It
contains
many dramatic Standish, with Dr.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 to v30 - Tur to Zor and Index
The little girl Mr.
Bennet, amiable and peace-loving,
having been kidnapped by her guard- es to Mrs. Bennet, his querulous,
ian, the mother fees with her boy; who, ambitious, and narrow-minded wife, the
ignorant of his lineage, is brought up difficult task of marrying off his five
in obscurity under the name of Dar- daughters. Her daughter Elizabeth,
sie Latimer. Warned by his mother's though not so beautiful as Jane, is the
agents to shun England, the young man brightest and most attractive member
ventures for sport into the forbidden of the family. She has a lively dispo-
territory, and is seized by Redgaunt- sition, frank; pleasing manners, and a
let. Detained as a prisoner, Darsie at warm heart; and though bitterly prej-
length learns his true name and rank, and udiced against Mr. Darcy, the wealthy,
meets his sister, now grown to charm- dignified hero, his excellent qualities
ing womanhood. Redgauntlet, a des- and faithful devotion win her at last,
perate partisan, endeavors by persuasion and she forgives the pride from which
and threats to involve his nephew in he stooped to conquer her. Among the
new plot to enthrone the Chevalier, minor characters are George Wickham,
and conveys the youth by force to fascinating and unprincipled, who elopes
the rendezvous of the conspirators. with Lydia Bennet; Mr. Bingley, Dar-
Meanwhile, Darsie's disappearance has cy's handsome friend, who marries Jane
alarmed his devoted friend, Alan Fair- Bennet; and Mr. Collins, a small-souled,
ford, a young Scotch solicitor; who, in strait-laced clergyman.
The scene is
spite of great danger, traces him to laid in England in the country; and the
the gathering-place of the conspiring characters are the ladies and gentlemen
Jacobites. The plot, predestined to fail-
Miss Austin describes so well in her
ure through Charles Edward's obstinate novels. Pride and Prejudice) was pub-
rejection of conditions, is betrayed by
lished in 1813. It was Miss Austen's
Redgauntlet's servant, and the conspir-
first novel, and was written when she
ators quickly dispersed, their position was twenty-one years old, in 1796.
rendered absurd by the good-natured
clemency of George III. Redgauntlet, Botanic Garden, The, by Erasmus
chagrined at the fiasco, accompanies
Darwin. The first part of this long
the Chevalier to France, and ends his poem appeared in 1781; and received
adventurous
in monastery. so warm a welcome that the second part,
Darsie, now Sir Arthur Redgauntlet, containing the Loves of the Plants,' was
remains loyal to the House of Han- published in 1789. It was intended «to
over, and bestows his sister's hand describe, adorn, and allegorize the Lin-
upon Alan Fairford (in whom, accord- næan system of botany. After the clas-
ing to Lockhart, Scott drew his own
sic fashion of his day, the poet adopts a
portrait).
galaxy of gnomes, fays, sylphs, nymphs,
Sixteenth in the Waverly series, "Red- and salamanders; affording, as he says,
gauntlet) was issued in 1824, two years
«a proper machinery for a botanic poem,
before the crash that left Scott penni- as it is probable they were originally the
less. Though showing haste, the tale
names of hieroglyphic figures represent-
does not flag in interest, and even the
ing the elements. And concerning the
minor characters -- notably Peter Pee- (Loves of the Plants,' he remarks that
bles the crazy litigant, Wandering Willie
as Ovid transmuted men and women,
the vagabond fiddler, and Nanty Ewart and even gods and goddesses, into trees
the smuggler — are living and individual. and flowers, it is only fair that some of
them should be re-transmuted into their
ide and Prejudice, by Jane Aus-
Pride
original shapes.
. The story of Pride and Prej-
« From giant oaks, that wave their branches
udice) is extremely simple: it is a his-
dark,
tory of the gradual union of two people, To the dwarf moss that clings upon their bark,
one held back by unconquerable pride
What beaux and beauties crowd the gaudy groves,
And woo and win their vegetable loves ! »
and the other blinded by prejudice; but
in spite of little plot, the interest is sus- The whole poem, of many hundreds of
tained through the book. The charac- lines, is written in this glittering heroic
ters are drawn with humor, delicacy, verse; some of which is poetical, but the
career
a
## p. 211 (#247) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
211
more
>
over
the grass,
greater part labored, prosaic, and uninter-
esting. The book might have been for-
gotten but for the parody upon it, (The
Loves of the Triangles,' which appeared
in the Anti-Jacobin; much to the amuse-
ment, it is said, of the caricatured poet.
As the grandfather of Charles Darwin,
and as an early observer of some of the
natural phenomena upon which the Dar-
winian system rests, Erasmus Darwin has
of late years become once more an in-
teresting figure.
Botany, A History of, 1530-1860, by
Julius von Sachs. (1875. English
translation, 1889. ) Not a specially sci-
entific book, but an admirable contribu-
tion to the literature of science, giving in
most readable form the story of botan-
ical discoveries and developments during
more than three centuries. Dr. Sachs has
long stood at the head of living botanists.
His great work on The Physiology of
Plants, not dealing with external aspects
of the plant world at all, but devoted en-
tirely to the inner life of plants, not only
shows the high-water mark of botany as
a science, but is a book of the greatest
interest for readers. In his History' he
has presented a most interesting narrative
of the successive stages of botanical ad-
vance, the guesses that were made and
the false views adopted, the true discov-
eries by which real knowledge was arrived
at, the resistance at times to these ad-
vances in consequence of the difficulty of
exchanging old views for new; and the
final conquests of truth and the broad
development of an exceptionally inter-
esting science.
Maine Woods, The, by Henry D. Tho-
reau, was published in 1864. When
the first essay was written the author
was forty-seven years old; but the whole
book, while filled with shrewd philo-
sophic observations, has all the youthful
enthusiasm of a boy's first hunting ex-
pedition into the wilds of Maine. And
it is this quality that makes his expe.
riences so charming alike to young and
old. Lowell says, “among the pistillate
plants kindled to fruitage by Emerson-
ian pollen, Thoreau is thus far the most
remarkable, and it is eminently fitting
that his posthumous works should be
offered us by Emerson, for they are
strawberries from his own garden. A
singular mixture indeed there is: Alpine
some of them, with the flavor of rare
mountain air ; others wood, tasting of
sunny roadside banks or shy openings
in the forest; and not a few seedlings
swollen hugely by culture, but lacking
the fine natural aroma of the
modest kinds. Strange books these are
of his, and interesting in many ways,
instructive chiefly as showing how con-
siderable a crop may be raised in a com-
paratively narrow close of mind. » If
the lovers of Thoreau count this judg-
ment as less than the truth, it neverthe-
less contains a truth. These sketches
treat of expeditions with the Indians
among Maine rivers and hills, where
unsophisticated nature delights the bot.
anist, zoologist, and social philosopher.
In the first essay are many shrewd
comments upon the pioneers as he sees
them. «The deeper you penetrate into
the woods,” he says, “the more intelli-
gent, and in one sense the less countri.
fied, do you find the inhabitants; for
always the pioneer has been a traveler
and to some extent a man of the world. )
<< There were the germs of one
or two villages just beginning to ex-
pand. ”
«The air was a sort of
diet-drink! »
(the lakes, a mir-
ror broken into a thousand fragments
and wildly scattered
reflecting the full blaze of the sun. »
The book is full of strange doings of
the Indians who talk with the mus-
quashes (muskrats) as with friends, of
the varied panorama of nature, and the
picturesque lives of the busy lumbermen
and the hardy pioneers.
Pepacton, by John Burroughs. This
book was published in 1881, and
is one of the most pleasing of the many
delightful collections of papers on out-
door subjects that Mr. Burroughs has
given us. It takes its title from the
Indian name of one of the branches
of the Delaware; and the first paper
gives account of a holiday trip
down this stream in a boat of the
writer's own manufacture. In the next
he
tells
many interesting facts
about springs, and their significance
in the development of civilization. In-
deed, in all the papers he shows him-
self not only the close scientific ob-
server, but the poet who sees the hidden
meanings of things. Perhaps he is most
interesting when he combines literature
with nature, as in the essay on Birds
and the Poets,) in which he shows that
most of the American poets have been
an
us
## p. 212 (#248) ############################################
2 1 2
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
the essays
are
a
inaccurate in their descriptions of na- his affront to her. Offitt stealthily enters
ture. As he says, the poet deals chiefly Farnham's home, strikes him with a ham-
with generalities, but when he descends mer borrowed from Sleeny, and makes
to the particular he should be accurate. off with a large sum of money — just as
Longfellow has erred most in this re- Alice and Mrs. Belding arrive in time to
spect, while Bryant, Emerson, and above care for Farnham's serious hurts. Offitt
all Whitman, have been more careful. dexterously directs suspicion to Sleeny,
The rhyme for “woodpecker” seems to who is arrested. The real culprit hastens
trouble the poets; as Mr. Burroughs to Maud, and urges her to fly with him.
puts it-
Suspecting the truth, she refuses, and
«Emerson rhymes it with bear,
wheedles from Offitt his secret, which
Lowell rhymes it with hear;
she at once reveals. In the mean while,
One makes it woodpeckair,
The other woodpeckear. "
Sleeny breaks jail and flies to Maud's
home. Here he meets Offitt, and kills
In another paper he demonstrates
him for his perfidy. Sleeny is at once
Shakespeare's surprisingly accurate
cleared of the charge of assaulting Farn-
knowledge and use of natural facts,
ham, but is tried for the killing of Of-
and that the close observer and analyst
fitt and acquitted upon the ground of
of the human heart had an equally
temporary insanity. The book is brill-
keen sense for the doings of birds and
iantly written, and its presentation of the
flowers. There is also an attractive
conditions of «labor» is very graphic.
study of our fragrant flowers, and of
Though it had a great vogue, its author-
the origin and propensities of weeds.
ship has never been acknowledged.
(The Idyl of the Honey-Bee) almost
sends one to the woods bee-hunting,
in general, the writer's enthusiasm for Bluffton, by M. J. Savage. This story
outdoor things is contagious. For this
is a new Pilgrim's Progress,' from
reason
more than
an untenable Valley of Content through
charmingly written record of the author's
Sloughs of Despond, over Hills of Diffi-
The hero,
own observations, they are an inspira- culty, to a Land of Peace.
tion to search out the secrets of nature
Mark Forrest, is a young clergyman
at first hand.
trained in the very straitest sect of Cal-
vinistic theology, who, having broadened
Bread-Winners, The, a brief novel
, his mind by travel and encounters with
appeared anonymously in 1883. It men of all sorts and conditions, finds
is a social study of modern life. Alfred himself so far liberalized in thought that
Farnham, a retired army officer, takes he can no longer preach his former doc-
a kindly interest in Maud Matchin, trines. He is called to a flourishing
the handsome but vulgar daughter of church in the Mississippi Valley town of
a master carpenter in a Western city. Bluffton, where most of the congregation
Maud's head is turned by Farnham's approve and accept his preaching of
kindness, and she boldly confesses her practical Christianity; but a few conserv-
love to him — which is not reciprocated. atives try to dismiss him, and finally to
Maud's rejected lover, Sam Sleeny, an depose him for heresy. He is engaged to
honest but ignorant journeyman in Match- Margaret, the beautiful daughter of one
in's employ, is jealous of Farnham. He of these, Judge Hartley; but as she can-
is dominated by Offitt, a vicious dema- not oppose or desert her beloved father,
gogue, and joins a labor-reform organ- the engagement is broken, and Forrest
ization. Farnham loves his beautiful leaves Bluffton and his love for con-
neighbor Alice Belding. She refuses his science's sake. Three years later they
addresses, but soon discovers that her meet by accident in California. The old
heart is really his. During a riotous judge has died, Margaret has become lib-
labor strike (described at length), Farn- eralized, and the lovers marry, agreeing
bam organizes a band of volunteer patrol- to devote their lives to the highest service
men for the protection of life and property. of mankind. Many character sketches
His own house is attacked by the mob, and much good dialogue fill the pages.
and Sleeny assaults its owner with a There is but a slender thread of plot; the
hammer; but failing to kill him, threatens interest of the story lying in the growth
future vengeance.
