No More Learning

Dyson leaves money for
ards of righteousness, make a striking educating other girls in a similar way;
contrast to the simple goodness and hon- but defeats his own end by not teaching
esty of the little bohemian, Jane. The Phillis how to read, so that she innocently
story is well written, well constructed, destroys an important paper and ren-
and extremely entertaining.
ders the will inoperative. While living
sweet-natured; high-minded Gºlden Butterfly, The, by Walter
1


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
271
with Agatha, Colquhoun's cousin, Phillis
becomes intimate with Dunquerque in
an unconventional, idyllic fashion. Vic-
toria is led to think Colquhoun wants
to marry Phillis, and in a jealous fit di-
vulges the secret of a Scotch marriage
between him and herself. The disclosure
throws Cassilis into partial paralysis; he
fails to sell certain stocks at the right
moment, and loses all, as do Phillis, Col.
quhoun, and Beck, whose fortunes he had
invested. The Butterfly mysteriously fails
apart; but is repaired and presented to
Phillis, who is married to Dunquerque;
having now discovered, in Dyson's words,
that the coping-stone of every woman's
education is love. »
released. Dawson's testimony convicts
the real murderer, and of course exoner-
ates Glanville.
Political honors are now thrust upon
Pelham, who disdains them; while his
happy marriage with the lovely Ellen
Glanville is the natural sequence to the
tale.
Innocents Abroad, The, by Samuel L.
Clemens (“Mark Twain »). In a vein
of highly original humor this world-
read book records a pleasure excursion
on the Quaker City to Europe, the Holy
Land, and Egypt, in the sixties. De-
scriptions of real events and the peo-
ples and lands visited are enlivened by
more or less fictitious dialogue and ad-
ventures. These, while absurdly amus-
ing, always suggest the truth, stripped
of hypocrisy and cant, as to how the
reader “would be likely to see Europe
and the East if he looked at them sin-
cerely with his own eyes and without
reverence for the past. ” The side-wheel
steamer Quaker City carried the now
famous excursionists across from New
York — touching at the Azores, described
in a few rapid but wonderfully vivid
strokes - and from important port to port
on the other side; and waited for them
during several of their inland journeys.
Returning, they touched at Gibraltar,
Madeira, and the Bermudas. As to the
advertised «select » quality of the voy-
agers, a characteristic paragraph states:
« Henry Ward Beecher to have
accompanied the expedition, but urgent
duties obliged him to give up the idea.
There were other passengers who might
have been spared better, and would have
been spared more willingly. Lieutenant-
General Sherman was to have been one
of the party also, but the Indian war
compelled his presence on the plains. A
popular actress had entered her name on
the ship's books, but something inter-
fered, and she couldn't go. The “Drum.
soy of the Potomac » deserted; and
lo, we had never a celebrity left! ) Mr.
Clemens himself, however, has since be-
come an equally great celebrity.
the Mississippi, by Mark
Twain, (1883,) is in part an autobio-
graphic account of the author's early
life, during which he learned and prac-
ticed a pilot's profession on the river,
wholly unconscious of the literary chan-
nels in which his later course would
be steered. It is prefaced by a graphic
Pelham, by E. Bulwer-Lytton, appeared
anonymously; and it had reached its
second edition in 1829. It belongs to the
writer's initiatory period, being the first
novel that gave promise of his ability.
Henry Pelham, having taken his uni-
versity degrees and enjoyed a run to
Paris, returns to his native England, and
takes an active part in the political
events of his time. In accordance with
the sub-title of the book, "The Advent-
ures of a Gentleman,' the hero endeav-
ors to realize Etherege's ideal of “a
complete gentleman; who, according to
Sir Fopling, ought to dress well, dance
well, fence well, have a genius for love-
letters, and an agreeable voice for a
chamber. »
Pelham becomes especially useful to
his party; but on account of jealousies
and intrigues his merits are not properly
acknowledged.
Meantime he has yielded to the charms
of the wealthy and accomplished sister
of his old schoolmate and life-long
friend, Sir Reginald Glanville. Glanville
is suspected of the murder of Sir John
Tirrell, whom he had threatened because
the latter had been guilty of atrocious
conduct toward a lady who was under
Glanville's protection. A terrible net-
work of circumstantial evidence causes
Pelham to feel certain of his friend's
guilt. Glanville tells the whole story to
Pelham, and protests his innocence. By
the aid of Job Johnson, a London flash
man whom Pelham recognizes as a tool
fitted to accomplish the results he de-
sires, a boozing ken of the most desper-
ate ruffians in the city is visited; and
Dawson, the confederate of Tom Thorn-
ton who had committed the murder, is
was
mer
By Life
on


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272
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
a
covers
description of the mighty Mississippi, Meanwhile Tom, in his changed con-
its history, its discovery by La Salle and dition, also undergoes many trials on
others, and its continuous and wonder- account of his uncouthness of manner
ful change of bed, so that “nearly the and ignorance of court etiquette; which,
whole one thousand three hundred miles added to his apparent forgetfulness of
which La Salle floated down in his ca- the whereabouts of the Great Seal,"
noes is good solid ground now. ” He convince those around him that he has
relates his boyish ambition to be become demented. Gradually he grows
steamboat-man, and how he attained it. accustomed to his position, and acquires
His descriptions of his training and ex- sufficient knowledge of polite behavior
periences before he became full- to reassure the nobles regarding his
fledged pilot are as characteristic and
mental balance; while he becomes less
unique in handling as is the subject and less anxious about the disappear-
itself, which
a long-vanished ance of the real prince, which at first
phase of Western life. The second half caused him much regret.
