New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-27
ELIZABETHAN FICTION
A NEW EDITION OF JUSsERAND'S BOOK.

Iulldln SplH.
Tho orioinol edition Of NJ. Jusserands inter-
estIng bool, appeared some years ago iie ou.nor
has taken the opportunity Of its trarslA,lo" I1''
English 70 revise and enlarge il cohSoer'p't'
while the publishers have so amply lilusuF""u
-often from reconditc SOurccs-that us Nu'ue
and interest are greatly increased. ~ 'n'snO
naturally be doubted whether frehchpha'' NV
ever we'll equipped could do justice 70 Such s""-
,ect. but NJ Jnsscrand hos left few traces OIL his
nationality in his work, while his appreca'lo"s
are as liberal and sympathetic az though nv '''
been TO the manor born Only IN t'e e'ii3 P',V
Of his book does he exhibit tlnctufc Oh P"''i"'o
pridc. and this is manifested III q r''hei cN"s
ccrated insistancc upon the dcrlVaIion VI VI.
English novel from Norman sources winch "'' NV
altacether exactly speaks of rs French III tle iou-
crn sense There may be differences oil opi'''o" ~
70 the date Of the beginning OF the Ehglsh "oNe,'
The ro1nanccs Of Middle Age chivalrN, o'i"H az
,no.t all or alien origin. can hardly he cited ms evil
dcncc even when domcstica'cd or au"P''"' !"
rrnnco tho "cbante-fablc," Of which "Aucnssin
Of Nicollette- is perhaps the bestkho"h eN"n'f"'
NAV bc said 20 have brldscd the space between
the rhymcd romanccs and the prose tales OF Nnih'-
hood and sorccry. In England no such transition
sto+o hos received illustration. Chaucer wrote
r,vmcd stories. but his example was not followed
notwithstanding the enduring popularity OF DIS
work.
N Jussrrand appears inclined 70 pun LyiyS
&" runhucs" Al the head Of English novc's' ouu
IvIv cannot be said 10 have projected his pooH
mon ENGLISH lines ut all. ON the contrary, us
chief characteristic was exotic, the language 'a'ei
Fuphuistic being bold adaptation OF Spanish
fashionable folly Of the time IL IS dlnlcuio 10
understand the rapid spread oi 'hls hhpof''"
oncctation To-day il seems intoierably tedious
chIllngly artificial md lifclcss But before Eliza
beth and during the greater part OF hcr r''g"
pscndo. cassicsm was dominant. liad 'ha"ce'
re,rdcd y school. the reasonable presumption Is
that the English novel would have come Hi'o
being al least a century earlier than IL "'u' an"
that It would have been from the first genuine
PRODUCTION of the soil. Chauccr, IKE LIS eI'''
successor Shakespeare, borrowed frccN '''cie"
subjects but also like Shakespeare, lie ''oro"H"H
Anglicizcd them. Lyly and the Srhool h' u"-
fortunately founded. and Sir Philip Sidney also,
did more hnrm than good 10 the H'''''"' ~
,hcir country so far rs prose wriing IS concerned
Bu, for their erection If a wholly iais" aga a's-
Gcio, standard. the Wholesome example Of Shake
Dcare must have puracd away IL" tendency I"
stiffness which was thc bcset'ing literary sin "I
,,o ,ino II * indeed s,rluee that Shakes cares
paturalness did not powerful, infect hs con-
the STAGE was little less misrhlcyous 'laH Thar ~
TvIv and hi. imitator, in fiction. and th" fn'ohF
and irsinccrity which arc irsrpIrahlc from corr
life doubtless contributed much 70 the success "'
the imbccnity called Euphusnl
The rligabcthen age WAS unqucsiionabN 'h''
-, u renaissance but perhaps il IS usually given
credit for more originality than IT Is enttci 10.
