New-York tribune., 1906-10-20

/ THE WORKS OF MRS. GAShE1-L; hnutsIor9
Biographical INTRODUCTION and Critical intro
duction by DR.. A. w. Ward G. P. Putnam's
Sons.
A new generation OF readers knowing little Of
Elizabeth Gaskells work outside Of Crawford"
may, with reason, welcome this carefully pre-
pared edition Of her novels. Crawford" is
little classic and several Of her other books de-
serve in respect to their expcation of character
and their pure and tender humanity. long life
They furnish noteworthy contribution to the
worlds store of benehcent sentiment. II we
cannot accept DIR. Wards overenthusiastic es-
| innate of Mrs Gaskelrs ability we may concede
to her the possession of admirable gifts. She
was not in the first rank with the great figures
of her time but she keeps her place just be-
hind them as lowered with excellent tai
ents, used with conscientious care, with refine
ment with humor and with womanly soft
heartedness.
Of the eight volumes of the new edition, the
first two, Mary Barton" and Crawford" are at
hand. Dr. Wards DISQUALIFICATION is largely
a eulogy-offers pleasant portrait of a good
woman, happy and beloved abroad well at
home The introduction to Mary Barton" gives
some interesting details concerning the produc-
ton and the effect of that novel. In plot con-
ventional and obvious enough. the book derived
its strength from its pictures of suffering among
the factory operatives of an English town in the
4O's of the last century How it TO be
written We may learn from a passage in letter
the uncompleted draft of which was found
among the authors papers. AZ can ~emember
that the prevailing thought in my mind at the
time when the tale silently forming itself
and impressing me with the force of a reality
was the seeming injustice of the inequalities of
fortune Now, if they occasionally appeared un-
just TO the more fortunate, they must bewilder
MT fII1I Cf r1da
and full also of sympathy for suffering which
appealed to him through his senses" 1t was a
ira gic period in industrial England, and it is no
wonder that the book created excitement
which its intrinsic merits, perhaps hardly justi-
fed. Miss Edgeworth put her finger on one
fault in the story when, acknowledging its
truthfuness, she complained that its effect was
to discourage and to catigue-there were in It
too many dying people and too many deathbeds
Something of the humor which afterward ap-
peared in Crawford" would have MAIDS it q
better story in giving the light needed in con-
trast to its dramatic shadows
Delightful "CranforI" That is. no doubt
Mrs. Gaskells' masterpiece. We know that il is
in some measure, true 10 a particular locality
and that some Of its characters actually lived
The place was in reality Knutsford where little
Elizabeth Stevenson spent her childhood with an
aunt her anetl>e- A2-tas SEQ rn-n she was a,,
infant and her father having married again
And then, again. about Crawford" she once
wrote 10 Ruskin:
am so much pleased you like 1t 1t IS N.
only one of my own books that can read again?
but sometimes when l ailing or nj I faEs.
'Cranford and, going TO say, enjoy II n1 CbmI
that would be prettyl. laugh over il afreSh
And it is true too for have seen the cow t6afi ti
wore the gray flannel tacket-and l know the 'st -
that swallowed the lace that belonged 10 the sy
that sent for the doctor that gave the az
SO glad your mother likes II, too. will tell bar t
hi OF Crawford that did dare TO put in he
cause I thought people would say IL was ridicuioUS
and vet which really happened in Knutsford Twc;
good old ladies. friends Of mice IN my girIhood had
a niece Who made grand marriages. grand
marriages weat in those days. The bride ana
bridegroom 10 stay with the two Aunts
who had bought a new dining room carpet as a sort
of wedding welcome TO the young people. but l an,
afraid II was rather lost upon them; for the frst
time thev found II out was after dinner, the dav
after they came. All dinner time they had noticed
that the neat maidservan- mad performed a sort OF
pas basque hopping and strding with more grace
had left the room one lady said to the other: sis
shes managed very nicely" And then they began
10 explain that she a fresh servant and they
had just laid down a ne| carpet with white spots
girl TO vault or jump gracefully these white
places. lest her feet might dirty themi The he
ginning of Crawford" was paper in House