, 1874-03-08

De1ora llo Co1lons LIS AuaA5 s4e ~ "1"uoaea
and motives Is not only remarkable, but III
structiye The author states, in the preface,
that he desired to show how one CRIME might
blight mind and life otherwise brilliant ana
spotlesa. He seems rather to have depicted tho
fatal results TINT may attend the distortion OF
inselIect,-the disease which must inevitably
follow the morbid and exaggerated development
of single faculty. II, in Eugene Aram, he
exposed the danger OF unnatural concentration,
IN 'Godolphin,' written at the sasne time. he
showed the misery attending the intellectual
triler. frttezing away the energies Of tho mind.
In ~ Ernest Malt1aVezs, and its sequel, "Alice,
the desi gn appears to us less evident and le6g
striking IN execution; but in "LucretiA" he
first entered upon theme which must have
been 50 exceeding fayorite with him, since it
forme q prominent part Of his three greatest
works,-we mean tho thome which he character
ICES in 'sAly Novel, as
ssTHE ABUSE OF INTELLECT"
What ho says on this subject in "Lucretia"
has singular pe1tinence at the present time:
"a prominent vice in the hot and emulous chase
for happiness, fame, or foEtune,-in that state
OF society to which we have arrived. The vice l
alludo to is Impatience. That eager desire to
press forward, not SO much to conquer obstacles
as to eulo them; TINT gambling with the SOL
emn destinieH OF Life, seeking ever to set sue
cess upon the chance OF Il die; that thirst after
quick returns to ingenious toll, and breathless
spurrin9s along short cuts to the goal, which we
see everywhere around u.s. from the Alechanlcs
j. Institute 10 Inc Gt0Ck-10TheLs cuiAIAtkcIlS4uH
the books Of our writer's, the speeches OF our
statesmen, 40 less than tho dealings Of our
spccula.ors,-seem to me to constitute very
,li:ea:,ed and general symptom Of the times. l
hold that the greatest friend to man is labor;
that the continuous effort for fame IL nobler
than fame itself; that 1t is not wealth suddenly
acquired which is deserving Of homage, but the
virtues which man exerts i'll the slow pursuit
OF wealth, the ability 30 called forth, the self
dcnia! so imposed, in short: that Labor and
Patience are the
TRUE SCHOLARSHIPS on EARTH"
ssLucrctia" closes the list Of novels preceding
tho four remarkable works On which Bu1wer's
fame as writer will chiefly rest. Detween this
work, however, and - Eugene Aram," como his
historical novels ienz Ihe .l1n Last s pays - ,d 1d
Barons.' OF the industry, conscientious re-
search, and delicacy oi Bulwer, these works con-
rev tho very highest idea. No moro accurate.
carefullY-tinisneI historic sketches can be found
in the whole field Of English literature: Ihe
which the student will find. nowhere else 30
graphically combined, from Hume to Macaulay;
and tie service here rendered to early English
| history is extended TO the Italian in Rieuzl.
md in ''The Last Days OF pompen to tue e1-
position OF tho influence OF Greek civilization on
italy. On their power Of fascination there is no
| need to dwell. Who does not remember the
| spell which summoned before him the young
| darling Of tho Saxons, vanquished at Hastings; :;
the Two Great Brothers lying dead at Barnet
Nylia fleeing from the burning city; and tho
| glowing, Southern beauty Of Nina Rasseli?
| With .sThe Ca1toHs" began
THE GREAT ERA
| of Bulyer's career as a novelist 1t is q great
announcement to notice how, through the
slowly cleared itself OF impurities and discovered
it's true nature until in this it came forth
strong mellow, and perfect as old wine. IN
piaistratus he achieved what he had attempted
in Pelham-a hero who gave, We cannot nelp
believing, . death-blow to the Byronie school H. IN
fiction. 4 hero who is as pure a3 he il manly !;
who confides his loye-atIairs to his father, and
finds consolation for his first grief in the anec-
| tions OF his mother who consnlts the happlnesa
| OF the woman he processes to adore, rather than
| upon the time-honored model OF hero in
prose, as was HenrtTaylor'r.:" Van Ateveldo" IN
poetry In the wonderfully y-Sifted son OF Roland
We haye the perfection OF that type to which We
have alluded in Luc1etta al atte5wasas reneai
lect independent Of principle We confess to
| rreat affection for the quaint character OF Mr..
