THE COURIER. i I- rat '- !'., 3. IK. ?n ;." i- I-- . I,. fcV li- t In K ! worthy record of the real life of the peo ple. .Tuet why the novel has been given the place of honor above the drama, above poetry, above all forms of didactic writiDg historical or critical not even the novelists themselves or the essayists know. Spieibagen says that the tendency of the age to wards science is so over-powering, so threatening to the emotional and spirit ual that the growth of the novel is a measure of defence agampt materialism. Marion Crawford's theory is that the French Revolution introduced an emo tional phase in social history, to which may be attributed many of our tastes and fashions. With it began the novel in France, and in England it took a freeh start and a new form. Sidney Lanier ascribes the supremacy of the novel to the development of -personality or individuality. He thought that the emeiging of the individual from the mass so that today each stands by himBelf, has brought about complexities of relations, that tin older forms of liter ary expression were inadequate to icter pret. Mrs. Wilson thinks that "among .the multitude of forces which have con tributed to the life and thought of the century, two can be distinguished as re sponsible for the development of modern "fiction" vix.; science and democracy." .Realism in fiction is the outgrowth of the scientific spirit, whose shibboleth is fact, while democracy is one of the new forces that has given a new dignity to the individual, a new meaning and significance ro the human soul; and it is this apotheo6is of humanity that consti- -tutes the chief tenet of the gospel of realism. - The novelist of today spends about as much time explaining the merits of his own school and attacking that of others as he spends in writing novels. Under lying all schools are the principles of realism and idealism. "The supreme idealism of the art of Phidias becomes realism in the Pergamsn marbles, which illustrate what art becomes, when there ceases to be a selection of beautiful, ideal types, when there is a minute copying of the unimportant and the ignoble, and a reproduction of the shock ing aspects of life' "Idealism see3 'man and nature through the imagina- -tion of the poet and insists upon postu lating an unconditional truth and beauty. In fiction this idealizing ten- .dency becomes romanticism, when the novelist chooses for his themes only transcendental experiences and supreme moments. Realism attempts to inter- -pret lite as it really is; to discover the heroism that is latent in the humblest human soul. It endeavors to detect moral worth and- spiritual beauty, whether hidden under the peasant's blouse or beneath the robes of royalty. In the works of Zola and his school real, ism attempts to bring fiction into tbe -realms of science. Zola in his discussion of what he 'calls "The Experimental 'Novel," (Le Roman Experimental) claims -science, so long the avowed enemy of the -imagination, as the guide and ally of the realistic novel. Exactly the same methods are to be adopted by the novel ist that are used by the physician in his study of physiology. .So far as possible, the human soul is to be viv'sected, the human passions are" to be subjected, in the chemist's retort, to the actioo of sol vents and reagents. Tne scientific method of observation and experiment must be applied to the study of life and character and the experimental novel will then become the most powerful agent in the reformation of the world. -In his work as observer and experimen talist he will search out the determinism of social phenomena, and this will en able sociologists and legislators to ra- -form the world. Zola says "Compare with ours the work of idealistic writers who rely upon the irrational and the supernatural and -whose every flight up ward k followed by a downfall into metaphysical chaos. We (the realists) are the ones who possess strength and morality." Bnt the world does not ac cept Zola's view and his works are on the proscribed lists of our libraries, shunned and condemned as immoral. According to his theory the experi mental novelist must trace every in herited tendency, must observe and an alyze the influence of constantly chang ing environment, dissect every action and motive to find its cause and effect; then he can give accurately the life of a man in all the changes that mark the successive stages of his moral degener acy; for all of Zola's characters are de generates. But what place has the imagination, the creative power, the artistic conception in this scheme of the novel? The experimental novel has been described as making the novelist enter the service of science as police reporter fur the information of sociology, and Zola Bays "We novelists are the examin ing magistrates of men and their pas sions." He confesses that a novelist must possess individual temperament; he must both produce