RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM, The. 'The Rise, of Silas by William Dean How ells, on its first publication in 1884 won a popular and critical approval which speedily assigned it to a place among the classics of reek* &auk perhaps the chief American novel in that type. Compared with other books by the same author,. it is hardly as in range or as broad in canvass as Hazard of New hardly as disconcerting by its pungent accuracy as (A Modern Instance; hardly as winged with laughter as Summer,) but it goes beyond any of them in its combination of qualities. Its theme is the universal on; particularly dear in a re public, of the rising fortunes of a man who has had no aid but virtue and capacity. Silas Lap ham appears when he has already achieved wealth, and finds himself drawn, involuntarily enough, into the more difficult adventure of adjusting himself and his family to the man ners of fastidious Boston. A writer primarily satirical might have been contented to make game of the situation. Ilowells, neatly as he hits off the conflict bf standards, gives it the depth of meaning which comes only from a profound understanding and a mellow pity. The conflict, however, while constantly perva sive in the book, does not usurp the action, and the Lapham family has serious concerns that might have come up anywhere. Most intense
and dramatic of these is the fact that the suitor of one daughter is believed by the whole family to be in love with the other until the very moment of his declaration. The distress into which they are thrown and the methods by which they free themselves from the predica ment are presented with a degree of subtle comprehension rare in any novel, and here matched with an equally triumphant common sense. Indeed, a certain rightness of feeling, equally removed from satire and sentimentalism, may perhaps be called the book's essential merit. As the story proceeds, as Lapham falls into heavy financial vicissitudes, finally to com parative poverty again, and yet through all this actually rises in spiritual worth, the book steadily grows in the dignity which is founded on truth. Without a touch of heroics in style or events, trusting confidently that to be vera cious will suffice, it abounds in memorable reve lations of human character and wisdom.