Offitt now pays his of the hero's convictions, and his manly
addresses to Maud, who intimates that adoption of what seems to him the cause
she desires to see Farnham suffer for of truth, to his own personal loss and
## p. 213 (#249) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
213
>
On the way
a
sorrow. Written about 1876, the book bears her to return to London with him, and
marks of youth and inexperience; but the friends lose track of them. Wade
it has the force which characterizes the goes to find them, and by the aid of
work of a man absolutely in earnest. some paintings of their wild experiences
in the West, which he recognizes as
John Brent; by Theodore Winthrop, the work of Miss Clitheroe, he is able
was published in 1862, after the to track down father and daughter, and
death of the author in one of the ear- the lovers are reunited. In spite of the
liest engagements of the American Civil pleasant love element that runs through
War, - that at Big Bethel, Virginia. It the story, the reader feels that Fulano,
is his best-known and most striking the noble brute, shares with John Brent
story. Richard Wade, an unsuccessful the honors of hero.
California miner, has been summoned
East by family news and decides to Mademoiselle Mori, by Miss Margaret
Roberts. The writer tells us that
travel across the plains on horseback.
the words: «First I am a woman, with
He exchanges his mine for a superb
black stallion which is supposed to be
the duties, feelings, and affections of a
woman; and then I am an artist, may
unmanageable. In Wade's hands it be-
be taken as the text on which this tale
comes docile and kind, and he names
it Don Fulano. An old friend, John
was composed. Many incidents are true,
Brent, a roving genius of noble charac-
having occurred during the Italian revo-
lution of 1848-49. The author says that
ter, agrees to ride with him, Brent hav-
ing a fine iron-gray horse.
it is far from being a picture of all that
Rome did and suffered at that time,
they are joined by a couple of low
scoundrels, giving the names of Smith
being but a sketch of the way in which
and Robinson; and near Salt Lake City
private lives are affected by convulsions
they meet cavalcade of Mormons
in the body politic. The scene is Rome,
and the story that of the lives of Irene
under the leadership of a sleek rascal
named Sizzum. In the company is an
Mori and her brother Vincenzo. Irene
English gentleman, Mr. Clitheroe, with
is an opera singer, her brother a cripple
and a wood carver.
his beautiful daughter Ellen; Clitheroe
They are helped
has become a Mormon, half against his
in the day of great want by Mrs. Dal-
will, and is under the influence and in
zell, an English widow. Both are ardent
the power of Sizzum, who has lured him
patriots. Irene is engaged to Leone
to America and who admires Ellen. In
Nota, a poet and a patriot, but is also
the Rockies she is abducted by Smith
loved by Count Clementi, a traitor to
and Robinson, whose real
the cause of freedom which he feigns to
serve.
Murker and Larrap. Wade and Brent,
There is a secondary love story,
joined by one Armstrong, whose brother
that of Luigi Raretti, a soldier betrothed
has been murdered by the abductors,
to sweet little Imelda Olivetti, but at.
give chase on their horses. This ride
tracted by the fiery Gemma Clementi,
of the three avengers, side by side, over
whom he at last sees in her true colors,
when he returns to Imelda. There are
the plains, is described with great vivid-
ness and dramatic power. There is
delightful descriptions of the many curi-
something epic in its intensity, large-
ous customs and festivals of Rome. The
ness of sweep, and nobility of motive.
story was written in 1859.
Brent's horse, Pumps, breaks down; but Black Sheep. The. A novel by Ed-
Wade takes his friend ,
Yates. (1867. )
and they finally ride the villains down las is the black sheep of his family. His
in a mountain defile. Brent is wounded, mother, a widow, has married Capel Car-
but not dangerously. The tale then ruthers, a wealthy, pompous, narrow-
continues the account of the eastward minded bit of starched propriety. Carru-
trip and the heroic exploits of Fulano,
thers refuses to make a home for the youth
who is a paragon of horses, Winthrop's on his splendid estates, and casts him
warm love for these animals making the
adrift on the world. George becomes
sketch very sympathetic. Don Fulano wild and reckless, and moves in a set of
is shot by Murker's brother, who thus black sheep”; men and women mostly
avenges the death of his kin. Brent of gentle birth like himself, who have
loves Ellen and she returns his love,
fallen into evil ways.
Chief among
but her faithfulness to her father leads these are George Routh and his wife
names
are
## p. 214 (#250) ############################################
214
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
as
a
more
Harriet, professional sharpers, who deem self-support a missionary. Fresh
it to their interest to get him into their from a country parsonage and a life
power. Routh is a scamp by nature. of quiet reading, she rejoices in the
His wife, an innocent girl, falls to his beauty of her surroundings and their
level through her overwhelming love classic associations. Her fellow voy-
for him. Routh lends Dallas the money ager, Hubertsen De Vries, hand-
to pay a gambling debt to a mysterious some and well-born young American,
American named Deane. The style of sympathizes with her enthusiasm, and
the story is energetic, and its rapid com- impresses her with his scholarship.
plications make it interesting.
At Beirut, Irene is introduced to a
medley of nationalities, and enters upon
Birch Dene, by William Westall. The
scene of this sombre story is laid in
a busy pleasant life at the missionary
London and the North of England, the
station. The beauty and gay colors of
the East, its novelty, and simpler, more
England of George . IV. and the landed
passionate life, stimulate her emotional
proprietor. A young gentlewoman, wife
nature. She sees a great deal of the
of an officer, comes up to London with
her child, to meet her husband, on his re-
commonplace consul, unable to master
turn from extended foreign service. He
a foreign tongue, and hungry for Amer-
does not arrive, and she can hear no news
ican companionship; and of a fierce
of him. Friendless and alone, she falls
young doctor, a self-made man, soured
into dire want; and finally, one stormy
in the process, who teaches her Syriac.
day, snatches a little cloak hanging out-
She continues her friendship with De
Vries, to whom the good things of life
side a shop, for her shivering boy. She is
have always come so easily that he
immediately seized and brought to trial.
lacks eagerness, and is somewhat slow
In the criminal code of that day, steal-
in discovering whether or not he loves
ing an article valued at five shillings or
the pretty missionary until the out-
was one among one hundred and
break of war exposes Irene to danger,
fifty capital crimes; and the poor woman
and affords her admirers an opportu-
is sentenced to be hanged, a fate she
nity to show their worth.
escapes by dropping dead in the dock.
Stricken with brain fever after the trial, Clarissa Furiosa; by W. E. Norris,
the poor little lad, Robin, cannot remem- This story, which may be regarded
ber his father's name, which his mother in the light of a satire on the New
had carefully concealed, nor where he Woman,” is perhaps the least successful
was born.
He is sheltered and brought of the clever author's novels. Clarissa
up by a kindly old bookseller; but on the Dent, an orphan, rich, petted, and pretty,
death of his benefactor, when no will is after a brief courtship marries Guy Lut-
found, the little property passes to
trell, a soldier. Clarissa goes with the
nephew, a miserly undertaker. To get regiment to Ceylon, where Guy flirts,
rid of Robin, now aged nineteen, he ap- and she concludes that incompatibility of
prentices him to a cotton-spinner in the views must separate them; she returns
Lancashire village of Birch Dene. The to England, and most of the story is
interest of the story lies in its graphic taken up with the semi-public life to
portraiture of the English industrial life which she devotes herself. The book is
of the early part of the century, in its amusing, like all of Norris's, and the
study of artisan character, its clever in- workmanship is of course good. But the
vention of incident and plot, and its note is forced, and the reader feels the
humane spirit.
writer's want of genuine interest in his
characters. It was first published in the
Irene the Missionary, by John Wil-
liam De Forest, 1879, is a pleasant
Cornhill Magazine, in 1896.
love-story in an Oriental setting, and a Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard. This,
very clever study of Americans abroad. the most ambitious of Haggard's
Its chief characters are fine, sincere, lik- romances, presents a vigorous picture of
able young people; and there are bright Egypt under the rule of the wonderful
descriptions of the novel
in
Harmachis, priest and magi-
which they find their happiness. Irene, cian, descendant of the Pharaohs, tells
a beautiful, imaginative girl, is intro- his own story. Certain nobles, hating
duced on her way through the Ægean the Greek Cleopatra and her dealings
Sea to Syria, where she is seeking with Rome, plot to overthrow her, and
a
scenes
Queen.
## p. 215 (#251) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
215
seat Harmachis on her throne.
He en- Priscilla; and from the fact that she was
ters her service to kill her when the the first girl born among the Plymouth
revolt is ripe, but falls in love with her Pilgrims, her career has an especial
and cannot strike. Following this com- interest for readers of history. Yet al-
plication comes plot and counterplot, though Betty gives her name to the
treason and detection, - private griefs book, she is not the heroine. The story
and hates that overthrow empires, and opens when she is about four years old,
the later tragedy of Cleopatra's stormy and continues until after her marriage
life; more than one historic figure ad- with William Pabodie, - critical years in
ding dignity and verisimilitude to the the history of the Plymouth colony, whose
tale. The plot is well managed, and the events are skillfully woven into the nar-
interest maintained. The book is writ-
rative, and whose great men— Winslow,
ten in a curiously artificial manner, care- and Bradford, and the doughty Miles
fully studied.
It contains many dramatic Standish, with Dr. Fuller, and the How-
passages, with now and then an unex-
lands, and John Alden himself — appear
pected reminiscence of the manner of
and reappear, with Barbara Bradford
(King Solomon's Mines) and (She); and Priscilla, and the pure, fragile Lora
while its pages are crowded with gor- Standish, whose early death causes her
geous pictures of the splendid material father such sorrow. In sharp contrast
civilization of Egypt.
with the upright Pilgrims stand out Sir
Christopher Gardiner, the soi-disant knight
Clara Vaughan, by: Richard Doddridge of the Holy Sepulchre, with his fine clothes
This rather
and light morals; Oldham and Lyford,
story comes fairly under the head of
with their treacherous reports to the Ad-
pathological novels. The heroine, Clara venturers; and other outsiders, who were
Vaughan, inheriting an abnormal nerv- thorns in the flesh of the Pilgrims. Mrs.
ous susceptibility, has the misfortune at Austin is accurate as well as picturesque
ten years of age to see her father mur- in her descriptions of the merrymakings
dered. Henceforth she devotes her life and feasts of the time, and of the every-
to the identification and punishment of day life of these first settlers.
his murderer. She suspects her uncle,
Edgar Vaughan, and so insults and tor-
Methodism in the United States, A
ments him that he turns her out of doors
History of, by James M. Buckley.
(1897. ) A work of description and his-
at seventeen. She goes to South Devon
for a while, thence to London, where
tory, designed to present Methodism in
she meets Professor Ross (whose real
comparison with other forms of Ameri-
name is De la Croce) and his children
can Protestant Christianity; to show its
origins and follow its developments; to
Isola and Conrad. With Conrad she falls
mark the modifications which it has un-
in love, but impediments hinder their
dergone; and to note into what branches
marriage. Her uncle becoming danger-
it has divided, through what conflicts
ously ill, she nurses him back to life.
