No More Learning

The Discourses, also, display a
simple, direct eloquence; but they intro-
duce frequent anecdotes to enliven an
appeal or illustrate a principle. Both
disclose the Phrygian freedman as a sin-
gularly noble soul, unaffected, pure, self-
centred, supremely gentle, and winning.
Al
lcestis, a tragedy, by Euripides. Ad-
metus is doomed to die, but the Fates
consent to spare him if he can find some
one willing to die in his stead; and he
is unmanly enough to beseech his aged
parents, who refuse. His wife Alcestis,
however, offers herself, and the unheroic
Admetus accepts. Hercules passes that
way, is entertained by Admetus, and
a drama, by Euripides. (423 B. C. )
The story, wrought into a drama of
high patriotic and of profound human
interest by Euripides, was that of Ion
as the ancestor of the Ionians, or Athe-
nian Greeks, reputed to be the son of
Xuthus and his wife Creusa, but in real-
ity a son of Apollo and Creusa. The
god had caused the infant to be taken
by Mercury from the cave where his
mother had left him, and to be carried
to his temple at Delphi, and brought
up as a youthful attendant. Ion's char-
acter, and the part he plays as a child
devotee at the time of the play, offer
a singularly beautiful parallel to the
story of the child Samuel in the Hebrew
Scripture. The situation in this play,
which circumstances had created, is that
of Creusa, the mother, in a distracted
state, seeking unwittingly the death of
her own son.
One of the finest pass-
ages is a dialogue of splendid power and
beauty between Ion and Creusa. For
freshness, purity, and charm, Ion is a
character unmatched in all Greek drama.
The whole play is often pronounced
the finest left by Euripides. Its melo-
dramatic richness in ingenious surprises
new feature of Greek drama,
which was especially characteristic of
the new comedy of the next century.
Mr. Paley says that “none of the plays
of Euripides so clearly show his fine
was
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
-
191
mind, or impress us with a more favor- out, the bird chorus sings lofty poetry,
able idea of his virtuous and humane and the comedy parts are full of rollick-
character. ” The revelation of domestic ing audacity of wit, — much of it, how-
emotions in the play, the singular beauty ever, so dependent upon local allusion or
of the scenes which it presents, and the verbal play as to make it obscure for the
complexity and rapid transitions of its English reader.
action, suggest a modern romantic drama
rather than one strictly Greek. In its Alexandra, a poem, by Lycophron of
Chalcis, who lived in the third cen-
general design to represent Apollo, the
god of music, poetry, medicine, and
tury before Christ. Alexandra is the
prophecy, as the head, through Ion, of
name which the author gives Cassandra.
the Ionians, the play was of great reli-
The poem is in part a prophecy of the
gious and patriotic interest to its Athen-
downfall of Troy, and is related, not by
ian audience. It can never fail, with its
Cassandra, but by a soldier, who tells
revelations of Greek «sweetness and
Priam that the princess is kept a pris-
light,) to be of the deepest human in-
oner by Apollo, and that he now rehearses
terest.
to the king what he has heard from her
The lon) of Talfourd bears no re-
lips. The work contains 1,474 verses, and
lation beyond that of a borrowed name
is a confused medley of mythology, his-
to the play of Euripides. Its Ion figures
tory, and geography, with here and there
as king of Argos, and the dramatic in-
a few traces of real poetry. Some of
terest centres in his readiness to give
Lycophron's inventions are of a very gro-
his life to appease the Divine anger
tesque character. Among other marvels,
shown by a pestilence raging at Argos.
he makes Hercules live a considerable
The king's character is finely brought
time in the belly of a whale, and chop up
out, and the impression given of the re-
the entrails of the monster for food.
lentless working of destiny is in the
Greek spirit.
Memorabilia, The. The Apomnemo-
neumata, by Xenophon, is generally
known by its Latin title of The Mem-
Birds, The, by the Greek dramatist orabilia,' - - an incorrect and somewhat
Aristophanes, is a comedy that ap- misleading translation of the Greek
peared in 414 B. C. It belongs with the word. This is the most important of the
writer's earlier plays, in which farcical writings that the author has devoted to
situations, exuberant imagination, and a the memory of Socrates. Like Plato, he
linguistic revel, are to be noted. The
dwells principally on those doctrines of
comedy is a burlesque on the national the master that harmonize with his own
mythology: the author creates a cloud- views. In the beginning, by way of
land for his fancy to sport in without preface, he replies to the positive accu-
restraint. A couple of old Athenians, sations brought against the philosopher.
