The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-04-10
LITE RATuRE.

All true women should hold Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps in grateful remembrance. She comes as
ministerlng angel. healing balm In her nand,
faith In her SOUL love In her heart and hope begot.
ton Of reason on neY bps sne has borne some heavy
that the CROSSES OF others may be lighter The
sad experience OF one Is the solace OF many The
desire TO do good In her generation almost amounts
to passion with Miss Phelps, who forgets the art
OF writing In her easerness to bring about reform.
And now, with this noble woman's three books be-
fore US. we are forced to ask whether Miss
Phelps Is not injuring herself and her subjects
by hasty expressions Of opinion on very
profound subjects; for when young authors nrst
book Is his best, ts becomes q question whether he
Is not writing too fast Tor mental digestion In
'Gates Ajar" Miss Phelps produced remarkable
book remarkable because she gave to grim, ortho-
dox religion all the beauty and nearness which mas
long been the consolation OF Swedenborgians and
Spirtualists. She robbed death OF Its terrors and
gave to grief 80 tender sympathy as to cause sor-
row-laden men and women to close tho book with
"God bless herr upon their lips For neart,
"Gates Atar' Is incomparabe; for art It Is faulty.
Occasionally there Is an exhibition OF nippancy
that with more care might have been avoided.
Worse, however, Is wrong relationship between
hero and heroine. the loves Of Mamie and Ray
are neither sistery brotherly. They are a. much
beyond the Affection Of consangunity o. the light
and warmth OF the sun exceeds that OF the moon.
Mamie and Ray are nothing more nor less than
lovers, and to make them anything else Is unnatu-
raj as 1t is inartisc nothing, however, that Is I'M
natural can be artistic. Much as sisters may love
their brothers they not defiant, heartDroken at
their decease HE was an mex orable mystery who
took Ray from me to lose him the glare OF an In.
exorabe heaven He Is Father who knew better
than that we should be parted for o while, but He
only means 1t to be little while. He Is keeping
him for me to ind IN the dash Of some summer
morning, on which I shall open my eyes no less
naturally than open them on June SURPRISES now.n
This Is the love that passeth all UNDERSTANDING
1t is the love that leads Mamie to q lie
Of singieness. Miss Phelps made mistake, which
Is palpabe to the ARREST reader but there Is no mis-
take IN the lesson learned from .'Gares Ajar',-a
lesson that will give vitality to the book for many
years. "Hedged In,'' published in 1870 one year
after coates Ajar." fails to show growth In Miss
Phelps, either as artist or thinker principally we
believe. because or haste in It's composition. Nobly
espousing the neglected cause OF unfortunate wo-
men. Miss Phelps has told q touching story that
brings tears to the eyes, but, alasl leaves hope
behind; hence II throws no light upon the darkest
problem OF the age She taxes young, ignorant
girl. who knows no difference between virtue and
sin, makes her the mother OF illegltimate child,
causes her to become an outcast, at last finds
kind home Tor her, where she leads the life OF a
saint, kills Off her baby and finally kills her of too
as the only means Of disposing OF her. Angel as
she Is, there Is no room for her in this world;
she must so to the next. This is poor consolation to
miserable, struggling women. "Go and sir no
more says the Saviour. .'Go and repent and then
de-" Is the moral OF "Hedged IN" Society is in
tolerant enough, Heaven knows, Of erring women,
but given such q character as Miss Phelps has
drawn, we believe that there Is village however
Puritanical, In which, under similar circumstances
she could not live down her past life. We know Of
case where this has occurred. Though
prominent member OF an orthodox
church, the woman is in no way the
lovely creature depleted by Miss Phelps. ~ find
no satisfaction In 'Hedged In says teacher OF
abandoned women with sigh. l cannot give 1t to
my poor women. 1t is not the book we need There
Is no comfort for them In IT, Herein lies the mis-
take Of this book. IL falls to answer terrible ques-
ton, but 1t shows the outrageous Injustice Of society
to helpless wrong doing; and though 1t brings no
hope to the Outcas at least 1t tells story that should
make all sO-called good women think and reform.
They need reformation quite as much as their
wretched sisters. We close Miss Phelps last book
"a Silent Partner" with mingled feelings OF ad-
miration and disappointment. Miss Phelps, the
woman is as noble as ever; Miss Phelps, the
artist Is less satisfactory than ever: and
again, we believe, because Of undue speed IN
production. We see the creed OF her HE
in the quotation from Isaac Taylor. which she puts
into the mouth OF her heroine-''ro INSURE there
FORE its large purpose OF good will to man the low
OF Christ spreads It's claims very beyond the
circle OF mere pity or natural Kindness and In alb
s0lute and peremptOry terms demands for the OF
the poor, the ignorant, the wretched, and demands
from every one who named the name OF CRrlst the
whole residue Of talent wealth, time that may re-
main after primary claims have been satisfied
With this great law In her heart Miss Phelps has
written "a Silent Partner" It fs magnificent PHI
lanthropy In certain ways but 1t u not art. 1t
not fail to set Its many readers to thinking more
earnestly about the relations OF capital and labor;
but 1t leaves the critical not little dissatisfied to
see % great subject disposed Of without displaying
any reverence for artistic structure and probability
The heroine Perley Kelso n fashionable young
woman, engaged to q fashionable young man. who
tribes with life In the usual fashionable manner.
she lives IN Boston. Her father meets with an &C.
cidental death. and Perley Immediately gives up
city life and retres to her country hOme-a rather
unnatural pr0ceedng-as Perley's grief Is by no
means deep. Perlcy goes into tho country In
winter not because Perley would have done this In
real fe but because the author must get her there
In order TO tell the story A few Interviews with
Siss Garth, a factory girl transformed Perey's
whole character; anu, having grown away from ner
lover, Perey says to him. III there is any love In
the world, Maverick, that ought to be independent
OF moods and master Of all moods 1t The love that
people marry on. Now, I'm neither very old nor
very wise. but am old enough and wise enough to
understand that 1t Is only that part OF me which
gets tired and has the blues, and minds
an easterly storm, and has the toothacne,
and wants to be amused, and wants excite.
ment, and-somebody the other side OF the silver
teapot-which loves you. l do not love you, Nave
rick Hayle." "YOu haven't thought how you Will
miss me,n exclaimed Maverick. 81 shall miss you,"
replied Perley. .'Of course l shall miss you, Nave
rick. so should miss the piano II 1t we're taken
out Of the parl0r." Such being the condition OF
affairs, Perley Kelso does well to break ner engage
ment. But what does this mean9 "There
IL no other man, expostulates Maverick. mo
other man." says Perley thoughttully ~ "could
come between you and me- do not see now could