No More Learning

The object of
the present work is to give all that is
known regarding the contents of these
Nasks, and thus complete the earlier
story of the Zoroastrian religion.
The Bhagavadgîtå, with the Sana-
tsugátiya, and the Anugítå. Trans-
lated by Kashinath Trimbak Telang,
(viii. ) The earliest philosophical and
religious poem of India.
It is para-
phrased in Arnold's "Song Celestial. )
Its name means the Divine Lay or the
Song sung by the Deity. The work
represents an activity of thought depart-
ing from Brahmanism, and tending to
emancipation from the Veda, not unlike
that represented in Buddha and his
career.
BUDDHIST
The Zend-Avesta. Part i. : The Ven-
didad. Part ii. : The Sîrôzahs, Yasts,
and Nyâyis.
Translated by James
Darmesteter. Part iii. : The Yasna,
Visparad, Afrinagân, Gâhs, and Miscel-
laneous Fragments. Translated by L.
H. Mills. (iv. , xxiii , xxxi. ) The Parsee
or Zoroastrian scriptures. The three vol-
umes contain all that is left of Zoroas-
ter's religion, the religion of Persia under
Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes; which might
have become, if the Greeks had not de-
feated the Persian army at Marathon,
the religion of all Europe. The Moham-
medans almost blotted it out in Persia,
when the second successor of Mohammed
overthrew the Sassanian dynasty, 642
A. D. To-day the chief body of Parsees
(about 150,000 in number) are at Bom-
bay in India, where their ancestors found
refuge. Though so few in number, they
have wealth and culture along with their
very peculiar customs and ideas. Only
a portion of their sacred writings is now
extant, and but a small part of this rep-
resents the actual teaching of Zoroaster.
The Parsees are the ruins of a people,
and their sacred books are the ruins of
a religion ; but they are of great interest
as the refiex of ideas which, during the
five centuries before and the seven cen-
turies after Christ, greatly influenced
Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammed-
anism.
Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W.
West. (3 vols. , V. , xviii. , xxiv. , xxxvii. )
A reproduction of works, nine in num-
ber, constituting the theological literature
of a revival of Zoroaster's religion, be-
ginning with the Sassanian dynasty.
Their chief interest is that of a compari-
son of ideas found in them with ideas
adopted by Gnostics in connection with
Christianity. They form the second
stage of the literature of Zoroastrianism.
The date of origin of the Sassanian
Buddhist Suttas. Translated from
Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids. (xi. ) A
collection of the most important reli-
gious, moral, and philosophical dis-
courses taken from the sacred canon of
the Buddhists. It gives the most essen-
tial, most original, and most attractive
part of the teaching of Buddha, the
Sutta of the Foundation of the Kingdom
of Righteousness, and six others of no
less historical value, treating of other
sides of the Buddhist story and system.
The translator gives as the dates of
Buddha's life of eighty years about 500-
420 B. C.
Vinaya Texts. Translated from the
Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids and Her-
mann Oldenberg. (3 vols. , xiii. , xvii. ,
xx. ) A translation of three Buddhist
works which represent the moral teach-
ing of Buddhism as it was definitively
settled in the third century B. C. They
belong to that part of the sacred litera-
ture of the Buddhists which contains
the regulations for the manner of life of
the members of the Buddhist Frater-
nity of monks, nearly the oldest and
probably the most influential that ever
existed.
The Dhammapada. A collection of
verses; being one of the canonical books


## p. 419 (#455) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
419
-one
an
works, such as "The Diamond Cutter,'
one of their most famous Mahâyâna
treatises; (The Land of Bliss,' which
more than ten million Buddhists
of the largest Buddhist sects — use as
their sacred book; and The Ancient
Palm Leaves,' containing fac-similes of
the oldest Sanskrit manuscripts at pres-
ent known. The third is another Jap-
anese work, in the form of a Medi-
tation) by Buddha himself. Japan
received Buddhism from China by way
of Corea in 552 A. D. The present vol-
ume gives all the sacred books in use
by the Japanese Buddhists.
The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king: A Life
of Buddha, by Asvaghosha Bodhisattva,
translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by
Dharmaraksha, 420 A. D. , and from
Chinese into English by Samuel Beal.
