New-York tribune., 1886-11-14
npp1sTTNA % LIGHTS CAREER
.,nv ,.MEss NEW STORY.

THE PRINCES cn UAS SO m 500 Macmillan Co.
- C,r;stina Light, in Roderck Hudson.
".sa pr,rcs Casamassima, the reader was ieit 10
s.n,ots with curiosity upon tie prooapis resui'
~ that evil union Christina, who fascina'co' DO
x-;ldsred and puzzled the society over wh'oh ner
haauty shed such gamor, remained 10 'io Gnu
.roncm for Ms all 1t was clear that the heartiess
..rr;.ce mnst make some great change In her ior
The worse but 1t might equally we'll result IN inc
a.aaen;nu of emotion and the bunting and lower
,rc ~ character or in the exaggeration OF an I'M
~ris;ve temperament capable of high ideals ana OF
sa,fsh and nconsiderate conduct. She IS presented
IN Mr.. James's new story under new circumstances
An n new scene. at point OF Developments "n,o"
seems to be the natural outcome oil her uhpro"i'"s
nast IL Is the second of the two roads tha' hei
course OF evolution has taken. She mas not haru
ened into the proud, luxurious. worldly mis'oss VI
n Grand house her passions have become Stronger
AND moro caprtious; she has separated irom hoi
husband, whom she hates with coid in'cns'V
and, more beautiful and attractive than ever sue 10
living n London at the date of the present STORY
in company with that delightful antique from the
Roderiok Hudson collection. Madame Grandoni.
Prince Casamassima figures in few chapters ou.
has not much to do with the Darratve none Oh
fhe other personages in the earlier novel reappea
and it is OF necessary to have read tnat "orA Al
order fully to appreciate the sedue. 1eis aso
Madame Grandoni made a shrewd predictioh "a
Christina Lights future "Its ny belief, saio 'he
old lady, that In the course OF her life she VIII 40
a certain number of things from pure dsinterested
pa.sion She's iurmeasurably proud, and II tha' IS
often fault in virtuous person, it may be asnerit
IN n vciou. one She needs to think well OF herself;
sha knows n fine character easily when she meets
one: sbe hates to suffer by comparison, even
tbouub the comparison is made by herself alone
md when the estimate she may have maze Oh her-
self grows vague she needs to do something 10 give
IL n definite impressive FORM what she VIII 40 III
such case will be better OF worse according 10 ner
onnortnnity: but imagine it will generally be
something that will drive her mother to despair
aomething of the sort usually termed unworidiy'
Madame Crandonis forecasts are verified. more or
Lass closely In the new book and yet 1t must be
onfessed that at the end the Princess Casamassima
IA as much an enigma Christina Light we
have studied her under the sway OF a fresh set OF
emotions and in an advanced stage of deportment; ;
but we are still far from understanding her charac-
ter and we even lack the key to some OF her mys-
teries OF action
The Princess has turned her mind to the social
oroblem. She is impressed with the wrongs OF the
moor. She has implicated herself with secret
societies upon which she spends large part OF the
allowance received from her husband. She Is
eager tn 10 further in the revolutionary sche mes OF
espeeialy 10 place herself in communication with
,rorkingmen of the extreme radical and nihilist
factions to hear them talk. to enter INTO their state
of feeling TO comprehend and perhaps to share
their PURPOSES She does establish an Intimacy
with two young artisans. revolutonists OF the dag
ger and pistol school, and this extraordinary
connection with its dramatic situations ana strlK-
ing incidents forms the substance of the novel III
is described with wonderful power. Yet the qnes-
ton is always coming up, How far is the Princess
sincereR For one thing, she lacks heart. AS she
DESTROYED Roderick Iindson she is fully capaoe OF
DESTROYING other lovers with very sharp pang OF
conscience But even an essentially selfish nature
may g do q certain number of things from pure dis
interested passion though it cannot follow
strairht line of dsinterested conducti and we are
ALWAYS asking whether Christmas interest III the
rising democracy Is the expression OF s'ncere
thonub eyanescent feeling. the freak OF spoiiec
Aue lady, craving some kind of intellectual lntox'
cation How much does she care Tor the poor
How much does she care for Hyacinth and faul
whom she has taught to dance at her hee!sf These
inouiries are never satisfactorily answered. The
socalistic utterances of the Princess always nav
hollow ring and one cannot be quite sure whether
Mr. James means that shall believe in them OF
not The truth is that he has done with her VIVA
he does with so many of his personages; he walk
around them examines their dress and their man
ners criticises their speech, gives beautiful de
acr,ption of them from the outside. with realistic
accoun of their behavior in emergencies but doe
not define their character, probably does not 81
much as define it TO himself. The Princess casa
massima is not exhibited as character; she is
theatrical eccentriclty. Extremely interesting
charming provoking, surprising, gentle and selfish
full of philanthropy and Of evil; but what she
aa fond-that we never know
II indeed her socialism genuine, how shoul
Mr. James of all men, find the expression lot IL
He sketches with delightful bumor the false socia
ism of a club of mounting pretenders who can q
nothing but talk nonsense over their pipes ant
beer; but as for the bitter sense of grievance tn
heart breaking resentment against poverty an
social anomalies. the sturdy determination
change the existing order of things. which COZ
.,,tute whatever 10 formidable and whatever
honest in the subterranean menaces OF revolt, Nj
James looks at the phenomenon from afar. h
book In rowded with socialists, several of whom al
undoubtedly intended to be intensely In earnes
and absolutely sincere but none OF them seem
he under the influence of passionate conviction
and as the time draws near for the commission {
a portentous deed which has been foreshadowe
from an early period of the story. we cannot bel
believing that the plot will turn out to be hari
less hoax No. Mr.. James does not write about rel
revolutionary socialism as If he felt certain of Il
existence; he is only clever in describing the chea
pot-honse imitation of it. Nothing couid be bett'
in its WAY than his account of the palaver at II
San and Moon tavern. "There were nights whe
a blast of imbeclity seemed to blow over the plac
and one felt ashamed to be associated 18th so muc
insistent ignorance and dat-faced vanity. The
every one, with two or three exceptions, made
ass of himself, thumping the table and repeatn
over some inane phrase which appeared for II
hour to constitute the whole furniture of his miD
There we're men who kept saying Them was
words in the month of February last aud what
say I stick to-what | say / stick to; and otne
who perpetually inquired of the company. An
what the plague am to do with seventeen SILL
inos-witb seventeen shillingsf What
xLa.. ell that