New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-10-19
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NOVELS AND STORIES.

O. BLUE STOCKING, nv Mrs. ANNIE REWARDS.
l. DEViLPtzzERs. AND OTHER sTORIE9 BY
FREDEHcN =, PERKINS 16mo. PIP. 20 q. T.
"The Storc OF Avis" is a curious we might say
remarkable production. Few readers, suspect,
will be able either wholly to ike whOlly to dis
like it. There is scarcely page Which does not in
dictate the presence of decided natural clevernesS.
overh,id with the sipl,Sof efol5, sometimes abSo-
lutelv painful 10 be much m'de than clever: the
unhealthy of the characters, always ON the point OF
growing weary Is every now and then redeemed by
one Of those fresh. quaint touches which made the
authors Coates Aiar" SO popular; and the tense
ness of every string ti,At is touched varies its pelc-
ing shillness with the deeper note of a very
earnest aspiration. BIT the strongest characteristic
of the story is ia unconscious betrayal of the intel
lectual mtlucAces which have been working upon
the mind OF the author. From this one volume
skillful literary analyst, century hence, may be
able TO reconstruct the tastes fashions, and habits
of thought prevalent in Eastern Massachusetts at
this day He viii find George Eliot, in the authors
constant comment upon and explanation OF the
words and actions of her characters; Mrs. SpoioId
in the laying on OF plentiful color IN nature, cos
tune and furniture and the overwhelming OF these
accessories by an INA gnatiOn running wild; Emer-
SON Hawthorne, and Henry james, jr, in scattered
touches Of DESCRIPTION or philOsophic comment. IN
short the Story of Avis mpresses rs as the re-
suit of breathing certain intellectual stimulus for
wears and OF a purpose deliberately formed, TO be-
come, in turn, one Of the stilnulants. 1t is not
work which coapcllodits creation; and therefore
it would probably have been much more satisfactory
if the authors ambition had been content
with simpler style, and with characters nearer to
ordinary humanity. The keynote is struck upon
the very first page where ''she changed the accent
of her thoughts as they pursued her'-quite an I'M
possible thing TO do. If she were NOT rOt1aaI7y, ana
thus mechanically, thinking. We are next told that
the scene occurred "before feminine friendship and
arrangements were founded ON the distinctions be-
tween prot0plasm and boplasm'-a fearful sugges-
ton Of what the scene might be, were 1t placed III
our Gav Three OF the ladies present have the names
o. Coy, Chatty, aud Avis; yonng man reads Spen-
Set with a voice which 'suillscd peneuatlYe
sense of pleasure Of unexplained organic joy, bike
that of Nature in her simpler moods' and Avis
listens to him with a certain aloOfness IN
her beauty" The pages are not merely
sprinkled, they are crowded with such express
sions as these, also with much better ones, 1t
is true, but sometimes with much worse Moods
or emotions, not specially important IN themselves,
become Organic" or mathematical" or 'dy-
manic :" and color, IN particular, IA treated IN
an astonishing manner. The author even says I'VE
italcise the adjectiyos) bld,ja1 brown. j0yOas
gray, a restless green, a relic1't red, something
never seen before This phenomenon IS connected
with the following additional features There
was a rising, but 2s yet unagt3ted, wind, which
appealed TO- but did not STIR the purple heart of the
sea mOmng-glories which sprang from the sand
across the wall The water bad the superlative and
minated meaning Of a September sea. The near
waves broke NEEDLESS and kindlng, clean 10 the
hearts core ike q nature burnt holy with a cOuse-
Grated passion" style like this is too fine for
binary use ; and are the characters. Avs is an
eapiue dovolouoH child whom cOOt--
ing made miserable, and sewing afflicted wish
"crcelsr and the sight of her aunt fitting gussets
''made frantlc,' into woman whose moods and
desires reach far above humanity. In spite of all
her sacrifices in which, as there Is no
spiritual comfort so there is no love-, she
remains sublime egotist. She falls into
something that passes for love, chiefly, We
cannot help suspectmg, because the Young Pro-
fessor with golden beard and dark ewes looks like
a"Norse god; she bitterly and passionately
ssts marriage, because of its consequences" and
oven when hey first child Is horn, and her husband
asks: DON'T Won feel any maternal affection for
the little thing .' she cOOy answers mot bit!'
This is not the stuff Of which true artists are made
the conception is not only false but positively harm
full We have already a sufficient crop of young
women, who turn their wholesome necessity OF
household duties into . piteous aesthetic Ucli-
schmer-,-to say nothing of the young men who feed
their vanity by calling labor degrading, and
lanenting over the deterioration OF their souls,
whenever they must earn tbor bread 4 creature
like Avis is an unfit, misleading ideal OF womanhoOd,
and the authors eloquent closing plea for pure and
perfect love between the highest types of the sexes
loses OF It's force, in adjoining such tale Miss
Phelps is at her best in sach the Of
Avis from the reef which is piece of vivid and Wig
description. Where she forgets herself, and
paints nature simply. she also gives rs fresh and
agreeable touches. Her humor, TO which she too
rarely allows expression, has its own individual
quality. But she has aimed at doing too much, and
las thus brought down upon herself the vengeance
OF both human nature and literary art.
Mr.. Howells appears to be carefully working
hrs way into that field of refined comedy for which
he possesses many appropriate qualities. In a
Counterfeit Prcsentmeut' he has at last reached the
stage; fOY MI Lawrence Barrett, who owns the
right of representation has already produced il in
Cincinnati. We heartily hope that il may be sue
cesslul as acting comedy; It Will be great gain
if theatTe-going public can be led 10 appreciate
the superiority Of light, graceful, refined humor
picturesque contrasts of character and the charm of
probable incidents. over The extTaYagant and vu-
gar forms of farce which arc threatening to usurp
our stage. "a Counterfeit Presentnent' las not
the compactness and the brilliant succession Of de
cCtful devices which find in Mr.. Howellss Par
Tor Carr" both the Incidents and The manifestations
OF character are more improbablc-too much So in
deed fOr a story meant only % be read, but not for
the sharper perspective which The stage requires
The heroine who is a bundle OF historical moods is
less agreeable 20 the Imagination than she would be-
if pcrsonaed by handsome and skilful young
a.fra no. Norr IN sUhfo oh. tf.a