, 1870-09-11
Tho Problem Of Suffering III Fiction
From Once EtsE.

rious and complex influences OF human socia-
ty. Art proceeds upward from the simplest.
Of novel writing il t;ae highest. Far it is far
harder to set down in wordn life IN ita entire
ty than il is to paint the shifting shadows on
3 hillside. The painter takes ore moment an1
one view. The norclist. from his standpoint,
even Il DC shows only one phase Of life.thAt
has yet to do with both the seen and the ,ip-
seen. And whereas, III the old stoFy-teler,
the puppets OF hts storE showed as tbs only
living beings in the whole world, the modern
novelist. By ekiifAl suggestion, by bs--play,
and BY subsidiary action, managed to intro
duse mo his book THAT atmosphere 81 ne
outer world which is needed TO complete the
illuslon- Ana-for no man can write anything
worth the reading save from Ills own e1perl-
euce-he Introduces the opinions which he
| has formed On the conduct OF the world. and
/ uees them not ou1y to direct the readers at-
| to be whirling round the imaginary men aud
women Of his history, but also to answer
social II obler1s, and to give his own views on
! social difficulties.
OF these problems. the most important, be-
cauee it strikes us most often, aud il the
! fountain of tears and the cause OF sympa-
thy, We may call the problem Of suffering;
rot why it exists-a question which Man
Friday asled at tho outset Of his education,
| And which he does not appear to have been
| encouraged to repeAt-but what arc its
| sources, aud how far it may be aIeviateds
various answers from philosophers, noyelists,
and statesmen.
Let US here consider the theories implied,
noyclists.
Thaeheray, il ! read him rightly, aisc.salny
altogether the old.fashioned notions of vii
laiuB and tho sorrows they CAUSE, seems to
have been governed by 4 great ruling idea,
His business wAs to teach the world-not di-
rectly, US no novelist should, but Indirectly
the leHeon that every man IL his Own villain
that il, tha; all real sntfcriug is self-inhicted
saye that which consists in seeing others suf-
fer. THUS. Give Eawcome, who married
lsoeey; Dsrnes, who leads life Of consistent
-el6shness Rev. Mr, Honey1nan, extrayagant
and luxurious; these bring on their heAls
their own punishment. The happy man is the
Colonel. lie neither sins nor does he suffer-
head and, in his poSeEty-stricken age, he ia
az calm and as happy, but for his son, as in
his prosperous manhood.
Thackeray's villains-chiedr selfish men OF
the lowest tyne, such as Sir Francis claver-
ing. Talbot Twysden, Jos. Selley. and Lord
Steyne-do not seriously Affect the rest Of the
actors: they are sensual, mean, aud vain.
But Pendennis, Jobbin, aud even lssvlan
Cfanley, are not greatly Injured by them.
For Thackeray's characters mako their own
happiness and nisory; they come to grief a.
natural consequence Of folly; they fall in
courses they lose their power Of getting out
OF 4 hole only when they lcse their eclf-
respect; and the enHerings inflicted by
others pass away and are forgotten, like the
laat toosl,ache. "God. breaches this moral
int, "eives to cyerJ man the choice OF being
happy or miserable. We sometimes hurt our
eelrcs by pure Ignorance, Just Al when . blind
man runs against wall we may oven ruin
ourselves. all with the most virtt1ous inten-
tons, by not knowing tho lsws Of tho physical,
is not real suffering, and the good man, Like
the brave old Colonel, rises independent Of
external circumstances. There il no real suf-
fering but that from moral Causes"
This is the lesson tbat learn from Thack-
cray. In all the pictures presented in his
7 Of the eelfsh and tue vicious. There arc hut
fcE men good; there are consequently but
! few men happr. Why trouble the CANVAS
With more than their duo proportion: Es-
mopd, the great Colonel, J. J. Ridley. and a
very few more arc ali that he gives US. The
! OF former follles. or anticipating tho conse-
| qnences Of present follics.
Taka next Victor Hugo coarser though
moro powerful, artist. lie let's us SEQ very
early what is his solution Of the problem.
Is to b fSg0a %1 .ro in hot the snss
warld, the conditions Of which are as iron
Chains which rivet us where We would rot
rtay: or as goads, which drive us whittier we
| would not; Or a. circlel walls. which We can-
| not pass. Driven to her wretched end by
| destiny which she cannot escape, the poor,
help!css Eameralda appeals wonde1an;iy to
an iron fks, whence comes no help, to learn
! why such things are; or a Vatican vainly con-
tends. with the might OF Hercules, against
the necessity that hugs him with thousand
aImR-
Necessity Ia king. Suffering and sorow are
king, for this they cannnt do, but 10 divert
| the line ct march uf his chariot, 80 that tho
| innocent, at least, ntar sometimes not al
ways, escape the wheels Of this relentless
Juggcrnaut.
