No More Learning

of his departed mother. This estimable The fortunes of the Laird of Ellan-
matron held that “the education of the gowan, Godfrey Bertram, are
ne.
idea
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now on


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46
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
the ebb, and he has hardly money to spoilt by a weak fussy father, lives alone
keep up the estate. His troubles are with him. Her married sister's brother-
increased when his son Harry, at the in-law, Mr. Knightley, is a frequent vis-
age of five, is spirited away.
No one
itor at their house; as is Mrs. Weston,
can learn whether the child is dead or Emma's former governess. Mr. Knightley
alive, and the shock at once kills Mrs. is a quiet, sensible English gentleman,
Bertram. After some years the father the only one who tells Emma her faults.
himself dies, leaving his penniless daugh- Finding life dull, Emma makes friends
ter Lucy to the care of Dominie Samp- with Harriet Smith, an amiable, weak-
son, an old teacher and a devoted friend minded young girl, and tries to arrange a
of the family. When things are at match between her and Mr. Elton, the
their worst for Lucy Bertram, Guy Man- clergyman, but fails. Frank Churchill -
nering, returning to England after many Mrs. Weston's stepson - arrives in the
years' military service in India, hears village, pays marked attention to Emma,
accidentally of the straits to which she and supplies the town with gayety and
is reduced. He at once invites her and gossip. Shortly after his departure, a let-
Dominie Sampson to make their home ter brings the news of his rich aunt's
with him and his daughter Julia. He death, and his own secret engagement to
has leased a fine estate, and Dominie Jane Fairfax, a beautiful girl in High-
Sampson rejoices in the great collection bury. Emma suspects Harriet of being
of books to which Colonel Mannering in love with Mr. Churchill, but discovers
gives him free access. In India Julia that she cherishes instead a hidden affec-
had formed an attachment for Vanbeest tion for Mr. Knightley. The disclosure
Brown, a young officer, against whom her fills Emma with alarm, and she realizes
father feels a strong prejudice. Captain for the first time that no one but herself
Brown has followed the Mannerings to must marry him. Fortunately he has
England; and to make a long story short, long loved her; and the story ends with
is proved in the end to be the long-lost her marriage to him, that of Harriet to
Harry Bertram, and Lucy's brother. The Mr. Martin, her rejected lover, and of
abduction had been accomplished with Jane to Frank Churchill.
the connivance of Meg Merrilies, a gipsy The gradual evolution of her better
of striking aspect and six feet tall; of self in Emma, and her unconscious admi-
Frank Kennedy, a smuggler; Dirk Hat- ration for Mr. Knightley's quiet strength
teraick, a Dutch sea-captain, also con- of character, changing from admiration
cerned in smuggling; and of Gilbert to love as she herself grows, is exceed-
Glossin, once agent for the Laird of El- ingly interesting. Chief among the other
langowan.
Glossin had aimed to get characters are Mr. Woodhouse, a nervous
possession of the laird's property, and invalid with a permanent fear of colds,
finally succeeded; but after the discov- and a taste for thin gruel; and talkative
ery of his crime, he dies a violent death Miss Bates, who fits from one topic of
in prison.
conversation to another like a distracted
All told, there are fewer than twoscore butterfly. Less brilliant than (Pride and
characters in (Guy Mannering,' and the Prejudice,! (Emma) is equally rich in hu-
plot is not very complicated. Meg Mer- mor, in the vivid portraiture of character,
rilies, and Dominie Sampson the uncouth, and a never-ending delight in human
honest pedant, are the only great crea- absurdities, which the fascinated reader
tions.
shares from chapter to chapter. It was
published in 1816, when Jane Austen was
by Jane Austen. The story of forty-one.
(Emma) is perhaps one of the sim-
plest in all fiction, but the genius of Miss
Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life,
Austen manifests itself throughout. All by “Christopher North” (Professor
her books show keen insight into human John Wilson, author of Noctes Ambro-
nature; but in 'Emma' the characters are sianæ'). First published in 1822 in
so true to life, and the descriptions so book form, and dedicated to Sir Walter
vivid, that for the time one positively lives Scott. The stories deal with the deep-
in the village of Highbury, the scene of est and the simplest passions of the soul,
the tale. At the opening of the story, - such themes as the love of man and
Emma Woodhouse, the heroine, hand- maid, of brother and sister, of husband
some, clever, and rich,) and somewhat
and wife; death, loyal-heartedness, and
(
>
Emma,


