Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-06-12
DRIFT.

| lHEl arc DeRlnnlDR 10 Huu out III Ishs
land, what we too will discover ere long, that
beyond n certain limit the cheapenng OF lit.
erature becomes expensive low prices are
purchased at the expense Of high quality.
"Tbe shilling story-books," says n London
| paper, "are appearing at the rate Of some
| thing Ike three or four day. When good
story docs happen to make a stir, II is now
| promptly choked out oi existence by another
| treading closely ON its heels and that III turn
| dies before well born. Because "A story IN
| startling in situation, IL told IN certain
| number Of pages, and IL sold Tor smiling,
| tho belief IL widespresd tina. gigantic for
| tune follows MSS from unframed hands
| keen ponrinp III, but probably not one shill-
| ING story In every dozen that sees the light
| PAYS its expenses. Tho bookstalls will not
| hold them, the reputation Of the publishers IN
being ruined by them, and the public IL sick
| Of tbetn.'
| " there ever IL an excuse for issuing good
literature In cheap, paper.cover, form, IL II In
the case OF light summer reading. There
can see That II may serve n good and useful
purpose, both for the publ ic and for tho cause
| Of good literature. And on the whole 1t IL
matter Tor selfgratulation that our most
Trustworthy and honorable publishing houses
are giving Us s0ilo very wholesome, or at
least harmless, light literature in such a form
ana Tor such a purpose. The IIarpers al
ready announce special series ot cheap,
Idpef-fDNefti stories Tor the summer do
iippncotts; ] am sorry to see, however, that
IN both are included some stories that are lit
tic short OF trash. Nor IL Macmillan N Co.'S.
Summer Reading Series uniformly worthy
OF the high character Of the firm Scribners'
yellow Paper Series 80 Tar as announced
ontains nothing to which serious exception
can be taken, and much that is OF the highest
excellence, like Cables Old Creole Days,
Mrs. Burnett's That Lass o. Lowries, Guern-
dale by J. =. of Dale, Stockton's Rudder
Grange, and others n good. OF iIoughton,
Mifllin n Cos. Riverside Paper Series, it is
needless to say that II includes nothing that
II not literarily and morally pure aud Of fine
quality while the paper print and attrac-
tive appearance are TO my mind superior to
those found in most OF the other series !
have seen. They began in May To issue the
volumes, one every week regularly. Among
Them are several that have never before ap-
peared in book form, while two, The Cruise
Of tho Alabama, aud Not in the Prospectus,
are entirely new. For the rest they include |
some OF the most pleasing stories OF our very
best American writer's, Holmes, Mrs Stowe,
Mrs. Whitney, Miss Phelps, Howolls, Aid
rich, Scudder, Bishop, and others.
FOR my part save in very exceptionable |
cases, consider it little short of waste of |
money to buy books in paper cover and |
made To last only a season. y book that is
not worth preserving is not worth reading
oven in the hottest weather. NV own plan
is 10 utilize the summer vacation to catch up
in my reading with the classics OF our liter |
ature, the standard works of our standard au-
thors, modern aud not so modern aud to re- |
read those few great books of literature
which demand "A fresh perusal every couple |
OF years. And why should not Hawthorne, |
Holmes, Howells, Aldrich Warner and |
Harriet Beecher Stowe, make as good sum- |
mer reading as any of the second rate writers |
can? And them, of course, we all want in the |
very best binding. For their works are |
s.nt m. E.aF .! 4
ter with age.
BUT don't mean to talk about summer
reading now though have a few things | |
want TO say on the subject some other time.
] HAVE just been reading what purpOrts to
he a romance of Moravian life Untitled "A
Victorious Defeat" The name OF the author
given on the title page, Wolcott Balestier,
has by some been regarded as mere nom
,tc plume, and various guesses have been
made as To the true name of the writer. 1t
was suggested, among the rest that it was
Nj rs- George Parsons Lathrop, the daughter
ot Hawthorne, though on what possible
grounds ] cannot understand. 1t is true
there are so many marks of iemininiiy in the |
style, mode of thought, and expressions, that
don't wonder 1t should have been ascribed
to woman. But why to Mrs Lathrop?
W hat has she done to deserve the charge |
She writes uniformly pure and graceful
style, with skilliul and practised touch
which are mark odly lacking |
In this little book. | am much more in |
rlined to believe the assertion more recently |
made ON good authority, that Wolcott Bales
tier Is the real name of the author, who ''is |
young journalist of New York, editor of |
Iid- Bus" 1t Is also said that he wrote the
story when but twenty-One years of age, |
which no doubt accounts Tor the frequent |
defects of style and grammar, and tho not
nirequent sllpShOd manner and eXpr Ssions |
II you can overlook these, and will at the
outset renounce all expectation of finding in
II anything truly representative or illustra-
tive OF Moravian life, you will he able to
enjoy what is otherwise a very clever, inter-
ssting, and altogether fresh and puro story. |
Indeed consider it a remarkable perfor-
nance for young man of twenty.one. At
me same tlme even in such an one 1t is mex |
,usable to be continually putting into the
mouth of his characters, refined aud cultured
people, such expressions a. ats a pretty |
Its only fair" and such bar
barlsins rs '"l wish you wouldn't i won't |
IL you ask me not :" or '"You was asking
was you not p" Perhaps this last gramma-
lical outrage was INTENTIONAL as it il put into |
the mouth of Il young Morayian brother of
little culture. But why should it be2 The
brother was a German, Conrad, and certainly
spoke only German ; ana IL 80 then certainly |
only tho very best German, tho Saxon az
spoken in its purity at llerrnbut There are
many similar instances throughout the book
not only of such gross grammatical errors,
but OF careless literary Workmanship and un- |
pardonable inelegancies OF style.
THE plot, however, has the rare merit of
being novel and ingenious. The only trouble
Is that it hinges altogether upon historically |
untrue and impossible representation of life
in MoraNian village during the rst quarter
Of the present century. The hero Mr..
Il Gator, IL "A noble character, we'll drawn; a
little fhnatical in his ptety, We would perhaps
consider HIM today, but not an unfair type |
pi the Moravian OF that period. But how III
all the world did ho a young man, /" little
more than thirty-ive' years old, IA cripple
using crutch, and an unmarried man, ever
get To bea presbyt and pastor of a Moravian
" place-congregation y? 1t would have been
this inposslbilily, coupled with another
story. Miss Constance Van Ceef, the heroine,
is a sweet and beautiful character, on the
whole. She is not Moravian, though her
father is. She is, however though she has
no desire to become a member OF the church,
a probationer (Second impossibility). She
is treated as full member by being admon-
ished by the pastor not to be on such familiar
terms with young man who il her fathers
guest, and afterwards officially reproved |
at public meeting of the congregation
(Third impossibiity-if she was no member
the church officials could not have any au-
thority over her. and would at most have
spoken to her father about her case never in |
a public meetiDgI. Finally. Mr. X aator nro.