No More Learning

”
King Rene's Daughter: A Danish The coming of the count, and the love
lyrical drama, by Henrik Hertz. inspired in Iolanthe by the sound of his
(Translation by Theodore Martin: 1849. )
voice and the touch of his hand, creates
The seven scenes of this drama are lo- the necessary discontent: -
cated in Provence, in the valley of Vau-
“Deep in the soul a yearning must arise
cluse, in the middle of the fifteenth For a contentment which it strives to win. ”
century. The chief characters are King The interview between Iolanthe and the
René of Provence, and his daughter
count and his companion is partly in in-
Iolanthe, rendered blind by an accident
terchanged songs after the Minnesingers'
in early infancy, but raised in ignorance
manner. The construction of the drama
of this deficiency to her sixteenth year, is highly artistic, and the work is of
when by the skill of her Moorish phy- rare and unique beauty. The play was
sician she is to be restored to sight.
performed with success at the Strand
Plighted in marriage by her father to
Theatre, London, in 1849.
Count Tristan of Vaudemont, for state
reasons, without love, the two destined Tenants of Malory, The, bypti Sheri-
have count dan Le Fanu. (1867. ) This story
on arriving at manhood repudiates the opens in the little Welsh town of Car-
forced contract. Wandering with his dyllian. The hero is Cleve Verney,
lish type.


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542
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
who falls in love with Margaret Fan- long-lost daughter of that aristocratic
shawe, the daughter of Sir Booth family. Brave Commander Rodney Blu-
Fanshawe, who, in ignorance of his ett's proud relations do not therefore ob-
landlord's identity, is hiding from his ject to his marriage with the heroine.
creditors at Malory, part of the estate The old veteran's description of naval
of Lord Verney, - Arthur's uncle, - who engagements, and his quaint views of
has brought Sir Booth to ruin. The two «the quality » (the story is a first-person
families hate each other. Arthur Verney narrative throughout), makes it intensely
marries Margaret Fanshawe secretly in dramatic. The death and disinterment of
France, to which country Sir Booth Black Evan's » five sons, smothered in a
has departed. His uncle Lord Verney sand-storm; the villainy of giant Parson
wishes him to marry a lady of rank; Chowne, and his savage death from
and he, being ambitious and knowing hydrophobia; and the honest love of the
that his prospects will be at an end if narrator for Lady Isabel Carey, are
his marriage is known, procrastinates. prominent factors in the development of
A son is born to him, but this only adds
the plot.
It is to the latter that old
to his embarrassment. He hears that Davy, describing the unpleasantness of
Lord Verney himself has decided to hanging,” remarks, “I had helped, my-
marry the lady intended for him; and self, to run nine good men up at the
he contemplates bigamy, in order to yard-arm. And a fine thing for their
forestall his uncle. He is saved from souls, no doubt, to stop them from more
this crime by Lord Verney's sudden mischief, and let them go up while the
illness, and the return of the former Lord might think that other men had in-
Lord Verney, who was supposed to have jured them . . ”
In another
died in Turkey. Mrs. Arthur Verney place he is made to admit, “If my equal
eventually pines away and dies neglected insults me, I knock him down; if my
in Italy; while the hopes of the Verney officer does it, I knock under . .
family are dashed to the ground by the These illustrations show something of
fact that Tom Sedley, a genial open- the drollery of much of Blackmore's writ-
hearted young fellow, turns out to be ing:
the legitimate son of the former Lord
Verney, and succeeds to the title and
Story of a Bad Boy, The, by Thomas
estates, much to the advantage of all Bailey Aldrich, (1870,) is a fresh,
concerned. A large part of the book is humorous story, that has long been pop-
devoted to the intrigue of a firm of ular with children of all ages. Its open-
Jews, who, with a solicitor named Lar- ing sentences tend to explain the dubious
kin, endeavor to make money out of title: « This is the story of a bad boy.
Lord Verney in connection with the Well, not such a very bad, but a pretty
supposed death of the brother.
bad boy ; and I ought to know, for I am,
The story has the open moral that or was, that boy myself.
I call
ambition dulls the moral sensibilities of my story the story of a bad boy, partly
man, and that deception leads into diffi- to distinguish myself from those faultless
culties.
young gentlemen who generally figure in
narratives of this kind, and partly be-
In
Maid of Sker, The, by Richard D. cause I was not a cherub.
Blackmore, carries one through the short, I was a real human boy, such as
last twenty years of the eighteenth cent- you may meet anywhere in New Eng-
ury in England and Wales. « Fisher- land; and no more like the impossible
man Davy” Llewellyn, 'longshore sailor, boy in a story-book than a sound orange
and later, one of Lord Nelson's very is like one that has been sucked dry. ”
bravest own,” — while fishing along the The story is autobiographical in so far
shores of Bristol Channel and Swansea as suited the author's purpose. River-
Bay, finds in a drifting boat, which is mouth, where the so-called bad boy of
carried by the seas into Pool Tavan, a the story was born and brought up, after
wee two-year-old child asleep, — the Maid spending a few of his earliest years in
of Sker. ( Born to grace,
New Orleans, stands for Portsmouth,
beautiful too, is this “waif of the sea,” New Hampshire; just as his name, Tom
first known as “Bardie,” then Andalusia; Bailey, stands as a part, not even dis-
and last proved, by the true Bampfylde guised, of the author's own. Tom Bai-
peculiarity of thumbs, to be Bertha, the ley's temperament and appetites were
-
» and very


