The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-09-10
SOME NEH HOOKS.
nenraa EIiot,s Daniel Derondn.

romans IN foTce tndt n lttS Wlut duu ilEoIVho
training, whose defects are not corrected but
accented by the subsequent exercise Of func-
tions relatively few and narrow, must tend to
cripple, and in some directions paralyze. the
constructive forces Of the mind. IL Is likewise
possible, II we may argu3 from analogy, that
particular mental aptitudes, or incapacities. may
be intensified by Inheritance In given sex. In
this sense, therefore. IL IL still reasonable TO
speak OF special laws which govern the intellec-
tual work Of woman. hut these laws. which
have sometimes been deemed innexiole, are
now seen TO be the aflrmance Of mere tenden-
oies. winch may he counterworked and largely
overcome by the exp nsive pressure Of remark
able dynamic qualities and an exceptional per-
sonal experience. This we know, because
George Sand and, In a somewhat more decisive
way, George Eliot, have done some OF the very
things which, 1t was supposed, women could
not do
tive ACCEPT the general verdict Of men we
shall admit that womsn mad never until the
present century attained high excellence on the
higher levels Of ar. They had given us clever
letters, ike Madame de Scvgne, shrcwd renec-
tions on life aud books. Ike Madame de Statl,
character sketches, carefully drawn, but pale In
color. and adjusted to narrow canvas. like
Miss Austen. hut they had never produced
orAmn or an epic poem. Neither had they
SHOWN themselves COmictent u execute inht
elaborate and comprehensive work OF art to
which Fielding consummatc form, and
which, partially Invested OF the atmosphere Of
humor with which he clothed It. and informed
with more serious spirit, might ally be called
the modern epic. Some thirty years ago. how
ever. appeared a woman whO. within the hori-
con 81 an English vic rage brought to bear an
l...ttivc 'tscernment and power Of dramatic
scnthesis witch, Transferred to wider theatre,
might ravc created large picture Of human
life. Yc' Charlotte Brpnte was but the precur-
sor OF George Eliot. nj can only be said TO have
cemops'rlted that a great female novelist was
n possibility.
At the time when Mrs Lewes published
"Adam Bcde." the conception ~ the novel
popularity held In England had lost somewhat of
the organic unity and symmetry which Fielding
gave IT, Conspicuously as Dickens and Thack
fray outshone the elder novelist In specific lines
Of excellence. II would he not less idle To COM
pare taeif narratives with Tom Jones' In re-
speot Of coherent aud cumulative evolution
than one Of Snakespeares plays with a Greek
tragedy These masters Of irony and pathos
we're perfectly alive TO their own shortcomings
and did not dispute tho sounduess OF the prin
eipIes to which they failed to conform For
what nre the fundamental laws OF the novel n
aid down ny the eXempar whom they never
Nearied Of extoilingr That thi, species of COM
position. like the drama, mus tic bulls upon a
ikeietOn 81 strong and we-comDactei plot.
md that the outward texture must reproduce
not a class a coterir. or eccentric social TYPES.
but broad human nature In is multifarious as
poets. Moreover. the novel. "a Fieliins CON
eeIveJ II. had one mark of declstye diaer.nc.
from the drama. that It contemglatei the slow
and graduated DEVELOPMENT Of character under
Oh. ,.f. ria. .
and recoil OF passions On the other hand.
what lessons atd crittcl .u, might be lntelJecteu
by way Of prologue and interlule whAt spirit
whether Of mirth or sadness. II Superior toll
france or contempt, or of earnest q iestioninr
md symp,tn,, would pervade IN. whole must
DC determined by the taste ana quality Of In,
Individual artist. 1t il doubtless true taat out
mans commentary NAV be more preciou, tn u
mothers text, and IL il likewise prob,bie thI
ZONE creations OF rhAckerly aui Dic~els at,
aichod more securely IN the memory ,v.n that
'Psrson Albums !" nevertheless the fact remain
that we commonly and olrsalves dwslii.s les
On what their actors do than On what the al
,hor says Of them ami that single chapter OF
page may he taken up at random withou.
painful sense OF Ill location. That this is 5,
may be accounted a signal triouts t. the con
itant charm Of the novels = style, pat /. mani
testify impugns tie perfection Of his narrativ
70 coherent artistic structure. The truth H.
We cannot helo thinking II Dickens or Thach-
fray as far brighter and more dehghtfIl than
my one Of their books, where Fielding lie
buried beneath his greatest work Ike An E..yJ
Ian king beneath his pyramid
But those principles Il dramatic narrative
which the young writer who named hers n
George Eliot found partially Obscured In E.
Hand, were still paramount M France. In iced
he astonishing fruits winch their appltc. T.,
Produced in the hands II Biz &C nxei tue law
4 the novel SO vigorously IN 4 even such -p.i
ted, vvaclUus histories gs IN sc OF Ercknianl
-natri4n are now assigned to distinct cate
rory Nor j. u doubtful What George SAM hN
contributed not "A little 10 enforce corrcc
artistic form. She Is almost always succes-f 4
IA weaving a consistent, prosrrs I've plot. whict
ike a Latin sentence, small mold back Its mean
ipg Til the end, aud the action OF her fefnal
characters under the play Of motive, aud IN
pressure OF events is often evolved with sl'
tained, deliberate touch which In d femiuin
writer was unprecedented. Her portrhis
masculine nature however, are less life Ike
md she seems 10 have paiutei vlVld} only IN
many phases OF her own experience ana thos
somewhat numerous types winch came uhd'