(xix. ) A Life of Buddha rendered into
Chinese for Buddhists in China. It con-
mere legends, similar to
those which appeared in apocryphal ac-
counts of the life of Jesus.
tains many
CHINESE
of the Buddhists. Translated from Pali
by F. Max Müller. And The Sutta-
Nipata. Translated from Pâli by V.
Fausböll. (x. ) Two canonical books of
Buddhism. The first contains the essen-
tial moral teaching of Buddhism, and the
second authentic account of the
teaching of Buddha himself, on some of
the fundamental principles of religion.
The Saddharma-pundarîka; or, The
Lotus of the True Law. Translated
by H. Kern. (xxi. ) A canonical book of
the Northern Buddhists, translated from
the Sanskrit. There is a Chinese ver-
sior of this book which was made as
earlv as the year 286 A. D. It repre-
sents Buddha himself making a series
of speeches to set forth his all-surpass-
ing wisdom. It is one of the standard
works of the Mahâyâna system. Its
teaching amounts to this, that every one
should try to become a Buddha. Higher
than piety and higher than knowledge
is devoting oneself to the spiritual weal
of others.
Gaina-Sutras. Translated from Prâ-
krit by Hermann Jacobi. (2 vols. xxii. ,
xlv. ) The religion represented by these
books was founded by a contemporary
of Buddha; and although in India
proper Buddhists are now found,
there are a good many Gainas, or Jains,
holding a faith somewhat like the origi-
nal Buddhist departure from Brahman-
ism. The work here translated is their
bible.
The Questions of King Milinda.
Translated from the Pali by T. W.
Rhys Davids. (2 vols. xxxv. xxxvi. ) A
work written in northern India, but
entirely lost in its original form. It
was translated into Pâli for the Bud-
dhists of Ceylon, and is held in great
esteem by them. It is of such a lit-
erary character as to be pronounced
the only prose work composed in
cient India which would be considered,
from the modern point of view, a suc-
cessful work of art. It consists of dis-
cussions on points of doctrine between
King Milinda and an Elder. There is
a carefully constructed story into which
the dialogues are set.
Buddhist Mahåyåna Texts.
Trans-
lated by E. B. Cowell, F. Max Mül-
ler, and J Takakusu. (xlix. ) Several
works of importance for the history of
Buddhism. The first is a poem on the
legendary history of Buddha.
The sec-
ond is a group of Japanese Buddhist
no
The Sacred Books of China. The
Texts of Confucianism. Part i. : The
Shû King, the Religious Portions of the
Shih King, and the Hsiâo King. Part
ii. : The Yỉ King. Parts iii. and iv. :
The Li Ki, or Collection of Treatises on
the Rules of Propriety, or Ceremonial
Usages. Translated by James Legge.
(4 vols. iii. , xvi. , xxvii. , xxviii. ) The
productions of Confucius; not original
compositions, but a variety of compila-
tions, designed to present the best prac-
tical wisdom as of authority, because it
was old as well as because it was good.
Not only was Confucius not the founder
of a new religion, but his aim was to
make a system of good conduct and
proper manners which would leave out
the low religion of spiritism and magic
and priestcraft, as the mass of the Chi-
nese knew it, and in fact still know it.
The volumes named above are a complete
library of the teaching of Confucius.
(The Shuh) is a book of historical
documents covering the period from the
reign of Yao in the twenty-fourth cen-
tury B. C. , to that of King Hsiang, 651-
619 B. C. As early as in the twenty-
second century B. C. , the narratives given
by Confucius were contemporaneous with
the events described.
(The Shih) is a Book of Poetry, con-
taining 305 pieces, five of which belong
an-


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420
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
MOHAMMEDAN
to the period 1766-1123 B. C. The others
belong to the period 1123-586. The
greater number describe manners, cus-
toms, and events, but the last of the
four Parts is called (Odes of the Temple
and the Altar); and many other pieces
have something of a religious character.
The Hsiao is a work on Filial Piety,
and one of great interest.
(The Yi,' called the Book of Changes,
was originally a work connected with
the practice of divination. It is obscure
and enigmatical, yet contains many frag-
mentary physical, metaphysical, moral,
and religious utterances very suggestive
of thought, and in that way peculiarly
fascinating It was highly prized by
Confucius as fitted to correct and perfect
the character of the readerThe Sung
dynasty, beginning 960 A. D. , based on
it what has been called their «Atheo-
political system. An outline of this is
given in an appendix to the translation
of the Yi.
