New-York tribune., 1890-03-30

,vriter arisen canablc of welding his magic wand,
and beside him the modern rcalists pigmies
But il is when he enters upon the portrayal OF
those sinister, strong and complex characters he
was most fond Of creating. that the fuil measure
of his genius is best seen. And note mere ho"
powerfully he employs one of his favoritc me'houS
in these cases; how he makes his pictures oi tie
homes In which his people live part ana pafcei
Of the clucidation of their characters. The homes
of Rizon, of the Soudrys, OF Gaubertln, heip "
explain their owners, and serve as traits ana
manifestations of the latter. This is one OF
Balzacs pcculiarities. and those who have COM
pl,red that Ec civcs too much space and eabora-
tion 10 the description of inanimate things, OF
bonscs and rooms and furniture and decorations,
merely testif, to the shaowncss Of their own
perceptions In every one of these careful descnp-
tions the minutencss Of the detail distinctly con-
tributes to our knowledge Of the men and women
whose material SURROUNDINGS We are thus llNl''u
10 examine. The Soudry without her salon.
Rizon apart from his menaGe, the lousads away
from their tavern. would each and all be much
less clearly presented than they are. By under-
standing how and where they live we come To
see into their idiosyncrasies, and to realize them
more completely Balzacs description of interiors,
therefore, are not redundant, but artistic ana
necessary to his end.
The story of Sons of the SOIL marches s'edulN
forward TO catastrophc OF what nature ana eA-
tent our readers will have to ascertain for them
selves Given the conditions and it is inevitable
that the peasants should seem to win the day.
though. of course, in fact the cunning capitalists
behind them were the real Denchclaries
from the first defeat OF the Count of
Montcontour. The helplessncss of the monarchica
administration the time is that of the Restoration,
in, of virtuni mlfuV q the peasants OF
this Burgundian province. is exhibited in a way
whicn reveals Bazacs political knowledge Inc
poor Count finds himself virtually isolated. for
the other great proprictors have been bribed to
neutrality by relieving their lands and forests
from depreciation The final recourse to that most
terrifying of all agencics-assassination
the war 10 an end with Unexpected suddcnness.
The peasants think they have won great VIC
tory The estate Of Les Agncs is sold. broken
I'D and distributed The Of small pro-
prcfors thcnccforih find themselves nnder the
thumb of such owners Rizon. and the last
state Of them is virtually worse than the first
II is perhaps hardly necessary to say that this
powerful and absorbing story is lifted above the
level Of romance by the uncquallcd artistic genius
Of the author and that il is at times almost trans
formed into profound political study. by the
depth and acumen of his suggestions and COM
mcntS. Nor should it he requisite 10 point out
anaogics with territorial conditions in more than
orc other country, which lend TO " Les PaNSars
"a special interest and significance. and are likely
to prevent it from becoming obsolete for n long
time to come OF the translation II only need
lc said that IT is as good Mss Wormecy has
accustomed MS to expect. and that means the best
rendering of French into English that has ever
been done.