His death, of the necromancer
Ormandine
from the
woman
Seven
## p.
woman
Seven
## p.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 to v30 - Tur to Zor and Index
Domingo in August 1791; at which
aristocrat chooses to persecute her with time Toussaint, a negro slave on the
his unwelcome attentions. His mother, Breda estate, remained faithful to the
Madame Marceau, — more just than her whites, and entered the service of the al-
worldly-minded employer, if not
lies of the French king as against the
kind, and really grateful for what she re- Convention. The struggle between loy-
gards as the escape of her son,-offers alty to the royalist cause and duty to
as
career
more
## p. 288 (#324) ############################################
288
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
his race, when he learns of the decree
of the Convention proclaiming the lib-
erty of the negroes, ends by his taking
the leadership of the blacks; and from
this point the story follows the course
of history through dramatic successes to
the pathetic ending of this remarkable
life. The novel is a vivid page of his-
tory.
Joshua Davidson, Christian and Com.
munist, The TRUE HISTORY OF, by
E. Lynn Linton. (Final edition (6th),
1874. ) The name of the hero of this
story is meant to be read “Jesus Da-
vid's Son”; the word "Jesus” being the
old Hebrew word "Joshua, changed by
Greek usage.
The idea of the writer
was to picture a man of to-day, a man
of the people, repeating under altered
circumstances the life of Jesus, and set-
ting the world a Christ-example. The
work was planned on the theory that
"pure Christianity, as taught by Christ
himself, leads us inevitably to com-
munism”; and with this view the hero
of the story, who begins as a Cornish
carpenter, is carried to Paris, to lose
his life in the Communard insurrection.
He is represented as “a man working
on the Christ plan, and that alone; deal-
ing with humanity by pity and love
and tolerance,” living the life of the
crucified Communist of Galilee. ) The
question raised by the author is, “Which
is true: modern society, earnest for the
dogma of Christianity, and rabid against
its acted doctrines, or the brotherhood
and communism taught by the Jewish
carpenter of Nazareth ? » Not only are
the views thus indicated extreme, but the
execution of the conception, in a hasty
sketch, altogether fails to adequately
reproduce the understood character and
life of Christ.
Downfall, The ('La Débâcle”), (1892. ) a
powerful novel of the Franco-Prus-
sian war, by Émile Zola. It portrays with
strength and boldness, on a remarkable
breadth of canvas, the incidents of that
great campaign. Intermingled with the
passions of war are the passions of love;
the whole forms a pageant rarely sur-
passed in fiction. The principal charac-
ters are Jean Macquart, a corporal in the
French army, who had fought at Solferino;
Maurice Levasseur, a young lawyer en-
listed as a private in Macquart's command;
Delaherche, chief cloth manufacturer of
Sedan; Henriette Weiss, sister of Maurice,
and wife of an accountant; Honoré Fou-
chard, quartermaster-sergeant; and Sil-
vine, Honoré's betrothed, who has been
betrayed by one Goliah, on whom she
later takes terrible vengeance. The story
is concerned chiefly with the friendship
of Macquart and Levasseur, and the love
of Macquart and Henriette, who is left a
widow during the siege of Sedan. This
terrible siege forms the dramatic centre
of the story. The book ends tragically
with the death of Maurice Levasseur by
the hand of Macquart, who had bayo-
neted him not knowing that it was his
friend. With this shadow between them,
Jean and Henriette feel that they must
part. "Jean, bearing his heavy burden
of affliction with humble resignation, went
his way, his face set resolutely toward
the future, toward the glorious and ardu-
ous task that lay before him and his
countrymen. - to create a new France. ”
Assommoir, L, by Émile Zola, entitled
(Gervaise) in the English transla-
tion, was published in 1877, and forms
one of the series dealing with the fortunes
of the Rougon-Macquart family. The
chief figure, Gervaise, a daughter of this
family driven from home when fourteen,
and already a mother, goes with her lover
to Paris. There he deserts her and her
two children. She afterwards marries a
tinsmith, Coupeau. The beginning of
their wedded life is prosperous; but as
the years go on, vice and poverty disin-
tegrate what might have been a family
into mere units of misery, wretchedness,
and corruption. Zola traces their down-
fall in the pitiless and intimate fashion
characteristic of him, and not difficult
with characters created to be analyzed.
The book is a series of repulsive pict-
ures unrelieved by one gleam of a nobler
humanity, but only “realistic as scraps:
the life as a possible whole is as purely
imaginative as if it were lovely instead
of loathsome.
She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver
Goldsmith. This admirable comedy
was first produced in 1773, and is said
to have been founded on an incident in
the author's own life. Young Marlow,
who is of a very diffident disposition, on
his way to see Kate Hardcastle whom
his father designs for him as a wife, is
directed to Squire Hardcastle's house, as
an inn, by Tony Lumpkin, the squire's
stepson. With Marlow is Hastings, a
suitor to Constance Neville, whom Mrs.
## p. 289 (#325) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
289
(c
an
Hardcastle designs for her son Tony. In Part ii. , Buckthorne, ex-poor-devil.
They meet Kate and Constance, but author and actor, become a comfortable
Marlow's timidity prevents him from country squire, narrates the ups and
looking them in the face. Meeting Kate downs of his varied career.
later, in her housewife's dress, he takes Part iii. is a succession of adventures
her for a barmaid and loses his timidity, with Italian banditti, recounted by a
representing himself as “the agreeable group of travelers gathered in an inn
Mr. Rattle, the ladies' favorite; and at Tarracina. Among them is a pretty
laughs at Miss Hardcastle as a mere Venetian bride who shudders to hear of
awkward, squinting thing. ” The excesses the wild horde infesting the Apennines,
of Marlow's servants force Hardcastle to always ready to attack and rob defense-
remonstrate; a quarrel ensues in which less parties, and carry them off in the
Marlow asks for his bill. Hardcastle hope of extorting ransom. Another and
tells him he is much disappointed in his more incredulous listener is a young
old friend's son, and leaves him. Mar- Englishman, whom the bride dislikes for
low calls the “barmaid," and learns his insensibility. The next day he is
what a «dullissimo macaroni» he has taught a practical lesson in the existence
made of himself. She allows him to be- of brigands; and by rescuing the fair
lieve she is a poor relation, and as such Venetian from their hands, reverses her
he woos and wins her.
opinion of him.
Tony agrees to help Hastings to elope In Part iv. , Irving collects the roman-
with Constance. He receives a letter, tic legends concerning Captain Kidd and
saying Hastings is ready with a coach; his fellow buccaneers, and the treasure
but not being able to read it, gives it they are supposed to have secreted in
to his mother, who discovers the plot. the neighborhood of Hellgate. There
Tony, however, learning that he has are other legends too, involving the com-
been of age for three months, refuses to pact with the Devil, which tradition has
marry her, and she is thus allowed to made inevitable condition of the
keep her dowry and her lover. In drill- securing of illegal gains. All these varied
ing his servants receive Marlow, scenes of England, Italy, and America,
Hardcastle tells them they must not Irving presents in happy incidental
laugh at his stories. «Then, ecod, your touches which never clog the action with
worship must not tell the story of the description, yet leave a vivid picture
ould grouse in the gun-room: we have with the reader.
laughed at that these twenty years. ”
And mother grouse in the sun-room” has Marble Faun, The, by Nathaniel Haw-
proverbial for an old story.
thorne () last
complete romance by the author, and
Tales of a Traveller, by Washington was thought by him to be his best. It
Irving, (1824. ) is a delightful medley was composed carefully and maturely,
of humorous and tragic elements. The Hawthorne not having written anything
genial humorist himself declares them to for seven years; and appeared simulta-
be (moral tales, with the moral «dis- neously in Boston and London under
guised as much as possible by sweets different titles. The original name pro-
and spices. ” Sometimes sportive, abound- posed was (The Transformation of the
ing in mockery which although keen Faun,' shortened by the English pub-
is never bitter, they are again weirdly lisher into “Transformation,' and changed
grotesque or horrible, like the work of in America by Hawthorne to (The Mar-
Poe or Hoffmann. Always they have the ble Faun. ) The scene is laid in Rome;
individual flavor and easy grace charac- the chief characters, four in number, are
teristic of Irving. The volume is divided introduced together in the first chapter:
into four parts.
Kenyon, an American sculptor; Hilda
In the first, a nervous gentleman and and Miriam, art students; and Count
his friends, guests of a jovial fox-hunting Donatello, Italian friend. Hilda,
baronet in his (ancient rook-haunted blonde and gentle, with New England
mansion,” become reminiscent of family training and almost Puritanic feeling,
ghost-stories and vie with each other in is beloved by Kenyon. Miriam, dark and
wild romances, the actors in which can- passionate, is admired by Donatello.
not rest, but frighten would-be sleepers An accidental resemblance of Donatello
from their former haunts.
to the famous Faun of Praxiteles is
XXX—19
to
an
## p. 290 (#326) ############################################
290
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
used by the author to picture a corre-
sponding human character, - beautiful,
but heedless and morally unconscious,
until brought into contact with sin and
suffering. This transformation” is oc-
casioned by the persecution of Miriam
by a mysterious person, accidentally en-
countered in the Catacombs, who there.
after attaches himself to her, haunts her,
and dogs her footsteps. He finally in-
trudes himself upon her during a moon-
light excursion to the Capitoline Hill;
when Donatello, enraged beyond endur-
ance and encouraged by a glance from
Miriam, grasps him and flings him from
the Tarpeian rock to his death. From
that instant Miriam and Donatello be-
come linked together by their guilty
secret; and the happy, heedless, faun-
like Donatello becomes the remorseful,
conscience-stricken man. Hilda, mean-
while, is involved in the catastrophe.
She has seen the deed committed, and is
overwhelmed; she can neither keep nor
betray her terrible secret, and breaking
down under the weight of its oppression,
the Puritan maiden seeks the bosom
of the Roman Church and pours out
her secret at the confessional. In the
end Donatello gives himself up to just-
ice, Hilda and Kenyon are married, and
the unhappy Miriam disappears. The
underlying interest of the book rests in
the searching analysis of the effect of
the murder upon the characters of those
involved in the deed. Donatello is
awakened from a blissfully immature
unconsciousness of the world into
stern realization of crime, and its con-
sequences, remorse and suffering; while
Hilda is crushed with a sense of the
wickedness which has been thrust upon
her innocent vision. Incidentally the
book is filled with the spirit of Rome
and with Roman sights and impressions,
which have made it the inseparable
manual of every sojourner in the “Eter-
nal City”; to each and all of whom is
pointed out “Hilda's tower, where she
kept the legendary lamp burning before
the shrine, and fed the doves, until the
day when another's crime drove her
from her maiden refuge.
