English Trans-
designed
to serve as parts of a compre-
lation by Henri Van Laun, 4 vols.
lation by Henri Van Laun, 4 vols.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v30 - Guide to Systematic Readings
This of Avignon, and of the Reasons which
account pretended to be taken from the have Induced Him to Abjure Paganism
supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of and to Embrace the Reformed Christian
Science, and was most circumstantial and Religion. By the Sieur N. F. D. B. R.
exact. The discovery was asserted to Enriched with Maps and Pictures. ”
have been made at the Cape of Good The book was evidently inspired by
Hope, by means of a new and vastly im- the sectarian zeal of the Reformed
proved telescope invented by the younger Church in Holland, and looked to palli-
Herschel. The article described beaches ating in Christian eyes the offense of the
of gleaming sand; lunar forests; fields Japanese in putting to death the Jesuit
covered with vivid rose-poppies; basaltic missionaries in that country. No suspi.
columns like those of Staffa; rocks of cion or charge is too bad to be enter-
green marble; obelisks of wine-colored tained against the Jesuits. In the preface
amethyst; herds of miniature bisons, with the author illustrates their aspiration to
a curious fold or hairy veil across the universal dominion by a remark of the
forehead to shield the eyes from the in- General of the Order, Aquaviva, to a
tolerable glare of light; troops of uni- cardinal visiting him in his little cham-
corns, beautiful and graceful as the ante- ber at Rome: «Little as my bedroom
lope; and groups of some amphibious looks, without leaving it I
creatures, spherical in form, which rolled the world. ) The preface is employed
with great velocity across the sands. in denouncing the Jesuits, and in de-
Moreover, the telescope discloses the fending the character and the veracity
biped beaver, which constructs huts like of the alleged author of the memoirs,
the human savage, and makes use of His statements are contrasted with the
fire; a semi-human creature with wings; reports of Candidius in the Collection
and race about four feet high, and of Voyages,' published in London, 1703,
very unpleasant in appearance, which to the effect that the island was wholly
certainly has the gift of speech. After without law and government; a state-
observations which fill many pages, the ment which he argues is absurd. The
account goes on to explain that an un- purpose that animates the book, and the
fortunate fire has destroyed the telescope, author's style, may be judged of by the
and that the expedition could not make following quotation:-
the discoveries certainly at that time im- “The Adventures of Sr. George Psal.
minent. The sensation produced by this manaazaar, Japanese and Pagan by birth,
nonsense was wide-spread and profound. the education he received at home from
The press took sides for and against its a Jesuit passing for a Japanese and
authenticity, and for some time a large Pagan like himself, the artifice used by
public credited the statements made. Of the Jesuit in abducting him from the
course the absurdity of the tale soon home of his father and bringing him to
revealed itself, and then the whole mat- France, the firmness with which he re-
ter became known as the “Moon Hoax. ) sisted all solicitations of a powerful and
But the whole invention was set forth formidable organization which has used
with the most admirable air of convic-
every means to make him embrace a
tion, and the book takes its place among religion that seemed to him absurd in
the best of Munchausenish tales.
practice, however reasonable in origin,
finally his conversion to the Protestant
Formosa, by George Psalmanaazaar. religion under no other constraint than
The title-page of this curious book, that of the simple truth, — all this is ac-
published in French at Amsterdam, by companied by circumstances so extraor-
govern all
## p. 36 (#72) ##############################################
36
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
dinary as to have excited the curiosity
of judicious minds both in Holland and
in England, and in all other places vis-
ited by him. People have crowded to
see him, talk with him, and hear from
his lips these remarkable experiences. ”
Roughing It, by Samuel L. Clemens.
In a
.
Mark Twain's droll humor is con-
stantly flashing out as he describes a
long and eventful journey from St. Louis
across the plains, in the early (sixties,”
to visit the mining camps of Nevada.
He notes the incident of a barkeeper
who was shot by an enemy, adding,
(And the next moment he was one of
the deadest men that ever lived. In-
teresting incidents of Mormon life and
customs are given. Brigham Young's
sage advice to an Eastern visitor was, -
"Don't incumber yourself with a large
family; . . . take my word, friend, ten
or eleven wives are all you need -
never go over it. ) Mark Twain failed
to meet the Indian as viewed through
the mellow moonshine of romance.
It was curious to see how quickly the
paint and tinsel fell away from him and
left him treacherous, filthy, and repuls-
ive. ) Describing an absurd adventure
that happened to his party, the author
says: “We actually went into camp in
a snow-drift in a desert, at midnight, in
a storm, forlorn and helpless, within fif-
teen yards of a comfortable inn. ”
He tells interesting stories of life in
the mining camps, of the frenzied ex-
citement, of great fortunes made and
lost, of dire poverty, and of reckless ex-
travagance; instancing a case when he
refused to cross the street to receive a
present of a block of stock, fearing he
would be late to dinner. And that stock
rose in value from a nominal sum to
$70 per share within a week.
Going to San Francisco, the author
witnesses the great earthquake, of which
he relates amusing incidents. He then
goes as a reporter to the Sandwich Is-
lands, the land of cannibals, mission-
aries, and ship captains. He does not
enjoy the native food, poi, which too
frequently used is said to produce acrid
humors; "a fact,” says Twain, «that
accounts for the humorous character of
the Kanakas. ” Obtaining a large stock
of rich material for stories, the author
returns to San Francisco, and acquires
notoriety and wealth in the lecture field.
« Thus,” said he, “after eleven years of
vicissitudes, ended a pleasure trip to the
silver mines of Nevada, which I had
originally intended to occupy only three
months. However, I usually miss my
calculations further than that. ” The vol-
ume is a mine of the frontier slang,
such as the author utilizes in (Buck Fan-
shawe's Funeral. )
Orpheus C. Kerr Papers, The, by
Robert Henry Newell. The Let-
ters) composing this book appeared ori.
ginally in the daily press during the Civil
War. Narrating the history of a ficti-
tious and comic Mackerel Brigade »
[Mackerel – Little Mac,” McClellan's
well-known popular nickname], they pur-
ported to be written from the scene of
action; were devoted to the humors of
the conflict; and were widely read at
the time throughout the North.
sense they are historic. Their gibes and
bitterly humorous shafts were directed
chiefly against the dishonest element of
society that the upheaval of the war had
brought to the surface,- the cheating
contractors, the makers of shoddy cloth-
ing, imperfect arms, scant-weight ammu-
nition, and bad supplies for the army in
the field, as well as towards the selfish
and incompetent general officers and
office-seekers. Much of the fun of the
letters is to-day unintelligible, some of
the satire seems coarse; but there is no
doubt that the author did immense serv-
ice in creating a better sentiment as to
the offenses that he scored, and to open
the way, among other benefits, for the
improvement which was to be known as
(civil-service reform. ”
Mother Goose's Melodies. Few books
in the English language have had
so wide-spread a circulation as the col-
lection of nursery rhymes known
(Mother Goose's Melodies. Indeed, the
child whose earliest remembrance does
not embrace pictures of Little Boy
Blue,' The House that Jack Built,'
(Who Killed Cock Robin,' 'Baa, Baa
Black Sheep,' and Patty Cake, Patty
Cake, Baker's Man,' has sustained a loss
of no small magnitude. In 1860 a story
was started to the effect that «Mother
Goose ) was a Boston woman; and she
was identified as Elizabeth Goose, widow
of Isaac Vergoose, or Goose, and mother-
in-law of Thomas Fleet, a well-known
Boston printer, said to have issued
a collection of
Melodies) in 1719.