## p. 47 (#83) ##############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
47
betrayal; of the Lily of Liddesdale (the A reconciliation is brought about, and
shepherdess lassie), and how she over- a short time after Gertrude's return to
came the temptation to be false to her the castle the Earl dies and she is made
manly farmer lover and marry a lord; rich. Colonel Delmour then renews his
of the reconciliation of two brothers over love-making, and becomes her accepted
their father's grave; of the death in lover in London. After their return to
childbirth of a beautiful wife; of the Scotland, a vulgar man, who has pre-
reconcilement of a deserted betrothed viously had secret interviews with Mrs.
girl to her lover by the girl's friend, St. Clair to obtain money, comes boldly
who was herself on the morrow about to forward and claims to be Gertrude's
become his bride. The tales resemble father. From this point the interest of
a little Hawthorne's (Twice-Told Tales,' the story lies in the development of
but a good deal more the recent beauti- character in Gertrude and her lovers,
ful Scottish stories of the (Bonnie Briar and the way in which they face what
Bush) and Margaret Ogilvy) variety, seems an irremediable misfortune. The
though devoid of the Scotch dialect of characters are drawn with humor, the
these latter. Artless tales they are, full descriptions are true to nature, and there
of tenderest emotion and pathos, deal- are several original situations in the
ing with lowly but honest family life. book; as for instance the arrival at the
A little of the melodramatic order, with castle of Miss Pratt, a gossiping old
just a suspicion of a taste for scarlet spinster, in a hearse drawn by eight
and the luxury of tears (as in the story horses, in which she has sought shelter
of Little Nell in Dickens), and written from a snow-storm.
in a florid high-flown diction. Yet ad-
mirably wholesome reading, especially Destiny, by Susan Edmonston Ferrier.
This story, published in 1831, is the
for young people, who have always pas-
sionately loved them and cried
last and best of the three novels by the
over
Scotch authoress. The scene of action
them. They give also fine pictures of
Scotch rural scenery,- mountain, heath,
is the Highlands, and fashionable Lon-
don society in the first part of the nine-
river, snow-storm, the deep-mossed cot-
tage with its garden of tulips and roses,
teenth century. Written in a clear, bright
the lark overhead, and within, the little
style, in spite of its length it is inter-
esting throughout. Its tone is serious,
pale-faced dying daughter. Such a story
as (Moss-Side) gives as sweet and quiet
but the gravity is brightened by a de-
a picture as Burns's (Cotter's Saturday
lightful humor, which reveals both the
ludicrous and the sad side of a narrow-
Night.
minded and conventional society. The
reader laughs at the arrogant and haughty
Inheritance, The, by Susan Edmon-
ston Ferrier. (1824. ) The scenes of
chief Glenroy, growing more childishly
obstinate and bigoted as he grows older,
this interesting novel are laid in Scot-
and at 'his echo and retainer Benbowie;
land and England, and the story deals
at the self-sufficient and uncouth pastor
with the gentry of both.
Some years
M’Dow; and at the supercilious Lady
before the opening of the story, Mrs.
Elizabeth, who thinks herself always
St. Clair, an ambitious woman, has taken
the child of a servant to bring up as
recherchée.
The plot involves constant changes in
her own.
After the death of her hus-
the lot of the characters, the moral be-
band, Mrs. St. Clair and her supposed
daughter Gertrude, a charming girl, go
ing that no man can escape his destiny.
Somewhat old-fashioned, and much too
to his brother's castle in Scotland, of
long, the book is still agreeable reading.
whose estates Gertrude is to become the
heiress. Her two cousins, Edward Lynd: Doctor, The, a ponderous romance by
their
Southey, appeared
uncle, well as Mr. Delmour, the mously in 1834, though Vols. vi. and vii.
Colonel's sedate brother. Lord Rossville were not published until after his death
wishes his niece Gertrude to marry Mr. in 1847. It records the observations, phi-
Delmour, but she loves his handsome losophizing, and experiences of a quaint
brother and refuses. Upon this the Earl physician, Dr. Love, of Doncaster, who,
sends Gertrude and her mother from the with his faithful horse «Nobbs,» travels
castle, and the Colonel shows his true the country over and ministers to the
character by withdrawing his addresses. needs of
While little read in
as
men.


## p. 48 (#84) ##############################################

48
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Rory
present days, it has generally received
the moderate praise of scholars. In form
it is a peculiar medley of essay, colloquy,
and criticism, lacking coherence; a vast
accumulation of curious erudition, medi-
tative wisdom, and somewhat labored
humor. Southey manifested much pride
in the book, from whose pure English,
freshness of innovation, and brilliant
though mechanical diorama of thought,
he expected a larger meed of praise than
has ever been accorded it, by either crit-
ics or the public.
O’More, by Samuel Lover. (1836. )
In 1797, De Lacy, an officer of the
French army, volunteered in the interest
of universal liberty to investigate the
prevalence of revolutionary tendencies
in England and Ireland. Falling sick
in the house of a well-to-do Irish peas-
ant, Rory O'More, he found his host
the soul of wit, honor, and hospitality.
Rory, undertaking the delicate mission
of forwarding De Lacy's dispatches, fell
in with a band of insurgents, who,
though calling themselves United Irish-
men, desired the reign of license rather
than the freedom of Ireland. One of
their number, Shan Regan, was Rory's
sworn enemy, having been rejected by
his sister; and through this feud the
hero met with unpleasant adventures, in
which his quickness of resource served
him well. At last, however, chivalrously
defending an unpopular collector from
Shan's ruffians, Rory was secretly shipped
to France with the man whom he had
befriended. Rumor spread that he had
killed the collector, and absconded; and
on his return a year later, Rory was con-
fronted with the charge of murder. The
opportune reappearance of his supposed
victim on the very day of O'More's trial
alone saved him from the halter. Mean-
while, a rebellion in Ireland had been
crushed; and the unhappy people, dis-
appointed in expected aid from France,
lost hope of independence. Rory with
his impoverished household, and the dis-
heartened enthusiast De Lacy, hopefully
turned their faces towards America. In
spite of its stilted style and improbable
incidents, this story is valuable in its
delineation of Irish character, and in
its picture of the Irish uprisings at the
close of the last century.
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. was
published in 1838. This story shows
in vivid colors the miseries of the pau-
per's home where the inmates are robbed
and starved, while the dead are hurried
into unhonored graves; the haunts of
villains and thieves, where the wretched
poor are purposely made criminals by
those who have sinned past hope; and
one wrong-doing is used to force the vic-
tim deeper in vice. With such lives are
interwoven those of a better sort, show-
ing how men and women in all grades
have power on others for good or ill.
Oliver Twist - So called because the
workhouse master had just then reached
the letter «T) in naming the waifs —
was born in the poorhouse, where his
mother's wanderings ceased
forever.
When the hungry lad asked for more
of the too thin gruel he was whipped.
Bound out to work, he runs away from
this slavery and goes to London. The
Artful Dodger takes the starving lad to
the den of Fagin the Jew, the pick-
pocket's school. But he will not steal.
He finds a home. He is kidnapped, and
forced to be again with the bad ones,
and to act as helper to Sykes the rob-
ber in house-breaking. Nancy's womanly
heart, bad though her life may be,
works to set him free. Once more good
people shelter him, rescuing him without
assistance of the Bow Street officers, who
make brave talk. The kind old scholar,
Mr. Brownlow, is the good genius who
opens before him a way to liberty and a
life suited to his nature. The excitable
country doctor deceives the police, and
saves Oliver for an honest career. The
eccentric Mr. Grimwig should not be
overlooked. The mystery of his mother's
fate is solved, and he finds a sister. Al-
though the innocent and less guilty suf-
fer, the conscious wrongdoers are, after
much scheming and actual sin, made to
give back the stolen, repair — if such can
be the evil done, and pay the penalty
of transgression. They bring ruin on
their own heads. There are about twenty
prominent characters, each the type of
its kind, in this life-drama; separate
scenes of which we may, as it were, read
in our daily papers, so real are they.
The author says that as romance had
made vice to shine with pleasures, so
his purpose was to show crime in its
repulsive truth.
Mary Barton, by Elizabeth Cleghorn
Gaskell (1848) is a forcible tale of
Manchester, at the time when the manu-
facturing districts suffered the terrible