Euelpides and Peisthetairos, sick of the Then he proceeds to develop his real
quarrels and corruptions of the capital, purpose; which is to depict the true
decide to quit the country. They seek Socrates, not from the opinions of oth-
Epops, now called Tereus, who has be-
ers, which are always controvertible, but
come King of the Birds. He tells them from his own words and actions, and in
so much about the bird kingdom that this way place under the eyes of the
they are interested; and after a council Athenians a correct likeness of the man
of the birds,— who, at first hostile, finally they condemned because they did not
give the strangers a friendly reception, - | know him. He next treats of the many
propose to build a walled city (Cloud- examples of right living given by Socra-
Cuckoo-Land) to shut out the gods and tes to his countrymen, and of the lesson
enhance bird power. This is done under of his life. After the lesson of his life
Peisthetairos's supervision. Various mes- comes the lesson of his discourses. This
sengers come from Athens and are sum- is embodied in a series of dialogues be-
marily treated; a deputation from the tween Socrates and persons engaged in
gods also comes, offering peace, - which different occupations, upon the subjects
is accepted on condition that the birds which engrossed his whole attention:
are reinstated in all their old-time rights. piety towards the gods, temperance, the
The comedy closes with the marriage duties incumbent on children with re-
hymn for Peisthetairos and Basileia, the gard to parents, friendship, the political
beautiful daughter of Zeus. Through- | virtues, the useful arts, and the science


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192
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of dialectics. As it was Xenophon's ob- even for Troy, a land he lately called
ject to create a feeling of love and his foe, but become for him now a sec-
veneration for his master among the ond country, by reason of so many years
Athenians, he touches chiefly on those of combats and of glory. The names of
points in the character of Socrates that his beloved parents are his last words on
he believed would conduce to this end. earth; the next will be uttered in Hades.
Thus he describes him as teaching that Then follow the attempt to prevent his
in matters of religion every one should burial, which, if successful, would doom
follow the usages of his city. Socrates, him to wander forever, an unhappy and
he says, sacrificed openly and publicly; restless ghost, through the infernal re-
he not only consulted the oracles, but he gions; the despair of his brother Teucer,
strongly advised his friends to consult Teucer's vehement invectives against the
them; he believed in divination, and enemies of the hero, and the noble gen-
paid close attention to the signs by erosity of Ulysses, who undertakes the
which the divinity communicated with defense of the dead.
himself. More than half of the chapters
in the third book are devoted to the con- Æthiopica, by Heliodorus, bishop of
versation of Socrates with generals and
Tricca in Thessaly. This romance
hipparchs, and Xenophon attributes much was written in his youth towards the
of his own knowledge of military mat- close of the fourth century, or according
ters to his good fortune in having been to some, in the second century: and was
acquainted with his master. The most the occasion of reproach to him in his
beautiful dialogues, however, are those manhood, though without reason. It is
which deal with the feelings that ought divided into ten books, and relates the
to actuate the members of the same adventures of the Ethiopian princess
family, — the love of the mother for her Chariclea; who, having as an infant been
child, and of brother for brother. The exposed to death by her mother, is dis-
chapters which conclude the work are covered by some humane people and car-
noted for deep feeling, tenderness, and ried to Delphi, where she meets the beau-
elevation of thought.
tiful Theagenes, and after innumerable
adventures, marries him. The pair live
a tragedy, by Sophocles. After happily for a while, and then encounter
the death of Achilles, the Greek lead- dangers of the most varied character.
ers decide to give his arms to Ulysses, They are about to be killed, when Chari-
as the most worthy to bear them. The clea is recognized and restored to her
neglected Ajax is furious, and goes forth
proper station.
This interminable ro
in the night to avenge the affront. Min-
mance enjoyed a great reputation from
erva deprives him of reason, and he at- the Renaissance down to the close of the
tacks the flocks of sheep in the Greek last century. It is now neglected, al-
camp, mistaking them for his enemies.
though in variety of incident it may be
When exhausted with slaughter, he leads said to rival the modern novel. It has
the surviving sheep, chained as prison- some decided literary qualities. What it
ers, to his tent. When he recovers his lacks is observation of character and real
senses, he sees into what abysses the passion. It abounds in curious details on
wrath of the gods has plunged him. He the state of Egypt at the period of which
must become the jest of the army if he it treats.
remains before Troy; he will shame his
old father if he returns to Salamis: he nthia and Habrocomus, The
resolves to end his dishonored life. The Ephesiaca, a Greek romance, by
prayers of Tecmessa, his captive mistress, Xenophon of Ephesus, written during the
and of his Salaminian comrades, are fourth century of the Christian era. It
unavailing Yet it is with regret that was lost until the eighteenth century, and
he quits this beautiful world. The mono- then found in the Florentine library by
logue in which he bids it farewell, and Bernard de Montfaucon. It was at once
which is the most remarkable passage in translated into most modern languages.
the drama, contains entrancing pictures The subject of the story is the lot of two
of the life he is about to abandon. He lovers united by marriage, but separated
takes leave of his country, his father's by destiny, and coming together again
hearth, the companions of his childhood, only after a long series of misfortunes.
and of glorious Athens. He has tears Their beauty is the cause of all their
Ajax,
or


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
193
Eleg
a
afflictions, lighting the fires of passion, 'legantiæ Latinæ Sermonis: ELEGAN-
jealousy, and revenge, and constantly en- CIES OF LATIN SPEECH, by Laurentius
dangering the fidelity they have sworn Valla (Lorenzo della Valle), 1444; 59th
to each other. But, by marvelous strata-
ed. 1536.
A standard work on Latin
gems, they triumph over all the attempts style, written in the days of the earlier
made to compel them to break their vows, Italian Renaissance, when the Latin Mid-
and escape unharmed from the most dif- dle Ages were coming to a close. It is
ficult situations. At length, after many notable as the latest example of Latin
wanderings over land and sea, they meet used as a living tongue.
