Sneer, I am only
apprehensive
that the
incidents are too crowded.
incidents are too crowded.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v21 to v25 - Rab to Tur
13353 (#159) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13353
Charles-Well, take that couple for the same.
Moses 'Tis a good bargain.
-
Charles-Careless! - This now is a grandfather of my moth-
er's; a learned judge, well known on the western circuit. What
do you rate him at, Moses?
Moses-Four guineas.
Charles-Four guineas!
―――――
Gad's life, you don't bid me the
price of his wig.
Mr. Premium, you have more respect for the
woolsack: do let us knock his Lordship down at fifteen.
Sir Oliver
By all means.
Careless-Gone!
Charles-And there are two brothers of his, William and
Walter Blunt, Esquires, both members of Parliament, and noted
speakers; and what's very extraordinary, I believe this is the
first time they were ever bought or sold.
Sir Oliver-That is very extraordinary, indeed! I'll take
them at your own price, for the honor of Parliament.
Careless-Well said, little Premium! I'll knock them down
at forty.
Charles-Here's a jolly fellow-I don't know what relation,
but he was mayor of Norwich: take him at eight pounds.
Sir Oliver - No, no: six will do for the mayor.
-
Charles-Come, make it guineas, and I'll throw you the two
aldermen there into the bargain.
Sir Oliver-They're mine.
Charles-Careless, knock down the mayor and aldermen. But
plague on't! we shall be all day retailing in this manner: do let
us deal wholesale; what say you, little Premium? Give me three
hundred pounds for the rest of the family in the lump.
Careless-Ay, ay: that will be the best way.
Sir Oliver-Well, well,-anything to accommodate you: they
are mine. But there is one portrait which you have always
passed over.
Careless-What, that ill-looking little fellow over the set-
tee?
Sir Oliver - Yes, sir, I mean that; though I don't think him
so ill-looking a little fellow, by any means.
Charles-What, that? Oh, that's my Uncle Oliver! 'Twas
done before he went to India.
Careless-Your Uncle Oliver! Gad, then you'll never be
friends, Charles. That now, to me, is as stern a looking rogue
as ever I saw; an unforgiving eye, and a damned disinheriting
## p. 13354 (#160) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13354
countenance! an inveterate knave, depend on't.
so, little Premium ?
Don't you think
Sir Oliver-Upon my soul, sir, I do not: I think it is as
honest a looking face as any in the room, dead or alive. But I
suppose Uncle Oliver goes with the rest of the lumber?
Charles-No, hang it! I'll not part with poor Noll. The old
fellow has been very good to me, and egad, I'll keep his picture
while I've a room to put it in.
Sir Oliver [aside]-The rogue's my nephew after all! -
[Aloud. ] But, sir, I have somehow taken a fancy to that pict-
ure.
Charles-I'm sorry for't, for you certainly will not have it.
Oons! haven't you got enough of them?
Sir Oliver [aside]-I forgive him everything! [Aloud. ] But,
sir, when I take a whim in my head, I don't value money. I'll
give you as much for that as for all the rest.
Charles-Don't tease me, master broker: I tell you I'll not
part with it, and there's an end of it.
Sir Oliver [aside]-How like his father the dog is! [Aloud. ]
Well, well, I have done. [Aside. ] I did not perceive it before,
but I think I never saw such a striking resemblance. [Aloud. ]
Here is a draught for your sum.
Charles-Why, 'tis for eight hundred pounds!
Sir Oliver-You will not let Sir Oliver go?
Charles-Zounds! no, I tell you, once more.
Sir Oliver-Then never mind the difference: we'll balance
that another time. But give me your hand on the bargain; you
are an honest fellow, Charles-I beg pardon, sir, for being so
free. Come, Moses.
Charles-Egad, this is a whimsical old fellow! -But hark'ee,
Premium, you'll prepare lodgings for these gentlemen.
Sir Oliver - Yes, yes; I'll send for them in a day or two.
Charles-But hold,-do now send a genteel conveyance for
them; for I assure you they were most of them used to ride in
their own carriages.
Sir Oliver-I will, I will-for all but Oliver.
Charles-Ay, all but the little nabob.
Sir Oliver - You're fixed on that?
-
Charles Peremptorily.
Sir Oliver [aside] - A dear extravagant rogue! [Aloud. ]
[Aside. ] Let me hear now
who
Good-day! Come, Moses.
dares call him a profligate!
[Exit with Moses.
-
―
## p. 13355 (#161) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13355
Careless-Why, this is the oddest genius of the sort I ever
met with.
Charles- Egad, he's the prince of brokers, I think. I wonder
how the devil Moses got acquainted with so honest a fellow. -
Ha! here's Rowley. -Do, Careless, say I'll join the company in a
few moments.
Careless-I will-but don't let that old blockhead persuade
you to squander any of that money on old musty debts, or any
such nonsense; for tradesmen, Charles, are the most exorbitant
fellows.
Charles - Very true; and paying them is only encouraging
them.
Careless-Nothing else.
Charles-Ay, ay, never fear. [Exit Careless. ] So! this was
an odd old fellow, indeed. Let me see: two-thirds of these five
hundred and thirty odd pounds are mine by right. 'Fore heaven!
I find one's ancestors are more valuable relations than I took
them for! - Ladies and gentlemen, your most obedient and very
grateful servant.
[Bows ceremoniously to the pictures.
THE PLEASURES OF FRIENDLY CRITICISM
From The Critic'
Scene: The lodgings of Mr. and Mrs. Dangle. Enter Servant.
- Sir Fretful Plagiary, sir.
SERVA Dangle-Beg him to walk up. [Exit Servant. ] Now,
Mrs. Dangle, Sir Fretful Plagiary is an author to your own
taste.
Mrs. Dangle-I confess he is a favorite of mine, because
everybody else abuses him.
Sneer- Very much to the credit of your charity, madam, if
not of your judgment.
Dangle - But, egad, he allows no merit to any author but
himself; that's the truth on't-though he's my friend.
Sneer - Never! He is as envious as an old maid verging on
the desperation of six-and-thirty.
Dangle-Very true, egad- though he's my friend.