They are reconciled; and it is discovered
it has passed, and what have been the
controversies with which it has had to
that Isola and Conrad are his long-lost
children, and that Clara's father has
deal. Dr. Buckley is an accomplished
been killed in mistake for his brother
journalist of his denomination, thor-
Edgar, by De la Croce, his Corsican
oughly familiar with the men and move-
wife's brother. Crowded with remark-
representing nineteenth-century
able incidents and hair-breadth escapes,
Methodism, and not less with the history
of other churches in America; and his
this is the most fantastic, as it was the
earliest and least mature, of Blackmore's
story of the wide sweep and vast weight
of the faith and fellowship running in
novels. Not the least attractive charac-
ter is Giudice, the bloodhound, who plays
the names of Wesley and of Methodism
an active part in the development of
is as interesting as it is opportune.
the plot.
Marriage Customs in Many Lands,
by Rev. H. N. Hutchinson. (1897. )
Betty Alden, by Jane G. Austin. When A volume presenting for general read-
( Betty Alden' appeared in 1891, it a careful account of quaint and
was at once received as among the best interesting customs connected with be-
of Mrs. Austin's historical novels. Betty trothal and marriage among peoples and
was the daughter of John Alden and races in all parts of the world, with a
ments
ers
## p. 216 (#252) ############################################
216
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
.
seen
con-
large number of carefully selected illus- the origin of French Literature and end-
trations. The purpose of the book is ing with the last years of Louis Phi-
not to discuss the origin of the cus- lippe's reign,- is the most detailed and
toms of various peoples, but to give elaborate work on the subject in Eng-
a picture of them, and thereby con-
lish. Where Hallam, in his Literature
tribute a chapter to the story of the of the Middle Ages,' has traversed some
human race
as it is
in all its of the same ground, it is very incom-
varieties at the present time. A work plete. Saintsbury's 'Short History of
adequately dealing with the subject has French Literature) is much more
become possible through the comprehen- densed. Van Laun's theory of literature
sive character of the reports of travel is the same as Taine's; and in his view,
and observation which are now avail.
literature can be enjoyed or understood
able, and Mr. Hutchinson has made only when the reader possesses a proper
excellent use of these sources of infor- knowledge of the history of the people
mation. A special value will attach to among whom it was written, the con-
his work from the fact that in many ditions of race, of climate, of nature
instances existing old customs have rap- and of life, the writer's personality, etc.
idly given way to the spirit of modern These points he aims to supply in his
change.
treatment of the various writers. His
treatment is scholarly, philosophical, and
Early Law and Custom, by Sir Henry
Maine, (1883,) finishes the series of
discriminating. He has divided his sub-
books headed by Ancient Law,' and con-
ject into the following periods: Origin
tinues the same general line of investi-
of the French Nation, Feudal Society,
gation in a different field. His effort is
The Renaissance, The Classical Renais-
still to reconcile the growth of jurispru-
sance, The Age of Louis XIV. , The
dence with the results obtained by modern
Forerunners of the Revolution, The
anthropology, while each study is made
Revolution, The Empire and the Res-
to explain and illuminate the other. Be-
toration, The Reign of Louis Philippe.
ginning with the primitive religion and
law, as disclosed in the earliest written Romance of the Rose, The. This al-
monuments preserved in the sacred Hin-
legorical poem is one of the earliest
doo laws, the rise of the kingly power
works in the French language. It is in
and prerogative and the meaning of an-
two parts: the first, consisting of four
cestor-worship are discussed. The book
thousand verses, was written some time
closes with a study of the feudal theory
during the thirteenth century, by Guil-
of property, and its effect upon modern
laume de Lorris; while the second, con-
systems of rental and landholding. With-
taining about nineteen thousand verses,
out studied grace, the author's style is
was written by Jean de Meung. who
clear, copious, and precise.
lived somewhere about 1320. The intro-
ductory lines of the first part tell us that
in this (Romance) is inclosed all the art
This
of love. L'Amant dreams that he finds
study of classic literature is founded on
an immense garden, surrounded by a
the monumental work of Teuffel; and in
wall, on which are painted pictures of
its smaller space, treats its subject with
Hate, Felony, Covetousness, Avarice, etc.
equal accuracy and discrimination, and
Inside, he finds Cupid, Beauty, Riches,
with
more charm. Its abstracts
Courtesy, and other graces. He chooses
more interesting, and its characteriza-
an opening rosebud, but finds it sur-
tions are often done not only with exact-
rounded by a thick hedge of thorns.
ness, but with a picturesque touch that
(Kind Welcome » allows him to kiss the
gives the subject a contemporary in-
rose, but «Evil Mouth” gossips so much
terest, and makes Horace or Virgil or
about it that Jealousy confines the Rose
Cicero a personal acquaintance. The lit-
in a tower, guarded by Danger, Fear,
erary criticism is excellent of its kind,
and Shame. L'Amant, separated from
and the book is as valuable a companion
his Rose, abandons himself to despair.
to the reader for pleasure, as to the stu-
At this point the romance of Lorris
dent with a purpose.
ends. By the aid of Cupid, Venus, Na-
French Literature, History of, by ture, and her confessor Genius, the tower
Henri Van Laun. This work, in of Jealousy is forced to capitulate, and
three octavo volumes, - beginning with L'Amant is at last permitted to gather
Roman Literature, History of, A, by
are
## p. 217 (#253) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
217
the Rose. The first part is a eulogy of
women and chivalrous love, while the
second seems to be almost a satire on
the first; for Meung reduces love to the
pleasure of the senses, and respects noth-
ing that the Middle Ages were accus-
tomed to venerate. Meung is less of a
poet than Lorris, but the former is the
more erudite, and the second part is en-
cyclopaedic in its references, ranging
from Latin quotations to the Philoso-
pher's Stone, and the complaints of the
lower classes. This work has excited
almost as much adverse criticism as
praise, the priests at one time thinking
there was something in the allegory
derogatory to dogma. It enjoyed great
popularity when allegory was esteemed,
relates the birth, childhood, the journey
to Paris, the education, and the farcical
adventures, of the giant Gargantua, son
of Grandgosier; also the war which he
waged against the invader Picrocole,
the mighty deeds of his friend and ally
Jean des Entommeurs, and the founda-
tion of the abby of Thélème. This book
also is probably the best known and
most prized, as illustrating the serious
ideas of its author upon war, the educa-
tion of children, and the organization of
monastery life. The myth of Gargantua
was of Celtic origin, dating from the
time of the importation of the Arthurian
legends into France by the troubadours
of William the Conqueror.
but to-day it must be considered some précieuses Ridicules, Les, by Mo-
а
are
(
what tedious.
lière. No one of Molière's come-
dies is better known than this famous
satire on the Précieuses,' which was
Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Fran-
çois .
Towards 1532, at produced for the first time in 1659. It
Lyons, Rabelais edited series of can almost be entitled a farce, being
almanacs, in which
found 'La an exaggeration of an exaggeration. It
Pantagrueline Pronostication) (The Fore- is in one act, and is a satire on a style
castings of Pantagruel), and Les Chro- of speech, and an affected taste in art
niques Gargantines) (The Chronicles of and literature, prevalent among a cer-
Gargantua), under the immediate title tain class at that time. It is said that
of Pantagruel, roi des Dipsodes, res- when writing it, Molière had in mind
titué en son naturel, avec ses faits et the literary lights who assembled at the
prouesses espouvantables; composés pour Hôtel de Rambouillet. The story is of
M. Alcofribas, abstracteur de quintes- two country ladies, Madelon and Cathos,
sence? (Pantagruel, king of the Drunk- | just arrived in Paris, who reject two
ards, portrayed according to life, with suitors proposing marriage, unless they
his amazing deeds and feats of prowess; first serve a long apprenticeship of court-
written by M. Alcofribas, distiller of the ship and gallantry as do the heroes in
very quintessence). This forms the sec- (Artemène) and (Clélie, two novels by
ond book of the work as it now stands; Mademoiselle Scudéry, much in vogue
for Rabelais, seeing the success of his at that time. In revenge, the rejected
efforts, revised his Chroniques Gargan- suitors clothe their valets, Mascarille and
tines) and made of them the (Vie très Jodelet, in rich dress, and send them to
horrifique du grand Gargantua, père de masquerade as the Marquis de Masca-
Pantagruel ( The very horrible life rille and Vicomte de Jodelet. They are
of the great Gargantua, father of Pan- warmly welcomed by the ladies, who are
tagruel), which is now the first book. charmed with Mascarille's expressed in-
Then came the (Tiers livre des faits et tention of writing the history of Rome
dicts héroiques du bon Pantagruel) in the form of madrigals. Mascarille
(Third book of the heroic sayings and composes a ridiculous impromptu of four
doings of the good Pantagruel), to lines, which he dissects word by word,
which Rabelais affixed his own
calling attention to the many esoteric
with the additions of «docteur en mé- beauties, invisible except to the veritable
decine et calloier des isle d’Hieres )) « Précieux. ) The deception is kept up
(physician and monk of the island of until their masters come and despoil
Hyeres). In 1552 appeared the fourth them of their rich clothes, leaving them
book. The fifth book (1564) is post- in their servant's dress. Molière, in his
humous, and it is doubtful if Rabelais preface, says the piece was printed
composed it. The five books form against his better judgment, as much of
sort of satirical epopee.
The first book, the success which it attained depended
which alone forms a complete whole, upon the action and tone of voice. The
>
name
)
a
## p. 218 (#254) ############################################
218
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
justice of this remark is appreciated if
one has seen its performance at the
Comédie Française, where tradition has
preserved intact all the original «busi-
ness » of the piece.
It was a great success; and as his at-
tacks on quackery had made possible a
reform in medicine, so this comedy ren-
dered ridiculous the name «Précieux,"
which had before been considered
distinction.
Membe
ember for Paris, The, by Grenville
Murray. A tale of the Second Em-
pire, showing the bribery and corruption
then prevalent. Horace and Émile Gerold
are sons of the Duke de Hautbourg, who,
being an ardent Republican, refuses to
bear his title. His sons go to Paris to
practice law. Horace, beginning his ca-
reer brilliantly, is gradually led astray
by Macrobe, an unscrupulous speculator,
against whom he was warned by his
father. He enters political life, is made
Member for Paris, abandons Georgette,
a young girl who loves him, and mar-
ries Macrobe's daughter Angelique, fan-
cying himself in love with her. He
forsakes his Liberal opinions, and comes
to blows over his father's grave with
a political opponent. He now assumes
the title and takes possession of his
estates. His brother Émile, who has
remained honest and upright, is elected
deputy in his place; and his wife, An-
gelique, learning that he loves Geor-
gette, drowns herself in the lake on
the day of their arrival at the ducal
castle. A letter is found, showing the
cause of her rash act. Horace drops
dead beside her. A truthful picture of
life in Paris under the Second Empire,
with its network of police, its great man-
milliner Worth, its feverish speculation
and scramble for political preferment,
the story opens in 1854 and ends in
1857. It was published in 1871, the au-
thor, a well-known diplomat, disguising
his identity under the name of “Trois-
Étoiles. )
Cinq. Mars, by Alfred de Vigny. The
subject of this historical romance is
the conspiracy of Cinq-Mars and De Thou
against Richelieu, its detection, and the
execution of the offenders at Lyons in
1642. The work is modeled after the
Waverley novels. All the action cen-
tres around the great figure of Richelieu.