Twice-Tola Tales, by Natnaniel Haw-
thorne. (First series, 1837; second
series, 1847. ) The (Twice-Told Tales)
took their title from the fact of their
previous publication in various annuals
and magazines. The book was favor-
ably noticed, although the quality of the
author's genius was not then widely ap-
preciated. The tales are national in
character, and the themes are chosen
from among the many quaint and inter-
esting traditions of New England. Told
with a felicity and repose of manner
that has not been surpassed in our litera-
ture, they reveal a power of imagination,
a knowledge of the obscurer motives of
human nature, and a spiritual insight,
which marked a distinct epoch in Amer-
ican literature. The second series of
(Twice-Told Tales) begins with the
four (Legends of the Province House,' -
tales which, especially characteristic of
the author's genius, at once added to the
romantic glamour which surrounds the
Boston of Revolutionary days. Through-
out, the “Tales) are characterized by
Hawthorne's beauty of style, – smooth,
musical, poetical.
He looks upon all
things with the spirit of love and with
lively sympathies; for to him external
form is but the representation of internal
being, all things having life, an end, an
aim. The sketch entitled (A Rill from
the Town Pump) is perhaps the most
famous in the collection, which contains
here and there themes and suggestions
that Hawthorne later elaborated in his
longer stories; notably the picture of a
beautiful woman wearing an embroi-
dered “A” upon her breast, who aftor-
wards reappears in (The Scarlet Letter. "
(The Great Carbuncle) was especially
admired by Longfellow, who commends
its poetic beauty. The Tales) have
often a sombre tone, a fateful sense of
gloom, weird and sometimes almost un-
canny: but they possess an irresistible
fascination. Among those best known
are (The Gray Champion, (The Gentle
Boy,' and the Wedding Knell. "
a
A'
urelian, a historical novel by William
Ware, an American author born in
1797, was first published in 1838 under the
title Probus. It was a sequel to Let-
ters of Lucius M. Piso, published the year
before; and like that novel, it is writ-
ten in the form of letters. The full title
reads (Aurelian; or, Rome in the third
century. In Letters of Lucius M. Piso,
from Rome, to Fausta, the daughter of
Gracchus at Palmyra. ? The novel pre-
sents a singularly faithful picture of the
Rome of the second half of the third
century, and of the intellectual and spir-
itual life of the time as expressed in both
## p. 291 (#327) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
291
Christians and pagans. The Emperor Au-
relian figures prominently in the story,
which closes with the scene of his assas-
sination. The style of Aurelian' is dig-
nified and graceful, with enough of the
classical spirit to meet the requirements
of the narrative.
Accomplished Gentleman, An, by Jul-
ian Russell Sturgis, was published
in 1879. It is a good example of the well-
written, readable novel. The scene is laid
in modern Venice, where a colony of Eng-
lish and Italians gives material for the
characters. The gentleman of accom-
plishments is Mr. Hugo Deane, a kind
of fashionable Casaubon, engaged upon a
monumental work, the history of Venice.
In the interests of this work he sacrifices
his first wife, and is willing to sacrifice the
happiness of his daughter Cynthia, be-
loved by Philip Lamond. All ends well,
however. The book may be ranked among
the comedies of fiction.
Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trol-
lope, is the second of the eight vol-
umes comprised in his (Chronicles of
Barsetshire. ) The noteworthy success of
(The Warden) led him to continue his
studies of social life in the clerical circle
centring at the episcopal palace of Bar-
chester. He gives us a pleasant love
story evolved from an environment of
clerical squabblings, schemes of prefer-
ment, and heart-burnings over church
government and forms of service. The
notable characters are Bishop Proudie,
his arrogant and sharp-tongued wife Mrs.
Proudie, and Eleanor Bold, a typical,
spirited, loving English girl. Trollope
excels in showing the actuating motives,
good and bad, of ordinary men and
In a book as thoroughly (Eng-
lish as roast beef,” he tells a story of
every-day life, and gives us the inter-
est of intimate acquaintance with every
character. A capital sense of the Estab-
lishment” pervades the book like an at-
mosphere.
Undiscovered Country, The, by W. D.
Howells, is a favorite with many of
the author's lovers. The central figure,
Dr. Boynton, an enthusiastic spiritualist,
is an admirable study of a self-deceiver,
an honest charlatan. He is a country
doctor, who has become a monomaniac
on the subject of spiritualistic manifesta-
tions, and has brought up his daughter,
a delicate, high-strung, nervous girl, as a
medium. His attempts to take Boston
by storm end in disaster. He is branded
as a cheat, his daughter is believed to
be his confederate, and and Egeria
seek refuge in a community of Shakers,
whose quaint and kindly ways are por-
trayed with a loving pen. The peaceful
monotony of the daily life, its plain
plenty, its orderliness, its thrift, its con-
stant and unoppressive industry, the
moral uprightness of the broad-brimmed
straight-skirted community, the
strangeness of the spiritual culture which
forbids the sowing of any seeds of senti-
ment, the excellence of character which
is so perversely one-sided and ineffective
- all these conditions and effects are so
vividly reported that the reader seems
to behold with his bodily eyes the long
barns bursting with harvests, the bare
clean
of the houses, and the
homely pleasantness of every-day activ-
ity. In this islanded tranquillity Egeria
blossoms into beautiful womanhood, and
her supernatural powers vanish forever.
A happy life opens before her; but the
eyes of the poor visionary, her father,
cannot turn away from the Undiscovered
Country. Unbalanced trickster that he
is, little Dr. Boynton is yet a lovable
and pathetic figure, honestly a martyr to
his cause.
The story is told with an
unfailing humor and sympathy, which
make the Shaker settlement seem almost
a place of pilgrimage.
rooms
women.
Garth, by Julian Hawthorne, appeared
first as a serial in Harper's Maga-
zine. (1875. ) Garth Urmson, the hero,
is a member of a New Hampshire fam-
ily, upon which rests a hereditary curse.
In the seventeenth century the founder
of the family in America had violated a
sacred Indian grave. From that time
forth, the shadow of the crime rests
upon
his descendants. Garth, the last
of the race, seems to carry the weight
of all their cares and sorrows; but at th
same time he feels the dignity which
was theirs by right of many noble qual-
ities. He is a dreamer, but a lofty
dreamer. He cannot, however, escape
misfortune. His love affairs with two
women, Madge Danvers and Elinor Len-
terden, are unhappy, in so far as they
are controlled by the hereditary curse.
The novel possesses a peculiar haziness
of atmosphere. It is perhaps an imita-
tion of the elder Hawthorne's House of
the Seven Gables. )
## p. 292 (#328) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
292
an
Sforza, by William Waldorf Astor. however, is prevented by Doltaire, an
(1889. ) The scene of this novel is instrument of La Pompadour, who has
laid in Italy, at the opening of the 16th brought Moray into these straits for pur-
century. Several historic and semi-his- poses of his own: by keeping him alive,
toric characters figure in the story. The that is, Doltaire hopes to obtain papers
author has adhered truthfully to historic in Moray's possession that are of great
facts, and has set forth the intriguing importance to La Pompadour. More-
Italian civilization, with accuracy over, he suspects Moray of affection for
and attention to detail which bespeak Alixe Duvarney, whom he himself loves,
careful study of the times pictured; and and would torture his rival with the
his descriptions of costume, architecture, knowledge of his own success.
and natural scenery, are very effective. The monotony of the imprisonment is
The story deals with the history of the varied by interviews with Gabord the
wars between Ludovic Sforza and Louis jailer, “who never exceeds his orders
XII. of France. Ludovic has murdered in harshness); and by occasional visits
his nephew, the rightful Duke of Milan, from the brilliant Doltaire, or from Vau-
and reigns in his stead, keeping the ban the barber, who is the connecting
widow Isabelle and her son captive. link with Alise and her world.
Harassed by a French invasion, and by Of two attempts to escape, the first
the knowledge that he is about to be is frustrated by Doltaire; the second, a
assailed by the Venetians, Ludovic sends year later, meets with better success. Ga-
his nephew Hermes on a secret mission bord has been induced to bring Alixe
for aid to the doge of Venice. Hermes to her lover, and a marriage ceremony
succeeds, but barely escapes the Inqui- is performed by an English clergyman
sition. Bernadino, Ludovic's governor, who has been smuggled into the quar-
who is in love with Isabelle, betrays ters. That night Moray and five other
Ludovic, who is beaten and captured by prisoners make their escape, and in a
the French. Isabelle scorns Bernadino, few days succeed in reaching the Eng-
and he is assassinated in the French lish lines.
camp. Narvaez, a famous young Span- Moray's information as to the condi-
ish fencing-master, figures conspicuously tion of the city, and the pass by which
in the book, and performs many daring the Heights of Abraham may be reached,
exploits, finally turning out to be a is invaluable.
in love with Hermes. This After the battle and the capture of the
forms the very slight love motive of the city, Moray begins the search for Alise.
book. Almodoro, Ludovic's soothsayer, Accidentally he learns of the death of
who prophesies his fate, and whose en- Doltaire. He finds Alixe at last in the
couraging words are freighted with a mountains above the city, where she had
double meaning, is a prominent person- taken refuge from the persecutions of
age, and sways the duke's fortunes by Doltaire. Here she tends her wounded
his supernatural revelations and his wily father, and has for her companion Ma-
scheming The Chevalier Bayard is thilde, the poor, demented sweetheart
introduced with one of his famous feats of Vauban. The characters are all well
of arms. The excellence of the book drawn.
lies rather in detached scenes than in
the continuous narrative.
Champions of Christendom,
The, by Richard Johnson. This is a
The Seats of The Mighty, by Gilbert romance of chivalry, which was one of
Parker, (1896,) is a historical ro- the best known and most popular books
mance, of which the scene is laid in of its time. The oldest known edition
Quebec at the critical period of the war is dated 1597. In it are recounted the
between the French and English. It exploits of St. George of England, St.
is a rapid succession of exciting advent- Denis of France, St. James of Spain, St.
ures wherein figures prominent in nis- Anthony of Italy, St. Andrew of Scot-
tory play their part with the creations land, St. Patrick of Ireland, and St.
of the author.
