unfrequently arrange matters so as to secure this double felicity to
their heroes at the close of the work; and a catastrophe of this kind is
regarded as the most satisfactory that can be employed. Without exposing
ourselves to the danger incurred by one of the German divines, who was
nearly torn to pieces by the mob of Stockholm for defending polygamy, we
may venture to remark, that for the mere purposes of art, this system
certainly possesses very great advantages. It furnishes the novel-writer
with an easy method of giving general satisfaction to all his characters,
at the end of the tale, without recurring to the fatal though convenient
intervention of consumption and suicide, with us the only resources, when
there happens to be a heroine too many. What floods of tears would not
the Chinese method have spared to the high-minded Corinna, to the
interesting and poetical Clementina! From what bitter pangs would it not
have relieved the irresolute Oswald, perhaps even the virtuous Grandison
himself! The Chinese are entitled to the honour of having invented the
domestic and historical novel several centuries before they were
introduced in Europe. Fables, tales of supernatural events, and epic
poems, belong to the infancy of nations; but the real novel is the
product of a later period in the progress of society, when men are led to
reflect upon the incidents of domestic life, the movement of the
passions, the analysis of sentiment, and the conflicts of adverse
interests and opinions.--_Preface to a French Translation of a Chinese
Novel._

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HERO OF A CHINESE NOVEL.