are nineteenth century Europeans mas
querading in ancient costumes. 1t is not SO
with those of Rydberg. Their manners, their
ideas, as well as their garb and surroundings,
are those of their time. So unusual in this
respect is the merit of the book, that we are
not surprised to learn that the professors at
the two Swedish Universities, Upsala and
Lund, have recommended it to their students,
not only on account ofits great merit as a lit
erary production, nor the deep investigation it
displays in treating important religious and
moral questions, but because it contains SO
faithful a portrayal of the history, manners
customs, ,,and daily household life even of the
interesting period it describes.
The translation ia aipoulorlu ryood Mr.
Thomas has succeeded in making the book
read like an English original, and every one
who knows anything of the difficulties Of
translation will consider this praise enough
| OF the manner in which he was first induced
to undertake the work by the urgent solicita
tions of Miss Bremen, the translator gives u
in his preface very pleasant account. Ht
| adds;
Had anything further been wanting to urge
me on to translating the work, it would have
been supplied by my acquaintance with its au-
thor, Victor Ryd6erg, one of the most accom-
| plished gentlemen and scholars I ever met
and who, though scarcely thirty years Of age, il
| already acknowledged to be the foremost living
| prose writer of Scandinavia. So 1 set aboul
putting the novel into an English garb. This
/ was to me true Tabor of love-" was sorry
when it was finished. 1t so pleasantly filled
| up those odd, lone hours, between work and
| play which will intrude themselves even into
the elysium of bachelor. IF my friends will
but enjoy the reading tithe as much as I have
the translating, I shall be more than satisfied.
Late in the.autumn of 1865 sailed from
Sweden for my native land, not however, until
L had written Miss Bremen that her command
had been obeyed. In her reply she enclosed
| the following note, and gave me liberty to
| make use of it to introduce the book to the
American public:
"ARsTA, Dec. 8th, 1866
"MR. w. w. THOMAS, JR
| My DEAR SIR: am delighted to learn that
| you have not forgotten my parting words
about The Last Athenian,' by my young coun-
man, Victor Rydberg.
Let me congratulate you, and thank you fol
| having, through your translation of this de-
| lightful work, given the American public the
best and most genial historical novel that evel
was written in the Swedish language.
Yours, truly, FREDRIKA BREMER."
Alasl even before her letter reached me, tn,
kind heart had ceased to beat. Her lette
written from her pleasant country seat, Arsta
was dated December 8th, 1855, and on the las
day OF the same month, she went out with th
| old year. This little note, then, must contail
the last words Fredrika Bremen ever wrote TO
publication, and as such may be regarded no
| only as an introduction to this volume, but Al
her farewell to the American public she Sc
dearly loved w. w. Thomas, JR
Portland, FEB. 10th, 1869.
The LAST ATHENIAN. = Translated from tn,
Swedish oil Victor Rydberg, by William W. Thomas
Jr., late U. S. Consul at GothenDurg, Sweden
One Vol. l2mo. Philadelphia: T.. b. Peterson ant
Brothers. For sale by Bailey and Noyes.
A Remarkable Scene I'm Esyp.