New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-04-01

.u.,s ,rrarmost being. It comes from an i'm
ro,ent and only semi-enlightened rage against
,h o,,ira N which Raeburn has been compelied
hv his situation to contribute. which ne ioathes
s ,,uch aa abe does but which In his greater
,v,ado, no xnows cannot be removed In day.
IN the Ipht Of time, of suffering, OF experience
=, ,hor, uarccIIa was bound 10 reach ana rest
.o,iceed with the stage Of expedency, OF moder-
ATTAIN of wise patence at which Aldous rae
burn had arrived. and the justice Of his position
ia throughout so apparent that her short-sight-
.dnoss 70 almost resented like the petulance OF
. uufrl chIId-an eloquent testimony by the
NAV n the potency OF Mrs. Wards art we
have called Raeburns the greater wisdom. Nirs'
Ward does not of course, make an explicit con-
Grnot ion W his arguments for an author OF her
habit of mind she stands aloof from her charac-
,ers with singular discreton). but in so iar az
+be novel formulates any definite conclusions al
all on the relation Of the rich to the poor II -
In opposition to the violent. sudden disruP'o'
Of society as It stands. to sentimental ana I'M
nusive recognition Of the rights Oh Inc
masses Hallin, the impassloned reioi '
whose life burns through the book IKE re''s-
ions fame and goes out at last in scene Oh eA-
traordinarv peace and dignlty-is tacity APP
nroved in many Of his theories OF labor efhahc'-
nation hut not in all The young Socialists Oh
Marcella's London life are sketched III all 'iei'
defects as well as their merits. "hartoH'
handsome scoundrel with plenty OF Drains anu
q great social gift, figures in "Marcella WIN
so,,etbinp Of the attraction that MrS Ward gave
70 her cvnic Langham In Robert Elsmere
and he is in some of his phases, a piausioe
talker on the condition Of the agricultural anu
industrial workers in England. Without regard
ing these characters as In any sense puppies
which Mrs Ward uses as stalking hoiSeS ~.
her own ideas. without taking tnelr views do a,
all tho equivalents of hers, IL may De observer
that she has presented in their conversation d
remarkably full discussion OF pohdcal Coli .
lions now existing; and, whether the conciusiVI
no her own or not the advantage reS.s WITH
MarcelIa's lover a Tory with Humanitarian ten
denotes modifying all his views. Marcella' ripe
for the revolutionary. impetus OF Morris ana MS
school swerves from their drastic methouS DIS
Tine Zoos on and drifts into the haven of be-
lief that mot in mere wealth and poverty, out
in things Of quite another order-things Oh So
cial sympathy and reation-alterabie at every
turn even under existing conditions, by the
human will lie the real barriers that DIVIDE us
man from man" 1t is the haven Of "a nopier
human fellowship; fellowship dependent upon
no material conditions, but easier perhaps ior
he can carry love in one hand and suostan-
tial help in the other than FOR the man VINO can
do nothing to lift his comrades from the actuai
distress of poverty. The termination or Mar
celia" upon such all episode as belongs essen
tally to a love story does not crown inharmo-
niously a book rich in thoughts on the hard struS-
gle of life on the abysmal degradauons or the
poor in city and country, on the obligations or
the highest and the lowest. on strikes ana on
the political unions. What makes the heroine typl-
cal what brings her out OF her few years or
experience young but representative woman
representative in feeling in sympathy OF the
h! CHEST womanhOOd-s that her love Is permeat-
ed by a tenderness for all human suffering and
low She is purged Of sehshness at the same
time that her return to Raebum is made In a
flood of personal happiness.
1t is necessary to judge a writer by her best
"Marcella" is probably as fine novel, within
its limitations as Mrs. Ward could make it.
Its aim is high and it accomplishes its aim In
following the character who dominates the book
we have passed by many figures and episodes
which show abundantly the authors insight
and her dramatic power. There are some pas
sages Ike those relating to a night In the House
and the groups on the terrace after the speeches.
which touch a rare height Of descriptive writ
ing animated by electric feeling. There is hui
NOR in the story, here and there. at very rare
intervals and there is a peculiarly austere and
effective touch in those chapters dealing with
the murder that occurs at critical moment In
the heroine's career. The attributes of melo-
drama are refreshingly absent here. To the har-
rowing scenes in squaid London there belongs
the same grim and awful pathos. Mrs. Ward is
wholly self possessed. wholly sincere, and the
realism Of her book is poignant TO degree.