The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-09-15
The Death " -
- - of the Gods.

reign or Nero, the antiChrisf. tho Rms.
sian novelist Dnitri Merclkowski. has
to certain degree accomplished for the
reign of Julian the Apostate Aierejkowskl
has net the wonderful skill OF Slenklewicx
which endows his hctivc creations With the
flesh and blood of realism. nos does the
Musccylte romancer Invent so. popular
interesting series OF cplsodes. Merel.
kowsk Is ARTIFICIAL and aborlously pedan-
tic, while slenkiewicz Is cruditc with ca,
IN liar grace and vivid In the art Of STORY.
telling Nevertheless lovers of the nistori.
chi romance will lind '.Thc reatl OF the
! Gods,' now translated for the odiaoation
OF English readers by Herbert Trench
| pulnams). to be sterling work Of its
| type and well worthy Of a studious mns-
terlng Mr. Trench, the translator. IL him
sell poet OF high quality whose verse
we elsewhere consider. and his sympathy
win the diction of this particular Russian
novelist make this English version Of Mer
eJkowskis masterpiece peculiarly inviting
TO the genuine scholar Of literature.
~
AS for the machinery Mereikowski's
novel, II Is. indeed. massive. "The Death
of the Gods" Is the first OF triicey. and lts
philosophical purport outwrIghs, In fact.
Its romantic character. This trilncy II
entitled Christ and Antl.Chrst.'' and we
can not give n more lucid and pithy illumi.
nation or Merejkowshs general scheme
than Is furnished by Mr.. Trench In His
foreword to tho present translation, De.
clares he:
"Dmlirl Mercjkowskl is perhaps tho most
Interesting and powerful OF the younger
Russian novelsis. the only writer that
promises TO carry on the work OF Toistoi,
I fltssa AL. =
which ARE already numerous. are animated
by Il single master idea. the pagano- Chris
tian duallsm OF our human nature What
specially Interests him in the vast spectacle
OF human AFFAIRS In the everlasting contest
between the idea OF Goldman and the
idea of man-God; that is to say, between
tho conception Of a God incarnatc for q
while tas In Christi aud the conception a.
man rs himself God--sradnaly evolving
higher types Of splendid and ruling char.
acter which draw after them the genera
lions The novclst's own doctrine seeing
20 be that both the Pagan and the Chris
tlau elements are equally legitimate and
sacred. His teaching IS that the soul and
the senses have an equal right TO he re-
! spected: that hednnism and altrulsm ara
equals. and that the really full man. the
perfect man. Is he who can ally In har.
monlous equilibrium the cult of DlonysuS
and the cult of Christ"
~
'Mcrcikowsk conccives that EuropenH
civilization has been born OF tho trench.
dous conflict between those two mnin ideas.
And he has embodied this conflict in
triogy Of noyois-three great historical 70.
mances The frst Is entitled "rhe Death
Of the Gods" and deals with the ok.
traordlnary career Of the Roman emperor
Julian the Apostnte who in the Fourth
century A. u. sought 10 revive the worship
Of the oymplHns after Christianity had
! been adopted by Constantine the Great
as the official religion of the Roman EN-
plre. : 4" With an ardor rs of Flauhert
In "salhmmho," and With perhaps more
skll than Slcukcwicg In "Quo yndls." tho
author Of 'The Death Of the Gods" has
succeeded In rrcreating the wonderful rich
scenes aud characters OF that remote epoch.
We see the racing stables Of the hippo
drome Of Constantinopie, battles with wild
German warriors round StrasbgrE. the In
tcrior Of the baths ne Antioch, dinners OF
epicufcs and men OF letters at Athens.
pictures OF Roman emperor az his toilet
table, or Of lovclorn ehiid Ia the Temple
! Of Aphrodite BEFORE writing this first Of
| his great romnnces MercjkowsH himself
travelled through Asia Minor and Greece,
visited Constnntnople and SYRIA and gath
cred everywhere living impressions TO serve
his art and Thought. lie was hesides nd
mhably prepared to handle a subject which
had attracted him from youth delicate
llellenist his hrst appearance In literary
life WIS AZ n harmonious translator OF
Acschylus and Sophocles. Later, the Gnos.
ties, the fathers Of the the Eastern church.
the Greek Sophsts twho represented the
last throes 1T expiring Pngnnlsm and al
ready dreamed Of revivng To- were tho
young poets object Of study Thus was
born the romance OF "'rhe Death Of the
Gods" which no has continued later In
"The Resurrection Of the Gods" tof which
Leonardo da VincI is the herol, and CONF
| plcted by "The Anti Christ portraying
the savage figure of Peter the Great, the
creator mesplte MI natural obstacles of st.
Petersburg aud modern Russia"
| ~
| IN tho Arst romance Of tho three the
new Christian spirit ia seen Invading the
sou Of Julian himself the last champion
Of expiring Pagnnisn. Bafdcd In his world
drenms Of empire Julian is finally led 70
eNclaim '"rhc gods are no more, or rather
the gods do not exist, They are not but
they will he We shall all he gods. We
have hnt 10 dare Centuries elapsed after
Julians death, and the rays of Helols OF
Greek genius penetrate aud inspire the
souls Of the artists Of Italy u Is the
dawn of the "reminiscences But the idea
Of the Goldman C1ulan's idea of humanity
exalung itself 20 divinity does not con-
quor the Imagination Of the world. Leonar-
do da vincl paints the Last supper
The idea Of the man.god (of the Chrisp
trlumphs savonarola deHes the gods OK
Olympus and even the popes Of earth The
gods of earth destroy sayonarcla. but me
Christ has rcappearcd. This is the Ftrug-
gle set forth in Merejkuwskl's ''Renais-
snnce of the Gods In the third romance,
not yet published in Russon he VIII rep
resent modern Illustration OF human WIZ
OF selfgreatness, as secn IN Peter mo
Great. whom old believers used 20 cal
.,The Anti-Christo Peter win be the new
type OK Julian The tragedy Of the gentle
Tsarcvltch Alexis VIII he reclted again.
with the genius Of Peter-hunain VIII IN
earnate. lifting itself above the moF'a'
standards Of good and evil