Valla was a
once more. Anthia declares that she is thoroughly Pagan Humanist. His De
as faithful as when she first left Tyre for Voluptate,' written at Rome about 1443,
Syria. She has escaped unscathed from was a scholarly and philosophical apology
the menaces of brigands, the assaults of for sensual pleasure; the first important
pirates, the outrages of debauchees, and word of the new paganism. The (Ele-
many a threat of death.
Habrocomus gancies) followed, and the two works
assures her, in reply, that no other young gave their author the highest reputation
girl has seemed to him beautiful, no as a brilliant writer, and critic of Latin
woman has pleased him, and he is now composition. At an earlier date (1440)
as devotedly hers as when she left him a Valla had published a work designed to
prisoner in a Tyrian dungeon. The faults show that the papal claim of a grant
of the story are the grotesque improbabil- made to the papacy by Constantine had
ity of many of its inventions and its want no valid historical foundation. This was
of proportion; its merits are pithiness, the first effort of skepticism in that direc-
clearness, and elegance of style.
tion; yet the successor of Eugenius IV. ,
Nicholas V. , invited Valla, as one of the
Alexiad, a life of the Emperor Alexis
chief scholars of the age, to take the post
Comnenus, by the Princess Anna of apostolic secretary at Rome, and paid
Comnena, his daughter. This work, which him munificently for a translation of 'Thu-
is one of the most important authorities cydides into Latin. Valla further did
for the history of the closing years of the pre-Reformation work by his Adnota-
eleventh century, is written in modern tiones) on the New Testament, in which
Greek, and divided into fifteen books. It for the first time the Latin Vulgate ver-
gives a vivid picture of the First Crusade, sion was subjected to comparison with
which the author bad seen, and of the the Greek original. Erasmus re-edited
antagonistic interests of the Greeks and this work, and Ulrich von Hutten repub-
Crusaders, united indeed against the In- lished the attack on the papal claims.
fidels, but in a state of constant hostility The permanent interest of Valla is that
to each other. Her father is her hero; of an able initiator of criticism, linguistic,
she defends all his acts, and attempts historical, and ethical.
especially to prove that the charge of per-
fidy brought against him by the Franks Bohn's Libraries. A uniform (Publi-
A
was baseless. She shows him to have cation Series) of standard works of
been an active and energetic prince, a English and European literature, of which
good captain, a thorough tactician, an in- Thomas Carlyle said: “I may say in
trepid soldier, and a consummate states- regard to all manner of books, Bohn's
She reproaches the crusaders with Publication Series is the usefulest thing
all sorts of crime, particularly Bohemund, I know. ” It covers the whole ground of
the son of Robert Guiscard and the per- history, biography, topography, archæ-
sonal enemy of her father. The work is ology, theology, antiquities, science, phi-
crowded with useless details, which By- losophy, natural history, poetry, art, and
zantine etiquette rendered important; but fiction, with dictionaries and other books
Anna Comnena has preserved the knowl- of reference; and comprises translations
edge of a multitude of curious incidents, from French, German, Italian, Spanish,
which but for her would have been lost Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and
to history. She has been criticized for Greek. The originator of the enterprise,
relating marvels as if they were real Henry George Bohn, a London bookseller,
facts, a habit which simply proves that who startled the English trade by issu-
the Greeks were as superstitious as the ing in 1841 a guinea catalogue of some
Latins. The old Greek and the new Frank 25,000 important and valuable old books,
civilization contrast strongly in her pages. began in 1846 with the Standard Library.
man.
a
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
194
9
His design was to promote the sale of losopher); and in 1854, after the death
good books by a cheap uniform issue of Souvestre, it awarded his widow the
of works of a solid and instructive kind. Lambert prize, which is always bestowed
The choice of type, paper, and binding upon the most useful author of the year.
was most judicious, and for cheap books
on Popular
nothing equal to it has ever been done. Brand's Observations
The Standard now numbers 302 vols.
Antiquities. By John Brand. An
entirely new and revised edition, with
The other libraries added later are (with
the additions of Sir Henry Ellis. (1887. )
present number), the Historical, 23 vols. ;
A work devoted to popular explanation
the Philosophical, 15 vols. ; Ecclesiastical
of the customs, ceremonies, superstitions,
and Theological, 15 vols. ; Antiquarian, 35
etc. , of the common people. It is at once
vols. ; Illustrated, 78 vols. ; Sports and
instructive and very entertaining.
Games, 16 vols. ; Classical, 103 vols. ; Col-
Jegiate
, no vols. , Scientific, 44 vols. , Eco Hereditary-Genius, by Francis. Gal.
nomics and ,
In and
32 vols. ; Novelists', 12 vols. ; and Artists', interesting study an attempt is made
9 vols. ; making 709 volumes classified to submit the laws of Heredity to
under 13 heads. The great success of Mr. a quantitative test, by means of statis-
Bohn's scheme initiated a half-century of tics. To the result desired Mr. Galton
inexpensive production and wide distri- | contributes many figures, many facts,
bution of books of real value, which can- and few generalizations. His pursuit is
not but have done much for the spread purposely confined to the evidence of
of real culture throughout the English- the inheritance of the fine mental con-
speaking world. The Libraries passed dition or quality called genius, - whether
into the hands of Bell & Daldy, later
a man endowed with it is likely to have
Bell & Sons, in 1864; and the American
inherited it, or to be reasonably certain
interest is now that of Macmillan & Co. to pass it on to his sons and grandsons.
