The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-22
SHOULD SECRET ORCHARDS
CONE TO BAD ENDS?

Orchard" which n few seasons back was
what X. r. Whiting would call ore OF the
six best smellers.
Ives, the dramatic reviewer OF The sur
has gone and read the novel. his interest
awakened by Mr.. Pollock's play! He ia
sorry now that he did not read it before
seeing the play. for nature abhors an anti
climax
Mr.. Meredith. indeed, is 80 impressed
with the greatness of the combat that he
breaks into verse about int verse that
Ca almost be read in the originalh In His
poem called "A Preaching From a Spanish
Ballad" he remarks:
Never nature cherished woman:
She throughout the sexes war
Serves as temptress ana betraycr.
Eavorlng man. the muscular.
And when the Spanish lady's rowing
husband comes home to surprise her with
N lover. to whom she has boosted that she
IS mo helpless woman" hut a free agent
Hike Md0dG. she covers before hin
Round his head the ancient terrors.
Coniured OF the strOnger's law,
I Circle. TO aoash the creature
Daring twist beneath his paw.
How though e.hath squandered Honouri
High of honour let him scold:
Gliding OF the mans possession
It's the wOman's coin Of gold.
Well, perhapsi But woman will never
be raised to the rareied atmosphere OF
masculine civilization by keeping 1t so.
That was the way they did things bac
In the Middle Ages, when mankind had
Preached about that stage OF development
now represented by popular fiction and
drama. In the book which the Chevalier
sGeoffroy de La Tou Landry made for the
N"techinR OF hisdoughters" in 1871 are many
Skayr examples" of how the ErrinR Sister
was regarded by protesting Christians
in those days of chivalry and cathedrals.
Caxton made a translation of the book,
and he was he first to put il into print.
In 1854. Here is n typical passage which
must nave edited the little daughters Of
the Knight of the Tower very much and
taught them sweet charity. Out Of our
great reverence for Prof Brander Matth-
ews we shall reproduce Cations spelling.
The chapter is headed, How before his
TYNE men punysshed them tina were diff
famed" The good knight seems a little
wroth that Erring Sisters are no longer
treated so badly as once they were in
France. He signs for the good old days
prior to 1871!
"And yet. he says. II ne knowe but fewe
Reames this day, savf the Reame of
Fraunce and of Englond, and in the lowe or
basse Almayne, but tina men doc justyse
OF them when the trouthe and Certaynte
Of the q may be openly knOwen, that
IL to wete. in Romoyne. in Spayne. in Ara
gon, and in many other Reames. In somme
places men Kytte of THERE throtes. and
in somme they he heded before the peple.
And in other places they be mewred or
put bytwene two wales. And therfor
this Example is good and prouffytable to
every good woman"
Alack. there was one form OF torture
unknown to thisk kindly old flower Of French
chivalryi Horrible as it is to be @mewred,"
or put between two walls, il il worse TO be
put between two covers. two castle walls, as
it we're. There the poor wronged damsel is
not only heaped with scorn and dismissed
without charity but she is absolutely mum
dated bya sea Of rhetoric. drowned in a well
ter OF hifalutin bombast. Our first impression
after reading the book was one Of utter
bewilderment hat such a work could ever
have found a publisher or a public. We
spoke Of this to the very literary critic. and
he said: -Humph; you had oughter read
Three Weeks" Our next impression was
one OF admiration for Claiming Pollock.
who. while using 80 much Of the language OF
the book, has contrived by boiling each
I speech down rs per cent. TO make it sound
like human utterance and who has ac-
complished the more Herculean task. Will
using the characters and episodes Of the
book. of endOwing them with some qualities
; OF interest and some show of reality. We
shall never forgive Mr.. Pollock, il he did
IL Of his own ~volition, for selecting such
= 1911 a. 1nous. n.k -
Grammatical 1t. we take OF our hat to his
accomplishment.
, A third impression there was after read
sing the novel Cbesides. OF course. drowsi-
ness)-a renewed conviction that Of all the
Giants Of criticism hone il less worthy of
eattention and respect than the shudder of
horror at the happy ending" The happy
! ending TO q story that begins unpleasant is
generally supposed to be -inartistio" and
Biological As a matter Of fact. in at least
t1tfty cases out OF a hundred IL IL nothing
E3of the kind. THE wages Of sin Is death?"
mot at all. Nothing is more certain than
chat sin often commands very good wages.
And the scarlet woman isn't the only sinner
: on whom a lot Of pity ia wasted. It Is the
glaring plainness Of this fact which makes
the task Of the moralist so hard. But. far
mOTt tLuhu bhAhs WHAT udheS Bne average
tragic ending in reality illogical and in
artistic because u%ntrue) is the vast diff
ference'in time between popular literature
and life; the morals and motives Of such
fiction are tho morals and motives Of the
Middle Ages. or Of the Cave men. The
life Of most Of us-or. at least. Of many OF
Viz. is lived in the present generation. 10
r. entirely 10 Mr.. POllock's credit that he
discovered this feet.
For The Secret Orchard" ia IN excellent
case in point. Its morals and motives are
or'the Middle Ages if they ever existed
~ time or space' even Of the caves. When
Lieut.. George DOdd Of the q. \. ". who
represented manly strength and Anglo
Saxon resolution and a smooth face AMI
everything dear to the sweet girl readers
of the Castle brand Of Gction, fell mndly
anu devOtedly in love with little IOy. il was
u pleasant thing and in every way Credita-
ble 'o tHe young gentleman. Bat when.
on discovering that his sweetheart. whom
he loved with ali the devotion OF his great.