## p. 49 (#85) ##############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
49
a
distress that reached its height in 1842.
It deals with the saddest and most terri.
ble side of factory life.
John Barton, the father of Mary, is a
weaver, an honest man, possessing more
than the usual amount of intelligence
of his class. When the story opens, he
has plenty of work and high wages,
which he spends to the last penny with
no thought of the possible «rainy day. ”
Suddenly his master fails, and he feels
the effect of his improvidence. His wife
and little son die from the want of or-
dinary necessaries, and Mary alone is
left to him.
Mary's beauty has attracted the atten-
tion of young Mr. Carson, the son of a
wealthy mill-owner. Meanwhile she is
deeply loved by Jem Nilson, a man of
her own class. In the distress of this
time it is decided to send a petition to
Parliament. John Barton is chosen one
of the delegates to present it. The fail-
ure of the petition embitters him so
that he becomes a Chartist. He further
increases his morbid feelings by the use
of opium to deaden the pangs of hun-
ger. Young Mr. Carson has indulged
in satires against the delegates, which
unfortunately reach their ears and rouse
their anger. They resolve on his assas-
sination and determine the instrument
by lot, which falls to John Barton. Sus-
picious circumstances lead to the appre-
hension of Jem Nilson. Mary suspects
the truth, and determines to rescue her
lover without exposing her father. At
the trial Jem learns for the first time
of Mary's love for him. John Barton
disappears without rousing suspicion,
and Jem is cleared through his ability
to prove an alibi.
The story ends with
Barton's return to his home, and his
death after a confession of his guilt.
The chief interest of Mary Barton) lies
in the touching simplicity of the descrip-
tions of daily life among the artisan
class. Their graphic power brings the
reader into a vital sympathy with the life
and scenes described. Some of the sad
pictures of those toiling, suffering peo-
ple are presented with intense pathos.
Lavengro: The Scholar, Girsy, Priest.
Romany Rye (Sequel to Lavengro).
By George Borrow. These books com-
prise a tale of loosely connected advent-
ures introducing romantic, grotesque, and
exciting episodes, and interwoven with
reflections on the moral and religious
condition of the world, with a large
intermixture of mystic and philosophic
lore. They suggest Le Sage's story;
and like the (Gil Blas,' the characters
are drawn largely from Spanish sources.
Gipsy life and legends form a kind of
background to the writer's reflections on
the men and morals of his time. The
author, born in East Dereham, Norfolk,
England, 1803, had been employed in
1840-50 as an agent of the British and
Foreign Bible Society in distributing
Bibles in the mountainous districts of
Spain, and had met with hardships and
rough usage which helped to embitter his
feelings toward the Roman Catholic reli-
gion, at the same time that they afforded
him glimpses of the simple life of the
lower classes, and especially an acquaint-
ance with the Gipsy tribe-life, which had
a peculiar charm for him. “Lavengro »
is depicted as a dreamy youth follow-
ing the fortunes of his father, who is in
military service. His visits are divided
between the Gipsy camp, the Romany
chal,” and the “parlor of the Anglo-
German philosopher. ” The title «Ro-
many Rye” [Gipsy Gentleman] is in-
troduced in the verse of a song, “The
Gipsy Gentleman, sung in Chapter liv.
of Lavengro:-
" Here the Gipsy gemman see,
With his Kernan jib and his rome and dree;
Rome and dree, rum and dry,
Rally round the Romany Rye. "
The song is sung by Mr. Petulengro, )
the author's favorite Gipsy character.
The hero's trials of mind and faith are
depicted, when, at the age of nineteen,
he is cast upon the world in London to
make his living as a hack author. Meet-
ing with success with one of his books,
he leaves London to roam abroad, and
becomes in turn tinker, gipsy, postilion,
and hostler; but ever preserves the self-
respect of the poor gentleman and the
scholar in disguise. His object in writ-
ing is to show the goodness of God, and
to reveal the plots of popery; he shows
much contempt for the pope, whom he
calls Mumbo-Jumbo,” and for all his
ceremonies. He would encourage char-
ity, free and genial manners, the ex-
posure of the humbugs of “gentility,”
and the appreciation of genuine worth
of character in whatever social station.
The titles «Scholar, Gipsy, Priest,” are
not successive characters assumed by the
author, but stand for these various types
of humanity. A marked feature of these
XXX-4