The Li Ki is the Record of Rights, in
46 books, filling two large volumes in
translation. They belong to the period
of the Kau dynasty, about 1275 to 586
B. C. ; and so far as they reflect the
mind of Confucius, it is at second-hand
through the scholars, who gathered them
up centuries after his death, in the time
of the Han dynasty.
The Sacred Books of China. The
Texts of Taoism. Translated
James Legge. (2 vols. , xxxix. , xl. ) The
scriptures of the second of the two prac-
tical philosophic religions which origi-
nated in China about the same time, that
of Confucius and that of Lao-tze. The
latter philosopher was the more tran-
scendental of the two, and in its pure
form his teaching was a system of lofty
thought. But Taoism long since under-
went extreme corruption into a very low
system of spiritism and sorcery. What
the real thoughts of the great master
were, these volumes show.
They first
give the only work by the master bim-
self, the Tâo Teh King, by Lâo-tze.
Next follow the writings of Kwang-tze,
of the second half of the fourth century
B. C. There is given also a treatise on
Actions and their Retributions,' dating
from the eleventh century of our era,
about which time the system changed
from a philosophy to a religion. Other
writings are added in elucidation of the
Taoist system, and its degradation to a
very low type of superstition.
The Qur an. Translated by E. H.
Palmer. (2 vols. vi. , ix. ) A transla-
tion of the utterances of Mohammed,
which were brought together into a vol-
ume after his death, and thereby made
the sacred book of Mohammedanism.
There is no formal and consistent code
either of morals, laws, or ceremonies.
Given, as it was, a fragment at a time,
and often in view of some particular
matter, there is no large unity either of
subject or treatment. The one powerful
conception everywhere present is that of
God, his unity, his sovereignty, his terri-
ble might, and yet his compassion.
There is also an impressive unity of
style, a style of free and forcible elo-
quence, which no other Arabic writer
has ever equalled. The earlier utter-
ances especially, made at Mecca, are in
matter and spirit the mighty words of a
most earnest prophet, whose one and
steady purpose was to so proclaim God
as to reach and sway the hearts of his
hearers. In his later Medinah period,
the prophet had his peculiar gift more
under control. He would calmly dictate
more extended utterances, to be written
down by his hearers. At his death no
collection of the scattered utterances of
the master had been made. Zaid, who
had been his amanuensis, was employed
to collect and arrange the whole. This
he did, from palm-leaves, skins, blade-
bones, and the hearts of man. ” Some
twenty years later the Caliph Othman
had an authorized version made, and all
other copies destroyed. This was 660
A. D. , about 50 years after the first
attack of convulsive ecstasy came upon
Mohammed.
Italian Popular Tales, by Thomas
Frederick Crane, is a large collection
of fairy tales and legends; some of them
found in Italian books of the fifteenth,
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries,
and many of them taken down in our
own day directly from the lips of peas-
ant women. Some of these are variants
of the old stories common to all nations;
many are of a semi-religious character,
due to the immense influence of the
church in the Middle Ages; and some
have a strong Oriental coloring, testify-
ing to the close relations that once ex-
isted between Italy and the East. The
collector and editor, Professor Crane,
holds high rank among the scientific
by


## p.
421 (#457) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
421
a
rare
explorers and exponents of folk-lore; but ruler, Philip, in spite of the utmost
he confines his learning to an admirable cruelties of mediæval warfare and the
preface, and leaves the tales to stand on Church's Inquisition practiced by Philip's
their own merit. They are excellently favorite general, the notorious Duke of
translated, and deserve a place as Alva. The book is not only indispens-
classic collection side by side with able in history, but is one of the most
Grimm's.
fascinating in the English language.
Rise
ise of the Dutch Republic, The: A Philobiblon. An enthusiastic Latin
eulogy of books and learning by
History, by John Lothrop Motley.