There is an entire lack of evidence
as
C
## p. 37 (#73) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
37
ma
however, to support this assumption; the ecclesiastical body, and toward point-
although Boston has a true claim upon ing a moral for society through the
the fame of “Mother Goose, because mouths or the behavior of the animals.
two Boston publishers issued the book After traveling into the Flemish tongue,
in 1824. But it is now conceded that the adventures of the fox came back
“Mother Goose » belongs to French folk- into German speech; this time to appear
lore and not to English tradition; and in Low German as the famous (Reinke
some writers even connect her with de Vos,' printed in Lübeck in 1498.
Queen Goosefoot, said to be the mother Nearly three hundred years later, 1793.
of Charlemagne. Charles Perrault, born Goethe turned his attention to the long-
in Paris in 1628, was the first person to popular subject, and gave the animal
collect, reduce to writing, and publish epic its most perfect form in his (Rein-
the Contes de Mère l'Oye,' or ecke Fuchs. ) In the twelve cantos of
( Tales of Mother Goose); and there is the Reinecke Fuchs,' which is written
no reason to think that “Mother Goose » in hexameters, Goethe gives an amusing
was a term ever used in English liter- allegory of human life and passions, tell-
ature until it was translated from the ing the story of the fox and his tricks
French equivalent, Mère l'Oye. It is in a more refined tone than his early
probable that her fame first reached
predecessors, but losing something of
England in 1729, when Mother Goose's their charm of naive simplicity.
Fairy Tales) were translated by Robert The drawings of the noted German
Samber. The original Mother Goose's artist, Wilhelm Kaulbach, which illus.
Melodies) was not issued until 1760, trated an edition de luxe of recent
when it was brought out by John New- years, have renewed the interest of the
bery of London. While «Mother Goose » reading public in Goethe's poem. Per-
herself is of French origin, many of the haps the most familiar trick of Reynard
(Melodies) are purely of English ex- is the story of how he induced the bear
traction, some of them dating back to to put his head in the crotch of a tree
Shakespeare's time and earlier.
in search of honey, and then removed
Famous writers of fiction «may four- the wedge which held the crotch open,
ish and may fade, great poets pass into leaving the bear a prisoner, caught by
distant perspective; but until time has the neck.
ceased to be, it is certain that Mother
Goose) will reign in the hearts, and pearl,
Pearl, a poem of the fourteenth cen-
murmur in the ears, of each succeeding
tury, a link between the Canter.
generation.
bury Tales) and the work of the early
Saxon poets, Cædmon and Cynewulf,
written
Reynard the Fox. This is one of the
by a contemporary of
cycle of animal-legends which are Chaucer, whose name is unknown. Hid.
generally supposed by scholars to be of den from the world of letters for many
Oriental origin, and which have been
centuries, this jewel of old-English verse
adopted into most of the Germanic lan- appeared in modern setting in 1891.
guages. The group of stories clustering The edition is the work of Israel Gol-
about the fox as hero, and illustrating
lancz, of Christ's College, Cambridge.
his superiority over his fellows, as cun-
Prefixed to it is the following quatrain
ning is superior to strength, first ap-
by Tennyson:-
peared in Germany as Latin productions
« We lost you – for how long a time-
of the monks in cloisters along the banks True pearl of our poetic prime!
of the Mosel and Maas. This was as
We found you, and you gleam reset
In Britain's lyric coronet. ”
early as the tenth century, and France
knew them by the end of the twelfth A manuscript of the Cottonian collec-
under the name of Le Roman du Re- tion at Oxford contains (Pearl, with
nard. "
three other poems,—Gawain, 'Clean-
In 1170 the material took definite shape ness,' and Patience,'— each a gateway
among the secular poems of Germany in into the visionary or romantic world of
the hands of Heinrich der Glichesäre, the fourteenth century. In the opinion
who composed an epic of twelve "advent- of the editor, all four poems are by
ures » in Middle High German, on the the same unknown author, and antedate
theme. In all the old versions there is Chaucer's work. The inter
a tendency toward satirical allusions to turies have swept away every evidence
a
was
cen-
## p. 38 (#74) ##############################################
38
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ness.
of this author's name and place; but his a gem too fair to be hidden in earth,
works reflect a vivid personality, mak- and partly of a Vision of the child's
ing himself seen even through the ab- bliss with God. Throughout, the sym-
stractions of medieval allegory. The bol of the Pearl is used, the type of
editor endeavors to trace the outlines of Margaret, the type also of perfect holi-
this personality, guided, as he says, by
The "Vision) is rich in gorgeous
“mere conjecture and inference. » He imagery, as if the poet had drawn his
supposes the author of Pearl) to have inspiration from the Apocalypse. He is
been born about 1330, somewhere in carried in spirit to a land of unearthly
Lancashire, and reared amid the nat- beauty, where he beholds his daughter
ural beauties of Wordsworth's country, clothed in shining garments sown with
probably in a nobleman's household. pearls. She tells him of her happiness,
There is no decisive evidence whether reveals to him the heavenly Jerusalem,
(Gawain or Pearl) was the first writ- and so comforts him that he becomes
ten of the four poems; the editor be- resigned to his loss. The poem reflects
lieves, however, that "Gawain) was first. the mystical devotion of a painting by
Its date is approximately determined by an early master.
the connection the editor traces between The poems (Cleanness) and (Pa-
the Gawain romances, so popular in tience) are, in the opinion of the editor,
the fourteenth century, and the origin pendants to Pearl. ” (Cleanness) relates
of the Order of the Garter. In the in epic style the Scriptural stories of
poem (Gawain,' a fair young knight of the Marriage Feast, the Fall of the An-
Arthur's Round Table is protected in a gels from Heaven, the Flood, the Visit
combat with the Green Knight by a of the Angels to Abraham, Belshazzar's
mystic girdle, the gift of his hostess, Feast, and Nebuchadnezzar's Fall. The
the wife of the Green Knight. In the poem Patience) relates episodes in the
three days preceding the combat, she life of Jonah. A vivid, childlike descrip-
had tempted him three times, and three tion is given of Jonab's entrance into
times he had resisted the temptation. the whale's belly and his abode there.
