New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-09
BALzAc IN ENGLISH,


possible human achievement regards 1deahy
10 fiction For loftiness Of conception sGS'aineu
purity and elevation, delicsey OF eNecuuon' anu
beauty and harmony OF setting, TINS Work 10 uh
surpessed II is the crown and elimination VI
the philosophic triad which begins In the hag'o
Skim and proceeds through " Louis LAMBERT 70
the resent splendid conclusion. There is nothing
In Hterature at sn Resembling Scraphlta. ~
!. n .he visions Of ecstatics, In the glowing con-
espticns Of great religious enthusiasts in the ex-
sfted irnaginings Of those spiritual explorers who
soy 10 opsn the eyes OF the soul by notifying
ths sppesioes Of the body that any ideas allied to
thess are 70 be found. From the first page.
whore tre scene opens upon the winter-bound Nor
yegian herd, and the landscape, as Gautier said
appears painted in bat two tones--the blue OF
the sky and ice the dazzling white Of the snow,
with pearly tints for shadows-the reader Is MADE
10 feel that he has entered upon holy ground ;
that he has left behind him the heat the passions,
the ,cw anbitions, the base enmitles, the sordid
desires, OF everyday life and Is lifted for time
into an atmosphere rarefied indeed and not easy
20 breathe, bat each inspiration Of which brings
peace and noble thoughts and the capacity for
comprehension Of things spiritual and divine.
There ore points in "Seraphita" which must
have sorely pcrplexed the generation OF French
men, we will not say for whom 1t was written
but who were the first possessors OF its oesuues
and therefore it was fitting and desirable that IL
should, upon being Englished, be furnished with
such an introduction as Mr.. Parsons has WRITER,
and which leaves few If any doubtful queseonS
unexplained, while giving what may DC
called historical and material oSeN-
ground to the book. Serapmta' inc
marvellous creature whose passage from NAT
yef to Spirit from the Specialist to the divine
conditions, is the theme of Balzacs genius IN 'hiS
case, Is intended to typify the final fruiton Of
long course Of st.adfast upward wornns oy
soul which has by many reincarnauohs won 's
way past the Instructive and AbstsactiVe spheres
of existence and has at length attained that dell
cate balance Of the material and smrltnaI wniCh
is the last possible manifestation on the earthly
plane In this exalted state the principal being
rcyerts to the type of humanity supposed by an
eiens cecultists 10 have been the primal form Of
humanity: the union of the sexes in one lndl-
yidual: dualisn, however, rather than andre
pynism. For according TO the doctrine represent
Cd, the perfect type of the highest humanity must
embrace the best characteristics Of both man ana
vorosn: the wisdom of the one with the love OF
the other; the force OF the with the purity OF
the other; the persistence OF the one with the
subtlety of the other Strength and sweetness,
power and tenderness, justice and mercy, under
standing and intuition, must combine in this raress
and noblest and conlpletcst flower Of the race ;
and such a one Is Scraphita.
In the buoyant and ethereal movement With
which this mysterious creature passes over the
cliffs and crngs Of the lofty Falsberg, Drawing
tbs precipitous escents and the treacherous
glaciers the tremendous mountain walls and the
sbysmal depths, with the steadinesS of absolute
sslf-conhdenee or the natural assurance OF being
uncontrolled by the law of gravinton, may De
perceived Balzac's intimation Of the rehneaient
ana tenuity already attained by Seraphita's phys
zeal organism. 1t is indeed still material body
and one too gross 70 endure translation, but COM
pared with that Of even so pure human creature
as Minna, il is diaphanous and weigbuess, IT Is
the mere servant Of the soul nor in the final in
eaxnstion has IL for q moment been the masser.
Il may suffer; IL must die but IL cannot dominate
the powerful spirit that informs It To make
Se-aphits intellinble to coarse understandings II
was necessary TO employ the plainest imagery, and
shcrefcre while there is profound occult philos-
ephy wrapped up in this fiction, 1t is presented
Tor the most part under exoteric forms which
ally 81 In principle TO some of those socalled
mysteries" wherewith the Church in the Middle
Ages was wont TO amuse and perchauce instruct
the simple, unspiritual folk OF the period, There
Is little action and no plot in Serapbita." The
scepteal Pastor, the worldly, sensual Wilfrd, ths
good but unenhghtened Nina, are each and al
introduced rather as symbols than as living per
sons to point the contrast, 70 emphasize the vari
Gus stages Of progress through which the centra
figure has passed. and TO mark the extent Of thu
gulf which separates her from the humanity sht
is about 10 leave. Wiltrid and Minna both se'
In sesaphita tho complement OF their own nature
and this is inevitable. Wiltrid is the first Il
realize the futiity Of his ideas concerning her
however, and this, too, h significant, for viii
Minna no such futifty existed. She loved Ser
aphita indeed with mistaken love, but not viii
q gross love; whereas the feeling Of Wiltrit
originally Is almost sacrilegous and 10 he con
qusred, not By refining but by extirpation.
The chief use Of these characters is TO faciltat
the development Of the philosophic and tbeosophi
doctrine which underlies the work, and this
Effected In a series Of conversations and monologue
OF the deepest interest and tie most skilful and el
oueht composition. II would perhaps be diff
cult to find anywhere stronger or better state
argument for the spiritual side Of human natur
then Seraphita's brilliant discourse In the chaten
constitutes. What will certainly strike man
teaasfs in this, moreover is the singular FRESHNESS
and modern!ty Of It, 1t Is difficult TO realize thG
"A was written more than half century ago, 4
fuIly IA 10 abreast Of recent thought, so full is
of thar sLbtie element called the spirit Of the az
This feature Of Seraphits" serves to show one
more that the great writer was truly in advant
Of his own time and that his intuition penetrate
TO spiritual depths not yet sounded by the plum
met of modern research The old Pastor, WI
ports over the great folios Of Swedenborg, ant
failing 10 grasp the seers meaning falls back upo
Wier for rational--that is TO say, wholly gross On
material-explsnation is no doubt meant
tyoify the average man Of the world, and possib
ako the average man Of science. who insists {
erecting his little knowledge Of phenomena In
doruaas. and. having reached the limits OF his ON
ptresptive powers, loudly afirms that they
also the limits Of human discovery.
BAIsac made free use Of the writings Of Swede'
bora In Serephita,1 but his plan embraces