The times., 1898-10-30
"The Purftans,-

1.-THE Puritans" is the kind of a book
I which 1t is very hard to forgive a man
for having written. Especially hard is 1t
when the man is a writer of so much tai
ent as Arlo Bates. Mr. Bates ought to be
ashamed of himself for having allowed
his artistic sense to deteriorate till he
could consider such subject
The tale is, in brief, the love stories of
two young men who have entered the
CLERGY House of ST. Mark" in other
words, who have determined to become
Anglican priests OF celibate order.
These youths, having been temporarily
thrown upon the cold world by the burn
ing of their clergy house, promptly pro-
ceed to fall in love with two charming
ladies, and the whole of the rest of the
book is taken up with the long drawn
out conscientious scruples of first one
youth and then the other on the subject
of matrimony. After as much serious
thought as the subject warrants, the read
er decides the object of the book to be
the differentiation of the characters of
these young men. One of them marries
his sweetheart and the other gives up his
There is just enough difference between
their two natures to effect this result
But when, under the name of 1.-The Puri-
tans," we are introduced to two love-sick
youths struggling over the question of
whether they shall or shall not wear
black gowns for the rest of their lives,
it may be wondered what bluff old Oliver
Cromwell would have said to the situa-
tion.
There have been many fine characters
under the priests black robe, in novels
and out, In the Roman Catholic and the
Anglican Catholic garb. Perhaps no 9TH
er calling has given us so many strong
and lovable characters in fiction. The
priest of "Evangeline' the monk of ''Ro-
meo and Juliet" and. in modern Ameri-
can fiction, the Pere Michaux of Miss
Woolson, the friars of Janviers Mexican
stories. Frederic's Father Forbes and
the Italian priest of "a Foregone Con-
clusion," are only few of these. But
in this case Mr.. Bates has failed to make
even his priests impressive, much less his
half-made priests. The men whom he in
troduces as representatives of the clergy
have little genuine character about them,
and as for Philip Ashe, with the extreme
ly morbid sensitiveness and hyperaesthe-
sia which he dignifies by the name of
spirituality, one quite agrees with his
lady-love when she tells him what she
thinks of him. 1t may be added that
he has just asked her a somewhat un-
fairs. She says with pardonable warmth:
Your impertnenee is amazing! 1t is time
that somebody told you the truth It is hard for
me to say unkind things to who has saved
my life, but you ought to know how you appear.
You have got yourself into thoroughly un-
wholesome state OF mind and body, and unless
you get out of it you will ruin your whole ca
reer. Find some wholesome, right-minded wo-
man, Mr.. Ashe; love her and marry her, and be
done with all this wretched unwholesome maw-
kishness."
AS for the other youth, 1t is explained
that he went into the Clergy House mere
ly because his friend exercised over him
the sort of influence which might have
been exercised by girl and when the
real girl appeared, his friend was nowhere.
This young man is less morbid but not
much more attractive, than Philip Ashe.
The maiden who converts him to the
world and its follies. one Berenice. is
dainty and bright and charming, and al
most the only pleasant figure in the pages
of the book. AS a psychological study
this book is accurate and has a value;
but as novel it is not success. (Bos-
ton: Houghton. Mifflin & Coz