He must have consulted
the numerous hostages and captives that
were always in the city.
the numerous hostages and captives that
were always in the city.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v30 - Guide to Systematic Readings
In and Massillon, would make many ene-
spite of its title, however, there is nothing mies; for under the disguise of Elmire,
novel in the incidents upon which the Clitiphon, and other names borrowed from
(Nouvelles) are based. Their novelty the plays and romances of the age, many
consists in their high-bred brightness great personages of the literary and fash-
and vivacity, their delicately shaded and ionable world recognized themselves. La
refined but cruel sarcasm. With a slight Bruyère protested his innocence, and no
modernization of the language, they might doubt in most cases several individuals
have been told at one of the Regent's sat for a single portrait; but it is also
suppers, and they are far superior to pretty certain that he painted the great
those related in the Heptameron of the Condé in Émile,' and Fonteneile in
or
>
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
89
men
(Cydias,' and that many others had
cause for complaint. While it is admitted
that the picture he presents of the society
of his time is almost complete, it does
not appear that the Caractères) were
composed after any particular plan. Still,
although there may not be a very close
connection between the chapters, there is
a certain order in their succession. The
first, which paints society in its general
features, is a sort of introduction to the
nine following, which paint it in its dif-
ferent castes. Universal ethics are the
subject of the eleventh and twelfth, while
the eccentricities and abuses of the age
are dealt with in the thirteenth and four-
teenth, and in the fifteenth we have the
Christian solution. Some critics hold
La Bruyère a democrat and a precur-
sor of the French Revolution. The Ca-
ractères, however, teem with passages
that prove he accepted all the essential
ideas of his time in politics and religion.
A large number of manuscript “keys »
to the Caractères) appeared after their
publication. Quite a literature has grown
up around these keys. The Comédie de
La Bruyère) of Édouard Fournier deals
with the key question, both exhaustively
and amusingly. The "Édition Servois)
(1867) of the Caractères) is considered
by French critics unrivaled; but English
readers will find that of Chassary (1876)
more useful, as it contains everything of
interest that had appeared in the preced-
ing editions.
Ruins, byn Constantin François Vol-
ney.
These meditations upon the
revolutions of empires were published in
Paris in 1791, and have for their theme
the thought that all the ills of man are
traceable to his abandonment of Natural
Religion. The author, who was an ex-
tensive traveler, represents himself as
sitting on the ruins of Palmyra, dream-
ing of the past, and wondering why the
curse of God rests on this land. He
hears a voice (the Genius of the Tombs),
complaining of the injustice of men, in
attributing to God's vengeance that which
is due to their own folly. Love of self,
desire of well-being, and aversion to
pain, are the primordial laws of nature.
By these laws men were driven to asso-
ciate. Ignorance and cupidity raised the
strong against the weak. The feeble
joined forces, obliging the strong to do
likewise. To prevent strife, equitable
laws were passed. Paternal despotism
was the foundation of that of the State.
Tiring of the abuses of many petty
rulers, the nation gave itself one head.
Cupidity engendered tyranny, and all
the revenues of the nation were used for
the private expenses of the monarch.
Under pretext of religion, millions of
were employed in useless works.
Luxury became a source of corruption.
Excessive taxation obliged the small
landholder to abandon his field, and the
riches and lands were concentrated in
few hands. The ignorant and poor at-
tributed their calamities to some superior
power, while the priests attributed them
to wicked gods. To appease them, man
sacrificed his pleasures. Mista king bis
pleasures for crimes, and suffering for
expiation, he abjured love of self and
detested life; but as nature has endowed
the heart of man with hope, he formed,
in his imagination, another country.
For chimerical hopes he neglected the
reality. Life was but a fatiguing voy-
age, a painful dream, the body a prison.
Then a sacred laziness established itself
in the world. The fields were deserted,
empires depopulated, monuments neg-
lected; and ignorance, superstition, and
fanaticism, joining their forces, multi-
plied the devastation and ruins. The
Genius shows him a revolution, where
Liberty, Justice, and Equality are recog-
nized as the foundation of society. Be-
fore accepting a religion, all are invited
to present their claims for recognition.
The result is not only dissensions among
the different religions, but between the
different branches of the same religion,
each one claiming that his is the only
revealed religion and that all the others
are impositions.
Ninety-three (Quatre-vingt-Treize'),
by Victor Hugo, bears the sub-title:
(Premier Recit. La Guerre Civile, and
was intended to form the first part of a
trilogy. It was published in 1874. The
edition of 1882 contains several remarka-
ble designs signed by the author. The
story deals with an episode of the Ven-
dean and Breton insurrection; the scene
opening in a wood in Bretagne where a
woman, driven distracted by the war
raging around herself and her three
children, encounters a body of republican
soldiers. During this time, a band of
émigrés are preparing to land under
the command of a Breton nobleman,
the Marquis de Lantenac. The English
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90
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
government, though it has furnished them
1829 a young man, in despair because of
with a ship, informs the French authori- failure to succeed in his chosen career,
ties of their design, and a fotilla bars tries the gaming table. He meets an
their passage. The émigrés, after secur- old man, who revives his interest in life
ing the escape of Lantenac, who is com- by showing him a piece of skin, bearing
missioned to raise Bretagne, blow up the in Arabic an inscription promising to
vessel. After landing he learns that a the owner the gratification of every wish.
price is set on his head. A number of But with each request granted the skin
men come towards him, and he believes becomes smaller. The life of the pos-
he is lost, but bravely tells his name. sessor is lessened as the enchanted skin
They are Bretons, and recognize him as diminishes. The unknown young man
their leader. Then ensues a conflict in seizes the skin, crying “A short life but
which the marquis is victorious, and in a merry one! ) Scenes in Paris pass
which no quarter is given except to the before us, taken from lives of artists,
three children, whom the Bretons carry jou alists, politicians. We meet again
to La Tourgue as hostages. La Tourgue Canalis, a chief character in Modest
is besieged by the republican troops Mignon. One chapter is entitled "The
under Gauvain, the marquis's nephew, Heartless Woman. ) Raphael by virtue of
assisted by the ex-priest Cimourdain, a the talismanic skin becomes rich. Paul-
rigid and inflexible republican who has ine loves him. Life smiles on them,
trained Gauvain in his own opinions. Yet the fatal skin is brought to his
The besieged are determined to blow up eyes, casting a gloom over everything –
the tower and all it contains, if they are scientific work, salons of painting and
conquered.
When their case is desper- sculpture, the theatre - embittering all.
ate and the tower is already on fire, an He brings the skin to Lavrille, a savant,
underground passage is discovered, and for examination. It is the skin of an
they can escape.
Lantenac is in safety, ass,” is the decision. Raphael was look-
but he hears the agonizing shrieks of ing for some means to stretch the skin,
the mother, who sees her three children and thus prolong his life. He tries me-
in the midst of the flames. Moved with chanical force, chemistry; but the skin
pity, he returns, saves them, and be- becomes less and still less — till he dies.
comes a prisoner. When he is about to Through all we feel the author's tone of
be executed, Gauvain covers him with irony toward the weakness and sins of
his own cloak, tells him to depart, and society. Some twenty principal person-
remains in his place. A council of war
ages are introduced.
condemns Gauvain; and at the moment
he mounts the scaffold, Cimourdain, who
Jules Sandeau (Paris:
one of his judges, kills himself. 1846). The scene of the story is
Hugo incarnates in his three principal laid in the little village of Saint-Sylvain,
characters the three ages of human so- in the ancient province of La Marche.
ciety.
Lantenac, the monarchic chief, The curé, a priest patterned after the
personifies the past; Cimourdain, the cit- Vicar of Wakefield, who spends most of
izen priest, the present; and Gauvain, his income of 800 francs in relieving his
the ideal of mercy, the future. Although poor, discovers that there is no money
the descriptions and disquisitions are left to buy a soutane for himself and a
sometimes wordy and tedious, and there surplice for his assistant; while the fes-
are many improbabilities in the romance, tival of the patron of the parish is close
the picture of the three little children at hand, and their old vestments are in
tossed about in the revolutionary hurri- rags.
There is consternation in the pres-
cane will always be considered one of bytery, especially when the news arrives
the loftiest achievements of Hugo's gen- that the bishop of Limoges himself is to
ius. The account of the convention of be present. Catharine, the priest's little
1793, and the conversations of Marat, niece, determines to make a collection,
Danton, and Robespierre, also show the and goes to the neighboring château,
hand of a master.
although warned that the Count de Sou-
gères is a wicked and dangerous man.
Magic Skin, The ('La Peau de But Catharine, in her innocence, does not
Chagrin'), by Honoré de Balzac. understand the warning; and besides,
This forms of the Philosophic Claude, her uncle's choir-leader and her
Studies) of the great Frenchman. In friend from childhood, will protect her.
Catharine,
was
one
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
91
When she reaches the château, she meets,
not the count, but his son Roger, who
gives a liberal donation to the fair col-
lector, and afterward sends hampers of
fowl, silver plate, etc. , to the presbytery,
so that Monseigneur of Limoges and his
suite are received with all due honor.
Universal joy pervades the parish, which
Claude does not share. He is jealous;
and with reason, for Catharine and Roger
quickly fall in love with each other.
(Catharine) ranks as one of the best,
if not the best, of Sandeau's works.
While some of the scenes show intense
dramatic power, and others are of the
most pathetic interest, a spirit of de-
licious humor pervades the whole story,
an unforced and kindly humor that springs
from the situations, and is of a class
seldom found in French literature.
victim of war, this thesis, interpreted by
scenes of daily carnage, is more eloquent
and persuasive than if it borrowed argu-
ments from history or philosophy. The
style is simple, familiar; perhaps at times
even vulgar: but it is never trivial or
commonplace, and is always in harmony
with the speaker. As the work was hos-
tile to the Napoleonic legend, numerous
obstacles were put in the way of its cir-
culation at the time of publication. But
notwithstanding, it was scattered in pro-
fusion throughout France by means of
cheap illustrated editions.
an
1
Loki, by Prosper Mérimée, is one of the
strongest and most skillfully con-
structed of his works. The motive is
the almost universal belief that human
beings may be transformed into animals.
A German professor and minister, com-
missioned to make a new translation
of the Scriptures into the Zhmud lan-
guage, is invited by a Lithuanian no-
bleman (Count Szémioth) to reside at
his castle and use his valuable library
during his labors.
The Count's mother, on the day of
her marriage, had been carried off by a
bear, and when rescued, found to be
hopelessly insane, even the birth of her
son having failed to restore her reason.
The Professor finds the Count
agreeable companion, but observes in
him certain strange and often alarming
characteristics. The Count is in love
with a beautiful, witty, but rather friv-
olous young girl, Miss Julia Ivinska, and
the Professor goes with him several
times to visit her at Doughielly. At
last their engagement is announced, and
the Professor is recalled to the castle to
perform the marriage ceremony.
The next morning the bride is found
dead, and the Count has disappeared.
The whole trend of the story, the inci-
dents and conversations, often seemingly
irrelevant, the hinted peculiarities of the
Count, all serve to point, as it were in-
exorably, at the inevitable conclusion
that the man has at last undergone the
terrible transformation and become
bear, after killing and partially eating
his helpless victim.
