The San Francisco call., 1901-12-01

THE FIRST impression one receives
from reading the opening chapters
OF "Tristram OF BIent." by Anthony
Hope. is that If the book is 70 please
Il later il must be because of skillful
character drawing or Lccause of interest
ing situations. and not on account of ac-
Cuaintance with aniable people. The main
characters in the novel. with one excep-
ton. promise TO be OF kind whose dis
agreeable traits are urrelieved by the
possession Of any particular virtue. But
there is 2 complete shifting Of values to-
ward the end of the book. and the black
crows are metamorriosed into white
swans. The complete change Of view
with which ore has 10 regard the hero
before the book is finished would create
e shock cf surprise if Mr.. Hope had not
had the forethought 10 make Tristram
the scion cf Z family the conduct %
whose member is guided not by the or
binary nationality of pTosaic beings, out
by any impulse which may appear at a
critical moment. Given this latitude y
possible action, the change in Tristrarl
from a selfish. dishonorable man TO an
unselfsh. honorable cae must be admit
ted 10 be fairly plausible. even II IL does
take place in little more than the twlnk-
ling Of an eye. II this were not the case
The reader might quarrel with Mr.. hoSe
on The ground that the impression given
i,v two Of the characters he introduces is
much as i or Introduction they wore
mask 70 conceal their personality and
then threw It OF in orSer 70 produce
shcck Of Surprise.
On The whole. however. even with an
understanding Of the erratic nature OF
Tr.-tra7n which Mr.. Hope insists upon,
the character OF that hero is scarcely con-
vircinE. The explanation of this may be
that Mr.. Hope as a creator Of character
has 50 far revealed no trace OF genius.
There IS especial need of genius when
trera is n be shown the real consistency
Underlying tle apparent Inconsistencies of
= character. and this consistency must
srDear in every character which does not
show a mental alteration bordering on
insanity
Tristram Is the only child OF Lady Iris
tram. Baroness in her own right. II
her youth Lady Tristrann, then an untitled
girl. married Sir Randolph Edge. A few
months after the marriage the two sep
grated ard Sir Randolph went to Russia
On receipt Of news OF the death Of Sir
Randolph IN that country his wife i'm
rned5ately married Captain Fitzhubert.
After the birth Of n son TO. Captain Fitz-
hubert IL is discovered that Sir Randolph
Edge did not die until after the marriage
ceremony between his wife ard her sec
ord husband Sir Randolph died in Rus
s:a. where the Julian calendar is still in
Use. The dates on this calendar are
twelve days behind those used by the rest
n Tic civilized world. This confusion Of
ca-es was not taken into account in the
report CT Sir Randolph's death sent from
Russia. As result he was supposed by
his wife 70 have died twelve days before
he actually did.
Tho fact that the second marriage was
81 reality performed one day before Sir
Randolph's death was not discovered un-
til too late to secure the legitimacy Of
the soa OF Captain FItzhubert; but this
fact IS concealed from all but 2 few per-
sons. Captain Fitzhubert dies and his
widow In time succeeds TO the title Of
BJToners TristraT1 Of Rient. Harry Iris
tram IS about = years old when his
mother coTfesses 20 him that he will have
E5 legal claim 70 her title and estates. It
Is thc1 that he begins the deception
=hich : the keynote OF the novel Feel
ilZ ;hat sse has every natural right to his
raCfhcr'T nanne and fortune. he simply
ignores the fact that he has no legal right
10 4 as well. he determines to succeed
% wc2t he considers his rightful inherit
31ce. For several years nothing occurs
10 disturb Harry Tristram or to make
him suspect that the truth about his
mothers marriage IS known to any one
who would use IL to his disadvantage.
But ~ lat Re finds that his secret is
known % q man who threatens to expose
g. TO make matters worse for Harry his