New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-06
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
HENRY LANES, JR.


snent in reading it; he has done little or nothing
NJ which we feel obliged to say that it was not
,ror,b while: but Washington Square" is neither
n very good story, q very lively sketch oil char-
after and society; the scene is laid in New-forK
about forty years ago. and all the personages en-
rent one are rather ordinary ladies and gontienien
of the place and period No travelling ioreiehei 10
brought into this quiet company 10 Poin' 'D'
trast, in Mr. James's favorlte manner between .io
old civilization and the new; ana those sehs''''o
Americans who are forever accusing MT 1"i,o' V,
turning IN his nose at his countrymeh VIII III"
nothing her to intamc their patriotic anger Oh o'e
70 stir their suspicious. Such Rmpses as Wo ca''h
80 tho soc;al ospect of Washington Square about
the year 1910 are too vague ana eVahesce"' W
nroyoke attention. The actors in this little dofnes-
tc NAV trot their little round at easy pace "ever
disturbed by the occurrence of exciting events OF
Tho intrusion of people with habits and ideas I'M
lilo their own Their troubles arise from the con
t,ict of sentiments i'll commonplace minds winch
are described with leisuIcly minutehess q'ee'''
in harmony with the lazy movement OF INV '"ro'
The supQestion is o little Crotesque: ouC ~ io"'
seems as if Sir. James must have written ""en-
inoton Square" after au over indulgence III the
nrolix perplexities of some OF Mr.. Anthony lIoi-
lope's heroines.
II is no new discovery that Mr.. James lacks the
constructive
sketch writer. and in many Of his short and earlier
pieces there were pages of vivid descnpuoh' rag
m.nts of dramatic dialogue, and ingenious situations
which gave promise success more elaborate WORKS
of fct;on This promise has not been fulfilled. he
American" was one of his most ambitious Efforts
and it showed reIy plainly at once the elegant
finish of his art and its narrow scope Inc pan
Of the book was ingenious and original, ana many
nj TIE INCIDENTS were boldly devised and told with
remarkable power. But after laying out the scheme
of a forcible story, adroity marshalEng his per-
sopages into position, and describing with consnm-
mate skill the complicated springs of action which
Law in their various and effectively opposed char
acters. the author seemed unable to any further
The threads of the plot dropped from his hands,
"The American" came TO an end not by any pro-
cess OF development, but simply by exhaustion.
"The Europeans" approached somewhat nearer
the orthodox form of the novel far rs this, that
It wound up with few marriages, but in point OF
construction it was really almost as weak as tho
other story As Christopher Newman, in "Ihe
American" was thrust into the society OF an old
legtimist French family, and after serving 10 ex-
Dose the pettness the cruelty and the folly OF their
bride was quietly withdrawn from the scene. so
Eugenia the central figure in The Europeans, ,
having emerged from little German principahty
in order to set off picture Of domestic life In q
ocean when she had played her part. The charac-
ters in Washington Square" are presented and
withdrawn in the same artless and easy manner.
Nothing happens in the book except that brilliant
fortme-hunter tits dull and coniiding girl when
n, finds that he cannot get money with her, and then
she lives on quietly as an cd maid There is not
tho fantest attempt at the invention OF plot, or
even at the arrangement of events whose natural
cOnr,e is to bring about the intended conclusion.
"Washington Square" is no more than the MARIA
tive OF q rather sluggish life, enllvened by admir-
able bits of dialogue and humorous characterize
ton, but ending without a catastrophe-we might
almost say without incident. We refer to this de-
6cency not in the Split of fault-fnding but be-
cause it must be taken INTO account il we wish to
understand in what the power of Mr.. James really
lies. He has been harshy criticized for not doing
what ne has perhaps decided not to attempt. He
Is not bound to write novels and while he gives
us ESSAYS in fiction and satire so fascinating I'D
their way as the best of his books certainly are we
need not vex ourselves that ho sees fit TO display
his beautiful workmanship upon fabrics OF a light
substance
BY far the best character in Washington
SQUARE is Aunt Lavina Penniman. This roman
tic DAME with heI passion for wholly superhu0us
mysteries and her gOod-natured but mlschieVous
intermeddling in the love affairs of her niece, is
took too much satisfaction in the sentimental
shadows of this little drama TO have for the mo-
ment any great interest diSsipating them. She
wished the plot to thicken, and the advice that she
gave her niece tended in her own imagination to
produce this result. You must act nv dear: in
your situation the great thing is to act SAID Mrs.
Peaniman who found herself altogether beneath
her opportunities. Mrs. Penniman's real hope was
that the girl would make a secret marriage, at
which she should assist rs brideswonlan or ducnna
Size had a vision of this ceremony being performed
in some subterranean chapel; subterranean
chapels in New-York were not frequent, but Mrs.
l'ennimans imagination was not chilled by tribes
AMI of the guilty cOuple-shc liked to think OF
moor Catharne and her sutton as the guilty couple
being shuilled away in fast whiI ling vehicle to
somo o. secure lodging in the suburbs where she
would nav them lin thick vein clandcstne visits
where they would endure a period OF romantic
prvaton and when Ultimately after She should
have been their earthly providence, their inter
cessor their adv Ocate, and their medium OF
communication with the world, they would he
rcccnclled to her brother in an artistic tableau, III
which she herself should he somehow the central
figure" She wrote Innumerable unnecessary letters
10 Mr. Morris Townsend-much to that astutc young
gcptleman's annoyance and she appointed meetings
with him, which she called interviews" and
ALWAYS approached with great parade OF secrecy.
For the first of these rysts she fixed upon an oyster
saloon in Seventh Avenue, kept bv negro. AN es-
Establishment OF which she knew nothing save that
she had noticed it in passing. She sat with Morris
for half an hour in the duskest corner OF the shop
"and it is hardly too much to say that this was the
happiest half hour that Mrs. Pennlman had known
for years. The situation really thrilling, and II
scarcely seemed to her false note when her com
papion asked for an oyster stew and proceeded tc
consume it before her eyes" 1t IS quite in keeping
with the sentimntal and eflusive temperament OF
this fantastic lady that twenty years after Mo1lss