The New York Herald Newspaper, August 20, 1875, Page 4

4 “MODERN BRITISH LIFE. —-—- ‘Anthony Trollope’s Latest English } Society Novel. i (DISSECTING SOCIAL TUMORS. (Why the Work Is Coldly Received in I Great Britain, \A BOOK OF BAD CHARACTERS. Stu Way We Live Now. Anovel. By Anthony Trol lope. New York: Harper & Brothers. We are not surprised that Authony Trollope’s latest ovel should be coldly received by the English public Bre work professes to give, in the colors of fiction, a ftrue picture of English social life at the present day, and Bs artist has been at no pains to please or flatter his itters, ‘Trollope is never idealistic in his work. He ot merely inclines to realism in his stories and his haracters, but paints people and things exactly as he nds them with remorseless adhesion to truth, There js this grand difference between his work and that of jickens, that Dickens drew from his imagination, while rollope draws from observation, It is admitted by Bnglish critics that the charact his novels the characters of Eng society ; omen in real English life act and talk exactly they do in his novels, which are fictions only in plot; ers of ple who seem to have stepped out of his pages, If foreigner wants to become acquainted with real Eng- ish life through the medium of books he must not turn jo the pages of Dickens, Reade or Wilkie Collins, but to ose of Anthony Trollope. This is the unanimous tes- mony of English critics,and {t would be unbecoming Americans not to give it credence. BAD COMPANY. ‘This being the case it is not at all surprising that | nglish crities should receive “The Way We Live Now” ‘ith very itemper. They do not deny that the story Bs exceedingly clever—as clever as anything short of the | fees best he has ever done; but they complain of the epulsively disagreeable society to which the author | introduces his readers, It is, in, trutn, a most uisive picture which he draws. There is hardly agreeable character in the novel, hardly a scene hich gives pure or noble pleasure. The whole atmos- here of the book is freighted with sordidness and navery, oppressive from the lack of contrast, Even | he women of the story are unpleasant, with the ex- jception of the heroine, Hetta Carbury, who ts good Jaod amiable, though a trifle insipid; and when the jreader comes to the closing chapter he finds that the ood or bad fortune which has befallen the various haracters whose acquaintance he has made excites either sympathy nor pleasure. He is simply indiffer- at. Even the wickedgess with which the story Wounds awakens loathing and disgust rather than in- ignation. One cannot be indignant with moral rep- jles who simply act out their own inherent mess, without @ struggle with a higher ature, If Ruskin’s rule were applied to “The ‘ay We Live Now’’—to read no book which joes not give us noble friends—Trollope’s latest novel ould lie uncalled fdr on the booksellers’ shelves. It just be pronounced the most successful picture ever Frees of human basoness and depravity. Nearly all he male characters fulfil Thackeray’s definition of a snob,” by “meaniy desiring mean things, too corrupt Bad base to rise to audacious crime.” CRIMINAL QUEENS. Let us take a closer glance at some of the principal Yigures in this remarkable novel. At the outset. we are Antroduced to Lady Carbury, a literary charlatan, who engaged, when the curtain rises, in writing familiar Beem to the editors of certain papers to which she con- ributes articles and sketches. Lady Carbury is just ‘publishing a book on “Criminal Queens,” for ‘which she tries to wheedle favorable notices | yout of her editor friends—a species of an- | Woyance from which editors on this side of the Atlantic are not altogether free. Her life had been one of trial and disappointment, Married, when a lovely yund penniless girl of eighteen, toa man of forty-four, soldier who had achieved fame in India, she had \never known that sort of love which poets describe aod which young people generally desire to experience, Her husband at the time of his marriage was “‘red- faced, stout, bald, very choleric, generous in money, Buspicious in temper, and intelligent.” There was mothing mean about him. He had his attractive quali- fies. He was passionate, imperious, and even cruel; ‘but during the first years of their married life he was mever jealous In later years he drank too much, ‘would sometimes strike his wife in a fit of psssion, and at length became jealous, without cause, of a man for ’whom he had formed a warm friendship. His insane fury drove her from his house for a time A Feconciliation was effected, and she remained the mis- ‘tress of his house until he died. Left with two chil- dren to care for, and only a moderate income, Lady Larbury fell to dabbling in literature. She was by na- Sure a clever woman. “She could write after a glib, commonplace, sprightly fashion, and had already ac- quired the knack of spreading all she knew very thin, ‘Bo that it might cover a vast surface. She had no am- bition to write a good book, but was painfully anxious to write @ book that the critics should say was good.”” Jn a certain sense Lady Carbury was unseliish, Her great aim was to make money for her graceless son, a Jhandsome, dissipated young fellow, who ran through hhis property within a few years after his father’s death, that men and | every day one meets in London drawing rooms | NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1875—TRIPLE SHEET. r mill to his uncle's concerns. fn accordance with this deed he was to get twelve per cent on his capital, and bad enjoyed the gratification of seeing his name pus up as one of the firm, which now stood as Fisker, Montague & Montague, A business, declared by the two elder partners to be most promising, had been opened at Fiskerville, about two hundred and fifty miles from San Francisco, and the hearts of Fisker and and the elder Montague were very high, Paul hated Fisker horribly, did not love his uncle much, and would willingly have got back his £6,000 had he been able. But he was not able, and returned as one of Fisker, Mon- tagne & Montague, not altogether unhappy, as he had succeeded in obtaining enough of his back income to pay what he owed to Roger, and W& live for afew months. It is not long before we have Mr. Fisker in England. His object is to interest English capitalists and raise money for the building of anew railroad in the United States, The scheme in question was the grand proposal for a South Central Pacific and Mexican Tailway, which was to run from Salt Lake City, thus branching off from the San Francisco und Chicago line, and passing down through the fertile lands of New Mexico and Arizona into the territory of the Mexiean Republic, run by the | city of Mexico and come out on the Gulf at the port of | Vv Cruz. Mr. Fisker admitted at once | it was a great