New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-31
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MARION CRAwFoRDs NEW NOVEL.

soEoAsrER. By f. MAHi0S CRAWFORD 'l''
Mr.. Crawford has fixed the scene OF his new s'ory
m a country and age affordipg the wioest i'oeh'o
n the romancer. and he has chosen LOT MS hero
personage so little historical that he is iree 10 Ao
what liberties he pleases with his career ana - W
~ means cramped by few centuries either way Id
dealing with his chronology. The time Oh Aoro"''ei
-supposipg that he ever hved-which Is very uh
,.rtaips 90 hazy that critical opinions differ ABOUT
4, 40 far as between 900 and 600 b. C.;iand there
fore Mr.. Crawford is perfectly at liberty TO make
the reformer of the Aryan religion contemporary
80 panel Che Prophet and officer and high-priest
AZ Darius Hystaspes. so far the author need not
fear anaehronisms but in the line he has taken
there are other and far serious dangers TO Do
encountered.
whoever attempts to found a romance upon
remote antiquity must relinquish the gest sup
ports of the contemporary novel. Ihose supports
are mainly the interest attaching to portrature Oh
familiar types; the sympathy elected by descrlp-
ions of familiar emotions; the pleasure proceed
ng from recognition of familiar things All 'hese
lids 70 popularity must be resigned by the anti
.uaran romance writer. and he must substitute ior
rbem unusual force of imagination, rare ability
to viv,fv the dry bones of archaeological lore, or
that subtle intellectual power which by deep In
yyht into the springs of universal hpmantyls able
to put the nineteenth century en- rapport win 'tha'
hoary old world whose crumbing monuments are
the sole CLOVIS to It's spirit tendencies and modes OF
action and thought.
There are many attempts at the antiquarian TO
nance extant but few of them are successes.
Among the best are the stories OF Ebers' the
Egyptologist, aud Kingsleys "Hypatla'
The former has succeeded in giving
vitality to an extinct society by his orudition
Az lat hoe nada ant itv inter n
forming 1t with the passions common to all times
Mr.. Crawford possesses neither the learning OF the
German nor the genius of the Engl1shman and his
task was therefore the moro difficult but he had
one help of a peculiar kind, and perhaps he has
not made the most of it. AT this time thersas
certain ferment In society, vaguely reactlonary
from the scientific materiasm which has tended so
much of late to Intellectual bgotry. This feeling
can hardly be said to have taken FORM butts man
ifestaons traceable in the revival OF transcen-
dental views, in the eager curiosity shown regard
ing primitive religions, IA the owing tendency 10
mysticism aud in tho restless efforts TO penetrate
beyond the quasi-scientifo boundaries of natural
law, which mark the decline of the century. To
some of these sentiments Mr. Crawford appealed in
+" Mr. Isaacsn and the success of that story must
have convinced him that the line was a safe one to
follow. 81
And so he has given us "Zoroaster." in which, as
In that wonderful Eastern fruit the DURAN. there
are suggestions of many favors, "reminiscences of
many literary predecessors to say. The plot plot
it may be called is simple. and the characters few
The first chapter is curousy unrelated to all that
follows 1t seems to have been written to describe
the Feast of Belsiiazzar alone The description is
graphic. and the archaeological details possibly 40
rurate, but save for the circumstance that lay
figures representing Daniel and Zoroaster are in
troduced this chapter seems to have raison Pete
The story proceeds from this point however.
straichtly enough. Zoroaster is conceived as a
young Persian of the court, pupil AID adopted
son of Daniel versed in the learning OF the Char
dees destined for lofty and secluded career. but
overtaken by love and driven from the path
BY his passion for the Princess Nehushta, beau
tful daughter of Israel Of the House of Jehoiakim
What this love leads to how through IL Zoroaser is
driven into ascetcism, how in his desert retreat
he reconquers the ascendancy over the flesh which
his court career had cost him; how presently he is
drawn back to the court of Darius to reform the
national religion and to give wise counsel
to his lord; and how the. vengeance
of the wicked Queen Atossa Is finally
Qratlfed. it is not intention TO disclose
1t must sufficient TO say that tho story Is carried
forward with vigor and liveliness to the end, and
that the average reader will probably only stumble
over the mystical element in it, 1t Is not to be ex-
pected that q novel whose author draws upon the
Avesta ON the one hand and the writings of Hermos
Trismegistus on tho other, and who inficts upon
his readers long ceremonial hymns from the Wis
pered and the Yacna will be at once or altogether
comprehended of the multitude. The Divine
Pymandern is doubtless q book of profound merit,
and tho Aryan reli gon contains stores Of invaluable
knowledge, But the novel reader is scarcely pre-
pared to diet upon such strong meat. and we ques-
ton whether "Mr Isaacs will not receive more pop
ular SURFACES than Zoroaster Notwithstanding the
fact that the latter is an adept while the former
is Only "chela."
1t must be said that Zoroaster is Jess we'll
equipped than he should have been. With his
developed faculties the danger which i'm
pended eyer Stakhar would have been
revealed to him at once. With
the powers at his command the attack of the wild
tribes upon the tempel could easily have been de-
fsated. In short 1t seems hardly worth while to
epdow a hero with such supernal capacities only
to let him succumb TO the ordinary vicssitudes OF
life like common mortal. The death of Zoroaster
reminds us of the death of Zaneni though Zoroaster
Is not Zanoni by any means. He is. in truth, but
a crude half-deveoped Prophet and Seer. and the
authors introduction of the " universal agent"
which is the AkGs of the Hindus, appears rather
strained considering how little use he makes of his
knowledge III this direction.
There is as in all such ronances, an excess OF 'he
antiquarian element. That seems unavoidable, and
it Is more wearisome than in the ordinary historical
novel probably because verisimtude is less apt to
he pereeiyed and appreciated. Many Of Mr.. GRAVY
ford's descriptions, however. are decidedly clever
and striking. The story itself is somew hat thn and
though the dr0md persOaG so few, there is very
little careful character painting On the whole, 10
roastcrn while exhibiting sufficient novelty TO COM
mand certain vogue, and while containing evidence
OF more serious work than any of the authors pre-
yious novels show, cannot be said to be a distinct
second success in the general line of - Mr.. lsaacs"
IL Is we'll, and IN parts brilliantly, written. It
comprises those elements of Hystery and unfaInil-