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
543
were
wholesome; his boyish pranks
never vicious or mean, though he frankly
didn't want to be an angel,” and didn't
think the missionary tracts presented to
him by the Rev. Wibird Hawkins were
half so nice as Robinson Crusoe, and
didn't send his little pocket-money to
the natives of the Feejee Islands, but
spent it royally in peppermint drops and
taffy-candy. ) The author, disgusted with
the goody-goody little hypocrite of an
earlier moral tale, created this boy of
flesh and blood, to displace the moribund
hero of Sandford and Merton”; though,
as Mr. Aldrich has since remarked, “the
title may have frightened off a few care-
ful friends who would have found noth-
ing serious to condemn in the book itself. ”
The story has been translated into French,
German, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, and
Dutch. An illustrated edition appeared
escapes, and, finding himself on a roof,
lets his dog down a chimney to sound
it. The dog lands in the fireplace of
his sweetheart's house, and she embraces
the dog. Obadiah pulls and hauls up
his sweetheart and her father and
mother. Just as they reach the top of
the chimney, the rope breaks and Oba-
diah falls, but is saved by falling into a
street lamp. After many other ludicrous
adventures he is married to his lady-
love.
in 1895.
Ad
dventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck,
The, by Rudolphe Töpffer. This
series of 184 comic drawings, illustrating
the wonderful exploits of Obadiah Old-
buck in search of a sweetheart, with
text explaining each sketch, first ap-
peared in French in 1839, under the
title of M. Vieuxbois, and is the first of
a series of like sketches illustrating other
stories. The work won for its author
high praise, and was originally drawn
for the amusement of his young pupils.
Obadiah, in despair at not having re-
ceived an answer from his sweetheart,
determines on suicide; but the sword
luckily passes under his arm.
For forty-
eight nours he believes himself dead,
but returns to life exhausted by hunger.
He tries to hang himself, but the rope
is too long. He fights with a rival, and
after vanquishing him is accepted by his
sweetheart. He is arrested for hilarity,
and the match is off. He drinks hem-
lock, but is restored to life. He be-
comes a monk, but escapes; and finding
a favorable letter from his sweetheart,
elopes with her. He is recaptured by
the monks, and throws himself from a
window; but his life is saved by the
index of a sun-dial. He escapes, and is
to be married, but is late and finds
neither parents nor bride; throws himself
into a canal, but is fished out for his
wedding clothes. He is buried, and dug
up by birds of prey, and frightens his
hei who have him arrested, and he
sentenced to a year's imprisonment. He
My Arctic Journal, by, Josephine
Diebitsch-
In My Arctic
Journal, Mrs. Peary describes her ex-
periences as a member of an exploring
expedition sent out by the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences. Besides
her husband (the commander), Lieuten-
ant Robert E. Peary, U. S. N. , there
were five other men in the party. These
were Dr. F. A. Cook, Messrs. Langdon
Gibson, Eivind Astrup, John T. Ver-
hoef, and Michael Matthew Henson, Mr.
Peary's colored attendant. The steam
whaler Kite, in which they sailed, left
New York June 6, 1891, and returning,
reached Philadelphia September 24, 1892.
In her journal, which covers the whole
of this period, Mrs. Peary not only re-
cords the ordinary events of each day,
but gives many valuable accounts of the
scenery
of Greenland and of the habit
of the Eskimos whom they met. She
gathered eider-down; shot wild ducks;
cooked the meals for the party; cut out
new garments, and showed the native
women how to sew them; took care of
her husband's broken leg, and nursed
others when ill; and patiently bore what-
ever discomfort came to her. The expe-
dition accomplished several of the objects
which it had in view,- proving, for me
ample, that Greenland is an island, dis-
covering the ice-free land masses to the
north of Greenland, and delineating the
northward extension of the great Green-
land ice-cape. After twelve months on
the shores of McCormick Bay, the party
set out on the return in company with
the relief expedition led by Professor
Heilprin, in good health and spirits.
Mrs. Peary was as cheerful as the oth-
ers, and the one cloud on the homeward
journey was the mysterious disappear-
ance of Verhoef.
Mrs. Peary's Journal' is written in
pleasant style, and in two ways has a
definite value. First, it shows that the