undertaking, acknowl- that the distance might be perhaps | something over 2,000 miles, acknowledged that no com- | putation had or, perhaps, could be made as to tho | probable cost of the railway, but seemed to think that | questions such as these were beside the mark and childish, The object of Mr, Fisker, of Fisker, Mon- | tague & Montague, was not to make a railway to Vera | Cruz, butto float a company. It was clearly bis idea that fortunes were to be made out of the concern before | aspadeful of earth bad been moved, If brilliantly printed programmes might avail anything, with gor- ous Maps, and beantiful little pictures of trains run- | ning into tunnels beneath snowy mountains and com- ing out of them on the margin of sunlit lakes, Mr, | Pisker had certainly done much. A COMMERCIAL SUCORSS. Mr. Fisker succeeds in interesting in hia scheme a man by the name of Metmotte, who is the most conspi cious character and figures more largely than any other | in the book. In one sense Mr. Melmotte might be said there ws no businoss to which he would refuse his co- operation on certain terms, Fisker was, perhaps, not a man worthy of much thought, | book. He had never written | Fort had nove Said a Phuyor, He cared: nothing Torryman- ity. He had sprung out of some Californian gully, was perhaps ignorant of his own father and mother, | and had tumbled up in the world on the strength of his own audacity, But, such as he was, he had sufficed to give the necessary impetus for roll- | ing Augnstus Melmotte onward into almost unprecedented commercial greatness, When Mr, Mel- motte took his offices in Abchurch lane he was un- doubtedly @ great man, but nothing so great as when the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway had be- | come not only an established fact, but a fact established | in Abeburch lana, ‘The great company, indeed, had an | office of its own, where the Board was held; but every- | thing was really managed in Mr. Melmotte’s own com- mercial sanctum. Obeying, no doubt, some inscratable law of commerce the grand enterprise, “perhaps the | grandest, when you consider the amount of territory manipulated, which has ever opened itself before the eyes of a great commercial people,” as Mr. | Fisker with his peculiar eloquence observed through his nose, about this time to a meeting of shareholders at | San Francisco—had swung itself across from California to London, turning itself to the centre of the commer- cial world as the needle turns to the pole, till Mr. Fisker almost regretted the deed which himself had done. And | Melmotte was not only the head, but the body also, and | the feet of it all, The shares seemed to be all in Mel- | line worth readin, | motte’s pocket, so that he could distribute them as he would; and it seemed also that when distributed and sold, and when bought again and sold again, they came | back to Melmotte’s pocket, Men were contented to buy | | tueir shares and pay their money simply on Melmotte’s word. | ‘Through his position as head of the London Board of directors of the company and by a show of enormous | wealth, which he is supposed to have gathered together in similar enterprises all over the world, Mr, Melmotto is received in the best of English society, entertains prime ministers and peeresses and obtains a seat in | Parliament, where his ignorance of parliamentary usages | and forms of address render him at once ridiculous, His first attempt at a speech, in which he fuils utterly, | ts followed by a@second effort, made when he was | drunk, after which he is given no third opportunity, | He is finally detected in a swindling operation in | regard to some property that he has pur- {"chased from an impoverished lord; he forges | @ signature, and, finding discovery imminent, | he poisons himself with prussic acid, after having | made a savage assault upon his daughter, who refuses | to release her hold upon some money that he has in- | vested in her name. Then, of course, the railroad bub- | ble bursts and London society discovers that it has ‘opened its doors to a swindler, of whose origin it was entirely ignorant, and admitted his vulgar wife and un- derbred daughter into its sacred circles, Mr. Fisker re- tires to America, taking Mrs. and Miss Melmotto with him. The latter, whose prospects of a brilliant matri- to be in company with all the commercial world, for | He bad never read a | He | monial alliance were wrecked when the railroad to | Vera Cruz exploded, he marries; the young lady's ten- ity in holding on to her fortune in spite ofher father’s forcible arguments having awakened great admiration in his commercial soul. THE AMERICAN WIDOW. Mr, Paul Montague’s suit to Miss Carbury has pro- ceeded but slowly, owing to a former engagement con- tracted with an American widow before the opening of the story. He had travelled with ber from San Fran- cisco to England, and she had been very good to him in | illness, in distress of mind, and in poverty; for he had | been almost penniless in New York. When they | got deeply into debt, lived on his mother and sister and | landed at Liverpool they were engaged as man and | “was addicted to every kind of vice which is expected of @ young gentleman of rank. The sister had been taught early in life “that every vice might be forgiven in a gman and im a gon, though every virtue was expected from a woman, and especially from a daughter. * * * Bhe lamented her brother’s evil conduct as it affected phim, but she pardoned it altogether as it affected her_ if That all her interests in life should be pee subservient to him was natural to her, Vand when she found that her {little “were discontinued and her moderate curtailed because he, having eaten up al; ‘that was his own, wae now eating up also all that was "his mother’s, she never complained. Henrietta had “been taught to think that men in that rank of life in which she had been born always did eat up every. thing.” All the plans of mother and daughter for sir Felix come to naught. Their schemes to marry bim to this and that heiress fail He sinks lower and lower in the slough of mean vices, becoming an object of con- tempt even among his own base associates, and at last “vanishes from sight without a friend to pity him. Lady to the bond; but he, who has not only become alarmed | “Carbury ends, after a Short and unsuccessful literary career, by marrying an editor, when she naturally gives "Bp writing for a severe course of matrimony. THR HERO. Like Mr. Thackery’ ‘anity Fair,” this book is cer. ‘tainly a novel without a hero; but if that distinction Can properly belong to any of the male characters, wo _ Suppose it must be accorded to Paul Montague, who marries Miss Carbury at the close of the third volume, | lowing words by the lady herself:—‘I did staad once | ‘The parents of this young gentleman, dead before the | Story opens, were English, the