Sneer-Then his affected contempt of all newspaper strict-
ures; though at the same time he is the sorest man alive, and
## p. 13356 (#162) ##########################################
13356
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
shrinks like scorched parchment from the fiery ordeal of true crit-
icism.
Dangle-There's no denying it-though he is my friend.
Sneer-You have read the tragedy he has just finished, have-
n't you?
Dangle-Oh yes: he sent it to me yesterday.
Sneer-Well, and you think it execrable, don't you?
Dangle-Why, between ourselves, egad, I must own-though
he's my friend- that it is one of the most- [Aside. ] He's
here. [Aloud]-finished and most admirable perform —
Sir Fretful [without]—Mr. Sneer with him, did you say?
-
Dangle-Ah, my dear friend! Egad, we were just speaking
of your tragedy. Admirable, Sir Fretful, admirable!
Sneer-You never did anything beyond it, Sir Fretful,-never
in your life.
Sir Fretful-You make me extremely happy; for without a
compliment, my dear Sneer, there isn't a man in the world whose
judgment I value as I do yours—and Mr. Dangle's.
Mrs. Dangle - They are only laughing at you, Sir Fretful; for
it was but just now that-
Dangle Mrs. Dangle! Ah, Sir Fretful, you know Mrs. Dan-
gle. My friend Sneer was rallying just now - he knows how she
admires you, and
Sir Fretful-O Lord, I am sure Mr. Sneer has more taste
and sincerity than to [Aside. ] A damned double-faced fel-
low!
Enter Sir Fretful
—
Dangle-Yes, yes, Sneer will jest-but a better-humored-
Sir Fretful-Oh, I know-
Dangle-He has a ready turn for ridicule; his wit costs him.
-
—
nothing.
Sir Fretful [aside] - No, egad—or I should wonder how he
came by it.
Dangle-But, Sir Fretful, have you sent your play to the
managers yet? or can I be of any service to you?
Sir Fretful-No, no, I thank you: I sent it to the manager
of Covent Garden Theatre this morning.
Sneer I should have thought, now, that it might have been
cast (as the actors call it) better at Drury Lane.
## p. 13357 (#163) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13357
Sir Fretful-O Lud! no- never send a play there while I
Hark'ee!
live-
[Whispers to Sneer.
――――
Sneer-"Writes himself! " I know he does.
Sir Fretful-I say nothing-I take away from no man's
meritam hurt at no man's good fortune; I say nothing. But
this I will say,- Through all my knowledge of life, I have
observed that there is not a passion so strongly rooted in the
human heart as envy!
Sneer - I believe you have reason for what you say, indeed.
Sir Fretful-Besides, I can tell you it is not always so safe
to leave a play in the hands of those who write themselves.
Sneer-What! they may steal from them, hey, my dear Pla-
giary?
Sir Fretful-Steal! To be sure they may; and egad, serve
your best thoughts as gipsies do stolen children,—disfigure them
to make 'em pass for their own.
Sneer-But your present work is a sacrifice to Melpomene;
and he, you know, never —
Sir Fretful-That's no security. A dexterous plagiarist may
do anything. Why, sir, for aught I know, he might take out
some of the best things in my tragedy, and put them into his
own comedy.
Sneer-That might be done, I dare be sworn.
Sir Fretful-And then, if such a person gives you the least.
hint or assistance, he is devilish apt to take the merit of the
whole-
—
Dangle-If it succeeds.
Sir Fretful-Ay-but with regard to this piece, I think I
can hit that gentleman, for I can safely swear he never read it.
Sneer I'll tell you how you may hurt him more.
Sir Fretful-How?
Sneer
Swear he wrote it.
---
to me.
-
Sir Fretful-Plague on't now, Sneer, I shall take it ill. I
believe you want to take away my character as an author!
Sneer-Then I am sure you ought to be very much obliged
Sir Fretful- Hey! Sir!
Dangle-Oh, you know he never means what he says.
Sir Fretful-Sincerely, then,—you do like the piece?
Sneer-Wonderfully!
## p. 13358 (#164) ##########################################
13358
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Sir Fretful-But come now, there must be something that
you think might be mended, hey? — Mr. Dangle, has nothing
struck you?
Dangle-Why, faith, it is but an ungracious thing, for the
most part, to —
Sir Fretful-With most authors it is just so, indeed: they
are in general strangely tenacious! But for my part, I am never
so well pleased as when a judicious critic points out any defect
to me; for what is the purpose of showing a work to a friend, if
you don't mean to profit by his opinion?
Sneer - Very true. Why then, though I seriously admire the
piece upon the whole, yet there is one small objection; which, if
you'll give me leave, I'll mention.
Sir Fretful-Sir, you can't oblige me more.
Sneer - I think it wants incident.
Sir Fretful-Good God! -you surprise me! - wants incident!
Sneer Yes: I own I think the incidents are too few.
Sir Fretful-Good God! - Believe me, Mr. Sneer, there is no
person for whose judgment I have a more implicit deference.
But I protest to you, Mr.
Sneer, I am only apprehensive that the
incidents are too crowded. My dear Dangle, how does it strike
you?
―
Dangle-Really, I can't agree with my friend Sneer. I think
the plot quite sufficient; and the four first acts by many degrees
the best I ever read or saw in my life. If I might venture to
suggest anything, it is that the interest rather falls off in the
fifth.
Sir Fretful-Rises, I believe you mean, sir.
Dangle-No, I don't, upon my word.
Sir Fretful-Yes, yes, you do, upon my soul: it certainly
don't fall off, I assure you. No, no, it don't fall off.
Dangle-Now, Mrs. Dangle, didn't you say it struck you in
the same light?
Mrs. Dangle-No, indeed I did not. I did not see a fault in
any part of the play from the beginning to the end.
Sir Fretful [crossing to Mrs. Dangle] - Upon my soul, the
women are the best judges after all!
Mrs. Dangle-Or if I made any objection, I am sure it was
to nothing in the piece! but that I was afraid it was, on the
whole, a little too long.
## p. 13359 (#165) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13359
Sir Fretful-Pray, madam, do you speak as to duration of
time; or do you mean that the story is tediously spun out?