The perfect simplicity and naturalness
of the language, the realism of its ro-
mance, the grace and wit of the dia-
logue, and the consistency of the char-
acters, - particularly of the Professor,
who narrates the story with the utmost
Conscrit de 1813, Histoire d'un (His-
tory of a Conscript of 1813), by
Erckmann-Chatrian, was published at
Paris in four volumes (1868–70). Joseph
Bertha, a watchmaker's apprentice, aged
20, is in despair when he learns that in
spite of his lameness, he must shoulder a
gun and march against the allies. Hither-
to his own little affairs have bad much
more concern for him than the quarrels of
kings and powers, and he has an instinct-
ive dislike to the spirit of conquest. Still
his is a loyal heart, and he resists the
temptation to desert. After an affecting
farewell to his betrothed, he marches to
join his regiment, resolved to do his duty.
Of the terrific battles of the period Joseph
relates only what he saw. He does not
pretend to be a hero, but he is always true
to his nature and to human nature in his
alternate fits of faint-heartedness and war-
like fury. He obeys his leaders when
they bid him rush to death or glory; but
he cannot help turning his eyes back, at
the same time, to the poor little cottage
where he has left all his happiness. His
artless soul is a battle-field whereon the
feelings natural to him are in constant
conflict with those of his new condition:
the former prevailing when the miseries
of the soldier's life are brought home to
him; the latter, when he is inflamed by
martial ardor. All the narrative, up to
the time he returns wounded to his family,
turns on the contrast between the perpet-
ual mourning that is going on in families
and the perpetual Te Deums for disas-
trous victories. This is the dominant
note; and in the mouth of this obscure
1
T
a
## p. 92 (#128) #############################################
92
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
plausibility,- give it the effect of his- vious with the money of all his clients.
tory. While the supernatural is the most Jeanne thus becomes the ward of her good
dramatic quality of the story, every in- old friend, who later sells his treasured
cident in it might nevertheless be ex- library to secure her a marriage portion,
plained scientifically.
and retires to a cottage in the country,
where his declining days are brightened
Crin
rime of Sylvestre Bonnard, The, by the caresses of Jeanne and her child-
by Anatole France. This charming ren.
story, by a distinguished critic and aca-
demician, not only paints the literary life Numa Roumestan, by Alphonse Dau-
det. The author at first intended
of Paris, but depicts the nobler human
to call his romance (North and South';
emotions with delicate humor and pathos.
a title indicative of his true purpose,
In a short prelude entitled “The Log,'
which is to contrast these two sections
the kindliness and simplicity of nature of
of France, not at all to the advantage
the learned archæologist Sylvestre Bon-
of the one in which he was born. Numa
nard, member of the Institute, are revealed.
Roumestan is a genuine Provençal: a
It relates how he sends a Christmas log
braggart, a politician, a great man, and
to a poor young mother, in the attic
a good fellow to boot. He appears in
above him, on the birth of her boy; how,
the opening pages at a festival at Apt,
like a fairy gift, the log comes back to
where he is the choice of his adoring
him on a later Christmas, hollowed out,
and containing a precious manuscript of
fellow-countrymen for deputy. Congrat-
ulations, embraces, hand-shaking, and
the Golden Legend,' for which he has
requests for offices, are the order of the
journeyed to Sicily in vain; and how the
day. He promises everything to every
Princess Trépof, who is the gracious donor,
one, - crosses, tobacco
turns out to be the poor attic-neighbor,
monopolies, what-
whom he had befriended years before.
ever any one asks,- and if Valmajour,
the tambourine player, come to Paris,
When the story opens, we find Sylvestre
he will make his fortune. A friend re-
Bonnard at the château of a Monsieur
monstrates with him. “Bah! ” he answers,
de Gabry, for whom he is cataloguing old
manuscripts. Here he meets a charming they know these promises are of no con-
they are of the South, like myself:
young girl named Jeanne, and discovers
sequence; talking about them will amuse
her to be the portionless daughter of his
them. ” But some persons take him at
first and only love. He resolves to pro-
his word. The story is intensely amus-
vide for and dower her; but she has
ing, and there is not a chapter which
already a guardian in a crafty notary, Mai-
does not contain some laughable inci-
tre Mouche, who has placed her in a third-
dent. The mixture of irony and sensi-
rate school near Paris. Here the good
bility which pervades it is Daudet's
Bonnard visits her and gradually wins her
distinguishing characteristic, and reminds
filial affection; but unluckily at the same
the reader of Heine. There are some
time arouses in the pretentious school-
scenes of real pathos, such as the death
mistress, Mademoiselle Préfère, the am-
of little Hortense. Daudet describes the
bition of becoming the wife of a member
of the Institute who is reputed wealthy.
early career of Gambetta in the chief
character. Gambetta was his friend, but
The defenseless savant, upon receiving
Daudet never shrank from turning his
a scarcely veiled offer of wedlock from
friends into “copy. ”
the lady, cannot conceal his horror; upon
which she turns him out of the house, Faience Violin, The, by J. F. H. Champ;
and denies him all further intercourse with fleury. A dainty book, wrought with
Jeanne. On the discovery that his pro- the delicacy and care of an artist in
tégée is immured and cruelly treated, he some frail and rare material, truly and
is driven to commit his great crime, the without metaphor a romance of pottery.
abduction of a minor. This deed is ef- There is no love episode in the story
fected by bribing the portress of the school save that passion that consumes the col-
and carrying away the willing victim in lector of antiques, which, if yielded to
a cab to the shelter of Madame de Ga- unreservedly, will surely lead to the moral
bry's house. Here he finds that he has result of turning the feelings into stone. ”
committed a penal offense; but escapes The scene is laid in Nevers, the centre
prosecution owing to Jeanne's unworthy of the fine pottery districts of France; and
guardian's having decamped a week pre- the characters, Gardelanne and Dalegre,
((
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
93
at the first warm friends, end in being
rival collectors, consumed with envy and
suspicion. Gardelanne, who lives in Paris,
having learned of the existence of a vio-
lin made of pottery, charges Dalègre, his
old companion at Nevers, the home of
their boyhood, to hunt it up; and on his
failing to find it, undertakes the search
himself at last, discovering it in a col-
lection of old rubbish, and buying it for
a mere trifle, much to Dalègre's chagrin.
To satisfy his friend, however, he puts a
clause in his will leaving to him the vio-
lin; a concession that helps to convert
the former love of his friend into eager-
ness to hear of his death. At length the
coveted porcelain comes into Dalègre's
possession, and is about to be assigned
to the shrine long kept waiting for it,
when, on being tuned for a few delicious
notes of greeting, the precious idol cracks
and falls to pieces on the floor. The
owner, in his grief and mortification, is
for a time thought by his friends to have
fallen in “defaience,” He has horrid
dreams of people who have turned into
fine vases and may not mingle too freely
with their companions lest they spoil
their glaze. At length, recovered from
his malady, he marries; and amid the
joys of home, contrasts the happiness of
domestic life with the hollow pleasures
of those unfortunates (whose feelings are
turning into stone. ) In a preface to an
American edition, the author expresses
his delight at the kind welcome his story
has found in America.
summer
the house gay with Japanese blossoms,
plays her harp, and is as Japanese a
little oddity as he could find; but fails
even to amuse him. She is as empty
of ideality as her name-flower is of fra-
grance, or as the little apartment which
he rents for her and for himself is of
furniture. But the disillusion of Loti
himself, the mocking pessimism under-
lying his eager appreciation of the new
sense-impressions, and the exact touch
and strong relief of his descriptions of
exotic scenes, exercise a curious mag-
netism.
With Chrysanthème, Loti explores Na-
gasaki, goes to concerts, and gives teas;
but he is not in harmony with this bi-
zarre simplicity of life. Suddenly his
ship is ordered to China.
The pretty
home is dismantled. Chry-
santhème must return to her mother.
In future she will be a pleasant mem-
ory, but he leaves her without regret,
with an indulgent smile of light mock-
ery for the clever, gain-seeking little Jap-
anese lady.
Cosmopolis, by Paul Bourget.
This
novel is written to demonstrate the
influence of heredity. The scene is at
Rome, but a glance at the principal char-
acters shows the fitness of the title.
Countess Steno is a descendant of the
Doges. Bolislas Gorka shows the nervous
irritability and facile conscience of the
Slav; his wife is English. Lincoln Mait-
land is an American artist, whose wife
has a drop of African blood. The clever
Dorsenne is French. From the alien am-
bitions and the selfish intrigues of these
persons the story arises. It is most dis-
agreeable in essence, but subtle in analy-
sis, dramatic in quality, and brilliant in
execution.
Germany (Germania), by Tacitus. The
full title of the work is De Origine,
Situ, Moribus, ac Populis Germaniæ. ) It
was written probably in 99, and is a
geographical and political description of
ancient Germany, or at least of the part
of it known to the Romans, which did
not extend far beyond the Elbe. It may
be divided into three parts: Chapters
i. -v. describe the situation of the coun-
try, the origin of its population, and the
nature of the soil; Chapters vi. -xxvii. ,
the manners of the Germans in general
and their method of waging war; and the
remaining chapters deal with the sev-
eral tribes, and give a careful and precise
Madame Chrysantheme, by Pierre Loti
(whose real name is Louis Marie
Julien Viaud), appeared in 1887, when he
was thirty-seven. It is the seventh of
the novels in which Loti has tried to fix
in words the color, atmosphere, and life
of different countries.
The scene
of
Madame Chrysanthème) is Japan, and
the reader sees and feels that strange
land as Loti saw and felt it, - a little
land of little people and things; a land
of prettiness and oddity rather than of
beauty; where life is curiously free from
moral and intellectual complexities. Loti
has but a single theme, the isolated life
of one
man with one woman; but the
charm of Madame Chrysanthème) is
not in its romance. The pretty olive-
hued wife whom the sailor Loti upon
his arrival at Nagasaki engages at so
much a month, conscientiously does her
part. She pays him all reverence, keeps
## p. 94 (#130) #############################################
94
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
account of the manners and customs that
distinguish one from another. This fine
work is at once a treatise on geography,
political study of the peoples most
dreaded by Rome, a study of barbarous
manners, and, by the simple effect of
contrast, a satire on Roman manners.
It is not only the chief source of the
ancient history of the tribes that were to
form the northern and western nations
of Europe, but it contains an account
of the germs of almost every modern in-
stitution,— military, judicial, and feudal.
Notwithstanding occasional errors in ge-
ography and some misconceptions as to
the religion of the Germans, the striking
accuracy of his details, as well as the
correctness and precision of his general
views, have led some scholars to believe
that Tacitus spent the four years of his
life which are unaccounted for, from 89
to 93, in Germany. But this is only con-
jecture; and the means of information
within his reach were as valuable as a
personal visit to the country he describes
might have been. Many of his friends,
like Rufus, had made campaigns beyond
the Rhine, and their knowledge was at
his disposal.