father, a barrister, having ‘eccumulated a small fortune of six thousand pounds, | went away to the tavern and I did not see him fora | which he leaves to his son. Paul is educated at Oxford, and ‘also intended for the Bar; but at college be develops ‘a talent for getting into rows’ and is rusticated, so that ‘the plan for making s lawyer of him is unsuccessful, At the age of twenty-one he takes himself and his six ‘thousand pounds out to California, whither an uncle of his had emigrated a great many years before, Here he joins hig uncle in business, which is the carrying on of a large farm, producing great quantities of wool and wheat and fruit At the end of three “years he discovers that he does not like farming and returns to England, but is altogether unable to get pos- session of his money which he bas invested in the scheme. He accepts the assurance from lis uncle that ‘an income amounting to ten per cent upon his capital lation shall be remitted to him regolarly, but the contract is not fulfilled, and at the end of a yoar he returns to Cali. fornia, having borrowed the necessary funds from Roger Carbury, @ relative of the heroine, with whom he Is also remotely connected by marriage. He soon comes | ‘back to England with some little cash in hand, and with ‘the additional security of a deed executed in his favor or, who had gone into partner- ‘by one Hamilton K. Pi comforts expenses | known of her was that she had shot a man through the | bankers had harshly declared them to have “no effects,” wife. He had told her all his affuirs, had given her the whole history of his life; but she had told him little or nothing of her own life, but that she was a widow, and that she was travelling to Paris on business, There | who rejoices | | are various rumors about this lady, | tm the name ef Mrs. Hurtle. | did not quite believe that there ever had been @ Mr. Hurtle, Others said certainly had been a Mr. Hurtle, and that to the best of their belief he still existed. The fact, however, best kindness of her woman’s natu she could put away violence and be gentle as a young girl When she first met this Englishman and found that he took delight in being near her, she had ventured to ‘hope that a haven would at last be open to her, But the reek of the gun- powder from that first pistol shot still clung to her, and she now told herself again, as she had often told herself before, that it would have been better for her to have turned the muzzle against her own bosom, She loved Paul Montague with all her heart, and she despised herself for loving him. How weak he was—how inefficient—how unable to seize glorious opportunities—how swathed and swaddied by scruples and prejudices—how unlike her own countrymen in quickness of apprehension and readiness of action! But yet she loved him for his very faults, telling herself that there was something sweeter in his English manners thag in all the smart intelligence of her own land, The man had been false to her, talse us hell; had sworn to her and had broken his oath; had ruined her whole life; had made everything blank before her by his treachery ! She finally proves her devotion to him by renouncing all claim upon him in favor of Miss Carbury, whom he desires to marry, This latter young lady, who has be- come alarmed by rumors that have reached her ears concerning Montague'’s connection with Mrs, Hurtle, is induced by him to appeal to Mrs. Hurtle for confirma- tion of his statement that he has never been untrue to her (Miss Carbury) since he first addressed her, Mra. Hurtle responds to his demand with rare unselfishness, and assures Hetta that whatever may ‘have been his conduct toward herself, toward her (Hetta) his devotion has never wavered, The young lady expresses herself as perfectly satisfied with such astate ofaffairs, and, mag- nificently indifferent to the sufferings of her rival, renews her engagement with Montague, the harmony of their attachment having been only slightly disturbed by this revelation of his baseness, Mrs, Hurtle finally sails.for America, in company with Mr, Fisker and the Mel- mottes. She has shown certain noble traits of charac- ter, but, like every other character in the book, they are so overbalanced by others that are unattractive that it is with a sense of relief that we part with her. HONORABLE EXCEPTIONS. There are two comparatively good characters in the book. The first is Roger Carbury, Paul’s benefactor, and a cousin, but also a lover of Hetta’s, , He is hope- lessly uninteresting, but, nevertheless, comes on the scene like a breath of pure air, for he is, at least, sin- cere and honorable, He is described as a being forty years of age, a stout, good looking man, with a firmly set, square face, with features finely. cut, a small mouth, good teeth and well Poruidd ghig, His hair was red, curling round his head, which wie farlly Bitd gt the top. Ho wore no other beard than small, almdst Wniolivedrig Whiskers. His eyes were small, but bright, and very chosty When | his humor was good. He was about five fect nine in height, having the appearance of great strength and perfect health. A more manly man to the eye was never seen. And he was one with whom you would in- stinetively wish at first sight to be on good terms, partly because in looking at him there would come on you an unconscious conviction that he would be very stout in holding his own against his opponents; partly also from a conviction equally strong that he would be very pleasant to his friends, His love for Hetta is characteristic, He had no poetry about him, He did not even care for romance. All the out- side belongings of love which are so pleasant to many men, and which to many women afford the one sweet- ness in life which they really relish, were nothing to him. There are both men and women to whom even the delays and disappointments of love are charming, even when they exist to the detriment of hope. It is sweet to such persons to be melancholy, sweet to pine, sweet to feel that they are now wretched after a roman- tic fashion as have been those heroes and heroines of whose sufferings they have read in poetry. But there was nothing of this with Roger Carbury. He had, as he believed, found the woman that he really wanted, who was worthy of his love, aid now, having fixed his heart upon her, he longed for her with an ainazing longing. He had spoken the simple trath when he declared that life had become indifferent to him without her, No man in England could be less likely to throw himself off the Monument or to blow out his brains, We cannot help regretting that his love was unsuccessful, but are consoled by the thought that Miss Carbury was entirely unworthy of nim. The depth of his tenderness andthe innate nobility of his character are shown by his forgiving Montague for win- nitfg the woman he Joves, having met her under his (Roger's) own