David of Wales. St. George kills the
Captain Robert Moray, of Lord Am- dragon, and after seven years' imprison-
herst's regiment, is a hostage on parole ment escapes, marries Sabra, and takes
in Quebec. On a false charge of be- her to England. He draws the sword
ing a spy he is imprisoned.
His death, of the necromancer Ormandine from the
woman
Seven
## p. 293 (#329) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
293
or
enchanted rock, rescues David, who had
been unable to draw the sword, and
kills Ormandine. St. Denis, after an
enchantment of seven years in the shape
of a hart, rescues Eglantine from the
trunk of the mulberry-tree. St. James,
by knightly prowess, wins the love of
Celestine. St. Anthony kills the giant
Blanderon and rescues Rosalinde; but
her six sisters remain enchanted, in the
forms of swans. St. Andrew forces the
father of Rosalinde to become a Christ-
ian; and God, in recompense, restores
the daughters to their former shapes.
St. Patrick rescues the six sisters from
the hands of satyrs. The Seven Cham-
pions collect immense armies from their
native countries to attack the Saracens;
but St. George is called to England to de-
fend Sabra, who has killed the Earl of
Coventry in defense of her honor. He
defeats the champion of Coventry and
returns to Egypt with Sabra, where she
is crowned queen. Going to Persia, he
finds the other champions, under the spell
of the necromancer Osmond, devoting
themselves to the love of evil spirits,
who are in the form of beautiful wo
He breaks the spell, and the armies of
the champions defeat those of the Sar-
The second part relates the
achievements of St. George's three sons,
and the rest of the noble adventures of
the Seven Champions; also the manner
and place of their honorable deaths, and
how they came to be called the Seven
Saints of Christendom.
simultaneously reformed the political
condition, the religious creed, and the
moral practice of his countrymen. In
the place of many independent tribes,
he left a nation; for a superstitious be-
lief in gods many and lords many, he
established a reasonable belief in one al-
mighty yet beneficent Being, and taught
man to live under an abiding sense of
this Being's superintending care. He
vigorously attacked, and modified
suppressed, many gross and revolting
customs which had prevailed in Arabia
down to his time. For an abandoned
profligacy was substituted a regulated
polygamy, and the practice of destroy-
ing female infants was effectually abol-
ished. ” In the view of this historian,
Christianity and Mahometanism are the
only two really catholic religions. The
likeness in their origin and progress he
finds remarkable. And here again he
discriminates between race taints and
religious consequences. He considers
that the doctrines of Mahomet, though
at first a gospel of deliverance to the
peoples who heard them, contain matter
irreconcilable with the highest civiliza-
tion. Mahomet justified three
which the progressive world has agreed
to abandon; - despotism, slavery, polyg-
amy;- and his code was one of exclus-
ion. He condemned the unbeliever, as
such, to subjugation destruction.
After the Hegira he himself abated
much of his own ideal. Believing pro-
foundly in his mission at first, he came
in the end to seek his own advance-
ment, and degraded what should have
remained a great religious movement.
As both Goethe and Emerson have per-
ceived, SO this later biographer sees,
that “what in Mahomet's character is
earthly, increases and develops itself;
the divine retires and is obscured: his
doctrine becomes a means rather than
an end. ) The book is valuable for its
fairness of mind, though its statement
of the position of Christianity is less
judicial and liberal than its estimate of
Mahometanism.
vomen.
errors
acens.
or
Christ
hristianity and Islam; the Bible
and the Koran. Four lectures, by
Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, Prebendary of
Chichester. This book presents the esti-
mate of Mahomet's mission and its re-
sults, which seems fair to a conservative
English Churchman. It is his desire to
do justice to the teachings of the Koran,
and to make a full admission of the
inherent defects and vices of the races
over whom the influence of this code
of faith and conduct has certainly been
salutary, and even spiritualizing. That
is, he attributes to blood the evil tend-
encies and characteristics too often at-
tributed to religion. Mr. Stephens urges
the view that to his followers Mahomet
was a great benefactor. “He was born
in a country where political organization
and rational faith and pure morals were
unknown. He introduced all three. By
a single stroke of masterly genius he
A ntiquities of the Jews, The, by Fla-
vius Josephus. This work was con-
cluded in the thirteenth year of the reign
of Domitian. It was addressed especially
to the Greeks and the Gentiles; and for
this purpose the author had condescended
to acquire the Greek language, and to
adopt the «smooth periods of the pagan
## p. 294 (#330) ############################################
294
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
can
writers, held generally in contempt by a those whom he seeks to convince - the
people who believed their language sacred exponents of a loose kind of deism. »
and their law the repository of all wis. He then argues that he who denies the
dom. The well-known events of Jose- Divine authorship of the Scriptures, on
phus's life go to account for the singular account of difficulties found in them, may,
largeness of view, liberal culture, and for the same reason, deny the world to
tolerant judgment which everywhere have been created by God: for inexpli-
characterize his historic writings, and give cable difficulties are found in the course
them a liveliness of style not often found of nature; therefore no sound deist should
in lengthy national annals.
be surprised to find similar difficulties in
The Antiquities, so far as they relate the Christian religion. Further, if both
to events covered by the Bible, are hardly proceed from the same author, the won-
more than a free version of and running der would rather be, that there should
commentary on the books of the Old not be found on both the mark of the
Testament, including the Apocrypha. same hand of authorship. If man
After that the Persian, Macedonian, and follow the works of God but a little way,
Roman invasions, and the Herodian reigns, and if his world also greatly transcends
are told with varying degrees of thorough- the efforts of unassisted reason, why
ness down to Nero's twelfth year, when should not His word likewise be beyond
the uprising occurred which gave rise to man's perfect comprehension ? In no
the Jewish War in which Josephus bore sense a philosophy of religion, but an
so conspicuous a part, and which he re-
attempt rather to remove common ob-
lates in the book so named. To Chris- jections thereto, the work is necessarily
tians the most interesting passage in his narrow in scope: but within its self-imposed
writings, notwithstanding its disputed limitations the discussion is exhaustive,
authenticity, is that containing his de- dealing with such problems as a future
scription of Jesus, Chapter iii. , Book xviii. life; God's moral government; man's pro-
“Now there was about this time Jesus, bation; the doctrine of necessity; and
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a
most largely, the question of revelation.
man;. for he was a doer of wonderful To the Analogy) there are generally sub-
works, a teacher of such men as receive joined two dissertations: one on Personal
the truth with pleasure. He drew over Identity, and one on The Nature of Virtue.
to him both many of the Jews, and many
of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. A
dam, the drama, is a work of the
And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
twelfth century by an unknown au-
principal men among us, had condemned
thor. It is written in French, with the
him to the cross, those that loved him at exception of the responses and canticles,
the first did not forsake him: for he ap-
which are in Latin; and it derives its chief
peared to them alive again the third day; importance from the fact that it is the
as the divine prophets had foretold these
oldest drama in the language. It gives
and ten thousand other wonderful things
the history of the fall of Adam and the
concerning him. And the tribe of Christ. murder of Abel, followed by a procession
ians, so named from him, are not extinct of all the prophets who foretold the com-
at this day. ”
ing of the Messiah. The piece was played
This passage is twice quoted by Euse- on the public square in front of the church.
bius, and is found in all the MSS.
The platform upon which it was repre-
sented must have been backed against
the portal; for in the stage directions, the
Analogy of Religion, The, by Bishop
Joseph Butler, first appeared in 1736,
actor who takes the part of God is told
and has ever since been held in high
to return at once to the church, when-
esteem by orthodox Christians. The full
ever he leaves the stage. Some of the
title is (The Analogy of Religion, Nat-
are managed with considerable
ural and Revealed, to the Constitution
skill; and there is a good deal of clever
and Course of Nature. The argument,
character-drawing and vigorous dialogue.
which is orderly and concise, is briefly
The scene where the serpent tempts Eve
this: The author lays down three prem-
is especially noteworthy for its simplicity
ises, - the existence of God; the known
and animation.
course of nature; and the necessary limit-
A"
ations of our knowledge. These premises
braham, Studies on the Times of,
by Rev. H. G. Tomkins, with four-
enable him to take common ground with teen plates of ancient monuments and
scenes
## p. 295 (#331) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
295
cenus,
as
inscriptions. 1878. A valuable account by St. John of Damascus,- or Damas-
of the new light thrown by discoveries
he is sometimes called, -a
in Babylonia upon the far eastern world Syrian monk born about the end of the
of Abraham's time (about 2250 B. C. )- seventh century. The name of Barlaam
when the city of Ur was a great seat of and Josaphat appear in both the Greek
trade, and of worship of Sin the Moon- and Roman lists of saints. According
god, as the Father-god to whom the sun to the narrative of Damascenus, Josaphat
was a son and the evening star a daugh- was the son of a king of India brought up
ter; and of all the customs and ideas in magnificent seclusion, to the end that
familiar to Abraham before he went he might know nothing of human misery.
west » to Palestine. This is a book of Despite his father's care, the knowledge
special value for Bible study.
of sickness, poverty, and death cannot
be hidden from him: he is oppressed by
Acts of the Apostles, The (Actes des
the mystery of existence. A Christian
Apôtres'), a series of satirical pam-
hermit, Barlaam, finds his way to him
phlets directed against the French Rev-
at the risk of life, and succeeds in con-
olutionists, by Peltier, who was assisted
by several royalist writers. It is full of
verting him to Christianity. The prince
uses his influence to promote the new
witty attacks on the leaders of the Rev.
olution, and especially on the framers
faith among his people. When he has
of the constitution of '89, who are repre-
raised his kingdom to high prosperity,
he leaves it to spend the remainder of
sented as rope-dancers performing their
feats on
a very thin wire. It attacks
his days as a holy hermit.
Professor Max Müller traces a very
all new ideas, ridicules reforms of every
close connection between the legend of
kind, and boldly defends the principles
Barlaam and Josaphat, and the Indian
of the aristocracy. The work forms nine
legends of the Buddha as related in the
volumes.