Richard Aungervyle, — called Richard
First printed in 1856, at the author's
de Bury from his birthplace (1287):
expense,- because the great publishers,
St. Edmund's Bury, i. l. , Burg, Eng-
Mr. Murray included, would not risk
land. He was a true thirteenth-century
such an enterprise for the unknown his-
brother of Magliabecchi, Dibdin, or
torian,- it proved an immediate popular
D’Israeli the elder. He was Bishop of
success; and was followed by a French
Durham and Lord High Chancellor and
translation (supervised with an intro-
Treasurer under Edward III. In one of
duction by Guizot) in 1859, and soon
his chapters he tells how, his hobby for
after by Dutch, German, and Russian
books becoming known,
books
translations. James Anthony Froude, in
flowed to him from every side: he was
the Westminster Review, characterized
the new work as “a history as complete always purchasing and always on the
search at home and abroad. In Chapter
as industry and genius can make it
xix. he tells of the loan library, or
of the first twenty years of the
book hall, he endowed at Oxford, with
Revolt of the United Provinces; of the
five salaried scholars in charge. No
period in which those provinces finally
book was loaned except upon security,
conquered their independence and estab-
and when a duplicate copy was owned.
lished the Republic of Holland. ” Of the
The chapter on the cleanly handling of
ten years' preparation, half were spent
by the author with his family abroad,
books is rigorous and amusing: he hates
studying in the libraries and State ar-
the dirty cleric who will eat fruit and
cheese a book; in winter allow
chives of Europe. Writing from Brus-
ichor from his nose to drop upon it;
sels to Oliver Wendell Holmes, he says:
“I haunt this place because it is my
twist it, wrench it, put in straws for
marks, press flowers in it, and leave it
scene,- mytheatre
senting scenes which have long since
open to collect dust. Bonaventure's car-
dinal's hat came to him when he was
vanished, and which no more enter the
minds of the men and women who are
washing dishes; but look out that the
scullion monk washes his hands before
actually moving across its pavement
than if they had occurred in the moon.
reading a book. Weak men are writing
I am at home in any cemetery.
books, but the choicest trappings are
thrown away upon lazy asses. Let the
With the fellows of the sixteenth cen-
wisdom of great books breathe from us
tury I am on the most familiar terms.
I go, day after day, to the ar-
like perfume from the breath of the
panther. No man can serve both books
chives here (as I went all summer at
and mammon.
The Hague) studying the old letters and
documents. . . . It is, however, not
Physiognomy: Fragmentary Studies,
without its amusement, in a moldy sort (1775–78,) by Johann Caspar La-
of way, this reading of dead letters. It vater. The author, who was preacher,
is something to read the real, bona-fide scholar, philanthropist, and philosopher,
signs-manual of such fellows as William called his work (Physiognomical Frag.
of Orange, Count Egmont, Alexander ments for the Promotion of a Knowledge
Farnese, Philip II. , Cardinal Granvelle, of Man and of Love of Man. ' There
and the rest of them. It gives a realiz- are four duodecimo volumes, making in
ing sense, as the Americans have it. ” all a little more than a thousand pages.
This «realizing sense is what Motley The numerous and varied illustrations
put into his published record of the cover, in addition, about one hundred
struggles of the Protestant «beggars of pages, besides those occurring in the
Holland) with the grandees of Spain, text. The subject is treated profoundly
throwing off the yoke of their bigoted and widely — including studies of the
over
for repre-
.
.


## p. 422 (#458) ############################################

422
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
man
bony basis of form, in lower animals | burg. His life is saved by Jutta's inter-
and man. Thence we rise to classes of vention with the Emperor; but when in
humanity, with portraits of eminent char- spite of this service he marries Oda, the
acters from all epochs of historic time. wild jealousy of the rejected princess
Reproductions of famous paintings are knows no bounds. At her instigation,
given to make clearer the features upon the count is set upon and killed by the
which are printed, by nature's unerring bishop's men. She then takes the veil
finger, the language Lavater would have for life.
us all to read. Thus could we learn to
know congenial spirits at a glance; see
n the Clouds, by «Charles Egbert Crad-
I"
dock ) (Miss Murfree). The clouds »
honest minds indicated in form, feature,
rest upon the Tennessee Mountains,
and gesture; and be enabled to «sense »
where Satan leads, ere
where the strange class of people, the
our lives be
marked forever by the contact of evil.
