New-York tribune., 1891-02-15
NOVELS OF THE FUTURE.
EXCURSIONS INTO THE MATERIAL

books has been affected so uluc' VI low ~,
vein is in danger of being oVer"orNcu' i"'
rapid advances in science ana the inoie"'."1
cial ferment which raises every real or tancled
abuse and grievance into centre OF a2ia'ion "ti'
discortent tooother with the instability Of thought
which. characterizing the period. marks IL as one
Of transition-all these influences encourage specu-
,otior unon tho future and stimulate the creative
ir,acinotion Rulwcr in his Coming Race may
he said 70 have set this literary fashion, ana
since Mr. Bellamys Looking Backward APP
neorcd the experiments in the same line OF
tboupbt have been many. They have not as
rule initiated one another, though, OF course,
family likeness cannot he avoided in such DOCKS.
Each author however has usually endeavored 10
denict the future in the colors which specially
suit his individual tastes. and whatever iad
writer NAV cherish he is sure TO Introduce IN a
work of the kind 4 curious example OF TINS Is
afforded in the book of Morris, the English Social
ist and poet. recently reviewed in The tribune.
The two volumes at present to DC no'lced are con-
ccrned mainly with scientific and purely ma'erai
progress and on this head both eXhipit a great
deal Of painstaking ingenuity and interesting use
of the scientific Imagination.
Lieutenant Fuller indeed. only projects his
vision some hundred and ten years into the
future: whereas the author Of the crystal
Button" is satisfied with nothing less that three
thousand years. Yet between the two views the
difference is less that might have been expected.
There are so large proportion of description OF
future marvels and changes. and so small pro-
portion of narrative and plot that one may almost
hesitate TO call them novels at all in the ordinary
meaning of the word. Lieutenant rulers work
is very good fiction at the outset. ana MS account
of the way in which Junius COBB prepares his
long sleep is highly crcdiabe to his ingenuity ana
his knowledge of chemistry and electrical science.
All this part is we'll and even dramatically worked
ont: but the description of the new world 70 which
the hero wakes after his century and quarter OF
entombment is frequently so very scientific as to
annroach dulncss and the conception Of a second
case of survival-of heroine conveniently pre-
served in another part Of the world, by identical
methods 10 provide a fitting Eve for this new
Adam-s not a little strain upon the receptive
capacity Of the reader In The Crystal Button
the pretence of reality is hardly advanced, the
whole story proving to have been the delirious in
yention Of a man suffering from injury to the
brain This is not an artistic sctt:. <. and the
narrative is so taken up with long dlsqusItloS
and explanations rs TO constitute anything but
lipht reading. In both cases. however, the specu-
latjons are undcniaby clever. One cannot say
that such changes as are imagined are beyond the
bounds Of possibility; but there is significant
samcncS,S of thought in regard TO one problem,
which serves TO show how deeply the thought OF
the time is tinged with socalistic ideas.
II is 10 be observed, and if we are not mis-
taken, but one recent novel Of the future Is an
exception wiz COesars Column y, that all these
speculative books assume the ultimate breaK'
down and abandonment Of every fom of gov
crnment thus far known to the world 1his Is
no doubt in part all inevitable deduction from
the obvious fashion of all known forms OF
government 10 remove or even greatly 10 dmin-
ish. the burden Of sin and suffering, the
evil effects OF human greed and scifshness. Nor
is il unnatural that relief should be looked fof
in some new combination, though there Is often
an immense difference in the degrees of logical
inference apparent. The author OF Inc 'ryst"I
Hutton' is much more reasonable in his forecast
than either Morris, Bellamy, or Fuller. for cN-
annie. He postulates IA sort Of ethical movement
in which. through the Apostolatc of one devoted
man, a league is formed, whose members pledge
themselves - put the pursuit OF truth above
all else This league, in the course of centuries,
so lcayens society everywhere that higher
standard comes - be- adopted and so in time.
thp way is opencd for the abandonment OF war,
for the removal Of political and social abuses ana
for the evolution Of y social organization which,
il may bc said in passing, Is Tar In advance oi
Mr. IIcllainy'a conceptions, both as regards tie
preservation Cf true freedom and the reasonable
ness Of the means employed The reader must
indeed feel that if ever the world IS to he per
fected, the change must Ic wrought In some such
way rs this: that it is only through the steady.
paticnt cndcavor after some high aim, adjurinG
coercion and violence from the beginning, and re-
living wholly upon educational persuasion, so great
an advance can he attained All the hctions
which depend upon cataclysmal changes, which
look 70 tremendous and bloody revolutions, for
the clearing away OF present evils, are radi-
cally and hopclcsSly unscientilc and out OF touch
with the best thought of the age.
But there is in all such books one curious
blank. In none of them does il seem TO be con
sdered necessary 10 suppose any future Tor religion
Allowance may lie made for certain reluctance
to introduce SO serious topic into works of
fiction; but evidently there is some false shame
about this shrinking, and still more evidently II
is impossible to form satisfactory conception
of a future in which man we know him is 10
take part, without providing in some way for the
exercise Of emotions and needs which from the
beginning of history have been among the most
impcrious of which we have any experience.
According to Mr.. Chauncy Thomas, indeed, man
kind 5000 years hence is to have given up all
thought Of a life beyond the grave, and is t0
bc completely absorbed in trying to establish II
heaven upon earth Just how the lower pas
sions and impulses are TO be kept in check and
the higher tendencies are TO be developed under
SO essentially materialiStic system Of thought
and government may well pcrpleX those who
bear in mind the difficulties which have hitherto
attended all efforts in this direction. But the
growth Of matcriaism is one of the most strill-
ing developments Of the present day, and the
writer's 10 whom reference is here made I'M
avoidably echo the prevailing sentiment and put
material comfort and luxury before everything
else in planning their future world. Socialism
without religion difused wealth resting upon va
rious forms of paternalsm; marvelos progress in
science and mechanics; the conquest of nature:
the control of the air as n means Of transporta-