He must have consulted
the numerous hostages and captives that
were always in the city. Deserters, such
as Marbod and Catuald, not to mention
the merchants who trafficked with the
Teutons, may also have helped him to
give his work the character of truthful-
ness and the local color that distinguish
it. He is supposed, in addition, to have
derived great assistance from the (His-
tory of the Wars in Germany,' in twenty
books, by Pliny the Elder, a work now
lost. Tacitus has been accused of a tend-
ency to idealize the ancient Germans,
in order to contrast their virtues with the
vices of the Romans. But while he no
doubt intends now and then to point a
moral for the benefit of his countrymen,
he is not blind to the faults of the peo-
ple he describes, and has no love for
them. He speaks of their bestial drunk-
enness, their gluttony, their indolence,
and rejoices with a ferocious joy at the
destruction of sixty thousand of the Brus-
teri, slain in sight of the Roman soldiers
by their own countrymen.
executing efforts of advance with full
masculine strength and energy. Napo-
leon had in 1803 driven Madame de Staël
from Paris, and in December of that year
she had visited Schiller and Goethe at
Weimar, and Schlegel at Berlin. The
death of her father, a visit to Italy, and
the composition of Corinne) which greatly
added to her fame in Europe, were fol-
lowed by a second visit to Germany in
the latter part of 1807. The book De
l'Allemagne) was finished in 1810, and
printed in an edition of 10,000 copies af-
ter submission to the regular censorship,
when Napoleon caused the whole to be
seized and destroyed, and herself ordered
to leave France at once. By good luck
her son had preserved the manuscript; and
the author was able, after a long wander-
ing through Europe, to reach England,
and secure the publication of her book in
1813. In dealing, as she did, with man-
ners, society, literature, art, philosophy,
and religion, from the point of view of
her observations in Germany, Madame
de Staël gave to France a more complete
and sympathetic knowledge of German
thought and literature than it had ever
had. It was a presentation of the German
mind and German developments at once
singularly penetrating and powerful. The
defects of the work were French, and
promoted rather than hindered its influ-
ence in France. In England an immense
enthusiasm was aroused by the author
and by her brilliant book, which easily
took the highest rank among books of
the time.
I
Ger
erman Empire, The Founding of
the: Based chiefly upon Prussian
State Documents; by Heinrich von Sy bel.
(7 vols. , 1890-98. ) An able authoritative
treatment of Prussian history during the
period 1850–70. Dr. Von Sybel had pub-
lished a History of the Revolutionary
Period from 1789 to 1800,' in which he
pictured the downfall of the Holy Roman
Empire among the Germans.
In sequel
to this he undertook the history of the
Prussian founding of a German Empire.
Bismarck gave permission, March 19th,
1881, for him to use the records in the
government archives; and through five
volumes, bringing the story as far as to
1866, this privilege was of avail to secure
an accurate and comprehensive picture of
Prussian aims and efforts down to the
war with Austria. A few months after
Bismarck's retirement, the permission
Germ
ermany, by the Baroness de Staël-
Holstein (Anne Louise Germaine
Necker). (1813. ) One of the most re-
markable examples in literature of the
genius of woman opening new paths and
## p. 95 (#131) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
95
new
cor-
of many other participants in the histories Quideligtful book, published in 1858,
to consult the documents of the Foreign cess laid the foundation of the
Office was withdrawn; but for a empire. The development of Prussian
rect completion of the essential course of power in North Germany and the Franco-
events this proved not a serious matter. Prussian War, ending with the making
The place of the official records was very of King William emperor, are the topics
well supplied by the literature already in of the concluding volumes. The English
print, by the personal knowledge of Von translation of this great work is an Amer-
Sybel himself from his own participation ican enterprise.
in important events, and the knowledge
,
and by an abundance of written records
freely placed at his disposal. The entire is full of charming descriptions of
work, therefore, in seven stout volumes, scenery, and of interesting character-
cannot fail to be a most valuable con- touches. The story had a great vogue
temporary history. It is introduced by in its day. Nora Nixon, one heroine, a
an elaborate retrospect of German history beautiful girl of sixteen, is traveling
from the earliest times to the middle with her father, when he suddenly dies,
(1850) of the reign of Frederick William leaving her alone and penniless. She
IV. (June 7th, 1840, to January 2d, 1861). has been brought up entirely on the
This monarch, after ten years of dogged Continent, and now enters England for
refusal, finally granted Prussia a written the first time. Her mother was of good
constitution and a representative parlia | family; and it is to her relations, the
ment (January 31st, 1850). It is at this Medways, that Nora first addresses her-
point that Dr. von Sybel takes up the his- self, rather than to her father's brothers,
tory for full and exact treatment of the rich and presumably vulgar tradesmen.
steps of change by which the king of Prus- The Medways receive her kindly; but
sia was to become in 1871, January 18th, finding that Lord Medway, an invalid of
at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, rather weak character, wishes to marry
the German emperor.
King Frederick her, they lose no time in preventing
William's shattered health (from paraly- such a mésalliance, and turn her over,
sis and occasional insanity) led to the with scant consideration of her feelings,
appointment of his brother William as to her offended city uncles. This is
regent, October 7th, 1858; and upon the done through the mediation of Charles
former's death, January 2d, 1861, the latter Thorpe, Medway's younger brother; and
succeeded to the Prussian throne as Will- though Nora has never seen him, it is
iam I. The policy of the new king was long before she forgives this insult.
military rather than popular, to strengthen She soon makes herself indispensable,
the army rather than to develop a free however, to her uncle Stephen, as well
Prussia; and this might have overthrown as to his son Arthur, who, though he
him had he not found in Bismarck a loves her, is obliged by his father to
minister able to unite the conflicting make a brilliant marriage. Shortly after
interests. Bismarck's “Blood and Iron, marrying Lady Trebleton, a gay widow,
which has been commonly misunder- he dies at Almenau, in the Bavarian
stood, meant German Blood or Race, - | Highlands. His dying wish is that Nora
German Unity,- and Iron or arms to shall visit his grave and erect a stone
enable Prussia to develop it. Dr. Von over him; and it is to fulfill this trust
Sybel takes up in his first volume the first that, when left an heiress by Stephen
attempt at German unity; then relates Nixon's death, she goes with the Gil-
the failure of the projects for securing it bert Nixons to this beautiful spot. Here
and the achievement of Prussian union. they run
Charles Thorpe, now
In Vol. ii. he deals with the revival of Lord Medway, and his friend Count
the Confederate Diet; Germany at the Waldemar. Against his will, and in
time of the Crimean War; the first years defiance of all his strongest prejudices,
of the reign of William I. ; and the be- for he is a true Englishman in all
ginning of the ministry of Bismarck. He his faults and virtues, - Charles Thorpe
devotes Vol. iii. to the war with Den- falls desperately in love with Nora
mark, and Vols. iv. and v. to the rela- Nixon, whom he believes to be Gilbert
tions of Prussia with Austria, and the Nixon's daughter. Nora has a moment
settlement of their difficulties in “the of exquisite triumph when she refuses
Bohemian War, in which Prussian suc- to be Charles Thorpe's wife; but she is
across
## p. 96 (#132) #############################################
96
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
not long so obdurate. Charming de- Freytag produces an intensely dramatic
scriptions are given of the Tyrolean tale, its realism transfused and illumi-
peasant life, and the book could only nated by a glowing imagination. The plot
have been written by a lover of the is intricate and exciting, but the value
country, although the Germans some- of the story lies in its strong studies of
what resented the truth told of their character, and the sense it conveys of
social life by the observant Irishwoman. inevitability, in its logical deduction of
event from cause. An excellent English
At
t Odds, a novel by Baroness Taut-
translation was published in 1874.
phæus (1863), dealing with the vicis-
situdes of a Bavarian family during the In the Year 13 (Ut de Franzosentid,
) translation
gram. Mrs. O'More, an Irish widow, has Dutch of Fritz Reuter, by Charles Lee
married as her second husband Count Lewis. It is one of a series to which
Waldering, a Bavarian officer, who falls
Reuter gave
the general name Old
at Hohenlinden fighting on the side of the Camomile Flowers,' signifying “old tales
victorious French. She has two daugh- useful as homely remedies. ” The de.
ters: Doris O'More by her first husband, lightfully homely narration of life in a
and Baroness Hilda by her second. Hilda, Dutch village — the prim orderly ways of
though only twelve years old, has been the women, the petty issues brought be-
betrothed for family reasons to her cousin fore the patriarchal Amtshauptmann, and
Sigmund, the heir of Waldering, and the the general confusion resulting from the
villain of the story. By a series of events, side issues of war – is both pathetic and
however, she is forced into marriage with humorous. The scene is laid in Reuter's
Frank O'More, a nephew of her mother's native town of Stavenhagen; and the
first husband. The story turns upon the characters are real people, whose real
results of this uncongenial alliance. It names are preserved. The story is an
is told with a happy ease and directness; animated presentation of the state of
and if it has not the brilliancy of “The feeling prevailing among a people who
Initials, it is not the less clever as a detested yet feared Napoleon, and were
study of character and a swift-moving forced to treat the French as allies while
regarding them bitterest enemies.
A party of “rascally French chasseurs
Debit and Credit (“Soll und Haben ”),
by Gustav Freytag. In this story
throw the town into tumult, and finally
ride off with several captives unjustly
are portrayed with rare keenness and
accused of theft. Before these are re-
fidelity the characteristics of German na-
tionality in its various classes.
leased come many adventures, quarrels,
The
honorable independence, patriotism, com-
and a fierce pursuit of unlawful booty,
through which runs an idyllic love story,
mercial sagacity, and cultured common-
that of Miller Voss's beautiful daughter
sense of the middle industrial class, which
Fieka. Back of all the somewhat slow
forms the solid substratum of society,
are well contrasted with the impassible
and simple-minded Dutch folk looms
exclusiveness and pecuniary irresponsi-
the invisible yet dominant presence of
bility of the nobility on the one hand,
Napoleon, as a force which they are
and the stolid ignorance of the peasantry
always conscious of and always dreading.
and the scheming of the Jews on the Fire and Sword in the Sudan, by
other. Written in the troublous times Rudolf C. Slatin Pasha, published
after '48, its avowed purpose
was to in 1896, is a record of the author's ex-
arouse the German youth to a sense of periences, fighting and serving the Der-
their opportunities and responsibilities, -a vishes, from 1879 to 1895. Slatin Pasha
purpose in which it succeeded. Its truth- held the rank of colonel in the Egyptian
fulness to life, its delightful diction and army, and also occupied the post of gor-
variety of incident, assured its immediate ernor and military commandant in Dar-
popularity; and to-day it is regarded as fur. Having been compelled to surrender
the best German novel of the age. Most to the Mahdi's vastly superior numbers,
of the action is influenced by counting- he remained a prisoner of that remark-
house ethics; and it is emphatically the able leader (of whose career an admi.
story of the old commercial house of rable account is given), and of the Mah-
Schröter. Yet with what an inferior art- di's successor, the Khalifa Abdullahi, for
ist would have found prosaic material, more than ten years.
Thus the Pasha
romance.
as
## p. 97 (#133) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
97
was forced to join the Khalifa’s body-
guard, and was constituted his trusted,
though unwilling, adviser. This relation
afforded him almost unmatched oppor-
tunities for obtaining an inside view of
the «rise, progress, and decline of that
great religious movement which wrenched
the country from its conquerors, and
dragged it back into an almost inde-
scribable condition of religious and moral
decadence. ” Valuable information is
given regarding those military operations
which have occupied European diplo-
macy and arms for two decades; the
siege and fall of Khartum, and the fate
of Chinese » Gordon, being of particular
interest. The narrative is vigorous and
full of detail, although the writer was
not permitted to keep even a diary. At
length, wearying of the dangerous favors
of the Khalifa, Slatin Pasha made a dan-
gerous escape, and rejoined his family in
his native city of Vienna.
