The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-07-11
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The Magic Skin, by Honore de Balzac.
Balzac possessed one of those phenomenal
minds, of boundless fertility, which in quail
ty suggests Buckle. As he wrote and phil
osophized, like Buckle, vista upon vista
opened up to him, in the exploration of
which all the beauties of ANALYSIS and de-
tailed description would follow. In his
Coincide Hundine he proposed to dissect
and analyze society and catalogue with pa
tlent thoroughness its myriad phenomena.
lie is not alone writer of romances, but he
seeks to penetrate the hidden meaning I'M
DERIVING this immense assemblage of figures,
passions and events. His first work was TO
paint society in its own image, as exactly as
possible, but his later labors tended to I'M
fold philosophy in which the inner signi6-
canoe should appear and lead up to the es-
Establishment of principles evolving a higher
civilization. He did not live to accomplish
this, but his Philosophical Studies, of which
La Peau de Chagrin-The Magic Skin-forms
the first of the series, embody the main con-
ception and were in an entirely new vein.
1t is quite possible to read The Magic
Skin simply as story, without regard to its
allegory. 1t was thus that it was first re-
ceived by the public and the critics, and only
those who knew the Coincide Hundine as a
whole would thoroughly appreciate its philo-
sophie significance.
In this story the hero, tired of life, having
drained its pleasure and passion to the dregs,
and gambled away his last penny, is bent ON
suicide, and as he wanders along the streets
of Paris. he halts at the shop of an anti
quarry, where he finds the magic skin, whose
possession insures the attainment of every
wish; but with the qualification of each wish
the skin shrinks, and with it the life of its
owner. Possessing himself of the talisman.
he enters upon a reckless course of personal
qualification of his desires. At last, when
the skin is nearly gone. and his fierce ac-
quisitiveness is merged in on intense longing
to preserve his life, true passion dawns
upon him, and he wins the object of his af-
fections-but to discover that he can crafty
his love only at the expense of his life. An
egoist, he sacrifices all to his selfish desires,
and the finale shows the powerful struggle
of egoism in death-grapple with itself.
In this story the great power that VIII and
Thought play in the seething arena of life
is brought into prominence. and the lesson
drawn that the mad and excessive pursuit
OF material success brings with its very
achievement re-active exhaustion. 1t
is the destructive as well as construc-
tive efficiency of the will that Balzac
has illustrated; the abuse of the thinking
powers and the will, in the headlong and
mad pursuit of greed which is one of the
salient evils of modern civilization.
Balzac's works are as appropriate to-day
to illustrate the tendencies of our own met
ropolitan life as when first written, because
in Balzac's time Paris was so far in advance
Of the rest of the world in the whirl and fe-
yer and fury of life, that the world has con-
sumed generation or more in getting to
where the French Capital was then. This
explains, perhaps, the present revival of in
terest in the great novelist's works. Dos.
ton: Roberts Brothers; Portland: Loring,
Short & Harmony
Governor Chamberlain's Administration in
South Carolina. A Chapter of Reconstruc-
ton in the Southern States. By Walter
Allen The author of this volume says
modestly, that his object is to collect and
present the material necessary for future
history, when the passions and preiudices
OF the present will have passed away. AS
matter Of fact, he has in an unusual degree
Invested himself of partisan rancor, and
gives us history of most important and
critical period of our political life When
we opened the volume, we anticipated
rather dry and uninteresting record, but our
attention was soon fixed upon the subject
and the interest of the narrative increased to
the end. We closed the reading with
strong feeling that the author had not over
estimated the Importance of this crisis in
our history, and that he had handled it in a
manner adapted to enforce many valuable
lessons in practical politics.
Gov. Chamberlain's character was sub
jected to severe ordeal from which it issued
strong and pure He was ten years in South
Carolina, as planter and politician Four
years he was Attorney General, and two
years Governor. Elected the second term,
he held on for few months, but finally re-
signed the office as the folly of his nominal
party made it impossible to carry on the gov
eminent without aid from Washington. All
the time he was in office, he had double
battle to fight, with whites without, and
blacks within. His worst foes were those of
his own household. Several of the leaders,
more especially Moses and Whipper, were SO
corrupt as to defy all the Governors efforts
to reform and purify the administration of
the State government. The records of his
relations to all parties are ample and given
at length. They furnish conclusive proof of
Chamberlain's capacity, honesty and un-
swerying purpose to redeem and purify the
politics Of the party. But the ignorance and
venality of other leaders, were insuperable
obstacles. 1t becomes perfectly apparent
that really republican government is i'm
possible where the majority of the people
are without education and have had no
political training. The question is not one
of color, but of character, irrespective of
color, but not of previous condition. This
chapter in our history has direct application
to the hordes of ignorant immigrants now
landing on our shores, in comparison with
whom, our earlier arrivals were intelligent,
pure and patriotic. We refer of course to
those Italians, Poles, Hungarans and others
who have no trades, and are incapable of
any skilled labor. Unable to read or write.
and without any political knowledge or ex-
perience, they are really dangerous classes.
Both political parties should unite in devils
ing some remedy for this great and immi-
nent peril to our institutions. The vol
ume has good index. New York: G. p.
Putnam's Sons; Portland: Loring, Short &
Harmony