of the book recounts a trip made by the On the morning of the coronation Ed-
author through the scenes of his youth ward eludes his protector, and hastening
for the purposes of the work and the to Westminster Abbey, forbids the cer-
acquirement of literary materials: he emony. The hiding-place of the “Great
enumerates the changes in men, man- Seal) is made the final test of his
ners, and places, which the intervening claims; and, assisted by Tom Canty's
twenty years have brought about, and timely suggestions, he reveals it. He is
intersperses the whole with many lively then crowned in spite of his rags, and
digressions and stories, comments upon soon after rewards Tom Canty for his
foreign tourists (Captain Hall, Mrs. Trol- loyalty, and Sir Miles Hendon for his
lope, Captain Marryat, . Dickens, and faithful services. All his short reign is
others); Southern vendettas; a thumb- tempered with the mercy and pity which
nail story, probably the nucleus of in his misfortunes he so often desired
(Pudd'nhead Wilson); Murel's Gang. "; and so seldom received.
the «fraudulent penitent); and others. The book was published in 1881.
The book is especially valuable as the
author's personal record of an epoch in bbot, The, by Sir Walter Scott.
Ah
A
the country's growth which has
sequel to (The Monastery,' but deal-
passed into history.
ing with more stirring and elevated situa-
tions and scenes. The time of the action
Prince and the Pauper, The, by Mark is 1567-68, when Shakespeare was a boy of
Twain. The plot of this interesting three, and Elizabeth was newly established
story hinges on the remarkable resem- on the throne of England. While the action
blance of a poor street boy to the young goes on partly at Avenel Castle, and Hal-
English prince afterward Edward VI. bert Glendinning of «The Monastery,' as
Tom Canty, the pauper, looking through well as his brother Edward (now an abbot)
the iron gates of the royal court-yard, is figure prominently in the story, the reader
ordered away by the guard. The young finds that he has exchanged the humble
prince, overhearing the command, in- events of the little border vale by Mel-
vites him in; and for amusement, rose for thrilling and romantic adventures
changes clothes with him. While dressed at Lochleven Castle on its island in the
in rags he sees on Tom's hand a bruise lake, north of Edinburgh, where Mary
inflicted by the guard, and burning Queen of Scots is imprisoned; and in
with indignation, he rushes alone from place of the braw and bonny Scotch of
the palace to chastise the man: he is Tibb and Dame Elspeth, we have the
mistaken for Tom and driven away. hearty English of Adam Woodcock the
He falls in with Tom's family, and is falconer, -as masterly a portrait in Scott's
so badly treated that he runs away with gallery as Garth, Hal o' the Wynd, or
Sir Miles Hendon, a disinherited knight, Dandie Dinmont. The chief interest cen-
who takes pity on him, thinking his fre- tres around the unfortunate queen; and
quent assertions of royal birth a sign of the framework of the tale is historically
madness. They wander about the coun- true. The masterpiece of description in
try, having one adventure after an- (The Abbot) is the signing of the abdi-
other, and finally return to London just cation by Mary at the stern insistence of
before Tom Canty's coronation.
the commissioners Lindsay and Ruthven,
now


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
273
— а
.
scene made famous by more than the castle, they are seized, despoiled, and
one great painting and by more than one cast into separate dungeons by order of
historian.
Hagenbach. The Black Priest of St.
Paul's, a mysterious but powerful per-
Antiquary, The, by Sir Walter Scott. sonage, now appears on the scene; and
(The Antiquary) is not one of Scott's Charles, Margaret of Anjou, Henry of
most popular novels, but it nevertheless Richmond, and other great historic per-
ranks high. If it is weak in its supernat- sonages, are met with - all living and
ural machinery, it is strong in its dialogue realizable personages, not mere names.
and humor. The plot centres about the The story is filled with wild advent-
fortunes and misfortunes of the Wardour ure, and the reader follows the varying
and Glenallan families. The chief charac- fortunes of its chief characters with eager
ter is Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck, the Anti- interest. It presents vivid pictures of
quary, whose odd sayings and garrulous the still-lingering life— lawless and pict-
knowledge are inimitably reported. Sir uresque — of the Middle Ages.
Arthur Wardour, the Antiquary's pompous
friend, and his beautiful daughter Isabella, Adam Blair, by John Gibson Lockhart,
Scott's son-in-law, who wrote the
suffer reverses of fortune brought about
famous Life of Sir Walter, is a Scotch
mainly by the machinations of Herman
Dousterswivel, a pretended adept in the
story of rural life in the past century. It
black arts. Taking advantage of Sir Ar-
gives intimate descriptions of native man-
thur's superstition and antiquarian vanity,
ners, and has tragic power in the por-
he dupes that credulous gentleman into
trayal of the human heart. This novel,
making loans, until the hero of the tale
the best of the three written by Lock-
(Mr. William Lovel) comes to his rescue.
hart, was published in 1822, the full title
He has already lost his heart to Miss being “Some Passages in the Life of Mr.
