Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-09-07

From this it will be seen that Hall
Caine has thrown off the mantle OF
the story teller and that he has donned
the tosa of the propagandist While
''rhe Christian" was more or less or a
tract. its story predOminates much
more strongly over the preachment
than does the story OF 1.-THE Eternal
CITY" To be sure. there is plenty Oh
description. dialogue. action and even
sensation in this latest novel, but it Is
all used to back up it's authors posi-
ton as a potential reformer OF modern
society. The revolutionary dog as OF
his hero. David Rossi. having very little
that is novel in them. and neither do
his political opponents manage to say
anything new ntheir opposition to him.
David Rossi. being Mr.. Gaines own
mouthpiece. at times speaks trumpet
tongued against modern social iniqui-
ties. and especially against the social
iniuuities of modern Italy. but he says
no more than may be read every ia!
in our newspapers or heard every
night in places where reformers con-
| gregate. IF You ask me what Is the
/ reason of the discomfort which pro-
( luces the crimes of anarchiSm. he
I saws, first the domination of Il gov
/ ernnent which is absolute. and the
want of liberty of speech and meeting.
/ In other countries the discontinued are
permitted to manifest their woes, and
are not punished unless they commit
deeds of violence: but in Italy alone.
( except Russia Il man may be placed
outside tile law. torn from his home
and sent to domicilio coatto to live
or die in IA silence as deep as that of
the grave. Oh. know what | am say
ing. l have been in the midst of it. l
have seen a father torn from his
daughter. and the motherleSs child
left at the mercy of his enemies
And with speeches and colloquies like
this is The Eternal city" filled from
title page to collophon, interspersed in
the Oliver Optic style of our boyhood
days with sensational incidents which
would do no discredit TO the invention
of the writer of a shilling shocker or a
dime novel. In one chapter Mr. taine
breaches the regeneration of the world;
in the next he deals unreStrainedly
with hand hand fights, duels, sui
cides and even murder. In every por-
ton of his work his pen loses none of
its power. but the mind which governs
it seems manifeStly to lack all artistic
sense of proportion and style. He hits
off excellently the cant of reform and
the cant of patriotism. These natural
enemies are joining hands to pull down
the nation and the monarchy he
causes Baron Bonelli. his exponent of
Italian governmental power, to say.
The church. to which we have a
guarantee of liberty in the exercise of
its religious rights. is abusing our
leniency to teach doctrines of hatred
against the State" He writes with
perfect freedom upon all topics. and
frequently with too little knowledge of
the subjects upon which he dogma
tizes. His matter is crowned with the
odds and ends of human emotion and
thought. and his manner of dealing with
it is riotous. a novel should he Il nov
el d story should be Il story; u SER
mon should be a sermon: tract
should be tract. Mr., Game attempts
to make one vehicle of literary ex-
preston carry them all, and in that at
tempt he fails most deplorably.
Never strong at describing women
either physically. morally or mentally
he reaches little success with Roma
the heroine and the Delilah of The
Eternal city" The most that he can
say of her personal appearance is that
she is tall. with a bold sweep OF
fulness in figure and this he repeats
over and over again with but slight
variation of phrase. In mentality and
in morality she is quite enislnatic,
probably as Mr.. Game intended she
should be. but the enigma of her doings
, requires altogatner too much of a con-
, tinuous cohjectural attitude on the
part of the reader. The place she
. holds in the weaving and unweaving of
, Hall Gaines meagre plot is all import
!, ant, but she is altogether too obviously
Il hi; Of his literary mechanism rather
than Il creature of flesh and blood
. Around her. Of course. revolVe the So
called moral elements of the novel
concerning which so much discussion
has arisen. 1t tt kes but superficial
: reading of THE eternal city to see
: that as far as r,orality is concerned
it is deplorably iinocuOus even to the
border of common pI aceness, and .ha,
it may be read bv the psoverbial
Youn 'ersons Without the sNghtes,
, dang That may seem to N a
recon u, ldation of ne novel: if it\be
+ is ainlyt no ommendation u
saut u
D.. But r all, .rh Eternal 81
$ i. anyt but dull. ID Game ca
e hardly tie an uninS esting no
i even if tried. 1t j 20 be hor
how, r. nat he will ore long
ogniz-..ie preemine1ce story-te
er. ami his uselesaness social
I. former. and give us mo- novels in II
: style Sf he Deernste and Tn
3 Bondr>an ard none at in the stylev
!. of The u titan and rhe Eternal
!. City. N TRANSCRIPT \
The Ohm -esent LOnd interview,
2 Ter has-6ee extracting or Ia
u ho