## p. 50 (#86) ##############################################

50
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
books is their use of elaborate fables for which reveals the real woman: and a
moral instruction, Such are those of touching interview follows, in which the
the Rich Gentleman) and the Magic courted actress begs the simple young
Touch,' the Old Applewoman,' and wife to be her friend. Then comes
(Peter William, the Missionary. ?
The on the scene Sir Charles Pomander, in
author had previously published (Gip- amorous pursuit of Mabel; closely fol-
sies in Spain) in 1841, and The Bible lowed by her husband, whom Triplet has
in Spain) in 1844,- works possessing summoned to the rescue. A reconcilia-
the same lively interest as the later tion between the married pair results,
novels.
and Sir Charles retires discomfited.
Woffington takes an affectionate leave
Peg Woffington, Charles Reade's first of the Vanes, who soon return to their
novel, was published in 1852, when Shropshire home and domestic bliss;
he was thirty-eight. This charming while the noble-hearted Peg, after a few
story of eighteenth-century manners has years more of stage triumphs, retires
been dramatized under the title Masks before her bloom has faded, to a life
and Faces. ) It opens in the green-room in the country, and there ends her days,
of Covent Garden, where the Irish act- (the Bible in her hand, the Cross in
ress, Margaret Woffington, in the hey- her heart; quiet; amidst grass and flow-
day of her fame and beauty, tricks the ers, and charitable deeds. ”
entire dramatic company, including Col-
ley Cibber the famous playwright and
Henry Esmond.
This splendid ro-
comedian, by personating the great mance, published in 1752, is one of
tragic actress Mrs. Brạcegirdle. At the the most important of Thackeray's novels.
same time she achieves the conquest
It is a
romance of the time of Queen
of a wealthy and accomplished Shrop- Anne, and purports to be told by the
shire gentleman, Ernest Vane, who is hero in the years of rest after the storm
presented to her by a London fop, Sir and stress of a checkered life. It is writ-
Charles Pomander. Vane besieges her ten after the manner of the time, which
with flowers and verses until he arouses gives it a pleasant flavor of quaintness.
the jealousy of Sir Charles, who is also The hero, a boy of noble character, is
her admirer. In the midst of a ban- the true heir to the Castlewood estate,
quet which Mr. Vane is giving in honor but is supposed to be illegitimate, and
of the actress, his lovely country bride grows up as a dependent in the home
appears unexpectedly upon the scene. of his second cousin, the titular vis-
Peg Woffington, who had believed Vane count, where he is treated with kindness
to be a single man and her loyal and affection. The family consists of
suitor, hides her grief and resentment the young and lovely Lady Castlewood;
under a guise of mockery; but the in- a son, Francis, and a beautiful daugh-
nocent young wife faints away on find- ter, Beatrix. Lord Castlewood neglects
ing out how she has been betrayed. his wife, and exposes her to the unwel.
Woffington next appears in the garret come attentions of Lord Mohun, with
of a poor
scrub author and scene- whom he subsequently fights a duel, in
painter, James Triplet, whom she has which he is killed. Without justifica-
befriended by sitting to him for her tion, Lady Castlewood holds Esmond
portrait.
Here, after fooling a party responsible for the duel.
Having
of her theatrical comrades and would- learned that he is legally heir to Castle-
be art critics, who have come to abuse wood, he is constrained by gratitude to
the picture, by the ingenious device of conceal the knowledge, and goes off to
cutting out the painted face and insert-
the wars.
Returning to England on fur-
ing her own in the aperture, she prac- lough, he is received with great affec-
tices the same trick upon Mabel Vane, tion, and immediately falls in love with
Ernest's wife, who has sought refuge Beatrix, whom he wooes unavailingly
with Triplet from the persecutions of Sir for ten years. The brilliant beauty be-
Charles Pomander. Mabel, seeing the comes engaged to the Duke of Hamil-
image of her rival, pours forth to it a ton, but he is killed in a duel. Esmond,
pathetic appeal that Peg will not rob a devoted Jacobite, brings the Pretender
her of her only treasure, her husband's to England in readiness to
succeed
heart; when to her dismay, she per- Queen Anne, who is dying; but the
ceives a tear upon the portrait's face, Prince lays siege to the fair Beatrix