To reward him for his chastity, the The artistic form of these poems rep-
Green Knight permits him to keep the resents compromise between two
mystic circlet, and to wear it as an hon- schools: the East Midland school which
orable badge, as well as a protection produced Chaucer and looked to French
from injury.
In the editor's opinion, literature for inspiration, and the Saxon
these incidents of the poem refer di- school of the West-Midland poets,
rectly to the adventure of King Edward « whose literary ancestors
Cæd-
III. with the Countess of Salisbury, and mon and Cynewulf. ) It would seem
to the subsequent founding of the Order «that there arose a third class of poets
of the Garter. The contemporary poets during this period of formation, whose
thus sought to honor the King by com- avowed endeavor
harmonize
paring him with
Gawain, the very
these diverse elements of Old and
flower of courtesy and purity; the con- New, to blend the archaic alliterative
ception of Gawain as a false knight rhythm with the measures of Romance
« light in life belonging to a later day. song. "Pearlis a singularly successful
To pass from (Gawain' to Pearl is instance of the reconciliation of these
to pass from earthly to heavenly ro- two widely diverse forms of poetry. It
mance. (Gawain) reflects the gay chiv- is a large bead in the rosary of English
alry of the fourteenth century, Pearl) verse, marking a transition from the
its disposition to see visions and to mediæval to the modern.
dream dreams. Before Chaucer, the
Muse of English verse had closed eye- Chaucer, Studies in: His LIFE AND
lids. A brilliant example of the me- WRITINGS, by Thomas R. Louns-
diæval dream-poem is found in Pearl. ? bury, LL. D. (3 vols. , 1892. ) One of the
It is an ancient In Memoriam,' a lyric most interesting and valuable books, both
of grief for the poet's dead child Mar- in matter and treatment, which recent
garet; and it finds its truest counter- research in letters has produced; alike
part in the delicate miniatures of medi- admirable in learning and singularly sa-
æval missals, steeped in richest colors gacious and lucid in criticism. The first
and bright with gold. ” The poem con- design of the work was that of a com-
sists partly of a Lament over the loss of pendious and easily accessible account
a
were
was
to
a
## p. 39 (#75) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
39
arth,
bild's
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koli
geous
o his
He is
arthir
ghter
with
ipess.
alen
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e de
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there
of the results of recent investigation; / genius at its best, – the "facetious grace
but examination showed that many of which was noted in Shakespeare, and
these were questionable or worthless, which the Baconians have ignorantly
and that the field of Chaucer interest pre- made to mean comic instead of finished,
sented a range of problems not half of elegant, witty - Dr. Lounsbury's pages
which had been treated adequately, and are very rich.
many of which had not been touched at
all. The exact scope and design of the Chaucer, The Student's: A complete
edition of his works. Edited by
work were therefore changed, not only
Walter W. Skeat. (1895. ) For ordinary
from what was at first contemplated, but
literary use, as perfect a book contain-
to attempt a task far larger and more
ing all of Chaucer as the best editorship
thorough than anything yet undertaken.
The conception, happily, was not beyond
and best manner of publication can be
expected to make. In addition to the
the powers and the resources of the au-
complete text of all the writings of Chau-
thor. No clearer, more effective, or more
cer, the volume has a Glossarial Index
interesting work of learning and study of
fully adequate to explain words not known
culture, whether for the scholar or for
to the English reader to-day. With this
the general reader and student, has been
aid to overcome the difficulties of read.
added to the modern library. Nor are
ing Chaucer, and a volume very low in
its honors modern only: they are those
price, the old master of early English
of universal literature, of the few books
song should become widely familiar to
whose quality raises them to the highest
readers of the best books.
line of their class.
Dr. Lounsbury modestly describes his Doctor Fanstus, by Christopher Mar-
work, in three volumes and sixteen hun-
. This play, written about the
dred pages, as “eight chapters bearing year 1589, is remarkable both as the chief
upon the life and writings of Chaucer; work of the founder of English tragedy,
eight distinct essays, or rather mono- and as the first play based on the Faust
graphs); but the Chaucer unity and the legend. At the time of the Reformation,
unity of masterly treatment hardly per- when chemistry was in its infancy, any
mit any such distinction of parts. The skill in this science was attributed to a
life of Chaucer, the Chaucer legend, the compact with the Evil One. Hence
text of Chaucer, and what exactly are wandering scholars who performed tricks
the true writings of Chaucer, are the top- and wonders were considered magicians,
ics of Vol. i. , and of a third of Vol. ii. ; their achievements were grossly exagger-
and the study is as nearly complete and ated, and they were supposed to have
conclusive as we
pe to have surrendered their souls to the Devil. The
it. The chapter on the Chaucer legend last of these traveling magicians to gain
is a study of legend as a substitute for notoriety was John Faustus, whose public
history, where it would seem impossible, career lasted from 1510 to 1540; and to
which altogether surpasses any study of him were ascribed all the feats of his
the kind yet made. But the two double predecessors. In 1587 the (Faustbuch)
chapters which follow, to the end of Vol. was printed, giving the story of his
ii. , on the learning of Chaucer, first in life and exploits. An English trans-
works still known, and second in works lation, made soon after, was doubtless
and authors now hardly known at all; the source of Marlowe's plot. The theme
and on Chaucer's relations to, first the was afterwards variously elaborated in
English language, and second the religion Germany, and there were many puppet
of his time, - carry Dr. Lounsbury over plays on the subject; but it remained
fields of learning and scholarly penetra- for Goethe's master-hand to ennoble the
tion in which he stands alone. Yet the popular legend, and make it symbolic
succeeding chapters, which fill the third of the struggles and aspirations of the
volume, on Chaucer in Literary History whole human race. Marlowe's 'Doctor
and Chaucer as a Literary Artist, even Faustus) is rather a tragic poem than a
increase our grateful and delighted esti- drama, consisting of only fourteen scenes
mate of the author's wealth of knowl- without any grouping into acts. It is
edge and mastery of exposition; not to remarkable for singleness of aim and
speak of a refinement and charm of style simplicity of construction, though there
rarely found in English prose. In the is plenty of variety and incident. The
felicitous wit which is a note of English passionate and solemn scenes are very
ܕ݂ܰܝ ܘܰܐܶ 8
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pies
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ET
## p. 40 (#76) ##############################################
40
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
impressive, and the final tremendous a problem in chemistry, so history at
monologue before Lucifer seizes Faus- bottom is a problem in psychology”; and
tus's soul is unsurpassed in all the he aims here to give a view, more or
range of tragedy. Faustus, dissatisfied less complete, of the English intellect,
with philosophy, resolves to enlarge his illustrated by literary examples, and not
sphere by cultivating magic. He con- a history at all, if by history is meant
jures up Mephistopheles and bids him a record of books produced or of facts
be his servant. The spirit, however, re- gathered together. The defects of the
plies that Lucifer's permission must first book are many and obvious; but when
be gained. Faustus then voluntarily all abatement is made, it remains to the
offers to surrender his soul after four- English reader a most stimulating intel-
and-twenty years, if during that time lectual performance. In its powerful,
Mephistopheles shall be his slave. Luci- though arbitrary, unity of composition,
fer agrees, and demands a promise writ- in its sustained æsthetic temper, its
ten in Faustus's blood. Then Faustus brilliancy, variety, and sympathy, it is
sets out in search of knowledge and a really monumental accession to a lit-
pleasure, traveling about invisible. He erature, which, whatever its limitations
provides grapes in midwinterand calls in the range of its ideas, is a splendid
up the spirits of Alexander and Thais series of masterly compositions. ”
to please the emperor. At the request
of his scholars he summons Helen of
English Novel, The: A STUDY IN THE
Troy, and impressed by her beauty, ex- DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY, by
claims:
Sidney Lanier. (1883. Revised Edition,
« Was this the face that launched a thousand
1897. ) A volume of singularly rich criti.