roof, and adopting her as his daughter and heiress after her marriage with Paul, without which the young couple would have been about penni- less. He is nevertheless commonplace, and, with the best of intentions, the reader fails to become interested fa him, John Crumb, a young countryman, who rescues the girl he loves from Sir Felix Carbury, who decoys her to London, also challenges our admiration, The scene where he “drops into the baronite just in time,” and the pounding the scoundrel receives from his brawny fists, “each blow obliterating a feature,” is quite re- freshing But even these two tolerable characters fail to redeem the weary and monstrously low moral at- mosphere of the book. THE “BEAR GARDEN.” Ageneral idea of the character of the gentlemen to whom we are introduced can be drawn from a descrip- tion of the lub of which they were nearly all members. It was called the Bear Garden, and had been lately opened with the express view of combining parsimony with profligacy. Clubs were ruined, so said certain young parsimonious profligates, by providing comforts for old fogies who paid little or nothing bub their subscriptions and took out by their mere presence three times as much as they gave, This club was not to be opened till three o’clock in the afternoon, before which hour the promoters of the Bear Garden thought it improbable that they and their fellows would want a | clab, There were to be no morning papers taken, no library, no morning room. Dining rooms, billiard rooms and card rooms would suffice for the Bear Garden, Everything was to be provided by a purveyor, so that the club should be cheated only by one man, Everything was to be luxurious, but the luxuries were to be achieved at first cost. It had been a happy thought, and the club was said to prosper, Herr Voss- Some people | ner, the purveyor, was a jewel, and so carried on affairs that there was no trouble about anything. He would that there | assist even in smoothing little difficulties as to the settling of card accounts, and had behaved with the greatest tenderness to the drawers of checks whose head somewhere in Oregon. She had not been tried for | Herr Vossner was a jewel and the Bear Garden was a | 1t, ae the world of Oregon had considered the circumstances justified the deed. body knew that she was very | very beautiful; but everybody also thought that she was very dangerous. It was not until Paul Montague had been sume time engaged to this lady that these rumors reach his ears. He then decides upon breaking his engagement, and writes her to that effect, She follows him to England and endeavors to hold him that at the prospect of possessing a wife so dexterous in the use of frearms, but has also seen Hetta Carbury in the meantime, refuses to be persuaded. He has also | adivorce has been procured by a Kansas lawyer, the validity of which, however, is stoutly denied by a, Cal- ifornia lawyer. | duel with her husband, but this ts explained in the fol- armed, and guarded my bedroom door from him, and told him that he should only enter it over my body. fle | week afterward, That was the duel.” It certainly can be said in Mrs. Hurtle’s favor that seen 60 much of drunkenness, had become so handy with pistols, and had done so | much of @ man’s work, that any ordinary man might | well hesitate before he assumed to be bor master, and yet the treatment that she had had at the hands of her | husband seemed, in some manner, to justify her course, | Her affection for Montague is perfettly sincero, Cir- cumstances had made her what she was, Circumstances had been cruel to her, Bdtshe could not now alter | them. Then gradually, as she came to believe in his love, as she lost herself in love for him, she told herself that she would be changed. In spite of bis vacil- and treachery, if he would have re- | turned to her and taken ber in bis arms, she would not only have forgiven him, but haye blessed him also for his kindwess, She was in truth sick at heart of violence and rough living and unferml- nine words, When driven by wrongs tho old habit came back upon her, But if she could only escape the wrongs, if she could find some niche in the world which would be bearable to her, in which, free from Every- | clubs, in a small street turning ont of St James’ clever and | street, and piqued’ itself on ascertained that Mr. Hurtle is still in existence, though | She is also accused of having fought a | she had | Portunate creditors; for these members of the British success. The club was in the close vicinity of other its outward quiet. ness and sobriety. Why pay for stonework for other people to look at; why lay out money in marble pillars and cornices, seeing that GENTLEMANLY AMUSEMENTS. youcan neither eat such things, nor drink them, nor gamble with them? But the Beargarden had the best wines—or thought that it had—and the easiest chairs, and two billiard tables than which nothing more perfect had ever been made to stand upon legs. The Bear- garden was 80 pleasant a club that there was no rule whatsoever a8 to its being closed, the only law being that it should not be opened before three in the after- noon, Asort of sanction bad, however, been given to the servants to demur to producing supper or drinks after six in the morning, so that, about eight, unre lieved tobacco began to be too heavy even for juvenile constitutions. , At this club we meet nearly all the gentlemen of the story, whose principal occupations seem to be gam- bling, drinking and contriving means to get rid of im- aristocracy, who always seem provided with sufficient means to indulge their vices, are never sufficiently in | funds to pay their honest debts. This establishment finally receives is death blow from the disappearance of the invaluable factotum, Herr Vossner. ly was not only that he had robbed the club, and robbed every member of the club who had ven- tured to have personal dealings with him, Although a bad feeling in regard to him was no doubt engendered in the minds of those who had suffered deeply, it was not that alone which cast an almost funcreal gloom over the club. The sor- row was in this, that with Herr Vossner all their com- forts had gone. Of course Herr Vossner had been @ thief, Thad, no doubt, had been known to them from the beginning, Aman does not consent to be called out of bed at all hours of the morning to arrange the gambling accounts of young gentlemen without being a thief, No one concerned with Herr Vossner had sup- poved him to bo an honest man. But thon asa thief be had beon so comfortable that his absence was regretted | by those who had suffered most severely from his rapacity, Dolly Longestaffe had been robbed more outrageously than any other member of the club; and yet Dolly Longestaffy had said since the departure of the purveyor that London was not worth living in, now that Herr Vossner was