## p. 51 (#87) ##############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
51
instead of the throne. This wrecks the loved as the beautiful and coquettish
project; and Henry, now discovering his Beatrix Esmond. He is deep in debt,
purposes, crosses swords with him. The and has promised to marry an elderly
Pretender then returns to Paris, where cousin, when he is rescued from his
Beatrix joins him.
folly by the arrival of his shrewd and
Henry now discovers that his very generous brother George. George re-
long attachment for Beatrix has given sumes his heirship, and Harry is no
place to a tender affection for her longer a prey for cupidity. In the story
mother, notwithstanding her eight years of their subsequent adventures, the ex-
of superior age.
This is the weakest position of social baseness and hypocrisy
point in the novel, but the author man- would be grewsome if it were not for
ages it skillfully. The attachment being the kindly humor which mollifies the
mutual, no obstacle appears to their satire.
marriage. Frank is left in possession of
the estate, while Esmond and his bride Tom Brown's School Days, the finest
to
and stories
Virginia; where their subsequent for- depicting English public-school life, was
tunes form the theme of “The Virgin- written by Thomas Hughes, and pub-
ians. ”
lished in 1857, when the author was a
young barrister of three-and-thirty. It
Virginians, The, by William Make- leaped at once into a deserved popular-
peace Thackeray (1859), is a sequel ity it has never lost. Tom is a typical
to (Henry Esmond,' and revives a past middle-class lad, with the distinctive
society with the same brilliant skill. British virtues of pluck, honesty, and the
The chivalric Colonel Esmond, dear to love of fair play. The story portrays his
readers of the earlier novel, goes to life from the moment he enters the lowest
Virginia after his marriage with Lady form of the great school, a homesick,
Castlewood, and there builds a country- timid lad, who has to fag for the older
seat, which he names Castlewood in boys and has his full share of the rough
remembrance of his family's ancestral treatment which obtained in the Rugby
home in England. In the American of his day, to the time when he has
Castlewood his twin grandsons developed into a big, brawny fellow, the
reared by their widowed mother, Ma- head of the school, a football hero, and
dame Rachel Warrington, that sharp- ready to pass on to Oxford, - another
tongued colonial dame so kind and gen- story being devoted to his experiences
to her favorites, so bitter and there. A faithful, lifelike, and most en-
unjust to who oppose her. She is tertaining picture of the Rugby of Dr.
a loving but tyrannical mother; and Arnold is given; its social habits, meth-
after the Colonel's death, exercises auto- ods of teaching, its sports, beliefs, and
cratic rule over the Castlewood domain. ideals. The wide influence of that great
Among her frequent visitors is young man is sketched with hearty apprecia-
Colonel Washington, a brave, attractive tion; and in another figure — that of the
figure, with fame yet to win.
gentle, high-charactered lad Arthur-one
Virginian life in
in pre-Revolutionary may recognize Dean Stanley in his stu-
days is made very real to the reader; dent days. Individual scenes, like the
and is clearly distinguished from the bullying of Tom when he is green in the
English life upon which young Harry school, the football match, and the boat
Warrington ent after hi brother's race, will always cling in memory for
supposed death in a disastrous campaign their graphic lines and fullness of life.
of the French and Indian War, upon An honester, manlier story was
which he has accompanied Colonel written, for the author had been through
Washington. The lavish and generous it all, - the novel is by an old boy,” the
young Virginian is at first repelled by title-page declares; moreover, it teaches,
the cold courtesy and selfish thrift of his by the contagion of example, those ster-
Old World cousins. But his fortune ling virile virtues which have made the
soon wins him favor; and, too simple to English one of the great dominant races
detect mercenary motives, he plunges of civilization. To read (Tom Brown)
into social dissipation under the direc- is to have an exhilarating sense of the
tion of Baroness Bernstein, anti- vigorous young manhood of that nation,
quated egotist, whom his grandfather had its joy in fruitful activity.
are
erous
never
in


## p. 52 (#88) ##############################################

52
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
master-
Moonstone, The, by Wilkie Collins few pounds in his pocket (and unlimited
(1868), is one of the best examples credit at his bankers'), unincumbered by
of the author's general purpose to mys- letters of introduction or social fetters.
tify the reader. At the storming of Se- His adventures, which are in keeping with
ringapatam, a holy city of India, by the his personality, extend over a few years,
British in 1799, a certain John Hern- varied by periodical returns to his fam-
castle possessed himself, by the massa- ily and reappearances in society; where
cre of its keepers, of a large and pecul- he is courted for his wealth, his gentle
iar diamond known as the moonstone. birth, and his eccentricities. The culmi-
With his dying breath, one of the Brah- nation of his fortunes is reached in an
mins cursed the Englishman, declaring unfortunate love affair with Lily Mor-
that the diamond would bring disaster daunt, a spirituelle creature, half child,
and misfortune to its unlawful possessors. half woman, a “human poem,” who dies
The story treats of the mysterious dis- broken-hearted when a cruel fate sepa-
appearance of the stone, bequeathed by rates her from her lover.
Herncastle to his niece, Miss Verinder, (Kenelm Chillingly) is less the life
and of the tragedy that ensued before of a man than the prelude to a life; a
the guilty persons could be with cer- preface of dreams, of disappointments,
tainty apprehended. The closing lines of disillusionments, before the realities
of the story find the moonstone once begin. He himself epitomizes his future
again in India, fixed as formerly in the and his past, when he says to his father,
forehead of an idol.
in their last recorded interview, “We
must- at whatever cost to ourselves -
Kenelm
enelm Chillingly, His ADVENTURES we must go through the romance of life
AND OPINIONS, by Edward Bulwer before we clearly detect what is grand
Lytton (Lord Lytton). (1873. ) This, one in its possibilities”; and again, My
of Bulwer's artistic novels of English choice is made: not that of deserter, but
life, is considered by many a
that of soldier in the ranks. »
piece, and is certainly one of his most Round him are grouped many inter-
popular works.
Kenelm Chillingly is esting characters,— Sir Peter and Lady
the long-desired heir of an old family, Caroline, his father and mother; his
who develops symptoms of remarkable cousin, Gordon Chillingly, the ambitious
precocity, to the anxiety of his parents politician; Chillingly Mivers, the caustic
and teachers. After leaving school, he is editor of The Londoner; the reformed
given an insight into London society, bully, Tom Bowles; the pretty village
and enters Cambridge with matured belle, Jessie Somers, and her crippled
opinions and judgment, graduating with husband; Cecilia Travers, who remains
honors. Coming of age in the early part faithful to her unreciprocated attachment
of the nineteenth century, —
,-a time of
for Kenelm; Mr. Welby, the polished
unwonted progress, of unsettlement of man of society; Walter Melville, the cel-
beliefs, and of dissatisfaction with the ebrated artist and “Wandering Min-
existing state of affairs,— he adds to the strel”); and several others.
general unrest of his generation an in-
dividual melancholy of temperament, a Far from the Madding Crowd, a paşa
phenomenal clearness of vision which
, is
detects and despises shams, and an in- perhaps the best example of his earlier
ability to fit himself into commonplace manner, and of his achievements in the
grooves and the ruts of inherited habit. domain of comedy. The story is mainly
In various phrases throughout his bi- concerned with the love affairs of Bath-
ography he is described, or describes sheba Everdene, a country girl with
himself — (A mere dreamer ); He had enough cleverness in her composition
a solitude round him out of his to render her impatient of the rustic
own heart”; “I do not stand in this Darby-and-Joan conception of marriage.
world: like a ghost I glide beside it and Her first wooer, honest Farmer Oak,
look on. With the temperament of the promises her all the insignia of married
idealist, Kenelm possesses an attractive rank if she will accept him. She is
face and figure, a fondness for athletic pleased with the prospect of possessing
exercise, and a perfect physical develop- a piano, and a “ten-pound gig for mar-
ment. He leaves home in search of ad- ket"; but when Oak adds, and at home
ventures, an unknown pedestrian with a by the fire, whenever you look up, there
woven


