"A Lovey Day."—By Henry Céard.
Teamaloteby EL Boyd: Kropf, Mr. Ernest Boyd has made an excellent translation of this little French masterpiece: the edition has, indeed, only one grave fault; that nowhere can we find in it the date fof the issue of the original edition. Céard was one of that band of authors who contributed to the celebrated "Soirées de Medan" in 1880. Of that group Zola and Maupassfant dominated the world of French fiction; and the minor men have! been, at any rate abroad, rather The publishers' claim thet Journée" rans with "Madame Bovary" cannot be Sustained. Tt neither asks that masterpiece. the, Nataralisy group, partly bee Jeause it was, when he began writing {the most vital movement in France, partly because of personal friend-Ships; but his spirit is far removed from 'Zola's, or Maupassant's, from Huysmans' or the Goncourts, He is a critic, a moralist, an irenic com-
"Une Belle Journée" is a masnifieent piece of feminist propagand da—in its way as effective, as Poignant, and as devastating masculine complacency as a play of Thsen's. Céard_ attacks masculine vanity at its most vulnerable point.
is. the most vulnerable point be-Jeause most men are even still unafware how tremendously ruled they fare by vanity in the matter of sex. It is a thing which women do not, perhaps, often speak of; but many) of them must have frequently been amazed. at the complacent selisatisfaction of tiresome, elderly, and even repulsive men, It is) right that 2 French author sh have iven to us this brilliant on male vanity, for the French seem to be particularly liable to the error that any woman will welcome any attentions from a male.
Such a man is Trudon, and the} story is simply the story of his complete and ignominious failure to charm Madame Duhaimain. She has met him secretly, and goes to find' in him romance, sympathy, imagination, even conversation.
She is not too intelligent; but beside Trudon she it brilliant. The scenes beween them the restaurant are fall of come-cly as well as of angry satire: and' few men will be able t> read the book, if they read it intelligent without an uneasy suspicion in them, too, is something of Trud-on. "Observer.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.