The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-08

tic.
The historical novel at its best, then.
has not yet appeared The number of at
tempts which have been made to supply
the demand for historical novel is sim
ply legion, and the curious part of it is
that some of them have been made by no.
velists who ought TO know better, and
who have made regulations in other lines
of work. The consequence is that we have
had numerous books of this class which
were not even good stories.
Miss Mary Johnstons ITO Have and 20
Hold Gnd its predecessor. Prisoners of
Hope are examples OF the best type
Of American colonial novel. Nothing bet
ter has appeared since Hawthornes time,
and they were the outgrow;h of much
the same influences which produced Haw-
tborne's Scarlet Letter. and Moses
from an Old Manse." the true novelist's
instinct coupled with thorough tradi-
tional familiarity with the subject. Miss
Johnston belongs 10 the South by feeling
and experience, and her pictures of Fir-
ginian colonial life are therefore true.
Winston Churchili's Richard Carvel" is
also good because the author knows how
to write story of adventure. and has
studied his ground thoroughly. so that all
mis- details ere accurate. Janice Mere
dith'' was a dismal failure because Mr..
Fcrd di; not know how TO writ: novel.
He seems to have soaked himself in COLO
NAL literature and lost touch with society.
But of all the innumerable failures to re-
produce the atmosphere OF former genera
lions in fiction. the best example, because
the worst failure. is probably Miss Mar,
E wilkins alleged story of Virginia life,
The Hearts Highway" 1t is worth dis
cussing at some length, because it is such>a
mastery combination of all the defects OF
all the rest. 1t sounds almost as If Miss
wilkins had burlesqued all the other writ
ers deliberately and consciously.
Miss Wilkins as everyone knows, achiev-
ed the reputation of being one OF the best
short-story writer's in the oorntry. Her
little pictures of modern New Engisul life
are absolutely true and artistic. They do
not reproduce all sides of this life, /. q
true-Sarah orne Jewett draws similar
pictures with a tenderness and poeii; in
| sight which brings out the more attractive
| features of the people-but tel: dry humor
| and reserve force are undeniable. Gu
! rioasly enough. however wheI she leaves
! that beaten track. and writes of the
same people in colonial days. with much
metaphor and exaggerated poetic fancy, she
! seems to lose all her Knowledge of human
nature and all her facility of interpreta-
! tion. II seems to be q case OF dual per-
sonality No two of her stories OF mod
ern New England life are exactly alike;
! all are individual and true. Her colonial
| stories are very apt TO be much Ike, md
none of them true to life. Pembroke,
jerome" and "Jane Field proved that
she could write novels. but 'Madelon"
came near proving that she could net.
The Love of Parson Lord is far inf
to - New England Nun" In one case
! she seems to be carried away by her mate
4 ri al inr- nf han
| should be handed: in the other she is
| mistress of every inch OF ground
But of all her colonial insists in litera-
! ture none is so utterly and incomrrahen-
sibly absurd as this story of colonial life
! in Virginia. She begins by using the same
| notion that Miss Johnston used in "Pris-
oners OF Hope" and making the hero a
convict This convict is. very naturally,
made the tutor of the heroine a blooming
| young girl. and he is violently beloved by
all three of the women in the household
BY the grandmother. by Catherine, the
heroine's sister. an incomprehensble mix
| ture of unaccountahle emoticus and i'm
pulses, and by the heroine herself, Mis-
/ tress Mary Cavendish. This state of things
would be natural and usual, perhaps, in
the stately society of old Virginia.
Mistress Mary is beautiful. of course
! il would be contrary to all literary tradi-
ton that it should be otherwise. All the
women of Virginia seem to be beautiful,
according to this book. That, perhaps,
might be excused, for if Miss wilkins had
dared to intimate, as she does in her sto-
| ries of life in New England that her hero
inc was not particularly pretty, but inter-
esting through her emotions and intellect
/ ii might have been dangerous for her We
| should have had the Richmond Times"
and all the rest OF the violently Southern
| press matchmaking the Yankee novel;
I ist for daring to intimate that every white
woman in Virginia, young or old, was not
! beautiful as a seraph and charming as
| virtuous and irreproachable siren. It is
possible. therefore, that the novelist's po-
sition in this matter is the result of eau
| ton.
| But no caution, or anything else, can
excuse some of the other Preparations In
| the story. Among other things We are
told that when the heroine was two years
old she was playing in the park on her
fathers estate, and the hero, then a half
| grown boy, was watching her at a dis
lance Suddenly furious black stallion,
galloping across the park. rushed through
the underground directly toward the in
1 FAINT, and the hero, of course, dashed in and
rescued her at the risk of his life. We are
| to suppose that the favorite exercise
ground of black stations is in a forest, anu
that they take pains to go out of their
; way 20 step on small children. This will
afford some amusement, possibly, to the
horsebreeders of Virginia. After this re-
markable occurrence the hero is sternly
accosted by the baby's father, and refuses
| to explain what he has been doing in the
park, whereupon he receives condign chas-
tisement. This shows a charitable kaowl-
edge of boy nature. Any boy would be-
have that way-of course. After the in
cident Is closed. the baby's sister Gather
Inc appears from behind tree where she
has been all the time, and enquiries In
stern tone of voice why the hero has be-
haved as he has. He refuses to explain.
She then remarks that she will never tell
what has happened. and yanishes In the
direction Of the house. The liveliness, OF
Miss wilkins inventive genius in some
directions is only matched by its sluggish
ness in others.
When the romance opens Mistress Mary
Cavendish is seventeen years old-the horse
story is merely "Reminiscences The time
is shortly after Bacons rebellion, and Mis-
tress Mary taking naturally great in
! :erest in political affairs sends to England
| for powder, shot. and muskets to be dlstrib-
| uted among the still unquelled insurgents
This she does under cover OF sending for
clothes and finery. When the ammuni-
ton arrives, however, the grandmother,
who is stanch loyalist, enquiries what is
| in the boxes, and to allay her suspicion
| and prevent her giving up her grand
| daughter as a traitor, boxes belonging to
another woman are filched from the ship
and brought 10 the house, and Mistress
Mary wears to the ball gown belonging
| to the other woman, in sight of It's ve-y
| owner. She, OF course. is not informed
! OF all this; it is plan of the convict