Mrs. Dangle-O Lud! no. I speak only with reference to
the usual length of acting plays.
Sir Fretful-Then I am very happy-very happy indeed;
because the play is a short play-a remarkably short play. I
should not venture to differ with a lady on a point of taste; but
on these occasions, the watch, you know, is the critic.
Mrs. Dangle-Then I suppose it must have been Mr. Dangle's
drawling manner of reading it to me.
Sir Fretful-Oh, if Mr. Dangle read it, that's quite another
But I assure you, Mrs. Dangle, the first evening you can
spare me three hours and a half, I'll undertake to read you the
whole from beginning to end, with the Prologue and Epilogue,
and allow time for the music between the acts.
Mrs. Dangle-I hope to see it on the stage next. [Exit.
Dangle - Well, Sir Fretful, I wish you may be able to get
rid as easily of the newspaper criticisms as you do of ours.
―――
------
Sir Fretful-The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villain-
ous - licentious—abominable — infernal · Not that I ever read
them! no! I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.
Dangle- You are quite right; for it certainly must hurt an
author of delicate feelings to see the liberties they take.
Sir Fretful-No! quite the contrary: their abuse is in fact
the best panegyric. I like it of all things. An author's reputa-
tion is only in danger from their support.
Sneer - Why, that's true; and that attack now on you the
other day-
-
Sir Fretful-What? where?
Dangle-Ay, you mean in a paper of Thursday: it was com-
pletely ill-natured, to be sure.
Sir Fretful-Oh, so much the better. Ha ha ha! I
wouldn't have it otherwise.
Dangle-Certainly, it is only to be laughed at; for-
Sir Fretful-You don't happen to recollect what the fellow
said, do you?
Sneer - Pray, Dangle-Sir Fretful seems a little anxious—
Sir Fretful-O Lud, no! -anxious? — not I not the least.
I But one may as well hear, you know.
Dangle - Sneer, do you recollect? [Aside. ] Make out some
thing.
―
## p. 13360 (#166) ##########################################
13360
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Sneer [aside, to Dangle]—I will. [Aloud. ] Yes, yes, I remem-
ber perfectly.
Sir Fretful-Well, and pray now-not that it signifies - what
might the gentleman say?
Sneer- Why, he roundly asserts that you have not the slight-
est invention or original genius whatever; though you are the
greatest traducer of all other authors living.
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha! ha! Very good!
Sneer That as to comedy, you have not one idea of your
own, he believes, even in your commonplace book; where stray
jokes and pilfered witticisms are kept with as much method as
the ledger of the Lost and Stolen Office.
―
――――
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha! ha! Very pleasant!
Sneer-Nay, that you are so unlucky as not to have the skill
even to steal with taste: but that you glean from the refuse of
obscure volumes, where more judicious plagiarists have been
before you; so that the body of your work is a composition of
dregs and sediments, like a bad tavern's worst wine.
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha!
Sneer In your most serious efforts, he says, your bombast
would be less intolerable, if the thoughts were ever suited to the
expression; but the homeliness of the sentiment stares through
the fantastic incumbrance of its fine language, like a clown in
one of the new uniforms!
_______
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha!
Sneer That your occasional tropes and flowers suit the gen-
eral coarseness of your style as tambour sprigs would a ground
of linsey-woolsey; while your imitations of Shakespeare resemble
the mimicry of Falstaff's page, and are about as near the stand-
ard of the original.
Sir Fretful-Ha!
-
Sneer-In short, that even the finest passages you steal are
of no service to you, for the poverty of your own language pre-
vents their assimilating; so that they lie on the surface like
lumps of marl on a barren moor, incumbering what it is not in
their power to fertilize!
Sir Fretful [after great agitation] — Now, another person
would be vexed at this.
Sneer-Oh! but I wouldn't have told you, only to divert you.
Sir Fretful-I know it-I am diverted. Ha! ha! ha! - not
the least invention! Ha! ha! ha! Very good! very good!
## p. 13361 (#167) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13361
Sneer-Yes-no genius! Ha! ha! ha!
Dangle-A severe rogue! Ha! ha! But you are quite right,
Sir Fretful, never to read such nonsense.
Sir Fretful-To be sure,- for if there is anything to one's
praise, it is a foolish vanity to be gratified at it; and if it is
abuse - why, one is always sure to hear of it from one damned
good-natured friend or another!
ROLLA'S ADDRESS TO THE PERUVIAN WARRIORS
From Pizarro›
The scene represents the Temple of the Sun.
and Virgins of the Sun, discovered.
The High Priest, Priests,
A solemn march. Ataliba
and the Peruvian Warriors enter on one side; on the other Rolla,
Alonzo, and Cora with the Child.
TALIBA
Welcome, Alonzo! [To Rolla. ] Kinsman, thy hand!
A™ -[To Cora. ] Blessed be the object of the happy mother's
love.
-
we
Cora- May the sun bless the father of his people!
Ataliba-In the welfare of his children lives the happiness of
their king. Friends, what is the temper of our soldiers?
Rolla Such as becomes the cause which they support; their
cry is, Victory or death! our king, our country, and our God!
Ataliba-Thou, Rolla, in the hour of peril, hast been wont to
animate the spirit of their leaders, ere we proceed to consecrate
the banners which thy valor knows so well how to guard.
――
Rolla Yet never was the hour of peril near, when to inspire
them words were so little needed. My brave associates-partners
of my toil, my feelings, and my fame! -can Rolla's words add
vigor to the virtuous energies which inspire your hearts? No!
You have judged, as I have, the foulness of the crafty plea by
which these bold invaders would delude you.
Your generous
spirit has compared, as mine has, the motives which, in a war
like this, can animate their minds and ours. They, by a strange
frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule:
we, for our country, our altars, and our homes. They follow an
adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate:
serve a monarch whom we love-a God whom we adore.
Whene'er they move in anger, desolation tracks their progress!
XXIII-836
――――――
## p. 13362 (#168) ##########################################
13362
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Whene'er they pause in amity, affliction mourns their friendship.