Adam Blair, Minister of the Gospel at
Wardour. but has not put his fate to
Cross-Meikle. )
the test. His friend and host, the An-
tiquary, has a nephew, the fiery Captain Country Living and Country, Think:
ing, by Gail Hamilton (Mary Abi-
Wardour. Their rivalry, the machinations gail Dodge, born in Hamilton, Massachu-
and exposure of Dousterswivel, a good setts), contains a dozen or more essays on
old-fashioned wicked mother-in-law, and all sorts of subjects, from flower-beds to
other properties, make up a plot with marriage. They are written in an easy
abundance of incidents and a whole series conversational style, full of fun and pun-
of cross-purposes to complicate it. The gent humor, though earnest and even fiery
best-remembered character in the book at times. The author, always witty and
is the daft Edie Ochiltree.
whimsical, talks laughingly of the sor-
rows of gardening, the trials of moving,
An
nne of Geierstein, by Sir Walter Scott. or whatever other occupation is enga-
This romance finds its material in the ging her for the moment, but with such
wild times of the late fifteenth century, brilliancy and originality that the topic
when the factions of York and Lancaster takes on a new aspect. A keen vision
were convulsing England, and France was for sham and pretense of any sort, how-
constantly at odds with the powerful fief ever venerable, distinguishes her, and she
of Burgundy. When the story opens, the
is not afraid to fire a shot at any en-
exiled Earl of Oxford and his son, under throned humbug. Her brightness con-
the name of Philipson, are hiding their ceals great earnestness of purpose, and
identity under the guise of merchants it is impossible not to admire the sound
traveling in Switzerland. Arthur, the and wholesome quality of her discourse.
son, is rescued from death by Anne, the
young countess of Geierstein, who takes Annals of the Parish, by John Galt,
him for home
,
Arnold Biedermann, where his father joins published in 1821. In the spirit, if not in
him. On their departure they are accom- the letter, this work is the direct ancestor
panied by the four Biedermanns, who are of the tales of Maclaren and Barrie. Al.
sent as a deputation to remonstrate with though it cannot properly be called a
Charles the Bold, concerning the oppres-
novel, it is rich in dramatic material. It
sion of Count de Hagenbach, his stew- purports to be written by Mr. Balwhid-
ard. When the supposed merchants reach der, a Scottish clergyman, who recounts
XXX-18


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274
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
as
the events in the parish of Dalmailing for which he makes ample apology. But
where he ministered. He carries the nar- the book on the whole is free from puri-
rative on from year to year, sometimes tanical self-arraignment. The constant
recording an occurrence of national im- moralizing never becomes tiresome, as in
portance, sometimes a homely happening, some of the author's later work. If I can
as that William Byres's cow had twin put one touch of rosy sunset into the life
calves in the third year of my ministery. " of any man or woman of my cure, I shall
There was no other thing of note this feel that I have worked with God,» mut-
year, «saving only that I planted in the
ters the young vicar on overhearing a
garden the big pear-tree, which had two lad exclaim that he should like to be a
great branches that we call the Adam and painter, because then he could help God
Eve. Concerning a new-comer in the paint the sky; and this hope, the first the
parish he writes: But the most remark- clergyman dares form, is equally carried
able thing about her coming into the out in the case of rich and poor. With
parish was the change that took place regard to both these divisions of society
in the Christian names among us.
Old there is much wholesome plain-speaking,
Mr. Hooky, her father, had, from the as where it seems to the vicar as if the
time he read his Virgil, maintained a rich had not quite fair play:
sort of intromission with the nine Muses.
if they were sent into the world chiefly
by which he was led to baptize her Sa- for the sake of the cultivation of the vir-
brina, after a name mentioned by John tues of the poor, and without much chance
Milton in one of his works. Miss Sa- for the cultivation of their own. From
brina began by calling our Jennies Jes- this acute but pleasant preamble to his
sies, and our Nannies Nancies. . . . She heart-warming "God be with you” at the
had also a taste in the mantua-making end, this mellow character, capable of
line, which she had learnt in Glasgow ; innocent diplomacy and of sudden firm-
and I could date from the very Sabbath ness upon occasion, only loses his temper
of her first appearance in the Kirk, a once, and that is when the intolerable
change growing in the garb of the Mrs. Oldcastle makes a sneering refer-
younger lassies, who from that day began ence to the cloth. ”
to lay aside the silken plaidie over the
head, the which had been the pride and
uld Licht Idylls, by James M. Bar-
bravery of their grandmothers. ”
rie, is a series of twelve sketches of
The (Annals) are written in a good
life in Glen Quharity and Thrums. In
homely style, full of Scotch words and
all of them the same characters appear,
Scotch turns of expression. The book
not a few being reintroduced in the
holds a permanent place among classics
author's later books,- notably Tammas
of that country.
Haggart, Gavin Ogilvy, and the Rev.
Gavin Dishart, “the little minister, who
figures in the novel of that name. The
Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood, by
George Macdonald, records a young
titles of the sketches suggest the nature
of their contents: The School-House;
vicar's effort to be a brother as well as
a priest to his parishioners; and tells in-
Thrums; The Auld Licht Kirk; Lads
cidentally how he became more than a
and Lasses; The Auld Lichts in Arms;
brother to Ethelwyn Oldcastle, whose
The Old Dominie; Cree Queery and
aristocratic, overbearing mother, and mad-
Mysy Drolly; The Courting of T'now-
cap niece Judy, have leading roles in the
head's Bell (reprinted in this LIBRARY);
Davit Lunan's Political Reminiscences;
story. At first Judy's pertness repels the
reader; but like the bad boy who was not
A Very Old Family; Little Rathie's
so very bad either, she wins increasing
“Bural”; and A Literary Club. Humor
respect, and is able, without forfeiting it,
and pathos mingle, and the characters
to defy her grandmother, the unlovely
are vividly real. The charm of the
Mrs. Oldcastle, whose doting indulgence
sketches - the author's earliest important
has come so near ruining her disposition.