## p. 544 (#580) ############################################

544
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
new.
terrors of an Arctic winter, even in the others, in strong new light. There is
neighborhood of latitude 78°, have been everywhere evidence of the most pains-
greatly magnified; and second, it adds taking research, and broad knowledge
much important information to our stock of the genius and characters of the Rev.
of ethnological knowledge.
olution; while many passages exhibit a
To her published journal Mrs. Peary fine appreciation of the remarkable sub-
has added a chapter giving her impres- ject of the study, which is wholly ad-
sions of Greenland when she revisited it mirable. The presentation of the material
in the summer of 1893.
regarding Mademoiselle Phlipon's rela-
.
tions with M. Roland, and their 'subse-
Pictures of Travel, by Heinrich Heine.
(1826. ) The appearance of the first
quent marriage, and the story of her
book of these sketches of travel marked
efforts at title-hunting, are particularly
an epoch in the development of German
The pictures throughout are vig-
literature. It was read with avidity by
orous and fascinating, and the work is
the public, and so strong was its influ-
by many regarded as the most satisfy.
ence that it gave the first serious check
ing presentation of the subject which
to a prevailing tendency in the world of
has yet appeared.
letters, – the romantic tendency. The
M' Novel; OR, VARIETIES IN English
power of the Romantic School was broken Life, by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lyt-
by the vivid realism of Heine's (Hartz- ton. This novel presents an intimate
Journey) The keen observation of the and faithful picture of the English life
great lyrist and satirist, his brilliant of Bulwer's day. The scenes are laid
searching criticisms of men and institu- partly in the village of Hazeldean,
tions, his stinging sarcasms poured out where a number of the characters are
on existirg conditions, were entirely op- first introduced, and partly in London.
posed to the spirit of Romanticism; and Among the types of Englishmen and for-
the work marked if it did not initiate eigners presented are Squire Hazeldean;
the reaction from that school.
Parson Dale, a simple Church of Eng-
Its author attained at once, upon its land clergyman; Audley Egerton, a poli-
appearance, to almost as wide-spread a tician of fame; Baron Levy, a money-
recognition as he was to reach lender; Harley, Lord L'Estrange, who is
among his countrymen. And indeed
perhaps the hero of the book; Leonard
these prose pictures from the Hartz re- Fairfield, a poet; and Dr. Riccabocca, a
gion are peculiarly illustrative of the political exile, who is really an Italian
many-sided nature and genius of Heine, Duke. As a picture of English life in
who was at once a master of polemic the first half of the century, My Novel
prose and a lyrist of unsurpassed mel- is remarkable for its realism. It is per-
ody, a robust humorist, and a merciless haps the strongest of Bulwer's novels in
satirist. The brilliancy and the bitter- its breadth of view, and in its delinea-
ness, the sweetness and the mockery, of tion of many varieties of character.
his strange nature, are all brought into
play in this, his first prose work of sig- The History of Jonathan Wild the
nificance.
Great, by Henry Fielding. A satir-
Descriptions of nature, vivid pictures
ical portraiture, written by the author
of the social and political aspects of the
at the time of his retirement from play-
country, bitter polemics against certain
writing, 1742, owing to the prohibition of
of the Romanticists, especially Platen,
his plays by the Lord Chamberlain be-
sudden flashes of a wit always keen but
cause of satirical allusions to persons of
not always delicate, are woven together
quality. At this time the writer, who
was of noble descent and had been
in a style unfailingly brilliant. Inter-
raised in affluence, was reduced to the
spersed with the prose are a few fugitive
lyrics; among them some of the most
hardships of poverty and the persecutions
exquisite of the songs of Heine.
of many literary and social enemies; to
actual suffering was added that of the
Madame Roland is a biographical extreme illness of his wife. His resent-
study by Ida M. Tarbell. (1869. . ) ment at the disordered social conditions
Having had access to much theretofore of the time, when merit was allowed to
unpublished material, the author has suffer and be laughed at, while dullness
presented the characters of M. and Ma- and vulgarity were worshiped in the
dame Roland, Buzot, Louis XVI. , and highest circles, found vent in the three
ever


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
545
men.
Woodstock, by Sir Walter Scott.
volumes of Miscellanies) published in friendships of the world, as proving the
1743, the last of which contained the reality of his ideals.
While wholly
(History of Jonathan Wild the Great. ) satisfactory as a work of sentiment, the
Thus the work has its place between book throws little light upon the hidden
Joseph Andrews, published in 1742, springs of passionate attachment be-
and the group of (Tom Jones) (1749,) tween women and women, or men and
and Amelia' (1751).
The subtle psychology of friend-
Jonathan Wild” portrays the life of a ship lacks still the investigation of
dissolute rake, and of his low-lived com- science.
panions, male and female, in unrestrained
and often revolting frankness. The hero,
the embodiment of the greatness ) that
(1826. ) (Woodstock) is an English
is measured by success in crime and historical novel of the time of Cromwell;
wickedness, is of descent more ancient the events occurring in the year 1652,
than the Conqueror, his ancestor having immediately after the battle of Worces-
come in with Hengist himself. Brought ter. The scene is laid chiefly in the
to London a youth, he is thrown in Royal Park and Manor of Woodstock, -
with a French Count La Ruse, of whom ( Fair Rosamond's bower. » In addition
he learns the gambler's art so skillfully to King Charles II. , disguised as Louis
that the count himself soon falls victim Kerneguy, a Scotch page, the leading
to it.
Conspiring with Bagshot and a personages are Sir Henry Lee, the royal
gang of scoundrels and villains, he perse- ranger of the Park; his son Albert, a
cutes the innocent Heartfree and his royalist colonel; his daughter Alice; and
family even to having them committed Colonel Markham Everard, who is high
to prison. During the imprisonment in favor with Cromwell. The Lees and
Mrs. Heartfree tells the long tale of her Everards have been intimate friends be-
adventures at sea, whither she had been fore the war separated them politically;
ailured by Wild after having her hus- and Markham and Alice are lovers.
band lodged in prison. Wild is married Other principal actors are Roger Wild-
to Letitia Snap, a match with himself in rake, a dissipated but brave and loyal
deceit and vileness. They
all
Cavalier; Joceline Joliffe the under-
brought up at last in prison, and most keeper, and his pretty sweetheart Phoebe
of the characters come to the gallows. Mayflower; and Joseph (miscalled
The visit of the ordinary of the prison << Trusty » Tomkins, a Cromwellite sol-
to Wild, and their interview on the night
dier and spy.
The story opens with
before Wild's execution, is a sharp sat- service of a warrant by Tomkins upon
ire on the consolations of religion Sir Henry Lee, ordering him to surren-
afforded in that day. Between the chap- der the Park Lodge to a Parliamentary
ters there are discourses on “greatness » Commission, charged with sequestrating
as exhibited its successive stages in the property.
Colonel Everard sends
the progress of Wild's villainy.
Wildrake to Cromwell, and procures the
revocation of the order. Dr. Roche-
Friendship the Master-Passion; or, cliffe, a scheming royalist, is in hiding
NATURE
HISTORY in the secret passages with which the
FRIENDSHIP, AND ITS PLACE AS A FORCE Lodge is honeycombed, and terrifies
IN THE WORLD, by H. Clay Trumbull, the commissioners with nocturnal noises
deals, as the title declares, with the na- and other annoyances, which they be-
ture and scope of friendship, and with lieve to be the work of the Devil; and
friendship as it has its place in history. they gladly withdraw. Colonel Albert
The author treats his subject as if thor- Lee arrives with Charles disguised as
oughly under its fascination, less there- his page; and Alice's loyal devotion to
fore from its scholarly or psychological the King, coupled with the gift of a ring
than from its emotional aspect. His from him, arouses Everard's jealousy.
own ideal of it is high, noble, utterly He challenges his Majesty; the duel is
unselfish. His emphasis is continually prevented by Alice, but in such a man-
on its renunciations and its sacrifices, ner as further to inflame Everard and
rather than on its fruitions. He writes confirm his suspicions. To save Alice's
as one in love with love, yet without honor and happiness, the King avows
a tinge of sentimentality. In the his- his identity, throwing himself upon the
torical section he reviews the famous honor of Everard, who accepts the trust.
XXX—35
are
>>
as
AND
OF