They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge our
thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error! Yes: they will
give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the
slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. They offer us their protec-
tion; yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs-covering
and devouring them! They call on us to barter all of good we
have inherited and proved, for the desperate chance of something
better which they promise. Be our plain answer this:— The
throne we honor is the people's choice; the laws we reverence
are our brave fathers' legacy; the faith we follow teaches us to
live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of
bliss beyond the grave. Tell your invaders this; and tell them
too, we seek no change; and least of all, such change as they
would bring us.
[Loud shouts of the Peruvian Warriors. ]
Ataliba [embracing Rolla]—Now, holy friends, ever mindful
of these sacred truths, begin the sacrifice.
[A solemn procession commences. The Priests and Virgins arrange
themselves on either side of the altar, which the High Priest approaches,
and the solemnity begins. The invocation of the High Priest is followed by
the choruses of the Priests and Virgins. Fire from above lights upon the
altar. The whole assembly rise, and join in the thanksgiving. ]
Ataliba-Our offering is accepted. Now to arms, my friends;
prepare for battle!
## p. 13363 (#169) ##########################################
13363
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
(1834-)
INETEENTH-CENTURY mysticism is the dominant quality in the
novels of John Henry Shorthouse. The spirit which in-
formed the Tractarian movement, which produced 'The
Blessed Damozel' in poetry and 'Dante's Dream' in painting, pro-
duced in fiction John Inglesant' and 'The Countess Eve. ' It is a
spirit not wholly free from artificiality, because it is alien to the tem-
per of the times; yet it possesses fascination for those who prefer the
twilight passes of the world, leading perchance to the stars, above the
electric-lighted highway leading direct to a
city. It combines sensuousness with spirit-
uality, day-dreams with keen knowledge, the
Christianity of the Divine Comedy' with a
kind of pagan delight in the offerings of
earth.
JOHN H. SHORTHOUSE
'John Inglesant' is the best known of
Mr. Shorthouse's novels: it is also the most
perfect embodiment of this spirit of mysti-
cism in fiction. The hero, whose name gives
the title to the book, is a cavalier in the
court of King Charles the First. There is an
exquisite aroma about his character: he is a
gentleman and a saint, a courtier with the
soul of an anchorite. He adheres with scru-
pulous fidelity to the requirements of his order, yet he is haunted with
visions of the Divine life: he is a mystic and a man of the world. It
is the character of Inglesant which perhaps explains the fascination
of this novel for a certain class of modern readers. The present gen-
eration are pre-eminently children of the world. Science has made
it well-nigh ridiculous for men to do anything but turn to the best
advantage what is here and now. So they nurse their desire of the
impossible in secret; but they love its embodiment in fiction. John
Inglesant is a thoroughly modern creation. His environment of Re-
naissance Italy and Cavalier England is due to the tact of the author,
who perceived that the setting of this century for one who sees vis-
ions would be as incongruous in fiction as it is in actual life. The
Rossettis and the Cardinal Newmans must be placed in long-ago
beautiful years, if they would seem wholly natural.
## p. 13364 (#170) ##########################################
13364
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
It is in John Inglesant that the temper of the author is most fully
expressed; and not of the author only, but of the poets, painters, and
others of his ilk. There is the sensitiveness to the loveliness of
nature; not the Wordsworthian spirit of philosophic detachment from
it, but a kind of sensuous union with it, making it partaker both
with the holy and unholy aspirations of men. When John Inglesant
kneels to receive the sacrament at the church of Little Gidding, he
is conscious of the "misty autumn sunlight and the sweeping autumn
wind," as part of the gracious influence surrounding him. When
he is tempted to ruin himself and another, he sees his evil passion
reflected in nature:-
"He gazed another moment over the illumined forest, which seemed trans-
figured in the moonlight and the stillness into an unreal landscape of the
dead. The poisonous mists crept over the tops of the cork-trees, and flitted
across the long vistas in spectral forms, cowled and shrouded for the grave.
Beneath the gloom, indistinct figures seemed to glide,-the personation of
the miasma that made the place so fatal to human life.
"He turned to enter the room; but even as he turned, a sudden change
came over the scene. The deadly glamour of the moonlight faded suddenly;
a calm, pale solemn light settled over the forest; the distant line of hills shone
out distinct and clear; the evil mystery of the place departed whence it came;
a fresh and cooling breeze sprang up and passed through the rustling wood,
breathing pureness and life. The dayspring was at hand in the Eastern sky. »
In his other novels, Sir Percival,' 'The Countess Eve,' 'Little
Schoolmaster Mark,' 'Blanche, Lady Falaise,' Mr. Shorthouse makes
similar use of nature. It is always the outward and visible sign of
man's inward and spiritual state. There is the same mystical con-
ception of human dwelling-places, as in a sense the houses of the
soul. The beautiful ducal house in Sir Percival,' the Renaissance
palace of the Duke of Umbria in John Inglesant,' is each express-
ive of the temperament of those who have dwelt therein. Archi-
tecture, to the mystic, is perhaps the most significant of all the arts.
Shorthouse makes use of it, as much as of nature, to embody the
mental moods of men. For music and musicians he has keen sym-
pathy. The Countess Eve' is built out of music; the keen, wild
sobbing music of the violin, its tremulous passion, its unutterable
aspiration. The Master of the Violin' is another story of the same
order. Music is constantly heard in 'John Inglesant' and in Sir
Percival. ' Shorthouse understands the value of music as Wagner
understood it,- as all mystics understand it. It is the embodiment
of all the senses; it is the embodiment of the soul.
As might be expected of a novelist who dwells in the half-seen
world, the characters of Mr. Shorthouse are less like human beings
than abstractions. John Inglesant is more of an ideal than of a
## p. 13365 (#171) ##########################################
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
13365
man. Constance in 'Sir Percival' is a Giotto woman,-a pale prayer
only half clothed with humanity. The Countess Eve is delicate and
unreal; and no force of passion can give life to her. Yet to be with
these creations is to be in noble company. The idealism of their
author is inspiring and regenerating. It is all the more so because it
is clothed in very beautiful literary form. The style of 'John Ingle-
sant' is exquisitely fitted to the thought of the book. Its passionate
mysticism, its sense of the Unseen, its obedience to the Vision, make
of it a work which could ill be spared to an age productive of Zola.