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
53
a
I shall be, and whenever I look up,
there will be you,” the intolerable ennui
of married life instantly weighs upon
her imagination. She throws Oak over
for a possible lover of more worldly pre-
tensions. Only through an unfortunate
marriage with a certain dashing Ser-
geant Troy does she learn to appreciate
her first suitor's sterling worth. He for
his part proves his devotion to her by
serving her faithfully as her farm bailiff,
after a change in her fortunes has
placed her apparently out of his reach.
(Far from the Madding Crowd' is ex-
ceedingly rich in humor, in descriptions
of rustic scenes, and of rustic character.
The day laborers who gather at the
malt-house to pass around the huge mug
called “The God-Forgive-Me” (“probably
because its size makes any given toper
feel ashamed of himself »)— these clowns
are hardly surpassed in Shakespeare for
their natural humor, their rustic talk, or
their shrewd observation. Not less re-
markable are certain rustic pictures, as
that of the lambing on
a windy St.
Thomas's night, the starlight and the
light from Oak's lantern making a pict-
ure worthy of Rembrandt. The novel
takes rank as a classic in pastoral fiction.
Diana
iana of the Crossways, a remarkable
novel by George Meredith, appeared
in 1885. It displays his power of draw-
ing a living vibrant woman, in whom
beauty and intellect and noble character
are united. Diana is the centre of the
book. In her light the other men and
women live and move, and by her light
they are judged. She is an Irishwoman
of good family. As a girl she makes an
unfortunate marriage with a Mr. War-
wick, who so little knows her true charac-
ter that he suspects her of an intrigue
with a Lord Dannisburg, and begins pro-
ceedings against her. Diana's separation
from her husband is the beginning of her
picturesque but always honorable career,
and the true initial point of the story.
She is one of the most charming of Mer-
edith's women: it was believed that she
was drawn from Lady Caroline Norton,
Sheridan's granddaughter, famous for her
beauty, her wit, and her independence of
conventional opinion; but this is now
disproved.
David Grieve, The History of, a novel
by Mrs. Humphry Ward, was pub-
lished in 1892. Like R pert Elsinere,
it takes greatly into account social and
educational forces of contemporary life.
It was written apparently under the in-
fluence of Amiel's Journal, as it em-
bodies the same cheerless and somewhat
negative philosophy.
The hero, David Grieve, and his sister
Louie, are the children of Sandy Grieve,
a Scotch workingman, and of a French-
woman, a grisette, of depraved tenden-
cies. The girl inherits the mother's
nature, the boy the father's. David be-
gins life as a country boy in Derbyshire,
tending his uncle's sheep. His leisure
moments are devoted to reading and
study. As a boy of sixteen he leaves
the home that had become intolerable,
and goes to Manchester, where he learns
the bookseller's trade and educates himself
further, becoming finally the head of a
publishing-house well known for its pub-
lications of economic and political works.
His life, however, is far from happy.
His sister goes to the bad in Paris. He
marries woman unworthy of him.
Throughout, he clings to a high ethical
ideal as the only hope, the only faith
open to a nineteenth-century man. Con-
duct is for him the whole of life. On
right-doing his soul rests and depends,
in the stress of the tempest of passion
and sin about him.
The novel is well written, abounding
in striking and dramatic scenes, and rich
in delineation of character.
Deemster, The, by Hall Caine. The
Deemster) is a sensational novel, set-
ting forth the righteousness of just retri-
bution. The author calls it the story of
the Prodigal Son. The scene is laid in
the Isle of Man, in the latter part of the
seventeenth century and the early part of
the eighteenth
The Deemster is Thorkell Mylrea, whose
brother Gilchrist is bishop of the island.
These two brothers, with Ewan and Mona,
the son and daughter of the Deemster,
and Daniel, the son of the Bishop, are
the chief actors in the story. Ewan is a
young clergyman, but Dan is the prodigal
who wastes his father's substance. He
loves his cousin Mona deeply, but her
brother considers this love dishonorable
to her. The cousins engage in a duel,
which results in the death of Ewan. Dan
surrenders himself to justice, is declared
guilty, and receives a sentence worse than
death. He is declared cut off forever
from his people. None shall speak to him
or look upon him or give him aid. He