Cretan Insurrection of 1866-8, The,
by William J. Stillman, United States
consul to Greece during the period of
which the book treats, was published in
1874, making a valuable contribution to
the literature of the Eastern Question.
Recounting the incidents of those years,
the author does not attempt to conceal his
sympathies with the Cretans. «I feel,” he
writes in the Preface, that the Hellenes
are less responsible for the vices of their
body politic than
their guardian
Powers, who interfere to misguide, con-
trol to pervert, and protect to enfeeble,
every good impulse and quality of the
race; while they foster the spirit of in-
trigue, themselves enter into the domestic
politics of Greece in order to be able to
control her foreign, and each in turn, lest
Greece should some day be an aid to some
other of the contestants about the bed of
the sick man, does all it can to prevent
her from being able to help herself. ”
Crusades, The History, and Litera:
ture of the. From the German of
Von Sybel, by Lady Duff-Gordon. (1861. )
A concise but thoroughly learned and
judicious study of the Crusades,- by far
the best historical sketch in English. Mi-
chaud's History of the Crusades) is badly
translated, but it is the best comprehens-
ive book on the subject. Cox's "The
Crusades,' in the Epochs of Modern
History,' is an excellent summary. Sybel
devotes the second part of his work to an
account of the original and later authori-
ties. An excellent history will be found
in «The Age of the Crusades,' by James
M. Ludlow (1896); a work which inquires
into the conditions of life and thought
which made the Crusades possible, - con-
ditions peculiar to the eleventh century, —
and then tells the story of eight Crusades,
during the period from March 1096 to
August 1270, together with the results of
the period.
Creation, The Story of: A Plain Ac-
COUNT OF Evolution, by Edward
Clodd. (1888–89. ) An instructive study of
what evolution means, and how it is sup-
posed to have operated in the upward
development from the lowest level of the
two kingdoms of living things, animals
and plants. The book is especially ad-
apted to popular reading. In another
work of the same general character, “The
Childhood of the World: A Simple Ac-
count of Man in Early Times,' (1873,) Mr.
Clodd has in a most interesting manner
dealt with the latest stage of the evolu-
tionary creation, showing how the theory
is supposed to explain the origin and
early history of the human species. A
third volume, on the same plan of popular
exposition, "The Childhood of Religions,
(1875,) covers the ground of the earli-
est development of man in a spiritual
direction, and especially explains the
first origin and the growth of myths and
legends.
History of the World, A, by Sir
Walter Raleigh. This work, which
was done by the author during his
twelve years' imprisonment in the Tower
of London, was first published in 1614.
From the present point of view it
is obsolete, historically; but it passed
through eight editions, in less time than
it took for the plays of Shakespeare to
attain four, In 1615 King James or-
dered the whole impression called in,
giving as his reason that it was “too
saucy in censuring the acts of princes. )
The history is divided into five books:
the first covering the time from the
Creation to Abraham; the second from
the Birth of Abraham to the destruction
of the Temple of Solomon; the third
from the Destruction of Jerusalem to the
time of Philip of Macedon; the fourth
from the Reign of Philip to the death
of Pyrrhus; the fifth, from the Reign
of Antigonus to the Conquest of Asia
and Macedon by the Romans. There
are many digressions: one, « wherein is
are
XXX-7
## p. 98 (#134) #############################################
98
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
maintained the liberty of using con- burgomasters, the patroon Killian Van
jectures in history»; another, «Of the Rensselaer, Stoffel Brinkerhoff, William
Several Commandments of the Deca- Kieft called “William the Testy,” An-
logue”; and another on «Tyranny. ” In tony Van Corlear the trumpeter, Peter
the preface the author speaks of a Stuyvesant with his silver leg, and a
second and third volume (if the first complement of Indians, Dutch, and Yan-
receive grace and good acceptance. ” It kee settlers. Before the appearance of
was his ambition to relate the success- my work,” says Irving, “the popular
ive fortunes of the four great empires of traditions of our city were unrecorded;
the world, by way of a preface to the the peculiar and racy customs and us-
History of England; but his release from ages derived from our Dutch progenitors
imprisonment in 1615, his expedition to were unnoticed or regarded with indif-
Guiana, and his execution in 1618, pre- ference, or adverted to with à sneer. ”
vented the accomplishment of his plan.
Little as it answers the requirements Ferdinand and Isabella, The Reign
of its comprehensive title, Sir Walter of, by William Hickling Prescott.
Raleigh's History) is nevertheless a (1837. ) This is the earliest of the books
monument to the great learning of its of Prescott. Circumstances had enabled
author. It was written under vast dis- the author to command materials far be-
advantages, even though it may not have yond those of any previous writer, and
been penned in the narrow cell which he had fine talents for the task. The
the Tower «Beef-Eaters » still point out. main story told by him was preceded by
Many passages present a rare eloquence, a view of the Castilian monarchy before
and exemplify an admirable English A. D. 1400, and of the constitution of
style, with the Elizabethan dignity and Aragon to about A. D. 1450. The work
sonorous music.
then proceeded through twenty chapters,
to near the middle of the second volume,
Knickerbocker, Diedrich: History of
with (The Age of Domestic Develop-
New York. In a later preface to ment, 1406-92,' and on to the end of
this work, first published in 1809, Wash-
the third volume, twenty-six chapters,
ington Irving says: "Nothing more was with (The Age of Discovery and Con-
contemplated than a jeu d'esprit, writ- quest, 1493–1517. ' To near the middle of
ten in a serio-comic vein, and treating the third volume, «a principal object>
local errors, follies, and abuses with of the history had been the illustration
good-humored satire. ” Diedrich Knicker- of the personal character and public
bocker is the imaginary historian who administration of Isabella, whom Mr.
records the traditions of New Amsterdam. Prescott pronounced «certainly one of the
The book begins with the creation of most interesting personages in history ");
the world, the discovery of America by and into the second half of the work
the Dutch, and the settlement of the came the story of Columbus. No writer
New Netherlands. Hendrick Hudson ap- of judicious history has left Columbus
pears, with other navigators; there are on a more lofty pinnacle of moral great-
descriptions of the Bouwerie, Bowling ness, as well as fame, or more carefully
Green, the Battery, and Fort Amster- held a screen of admiration, and almost of
dam, with the quaint Dutch housės, tiled awe, before actions and aspects of char-
roofs, and weathercocks, all complete. acter which were of the age and of
Dutchmen in wide trousers, big hats, Spain, and not of the ideals of man at
feathers, and large boots, continually puff- his best. The Portuguese pursuit of dis-
ing long pipes, are seen with their wives covery
for a hundred years from 1418,
and daughters in voluminous petticoats, which reached out a thousand miles into
shoes with silver buckles, girdles, and the Atlantic and carried the Lisbon ships
neat head-dresses. Along the Hudson round the south point of Africa to the
sail high-pooped Dutch ships. Legends real India, and which in 1502 made an
of the island of Manhattan and its sur- independent discovery of the south con-
rounding shores are interwoven with the tinent, Mr. Prescott took hardly any note
humorous chronicle. The history treats of. But within the limits of his picture
of Oloffe Van Kortlandt, the valiant he wrought most admirably, to interest,
Kip, the Ten Broecks, Hans Reiner to instruct, and to leave in literature a
Oothout, the renowned Wouter Van monument of the Catholic Queen and of
Twiller, descendant of a long line of Columbus.
## p. 99 (#135) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
99
Gil Blas of Santillane, The Advent. . The title and some of the incidents are
ures of, the work by which Alain borrowed from “El Diablo Cojuelo' (1641)
René Le Sage is best and most widely of the Spanish Luiz Veloz de Guevara.
known, is a series of pictures of life But after the first few chapters Le Sage
among all classes and conditions of peo- departs widely from his predecessor. The
ple in Spain two centuries ago. Gil very plan is abandoned, and the new epi-
Blas, an orphan of seventeen years, is sodes and characters introduced are en-
dispatched by his uncle, with the gift of tirely original with Le Sage. Guevara
a mule and a few ducats, to seek the ends his story with awkward abruptness;
University of Salamanca, there to finish while the French romancer winds up with
his education and find a lucrative post. a graceful romance, dismissing Don Cle-
He does not reach the university, but ofas to happiness with his beloved Sera-
falls in with robbers, actors, courtiers, phina. In short, where the two diverge
politicians, in a long chain of adventures. the advantage is wholly with the later
By turns he enters the service of a comer in style, wit, and ingenuity of in-
physician, a lady of fashion, and a prime vention. Nevertheless the conception is
minister, with equal confidence; accepting Guevara's. Don Cleofas, a young Span-
luxury or destitution, palace or prison, ish profligate of high lineage, proud and
with equal philosophy. The narrative revengeful but brave and generous, de-
runs on, with excursions and interpolated livers from his imprisonment in a bottle
histories, and the thread of the story is the demon Asmodeus; who in gratitude
as inconsequential as that of a tale of assists him in his pranks, and carries him
the Arabian Nights. The charm of the triumphantly through a series of amusing
work is its absolute truth to human na- adventures. Especially does the demon
ture, and its boundless humor and satire. bestow on his deliverer the power of sail-
These qualities have made it a classic. ing through the air, and seeing through
Dr. Sangrado, the quack physician to the roofs what is going on within the
whom Gil Blas apprenticed himself, the houses of Madrid. Le Sage introduced
Archbishop of Granada, with other of into his story, under Spanish names,
the personages of these adventures, have many anecdotes and portraits of Parisian
been accepted as universal types. Le celebrities. These were all immediately
Sage was a Frenchman, who never saw recognized, and contributed greatly to the
Spain; but through his familiarity with contemporary vogue of the novel, which
its literature he produced a work so essen- was greater even than that of (Gil Blas. )
tially Spanish in its tone and spirit as to It is one of the famous traditions of the
provoke long controversy as to its origi- book trade that two young French noble-
nality. Padre Isla, who translated (Gil men actually fought a duel in a book-store
Blas,' declares on his title-page that the for the possession of the only remaining
tale was stolen from the Spanish, and copy.
now restored to its country and native
language. ” Gil Blas” is Le Sage's great. Maximina, by. Armando Palacio Val-
est and most brilliant work. Its writing
dés A vivid picture of modern
occupied twenty years of his literary Spain is shown in this interesting novel,
prime; the first two volumes appear-
the scene of which is laid chiefly in
ing in 1715, and the last in 1735. It has Madrid. Miguel de
Rivera marries
been translated into many languages, the Maximina, a modest country girl. He
earliest in English; the one which has brings her to Madrid and lives happily
remained the standard being by Tobias
until he finds his fortune compromised.
Smollett.
As editor of a Liberal newspaper, he
signs notes to enable the paper to con-
Asmodeus, The LAME DEVIL (Le Dia- tinue; with the promise of Mendoza, a.
ble Boiteux'). A novel by Alain politician and one of the backers, that.
René Le Sage, first published in 1707, and they shall be taken up when due. When
republished by the author, with many the Liberals come into power, the holder:
changes and additions, in 1725. It is
of the notes calls for payment. The re-
sometimes known in English as Asmo- sponsible parties neglect to protect Mig-
deus,) and sometimes as (The Devil on uel; and Mendoza suggests that he sign.
