The times., 1901-04-28
4 snnntsh Novelist.

Spanish Novelist
Those who read The Joy of Captain
Rfbat. ." by A Falacio Naldes, viii welcome
the appearance OF newly translated
book by the same author bearing the
title Of The Fourth Estate To the
American public generally 1t may have
seemed doubtful whether any good can
come out of the Spanish Nazareth. and
hitherto it has scarcely been supposed
that Spain has had any literature since
Cervantes Certainly Spanish novels have
had no such vogue as have those OF
France. and the few specimens which
have been translated have not as rule,
been of a character TO encourage the
reader to beg for more OF them But IN
Valdes is TO be found an author with
genuine talent for story telling, keen
and delicate perception Of the values OF
character. a most artistic style ana
withal a real Yankee sense Of humor, dry
shrewd, and naive in the extreme. Ihe
former book was translated 10y Mlnna
Caroline Smith and the translator OF THIS
one is Rachel Challice. but in both cases
the work has been wei done, and the
peculiar style of the author preserved.
in view of the extremely poor literary
OUTPUT Of the season as regards American
novels. it is worth while for anyone who
the contrast afforded by this Spanish
novelist There is no clap-trap or slip
shod trickery in his books; he does not
seize upon some event or phase of recent
history to add attractiveness TO his
work and make it sell; he is not sensa-
uonal or morbid, or affected in any way.
The present novel deals with the rise
Of what might be called the yellow jour
nal in a small Spanish town called Sarrio;
In fact (as generally happens) there are
two yellow journals. at loggerheads with
one another; and by means OF them the
town is gradually divided into factions
and transformed from a sleepy, proper,
and quite self-impoTtant little provincial
city to a bad imitation Of Madrid. This
development, however, forms rather the
background for the main action than the
actual theme of interest for the atten-
tion of the reader is mainly given to the
three principal characters Cecilia and
Nenturita de Belinchon, daughters of
rich Goldfish merchant, who has married
a cigarette girl Creal Goldfish aristocracy,
this. and to Gonzalo de las Cuevas, the
colossal. rather unheroic but very hu-
man hero The characters Of the two
girls are as complete a contrast as could
be found in literature, though not more
complete than may be found in real life.
Cecilia is the saint: Venturita the CO.
quette; one is the good angel Of Con
zalo. the other his bad angel and there is
q certain poetic feeling in the way IN
which the author describes the long con-
f7ict between the two women and between
the elements of the mans nature, and in
Gonzales final recognition, in the moment
bf his death, that there are fatalities
and that if he had been hundred times
in the same position he would have done
the same. The constant and delicate re-
serve of the story teller, who possesses
the rare art Of leaving something for the
reader TO infer, is one Of the greatest
charms Of the book. 1t is, in fact, piece
Of what one may call idealistic realism,
and that is precisely the sort of fiction
which must, in the end, be recognized
as the highest type Of all.
The Fourth Estate IS somewhat
more ambitious book than THE Joy of
Captain Ribot," which was hardly more
than an idyl. In the former we have a
complete and vivid description OF life in
a little Spanish city with its provin-
ciality, its conceit, its simple goodness,
and equally simple folly. its wickedness,
and its caste lines. Those who look for
the conventional Spaniard in this tale,
however, viii hunt in vain. The men of
St. Jago, as portrayed in the melodra-
matte novel, are fierce black-browed,
crafty, and mysteriously wicked musta-
chios, who use terrible oaths; the wo-
men are either old hags, or maidens with
large black eyes. brown skins and sur
passing beauty. There is not a single one
OF these earmarks on Senor Naldes' peo-
pie. His hero and his hero's inamorata
are both intensely blonde; there is not
a dusky beauty in the book; there is no
swearing 10 speak Of, and though there is
a good deal Of fierce talk, it amounts to
very little in actual combat. Above all,
these people are not crafty nor cunning;
they are supremely honest and simple
and their devices are Of the innocent and
Eelf-betraying order. In short, they are
very much like proyincials the world
over; and much Of the conversation Is
not unlike that in George Eliots novels
of English provincial life. If novels of
this kind become familiar to American
readers, the average romantic novelist
will have TO revise his idea of the Span
lard and put some new machinery into
his plot-factory. The only thing in Ameri-
can literature which in it's dealings with
Spanish character resembles the work Of
this author is the little collection of Mexi-
can tales which are the work OF Thomas
4. Janvier. Mr.. Janviers SRaniards and
Spanish -Niexicans are rather Ike those
of THE Fourth Estate"
There are hundreds Of fine points in this
novel, which one may discover by reading
IL more than once, for on the first read
ing the interest of the story is enough.
One Of its exquisite strokes Of Iatter-day
irony is 20 be found in the fact that Don
Rosendo de Belinchon himself cOd-mer-
chant and celebrated man Of Sarrio. start
ed the newspaper which eventually
caused, or helped TO bring about. dire
disaster 70 his family. The description
Of the public meeting at which the estab-
lishment Of the paper was discussed is
one Of the best examples Of unaduIterated
fun In the whole book. Another piece Of
subtle comicaIty is the description Of the
purchase Of the printing press. Like some
OF his larger contemporaries. Don Ros-
endo de Belnchon had the idea that the
mere fact Of having newspaper was go
ing TO be Of immense benefit 10 Sarrio
and he was so enraptured with the notion
that he actually grew sentimental over
the material means Of il. as follows:
Here he said, is lying IN idIeness
the most influential instrument of hui
man progress, ana this not from any
Iaut Of the owner, but through The
desertiOn Of mankind How much in
formation, how much spiritual food
might II not have produced during
these barren dumb years. Whilst bar
barism and ignorance are rampant fn
the greater part Of our country. that
printing apparatus. the only agent of
fUelF dispersion. stands uqgf{onlree for