NOVELS.
THE "WEAVERS.*
ONE of the features of the present House of Commons is the large number of Members whose work, before entering the political arena, was chiefly done with the pen, whether as journalists, novelists, or bellettrists, and it would be an interesting, though somewhat invidious, task to inquire bow far the quality of their work has been affected by their new surroundings. Sir Gilbert Parker, who has graduated in all three capacities, certainly need not fear the ordeal of investigation. We are not prepared to say that The Breavers is the best of his novels, but there can be no doubt whatever as to the energy, the enthusiasm, and the pains that have been lavished on its composition. Much of the material on which it is based was probably collected in the course of the author's travels, but it is clear that he has drawn to useful purpose upon the experiences gained from actual contact with electioneering and Parliamentary life. Whatever fault may be found with the novel, it certainly shows no signs of scamped work or perfunctory handling. In every sense in which the phrase is applicable to a novel, the author has given us full measure,—length, wealth of colour and exciting incident, careful portraiture, minute character analysis. In one important respect, again, Sir Gilbert Parker hai exhibited a laudable restraint. He has written a political romance of the Egypt and England of yesterday, and he has abstained from writing a roman d clef. It is true that some real personages are recalled by his characters,—Lord Beaconsfield by Lord Windlehurst, Lord Randolph Churchill and his son by Lord Eglington, and General Gordon by the hero. But these are resemblances rather than studies from the life, and Sir Gilbert Parker must be acquitted of any resort to portrait fiction of the dubious or objectionable type.
In The Weavers, which is described as a tale of the England and Egypt of fifty years ago, we are introduced at the outset to a Quaker community in a small English provincial town. David Claridge, the orphan grandson of a prominent member of the Society of Friends, has created a scandal by acts of violence and indiscipline. He defends his action, as he was fully entitled to do, on the 'grounds of humanity and justice, but accepts his punishment (six months' isolation in a cottage on the outskirts of the town), and on its expiry goes out to Egypt to claim the estate of his uncle, a trader
• The Wraoer•. Br Gilbert Parker. London: W. Heinemann. Ds.)
who has perished in a massacre at Damascus. David's tenaci's- of purpose commends him to the ruler of Egypt, Prince Kaid [? Said Pasha], who offers him high office and power ; and as Claridge Pasha he labours for many years to promote good government, to suppress intrigue, corruption, and slavery, and to improve the condition of the fellah. This, then, is the main theme of the book, the romance of a modern Joseph, who accepts service under an Oriental despot well knowing that it must involve the resort to methods banned by the creed to which he belongs. To render such apparent inconsistency not only plausible but justifiable is no easy task, but Sir Gilbert Parker brings to bear a powerful array of argument in defence of his hero,—heredity, environment, and, above all, the desire to atone for an -act of unintended homicide. An English lady, moved by sheer curiosity, accepts the escort of an unscrupulous Egyptian Pasha, who introduces her into the Palace, and to save her honour, David, by a chance blow, slays the Egyptian. The lady escapes, and to shield her from discovery, and at her urgent request, David keeps his counsel, the Pasha's death being set down to suicide. But the victim's brother happens to be the fallen favourite whom David has displaced, and who, but for David's interven- tion, would have been put to death by his master. Nahouni Pasha knows the truth, but nurses his reveuge, loyally serving under David and helping to carry out his reforms until such time as he can strike down the usurper. But David, having resolved to devote his life to the country of his adoption in expiation of his offence, goes on his perilous way with the steadfast calm of a fatalist. Single-handed he suppresses a military insurrection, after hypnotising the ringleader into submission. The masses come to regard him as their pro- tector, his miraculous escape from assassins inspires is super- stitious belief that be bears a charmed life, and finally ha achieves his greatest conquest by winning the friendship awl affection of Nahoum. But the romance of David's life is not exhausted by his relations with Egypt. From the outset he is always in abrupt antagonism with the young Earl of Eglington, a near neighbour at home. David Claridge's first appearance on a public platform brings him into conflict with the brilliant young opportunist, who turns his coat for office and exercises a dominating influence on England's foreign policy at the time when David has reached the zenith of his power in Egypt. Meantime he has married the lady whom David rescued, and alienated her affections by his selfishness and infidelity. Her interest in David when the Egyptian states- man visits England arouses Lord Eglington's jealousy, nor is his antipathy lessened by the discovery that David is his own half-brother and legitimate heir to the title, and the domestic crisis becomes acute when the British Government declines to send an expedition to rescue David when he is besieged in the Soudan. For the extrication of David and Lady Eglington from this complicated and painful tangle we must refer our readers to the novel itself. But enough has perhaps been said to show the wide range of romantic interest covered by the story. Indeed, it may not be unfairly urged that Sir Gilbert Parker has been too lavish of his materials, and that his book loses in directness of appeal from the complexity of his theme, the kaleidoscopic nature of the narrative, and the widely divergent phases of life which be essays to depict. Yet of its picturesqueness, its eloquence, and its exciting quality there can be no doubt. The temper of the book is distinctly melodramatic, and many of the incidents are highly improbable; but we are stimulated rather than repelled by the author's exuberant imagination, while his vivid pictures of Egyptian landscape, his intelligent appreciation of the problems of Egyptian policy, and his keen sense of the dramatic and personal side of Parliamentary life all contribute to lend verisimilitude to this brilliant and, adventurous fantasia. The canvas is somewhat overcrowded with figures, but none of them lack individuality. In fine, we have to thank the author for a rich and varied entertainment, in which the principle of /a carrire ouverte aux talents receives fresh and suggestive illustration.
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