New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-07

ner lcavinCnO particularinprcssiOn; WINE Hctty
almost gives up her sanity in order to interrupt the
even tenor of her happiness Werner takes the ele-
ments Of manhood. which have been overiaid by
shallow aud artificial education, and. by series Of
admirably contrived experiences leads them into
new life and yigor There il no violence in the plot
whereby no changes the dandy into the man. and
the naughty young Baroness into loving woman II
is not a new conception but il is expressed in new
forms. As piece of symmetrical construction,
there could be no better model for our many profess
siona noyelists. Werner has not the tragic power
nor the clear intellectual insight Of Spiclhagen
whom he most resembles as an author, but he has
much better sense of form and coheTence. Mrs. Mary
Stuart Smith has performed her task with equal
know ledge and taste Her Translation retains much
Of the individual style of the original whichis clear
even and compact, rather than intense and dramatic.
The Rev T. Z. Hale was lucky enough TO
discover q new and plQuant manner OF treating di-
dactic themes. His Man Without Country" and
"Aiv Double" revealed freshness and adroitness
of mind and an original power Of invention, which
justified the readers faith IN his ability 10 produce
literary masterpiece which should contain Obscrva-
ton. humor, sentiment and wisdom IN some new
and charming combination. But, whether through
tine soft persuasons of magazine editors the mex
or3be fate Of a professional writer, he begins TO
show symptoms OF mechanical c0ntrivance where we
once found the cheerful play of an Independent
fancy, and deliberate diuon Of material instead OF
compression and cohcrencc. His leading character
istc heretofore has been a prosaic imagination, col
oled with a natural feeling for the grotesque. The
range Of such a talent is necessarily limited, and It's
misappcation may become positively distasteiul to
the sensitive reader. In his &C. T. r." We think he
has made the mistake Of msapplying il. The book
is evidently meant To utilize the authors own eXpe-
rencc Of q visit to Texas and hence its incidents,
from beginning TO end, have n strained, perfmctory
character. The Pullman car has, in fact, nothing to
do with the story; and when il turns up, from time
10 time, the reader invOuutary asks, "Why Is
this thus p We know, at the start, that the two
men and two women viii marry; but we vainly at
tempt TO wiring from the narrative any impression OF
their indiyidualltcs. They are lay figures. posed
against a geographical background. in divers atti-
tudcs, while a band of minsues eniivens the audi
ence with French, German, Spanish and negro songs
Notmany works of the kind bear plainly on their
title-pagcs the invisible line, Manufactured to
Order"
-" Poet and Merchant is one of Auerbachs ear
lest noyels-f we mistake not, his very first. pub
lished before he wrote a line Of his Black Forest
stories of common life 1t is, therefore, somewhat
conventional i'm form and manner and has the fault
of possessing hero who is a failure as poet, lner-
chant and man. The chapters descriptive Of Jewish
life nevertheless are good anything the author
ever wrote. If one has the curiosity 10 study the
difference between careful and conscientious out
side view of such life in England, and thoroughly
intelligent inside view of it in Germany, he should
read these chapters and the similar ones in Daniel
Deronda.' Auerbach, being himself jew, sets
George EliOt's achievement aside, without an effort.
But the story is langud interrupted by phIlos0phi-
cal discussions, and only half redeemed from dull
ness by the introduction Of such characters Less
ing, Glenn Moses Mendels,ohn, Nicoai and Rainier
70 one who is quite familiar with the literary his
tory of that period the work possesses an interest
wholly unconuectcd with the story In short, it is a
good historical study, and rather poor novel. Mr..
Brookss translation is admirable-but this was
hardly necessary to be sad.
We are threatened with an overwhelming del
uge of children, husbands. mothers-iu-law. aunts-
and probably grandparents and " connections by
marriage" Mr.. Habhcrton first invented the child
rem, wound them up aId set them going; others I'M
medately infrnged upon his patent. or applied the
same principle TO other forms of machinery, and
now our houses, streets and railway trains are
crammed with the popular literary playthings.
For "playthngs" they surely are, in the exact
sense of the word; they only belong accidentally
and temporarily to literature; their sudden popu-
larity predicts nothing but their speedy oblivion.
There was the attraction Of new if trlhing con
cepton for a diycrting little volume, in " Ieien'3
Babies" and the impetus attained by that produc
ton will suffice to carry this through the market.
Bat the mixture Of cherub destructive imp, loving
and profaue soul, and precocious philosopher, of
which these Babies composed. cannot be con-
cocted second time without serious risk. What
natural blood they had in them, in the beginning, is
apt to run out, and they become PuDch-and-Judy
figures, moved by the fingers behind the curtain.
Mr.. HabbertOn shows unexpected skill in invent
ing new combinations of unconscious wickedness
for his innocents; yet we dOubt whether any per
son. unless il be the young and dOting mother OF a
first boy, can listen to much half-artculate bah
bic without severe fatigue. Perhaps after all such
works may awaken interest i'll children
among parents. Perhaps a few of those men who
look upon babies as inevitable accessories Of
married life, may be led to discover the germs Of
soul and character in their children and devote
much attention to them as to the rise and fall OF
stocks. If So Mr.. HabbeTtOn do no better mis-
sonary work than to keep on writing; but let him.
in that case. try his hand at "Other peoples child
rem!