The aristocratic prejudices of the author
prevent him from doing full justice,
perhaps, to the statesman who curbed
the power of the French noblesse; and
many critics think that Bulwer depicts
him more truly.
The Richelieu of De
Vigny is Richelieu as he appeared to
the courtiers of the time: the organizer
of assassination and espionage, in con-
junction with Father Joseph and Lau-
bardemont,- Richelieu in his days of
hatred and murder. The author is more
just to the Cardinal when he shows
him making successful efforts to place
France at the head of Europe, prepar-
ing and winning victories, and sending
his king to fight like obscure captain.
The character of Louis XIII. is finely
drawn, and we have a lifelike and admir-
ably colored portrait of that strange and
gloomy monarch, who is the master of
France and the slave of Richelieu, and
who sends his most devoted friends to
the scaffold at the bidding of the man
he hates. Indeed, the contrast between
the obedient monarch and his imperious
servant is the most striking feature in
the romance. There are many scenes
of great historic value; as for instance,
that in which Richelieu retires on the
King's refusal to sign a death-warrant,
and abandons Louis to himself. The
presentation of Cinq-Mars is also very
vivid: we have a Cinq-Mars, who, if not
true to history, is at least true to human
nature. The outline of De Thou is per-
haps just a little shadowy.
Duchesse de Langeais, The, by Balzac,
analyzes carefully the Faubourg
Saint-Germain, or the aristocracy of Paris
under the Restoration. In a most logi-
cal and impartial way, Balzac explains
how the patrician class loses its natural
ascendency when it does not produce the
results its advantages of birth and train-
ing warrant. After learning that the
“Great Lady» had no influence on the
morals of the time, that she was hypo-
critical and artificially educated, it is
not to be expected that the heroine of
the story, the Duchesse de Langeais, will:
prove an anomaly of virtue. Parisian
to the core, the young duchess lives in
the luxury of the boudoir and the fickle
gayety of the ball-room. She is charac-
terized as “supremely a
and
supremely a coquette. ” Unhampered by
her husband, who lives his military life
apart, the duchess feels free to attach to
her suite numberless young men, whom
she encourages and repulses by turns.
woman
## p. 219 (#255) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
219
nuns
In Armand de Montriveau, however, she by a writer of the highest authority, Mr.
finds at last a man of pride and strong George Ticknor, in his History of Span-
will, as well as an ardent lover. He no ish Literature. Speaking of Oviedo,–
sooner discovers that Madame is trifling whose (General and Natural History of
with his affection than he resolves to have the Indies,' an immense work in fifty-one
his revenge. He arranges an interview, books, of which the first twenty-one were
brings the duchess face to face with her- published in 1535, served as an author-
self, and denounces her as a murderer, itative account of the discoveries, treat-
on the ground that she has slain his hap- ment of the natives, etc. ,- Mr. Ticknor
piness and his faith - and bids her fare-
says:
well. The duchess immediately falls in “But, both during his life and after his
love with him, sends him repentant letters death (1557), Oviedo had a formidable
which receive no response, and after a adversary, who, pursuing nearly the same
desperate attempt to see him in his own course of inquiries respecting the New
house, leaves Paris just as Monsieur is World, came almost constantly to con-
hastening to call upon her. Armand de clusions quite opposite. This was no less
Montriveau searches five years for his a person than Bartolomé de las Casas,
lady, finding her at last immured in a the apostle and defender of the American
convent in Spain. Determined to rescue Indians,- a man who would have been
her from such an imprisonment, he suc- remarkable in any age of the world, and
ceeds in penetrating to the cell of her who does not seem yet to have gathered
who was called by the «Sister in the full harvest of his honors. He was
Thérèse,” only to find the dead body of born in 1474; and in 1502, having gone
the Duchesse de Langeais. This is one through a course of studies at (the uni-
of the most famous of Balzac's novels. versity of] Salamanca, embarked for the
The story is told with all his vigor and Indies, where his father, who had been
minuteness, and the characters impress there with Columbus nine years earlier,
themselves on the memory as persons had already accumulated a decent for-
actually known.
tune. The attention of the young man
was early drawn to the condition of the
Cas
asas, Las: HISTORY OF THE (West] natives, from the circumstance that one
INDIES. (Historia de las Indias, of them, given to his father by Columbus,
por Fr. Bartholomé de las Casas. ) The had been attached to his own person
Spanish original in manuscript, 1527–61; as a slave while he was still at the Uni-
only printed edition, 5 vols. , 1875–76. It versity; and he was not slow to learn,
is one of the most notable of books, not on his arrival in Hispaniola [Hayti:
only in its contents, -as a history of Span- 1502], that their gentle natures and
ish discoveries from 1492 to 1520, and a slight frames had already been sub-
contemporary Spanish Catholic criticism jected, in the mines and in other forms
as well as story of Columbus, – but in the of toil, to a servitude so harsh that the
circumstances which prevented its publi- original inhabitants of the island were
cation for more than three hundred years, beginning to waste away under the se-
and which still leave it inaccessible ex- verity of their labors. From this moment
cept to readers of Spanish. Its author he devoted his life to their emancipation.
was the most illustrious figure of the New In 1510 he took holy orders, and contin-
World during its first half-century, and ued, as a priest, and for a short time as
not less illustrious to all Europe as a rep- bishop of Chiapa, nearly forty years, to
resentative of the Catholic Christian feel. teach, strengthen, and console the suffer-
ing which led Queen Isabella to condemn ing flock committed to his charge. Six
Columbus for sending shiploads of Amer- times at least he crossed the Atlantic,
ican natives to Spain to be sold as slaves. in order to persuade the government of
His entire life and all his writings were Charles the Fifth to ameliorate their con-
devoted to urging the duty of humane dition, and always with more or less suc-
treatment of the Indians; and after pub- cess. At last, but not until 1547, when
lishing in his lifetime appeals and pro- he was above seventy years old, he estab-
tests which stirred the Catholic conscience lished himself at Valladolid in Spain,
throughout Europe, he left at his death where he passed the remainder of his
the great History, which Spanish feel- serene old age, giving it freely to the
ing refused the honors of the press until great cause to which he had devoted the
1875. The whole matter is dealt with freshness of his youth. He died in 1566,
## p. 220 (#256) ############################################
220
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Cast
none
at ninety-two. . Among the principal op- So far as Mr. Ticknor questions at all
ponents of his benevolence were Sepúl- the fairness of Las Casas, his view may
veda, - one of the leading men of letters be presumed to reflect Spanish judgment,
and casuists of the time in Spain,- and about which he might have thought dif.
Oviedo, who, from his connection with the erently if he had spoken simply from a
mines and his share in the government perusal of the pages of Las Casas. He
of the newly discovered countries, had says that Las Casas was “a prejudiced
an interest directly opposite to the one witness, but, on a point of fact within his
Las Casas defended. These two persons, own knowledge, one to be believed. ) The
with large means and a wide influence to prejudice of Las Casas was that of Cath-
sustain them, intrigued, wrote, and toiled olic Europe against slavery and wars of
against him, in every way in
their slaughter, the right to resort to which
power. But his was not a spirit to be Sepúlveda laboriously argued against Las
daunted by opposition or deluded by soph- Casas.
istry and intrigue.
The earli-
est of his works, called (A Very Short
astilian Days, by John Hay, has gone
Account of the Ruin of the Indies, was
through eight editions since its pub-
lication in 1871; a prosperity at which no
written in 1542,-a tract in which, no
reader of the book can wonder. Its sev-
doubt, the sufferings and wrongs of the
Indians are much overstated by the in-
enteen essays present a vivid picture of
the life of Spain. Joining a graceful and
dignant zeal of its author, but still one
brilliant style with the happiest percep-
whose expositions are founded in truth,
tion of the significance of things seen, the
and by their fervor awakened all Europe
to a sense of the injustice they set forth.
author finds a subject worthy of his in-
terpretation in that mediæval civilization
Other short treatises followed, written
with similar spirit and power; bu
of the Iberian peninsula which has lasted
over into the nineteenth century-a civ-
was so often reprinted as the first, and
ilization where the Church holds sway
none ever produced so deep and solemn
as it did in the Middle Ages: where the
an effect on the world. They were all
upper classes believe in devils, and the
collected and published in 1522; and an
edition, in Spanish with a French ver-
peasants dare not yawn without crossing
themselves, lest an imp find lodgment
sion, appeared at Paris in 1822, prepared
within them; where duels are fought in
by Llorente.
all deadliness whenever a caballero's del-
« The great work of Las Casas, however,
icate honor is offended; where alone the
still remains inedited,
,-a General His.
Carnival survives as an unforced, naive,
tory of the Indies from 1492 to 1520, begun
popular fête; where rich and poor play
by him in 1527 and finished in 1561, but
together, and enjoy themselves like child-
of which he ordered that no portion should
Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Alcalá,
be published within forty years of his
Seville, are so described that we see the
death. Like his other works, it shows
people abroad, at home, at church, at the
marks of haste and carelessness, and is
bull-fights, at the miracle-play, in the brill-
written in a rambling style; but its value,
iant light of their sub-tropical skies. The
notwithstanding his too fervent zeal for
whole history of Spain - of its Moors, its
the Indians, is great. He had been per-
Goths, its Castilians- is written in its
sonally acquainted with many of the
streets and its customs; and Mr. Hay has
early discoverers and conquerors, and at
translated it for Western eyes to read.
one time possessed the papers of Colum-
His book is the work at once of the shrewd
bus, and a large mass of other important
social observer and the imaginative poet.
documents, which are now lost. He knew
[of the regular
Alarcón. The opening scene of this
and gives at large his reasons for differing clever and amusing story is laid in Ma-
from them. In short, his book, divided drid, in the month of March 1848. In a
into three parts, is a great repository, to skirmish between the royal troops and
which Herrera, and through him all the a handful of Republicans, Don Jorge de
historians of the Indies since, have re- Córdoba, called Captain Veneno (poison)
sorted for materials; and without which on account of his brusque, pugnacious
the history of the earliest period of the manner, is wounded before the house of
Spanish settlements in America cannot, Doña Teresa Barbastro, who shelters him.
even now, be properly written. ”
A professed hater of women and marriage,
ren.
torians of the New World) anda udariedaisCaptain Veneno, by Pedro Antonio de
## p. 221 (#257) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
221
he laments his prolonged imprisonment to use the words of Professor Marsh: the
in terms which anger the mother and new in the form of a highly-trained, clear-
amuse the daughter; but his kind heart is thinking, frank-speaking modern man;
so apparent that his foibles are humored. the old in the guise of a whole community
When Doña Teresa dies, she confides to so remote from the current of things that
him that she has spent her fortune in its religious intolerance, its social jeal-
trying to secure the confirmation of the ousy, its undisturbed confidence and pride
title of Count de Santurce, conferred on in itself, must of necessity declare in-
her husband by Don Carlos. He hides stant war upon that which comes from
the truth from the daughter, Angustias, without, unsympathetic and critical. The
for a few days; but when she learns that inevitable result is ruin for the party whose
he is paying the household expenses, she physical force is less, the single individual;
insists upon his leaving, now that he can yet hardly less complete ruin for those
walk. He tries to induce her to let him whom intolerance and hate have driven to
pension her, or provide for her in any the annihilation of their adversary. ” The
honorable way except by marrying her, story was published in 1876, and reached
although he professes to adore her. His its ninth edition in 1896.
having been kidnapped by her guard- es to Mrs. Bennet, his querulous,
ian, the mother fees with her boy; who, ambitious, and narrow-minded wife, the
ignorant of his lineage, is brought up difficult task of marrying off his five
in obscurity under the name of Dar- daughters. Her daughter Elizabeth,
sie Latimer. Warned by his mother's though not so beautiful as Jane, is the
agents to shun England, the young man brightest and most attractive member
ventures for sport into the forbidden of the family. She has a lively dispo-
territory, and is seized by Redgaunt- sition, frank; pleasing manners, and a
let. Detained as a prisoner, Darsie at warm heart; and though bitterly prej-
length learns his true name and rank, and udiced against Mr. Darcy, the wealthy,
meets his sister, now grown to charm- dignified hero, his excellent qualities
ing womanhood. Redgauntlet, a des- and faithful devotion win her at last,
perate partisan, endeavors by persuasion and she forgives the pride from which
and threats to involve his nephew in he stooped to conquer her. Among the
new plot to enthrone the Chevalier, minor characters are George Wickham,
and conveys the youth by force to fascinating and unprincipled, who elopes
the rendezvous of the conspirators. with Lydia Bennet; Mr. Bingley, Dar-
Meanwhile, Darsie's disappearance has cy's handsome friend, who marries Jane
alarmed his devoted friend, Alan Fair- Bennet; and Mr. Collins, a small-souled,
ford, a young Scotch solicitor; who, in strait-laced clergyman.
