New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NOVELS AND TALES.

MODERN WARNING. BY Henry James 12mo'
pp 200. Macmillan & Co. ~ Has,. .
THE REBEL ROSE limo. PIP 2o2' harper
THE ASTONISHING HISTORY OF TROY TOWN BY
60" 16mo PIP. $40. Cassell 20 ,e 49,,
ORTHODOX. BY Dorothes Geraru i'"'o PIP
161. d. Appleton Co.
Tn IN. "Aspern Papers, Mr.. James exhibits - un-
.ouai,ed ,kill IN evolving interest out OF the minimum
of material II rs true that this episode has founda
ton In fact, but SO small modlcum OF iact tha'
perhaps IL might have suggested 10 announcer 'a
Mr. James the possibility of making literary usc VI
g. Tho nucleus upon which the story-f IL can De
ca,led a story-s erected, amounts simply to 'his'
AN old lady living with elderly neice In an ltahan
CITY MIR James calls It Venice) was the sole survv-
ing link between the generation and once
famous poet and prose writer who passes In the DOCK
under the name OF jeffrey Aspcrn This ola iao! IS
believed TO possess precious memorials VI Aspern'
who had held very tender and intimate relations 10
her An enthusiastic Aspern editor who Is gathering
material for new book about his idol learns of the
existeuce of this important literary deposit, ana dc
termncs to lay siege to the treasure He succeeds III
calming a foothod in tho venerable GUARDIANS house
rs n lodeer and the whole of The story consists In
minute chronicle the laborous processes by which In
the end he failed TO the prize. Nothing could
he more absolutely unexciting. There is scarcely any
action. the dialogue is almost monotonous, and the
ob,ec, of the difficult quest is not OF generally or
deeply Interesting character. Three people Only ap
pear; one is the narrator and of the others 'he h.s
s the venerable old custodian Of the letters ana 'he
other is her niece, curious coorless, almost soui
creature simple to the bounds of imbecilV 'ee
ont of these scanty materials Mr. James has conr'eu
IN weave story which is fun OF light ana deicd's
interest which gives pleasure by the refined and suDc
dissection of almost infinitely little things whch Is
marked BY quite humor; and which contains great
deal of admirable psychical analysis
~Louisa Pallant," the second tale in Mr.. Jamess
nj indy dpa
line The heroine is woman who In early life
fitted the narrator, aud who, meeting him on
the continent where she Is roaming with her lovely
daughter, is affected BY odd kind Of rcmorse which
leads her to break off growing attachment between
her daughter and the supposed story rch young
nephew This strange mother, under passionate
impulse confdes her former lover the failure OF
her own life. She sacrificed love for worldly
advantage and was disappointed. She bad educated
her daughter in all the craft OF mondane, and had
finally discovered that the girl was ambitious, 1aise
and hearrlesS. But Mr. James throws cloud OF
doubt over these selfrevealings and leaves IL I'M
decided whether the mothers confession was after
all not part OF plot deliberately devised by that
too-clever lady In the way the real character
of Linda Pallant the daughter is undetermined at
the last and reader is apt TO suspect that pos
Iiby the authors mind was not mace up con-
corning these two practically inscrntable women
"The Modern Warning" is not pleasing story, ana
i
preceding tales. Mccarthy Brce, the distinguished
young American lawyer who chcrishes SO rabd ana
unreasoning a hatred of the English, is an anomaly
lie Is in fact an unnatural combination of the genuine
Yankee and the Irish-American. The education he
credited with is inconsistent with the character and
extent of his AnglOphoba, which is. in short nothing
less than monomania The drift of the story is the
exploitation of a possible danger In International
marriage the danger, namely, that patriotic senti-
eifb a
domestic felicity An American girl marres an
English Tory Official who presently visits the united
States gathers material and writes book in which
he records many unhatering opinions HIS WIFE,
reading some early proofshees Of his BOOK Is Sezed
with decidedly uncharacterstic fit Of Indignation al
the things said about her country. She makes a
scene theIeupon, and Sir Rufus, her husband acts
with Imperurbable Kindness promises not to publish,
and frankly declares his entire willingness to sacnhce
his ambition to his wifes happiness For time AL
Is well. Then the wife begins to harbor morbid
ideas to the effect that she has spoiled her husbands
career After long brooding she begS him to publish;
and when he goes on with the printing she suddenly,
and without rhyme reason. kills herself The
catastrophe is led up to by nothing 1t Is quite
impossible to explain IT, save on the theory OF IN
sanity and that Mr. James does not once hint at.
Thus the impression produced IS disagreeabc, and
there is nothing to show that this unpleasant and
abrupt ending was artstlcay otherwise, necessary
The Rebel Rose is an anonymous mover, ana
clever one though II IS possible that the American
rcsder NAV find the abundance Of English politics
in IL rather tedious at times. The story Is OF
pretfy girl who IS the last Of the Stuarts, and who
Is taken from the continent. where she has been
brought up. to England. 20 push claim in equity
for the possession Of estate coniiscated under
the House of Hanover. English members of Parlia-
nent, peers leaders of drawingroOms ambitious
women appear and enter into the combinations.
There is plenty of intrigue and ii is quite evident
that the author has been behind the scenes in Eng
lsh politics and understands the "seamy sde' very
thoroughly. Nor can it be doubted that some Of
the politicians arc intended for portraits, Victor
Champion, for example. being evidently meant for
Mr. Gladstone, though generation so is clipped
from the nfe-recofd of the old statesman, in order
10 render him eligible Has actor in something very
like a love affair Whoever wrote the book knows
the Parliamentary world well, and has taken notes
In many London salons. The style cultivated, the
life described largely that Of the arstOcracy and the
upper middle class. The characters drawn with
frmness and confidence, and natural and move
easily. Perhaps Lady Saxon is meodramatic to
excess but after all she is only adventures of
obscure origin. Mary Stuart Beaton herself is a
fresh and piquant creation. and BellarmIne, Tommy
Tressel, Champion, Lord Saxon. and several other
men are realistic enough TO be studies from the
life. The novel is rather above the average standard
Of current fiction.
In the author of "Tho Astonishing History Of
Troy Town we TO discern the possibility of a
new humorist. 1t is original and ii has quaint
humor, which is given flavor by the style in
which II IS set. The motive is simple, the situations
not especially remarkable for inventive genius but
the manner Of presentation IS unique Troy Town
a typical small English sea-coast town. the people
Of which, intensely provincial and about two-thirds
rural, have sunk into all sorts of grotesque
ventional ruts,-s kind of Paradise, into which two
snakes enter, the form of a pair of wicked Ameri
cans masquerading under the style and title of the
Hon. Frederick Goodwynsandys and Mrs GOODWIN
sandys How these two gull and deceive the simple
and guleiess Trojans need not be here minated.
nor, what they prove in the end to be. That is
the main plot, but there is a second which includes
some Of the best things In the book