II WAS an era II new and vigorous Developments
IN, though It's tendency was toward emancipation
i, was not vet cmancipatcd S1mr'hlhS-Ah'
,nore than Is generally rcali7cd-sill renamed Of
that paralyzing feeling which after the Nofhnu
Conquest took the heart out OF nearly al Ing
Iish mon of letters and which operated also "N
dcpreci,ting native productions ana con''"i''ih :
,,.o, tle I,nyua,r I'm which tlcy were written
Clorccr could not with all his genius. revive the
s.u,eicd national spirit Even 50 h'e as f"I'-
lctb's time Bacon WAS s. much under uh'' III
hcri,ed influence tlot he did not think u S''' W
Io.,o Lis writings in ENGLISH. There was 10
trace Of modcrnity in the mental a''l'"c "''',
lol him 70 prefcr Latin IS tie vehicle whereby
his works should bc transmitted 10 poS'''''N
p,,hcr NAV bc dlsccrncd in thot decision an nn-
.i,,i, vyhich was centuries behind the prc>c'cAce
81 clakcsrcare. Euphusm spring from t"e same
| s,,cl, howeycr. and il was the Inst vigorous
| eO,-t of the c\piring cl1ssicist sentiment No'
| tia, the death of that influence was imlncdl''e
!
| II fingered many years. but Il never hc" up H.
| head oeain. and II underwent gradual DIV
| effective Transformation There came time whci
| Addison WAS regarded as n classicst. D"rihl '''
| Elj1abcthnn era no such claim would nave ''''
| allowed on behalf Of such a writer
| After the comparatively brief Wicn Of Enphn
| ism. prolonged somewhat by LNlFH ln'"'ui'
| Iodgr Green. Pcalc Nash, etc, the so-'Die
pcaresouc" novel modelled upon Spanish Store
| such as Ia7arillo de Tonnes. had vogue
These. however. were in no true sens" Eh."S'
nor can the beginning Of the real liSI'Sh move
hc pl,ccd earlier than Dei0e. fIehch' 7P'ni'
and Italian romanccs held the iicId l"hR ''ih'
ii o,.,, ,ln onurarancc Of sdch masterpieces q
g. ohiuson Crusoc" did not for considerable
r..riod chance the prevailing foreign iHaIl"h Ia
rLo.nicol" novel succeeded the " picturesque. an
- .',,'c rcspccts must hc regarded as relApS'
for some M lcas; OF the "pir1rcS1Ee STORES "'i
written with strong realistic peh,, anu i'i
ro.cntcd Scenes and manners taken from hc'"'
lie The hcroical' novels, whose orif'h W.
| French were on the other nan" P"r'S NM
| native and in then methods ana N'Iuc'I'' l''"
rstber thc ncdiacya rOn.anccs than thc Ih''i III
more natural fiction The pnpnc ,'s'' gre
sInv'lv II was sill very crude when II d'
lighted In these heroic l'Irs III i; ""S ,hic
change toward morbid scntnn'n'.llsh VIM
,mccccdcd much more IN the line OF true Hr""'
If Iussrrand las given So many long 'E'L''
from these books. AMI such l"ll aH'Is vs. ~ ~
forn, very fair estimates of the kInd 81 ncu"
which pleased the people Of the siNt"h'n ~, III
seventeenth centuries i"'"rrn 'n' 19rI 80,
rcvcllcd I'm the rIc6ncval rOmnnc"s oil 'h,'rh'h'Pi
and ArtLnr. and that which found pleasure
, sncb 6ction a. "AmadiS of EauL famrriI
ENGLAND" and the whole swarm 0l pas'hr" en-
airv romanccs there is perhaps not mnch room IL
choice but if anything, tlc earlicf produc,ol
, are Tho whocsomer and more will" OF The wv
Yn, Ills shows how hard the passion i"r "
marvellous died, and how gr'd"''N '""'"'''
spread. ,,.or ,.o,,od -, ,,,,r
fonnd n school For tne time the drin0rtlLii
, | tion or rc,rogrcssion Like Chouccr, he failed
, | influence of the Restoration was shown IN II
character of the current fiction. The iinnl on
come of the struggle between fnritanlsn ana u
Reaction WIS curious hybridisin, and reveals II
| persistent influence of the French novel " IcIi'
, And The Grand Cyrus were the protcIiltoTS
4 a host of washy sentimental rona1iccs VI interim
| ,,.ii al lac characters write