New-York tribune., 1896-11-01

But sooner was the house sunk in sumber
than ne crawled stealthily upstairs in order to
forestall by theft promised generosity. He
| opened the door of the bedchamber in a hushed
silence. but the wrenching Of the coffer-hd
awoke the sleeper. and Glderoy. having cut his
mothers throat with an infamous levity, seized
whatever money and Jewels were in the house.
cruelty matreated his sister and laughingly
burned the house to the ground that the posi-
bility Of evidence might be destroyed"
If the reader takes it as unkind that We should
cite so shocking an incident this from Mr..
Whibleys narrative. merely ask him 10 re-
member that it is just this kind Of thing which
ne has been accepting in the plays OF the Eliza
bethans and the novels of the Italian Renais-
sance. to say nothing Of the actual history OF the
latter. the stuff Of tragedy. Of literature IT
may not be claimed for Gilderoy that he Is the fit
hero of a tragedy. nor for any Of his compcers
that their lives strictly the substance OF
lterature. Yet, We repeat. Mr.. whitley gives
them all plausbily, a reason for existing
which the worst horrors Of their biographies can
not quite dispace 1t is not altogether PLAIN
that the volume should ever have been written
Scoundrels are not engaging company. but IN
the present instance. and it is really strong
writer. there is nowhere in the book. no matter
how foppisn the style may be. an indication tnat
it was a purely morbid emotion which set him to
work at this theme. or that he wishes TO pass on
to his public On the contrary, he arouses
resncct for beings so low that it incredible
that respect could ever be paid even to their boy
ish wears of innocence How does he do II?
Solely by showing us how human even VIE
criminal may be- 1t would be useless to try to
draw any moral from book which frankly dis
avows any ddactic purposes or undercurrents,
but when Mr. WhiDley fills out his portrait OF
some distinguished breaker of the law with
few touches indicative of tender feelings III the
man. he proves at once that our belief IN mortal
possibilities of good lies very close to our cream
of their immortal source. Take the one sign Oh
a refined gentle spirit which remains in the MS
tory of Charles Peace the celebrated pur9!ar.
He sincerely cherished music. His love OF H.
saws Mr. whitley. was his constant soiace'
"Whateycr treasures he might discard in hur-
ried flight. he never left a fiddle behind and so
vast became his pilfered collection that he had to
horrow an empty room in friends house for It's
he,te- disposa." Peace l. was, furthermore,
who had but cne friendly colleague in his secrets,
a skilful "fence." and the name Of this accomphce
he refused to yield al the foot of the sallows
His great gift, however-and here Mr.. Whibiey
touches a point more important than the hdeh'S
which has never been quite extinct among
thieyes-was what our author calls, In shshuy
highfown language. constructive Inauguration.
can il by what name you choose. the inventive
resource Of the great criminal always mas peeh
and ALWAYS will be a matter Of interest and aston
;sbmen. to the honest mind. We have no sym
na,bv With the platitude so often spoken to the
effect that a man with the cleverness OF
great criminal could easily make his marx IN an
honorable field. He could do nothing OF me so't'
II is the criminal in him that makes MN cieNei
that sharpens his wits and makes Ms i"Ee'S
nimble. ,,..,,o,.,e
The whole conclusion of Mr.. "hioleE
eloquent book is that mysterious ioNe -, - o'''
cruned with low vanity, is at the bottom or most
cr,ninaI exploits To regard housebfeaker S
facility in matters Of mechanism q" so lhu,'I li
yerted ability of sort 10 serve the AIMS -.
tude is to miss the point at issue NJ. Nhip'.'
deciares that ITO whitewash the scoundtel is 10
nut upon him the heaviest dlshohol' 'in ~,
observation. il exaggerated Is aso lu"i, .o"'
is too much to say, as Mr.. Whlbley says ,id,
criminals like Jack Sheppard, Caftouchc' ~"
Cutpurss Jonathan Wild ana sixteen-o'i,'is !, -
lack were the practitioners OF an arr pu' II 10
entirely lust to say that they We're all lniap'at
r a. world in which evil was followed for cVli :
sake in which there We're Human "a''S u -
reckoned with. traits quick TO aro""e our '"'"
passion but in which the SAVING *l'"r ~. ~ ~
ssi,o ,,,hiteress could never have been 80 Iauch
as guessed at by the dwellers therein tnenseN &
Wc can see how intensely human they "eie' H." ,
cloeelv they touch our sympathiea at times. but
these scoundres not aware OF inc 'es VA
hind them to us now; they would nave sVoi, ~" ~
,o admit that they had eve- been IKE 'nr'r W
iow-men They were pro-d OF their NilenesS;
Gilderoy was not good man gone wrong. MOL MOL
Cutpurse was not woman VINO mlSht haVe .I n''I,
better They had elements OF character u, theh
which make them very real to-day, ana par
,;cmIar,v in such vivid portraits as Mr.. Whh-
lev, has drawn of tl.nm, but we see them as IN
~ y,hnatra or their own playing out their extra
ordinary dramas in the most extraordinary
manner. They are horrible to gaze upon. ana
wifhal extremely interesting Mt Whnry nnS
- w.; hnoL beautifully printed and. at the risk
~ seeming to approve 20" much voinn" den-
cated TO an essentially forhidding theme. we
must admit that his pages were wei worth ,' NAM
u ~ go nermsn mt form Mr. Whistler. oddly.
has designed the cover. a simple thing bearing
- fot naucht but the title in plain lettering and
a delicately outlined gaNows with III" moose s"'-
pendCd.