ships,
cism, based on a course of twelve lect-
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium ?
ures at Johns Hopkins University, 1881.
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss! »
It was almost the last work of a writer
At times the desire for repentance seizes
whose death was a heavy loss to American
him; but the exhilaration of pleasure is
letters. The full title given by Lanier
too great, and the powers of evil are too
to his course was, From. Æschylus to
strong. Finally the time expires, and
George Eliot: The Development of Per-
Faustus in agony awaits the coming of sonality. ) The idea suggesting this title
Lucifer. He appeals to God and Christ,
was that in Greek tragedy, represented by
but has forfeited the right to pray; and
Æschylus, the expression of personality
at the stroke of twelve Lucifer bears
is faint and crude, while in George Eliot
him away to everlasting doom.
it reached the clearness and strength of
high literary art. The earlier work of
English Literature, History of, by Lanier on (The Science of English Verse. '
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine. (French and the later study of the novel, were
original, 5 vols. , 1863–64.
English Trans- designed to serve as parts of a compre-
lation by Henri Van Laun, 4 vols. , hensive philosophy of the form and sub-
1872–74. ) An admirably written, sympa. stance of beauty in literature; and the
thetic, and penetrating account of the execution of the plan, as far as he had
aspects of English culture and the Eng- proceeded, was of a quality rarely found
lish race as revealed in English litera- in literary criticism. In the second of the
ture. To no small extent it misses exact work, the last six of the twelve chapters
knowledge of English genius and of the are devoted to George Eliot. The ear-
finer aspects of English literary culture; lier six range over a wide field, and show
but it is a masterly study to come from wealth of knowledge with remarkable in-
the pen of a foreigner, and rich in inter- sight and felicity of expression.
est and suggestion to the thoughtful
reader. The strength of the work is in
Euphues and the Anatomy of Wit,
its study of race and civilization; but and Euphues and His England, by
this is also its weakness, as to
John Lyly, were published respectively
extent the view taken of literary pro- in 1578 and 1580, when the author was
duction is too much colored by the a young courtier still under thirty. They
author's theory of race, which wholly constitute the first and second part of a
fails in any such case as that of Shakes- work which can only loosely be called
peare. "Just as astronomy is at bottom fiction in the modern sense. Perhaps
a problem in mechanics, and physiology the word “romance» best expresses its
some
## p. 41 (#77) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
41
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nature. For a dozen years it was fash- leaves the house, only to be followed by
ionable in the polite circles of England; her tormentor. Finally, being truly in
and the word “Euphuism » survives in love with her, Mr. B— decides to over-
the language to designate the stilted, far- look their difference of station and marry
fetched, ornate style of writing introduced her. The second part of the novel,
and made popular by Lyly. Euphues, the which appeared the following year and
hero, is a native of Athens, who goes narrates Pamela's life after this union,
to Naples and there wooes Lucilla, fickle is less interesting. The story is told in
daughter of the governor.
She is al- the form of letters —a form used in all
ready plighted to his friend Philautus; Richardson's fiction. The moral stand-
and when Euphues seeks to win her in ard – which is that of English society in
spite of this, both mistress and friend the first half of the eighteenth century -
forsake him. Later, he is reconciled seems to the modern reader disgraceful.
with Philautus, and writes a cynical blast Mr. B— acts toward Panela as only a
against all womankind. He then returns profligate and rascal would to a girl of
to his own city, and forswearing love for- his own station; yet Pamela, in the true
ever, takes refuge in writing disquisitions spirit of caste distinction, extols him,
upon education and religion, interspersed when he at last condescends to wed her,
with letters to and from various friends. as not only the greatest but the best of
Incidentally, a fine eulogy on Queen Eliza-
There is much human nature,
beth is penned. The narrative is loosely however, in the book; and the interest
constructed and inconsecutive; the chief is strong and well maintained. Rich
interest in the work for Lyly's contempo- ardson did a new thing in novel-writing
raries was the philosophical dissertations when he chose a girl of the humble
upon topics of timely pertinence, couched, class for heroine, and made
use of
not in the heavy manner of the formal every-day contemporaneous persons and
thinker, but in the light, elegant, finicky scenes for the purposes of fiction. Thus
tone of the man-about-court. The liter- the story of incident and the analysis
ary diction of Euphues) has been well of character came into English fiction;
characterized by a German scholar, Dr. and thus the Modern Novel traces its
Landmann, who says it showed a pecul- development from Richardson.
iar combination of antithesis with alliter-
ation, assonance, rhyme, and play upon Joseph Andrews, by Henry Fielding,
words, a love for the conformity and cor- was the first novel by that master.
respondence of parallel sentences, and a It appeared in 1742, its full title being
tendency to accumulate rhetorical figures, (The Adventures of Joseph Andrews and
such as climax, the rhetorical question, his Friend Abraham Adams. ) Fielding
objections and refutations, the repetition was thirty-five years old when it was
of the same thought in other forms, etc. ) published. His intention in writing it
Although Lyly's style had in it too much was to satirize Richardson's (Pamela. )
of the affected to give it long life, he un- This novel, given to the world two years
doubtedly did something towards making before, had depicted the struggle of an
the sixteenth-century speech refined, mu- honest serving-maid to escape from the
sical, and choice. It is this rather than snares laid for her by her master. An-
any attraction of story that makes the drews, the hero of Fielding's story, is a
(Euphues) interesting to the modern stu- brother of Pamela, like her in service;
dent of literature.
and the narrative details the trials he
endures in the performance of his duty.