Caxton. whoss delightful peculiarities reappeal
in the introductory pages Of My Novel
.s,yhat Will He DO With It is the most per
feet in plot, and III many respects,
THE MOST CHARMING
Of nll its authors works. 1t contains IN GeoIge
Morley probablytho finest representative o. 1ne
Clergyman to be found III English fiction: Partf
Of tins work arc intensely dramatic, ana mo1.
than one successful play has borrowed Its mos
striking Incidents This book is also noticeable
as containing the most felicitous and music2
language of any Of Bulwer's works. Tho con
cludins chapter il: in fact, poem ana the It'
tie chapter entitled IS Beware Of Parting " Is
| ike ali good poetry as true as it is beautiful
/ In q form but slightly altered. it appeared II
| one of our magazines few wcehs ago, ahc
made considerable reputation FORTS veraitier.
When the Strange Story nppcased, II WIS
1ny1f{p a.
eard to Spiritualis1n. It WAS said that Bul"ef
Catered to the public taste for nnrvels; 1t WIS,
and is still regarded by many as pure e4troSa.
ganza. This Is not the light in which We look ct
It. The table-turnings of splrituallsm. tho Pro.
fessed revelations Of this pseudo-sclence. ut TINT
time unsettled many minds, some by no means
| of the lowest order. Curiously, the men will
whom the most eztravagant manifestations o.
the kind received the fullest and easlest Gre
dcnco were those to whom belief IN simpler anc
| mora cIeyatiue theories of spiritual life hat
seemed most Impossible. The key to tho au
thor's design is best expressed by ono OF h1t
quotations from Novalis:
.'wuEEE GOD 1s NOT, SPECIFIES RULE
| To us It seems ono OF tho most eloquent arsu,
mepts ever written in support Of the simple ant
eunoblipg faith in Supreme aud Beneiicen
Intelligence controlling the worid,-a faltf
which. in itB primitive form, stripped OF tha IN
cumbrances Of cant and tradition, hns thus ta
commanded the assent , 81 IT, tho oss ~
NAAS 0@A
rather complement Of thus idea. had been Pre-
yiously attempted by tie author N - zanonl, -
q work Of more romantic and artistic character
with tho . Strange Story" Bul@er's work Il
fiction might naturally have been regarded a.
completed But minds like his must, 30 long a
lie lasts, feel the pulse OF the ago beatlnt
through them. He WAS profoundly impressed b.
this new era, SO different from that in winch LII
genius had matured. It's problems perploxed
aattracted him. He longed to grapplo With them
and tho result was .'The Parislans, :" henoin
Chil1inelv," and 1.-THE Coming Race In th
latter, be lied to romance to express his appre
henpion at the Increasing power which tn
womap1y clement was so rapidly attaining in tn
de!d of active life. He had written-none NOR
enthusiastically-of Woman the Consoler a1'
Woman the InBpiror; but Woman the Actor am
Creator
! p4USTED Hin.
There did not occur to him the solution which
Jean Ipgelow puts in the mouth OF Brandon
1Tlls is woman-riddon age. Well, all tn
others we're man-ridden. After d while, re shal
find our true balance between tue two. Bu
nothing is so indicative Of certain greatness Q
soul as the fact, SO patent i'll this work and u
..KeneIm Chii1ingly, ,"-wherc he depicts tn th
hero Of a transitiona1y era, tho man born IN on
| ,ro ho+ ;nhcritnr nf AuDthcr.-that he met IL