February 1915
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FLICKINGER, i M AKER OF’ Harness, Trunks, Bags, Etc. t fine ffiiortraita | ■ ' ■ - é . S NO. 33 EAST BROAD STBEET ; É & f 111 : 17 BROAD STREEt V. BETHLEHEM, PA Readers of the Cornenian wishing to send flowers to their ■ y, * friends in 4r near Bbthlejiein, can with confident senatheii tj :f orders to^ (V'S «JOHN M. SMITH 1 S A W Y E R & J O H N S O N Sf Florists lg 29 South Main Street ' Bethlehem, Pa. Cor. M a in a n d Goepp Sts., Bethlehem, Pa. i GfctBBBTBousR:—241 L a u re l S tre e t Antw*‘ “ REIN ER” HEast Third Street ' ' A Dollar XL be Contenían Volume XXIV. 7 BETHLEHEM, PA., FEBRUARY, 1915. Number 5 . Les Miserables August W ucherer, ’ 15. ITH O U T doubt one of the most stupen the story continues with a renewed interest be- W dous undertakings in the history of fic cause of this digression. tion comes to us from the pen of Victor Hugo, In succession the reader is introduced to M. in the form of Les Miserables. As a novel of Myriel and Fantine—the incarnation of Chris incident and characterization it ranks among the tian philanthropy and the abject slave of misery; greatest that the mind of man has ever created to M. Madeline and the inn-keeper Thernar- .or conceived. Character and station are so dier—the embodiment of honesty and the char deftly bound up in each other that the one can acterization of bestiality; to Jean Valjean and not be conceived as existing without the‘other. Javert—the personifications of conscience and It is the story of a soul transformed and re duty; to Cosette and Gavroche—the waif and deemed ; purified by heroism, nurtured by devo the gamin; to Waterloo and the Barricade; to tion, and glorified through suffering. It is the the Galleys and—life. tragedy and comedy of life in its darkness and Such a multitude of character, incident, rev its brilliance, the epic of humanity at its best and erie, action, monologue, dialogue, excitement, at its worst. The author expresses the purpose calmness, force, and resignation are here thrown of the book fully, as “ the progress from evil to together that it is safe to say that such an good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood attempt is without example. With such adroit to truth, from night to day, from appetite to con skill does the author weave this vast incoherent science, from corruption to life, from bestiality mass together that, when it is finished, one can to duty, from hell to heaven, and from nothing not help but say that it is wonderful. Each inci ness to God.” dent, however, irrelevant it may have appeared Very cleverly has the author conceived the to the reader, when it first came before him, has idea of giving to the world, at the same time, an served its purpose, and served it well. Without interesting romance and a stirring appeal to that incident the story would have been differ brotherly love and equality. He has interwoven, ent; the marvellous unity would have been im a most fascinating story of love and devotion paired. among individuals, with the greater love that The chief characters of the plot are immense. should dominate the world and draw all men un When one reflects upon these characters he to each other. So intensely human does he paint reaches the conclusion that it is not a concrete this picture that one would be almost persuaded character that one has read about. It is not a as to its reality. certain Jean Valjean who was once a galley slave Incidents, probable and improbable, reason and has been re-born, or a particular Javert; it able and unreasonable, follow each other in is far more than that. It is the whole of man amazing rapidity. At other times one’s atten kind. It is the reader himself. tion is engaged by the speculation of the author, The types of character are varied. They are who takes one through a labyrinth of psycho chosen from the various walks of life and, as logical and philosophical meditations until one each one is used in the development of the plot, begins to wonder where it is all leading to. Then so each one is more or less complex. Editor' s Note.—The cash prize given in the January contest has been awarded to this article. Action, description, and dialogue bring the humanity against Providence—and the latter character before the mind’s eye as an artist prevails. paints a canvas. The Bishop does not give Val- The action which is displayed in the represen jean his liberty in a sudden spur of sentiment, tation of this scene is of the keenest. The mar but because he is the very exemplification of vellous familiarity with the names of the leaders, ■ kindness, as his whole life shows forth. M. on both sides, the delivery and execution of Madeline does not reveal his real identity with orders, the beginning of the first charge and the out the firm conviction of his conscience, which death of the last man, all these and many more has been aroused, one might say, created, by the striking details are thrust upon the scene in altruistic Bishop. chapter upon chapter. When you are finished you reluctantly turn the page to go on. You Javert, Fantine, the Thernardiers, Cosette, have been treading the stage of the greatest Marins, Gavroche, the comrades of the Barri drama in modern history. You must stop to re cade, are not the reader’s chance acquaintances. flect. It is too great to be hurriedly passed over. They are more. They are his intimate asso ciates. He knows them not only for a day. The most wonderful feature of this book, from Their whole life is, as an open book, before him. a literary standpoint, is the abundance and va He can, as he proceeds, tell, almost exactly, riety of words. It has been said that Victor what they will do next. He learns to sympathize Hugo is “ perhaps the greatest compeller and' with them, they are his friends—himself. gatherer of words, the greatest master of lan Although a great deal of space is given to the guage that we know.” From the reading of characters, although the gallant struggle and “ Les Miserables” it is certain that this state noble life of the regenerated galley slave com ment can be safely made. mand the attention and admiration of all, The story is carried on more by narration throughout the book, one is still conscious of a than by dialogue. But the very actions of the greater power in the work. The grand, irre characters in the work speak far more than any sistible, ever-conquering spirit of progress from one of them is able to convey to the mind of the bad to good, from dishonor to honor, from a reader in their own strength. When, however, dreadful life to a happy and blessed end, sur the author makes use of dialogue he shows that mounting all that has been done and said,.surely he is an absolute master of the art of discourse, predominates the whole. Character is only dis not only of the genteel walks of life, but of every played in so far as it enhances the development walk of life. The speech of M. Myriel or of of the plot. Jean Valjean can never be confounded with that The date of the setting is the early part of the of a Javert or Thernardier.