work — lies in their delineation of rural
Any one wishing to grasp the true inward-
Scottish character. Mr. Barrie's peculiar
characteristics are well illustrated in the
ness, as well as the external features, of
the life of an English clergyman trying
Idylls.
to get on to some footing with his flock,
All
Il Sorts and Conditions of Men,
has it all here in his own words, with by Sir Walter Besant. The famous
some sensational elements intermingled, People's Palace of East London had its
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
275
origin in this story; and because of it
mainly the author, Walter Besant, was
knighted. The story concerns chiefly
two characters, – the very wealthy or-
phan Angela Messenger, and Harry
Goslett, ward of Lord Joscelyn. Miss
Messenger, after graduating with honors
at Newnham, resolves to examine into
the condition of the people of Stepney
Green, Whitechapel region, where she
owns great possessions (including the
famed Messenger Brewery). To indicate
to the working women of East London a
way of escape from the meanness, misery,
and poverty of their lives, she sets up
among them a co-operative dressmaking
establishment, she herself living with her
work-girls. Her goodness and wealth
bring happiness to many, whose quaint
stories of poverty and struggle form a
considerable portion of the novel. The
book ends with the opening of the Peo-
ple's Palace, and with the heroine's mar-
riage to Harry Goslett, whose dramatic
story is clearly interwoven with the main
plot.
Gertrude of Wyoming, by Thomas
Campbell, was written at Sydenham,
in 1809, when the author was thirty-two,
eleven years after the publication of “The
Pleasures of Hope. It had every adver-
tisement which rank, fashion, reputation,
and the poet's own standing, could lend
it. He chose the Spenserian stanza for
his form of verse, and for his theme the
devastation by the Indians, in 1778, of the
quiet valley of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania,
on the Susquehanna. The poem, which is
in three parts, opens with a description of
Delightful Wyoming,” which Campbell,
who had never seen it, paints as a terres-
trial paradise. One day, to the house of
Gertrude's father comes the Oneida war-
rior Outalissi, bringing a boy whom he
has saved alive from the slaughter of a
British force. The orphan, Albert Walde-
grave, the son of a dear family friend,
lives with them three years, until his rela-
tives send for him. Gertrude grows up
into a lovely woman, roaming among the
forest aisles and leafy bowers, and repos-
ing with her volume of Shakespeare in
sequestered nooks. Albert returns, splen-
did to behold. They enjoy three months
of wedded bliss, and both are killed in the
incursion of Brant and his warriors. The
whole style and manner is pseudo-classic
and old-fashioned; the treatment is vague,
unreal, and indefinite: but a certain sweet-
ness and pathos, combined with the sub-
ject, has kept the poem alive.
Bride from the Bush, A, by Ernest
William Hornung, is a simple tale,
directly told. There is little descriptive
work in it, the characters are few and dis-
tinct, and the story is developed naturally.
Sir James and Lady Bligh, at home in
England, are startled by the news from
their elder son, Alfred, that he is bringing
home a bride from the bush,» to his
father's house. The bride arrives, and
drives to distraction her husband's con-
ventional family, by her outrages upon
conventional propriety. Gladys tries hard
to improve; but after an outbreak more
flagrant than usual, she runs away home
to Australia, because she has overheard a
conversation which implies that her hus-
band's prospects will be brighter without
her, and that he has ceased to love her.
Alfred, broken-hearted at her disappear-
ance, and apprehensive for a time that
she has drowned herself, breaks down
completely; and as soon as he is partially
recovered, he goes out to Australia to find
her. On the way to her father's (run,"
he takes shelter from a sand-storm in the
hut of the boundary rider,” finds a
picture of himself on the pillow, and sur-
mises the truth, of which he is assured
a few moments later, when Gladys, the
« boundary rider,) comes galloping in.
Explanations follow; and the reunited
couple decide to remain in Australia, and
never to return home »
except for an
occasional visit. The book is full of a
spirit of adventure, and a keen sense of
humor, which give value to a somewhat
slight performance.
Gaverocks, The, by S. Baring-Gould,
published in 1889, is one of the tales
of English rural life and studies of dis-
torted development of character, mingled
with a touch of the supernatural, in which
the author excels. Hender Gaverock is
an eccentric old Cornish squire, who has
two sons, Garens and Constantine, whose
natural spirits have been almost wholly
crushed by his harsh and brutal rule.
Garens philosophically submits, but Con-
stantine rebels; and the book is chiefly
occupied with the misdeeds, and their
consequences, of the younger son, whose
revolt against his father's tyranny rapidly
degenerates into a career of vice and
crime. He marries secretly, deserts his
wife, allows himself to be thought drowned,
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>
finally murdered as he is about to flee the Sand, the Still Hunter, a mysterious
country. Exciting events come thick and
person who has the freedom of the hill
fast, and the various complications of the fastness of the gipsies. ” He has proved
plot gradually unravel themselves. The himself the faithful friend of Patrick
chief characters are boldly and forcibly Heron. He turns out to be John Faa,
drawn, and the scenes on both land and King of the Gipsies. The charm of the
water are vividly portrayed; notably the story is the bewitching May Mischief.
storm in which Constantine and his fa-
ther are wrecked, the «Goose Fair,” and Lin
McLean, by Owen Wister. (1897).