poor whites, ” whom the author has im-
Physiognomy, in such relation, is meant
mortalized in this and other works, have
their homes. It is a story of mountain-
to include all means by which the mind
of
reveals itself to his fellows:
eering life: illicit distilling, lawlessness
of youth, and retribution for sins, made
face, body, hands, all, from the hairs of
impressive by a background of majestic
the head to the soles of the feet, show
silence.
expression in motion, standing, speak-
In a drunken jest, Reuben
ing, writing; examples of each being
Lorey (called Mink for obvious reasons)
destroys an old tumble-down mill; and
given in this monumental work. The
the idiot boy, “Tad,” who disappears
fourth volume contains the author's
portrait and biography.
at that time, is supposed to have been
drowned in consequence of this act.
«Mink) is indicted for manslaughter;
Robber Count, The, by Julius Wolff.
,
and on the witness stand Alethea Sayles,
(1890. ) The scene of this romantic
one of his sweethearts, who remains
German story, which has enjoyed im-
faithful through all his troubles, discloses
mense success, is laid in the Hartz
the whereabouts of the moonshiners,”
Mountains, in the fourteenth century.
From the heights of his mountain strong-
a grave betrayal in that district. It is
this trial and its results, Alethea's love,
hold, Count Albrecht of Regenstein, the
Mink's final escape from jail, and death
robber count, overlooks the whole sur-
by the rifle-ball of a friend, who, with
rounding country, including the castle of
the superstition of the average mountain-
the bishop of Halberstadt, his sworn
eer, mistakes him for (harnt »
enemy, and the town and convent of
Quedlinburg, of which he is champion
ghost, with which the story deals. Miss
Murfree's character-drawing of these peo-
and protector. The abbess of this con-
vent, which shelters only the daughters
ple with their pathetic lives of isolation,
of ignorance, and of superstition, is very
of royal and noble houses, and is sub-
ject to no rules of any order, is the
strong. Interspersed are delicate word-
paintings of sunsets and sunrises, those
beautiful and brilliant Jutta von Kran-
ichfeld. This woman
mysterious color effects of the Big
loves Count Al-
brecht with all the force of her imperious
Smoky Mountains; and underlying all is
that conscious note of melancholy which
nature, and he returns the passion in
dominates the thoughts and actions of
a lesser degree, until the unfortunate
the dwellers on the heights.
captuie by his men of Oda, countess of
Falkenstein, Oda is already loved by Ground Arms ('Die Waffen Nieder ? ),
the count's younger brother, Siegfried; by the Baroness Bertha Félicie Sofie
and Albrecht detains her in the castle von Suttner. (2 vols. , 1889. ) This novel
with a view to furthering his brother's has been often republished since its' ap-
wooing, and also to wrest from his pearance, and rendered into nearly all
enemy, the bishop, her confiscated do- the European languages. The English
mains of Falkenstein. This capture is translation was made in 1892 by F.
disastrous to all. Oda and the count fall Holmes, at the request of the committee
in love with each other. Siegfried finds of the International Arbitration and
this out, and purposely gets killed in Peace Association » - under the title
a fray. Albrecht,
by the Lay Down Your Arms. )
strength of his enemies, is captured, and The story is told in the form of a
tried in the market-place of Quedlin- journal kept by a German noblewoman,
a
or
overcome


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
423
as
are
several
»
whose life covered the period of Ger- ings. Josephine repents; and as she can-
many's recent wars. This lady relates not raise him to her sphere, decides to
the emotional and spiritual life of a adapt herself to his. She goes into
woman during that terrible experience, service a lady's-maid. More com-
in such a way as to make her story an plications ensue, and Richard, who has
appeal for the cessation of war. Hav- become a prosperous cattle-dealer, ap-
ing lost her young husband in the war pears opportunely and takes her away
with Italy, she has lived only for her from her situation. While he still hates
son and her grief. In her maturity she her, he desires to provide for her. This
meets and marries Friedrich von Tilling, she will not allow; but is anxious to re-
an Austrian officer, who, after years of gain his love, and continues to earn her
close companionship, is forced to leave | living and endeavor to retrieve her great
her and her unborn child, at the new mistake. Eventually, at his own request,
call to arms. The Schleswig-Holstein they are re-married.
difficulty, the Austro-Prussian war, and There
other interesting
finally the war with France, tear the characters necessary to the working out
family apart. The wife endures the of a plot somewhat complicated in minor
fear of her husband's death, the actual details, but the burden of the story is
suffering of sympathy with his wound, concerning ill-assorted marriages and en-
the horrors of plague, famine, and the suing complications,— hardness of heart
sickening sights of a besieged city; and pride, malice, and all uncharitableness.
at last, when Von Tilling has retired
from active service, and is with her in
Paris for the winter
, the blind hatred of Green Carnation, The, by Robert M.
