The sun., 1880-09-19
SOME NET HOOKS.
A New Irish NovpIiat.

has 10 our time all over Europe driven the cur
rent OF imaginative talent into this channel,
leaving the fair springs OF possy comparatively
dry and deserted may be traced no doubt to
the example and success Of the grent romancer
OF Scotland Homer has heen described as the
fountain at which all succeeding poets drank;
and tho author Of Waverley in this other
sphere OF fiction is the modern source. to which
Repairing In their golden urns draw light
It is pleasant then to the national vanity OF Ire
land to feel that this great romancer.
from whose springs the rest Of the
world has drawn inspiration. should In turn
acknowledge with grateful iteration that he has
drawn has inspiration from those Of an Irish
lady romancer Maria EdGeworth. Men OF the
highest literary eminence. among them Ed
ward Everett. consider that in the great quuli-
ties OF invention. observation OF manners. IA
miliarity with life both elegant and common.
wit and sense. she is not perceptiby inferior
to Scott and in natural powers is only exceeded
by him in that realizing imagination which en-
ables the possessor of 1t to perceive his mental
creations with more than the distinctness OF
real life. and in that pathos which is the last
great gift by which the poet and orator exer-
else their mastery over the human heart
Though inferior to him In these thousand
passages OF hers abundantly manifest IA vivacity
and fertility OF imagination and tenderness
OF feeling not often to be found.
With such an example and so much TO At her
10 be the local habitaton OF romance. it Is
strange that ireland should be so little. or. at all
events. so ineffectlvely brought into operation.
The same causes that have embttered and de-
graded her history have brought the character
Of her people, both moral and social. to Il state
which Is eminently favorable to the inspirations
of the novelist. The anomalies necessarily en-
gendered throughout tho whole frame OF So
cisty by the inverted and unnatural position OF
The institutions Of the country for many years
.he influence which such state of things
had upon oil ranks. the higher, In whose
hands the execution of unequal laws was
placed. being forced by the very nature
Of the instruments, which they welded to
Do bad judges. bad magistrates. and bad
citizens in spite OF themselves. while the
lower class. placed by the same causes in
habtual opposition to the law. seem but to full
al their allotted destiny by riot and rebellion;
the vulgar arrogance OF the small gentry. so
long encou ragged by the despotism thus put in
commission among them; the low crcum-
venting cunning which was the only peaceable
weapon left to their victims. and which is so
observable among the once glorious Greeks.
and in fact all trampled down nations. substi-
hiting the serpentine line OF the slave Tor the
straightforward course OF the freeman; those
habits OF thoughtless and tasteless extrava-
gance which a long monopoly OF the public
purse enGendered in the master, and that reck-
lessness OF comfort and even Of life TO which a
long despair OF justice reduced the slave; all
these are features but too prominent in the
condition OF Ireland TO which novelist might.
n nf pi
ed variety OF play. 1t would be diff
cult to name any country in which the
sketcher OF human nature could expect to find
more original subjects for his pencil more
variety OF lights and shadows, or more Of that
sort OF picturesqueness toward which. in NOR
ais as well as painting. utility and order are
the last ingredients necessary. 1t is wcndrous.
then. to think that since Miss Edgeworth's day
the imagination. considered so essentially an
Irish attribute. has given us SO few pictures OF
these most picturesque times.
Lady Morgan. who followed was a tuft hunter
OF the purest breed. If there ever was one.
There is not n pernicious point or affectation
belonging to tuft hunting or modiSlness which
she did not labor to confirm and strengthe On by
precept and sentiment in her works as well as
by her own goodly example. Her peculiar
capacity too lamentably well fitted her for the
undertaking. She possessed a vivacity. play
fulness which might pass for wit. and a certain
perception of the ridiculous. which carried her
far enough to raise the laugh. without being
able to suggest the truth which often lies skin
deep beneath the ludicrous. Nothing beyond.
Maxwell. who followed her. and Lever. who
modelled himself on him. are. as has
been well said pretty much the same
thing on paper what Tyrone Power was
m ha CT nfyhfi "A nio
at spanking pace through all their pages.
while they rattle out story as wildly rich in
invention as fairy tale. with the most catholic
JUNCTION. Now love takes lead. now hShtlng;
but whichever may be first for the time. Jun is
sure TO be at his saddle skirts. Perhaps the
funniest Irish story ever told is MaxwelIs
The Man who Wouldn't Do for Galway" but
their books. though most delightful grave. and
gay and both commingled. are but snatches of
life and adventure and sketches. the majority
oil them merely IN outline; not complete works
OF art. Levers stories especially are stories OF
pure out and out fun, and. from their quaint
and rollicsing Irish way. are brilliant after
their style us Beaumarchaiss Figaro" which
from its sparkling wit. blazing out sentence
alter sentence, has been not lnaptly compared
TO display OF fireworks. But nothing more.
O'Connell considered Banm the greatest OF
IiIou uONcIbtS. ne W struggle WIN Dltter
poverty. and while yet youn-s and full OF bright
promise the angel OF death struck the poor
wrestler's sinew. and he died OF consumption
In Kilkenny. His books. though rough, were
certainly the most vigorous and powerful pic
lures OF Irish peasant life of that whole class OF
Irish novels. There is a vigor and raciness il
every page which atones for much OF eXaggera-
tion and bad literary taste. The genius OF the
writer like that irregular offspring OF fire. the
potneen. has not only u strength but wlldness
OF flavor about it which it would be in vain
to look for in productions more amenable 10
the gauge OF criticism. 1t is. indeed one
OF the great merits OF his work that the
portraits OF low life which he gives have
evidently been sat for on the spot; the hu-
NOR comes authentic from the very source
without having undergone any refining process
on the way, and though Banim shows occasion
ally that he can write with much elegance and
sweetness, there is in general in "Crohore OF tho
Bllhook" " and John Doe" remarkable as they
arefor vigor OF touch, truth OF costume. and WV
idness OF ofcolorlng. a rather rough ton de Jri0and
a4.AI 8..la