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, by Sam- This story was begun satirically, with
uel Richardson, is the first work of an evident intention of burlesquing the
fiction by an author who began what high-flown virtue of Richardson's hero-
is called the modern analytic novel. It ine by the representation of a
was published in 1740, and won instant under similar temptation. But as the
applause and a wide circle of readers in tale developed, Fielding grew serious,
all classes of society, women especially warming to his work so that it became
following with bated breath the shift- in many respects a genuine picture of
ing fortunes of Pamela Andrews. She life, and contained a number of his most
is a serving-maid whom the son and enjoyable creations; notably Parson Ad-
heir of the family dishonorably pursues. ams, a fine study of the old-style country
She indignantly repels his advances and clergyman, simple-minded, good-hearted,
it
eester
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and as
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## p. 42 (#78) ##############################################
42
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
with a relish for meat and drink and a truthful picture of the conventions and
wholesome disdain of hypocrisy and mean- ideals of its period, while it possesses a
ness. Andrews and Adams have numer- perennial life because it deals with some
ous amusing adventures together, many of the elemental interests and passions.
of these being too coarse to please mod-
erne taste. Prethe end itofablishut that Tomed danes bebyna Henier Fieldsnes. ice:
Andrews is really of good , while ceded to that writer's masterpiece,
his sweetheart Fanny, a handsome girl and deemed by some critics the greatest
of humble rank, is the daughter of the English novel, was published in 1749,
parents who had adopted him; and the when the author was forty-two. He had,
pair are wedded amidst general jubila- however, been long at work upon it. The
tion. The confusion arising from the story is Fielding's third piece of fiction,
exchange of children at birth- a device and represents the zenith of his literary
since much used in English fiction — is power; Amelia,' which followed two
cleverly managed. The chief charm of years later and was his last novel, hav-
the story, however, lies in its lively epi- ing less exuberance and happy invention.
sodes, high spirits, and delightful humor. (The History of Tom Jones, a Found-
The success of this novel encouraged ling,' is the full title of the book; Tom
Fielding to write other and better books. is the foundling, left on the doorstep
of a charitable gentleman, Mr. Allworthy,
Clari
larissa Harlowe, by Samuel Rich- who gives him a home and rears him
ardson, was published in 1751, ten with care, but, grieved by his wild con-
years after Pamela,' when Richardson duct as a young man, repudiates him for
was over sixty years old. In Pamela) a time. Tom is a high-spirited, hand-
he tried to draw the portrait of a girl some fellow, generous and honest, but
of humble class in distress; in Clar- perpetually in hot water because of his
issa) he essayed to do the same thing liking for adventure and his gallantry
for a young woman of gentility. She towards women. He loves Sophia West-
is of a good country family (the scene ern, whose father, Squire Western, an
being laid in rural England of the first irascible, bluff, three-bottle, hunting Eng-
half of the eighteenth century, Richard- lish country magnate, is one of the
son's time), and is wooed by Lovelace, best and best-known pieces of character-
a well-known but profligate gentleman. drawing in the whole range of English
The match is opposed by the Harlowes fiction. The match is opposed strenu-
because of his dubious reputation. Clar- ously by the squire; and Tom sets out
issa for some time declines his advances; on his travels under a cloud, hoping to
but as she is secretly taken by his dash- win his girl in spite of all. He is ac-
ing ways, he succeeds in abducting her, companied by his tutor, the schoolmaster
and so compromising her good name Partridge, a simple-minded, learned man,
that she dies of shame,- her betrayer very lovable, a capitally drawn and
being killed in a duel by her cousin, amusing figure. Another character sym-
Colonel Morden. Lovelace's name has be- pathetically sketched is that of Blifil,
come a synonym for the fine-gentleman the contemptible hypocrite who seeks
profligate. He is drawn as by no means Sophia's hand and tries to further his
without his good side, and as sincerely cause by lying about Jones. Tom has
loving Clarissa, who stands as a sym- many escapades, especially of the ama-
pathetic study of a noble-minded young tory sort; and his experiences are nar-
woman in misfortune.
The story is rated with great liveliness, reality, and
largely told by letters exchanged be- unction, the reader being carried along
tween Clarissa and her confidante Miss irresistibly by the author's high good
Howe, and between Lovelace and his spirits. No other eighteenth-century story
friend Belford. Its affecting incidents give such truthful, varied, and animated
moved the heart of the eighteenth cen- scenes of contemporaneous life in coun-
tury, and ladies of quality knelt at Rich- try and town. Jones finally triumphs
ardson's feet imploring him to spare his over his enemies, is reconciled with his
heroine. To the present-day reader, the guardian, the blot on his birth is re-
tale seems slow and prolix; but it was moved, and he wins his Sophia. He is
able to enchain the attention of a man throughout a likable fellow, though his
like Macaulay, and has much merit of ethics are not always agreeable to mod-
plot and character.
It is, moreover, a ern taste or conscience.