Hitchins, is a satire on the ex-
the French towards their conquerors treme æsthetic movement in England,
overtakes their new dream of happiness. as illustrated in the lives of pale, ex-
The Austrian is seized and shot as a quisite youths of rank, with gilt hair,
Prussian spy. Not only has the author Burne-Jones features, and eyes of blue.
presented a convincing picture of the Of this type is the hero, Lord Reginald
untold suffering, the far-reaching loss Hastings, «impure and subtle,» «too
and retrogression involved in war, but modern to be reticent,) a boy blasé at
she shows the pitiful inadequacy of the twenty-five, living a life of exquisite sen-
causes of war. Many a German woman suousness, fearing nothing so much as
recognizes in Martha Tilling's tragical the philistinism of virtue, loving nothing
journal the unwritten record of her own so much as original vice. His dearest
pain and despair.
friend is Esmé Amarinth, who is most
brilliantly epigrammatic when intoxi-
cated, and who dreads nothing so much
(1888. ) Richard Cable is the keeper as being found dead sober at improper
of a light-ship on the coast of Essex, times.
England. He is a widower, and father A mutual friend, Mrs. Windsor, belong-
of a family of seven children, all girls. ing to the green carnation ) set, strives
During a storm Josephine Cornellis, a to bring about a marriage between her
young lady of the neighborhood, whose wealthy and beautiful cousin, Lady
home is not particularly happy, is blown Locke, and Lord Reggie. For this pur-
out to the light-ship in a small boat, and pose she asks them with Esmé Amarinth
rescued by Cable.
to spend a week at her country-house.
Richard, being a moralist, gives advice Lady Locke is, however, of too whole-
to Josephine, who loses her heart to some a nature to marry a man whose
him. Events so shape themselves that badge is the arsenic flower of an ex-
she places herself under his guidance, quisite life. ” She refuses him, and at
and the two are married; but almost the same time gives her opinion of him
immediately Richard finds himself in a and of his artificial cult.
false position, owing to the fact that he «Lord Reggie's face
scarlet.
is not accustomed to the usages of so- (You talk very much like ordinary peo-
ciety, and Josephine too feels mortified ple,' he said, a little rude in his hurt
by her husband's mistakes.
A separa-
self-love. I am ordinary,' she said. "I
tion takes place, Richard sailing round am so glad of it. I think that after this
the coast to Cornwall, and taking his week I shall try to be even more ordi-
mother, the children, and all his belong- nary than I am. ) » So does the silly
Richard Cable, by S. Baring-Gould.
was


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424
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
sneers.
m
artificiality of a certain clique receive its when Clitandre transfers his love to her,
castigation.
accepts it in spite of her sister's jealous
Chrysale prefers Clitandre as
Robbery Under Arms, by “Rolf Bol-
drewood. ) (1888. ) This story of life
son-in-law, but is too hen-pecked to
resist his wife's will until spurred by
and adventure in the bush and in the
gold-fields of Australia gives a most
the scorn of his brother Ariste. The
vivid picture of bush life; and purports
plot is too complicated to be reproduced,
to be the history of the Marston family
and the strength of the play lies in its
of reprobates, told in a straightforward,
character-drawing. The wit with which
Molière heaps scorn
unaffected style by Dick Marston while
upon ill-founded
he is awaiting execution in jail at Syd- pretension to learning, and his powerful
ney. It shows how the boys, led on by
exposition of vanity and self-love, have
their father, became first cattle robbers,
kept the play popular in France for over
two hundred years.
then bank robbers, and regular bush-
whackers. There are encounters of trav-
elers with the police, holding up of Mand
anon Lescaut, by L'Abbé Provost.