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546
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Tomkins is soon after killed by Joliffe Once the owner was in love, and, look-
for undue familiarity with Phæbe; but ing through his spectacles at the girl he
has already made reports which bring adored, he beheld — himself. But what-
Cromwell to the spot with a detachment ever the suggestive and genial old book-
of soldiers. The King and Albert ex- keeper is thinking or relating, his heart
change clothes, and the former escapes, is full of his Prue; from beginning to
leaving Albert to simulate him. Crom- end it is always « Prue and I. ”
well besieges and storms the Lodge and
captures Albert, but the delay has saved Wrecker, The, by Robert Louis Ste-
King Charles. Cromwell is furious at
venson, was written in collabora-
the successful deception, but finally re-
tion with his stepson, Lloyd Osborne,
when the author was a little over forty,
lents, and releases Albert,
who goes
abroad, where he subsequently dies in
and published in 1891–92.
It is one
of the best of Stevenson's adventure
battle. Everard and Alice are married.
The book ends with a sort of epilogue,
stories, and full of exciting incident.
in which Sir Henry, old in years and
quick action, and vivid characterization.
honors, presents himself at the triumphal
The scene is modern, and shifts from
land to sea. Preliminary chapters de-
progress of Charles at the Restoration,
eight years later; he is recognized and
pict student life in Paris; but the main
affectionately greeted by the King, and
story begins in San Francisco, with the
purchase of the wrecked ship Flying
passes away in the shock of his loyal
joy, murmuring Nunc dimittis. »
Scud by Loudon Dodd and Jim Pink-
erton, and with their voyage in quest
of its supposed treasure. No treasure,
Prue and I, by George William Curtis.
These charming papers were pub-
but a ghastly tragedy, is revealed as
the tale goes on.
lished in 1856; and have been popular
The Flying Scud has
been sunk and her name changed, in
ever since, as the subject is of perennial
interest, while the treatment is in the
order to hide a wholesale murder, while
her crew have assumed the names of
author's happiest vein. They are a series
the doomed men for the same reason.
of sketches or meditations showing the
The unraveling of the dark mystery
enjoyment to be derived from even the
is most ingeniously conducted, and the
most commonplace existence. The spires
and pinnacles of the sunset sky belong
sea life and the pirate spirit are indi-
cated with gusto and vigor. So cun-
to every man; and in the fair realm of
Fantasie all may wander at will. The
ningly is the plot constructed that not
until the very end is the key fur-
papers are supposed to be written by an
nished. The characters of several of the
old bookkeeper, who strolls down the
street at dinner-time, and without envy
seamy mariners, and especially that of
watches the diners-out. His fancy en-
Pinkerton, a typical western American
with no end of energy and brass, are
ables him to dine without embarrass-
ment at the most select tables, and to
capitally drawn.
enjoy the charming conversation of the Mr. Isaacs, Marion Crawford's first,
beautiful Aurelia. He owns many cas-
and in
tles in Spain, where he can summon a novel, is a study of the development of
goodly company, Jephthah's daughter and a man's higher nature through a woman.
the Chevalier Bayard, fair Rosamond Mr. Isaacs, an exquisite instrument for
and Dean Swift,- the whole train of another soul to play upon, is a high-bred
dear and familiar spirits. He goes for Persian whose real name is Abdul Hafiz-
a voyage on the Flying Dutchman, and ben-Isâk.
He is of a dreamy, spiritual
finds on board all who have spent their nature, of a disposition lacking but one
lives on useless quests, – Ponce de Leon, of the patents to nobility — reverence for
and the old Alchemist. He gives us the
As a professed Mussulman he
pleasant dreams and memories roused is married to three wives, whom he
by the sea in those who love it, and regards with kindly contemptuous toler-
tells the simple, pathetic history of Our
The first person to suggest to
Cousin the Curate. ) He also lets his him that women may have souls is Paul
deputy bookkeeper Titbottom tell the Griggs, the man who tells the story.
story of the strange spectacles, which
He
the beautiful Persian in
show a man as he is in his nature,- a Simla, India, becomes in a day his
wisp of straw, a dollar bill, a calm lake. friend and confidant by virtue of some
women.
ance.
meets


