The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-10-27


i filIaloud and undismayed. But ther
are5pages of Lever which it is. shoul
! imagine, impossible to read-almos
impossible after once reading to thinl
OF ever after--without immediate AM
audible tribute of inextinguishabl
laughter. Even such one as the mel
ancboly princess of half dozen legends
she who figures in the Neapoltan Pen
tamerona and in the Marchen of til,
brothers Grimm, the melancholy prin'
cess who could not be induced to smile
even she would be stirred to mirth by ;
well.chosen selection from the earle;
imaginings of Charles Levers brain
Is there anyone so sour and solemn 81
to he able to read through the whole ol
Harry Lorrequer" without a tremol
of delicious laughter, or to follow the
Pottinger >Odyssy Of the days Jour.
naH' without a dangerous approach tc
mirthful Mysteries ? There are things
in .'Charles O'Malley" and in the
"Dodd Family the very thought OF
which set the facial muscles twitching
merrily. What a varied, many-sided
power the man had. How little there
is in common between the boisterou~.
brilliant buffoonery of the Lorrsquers
and .O'MalIey's, the Dodds and Hin.
tons and that later closer observance Of
life which expresses itself in the Dali
tons'' and THAT Boy of Narcott's" and
''Lord Kilgobbjn." They are hardly
like the work of the same hand. III.
tian, who is said to have resolved in his
9uth year to entirely alter his method of
painting, would hardly be more re-
markable example Of artistic many
siledness than Lever. The author Of
Luttrell Of Arran'' and 1.-THE Barring.
tons" hardly seems to be of intellectual
kin with the author Of TON Burke of
Ours We have all, all OF us VINO
love fiction, some favorite book, among
the books of a favorlte author, which is
especially dear to us. The favorite is
often by no means the best book, nor
the most famous, nor the most widely
read. Let me confess that out of all
Levers books think | cherish the
tenderest affection for "Con Cregan."
Lam quite aware that it is far, very far
iliUiSed, from being his best, or even
one OF his best books. Lam fully con.
scicus st its faults; but I am not the
less sincerely attached to it. 1t is real.
" one of the best books of adventure
ever written. 1t was an adventurous
thing to do to write, and write avowed
ly, a book upon the lines Of "Gil Bias"
but the audacity which could dare SO
much could count also upon success.
And so it has come to pass that econ
Cregan'' takes a high and honorable
place in that gallant company of gen.
tlemen adventurers of whom "Gil Bias"
is the captain general and "Lavengro"
an illustrious lieutenant. "Con Gre
gan" belongs to the class Of stories to
which the Spaniards have given the
eplthet of Picturesque. "t5il Bias" is
book; so, of course, and
eminently, is 'Lazarillo del ThorYnes.
8 is, in some degree. George Borrow's
"Laven gro' with its sequel, The Rom
any Rye so, finely, and very brilliant
", is ''Cou Cregan." 1t is an astonish-
irg, splendidly -colored, intensely vivid
p norama of adventure, magnificent in
it's daring imagination and courageous
execution. L believe am right in say
ing that Lever never was in Spanish.
America, in which 80 much of Con Cre--
gan's experiences were faced; if so, the
fact is only one further proof OF the
strong imagination which conjure up
such scenes and make them so real a1d
so living. A very graceful English
writer has lately been discoursing on
the delights of fiction and the mex
haustible joys that lie for him between
the covers Of books of adventure. To
the lover of such books-and such
lover is a happy human being-"Con
Cregan'' is a perfect treasure house Of
delight. To read it for the first time is
to taste most enviable exquisite pleas
ure. The next best thing is to read it
again after a Ion : interval, when time
has bl.lnted the viyidness OF reeollec-
ton, and as it were shuff1ed into plctur
esQue confusion the picture park of ad
ventures In either case the reader
may count upon some hours of fine en-
tertainment and the formation of a
new friendship with one OF the marvel
Gus phantoms that throng the Elysian
fields of fiction.
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