aud direct phe nomena. And here is the stumbling block of his theory. Zola attempts the impossible when he says the novelist must modify nature without departing from nature. How can he apply the method of observation and experiment upon creatures of his own scientific imagination. The novelist must observe and what novelist, whether idealist or realist, docs not observe? But can he in the true sense of the term perform ex periments on the human soul as the chemist anylyses the pancreatic fluid? Passing from Zola's theories to his works, we find in them masses of facts, great and small, in which everything is given the same prominence and consid eration. There is a constant exaggera tion of environment, and this is what constitutes naturalism distinguished as a species of realism. But it is what Zola and his school write about, rather than the way they write, that interests the world. These same theories in the novels of Howells and James give us works of purity and refinement Zola goes to the slums and the gutters for his morceau du rue and no theory or method will redeem them since they violate the first prkc'ples of art; they disgust and depress rather than delight and inspire. Dr. Sherman defines the novel as "a -veracious Btudy of life to the end of in terpreting Buch beauty and truth of character as fairly warrant interpreta tion." This view of the novel includes romanticism and realism but finds no place for naturalism. But whatever the theory every novelist knowB that the first es sential of his novel must be to interest To be literature it must be a work of art in form, treatment and composition. Although, when the moral of a tale is intruded it can not have a place in literature nothing that lasts is without moral teaching. Since the novel is a truthful portrait of life it can not omit'the most pervasive feature of jife. With the artistic temperament of Sbak6pere, Hawthorne or Stevenson the author will not label his moral as E. P. Roe has done in his novels. "Esthetics rather than ethics must be the standard by which a novel is judged and the reader must be permitted to discover for himself the ethical truths and their, application.'! The influence of the novel upon con duct and character illustrates the truth that literature reflects life no more cer tainly or truly than it influences life. When wt consider that from seventy to eighty per cent of the books drawn from the circulating libraries of England, with a Blightly smaller per cent in America are books of fiction, we can ap preciate the vast field of the novelist" Mrs. Wilson thinks that no subject should be proscribed to the novelist "It is not the 6ul ject but the manner of treating it that gives offense. Anna Kar enina, The Scarlet Letter, The Cup of Trembling and Zola's Nana series treat of the same subject The difference is in, the treatment The"short story epitomizes the com pressed tragedies of the nineteenth cen tury Poe and DeMaupassant wore masters of the art. The rules which the former gave for its construction must be followed by the successful shortstory writer which now threatens the two vol ume novel as the novel menaced the drama. "What shall this novel of the future be and -vhat shall it contribute to life and to human thought? We complain of pessimism, the sordid character of the realistic fiction of to-day. But does not this mean that there is much that is sordid and depressing in the social con ditions of the century? The supreme beauty of Greek att was but a reflection of the beauty tbe artist aw every where in the real life about him. When society has solved the complex problems of our civilization and eliminated the evils that cast their shadows over the realistic fiction of the day. then there will come a new and transfigured realism that will not be content with revealing the tran sitory and the superficial. ThiB new and dominating realism will not oily seek to give the actual, social realities of the moment but will ccme into the kingdom of the universal experiences of the race. The novel of toda7 fails in its purpose when it emphasizes the materi" alistic and utilitarian spirit of the age and its greatest opportunity lies in the direction of quickening our sympathies, stimulating our ideals and in opening up new visions of spiritual truth and beauty. To do this, the novelist must unite to the truth of-the realist the vision of the poet, who sees life stripped of tha mean ingless and transfigured through the real Fashions of the Day. The times are changed and we are changed with them, wrote the philoso pher, only he put his idea into the Latin tongue, wh'cb. is not now tbe court language of the world. But his idea was forcibly brought home to me yesterday when paj ing a visit of- cere mony as well as curiosity to the bou doir office of the Bureau of Social re quirements, presided over by Mrs. Ledyard Stevens, at 19 West Forty second