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
547
an
mysterious spiritual attraction. The les-
son inculcated by Griggs is soon to be
learned by Isaacs. He meets and loves
a beautiful, noble English woman, a Miss
Westonhaugh. Each
day draws him
nearer to her; each day reveals to him
the infinite as expressed in her fair
soul. She returns the love of the mys-
tical, beautiful Persian. The last test
of the spirituality of his passion is her
death. From her death-bed he goes
forth with his face to the stai's. Think
of me,” he says, “not as mourning the
departed day, but as watching longingly
for the first faint dawn of the day
eternal. Above all, think of me not as
alone, but as wedded for all ages to
her who has gone before me. "
feel, she divined; and her literary judg-
ments are thoroughly appreciative. This
imaginative force in a naturally reserved
temperament gives extraordinary
value to the pictures which she has
drawn of the society of her time, admir-
ably faithful to all its aspects and em-
ployments in the country, the domestic
circle, at the play, at the court, in the
undertaking of momentous social and
political reforms. The literary charm
and vivacity of the letters, where she
lets the pen "gallop away with the
bridle on its neck, make them classic
in a literature rich in famous letters.
ness
Letters of Madame de Sevigne, The,
first published about thirty years
after her death at La Haye in 1676,
compose the most famous correspondence
of the seventeenth century.
Contained
in fourteen stout volumes, their copious-
alone implies an atmosphere of
leisure. Most of the letters were written
to her only daughter, after that young
lady married and went to her husband's
estates in southern France. Here are
the lively records of her daily interests
and occupations at the Hôtel Carnavalet
in Paris, at Livry, or at her country
seat, Les Rochers,' in Brittany. She
is now a financier, cramping her income
to meet the reckless obligations of her
son; now a fervent devotee, working
altar-cloths with her own hands, and
ardently in sympathy with the school of
Port Royal and the Jansenists; now a
noted beauty at court or a brilliant wit
among the “precious ones » at the Hôtel
de Rambouillet; at all times a fine lady,
resourceful, gracious, captivating. Her
affection for her daughter vents itself in
a thousand reiterations of her desire to
have her again at Paris; while passages
of delightful gossip, always amusing,
often pathetic, crowd the pages. Among
her other correspondents, Madame de
Sévigné reckoned the Duc de Roche-
foucauld and the famous literary twins,
Madame de La Fayette and Madame de
Scudéry, all of them her intimate friends.
Essentially intellectual, familiar with
Quintilian, Tacitus, and St. Augustine,
she greatly admired Corneille, while she
merely tolerated Racine, whose pathos
left her unmoved. Yet so vivid was
imagination that where she could not
Saint-Simon, The Memoirs of the
Duke of, long suppressed by govern-
ment, did not appear until 1829, three-
quarters of a century after the author's
death, although immediately after the
French Revolution they began to be
published in a fragmentary way.
The
reason for this delay is that they con-
tain so many details not flattering to the
Bourbon family, whose pride sustained a
severe blow upon the publication of the
memoirs.
The present English version, which be-
gan publication in 1857, is an abridg-
ment rather than a close translation, by
Boyle St. John; for the original memoirs
would fill about twenty-five volumes, so
great was their author's fidelity to detail.
The memoirs present a panoramic view,
highly finished as to the minutest detail,
of the court of Louis XIV. of France
during the last twenty years of his reign.
and also of the Regency.
Neither a great soldier nor an eminent
statesman, St. -Simon was yet fitted to
be a court gossip of no mean ability, and
certainly of marvelous pertinacity. His
intimacy with those picturesque charac-
ters which people his age, and his own
part in the intrigues which were
stantly afoot, enable him to detail much
varied and curious information; for he
records every circumstance of court life,
whether serious or trivial, down to 1723,
when his own days as a courtier ended.
Although a strong believer in kingly
power, St. -Simon does not hesitate to
characterize Louis XIV. as a weak and
ineffectual monarch; and Madame de
Maintenon, with the other important ac-
tors in the dramatic scenes of the age, he
sets forth in clear and powerful light.
Versatile, strongly antagonistic towards
the new social order, keenly observant
con-


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548
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
on
once
on
SO.
a
of smallest movements, and profoundly ship, personal observations made
analytic of hidden causes, the author pre- several visits to the spot, and excellence
sents a most remarkable series of politi- of style, unite to make the book in-
cal memoirs.
structive and interesting. The charac-
terization is distinct and forcible, the
A Short History of the English battle scenes are vivid. That the best
People, by John Richard Green
results came of the rivalry of Carthage
(1874), is perhaps the most popular his-
with Rome, the author perceives. He
tory of England ever written. At the
regards Hannibal as the foremost gen-
same time it is notable for the breadth
eral of all time”; and asserts that a
and thoroughness of its scholarship. sufficient answer to the question why
The author had consulted a vast number
was it not best for him to march at
of sources, and collected his material at
Rome after the battle of
first hand. The synthetic process of Cannæ, is the fact that he did not do
fusing it into a highly vitalized continu-
Of Scipio Africanus, Hannibal's
ous narrative he performed with won-
great rival, though the historian calls
derful skill, sympathy, and acumen. The
him one of the greatest of Roman
period covered is from the earliest times
heroes,” he asserts that he was "only
to the ministry of Disraeli in 1874. The
three parts a Roman,” lacking genuine
distinction of this great work is that it
Roman respect for law and authority,
is really a history of a people, and of
and possessing an alien strain of Greek
their evolution into a nation. It is not
culture. More space is given propor-
primarily a record of wars and of the
tionately to the First Punic War than
intrigues of courts, but of the develop-
is usual; the author's reason for doing
ment of the important middle class, the
so being that, in his opinion, it throws
rank and file of the nation. The (His-
more light on the energies and charac-
tory of the English · People, in four
ter of the Carthaginians as whole
volumes (1877-80), is an amplification
than does the second: The Second
of the earlier work.
Punic War brings Hannibal before us;
the First, the State which produced
Russia, by D. Mackenzie Wallace.
him. ”
(1877. ) One of the most notable
books on the country, people, and insti-
tutions of the Russian empire. The Hero
Carthew; or, The Prescotts
writer went tº St. Petersburg in March
of Pamphillon, by Louisa Parr.
1870, and remained nearly six years,
This is a new light on an old scene,
the old
which
thoroughly exploring the country and
becomes
collecting information from the local au-
wearisome so long as Love stands in
thorities, landed proprietors, merchants,
the foreground. Hero is the idol of
priests, and peasantry. In large part the
the quaint village folk of Mallett; and
special value of the work, which is very
when it is rumored that Sir Stephen
great, is due to the extent to which
Prescott, who has dropped from the
Russians of all classes most liberally
clouds to look after his long-forgotter
assisted the author. With enough of
estate, is keepin' company » with her,
their satisfaction is unbounded, and ex-
general history to enable the reader to
understand the influences of the past,
pressed with the untutored enthusiasm
the work is an admirable portrayal of the
of the ignorant. Sir Stephen has a
existing conditions in Russia, and the
cousin, Katherine Labouchere, to whom
present prospects of development.
he has played cavalier in his youth; his
devotion being considered so iron-burd
that she has ventured to marry an old
by
(1878. ) man for his money; trusting, after his
This book aims to give a picture of death, to resume her relations with Sir
ancient Carthage, and of her two great- Stephen, and release his estates from
est citizens, Hamilcar and Hannibal; mortgage,- a rôle of continued insult to
while a chapter on Carthage as it is his manhood which Sir Stephen courte-
to-day is appended. Its author, assist- ously declines to play. Hero also has a
ant master at Harrow and formerly an past in the form of Leo Despard, living
Oxford Fellow. has made a careful study under the cloud of a mysterious parent-
of all the materials that have come age and the open glare of village dis-
down to
the subject. Scholar- trust and dislike, to whom she is secretly
scene
never
Carthage and the Carthaginians,
us
on