George Eliot, Oh the other hsnd, seems in-
clined to dwell on the, spectacle Of a strong
man suffering from the follies Of the weak :;
or higher nature compelled to endure per-
pctual torture from = forced contact with q
lower: Adam Bede, for example, the upright,
great-hearted man, who filings away the
strength OF his nature on a worthless, beauti-
thoughts, thrown back upou herself for lack
Of eingle soul TO share her day-dreau1s, aud
torMented between her ideas Of duty aud her
revolt against the nArruw bsain, the vcxa-
tons telf-conhdence, and the fasiguing
ways Of her brother Tom. The fo.lies
of the foolish, thinks tho writer. ia tor
intellectual contempt Of the Fhilistine,
causc the eorrcws Of tho world. The strong,
| wise man. whose purpose is high and good,
could be walk alone, or could he find COM
ranlon like himself, might enjoy all the happi-
| ness that his nature il capable OF. Not to he
able to walk alone, not to tind the compaaion
this is the canse Of hlr misery. .tdap,
ma1rics Dinah. and is happy, In his rcce1,-
tive nature his own grsat th1ughts fall like
seeds to grow and l'esr fr'l,s. Poor Maggie,
for want Of nsture which can meet hers,
eats ont her heart in solitude peopled By
met aud women. These are puppets to her
rhc is not Of them : and were it not for tha:
rF0viuenttal drowning. we ttc.nble to think
what might have become Of her.
| 1t is more difficult to get at Lord Lyt:on:
ideas. There Is this popularity in all his
novel6-that the neda does not apaear IL
them. THUS gives them. in spite OF the extra
ordinary bt,lliancy which makes him in some
respects the first Of English novelists, Ger,
tain hardnese-not harshness; this would be
to accuse his artistic power hardness wllicE
springs, it may be, from some deficiency it
the faculty Of sympathy: Perhaps he has
pleasures have to be bought bJ hard work
perhaps in early life he was too studious
However that may be. be has failed to acquire
that fellow-feeiing with other meu which
throws color and warmth over the books Of
many lesser writer. He has never learned
the art OF drawing tears from the eyes Of his
readers.
After perusal OF the whole Of Lord Lyt-
tons books, you may remember to have = ONE
times laughed. but you will not have once
dropped tesr.
He, too. however, has touched on the qucs.
ton. Suffering. he would say, is either II
education or punishment sometimes. hui
rarely, it mas be both His charActers-nerel
oscillating, Il. men in the weakness Of theil
wills constantly do-*teadily SO up or down
The career OF Randall Leslie i. certain from
the beginning: He might have got suc:ese
and money. Not the less would he have be-
come te'tsh. calculating. aud interruptions
He suffers late 1t IL his punishment. Lem.
ard. suffering eaFlv. is educated by endurance
and pam. Lord Lytsou seems less than any
other grea. novelist to have Jtt the miseries
Of mankind.
lrefrain from l,.lzae and George Sand be-
cansc, At the meution OF their names. sc
much crowdt into the mini which must be
said, that dozen numbers Of Once 4 Neel
would not suftice.
Suffering, thea, according to Thackeray
only comes upon those who deserve it, eithci
from ignorance. or folly. or vice. According
TO Victor Hugo. it is the inevitable 10: Of tht
wolM: the great laws Of religion. society, AMI
politics, ru!hlesely crushing al that come i,
their way. Lord Lytton teaches how atfouf
natures are nouzished and weak ones pun
.shed By suffering; and George Eliot show.
ttat The unavoidable alliance Of Good and bad
. weak and strong, entails misery upon both
which the good and strong feel the mos
| acnteIE.
; One writer renains-no longer. alas, /,
| living writer. Charles Dickens takes, i,
reality the old good apprentice aud idls ap
prentice Theory All hts good boys come i
6oodsends. Fatness awaits them, with gooS
eating ant drinking. His bad boys come Il
, hunger. aeauness. and dierepu.e. Sampson
and Sally Brass growl about ClalemArket il
> the evening", picking up olral. i saw then
I ! at elbows aud unkeupt. hauuts log pnb1ic