The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-11-26
SATURDAY. ECTuREs.
Novels, Their Writers and Readers-Abs-
tract Of Rev. MIR. DaIton's Interesting
Addraax

geography and poetry, but novels divide peo-
PIE INTO Two extremes some being opposed to
all novels, others reading nothing else. Both
these views are mistaken Those who read
nothing but novels live on mental pastry But
10 oppose novels as such, is equally unreason-
aDle. True, many novels are pernicious and
more are weak and silly. Religious people
have objected to novels on both these grounds
But they should remember that the most DOB.
ular religious book in the language is nothing
but novel in form, "Pilgrim's Progress. - the
characters and story of which are purely fieti-
tious, though they answer real ones. So
do those of all novels worthy of the name
True, the purpose of the novel proper is merely
to amuse but it is often incidentally no less
useful and instructive. The Arabian Nights
are known and read of all children. and never
iail to recall delightful memories ofchildhood
ana lts love OF the marvellous. To this day we
owe our impressions of Oriental life aud man
ners more to these tales than to all other
sources. The Cyropedia is the Oldest example
OF the historical novel, and is still tayorite
book with college and other students. But
fiction as we understand it, is of modern En-
ropean origin, and evolution. Italy was the
first to produce it in luxuriance as she did
every other species of intellectual growth In
the Deeameron OF Boccacio, we have an Ttal-
ian classic which furuished Chaucer with the
model OF his Canterbury Tales as well as sew
eral of his best stories. If the English poet is
purer than the Italian novelist, the difference
IS more IN the two people than the two an
thors. Spain is the country which eniovs the
oist,nctlon OF giving to the world the greatest
OF all novels, the Don Quixote of Ceryantea,
intended as a satireon earlier romauces relat-
ing to the age of chiyalry, it succeeded in re-
pressing them entirely, and became itself the
glass OF fashion and the mold of form for all
future satirists and humorists. But the most
entertaining novel in the world is the Gil Bias
Of Le sage, written IN French BY q French
man, but the scene is wholly in Spain and Is a
perfect picture OF Spain as it was in those DAYS.
Don Qo1xote can be put into the hands of the
young With safety, but an expurgated edition
OF Gii flas Is dessderdtuna, and would put
money into the purse of any publisher who
should discreetly revise issue and advertise
It. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister is the, first Of
German novels. The great poet. who is to
Germany what Shakespeare is to England, de.
voted several years to the composition of this
Work, and 1t may be regarded as the sum Of
his observations of life in all its phases.
MIenon is one of the most Charming of its
characters, whose song
"Kennst d.. das Land 100 die cttronen blahean
Is a general favof1te in all lands 4oethe,s
Two masterpieces were Faust and Wilhelm
Melster. The second part of the Meister il far
less attractive than the first because weighed
down with aostruse speculations. If the ge-
cles OF fiction, no other can succeed in It. The
Decameron, Don Quixote, Gil Bias, and VIII
nelm Mester, these four are doubtless az snne
rior TO all others in respect to genius and the
H Esia uispayed 10 them, as are the Had, the
Eucllo, tne Divine Comedy and Paradise
LOST, IN epic poetry. In English, there ia no
single work of prose fiction of equal merit
Sir walter Scott as writer of fiction disnlavs
genius equal to that of any author. but il is
diss uoneentrated IN any one production but
unused through many volumes Keeping in
view Inc original design and true province of
tne novel, there is, in English, none sunerior
10 tne vicar OF Wakefield, unless ii is Robin
son son Crnsoe, or Gulliver's Travels. Robinson
worlds end, and ought to be. Swift is The
keenest OF satirists, and CULVER, his great
work, nnless the Tale of Tab is greater Rot
10y. ooo guy al
A chronological view of the evolnt;on Of Tho
English novel would lead us to note that II Was
TOO often weak or wicked, when the virtnons
MI Richardson, booksellers effected a nota-
o PIC reform by writing his Pomala, and define
ating the character of Sir Charles Grandison
stilted, pompous, bumptious. periuig nsta5a
gentleman OF the eighteenth century. He was
mucn read and commended This. too was
Tue era OF mysterious roDances, which minis.
