New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-13
DUALISM IN FICTION.
A STORY OF THE ENGLISH BARBARIAN.

"A SIOtI w HE ENOltSff
THE SECOND SON. BY NJ. q. W. oL,raAyr and T. b.
AlnxiCH lsuo. m. 52&: Aoushton M'th'n o.
Join; authorship in this instance has produced
q strong. well-compacted novel 1T is pflhcip"p
q study ef that English class which Mr.. Matthew
Arnold called the Bar,r,rians and the quapnes
which Justify that title have seldom been more
strLinelv illust rated shan in The Second Son
Such people as Mr Milford and his three sons
are SO largely the product Of institutions that their
dominant ehara cferstics might be sought vainiy
in any other country than England. III is not IN
deed the law of primogenturc which furnishes
the leading motive here but 1t is none inc less the
question OF succession and the way in which the
dcstiries Of a family NAV he sw"vrd "nf u''r'd"d
by the stupidity passion or caprice OF tyrannlcai
and unsympathetic father affords opportunity Tor
strong and moving situations The second son,
Edmund. while very much the best man OF his
family is after all rather passive than an active
hero He shows himself capable Of u fine devotion
and n generous remuneration, but one cannot but
feel that in refusing to supplant his elder brother
when ne knew that failing him, the succession
would pass to Stephen, the black sheep Of the
family he manifested an unsatisfactory short
sightedness.
Roger, the natural heir is subtly conceived
His passion for Lily Ford is romantic with tho
romance which perhaps is only possible TO man
of mature years, when he has been brought up in
leading strings and without worldly experience
Rogers innocence is curousy exhibited in the
practical ignoring of the effect OF his disinhert-
ance upon his future II does not seem to him
that the total deprivation Of fortune ought to
make the least difference in his plans or in the
feelings OF the girl he loves. more experienced
person one who knew what poverty was and
realized the enormous difficulty, for young man
bred in luxury, Of making a living and home
for any woman would have been held back by
the reflection that he was imperillinr the happl-
ness, certainly the comfort. OF the object oil his
passion Roger does not think Of this at all but
pursues his way with unabated ardor and conf-
dcnce There is however one point in his course
which seems to to strain probability. when
his declaration to Lily had only elected express
sions Of fright and confusion from her: when she
fastened to get away from him: when, the next
day. he found that she still Stunned him; surely
IL was not altogether natural for him to proceed
TO London in the mistaken conviction that she
would consent to be his wife.
From this point the story marches forward with
something of the steadness and pitilessress of
Greek tragedy. All the things which ought to be
fail of fruition. All the things which ought not
TO be happen. The fate of poor Roger is in itself
not wholly q calamity His day-dream WAS
shattered though he passed away without Know
ing it, But the substitution Of the brutal egotlst
Stephen for the self-sacrlcing, tenderconselenced
Edmund, and the catastrophe which results IN
establishing the wrong done in his moment OF
passion by the despotic head of the family, are
grim reproductions Of those perpcxing events IN
real life which make men doubt the presence OF
any overruling power Nothing can be more true to
human vcissitudes The grim response to the
busy president wording full of his plans for the
future" Thou FOOL This night shall thy soul be
required Of theel lis repeated day by day in a
thousand forms. When the house is finished,
Death enters" the Turkish proverb puts it. and
the masters of fiction have ever comprchended
their art too well TO palliate the actual order OF
things merely for the sake of sparing their readers
an uncomfortable feeling. The cynic Stephen
cows his irascible and unreasonable father and
has his own way The loyal respectful Edmund
is punished for his virtues Even when he re-
fuses to take Rogers place, through pure brcther-
ly love and integrity, his renunciaton works only
evil for it puts in power heartiess, seifsh'
vicious SCAMP and disables the honorable man
from employing great property beneiicently
While the authors have described a kind OF
men whose II is TO be so self-contalheo
and reserved among themselves that Their hapit
of mind might easily be mistaken for callOusness,
ness. by those who did not know them, they are
here shown as capable Of feeling and manlfestlng
strong passion when occasion arises The realism
of Mrs Ohphant and Mr. Aldrich docs not 30 the
length of excluding either romance or emotion.
The world as they see it full of passion as IT
ever was and as full also Of picturesQucness and
ideality Custom, convention, class traditions,
may and do encrust the central fires with 50 sohd
an accretion that the careless observer may con-
clude the volcano to be extinct; but more pene-
tratinr observation detects the latent energy and
rightly infers that when the sufiicing impulse is
given the suspended activities will be resumed
Ii must not be supposed from what we have
said that The Second Son" is solemn story. IL
is difficult TO follow faithful study OF real nle
without feeling anew the perplexity of the H.
soluble problems which confront us every day, Dut
that does not detIact from the enjoyment OF the
humor which is so intimately blended with sadness
in the actual and which the true artist will take
care not to eA cude from his picture There Is IN
this book plenty Of cheerful matter. The sur
nrisinr evolution of little Nina, the neglected,
motherless girl of the Milford family, into con-
frtned and eager gossip, under the training OF the
servants hall is case in point. Another capital
racterization is that Of Mrs 1ravers Tax
also has her amusing side, and the old lawyer,
Gavellxind is a decidedly genial person. win
obvious capabilities in the line OF hight comedy
Elizabeth Travers is perhaps hardly hhlsheo
Presentation, but fr sh, bright simple ana io'anIe'
So far as we are permitted to know her Lily was
difficult study in the very nature Of things, but
q successful one. Nothing better could have re-
suited from her bringingup, and but for a sold
foundation of inherited pride and purity, some
thing immeasurably worse must have been
evolved Her escape from Stephen is possibly too
fortunate a chance to be altogether natural, but
in fiction there must be permitted certain License
and. moreover, since everything does happen, even
though some things happen oftener than Others
the end of Lily's adventure may be defended as