This volume contains six sketches
Garens's samphire gathering. The inter-
est is sustained to the end, and the book
and a short poem; and in each of them
as a whole is a powerful one, though it
the charming cowboy,” as the Vassar
can hardly be called pleasant or agreeable.
girls call him, is the central figure. The
scene is laid in Wyoming “in the happy
days when it was a Territory with a
Raiders, The, by Samuel R. Crock-
future, instead of a State with a past. ”
ett, (1894,) the best story by this
author, is an old-time romance, dealing
Lin McLean is a brave boy and a manly
with the struggles with the outlaws and
man, who does right from inherent good-
smugglers in Galloway early in the
ness, not because he is afraid of the
eighteenth century. It is a thrilling tale
law; and he is successful, whether he is
of border warfare and wild gipsy life,
trying to rope a steer or win a sweet-
and it embodies many old traditions of
heart. He has his troubles, too, but rises
that time and place. The hero, Patrick
above them all, his imperturbable good-
Heron, is laird of the Isle of Rathan, -
nature being a ready ally. The chapters
«an auld name, though noo-a-days wi'
are sketches, primarily, for those who are
but little to the tail o't. » He is in love
tired of the pavements and brick walls
with May Maxwell, called May Mischief
of cities; the air breathes of summer,
and the little cabin on Box Elder is like
- a sister of the Maxwells of Craigdar-
rock, who are by far the strongest of
the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land.
all the smuggling families.
The most noteworthy of these
Hector Faa, the chief of the Raiders,
sketches is A Journey in Search of
Christmas); others are: How Lin Mc-
sees May Mischief, and he too loves her
in his wild way.
The Raiders are, for
Lean Went East); (The Winning of the
the most part, the remnants of broken
Biscuit-Shooter); Lin McLean's Honey-
clans, who have been outlawed
moon); (Separ's Vigilante); and “Destiny
from the border countries, and are made
at Dry bone. )
up of tribes of Marshalls, Macatericks,
Elsi
Isie Venner, by Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Millers, and Faas. Most conspicuous was first published serially, in 1859-
among them are the last-named, calling 60, under the name of The Professor's
themselves (Lords and Earls of Little Story. ) The romance is a study in hered-
Egypt. By reason of his position and ity, introducing a peculiar series of phe-
power, Hector Faa dares to send word
nomena closely allied to such dualism
to the Maxwells that their sister must of nature as may best be described by
be his bride.
the word "ophianthropy.
) Delineations
« The curse that Richard Maxwell sent of the characters, social functions, and
back is remembered yet in the Hill religious peculiarities of a New England
Country, and his descendants mention it village, form a setting for the story.
with a kind of pride. It was considered Elsie Venner is a young girl whose
as fine a thing as the old man ever did physical and psychical peculiarities oc-
since he dropped profane swearing and casion much grief and perplexity to
took to anathemas from the psalms,- her father, a widower of gentle nature
which did just as well. ”
and exceptional culture. The victim of
The outlaws then proceed to attack some pre-natal casualty, Elsie shows
the Maxwells and carry off May Mis- from infancy unmistakable traces of a
chief. Patrick Heron joins the Maxwells serpent-nature intermingling with her
in the long search for their sister. After higher self. This nature dies within her
many bloody battles and hair-breadth only when she yields to an absorbing
escapes, he is finally successful in rescu- love. Like all the work of Dr. Holmes,
ing her from the Murder Hole. This the story is brilliantly written and full
he accomplishes by the aid of Silver of epigrammatic sayings; it is acute
even
»


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
277
mata.
though harsh in dissection of New Eng- after that, the presence of a beautiful
land life, and distinguished by psycho- woman caused him to faint away. A
logical insight and the richest humor. love story is interwoven with the story
of his cure.
Au
utocrat of the Breakfast Table, The,
by Oliver Wendell Holmes, - a series Crime of Henry Vane, The: A Study
WITH A Moral, by J. S. of Dale
of essays appearing first in the Atlantic
(F. J. Stimson). Henry Vane is a man
Monthly,– consists of imaginary conver-
whose youthful enthusiasm has been par-
sations around a boarding-house table,
alyzed by successive misfortunes. He is
and contains also many of his most
a cynic before he is out of his teens.
famous poems: The Deacon's Master-
Disappointed and disillusioned, he never
piece, or the Wonderful One-Hoss Shay);
regains his natural poise. The moral of
(The Chambered Nautilus); (The Old
his life is, that he who swims continu-
Man Dreams); (Contentment); Æstiva-
ously against the current will in time be
tion); the bacchanalian ode with the tee-
overcome, and he who daily antagonizes
total committee's matchless alterations;
the world will find his only peace in
and others. The characters are intro-
death. The events of the story might
duced to the reader as the Autocrat, the
occur in any American city, and in any
Schoolmistress, the Old Gentleman Oppo-
site, the Young Man Called John, The good social setting. It is vividly told,
interesting, and good in craftsmanship;
Landlady, the Landlady's Daughter, the
while the author's pictures of the crudi-
Poor Relation, and the Divinity Student;
but Holmes is far too good an artist to
ties of American society and the unre-
make them talk always the “patter” of
straint of American girls are well if
their situations or functions, like auto-
pitilessly drawn.
