THE FLUTE OF PAN.*
WHEN it is explained that the scene of" John Oliver Hobbes's " new romance is chiefly laid in a country named Siguria, that , the heroine is the hereditary Princess of that realm, and that the role of hero is assigned to an English nobleman, an ex- Guardsman who has distinguished himself equally in the spheres of society and of action, it will be readily, but not correctly, inferred that the story belongs to that category of mock-Royal serio-comic romance of which Stevenson's Prince Otto was the earliest and the most distinguished, and The Prisoner of Zenda the most popular, example. The inference as we have said, is obvious ; but it is not fully justified by the contents of the volume before us. Mrs. Craigie has, it is true, appropriated a convenient formula in which a charming Princess of an imaginary kingdom in Southern Europe and an amative Englishman thirsting for adventure are integral elements ; but her method of working it out is quite different from that of her predecessors in the same field. Those who expect an abundance of exciting incident—sword-play, hair's-breadth escapes, alarums and excursions—must be pre- pared for disappointment. There is a war in the story, but we only see the generals setting forth and returning. All the details of the campaign are compressed into a single paragraph reciting the bare fact that the Sigurian insurgents were defeated with considerable bloodshed. So far as action goes, there is a complete absence of circumstantial detail, a deliberate abstention from the exercise of the inventive faculty. The pageantry and picturesqueness of Court life, without being exactly ignored, are by no means elaborately portrayed. Mrs. Craigie, in short, does not rely either on incident or scene-painting. Though the results of her faithful study of Disraeli are apparent in certain passages—notably the opening pages—she is sparing in the use of that • gorgeous upholstery in which Disraeli revelled. In a word, her interest in her characters is chiefly psychological, and their romantic and exalted surroundings are only utilised to lend picturesque relief to the emotions by which they are actuated. Lord Feldershey, in a fit of Byronic misanthropy tempered . with Tolstoyism, renounces the privileges of his rank, migrates to Venice, and there sets up an art school. But on the advent of the brilliant, impulsive Princess of Siguria, with whom he had flirted violently in former seasons, he speedily abandons the simple life, and when she proposes that he should become ' the Prince Consort of Siguria, readily acquiesces. They are both really very much in love, but neither will admit it to the
• other, and in Feldershey's case unfounded suspicion of an intrigue between the Princess and a rich millionaire poisons his mind with jealousy at the very moment when he undertakes to marry ben He leaves his bride on their
• °The Flute of Pan: a Romance. By John Oliver Hobbes. Loudon: T. niter III:win. [613.1 wedding-day to 'take the field against the insurgents, and on his return behaves so coldly and unkindly that the Princess abdicates, but in fulfilment of a promise made before her marriage, goes back with him to the studio at Venice, where the necessary eciaircissement takes place, and all ends happily.
That the story is written with grace and distinction, that it is liberally seasoned with epigram and paradox, the name of the author affords a sufficient guarantee. Nor are we pre- pared to deny that as a delicate caricature of the egotism of the highly favoured and " bigh-dizened male person" the romance has a certain satiric value. But the really brilliant opening pages prepared us for a liberally planned and carefully executed romance, not a fantastic comedietta equally compounded of sentiment and irony. The chief weakness of the book is that the mise-en-seene and motive presuppose, according to the rules of the game, a profusion of highly coloured incident, in which, as a matter of fact, it is conspicuously lacking. Furthermore, it is difficult to feel more than a languid interest in the fortunes of irresponsible eccentrics when you know that the artificial barriers which keep them apart are absolutely certain to be removed in the long run. However, their dialogue, diaries, and letters are excellent, and there are some piquant sketches of the various types of self-seeking courtier, chiefly female. Since writing the above we see that Mrs. Cruigie has been addressing the Dante Society on the subject of irony, which she declares has suffered eclipse of latter years, and is not understood by Anglo-Saxons or Northerners. For our- selves, we readily admit our inability to appreciate the efficacy of an irony so confusing and intermittent as that • of The Flute of Pan.
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