The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-12
HISTORICAL NOVELS.
Miss Farrant Lectures About
Scott, Bulwer, Kingsley,
and Reade.

MISS Louise Grace Farrant lectured on
The Historical Novel, yesterday after
noon at the residence of Mrs. A. J. New
bury, No. 81 Clifton place. She said
We have heard that the Duke of Wei
ilngton learned his English history from
Shakespeare. How many of us have not
received our most vivid impressions of
English and Scotch history from SCOTS
novels? There is a time in the life of
every normal minded boy and girl when
the Waverly novels are meat and drink
to him. and when he is transported into
enchanted fields by the great Wizard Of
the North. And not only in boyhood
and in girlhood. but in manhood and in
womanhood does the delight in Sir
Walter Scott spring up.
Scott was the founder of the historical
novel. From his infancy he learned the
stories which he afterwards gave to the
public. There had been other writer's of
historical romance before Scott, but the
works produced by them constitute the
siiiiest, feeblest body of work to be found
IN the annals of prose fiction. To
none of them was Scott under
any obligation. Scott saw the
nlhty of the aims of history and fiction
and satisfied himself with seeking truth
1uiness rather than ~ntiquaria accura-
cy. 1t is a real difficulty: the more
novel. the less historical it is, and vice
versa. Since Shakespeare's time there has
been no great speaker so unconscious of
an aim in speaking as Walter Scott. He
saw life and told the world what he
saw Has any one since his time SUM-
piled 1t with a fuller. fairer vision?
Scott has done in prose fiction. what
the poets and dramatists have sometimes
oohe, what very sane philosophers have
sometimes done likewise. All his char
acters are men and women of the world.
OF life, of time in general. Even when
tneir garments, ever when their words
are a little out of fashion, there is real
nesh and blood beneath the garments
real thought and feeling rbehind the
words. Perhaps nowhere in literature is
there the work of a single author which
gives such variety and keenness of de-
light.
Bulwer Lytton was a man of brilliant
pofdical career, and of remarkable liter
airy merit. The fashionable novel, the ro-
nance OF mystery. the romance of classi-
cal times, the historical novel. by turns
occupied him. Bulwar has two faults
Maht 81 concentration and want of reality.
NiaAaStSiS are hot awe, Dut We feel
ihat ne might have made them SO had he
taken more pains.
Charles Kingsley's literary work was
large and varied some of his poetry is
admirable, being full of freshness and
Vlsor. kingsley recognized, however. that
prose was the medium for his best work.
and soon produced two novels. Alton
Locke and Yeast Hypatia' followed
closely authentic history. The variety
and br7Hiancy of 'Hypatia' are equailed by
MS tragedy. Westward Ho' is his great
Ealzabethan novel, Thought by many to
be his masterpiece. There is a sustained
passion of patriotism and heroic height of
and ~chivalry which pervades it
from first to last. Few better historical
novels have ever been written, Saintsbury
says.
Charles Reade did not begin to write
very early and when he did the drama
was his first attempt. He does not dis
dain to impart viyidness and realism to
his pictures by adopting and almost
translating whole passages from Eras-
mus W colloquies. His taste and judy
ment were quite deficient; he had no
sense OF general proportion in his work
and was quite as likely to be melo-
ramati as tragicaf, to be tedious as
amusing Critics have said that Altar
Breck is as good as anything in Scott.
Alan Breck is certainly a masterpiece
quite worthy of the greatest of all story
t%ellers, who, it should be remembered,
created these characters by the score.
another before dinner time"
At the conclusion of Miss Farrant's lac-
ture there was a general discussion of
the merits of the respective authors and
BOOKS Mrs. Newbury served refresh
mentS.