Many subjects -- art, science, the-
ology, philosophy, travel, etc. -are touched
osses from an Old Manse is the title
Moss
of Nathaniel Hawthorne's second
on in a delightfully rambling way; ideas collection of tales and sketches (1854).
widely dissimilar following each other, The Old Manse, Hawthorne's Concord
with anecdotes, witticisms, flowers of fact home, is described in the opening chap-
and fancy plentifully interwoven. This is
ter of the book. The remaining con-
the most popular of Dr. Holmes's books;
tents include many of Hawthorne's most
and in none of them are his ease of style, famous short sketches, such as "The
his wit, his humor, his kindly sympathy Birth-Mark, Roger Malvin's Burial,'
and love of humanity, more clearly shown. and (The Artist of the Beautiful. These
While there is no attempt to weave these stories bear witness to his love of the
essays into a romance, there is a sugges- mysterious and the unusual; and their
tion of sentimental interest between the
action passes in a world of unreality,
Autocrat and the Schoolmistress, which
which the genius of the author makes
affords an opportunity for a graceful more visible than the world of sense.
ending to the conversations, when, hav-
ing taken the long walk » across Boston A lhambra, The. By Washington Ir-
Common,-a little journey typical of ving. (1832. Revised, enlarged, and
their life's long walk, — they announce rearranged, 1852. ) This Spanish Sketch-
their approaching marriage to the cir- Book grew out of the experiences and
cle around the immortal boarding-house studies of Irving, while an actual resident
table.
in the old royal palace of the Moors at
Grenada. Many of the forty sketches have
Mºrtal Antipathy, A, the third and their foundation only in the author's fancy,
last of Oliver Wendell Holmes's but others are veritable history. It was
novels, was published in 1885, when he his object, he says, in describing scenes
was in his seventy-sixth year. Like the then almost unknown, to present a faithful
two preceding works of fiction (to which and living picture of that singular little
it is inferior), it is concerned with a cu- world in which he found himself, and to
rious problem of a psychological nature. depict its half-Spanish, half-Oriental char-
Maurice Kirkwood, a young
of acter, its mixture of the heroic, the poetic,
good family, suffers from a singular and the grotesque. The sketches revive
malady, brought on by a fall when a in the colors of life itself the splendid
child. When very small, he was dropped Moorish civilization of the Middle Ages,
from the arms of a girl cousin. Ever its industries, festivities, traditions, and
man


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278
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
>
catastrophes. The author is steeped in days of a summer outing amid the Mas-
the atmosphere of Moorish Spain; and sachusetts hills. The theme is not new;
his book has hardly a rival in its appre- but in his treatment of it the author
ciation of the pathetic, grotesque, cruel, presents some interesting ethical argu-
tender, and wholly fascinating past of ments, by which the husband seeks to
Cordova, Seville, and Grenada.
blind himself to his own shortcomings,
ztec Treasure-House, The, by Thomas
and some touching examples of the young
Aztec
A. Janvier, is a narration of the
wife's self-control and abnegation. Inter-
thrilling adventures of a certain Profes-
spersed are amusing semi-caricatures of
sor Thomas Palgrave, Ph. D. ; an archæ-
the typical boarding-house guest,” the
ologist who goes to Mexico to discover,
flotsam and jetsam of vacation life.
if possible
, remains of the early, Aztec Country of the Pointed Firs, The, by
with Sarah in
breathless interest from incident to inci- 1896. Like her other works, it is a study
dent; and the mingling of intense pathos of New England character, subtle, deli-
and real humor is characteristic of the cate, temperate, a revelation of an artist's
author of «The Uncle of an Angel and mind as well as of people and things.
other charming books. Professor Pal- The homely heroine is Mrs. Todd, liv.
grave, in company with Fray Antonio, a ing at Dunnet Landing, on the eastern
saintly Franciscan priest; Pablo, an In- sea-coast of Maine, a dispenser to the vil.
dian boy; and two Americans,-Young, lage-folk of herb medicines made from
a freight agent, and Rayburn, an engin- herbs in her little garden. «The sea.
eer, — starts in search of the treasure- breezes blew into the low end-window of
house of the early Aztecs. The professor the house, laden with not only sweet-brier
goes to advance science; Fray Antonio and sweet-mary, but balm and sage and
to spread his faith; Pablo because he borage and mint, worm wood and south-
loves his master; and the rest for gold. erwood. ” Mrs. Todd's summer-boarder
What befell them in the search must be (Miss Jewett herself, no doubt) tells the
learned from the story. This volume, story of her sojourn in the sweet, whole-
considered either as a piece of English some house, of her many excursions with
or as a tale of adventure, deserves a high her hostess, now to a family reunion, now
to visit Mrs. Todd's mother on Green Is-
At the Red Glove, by Katharine S.
land, now far afield to gather rare herbs.
Macquoid. The scene this slight
The fisher folk, the farm folk, and the
but pleasant story is laid among the bour- | village folk, are depicted with the author's
geois of Berne.
Madame Robineau, a unique skill, living and warm through her
mean and miserly glove-dealer, takes her sympathetic intuition. The book is fresh
pretty orphan cousin, Marie Peyrolles, to
and clean with sea-air and the scent of
serve in her shop. The girl finds two
herbs. Its charm is that of nature itself.
admirers among her cousin's lodgers, –
On
one Captain Loigerot, an elderly retired Am
mos Judd, by J. A. Mitchell.
the outbreak of civil war in a prove
French officer, the very genius of rollicking ince of Northern India, the seven-year-
fun and kindness; the other a handsome
old rajah is smuggled away to save his
young bank clerk, Rudolph Engemann.
life, by three faithful followers, two Hin-
The chief interest in the story follows
doos and an American; and for absolute
the clever character-study of Madame Ca-
safety is taken to the Connecticut farm-
rouge, and the simple life of the homely
house of the American's brother. Under
Bernese.
the name of Amos Judd he is brought
Echo of Passion, An, by George Par- up in ignorance of his origin. The most
sons Lathrop, (1882,) is one of Mr. dramatic incidents of his life hinge upon
Lathrop's earliest works. The interest of his wonderful faculty of foreseeing events.
the story revolves around an accomplished In this story the atmosphere of a world
and fascinating Southern widow, Mrs. Eu- invisible seems to surround and control
low; a trusting wife, Ethel Fenn; and a that of the visible world; and the shrewd
husband, Benjamin Fenn, whose chemical and unimaginative Yankee type is skill-
information is more exact than his moral fully and dramatically set against the
principles. There is nothing intangible mystical Hindu character, to whom the
or echo-like about the passion depicted, unseen is more real than the actual.
which attains its zenith during the idle The story is well told.
place.