Two Sticks,) under which title the first more notes to gain time, and be a can-.
spite of its title, however, there is nothing mies; for under the disguise of Elmire,
novel in the incidents upon which the Clitiphon, and other names borrowed from
(Nouvelles) are based. Their novelty the plays and romances of the age, many
consists in their high-bred brightness great personages of the literary and fash-
and vivacity, their delicately shaded and ionable world recognized themselves. La
refined but cruel sarcasm. With a slight Bruyère protested his innocence, and no
modernization of the language, they might doubt in most cases several individuals
have been told at one of the Regent's sat for a single portrait; but it is also
suppers, and they are far superior to pretty certain that he painted the great
those related in the Heptameron of the Condé in Émile,' and Fonteneile in
or
>
## p. 89 (#125) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
89
men
(Cydias,' and that many others had
cause for complaint. While it is admitted
that the picture he presents of the society
of his time is almost complete, it does
not appear that the Caractères) were
composed after any particular plan. Still,
although there may not be a very close
connection between the chapters, there is
a certain order in their succession. The
first, which paints society in its general
features, is a sort of introduction to the
nine following, which paint it in its dif-
ferent castes. Universal ethics are the
subject of the eleventh and twelfth, while
the eccentricities and abuses of the age
are dealt with in the thirteenth and four-
teenth, and in the fifteenth we have the
Christian solution. Some critics hold
La Bruyère a democrat and a precur-
sor of the French Revolution. The Ca-
ractères, however, teem with passages
that prove he accepted all the essential
ideas of his time in politics and religion.
A large number of manuscript “keys »
to the Caractères) appeared after their
publication. Quite a literature has grown
up around these keys. The Comédie de
La Bruyère) of Édouard Fournier deals
with the key question, both exhaustively
and amusingly. The "Édition Servois)
(1867) of the Caractères) is considered
by French critics unrivaled; but English
readers will find that of Chassary (1876)
more useful, as it contains everything of
interest that had appeared in the preced-
ing editions.
Ruins, byn Constantin François Vol-
ney.
These meditations upon the
revolutions of empires were published in
Paris in 1791, and have for their theme
the thought that all the ills of man are
traceable to his abandonment of Natural
Religion. The author, who was an ex-
tensive traveler, represents himself as
sitting on the ruins of Palmyra, dream-
ing of the past, and wondering why the
curse of God rests on this land. He
hears a voice (the Genius of the Tombs),
complaining of the injustice of men, in
attributing to God's vengeance that which
is due to their own folly. Love of self,
desire of well-being, and aversion to
pain, are the primordial laws of nature.
By these laws men were driven to asso-
ciate. Ignorance and cupidity raised the
strong against the weak. The feeble
joined forces, obliging the strong to do
likewise. To prevent strife, equitable
laws were passed. Paternal despotism
was the foundation of that of the State.
Tiring of the abuses of many petty
rulers, the nation gave itself one head.
Cupidity engendered tyranny, and all
the revenues of the nation were used for
the private expenses of the monarch.
Under pretext of religion, millions of
were employed in useless works.
Luxury became a source of corruption.
Excessive taxation obliged the small
landholder to abandon his field, and the
riches and lands were concentrated in
few hands. The ignorant and poor at-
tributed their calamities to some superior
power, while the priests attributed them
to wicked gods. To appease them, man
sacrificed his pleasures. Mista king bis
pleasures for crimes, and suffering for
expiation, he abjured love of self and
detested life; but as nature has endowed
the heart of man with hope, he formed,
in his imagination, another country.
For chimerical hopes he neglected the
reality. Life was but a fatiguing voy-
age, a painful dream, the body a prison.
Then a sacred laziness established itself
in the world. The fields were deserted,
empires depopulated, monuments neg-
lected; and ignorance, superstition, and
fanaticism, joining their forces, multi-
plied the devastation and ruins. The
Genius shows him a revolution, where
Liberty, Justice, and Equality are recog-
nized as the foundation of society. Be-
fore accepting a religion, all are invited
to present their claims for recognition.
The result is not only dissensions among
the different religions, but between the
different branches of the same religion,
each one claiming that his is the only
revealed religion and that all the others
are impositions.
Ninety-three (Quatre-vingt-Treize'),
by Victor Hugo, bears the sub-title:
(Premier Recit. La Guerre Civile, and
was intended to form the first part of a
trilogy. It was published in 1874. The
edition of 1882 contains several remarka-
ble designs signed by the author. The
story deals with an episode of the Ven-
dean and Breton insurrection; the scene
opening in a wood in Bretagne where a
woman, driven distracted by the war
raging around herself and her three
children, encounters a body of republican
soldiers. During this time, a band of
émigrés are preparing to land under
the command of a Breton nobleman,
the Marquis de Lantenac. The English
## p. 90 (#126) #############################################
90
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
government, though it has furnished them
1829 a young man, in despair because of
with a ship, informs the French authori- failure to succeed in his chosen career,
ties of their design, and a fotilla bars tries the gaming table. He meets an
their passage. The émigrés, after secur- old man, who revives his interest in life
ing the escape of Lantenac, who is com- by showing him a piece of skin, bearing
missioned to raise Bretagne, blow up the in Arabic an inscription promising to
vessel. After landing he learns that a the owner the gratification of every wish.
price is set on his head. A number of But with each request granted the skin
men come towards him, and he believes becomes smaller. The life of the pos-
he is lost, but bravely tells his name. sessor is lessened as the enchanted skin
They are Bretons, and recognize him as diminishes. The unknown young man
their leader. Then ensues a conflict in seizes the skin, crying “A short life but
which the marquis is victorious, and in a merry one! ) Scenes in Paris pass
which no quarter is given except to the before us, taken from lives of artists,
three children, whom the Bretons carry jou alists, politicians. We meet again
to La Tourgue as hostages. La Tourgue Canalis, a chief character in Modest
is besieged by the republican troops Mignon. One chapter is entitled "The
under Gauvain, the marquis's nephew, Heartless Woman. ) Raphael by virtue of
assisted by the ex-priest Cimourdain, a the talismanic skin becomes rich. Paul-
rigid and inflexible republican who has ine loves him. Life smiles on them,
trained Gauvain in his own opinions. Yet the fatal skin is brought to his
The besieged are determined to blow up eyes, casting a gloom over everything –
the tower and all it contains, if they are scientific work, salons of painting and
conquered.
When their case is desper- sculpture, the theatre - embittering all.
ate and the tower is already on fire, an He brings the skin to Lavrille, a savant,
underground passage is discovered, and for examination. It is the skin of an
they can escape.
Lantenac is in safety, ass,” is the decision. Raphael was look-
but he hears the agonizing shrieks of ing for some means to stretch the skin,
the mother, who sees her three children and thus prolong his life. He tries me-
in the midst of the flames. Moved with chanical force, chemistry; but the skin
pity, he returns, saves them, and be- becomes less and still less — till he dies.
comes a prisoner. When he is about to Through all we feel the author's tone of
be executed, Gauvain covers him with irony toward the weakness and sins of
his own cloak, tells him to depart, and society. Some twenty principal person-
remains in his place. A council of war
ages are introduced.
condemns Gauvain; and at the moment
he mounts the scaffold, Cimourdain, who
Jules Sandeau (Paris:
one of his judges, kills himself. 1846). The scene of the story is
Hugo incarnates in his three principal laid in the little village of Saint-Sylvain,
characters the three ages of human so- in the ancient province of La Marche.
ciety.
Lantenac, the monarchic chief, The curé, a priest patterned after the
personifies the past; Cimourdain, the cit- Vicar of Wakefield, who spends most of
izen priest, the present; and Gauvain, his income of 800 francs in relieving his
the ideal of mercy, the future. Although poor, discovers that there is no money
the descriptions and disquisitions are left to buy a soutane for himself and a
sometimes wordy and tedious, and there surplice for his assistant; while the fes-
are many improbabilities in the romance, tival of the patron of the parish is close
the picture of the three little children at hand, and their old vestments are in
tossed about in the revolutionary hurri- rags.
There is consternation in the pres-
cane will always be considered one of bytery, especially when the news arrives
the loftiest achievements of Hugo's gen- that the bishop of Limoges himself is to
ius. The account of the convention of be present. Catharine, the priest's little
1793, and the conversations of Marat, niece, determines to make a collection,
Danton, and Robespierre, also show the and goes to the neighboring château,
hand of a master.
although warned that the Count de Sou-
gères is a wicked and dangerous man.
Magic Skin, The ('La Peau de But Catharine, in her innocence, does not
Chagrin'), by Honoré de Balzac. understand the warning; and besides,
This forms of the Philosophic Claude, her uncle's choir-leader and her
Studies) of the great Frenchman. In friend from childhood, will protect her.
Catharine,
was
one
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
91
When she reaches the château, she meets,
not the count, but his son Roger, who
gives a liberal donation to the fair col-
lector, and afterward sends hampers of
fowl, silver plate, etc. , to the presbytery,
so that Monseigneur of Limoges and his
suite are received with all due honor.
Universal joy pervades the parish, which
Claude does not share. He is jealous;
and with reason, for Catharine and Roger
quickly fall in love with each other.
(Catharine) ranks as one of the best,
if not the best, of Sandeau's works.
While some of the scenes show intense
dramatic power, and others are of the
most pathetic interest, a spirit of de-
licious humor pervades the whole story,
an unforced and kindly humor that springs
from the situations, and is of a class
seldom found in French literature.
victim of war, this thesis, interpreted by
scenes of daily carnage, is more eloquent
and persuasive than if it borrowed argu-
ments from history or philosophy. The
style is simple, familiar; perhaps at times
even vulgar: but it is never trivial or
commonplace, and is always in harmony
with the speaker. As the work was hos-
tile to the Napoleonic legend, numerous
obstacles were put in the way of its cir-
culation at the time of publication. But
notwithstanding, it was scattered in pro-
fusion throughout France by means of
cheap illustrated editions.
an
1
Loki, by Prosper Mérimée, is one of the
strongest and most skillfully con-
structed of his works. The motive is
the almost universal belief that human
beings may be transformed into animals.
A German professor and minister, com-
missioned to make a new translation
of the Scriptures into the Zhmud lan-
guage, is invited by a Lithuanian no-
bleman (Count Szémioth) to reside at
his castle and use his valuable library
during his labors.
The Count's mother, on the day of
her marriage, had been carried off by a
bear, and when rescued, found to be
hopelessly insane, even the birth of her
son having failed to restore her reason.
The Professor finds the Count
agreeable companion, but observes in
him certain strange and often alarming
characteristics. The Count is in love
with a beautiful, witty, but rather friv-
olous young girl, Miss Julia Ivinska, and
the Professor goes with him several
times to visit her at Doughielly. At
last their engagement is announced, and
the Professor is recalled to the castle to
perform the marriage ceremony.
The next morning the bride is found
dead, and the Count has disappeared.
The whole trend of the story, the inci-
dents and conversations, often seemingly
irrelevant, the hinted peculiarities of the
Count, all serve to point, as it were in-
exorably, at the inevitable conclusion
that the man has at last undergone the
terrible transformation and become
bear, after killing and partially eating
his helpless victim.