stage-coaches, storming of houses, and
This masterpiece was first pub-
lished in Amsterdam in 1753, when its
many other thrilling adventures. The
author was in exile. When but seven-
reader is given an excellent picture of
the gold-diggings and every feature of
teen years old, the Chevalier Des Grieux,
colonial bush life and scenery.
who is studying for holy orders, meets
Manon Lescaut at an inn. She tells him
There is no regular plot. Most of the
robber gang are killed in one way or
she is being carried to a convent against
another; but the book ends happily, for
her will. They elope; but Des Grieux's
the hero is reprieved, and marries the
happiness is of short duration. A rich
girl who has been true to him in spite
neighbor informs his parents of his
whereabouts, and his father takes him
of all his misdeeds, and who has contin-
home. Convinced of Manon's complicity
ually urged him to lead a better life.
The adventures of the Marston family
in this, he resumes his studies. At the
end of eighteen months, Manon, then
under the leadership of Captain Star-
light rival those of Jack Sheppard or
sixteen years old, seeks him out, and
Dick Turpin, with the advantage to the
they again elope.
reader that they bring on the scene a
When all their money is spent, he re-
new country, with a new people, new
sorts to gambling, and she to the life of
conditions of life, and new customs.
a courtesan. At this time, a wealthy
prince offers to marry her; but pulling
Le earned Women ("Les Femmes Sa- Des Grieux into the room, and giving
vantes)), a comedy by Jean Baptiste the prince a mirror, she says: “This is
Poquelin, universally known as Molière, the man I love. Look in the glass, and
was first acted in 1672, when the author, tell me if you think it likely that I
although then in the last stages of con- shall give him up for you. ”
sumption, played a leading part. One Soon after, they are both imprisoned.
of the brilliant social satires, in which Des Grieux escapes, killing a man in so
the great realist dared point out the doing, and then assists Manon to escape.
faults and follies of contemporary SO- Dazzled by the offers of the son of her
ciety, it ridicules the pedantry and af- former lover, she leaves Des Grieux
fectation of learning then fashionable again. He finds his way to her, and is
among court ladies. Chrysale, an honest about to decamp with her and the riches
bourgeois, loving quiet and comfort, is which her last lover has showered upon
kept in continual turmoil by his wife her, when they are again arrested. By
Philaminte - who affects a love of learn- his father's influence he is released, but
ing and refuses to keep even a kitchen Manon is sent to America, and he goes
maid who speaks incorrectly - and by with her on the same ship, which lands
her disciple, his foolish old sister Belise, them in Louisiana. They are supposed
who fancies every man she sees secretly by the Governor to be man and wife,
in love with her. Chrysale and Phila- and are treated as such. Des Grieux is
minte have two daughters, — Armande, a about to marry Manon, and tells the
pedant like her mother, who scorns mar- Governor the truth of their relations; but
riage and rebuffs her lover Clitandre; Synnelet, the Governor's nephew, falls
and Henriette, honest and simple, who in love with Manon, and the Governor


## p. 425 (#461) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
425
forbids the banns. Des Grieus and of some of the chapters, First Impres-
Synnelet fight, and the latter is wounded. sions of the Coast,) (Athens and Attica,
The lovers try to make their way to the (Excursions in Attica,' From Athens to
English settlements, but Man dies, Thebes, Chæronea,' Delphi, Olym-
and Des Grieux buries her in the woods pia and its Games,) Arcadia,' (Corinth,'
and lies down on her grave to die. He Mycenæ, (Greek Music and Painting,
is found, accused of her murder, but ac- etc. , show something of the scope of the
quitted, and returns to France to find volume. From his study of the ancient
his father dead.
Greek literature, Professor Mahaffy had
It is difficult to give any idea of the reached the conclusion that it greatly
charm with which the author has en- idealized the old Greeks. In his (Sociai
veloped these characters, and the censors Life in Greece) he described them as
of the book allege that in this very he thought they actually were; and this
charm lies its insidiousness. It is a description very nearly agrees, he says,
classic, and has served as model for with
he found in modern Greece.
many other books; some writers claim- He judges that the modern Greeks-
ing that the authors of Paul and Vir- like the ancients as he sees them - are
ginia, Atala,' and (Carmen,' have but not a passionate race, and have great
clothed Des Grieux and Manon in other reasonableness, needing but the oppor-
garments.
tunity to outstrip many of their contem-
poraries in politics and science. The
Return of the Native, The, by Thomas
volume reveals the acute observer whose
Hardy, was published in 1878, being
his sixth novel. The scene is laid in
reasoning is based on special knowledge.