The scene is
spite of great danger, traces him to laid in England in the country; and the
the gathering-place of the conspiring characters are the ladies and gentlemen
Jacobites. The plot, predestined to fail-
Miss Austin describes so well in her
ure through Charles Edward's obstinate novels. Pride and Prejudice) was pub-
rejection of conditions, is betrayed by
lished in 1813. It was Miss Austen's
Redgauntlet's servant, and the conspir-
first novel, and was written when she
ators quickly dispersed, their position was twenty-one years old, in 1796.
rendered absurd by the good-natured
clemency of George III. Redgauntlet, Botanic Garden, The, by Erasmus
chagrined at the fiasco, accompanies
Darwin. The first part of this long
the Chevalier to France, and ends his poem appeared in 1781; and received
adventurous
in monastery. so warm a welcome that the second part,
Darsie, now Sir Arthur Redgauntlet, containing the Loves of the Plants,' was
remains loyal to the House of Han- published in 1789. It was intended «to
over, and bestows his sister's hand describe, adorn, and allegorize the Lin-
upon Alan Fairford (in whom, accord- næan system of botany. After the clas-
ing to Lockhart, Scott drew his own
sic fashion of his day, the poet adopts a
portrait).
galaxy of gnomes, fays, sylphs, nymphs,
Sixteenth in the Waverly series, "Red- and salamanders; affording, as he says,
gauntlet) was issued in 1824, two years
«a proper machinery for a botanic poem,
before the crash that left Scott penni- as it is probable they were originally the
less. Though showing haste, the tale
names of hieroglyphic figures represent-
does not flag in interest, and even the
ing the elements. And concerning the
minor characters -- notably Peter Pee- (Loves of the Plants,' he remarks that
bles the crazy litigant, Wandering Willie
as Ovid transmuted men and women,
the vagabond fiddler, and Nanty Ewart and even gods and goddesses, into trees
the smuggler — are living and individual. and flowers, it is only fair that some of
them should be re-transmuted into their
ide and Prejudice, by Jane Aus-
Pride
original shapes.
. The story of Pride and Prej-
« From giant oaks, that wave their branches
udice) is extremely simple: it is a his-
dark,
tory of the gradual union of two people, To the dwarf moss that clings upon their bark,
one held back by unconquerable pride
What beaux and beauties crowd the gaudy groves,
And woo and win their vegetable loves ! »
and the other blinded by prejudice; but
in spite of little plot, the interest is sus- The whole poem, of many hundreds of
tained through the book. The charac- lines, is written in this glittering heroic
ters are drawn with humor, delicacy, verse; some of which is poetical, but the
career
a
## p. 211 (#247) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
211
more
>
over
the grass,
greater part labored, prosaic, and uninter-
esting. The book might have been for-
gotten but for the parody upon it, (The
Loves of the Triangles,' which appeared
in the Anti-Jacobin; much to the amuse-
ment, it is said, of the caricatured poet.
As the grandfather of Charles Darwin,
and as an early observer of some of the
natural phenomena upon which the Dar-
winian system rests, Erasmus Darwin has
of late years become once more an in-
teresting figure.
Botany, A History of, 1530-1860, by
Julius von Sachs. (1875. English
translation, 1889. ) Not a specially sci-
entific book, but an admirable contribu-
tion to the literature of science, giving in
most readable form the story of botan-
ical discoveries and developments during
more than three centuries. Dr. Sachs has
long stood at the head of living botanists.
His great work on The Physiology of
Plants, not dealing with external aspects
of the plant world at all, but devoted en-
tirely to the inner life of plants, not only
shows the high-water mark of botany as
a science, but is a book of the greatest
interest for readers. In his History' he
has presented a most interesting narrative
of the successive stages of botanical ad-
vance, the guesses that were made and
the false views adopted, the true discov-
eries by which real knowledge was arrived
at, the resistance at times to these ad-
vances in consequence of the difficulty of
exchanging old views for new; and the
final conquests of truth and the broad
development of an exceptionally inter-
esting science.
Maine Woods, The, by Henry D. Tho-
reau, was published in 1864. When
the first essay was written the author
was forty-seven years old; but the whole
book, while filled with shrewd philo-
sophic observations, has all the youthful
enthusiasm of a boy's first hunting ex-
pedition into the wilds of Maine. And
it is this quality that makes his expe.
riences so charming alike to young and
old. Lowell says, “among the pistillate
plants kindled to fruitage by Emerson-
ian pollen, Thoreau is thus far the most
remarkable, and it is eminently fitting
that his posthumous works should be
offered us by Emerson, for they are
strawberries from his own garden. A
singular mixture indeed there is: Alpine
some of them, with the flavor of rare
mountain air ; others wood, tasting of
sunny roadside banks or shy openings
in the forest; and not a few seedlings
swollen hugely by culture, but lacking
the fine natural aroma of the
modest kinds. Strange books these are
of his, and interesting in many ways,
instructive chiefly as showing how con-
siderable a crop may be raised in a com-
paratively narrow close of mind. » If
the lovers of Thoreau count this judg-
ment as less than the truth, it neverthe-
less contains a truth. These sketches
treat of expeditions with the Indians
among Maine rivers and hills, where
unsophisticated nature delights the bot.
anist, zoologist, and social philosopher.
In the first essay are many shrewd
comments upon the pioneers as he sees
them. «The deeper you penetrate into
the woods,” he says, “the more intelli-
gent, and in one sense the less countri.
fied, do you find the inhabitants; for
always the pioneer has been a traveler
and to some extent a man of the world. )
<< There were the germs of one
or two villages just beginning to ex-
pand. ”
«The air was a sort of
diet-drink! »
(the lakes, a mir-
ror broken into a thousand fragments
and wildly scattered
reflecting the full blaze of the sun. »
The book is full of strange doings of
the Indians who talk with the mus-
quashes (muskrats) as with friends, of
the varied panorama of nature, and the
picturesque lives of the busy lumbermen
and the hardy pioneers.
Pepacton, by John Burroughs. This
book was published in 1881, and
is one of the most pleasing of the many
delightful collections of papers on out-
door subjects that Mr. Burroughs has
given us. It takes its title from the
Indian name of one of the branches
of the Delaware; and the first paper
gives account of a holiday trip
down this stream in a boat of the
writer's own manufacture. In the next
he
tells
many interesting facts
about springs, and their significance
in the development of civilization. In-
deed, in all the papers he shows him-
self not only the close scientific ob-
server, but the poet who sees the hidden
meanings of things. Perhaps he is most
interesting when he combines literature
with nature, as in the essay on Birds
and the Poets,) in which he shows that
most of the American poets have been
an
us
## p. 212 (#248) ############################################
2 1 2
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
the essays
are
a
inaccurate in their descriptions of na- his affront to her. Offitt stealthily enters
ture. As he says, the poet deals chiefly Farnham's home, strikes him with a ham-
with generalities, but when he descends mer borrowed from Sleeny, and makes
to the particular he should be accurate. off with a large sum of money — just as
Longfellow has erred most in this re- Alice and Mrs. Belding arrive in time to
spect, while Bryant, Emerson, and above care for Farnham's serious hurts. Offitt
all Whitman, have been more careful. dexterously directs suspicion to Sleeny,
The rhyme for “woodpecker” seems to who is arrested. The real culprit hastens
trouble the poets; as Mr. Burroughs to Maud, and urges her to fly with him.
puts it-
Suspecting the truth, she refuses, and
«Emerson rhymes it with bear,
wheedles from Offitt his secret, which
Lowell rhymes it with hear;
she at once reveals. In the mean while,
One makes it woodpeckair,
The other woodpeckear. "
Sleeny breaks jail and flies to Maud's
home. Here he meets Offitt, and kills
In another paper he demonstrates
him for his perfidy. Sleeny is at once
Shakespeare's surprisingly accurate
cleared of the charge of assaulting Farn-
knowledge and use of natural facts,
ham, but is tried for the killing of Of-
and that the close observer and analyst
fitt and acquitted upon the ground of
of the human heart had an equally
temporary insanity. The book is brill-
keen sense for the doings of birds and
iantly written, and its presentation of the
flowers. There is also an attractive
conditions of «labor» is very graphic.
study of our fragrant flowers, and of
Though it had a great vogue, its author-
the origin and propensities of weeds.
ship has never been acknowledged.
(The Idyl of the Honey-Bee) almost
sends one to the woods bee-hunting,
in general, the writer's enthusiasm for Bluffton, by M. J. Savage. This story
outdoor things is contagious. For this
is a new Pilgrim's Progress,' from
reason
more than
an untenable Valley of Content through
charmingly written record of the author's
Sloughs of Despond, over Hills of Diffi-
The hero,
own observations, they are an inspira- culty, to a Land of Peace.
tion to search out the secrets of nature
Mark Forrest, is a young clergyman
at first hand.
trained in the very straitest sect of Cal-
vinistic theology, who, having broadened
Bread-Winners, The, a brief novel
, his mind by travel and encounters with
appeared anonymously in 1883. It men of all sorts and conditions, finds
is a social study of modern life. Alfred himself so far liberalized in thought that
Farnham, a retired army officer, takes he can no longer preach his former doc-
a kindly interest in Maud Matchin, trines. He is called to a flourishing
the handsome but vulgar daughter of church in the Mississippi Valley town of
a master carpenter in a Western city. Bluffton, where most of the congregation
Maud's head is turned by Farnham's approve and accept his preaching of
kindness, and she boldly confesses her practical Christianity; but a few conserv-
love to him — which is not reciprocated. atives try to dismiss him, and finally to
Maud's rejected lover, Sam Sleeny, an depose him for heresy. He is engaged to
honest but ignorant journeyman in Match- Margaret, the beautiful daughter of one
in's employ, is jealous of Farnham. He of these, Judge Hartley; but as she can-
is dominated by Offitt, a vicious dema- not oppose or desert her beloved father,
gogue, and joins a labor-reform organ- the engagement is broken, and Forrest
ization. Farnham loves his beautiful leaves Bluffton and his love for con-
neighbor Alice Belding. She refuses his science's sake. Three years later they
addresses, but soon discovers that her meet by accident in California. The old
heart is really his. During a riotous judge has died, Margaret has become lib-
labor strike (described at length), Farn- eralized, and the lovers marry, agreeing
bam organizes a band of volunteer patrol- to devote their lives to the highest service
men for the protection of life and property. of mankind. Many character sketches
His own house is attacked by the mob, and much good dialogue fill the pages.
and Sleeny assaults its owner with a There is but a slender thread of plot; the
hammer; but failing to kill him, threatens interest of the story lying in the growth
future vengeance.