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54
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
shall live and die among the beasts in a horror. At last, by the aid of letters left
remote corner of the island.
by Dr. Lanyon, another of Dr. Jekyll's
At length a strange plague comes upon lawyer friends, to whom he has revealed
the people. Daniel obtains the privilege the secret and who is killed by the shock
of taking the place of Father Dalby, the of the discovery, the strange facts are
Irish priest. He effects many cures, and exposed. Utterson breaks into Jekyll's
at last dies of the pestilence, after the laboratory, only to find Hyde, who has
office of deemster made vacant by his just taken his own life; and Jekyll is
uncle's death has been offered to him as
gone forever. It was the first of Ste-
a reward for his services. Like all of venson's books to become widely pop-
Hall Caine's work, it is sombre and op- ular. Its date is 1886.
pressive, but its delineation of Manx
character is striking and convincing. Li
ittle Minister, The, by J. M. Barrie.
It was published in 1877. A drama- (Published in 1891. ) A love story,
tization has been produced by Wilson the scene of which is laid in the little
Barrett under the title (Ben-Ma-Chree. ) Scotch weaving village of Thrums at
about the middle of the present century.
Donal Grant, a novel by George Mac-
Aside from its intrinsic interest, there
donald, was published in 1883, when
is much skillful portrayal of the com-
he was fifty-nine. It is a modern story;
plexities of Scotch character, and much
the hero, Donal Grant, being one of the
muscular and intellectual young Scotch-
sympathy with the homely lives of the
men whom Macdonald loves to describe.
poverty-stricken weavers, whose narrow
creed may make them cruel, but never
Introduced as a poor student seeking a
dishonorable. The hero, Gavin Dishart,
situation, he reaches the town of Auchars,
is a boy preacher of twenty-one, small
where he meets a spiritually minded cob-
bler and his wife with whom he lodges.
of stature but great in authority, and
given to innocent frolic in exuberant
In Auchars he finds a field of work, and
moments. Grouped about him are his
the story deals with the effect produced on
people, who watch him with lynx-eyed
careless and selfish characters by contact
vigilance, ready to adore, criticize, and
with an upright and generous nature.
interfere ; while all-pervasive in-
The plot involves a forced marriage, and
fluence is the mother love and worship
other well-known incidents; but the book
of «soft-faced » Margaret Dishart.
shows all Macdonald's familiar quali-
Across the narrow path of the Little
ties, though it is less eventful and more
Minister, and straight into his orthodox
didactic than many of his stories.
life, dances Babbie the Egyptian, in a
·Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert wild gipsy frock, with red rowans in
Louis Stevenson, is a psychologic her hair. Against the persuasiveness
romance illustrating the complex quality of her beautiful eyes and her madcap
of man's nature. The scene is London. pranks, even three scathing sermons
Dr. Jekyll is a physician of position against Woman, preached by Gavin in
and good character, a portly, kindly self-defense, are of no avail; and the
In his youth, however, he showed reader follows with absorbed interest his
that he had strong capacities for evil, romantic meetings with the reprehensible
which he succeeded in suppressing for Babbie, and the gossip of the scandal-
years. His professional tastes lead him ized community. The rapid unfolding
to experiment in drugs, and he hits on of the story reveals Babbie's sorrow-
one whereby he is changed physically ful and unselfish renunciation of Gavin,
so that his lower nature receives ex- and her identity as the promised bride
ternal dress. He becomes Mr. Hyde, of Lord Rintoul, who is many years her
a pale, misshapen, repulsive creature of senior. A false report of Gavin's death
evil and violent passions. Again and brings the lovers together again on the
again Dr. Jekyll effects this change, eve of Babbie's marriage. Fearing pur-
and gives his bad side more and more suit, she consents to a hasty gipsy
power. His friend Utterson, a lawyer, is marriage with Gavin in the woods; and
puzzled by Jekyll's will in favor of Hyde, the climax is reached when a flash of
and seeks to unravel the mystery. The lightning reveals the ceremony to Lord
brutal murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Rintoul, two stern elders of the Kirk,
which is traced to Hyde, who of course and Rob Dow, who is seeking to save
disappears, adds to the mystery and the Little Minister from his wrathful
an
man.
H


