St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-17

have believed their principles de-
Tended If it is the merit of many
books to have attained Individual
ity and singleness of purpose, it is
the success of Trilby to have failed
in both 1t is a model of Machiavel-
liam sinuosity. A sentiment is de-
veloped and begins to expand; an
opinion is advanced and is warmly
defended many readers are
charmed, many feel justified; but,
cautioni Some may not approve.
So over goes the pinnacle of feeling,
down comes the edifice of argument.
The dissatisfied are now content.
It is "a book with purpose" That
purpose was success, which has been
splendidly achieved. Unintentin-
ally yet unavoidably, the work has
also moral, and herein Du Maurier
has little reason to regret his fail
ure. Trilby is another leaf in the
precious gospel Of charity, and char
ity, the source and embodiment of
virtues, is more than mere religion
it is Christ Himself. The nineteenth
century-the age of material mira
cle-has no greater glory than it's
discovery of charity. Here, rather
than in the enslavement of Nature,
lies our path to perfection, our ap-
proach to the millennium. AS the
coarse bulb of the Easter lily slowly
evolves into somber green and bursts
atlast into ethereal loveliness,so the
superstition of the early Christian
became the cold, selfish virtue of the
zealot and the Puritan, and now, at
last, begins to blossom into Chris
tan altruiSm-the brotherhood of
man. Other beliefs have sought to
appropriate the altruistic principle,
but it was to them as a mere spark
of the divine fire. 1t f1ickered feebly,
and expired, for want of ProYidentiaI
care
Whatever may be a readers opin-
ion of the aggregate character of Du
Maurier's heroine, few can fail to be
dramatically impressed with com
passion for her fate, admiration for
her ingenuousness, generosity and
Self-deVotfon; and few can hesitate
to believe that many noble qualities
have been rudely crushed out of suf-
fering woman by the narroWness of
Weli-lntentloned cenSorS. 1t has
long been admitted that the ancient
world was wrong in making brav-
cry synonymous with masculine vir-
tue; yet for the opposite sex we
moderns are yet unwilling to aban-
don our ideal of all virtues conferred
within one; and mans inhumanity
to woman makes countless thous-
ands mourn" In this respect Christ
ians rise but slowly to the level of
the Savior. Unfortunately for truth,
it will be said that Trilby has been
made heroine because of her wick
edess. She may be so in the minds
OF those seeking an excuse for
wrong-doing, but all others will real
ize that Little Billees devotion to
his admirable mother and sister
served only to accent his regret for
what Trilby might have been. The
failure of woman with a past" to
than to vice is due less to her own
unworthiness, great though it surely
is, than to the vicious tendencies of
her observers.
Less can be said in favor of the
subordinate themes touched upon
by this book of many motives. 1t
may pass as a realistic success to
those who confound realism with
vulgarity of detail and pessimism of
plot. But if realism means probable
ity of action and description, Trilby
is by no means it's exponent In
deed, catching artfully at the re-
viVed taste for weirdnesS and mys-
ticism, the author has exploited
Svengali and his hypnotic power to
an extent that would strain the
imagination of Walter Scott.
No one knows better than the gen
uine artist how much a fad and an
affectation the love of Art has now
become. The sunflower of Oscar
Wilde is the sacred insignia of a
mighty host of lily balanced weak
lings. To them Zeuxis is greater
than Socrates, Titan than Francis
Bacon, Millais than Abraham Lin
coin. An artist himself, it is doubt
less natural, of not defensible, that
Du Maurier should have heartily
Joined in this absurd dedication of
Aria worship that would have
highly amused the cultivated Athe-
MAN of Appele's day, and almost
astonished Benvenuto Cellini.
Its curiously uncertain views upon
religious principle, it's almost an
archistic sympathy with Bohemian
recklessness, it's hatred of conven-
tional life, alternating with curious
traces of fashionable affectation and
'tuft-hunting" ambition, it's loose
and awkward style are minor de-
fects in a remarkable production.
Not great book, nor likely to retain
a permanent position, Trilby com
bines, like it's author, the English
and the French spirit, being effect
lively pathetic and wildly dramatic.
The following criticisms from va
rious points of view and different
skilled observers will doubtless prove
valuable aids toward the full ap-
probation of this novel of the day: