The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-05-18

novelist with the literary fpI
George Eliot. but they have
half dozen who may be ciaoe
second rank. Nor Is this bIaoi' !.
first class peculiar 10 women.
now no male novelist 10 THE g
the United States who enjoyo
contested supremacy Of Scott><W
Or Thackefay 10 his gensf~u0o.
fact is that in this. as ia Other ~
literature. the general sts14&
risen, and there seem no gianX0
there are so many who are auo<
middle height. --London Telegypo
DO NOVELS EDucArn3 s
Whether povel-reading Is OF
useful as well as epteraining.AT
be a question worn discussipgsa
large majority OF the so-caLi0
Gated men and women, afto4
schooI-day are over. read scarce
thing excep. novels and newsps
il be true that novels have an ed.x
al value, we shall have tot
A familiar adage and
that there is howery pat{ ~
royal road to learning. n
sure. the learning may be Of thu
low kind " hich Is proverbiallt
Gus. but where the Shane PIRACY
hes between it and igeoiIS See, pr
upon the whole be wetion1ed. II
when we attempt to """sssure ~
cational utility Of novels, we -
merely have in mind the insttS
stimulus derivable from them ~ q
historical, sociological, or scien
formation they may convey,
must also consider their ethica} ~
cies and their capacity of M
ing the character and cobdu'f
their readers. lie must bta.
that the historical novel, whose
tive properties used to be "a
granted, is Just now under
No one would now think OF re.
even Kenilworth and Woodf n1,s
faithful transcripts OF the timct Ne
they professedly portray. while 4,
tons of history obtainabie from 20
Count Rvrbert, Of Paris. and 1Yr
the Crusaders. are irremedialEt
fused and anachronistic. OoIyLc#
Scott is dealing with "a
near his own. as IN the cas- OF We
does he still keep the title OF WI
the North. Even where the LOG
oriug and stage setting OF a
carefully studied and generally
worthy. as in George Eliot s/noj,f
Victor Hugo's NOtre DameParis
Flaubsrt's Sllammbo. Charltsado,
Cioister and the Hearth. Fer
tags series Of novels uStraf
ing epOchs of German NJ
the vial principle of verism ~
is too often lacking. The acton W.
strangers TO the stage on whiNo "
move. the men and women utt{ x
thoughts and feelings OF TO ia, /
those OF the distant environment
which we fad them. When, on g.
other hand, an earnest aud toleraif /,
successful effort IL made to place US ~
the mental and moral view-p0lnt
of other times and diverse Cir
cumstances, as in Pater's Marius
the Epicurean and Tolstoi's Cossacks,
the story fails - interest ths
majority of readers ~
very reason that the moti.SS
tastes and prejudices Of the dos
are foreign to our experleEs
therefore. unintelligible. wv
the historical novelist Is Wy
dilemma-that just IN pro &
as his work approached
ideal of historical veracity, In &
miss the fundamental purpose o.
novel. which is to charm and toenc.
Nobody denies, however, t,stk
has the patience to read keux.
resusci.ation of the mln4osr,..
as the visible framework
past epoch, such as one sedMer=-
lnglesant or in some Of Ebq "
ces OF ancient Egypt, he may 10
great deal OF accurate inform Vnw
may learn not only how mem BIOL"
how they looked at life. When. how
ever, novelsts depict scenes and n
count the doings OF Contemporaries
with which they are thoroughly %
miliar, they may undoubtedly perform
the double function OF cultiyatiDg AMI
instructing. Once Week.
DIALECTS OF EDUCATED PERSONs
The different geographical disyuk
of the United States are distingut u
by perceptible variations IN accepA
pronunciation. This would not
all singular If il were based meret
the dialect Of the uneducated. Thew
tricts of England are marked by r.
cal variations in pronunciation. ana q
lower class Of Spaniards in Barcelou
ilnd it quite impossible TO understan
their feilow-countryme OF SevtAI(
But education for the most part
away with these distinctions, eA
where. as in the case OF the Scotch
relics Of a really different Language
feet the accent even OF cultivated
pie. Neither of these causes expls4
the dialects of the United States.
most readily explicable brogue u G.
of the Southerners, where the iDt
enee Of the negro dialect, exer.
through the children's nurses, is plaix
to be traced. But why New Yort
should use a pcrceptibly different
nunciation from Bostopians, and
toniansan accent unfamiiIar and ban
TO Philadelphia ears, Il q conumdrun
The distinguishing feature of the Ne
York dialect. for instance, IN its e1qul1
treatment OF its RS" Few New -
ers pronounce the word park"
written. They certainly do nc Z
"pawkr; but they do say p
BIRD becomes "buyd.n by an K
cation Of the same principle. but : :
bold" IT, is not an easy accent
trace. The Philade!phian, ON q
contrary. gives an unctuous roll
his "r'sr and fingers fondly on
letter in New York. by which
the New Yorkera known 10
| instant. As this is more true TO u
spelling than the New York propunci
ton, the Phildelphian should be awar
ed due credit. He Is not TO DO cou9T
D tulated, however. on the singular ras
twang with which he enunciates SUI
D unmistakable monosy tables az ''cow
The nasal twang takes another form
J Boston, which may be termed tho 81
of the fat vowels. Cant AUNT
''across, and similar words. are 6uI
I out with vexatious harshness, al
! the pronunciation is SO strongly root
in the New England speech. that IL
! appears in full force in the comm
pity's off shoots along the Ohio valley
New York Commercial Advertiser.
? A traveller in..Natsi says: AT . sh<
, 1;atanca from, NaWcastle we Donned