The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-01-15
soAfF NEW B0oKa
MT. Crawford. New Novel.

Mr.. Crawferd's New Novel.
Mr.. F. MARION CRAWFORD has written a
good many novels since he puzzled and de-
lighted q multitude OF readers with his strange
story Of "Mr. ~Issacs," but the expectations
raised by that work are now for the first time
fulfilled in Paul PdtoF tHoughton, MiGfin d
Col Here again we meet with the conditions
which combined to give the authors first tale
the charm Of novelty and mystery. We are In
troduced to ecenes-Constantinople. Para, and
the shores Of the Bosporus-which, although In
O vague way moro familiar to us than India,
have even less often been portrayed with re-
quisite precision and vividness In English
fiction. The power OF Observation-Disclosures
IL strikingly displayed in the three
chief actors In the story, Paul Patof
and his brother Alexander, in whom
the strong and the untrustworthy types Of
Russian temperament and character are ex-
emplined, and o Fanariote Greek, one Gre
gorios Balsamides, who might have been .
contemporary Of tho later byzantine EN-
perors, and who could hardly have been drawn
without q profound study OF the race which.
after an intellectual conquest OF Its Roman
~conquerors. has In the same way managed to
subjugate its Ottoman masters. Even COM
paratively secondary persons-Prof. Cutter.
John Carver. and his daughter Hermione-are
distinct and lifelike. When We add that the
traits and interrelstions OF these people are
brought out BY an ingenious and sensational
plot which to a large extent depends on the
unfolding OF an obscure and curious patho-
logical problem, 1t ought to be patent that We
have In this book all the elements OF o note-
worthy novel.
We believe that they who have themselves
saen something Of Constantinople will concur
with US In thinking that the impression made
on the Western mind by that city and its en-
virons has seldom been moro faithfully con-
veyed. The descriptions OF Edmondo de Ad-
micis are not more infinitely accurate In re-
speot OF outline. color, tone. and sentiment
than are those OF Mr.. Crawford. Read. for In
stance, the account Of q walk through the VAL
Icy OF Roses, or that OF the religious ceremonies
In the mosque OF st. Sophia on the last night Of
the month Ramazan. We should like to repro
duce the whole Of tho scene in the mosque. but
We must content ourselves with quoting two
or three sentences which show how effectively
the author conveys not only what he secs, but
the meaning Of 1t and the emotion 1t arouses.
"A man" we read, looks down upon the ser
Red army Of believers. closely packed, but not
crowded or irregular, shoulder to shoulder.
knee to knee. not one OF them standing II hairs
breadth In front OF his rank or behind 1t. NOV
ing all as one body. animated by one principle
OF harmonious motion. elevated by one unuues-
tioning faith in something divine-a man looks
down upon this scene. and whatever be hiB
own belief, he cannot but feel an unwonted
thrill OF admiration. q tremor Of awe, q culver OF
dread, at the grand solemnity Of the unanimous
worship Of the unseen. And then. as the move
mont ceases. and the files Of white turbans re-
main motionless. the unearthly voice Of the
Imam rings out like o battle signal from tho
lofty balcony Of the mastaba. awaking in the
fervent spirits Of the believers the warlike
memories of mighty conquest. For the Osmanli
Is a warrior. and the nation is a warrior tribe;
his belief is too simple for civilization.
his courage too blind and devoted for the mill
tary operations Of our times, his heart too
easily reused by the bloodthirsty instincts of
the fanatic. and too ready to bear tho misfor-
tunes Of life with the grave Indifference of the
fatalist. " He Is a strange being, beyond
our understanding. as he Is too often beyond
our sympathy. 1t is only when We see him
reused to the highest expression Of his religious
fervor that we involuntarily feel that thrill of
establishment and awe which in our hearts we
know to be genuine admiration"
The case Of Madame Patoff, whose morbid
delusion and malign perversion Of the maternal
instinct are among the pivots OF the plot. ia, as
We have said, extremely curious: indeed. some
readers may deem 1t too anomalous to use in
fiction. whose material. according to an often
cited canon. should be not merely the urai. but
the rraisemblabte. Here is a mother who loves
one Of her sons with passionate devotion. and
detests the other with an intensity that ulti-
mately drifts into insanity. and eliminates In
attempts at suicide and murder. The phe-
nomenon would no doubt keenly interest an
alienist. and it is just conceivable that the
study Of It might. rs Mr.. Crawford represents,
constitute the almost exclusive occupation of
an eminent investigator Of cerebral disorders
for several years. But whether it be q theme
Rsthetically suitable for treatment in a novel
is perhaps dlsputable.