The perfect simplicity and naturalness
of the language, the realism of its ro-
mance, the grace and wit of the dia-
logue, and the consistency of the char-
acters, - particularly of the Professor,
who narrates the story with the utmost
Conscrit de 1813, Histoire d'un (His-
tory of a Conscript of 1813), by
Erckmann-Chatrian, was published at
Paris in four volumes (1868–70). Joseph
Bertha, a watchmaker's apprentice, aged
20, is in despair when he learns that in
spite of his lameness, he must shoulder a
gun and march against the allies. Hither-
to his own little affairs have bad much
more concern for him than the quarrels of
kings and powers, and he has an instinct-
ive dislike to the spirit of conquest. Still
his is a loyal heart, and he resists the
temptation to desert. After an affecting
farewell to his betrothed, he marches to
join his regiment, resolved to do his duty.
Of the terrific battles of the period Joseph
relates only what he saw. He does not
pretend to be a hero, but he is always true
to his nature and to human nature in his
alternate fits of faint-heartedness and war-
like fury. He obeys his leaders when
they bid him rush to death or glory; but
he cannot help turning his eyes back, at
the same time, to the poor little cottage
where he has left all his happiness. His
artless soul is a battle-field whereon the
feelings natural to him are in constant
conflict with those of his new condition:
the former prevailing when the miseries
of the soldier's life are brought home to
him; the latter, when he is inflamed by
martial ardor. All the narrative, up to
the time he returns wounded to his family,
turns on the contrast between the perpet-
ual mourning that is going on in families
and the perpetual Te Deums for disas-
trous victories. This is the dominant
note; and in the mouth of this obscure
1
T
a
## p. 92 (#128) #############################################
92
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
plausibility,- give it the effect of his- vious with the money of all his clients.
tory. While the supernatural is the most Jeanne thus becomes the ward of her good
dramatic quality of the story, every in- old friend, who later sells his treasured
cident in it might nevertheless be ex- library to secure her a marriage portion,
plained scientifically.
and retires to a cottage in the country,
where his declining days are brightened
Crin
rime of Sylvestre Bonnard, The, by the caresses of Jeanne and her child-
by Anatole France. This charming ren.
story, by a distinguished critic and aca-
demician, not only paints the literary life Numa Roumestan, by Alphonse Dau-
det. The author at first intended
of Paris, but depicts the nobler human
to call his romance (North and South';
emotions with delicate humor and pathos.
a title indicative of his true purpose,
In a short prelude entitled “The Log,'
which is to contrast these two sections
the kindliness and simplicity of nature of
of France, not at all to the advantage
the learned archæologist Sylvestre Bon-
of the one in which he was born. Numa
nard, member of the Institute, are revealed.
Roumestan is a genuine Provençal: a
It relates how he sends a Christmas log
braggart, a politician, a great man, and
to a poor young mother, in the attic
a good fellow to boot. He appears in
above him, on the birth of her boy; how,
the opening pages at a festival at Apt,
like a fairy gift, the log comes back to
where he is the choice of his adoring
him on a later Christmas, hollowed out,
and containing a precious manuscript of
fellow-countrymen for deputy. Congrat-
ulations, embraces, hand-shaking, and
the Golden Legend,' for which he has
requests for offices, are the order of the
journeyed to Sicily in vain; and how the
day. He promises everything to every
Princess Trépof, who is the gracious donor,
one, - crosses, tobacco
turns out to be the poor attic-neighbor,
monopolies, what-
whom he had befriended years before.
ever any one asks,- and if Valmajour,
the tambourine player, come to Paris,
When the story opens, we find Sylvestre
he will make his fortune. A friend re-
Bonnard at the château of a Monsieur
monstrates with him. “Bah! ” he answers,
de Gabry, for whom he is cataloguing old
manuscripts. Here he meets a charming they know these promises are of no con-
they are of the South, like myself:
young girl named Jeanne, and discovers
sequence; talking about them will amuse
her to be the portionless daughter of his
them. ” But some persons take him at
first and only love. He resolves to pro-
his word. The story is intensely amus-
vide for and dower her; but she has
ing, and there is not a chapter which
already a guardian in a crafty notary, Mai-
does not contain some laughable inci-
tre Mouche, who has placed her in a third-
dent. The mixture of irony and sensi-
rate school near Paris. Here the good
bility which pervades it is Daudet's
Bonnard visits her and gradually wins her
distinguishing characteristic, and reminds
filial affection; but unluckily at the same
the reader of Heine. There are some
time arouses in the pretentious school-
scenes of real pathos, such as the death
mistress, Mademoiselle Préfère, the am-
of little Hortense. Daudet describes the
bition of becoming the wife of a member
of the Institute who is reputed wealthy.
early career of Gambetta in the chief
character. Gambetta was his friend, but
The defenseless savant, upon receiving
Daudet never shrank from turning his
a scarcely veiled offer of wedlock from
friends into “copy. ”
the lady, cannot conceal his horror; upon
which she turns him out of the house, Faience Violin, The, by J. F. H. Champ;
and denies him all further intercourse with fleury. A dainty book, wrought with
Jeanne. On the discovery that his pro- the delicacy and care of an artist in
tégée is immured and cruelly treated, he some frail and rare material, truly and
is driven to commit his great crime, the without metaphor a romance of pottery.
abduction of a minor. This deed is ef- There is no love episode in the story
fected by bribing the portress of the school save that passion that consumes the col-
and carrying away the willing victim in lector of antiques, which, if yielded to
a cab to the shelter of Madame de Ga- unreservedly, will surely lead to the moral
bry's house. Here he finds that he has result of turning the feelings into stone. ”
committed a penal offense; but escapes The scene is laid in Nevers, the centre
prosecution owing to Jeanne's unworthy of the fine pottery districts of France; and
guardian's having decamped a week pre- the characters, Gardelanne and Dalegre,
((
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
93
at the first warm friends, end in being
rival collectors, consumed with envy and
suspicion. Gardelanne, who lives in Paris,
having learned of the existence of a vio-
lin made of pottery, charges Dalègre, his
old companion at Nevers, the home of
their boyhood, to hunt it up; and on his
failing to find it, undertakes the search
himself at last, discovering it in a col-
lection of old rubbish, and buying it for
a mere trifle, much to Dalègre's chagrin.
To satisfy his friend, however, he puts a
clause in his will leaving to him the vio-
lin; a concession that helps to convert
the former love of his friend into eager-
ness to hear of his death. At length the
coveted porcelain comes into Dalègre's
possession, and is about to be assigned
to the shrine long kept waiting for it,
when, on being tuned for a few delicious
notes of greeting, the precious idol cracks
and falls to pieces on the floor. The
owner, in his grief and mortification, is
for a time thought by his friends to have
fallen in “defaience,” He has horrid
dreams of people who have turned into
fine vases and may not mingle too freely
with their companions lest they spoil
their glaze. At length, recovered from
his malady, he marries; and amid the
joys of home, contrasts the happiness of
domestic life with the hollow pleasures
of those unfortunates (whose feelings are
turning into stone. ) In a preface to an
American edition, the author expresses
his delight at the kind welcome his story
has found in America.
summer
the house gay with Japanese blossoms,
plays her harp, and is as Japanese a
little oddity as he could find; but fails
even to amuse him. She is as empty
of ideality as her name-flower is of fra-
grance, or as the little apartment which
he rents for her and for himself is of
furniture. But the disillusion of Loti
himself, the mocking pessimism under-
lying his eager appreciation of the new
sense-impressions, and the exact touch
and strong relief of his descriptions of
exotic scenes, exercise a curious mag-
netism.
With Chrysanthème, Loti explores Na-
gasaki, goes to concerts, and gives teas;
but he is not in harmony with this bi-
zarre simplicity of life. Suddenly his
ship is ordered to China.
The pretty
home is dismantled. Chry-
santhème must return to her mother.
In future she will be a pleasant mem-
ory, but he leaves her without regret,
with an indulgent smile of light mock-
ery for the clever, gain-seeking little Jap-
anese lady.
Cosmopolis, by Paul Bourget.
This
novel is written to demonstrate the
influence of heredity. The scene is at
Rome, but a glance at the principal char-
acters shows the fitness of the title.
Countess Steno is a descendant of the
Doges. Bolislas Gorka shows the nervous
irritability and facile conscience of the
Slav; his wife is English. Lincoln Mait-
land is an American artist, whose wife
has a drop of African blood. The clever
Dorsenne is French. From the alien am-
bitions and the selfish intrigues of these
persons the story arises. It is most dis-
agreeable in essence, but subtle in analy-
sis, dramatic in quality, and brilliant in
execution.
Germany (Germania), by Tacitus. The
full title of the work is De Origine,
Situ, Moribus, ac Populis Germaniæ. ) It
was written probably in 99, and is a
geographical and political description of
ancient Germany, or at least of the part
of it known to the Romans, which did
not extend far beyond the Elbe. It may
be divided into three parts: Chapters
i. -v. describe the situation of the coun-
try, the origin of its population, and the
nature of the soil; Chapters vi. -xxvii. ,
the manners of the Germans in general
and their method of waging war; and the
remaining chapters deal with the sev-
eral tribes, and give a careful and precise
Madame Chrysantheme, by Pierre Loti
(whose real name is Louis Marie
Julien Viaud), appeared in 1887, when he
was thirty-seven. It is the seventh of
the novels in which Loti has tried to fix
in words the color, atmosphere, and life
of different countries.
The scene
of
Madame Chrysanthème) is Japan, and
the reader sees and feels that strange
land as Loti saw and felt it, - a little
land of little people and things; a land
of prettiness and oddity rather than of
beauty; where life is curiously free from
moral and intellectual complexities. Loti
has but a single theme, the isolated life
of one
man with one woman; but the
charm of Madame Chrysanthème) is
not in its romance. The pretty olive-
hued wife whom the sailor Loti upon
his arrival at Nagasaki engages at so
much a month, conscientiously does her
part. She pays him all reverence, keeps
## p. 94 (#130) #############################################
94
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
account of the manners and customs that
distinguish one from another. This fine
work is at once a treatise on geography,
political study of the peoples most
dreaded by Rome, a study of barbarous
manners, and, by the simple effect of
contrast, a satire on Roman manners.
It is not only the chief source of the
ancient history of the tribes that were to
form the northern and western nations
of Europe, but it contains an account
of the germs of almost every modern in-
stitution,— military, judicial, and feudal.
Notwithstanding occasional errors in ge-
ography and some misconceptions as to
the religion of the Germans, the striking
accuracy of his details, as well as the
correctness and precision of his general
views, have led some scholars to believe
that Tacitus spent the four years of his
life which are unaccounted for, from 89
to 93, in Germany. But this is only con-
jecture; and the means of information
within his reach were as valuable as a
personal visit to the country he describes
might have been. Many of his friends,
like Rufus, had made campaigns beyond
the Rhine, and their knowledge was at
his disposal.
