New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-01

cally mis- range has been wide ana MS skill "n"s
g,rp He has made himself the apostle OF 'Ioca'
color In recent fiction. 1t does not seem necessary
for him to steep himself long in the atmosphere OF
this place or that. With the sympathy and the
fact of a man OF the world with the ease OF q DOTH
,,na,Ist he puts himself swiftly In the place Oh HIS
hero or heroine, as the case may be- ana ''u '.
prague Constantnope or the Rome OF thirty years
ogo with the accuracy and the intelligence OF an ou
habitant.
Here we touch another Of Mr.. Crawfords UNI
doubted gifts, gift Of assimilation and OF descrp
tive art He writes less as a travelled man '".''
az one who has really lived In the cities ne 'e
scribes Sometimes but rarely. there Is d toaon VI
the guide-book about him. He lays on the op''o"'
color paints as the with the stereoptlcon seems
., n,irt But as a rule his backgrounds are
n,inted from within outward. and they ieaVe
correspondingly vital impression. Is IL 80 VIII" ''
characters? 1t Is crucial question: the MUS. I'M
portant one revived by the appearance Oh C"'
Bra cco," and the answer Is not whohy "i'nou' i
serve We have indicated the existence OF harra-
Zoo ,,a IN hi. hooks and the truth Of his pacK-
grounds He gives his people adequate environment
and ne gives them something to do. But the reauer
IL perpetuay asking that they may De 'eit ~
hnd things to do for themselves, that they may
provide the motive power OF the drama, and not APP
near the instruments Of a god from the machine.
With Mr. Crawford the god from the machine Is
.brouded in the habiliments of Fate. and Is en-
dowed again from the outside. with the attributes
of .mplacablc law. But when you ora" the u''pe'
Les side the law Is revealed as coexistent WIN te
authors fancy and bolstered up by picturesquey
r,aoined circumstances not rooted organicaly In
human nature. The universal note Is missed anu
the most exciting plot which Mr. Crawford has yet
devised resolves itself into arbitrary sequence
Of events which IL plausible, almost convincing,
but vii! not bear the scrutiny which you may give
10 the great masters and give IN vain. II naws are
what you seek.
Take for example. Mr.. Crawford's handling OF the
passion OF love He has given himself to the con-
sheraton of tina. element in fiction with unremit-
ting ardor and he has played upon the theme with
really remarkable ingenuity In Dumas and In scott
one finds this passion in way subsidiary 10 the
flow OF adventure: 1t is. at least part and parcel OF
a march of events which touches many springs OF
emotion as 1t proceeds to the climax OF the nara
tive With Balzac It takes its place amid host OF
passions and fights with avarice or hate on equal
terms in so far the authors sympathies are con-
cerned. Thackeray perceived 1t with reference 70
the general social fabric OF which 1t Is part and
he NAV In this respect be called the father or all
novellsts Of society from his day to our own Now
Mr. Crawford never seems 10 stand by the synthetic
Jaw that these men obey. In casa Braccio ne
unravels a tissue OF incidents starting from the love
OF Maria Bracclo for Angus Dalrymple. and on the
grewsome closing OF the book the instant reflection
Is all the author intended to do was to show the
almost mechanical workings OF retrbution through
A picturesque chain of events. He makes love
pivot which so many crises are to hang, so many
shuiflngs OF the cards so many changes of scene
many chapters of beguement and surprise 1t Is
odds that the reader OF Casa Braccio gives far
less thought to the individual characteristics OF
Maria, OF Gloria OF Griggs of any Of the actors in
the drama than to the upshot OF the melodramatic
episodes in which they are al involved Love, as
the point of departure for such narrative as this
may ave potent power. but 1t Is not the love TO
be found in a great novel 1t is. repeat the love
Df m,lo dram nd ia han IiaI from wit
not eated but contrveG.
In that last epithet lies the explanation Of Mr.
Crawford's ar. 1t Is an arr of conrivance, and
Its secrets lie on the surface II never lacks for
dramatic surprises, for enchanting mysteries Of plo
for pcturesquenese-above all for pcturesqueness
In the outlines OF the book concerned. The Sara
cinesca novels justly popular. No Engllsh-writ-
ing novelist not George Eliot herself. has given
more engaging picture Of Italian life and manners
than Mr.. Crawford has given in his Roman trlogy.
But is this high praise? Compare The Children Of
the King" SAINT llario' this Casa Braccio'
with OF Vcrga's stories and then estimate the
Itaanism OF the American author. He Is as far
away from the lifeblood Of Italy as he Is In his
American novels from the heartbeats Of New-York.
The very pre-emnence of his Italian over his Amer
lean stories throws subtle light upon Mr.. Craw-
ford's work. Here in spite of all the crudtes and
other drawbacks which the most critical Of for
eigners might charge agans. us, we have at least
the material for novels In which large issues might
be met and handled with tremendous effect When
the vitality Of civilization Is remembered, with
all that It implies Of strong and growing passion,
there is Inspiration in American life to stir
man OF genius In his Utmost soul. On the
other hand. Mr.. Crawfords own SHOW
Ing the society Of "Saracnesca, OF SAINT
Ilario" of Don Orsno." of "Pietro Ghisleri ana
now OF Casa Bracclo." is probably the most ped
ding and smal-soued in the world. Rubbing shout
ders with the petty natures Of his Roman personages
he has found some pure. strong some even
heroic souls and he might claim that the proper
ton was a matter with which he had nothing 10 90;
but there is old saw In English about the enron
Icng Of small beer. and the pettiness OF that en-
ployment has always chung to Its practitioners
Corona is charming character n the Saracinesca
serec and her second husband Is a really striking
figure: bu, both have artificial flavor. and they
move in an atmosphere of gossip OF small deeds and
sn,a,ler motives which after the first flush of In
terest past. sickens the reader and makes Sec
ond reading Of the novel almost Impossible
r. on hack to Mr. Crawford's plots. to his sur
,rses is never very difficult To seek again airy of
his characters is something that can rarely come
into the head Of the reader and this not merely De-
cause they are in the main of gnobe grain-which
means nothing to creative genius to
Razac when he has resolved to win your
attentior-but because In their incorseauenee
and littlenes. they do mo- ring true. MT
Crawford's insgk: is confined to the play OF CIR
cumstancc upon character. and whie that Is
much IL Is not everything. one wants even cau
m fiction 10 breathe be cad by virtue Of some
thing more than the pressure OF circumstances ana
when Mr. Crawford has shown you the logic OF his
actions according to the posture Of affairs. you
want 10 feel even II you not tod, the logic of
those actions as directed by the mans soul Reanda.
for example In Casa Braccio," is a thorough
paced cad; but the reader is kept in Ignorance Of
this until the artist strikes his wife with her fan.
and later leaves on his deathbed packet OF let
ters TO a former friend whom he could not have
stabbed in a crueller and meaner way than by send
ing him Just that correspondence. Up TO these two
actions (Which, it is noticeable. part of the
fa,allstic chain Of events on which Mr.. Crawford
places SO much stress Reanda Is weak In outline.
a parsonage whom 1t IS difficult to make out and
this for no other reason than that his most telling
traits are being held back for a coup
This ID effective and in Casa Braccio'' there is