The author began his researches with a
Att
ttic Philosopher, An ('Un Philo- work on English Judges) from 1660 to
sophe sous les Toits') appeared in 1865. In these two centuries and a half
1850. The author, Émile Souvestre, then he found that out of the 286 judges 112
forty-four, was already well known as a had more or less distinguished kinsmen,
writer of stories; but this book was less a result favoring the theory of a trans-
a story than a collection of sympathetic mission of qualities in the ratio of 1:3.
moralizings upon life, “the commonplace He goes on to study seven groups com-
adventures of an unknown thinker in those posed of statesmen, generals, men of
twelve hostelries of time called months. ") letters, men of science, artists, poets,
He shows us one year in the life of a and divines, the number of families
poor workingman who, watching brilliant considered being about three hundred,
Paris from his garret window, knows mo- and including nearly one thousand more
ments of envy, ambition, and loneliness. or less remarkable men. His conclusion
For these moods he finds a cure in kind- is, that the probability that an excep-
ness to others, in a recognition of his own tionally able or distinguished man will
limitations, and in a resolve to make the have had an exceptionally able father is
best of things. The voice is that of Sou- thirty-one per cent. , that he will have
vestre himself, deducing from his own exceptionally able brothers forty-one per
experience lessons of contentment, broth- cent. , exceptionally able sons forty-eight
erly love, and simplicity. His character
per cent. , etc. He does not find it to
sketches include the frail and deformed be true that the female line bequeaths
Uncle Maurice, learning self-abnegation; better qualities than the male line; and
the drunken Michael Arout, regenerated he suggests the explanation that the
through love and care for his child; the aunts, sisters, and daughters of great
kind and ever-youthful Frances and Ma- men, having been accustomed to
deleine, middle-aged workwomen, cheer- higher standard of mental and perhaps
ful under all hardships; and many more
of moral life than the average prevail-
vivid personalities. He excels in present- ing standard, will not be satisfied with
ing the nobility hidden under common- the average man, and are therefore less
place exteriors, and the pathos involved apt to marry, and so to transmit their
in commonplace conditions. In 1851 the exceptional qualities. He admits, how-
French Academy crowned the (Attic Phi- ever, that it is impossible, with
a
our


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
195
present knowledge of statistics, to put tion of them and the use to which they
this theory to the proof. Mr. Galton are put.
Some «confessions by a pro-
groups his facts with great skill, but his fessional medium » are given in the
direct object is to arrive rather at a law second edition; and in every way the
of averages than a law of heredity. work is an aggressive survey of a class
That is, his method is purely statistical, of facts and beliefs which persistently
and cannot therefore be applied with challenge attention, and which are mat-
finality to moral facts. «Number is an ters of belief now, as in all past ages,
instrument at once too coarse to unravel to a very large part of the mass of man.
the delicate texture of moral and social kind.
phenomena, and too fragile to penetrate
deeply into their complicated and multi- | New England, A. Compendious His-
ple nature. »
Yet Mr. Galton, in pro- tory of, by the Rev. John Gorham
ducing his extremely interesting and Palfrey, D. D. This history is the chief
suggestive books, (Hereditary Genius,' and monumental work of its author, a
(English Men of Science, and (Inquir- distinguished scholar and divine. It em-
ies into Human Faculty and its Devel- braces the time from the first discovery
opment,' has helped to establish the of New England by Europeans down to
truth of psychological heredity, and the the first general Congress of the Anglo-
objective reality of its still mysterious American colonies in 1765. But a sup-
laws.
plementary chapter has been added, giv-
and Mind; by Henry Maudsley.
ing a summary of the events of the last
Body
(1870. ) A book of marked import-
ten years of colonial dependence down
to the battles of Lexington and Bunker
ance as an inquiry into the connection of
Hill. The four volumes were originally
body and mind, and their mutual influ-
issued at intervals from 1865 to 1873.
ence, especially in reference to mental
disorders.
A revised and final edition was issued
As considerably enlarged in
in 1883, after the author's death. Dr.
1873, the volume includes a chapter on
Conscience and Organization, and essays
Palfrey divides New England history into
on Hamlet, Swedenborg, the Theory of
three cycles of eighty-six years each.
Vitality, and the Limits of Philosoph-
The first, dating from the Stuart ac-
cession to the throne of England in the
ical Inquiry. In his (Body and Will,
spring of 1603, ends on April 19, 1689,
Physiology of Mind, Pathology of
Mind,' and (Responsibility in Mental Dis-
when the colonists, betrayed by Joseph
Dudley, imprisoned the royal governor
ease, Dr. Maudsley treats very fully and
carefully special parts of the great study
Andros, thus marking the First Revo-
lution. The Second Revolution was in-
which he has made peculiarly his own.
augurated April 19, 1775, when, betrayed
Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and the New by Governor Hutchinson, the people rose
Witchcraft, 1893. (A new edition, and fought the battle of Lexington and
1896, with chapters on (The Eternal Gul- Concord.