He must have consulted
the numerous hostages and captives that
were always in the city. Deserters, such
as Marbod and Catuald, not to mention
the merchants who trafficked with the
Teutons, may also have helped him to
give his work the character of truthful-
ness and the local color that distinguish
it. He is supposed, in addition, to have
derived great assistance from the (His-
tory of the Wars in Germany,' in twenty
books, by Pliny the Elder, a work now
lost. Tacitus has been accused of a tend-
ency to idealize the ancient Germans,
in order to contrast their virtues with the
vices of the Romans. But while he no
doubt intends now and then to point a
moral for the benefit of his countrymen,
he is not blind to the faults of the peo-
ple he describes, and has no love for
them. He speaks of their bestial drunk-
enness, their gluttony, their indolence,
and rejoices with a ferocious joy at the
destruction of sixty thousand of the Brus-
teri, slain in sight of the Roman soldiers
by their own countrymen.
executing efforts of advance with full
masculine strength and energy. Napo-
leon had in 1803 driven Madame de Staël
from Paris, and in December of that year
she had visited Schiller and Goethe at
Weimar, and Schlegel at Berlin. The
death of her father, a visit to Italy, and
the composition of Corinne) which greatly
added to her fame in Europe, were fol-
lowed by a second visit to Germany in
the latter part of 1807. The book De
l'Allemagne) was finished in 1810, and
printed in an edition of 10,000 copies af-
ter submission to the regular censorship,
when Napoleon caused the whole to be
seized and destroyed, and herself ordered
to leave France at once. By good luck
her son had preserved the manuscript; and
the author was able, after a long wander-
ing through Europe, to reach England,
and secure the publication of her book in
1813. In dealing, as she did, with man-
ners, society, literature, art, philosophy,
and religion, from the point of view of
her observations in Germany, Madame
de Staël gave to France a more complete
and sympathetic knowledge of German
thought and literature than it had ever
had. It was a presentation of the German
mind and German developments at once
singularly penetrating and powerful. The
defects of the work were French, and
promoted rather than hindered its influ-
ence in France. In England an immense
enthusiasm was aroused by the author
and by her brilliant book, which easily
took the highest rank among books of
the time.
I
Ger
erman Empire, The Founding of
the: Based chiefly upon Prussian
State Documents; by Heinrich von Sy bel.
(7 vols. , 1890-98. ) An able authoritative
treatment of Prussian history during the
period 1850–70. Dr. Von Sybel had pub-
lished a History of the Revolutionary
Period from 1789 to 1800,' in which he
pictured the downfall of the Holy Roman
Empire among the Germans.
In sequel
to this he undertook the history of the
Prussian founding of a German Empire.
Bismarck gave permission, March 19th,
1881, for him to use the records in the
government archives; and through five
volumes, bringing the story as far as to
1866, this privilege was of avail to secure
an accurate and comprehensive picture of
Prussian aims and efforts down to the
war with Austria. A few months after
Bismarck's retirement, the permission
Germ
ermany, by the Baroness de Staël-
Holstein (Anne Louise Germaine
Necker). (1813. ) One of the most re-
markable examples in literature of the
genius of woman opening new paths and
## p. 95 (#131) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
95
new
cor-
of many other participants in the histories Quideligtful book, published in 1858,
to consult the documents of the Foreign cess laid the foundation of the
Office was withdrawn; but for a empire. The development of Prussian
rect completion of the essential course of power in North Germany and the Franco-
events this proved not a serious matter. Prussian War, ending with the making
The place of the official records was very of King William emperor, are the topics
well supplied by the literature already in of the concluding volumes. The English
print, by the personal knowledge of Von translation of this great work is an Amer-
Sybel himself from his own participation ican enterprise.
in important events, and the knowledge
,
and by an abundance of written records
freely placed at his disposal. The entire is full of charming descriptions of
work, therefore, in seven stout volumes, scenery, and of interesting character-
cannot fail to be a most valuable con- touches. The story had a great vogue
temporary history. It is introduced by in its day. Nora Nixon, one heroine, a
an elaborate retrospect of German history beautiful girl of sixteen, is traveling
from the earliest times to the middle with her father, when he suddenly dies,
(1850) of the reign of Frederick William leaving her alone and penniless. She
IV. (June 7th, 1840, to January 2d, 1861). has been brought up entirely on the
This monarch, after ten years of dogged Continent, and now enters England for
refusal, finally granted Prussia a written the first time. Her mother was of good
constitution and a representative parlia | family; and it is to her relations, the
ment (January 31st, 1850). It is at this Medways, that Nora first addresses her-
point that Dr. von Sybel takes up the his- self, rather than to her father's brothers,
tory for full and exact treatment of the rich and presumably vulgar tradesmen.
steps of change by which the king of Prus- The Medways receive her kindly; but
sia was to become in 1871, January 18th, finding that Lord Medway, an invalid of
at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, rather weak character, wishes to marry
the German emperor.
King Frederick her, they lose no time in preventing
William's shattered health (from paraly- such a mésalliance, and turn her over,
sis and occasional insanity) led to the with scant consideration of her feelings,
appointment of his brother William as to her offended city uncles. This is
regent, October 7th, 1858; and upon the done through the mediation of Charles
former's death, January 2d, 1861, the latter Thorpe, Medway's younger brother; and
succeeded to the Prussian throne as Will- though Nora has never seen him, it is
iam I. The policy of the new king was long before she forgives this insult.
military rather than popular, to strengthen She soon makes herself indispensable,
the army rather than to develop a free however, to her uncle Stephen, as well
Prussia; and this might have overthrown as to his son Arthur, who, though he
him had he not found in Bismarck a loves her, is obliged by his father to
minister able to unite the conflicting make a brilliant marriage. Shortly after
interests. Bismarck's “Blood and Iron, marrying Lady Trebleton, a gay widow,
which has been commonly misunder- he dies at Almenau, in the Bavarian
stood, meant German Blood or Race, - | Highlands. His dying wish is that Nora
German Unity,- and Iron or arms to shall visit his grave and erect a stone
enable Prussia to develop it. Dr. Von over him; and it is to fulfill this trust
Sybel takes up in his first volume the first that, when left an heiress by Stephen
attempt at German unity; then relates Nixon's death, she goes with the Gil-
the failure of the projects for securing it bert Nixons to this beautiful spot. Here
and the achievement of Prussian union. they run
Charles Thorpe, now
In Vol. ii. he deals with the revival of Lord Medway, and his friend Count
the Confederate Diet; Germany at the Waldemar. Against his will, and in
time of the Crimean War; the first years defiance of all his strongest prejudices,
of the reign of William I. ; and the be- for he is a true Englishman in all
ginning of the ministry of Bismarck. He his faults and virtues, - Charles Thorpe
devotes Vol. iii. to the war with Den- falls desperately in love with Nora
mark, and Vols. iv. and v. to the rela- Nixon, whom he believes to be Gilbert
tions of Prussia with Austria, and the Nixon's daughter. Nora has a moment
settlement of their difficulties in “the of exquisite triumph when she refuses
Bohemian War, in which Prussian suc- to be Charles Thorpe's wife; but she is
across
## p. 96 (#132) #############################################
96
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
not long so obdurate. Charming de- Freytag produces an intensely dramatic
scriptions are given of the Tyrolean tale, its realism transfused and illumi-
peasant life, and the book could only nated by a glowing imagination. The plot
have been written by a lover of the is intricate and exciting, but the value
country, although the Germans some- of the story lies in its strong studies of
what resented the truth told of their character, and the sense it conveys of
social life by the observant Irishwoman. inevitability, in its logical deduction of
event from cause. An excellent English
At
t Odds, a novel by Baroness Taut-
translation was published in 1874.
phæus (1863), dealing with the vicis-
situdes of a Bavarian family during the In the Year 13 (Ut de Franzosentid,
) translation
gram. Mrs. O'More, an Irish widow, has Dutch of Fritz Reuter, by Charles Lee
married as her second husband Count Lewis. It is one of a series to which
Waldering, a Bavarian officer, who falls
Reuter gave
the general name Old
at Hohenlinden fighting on the side of the Camomile Flowers,' signifying “old tales
victorious French. She has two daugh- useful as homely remedies. ” The de.
ters: Doris O'More by her first husband, lightfully homely narration of life in a
and Baroness Hilda by her second. Hilda, Dutch village — the prim orderly ways of
though only twelve years old, has been the women, the petty issues brought be-
betrothed for family reasons to her cousin fore the patriarchal Amtshauptmann, and
Sigmund, the heir of Waldering, and the the general confusion resulting from the
villain of the story. By a series of events, side issues of war – is both pathetic and
however, she is forced into marriage with humorous. The scene is laid in Reuter's
Frank O'More, a nephew of her mother's native town of Stavenhagen; and the
first husband. The story turns upon the characters are real people, whose real
results of this uncongenial alliance. It names are preserved. The story is an
is told with a happy ease and directness; animated presentation of the state of
and if it has not the brilliancy of “The feeling prevailing among a people who
Initials, it is not the less clever as a detested yet feared Napoleon, and were
study of character and a swift-moving forced to treat the French as allies while
regarding them bitterest enemies.
A party of “rascally French chasseurs
Debit and Credit (“Soll und Haben ”),
by Gustav Freytag. In this story
throw the town into tumult, and finally
ride off with several captives unjustly
are portrayed with rare keenness and
accused of theft. Before these are re-
fidelity the characteristics of German na-
tionality in its various classes.
leased come many adventures, quarrels,
The
honorable independence, patriotism, com-
and a fierce pursuit of unlawful booty,
through which runs an idyllic love story,
mercial sagacity, and cultured common-
that of Miller Voss's beautiful daughter
sense of the middle industrial class, which
Fieka. Back of all the somewhat slow
forms the solid substratum of society,
are well contrasted with the impassible
and simple-minded Dutch folk looms
exclusiveness and pecuniary irresponsi-
the invisible yet dominant presence of
bility of the nobility on the one hand,
Napoleon, as a force which they are
and the stolid ignorance of the peasantry
always conscious of and always dreading.
and the scheming of the Jews on the Fire and Sword in the Sudan, by
other. Written in the troublous times Rudolf C. Slatin Pasha, published
after '48, its avowed purpose
was to in 1896, is a record of the author's ex-
arouse the German youth to a sense of periences, fighting and serving the Der-
their opportunities and responsibilities, -a vishes, from 1879 to 1895. Slatin Pasha
purpose in which it succeeded. Its truth- held the rank of colonel in the Egyptian
fulness to life, its delightful diction and army, and also occupied the post of gor-
variety of incident, assured its immediate ernor and military commandant in Dar-
popularity; and to-day it is regarded as fur. Having been compelled to surrender
the best German novel of the age. Most to the Mahdi's vastly superior numbers,
of the action is influenced by counting- he remained a prisoner of that remark-
house ethics; and it is emphatically the able leader (of whose career an admi.
story of the old commercial house of rable account is given), and of the Mah-
Schröter. Yet with what an inferior art- di's successor, the Khalifa Abdullahi, for
ist would have found prosaic material, more than ten years.
Thus the Pasha
romance.
as
## p. 97 (#133) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
97
was forced to join the Khalifa’s body-
guard, and was constituted his trusted,
though unwilling, adviser. This relation
afforded him almost unmatched oppor-
tunities for obtaining an inside view of
the «rise, progress, and decline of that
great religious movement which wrenched
the country from its conquerors, and
dragged it back into an almost inde-
scribable condition of religious and moral
decadence. ” Valuable information is
given regarding those military operations
which have occupied European diplo-
macy and arms for two decades; the
siege and fall of Khartum, and the fate
of Chinese » Gordon, being of particular
interest. The narrative is vigorous and
full of detail, although the writer was
not permitted to keep even a diary. At
length, wearying of the dangerous favors
of the Khalifa, Slatin Pasha made a dan-
gerous escape, and rejoined his family in
his native city of Vienna.