Sanskrit of the Lalita Vistara. This con-
A postolic Fathers, The : Revised Texts, nection was first noticed, according to
with English Translations. By J. B. Professor Müller, by M. Laboulaye in the
Lightfoot. A collection of about twelve Journal des Débats (July 1859). A year
of the earliest Christian writings, directly later, Dr. Felix Liebrecht made an elab-
following those of the Apostles, made with orate treatment of the subject.
great care and learning by the ablest of The episodes and apologues of the ro-
recent English Biblical scholars. The mance furnished poetic material to Boc-
writings gathered into the volume repre- caccio, to Gower, to the compiler of the
sent those teachers of Christian doctrine (Gesta Romanorum,' and to Shakespeare;
who stand in the history nearest to the who is indebted to this source, through
New Testament writers, and the account Wynkyn de Worde's English translation,
of them given by Dr. Lightfoot is not for the casket incident in the Merchant
only the best for students, but it is of of Venice. ) The entire story is found in
great interest to the general reader. the (Speculum Historiale) of Vincent of
Beauvais, and in a briefer form in the
Apocryphal Gospels, and Other Docu-
(Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine.
ments relating to the History of
It has been translated into several Eu-
Christ. Translated from the originals
in Greek, Syriac, Latin, etc. , by B. H.
ropean tongues, «including Bohemian,
Polish, and Icelandic. A version in the
Cowper. A trustworthy, scholarly, and
last, executed by a Norwegian king, dates
complete collection of the writings, not
included in the New Testament, which
from 1204; in the East there were ver-
sions in Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and
sprang up in various quarters as attempts
Hebrew, at least; whilst a translation into
to recover the story of Christ. They form
a singular body of curious stories, mostly
the Tagala language of the Philippines
legendary fictions without historical value,
was printed at Manila in 1712. )
but very interesting and significant as
showing how legends could arise, what Arcadia, a pastoral romance, by Sir
Philip Sidney, was begun in 1580,
form they could take, and what ideas they
while he was in retirement at the seat
embodied.
of his brother-in-law, the Earl of Pem-
Barlaam and Josaphat, one of the broke; and published in 1590, four years
most popular of early mediæval ro- after his death. Composed with no thought
mances, is supposed to have been written of publication, but as an offering to a
## p. 296 (#332) ############################################
296
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a full account of the event or the man
for which the place is memorable.
The verse
consists of monotonous
Alexandrine couplets, seldom relieved
by any striking passages. Drayton ob-
viously takes great enjoyment in full-
sounding names of places and people,
and in references to classic authors.
There is, however, no inspiration in the
work. Even the patriotic admiration
for England, characteristic of the time,
does
not
amount to a passion with
him. Still, the whole poem is a patri-
otic attempt to glorify England in every
aspect.
>
beloved sister the Countess of Pembroke;
the Arcadia' bears the character of a work
intended for no harsher judgment than
that of love and intimacy. It seems to
have been written in a dreamy leisure,
filling the idle spaces of long summer
days, sheet after sheet passing from the
poet's hand without revision, sometimes
without completion. It is a pastoral of
the artificial order: Arcadia is in Greece;
its inhabitants are half-gods in mediæval
dress, knights and shepherds, princes and
helots; fair maidens who worship Christ
and Apollo and other people of the same
order, who never lived save in the fair
and bright imagination of a poet-soldier.
That the Arcadia) is formless and with-
out plot constitutes much of its charm.
In fairy-land there are no direct roads;
and no destinations, since it is all en-
chanted country.
There the shepherd-
boy pipes “as though he should never be
old,” in meadows (enamelled with all
sorts of eye-pleasing flowers”; there the
humble valleys » are comforted with
the «refreshing of silver rivers”); there,
there are pretty lambs” and “well-tuned
birds.
Such was the popularity of the Arca-
dia,' that, previous to the middle of the
seventeenth century, upwards of ten edi.
tions were published; a French translation
appeared in 1624. Its value is perpetual
not only as the work of a most noble and
gallant gentleman, but as the embodi-
ment of the sweetness and beauty of a
spirit forever ageless.
Polyolbion, by Michael Drayton. The
Polyolbion appeared first in 1613,
early in the reign of James I. It is a
poetical gazetteer of England, appar-
ently based on Camden's Britannia. It
contains about 100,000
verses, divided
into thirty books of uneven lengths.
Its enormous length has always kept it
from popularity, even among the read-
of the seventeenth century, who
had time and willingness to read long
books The account is based on a jour-
ney of the Muse, which takes her up
and down the various rivers of England;
and throughout, all the countries, mount-
ains, rivers, cities, towns, and fields are
described in full, as well as the birds
and beasts that inhabit them. At ap-
propriate points, such battle-fields,
landing-places of great men, homes of
poets, and graves of heroes, the Muse
pauses long enough to give the reader
1
a
a
Le eviathan, by Thomas Hobbes. In this
treatise, published in English in
1651, and in Latin in 1668, the author's
principles in psychology, ethics, and poli-
tics are developed with remarkable logi-
cal power. There is constantly within
us the image of things outside us; and
the representation of the qualities of
these entities is what we name “con-
cept, «imagination,” or “knowledge. ”
Sensation engenders all our thoughts,
and intelligence is only the faculty of
noting sensations. Our general ideas are
but conventional signs. Sensation, which
is the matter of the understanding, be-
comes also the motive force of the will.
It gives birth to pleasure and pain,
and consequently to appetite and aver-
sion. Appetite, applied to a particular
object, is called desire; to
a present
object, love. Beauty and ugliness are
names for the apparent and probable
signs of good and evil. Beauty, good-
ness, and pleasure, the same as ugliness,
evil, and pain, are but different names,
different modes of the same thing. En-
joyment being the sole object of the
appetites, and suffering that of the aver-
sions, every man is a limit, an obsta-
cle for every other man, and hence his
enemy. The state of nature, therefore,
can only be a state of war and an-
archy. Then Hobbes develops his the-
ory of absolutism, which forms the most
celebrated of his speculations. He con-
ceives anarchy not as an accident, a
transitory disorder, but as the normal
state of humanity. But men soon see
that it is their interest to issue from
a condition destructive of all security.
Hence the social contract, by which
each pledges himself to each and all
to sacrifice all of his natural right that is
necessary for peace. Thus society is
ers
as
## p. 297 (#333) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
297
man.
a work of pure convention, dictated by trivances for his comfort: how he builds
selfishness and fear. But society cannot him a habitation, procures food to sus-
be constituted except by an absolute tain life, and makes a raft by which
sovereign. This sovereign must neces- means he gets to the shipwrecked ves-
sarily have all power, legislative and ex- sel, and succeeds in getting many arti-
ecutive, judicial and spiritual; for any cles that are of use to him. An exciting
separation of powers would restore the incident in the story is when, after
state of nature, the state of war. Fi- eighteen years of solitude, he comes
nally, monarchy is the logical form of across the imprint of a human foot in
this sovereignty, which is absolute both the sand, and in consequence of this
in its objects and its attributes; for discovery is thrown into a state of ter-
monarchy is the farthest removed from ror and consternation. He lives for a
the primitive anarchy, and is the best long time in great suspense, as he finds
defense against the struggles and rival- evidence that the island is visited by
ries of the state of nature. Religion cannibals; but it is not until six years
is the offspring of the imagination and later that he encounters them. On this
of fear. Its phantoms may be the crea-
occasion one of their victims escapes,
tion of the individual imagination, and and Crusoe saves his life and keeps him
then it is called superstition, or of the for a servant and companion. He names
collective imagination, and then it is him Friday, and teaches him civilized
true religion and a means of peace and ways. He proves honest, devoted, and
government. Hobbes gave his work reliable, and shares Crusoe's life and
the odd title of Leviathan,' because he duties until, a few years later, they are
saw in political society an artificial body, rescued and taken from the island on
a sort of imaginary animal larger than an English ship. Crusoe eventually re-
The Leviathan is the artificial turns to England, where he marries and
man organized for the protection of the settles down to enjoy the wealth that
natural man. Hobbes's ethical theory he has accumulated during his strange
had an immense influence on the pro- adventures. The first volume ended at
gress of English speculation for over a this point, and met with such remark-
hundred years, but this influence arose able success that the author, four months
chiefly from the criticism and opposi- later, brought out a second volume en-
tion which it called forth. The prin- titled, “The Farther Adventures of Rob-
ciples of the Leviathan) were in the inson Crusoe); and this in turn
main adopted by Spinoza, and some of followed, one year later, by a third re-
his ideas have found favor with the lating his (Serious Reflections) during
philosophical radicals the present cen- his wanderings. The simplicity of style,
tury. His acute psychological analyses and the realistic atmosphere which per-
have been the subject of appreciative vades the narrative, have caused the
comment by James Mill and the As- popularity of this book to remain unim-
sociationist school. Hobbes's style is
paired.
remarkable for its clearness and vigor.
Baron Trenck, Life of, published 1787,
Rºbinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. is the autobiography of Baron Fried-
(1719. ) This world-famous tale of rich von Trenck, whose life was a succes-
atventure is supposed to have been sug-
sion of adventures scarcely less marvelous
gested by the real experience of Alex- than the romantic and highly colored ac-
ander Selkirk, who was shipwrecked and count he gives of them. He entered the
lived for years on a desert island. Rob-
Prussian service while still a mere boy,
inson Crusoe, a young Englishman, goes
and stood high in Frederic the Great's
to sea in his youth, is captured by the favor, until, through his love affair with
corsairs, is shipwrecked and washed the King's sister, he incurred the royal
ashore on an uninhabited island, for- displeasure, which caused his first impris-
merly supposed to have been in the onment, the beginning of no end of
Pacific, but recently satisfactorily identi-
misfortunes: loss of property, numerous
fied with Tabago in the Caribbean Sea. imprisonments and attempts at escape,
The narrative consists of a careful de- dangerous wounds, and perils of all kinds.
scription of his adventures and experi- These are all most graphically described
ences during the twenty-eight years of
in a manner that reminds one of Mun-
his exile. It tells of his ingenious con- chausen's marvelous tales. The anecdotes
was
a
## p. 298 (#334) ############################################
298
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
was
sove
Nero, by
at
interspersed give, whether true or false, The novelist, however, softens the his.
a vivid picture of the turbulent condition torian's verdict by bestowing in the last
of court life at the time of Frederic the scene a semblance of manhood and cour-
Great and Maria Theresa, under whom age upon the fallen Emperor. Nero is
Baron Trenck later served. His restless at bay, with the faithful Acte, Epaphro-
adventurous temperament led him to Paris, ditus, and Phaon by his side. To the
when the Revolution was in full swing; soldiers who come to arrest him he says:
he was there accused of being a secret
Announce to the Senate my supreme
emissary of foreign powers, and was be- contempt. I hold the knaves, who while
headed by Robespierre's order in July
I
vereign slavishly licked my
1794.
aristocrat chooses to persecute her with time Toussaint, a negro slave on the
his unwelcome attentions. His mother, Breda estate, remained faithful to the
Madame Marceau, — more just than her whites, and entered the service of the al-
worldly-minded employer, if not
lies of the French king as against the
kind, and really grateful for what she re- Convention. The struggle between loy-
gards as the escape of her son,-offers alty to the royalist cause and duty to
as
career
more
## p. 288 (#324) ############################################
288
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
his race, when he learns of the decree
of the Convention proclaiming the lib-
erty of the negroes, ends by his taking
the leadership of the blacks; and from
this point the story follows the course
of history through dramatic successes to
the pathetic ending of this remarkable
life. The novel is a vivid page of his-
tory.