The Third began on April 19,
lible,' and note on the hypnotism of 1861, when the first blood in the revo-
(Trilby. ') By Ernest Hart. A volume lution against the domination of the
of papers which originally appeared in slave power was shed in the streets of
the Nineteenth Century and the British Baltimore. Palfrey's history embraces
Medical Journal.
Its chief purpose is to the first two of these periods, and covers
show that “hypnotism, when it is not the physical, social, and political condi-
a pernicious fraud, is a mere futility, tions whic have determing the growth
which should have no place in the life and progress of the New England peo-
of those who have work to do in the ple. The author has treated this sub-
world. ) Dr. Hart looks upon spiritual- ject with wider scope and greater detail
ism, mesmerism, faith cure, etc. , as ex- than any other writer. He has han.
amples of false science, on a slender dled it with a force and vivacity of style,
basis of physiological and pathological and with a careful minuteness of inves-
facts. He thinks that a prevalent sys- tigation combined with a discriminating
tem of imposture has imposed upon a spirit of inquiry, which have elicited the
good many journalists and men of liter- admiration of every scholar who has
ary culture. He does not deny the re- entered the same field. Some of Dr.
markable physical facts of hypnotism, Palfrey's judgments have been disputed,
spiritualism, etc. , but only the explana- but his great work as a whole remains


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
>>>
unchallenged as a valuable contribution the new conditions; and here (Equality)
to American history.
takes up the story, and through the ex-
planations of Dr. Leete and Edith, and
Lº ooking Backward, and Equality, by through his own experiences, he learns
Edward Bellamy. Mr. Bellamy's how the crude ideals of the nineteenth
nationalistic romance, or vagary, (Look- century were realized in the year 2000.
ing Backward,' has had a sale of nearly The first step is substituting democ-
400,000 copies in ten years, and is still racy for monarchy. To establish public
in demand. It recounts the strange schools is next, since public education is
experiences of Julian West, a wealthy | policy for the public welfare. It is fur-
young Bostonian, born in 1857, a favor- ther urged that each citizen be intrusted
ite in the highest social circles, engaged with a share of the public wealth, in
to a beautiful and accomplished lady, the interests of good government. He
Miss Edith Bartlett. West has an ele- will then no longer be a champion of a
gantly furnished subterranean apartment, part against the rest, but will become a
where he is accustomed to retire for guardian of the whole.
privacy and rest. In 1887 he is put into Life is recognized as the basis of the
a hypnotic sleep.
right of property, since inequality of
In the year 2000, Dr. Leete, a retired wealth destroys liberty — private capital
physician, is conducting excavations in being stolen from the public fund.
his garden, when West's chamber is dis- Equality of the sexes is permitted in all
closed. The doctor, assisted by his occupations; even the costumes are simi-
daughter Edith, discovers and resusci- lar, fashion having been dethroned.
tates the young man, who finds himself
The profit system is denounced as
in a regenerated world.
(economic suicide, because it nullifies
The changed appearance of the city, the benefits of common interests, is hos-
the absence of buying and selling, the tile to commerce, and largely diminishes
system of credits, the method of ex- the value of inventions.
changes between nations, the regulation There is a common religion (based
of employment by means of guilds, all upon the doctrine of love); the old sects
overwhelm him with surprise.
are abolished. “If we love one another,
He notes no distinctions of rich and God dwelleth in us," is the keynote of
poor, no poverty, no want, no crime. the new dispensation.
All the people are mustered into an in- There are no more wars; «Old Glory »
dustrial army at the age of 21, and mus- now betokens that nowhere in the land
tered out at 45.
it floats over is there found a human
The national system of dining-rooms, being oppressed or suffering any want
the condition of literary men, the aboli- that human aid can relieve.
tion of middlemen, the saving of waste All questions concerning killing com-
through misdirected energy, matters of petition,«discouraging independence
religion, of love, of marriage, all open and originality,” “threatening liberty,”
up lines of thought and of action new etc. , as well as the Malthusian objec-
and strange to him; and, falling in love tion, seem to be satisfactorily settled in
with Edith, he finds he has fixed his the wonderful success of this great co-
affections upon the great-granddaughter operative commonwealth; which would
of his old love, Edith Bartlett.
be a less futile dream, if the author
He falls asleep, and seems awake and had taken the trouble to abolish (human
finds himself back again in the old Bos- nature in the beginning.
ton, with its monopolies and trusts and
the frenzied folly of its competitive sys- Political Novels, by Anthony Trol
,
tem, with its contrasts of living and its lope. These are: Phineas Finn,'
woe, with all its boundless squalor and (Phineas Redux,' (The Prime Minister,
wretchedness. He dines with his old and "The Duke's Children. Trollope
companions, and endeavors to interest
tells us in his autobiography that in
them in regenerating the world by well- (Phineas Finn? he began a series of
planned co-operative schemes. They de- semi-political tales, because, being de-
nounce him as a pestilent fellow and barred from expressing his opinions in
an anarchist, and he is driven out by the House of Commons, he could thus
them. He awakes from this troubled declare his convictions. He says: “I
dream to find himself in harmony with was conscious that I could not make a


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
197
a
Poor-Houses in County Cork. Petrollope Doctor Thorne, by Anthony Trollope.