Offitt now pays his of the hero's convictions, and his manly
addresses to Maud, who intimates that adoption of what seems to him the cause
she desires to see Farnham suffer for of truth, to his own personal loss and
## p. 213 (#249) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
213
>
On the way
a
sorrow. Written about 1876, the book bears her to return to London with him, and
marks of youth and inexperience; but the friends lose track of them. Wade
it has the force which characterizes the goes to find them, and by the aid of
work of a man absolutely in earnest. some paintings of their wild experiences
in the West, which he recognizes as
John Brent; by Theodore Winthrop, the work of Miss Clitheroe, he is able
was published in 1862, after the to track down father and daughter, and
death of the author in one of the ear- the lovers are reunited. In spite of the
liest engagements of the American Civil pleasant love element that runs through
War, - that at Big Bethel, Virginia. It the story, the reader feels that Fulano,
is his best-known and most striking the noble brute, shares with John Brent
story. Richard Wade, an unsuccessful the honors of hero.
California miner, has been summoned
East by family news and decides to Mademoiselle Mori, by Miss Margaret
Roberts. The writer tells us that
travel across the plains on horseback.
the words: «First I am a woman, with
He exchanges his mine for a superb
black stallion which is supposed to be
the duties, feelings, and affections of a
woman; and then I am an artist, may
unmanageable. In Wade's hands it be-
be taken as the text on which this tale
comes docile and kind, and he names
it Don Fulano. An old friend, John
was composed. Many incidents are true,
Brent, a roving genius of noble charac-
having occurred during the Italian revo-
lution of 1848-49. The author says that
ter, agrees to ride with him, Brent hav-
ing a fine iron-gray horse.
it is far from being a picture of all that
Rome did and suffered at that time,
they are joined by a couple of low
scoundrels, giving the names of Smith
being but a sketch of the way in which
and Robinson; and near Salt Lake City
private lives are affected by convulsions
they meet cavalcade of Mormons
in the body politic. The scene is Rome,
and the story that of the lives of Irene
under the leadership of a sleek rascal
named Sizzum. In the company is an
Mori and her brother Vincenzo. Irene
English gentleman, Mr. Clitheroe, with
is an opera singer, her brother a cripple
and a wood carver.
his beautiful daughter Ellen; Clitheroe
They are helped
has become a Mormon, half against his
in the day of great want by Mrs. Dal-
will, and is under the influence and in
zell, an English widow. Both are ardent
the power of Sizzum, who has lured him
patriots. Irene is engaged to Leone
to America and who admires Ellen. In
Nota, a poet and a patriot, but is also
the Rockies she is abducted by Smith
loved by Count Clementi, a traitor to
and Robinson, whose real
the cause of freedom which he feigns to
serve.
Murker and Larrap. Wade and Brent,
There is a secondary love story,
joined by one Armstrong, whose brother
that of Luigi Raretti, a soldier betrothed
has been murdered by the abductors,
to sweet little Imelda Olivetti, but at.
give chase on their horses. This ride
tracted by the fiery Gemma Clementi,
of the three avengers, side by side, over
whom he at last sees in her true colors,
when he returns to Imelda. There are
the plains, is described with great vivid-
ness and dramatic power. There is
delightful descriptions of the many curi-
something epic in its intensity, large-
ous customs and festivals of Rome. The
ness of sweep, and nobility of motive.
story was written in 1859.
Brent's horse, Pumps, breaks down; but Black Sheep. The. A novel by Ed-
Wade takes his friend ,
Yates. (1867. )
and they finally ride the villains down las is the black sheep of his family. His
in a mountain defile. Brent is wounded, mother, a widow, has married Capel Car-
but not dangerously. The tale then ruthers, a wealthy, pompous, narrow-
continues the account of the eastward minded bit of starched propriety. Carru-
trip and the heroic exploits of Fulano,
thers refuses to make a home for the youth
who is a paragon of horses, Winthrop's on his splendid estates, and casts him
warm love for these animals making the
adrift on the world. George becomes
sketch very sympathetic. Don Fulano wild and reckless, and moves in a set of
is shot by Murker's brother, who thus black sheep”; men and women mostly
avenges the death of his kin. Brent of gentle birth like himself, who have
loves Ellen and she returns his love,
fallen into evil ways.
Chief among
but her faithfulness to her father leads these are George Routh and his wife
names
are
## p. 214 (#250) ############################################
214
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
as
a
more
Harriet, professional sharpers, who deem self-support a missionary. Fresh
it to their interest to get him into their from a country parsonage and a life
power. Routh is a scamp by nature. of quiet reading, she rejoices in the
His wife, an innocent girl, falls to his beauty of her surroundings and their
level through her overwhelming love classic associations. Her fellow voy-
for him. Routh lends Dallas the money ager, Hubertsen De Vries, hand-
to pay a gambling debt to a mysterious some and well-born young American,
American named Deane. The style of sympathizes with her enthusiasm, and
the story is energetic, and its rapid com- impresses her with his scholarship.
plications make it interesting.
At Beirut, Irene is introduced to a
medley of nationalities, and enters upon
Birch Dene, by William Westall. The
scene of this sombre story is laid in
a busy pleasant life at the missionary
London and the North of England, the
station. The beauty and gay colors of
the East, its novelty, and simpler, more
England of George . IV. and the landed
passionate life, stimulate her emotional
proprietor. A young gentlewoman, wife
nature. She sees a great deal of the
of an officer, comes up to London with
her child, to meet her husband, on his re-
commonplace consul, unable to master
turn from extended foreign service. He
a foreign tongue, and hungry for Amer-
does not arrive, and she can hear no news
ican companionship; and of a fierce
of him. Friendless and alone, she falls
young doctor, a self-made man, soured
into dire want; and finally, one stormy
in the process, who teaches her Syriac.
day, snatches a little cloak hanging out-
She continues her friendship with De
Vries, to whom the good things of life
side a shop, for her shivering boy. She is
have always come so easily that he
immediately seized and brought to trial.
lacks eagerness, and is somewhat slow
In the criminal code of that day, steal-
in discovering whether or not he loves
ing an article valued at five shillings or
the pretty missionary until the out-
was one among one hundred and
break of war exposes Irene to danger,
fifty capital crimes; and the poor woman
and affords her admirers an opportu-
is sentenced to be hanged, a fate she
nity to show their worth.
escapes by dropping dead in the dock.
Stricken with brain fever after the trial, Clarissa Furiosa; by W. E. Norris,
the poor little lad, Robin, cannot remem- This story, which may be regarded
ber his father's name, which his mother in the light of a satire on the New
had carefully concealed, nor where he Woman,” is perhaps the least successful
was born.
He is sheltered and brought of the clever author's novels. Clarissa
up by a kindly old bookseller; but on the Dent, an orphan, rich, petted, and pretty,
death of his benefactor, when no will is after a brief courtship marries Guy Lut-
found, the little property passes to
trell, a soldier. Clarissa goes with the
nephew, a miserly undertaker. To get regiment to Ceylon, where Guy flirts,
rid of Robin, now aged nineteen, he ap- and she concludes that incompatibility of
prentices him to a cotton-spinner in the views must separate them; she returns
Lancashire village of Birch Dene. The to England, and most of the story is
interest of the story lies in its graphic taken up with the semi-public life to
portraiture of the English industrial life which she devotes herself. The book is
of the early part of the century, in its amusing, like all of Norris's, and the
study of artisan character, its clever in- workmanship is of course good. But the
vention of incident and plot, and its note is forced, and the reader feels the
humane spirit.
writer's want of genuine interest in his
characters. It was first published in the
Irene the Missionary, by John Wil-
liam De Forest, 1879, is a pleasant
Cornhill Magazine, in 1896.
love-story in an Oriental setting, and a Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard. This,
very clever study of Americans abroad. the most ambitious of Haggard's
Its chief characters are fine, sincere, lik- romances, presents a vigorous picture of
able young people; and there are bright Egypt under the rule of the wonderful
descriptions of the novel
in
Harmachis, priest and magi-
which they find their happiness. Irene, cian, descendant of the Pharaohs, tells
a beautiful, imaginative girl, is intro- his own story. Certain nobles, hating
duced on her way through the Ægean the Greek Cleopatra and her dealings
Sea to Syria, where she is seeking with Rome, plot to overthrow her, and
a
scenes
Queen.
## p. 215 (#251) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
215
seat Harmachis on her throne.
He en- Priscilla; and from the fact that she was
ters her service to kill her when the the first girl born among the Plymouth
revolt is ripe, but falls in love with her Pilgrims, her career has an especial
and cannot strike. Following this com- interest for readers of history. Yet al-
plication comes plot and counterplot, though Betty gives her name to the
treason and detection, - private griefs book, she is not the heroine. The story
and hates that overthrow empires, and opens when she is about four years old,
the later tragedy of Cleopatra's stormy and continues until after her marriage
life; more than one historic figure ad- with William Pabodie, - critical years in
ding dignity and verisimilitude to the the history of the Plymouth colony, whose
tale. The plot is well managed, and the events are skillfully woven into the nar-
interest maintained. The book is writ-
rative, and whose great men— Winslow,
ten in a curiously artificial manner, care- and Bradford, and the doughty Miles
fully studied.
It contains many dramatic Standish, with Dr. Fuller, and the How-
passages, with now and then an unex-
lands, and John Alden himself — appear
pected reminiscence of the manner of
and reappear, with Barbara Bradford
(King Solomon's Mines) and (She); and Priscilla, and the pure, fragile Lora
while its pages are crowded with gor- Standish, whose early death causes her
geous pictures of the splendid material father such sorrow. In sharp contrast
civilization of Egypt.
with the upright Pilgrims stand out Sir
Christopher Gardiner, the soi-disant knight
Clara Vaughan, by: Richard Doddridge of the Holy Sepulchre, with his fine clothes
This rather
and light morals; Oldham and Lyford,
story comes fairly under the head of
with their treacherous reports to the Ad-
pathological novels. The heroine, Clara venturers; and other outsiders, who were
Vaughan, inheriting an abnormal nerv- thorns in the flesh of the Pilgrims. Mrs.
ous susceptibility, has the misfortune at Austin is accurate as well as picturesque
ten years of age to see her father mur- in her descriptions of the merrymakings
dered. Henceforth she devotes her life and feasts of the time, and of the every-
to the identification and punishment of day life of these first settlers.
his murderer. She suspects her uncle,
Edgar Vaughan, and so insults and tor-
Methodism in the United States, A
ments him that he turns her out of doors
History of, by James M. Buckley.
(1897. ) A work of description and his-
at seventeen. She goes to South Devon
for a while, thence to London, where
tory, designed to present Methodism in
she meets Professor Ross (whose real
comparison with other forms of Ameri-
name is De la Croce) and his children
can Protestant Christianity; to show its
origins and follow its developments; to
Isola and Conrad. With Conrad she falls
mark the modifications which it has un-
in love, but impediments hinder their
dergone; and to note into what branches
marriage. Her uncle becoming danger-
it has divided, through what conflicts
ously ill, she nurses him back to life.
