New-York tribune., 1910-07-30
9rec Meredith's PoSthumous
Fragment of a Novel.

sens
ONCE ABOARD THE .UGtIER The his
f atel9iSs5ll. =: ISS: On W isr11o, Pr, 81 Mi;ehe;
Eersaerley.
TEE UrTE9MosT FARTHING. BY Mrs
Belize TowIiGes limo, pp 27s- Mitchell
&enneriey,
"Celt saa Saxon the novel left unfin-
isbed by George Meredith. appears with
no predatory indications as &c the cir
ca.nstarces OF its origin. and all that we
haze learned about it elsewhere is that
s. was written Z long time ago. The
nineteen chapters of which the fragUen;
is composed 90 not carry The author
YER fa-, another cause OF oubiety as to
1ust wI1a- Meredith's Intentions were
when he sought 20 deal in fiction with
the Irish question We are not even
sure that that Question vac TO haYe
tee!. his theme. For one thing. ii was
rot his way TO turn novel into q tract
We have seen English illusions TO this
book describing il as 6 political novel,
but warrant Cor that designation must
be traceabIs 10 some source outside
these pages themselves. Though they
smack os political specuia ton, and even
hint that The plot = further unfolded,
might have lee into the arena Of public
affairs the fragment es II STANDS HI
Jartiauy assigns interest TO two other
notives-to love story and TO romantic
adventure Of the "Zenda" sort in an oo-
sc71re Continental principality. To note
that none OF the three themes is devei-
oped beyond TIE preliminary stage is TO
expose Clearly enough the fact that
hon
In "Ceit aud Saxon" with just the nlmole
play OF their authors mind around a few
bits Of structural timber that might have
soas &c the making Of substantial
fabric.
We have spoken Of The absence of
precise date 70 which the piece could be
attributed On the other hand, no mat
ter what the year. ol years. or Its COM
position may have been, II scarcely
seems probable that "Celt and Saxon
was conceived IN happy moment, under
one OF those rich and inperious inspira-
r;ons which drove Meredith TO give us
Of his best. The familiar mental agility
is here. but not under the control OF a
strong and luminous purpose one
fencies that the author wrote with no
very clear idea Of 8 dramatic scheme III
his head, but out of an interest in Ger
-eir tvpss. whose traits he possibly De-
.lteved would compel his story to take q
more or less definite form Thus, IN SO
far ss the book appeals al all, II does so
through its strokes Of portralture, o.
through those passages Of broad analysis
into which Meredith delighted 10 pour
his genius for Characterization Here
for example, is one of the best things In
The book, q sketch OF the typical Welsh
woman. It is from the point Of view OF
Mr.. Adister, a high bred, stately Eng
lishrpan that the summary is supposed
10 be framed:
It appeared TO he written that the Welsh;
1sarticularIy WelShwomen. We're des.lIleu
10 Norry him up 20 the end OF ms uds 49, "a
Their women were composition or vino
ana IRE They bad no reason, neti11t6 iehpla6
allied TO them had learn that they were
dealing with broomstick witches and iFIe-
sponsibIo sprites IrishwoInen were n1oQeIS
II rarourieIy beside fhen-indeec, irish
4-,7s-I;-f, .sieTcrbood Mr. AdiSteT Gisclaimed
-ne a sTr7l,riq1l ladies as Il kind Of daughters
rr the Fata MoTEana. only half human, aila
deceptive dowp 70 treachery unless you
lad them. i2T by their spinning fancy
They caiied sfbeing romantic. II was tle
.iu1ecbe7lbe~ of madness. Mad was the
word them Oh DltdseI Lt4tltl SyN
knew not how. and Just as little cid you
know how YOU disple3Sed them. And you
were long hence TO be taught thaI N d
certain past year, and a certain lnoilII,
and Cn a certain day OF the month, not
forgetting the hour of the day 10 the
minute OF the hour, and attendant c1rcunl-
+.ocse 10 etre-,- loud witness TO 1t. You
lad rrlortally 7Ifended them And you re-
ceived your blow-you are sure 70 gel II
the one passion o1 those women Is Tor
-1enEesnce Ttey taste a wound from the
1Ightest touch. and they nurse the Venom
for you. Possibly you may IN thelr pie p,3
ence have had occasion 10 praise the mill
rarv virtues Of the builder Of CarnarVon
Castle You are by-and-by II ICED ier II
- hard as they can thrust. g you nave
Incidentally compared Welsh mutton with
Southdown-ycu have not highly esteemed
their drunken bards-you AVE asked what
he uels1 have done in the world; you are
supposed to have sighted come perscn OF
rneir family tenth cousin .-ehI 3lai tfitlS
r9Irns their blood. Or you have once looked
straight at them without speaking. ana you
ciscover years after that they have chosen
10 tost on You mgr l9ea OF ~, soV[ to o,I,,d1
ing presumption TO account ftliS rllSreaClIls
Of your lock TO tbe extent OF a fuH justin
ce ton, nothing short OF righteous Tor thelr
+reacher- and your punishment Q, those
WelShWornen.
Perhaps it ought to be added, by the
WAY that the more engaging qualities
Of those welshwomen' are enumerated
o. another page with as fervid touch,
hut questions Of balance do not, indeed,
take on any seriousness of aspect-the
book is too incomplete for that Adiante
Adister's rejection Of Philip O'Donnel.
her marriage to man whom we do not
really know whether to regard as
blackguard or not. and her plans for the
placing Of her husband on a throne, are
I'll threads OF interest; but they lead no
where. and toward the doings of the
heroine, as toward all the other figures
introduced, one cannot but remain more
or less Indifferent caring only, az we
have said above, for the Meredlthlan
talk. the Neredithian envelope. We can
hear him asking the opinion OF some
TREND to whom he had lent the manu-
SCRIPT, and We can hear the reply
/ granted an honest candor n the friend
It's very promising. The flashes OF
Characterization ara sometimes of the
centre and some OF your notions about
the Irish are amazingly suggestive. Bur
wonder If you are really in the vein.
What about ao!ante" / wish knew
her better and what YOU ar going to do
uith her. But Dc you knox YOURSELF
May-hap VIC snail never learn whether
Meredith Knew or not, but. judging
merely frcnl internal evidence. as the
.-.--s,,., CO.'S -. inclined ,-,r,-