Joshua Davidson, Christian and Com.
munist, The TRUE HISTORY OF, by
E. Lynn Linton. (Final edition (6th),
1874. ) The name of the hero of this
story is meant to be read “Jesus Da-
vid's Son”; the word "Jesus” being the
old Hebrew word "Joshua, changed by
Greek usage.
The idea of the writer
was to picture a man of to-day, a man
of the people, repeating under altered
circumstances the life of Jesus, and set-
ting the world a Christ-example. The
work was planned on the theory that
"pure Christianity, as taught by Christ
himself, leads us inevitably to com-
munism”; and with this view the hero
of the story, who begins as a Cornish
carpenter, is carried to Paris, to lose
his life in the Communard insurrection.
He is represented as “a man working
on the Christ plan, and that alone; deal-
ing with humanity by pity and love
and tolerance,” living the life of the
crucified Communist of Galilee. ) The
question raised by the author is, “Which
is true: modern society, earnest for the
dogma of Christianity, and rabid against
its acted doctrines, or the brotherhood
and communism taught by the Jewish
carpenter of Nazareth ? » Not only are
the views thus indicated extreme, but the
execution of the conception, in a hasty
sketch, altogether fails to adequately
reproduce the understood character and
life of Christ.
Downfall, The ('La Débâcle”), (1892. ) a
powerful novel of the Franco-Prus-
sian war, by Émile Zola. It portrays with
strength and boldness, on a remarkable
breadth of canvas, the incidents of that
great campaign. Intermingled with the
passions of war are the passions of love;
the whole forms a pageant rarely sur-
passed in fiction. The principal charac-
ters are Jean Macquart, a corporal in the
French army, who had fought at Solferino;
Maurice Levasseur, a young lawyer en-
listed as a private in Macquart's command;
Delaherche, chief cloth manufacturer of
Sedan; Henriette Weiss, sister of Maurice,
and wife of an accountant; Honoré Fou-
chard, quartermaster-sergeant; and Sil-
vine, Honoré's betrothed, who has been
betrayed by one Goliah, on whom she
later takes terrible vengeance. The story
is concerned chiefly with the friendship
of Macquart and Levasseur, and the love
of Macquart and Henriette, who is left a
widow during the siege of Sedan. This
terrible siege forms the dramatic centre
of the story. The book ends tragically
with the death of Maurice Levasseur by
the hand of Macquart, who had bayo-
neted him not knowing that it was his
friend. With this shadow between them,
Jean and Henriette feel that they must
part. "Jean, bearing his heavy burden
of affliction with humble resignation, went
his way, his face set resolutely toward
the future, toward the glorious and ardu-
ous task that lay before him and his
countrymen. - to create a new France. ”
Assommoir, L, by Émile Zola, entitled
(Gervaise) in the English transla-
tion, was published in 1877, and forms
one of the series dealing with the fortunes
of the Rougon-Macquart family. The
chief figure, Gervaise, a daughter of this
family driven from home when fourteen,
and already a mother, goes with her lover
to Paris. There he deserts her and her
two children. She afterwards marries a
tinsmith, Coupeau. The beginning of
their wedded life is prosperous; but as
the years go on, vice and poverty disin-
tegrate what might have been a family
into mere units of misery, wretchedness,
and corruption. Zola traces their down-
fall in the pitiless and intimate fashion
characteristic of him, and not difficult
with characters created to be analyzed.
The book is a series of repulsive pict-
ures unrelieved by one gleam of a nobler
humanity, but only “realistic as scraps:
the life as a possible whole is as purely
imaginative as if it were lovely instead
of loathsome.
She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver
Goldsmith. This admirable comedy
was first produced in 1773, and is said
to have been founded on an incident in
the author's own life. Young Marlow,
who is of a very diffident disposition, on
his way to see Kate Hardcastle whom
his father designs for him as a wife, is
directed to Squire Hardcastle's house, as
an inn, by Tony Lumpkin, the squire's
stepson. With Marlow is Hastings, a
suitor to Constance Neville, whom Mrs.
## p. 289 (#325) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
289
(c
an
Hardcastle designs for her son Tony. In Part ii. , Buckthorne, ex-poor-devil.
They meet Kate and Constance, but author and actor, become a comfortable
Marlow's timidity prevents him from country squire, narrates the ups and
looking them in the face. Meeting Kate downs of his varied career.
later, in her housewife's dress, he takes Part iii. is a succession of adventures
her for a barmaid and loses his timidity, with Italian banditti, recounted by a
representing himself as “the agreeable group of travelers gathered in an inn
Mr. Rattle, the ladies' favorite; and at Tarracina. Among them is a pretty
laughs at Miss Hardcastle as a mere Venetian bride who shudders to hear of
awkward, squinting thing. ” The excesses the wild horde infesting the Apennines,
of Marlow's servants force Hardcastle to always ready to attack and rob defense-
remonstrate; a quarrel ensues in which less parties, and carry them off in the
Marlow asks for his bill. Hardcastle hope of extorting ransom. Another and
tells him he is much disappointed in his more incredulous listener is a young
old friend's son, and leaves him. Mar- Englishman, whom the bride dislikes for
low calls the “barmaid," and learns his insensibility. The next day he is
what a «dullissimo macaroni» he has taught a practical lesson in the existence
made of himself. She allows him to be- of brigands; and by rescuing the fair
lieve she is a poor relation, and as such Venetian from their hands, reverses her
he woos and wins her.
opinion of him.
Tony agrees to help Hastings to elope In Part iv. , Irving collects the roman-
with Constance. He receives a letter, tic legends concerning Captain Kidd and
saying Hastings is ready with a coach; his fellow buccaneers, and the treasure
but not being able to read it, gives it they are supposed to have secreted in
to his mother, who discovers the plot. the neighborhood of Hellgate. There
Tony, however, learning that he has are other legends too, involving the com-
been of age for three months, refuses to pact with the Devil, which tradition has
marry her, and she is thus allowed to made inevitable condition of the
keep her dowry and her lover. In drill- securing of illegal gains. All these varied
ing his servants receive Marlow, scenes of England, Italy, and America,
Hardcastle tells them they must not Irving presents in happy incidental
laugh at his stories. «Then, ecod, your touches which never clog the action with
worship must not tell the story of the description, yet leave a vivid picture
ould grouse in the gun-room: we have with the reader.
laughed at that these twenty years. ”
And mother grouse in the sun-room” has Marble Faun, The, by Nathaniel Haw-
proverbial for an old story.
thorne () last
complete romance by the author, and
Tales of a Traveller, by Washington was thought by him to be his best. It
Irving, (1824. ) is a delightful medley was composed carefully and maturely,
of humorous and tragic elements. The Hawthorne not having written anything
genial humorist himself declares them to for seven years; and appeared simulta-
be (moral tales, with the moral «dis- neously in Boston and London under
guised as much as possible by sweets different titles. The original name pro-
and spices. ” Sometimes sportive, abound- posed was (The Transformation of the
ing in mockery which although keen Faun,' shortened by the English pub-
is never bitter, they are again weirdly lisher into “Transformation,' and changed
grotesque or horrible, like the work of in America by Hawthorne to (The Mar-
Poe or Hoffmann. Always they have the ble Faun. ) The scene is laid in Rome;
individual flavor and easy grace charac- the chief characters, four in number, are
teristic of Irving. The volume is divided introduced together in the first chapter:
into four parts.
Kenyon, an American sculptor; Hilda
In the first, a nervous gentleman and and Miriam, art students; and Count
his friends, guests of a jovial fox-hunting Donatello, Italian friend. Hilda,
baronet in his (ancient rook-haunted blonde and gentle, with New England
mansion,” become reminiscent of family training and almost Puritanic feeling,
ghost-stories and vie with each other in is beloved by Kenyon. Miriam, dark and
wild romances, the actors in which can- passionate, is admired by Donatello.
not rest, but frighten would-be sleepers An accidental resemblance of Donatello
from their former haunts.
to the famous Faun of Praxiteles is
XXX—19
to
an
## p. 290 (#326) ############################################
290
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
used by the author to picture a corre-
sponding human character, - beautiful,
but heedless and morally unconscious,
until brought into contact with sin and
suffering. This transformation” is oc-
casioned by the persecution of Miriam
by a mysterious person, accidentally en-
countered in the Catacombs, who there.
after attaches himself to her, haunts her,
and dogs her footsteps. He finally in-
trudes himself upon her during a moon-
light excursion to the Capitoline Hill;
when Donatello, enraged beyond endur-
ance and encouraged by a glance from
Miriam, grasps him and flings him from
the Tarpeian rock to his death. From
that instant Miriam and Donatello be-
come linked together by their guilty
secret; and the happy, heedless, faun-
like Donatello becomes the remorseful,
conscience-stricken man. Hilda, mean-
while, is involved in the catastrophe.
She has seen the deed committed, and is
overwhelmed; she can neither keep nor
betray her terrible secret, and breaking
down under the weight of its oppression,
the Puritan maiden seeks the bosom
of the Roman Church and pours out
her secret at the confessional. In the
end Donatello gives himself up to just-
ice, Hilda and Kenyon are married, and
the unhappy Miriam disappears. The
underlying interest of the book rests in
the searching analysis of the effect of
the murder upon the characters of those
involved in the deed. Donatello is
awakened from a blissfully immature
unconsciousness of the world into
stern realization of crime, and its con-
sequences, remorse and suffering; while
Hilda is crushed with a sense of the
wickedness which has been thrust upon
her innocent vision. Incidentally the
book is filled with the spirit of Rome
and with Roman sights and impressions,
which have made it the inseparable
manual of every sojourner in the “Eter-
nal City”; to each and all of whom is
pointed out “Hilda's tower, where she
kept the legendary lamp burning before
the shrine, and fed the doves, until the
day when another's crime drove her
from her maiden refuge.
