New-York tribune., 1901-09-08

Dit JOHNSON'S HOUSE IN BOLT COURT
called serious discussion" The heroine's con
duct being such as the novelist with a purpose
dearly loves 10 celebrate. can imagine an
army Of readers dividing into two camps. one for
and one against it, Mrs. Craigie herself could
hardly be surprised if, having presented
curious question of social morality in her pages.
il provoked some debate But just W. begin
10 argue she seems 70 say in delicate a~.I,,
with almost imperceptibIe smile, After. al.
it right for Rosabel," and We rrmemb-y
what We ought not 10 have forsoJten-that She
could not write novel with a purpose IL she
tried. 1t would go against the grain cf all her
brilliant gifts W. go on 10 read The Serious
Wooing' for what it is, a fragment 4 life. true.
but not necessarily the affirmation of any
definite scheme Of living
Never has Mrs. Craigie used more effectively
than in this book the art Of a thoroughly de-
tached observer. one who can pierce beneath the
surface but is too keenIy humorous. or too
cynical, TO regard the things she sees there IN
a distorted perspective or to dream Of making
the world over. 1t is a limited art beside that
Of the creative masters. The greatest novels are
those in which nothing happens that is not
readily conceivable coming within the exl eri-
ence OF humanity at large; their figures may te
intensely individual yet they remain broadly
representative, they may stand Tor a class. but
they also stand for mankind. RosabeI is ras
been hnted above. stands only for ner--if.
though She wears the mark Of a caste-that Of
the English aristocraoy-Mrs. Craisie does not
convince that she is really typical Like her
great adventure, she is credible, and al he
same time We cannot take her. any more than
the adventure very seriously. But since Mrs
Craigie makes her altogether enchanting. what
are We 70 DO but take her joyoUsiy? Her woes
tras!cal. hut they are treated in the spirit
Of comedy. The background and accessories are
those Of the drawhs room. Mrs. Craisie knows
how To set the wheels of drama going and how
TO accelerate them until after the fashion Of tic-
Jion in general, they snatch the actors away
from merely material environment and carry
them through the crises of a spiritual world.
She proved this in The School for Saints" But
in The Serious Wooing" we remain in the
drawing room, or, rather. stand in the door
way and watch with the author The little groups
that form and reform, breaking away into
wider sphere from time to time. but always
suffering the control Of purely mundane cond-
tions, always more or less enve!oped in the
atmosphere of modern London society.
Rosabel, married at sixteen TO a lunatic noble
man. is pushed. by her exasperation at the
methods by which she had been victimizod, into
4
consong advances of a man not merely sane
hut clever handsome and in his way, honrrd bic
They persuade themselves that the right thing
to do is To turn their backs on th- conVentionii-
ties AM set UP housekeeping as Mr. anI Mrs
Luttrel. Talk about marriage and all that they
feel is for the Philistine. The critical step Is
taken: Jocelyn Luttre's sudden departure for
France to execute a duty laid UIr,n him y the
sociaIistic organization with which ne is ld~ati-
fled gives RosabeIs family a chance To deceive
her into a total reversal Of her acton, and pres
entIv-the mad husband having opportunely
died-she is hurried into a marri Se with Lord
WroxaL II is a dreary business, but 1t IS not
to be ended thus summa~iy and Rosahefs des-
tiny is developed in concluding chapter, for
the surprises of which refer the reader TO
the book itself. II is good chapter, artistic in
every thing it contains and especially in he
restraint which the author shows at a certain