Southern England, in the author's “Wes-
sex country,» the district of which he Malay Archipelago, The, by Alfred
Russell Wallace, (1869,) is divided
has made an ideal map for the latest into five sections, each of which treats
edition of his works. The hero of the
of a naturalist's travels and observations
book, the Native," is Clym Yeobright, in one of the groups of the Malay Archi-
formerly a jeweler in Paris, but now pelago. The sections are named: "The
returned to the village of his birth, on Indo-Malay Islands, (The Timor Group,'
Egdon Heath. The giving up of his
trade is due to his desire to lead a (The Papuan Group. The author
broader, more unselfish life. He plans traveled more than fourteen thousand
to open a school in the village, and to miles within the Archipelago, making
educate and uplift the rustics about him. sixty or seventy separate journeys, and
His Quixotic schemes of helpfulness are collecting over 125,000 specimens of
upset, however, by his falling in love natural history, covering about eight
with Eustacia Vye, a beautiful, passion- thousand species.
ate, discontented woman, «the raw ma- The records of these journeys, which
terial of a divinity. ” His marriage with are arranged with reference to material
her is the beginning of a troubled life, collected, instead of to chronology, are
severed far enough from his ideals. Her delightful. Besides the valuable scien-
self-sought death by drowning leaves him tific notes, there are most interesting ac-
free to begin again his cherished career counts of the islanders and the dwellers
of usefulness. As an open-air preacher on the neighboring mainland, their man-
he seeks an outlet for his philanthropic ners and customs. The style is felici-
spirit. The story of Yeobright and Eus- tous, making a scientific treatise as fas-
tacia is not the exclusive interest of the
cinating to read as a story.
book. Many rustic characters, drawn as
only Hardy can draw them, lend to it a Prince Henry of Portugal, Surnamed
delightful rural flavor which relieves the
THE NAVIGATOR, The Life of, and
gloom of its tragic incidents.
its Results; Comprising the Discovery,
within One Century, of Half the World.
Rambles and Studies in Greece, by From Authentic Contemporary Docu-
ments. By Richard Henry Major.
was seen, felt, and thought in two jour- (1868. ) The remarkable story of a half-
neys to Greece, by a man trained in English son of the greatest king that
classic knowledge and feeling. By many ever sat on the throne of Portugal
critics has een preferred to
by his mother, Queen Philippa ; a grand-
thor's (Social Life in Greece. ) The titles son of “old John of Gaunt, time-honored
au-


## p. 426 (#462) ############################################

426
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
men.
a
con-
Lancaster»; nephew of Henry IV. of had yielded only “twelve years of costly
England; and great-grandson of Edward failure and disheartening ridicule,”
III. His father, King João or John, when, in 1434, the first great success
who formed a close English connection was achieved by Gil Eannes, that of
by marrying Philippa of Lancaster, sailing beyond Cape Boyador. Prince
was the first king of the house of Henry made his seat at Sagres, one of
Aviz, under which Portugal, for two the most desolate spots in the world, a
hundred years, rose to its highest pros- school of navigation, a resort for ex-
perity and power.
The career of Portu- plorers and navigators. His contempo-
gal in exploration and discovery, due rary Azurara says of him: “Stout of
to the genius and devotion of Prince heart and keen of intellect, he was ex-
Henry, Mr. Major characterizes as (a traordinarily ambitious of achieving
phenomenon without example in the
great deeds.
His self-discipline was un-
world's history, resulting from the surpassed: all his days were spent in
thought and perseverance of one man. hard work, and often he passed the
We see, he says, “the small population night without sleep; so that by dint of
of a narrow strip of the Spanish pen- unflagging industry he conquered what
insula [Portugal], limited both in means seemed to be impossibilities to other
and men, become, in an incredibly short His household formed a training-
space
of time, a mighty maritime school for the young nobility of the
nation, not only conquering the islands country. Foreigners of renown found
and western coasts of Africa, and round- a welcome in his house, and none left it
ing its southern cape, but creating em- without proof of his generosity.