## p. 549 (#585) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
549
made
Test
pour
aut
DE
engaged. Fate cuts the Gordian knot of
their difficulties with the shears of time
and circumstance. Leo is discovered to
be the rightful heir of Pamphillon; and
Stephen, “Sir » no longer, shorn of his
glory, is rewarded by the love of Hero,
who with a woman's privilege changes
her mind, preferring the kind heart »
to the coronet,” and the «simple faith »
to the Prescott grandeur.
Story of Carthage, The, by Alfred J.
Church, with the collaboration of
Arthur Gilman, is one of the Stories of
the Nations) series, and was published
in 1886.
This historical study of a nation, con-
cerning whose history the authentic ma-
terials are comparatively meagre, is a
picturesque and graphic presentation in
story form.
The historic episodes are
set forth with a view to their philosoph-
ical relation, and the great characters
seem actually to live, speak, and act.
Adequate recognition is accorded to the
myths which cluster about the nation's
as what the thing seen suggests. We
all see a bout the same: to one it means
much, to another little. ) The author is
not one of those who preaches what he
does not practice, and he gives the
reader the result of his studies: the
signs of the weather, the shape and
position of plants and flowers, the habits
of animals, birds, and bees, with apt
quotations from other authors showing
their opinions on the same subjects.
One cannot read this book without
wondering how he could possibly have
passed so many things without noticing
them; and the next walk in the woods
will be taken with greater pleasure, be-
cause of the curiosity awakened by the
author's observations. The other essays
are entitled: A Spray of Pine, Hard
Fare,' The T'ragedies of the Nests,
A Taste of Maine Birch, (Winter
Neighbors, (A Salt Breeze,' (A Spring
Relish, CA River View, Bird Ene-
mies, (Phases of Farm Life,' and
(Roof-Tree. )
و با ته
early life, while from them authentic his Strange Story, A, a novel by Bulwer-
There
Press
. د
a
tory is carefully distinguished so far as
may be.
The Punic Wars are clearly and stir-
ringly described, and the characters and
deeds of Dionysius, Hamilcar Barca,
Hannibal, Regulus, and the Scipios,
treated with fullness and fine discrimina-
tion; while the customs of the people are
made the subjects of felicitous and in-
teresting sketches. The entire «story"
is at once readable and reliable.
Signs and Seasons, by John Burroughs.
This pleasing book of nature-studies
was first published in 1886, and consists
of thirteen essays.
The first, entitled A
Sharp Lookout,' treats of the signs of
the weather and many other curious dis-
coveries which the keen observations of
the author have brought to light. He
says: «One must always cross-question
Nature if he would get at the truth, and
he will not get at it then unless he
questions with skill. Most persons are
unreliable observers because they put
only leading questions, or vague ques-
tions.
Nature will not be cornered,
yet she does many things in a
and surreptitiously. She is all things to
all men; she has whole truths, half
truths, and quarter truths, if not still
smaller fractions. One secret of success
in observing Nature is capacity to take
a hint. It is not so much what we see
Lytton, deals with that
occult phenomena which includes mes-
merism, hypnotism, clairvoyance, and
ghost-seeing. The story is told by one
Dr. Fenwick. His professional rival in
the town in which he settles is a Dr.
Lloyd. He comes into direct opposition
to him when the latter becomes a dis-
ciple of Mesmer, and seeks to heal the
sick by mesmeric influence. Fenwick
directs a vigorous pamphlet against
Lloyd's pretensions, treating the whole
matter as child's-play, beneath the notice
of science. On his death-bed Lloyd
sends for Fenwick, accuses him of hav-
ing ruined him by his attacks, and
intimates that he will be forced to ac-
knowledge the existence of supernatural
forces. The narrative that follows relates
the fulfillment of Lloyd's dying threat.
Curious occurrences force Fenwick into
the consideration of occult phenomena.
He becomes at last a believer in the ex-
istence and power of unseen forces. A
Strange Story) combines romance with
science, scholarship with mysticism. It
is one of the most fascinating embodi-
ments in fiction of the occult philosophy.
Silas Marner, by George Eliot. (1861. )
This story of
a poor, dull-witted
Methodist cloth-weaver is ranked by
many critics as the best of its author's
books. The plot is simple and the field
corner