street It is not so many years ago that the avennes open to a woman desirous of turning an honest penny were limited to two or three of the heavier drudgeries of life, which ordinary servants are both too ignorant and too set Bible to take up. Now we find gentlewomen en tering the lists in certain lines of busi ness wherein their taste and tact have aa opportunity to come into play, boldly throwing down the gauntlet to the lords of creation, and carrying off the substantial prizes of success. Mrs. Stevens, born in the purple (or as near an approach to it as our spseudo republicanism will admit to its social dye-vat8),and connected by blood and marriage with about all of "old" New tork, had an original idea, and the energy and business ability to put it into execution. Every one knows that, in even old established houses, Eocial emergencies sometimes arise which tax severly the knowledge and resources of both mis tress and servants both perhaps with a lifelong training in their duties and responsibilities. The desire to enter tain is frequently nipped in the bud by the conviction that a small staff of un trained servants renders it impossible. Then, too and this is a matter that must only be mentioned in whispers there are in our overgrown society and on its borders people, very worthy people in themselvas, who have plenty of money, but are wanting ia the savoirfaire, not to speak of the jene sais quoi, to enable them to achieve social success and to unlock the social gates with even a golden key. Their en tertainments are magnificent -but bar baric. There is too much of the "clink of gold." Then there are the lazy folk, the mat rons who know juBt what they want but don't like the bother of overseeing mat ters themselves, and don't exactly trust the ordinary hired housekeeper. There are mothers who want teachers for their daughters, who can give them the cachet of high breeding; in brief, there are a thousand wants and needs, really urgent ones, covered by the term 'Social Requirements," and all of these Mrs. Stevens stands ready to fill for her pat rons, whether in or out of town, resi dents of New York or in any city of the union. With all the apparently inconsequen tial vagaries of that incorporeal some thing which or who dictates our modes, there is yet generally to be found in them that little lump of the leaven of reason that leaveneth the whole mass. Nothing in all the range of color tones is cooler than gray, and so the dictums of grays for July is mo3t appropriate, for nothing can be hotter than July unless it be July and August. These grays run in all the varying tints, from stoce to dove gray. They are delicate and ery susceptible to untoward impressions from foreign substances, hut on the other hand are easily cleaned and hold their color very well. Gray Dareg? cashmere, cloths and taffeta skir.s are displacing the black and old waists that have served their time, yet appear 'o freshen up and renew their youth when worn with soft-toned skirt. It is a color that blends well with every shade, a veritible peacemaker in the chromatic brawls that have disgraced our sprit? and early summer toilettes. Waists of chiffon, in white, cream, pink, blue or 'ilac, combine admirably with it A late wrinkle is the gray feathpr loa to tike the place so long held by the black. A substantial recommendation it has is that it does not crock. The grajs, how ever, are not to be worn by ever) body with advantage or even impunity. They make sid wrecks of some complexions, although the gayety of the fashionable trimmings to a certain extent offsets their pallor. Trimmings on skirts and bodices are growing more and more elaborate, and by the fall the plain skirt will rank with the dodo as a recently but thoroughly extinct species. Very smart and fetching are tbe little neckties of net, mull and silk. Linens trimmed with lace applique are much worn, even with wool gown, and with a happy effect. All the latest waists are of lac, but to be up to date they must be draped over chiffon, which produces a soft be coming result The bolero still reigns, the latest being the bolero back. The fascinating absorbing game of golf is responsible for a school of dress ing all its own, and many of the sum mer's outing toilettes, if not directly tne work of golf, are at least under golf in fluence. In this, as in all things. 1 council common sensj- 1-sbt f material for the fierce heat; tweeds, flan nels and serges for autumn. Linnen frocks are much atlectec 1 for miss.'s and children as well as tne elders. One linen costume I saw, '" ' med with black cluny lace, was erj smart The latest sleeve pattern i over the sea is out in only on; p. two plaits at the elbow, and titling a glove. , --h Here's a gown for a matron W etruck me as both handsom" and correct taste. A black net, rather coa mesh. over a white taffeta silk , ett.c bands or cut jet and ateel,acoinbtio