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
279
partner, Mr. Narrowsmith, a miserly,
mean-spirited man; Mr. Barker, the Bach-
elor of the Albany, fond of muffins and
marmalade and eighteenth-century lit-
erature; and Mr. Owlet, a young clergy-
man with Gothic tendencies, a product
of the Tractarian movement. Their story
is told with much quiet humor, and with
an old-fashioned absence of haste and
absence of introspection, that makes it
cheerful reading.
“It was
now verging to the season
which in Catholic Oxford is called the
Feast of the Nativity, but by Protestant
England is still named Christmas,- the
of pudding and pantomimes,
mince-pies and maudlin sentiment, blue
noses and red books.
. . Now young
ladies were busily exchanging polyglots
and pincushions, beautiful books and
books of beauty, Olney hymns and Char
pone's Letters, with cases and boxes of
twenty kinds.
. . Folly in white
waistcoat was now quoting old songs and
dreaming of new monasteries, as if it
was a whit less difficult to turn a mod-
ern Christmas into an ancient Yule than
to change a lump of sea-coal into a log
of pine. ”
season
CO
*oming Race, The, by Edward Bulwer-
Lytton. This is a race of imagi-
nary beings, called Vrilya or Ana, who
inhabit an imaginary world placed in a
mysterious subterranean region. They
have outstripped us by many centuries
in scientific acquirements; making the
great discovery of a force, «vril,” of
which all other forces are but modifica-
tions. They possess perpetual light; they
can fly; and produce all the phenomena
of personal magnetism. They have no
laboring class, which has been super-
seded by machinery; there is absolute
social equality; the ruler merely looks
after a few necessary details. Intelli-
gence supersedes force. Women are su-
perior to men, their greater power over
the force «vril » giving them greater
physical and intellectual ability; still the
more emotional and affectionate sex, in
courtship they take the initiative; they
are second to men only in practical sci-
In philosophy and religion there
is unanimity: all believe in God and
immortality.
The discoverer of this
kingdom is a New-Yorker, who tries to
entertain his hosts with a eulogy on the
American democracy; but this form of
government, he learns, is called Koom-
Bosh (Government of the Ignorant) in
the Vrilya language. The finding of
this new world gives rise to many spec-
ulations on human destiny. The entire
devotion of these wonderful beings to
science means the disappearance of all
the arts. There are no great novels or
poems or musical compositions. There
are no criminals and no heroes. Life
has lost its evils, and with them all that
is worth struggling for. Everything is
reduced to a dead level; everywhere
ennui seems to reign supreme. This
story, published in 1871, was a skit at
certain assumptions of science; but its
cleverness of invention and brilliancy of
treatment, added to the craving wonder
of humanity as to what its evolution is
to be toward, gave it a large popularity.
ence.
Сер
"eur d'Alene, by Mary Hallock Foote.
Like her (Led Horse Claim and
(The Cup of Trembling,' this is a story
of the Colorado mining camps, full of
realistic details. Its situations turn upon
the labor strife between Union and non-
Union miners in 1892, which forms
the sombre background of a bright lov-
ers' comedy. There is a thread of serious
purpose running through it,-an at-
tempt to show in dramatic fashion what
wrongs to personal liberty are often
wrought in the name of liberty by labor
organizations. The best-drawn character
in the book is Mike McGowan, the hero's
rough comrade, a Hibernian Mark Tapley.
If the love passages seem at times over-
emphasized, the author's general dialogue
and descriptive writing have the easy
strength of finished art; and her evident
familiarity through actual acquaintance
with the scenes described, gives to her
work much permanent value of reality
aside from its artistic merits.
Bachelor of the Albany, The, by M.
W. Savage, a leisurely novel of
English middle-class life in the thirties,
was published in 1847. Its plot is almost
as rambling as that of Pickwick,) be-
ing merely a comfortable vehicle for the
presentation of the characters. These in-
clude a typical English merchant of the
old school, Mr. Spread, and his healthy,
handsome family; his former business
Ave
verage Man, An, by Robert Grant, is
a New York society story; a novel
of manners rather than plot, concerning
itself more with types than with individ-
uals. Two young men, both clever and


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280
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of good family, educated at Harvard with moral by showing how one deception
an after-year of Europe, settle down in leads to another, and finally envelops
New York to practice law. One of them, the whole life in deceit and wretched.
Arthur Remington, is content to win a ness. A mere statement of the plot is
fair income by hard work at his profes- of no interest: the value of the story is
sion, and finally marries a poor but charm- in its humor and its knowledge of the
ing girl, who has always represented his human heart.
ideal, and who refuses a millionaire for Among the characters are Cecilia; her
his sake. His friend, Woodbury Stough- mother, Lady Devenant, a spirited so-
ton, eager for money and fame, dabbles ciety woman, and a very kind friend to
in stocks and loses most of his small Helen (the heroine); Miss Clarendon, a
fortune. He marries for her money the blunt, outspoken woman, and a modern
beautiful uncultivated daughter of a rail- type to find in an old novel; besides
way king, who loves him devotedly, and Lord Beltravers, a false friend of Gran-
to whom he is indifferent. He is elected ville Beauclerc, the hero. Helen) was
to the Assembly as a leader of the better published in 1834. It was the last novel
element in politics; but his ambition to Miss Edgeworth wrote before her death
get into Congress leads him into such fifteen years afterwards.
double-dealing that the Independents
desert him, and he is overwhelmingly Her Dearest Foe, by Mrs. Alexander.
