The Washington times., 1902-03-16

er's interest is held unswerving from
that point to the very end. The human,
ethical, and sociological interests are very
nearly equal, but as should be in a novel.
the human interest predominates. When
all is said, it is Odo who is the hero, and
which one remembers, and not the politi
cal movements in which she was con-
cerned; and the proud and spirited duch-
ess stands for herself and not altogether
for an esoteric influence in Odo's life. The
play of human nature, of character upon
character, is wonderful in its simplicity,
naturalness, and what may be called in
evitable sequence. There is not one scene
or character in the whole book that is
dragged in for the sake of theatrical eff
feet. The proportion is perfect.
One of the striking qualities of the
novel Is already familiar to readers of
Mrs. Wharton's books-the epigrammatic,
or rather the artistic quality. Her SEN
tences are too graceful and finished to be
called epigrams, but all the same she is
past mistress of the art of putting things.
The second volume especially is full of
remarkable passages of one sort or an
other. Some of them cannot be disso-
ciated from the context, but here is a
summing up of the influence of the Church
upon the Italian peasant:
ITO men of Odo's stamp the piety of
the masses was a mere superficial growth.
kind Of mental mold to be dried off
by the first beams of knowledge. He did
not conceive 1t as a habit of thought so
old that 1t had become instructive, SO
closely intertwined with every sense that
to hope to eradicate 1t was like trying
to drain all the blood from a mans body
without killing him. He knew nothing
patient as natural force, which, to
reach spirits darkened by ignorance and |
eyes dulled by toll, had stopped to a
thousand DISCUSSES, humble, tender and |
grotesque, peopling the earth with a new |
race Of avenging or protecting deities, |
guarding the babe in the cradle and the |
cattle in the stalls, blessing the good |
mans vineyard, or blighting the crops of
the blasphemer, guiding the lonely travel |
the sea and hushing the whirlwind, pray
ing with the mother over her sick child,
and watching beside the dead in plague
house and lazaret and galley-entering
into every joy and grief Of the obscurest
consciousness, penetrating to depths of
misery which no human compassion ever
reached, and redressing by a prompt and
summary justice wrongs of which no hu-
man legislation took account"
Another remarkable passage Is the re-
ply of Fulvia in the crucial scene of re-
when, hearing that he is to
be regent of the duchy Of Pianura, Odo
declares himself ready to give up place
and power and follow her into exile.
again the brightness shone in Fulvia's
face How you love met she said, as he
and went on restraining bim
with a gesture of the gentlest dignity:
For it is love that speaks thus in you,
and not reason, and you know as l do that
The duty to which a man is born comes
before any of his own choosing. You are
,alled to serve liberty on a throne, l in
some obscure corner of the private life.
We can no more exchange our duties than
our stations; but if our lives divide, our
purpose remains one. and as pious per-
sons recall each other in the mystery of
he Sacrament. so we shall meet in spirit
N the new religion we'profess.'
Such renunciation. in such a spirit of
high courage, would be possible only to
IN Italian girl, who. while educated in
lew liberty, was still dominated by the
tradition of accepting things as they
ire, still unable to think of taking the
straight path of love, irrespective of all '
,ther considerations. This is the turning
,oint of Odos life. He accepts her de- {
ision, and goes to realize her ideals as '
ompanionship it is in a way which robs
t of all the sweetness which life with her | !
n exile might have had. At the end of !
he book one is left wondering whether :
II the crookedness, perplexity, and dis I
ster OF ''the valley of decision''-or in I
ecision-came not from that first turn
ng which upset all the other plans of :,
he fates. and made true, whole hearted ,
elations impossible 10 Odo. 1t is Won s
eIIuiiy SuDlle, anu yet StTOHS story, eS-
entially human, without being dramatic.
t reaches down TO the core of human
ature. as well as the beginnings of So
ial forces. 1t is not the least of Mrs.
triumph that together with the .
rilliant effectiveness of her style she
as created characters so perfect as to
ominate, and almost render unnoticed a
erfection of style which, in weaker I
ovel, would impress itself as the promi {
ent feature of the book. New York: l
'harles Scribner's Sons. S2.) 9