gone, In aweek the Bear- garden collapsed, a8 Germany would collapsa for a period if Herr Vossner’s great compatriot were suddenly to remove himself from the scene; but as Germany would strive to live even without Bismarck, 50 did the clab make its new efforts, But here the parallel must cease, Germany, no doubt, would at last succeed, but the Beargarden had received a blow from which it seemed there was no recovery; Mr. Adolphus Longestaffe, Squire of Caversham in Suffolk and of Pickering Park in London, is another specimen of this ignoble set of people of whom we have already heard too much, Mr. Longestaffe was a tall, heavy man, about fifty, with hair and whiskers carefully dyed, whose clothes were made with great care, though they always seomed to fit him too tightly, and who thought very much of his personal appearance, It was not that he considered himself handsome, but that he was specially proud of his aristocratic bearing, He entertained an idea that all who understood the matter would perceive atasingle glance that he was a gentleman of the first water and aman of fashion, Ho was intensely proud of his position in life, thinking himself to be immensely superior to all those who earned their bread, There were, no doubt, gentle- men of different degrees, but the English gentleman of gentlemen was he who had land and family title deeds, and an old family place and family portraits, and family embarrassments and a family absence of any useful em- ployment, He was beginning even to look down upon peers, since so many men of much less consequence than himself had been made lords; and, having stood and been beaten three or four times for his county, he was of opinion that a seat in the House was rather a mark of bad breeding. He was a silly man, who had no fixed idea that it bechooved him to be of use to any one; but yet he had compassed a cer- tain nobility of feoling. There was very little that his position called upon him to do, but there was much that itforbade him to do, It was not allowed to him to be close in money matters. He could leave his tradesmen’s bills unpaid till the men were clamorous, but he could not question the items in their accounts, He could be tyrannical to his servants, but he cuuld not make in quiry as to the consumption of his wines in the servants? hall. He had no pity for his tenants in regard to game, but he hesitated much as to raising their rent, He had his theory of life, and endeavored to live up to it; but the attempt had hardly brought satisfaction to himself or to his family. At the present moment it was the great desire of his heart to sell the smaller of Tis two properties and disembarrass the other, The debt had pot been altogether of his own making, and the arrkigimont Weald, he believed, serve his own family as well as hee fe outs piso serve his son, who was blessed with a third propétiy of Wis own which he had already managed to burden with debt. The father could not bear to be refused; and he feared that his son would decline. The difficulties that arise be- tween father and son in their attempts to overreach each other in the business of raising money on their estates, which are entailed, and the manner in which they are both finally swindled by Mr. Melmotte, to whom they appeal for assistance, occupy many pages. Lady Pomona Longestaffe is the match-making mamma of English society, with two daughters to establish, The heroicstruggles of the younger, Miss Georgiana, who has already passed through twelve seasons, to accomplish some matrimonial arrangement, and her final capture of the curate at Caversham, would be ludicrous if they were not so disgusting. And yet we are told by Mr, Trollope in speaking of the one American woman who appears in his book, “there was ever mixed, as is so often the case in the minds of American men and women, an almost envious admiration of English excel- lence. To have been allowed to forget the past, and to live the life of an English lady, would have been heaven to her,” , 18 IT A TRUE PICTURE? If there really exist so much of “excellence”? among our relatives on the other side of the water it is unfortu- nate that so little of it should appear in this novel, which is pronounced by critics to be such “a true pic- ture of English life.” We are sorry for any man or woman—American, Turk or Hindoo—who should in any manner desire to resemble any of the people here repre- sented or to live a life like theirs, ‘The chilly reception that this book has received in England can be easily accounted for, It is disagreeable in the extreme, Every character represented, every picture drawn, {s unpleasant, Evon if the average tono of human nature were as low as here depicted such mora] meanness and distortion would still be distasteful to read about. Mr. Trollope has gone round the world for his char- acters, bringing them from the western wilds of Cali- fornia, and even introducing*us to the Emperor of China; yet we cannot find that, even in this broad range, he has discovered one individual whom he can present to us as worthy of admiration and thorough esteem. Having drawn his own countrymen in such colors we cannot, of course, except that he should be more favorable to ourselves. We have the usual American of the English novel, with his hhat on one side and rings on his fingers, a well twisted mustache, greasy brown hair, becoming bald at the top, good looking if his features were analyzed, but insignificant in appearance, gorgeously dressed, with a silk waistcoat and chains and he carrying a little stick. And, of course, we are compelled to hear of the “well known nasal twang,” so offensive to fastidious English ears. It is safe to predict that this book will not be more highly regarded here than it is on the other side of the water. A NOVEL SEIZURE. FIPTY FEET OF ATLANTIC AVENUE, BROOKLYN, CLAIMED AND FENCED IN AS PART OF THE COWENHOVEN ESTATE—RAILBOAD TRAVEL IM- PEDED. A somewhat novel case came up in Brooklyn yester- day, and, owing to the peculiar method adopted by the Sheriff's officers, led to considerable excitement. Somq years ago action was brought in the Supreme Court against the city to recover a strip of land which now forms a part of Atlantic avenue. This ground was and is claimed by Mrs, Louisa Strong and Margaret R, Cowenhoven, The verdict was for the city and the plaintiff carried the case up to the Court of Ap- peals, where the judgment of the Court be- low was reversed. The land was thus awarded to the plaintiffs. It is a strip 800 feet long, beginning fifty feet east of Fifth avenue and extending thence easterly toa point opposite Cumberland street, The width of the strip is fifty feet from the front of the house out into the street. Unfortunately for the At- Jantic avenue horse car route it takes in the front rail of that track on that line, According to law, if this land had been