They are reconciled; and it is discovered
it has passed, and what have been the
controversies with which it has had to
that Isola and Conrad are his long-lost
children, and that Clara's father has
deal. Dr. Buckley is an accomplished
been killed in mistake for his brother
journalist of his denomination, thor-
Edgar, by De la Croce, his Corsican
oughly familiar with the men and move-
wife's brother. Crowded with remark-
representing nineteenth-century
able incidents and hair-breadth escapes,
Methodism, and not less with the history
of other churches in America; and his
this is the most fantastic, as it was the
earliest and least mature, of Blackmore's
story of the wide sweep and vast weight
of the faith and fellowship running in
novels. Not the least attractive charac-
ter is Giudice, the bloodhound, who plays
the names of Wesley and of Methodism
an active part in the development of
is as interesting as it is opportune.
the plot.
Marriage Customs in Many Lands,
by Rev. H. N. Hutchinson. (1897. )
Betty Alden, by Jane G. Austin. When A volume presenting for general read-
( Betty Alden' appeared in 1891, it a careful account of quaint and
was at once received as among the best interesting customs connected with be-
of Mrs. Austin's historical novels. Betty trothal and marriage among peoples and
was the daughter of John Alden and races in all parts of the world, with a
ments
ers
## p. 216 (#252) ############################################
216
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
.
seen
con-
large number of carefully selected illus- the origin of French Literature and end-
trations. The purpose of the book is ing with the last years of Louis Phi-
not to discuss the origin of the cus- lippe's reign,- is the most detailed and
toms of various peoples, but to give elaborate work on the subject in Eng-
a picture of them, and thereby con-
lish. Where Hallam, in his Literature
tribute a chapter to the story of the of the Middle Ages,' has traversed some
human race
as it is
in all its of the same ground, it is very incom-
varieties at the present time. A work plete. Saintsbury's 'Short History of
adequately dealing with the subject has French Literature) is much more
become possible through the comprehen- densed. Van Laun's theory of literature
sive character of the reports of travel is the same as Taine's; and in his view,
and observation which are now avail.
literature can be enjoyed or understood
able, and Mr. Hutchinson has made only when the reader possesses a proper
excellent use of these sources of infor- knowledge of the history of the people
mation. A special value will attach to among whom it was written, the con-
his work from the fact that in many ditions of race, of climate, of nature
instances existing old customs have rap- and of life, the writer's personality, etc.
idly given way to the spirit of modern These points he aims to supply in his
change.
treatment of the various writers. His
treatment is scholarly, philosophical, and
Early Law and Custom, by Sir Henry
Maine, (1883,) finishes the series of
discriminating. He has divided his sub-
books headed by Ancient Law,' and con-
ject into the following periods: Origin
tinues the same general line of investi-
of the French Nation, Feudal Society,
gation in a different field. His effort is
The Renaissance, The Classical Renais-
still to reconcile the growth of jurispru-
sance, The Age of Louis XIV. , The
dence with the results obtained by modern
Forerunners of the Revolution, The
anthropology, while each study is made
Revolution, The Empire and the Res-
to explain and illuminate the other. Be-
toration, The Reign of Louis Philippe.
ginning with the primitive religion and
law, as disclosed in the earliest written Romance of the Rose, The. This al-
monuments preserved in the sacred Hin-
legorical poem is one of the earliest
doo laws, the rise of the kingly power
works in the French language. It is in
and prerogative and the meaning of an-
two parts: the first, consisting of four
cestor-worship are discussed. The book
thousand verses, was written some time
closes with a study of the feudal theory
during the thirteenth century, by Guil-
of property, and its effect upon modern
laume de Lorris; while the second, con-
systems of rental and landholding. With-
taining about nineteen thousand verses,
out studied grace, the author's style is
was written by Jean de Meung. who
clear, copious, and precise.
lived somewhere about 1320. The intro-
ductory lines of the first part tell us that
in this (Romance) is inclosed all the art
This
of love. L'Amant dreams that he finds
study of classic literature is founded on
an immense garden, surrounded by a
the monumental work of Teuffel; and in
wall, on which are painted pictures of
its smaller space, treats its subject with
Hate, Felony, Covetousness, Avarice, etc.
equal accuracy and discrimination, and
Inside, he finds Cupid, Beauty, Riches,
with
more charm. Its abstracts
Courtesy, and other graces. He chooses
more interesting, and its characteriza-
an opening rosebud, but finds it sur-
tions are often done not only with exact-
rounded by a thick hedge of thorns.
ness, but with a picturesque touch that
(Kind Welcome » allows him to kiss the
gives the subject a contemporary in-
rose, but «Evil Mouth” gossips so much
terest, and makes Horace or Virgil or
about it that Jealousy confines the Rose
Cicero a personal acquaintance. The lit-
in a tower, guarded by Danger, Fear,
erary criticism is excellent of its kind,
and Shame. L'Amant, separated from
and the book is as valuable a companion
his Rose, abandons himself to despair.
to the reader for pleasure, as to the stu-
At this point the romance of Lorris
dent with a purpose.
ends. By the aid of Cupid, Venus, Na-
French Literature, History of, by ture, and her confessor Genius, the tower
Henri Van Laun. This work, in of Jealousy is forced to capitulate, and
three octavo volumes, - beginning with L'Amant is at last permitted to gather
Roman Literature, History of, A, by
are
## p. 217 (#253) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
217
the Rose. The first part is a eulogy of
women and chivalrous love, while the
second seems to be almost a satire on
the first; for Meung reduces love to the
pleasure of the senses, and respects noth-
ing that the Middle Ages were accus-
tomed to venerate. Meung is less of a
poet than Lorris, but the former is the
more erudite, and the second part is en-
cyclopaedic in its references, ranging
from Latin quotations to the Philoso-
pher's Stone, and the complaints of the
lower classes. This work has excited
almost as much adverse criticism as
praise, the priests at one time thinking
there was something in the allegory
derogatory to dogma. It enjoyed great
popularity when allegory was esteemed,
relates the birth, childhood, the journey
to Paris, the education, and the farcical
adventures, of the giant Gargantua, son
of Grandgosier; also the war which he
waged against the invader Picrocole,
the mighty deeds of his friend and ally
Jean des Entommeurs, and the founda-
tion of the abby of Thélème. This book
also is probably the best known and
most prized, as illustrating the serious
ideas of its author upon war, the educa-
tion of children, and the organization of
monastery life. The myth of Gargantua
was of Celtic origin, dating from the
time of the importation of the Arthurian
legends into France by the troubadours
of William the Conqueror.
but to-day it must be considered some précieuses Ridicules, Les, by Mo-
а
are
(
what tedious.
lière. No one of Molière's come-
dies is better known than this famous
satire on the Précieuses,' which was
Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Fran-
çois .
Towards 1532, at produced for the first time in 1659. It
Lyons, Rabelais edited series of can almost be entitled a farce, being
almanacs, in which
found 'La an exaggeration of an exaggeration. It
Pantagrueline Pronostication) (The Fore- is in one act, and is a satire on a style
castings of Pantagruel), and Les Chro- of speech, and an affected taste in art
niques Gargantines) (The Chronicles of and literature, prevalent among a cer-
Gargantua), under the immediate title tain class at that time. It is said that
of Pantagruel, roi des Dipsodes, res- when writing it, Molière had in mind
titué en son naturel, avec ses faits et the literary lights who assembled at the
prouesses espouvantables; composés pour Hôtel de Rambouillet. The story is of
M. Alcofribas, abstracteur de quintes- two country ladies, Madelon and Cathos,
sence? (Pantagruel, king of the Drunk- | just arrived in Paris, who reject two
ards, portrayed according to life, with suitors proposing marriage, unless they
his amazing deeds and feats of prowess; first serve a long apprenticeship of court-
written by M. Alcofribas, distiller of the ship and gallantry as do the heroes in
very quintessence). This forms the sec- (Artemène) and (Clélie, two novels by
ond book of the work as it now stands; Mademoiselle Scudéry, much in vogue
for Rabelais, seeing the success of his at that time. In revenge, the rejected
efforts, revised his Chroniques Gargan- suitors clothe their valets, Mascarille and
tines) and made of them the (Vie très Jodelet, in rich dress, and send them to
horrifique du grand Gargantua, père de masquerade as the Marquis de Masca-
Pantagruel ( The very horrible life rille and Vicomte de Jodelet. They are
of the great Gargantua, father of Pan- warmly welcomed by the ladies, who are
tagruel), which is now the first book. charmed with Mascarille's expressed in-
Then came the (Tiers livre des faits et tention of writing the history of Rome
dicts héroiques du bon Pantagruel) in the form of madrigals. Mascarille
(Third book of the heroic sayings and composes a ridiculous impromptu of four
doings of the good Pantagruel), to lines, which he dissects word by word,
which Rabelais affixed his own
calling attention to the many esoteric
with the additions of «docteur en mé- beauties, invisible except to the veritable
decine et calloier des isle d’Hieres )) « Précieux. ) The deception is kept up
(physician and monk of the island of until their masters come and despoil
Hyeres). In 1552 appeared the fourth them of their rich clothes, leaving them
book. The fifth book (1564) is post- in their servant's dress. Molière, in his
humous, and it is doubtful if Rabelais preface, says the piece was printed
composed it. The five books form against his better judgment, as much of
sort of satirical epopee.
The first book, the success which it attained depended
which alone forms a complete whole, upon the action and tone of voice. The
>
name
)
a
## p. 218 (#254) ############################################
218
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
justice of this remark is appreciated if
one has seen its performance at the
Comédie Française, where tradition has
preserved intact all the original «busi-
ness » of the piece.
It was a great success; and as his at-
tacks on quackery had made possible a
reform in medicine, so this comedy ren-
dered ridiculous the name «Précieux,"
which had before been considered
distinction.
Membe
ember for Paris, The, by Grenville
Murray. A tale of the Second Em-
pire, showing the bribery and corruption
then prevalent. Horace and Émile Gerold
are sons of the Duke de Hautbourg, who,
being an ardent Republican, refuses to
bear his title. His sons go to Paris to
practice law. Horace, beginning his ca-
reer brilliantly, is gradually led astray
by Macrobe, an unscrupulous speculator,
against whom he was warned by his
father. He enters political life, is made
Member for Paris, abandons Georgette,
a young girl who loves him, and mar-
ries Macrobe's daughter Angelique, fan-
cying himself in love with her. He
forsakes his Liberal opinions, and comes
to blows over his father's grave with
a political opponent. He now assumes
the title and takes possession of his
estates. His brother Émile, who has
remained honest and upright, is elected
deputy in his place; and his wife, An-
gelique, learning that he loves Geor-
gette, drowns herself in the lake on
the day of their arrival at the ducal
castle. A letter is found, showing the
cause of her rash act. Horace drops
dead beside her. A truthful picture of
life in Paris under the Second Empire,
with its network of police, its great man-
milliner Worth, its feverish speculation
and scramble for political preferment,
the story opens in 1854 and ends in
1857. It was published in 1871, the au-
thor, a well-known diplomat, disguising
his identity under the name of “Trois-
Étoiles. )
Cinq. Mars, by Alfred de Vigny. The
subject of this historical romance is
the conspiracy of Cinq-Mars and De Thou
against Richelieu, its detection, and the
execution of the offenders at Lyons in
1642. The work is modeled after the
Waverley novels. All the action cen-
tres around the great figure of Richelieu.
