New-York tribune., 1895-02-13
MINOR FICTION.
ENGLISH. FRENCH AND AMERICAN
STORIES.

Morrison. Illustrated. Franklin Square Library
HIarper & Brothers.
MADAME SANS-GENE. BY Vlctoren Sardou
Emile Moreau and Edmond Lepslletier; Trans
lated by A. Curtis Bond, Dralop Publishing Com
pany and by H. X. Heller, Home Book COM
pany.
HOW THANKFUL WAS. BEwITCHED; BY James me,
X Hosmer. The Hudson Library. Oi. +. Put
nams Sons)
THE SEA WOLVES. a Novel. by Max pember-
ton. Franklin Square Library. 'harper
Arthur Morrison. II this is the real name OF the
author OF Martin Hewitt: Investigator has
rushed in where ordinary angels would fear to
tread with a collection OF detective stories In im'-
tation OF those which DR.. Conan Doyle has put
into the mouth OF Sherlock Holmes The audacity
OF proceeding is not excused by the fact that
some OF these tales ingenious and others fairly
well told. There Is not much variety in the SUD
jects OF these stories. the authors range
OF inventiveness not extending far outside the dis
appearances and thefs of jewels and other articles
OF value like the drawings for the construction OF
a new torpedo. Mr. Hewitt in ferretIns out the
perpetrators OF these crimes, uses merely a little
wider knowledge little higher Intelligence. than
the Scotland Yard detective who has just gone over
the same ground: and when. as In the case OF the
Lenton Croft robberes. he discovers that pet
parrot has been the instrument by which Sir
James Norriss guests had been robbed. the reader
will hardly fail feel that the conclusion is some
what lame and impotent Mr.. Morrison viii have
to cultivate his imagination before he can hope TO
make his Mr. Hewitt another Sherlock Holmes:
the imitation is palpable that II Is Impossible 10
avoid making the comparison.
In the absence OF the original work published In
France with the joint authority Of NM. Sardou.
Moreau and Lepelleter. either OF these American
translations OF Madame Sans-Cene' Will serve the
present purpose. though both are crude and made
quate The truth is that not the French story
In It's first guise necessary to a brief account Of
the Nine. sans-Gene whose name has been inces-
sanity in the OF Paris since NJ Sariou's on
tertainng comedy entered upon ia extraor inarily
successful career Il IL that Nine. Sans-Genc
which is OF most Interest to-day. She of the Napo-
eonic tradition is not easily recovered from the
msis Of time. She Was one OF those picturesque
figures who above the troublous period of the
Revolution : a good many nondescrpts come to the
surface I'm epochs OF fermentation. She said
have been a lapndress. and not by any means a
"banchsseuse de I'm" on the contrary. she washed
for the military adven,urers OF stormy time Bo-
naparte among them. II Is said; and that she chose
her husband from that doubtful army In the person
OF Lefcbvre. later a Marshal ~ France and Duke
OF DaniZ!g. is fondly believed by those who would
identify her with the eccentric wife Of that gallant
soldier. Sardou chose to accept this romantic hy-
pothesis In the play Il is the Catharine Huebschcr
Of the laundries who captivates I.cfebvre. goes
the wars and does good service there In the ranks.
marries the future Marshal. enters Napoieons
and figures there a a Duchess OF amazing manners.
stil more amazing speech but Infinitely more aston
shing Influence in the private councils OF the En-
peror-upon one distinctly exciting occasion. Nine
Sans-Genc Is Sariou's creatlon-anI Nine. Rejanes
Perhaps 1t would be faircr to say that she Is three
fourths Rejanc's IL s incredible that the
Notifying episodes OF Sardous amusing drama
could ever have been parallelcd In the
actual society of a century ago even at time
when the manners OF new relmc in their
newest state II s obvious that Rcjanc followed
her playwrighrs lead In dra wing the character
with broad strokes. in painting Mime. Sans-Gene
as shade more crude than she could possibly
have been In such state Of affairs as Is assumed
by the play That is the Legitimate exaggcraiion
Of comedy. Eut she never loses sight OF the ele-
mental traits I'm the character she presents: the
impersonation has the smack OF the 'buandcrie."
all Of its realism and go" IL is on the level OF
the melodramatic stage that Nine. Sans-Gene has
thus far been found suggestive. and there she VIII
remain. She does not belong TO literature There
Is eloquent distinction between the title OF
Sans-Gene. which given her. and the title OF
Sans-Peur. which she might have enjoyed had her
fame been compacted OF more DISTINGUISHED ele-
menis. The eagles OF he Empire must be hlled
with wonder they what plumace IL worn
by OF the celebrities still strutting through
the mazes OF NapoleonIc history. In brief 1t is
plain to any intelligent observer that far more FUSS
is being made the French OF Napoleon's time
than Is justified by the facts, and that Nine. Sans
Gene is one OF the exceedingly minor figures which
the literary Autolycus has snapped up from the
debris But Nine Sans-CGne is amusing the
stage no matter how nebulous and insignificant
she may be in history. and for that reason she may
proftably arrest attention for n little while.
James n. Hosmer has done creditable
work but in the historical romance entitled How
Thankful Was Bewtchcd" he has wandered into a
field with which he Is not familiar Nor does he
appear to have full appreciation OF the extraor-
binary difficulty which confronts an author who
seeks to endow with real flesh and blood and with
hum firth NJ
group of people who supposed TO have lived
200 years ago. An illustration OF his rather
jaunty Indifference to what Is probable. not to
say rational. Is found In the circumstances OF the
Introduction OF the supposed Hugnenot exile into
the fortified village OF Meadowboro. which appears
to be in Western Massachusetts. then exposed TO
the raids of the French and their Indian allies.
The Huguenot bore letters certifying to his char
acter not only from the Minister OF the French
Huguenot Church in Boston. but from Cotton
Ma ather himself-lettcrs which made him welcome
even in the family OF the Rev. Mr.. Wooderone.
whose ward. Thankful. is the heroine OF the
nance. The man. however. turned out to be
spy who was playing his part in the conspiracy
TO recover for his own. the Roman Catholic Church
bell which had been purchased in Boston for the
Meadowboro Church. the secret virtue OF which
Is the thread running through the entire tale.
Even allowing that IL was not possible In those
DAYS TO make sure OF the antccedents OF a
conner. 1t seems hardly likely that a man OF the
character Of the sieur as he Ia thenceforth known
could have deceived 50 completely as he is repro
sented to have done. or the stamp OF Cot
ton Mather Aside entirely. however. from this
point Mr.. iiosmer. in telling the story Of the ad-
ventures in New England and In Canada OF the
wayward pleasure-lving Thankful Pumry whose
nature was more Of the Cavalier than the Puritan
type Is altogether too much OF a slave to the
record which she Is supposed to have left and
upon which the story is based. The effect is to
make the characters wooden and the scenes ar;i-
fclal.
When he is obliged TO create an American the