used by the city for twenty years it equid not be claimed by the original owners. Tho twenty years would have expired to-day. The counsel for the plaintiffs, to guard against misfortune to his clients, procured the assistance of the Sheriff, and earl rant deputy sheriffs and laborers pro- seeded to Mize the ground. They distributed notice to the parties interested, setting forth that ‘said strip of land lies along the fronts of the premises designated as Nos. 360 to 710 Atlantic avenue, and has lately been used as a part of said avenue, And the sub- acribers hereby forbid, prohibit and protest against any ‘use of the said land or any part thereof as a road, street or way, or for any other purpose whatsoever, by any per- fon or ns whomsoever. All trespassers will be prosecuted according to law.” ‘The Sheriff's men put down picket posts along the boundaries of the ground, and interwove strong wire around it, so as 10 effectually enclose the property, Two and a half feet of ex-Alderman Richardaon’s car tracks were thus enclosed and the cars were stopped, A og crowd assembled about the workmen. When they had finished their labors Deputy Sheriff Hardy formally delivered over the ground to the coun- sel for the claimants. Kx-Alderman Richardson was very much incensed at the summary proceedings; and, in order to test the question of right or wrong, caused the arrest of Joseph W. Pearce, foreman of the gang of laborers, on charge of interrupting railroad travel. Pearce, on being taken before Justice Monroe, pleaded not guilty, and his examination was set down for to- day, The stakes were torn up and the cars are permit- ted to ran for the present. The city will, doubtiess, gettle the cage satisfactorily with the owners of the land, THE TAMMANY SOCIETY. A special meeting of the Tammany Society, or Colum- bian Order, was held last evening in the Wigwam in Fourteenth street, Mayor Wickham, the Father of tho Council, presided in the absence of the Grand Sachem, Augustus Schell, The only bdsiness transacted was the initiation of new members with all the Anposing cere- monies of the Osder. Among those initiated were Junge Join D, Billings, Chambevlain Nelson J. Tappen, Afar. ship with bis uncle, and who had added @ vast | harsh treatment, she could pour forth all the aonuine | with @ tendernaia almost pmounding love, even ' man Bigwig aud Jordan Le Shovle ey, TOM SCOTT. His Views:on the Third Term, on Inflation and on the Pennsylvania Situation, “Grant Would Accept if He Thought the People Would Elect Him.” BaRaToGa, August 18, 1875. We have had here the most formidable railway com- bination Saratoga has ever seen, All the big presidents of the big railways in the country—Tom Seott being the biggest in both respects—have been whispering to gether suspiciously on the Congress Hall piazza, and I shouldn’t be in the least surprised ifa sudden bat gem. eral increase of freights and passenger rates were to be the dire outcome of this conspiracy. Look at this array of names dnd trembie thou who art dependent apon the railways:—Samuel Sloan, Moses Taylor, the great Garrett, of Baltimore, who looked a8 combative as ever; Mr. Bishop, the President of the New Haven road ; Com- modore Vanderbilt, William H. Vanderbilt, Chester Chapin, President of the Boston and Albany road, and Tom Scott, ‘the King of Pennsylvania,” as I have heard him facetiously called, I think it is generally admitted that if we are ever to make the experiment of a mon- archy in our glorious republican country Pennsylvania will be the first State where it will be tried, with Tom Scott as the founder of the first American royal dynasty, And certainly, as far as appearance goes, nobody could fill the place better. Tom Scott, as I saw him to-day at Congress Hall, was a powerful, tall, sinewy man, with a large, well-shaped, muscular face, ruddy complexion, clear and bolily cut features, and that fine, keen, penetrating eye which is so suggestive of the watchful observer of human nature. My interview with him lasted but a few minutes, for his stay here was but a, hurried one, and he was constantly surrounded by the railway magnates above alluded to and other friends who came to bid him goodby. He leaves to-day for Lake George, where ho will spend two or three weeks with his family in per fect quiet and utter relaxation from his usually severe labors, HE WANTS TO GET AWAY PROM POLITICS, Jasked the good-natured railway king, as ho cor. dially returned my salutation, if he would’ not give mo his views on the political and financial situation, “My dear fellow,” replied he, laughing, “I have just come here to Sarataga for the very purpose of getting out of the way ofall financial and political talk, I require Tost, absolute rest,” I asked him if, after running away from Penunsyl- vania politics and the management of the biggest rail- way combination in the world, he would not consider it omewhat of a “rest” to talk to an interviewer, fo Taiighga geartily and said, ‘Well, then, what fs tt that Toad toll you? J? i gue give you any information for the Hxraxp I shall cortaluly be peppy to go so.” “Colonel,” I began, attacking tiie the he vital point, ‘‘what do you think of tho dangers of a term ?”” H Tom Scott looked astonished at this question (and yet it is not a new one, after all, and has often before appeared in print; but, nevertheless, he did look aston- ished and opened his eyes very wide). “What,” he exclaimed, ‘do you think there is any- thing in that; do you really ?” This was beginning to be rather awkward, for it was interviewing the interviewer, But the only way was to boldly meet the attack and to say, “I do, Colonel,” which I did. WHAT WOULD NOT SURPRISE HIM. There was a pause and Colonel Scott looked rather nzzled; but suddenly some new thought lighted up his handsome fuce, and with an expression of great candor ¢ said :— “Well, do you know that I shouldn't be at all'sur- prised if General Grant were to be renominated by the republican party ?” and he added, ‘decisively, “Not in the least.” “Neither should I,” I rejoined; “but do you think he could possibly be elected ?” Colonel Scott’s answer was straight to the point:. “No,” he replied; “I don’t think the people are pro- pared to indorse the third term principle by electing Grant. I ain convinced that he could not be.”” “Do you not think, Colonel, that General Grant de- sires a renomination, despite his protestations of indif- ference ?”” GENERAL GRANT WOULD IP HE COULD. Colonel Scott is too polite a man to. mpeach the veracity or honor of even a political enemy, but his an- swer left no room to doubt what he reaily thought, In a tone struggling with great hesitation hu said:—‘*Well, I don't know that I should lke to say that, after all ho has written and said ‘ “Don't you think he would take the place if he could et it Be¥es," the Colonel responded frankly; “‘T