New-York tribune., 1884-10-03
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A NEW AMERICAN NOVELIST.

forth. with all their commonplace surroundings III
80 natural and vivid manner that we seem to know
them as everyday acQuaintanCes. TO create eccen-
tric tvpes is not an unusual feat but to discover
them in the ordinary constituents OF an ordinary
American community and to describe them so tnat
while their individuality remains distinct we rccog-
nize them as really types of our ncighbors, or oil
what our nciehlors easily might becomc.-thls ~
one of the rarcst and most valuable powers OF q
novelist The result is that while Mr. Howe story
interests us as n study of exceptional Characters 7"
rather of cxceptonal traite of character 1t inter
csts us equally asa realistic picture oi very com
mon phose of American l.fc Ills country town Is
pa,tcrncd after a thousand country towns ~ the
West, hn. although the people who live In IT jool,
like the undistneuisned crowd. they ARE nearly MI
presented with pcculiaritcs of manner. disposition
a, circumstance Nhich fiction for tho most pnit ms
neglected For tho ccvtial figure of the talc' 10
riilng the author conicsscs Ia his preface that h'
has conceived strong regard Wodo not ""hu''
nj H. aud Wc have no donh that most oi '' o'no'
conspicuous prisonngcs John Wostloct ana u"
wife the Rev Goole Shepherd and Maicei' hig
Adam, and Little Biegs. Damon Barker ANA NHh's
-were intensely real 10 him while thes developed
nnder his hand Certainly thcy are real to us
phere IL a surcrsiion of Dickens In several oi these
,a,nes IA we'll as IN the friendship between 30
kfrlnq aud the narrator of the story anu there Is
often otaliiv m the style, something between the
1rna,ots aud the eruteslue. and In the manner ~
aeeti,na,inra personality bt some oddity or tilcf
IKE Bic Aiams's itick 81 iakihs noise IKE that
et ,te nttH,kihe ~ bottle Whith tpnihds ne "
ipktHs tpit bipibt The ttseWhahee. htwetet'
deps nei amHNni W imitation, ah1 sometimes the
tageiss aNd comparisons 80 tSiitihplt 0till Ne
A,iat,s aud iiG itlefs 80 dtrh'lW a''h'iibhs 80
thn satisfy ~ modern helNn aNn 'lt Nhihs'rht
vt ihp hlipf epnipman 10 iNii ef trNiNp '"N "hn
satire IL is lnHR since No iahp irNNh !" ai A"it'
can navel two characters Sc fresh 81 eaNss'e"' ana
to amusing rs these wollhies Nhn gFnN moro ""'
more entertaining as the story rolls on
Notwithstanding tho yivacity oi certain scenes
and characters aud tho abundance OF the hamor,
the plot of the novel is painful, the le "ihrh II
pottravsis sonbro and It's moral ~ far rs 1t has
nny il false but its very faults make II a noldple
book II is the picture OF an unloNrN sta'' "l
society degraded by low ideals aud lard' unreal
religion and IL is itself product OF the ciu0e cV
,ation which IL exposes TO our contempt In the
praris town of Fair,iow the people were mi 'raole
and disconnected aud religious. "Nhcn thhk "I
The years lived IN Farvicw, imagine that ia" sun
was never bright there although am certain that
n waN, and | cannot relieve my mind of tho un-
preston that the coldchanging shadow OF tho gray
church has spread during my long absence AMI en-
yeloped all the houses where the people lived IN"
inhabitants were uuettcrcd, soidd and narrow
They passed all the long toilsomc week IN severe
vn,k frnn which there was no hope of respite, for
they never got rich, and they would not have
known what to do with leisure II they had earned
IT, On Sunday they listened 10 the birthstone
preaching of the Rev. John Wcstlock Stern ana
cruel man. who treated religion as "A matter OF sell
interest and fear misery to be endured on earth
That a reward might be enjoyed after death lie
was n domestic tyrant unloving husband.
harsh father and he ended by running away with
another mans wife. Like all his flock. he worked
hard early and late. " ! remember my father say
ing scornfully to Once remarks the son III whose
person the story is told as if intmatlne that
ourht TO make ND by unusual industry for the years
of ideness, that | was positive burden ana eN-
pense to him until | was seven years old' On
Sunday instead of going to the fields the minister
worked hard at the Bible His religion "aldcd
greatly TO tie othor msercs of Farvlcw. for air
view was afflicted with a melancholy that could
have resulted from nothing else. There was lIt'le
visiting and there no public gatherings except
these at the church already mentioned, where the
business of serving the Lord was dspat he'd as soon
as possible to allow the people to return home ana
nurse their misery. The people were all over
worked and / still remember how tie pale uii'
happy women spoke in low and trembling tones at
The experience meetings of heavy crosses to bear,
and sat down CRYING as though their hearts we're
breaking" In his apologize preface MT. Howe
states that a gentleman who once looked over
norton of the manuscript said his first impression
was that If was the work OF a tired man. and that
the pen seemed to drag heavily IN making the words
This critic seems to us to have attributed 20 the
style an effect which belongs To the subject, ana
which instead of being fault is "A merit. Tie book
describes with singuary accurate sympathy thor
oupby tired and dlshcaItencd community
In this society where endless hard work was the
sole object in life. where religion Itself was nara
work. where there were no spiritual OF intellectual
ipHueuces where the standards OF conduct were low
and common, where ambition was bounded by lg-
noble material aims. the chief mark which distm-
rushed the lives of the superior spirits such as Jo
Itring and Ned Wcstlock, from then neIghbors was
The pccnlality of not belonging to the church nor
taking Am interest IN any kind of religion. 10 and
Ned work ed as hard rs the rest and viewed only the
satuo near horizon aud when they were exposed TO
the test of terrible aud tragic situation neither o
them had any moral support to lean npon' How
ehonld they have had any Jo n IN" ihVottc
creature OF the author's fancy. aud he explicitly
nsks out Hympathy Tor him, To a certain point w'
urv ready ouoush TO give H. jo Is a lhtd wot"ihg
aud capable young man In whom the natural alice
tlons are Attongy developed We arc Interested IL
his attachment g. Ncd interested IN his start ia
business aud his wolLcarnod prosperity interested
In his marriage. Hut when JO discovers that his
wife has been engaged before, his conduct h rrd'
tlonal AMI brutal. His wife Is driven 10 leave hlln
and 40 back TO her parents Jo divorces her on Tho
ground of desertlon lies III wait for The old lover
and murders him, and finally poisons himself IN Jai!'
lie feels no renorse for the assassination he speaks
of il as something that he could not help dong; he
seens well in prison. as he has not done for months
before; :" thought of him. says Ned " as hlah
taking a long contemplated rest from weary work
and as one who thoroughly enjoyed his ease
Although there was always something OF sadness III
his manner. he was like himself than since "e
were boys and we spent our evenings 50 pleasantly
together that | often regretted that we conid not