The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-03-11

| ante-morreE Iinquests should draw the line at
this point II the subject is not handsome it is
embarrassing If net d8ngerous to say So and il
ne reads In a newspaper that he is it would turn
the head of the noblest Roman of them all
His father. Governor Wallace, was called the
handsomest man in Indiana. His mother died
the daughter of Simonidss. We will never have
true biography of him Whoever might
undertake 1t should be an Irving in
and a Walter SCOT in romance. and
as no one but himself has such versatility of tai
ents, the biography ought to be autobiog
book 'Ben-Hur," in its brief life OF seven years,
has bad exceptional sale, being now in the
two hundred aid twenty five thousandth. This
Is tne surface index of Its future. 1t must needs
always remain popular book It should be
read one year for its sacred history, the next for
It's thrilling narratives the next for its deinea-
ton OF characters and their eioQuence Of speech,
the next for revealing iiisl and maternal love.
then for its pictures of tragedy. descriptions OF
sky. sea and land, then for its PHILOSOPHERS. and
every year for its marvellous setting forth of the
dual character OF orr Lurd the Christ This Is
the great heart of the book and it will beat
in every Christian land ami declare its author g
man of unmatched genius who. under an in
SEPARATION beyond comprehension, has
pictured the only divine hero that dwet
among men.
A Study of WaIiace's Literary Character.
Maurice Thompson. in Philadelphia Book News
When the Fair God came from the press in
1873, many critics attempted to ridicule it, but
there lived few who saw IN it the tissue and
fiber of historical romance belonging to the very
highest order. The cannons of art were violated
in its style and construction. but there
that in it which reflected large purpose and
reserve of power, coupled with peculiar, al
most Homeric. comprehension of the heroic and
the tragic. A little later. when all the world
han come to know that the author of this book
was man past middle age, everybody said:
''Well. il IS a pity Lew Wallace has not had
literary education; but it IS too late now, he is
too old to learn" Indeed, a rule he, who
the verge of fifty, writes will for
shall. and would for should, to say
nothing of greater linguistic defects. is not the
man who seven years later sends forth book
which compels recognition and applause as
wide as the world; but General Wallace fur
Dished the most striking exception to the rule. :
Ben Hur" appeared in 1850, and is to-day sell
ing in it's one hundred and eighty fifth thousand,
with the demand for II scarcely diminished It
is not sensational story, On the contrary, its
appeal Is TO the educated imagination, and it's
construction follows the heaviest lines of art
Here again the small critic may find lapses from
grammatical accuracy. some misused words and
many evidences of unskillfulness IN phrasing
but the power foreshadowed in the Fair God"
is at it's full IN Ben Hur," and the grand story
flows on like an ocean current There
singular reduudancies of narrative. for instance
the interpolated short stories that the
unity of effect, but two such descriptions as
that of the Garden of Daphne and the account
of the chariot nov here excelled, even
in SCOTS great novels or IN Hugos.
General Wallace has been influenced chiefly
by Bulwer, and in boldness of treatment and
breadth of understanding he has surpassed his
model. He is the least literary of all our great
novelists but he is also cast in the largest mold.
think '.I3en Hur" has gained an element of ex-
cellence from the fact that its author is not a
literary professional artist who piques himself
upon his originality of STYLE A great historical
square and the compass. 1t must be vivid his
torica impression, and at the same time wisely |
considered story of life. 'Ben-Hur" s both |
and more, for it also bears a great moral motif. |
We might rank Wallace with Scott. IL Wallace |
knsw well as Scott how to keep to his story; |
we should name him before Scott if in addition. |
he had SCOTS style.
Where he is great is in his grasp of materials |
and in his mastery of large plan. and still more
In his patience with details. We feel all through
"Ben-Hur" the momentum of purpose huge in /
its proper tions and the gradual accumulation of /
a truly Homeric dramatic energy. Here is a /
book containing more matter than three ordi- |
nary three-voume novels, and it is brim foil of /
interest from beginning TO enc One may safe
ly call ben Hur" great novel, and yet admit
that it is not the greatest General Wallace has
IN writing it that large purpose, |
an heroic life and a picturesque setting are not
IS antiquated in public estimation the realists
pretend they are, and that there is q mighty
audience for the writer who despises the COM
nonplace and honors heroism.
1t was bold undertaking, this thing of choos-
ng Christ the central figure of a romance, |
and it required equipoise of mind and a
'teadness of hand not at the command of any |
ordinary man to carry 1t out. Without fear of
it may be said that General Wal
ace has patiently and judiciously wrought to
the best end in avoiding apparent impiouspess
IN one hand and special pleading for Christian
ty on the other hand. and has made what is al
together the most notable novel ever written by
IN American. His styls will not bear the criti-
al lens; his method 10 scholarly. but be con-
;tantly shows that he is not a scholar aud that
ne has collected diligently for his work The
'esuit, however, is worthy of the highest praise
or it's breadth. it's strength and its permaneEcy
Ben Hur' is not book for those little people
Who consider literature the whole of life It is
book for those who look through literature as
through a frame at the picture beyond