Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-28
English Novelties.

From the London Times.
The work of the novelist or the poet seldom
leads a man into the front ranks OF the worlds
AFFAIRS and in those countries where bellies ettres
have been the recognized road to office neither
literature nor politics have prOfited by the con-
nectiOn between them. But, in revenge the
time-honOred arts of imaginative literature pen
citrate and influence life in ways which are all
their own. The poet who puts into words our
best thoughts and our happiest moments the
novelist who peoples our leisure with a world
of imaginary acquaintance and makes
US rejoice or sorrow in their JOYS and
griefs-these rule us with sway which
is unlike any other. and when they die our
regret has an intimate personal note, a touch of
gratitude and affection, hardly due from us to
any other kind of benefactOr. however great.
And If ever novelist had a claim to this kind
OF widespread af1ectiOnate remembrance 1t is
Mr.. TrOllope. He will scarcely rank in the
future beside the great novelists of the century.
Scott, Balzac. Dickens, Georges Sand George
Eliot, Charlotte BrOnte, Thackeray, Turguenieff.
these at least must be put in first class to which
posterity will hesitate to admit him in spite of
his range and facility. Neither we believe Will
1t admit Miss Austen, great as she is. She and
Mr.. Trollope, and, perhaps, Mrs. Gaskel, stand
at the head of the second order. From their
labor has sprung a tribe of novels in which the
ways of the English middle class are described
ness OF feeling which are only not the best of
what the nOvelist's art can produce because
there are certain rare and Unborn gifts of gen
ius which as 1t were take the heaven of our
praise by force and conquer for themselves
place apart whenever they appear Miss Austen
drew the middle class of the England of Napo-
Icons day: her country squires; her fashionable
ladies, above all her clergymen, are as real as
they can be made by the most delicate obserya-
ton, expressed in style which for its mixture
nd ind oTr
gayety has no rival in English. Thirty eyentful
years or more divide her death from the be-
ginning of Mr.. TrOllopes career as novelist.
But still his world is the heir of Miss Austens.
There Is nobody with whom Mr.. Collins NAV
be better compared than with Mr. Craw-
ley; and Anne Eliot. Catherine Morland.
Emma, and the delightful Elizabeth Bennett
herself, are conceived I'm substantially the same
mood allowing for the difference of two gener-
atiODs, as Mary ThOrne, Lucy RObartes, or LADY
LuptOn. The English novel seems at the pres
ent time to be entering upon period of deca-
dence. The number of novels written is as
great as ever, and, to Judge by the demand, the
number of readers would seem to be increasing
rather than diminishing. But. with very few
exceptions, English novels present a spectacle
of careless writing, insufficient preparation. and
commonplace ideas. There are few people who
can write at all that suppose themselves incapa-
bic OF writing novel. And yet. at the present
moment. there Is no harder task The old sjtu-
ations, the old plots, are perously familiar and
the work of the best foreign novelists is train
ing us, year by year, to demand an increasing
accuracy and subtlety of touch in those who
would rise high in English novel writing
The body Of Chauncey w. HUFF, the missing
cashier OF the Union steamboat company. was
found In the canal at Buffalo, N. Y, Yesterday
Whether he committed suicide or was murdered
Is not known.
Benz Squire the member of the board offinance
OF the city Of Railway N. j., who was recently
convicted OF embezzlng city funds. was yester-
day sentenced to three years in the state prison
The case will be appealed.