tale pleasing chiefly by politics. If I will probably rest on the characters of
wrote politics for my own sake, I must Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glen-
put in love, sport, and intrigue, for cora. » This volume was published in
the benefit of my readers. In writing 1876, and the series was finished in 1880
(Phineas Finn) I had constantly before with "The Duke's Children. This opens
me the need of progression in charac- with the death of the duchess, and re-
ter, — of marking the changes naturally lates the further history of her children.
produced by the lapse of years. I got The duke's sons and daughter are
around me a circle of persons as to deep disappointment to him. His heir,
whom I knew not only their present Lord Silverbridge, is dismissed from
characters, but how they would be af- college, and enters Parliament as a Con-
fected by time and circumstance. » servative, whereas the family has always
(Phineas Finn) was completed in May been Liberal. His daughter insists upon
1867, and its sequel, Phineas Redux,) marrying a poor commoner, and his
not until 1873. The former traces the heir upon marrying an American girl,
career of an Irishman, young and at- while his younger son is idle and ex-
tractive, who goes to London to enter travagant. In the end, however, he
Parliament, leaving behind his boyish accepts the choice of his children, and
sweetheart, Mary Flood-Jones. He is the book closes with his return to pol-
admired by many, especially by Lady itics. Phineas Finn and his wife re-
Laura Standish, who is succeeded by appear in these pages, he still devoted
another love, Violet Effingham, and she to politics, and she the faithful friend of
by a charming widow, Marie Max- the duke and his daughter.
Goesler. In time he gives up politics,
of
) a
says: “I was wrong to marry him to country life; and the interest of the book
a girl who could only be an incum- lies in the character studies rather than
brance on his return to the world, and I in the plot. The scene is laid in the
had no alternative but to kill her. » west of England about 1854. The hero-
Phineas Redux goes back to Parliament, ine, Mary Thorne, is a sweet, modest
has more sentimental experiences, and girl, living with her kind uncie, Doctor
makes
still higher reputation. A Thorne, in the village of Greshambury,
political enemy of Phineas is murdered, where Frank Gresham, the young heir
and he is accused of the crime, but of Greshambury Park, falls in love with
is acquitted, largely through the efforts her. The estate is incumbered; and as
of Marie Max-Goesler. (The Prime it is necessary that Frank should marry
Minister) is chiefly devoted to the un- for money, his mother, Lady Arabella,
happy marriage of Emily Wharton and banishes Mary from the society of her
Ferdinand Lopez, a Portuguese advent- daughters, and sends Frank to Courcy
urer, and to the affairs of the prime Castle, where he is expected to win the
minister and his wife. The latter couple affections of Miss Dunstable, a wealthy
are known to readers of Trollope's heiress. He remains true to Mary, how-
earlier novels as Planty Paul and Lady ever; and after a year of enforced absence
Glencora, now Duke and Duchess of abroad, he returns and claims her for
Omnium. The duke is sensitive, proud, his wife in the face of every opposition.
and shy, and feels the burden of his Roger Scatcherd, the brother of Mary's
responsibility, while his wife is forever unfortunate mother, is creditor to Mr.
working for his advancement. He goes Gresham for a sum of money amounting
gladly out of office at last. We hear to the value of the entire estate. After
little of Phineas Finn, save that his his death his entire fortune falls to Mary
second marriage is happy, and that he Thorne; and the story concludes with
is made Secretary for Ireland and then the marriage of Frank and Mary, and a
Lord of the Admiralty. Trollope tells return of prosperity to Greshambury
us that the personages of these books Park.
are more or less portraits, not of living The character of Doctor Thorne stands
men, but of living political characters. out vividly in the book as an independ-
(The Prime Minister) is his ideal states- ent, honest Englishman, offering a pleas-
He says: “If my name be still ing contrast to Lady Arabella with her
known in the next century, my success conventionality and worldliness, and the
a
man.


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198
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Cliff
coarse vulgarity of Roger Scatcherd and together what conscientious habits of
his son.
thought and ethical convictions tend to
drive apart. The comments of the con-
Claverings, The, by Anthony Trol-
,
gregation of course have their part in
lope, is a novel of contemporary
promoting the difficulties that follow.
English life, as shown in the fortunes of
The story is well told, and extremely
a country family. The story treats of
interesting, although it confesses itself
the inconstant affections of Harry Clav-
a problem-novel on the very first page.
ering, the rector's son and cousin of the
head of the family. The fickle lover is liff-Dwellers, The, by Henry B.
so agreeable and kind-hearted a young Fuller, is a story of contemporary
fellow that the tale of his fickleness Chicago; a sober arraignment of the sin
wins the reader to friendship. All the and greed of a purely material civiliza-
characters are so typical of the com- tion, The protagonists of the drama take
monplace respectable life that Trollope their title of cliff-dwellers » from their
describes, as to seem like personal ac- occupation of various strata of an enor-
quaintances. The reader is certain of mous office building, owned by the mill-
meeting again Lady Ongar, Florence ionaire Ingles, whose beautiful wife is in
Burton, Lady Clavering, and the rest, reality the central character of the story,
and is pleased with the prospect. The though she is not presented to the reader
book was a great favorite.
till the very last page.
