New-York tribune., 1886-06-06
MINOR NOVELS.
BOOKS FOR THE DAY.

CHANTRY HOUSE: by CHARLOTTE ~ YosGg. sv.
Up S0J. Macmillan & Co.
wHcM COD HATH JOINED. by. ETrzsnETm Gr.
BERT MARTIN. lGmo.. Or. 3s7. Henry Holt I ca
| COURT ROYAL A story of Cros, Currents. Bya
BAn,SG; !; Gould. l2no. PIP A.. Philadelphia: j.
| FLIGHTS, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PARADISE pv
GEORGE Cullen PEARSON. i2mo., PIP 3s9. g. r
LOVERS FOUR AND MATDENs FIVE. BY JrrIr.
CHAMBERS. Pp l3l. Philadelphia: Porter 4
HAscHTscH. ANoyeL By. TaoRotD KING. Iona
pp. 314. A. c. McCur2 & Co.
Miss Yonge has gwen, In "Chantry House,.
study OF evolution in character rather than a
novel, II IS the history OF the working ont of The
temperainents of two BROTHERS. One the elder |.
bold. vigorous, apparently open and manly Ths
other is tImId, retiring afflicted with moral weak
ness which earns him the reputation OF coward
Put i'll the navy he dsgraces himself in action and
being dismissed the service is regarded By his family
as being showed for life But tue family Judgment ia
wrong. The prosperous, brave, popular brother
turns out selfish. reckless slave to base incna-
tions a mere tool in the hands OF designing peopA
The poor fral brother whom nearly everybody
pites or despises discplnes himself 30 eiiectualIy
that he becomes the pillar of his home; and hs
parents. who have never appreciated him, have to
lean him in the end. The idea is cleyery deyel-
opcd, and the book is interesting
Mrs. Martins story is clever and curious A
desire that another argument should be read bs-
tween the lines is apparent. and what tbs subtlems
is nav be gathered from a perusal Of Mr. Mallocks
strangely seasoned books In word. Mrs. Martha
seems to have aimed at eXalting the Church ef
Rome, and Of pointing it ont, just AZ Mr. Mallock
does as the one sufficient refuge from the doubts
and disturbing tloughts which belong 10 the study
of modern science and philosophy. Whom God
l. IA ;,ol ,sf faa IA Ia. of
and young man who, reared amid the strict rclig
ious views of gland, do not attain TO faith,
but drift further away as they grow older, from any
solid mental anchorage. The love which leads to
their marriage is so suddenly kindled hat if man
had told such story the public might have 30
cused him of ignorance extravaganza. Aftee
N arrage they travel in Europe, ana sooarn al
Rome introduces them to certain enthusiastic
American converts who always talking about
the depth OF their conviction, yet who never by any
chance afford clew to the mystery OF their
sion. The process by which the hero and heroine
are brought to that it is their plain duty to joa
the Roman Communion is so ohscarely indicated
that the reader is apt TO find himself rubbing his
eyes and wondering what it all means. There iss
complication arising out Of a prior marriage which
threatens tc wreck their happiness but tragedy
relieves them eventually. The end is somewhat
abrupt, and perhaps too much is left at last to
the Imagination OF the reader.
"Court Royal is obv l0usly the work OF clever
man. as all the world knows Mr. Sabine Barring
Gould to be, bur it is not satisfactory book for
all that The gift of creating characters has not
been vonchsafed to Mr. Gould He has plenty OF
Imagination, plenty of wit; he can write brlght
dialogue, but cannot put human beings on his
stage His principal figures are an impo grt
Joanna and an impossible jew, Lazarus Ihs
savIr gs and doings of these utterly unreal people
are often amusing, but they cannot be mistaken
for ANYTHING but marionettes. The author appears
TO entertaln some ecceotrlc economic views as ior
instance that tie British aristocracy Is really
liberal and progressive and the British democracy
conservative. here is of course portion OF truth
in all sgch paradoxcs, but it is a cirarly DEFINED
portion, However. novelists have no legitimate
business with problems of the kind and M. Uould
less than most seeing that he mas not mastered tne
most indispensable principles OF his art he has nos
succeeded i'll describing human life Ill recognizable
way.
Mr. Pearson has travelled much and observed
keenly His lignts take tie reader into the
interior of Jaran; to Florence, Genoa, Nice and
Monte Carlo; thence to Mecca, of all places under
the sun The sketches are very far beyond
ordinary travellers notes. They have distinctly
literary value, aud the later ones are better
than the first The bits of japanese experience.
evidently occupies very different ground from Miss
Bird In fact Il man who is dyspeptic aud nervous
must make a bad traveller uudcr almost any
circumstances. The paper on an Italian wlnter0
excellent bnt the best IS reserved Tor tAe last tne
quaint description OF the ruins OF Mecca IN ASIA
M;nor Japanese novel, as told by professional
etory-teller. IL included in the book. and very
good story il is. On the whole the Flights snow
decided power as well as extended observation,
and the book, while in no way serious. Is entirely
free from dulness.
Mr Julius Chambers has ingeniOusly conbineda o
love-story and guIde-book to the Allegheny
Mountains He describes the excursions of party
of young peOplc who meet at Cresson and thence
radiate IN all directions. Their adventures give
interest TO the descriptions OF scenery, ana there
are soue fair illustrations.
Haschischr is an ingenious story of crime and
detection in which the action of the Indian
drug is used rs an agency for the conviction OF .
murderer Alter q innocent man has been sem
fenced to imprisonment for life, the real assassin
pursued by the brother of his victim, and IN Paris
with the aid of physician who has pade special
study of the effects of haschsch, he is induced TO
try an experiment with the delicious lntoXlcant
In his de lrlum he re-euacts the whole Ot tho
murder and reveals the hiding place of document
arv proofs of his guilt. This invention Is extiaya-
CANT enough. but it s carried out with cons siderable
cleverness; the scientific passages are suic1euty
plausible the sensational situations are elective;
the defective business is managed with due care
tor curious details an the interest OF the plot Is
heightened by tender relations among several Oh
the numerous characters. The story IN short Is .
good specimen Of the novel OF lnciaenV an1
mystery and nobody who cares for that sort OK
exciting literature will be likely to lay it aside
unfinished.
ONE PURITiN BRUTE.