New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-02-12

Even 70 bR;st"rv II had been plain to all along
that however thoughtless may have been ne the
choifes the Israelites meant business ALREADY .nc
nersnration was flowing down the lace Oh MI hid.
die hut in the storming Of the heather city, ,nc
warrior had time for pansi5g nSk it III his nose
the sleeve of his right arm, twanged With lie nns-
ers alternately the second third and fourth stplnes
IN ths w nna them as he
said walls actilly afalin" he lowered his lett slde
elevated his right and sawed the lower strings IN
way that few sounds from whatever source, couia
have surpassed in the attempt TO reailze uesPa,
and destruction. Seven times these last two staggs
tb in esi oye the musician
down his bow and his fiddle, began 10 mop 10 ANS
his hands, and his wrists and looked as ii o Tsp
sure that not one stone had been loft upon aho'He
aoh Mr. Riddle Mr. Rlddlep cried Miss ". MHS Sa-
bridge through her tears MaS 70 Yield again
to her sobs. 81, ,ns oh Baldy ~
'" Raidv his nassion cooled answered, gayly' NO.
kernel Old Jerry had to go ana she "o",' A.,
Duke. the VILLAIN of the story, jesse Linos .n
sbrewd. eccentric old rustic,-whose one aI.i" ,
trait is his love for his daughter-anu MIS-
Who successfully reminds us of Mrs. Poyser, are al
,'ar,ra,od with real power The queer Southern
dialect-lcss modification than mispronunciation OF
longuaae-is so skilfully managed that it does not
become tiresome as is generally the tendency OF d
lect gentle humor animates the story through
ont and here and there deepens to pathos MI
Johnstons style is bad; it is often commonplace 10
the last degree, and he has perncious haoi' VI
emitting important words. But with all lis 1auIts
his book is a genuine piece of literature one which
preserves to us unique chronicle Oh tlineS anu
characters which are no more; and one WHICH VII,
be remembered when far more pretenIlouS anu
artistic novels are forgotten
The Latter-Day Saint is not a Mormon neither
L. q is.
the contrary, a wording of the worldliest Sort
cold-hearted. selfish and vulgar. with that exceed
ing vuIgarity which consists of flippant incapa-
CITY to see ANYTHING in the world but "a goou
timen Miss Ethel Jones, the daughter OF COM
monplace family, goes to fashionable SCHOOL, anu
deliberately sets about cOnquerng the anection VI
girls of higher station. She has thirst for the
GOOD things of this world clcverness enough to see
how she NAV win them, and self-control enough W
pursue without hinching the scheme she 1orhs' oho
| maintains her hold upon her girl 1rlends ai'o'
| leaving school, melts their mothers and aun'S "
| admiration by her studiousy gentle and reservoir
| manners, her efdenial, and general renneu
| tone. She thus gets the chance" she Gov
| cts makes the rich marriage she plans for
"a marriage with which her heart has MOTH
ing to do-secures her Newport house and an
other in the city, sets up for leader OF society
and "lets herself CO." She JOINS IN the fastest
amuscmcnts of the fastest clique in society," snuos
her old friends neqects and patronzes her hus-
hand. and ends after tribulatiOn brought on by
masked ball with dangerous illness when destroys
| her beauty and makes her wiser woman.
The book is not pleasant one but it is deity put
together its points are well made, and its implied
satire is good The cold and debased glitter which
| becomes such story and such heroine Is wei
preserved throughout. There is not little art i'll
| the consistency with which EthePs heart OF stone
| and forehead of brass are kept to the fore.
"OnIy an Incident is for first book, creditable
performance It's young writer has shown the aoh-
tv to define character and indicate feeling without
resort to the nightmare of cvermuch analysis her
neople explain themselves in conversation anu
| action and do not need to be aboriously intro
duced. There is a strain of youthful satire in the
story which is not unpeasing and if the CONCLUSION
is conyentonally pathetic the pathos is not unreal
What is @only an incident" in the life of a proud
and beautiful woman turns out to be the ueatn-
stroke of lovable little lass who sees the aiectioh
| for which she longs wasted upon her heedess
| friend 1t is simple and stereotyped theme Dut
Miss Litchfeld has worked 1t out IN tasion winch
shows promise for the future.
1t is not apprenticeship that 1t be Tor COM
mercial purposes-why the publishers OF Some
Other Folks announce the book upon its cover as
q q noyelD The longest story of the four which the
volume contains is told in eight short chapters ana
is in no sense a novels hardly, indeed III con-
struction a novelette,. AS whole the DOCK Is
school prlish and scarcely above the level OF inc
| weekly story papers, As periodical literature the
stories might serve sufficiently pleasant purpose
but there is nothing which justifes their presenta
ton between boards Had it not been for the repu-
| tation gained by Miss McLean's first book Cape
| Cod Folks" it may be doubted il this volume would
| have seen the light The publishers if not the
| author ought to know that the success of first
work cannotwith safety be thinly spread over many
| successive and inferior ones Nothing in Miss
Mel cams later work has fulfilled the hopes which
the real cleverness of Cape Cod Folks" inspired
| IN her readers In that book the author described
| what she knew felt and had seen in Some Other
| Folks" she is making guesses at what she thinks
OF has been told exists; and this naturally gives
vague uncertain and pumped-up air to her work
which IS far from agreeable The best, the TREND
| lest advice one can offer Miss Mclean is that she
should forget that she has published successful
novel; and that she should write no more until she
has cultivated her imagination aud has greatly
enlarged her horizon OF experience ana opSer'a-.
| ton.
The Pagansn as described by Mr.. Bates are
not strangers; they are the sons and daughters of
Bohemia as they usually appear in novels-hearty,
| frank sincere, unconventional people with an in
tense hatred of Philistia, an inpatient scorn OF
shams, an unreasonable capacity for sef-devotion,
and great liking for punch and tobacco The scene
of the story modern Boston, the Pagans are seven
artists, and the villain-a very mild vllain-is one
| of tho number who .backslides and is drawn after
the fesh-pots of Philista by pious young wife
who in the end bores him exceedingly The oftiness
| of mind of every body in Bohemia and the extreme
pettiness and narrowness of everybody in Philstia
| ere calculated TO astonish the ordinary observer
who finds human nature much the same every
where and meanness envy and selfShness, or truth
and nobility, as apparent in one country as the
other Mr.. Bates's pagans certainly do extraord-