A young East-
erner, George Ogden, a well-bred, aver-
Corleone, by F. Marion Crawford, pub- age man of good intentions, is perhaps
'lished in 1897, is the fourth in the
the hero; as the villain may be identified
(Saracinesca) series of modern Italian
with Erastus Brainerd, a self made man,
stories. The scene is mainly in Sicily.
utterly selfish and hard, who has ridden
The leading character is Don Orsino,
rough-shod over every obstacle, to the
son of Giovanni Saracinesca and hero of
goal of a large fortune. Into the life
(Sant'Ilario. ) The novel takes its title
whose standards are set chiefly by the
from the fact that Vittoria, the Sicilian
unscrupulous successes of Brainerd, and
hero, is of the Corleone race.
The spir-
the æsthetic luxury of the beautiful Mrs.
ited scenes in which the Sicilian peas-
Ingles, all the characters of the story
antry and bandits are leagued against
are brought. The motives of the play
the intruding Romans; the handling of
are envy, ambition, love of ostentation,
the passions of love, hate, jealousy, and
a thorough worship of the material, as
revenge; and the subsidiary scenes of
these characteristics manifest themselves
Roman society life in which the Sara-
in a commercial com ity. There is
cinesca move and have their being, af-
a distinct and well-ordered plot, and
ford Mr. Crawford opportunity for char-
the characters develop consistently from
acteristic work. As a study of Sicilian
within. This clever story is too sincere
character the book is also valuable.
to be called a satire, and too artistic to
be called a photograph; but it is exe-
John Ward, Preacher, a novel by
Margaret Deland, appeared in 1888.
cuted with a merciless faithfulness that
has often elicited both characterizations.
The Presbyterian minister whose name
gives its title to the story has married Delectable Duchy, The, by “Q” (A. T.
Helen Jeffrey. Mr. Ward is a logical Quiller-Couch). A book of stories,
Calvinist, who is assured that belief in studies, and sketches, some gay and some
election and reprobation, eternal pun- tragic, but all brief, concise, and dra-
ishment, and kindred doctrines, is neces- matic. The scene of all is laid in Corn-
sary to salvation; and so preaches them wall (the Delectable Duchy); they are
with force and conviction. While his full of folk-lore, local superstitions and
congregation agrees with him, his wife, expressions. Among the best are (The
who is the niece of a liberal, easy-going Spinster's Maying,' where the old maid
Episcopal rector, entertains decidedly induces the twin brother of her dead lover
broad theological views in general. The to court her every year on May Day;
couple love each other with that single- (When the Sap Rose,) full of the joy
ness of devotion without which the course of springtime; (The Plumpers); Egg-
of the story would be manifestly im- Stealing); (The Regent's Wager,' a mis-
probable; for it depends upon the ques-
take which lost one man his life and an-
tion whether love will be able to hold | other his reason; and (The Conspiracy


## p. 199 (#235) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
199
a
a
aboard the Midas,' to make a dying child's and more or less every-day people; no-
last days happy. These stories were pub- table for simplicity and honesty, excel-
lished in 1893, and are the high-water lent as character-studies, and without
mark of the writer's work, though he has striking incident, while a sunny whole-
won reputation as a critic and journalist some philosophy pervades them all.
as well as a story-teller.
Rudder Grange, a humorous story by John Halifax, Gentleman, by Dinah
Maria Muloch Craik. (1856. ) The
Frank R. Stockton, appeared seri-
hero of this story, John Halifax, is one
ally in 1879. It was the first of the au-
of «nature's noblemen, who, beginning
thor's books to establish for him a wide
life as a poor boy, works his way up to
reputation. A slight thread of story prosperity and happiness, by means of
suffices to connect a series of humorous
his high principles, undaunted courage,
episodes which result from the efforts of
and nobility of character. Orphaned at
young couple — Euphemia, and her
the age of eleven years, from that time
husband who tells the story in the first
he is dependent on his own resources.
person — to establish themselves in
He willingly undertakes any kind of
summer home at once desirable and in-
honest work, and for three years gains
expensive. They hit upon the plan of
a livelihood by working for farmers, but
securing an old canal-boat, which they
at the end of that time is taken into
fit up and name Rudder Grange. The
the employ of a Mr. Fletcher, a wealthy
droll sayings and original doings of
tanner. This is the beginning of his
Pomona, the servant; the courting of
better fortune; for Phineas Fletcher, his
Jonas, her lover; the unique experiences master's invalid son, takes a great fancy
of the boarder; the distresses of Eu-
to him and aids him with his education.
phemia and her husband, are told in a
The heroine is Ursula March; and the
manner which is irresistibly funny. The
simple domestic story includes few
same characters reappear in several of
minor characters. The interest lies in
Mr. Stockton's later stories, the longest
the development of character: and the
of which is (Pomona's Travels. )
author's assertion is that true nobility
is of the soul, and does not inhere in
Princess Aline, The, a novelette by
Richard Harding Davis, was pub-
wealth, in learning, or in position; and
lished in 1895. The hero, Morton Carl-
that integrity and loftiness of purpose
ton, is a young artist with an interna-
form the character of a true gentleman.
tional reputation, wealth, and high social
The story is fresh, healthful, and full of
position; altogether, a most fortunate
interest, and gives an ideal picture of
young gentleman. At the time the
home life in England in the past cen-
story opens he takes passage for Eu-
tury.
rope, because he has fallen in love with
the Princess Aline of Hohenwald, or Romance of Dollard, The, by Mary
Hartwell Catherwood, appeared in
rather with a picture of her; and is
1888.
determined to meet her, and by the
It is a romance of New France
in 1660, and breaks new historic ground
help of the gods to woo her.