The aristocratic prejudices of the author
prevent him from doing full justice,
perhaps, to the statesman who curbed
the power of the French noblesse; and
many critics think that Bulwer depicts
him more truly.
The Richelieu of De
Vigny is Richelieu as he appeared to
the courtiers of the time: the organizer
of assassination and espionage, in con-
junction with Father Joseph and Lau-
bardemont,- Richelieu in his days of
hatred and murder. The author is more
just to the Cardinal when he shows
him making successful efforts to place
France at the head of Europe, prepar-
ing and winning victories, and sending
his king to fight like obscure captain.
The character of Louis XIII. is finely
drawn, and we have a lifelike and admir-
ably colored portrait of that strange and
gloomy monarch, who is the master of
France and the slave of Richelieu, and
who sends his most devoted friends to
the scaffold at the bidding of the man
he hates. Indeed, the contrast between
the obedient monarch and his imperious
servant is the most striking feature in
the romance. There are many scenes
of great historic value; as for instance,
that in which Richelieu retires on the
King's refusal to sign a death-warrant,
and abandons Louis to himself. The
presentation of Cinq-Mars is also very
vivid: we have a Cinq-Mars, who, if not
true to history, is at least true to human
nature. The outline of De Thou is per-
haps just a little shadowy.
Duchesse de Langeais, The, by Balzac,
analyzes carefully the Faubourg
Saint-Germain, or the aristocracy of Paris
under the Restoration. In a most logi-
cal and impartial way, Balzac explains
how the patrician class loses its natural
ascendency when it does not produce the
results its advantages of birth and train-
ing warrant. After learning that the
“Great Lady» had no influence on the
morals of the time, that she was hypo-
critical and artificially educated, it is
not to be expected that the heroine of
the story, the Duchesse de Langeais, will:
prove an anomaly of virtue. Parisian
to the core, the young duchess lives in
the luxury of the boudoir and the fickle
gayety of the ball-room. She is charac-
terized as “supremely a
and
supremely a coquette. ” Unhampered by
her husband, who lives his military life
apart, the duchess feels free to attach to
her suite numberless young men, whom
she encourages and repulses by turns.
woman
## p. 219 (#255) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
219
nuns
In Armand de Montriveau, however, she by a writer of the highest authority, Mr.
finds at last a man of pride and strong George Ticknor, in his History of Span-
will, as well as an ardent lover. He no ish Literature. Speaking of Oviedo,–
sooner discovers that Madame is trifling whose (General and Natural History of
with his affection than he resolves to have the Indies,' an immense work in fifty-one
his revenge. He arranges an interview, books, of which the first twenty-one were
brings the duchess face to face with her- published in 1535, served as an author-
self, and denounces her as a murderer, itative account of the discoveries, treat-
on the ground that she has slain his hap- ment of the natives, etc. ,- Mr. Ticknor
piness and his faith - and bids her fare-
says:
well. The duchess immediately falls in “But, both during his life and after his
love with him, sends him repentant letters death (1557), Oviedo had a formidable
which receive no response, and after a adversary, who, pursuing nearly the same
desperate attempt to see him in his own course of inquiries respecting the New
house, leaves Paris just as Monsieur is World, came almost constantly to con-
hastening to call upon her. Armand de clusions quite opposite. This was no less
Montriveau searches five years for his a person than Bartolomé de las Casas,
lady, finding her at last immured in a the apostle and defender of the American
convent in Spain. Determined to rescue Indians,- a man who would have been
her from such an imprisonment, he suc- remarkable in any age of the world, and
ceeds in penetrating to the cell of her who does not seem yet to have gathered
who was called by the «Sister in the full harvest of his honors. He was
Thérèse,” only to find the dead body of born in 1474; and in 1502, having gone
the Duchesse de Langeais. This is one through a course of studies at (the uni-
of the most famous of Balzac's novels. versity of] Salamanca, embarked for the
The story is told with all his vigor and Indies, where his father, who had been
minuteness, and the characters impress there with Columbus nine years earlier,
themselves on the memory as persons had already accumulated a decent for-
actually known.
tune. The attention of the young man
was early drawn to the condition of the
Cas
asas, Las: HISTORY OF THE (West] natives, from the circumstance that one
INDIES. (Historia de las Indias, of them, given to his father by Columbus,
por Fr. Bartholomé de las Casas. ) The had been attached to his own person
Spanish original in manuscript, 1527–61; as a slave while he was still at the Uni-
only printed edition, 5 vols. , 1875–76. It versity; and he was not slow to learn,
is one of the most notable of books, not on his arrival in Hispaniola [Hayti:
only in its contents, -as a history of Span- 1502], that their gentle natures and
ish discoveries from 1492 to 1520, and a slight frames had already been sub-
contemporary Spanish Catholic criticism jected, in the mines and in other forms
as well as story of Columbus, – but in the of toil, to a servitude so harsh that the
circumstances which prevented its publi- original inhabitants of the island were
cation for more than three hundred years, beginning to waste away under the se-
and which still leave it inaccessible ex- verity of their labors. From this moment
cept to readers of Spanish. Its author he devoted his life to their emancipation.
was the most illustrious figure of the New In 1510 he took holy orders, and contin-
World during its first half-century, and ued, as a priest, and for a short time as
not less illustrious to all Europe as a rep- bishop of Chiapa, nearly forty years, to
resentative of the Catholic Christian feel. teach, strengthen, and console the suffer-
ing which led Queen Isabella to condemn ing flock committed to his charge. Six
Columbus for sending shiploads of Amer- times at least he crossed the Atlantic,
ican natives to Spain to be sold as slaves. in order to persuade the government of
His entire life and all his writings were Charles the Fifth to ameliorate their con-
devoted to urging the duty of humane dition, and always with more or less suc-
treatment of the Indians; and after pub- cess. At last, but not until 1547, when
lishing in his lifetime appeals and pro- he was above seventy years old, he estab-
tests which stirred the Catholic conscience lished himself at Valladolid in Spain,
throughout Europe, he left at his death where he passed the remainder of his
the great History, which Spanish feel- serene old age, giving it freely to the
ing refused the honors of the press until great cause to which he had devoted the
1875. The whole matter is dealt with freshness of his youth. He died in 1566,
## p. 220 (#256) ############################################
220
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Cast
none
at ninety-two. . Among the principal op- So far as Mr. Ticknor questions at all
ponents of his benevolence were Sepúl- the fairness of Las Casas, his view may
veda, - one of the leading men of letters be presumed to reflect Spanish judgment,
and casuists of the time in Spain,- and about which he might have thought dif.
Oviedo, who, from his connection with the erently if he had spoken simply from a
mines and his share in the government perusal of the pages of Las Casas. He
of the newly discovered countries, had says that Las Casas was “a prejudiced
an interest directly opposite to the one witness, but, on a point of fact within his
Las Casas defended. These two persons, own knowledge, one to be believed. ) The
with large means and a wide influence to prejudice of Las Casas was that of Cath-
sustain them, intrigued, wrote, and toiled olic Europe against slavery and wars of
against him, in every way in
their slaughter, the right to resort to which
power. But his was not a spirit to be Sepúlveda laboriously argued against Las
daunted by opposition or deluded by soph- Casas.
istry and intrigue.
The earli-
est of his works, called (A Very Short
astilian Days, by John Hay, has gone
Account of the Ruin of the Indies, was
through eight editions since its pub-
lication in 1871; a prosperity at which no
written in 1542,-a tract in which, no
reader of the book can wonder. Its sev-
doubt, the sufferings and wrongs of the
Indians are much overstated by the in-
enteen essays present a vivid picture of
the life of Spain. Joining a graceful and
dignant zeal of its author, but still one
brilliant style with the happiest percep-
whose expositions are founded in truth,
tion of the significance of things seen, the
and by their fervor awakened all Europe
to a sense of the injustice they set forth.
author finds a subject worthy of his in-
terpretation in that mediæval civilization
Other short treatises followed, written
with similar spirit and power; bu
of the Iberian peninsula which has lasted
over into the nineteenth century-a civ-
was so often reprinted as the first, and
ilization where the Church holds sway
none ever produced so deep and solemn
as it did in the Middle Ages: where the
an effect on the world. They were all
upper classes believe in devils, and the
collected and published in 1522; and an
edition, in Spanish with a French ver-
peasants dare not yawn without crossing
themselves, lest an imp find lodgment
sion, appeared at Paris in 1822, prepared
within them; where duels are fought in
by Llorente.
all deadliness whenever a caballero's del-
« The great work of Las Casas, however,
icate honor is offended; where alone the
still remains inedited,
,-a General His.
Carnival survives as an unforced, naive,
tory of the Indies from 1492 to 1520, begun
popular fête; where rich and poor play
by him in 1527 and finished in 1561, but
together, and enjoy themselves like child-
of which he ordered that no portion should
Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Alcalá,
be published within forty years of his
Seville, are so described that we see the
death. Like his other works, it shows
people abroad, at home, at church, at the
marks of haste and carelessness, and is
bull-fights, at the miracle-play, in the brill-
written in a rambling style; but its value,
iant light of their sub-tropical skies. The
notwithstanding his too fervent zeal for
whole history of Spain - of its Moors, its
the Indians, is great. He had been per-
Goths, its Castilians- is written in its
sonally acquainted with many of the
streets and its customs; and Mr. Hay has
early discoverers and conquerors, and at
translated it for Western eyes to read.
one time possessed the papers of Colum-
His book is the work at once of the shrewd
bus, and a large mass of other important
social observer and the imaginative poet.
documents, which are now lost. He knew
[of the regular
Alarcón. The opening scene of this
and gives at large his reasons for differing clever and amusing story is laid in Ma-
from them. In short, his book, divided drid, in the month of March 1848. In a
into three parts, is a great repository, to skirmish between the royal troops and
which Herrera, and through him all the a handful of Republicans, Don Jorge de
historians of the Indies since, have re- Córdoba, called Captain Veneno (poison)
sorted for materials; and without which on account of his brusque, pugnacious
the history of the earliest period of the manner, is wounded before the house of
Spanish settlements in America cannot, Doña Teresa Barbastro, who shelters him.
even now, be properly written. ”
A professed hater of women and marriage,
ren.
torians of the New World) anda udariedaisCaptain Veneno, by Pedro Antonio de
## p. 221 (#257) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
221
he laments his prolonged imprisonment to use the words of Professor Marsh: the
in terms which anger the mother and new in the form of a highly-trained, clear-
amuse the daughter; but his kind heart is thinking, frank-speaking modern man;
so apparent that his foibles are humored. the old in the guise of a whole community
When Doña Teresa dies, she confides to so remote from the current of things that
him that she has spent her fortune in its religious intolerance, its social jeal-
trying to secure the confirmation of the ousy, its undisturbed confidence and pride
title of Count de Santurce, conferred on in itself, must of necessity declare in-
her husband by Don Carlos. He hides stant war upon that which comes from
the truth from the daughter, Angustias, without, unsympathetic and critical. The
for a few days; but when she learns that inevitable result is ruin for the party whose
he is paying the household expenses, she physical force is less, the single individual;
insists upon his leaving, now that he can yet hardly less complete ruin for those
walk. He tries to induce her to let him whom intolerance and hate have driven to
pension her, or provide for her in any the annihilation of their adversary. ” The
honorable way except by marrying her, story was published in 1876, and reached
although he professes to adore her. His its ninth edition in 1896.