## p. 550 (#586) ############################################

550
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of the action narrow, the strength of the
book lying in its delineations of char-
acter among the common people; for
George Eliot has been truly called as
much the “faultless painter” of bour-
geois manners as Thackeray of drawing-
room society. Silas Marner is a hand-
loom weaver, a good man, whose life has
been wrecked by a false accusation of
theft, which cannot be disproved. For
years he lives a lonely life, with the sole
companionship of his loom; and he is
saved from his own despair by the
chance finding of a little child. On this
baby girl he lavishes the whole passion
of his thwarted nature, and her filial af-
fection makes him a kindly man again.
After sixteen years the real thief is dis-
covered, and Silas's good name is restored.
On this slight framework are hung the
richest pictures of middle and low class
life that George Eliot has painted. The
foolish, garrulous rustics who meet regu-
larly at the Rainbow Inn to guzzle beer
and gossip are as much alive as Shakes-
peare's clowns; from the red-faced village
farrier to little Mr. Macey, the tailor and
parish-clerk, who feels himself a Socrates
for wisdom. But perhaps the best char-
acter in the book is Dolly Winthrop, the
wheelwright's wife, who looks in every
day to comfort Silas,-a mild soul
(whose nature it was to seek out all the
sadder and more serious elements of life
and pasture her mind on them”; and
who utters a very widely accepted no-
tion of religion when she says, after
recommending Silas to go frequently to
church, as she herself does, «When a
bit o' trouble comes, I feel as I can put
up wi' it, for I've looked for help i’ the
right quarter, and give myself up to
Them as we must all give ourselves up
to at the last; and if we've done our
part, it isn't to be believed as Them as
are above us 'ud be worse nor we are,
and come short o' Theirn. »
«The plural
adds the author, was
heresy of Dolly's, but only her way of
avoiding a presumptuous familiarity. ”
and Indian. Ramona betroths herself to
Alessandro, a young Indian of noble
character. Señora Moreno forbidding
the marriage, they elope, to face a series
of cruel misfortunes. The Indians of
Alessandro's village are deprived of
their land by the greed of the American
settlers; and wherever they settle, the
covetousness of the superior race drives
them, sooner or later, to remoter shel-
ters. The proud and passionate Ales-
sandro is driven mad by his wrongs,
and his story ends in tragedy, though a
sunset light of peace falls at last on
Ramona. So rich is the story in local
color,- the frolic and toil of the sheep-
shearing. the calm opulence of the sun-
steeped vineyards, the busy ranch, the
Indian villages; so strong is it in char-
acter, - the bigoted just châtelaine, the
tender Ramona, the good old priest, - that
its effect of reality is unescapable; and
Californians still point out with pleased
pride the low-spreading hacienda where
Ramona lived, the old chapel where she
worshiped, the stream where she saw
her lovely face reflected, though none of
these existed save in the warm imagina-
tion of the author. Though the story
was a passionate appeal for justice to
the Indian, it is in form one of the most
delicate and beautiful examples of ro-
mantic literary art that English affords.
Connecticut Yankee in King Ar-
thur's Court, A, by Mark Twain. ”
(1889. ) This humorous tale purports to
be that of an American encountered by
the author when doing) Warwick
Castle. The two meet again in the
evening at the Warwick inn; then over
pipes and Scotch whisky, the stranger
explains that he is from Hartford, Con-
necticut, where he used to be superin-
tendent of an arms factory; that one
day, in a quarrel with one of his men,
he lost consciousness from a blow on
the head with a crowbar; that when he
awoke he found himself in England at
the time of King Arthur, where he was
taken captive by a knight, and conveyed
to Camelot. Here sleep overpowers the
narrator, and he goes to bed; first, how-
ever, committing to the author's hands a
manuscript, wherein, sitting down by the
fire again, he reads the rest of the
stranger's adventures. The contact of
Connecticut Yankeedom with Arthurian
chivalry gives rise to strange results.
England at the time of Arthur was a
>
pronoun,
no
Rar
amona, by Helen Jackson. (1885. )
This story stands alone, as a pict-
uresque, sympathetic, and faithful pict-
ure of Spanish and Indian life in Cali-
fornia. The scene opens upon an old
Mexican estate in Southern California,
where the Señora Moreno lives, with her
son Felipe, and her adopted daughter
Ramona, a beautiful half-breed, Scotch


