New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-13
THE CURRENT NOVEL.
AN AMAZING ROMANCE.

y.
| DID, 40. Lonsmasls Green q co
VILLAGE TRAGEDY. By Margaret L Woods
| lone PIP. ell. Henry Holt Company
THE PERIL OF RICHARD PARDON ,od py u y, l,
larteon illustrated lsmo' PIP i'o i'a'S''
pr richardson has certainly written surprising
novel but tho elements OF surprise In 1t are not sucn
as to reflect brightly upon tho author "nat must
iucts the wonder Of the reader rs that any ono shou
deliberately undertake historical romance shoiio
70 20 great deal Of trouble to colatc iacts anu AZ
the samc time shoul1 mako such extraordinary
hiunders concerning periods, dates and historical
personaros az woald, II committed by schooipcy,
be considered evidence Ut special carelessness or
specia stupi. ity. There no nced Tor Dr. hlcn-
ardson to write a Story based or the career OF
Jewish impost1r OF the second century put having
chosen to DO So he was under obligation to verify bis
fundamental facts and TO avoid gross anachronisms'
But alike Icv~l ard iiouar history he shows NM
self hopelcssly confused and for this there Is no OK
| crss Captain Marryat ihougLt that In writing ior
| Ian smen accuracy IN matters Of scamanship was Oh
! IN consequence comparing the situation TO tna' OF
| tie play in which Irish passed for GreoK rNcoHehty
| well, tho audience being equally w'clnAa1ea .i'n
| both languages. But In the case ot an histoiicsi
| novel and ono especially which icas wlth Roman
| history every sophomore 81 Ia somo sense com
trient critic and certa r. QUITE Idle to det9cl snch
amazing errors ss Or. i.haylson is guilty. oL
How he could have gaveIy represented Trojan ~
being the successor Of Marcus Aurelius for EXAMPLE
is incomprchensibc but he does so, ard that In way
which admits OF no explanation on tho theory OF q
! slip OF tho pen. Nor Is this solitary example OF
/ mental confusion In another place ne places the
| birth Of Abba in period which ~ould make him q
thousand years old though he 3 represented as being
only fifty. Again, he stats that woman was
descendant OF the royal kousc OF David-and In the
same breath places her birth In period anterior 70
| Davld's And yet those anachronsms 1st SILK INTO
L "A
unfold themselves. The hero, simeon the son OF q
star refuses to do homage Hadran in Britain and
Is punished by being wrapped In pitchsoaKed maf'ihs
and get on fire. This happens In the circus OF
/ Roman camp. The victim, with tho flames mounting
high above HIS head. bounds out OF the arena mes
from the camp two or three miles at top speea
blazing all the whlS and reaching pool Of water at
ast extinrlshes the flames without having been In
ured In any way All this the author IS careful to
| state 3by natural means On another occasion
sevcrus drops a goblet filed 10 the brm win "ne'
and II is taken up without drop having been spilled
| There is a wonderful vessel called Leviathan,
owned By a philosopher named Leon and all readers
| OF Jules verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
tho Sea. will hall in this submarine navigator sister
| ship to Captain Nemo's Nautilus. Whether the
| second century vessel IS propelled by steam or
electricity DR.. Richardson falls to inform u.s. though
one or two indications favor the rst OF these agents.
OF course so far as historical fidelity Is concerned, ono
* as little jlstinable the oher, but the Doctor
notions about historical romance are peculiar, tn say
| the least. lie comes pcrilousy near to introducing
dynamite bombs as one OF the staples OF Aklbas In
dustral schools in Palestine, but compromises on
| modified Greek fire. He changes girls into young
men, and back again. with bewIlderng facility, and
altogether plays such pranl with his characters a.
20 m the minds OF his readers with something Ike ave-
There Is the Island Juvena for instance, the abode
OF Health and Peace, tho house Of Leon and the
| TIL tai nd Ia ultu atadf In
Britain, yet II enjoys apparently tropical climate,
together with perfect government and other
| fclIctes. But the book swarms with miracles
Of this character, and they become tlresome'
| tho more particularly since DR.. Richardson has
peculiarly hysterical ierky, famboysn STYLE 10 read
which aloud would be TO invite attack OF hlccoushng
He appears TO imagine that It Is Oriental poe'ical,
and adapted 10 his subject In truth II merely empha
sizes the prevalent extravaganza Of the book As a
literary curiosity "The Son OF STAR may DO recon-
mended but as work OF fiction 1t cannot be considered
a brilliant success.
Margaret Woods has written strong, simple, grmly
realistic story In "A Village Tragedy IL Is the history
OF a girl the child of poor parents struggling In Lon
dom By the death OF her fathsr and the selfish greed
| OF her dlsspated mother. she Is made over to TN
uncle and aunt who farmers and hard, dull coarse
people Little Annie naturally becomes the drudge Of
tho house. She herself IS delicate, with some sensi-
DlteS OF nina pcyOno ner position. But II
lessly repressed and grows up densely ignorant Her
only acquaintance for many years is Jesse Bennett,
her uncle's farm iaborcr, lad not much older than
! Annie. sort Of bovine affection for tho girl slowly
| develops In the boys heart. She likes but does not
| love him. A crisis drives them together One OF her
aunts die, and an idiot boy lets all her turkeys
out OF their pen on the day. The aunt accuses
| Annie OF being tho cuprt and frantic with grief for
the COW, turns the girl out at night to hunt for the
turkeys. storm comes up, and shc takes refuge IN
tho cottage OF Jesse Finding whore she Is the furious
aunt repudlacs her her reputation Is lost and she has
| no recourse, apart from the w0rkhouse, save In
cepung the offer of Jesse, who promises to marry her
as soon as he can They live together, and presently,
Just she is about to become mother. Jesse able
to marry her. and goes of TO the town for the ring.
That evening, he is about 10 return ho Is run
by train and dies implorng Annie not to let his child
60 to the workhouse. Tho conclusion OF the story Is
not less tragic than the whole OF IT, and II Is the
stronger for the simplicity OF the fonr Ia which II Is
told. There Is no comment BY The author, no lament,
regret, denuncati"n of systems OF Compartments or
| social arrangements. The facts are narrated In tho
most quiet and unconditional way One feels the alsou
fidelity OF The narrative real life. Just might every
| thing have happened in any one Of five hundred
| English vlllsges. The typos arc natural Tho easy
immortality Of the villagers their disposition TO overlook
slips, save at such times as Scy might lost their tenn
per. their tendency TO say the most brutally frank
things without hs least malice, their underlying rough
sindlincss and abundant sympathy in time Of trouble
with their own class-an this Is set forth by the way,
! In the most unstuded manner but imprcssivcly. II
might almost De said that there was no intellectual
life in the story Tho plano IS little above the ANIMAL
the recors wife, the wholesome trained nurse and tho
doctor being the only people who seem to have any up.
proEch 10 culture. But the mental suffering OF poor
| Annie arr seen 10 be as poignant as though size had
been graduate OF Gron Newman, and she Is as In
teresng and attractive character The story reminds
us here and there Of George Sands Francois 10
Champ' and indeed the kind OF life described is much
L in fhaka hon A DIV bavv-