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
55
W
cur-
own
people by killing the Egyptian. In the beasts in Æsop's fables, those of the
food that follows, the chief actors in Jungle Books) are not men in hides
this dramatic scene are scattered; but and on all fours discussing human prob-
Gavin and Babbie, after many advent- lems. Kipling's genius represents them
ures, are reunited, a deed of heroism on thinking and behaving, each according
the part of the Little Minister having to his own peculiar beastly habit and
reinstated him in the love of his people. experience, with such dramatic skill that
The story is recounted by Dominie one is almost forced to believe that he
Ogilvy, who is at last revealed as the has intimately dwelt among them as
father of Gavin. It is lighted by Mowgli did. The stories were published
touches of quaint humor that soften in St. Nicholas, and collected into two
what might otherwise seem stern and volumes in 1894 and 1895.
forbidding in the picture. An instance
in point is that of Tibbie Craik, who
Fairy Tales. The stories of Cinderella,
would be fine pleased with any bride Beauty and the Beast, Hop o' my
that the minister. might choose, because Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, and others, so
she “had a magenta silk, and so was fascinating to children and to peasants,
jealous of no one. )
were looked on merely as amusing tales,
In 1897 the book was dramatized, with until the efforts of Grimm and his suc-
a violent wrenching of the plot to meet cessors drew back, as it were, a
dramatic necessities.
tain, and disclosed another fairy region
of almost limitless perspective, whose
Jungle Books, The, by Rudyard Kip- vanishing-point may be nearly identical
ling. The central figure in these with the origin of the human race. For
books is the boy Mowgli, who, straying by the study of comparative mythology,
from his village home when an infant, it was discovered that these tales are not
had been lost in the forest, and there restricted to Europe alone, but are to be
sheltered and nursed with her
found, in varying forms, among almost
cubs by a mother-wolf, and the hairy all nations. Comparative philology then
Orson. Joined to this element of human showed the original union of the Teu-
interest, and with the coloring of high tonic, Celtic, Latin, Greek, Persian, and
romance, these stories picture the per- Hindu races in the primitive Aryan race,
sonal characteristics and social and po- whose home has been variously fixed in
litical life of the gaunt wolf-family in Western Central Asia, in Europe, and
their cave and the free republic of wolves, even in Africa; from which they broke
assembled in the Pack; the snarling away in prehistoric dispersions. This
Bengal tiger, Shere Khan, who, though was discovered by tracing words through
fearful, like the other beasts, of man's the German, Latin, Greek, and Persian
superior wit, roams boastfully for prey, forms up to the Sanskrit, the oldest lit-
attended by his obsequious but mischief- erary form of all; their identity proves
making jackal servant, Tabaqui, the their descent from a common stock. Thus
Dish-Licker; they tell about Baloo, the most of our popular tales date from the
sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf- days when the primitive Aryan took his
cubs the Law of the Jungle, which is evening meal of yava, and sipped his
the reproof of human codes in its com- fermented mead, while the Laplander was
prehensive justice ); the black panther, master of Europe, and the dark-skinned
Bagheera; Kaa, the big rock python; Sudra roamed through the Punjab. ”
and many others, including the monkey The survival of popular tales is due to
people, filthy chatterers despised by all their being unconscious growths, to
the rest. They describe also how Mow- the strict adherence to form shown by
gli's coming disturbed these forest creat- illiterate and savage people in recitals,
ures; how his human will proved more proved also by a child's insistence on
powerful than Shere Khan's jaws and accuracy, and to the laws of the perma-
claws; and how the brown bear and nence of culture. All these make the
other friends rescued him with some science of folk-lore possible.
trouble when he had been carried off There are several theories in regard
through the tree-tops by the monkey to the origin of folk-tales. The oldest
people; and how he finally went back is the Oriental theory, which traces all
to ve among men, but with a better back to a common origin in the Vedas,
knowledge of beasts. Unlike the talking the Sanskrit sacred books of Buddhism.


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56
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
mer.
dating probably from 2000 B. C. It is
true that the germs of most tales are
found in the Vedas, but proofs of the
Indian origin of stories are lack
the discovery of tales in Egypt which
were written down in the period of the
early empire are objections to its accept-
ance, and the idea of diffusion will not
account for similar tales found in Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, and America. The
Aryan theory, supported by Max Müller,
Grimm, and others, gives as their origin
the explanation of natural phenomena,
as the sun's daily course, the change of
day and night, dawn, winter, and sum-
These nature-myths must not be
regarded as originally metaphors; they
were primitive man's philosophy of na-
ture, in the days when he could not dis-
tinguish between it and his personality;
when there was no supernatural, because
it was not yet discovered that there was
such a thing as nature”; and so every
object was endowed with a personal life.
This view is supported by the proper
names in myths having been originally
names of natural phenomena. The sav-
age myths of to-day explain the myth-
making of old: instance the New Zealand
tale of "The Children of Heaven and
Earth) in Grey's Polynesian Mythol-
ogy,' connected with the Sanskrit Dyaus-
pitar (Jupiter ), Heaven-father, and
Prithivi-mâtar, Earth-mother, in the Ve-
das. Folk-lore is “the débris brought
down by the streams of tradition from
the distant highlands of ancient mythol-
ogy," and the survivals which are unin-
telligible singly must be explained by
comparing them with others. The tales
have enough likeness to show that they
come from the same source, and enough
difference to show they were not copied
from each other. Müller says, Nursery
tales are generally the last things to be
adopted by one nation from another. »
The danger is that too many may be
assigned to nature-myths. Even the
(Song of Sixpence) has been claimed as
one: the pie representing earth and sky;
the birds, the twenty-four hours; the
opened pie, the daybreak, with sing-
ing birds; the king, the sun, with his
money, sunshine; the queen, the moon;
the maid, dawn, hanging out the clothes,
clouds, is frightened away by the black-
bird, sunrise. Another theory, supported
by Tylor and Lang, traces the origin
of folk-lore to a far earlier source than
the Aryan, — the customs and practices
of early man: such as totemism, descent
from animals or things, which were at
last worshiped; and curious taboos or
prohibitions, which ca be explained by
similar savage customs of the present.
Thus tales become valuable both for the
anthropologist and the mythologist. But
late authorities declare that it is use-
less to seek any common origin of folk-
tales; since the incidents, which are few,
and the persons, who are types, are
based on ideas that might occur to un-
civilized races anywhere.
Our popular fairy-tales, or contes, have
been, in the main, handed down orally.
However, some of their elements or vari-
ants at least have come down through
literary collections in the following suc-
cession: The Vedas, the Sanskrit sacred
books; the Persian Zend-Avesta; the
Jatakas of about the fifth century B. C. ;
from some lost Sanskrit books came the
Panchatantra,' a book of fables earlier
than 550 A. D. , of which the Hitopadeça
is a compilation; a Pahlavi version of
the same period; an Arabic version be-
fore the tenth century; and a Persian of
about 1100 A. D. ; the “Syntipas,' a Greek
version, belongs to the eleventh century.
Then followed translations into several
European languages. The earliest col-
lection of European tales was made by
Straparola, who published at Venice in
1550 his Notti Piacevola,' which was
translated into French, and was prob-
ably the origin of the Contes des Fées. )
It contains the tale of Puss in Boots,
and elements of some others.