Mr.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13353
Charles-Well, take that couple for the same.
Moses 'Tis a good bargain.
-
Charles-Careless! - This now is a grandfather of my moth-
er's; a learned judge, well known on the western circuit. What
do you rate him at, Moses?
Moses-Four guineas.
Charles-Four guineas!
―――――
Gad's life, you don't bid me the
price of his wig.
Mr. Premium, you have more respect for the
woolsack: do let us knock his Lordship down at fifteen.
Sir Oliver
By all means.
Careless-Gone!
Charles-And there are two brothers of his, William and
Walter Blunt, Esquires, both members of Parliament, and noted
speakers; and what's very extraordinary, I believe this is the
first time they were ever bought or sold.
Sir Oliver-That is very extraordinary, indeed! I'll take
them at your own price, for the honor of Parliament.
Careless-Well said, little Premium! I'll knock them down
at forty.
Charles-Here's a jolly fellow-I don't know what relation,
but he was mayor of Norwich: take him at eight pounds.
Sir Oliver - No, no: six will do for the mayor.
-
Charles-Come, make it guineas, and I'll throw you the two
aldermen there into the bargain.
Sir Oliver-They're mine.
Charles-Careless, knock down the mayor and aldermen. But
plague on't! we shall be all day retailing in this manner: do let
us deal wholesale; what say you, little Premium? Give me three
hundred pounds for the rest of the family in the lump.
Careless-Ay, ay: that will be the best way.
Sir Oliver-Well, well,-anything to accommodate you: they
are mine. But there is one portrait which you have always
passed over.
Careless-What, that ill-looking little fellow over the set-
tee?
Sir Oliver - Yes, sir, I mean that; though I don't think him
so ill-looking a little fellow, by any means.
Charles-What, that? Oh, that's my Uncle Oliver! 'Twas
done before he went to India.
Careless-Your Uncle Oliver! Gad, then you'll never be
friends, Charles. That now, to me, is as stern a looking rogue
as ever I saw; an unforgiving eye, and a damned disinheriting
## p. 13354 (#160) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13354
countenance! an inveterate knave, depend on't.
so, little Premium ?
Don't you think
Sir Oliver-Upon my soul, sir, I do not: I think it is as
honest a looking face as any in the room, dead or alive. But I
suppose Uncle Oliver goes with the rest of the lumber?
Charles-No, hang it! I'll not part with poor Noll. The old
fellow has been very good to me, and egad, I'll keep his picture
while I've a room to put it in.
Sir Oliver [aside]-The rogue's my nephew after all! -
[Aloud. ] But, sir, I have somehow taken a fancy to that pict-
ure.
Charles-I'm sorry for't, for you certainly will not have it.
Oons! haven't you got enough of them?
Sir Oliver [aside]-I forgive him everything! [Aloud. ] But,
sir, when I take a whim in my head, I don't value money. I'll
give you as much for that as for all the rest.
Charles-Don't tease me, master broker: I tell you I'll not
part with it, and there's an end of it.
Sir Oliver [aside]-How like his father the dog is! [Aloud. ]
Well, well, I have done. [Aside. ] I did not perceive it before,
but I think I never saw such a striking resemblance. [Aloud. ]
Here is a draught for your sum.
Charles-Why, 'tis for eight hundred pounds!
Sir Oliver-You will not let Sir Oliver go?
Charles-Zounds! no, I tell you, once more.
Sir Oliver-Then never mind the difference: we'll balance
that another time. But give me your hand on the bargain; you
are an honest fellow, Charles-I beg pardon, sir, for being so
free. Come, Moses.
Charles-Egad, this is a whimsical old fellow! -But hark'ee,
Premium, you'll prepare lodgings for these gentlemen.
Sir Oliver - Yes, yes; I'll send for them in a day or two.
Charles-But hold,-do now send a genteel conveyance for
them; for I assure you they were most of them used to ride in
their own carriages.
Sir Oliver-I will, I will-for all but Oliver.
Charles-Ay, all but the little nabob.
Sir Oliver - You're fixed on that?
-
Charles Peremptorily.
Sir Oliver [aside] - A dear extravagant rogue! [Aloud. ]
[Aside. ] Let me hear now
who
Good-day! Come, Moses.
dares call him a profligate!
[Exit with Moses.
-
―
## p. 13355 (#161) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13355
Careless-Why, this is the oddest genius of the sort I ever
met with.
Charles- Egad, he's the prince of brokers, I think. I wonder
how the devil Moses got acquainted with so honest a fellow. -
Ha! here's Rowley. -Do, Careless, say I'll join the company in a
few moments.
Careless-I will-but don't let that old blockhead persuade
you to squander any of that money on old musty debts, or any
such nonsense; for tradesmen, Charles, are the most exorbitant
fellows.
Charles - Very true; and paying them is only encouraging
them.
Careless-Nothing else.
Charles-Ay, ay, never fear. [Exit Careless. ] So! this was
an odd old fellow, indeed. Let me see: two-thirds of these five
hundred and thirty odd pounds are mine by right. 'Fore heaven!
I find one's ancestors are more valuable relations than I took
them for! - Ladies and gentlemen, your most obedient and very
grateful servant.
[Bows ceremoniously to the pictures.
THE PLEASURES OF FRIENDLY CRITICISM
From The Critic'
Scene: The lodgings of Mr. and Mrs. Dangle. Enter Servant.
- Sir Fretful Plagiary, sir.
SERVA Dangle-Beg him to walk up. [Exit Servant. ] Now,
Mrs. Dangle, Sir Fretful Plagiary is an author to your own
taste.
Mrs. Dangle-I confess he is a favorite of mine, because
everybody else abuses him.
Sneer- Very much to the credit of your charity, madam, if
not of your judgment.
Dangle - But, egad, he allows no merit to any author but
himself; that's the truth on't-though he's my friend.
Sneer - Never! He is as envious as an old maid verging on
the desperation of six-and-thirty.
Dangle-Very true, egad- though he's my friend.
Sneer-Then his affected contempt of all newspaper strict-
ures; though at the same time he is the sorest man alive, and
## p. 13356 (#162) ##########################################
13356
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
shrinks like scorched parchment from the fiery ordeal of true crit-
icism.