Cretan Insurrection of 1866-8, The,
by William J. Stillman, United States
consul to Greece during the period of
which the book treats, was published in
1874, making a valuable contribution to
the literature of the Eastern Question.
Recounting the incidents of those years,
the author does not attempt to conceal his
sympathies with the Cretans. «I feel,” he
writes in the Preface, that the Hellenes
are less responsible for the vices of their
body politic than
their guardian
Powers, who interfere to misguide, con-
trol to pervert, and protect to enfeeble,
every good impulse and quality of the
race; while they foster the spirit of in-
trigue, themselves enter into the domestic
politics of Greece in order to be able to
control her foreign, and each in turn, lest
Greece should some day be an aid to some
other of the contestants about the bed of
the sick man, does all it can to prevent
her from being able to help herself. ”
Crusades, The History, and Litera:
ture of the. From the German of
Von Sybel, by Lady Duff-Gordon. (1861. )
A concise but thoroughly learned and
judicious study of the Crusades,- by far
the best historical sketch in English. Mi-
chaud's History of the Crusades) is badly
translated, but it is the best comprehens-
ive book on the subject. Cox's "The
Crusades,' in the Epochs of Modern
History,' is an excellent summary. Sybel
devotes the second part of his work to an
account of the original and later authori-
ties. An excellent history will be found
in «The Age of the Crusades,' by James
M. Ludlow (1896); a work which inquires
into the conditions of life and thought
which made the Crusades possible, - con-
ditions peculiar to the eleventh century, —
and then tells the story of eight Crusades,
during the period from March 1096 to
August 1270, together with the results of
the period.
Creation, The Story of: A Plain Ac-
COUNT OF Evolution, by Edward
Clodd. (1888–89. ) An instructive study of
what evolution means, and how it is sup-
posed to have operated in the upward
development from the lowest level of the
two kingdoms of living things, animals
and plants. The book is especially ad-
apted to popular reading. In another
work of the same general character, “The
Childhood of the World: A Simple Ac-
count of Man in Early Times,' (1873,) Mr.
Clodd has in a most interesting manner
dealt with the latest stage of the evolu-
tionary creation, showing how the theory
is supposed to explain the origin and
early history of the human species. A
third volume, on the same plan of popular
exposition, "The Childhood of Religions,
(1875,) covers the ground of the earli-
est development of man in a spiritual
direction, and especially explains the
first origin and the growth of myths and
legends.
History of the World, A, by Sir
Walter Raleigh. This work, which
was done by the author during his
twelve years' imprisonment in the Tower
of London, was first published in 1614.
From the present point of view it
is obsolete, historically; but it passed
through eight editions, in less time than
it took for the plays of Shakespeare to
attain four, In 1615 King James or-
dered the whole impression called in,
giving as his reason that it was “too
saucy in censuring the acts of princes. )
The history is divided into five books:
the first covering the time from the
Creation to Abraham; the second from
the Birth of Abraham to the destruction
of the Temple of Solomon; the third
from the Destruction of Jerusalem to the
time of Philip of Macedon; the fourth
from the Reign of Philip to the death
of Pyrrhus; the fifth, from the Reign
of Antigonus to the Conquest of Asia
and Macedon by the Romans. There
are many digressions: one, « wherein is
are
XXX-7
## p. 98 (#134) #############################################
98
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
maintained the liberty of using con- burgomasters, the patroon Killian Van
jectures in history»; another, «Of the Rensselaer, Stoffel Brinkerhoff, William
Several Commandments of the Deca- Kieft called “William the Testy,” An-
logue”; and another on «Tyranny. ” In tony Van Corlear the trumpeter, Peter
the preface the author speaks of a Stuyvesant with his silver leg, and a
second and third volume (if the first complement of Indians, Dutch, and Yan-
receive grace and good acceptance. ” It kee settlers. Before the appearance of
was his ambition to relate the success- my work,” says Irving, “the popular
ive fortunes of the four great empires of traditions of our city were unrecorded;
the world, by way of a preface to the the peculiar and racy customs and us-
History of England; but his release from ages derived from our Dutch progenitors
imprisonment in 1615, his expedition to were unnoticed or regarded with indif-
Guiana, and his execution in 1618, pre- ference, or adverted to with à sneer. ”
vented the accomplishment of his plan.
Little as it answers the requirements Ferdinand and Isabella, The Reign
of its comprehensive title, Sir Walter of, by William Hickling Prescott.
Raleigh's History) is nevertheless a (1837. ) This is the earliest of the books
monument to the great learning of its of Prescott. Circumstances had enabled
author. It was written under vast dis- the author to command materials far be-
advantages, even though it may not have yond those of any previous writer, and
been penned in the narrow cell which he had fine talents for the task. The
the Tower «Beef-Eaters » still point out. main story told by him was preceded by
Many passages present a rare eloquence, a view of the Castilian monarchy before
and exemplify an admirable English A. D. 1400, and of the constitution of
style, with the Elizabethan dignity and Aragon to about A. D. 1450. The work
sonorous music.
then proceeded through twenty chapters,
to near the middle of the second volume,
Knickerbocker, Diedrich: History of
with (The Age of Domestic Develop-
New York. In a later preface to ment, 1406-92,' and on to the end of
this work, first published in 1809, Wash-
the third volume, twenty-six chapters,
ington Irving says: "Nothing more was with (The Age of Discovery and Con-
contemplated than a jeu d'esprit, writ- quest, 1493–1517. ' To near the middle of
ten in a serio-comic vein, and treating the third volume, «a principal object>
local errors, follies, and abuses with of the history had been the illustration
good-humored satire. ” Diedrich Knicker- of the personal character and public
bocker is the imaginary historian who administration of Isabella, whom Mr.
records the traditions of New Amsterdam. Prescott pronounced «certainly one of the
The book begins with the creation of most interesting personages in history ");
the world, the discovery of America by and into the second half of the work
the Dutch, and the settlement of the came the story of Columbus. No writer
New Netherlands. Hendrick Hudson ap- of judicious history has left Columbus
pears, with other navigators; there are on a more lofty pinnacle of moral great-
descriptions of the Bouwerie, Bowling ness, as well as fame, or more carefully
Green, the Battery, and Fort Amster- held a screen of admiration, and almost of
dam, with the quaint Dutch housės, tiled awe, before actions and aspects of char-
roofs, and weathercocks, all complete. acter which were of the age and of
Dutchmen in wide trousers, big hats, Spain, and not of the ideals of man at
feathers, and large boots, continually puff- his best. The Portuguese pursuit of dis-
ing long pipes, are seen with their wives covery
for a hundred years from 1418,
and daughters in voluminous petticoats, which reached out a thousand miles into
shoes with silver buckles, girdles, and the Atlantic and carried the Lisbon ships
neat head-dresses. Along the Hudson round the south point of Africa to the
sail high-pooped Dutch ships. Legends real India, and which in 1502 made an
of the island of Manhattan and its sur- independent discovery of the south con-
rounding shores are interwoven with the tinent, Mr. Prescott took hardly any note
humorous chronicle. The history treats of. But within the limits of his picture
of Oloffe Van Kortlandt, the valiant he wrought most admirably, to interest,
Kip, the Ten Broecks, Hans Reiner to instruct, and to leave in literature a
Oothout, the renowned Wouter Van monument of the Catholic Queen and of
Twiller, descendant of a long line of Columbus.
## p. 99 (#135) #############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
99
Gil Blas of Santillane, The Advent. . The title and some of the incidents are
ures of, the work by which Alain borrowed from “El Diablo Cojuelo' (1641)
René Le Sage is best and most widely of the Spanish Luiz Veloz de Guevara.
known, is a series of pictures of life But after the first few chapters Le Sage
among all classes and conditions of peo- departs widely from his predecessor. The
ple in Spain two centuries ago. Gil very plan is abandoned, and the new epi-
Blas, an orphan of seventeen years, is sodes and characters introduced are en-
dispatched by his uncle, with the gift of tirely original with Le Sage. Guevara
a mule and a few ducats, to seek the ends his story with awkward abruptness;
University of Salamanca, there to finish while the French romancer winds up with
his education and find a lucrative post. a graceful romance, dismissing Don Cle-
He does not reach the university, but ofas to happiness with his beloved Sera-
falls in with robbers, actors, courtiers, phina. In short, where the two diverge
politicians, in a long chain of adventures. the advantage is wholly with the later
By turns he enters the service of a comer in style, wit, and ingenuity of in-
physician, a lady of fashion, and a prime vention. Nevertheless the conception is
minister, with equal confidence; accepting Guevara's. Don Cleofas, a young Span-
luxury or destitution, palace or prison, ish profligate of high lineage, proud and
with equal philosophy. The narrative revengeful but brave and generous, de-
runs on, with excursions and interpolated livers from his imprisonment in a bottle
histories, and the thread of the story is the demon Asmodeus; who in gratitude
as inconsequential as that of a tale of assists him in his pranks, and carries him
the Arabian Nights. The charm of the triumphantly through a series of amusing
work is its absolute truth to human na- adventures. Especially does the demon
ture, and its boundless humor and satire. bestow on his deliverer the power of sail-
These qualities have made it a classic. ing through the air, and seeing through
Dr. Sangrado, the quack physician to the roofs what is going on within the
whom Gil Blas apprenticed himself, the houses of Madrid. Le Sage introduced
Archbishop of Granada, with other of into his story, under Spanish names,
the personages of these adventures, have many anecdotes and portraits of Parisian
been accepted as universal types. Le celebrities. These were all immediately
Sage was a Frenchman, who never saw recognized, and contributed greatly to the
Spain; but through his familiarity with contemporary vogue of the novel, which
its literature he produced a work so essen- was greater even than that of (Gil Blas. )
tially Spanish in its tone and spirit as to It is one of the famous traditions of the
provoke long controversy as to its origi- book trade that two young French noble-
nality. Padre Isla, who translated (Gil men actually fought a duel in a book-store
Blas,' declares on his title-page that the for the possession of the only remaining
tale was stolen from the Spanish, and copy.
now restored to its country and native
language. ” Gil Blas” is Le Sage's great. Maximina, by. Armando Palacio Val-
est and most brilliant work. Its writing
dés A vivid picture of modern
occupied twenty years of his literary Spain is shown in this interesting novel,
prime; the first two volumes appear-
the scene of which is laid chiefly in
ing in 1715, and the last in 1735. It has Madrid. Miguel de
Rivera marries
been translated into many languages, the Maximina, a modest country girl. He
earliest in English; the one which has brings her to Madrid and lives happily
remained the standard being by Tobias
until he finds his fortune compromised.
Smollett.
As editor of a Liberal newspaper, he
signs notes to enable the paper to con-
Asmodeus, The LAME DEVIL (Le Dia- tinue; with the promise of Mendoza, a.
ble Boiteux'). A novel by Alain politician and one of the backers, that.
René Le Sage, first published in 1707, and they shall be taken up when due. When
republished by the author, with many the Liberals come into power, the holder:
changes and additions, in 1725. It is
of the notes calls for payment. The re-
sometimes known in English as Asmo- sponsible parties neglect to protect Mig-
deus,) and sometimes as (The Devil on uel; and Mendoza suggests that he sign.
Two Sticks,) under which title the first more notes to gain time, and be a can-.