## p. 551 (#587) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
551
.
goes well.
by his
society in which the church «took it noble woman. He brings her home as
out of the king, the king of the noble, his wife. Werner is professor at the
and the noble of the freeman; in which university; and Ilse, though brought
(anybody could kill somebody, except up among such different surroundings,
the commoner and the slave,- these had adapts herself readily to her new life,
no privileges »; and in which departure and becomes very popular among her
from custom was the one crime that the husband's colleagues and with the stu-
nation could not commit. Sir Lancelot dents. The reigning sovereign, hear-
of the Lake, Galahad, Bedivere, Merlin, ing of Ilse's charms, invites the pro-
Guinevere, Arthur himself, etc. , duly ap- fessor to pass, with his wife, some weeks
pear; and amidst all the fun and pathos, at the palace; offering as an induce-
the courtliness, the sincerity, and the ment, all the aid in his power towards
stern virtues —as well as what seems to finding the missing manuscript. The
us the ridiculousness — of the age.
invitation is accepted, and all at first
Ilse is not long, however,
Pickwick Papers, The, by Charles
Dickens. (Posthumous Papers of
in perceiving that while her husband
is treated with marked distinction, she
the Pickwick Club) is the one novel of
Dickens that abounds neither in pa-
is shunned by the ladies of the court,
the sovereign alone singling her out
thetic, grewsome, nor dramatic passages.
too marked attentions. Her
It is pure fun from beginning to end,
with a laugh on every page. It was
position is equivocal. Werner, however,
intent only upon his manuscript, is blind
published in 1836, and aided by the
to the danger of his wife. During a
clever illustrations of Hablot Brown, or
« Phiz,” it attained immediate success
temporary absence of her husband, Ilse,
to save her honor, escapes to Bielstein.
and laid the foundations of Dickens's
The professor, returning, misses his
fame. The types illustrated are carica-
tures, but nevertheless they are types:
wife, and follows her in hot haste, and
Mr. Pickwick, the genial, unsophisticated
they are happily reunited.
All hope
of finding the manuscript proves vain,
founder of the club; and that masterly
and the professor realizes with remorse
array of ludicrous individuals drawn
that while pursuing this wild quest,
from all classes high and low.
Although the whole book is exag-
he has risked losing what was dearest
to him. The book is lightened by a
gerated comedy, there is no other that
humorous account of the hostility be-
has furnished more characters universally
tween two rival hat-makers: Herr Hum-
known, or given to common English
speech more current phrases. Many say-
mel, the professor's landlord, and Herr
Halm, the father of Fritz Halm, who
ings and events are still in the (Pick-
lives directly opposite. There is a sub-
wickian sense )); Sam Weller and his
ordinate love affair between Fritz Halm
admirable father are still quoted; Mrs.
and Laura Hummel, the
and
Leo Hunter still a feature in social
life; Bardell trials
daughter of the rival houses, ending in
occur occasionally;
marriage. The story, if not the most
and there are many clubs as wise as
brilliant of Freytag's telling, is yet
Pickwick's.
graphic and entertaining, and is a great
Manuscript, The
Lost, by Gustav favorite in Germany.
Freytag. The scene of this strong
and delightful story is laid in Germany Lº
othair, by Benjamin Disraeli. The
towards the middle of this century. A scene of this extravagant, but at
young but very learned philologist, Pro- the same time remarkable, story is laid
fessor Felix Werner, goes with his chiefly in England about 1570, at the
friend Fritz Halm, also a learned man, time when it was published.
in search of a lost manuscript of Taci- The hero, Lothair, a young nobleman
tus, to the castle of Bielstein, near Ros- of wide estates and great wealth, is in-
sau, where he supposed it to have been troduced a short time before the attain-
hidden by the monks in the sixteenth ment of his majority. Brought up under
century. Though the quest is for the the influence of his uncle, Lord Cullo-
moment fruitless as regards the manu- den, (a member of the Free Kirk,” he
script, the professor finds in Ilse, the has been surrounded by a Protestant
beautiful fair-haired daughter of the pro- atmosphere. When, in accordance with
prietor of the castle, a high-minded and his father's will, he goes to Oxford to
son


## p. 552 (#588) ############################################

552
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
(
complete his education, his other guard- | gonde had married for love, but he was
ian, Cardinal Grandison, determines to strongly in favor of woman's rights and
bring him into the Roman Church. their extremest consequences. ”
The story is a graphic description of
the struggles of rival ecclesiastics, states- Onesimus: Memoirs of a Disciple of
St. Paul, by the author of Philo-
men, and leaders of society to secure the
christus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the
adherence of the young nobleman.
Lord,' appeared in America in 1882.
On a visit to the ducal seat of Brent-
ham, the home of Lothair's college friend
The story is told in the language used
in the English version of the Acts of
Bertram, he falls in love with Bertram's
the Apostles, and is placed in the first
sister, Lady Corisande, and asks for her
century of the Christian era.
hand, but is refused by her mother.
Onesimus, who himself tells the story
Lothair next comes under the influ-
in the first person, is one of the twin
ence of Lord and Lady St. Jerome, and
Miss Arundel. Charmed with the beauty
sons of a noble Greek. Stolen from his
parents in childhood, he is sold as a
and peace of their life, he is almost won
slave, and becomes one of the household
over to the Romanist side. At the crit-
of Philemon, who is represented as
ical moment he meets Theodora, the wife
wealthy citizen of Colossæ. Falsely ac-
of Colonel Campian, an American, «a
cused of theft, Onesimus runs away. It
gentleman, not a Yankee; a gentleman
of the South, who has no property but
is then that he meets «Paulus” (the
land. ) Theodora is an Italian but not a
Apostle St. Paul), and becoming a con-
vert to the Christian faith, is sent back
Romanist, and the scale is turned toward
to Philemon, his master, with the letter
the Protestant side. Colonel and Mrs.
which figures in the New Testament as
Campian are friends of Garibaldi; and
Onesimus
through them Lothair is inspired to join
the Epistle to Philemon. )
becomes a minister, at length, and suf-
the campaign of 1867 against the papal
fers martyrdom for his faith.
forces. He is severely wounded at Men-
A prominent character in the narra-
tana, and is nursed back to health by
tive is St. Paul, into some passages of
Miss Arundel, who by degrees re-estab-
whose life the author enters with pictur-
lishes her influence over him. Again he
is saved by Theodora, who appears to
esque minuteness, dwelling upon his
final ministry and martyrdom at Rome.