Dangle-There's no denying it-though he is my friend.
Sneer-You have read the tragedy he has just finished, have-
n't you?
Dangle-Oh yes: he sent it to me yesterday.
Sneer-Well, and you think it execrable, don't you?
Dangle-Why, between ourselves, egad, I must own-though
he's my friend- that it is one of the most- [Aside. ] He's
here. [Aloud]-finished and most admirable perform —
Sir Fretful [without]—Mr. Sneer with him, did you say?
-
Dangle-Ah, my dear friend! Egad, we were just speaking
of your tragedy. Admirable, Sir Fretful, admirable!
Sneer-You never did anything beyond it, Sir Fretful,-never
in your life.
Sir Fretful-You make me extremely happy; for without a
compliment, my dear Sneer, there isn't a man in the world whose
judgment I value as I do yours—and Mr. Dangle's.
Mrs. Dangle - They are only laughing at you, Sir Fretful; for
it was but just now that-
Dangle Mrs. Dangle! Ah, Sir Fretful, you know Mrs. Dan-
gle. My friend Sneer was rallying just now - he knows how she
admires you, and
Sir Fretful-O Lord, I am sure Mr. Sneer has more taste
and sincerity than to [Aside. ] A damned double-faced fel-
low!
Enter Sir Fretful
—
Dangle-Yes, yes, Sneer will jest-but a better-humored-
Sir Fretful-Oh, I know-
Dangle-He has a ready turn for ridicule; his wit costs him.
-
—
nothing.
Sir Fretful [aside] - No, egad—or I should wonder how he
came by it.
Dangle-But, Sir Fretful, have you sent your play to the
managers yet? or can I be of any service to you?
Sir Fretful-No, no, I thank you: I sent it to the manager
of Covent Garden Theatre this morning.
Sneer I should have thought, now, that it might have been
cast (as the actors call it) better at Drury Lane.
## p. 13357 (#163) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13357
Sir Fretful-O Lud! no- never send a play there while I
Hark'ee!
live-
[Whispers to Sneer.
――――
Sneer-"Writes himself! " I know he does.
Sir Fretful-I say nothing-I take away from no man's
meritam hurt at no man's good fortune; I say nothing. But
this I will say,- Through all my knowledge of life, I have
observed that there is not a passion so strongly rooted in the
human heart as envy!
Sneer - I believe you have reason for what you say, indeed.
Sir Fretful-Besides, I can tell you it is not always so safe
to leave a play in the hands of those who write themselves.
Sneer-What! they may steal from them, hey, my dear Pla-
giary?
Sir Fretful-Steal! To be sure they may; and egad, serve
your best thoughts as gipsies do stolen children,—disfigure them
to make 'em pass for their own.
Sneer-But your present work is a sacrifice to Melpomene;
and he, you know, never —
Sir Fretful-That's no security. A dexterous plagiarist may
do anything. Why, sir, for aught I know, he might take out
some of the best things in my tragedy, and put them into his
own comedy.
Sneer-That might be done, I dare be sworn.
Sir Fretful-And then, if such a person gives you the least.
hint or assistance, he is devilish apt to take the merit of the
whole-
—
Dangle-If it succeeds.
Sir Fretful-Ay-but with regard to this piece, I think I
can hit that gentleman, for I can safely swear he never read it.
Sneer I'll tell you how you may hurt him more.
Sir Fretful-How?
Sneer
Swear he wrote it.
---
to me.
-
Sir Fretful-Plague on't now, Sneer, I shall take it ill. I
believe you want to take away my character as an author!
Sneer-Then I am sure you ought to be very much obliged
Sir Fretful- Hey! Sir!
Dangle-Oh, you know he never means what he says.
Sir Fretful-Sincerely, then,—you do like the piece?
Sneer-Wonderfully!
## p. 13358 (#164) ##########################################
13358
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Sir Fretful-But come now, there must be something that
you think might be mended, hey? — Mr. Dangle, has nothing
struck you?
Dangle-Why, faith, it is but an ungracious thing, for the
most part, to —
Sir Fretful-With most authors it is just so, indeed: they
are in general strangely tenacious! But for my part, I am never
so well pleased as when a judicious critic points out any defect
to me; for what is the purpose of showing a work to a friend, if
you don't mean to profit by his opinion?
Sneer - Very true. Why then, though I seriously admire the
piece upon the whole, yet there is one small objection; which, if
you'll give me leave, I'll mention.
Sir Fretful-Sir, you can't oblige me more.
Sneer - I think it wants incident.
Sir Fretful-Good God! -you surprise me! - wants incident!
Sneer Yes: I own I think the incidents are too few.
Sir Fretful-Good God! - Believe me, Mr. Sneer, there is no
person for whose judgment I have a more implicit deference.
But I protest to you, Mr.
Sneer, I am only apprehensive that the
incidents are too crowded. My dear Dangle, how does it strike
you?
―
Dangle-Really, I can't agree with my friend Sneer. I think
the plot quite sufficient; and the four first acts by many degrees
the best I ever read or saw in my life. If I might venture to
suggest anything, it is that the interest rather falls off in the
fifth.
Sir Fretful-Rises, I believe you mean, sir.
Dangle-No, I don't, upon my word.
Sir Fretful-Yes, yes, you do, upon my soul: it certainly
don't fall off, I assure you. No, no, it don't fall off.
Dangle-Now, Mrs. Dangle, didn't you say it struck you in
the same light?
Mrs. Dangle-No, indeed I did not. I did not see a fault in
any part of the play from the beginning to the end.
Sir Fretful [crossing to Mrs. Dangle] - Upon my soul, the
women are the best judges after all!
Mrs. Dangle-Or if I made any objection, I am sure it was
to nothing in the piece! but that I was afraid it was, on the
whole, a little too long.
## p. 13359 (#165) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13359
Sir Fretful-Pray, madam, do you speak as to duration of
time; or do you mean that the story is tediously spun out?
Mrs. Dangle-O Lud! no. I speak only with reference to
the usual length of acting plays.