## p. 43 (#79) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
43
name
а
Expedition of Humphrey Clinker,
The, by Tobias Smollett. This
novel, Smollett's last and generally con-
sidered his best one, was published in
1771, only a few months before he died
at the age of fifty-one. The young man
who gives his
to the story is
really the least conspicuous of its char-
acters, and has not
very strongly
marked individuality. About a quarter
of the story has been told before he is
introduced He then makes his appear-
ance as a “shabby country fellow, who
takes the place of a postilion discharged
from the service of Mr. Matthew Bram-
ble. «He seemed to be about twenty
years of age, of a middle size, with
bandy legs, stooping shoulders, high fore-
head, sandy locks, pinking eyes, fat nose,
and long chin; but his complexion was
of a sickly yellow, his looks denoted
famine, and the rags that he wore could
hardly conceal what decency requires to
be covered. »
In spite of his unattractive exterior,
Humphrey soon wins the regard of his
employer and his family, to whom in
the end he proves to be related, though
by the bar sinister. The story is told in
a series of letters from Matthew Bram-
ble, an elderly bachelor, to his friend
and medical adviser, Dr. Lewis; by his
maiden sister Tabitha, to the house-
keeper, Mrs. Gwyllim; by Winifred Jen-
kins, her maid, to another maid, Mary
Jones; and by Lydia and Jeremiah Mel-
ford, niece and nephew of the Brambles,
to their friends Mrs. Jermyn, and Letitia
Willis, and Sir Watkins Philips. The
time covered by the letters is little more
than six months, and they are written
while the Brambles and their relatives
and servants are making a pleasure tour
through England and Scotland. The
letters are the vehicle of much interest.
ing information about the different places
visited by the family, including Bath and
all its frivolities, Scarborough, London
in the season, Newcastle and other towns
in the north, Edinburgh, Manchester,
and various country regions. Although
the novel has too much the air of a
guide-book through which runs a very
slender thread of story, each one of the
writers has his own point of view re-
garding persons and places. Each one
also displays his characteristics:
Matthew Bramble is observing, amiable
if a little cynical; his sister vain and
bent on getting a husband; Winifred,
her maid, is a youthful Mrs. Malaprop;
Lydia is a dutiful niece, though con-
stant to the lover from whom they try to
separate her; and Jeremiah, fresh from
Oxford, shows that his air of man of
the world is only assumed. In the end
Tabitha secures a husband, a Captain
Lismahago. Lydia's lover, masquerading
under the name of Wilson, proves to be
George Dennison, the son of estimable
and rich parents; and on the day when
aunt and niece are married to the men
of their choice, Humphrey Clinker, now
known as Matthew Lloyd, is married to
Winifred Jenkins.
Though (Humphrey Clinker) may not
altogether meet modern requirements as
a work of fiction, as a picture of eigh-
teenth-century life it is extremely inter-
esting. Smollett had a keen insight into
human nature, which gives a value to
all that he writes. The plot of Hum-
phrey Clinker) is perfectly clean; but in
many places it is stained by what may
be called colloquial coarseness.
Evelina, by Frances Burney: In 'Ev.
elina; or, the History of a Young
Lady's Entrance into the World, Miss
Burney, describing the experiences of her
charming little heroine in London, gives
a vivid picture of the manners and cus-
toms of the eighteenth century.
Some years before the opening of the
story, Sir John Belmont has deserted his
wife. When she dies, their child Evelina
is brought up in the seclusion of the coun.
try by her kind guardian, Mr. Villars. Sir
John is followed to France by an ambi-
tious woman, a nurse, who carries her
child to him in place of his own, and he
educates this child believing her to be his
daughter. Evelina, meantime, grown to
be a pretty, unaffected girl, goes to visit
Mrs. Mirvan in London, and is introduced
to society. She meets Lord Orville, the
dignified and handsome hero, and falls in
love with him. Later she is obliged to
visit her vulgar grandmother, Madame
Duval; and while with her ill-bred rela-
tives she undergoes great mortification
on meeting Lord Orville and Sir Clement
Willoughby, a persistent lover. During
this visit Evelina saves a poor young
man, Mr. Macartney, from committing
suicide. He proves to be the illegitimate
son of Sir John Belmont, and in Paris
he has fallen in love with the supposed
daughter of that gentleman, who, he is
afterwards told, is his own sister. He
own
## p. 44 (#80) ##############################################
44
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
tells Evelina his story: but as no names
are mentioned, they remain in ignorance
of their relationship. At Bath, Evelina
sees Lord Orville again, and in spite of
many misunderstandings they at last
come together. Sir John returns from
France, is made to realize the mistake that
had been made, and accepts Evelina as his
rightful heir. All mysteries are cleared
up, Mr. Macartney marries the nurse's
child so long considered Sir John's daugh-
ter, and Lord Orville marries Evelina.
The characters are interesting con-
trasts: Orville, Lovel, Willoughby, and
Merton standing for different types of
fashionable men; while Captain Mirvan,
Madame Duval, and the Branghtons are
excellent illustrations of eighteenth-cen-
tury vulgarity. The story is told by let-
ters, principally those of Evelina to her
guardian. “Evelina) was published in
1778, and immediately brought fame to
the authoress, then only twenty-five years
old.
Cecil
scene gives up Mortimer. But the hero.
ine has her reward at the end. It is
hard, in our day, to understand the over-
powering family pride and prejudice, the
effects of which constitute largely the
story of the heroine. Cecilia) was pub-
lished in 1782, four years after the issue
of Evelina,' and met with public favor
almost as great as that which welcomed
the earlier romance. Sentimental, arti-
ficial, and unliterary though they are,
Miss Burney's stories present a vivid
picture of the society of her time, and
are likely to remain among the English
classics.
The Diary and Letters of Madame
D'Arblay, the gifted Fanny Bur-
ney, surpass in modern estimation the
rest of her writings. The record begins
with «Evelina. ) The success of her first
effort, the dinings, winings, and compli-
ments that followed, are recorded with
a naive garrulousness perfectly consistent
with simplicity and sincerity. The three
periods of the authoress's life, - her
home life, her service as maid of honor to
Queen Charlotte, and her subsequent trav-
vels and residence abroad with General
D'Arblay, -are described. She draws
portraits of her friends: Johnson, Burke,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thrale, Boswell,
and her “Dear Daddy Crisp. Outside
their talk of literary celebrities, these me-
moirs describe court etiquette under the
coarse Madame Schwellenberg, the trial
of Warren Hastings, the king's insanity
during 1788–89, and many other incidents
which were the talk of the town. In later
life, after her husband had regained his
command, the stay of the D'Arblays in
Waterloo just before the day of the battle
furnishes a passage upon great events.
From this source, Thackeray, when describ-
ing the departure and death of George
Osborne in Vanity Fair,' probably drew
his material. Lively, talkative, gossips,
full of prejudices, the book is as interest-
ing as little Frances Burney herself must
have been.
Castle
astle Rackrent, by Maria Edgeworth.
This, as the author announces, is
(an Hibernian tale taken from facts and
from the manners of the Irish squire
before the year 1782. The memoirs of
the Rackrent family are recounted by
Thady Quirk, an old steward, who has
been from childhood devotedly attached
to the house of Rackrent. The old retain-
er's descriptions of the several masters
»
ecilia, by Frances Burney. "Cecilia;
or, Memoirs of an Heiress) is a
typical English novel of a century ago.
