The sun., 1883-12-09

coption In tho characters selected for minute
| delineation, and whose intershock OF tempera-
ment. prejudice. and feeling give action to his
story. Neither should we omit TO mark the
happy choice OF Incidents and situations calou-
lated to strike tho key noto Of principle or pas
son In particular individuals. We ought also
to record tho satisfaction with which we find
ourselves borne upon the current OF dlction
which is limpd without being fiat. lucid and
yet not colorlcss; which Is neither norid nor
monotonous. yet repeatedly surprises with Its
aptness and novelty. and In short. bears every
where the marks OF patient. capable. and con-
scientious workmanship.
The Grdndjssimes. by GEORGE W. CABLE. Ia. II
We may use a Gallicism. the first long-windcd
composition that the author has essaved. We
are not surprised that some OF our friends in
Boston should he disposed to welcome Mr. Ca
ble's performances with a cordiality perhaps
somewhat In excess OF their actual artistic
merit. This story. like most OF the shorter tales
and sketches OF tho writer is a novel with a
purpose. Indeed tho author doos not hesi-
tate to avow the heterodox opinion that literary
artists should always DO inspired by moral
purpose. and should see to IL that their dldao-
tic aim is Enthusiastically brought out upon the
canvas.
Now the ethical end which Mr. Cable has
in view throughout his pictures OF Louis
lana society as II existed at various
epochs before the civil war. Is to inoulcate the
moral wckedness and harmfulness OF slavery
regarded Us fundamental social institution.
and OF tho caste Determinations based on color
that have survived the legal suppression Of
servitude. 1t is not. we repeat. astonishing
that books which. before tho rebellion. might
have been denounced In New Orleans rs In
fammatory anti-slavery tracts and which we
believe are even now regarded in that city
as injuilcious though eloquent protests
against tho species OF ostracsm to which tho
free blacks are subjected. should. on the con-
| trury be hailed with kind of eagerness In Bos-
| ton whcro Mrs. Stoves famous novel Is still
supposed to have had n historical rather than n
pocmcal purport. to have been clever bit OF
realism rather than shrewdly fashioned in
strument of propnHandism. or course PAINS
taking tleiineation Of life on the lower Missis-
sipp under the slavery regime by a native OF
Louisiana. who. II oid enough. may be pro-
sumcd to have had adequate opportuni-
| ties OF knowing whereof he writes, does
mako and ought to make q far deeper i'm
prcssion on sober and candid minds than
Mrs. Stoves pericrvid and fantastic fiction.
| And II narrative whose motive should be
opon to no suspicion. and whose accuracy
| should be above cayil. wore to make the
| iniIuity of slavery patent to every reader. it
would go far to justify the New England aboli-
| tionists in their scornful disregard of rights
which up to the passage Of the recent amend
| ments. had unGuestionably been secured to
their Southern fellow citizens under the Con-
sttution. 1t is undeniable that Mr.. Ca
ble's books havo a pronounced tendency to
relieve the New England conscience from any
haunting doubts touching the perfect justice
OF their dealings with their Southern brethren.
But We submit that Mr. Cables pictures would
have boon even more effective to that end.
would have been moro promptly and univer-
sally accepted rs authentic, II he had not been
at such pains to disclnim the impartia!ity and
disinterestedness which We have learned to
look for in works OF art. IL he had not boldly
confessed himself prOpagandist. Jealous to
justify the abolition of slavery. and no less
eager to elrace the color limo Of demarcation.
the results OF whose extinction are unhappily
too fragrant in the mongrel populations OF
Mexico and Peru.
Besides the fundamental objection to Mr..
Cables conception Of tho aims of literary art,
an objection based upon the observation that
workmans methods will inevitably adjust
themselves to his purpose. the introduction OF
the Louisiana negro dialect is Of questionable
proprety from an aesthetic point Of view. But
this. We may be told is realism. Who then can
duction of the French negro patOis? We can
not and we will risk the assertion that none OF
Mr.. Cables Boston culogists arc qualified by
personal experience to pronounce judgment in
this matter And even suppose this iargon
were stcnographically reported from tho lips
OF Louisiana blacks, we venture to affirm
that its incessant interjection is out Of
place in story which was certainly not penned
for tho colorcd denzens Of the Creole quarter
Of New Orleans, but for the mass Of white
people who use the English language. The
songs. tho phrases. and. now and then. the
long stretches OF dialogue In dialect are so
many obstructons. needlessly interposed be-
tween the author and his audience. So far in
fact as the realism of Mr. Cables writings de-
pends upon the use OF an unintelligible gibber-
ish. they are not novels at all. but pathological
| curositeS. We may further say that whatever
can be affirmed for tho local truth OF the au-
thor's minor sketches obviously cannot be ap-
! piled to The Grandissmes" without i'm
portant qualifications. For this is an historical
novel. story OF New Orleans as it was eighty
years ago. and We have no reason to assume
| that it would be easier to draw a veracious
picture Of the Louisiana capital than 1t would
bo to portray the New York society of tho same
epoch. Yet we know that the latter task would
bo well-niGh impractlcablc. and certainly
thankless.
That tho composition of an historical novel Is
essentially a blunder for those who know how
to prontably study their contemporaries was
| confessed by George Eliot aftera single expert
| ment. and 1t Is perhaps an equally unwise and
| frutless expenditure OF literary talent to lay
the scene Of a novel In q foreign country with
which tho writer can by no possibility have any
but q very superficial acquaintance. Ii 1t van
ity. or Is it mere Needless disdan OF insupcra-