Sir Fretful-Then I am very happy-very happy indeed;
because the play is a short play-a remarkably short play. I
should not venture to differ with a lady on a point of taste; but
on these occasions, the watch, you know, is the critic.
Mrs. Dangle-Then I suppose it must have been Mr. Dangle's
drawling manner of reading it to me.
Sir Fretful-Oh, if Mr. Dangle read it, that's quite another
But I assure you, Mrs. Dangle, the first evening you can
spare me three hours and a half, I'll undertake to read you the
whole from beginning to end, with the Prologue and Epilogue,
and allow time for the music between the acts.
Mrs. Dangle-I hope to see it on the stage next. [Exit.
Dangle - Well, Sir Fretful, I wish you may be able to get
rid as easily of the newspaper criticisms as you do of ours.
―――
------
Sir Fretful-The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villain-
ous - licentious—abominable — infernal · Not that I ever read
them! no! I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.
Dangle- You are quite right; for it certainly must hurt an
author of delicate feelings to see the liberties they take.
Sir Fretful-No! quite the contrary: their abuse is in fact
the best panegyric. I like it of all things. An author's reputa-
tion is only in danger from their support.
Sneer - Why, that's true; and that attack now on you the
other day-
-
Sir Fretful-What? where?
Dangle-Ay, you mean in a paper of Thursday: it was com-
pletely ill-natured, to be sure.
Sir Fretful-Oh, so much the better. Ha ha ha! I
wouldn't have it otherwise.
Dangle-Certainly, it is only to be laughed at; for-
Sir Fretful-You don't happen to recollect what the fellow
said, do you?
Sneer - Pray, Dangle-Sir Fretful seems a little anxious—
Sir Fretful-O Lud, no! -anxious? — not I not the least.
I But one may as well hear, you know.
Dangle - Sneer, do you recollect? [Aside. ] Make out some
thing.
―
## p. 13360 (#166) ##########################################
13360
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Sneer [aside, to Dangle]—I will. [Aloud. ] Yes, yes, I remem-
ber perfectly.
Sir Fretful-Well, and pray now-not that it signifies - what
might the gentleman say?
Sneer- Why, he roundly asserts that you have not the slight-
est invention or original genius whatever; though you are the
greatest traducer of all other authors living.
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha! ha! Very good!
Sneer That as to comedy, you have not one idea of your
own, he believes, even in your commonplace book; where stray
jokes and pilfered witticisms are kept with as much method as
the ledger of the Lost and Stolen Office.
―
――――
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha! ha! Very pleasant!
Sneer-Nay, that you are so unlucky as not to have the skill
even to steal with taste: but that you glean from the refuse of
obscure volumes, where more judicious plagiarists have been
before you; so that the body of your work is a composition of
dregs and sediments, like a bad tavern's worst wine.
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha!
Sneer In your most serious efforts, he says, your bombast
would be less intolerable, if the thoughts were ever suited to the
expression; but the homeliness of the sentiment stares through
the fantastic incumbrance of its fine language, like a clown in
one of the new uniforms!
_______
Sir Fretful-Ha! ha!
Sneer That your occasional tropes and flowers suit the gen-
eral coarseness of your style as tambour sprigs would a ground
of linsey-woolsey; while your imitations of Shakespeare resemble
the mimicry of Falstaff's page, and are about as near the stand-
ard of the original.
Sir Fretful-Ha!
-
Sneer-In short, that even the finest passages you steal are
of no service to you, for the poverty of your own language pre-
vents their assimilating; so that they lie on the surface like
lumps of marl on a barren moor, incumbering what it is not in
their power to fertilize!
Sir Fretful [after great agitation] — Now, another person
would be vexed at this.
Sneer-Oh! but I wouldn't have told you, only to divert you.
Sir Fretful-I know it-I am diverted. Ha! ha! ha! - not
the least invention! Ha! ha! ha! Very good! very good!
## p. 13361 (#167) ##########################################
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
13361
Sneer-Yes-no genius! Ha! ha! ha!
Dangle-A severe rogue! Ha! ha! But you are quite right,
Sir Fretful, never to read such nonsense.
Sir Fretful-To be sure,- for if there is anything to one's
praise, it is a foolish vanity to be gratified at it; and if it is
abuse - why, one is always sure to hear of it from one damned
good-natured friend or another!
ROLLA'S ADDRESS TO THE PERUVIAN WARRIORS
From Pizarro›
The scene represents the Temple of the Sun.
and Virgins of the Sun, discovered.
The High Priest, Priests,
A solemn march. Ataliba
and the Peruvian Warriors enter on one side; on the other Rolla,
Alonzo, and Cora with the Child.
TALIBA
Welcome, Alonzo! [To Rolla. ] Kinsman, thy hand!
A™ -[To Cora. ] Blessed be the object of the happy mother's
love.
-
we
Cora- May the sun bless the father of his people!
Ataliba-In the welfare of his children lives the happiness of
their king. Friends, what is the temper of our soldiers?
Rolla Such as becomes the cause which they support; their
cry is, Victory or death! our king, our country, and our God!
Ataliba-Thou, Rolla, in the hour of peril, hast been wont to
animate the spirit of their leaders, ere we proceed to consecrate
the banners which thy valor knows so well how to guard.
――
Rolla Yet never was the hour of peril near, when to inspire
them words were so little needed. My brave associates-partners
of my toil, my feelings, and my fame! -can Rolla's words add
vigor to the virtuous energies which inspire your hearts? No!
You have judged, as I have, the foulness of the crafty plea by
which these bold invaders would delude you.
Your generous
spirit has compared, as mine has, the motives which, in a war
like this, can animate their minds and ours. They, by a strange
frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule:
we, for our country, our altars, and our homes. They follow an
adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate:
serve a monarch whom we love-a God whom we adore.
Whene'er they move in anger, desolation tracks their progress!
XXIII-836
――――――
## p. 13362 (#168) ##########################################
13362
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
Whene'er they pause in amity, affliction mourns their friendship.