Wefeated. On the eve of election, also, The scene of this story (perhaps
his young wife learns of his infidelity to the best by this prolific writer) is laid
her, and leaves him. The story is slight, in and about London, at the beginning
but the portraiture of a certain phase of the present century. Mr. Richard
of New York fashionable society is vivid, Travers, a middle-aged merchant seek-
and the study of the inevitable deteriora- ing rest, goes to the little town of Cul-
tion of life without principle is searching lingford, and there stays with a Mrs.
and dramatic.
Aylmer, a widow with one daughter.
Mr. Travers is charmed with Culling-
Ironmaster, The Le Maitre des Forges. ); ford, and revisits the place from time to
time. Eventually he falls in love with
as novel and play, in English as well as
Kate Aylmer, and marries her after the
French, been persistently popular; and death of her mother. Subsequently he
in all the history of French fiction, few
makes a will in favor of his wife, which
books have sold better. Ohnet wrote
also disinherits his cousin and former
the story as a play; but no manager heir, Sir Hugh Galbraith. After the
would accept it until, after its success
death of Travers, his widow succeeds to
as a novel, he redramatized it. It is a
his estate; but is not long left in undis-
dramatic love story, whose characters are:
turbed possession, as Mr. Ford, a clerk
Claire de Beaulieu; Madame de Beau-
in the office of her late husband, pro-
lieu; Gaston, Duke de Bligny, a merce-
duces another will in favor of Sir Hugh.
nary lover who breaks faith with Claire
Mrs. Travers is obliged to give up her
for the sake of a fortune, and engages
property and compelled to support her-
himself to Athenais, the daughter of
self. She settles in the village of Piers-
a rich but vulgar manufacturer; and a
toffe, which is picturesquely described;
rich young ironmaster, Philippe Derblay,
where, assisted by her friend and com-
of plebeian birth but excellent character.
panion Fanny Lee, she opens a small
Around this small group of actors moves
fancy-goods shop. Sir Hugh, while hunt-
an energetic drama of baffled hopes,
ing in the neighborhood, meets with an
disappointed ambitions, tribulations that
accident, and is taken to the house of
purify, and final happiness. The book
Mrs. Travers, of whose identity he re-
has little literary merit; but the rapid-
mains in ignorance, as he has never
ity of its movement and its strong sit-
seen his hostess before, and as she had
uations have given it a secure, if tem-
assumed the name of Temple upon leav-
porary, place in French and English
ing London. Sir Hugh falls in love with
approval.
his charming nurse, and upon regain-
Helen, by Maria Edgeworth.
This ing his health, proposes marriage to her;
old-fashioned novel describes the but is rejected, as she believes him to
social life of England about the middle have had a hand in defrauding her of
of the nineteenth century; and draws a her property. Not long after this, Mrs.


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
281
swears
warn
sus-
Travers, or Mrs. Temple, is enabled to noble of the province, the dreaded Vi-
prove that the will in favor of Sir Hugh dame de Bezers, known from his armor-
is a forgery, for which the clerk Ford iai bearings as the “Wolf. ” She prefers
is wholly answerable. Sir Hugh again the Huguenot Louis de Pavannes, and
offers himself, and this time she accepts
Bezers
to have his life. To
him; afterwards revealing her identity,
him, the country lads Anne,
and rejoicing that she has an oppor- Marie, and St. Croix journey to Paris,
tunity of heaping coals of fire on the only to fall into the power of the terri-
head of her dearest foe. »
The story ble Vidame. The plots of the Vidame,
flows easily and pleasantly, the pictures the struggle of the boys, and the dangers
of town and country life are natural and of M. de Pavannes, are
woven with
entertaining, and the interest is thrilling effect into the bloody drama of
tained to the end. It was published in the Massacre; and the sinister figure
1883.
of the proud, revengeful “Wolf,” with
his burst of haughty magnanimity, lin-
Captain Gore's Courtship:- his nar-
rative of the affair of the clipper
gers long in the memory.
Conemaugh, and the loss of the vessel
Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures
The Countess of Warwick, - by T. Jen- of, by Samuel L. Clemens (Mark
kins Hains, was published in 1896. The Twain), was published in 1884. It is a
book might have just come into port, sequel to, and follows the fortunes of,
so redolent is it of the sea. It describes the leading characters of the same au-
the wooing of one William Gore, formerly thor's (Tom Sawyer); from which it dif-
captain of the Southern Cross, then mate fers in tone and construction, touching
of the Conemaugh.
On board this ves- now and again upon vital social ques-
sel, as passengers, are a trim young lady tions with an undertone of evidently
and her mother. When the good ship is serious interest. Its humor, while less
taken by pirates, Gore wills to remain refined, is quite as bright and sponta-
and run the risk of identification with neous as that of its predecessor, though
the black flag, rather than desert the its popularity has not been so marked.
woman he loves. He has the reward he
The story traces the wanderings of
deserves. The book is written in a clean- «Huck) and Tom, who have run away
cut, crisp style, and is a thoroughly good from home; and tells how, with their
« book of a day. ”
old friend the negro Jim, they proceed
Captain of the Janizaries, The, by
down the Mississippi, mainly on a raft.
James M. Ludlow.