New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-31

| tine tokens of success in the world Her nus
band meanwhile had been experimenting ID pIon'-
sharing with his employees and in various oV"ei
! measures for the improvement Of the "orKIhs-
| mans lot With these schemes the wife ana iloC
svnpathize. but presently a,change began TO come
over her She seemed 10 realize the vanity OF
her old ambitions She showed interest in DAVID
social plans She rose to higher plane and
became a true helpmcet to him. And then she
was struck as bolt from the blue. with that
! awful disease sarcoma-more rapid and 1atal thah
| cancer-and withered away under his eyes In d
few weeks.
Here again we are put face TO face with one
| of the contingencies of human life whose occur
renee seems to strike 1t the root Of all Dellel h
benciccnt government Of the world. Ihere -
naturally strong temptation for ii religious writer
| to abuse such situation, but Mrs. Nard III"
! withstood il. David Grieve is stunned ana pros
| tratcd by the dreadful death OF his wife, bnt IL
does not harden him. lie has indeed passed long
since beyond the old conceptions OF PROVIDENCE
| and he was not fixed 10 form in any way But
| he had by almost imperceptlble TRANSITIONS grown
to belief in some far off, divine event. to which the
| whole creation moves" and death, as IS so ire
| oucntly the case now strengthened ard fach-
| tatcd the movement of his mind toward acceptance
| Of the theory of a future life. Far beyond thcSc
positions or perhaps we should say, these tenden-
cics no does not CO. There is nOt-thcrc could
hardly he for such mind-a certainty. There
NAV he vivid and n sustaining hope. which,
without any attempt TO reason out the SITUATION,
might become the equivalent almost of conviction
For no man was ever wholly consistent either IN
| faith or skepicism, and the human mind Is so
constituted that, man Of science once observed,
many people seem able TO keep their theology and
their science in separate water-tght compartments,
so that neither interferes with the other.
| There remains the tragedy of Louie Hers was
an exceedingly difficult character 10 draw, and
Mrs Ward has not attempted to elaborate it rs
in the case Of David. Louics dominant charac-
teristics arc all unlovcy and rcpccnt. Her
one recommendation-her great beauty
is purely physical, and purely disadyant1-
geous TO her. Even her sad death does
not rouse the readers sympathy. for it
| has literally nothing to lay hold upon. The way
ward girl has apparently done no generous, unselsh
or gracious action in her life. She had repaid
kindness and constant help with the hardest thank
lessnesS. She had gone with open eyes TO the pit
| and had sprung into It's depths voluntarily. The
| contrast between the characters of the brother
and sister is strongly indicated in the difference Of
! their behavior under bereavement. When David
loses his wife he shrinks from the blow, but does
| not give way 10 dispair. But when Cccilc dies
of the disease 10 which Louie had exposed her.
the latter thinks to show her defiance of Heaven Ivy
| plunging deliberately into the lowest depths Of
degradat0n-and passes thence To Il suicides grave
The whole story of Louie is indeed painted in the
most sombrc coOfs, but though the treatment is
broad and the lines sweeping, the character and
personality of the girl in no way vague or dim.
Louie is wild, fierce tragically beautiful creature.
suggesting love and domesticity no more than
I lint fhrou srlo ont nd
very remarkable creation.
As to David he is "A man Of far more than
average intellect and character, who IS partly con
strained by the force Of circumstances and partly
by the force of convictions Ia iiN lis
ambitions upon phlanthropic ends. Moreover, he
is a who in his maturity leads Christian life
without holding the faith Of Christian. and in
this superficial paradox Mrs. Ward has
manifested the subtlcty of her artistic ideas: for
however logically inadmissiblc, actual
phenomenon this combination is inconcstIby real.
We have left Ourselves scani room for notcine som,
other FONTS in the story indlyiduazci an original
characters, such as Daddy" Loman. Ancrum, the
minister, Lord Drifield. John Dalby. Reuben ard
| Hannah, Uncle 'LiaS and his wife Margaret Dora
Loman the young saint, Rcgnault, Elsie Duvcrnly.
| and many more. The made by the auth = OF
! the Lancashire dialect is highly effective, tie
scenes between Reuben and Hannah being par
icuiarly good in this respect The French episode
has already been spoken Of, but We cannot leave
the subject without an expression Of admiration
instructive perception of strong effects which
characterize this part Of Mrs. Wards book.
Finally il must Se said that The History Of
David GFicvc' is remarkably powerful we'll
sustained, interesting and Wcl-writtcn novel. II
certainly requires some thought in its readers
for much thought has gone to its composition
But it will reward attention, and once read il will
he remembered