Twice-Tola Tales, by Natnaniel Haw-
thorne. (First series, 1837; second
series, 1847. ) The (Twice-Told Tales)
took their title from the fact of their
previous publication in various annuals
and magazines. The book was favor-
ably noticed, although the quality of the
author's genius was not then widely ap-
preciated. The tales are national in
character, and the themes are chosen
from among the many quaint and inter-
esting traditions of New England. Told
with a felicity and repose of manner
that has not been surpassed in our litera-
ture, they reveal a power of imagination,
a knowledge of the obscurer motives of
human nature, and a spiritual insight,
which marked a distinct epoch in Amer-
ican literature. The second series of
(Twice-Told Tales) begins with the
four (Legends of the Province House,' -
tales which, especially characteristic of
the author's genius, at once added to the
romantic glamour which surrounds the
Boston of Revolutionary days. Through-
out, the “Tales) are characterized by
Hawthorne's beauty of style, – smooth,
musical, poetical.
He looks upon all
things with the spirit of love and with
lively sympathies; for to him external
form is but the representation of internal
being, all things having life, an end, an
aim. The sketch entitled (A Rill from
the Town Pump) is perhaps the most
famous in the collection, which contains
here and there themes and suggestions
that Hawthorne later elaborated in his
longer stories; notably the picture of a
beautiful woman wearing an embroi-
dered “A” upon her breast, who aftor-
wards reappears in (The Scarlet Letter. "
(The Great Carbuncle) was especially
admired by Longfellow, who commends
its poetic beauty. The Tales) have
often a sombre tone, a fateful sense of
gloom, weird and sometimes almost un-
canny: but they possess an irresistible
fascination. Among those best known
are (The Gray Champion, (The Gentle
Boy,' and the Wedding Knell. "
a
A'
urelian, a historical novel by William
Ware, an American author born in
1797, was first published in 1838 under the
title Probus. It was a sequel to Let-
ters of Lucius M. Piso, published the year
before; and like that novel, it is writ-
ten in the form of letters. The full title
reads (Aurelian; or, Rome in the third
century. In Letters of Lucius M. Piso,
from Rome, to Fausta, the daughter of
Gracchus at Palmyra. ? The novel pre-
sents a singularly faithful picture of the
Rome of the second half of the third
century, and of the intellectual and spir-
itual life of the time as expressed in both
## p. 291 (#327) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
291
Christians and pagans. The Emperor Au-
relian figures prominently in the story,
which closes with the scene of his assas-
sination. The style of Aurelian' is dig-
nified and graceful, with enough of the
classical spirit to meet the requirements
of the narrative.
Accomplished Gentleman, An, by Jul-
ian Russell Sturgis, was published
in 1879. It is a good example of the well-
written, readable novel. The scene is laid
in modern Venice, where a colony of Eng-
lish and Italians gives material for the
characters. The gentleman of accom-
plishments is Mr. Hugo Deane, a kind
of fashionable Casaubon, engaged upon a
monumental work, the history of Venice.
In the interests of this work he sacrifices
his first wife, and is willing to sacrifice the
happiness of his daughter Cynthia, be-
loved by Philip Lamond. All ends well,
however. The book may be ranked among
the comedies of fiction.
Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trol-
lope, is the second of the eight vol-
umes comprised in his (Chronicles of
Barsetshire. ) The noteworthy success of
(The Warden) led him to continue his
studies of social life in the clerical circle
centring at the episcopal palace of Bar-
chester. He gives us a pleasant love
story evolved from an environment of
clerical squabblings, schemes of prefer-
ment, and heart-burnings over church
government and forms of service. The
notable characters are Bishop Proudie,
his arrogant and sharp-tongued wife Mrs.
Proudie, and Eleanor Bold, a typical,
spirited, loving English girl. Trollope
excels in showing the actuating motives,
good and bad, of ordinary men and
In a book as thoroughly (Eng-
lish as roast beef,” he tells a story of
every-day life, and gives us the inter-
est of intimate acquaintance with every
character. A capital sense of the Estab-
lishment” pervades the book like an at-
mosphere.
Undiscovered Country, The, by W. D.
Howells, is a favorite with many of
the author's lovers. The central figure,
Dr. Boynton, an enthusiastic spiritualist,
is an admirable study of a self-deceiver,
an honest charlatan. He is a country
doctor, who has become a monomaniac
on the subject of spiritualistic manifesta-
tions, and has brought up his daughter,
a delicate, high-strung, nervous girl, as a
medium. His attempts to take Boston
by storm end in disaster. He is branded
as a cheat, his daughter is believed to
be his confederate, and and Egeria
seek refuge in a community of Shakers,
whose quaint and kindly ways are por-
trayed with a loving pen. The peaceful
monotony of the daily life, its plain
plenty, its orderliness, its thrift, its con-
stant and unoppressive industry, the
moral uprightness of the broad-brimmed
straight-skirted community, the
strangeness of the spiritual culture which
forbids the sowing of any seeds of senti-
ment, the excellence of character which
is so perversely one-sided and ineffective
- all these conditions and effects are so
vividly reported that the reader seems
to behold with his bodily eyes the long
barns bursting with harvests, the bare
clean
of the houses, and the
homely pleasantness of every-day activ-
ity. In this islanded tranquillity Egeria
blossoms into beautiful womanhood, and
her supernatural powers vanish forever.
A happy life opens before her; but the
eyes of the poor visionary, her father,
cannot turn away from the Undiscovered
Country. Unbalanced trickster that he
is, little Dr. Boynton is yet a lovable
and pathetic figure, honestly a martyr to
his cause.
The story is told with an
unfailing humor and sympathy, which
make the Shaker settlement seem almost
a place of pilgrimage.
rooms
women.
Garth, by Julian Hawthorne, appeared
first as a serial in Harper's Maga-
zine. (1875. ) Garth Urmson, the hero,
is a member of a New Hampshire fam-
ily, upon which rests a hereditary curse.
In the seventeenth century the founder
of the family in America had violated a
sacred Indian grave. From that time
forth, the shadow of the crime rests
upon
his descendants. Garth, the last
of the race, seems to carry the weight
of all their cares and sorrows; but at th
same time he feels the dignity which
was theirs by right of many noble qual-
ities. He is a dreamer, but a lofty
dreamer. He cannot, however, escape
misfortune. His love affairs with two
women, Madge Danvers and Elinor Len-
terden, are unhappy, in so far as they
are controlled by the hereditary curse.
The novel possesses a peculiar haziness
of atmosphere. It is perhaps an imita-
tion of the elder Hawthorne's House of
the Seven Gables. )
## p. 292 (#328) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
292
an
Sforza, by William Waldorf Astor. however, is prevented by Doltaire, an
(1889. ) The scene of this novel is instrument of La Pompadour, who has
laid in Italy, at the opening of the 16th brought Moray into these straits for pur-
century. Several historic and semi-his- poses of his own: by keeping him alive,
toric characters figure in the story. The that is, Doltaire hopes to obtain papers
author has adhered truthfully to historic in Moray's possession that are of great
facts, and has set forth the intriguing importance to La Pompadour. More-
Italian civilization, with accuracy over, he suspects Moray of affection for
and attention to detail which bespeak Alixe Duvarney, whom he himself loves,
careful study of the times pictured; and and would torture his rival with the
his descriptions of costume, architecture, knowledge of his own success.
and natural scenery, are very effective. The monotony of the imprisonment is
The story deals with the history of the varied by interviews with Gabord the
wars between Ludovic Sforza and Louis jailer, “who never exceeds his orders
XII. of France. Ludovic has murdered in harshness); and by occasional visits
his nephew, the rightful Duke of Milan, from the brilliant Doltaire, or from Vau-
and reigns in his stead, keeping the ban the barber, who is the connecting
widow Isabelle and her son captive. link with Alise and her world.
Harassed by a French invasion, and by Of two attempts to escape, the first
the knowledge that he is about to be is frustrated by Doltaire; the second, a
assailed by the Venetians, Ludovic sends year later, meets with better success. Ga-
his nephew Hermes on a secret mission bord has been induced to bring Alixe
for aid to the doge of Venice. Hermes to her lover, and a marriage ceremony
succeeds, but barely escapes the Inqui- is performed by an English clergyman
sition. Bernadino, Ludovic's governor, who has been smuggled into the quar-
who is in love with Isabelle, betrays ters. That night Moray and five other
Ludovic, who is beaten and captured by prisoners make their escape, and in a
the French. Isabelle scorns Bernadino, few days succeed in reaching the Eng-
and he is assassinated in the French lish lines.
camp. Narvaez, a famous young Span- Moray's information as to the condi-
ish fencing-master, figures conspicuously tion of the city, and the pass by which
in the book, and performs many daring the Heights of Abraham may be reached,
exploits, finally turning out to be a is invaluable.
in love with Hermes. This After the battle and the capture of the
forms the very slight love motive of the city, Moray begins the search for Alise.
book. Almodoro, Ludovic's soothsayer, Accidentally he learns of the death of
who prophesies his fate, and whose en- Doltaire. He finds Alixe at last in the
couraging words are freighted with a mountains above the city, where she had
double meaning, is a prominent person- taken refuge from the persecutions of
age, and sways the duke's fortunes by Doltaire. Here she tends her wounded
his supernatural revelations and his wily father, and has for her companion Ma-
scheming The Chevalier Bayard is thilde, the poor, demented sweetheart
introduced with one of his famous feats of Vauban. The characters are all well
of arms. The excellence of the book drawn.
lies rather in detached scenes than in
the continuous narrative.
Champions of Christendom,
The, by Richard Johnson. This is a
The Seats of The Mighty, by Gilbert romance of chivalry, which was one of
Parker, (1896,) is a historical ro- the best known and most popular books
mance, of which the scene is laid in of its time. The oldest known edition
Quebec at the critical period of the war is dated 1597. In it are recounted the
between the French and English. It exploits of St. George of England, St.
is a rapid succession of exciting advent- Denis of France, St. James of Spain, St.
ures wherein figures prominent in nis- Anthony of Italy, St. Andrew of Scot-
tory play their part with the creations land, St. Patrick of Ireland, and St.
of the author.