1eleo 10 5ne faculties OF wonder and bewilder-
category belong the Mysteries of Udolpbo,o
tne 'rCassle OF Gtranto," "Thaddeus of War
saw, The Exiles of Siberia, ssDom Sebas-
tian,' and THE Children of the Abbey.D
Inc breath that blew away these mjsts and
vapcrs was blown by woman. OF rather bv |
three women, Miss Burney, Miss Austen and
MISS Edgeworth: Miss BurDey, afterwards
madame II, Arblay, was the friend of DIR. |
johnson, and her Evelina was regarded as a |
marvel 70 nave been written by young LADY |
wnlie IN ner teens. Miss Austen became and |
mas continued more than any of her predeces- |
sors or successors, the accepted and standard |
deineator OF English life and manners. She !
retains ssy won bsr easily maintaned and deservody
though English by BIRTH went to ireland as a |
chlld where she lived to write the most charm
ing descriptions of Irish life and manners ever
penned, The Absentee" is her best book. |
on a,ter scott confessed that to Miss Edge |
worth he was indebted for the HUT of his |
WORKS In which, in his turn, he exceled. ali |
otners, and became at once, the wizard of the |
Nortn, and the enchanter of all lands. In his |
ocotcn tales, We get not only the original |
sPlri. put inc form and pressure of old Scotias
NE ana manners. Dandie Dinmont is, per- |
maps, the most successful of these creations. |
put others follow hard after. English history |
Is peter illustrated by Scott than by any Eng.
rs author since Shakespeare. Ivanhoe paints |
tne Saxons and their Norman conouerors. |
Kenilworth the Age of Elizabeth. the Fortunes
OF nigel that OF James I including James |
himself, mora wildly than they can be- seen
on any other canvas. Sir Walter was indeed |
a great genius, and he employed his talents |
not only to amuse, but to instruct and improve |
his fellow men. All honor to him Fielding |
OF the preceding generation had even superior
genius, but he trailed his talents in the dust |
and spattered his heroes with mud
;. Inc lecturer remarked that if We pause here,
1t is not because we have not other and later
novelists OF great repute scarcely inferior tn
the giants of the older times, such as Thack
cray, Dickens and George Eliot in England |
Cooper, Hawthorne and Mrs. Stowe in |
america a. MRS. Stowe enjoys the distinction |
OF having written the most popular and widely |
read story OF our times. Hawthorne's genius
has been aptly delineated by one of our own
citizens
1t only remains briefly to alluds4o the lee
tufer's classification of novelists according to |
the type of their genius and the nnrnose of |
tneir productions. Thus we have the Oriental |
Wonder Tales in the Arabian Nights: the |
historical as perfected by Walter Scott, from |
whom Thierry derived the idea of his History |
OF the Norman Conquest of England; the |
satirical novel as represented first and hest bv
Don Quixote in Spain, and Gulliver's Travels |
In England; the humorous novel. which oul- |
minated in Gil Bias; the society novel as de-
Veioped py Miss Austen; the realistic novel |
which photographs manners, as seen in An |
tnony Trollope, or idealizes them as in the |
Vicar of Wakefelds and novels which de- |
lineate national traits, as Miss Edgeworth's in |
Ireland
The poorest of all novels is the Polemical
novel, whether the polemics be political or re-
ligious. Novelists cannot blend arguments +
with stories to their own credit or to the salts
faction of their readers. The aoorSt of all nov
els are those realistic novels written in France.
but too widely circulated and read in America.
They poison sentiment at its source and de-
serve the severest condemnation. There are |
many good and great works worthy OF the |
highest admiration in the French language. |
but the average French novel is not. of these.
but should be Stunned as SO much poison.
Doubtless Dumas and Victor Hugo are men of
genius and adorn the literature of their coun- |
try. George Sand, too was no less great: would |
she had been as good as great!
Ihe talent necessary to produce great now
el must be OF high order, Including obserya-
ton, insight,sympathy, judgments and to these
must be added the soul of goodness and a pas |
sion for truth and moral, as we'll as material
beauty.
The above isa mere outline OF very inter-
esting lecture which was listened to by large
and appreciative audience.
Activity i'm the Lumber Business.
Thara ron tinuaa f0 ha l;uaIr oevaa+ 81 A. |