New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-22

tins xvould argue in grown man, either Ignorance
of The woes of the world or That hs has
ncver depicted persons in the lower nuue-clas1 ~
English life It has always appeared 10 Inv .n,sO
bio characters lnyariaoy Ge,"nH md score of
others belong to the lower mddle-ciassi 'Isr
The tanker and Wizard, the squSe, 10 unu ui go.
middle class mechanics. farmers Clergy l i
tnrs LAWYERS sailors the hole OF the nliuuc-0,a1
IN fact constitute all his d! GmdiS PuSOn", mo tha
here approach what has always sce'lou ~ os be
nre.,test lacaua in Charles ReadeS works' az no
SSrvcr Inv any chance draws man OF the WORTH %
does he never by any chance draw
The femme d. monde is 10 hin an uhhno" 80 -"
ture His NEST charming women, uttuato VI
rasirns like kitchen maids or all lhat N ihpIlou
IN the old adage nobiesSe obliqe he seems 10 nave
"S TaIe for instance Zoe Wizard, who is described
as of good birth and breeding: she speaks ana aGts
like a barmaid, giggles and CRIES " La JulIa
DOdd whose mother we are told Is oil great culture
and rcGneneut does tho same 30 voos 70
Garden also Helen in " Foul flay.' CnIlsilo
Jolnstone and Peg Wellington are adn'rap'c'
because they are quite true 10 their respective sta
tlOps: but " hen me draws what he calls loul ioi
which odIous word he is very tondl he ihlis eulreS
and her manners are those of "a thrd-rate schools
pirl Even katherine Gnunt, the best OF MS
female characters. too often oHends III thls vulgar
fashion, and when she goes TO sleep on TUE sal'c
bed with Mercy Gaunts other WlIel ne, nyeo n,
something more than of coarse hbrc. HIS onIy
idea of woman is he Smidde-class woman. anu hoV
the best specimen of that. The woman Oh lho
neople he can draw Though he does not draw
he rannoi or VIII not, or at all events does not :
and of the femme du moado he is utterly ignorant.
OF the woman no lie essentially Ot our tlIhe lhc
woman OF high culture, of artistic taste' OF pro
found knowledge of men and manners oil delcate
cynicsm OF unconscious eXtiaVagahce, VINO ID
always dtRS le Increment always dlincuu 10 lntei,
est ften title sad at heart when most surrounded
and mo hattered,-of this woman ne mas never
had even the falntest imagination. Nor mas he
had any either of less complete type, WHICH iesS
of and in the world, is yet high bred, ana. being
80, is incapable OF the "brdling,' the giegllngy
various forms efusion which he distributes so
Literally between all his herOnes, ana Whlcu us
figure even SO fine "a creature as Jael Dencc IN one
OF the finest romances. Put Yourself III HIS Place
"A story picturesque and vigorous that IL iner-
iteu "A better title. Indeed. the cTdckJdW ana lhteI-
minaGle titles when Charles Redde mas OIteh
selected may have had something ID 90 WitD i ms ms
failure in obtaining the universal lame Whlch nc
undoubtedly deserves. They DO not remain ON me
public ear, and do not do justice TO the wolk theS
name. Another cause for that lack q universal
popularity which the article herein comment on
regrets is probably to be f0nnd IN to ndpIt
Charles Redde has grown into oil using ootn hIueous
and ludicr0uS names for his characters, ana ull.
usual and ugly words such as Doll anc nape
to express tho head and the back oil tne neck,
which lamentably dishgu7e his text lhey are
terms correct enough, no doubt; nut they anu
many similar ones constantly recur ana are JarrIng
and tiresome aud too often spoil ms hnesG pas
saces They showed napes " is his expression IN
A Woman Halter - 10 signify that two people
turned their backs upon each othcr III III Oh
temper. e.
In the language Oh passion dItO ho is hth'lVul'
No English writer ever seems 10 know III except
Mr.. SwlnDurne and Mr. Browning. Inc language
and the feeling of art also are absent from these
works INTO that enchanted land Charies heane
seems never TO have Wandered. humanity, ant
moi the highest humanity seems alone TO nave
power to attract ms interest. 1t may be SAID that
he is the happIest in animated movement, III the
recital of perilOus and heart-stirring incident:
There is IL heroic grandeur Ill his treatment OF
these there's, and one feels that lie ought TO nave
been great and adventurous soldier. or singer Oh
wa
pathOp, and has perhaps not glVeh way often
enough to his Instincts OF tenderness. me scene III
" Never Too Late to Mend y where tie eAllcs
listen to the English lark, is unsurpassaDle IN eX-
quisite beauty, in simple and natural feeling De&n-
tiiully rendered. THIS union OF grace ana force IS
very rare in any writer and is, to my thinking
deeply TO be regretted that these rare powers are
often mared by the use of jarring or an igno6le
word such as have alluded to, sadly breaking the
melody of his mellow and manly English.
In conclusion, | must lament that the article
here refer TO goes ont OF Its pain TO attack
" RomOa" Now, no one can sec the defect OF
" Romola )" better than | can do because IT'S sole
defect ~ that it is not in the very least Italian.
From the tlOre ltlne citizen, who is made TO love
mutton Ia meat aObUrred by all Iuscans) 10 hOhO'a
herself. who is purely northern character ana
even Tito. who as "A Greek or an Italian lover
would never have troubled his head about Tcssa
after a fortnight of her. the whole book is purely
northern; it has MT breath OF Italian AIR Ill IT,
But, setting this apart Romold" Is fine Work
by reason of the intellectual power and harmonious
cohesion which were the especial attributes OF
George Eliot AN the draggngO Of Eomola" into an
essay Charles heade IS SO precisely specimen oil
OF the many radical detects OF EnPllsh clltcism
that must be allowed TO condemn II. No French
critic would so err to drag into IL review OF
Alexandra Dumas a sneerlng censurc of work OF
Octave Feuillet. No French critic would say ID
writing of NIctOTen SardOu that he did not resemble
Emile Gaboran, as this article. oddly enough,
say. that Charles Reade does not resemble Anthony
Trollope! Why should he resemble lTolopef II
he be IL great author, he will resemble no one OF
his contemporaries And this, indeed, the power
and charm of the creator OF Christie JohnstOne
no ic. 1V dol ONT
not waited those fifteen years more between
being ca led to the bar and allowing himself to
write ho might perhaps have been yet more de-
there can DO no doubt that he would have been
finer artist IN fiction had lie considered and dealt
Win his work as u work of art alone, and not
oyerweghted each with some social question as
cumbersome to incorporate SIT Is ephemeraI IN
interest.