On the steamer New York, going over,
for romantic treatment. Louis XIV. of
are a Miss Morris and her aunt. Carl-
France has sent out a shipload of stolid
ton finds them very pleasant people,
peasant girls, as wives for the settlers
desirable to know; he confides the object
in New France. In the same ship goes
Mademoiselle Claire de Laval-Montmo.
of his trip to the younger lady. She
is at once in sympathy with the roman-
rency, young and very beautiful. When
tic, impossible project. The three float
she reaches Quebec, she is unable to
around Europe in the wake of the Prin-
explain her purpose in coming out to
The book is written in a clever,
that wild new country quite to the sat-
crisp style, and shows much worldly
isfaction of her uncle, the Bishop of
knowledge.
New France. Pending further exami-
nation by the bishop, she goes to the
Kni
nitters in the Sun, by «Octave marriage market, where the shipload of
Thanet ) (Miss Alice French), is a girls is to be disposed of, to see the
collection of nine short stories, all but strange sight, and to encourage her own
one illustrating the life of the South or maid, who is choose husband.
West. They are tales of every-day life There she finds the Sieur des Ormeaux,
cess.
to
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200
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Adam Dollard, - the commandant of
Montreal. Dollard has loved her in old
France; and, at this unexpected meet-
ing, pursues his wooing to such good
advantage that they are married at
once, before news of the strange pro-
ceeding can reach the ears of the stern
bishop. Accompanied by Claire's maid,
Louise, and Dollard's servant, Jacques,
who had chosen each other in the mar-
riage market, Claire and Dollard go by
canoe to Montreal.
The Iroquois, the dreaded Six Na-
tions, are moving on the settlements:
there are two bands of them; and if
these can be prevented from joining
forces, New France may still be saved.
Adam Dollard, with sixteen others, has
sworn to go out and check them, giving
and taking no quarter. Dollard, heart-
broken at the pain he must cause Claire,
and filled with remorse at having so
selfishly married her and marred her
peace when he knew the fate in store
for him, starts off without telling her.
Then, ashamed of this cowardice, he
returns. She bears the news bravely,
as becomes a daughter of the house of
Montmorency, and begs to go with
him. He cannot grant her prayer; and
leaves her with the nuns of the Hôtel-
in Montreal. from
association with his neighbors, – thrifty
Mrs. Sullivan and her son Willie, a boy
somewhat older than herself, - Gertrude
grows into a happy and beautiful young
girl, the great comfort of Uncle True.
She is befriended by Emily Graham, a
noble Christian character, the beautiful
only daughter of a rich, indulgent father.
Emily is blind as the result of a careless
act of her young brother. Overcome by
remorse, and embittered by his father's
reproaches, this brother has disappeared,
to Emily's great sorrow. Gerty is sent
to school, where she is fitted to teach;
but after Trueman's death she becomes
a member of the Graham family. Wil-
lie Sullivan, the friend of her childhood,
becomes a noble-minded and successful
young man who falls in love with Ger.
trude. In Philip Amory, a high-minded
man whom Emily and Gertrude meet
while traveling, they discover the long-
lost brother; and he proves in the end
to be Gertrude's father, who for years
has been vainly searching for her. The
story is weak in plot and characteriza-
tion; but the idyllic charm of its first
hundred pages or so gave it for a few
years a very extraordinary vogue. It is
now little read.
the convent in the Claighe, tenlithoutásom Queenslangan Warnerjzabethue hither evas
ueechy, by Wetherell »
wippa, an Indian girl, whose father, a written in 1852, and sold by the thou-
Huron, had joined Dollard's expedition. sand in both England and America;
With wonderful courage, they fight being translated into German, French,
their way through the wilderness to the and Swedish. Mrs. Browning admired
little fort which Dollard is defending. it, and wrote of it to a friend: “I
Dollard and his men hold the fort eight think it very clever and characteristic.
days against the horde of the Iroquois; Mrs. Beecher Stowe scarcely exceeds
then the fort is taken, and all per- it, after all her trumpets. The story
ish. This is a story of heroism, sim- takes place chiefly in Queechy, Ver-
ply told; the truth of the main incidents mont. Fleda Ringgan, an orphan, on
is vouched for in a preface by no less a
the death of her grandfather, goes to
historian than Francis Parkman.
her aunt Mrs. Rossiter, in Paris, under
the care of Mrs. Carleton and her son,
Lamplighter, The, by Maria Susanna rich English people. Every man who
Cummins, was the author's first sees Fleda, from the time she is eleven,
book, and appeared in 1854, when she falls in love with her; but she loves
was twenty-seven. This simple home only Carleton, whom she converts to
story secured an immediate popularity. Christianity. The Rossiters lose their
The scene is laid in New York.