David of Wales. St. George kills the
Captain Robert Moray, of Lord Am- dragon, and after seven years' imprison-
herst's regiment, is a hostage on parole ment escapes, marries Sabra, and takes
in Quebec. On a false charge of be- her to England. He draws the sword
ing a spy he is imprisoned.
His death, of the necromancer Ormandine from the
woman
Seven
## p. 293 (#329) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
293
or
enchanted rock, rescues David, who had
been unable to draw the sword, and
kills Ormandine. St. Denis, after an
enchantment of seven years in the shape
of a hart, rescues Eglantine from the
trunk of the mulberry-tree. St. James,
by knightly prowess, wins the love of
Celestine. St. Anthony kills the giant
Blanderon and rescues Rosalinde; but
her six sisters remain enchanted, in the
forms of swans. St. Andrew forces the
father of Rosalinde to become a Christ-
ian; and God, in recompense, restores
the daughters to their former shapes.
St. Patrick rescues the six sisters from
the hands of satyrs. The Seven Cham-
pions collect immense armies from their
native countries to attack the Saracens;
but St. George is called to England to de-
fend Sabra, who has killed the Earl of
Coventry in defense of her honor. He
defeats the champion of Coventry and
returns to Egypt with Sabra, where she
is crowned queen. Going to Persia, he
finds the other champions, under the spell
of the necromancer Osmond, devoting
themselves to the love of evil spirits,
who are in the form of beautiful wo
He breaks the spell, and the armies of
the champions defeat those of the Sar-
The second part relates the
achievements of St. George's three sons,
and the rest of the noble adventures of
the Seven Champions; also the manner
and place of their honorable deaths, and
how they came to be called the Seven
Saints of Christendom.
simultaneously reformed the political
condition, the religious creed, and the
moral practice of his countrymen. In
the place of many independent tribes,
he left a nation; for a superstitious be-
lief in gods many and lords many, he
established a reasonable belief in one al-
mighty yet beneficent Being, and taught
man to live under an abiding sense of
this Being's superintending care. He
vigorously attacked, and modified
suppressed, many gross and revolting
customs which had prevailed in Arabia
down to his time. For an abandoned
profligacy was substituted a regulated
polygamy, and the practice of destroy-
ing female infants was effectually abol-
ished. ” In the view of this historian,
Christianity and Mahometanism are the
only two really catholic religions. The
likeness in their origin and progress he
finds remarkable. And here again he
discriminates between race taints and
religious consequences. He considers
that the doctrines of Mahomet, though
at first a gospel of deliverance to the
peoples who heard them, contain matter
irreconcilable with the highest civiliza-
tion. Mahomet justified three
which the progressive world has agreed
to abandon; - despotism, slavery, polyg-
amy;- and his code was one of exclus-
ion. He condemned the unbeliever, as
such, to subjugation destruction.
After the Hegira he himself abated
much of his own ideal. Believing pro-
foundly in his mission at first, he came
in the end to seek his own advance-
ment, and degraded what should have
remained a great religious movement.
As both Goethe and Emerson have per-
ceived, SO this later biographer sees,
that “what in Mahomet's character is
earthly, increases and develops itself;
the divine retires and is obscured: his
doctrine becomes a means rather than
an end. ) The book is valuable for its
fairness of mind, though its statement
of the position of Christianity is less
judicial and liberal than its estimate of
Mahometanism.
vomen.
errors
acens.
or
Christ
hristianity and Islam; the Bible
and the Koran. Four lectures, by
Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, Prebendary of
Chichester. This book presents the esti-
mate of Mahomet's mission and its re-
sults, which seems fair to a conservative
English Churchman. It is his desire to
do justice to the teachings of the Koran,
and to make a full admission of the
inherent defects and vices of the races
over whom the influence of this code
of faith and conduct has certainly been
salutary, and even spiritualizing. That
is, he attributes to blood the evil tend-
encies and characteristics too often at-
tributed to religion. Mr. Stephens urges
the view that to his followers Mahomet
was a great benefactor. “He was born
in a country where political organization
and rational faith and pure morals were
unknown. He introduced all three. By
a single stroke of masterly genius he
A ntiquities of the Jews, The, by Fla-
vius Josephus. This work was con-
cluded in the thirteenth year of the reign
of Domitian. It was addressed especially
to the Greeks and the Gentiles; and for
this purpose the author had condescended
to acquire the Greek language, and to
adopt the «smooth periods of the pagan
## p. 294 (#330) ############################################
294
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
can
writers, held generally in contempt by a those whom he seeks to convince - the
people who believed their language sacred exponents of a loose kind of deism. »
and their law the repository of all wis. He then argues that he who denies the
dom. The well-known events of Jose- Divine authorship of the Scriptures, on
phus's life go to account for the singular account of difficulties found in them, may,
largeness of view, liberal culture, and for the same reason, deny the world to
tolerant judgment which everywhere have been created by God: for inexpli-
characterize his historic writings, and give cable difficulties are found in the course
them a liveliness of style not often found of nature; therefore no sound deist should
in lengthy national annals.
be surprised to find similar difficulties in
The Antiquities, so far as they relate the Christian religion. Further, if both
to events covered by the Bible, are hardly proceed from the same author, the won-
more than a free version of and running der would rather be, that there should
commentary on the books of the Old not be found on both the mark of the
Testament, including the Apocrypha. same hand of authorship. If man
After that the Persian, Macedonian, and follow the works of God but a little way,
Roman invasions, and the Herodian reigns, and if his world also greatly transcends
are told with varying degrees of thorough- the efforts of unassisted reason, why
ness down to Nero's twelfth year, when should not His word likewise be beyond
the uprising occurred which gave rise to man's perfect comprehension ? In no
the Jewish War in which Josephus bore sense a philosophy of religion, but an
so conspicuous a part, and which he re-
attempt rather to remove common ob-
lates in the book so named. To Chris- jections thereto, the work is necessarily
tians the most interesting passage in his narrow in scope: but within its self-imposed
writings, notwithstanding its disputed limitations the discussion is exhaustive,
authenticity, is that containing his de- dealing with such problems as a future
scription of Jesus, Chapter iii. , Book xviii. life; God's moral government; man's pro-
“Now there was about this time Jesus, bation; the doctrine of necessity; and
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a
most largely, the question of revelation.
man;. for he was a doer of wonderful To the Analogy) there are generally sub-
works, a teacher of such men as receive joined two dissertations: one on Personal
the truth with pleasure. He drew over Identity, and one on The Nature of Virtue.
to him both many of the Jews, and many
of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. A
dam, the drama, is a work of the
And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
twelfth century by an unknown au-
principal men among us, had condemned
thor. It is written in French, with the
him to the cross, those that loved him at exception of the responses and canticles,
the first did not forsake him: for he ap-
which are in Latin; and it derives its chief
peared to them alive again the third day; importance from the fact that it is the
as the divine prophets had foretold these
oldest drama in the language. It gives
and ten thousand other wonderful things
the history of the fall of Adam and the
concerning him. And the tribe of Christ. murder of Abel, followed by a procession
ians, so named from him, are not extinct of all the prophets who foretold the com-
at this day. ”
ing of the Messiah. The piece was played
This passage is twice quoted by Euse- on the public square in front of the church.
bius, and is found in all the MSS.
The platform upon which it was repre-
sented must have been backed against
the portal; for in the stage directions, the
Analogy of Religion, The, by Bishop
Joseph Butler, first appeared in 1736,
actor who takes the part of God is told
and has ever since been held in high
to return at once to the church, when-
esteem by orthodox Christians. The full
ever he leaves the stage. Some of the
title is (The Analogy of Religion, Nat-
are managed with considerable
ural and Revealed, to the Constitution
skill; and there is a good deal of clever
and Course of Nature. The argument,
character-drawing and vigorous dialogue.
which is orderly and concise, is briefly
The scene where the serpent tempts Eve
this: The author lays down three prem-
is especially noteworthy for its simplicity
ises, - the existence of God; the known
and animation.
course of nature; and the necessary limit-
A"
ations of our knowledge. These premises
braham, Studies on the Times of,
by Rev. H. G. Tomkins, with four-
enable him to take common ground with teen plates of ancient monuments and
scenes
## p. 295 (#331) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
295
cenus,
as
inscriptions. 1878. A valuable account by St. John of Damascus,- or Damas-
of the new light thrown by discoveries
he is sometimes called, -a
in Babylonia upon the far eastern world Syrian monk born about the end of the
of Abraham's time (about 2250 B. C. )- seventh century. The name of Barlaam
when the city of Ur was a great seat of and Josaphat appear in both the Greek
trade, and of worship of Sin the Moon- and Roman lists of saints. According
god, as the Father-god to whom the sun to the narrative of Damascenus, Josaphat
was a son and the evening star a daugh- was the son of a king of India brought up
ter; and of all the customs and ideas in magnificent seclusion, to the end that
familiar to Abraham before he went he might know nothing of human misery.
west » to Palestine. This is a book of Despite his father's care, the knowledge
special value for Bible study.
of sickness, poverty, and death cannot
be hidden from him: he is oppressed by
Acts of the Apostles, The (Actes des
the mystery of existence. A Christian
Apôtres'), a series of satirical pam-
hermit, Barlaam, finds his way to him
phlets directed against the French Rev-
at the risk of life, and succeeds in con-
olutionists, by Peltier, who was assisted
by several royalist writers. It is full of
verting him to Christianity. The prince
uses his influence to promote the new
witty attacks on the leaders of the Rev.
olution, and especially on the framers
faith among his people. When he has
of the constitution of '89, who are repre-
raised his kingdom to high prosperity,
he leaves it to spend the remainder of
sented as rope-dancers performing their
feats on
a very thin wire. It attacks
his days as a holy hermit.
Professor Max Müller traces a very
all new ideas, ridicules reforms of every
close connection between the legend of
kind, and boldly defends the principles
Barlaam and Josaphat, and the Indian
of the aristocracy. The work forms nine
legends of the Buddha as related in the
volumes.
