The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-07-13


srnmsntor British private capitalists supply
the funds required 70 adequately extend the
Indian railway system. II 10 probable that oil
the resources OF tho British empire will be
needed TO savs India from Russian aggression.
With the Musoovits already ct ksrv and 6araks.
thers are few Investments lesa allurinR 70 the
English capitalist than IN Indian railway.
Hssses Nsvsis.
Some allowances must be made for the
circumstances In which A Psrilous Serst liar
psrsI has bssn published. II 10 . posthumous
novel, and lacks those nnal touches OF which
II u now known CHARLEs RRADf was - lavish
- was Balzae himself. There Are some faults
Of taste and blemishes Of style. which would
undoubtedly have been pruned away had the
author lived TO complete the process OF re-
vision. but there are also some signs OF feeblc.
ness In the conception OF character and manip-
ulation OF plot and these. In oil Likelihood.
would have escaped his scrutiny. boins insep-
arabic from that partial eclipse Of tho creative
and critical faculties that comes with illness
and old ago. Nevertheless. "A Psrilous
Secret" IL the most noteworthy Of tho
English novels published within . twelve
month. and It 10 certain to md moro
readers than any other. although the writer's
popularity 10 thought to have Considerably
declined In the latter years Of his life. On
this point Mr.. Raade 10 said to have been very
sensitive. and he did not always disguise the
impatience with which he Witnessed the sue
cess OF tho landscape drawing In which Mr.
William Black and Mr.. Thomas Hardy in
duge. or Of the microscopic study OF common
place types for which Mr.. Howells and Mr..
Henry James have svinosd such aptitude.
There are two passages In the book before Us
which betrsy the annoyance with which Mr..
Rsade beheld the propensity OF his once loyal
readers to run after strange gods. Apropos
for instance. Of . short descriptive passage
which he begs the reader not to skip. he re-
marks: 1T 10 true that some OF our
gifted contemporaries paint italian tquery:
HlghlandN scenery at prodisious length.
apropos des bottes. and othors show. Ia
many pages. that the rocks and the sea arc
picturesque Objects even whom irrelevant
True that others GID tho evening clouds and
the western horizon merely to plenAe the hori-
ION and the clouds. But We hold with Pope
that the proper study OF mankind 10 man. and
that authors pictursa arc bores except - mar
row frames to big ineidents." No one. We
imagine. can read those lines without pereeiv-
Ing that the writer had In his mind the prolix
and Irrelevant descriptions Of scenery In Tho
Princess Of Thule" and Far from the Msddlng
Crowd" II IL another phase OF recent fiction
which Charles Reads has In view In the fol.
lowing comments with which the prss-
emit story 10 concluded. and which must.
Therefore. b regarded - the authors
last words. He 10 psrrying tho charge
that the old-fashioned novelists. Of whom hs
himself was q survival. unlike Trollops. Black.
Howell. and James. 70 outside the beaten track
for their persons and incidsnts. 1T has lately
bsen objected TO the writer's OF fletion-es-
pscially to those few who are dramatists -
we'll a. novslists--that they neglect what Shake
spesre calls the middle Of humanity. and deal
In eccentric eharnctsrs above or below the poo
pie one really meets. For our part. 70
will never place Fiction which was tho parent
OF History. below it, child Our hearts are with
those superior men and women who. whether
In history or fiction. make life beautiful. and
raise the standard Of humanity. Such charac-
tors exist even In this plain tale and II 10 these
alone, and our kindly readers We take leave Of
with regret"
Next to Charles Keads. the author Of SAY
No (Harpers) must be acknowledged to CON-
mand the largest audience In the English
novel-rsading world. 1t 10 also true. however.
Of Mr.. WILxrE COLLINS. who. though he has
survived Reado. was bis contemporary. that no
has lost ground during tho last ten years. He
and lovable persons. and although his style
possesses the capital merit Of perspicuity. 1t 10
as destitute OF grace and beauty as tho concise
and conscientious report OF = detective. Tho
truth. Of course. 10 that his stories are combi.
nations OF incident not dlsseotions OF char
acter. and that they belong to tho
school OF French fiction. whose conspicuous
sxemplars were Sue In the last and Gaborinu
In the present generation. Indeed. 1t may be
questioned whether the best Of Mr.. Collins's
performances. regarded solely a. models Of
constructive skill. arc not superior to anything
produced in France; on tho other hand. we do
not recall any French story whose plot ID art
fully constructed In which. ct tho same time,
tho subordination Of character drawing 10 car
rled so far as 1t 10 in Il Say No." 1t 10 impos-
slble to feel even the most languld interest In
any OF tho persons OF this tale. Tho writer as
sures 10 that his heroine was most fascinat-
Ing boing. but vo decline to credit It, and tho
rest OF his figures arc nero puppets. mainly
distinguished from each other by some pocu-
liar trick. o. In ono instance. by the con-
slant craving OF . comely young woman
for something dainty TO cat. It 10
quite ~ true. however. OF II Say No."
as OF Its comp anton stories. that he who once
begins 1t will press on eagerly to the end. for
there 10 a secret to unravsl and the author 10
far too clever to permit tho reader to divine II
In the beginning or even the middle OF tho
book. In the case Of . story whose construc.
ton IL It's main and even it's sole merit, We
should render the author and his publisher.
or for that matter the reader. but . poor
| service By divulGing the plot: We will merely
say that the fundamental situation Of Il Say
No" recalls that which was worked up 90 olsv.
srly BY Adolphs B6l6t In "Le Dramc do IL Rue
do 10 Paix." The points Of difference arc that It
is not the heroine's husband. but her father who
Ia murdered. and that the person who loves
her. and whom she comes near marrying, 10
not tho real murderer. although the circum-
stantial evidence against him IL overwhelming.
Mr.. ANsrEY whose "Vics Versa" seemed
to promise the advent Of new and genuine
bumorist. has written second and much more
elaborate story called A Giants Robe Apple.
tons, Tho central idea 10 one which In his
hands generates plenty OF diverting and
some strongly dramatic situations. 1t 10 now.
too In tho sense that II had never been EN-.