New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-28
4 RENARKABLE NOVEL.
MIR. CRAwFoRD's "GREIFENSTEIN."


GREIFENSTE1N. By. T. Marion Crawford. LIMO
PIP. 357. Macmillan ~ Co.
Grr,fens stein, is a remarkable novel, and while II
illustrates once more the authors un'Snai Nersal'N' j
also shows that he has not been tempted mo careless
writing by the vogue Of his earlier books II IS
German story and nothing In II IS NOR admIa"''
than the skill with which national and local color nave
been infused into It's warp ami wool Thee Is "a
decidedly Tcutonc cast IN the plot, to begin WIN '
line, Of thought which actua'o the people arr as
nctivcly German their idiooyncrasice TENDENCIES ana
habits arc not less in accord with tn" scene ana Owe
all these hr,ods atmosphere Of mystery KIM OF
glanor which impress the reader d might me
.nrctac, of great struggle between elemental forces
viewed I'm IT'S larger lines the tale l. If the working
out Of what. In vulgar parancc. might be calcd
curse 1t may also be regarded as study III inc
Influence Of good and evil PRINCIPLES operating through
womanhOOd.
There are two northumberland lives ar"
ruined by a bad woman. There are NV" men ''>'
halfbroihers and the of ia, former tw"-"A">'
live, are redeemed and made happy by a good woman
All through the complicated action there Is sense
as Of conflict between spiritual powers, between
magn magnetism Of the bad woman ana Tie benign
magnetism Of the good one The astonishing ioi''
and vivdness of the narrative Intensity tl' l'l-
preston and deepen the interest There Is nothing
weak or small or frivolous In the story The au'hof
deal, with tremendous passions working al the h'lth'
Of their energy His characters are stern, rugged
determined men ard women, governed bS P""''"
prctudices and iron conventions types oil ilH'"F
people. in whom the sense OF duty has been cult
waited until Il dominates al other motive ana III
whom the priucipl of noblcs~c OOec' $50 lar a.
the arsioclatic class Is concerncd-thc fundamental
,,lo Of conduct What such people may be capable
of is startIinry shown In the terrible and powerful
scene fin which Won Ricscncck and old Grclichs'clh
discover that Clara kurz has betrayed ana rHin'I
both of them, and brought them TO shame. 1he
murder and double suicide which follow Would under
ordinary conditions be merely shocking and revolving
but these are not ordinary cOLdi'iohs Or men, II
is moi a common crime which tioy commit It rather
a., cxrcut,,, of a vlcmgcnclt" judgment Their
u,hnitv courcl, al once the death Of tic double
,rallre>s and their own. and their NOBILITY Is 10
them and their class higher law
Mr Crawford has manas q this dl'icui scene Win
great Skill and has invested 1t WIN me horror Oh
Or elk tragedy no, The ScnsaIlonalsm OF mO1ei" MI"
drama. incidentally hc has written some e'dIho
,s,,cr, describing German student lie al hc un.-
y,rsi,ies coupled with an apparently serious d'ie'e
of The customs Of nIn'tnG and bccrdrlnkn-. 1t Is
oot lle,y that tn Arguments he employs Oh behalf oi
hc student ducllo viii convince any one moi German
born that discipline in mutatl"n IS ucs!d''c o'""'"
of educ aiou. conducive To aNahc III o4''i@a'o"'
and while his pictures Of schlasci-duc'' are luIi Oh
color and lifc aud undcnably stirring ana interest
INC t,er, * s1ibnavor Of mcdiacy asm about the
wtol, subject which produces a curously a"omaIoAN
effect \, TO the consideration that a system which
Includes the Karps duclo ha> produced number Oh
DISTINGUISHED ncu IL Is difficult to believe thai MIR.
Crawford brings II forward seriously, though II IS
old and familiar enough. The very same argument
has indeed been employed in the defence Of every
,,o,ed abuse AGAINST which the reforming spirit Ia,
Lccn directed Flogging In the army and navy.
facrlnc and Goggng at public schools the purchase
of commits SONS the maintenance Of Slmony, the
bahi, Of tntcmperance. in fact every stupid, bar
Larous and brutal practice Il al has ever got e>ta
u>bed has ben Jus u" ground that th" coun-
try fourishcd under such practices, and that II pro
duccd Great men. The ruth IS that militarlsm viii
,ve IN nation the qualities which iii II for defence
aud conoues and VIII invest IL with an imposing ap
pcsrance of robusnc vigor and discipline But on
The other hand It will weaken that indvdualism n"
devclonucnt Of which is prime fequIste OF self
,,v.rnmcnt and will tend "a brIiaKc and ma
,er,aIlze those who make of II a leading influence.
This. moreover IS illustrated throughout Mr. Craw
for,,s book which Is dominated by " Sturm und
Dranr--and the characters in which are invariably
urged by the pit,less operation Of this same influence
In solve their Gorian knots in Aicxander's evasvc
vay by cutting them. Resource To suicide Is II Its
very nature barbarous for the reasoning By which the
set SLAYER reaches the conclusion that this is hi, sole
resort involves "pettio principii' which wouh bs
impossible 10 advanced understandings The man who
supposes that BY killing himself he ends ANYTHING.
that he escapes obligations aones for wrongs or puts
fnis- insoublc in,olerable situations cannot
be lucid thinker: cannot penetrate into the mystery
Of life Hamlet did for example. But Mr Craw-
fords Germans. with all their blood and iron. ars
rather weak in their logic. and they to their
pc