Pelham — Volume 04 by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton
page 50 of 84 (59%)
page 50 of 84 (59%)
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"'To learning he narrowed his mind, And gave up to the East what was meant for mankind.' "One often loses, in admiration at the knowledge of peculiar costume, the deference one would have paid to the masterly grasp of universal character." "It must require," said Lady Roseville, "an extraordinary combination of mental powers to produce a perfect novel." "One so extraordinary," answered Vincent, "that, though we have one perfect epic poem, and several which pretend to perfection, we have not one perfect novel in the world. Gil Blas approaches more to perfection than any other (owing to the defect I have just mentioned in Anastasius); but it must be confessed that there is a want of dignity, of moral rectitude, and of what I may term moral beauty, throughout the whole book. If an author could combine the various excellencies of Scott and Le Sage, with a greater and more metaphysical knowledge of morals than either, we might expect from him the perfection we have not yet discovered since the days of Apuleius." "Speaking of morals," said Lady Roseville, "do you not think every novel should have its distinct but, and inculcate, throughout, some one peculiar moral, such as many of Marmontel's and Miss Edgeworth's?" "No!" answered Vincent, "every good novel has one great end--the same in all--viz. the increasing our knowledge of the heart. It is thus that a novel writer must be a philosopher. Whoever succeeds in shewing us more accurately the nature of ourselves and species, has done science, and, |
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