They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge our
thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error! Yes: they will
give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the
slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. They offer us their protec-
tion; yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs-covering
and devouring them! They call on us to barter all of good we
have inherited and proved, for the desperate chance of something
better which they promise. Be our plain answer this:— The
throne we honor is the people's choice; the laws we reverence
are our brave fathers' legacy; the faith we follow teaches us to
live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of
bliss beyond the grave. Tell your invaders this; and tell them
too, we seek no change; and least of all, such change as they
would bring us.
[Loud shouts of the Peruvian Warriors. ]
Ataliba [embracing Rolla]—Now, holy friends, ever mindful
of these sacred truths, begin the sacrifice.
[A solemn procession commences. The Priests and Virgins arrange
themselves on either side of the altar, which the High Priest approaches,
and the solemnity begins. The invocation of the High Priest is followed by
the choruses of the Priests and Virgins. Fire from above lights upon the
altar. The whole assembly rise, and join in the thanksgiving. ]
Ataliba-Our offering is accepted. Now to arms, my friends;
prepare for battle!
## p. 13363 (#169) ##########################################
13363
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
(1834-)
INETEENTH-CENTURY mysticism is the dominant quality in the
novels of John Henry Shorthouse. The spirit which in-
formed the Tractarian movement, which produced 'The
Blessed Damozel' in poetry and 'Dante's Dream' in painting, pro-
duced in fiction John Inglesant' and 'The Countess Eve. ' It is a
spirit not wholly free from artificiality, because it is alien to the tem-
per of the times; yet it possesses fascination for those who prefer the
twilight passes of the world, leading perchance to the stars, above the
electric-lighted highway leading direct to a
city. It combines sensuousness with spirit-
uality, day-dreams with keen knowledge, the
Christianity of the Divine Comedy' with a
kind of pagan delight in the offerings of
earth.
JOHN H. SHORTHOUSE
'John Inglesant' is the best known of
Mr. Shorthouse's novels: it is also the most
perfect embodiment of this spirit of mysti-
cism in fiction. The hero, whose name gives
the title to the book, is a cavalier in the
court of King Charles the First. There is an
exquisite aroma about his character: he is a
gentleman and a saint, a courtier with the
soul of an anchorite. He adheres with scru-
pulous fidelity to the requirements of his order, yet he is haunted with
visions of the Divine life: he is a mystic and a man of the world. It
is the character of Inglesant which perhaps explains the fascination
of this novel for a certain class of modern readers. The present gen-
eration are pre-eminently children of the world. Science has made
it well-nigh ridiculous for men to do anything but turn to the best
advantage what is here and now. So they nurse their desire of the
impossible in secret; but they love its embodiment in fiction. John
Inglesant is a thoroughly modern creation. His environment of Re-
naissance Italy and Cavalier England is due to the tact of the author,
who perceived that the setting of this century for one who sees vis-
ions would be as incongruous in fiction as it is in actual life. The
Rossettis and the Cardinal Newmans must be placed in long-ago
beautiful years, if they would seem wholly natural.
## p. 13364 (#170) ##########################################
13364
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
It is in John Inglesant that the temper of the author is most fully
expressed; and not of the author only, but of the poets, painters, and
others of his ilk. There is the sensitiveness to the loveliness of
nature; not the Wordsworthian spirit of philosophic detachment from
it, but a kind of sensuous union with it, making it partaker both
with the holy and unholy aspirations of men. When John Inglesant
kneels to receive the sacrament at the church of Little Gidding, he
is conscious of the "misty autumn sunlight and the sweeping autumn
wind," as part of the gracious influence surrounding him. When
he is tempted to ruin himself and another, he sees his evil passion
reflected in nature:-
"He gazed another moment over the illumined forest, which seemed trans-
figured in the moonlight and the stillness into an unreal landscape of the
dead. The poisonous mists crept over the tops of the cork-trees, and flitted
across the long vistas in spectral forms, cowled and shrouded for the grave.
Beneath the gloom, indistinct figures seemed to glide,-the personation of
the miasma that made the place so fatal to human life.
"He turned to enter the room; but even as he turned, a sudden change
came over the scene. The deadly glamour of the moonlight faded suddenly;
a calm, pale solemn light settled over the forest; the distant line of hills shone
out distinct and clear; the evil mystery of the place departed whence it came;
a fresh and cooling breeze sprang up and passed through the rustling wood,
breathing pureness and life. The dayspring was at hand in the Eastern sky. »
In his other novels, Sir Percival,' 'The Countess Eve,' 'Little
Schoolmaster Mark,' 'Blanche, Lady Falaise,' Mr. Shorthouse makes
similar use of nature. It is always the outward and visible sign of
man's inward and spiritual state. There is the same mystical con-
ception of human dwelling-places, as in a sense the houses of the
soul. The beautiful ducal house in Sir Percival,' the Renaissance
palace of the Duke of Umbria in John Inglesant,' is each express-
ive of the temperament of those who have dwelt therein. Archi-
tecture, to the mystic, is perhaps the most significant of all the arts.
Shorthouse makes use of it, as much as of nature, to embody the
mental moods of men. For music and musicians he has keen sym-
pathy. The Countess Eve' is built out of music; the keen, wild
sobbing music of the violin, its tremulous passion, its unutterable
aspiration. The Master of the Violin' is another story of the same
order. Music is constantly heard in 'John Inglesant' and in Sir
Percival. ' Shorthouse understands the value of music as Wagner
understood it,- as all mystics understand it. It is the embodiment
of all the senses; it is the embodiment of the soul.
As might be expected of a novelist who dwells in the half-seen
world, the characters of Mr. Shorthouse are less like human beings
than abstractions. John Inglesant is more of an ideal than of a
## p. 13365 (#171) ##########################################
JOHN HENRY SHORTHOUSE
13365
man. Constance in 'Sir Percival' is a Giotto woman,-a pale prayer
only half clothed with humanity. The Countess Eve is delicate and
unreal; and no force of passion can give life to her. Yet to be with
these creations is to be in noble company. The idealism of their
author is inspiring and regenerating. It is all the more so because it
is clothed in very beautiful literary form. The style of 'John Ingle-
sant' is exquisitely fitted to the thought of the book. Its passionate
mysticism, its sense of the Unseen, its obedience to the Vision, make
of it a work which could ill be spared to an age productive of Zola.
Mr.