The plot is simple, the story long drawn
out, the style stilted, and the characters
alone constitute the interest of the book,
and justify Dr. Johnson's praise of Miss
Burney as a little character-monger. )
The charming heroine, Cecilia Bever-
ley, has no restriction on her fortune but
that her future husband must take her
She goes to London to stay with
Mr. Harrel, one of her guardians, and is
introduced into society by his wife. Mr.
Harrel contrives to influence her for his
own advantage, and succeeds in keeping
about her only those admirers who serve
him personally. She and the hero, Mor-
timer Delvile, have therefore little inter-
After borrowing money from
Cecilia and gambling it all away, Mr.
Harrel in despair commits suicide. Ce-
cilia then visits her other guardian, Mr.
Delvile, at his castle, where she is con-
stantly thrown with Mortimer, his son.
Family pride keeps him from proposing
to Cecilia, whose birth does not equal
his own; but her beauty and gentleness
overcome his resolves, and he persuades
her to a secret marriage. Mr. Monckton,
who wishes to secure Cecilia's fortune,
discovers her plans, and with the help of
an accomplice prevents the marriage, at
the very church. Cecilia returns to the
country, and after a harrowing family
name.
course.
## p. 45 (#81) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
45
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under whom he has served, vividly por- present race of females is not very favor.
tray various types of the fine old Irish able to domestic happiness. ” His dying
gentleman); foremost among them all father had also enjoined Celebs to take
being Sir Patrick Rackrent, who lived the advice of an old friend, Mr. Stanley,
and died a monument of old Irish hospi- before marrying. Celebs goes to Stan-
tality,
> and whose funeral was such a ley Grove in Hampshire, taking London
one as was never known before or since on his way, and meeting at the house
in the county. ” Then comes Sir Mur- of Sir John Bedfield several fashionable
tagh Rackrent, whose famous legal knowl- women who fail to reach his standard of
edge brought the poor tenants little con- eligibility. At Stanley Grove he finds
solation; and his wife, of the Skinfiint his ideal in one of the six daughters of
family, who had a charity school for the house, Lucilla, with whom he duti-
poor children, where they were taught to fully falls in love, to be at once accepted.
read and write gratis, and where they In the month of his probation he meets
were kept spinning gratis for my lady Dr. Barlow, rector of the parish; Lady
in return. ) Next follows Sir Kit, «God Ashton, a gloomy religionist; the Carl-
bless him! He valued a guinea as little tons, ;-a dissolute and unbelieving hus-
as any man, money was no more to him band who is converted by a saintly wife;
than dirt, and his gentleman and groom and Tyrril, holding the Antinomian doc-
and all belonging to him the same. ) Also trine of faith without works, whose foil
his Jewish wife, whom he imprisons in is Flam, a Tory squire, simple in faith
her room for seven years because she and practicing good works.
The con-
refuses to give up her diamonds. In the versation of these and other personages
words of Thady, it was a shame for supplies the didactic features of the novel.
her not to have shown more duty, when (Celebs) was published in London in
he condescended to ask so often for such 1808, and had an instant and great pop-
a bit of a trifle in his distresses, espe- ularity. The first edition was sold in a
cially when he all along made it no fortnight; the book went through three
secret that he married her for money. ” more within three months, and eleven
The memoirs close with the history of within a year. Its republication in the
Sir Condy Rackrent, who dies from United States was also highly successful.
quaffing on a wager a great horn of
punch, after having squandered the re-
mainder of the family fortune. Castle Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott.
(Guy Mannering,' the second of
Rackrent) was issued in 1801, and was Scott's novels, appeared anonymously in
the first of a series of successful novels 1815, seven months after (Waverley. It
produced by the author, whose descrip- is said to have been the result of six
tions of Irish character, whether grave weeks' work, and by some critics is
or gay, are unsurpassed. Sir Walter thought to show the marks of haste. Its
Scott has acknowledged that his original time is the middle of the eighteenth cen-
idea, when he began his career as a nove tury, its scene chiefly Scotland. Guy
elist, was to be to Scotland what Miss Mannering himself is a young English-
Edgeworth was to Ireland.
man, at the opening of the story trav-
eling through Scotland. Belated
Celebs in Search of a Wife, by Han- night, he is hospitably received at New
nah More. This is the best-known Place, the home of the Laird of Ellan-
work of fiction by that prolific moralist, gowan.
When the laird learns that the
Hannah More. It was written after she
young man has studied astrology, he
had passed her sixtieth year, and was begs him to cast the horoscope of his
intended as an antidote to what she con- son, born that very night.
sidered the deleterious influence of the The young man, carrying out his prom-
romantic tales of that day. In Celebs) ise, is dismayed to find two possible
she sought to convey precepts of religion, catastrophes overhanging the boy: one
morals, and manners, in the form of a at his fifth, the other at his twenty-first
novel. Celebs, a young gentleman of year. He tells the father, however, what
fortune and estate in the north of Eng- he has discovered, in order that he may
land, sets out to find a woman who shall have due warning; and later proceeds on
meet the somewhat exacting requirements his way.
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
the same
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## p. 46 (#82) ##############################################
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.
account pretended to be taken from the have Induced Him to Abjure Paganism
supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of and to Embrace the Reformed Christian
Science, and was most circumstantial and Religion. By the Sieur N. F. D. B. R.
exact. The discovery was asserted to Enriched with Maps and Pictures. ”
have been made at the Cape of Good The book was evidently inspired by
Hope, by means of a new and vastly im- the sectarian zeal of the Reformed
proved telescope invented by the younger Church in Holland, and looked to palli-
Herschel. The article described beaches ating in Christian eyes the offense of the
of gleaming sand; lunar forests; fields Japanese in putting to death the Jesuit
covered with vivid rose-poppies; basaltic missionaries in that country. No suspi.
columns like those of Staffa; rocks of cion or charge is too bad to be enter-
green marble; obelisks of wine-colored tained against the Jesuits. In the preface
amethyst; herds of miniature bisons, with the author illustrates their aspiration to
a curious fold or hairy veil across the universal dominion by a remark of the
forehead to shield the eyes from the in- General of the Order, Aquaviva, to a
tolerable glare of light; troops of uni- cardinal visiting him in his little cham-
corns, beautiful and graceful as the ante- ber at Rome: «Little as my bedroom
lope; and groups of some amphibious looks, without leaving it I
creatures, spherical in form, which rolled the world. ) The preface is employed
with great velocity across the sands. in denouncing the Jesuits, and in de-
Moreover, the telescope discloses the fending the character and the veracity
biped beaver, which constructs huts like of the alleged author of the memoirs,
the human savage, and makes use of His statements are contrasted with the
fire; a semi-human creature with wings; reports of Candidius in the Collection
and race about four feet high, and of Voyages,' published in London, 1703,
very unpleasant in appearance, which to the effect that the island was wholly
certainly has the gift of speech. After without law and government; a state-
observations which fill many pages, the ment which he argues is absurd. The
account goes on to explain that an un- purpose that animates the book, and the
fortunate fire has destroyed the telescope, author's style, may be judged of by the
and that the expedition could not make following quotation:-
the discoveries certainly at that time im- “The Adventures of Sr. George Psal.