Sanskrit of the Lalita Vistara. This con-
A postolic Fathers, The : Revised Texts, nection was first noticed, according to
with English Translations. By J. B. Professor Müller, by M. Laboulaye in the
Lightfoot. A collection of about twelve Journal des Débats (July 1859). A year
of the earliest Christian writings, directly later, Dr. Felix Liebrecht made an elab-
following those of the Apostles, made with orate treatment of the subject.
great care and learning by the ablest of The episodes and apologues of the ro-
recent English Biblical scholars. The mance furnished poetic material to Boc-
writings gathered into the volume repre- caccio, to Gower, to the compiler of the
sent those teachers of Christian doctrine (Gesta Romanorum,' and to Shakespeare;
who stand in the history nearest to the who is indebted to this source, through
New Testament writers, and the account Wynkyn de Worde's English translation,
of them given by Dr. Lightfoot is not for the casket incident in the Merchant
only the best for students, but it is of of Venice. ) The entire story is found in
great interest to the general reader. the (Speculum Historiale) of Vincent of
Beauvais, and in a briefer form in the
Apocryphal Gospels, and Other Docu-
(Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine.
ments relating to the History of
It has been translated into several Eu-
Christ. Translated from the originals
in Greek, Syriac, Latin, etc. , by B. H.
ropean tongues, «including Bohemian,
Polish, and Icelandic. A version in the
Cowper. A trustworthy, scholarly, and
last, executed by a Norwegian king, dates
complete collection of the writings, not
included in the New Testament, which
from 1204; in the East there were ver-
sions in Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and
sprang up in various quarters as attempts
Hebrew, at least; whilst a translation into
to recover the story of Christ. They form
a singular body of curious stories, mostly
the Tagala language of the Philippines
legendary fictions without historical value,
was printed at Manila in 1712. )
but very interesting and significant as
showing how legends could arise, what Arcadia, a pastoral romance, by Sir
Philip Sidney, was begun in 1580,
form they could take, and what ideas they
while he was in retirement at the seat
embodied.
of his brother-in-law, the Earl of Pem-
Barlaam and Josaphat, one of the broke; and published in 1590, four years
most popular of early mediæval ro- after his death. Composed with no thought
mances, is supposed to have been written of publication, but as an offering to a
## p. 296 (#332) ############################################
296
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a full account of the event or the man
for which the place is memorable.
The verse
consists of monotonous
Alexandrine couplets, seldom relieved
by any striking passages. Drayton ob-
viously takes great enjoyment in full-
sounding names of places and people,
and in references to classic authors.
There is, however, no inspiration in the
work. Even the patriotic admiration
for England, characteristic of the time,
does
not
amount to a passion with
him. Still, the whole poem is a patri-
otic attempt to glorify England in every
aspect.
>
beloved sister the Countess of Pembroke;
the Arcadia' bears the character of a work
intended for no harsher judgment than
that of love and intimacy. It seems to
have been written in a dreamy leisure,
filling the idle spaces of long summer
days, sheet after sheet passing from the
poet's hand without revision, sometimes
without completion. It is a pastoral of
the artificial order: Arcadia is in Greece;
its inhabitants are half-gods in mediæval
dress, knights and shepherds, princes and
helots; fair maidens who worship Christ
and Apollo and other people of the same
order, who never lived save in the fair
and bright imagination of a poet-soldier.
That the Arcadia) is formless and with-
out plot constitutes much of its charm.
In fairy-land there are no direct roads;
and no destinations, since it is all en-
chanted country.
There the shepherd-
boy pipes “as though he should never be
old,” in meadows (enamelled with all
sorts of eye-pleasing flowers”; there the
humble valleys » are comforted with
the «refreshing of silver rivers”); there,
there are pretty lambs” and “well-tuned
birds.
Such was the popularity of the Arca-
dia,' that, previous to the middle of the
seventeenth century, upwards of ten edi.
tions were published; a French translation
appeared in 1624. Its value is perpetual
not only as the work of a most noble and
gallant gentleman, but as the embodi-
ment of the sweetness and beauty of a
spirit forever ageless.
Polyolbion, by Michael Drayton. The
Polyolbion appeared first in 1613,
early in the reign of James I. It is a
poetical gazetteer of England, appar-
ently based on Camden's Britannia. It
contains about 100,000
verses, divided
into thirty books of uneven lengths.
Its enormous length has always kept it
from popularity, even among the read-
of the seventeenth century, who
had time and willingness to read long
books The account is based on a jour-
ney of the Muse, which takes her up
and down the various rivers of England;
and throughout, all the countries, mount-
ains, rivers, cities, towns, and fields are
described in full, as well as the birds
and beasts that inhabit them. At ap-
propriate points, such battle-fields,
landing-places of great men, homes of
poets, and graves of heroes, the Muse
pauses long enough to give the reader
1
a
a
Le eviathan, by Thomas Hobbes. In this
treatise, published in English in
1651, and in Latin in 1668, the author's
principles in psychology, ethics, and poli-
tics are developed with remarkable logi-
cal power. There is constantly within
us the image of things outside us; and
the representation of the qualities of
these entities is what we name “con-
cept, «imagination,” or “knowledge. ”
Sensation engenders all our thoughts,
and intelligence is only the faculty of
noting sensations. Our general ideas are
but conventional signs. Sensation, which
is the matter of the understanding, be-
comes also the motive force of the will.
It gives birth to pleasure and pain,
and consequently to appetite and aver-
sion. Appetite, applied to a particular
object, is called desire; to
a present
object, love. Beauty and ugliness are
names for the apparent and probable
signs of good and evil. Beauty, good-
ness, and pleasure, the same as ugliness,
evil, and pain, are but different names,
different modes of the same thing. En-
joyment being the sole object of the
appetites, and suffering that of the aver-
sions, every man is a limit, an obsta-
cle for every other man, and hence his
enemy. The state of nature, therefore,
can only be a state of war and an-
archy. Then Hobbes develops his the-
ory of absolutism, which forms the most
celebrated of his speculations. He con-
ceives anarchy not as an accident, a
transitory disorder, but as the normal
state of humanity. But men soon see
that it is their interest to issue from
a condition destructive of all security.
Hence the social contract, by which
each pledges himself to each and all
to sacrifice all of his natural right that is
necessary for peace. Thus society is
ers
as
## p. 297 (#333) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
297
man.
a work of pure convention, dictated by trivances for his comfort: how he builds
selfishness and fear. But society cannot him a habitation, procures food to sus-
be constituted except by an absolute tain life, and makes a raft by which
sovereign. This sovereign must neces- means he gets to the shipwrecked ves-
sarily have all power, legislative and ex- sel, and succeeds in getting many arti-
ecutive, judicial and spiritual; for any cles that are of use to him. An exciting
separation of powers would restore the incident in the story is when, after
state of nature, the state of war. Fi- eighteen years of solitude, he comes
nally, monarchy is the logical form of across the imprint of a human foot in
this sovereignty, which is absolute both the sand, and in consequence of this
in its objects and its attributes; for discovery is thrown into a state of ter-
monarchy is the farthest removed from ror and consternation. He lives for a
the primitive anarchy, and is the best long time in great suspense, as he finds
defense against the struggles and rival- evidence that the island is visited by
ries of the state of nature. Religion cannibals; but it is not until six years
is the offspring of the imagination and later that he encounters them. On this
of fear. Its phantoms may be the crea-
occasion one of their victims escapes,
tion of the individual imagination, and and Crusoe saves his life and keeps him
then it is called superstition, or of the for a servant and companion. He names
collective imagination, and then it is him Friday, and teaches him civilized
true religion and a means of peace and ways. He proves honest, devoted, and
government. Hobbes gave his work reliable, and shares Crusoe's life and
the odd title of Leviathan,' because he duties until, a few years later, they are
saw in political society an artificial body, rescued and taken from the island on
a sort of imaginary animal larger than an English ship. Crusoe eventually re-
The Leviathan is the artificial turns to England, where he marries and
man organized for the protection of the settles down to enjoy the wealth that
natural man. Hobbes's ethical theory he has accumulated during his strange
had an immense influence on the pro- adventures. The first volume ended at
gress of English speculation for over a this point, and met with such remark-
hundred years, but this influence arose able success that the author, four months
chiefly from the criticism and opposi- later, brought out a second volume en-
tion which it called forth. The prin- titled, “The Farther Adventures of Rob-
ciples of the Leviathan) were in the inson Crusoe); and this in turn
main adopted by Spinoza, and some of followed, one year later, by a third re-
his ideas have found favor with the lating his (Serious Reflections) during
philosophical radicals the present cen- his wanderings. The simplicity of style,
tury. His acute psychological analyses and the realistic atmosphere which per-
have been the subject of appreciative vades the narrative, have caused the
comment by James Mill and the As- popularity of this book to remain unim-
sociationist school. Hobbes's style is
paired.
remarkable for its clearness and vigor.
Baron Trenck, Life of, published 1787,
Rºbinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. is the autobiography of Baron Fried-
(1719. ) This world-famous tale of rich von Trenck, whose life was a succes-
atventure is supposed to have been sug-
sion of adventures scarcely less marvelous
gested by the real experience of Alex- than the romantic and highly colored ac-
ander Selkirk, who was shipwrecked and count he gives of them. He entered the
lived for years on a desert island. Rob-
Prussian service while still a mere boy,
inson Crusoe, a young Englishman, goes
and stood high in Frederic the Great's
to sea in his youth, is captured by the favor, until, through his love affair with
corsairs, is shipwrecked and washed the King's sister, he incurred the royal
ashore on an uninhabited island, for- displeasure, which caused his first impris-
merly supposed to have been in the onment, the beginning of no end of
Pacific, but recently satisfactorily identi-
misfortunes: loss of property, numerous
fied with Tabago in the Caribbean Sea. imprisonments and attempts at escape,
The narrative consists of a careful de- dangerous wounds, and perils of all kinds.
scription of his adventures and experi- These are all most graphically described
ences during the twenty-eight years of
in a manner that reminds one of Mun-
his exile. It tells of his ingenious con- chausen's marvelous tales. The anecdotes
was
a
## p. 298 (#334) ############################################
298
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
was
sove
Nero, by
at
interspersed give, whether true or false, The novelist, however, softens the his.
a vivid picture of the turbulent condition torian's verdict by bestowing in the last
of court life at the time of Frederic the scene a semblance of manhood and cour-
Great and Maria Theresa, under whom age upon the fallen Emperor. Nero is
Baron Trenck later served. His restless at bay, with the faithful Acte, Epaphro-
adventurous temperament led him to Paris, ditus, and Phaon by his side. To the
when the Revolution was in full swing; soldiers who come to arrest him he says:
he was there accused of being a secret
Announce to the Senate my supreme
emissary of foreign powers, and was be- contempt. I hold the knaves, who while
headed by Robespierre's order in July
I
vereign slavishly licked my
1794.
