The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-02

Probably no novelist has more persis-
tently exploited the novel with dis
tinct moral purpose than Charles
Rsade. In the last paragraph OF Put
Yourself in His Place he may be said
TO formulate his theory Of romance. i
have taken few undoniable truths out
Of maay and have labored 90 make my
readers realize those appalling facts OF
the day which m0st men know. bus not
one in a thousand comprehends. ard
not one Ia a hundred ih0usaud + allies.
until fction-which. however you may
have been told 10 the contrary, - the
highest. nOblest and greatest OF all the
arts-comes 10 his aid, studies. pene-
trates. diaests the hard facts Of chrOni.
cies and blue books. and makes their
dry bones live. This was the work
for which Charles Reade believed him
self fitted. aud to which he devoted his
life. He checked every social evil and
abuse OF which he was coguizant os
long as he could WELD pen. His iit'
erary life was one long warfare against
wrong TO be rcdressed. and his dozen or
more novels are so many pOlemics. 1T
is Never Too Late 10 Mend, - was a bait
thrown by him among the prison discip.
Librarians IN Enelaud. II had for It's OBJ
isct the reform OF abuses IN prison
discipline aud IN the treatment Of GRIM
iuals. IL provoked a storm Of coutro
veIsy. aud by it the author came % De-
recognized as a mighty power IN fiction.
Hardly had the commotion caused by
its publication subsidized. when II wac
produced as play az the Princess The
atre. and created little sort of q rot.
Critics rose in the stalls aud attacked It
from their sems; champions OF the au-
thor presented themselves. and speechfs
were made pro and con. A few days
later Charles Rsade himself. the most
sensitive 10 criticism Of modern au-
thors. charged boldly upon his deirac'
tors in the public prints and stirred up
a controversial argument that it took
weeks 90 decide. And SO with every
novel he wrote. He studied blue books
of commissions Of inquiry. and made
his r0mances read ike realty, and
when anyone challenged his statements
he presented an array of facts thai new
er left him wofs ed amid the storm or
criticism he excited. He accomplished
a world OF good by his energetic and
well timed efforts. Hard Cash was
directed against ,he abuses ia private
madhouses in Eng "a, Foul Pay,
against the iniQu.ties OF shipknack'rs;
Pot Yourself in His Pace was "a
fierce protest against the tyrannous
outrages of trade unions; "A Women
Hatern lent helping hand So the advo-
Gates of womens rights. lie was. m
everything he undertook, a moral
satirlst and castigalor.
There have been other noyelisls who
have essayed this field aud IN proper
ton as their efforts have been III or well
directed they have met with q failure
or a success that the world has rever-
enced. Victor HugO's les Miserables
produced a wonderful impression upon
the French mind. The great roman
cist, by the power Of ms dramatic con-
irasls and his intense antilheticsl
style. stirred Partisan society 70 ITS
depths with his pictures Of the
miseIies Of Jean Val Jean
and the woes Of the wTe'chel
Famine. But 10 the cool, re-
Elective Saxon it wcgld sefo that
m his anxiety 20 produce a profound
impression The would.bs feformer went
too far, and weighted that pathetic
story with a moral that no array OF
facts could reasonably carry. What Is
the obvious conclusion OF Les Aiser-
ablcsy Briefly. this. Society should
be held responsible FOR tOlerating
prisons, because innocent men some
times pet into them and qIit them har-
dened ruhians. Society should be re
sponsible for not acknowledging that
wretched women take TO the streets 10
prove their virtue. This absurd posi-.
ton. while il may appeal TO the emo.
tional miad Of The French, il not con
yincing 10 Americans.-N. y. Star.