don’t doubt fora moment that he would accept the nognination if he thought the people wanted him and would elect im.” “And do you not consider that a dangerous condition of things?” ‘He paused a while and then said, “Yes, I do; consid- ering all the army of office-holderé and dependents he has at his back I do.” THE CURRENCY QUESTION. Ileft General Grant to the enjoyment of his third term prospects and turned to the currency question. “Do you think, Colonel, that the currency question will form the great issue in the next Presidential can- asa??? “I think it will be one of the most important ones, as you say, perhaps the most important one,” the Colonel said, looking right into my eyes with an expression of the most convincing sincerity. “I think the. people of this great country want a sound currency aud good, clear values.” “And a speedy return to specie payment, Colonel ?”” “Yes, I think they want to return as quickly as poast ble to ‘specie payment—of course, as quickly as it can | be done without unduly pressing or hurting the business of the country.” “And what remedies would you suggest in this con- nection, Colonel?"? “Well, that is rather a large question, and wonld re- quire some time for thorough explanation, but I can sa; incidentally that if we go on under the last bill we shall at all everits be on the safe road, In that bill we Lave a good basis to start upon.” A DANGEROUS RXPERIMENT, “Do you think the democratic party could carry the election on an inflation platform?” “I believe in the great strength of the party,” the Colonel replied, in a firm tone of conviction, “and yet I doubt very much if they could secure a victory on such a platform. (After a pause of serious reflection.) It would ‘be @ dangerous experiment, a dangerous experi- ment. “What will be the probable result in Pennsylvania, In your opinion?” “Oh, you know it is republican now, and no doubt the democrats will make a great effort to redeem the State, If we nominate good men on a good plattorm it will be a close contest; but if our nominations or our platform are uplortunate, then we shaillearn it to our cost.” Here a panse ensued, and thén the “King of Penn- sylvania’” said, rather jocosely:—You see I am. pretty much out of politics, and hence I can’t tell you much.” “Why, Colonel,” I expostulated, “I have been told here that you would be our next President,” Colonel Scott gave a violent start and darted back a few steps. ‘Nothing could induce me to accept the Presidency,” he declared, “while I have a railroad to manage. Goodby.” And the Colonel resumed his handshakings with his friends, Who were wishing him ‘Hon voyage.” A RUINED LIFE. A BETRAYED GIRL THROWS HER CHILD INTO THE RIVER. Shortly after seven o'clock yesterday morning a num- ber of boatmen lounging in the vicinity of the pier at the foot of West Thirty-eighth street observed a pale hollow eyed and poorly clad young girl approach the dock bearing in her arms an infant upon which she be- stowed many fond caresses as she neared the water, ReachingAhe stringpiece bordering the front of the pier she sat down and affectionately considered the wee bit of humanity lying In her lap, while the tears coursed down her cheeks, anda sob, audible to the boatmen, broke from her lips. Now and then she cast a furtive look toward the dark, slimy waters be- neath, but quickly turned from them to again watch the little sleeper, Twice she caught the child convulsively to her breast, and twice she laid it down again, saying, “No, no; I cannot!’” ‘The watchers, who sat apart, half obscured by a pile of old lember, thought that she was sick and had come to the river front to got @ little fresh air, as is the custom of the poor of the west side, and therefore they paid but little attention to her, But presently they heard a light splash in the water, just at the edge of the dock; & muffled, gurgling sound followed, and a little linen wrapper lloated norselessly past the end of the pier. ‘Turning to where the girl had sat the boatmen saw her hurrying toward the atreet, They pursued and gave her in charge of an officer and then returned to look for the child, After half an hour's search it was found lodg between two of the great piles upon which the pier Tests, The infant was tenderly borne to ‘ho Twenthouh precinet station house, THE UNNATURAL MOTHER seemed overwhelmed by grief and remorse when con- fronted with the corpse of her babe, and, as she bewailed the cruel fate which bad driven her to commit so heinous acrimé, she sobbed and prayed to be removed from this world, saying, “Take me, dear Lord, where sorrow and disgrace, poverty and starva- tion shall know me no more,” Hers is the old, old story, Her child was @ ghild of sham Ruined’ by tke man sho loved and rusted, abaudoued hy a Le former associates, and gaat oil by tr antinargictinnpenmnntemeniensin ODD FELLOWS. eepsiecuiiinstpainecmnianene GRAND LODGE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORE—a STRICT BUSINESS SEASION. Yoctertay morning at nine o'clock, John W Stebbima, Grand Master, in the chair, and a full quorum of offcers present, was commenced the third day's proceetings of the Grand Lestge of Independent Order of Odd Fetiows. Work was commenced yosterday ip earnest, The apyeal of James W. Merritt from the action of Pembroke Lotge, No 13, wae dismissed and the action Of the lodge sustaned The amondinont to the constitution, allowing Erie county to be divided into two of more duutricts, wan adopted, A resolution was also adopted for the appoiutment of & Special committer to ra nsf for the erection of @ Monument over the remains of the late Past Grand Sire, John A. Kennedy. Permission wan given to RL. Ralei¢h to appeal to the Grand Lodge of the United States from a decison of this grand body yesterday to this effect —Thas where wo choice bas beeu made om a ballot for a grand officer, there being several candidates in, norminstion, and where the nominee who haa received the second highest number of votes withdraws from the contest the nominee who has received the third highest number of voles is legnily @ candidate fur election ‘Tho Grand Lodge then wont into Committee of the Whole and 0 remained till one o'clock PM. Upon the resumption of business the appeal of Wos- No, 277, wae dinminsed and the decision of jaster sustalmed. of the District Grand Committoe against American Lodge, No. 3a, im the case of Joseph Mo Mure: War sustained. The of Koseinsko No. $1. from the de. aster iM. actog cision of District Deputy Grand was Kustained, The of Orient Lodge, No 27%, from the of the District of Monroe way sustained, ‘That of Nassaa Lodge, No 38, agninet the action of District Grand Committce, No. 1, of Kings, was aot sustained. T decision of the Grand Master that it is not neons- rary for subordinates to nosily sister lodges of the suspension of mewbors for nom payment of dues was aflirmed. ‘Tho appeal of Tthaea Lodge from the decision of the District Deputy Grand Master was rustasmed The decision of the District Deputy and the Grand Master against Past Grand Hassell, of Mowat Hermon Lodge, No. 38, was allirmed. ‘The decision of the D. DG. M. and the Grand Master against james L. Ridgley Lodge, No. 2, of Kings, was The 9p special committee appointed by the Grand Master in relation to the Kennedy fuw rge W. Dike, \d War: John Medole, J. P. Thomas P. 8. Joba, William Gould, ‘The great ‘appeal case” of the day, involving grave constitutional questions, and oceupyiag some brat was that of J. J. Thom D. DG. M., of this etty, from a decision of Master Its discassion Was participated in rand Masters Stern, Sam- Dore, White, Barnes and others, and continued aatil the hgur o rninent arrived, : Tn day aa Fw sane “ball” wae perpe. trated by a riprescs laring that the adoption of a resolution under discus tag Yould “do away with wm immense amount of labor rer — ed. ' GRAND ENCAMPMENT L 0. 