New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-31
DAVID GRIEVE.
MRS. WARDS POWERFUL NOVEL.

lustrotive of the currents of modern thought ~
is at once more artistic and of broader scope tnah
sRobert Elsmere' 1t deals not only wi'h t'loec
,.,,aiops probems which are being discussed with
unccasng zest throughout the civilized worlo' put
IL brings in question those essentially modern views
90 Tho influence OF hcredty and temperament upon
life which are doing 50 much to modify the ola
dor,atic conclusions 1t is emphaticaly novel
~ tho pcriod and is informed throughout by the
. zeitceist Mrs Ward has grown much III her
MT since her first book was written, ana tnc re-
sult is that "The History of David G1eVe IS
powerful piece Of fiction, regarded soley III 'hau
LIGHT But the author while TOO CONSCIENTIOUS ana
selfcxacting not TO strive after the hlghesU dro
ideals. is a thinker and seeker 1lrst OF all ana
L. chill nc a novelist is but the instrument by
which she lends attraction and interest 10 thc
high themes the dark problems, which engage her
most serious thoughts In this she REMINDS US
TO n certain extent Of George Ellot, ana yeo olher
resemblanccs, particularly TO the lirst manner OF
that writer may be discovered In TINS story one
has developed here facility in dramatic compost
iion in terse and virie dialogue, and In the handing
NJ Northern English dialect, not previously suS-
pected. and these points add powerfully TO the
picturesqucness and general effect of the narrative
The History of David Greve' is not fragment.
save in the sense that all life is fragmentary The
hero and heroine are not introduced as adults.
Int we make their acquaintance In their childhood.
and follow their development and their fortunes
in one case TO old age in the other TO tragic end
The orphan brother and sister living on Reubens
mountain farm, near Clough End, under the harsh
rule of Hannah, are made TO exhibit their charac-
terstic traits and temperamcnts from the very
beginning II Louie repels by her absolute lack
NJ softncss. her consistent Ishmaelitsm, her wild
vindictive temper, and an independence which has
in IL nothing more than stubborn determination
70 have her own way at all costs-it must never he
forgotten that she is the virtually helpless victim
OF heredity; that in her are manifested, and even
exaggerated all the worst elements of her light
mother. Nor is David, though he inherts more
filly from his sober, industrious and 1ntelllgent
father, free from the maternal faint, the dis
astrous Paris episode in his early manhood demon
strates And as insanity, once seated in family
NAV disappear for a generation and then rccur
Violently. so hcredity operates in his life. At the
outset the paternal endowments alone are in evil
dcnce The first years of the boy in Manchester
his resolute thrift his business aptitudes, his stern
sef-denial his energetic pursuits of material fort
me. seem to promise what the lame minister,
Ancrum. anticipated for his young frend-a career
of great worldly prosperity.
But David Grieve's brain was abnormally active,
md his experiences as a booksellers assistant
opened to him many avenues of thought lie had
in his boyhood been moved to transient emotion
during o season of revival meetings, but that
episode had ended in violent animal reaction.
which led TO the disgrace which drove him from
his unce's farm. In Manchester he read Vol
tairc. and from that literary experience, emerged
an eighteenth century sceptic highly inter
estng phase of the story is the tracing of his
mental development from the crude irreligion Of
Voltairism and the Encyclopedias TO French fin
de steele" views, thence to the philosophy of Mill
and his school and their successors and TO deep in
terest in Biblical criticism of the German type.
There may be readers who will consider this in
the light of didactcism and superfuous discus
sion; but after all, the growth of an intelligent
and human soul by means be faithfully
depicted without due consideration of its relations
to religious and philosophical problems. Had
David Grieve not passed through these intellec-
tual phases and experiences, he would not have
been the man he is here represented, but very
much lower and less interesting type. For there
are the great questions of life. however the ndo-
lencc and frivolity of men may seek TO put them
aside or obscure their Significance, and Mrs.
Wards account Of this mans interior conflicts and
debates is true and striking illustration of the
development of typical modern mind. Not less
true is the vagueness of the conclusion, in which
we are reminded of Robert Elsmere less adroit
~
tory to bring David to some fixed belief some cs-
tabshed and absolute convictions, before leaving
him. But such result would have necessitated
abrupt breach in the continuity Of his intel
lectual growth. A David Greve with such a
training, endowed with SO imperative need for
truth at any price, so detached from the influence
of tradition and custom TO be impregnablc
that side, cannot he conceived Of as resting in
demonstrate certitudes.
The realism of the story appears most strik-
ngly in the description of the fatal visit to Paris
made by David and his sister. Whether he
could have saved Louie from herself is extremely
doubtful, for her pervcrsity, self-will and
irritable vanity put her beyond all fraternal or
protective influences. But his responsibility for
her fail none the less, for he did not try 10
prevent it save in feeble and perfunctory man.
ncr which had only the effect of exasperatng
and urging her to fresh follies. lie himself had
fallen upon the first passion of his life, and its
object was girl devoted to art, and who could
not love- With another kind of training j.
might have resisted, but his Voltairean educahon
had paved the way for acQuiescencc in oho ethical
Tor rather non-ethical code of the Paris rapins,
and the theory of opinion libre" did not appear
to his confident inexperiencc shocking perious.
All this Paris episode is written with surprising
strength and fire. There is no shrinking from
the facts. The scene IN The bohemian resort
"Ies Trois Rats is almost realistic enough for
De Goncourt. The salient characteristics Of
the fin dc steele" school are touched in with a
firm and mordant pen. Relief is afforded by a
deghtfully open-ar, wholesome and even, noble
sketch of the painter Regnault, who walks home
with David after the evening at the "TrOis
Rats and who may be supposed 80 typify the
sane and cear-sghtcd and aspiring element Of
Young France Regnault is charming, but though
his conversation moves and pleases David, his
course has to be run.
The awakening is terrible. Elise Duvernay
deserts him in few weeks. and he returns 10
Paris to find that Louie has deliberately flung
herself away. Physical and mental prostraion