6. F. At eight o'clock last evening the Grand Encampment convened, Francis Rogers, M. W. Grand Patriarch, pre siding, and a quorum of officers and members present A resolution of thanks to John Galbraith, P, G. P., for the performance of his very arduous labors daring the past year as Grand Patriarch, was adopted and the On petitions being presented charters were grante® for the establishment of an encampment (No. 86) in El (No, 89), in New York city, ‘The following resolution was unanimously adopted;— Geng ke reb to revise the Hitution: . rand Eneampmer jor of tals Urand Encasapuens ob the opeaing ol its next annual session, The committee appointed are Thomas Pruden, Charles Wood, Henry Leidel and KE. J, ‘Hamilton, The per capita assessment to be levied upon subordine teen cents. Following are the appointments of Albany, ©. 3. Sult; Allegany, Je N, Stoddard; Broome, William Hanlon; Chantanqua, Frederick Work} Columbia, J.T. Waterman; Cortland, C. Dutchess, P. J. Beneway; Erle, A. T. Mason; resolution, ordered to be engrossed. mira, Teutonia (No. 87), Husitan (No. and Fociwdeus Resolved, That a committee of xeven be tod ation ad bylaw of ste ui present the sum and the action of thi ©. Pinckney, George Askins, J. P. Murphy, Danie” ate cncampments fur the ensuing year was fixed at mime DISTRICT DEPUTY GRAND PATRI Chemung, C. G. Fairman; Chenango, or Rider; |. Gilets; Charles Fury; Fulton, Frank ‘Anderson; Geneseo, A. F. Laurens; ‘Jefferson, 8. B. Hart; Kings, Edward Overs; Monroe, B. F. Thomas; Montgomery, Francis Gilliland; New York, 'P, H. Jobem Niagara, J. A. Bronson; Onondaga, M. F. O'Connor; Orange, John Delancey; Otsego, H. ©. Olive; Queens, T. F, Webb; Rensselaer, John Morgan; Schuy- ler, Calvin Spalding; Steuben, James Baker; St. Law. Tence, Ehjah White; Tioga, 0. H. Binney; Tompkins, O. 4 Hart; Ulster, Levi Dubois; Westchester, David Maa- eville. After the adoption of resolutions upon the demise of Charles Vandervoort, P. G. P., and other business of @ segh character, the Grand Encampment adjourned sine die, THE POLICE COMMISSIONERS, SERIOUS CHARGES SAID TO BE PREFERRED AGAINST THEM, It is understood that specific charges are to be preferred to the Mayor to-day by a prominent lawyer of this city against the Police Commissioners, The gen- tleman who has drawn up the charges, it is said, hag been engaged upon them for some time, and they are said to be of so serious a character that they cannot fail to command the immediate attention of the Mayor, The democratic politicians, however, last evening when spoken to about we mater did not seem to put much fuith in the probability of thete “force,” and they base their view of the matter on the ground that as the charges already preferred against the Commissioners by the Board of Aldermen have not been heard of since they were sent to the Mayor, it is hardly possible that a private individual can have had a Detter opportunity than the Board had to find “good cause’? for the removal of the Mulberry street nates, Of course, if the charges justify action on part of the Mayor, he will not be slow in calling upom the Commissioners to pay him an early visit. CROWDED OVERBOARD. DANGERS OF A SUNDAY PLEASURE EXCURSION— INVESTIGATION, The body of a young man, about thirty ycars of age, respectably dressed, was found floating in the river of North Pier, Atlantic Dock, yesterday morning. The remains were removed to the city Morgue by ordor of Coroner Simms, Subsequently a man named Joh Mayer called on the Coroner and stated that he had seen the body, which he recognized as that of August Kenmeyer, of Weehawken, N. J., a butcher by occupa tion, He stated that on last Sunday the deceased came over to Brooklyn and went by the horse cars with hin to Canarsie; from that point they went over to Rock- away Beach. In the evening they took pas sage on the steamboat William Cook fer New York. The steamboat named is registered to carry 600 passengers, but, instead of she had on board veh 2,500 souls, and was loaded down to near her guards, ‘and Mr. Mayer says the deceased was literally crowded overboard at a point opposite Governor's Island. He blames the authorities of the boat for not institating a proper search for the man when the acei- dent, was reported to them. It is a cummon w overcrowd the Rockaway boats, and the orily thing to be wondered at is that accidents of a serious na~ ture are not roe area Yesterday Coroner Simms was also in connection with this case by one of the steamboat inspectors, It is the intention ol investigate the causes the Coroner to sterouehly which led to the death of Mr. Kemneyer and to fasten the responsibility where it belongs. ‘eased is ropre- sented as having been a sober, industrious man, whe had the respect of his neighbors. DROWNING ACCIDENTS, About nine o’clock yesterday morning a young lad named Lyman, residing in Harrison, N. J., fell into the Passaic River, near the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany’s iron bridge, and was drowned. He and @ com- panion hired a boat, young Lyman being seated in the stern, and after rowing some distance in the direction of the bridge his attention was directed by his com- jon to a steamer which was coming down tho river, Farming suddenly around he overbalanced himself, The body hus not been found, On Wednesday a boy, named Stephen Gilleo, residing ‘with his parents at No. 480 Ferry street, Newark, was sent with his father’s dinner to the Plough Works. Ag the boy did not make his appearance the father imagined the rain had Brevonted him from coming, On the father's return home in the evening he learned that the boy had been sent with the food. He at once went im search of him, and discovered his cap floating on som water that had collected in a hole, dug for a sink, in vagant lot. Further search having Yeon made te body Was Cound at the bytyoue