minent. The sensation produced by this manaazaar, Japanese and Pagan by birth,
nonsense was wide-spread and profound. the education he received at home from
The press took sides for and against its a Jesuit passing for a Japanese and
authenticity, and for some time a large Pagan like himself, the artifice used by
public credited the statements made. Of the Jesuit in abducting him from the
course the absurdity of the tale soon home of his father and bringing him to
revealed itself, and then the whole mat- France, the firmness with which he re-
ter became known as the “Moon Hoax. ) sisted all solicitations of a powerful and
But the whole invention was set forth formidable organization which has used
with the most admirable air of convic-
every means to make him embrace a
tion, and the book takes its place among religion that seemed to him absurd in
the best of Munchausenish tales.
practice, however reasonable in origin,
finally his conversion to the Protestant
Formosa, by George Psalmanaazaar. religion under no other constraint than
The title-page of this curious book, that of the simple truth, — all this is ac-
published in French at Amsterdam, by companied by circumstances so extraor-
govern all
## p. 36 (#72) ##############################################
36
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
dinary as to have excited the curiosity
of judicious minds both in Holland and
in England, and in all other places vis-
ited by him. People have crowded to
see him, talk with him, and hear from
his lips these remarkable experiences. ”
Roughing It, by Samuel L. Clemens.
In a
.
Mark Twain's droll humor is con-
stantly flashing out as he describes a
long and eventful journey from St. Louis
across the plains, in the early (sixties,”
to visit the mining camps of Nevada.
He notes the incident of a barkeeper
who was shot by an enemy, adding,
(And the next moment he was one of
the deadest men that ever lived. In-
teresting incidents of Mormon life and
customs are given. Brigham Young's
sage advice to an Eastern visitor was, -
"Don't incumber yourself with a large
family; . . . take my word, friend, ten
or eleven wives are all you need -
never go over it. ) Mark Twain failed
to meet the Indian as viewed through
the mellow moonshine of romance.
It was curious to see how quickly the
paint and tinsel fell away from him and
left him treacherous, filthy, and repuls-
ive. ) Describing an absurd adventure
that happened to his party, the author
says: “We actually went into camp in
a snow-drift in a desert, at midnight, in
a storm, forlorn and helpless, within fif-
teen yards of a comfortable inn. ”
He tells interesting stories of life in
the mining camps, of the frenzied ex-
citement, of great fortunes made and
lost, of dire poverty, and of reckless ex-
travagance; instancing a case when he
refused to cross the street to receive a
present of a block of stock, fearing he
would be late to dinner. And that stock
rose in value from a nominal sum to
$70 per share within a week.
Going to San Francisco, the author
witnesses the great earthquake, of which
he relates amusing incidents. He then
goes as a reporter to the Sandwich Is-
lands, the land of cannibals, mission-
aries, and ship captains. He does not
enjoy the native food, poi, which too
frequently used is said to produce acrid
humors; "a fact,” says Twain, «that
accounts for the humorous character of
the Kanakas. ” Obtaining a large stock
of rich material for stories, the author
returns to San Francisco, and acquires
notoriety and wealth in the lecture field.
« Thus,” said he, “after eleven years of
vicissitudes, ended a pleasure trip to the
silver mines of Nevada, which I had
originally intended to occupy only three
months. However, I usually miss my
calculations further than that. ” The vol-
ume is a mine of the frontier slang,
such as the author utilizes in (Buck Fan-
shawe's Funeral. )
Orpheus C. Kerr Papers, The, by
Robert Henry Newell. The Let-
ters) composing this book appeared ori.
ginally in the daily press during the Civil
War. Narrating the history of a ficti-
tious and comic Mackerel Brigade »
[Mackerel – Little Mac,” McClellan's
well-known popular nickname], they pur-
ported to be written from the scene of
action; were devoted to the humors of
the conflict; and were widely read at
the time throughout the North.
sense they are historic. Their gibes and
bitterly humorous shafts were directed
chiefly against the dishonest element of
society that the upheaval of the war had
brought to the surface,- the cheating
contractors, the makers of shoddy cloth-
ing, imperfect arms, scant-weight ammu-
nition, and bad supplies for the army in
the field, as well as towards the selfish
and incompetent general officers and
office-seekers. Much of the fun of the
letters is to-day unintelligible, some of
the satire seems coarse; but there is no
doubt that the author did immense serv-
ice in creating a better sentiment as to
the offenses that he scored, and to open
the way, among other benefits, for the
improvement which was to be known as
(civil-service reform. ”
Mother Goose's Melodies. Few books
in the English language have had
so wide-spread a circulation as the col-
lection of nursery rhymes known
(Mother Goose's Melodies. Indeed, the
child whose earliest remembrance does
not embrace pictures of Little Boy
Blue,' The House that Jack Built,'
(Who Killed Cock Robin,' 'Baa, Baa
Black Sheep,' and Patty Cake, Patty
Cake, Baker's Man,' has sustained a loss
of no small magnitude. In 1860 a story
was started to the effect that «Mother
Goose ) was a Boston woman; and she
was identified as Elizabeth Goose, widow
of Isaac Vergoose, or Goose, and mother-
in-law of Thomas Fleet, a well-known
Boston printer, said to have issued
a collection of
Melodies) in 1719.
There is an entire lack of evidence
as
C
## p. 37 (#73) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
37
ma
however, to support this assumption; the ecclesiastical body, and toward point-
although Boston has a true claim upon ing a moral for society through the
the fame of “Mother Goose, because mouths or the behavior of the animals.
two Boston publishers issued the book After traveling into the Flemish tongue,
in 1824. But it is now conceded that the adventures of the fox came back
“Mother Goose » belongs to French folk- into German speech; this time to appear
lore and not to English tradition; and in Low German as the famous (Reinke
some writers even connect her with de Vos,' printed in Lübeck in 1498.
Queen Goosefoot, said to be the mother Nearly three hundred years later, 1793.
of Charlemagne. Charles Perrault, born Goethe turned his attention to the long-
in Paris in 1628, was the first person to popular subject, and gave the animal
collect, reduce to writing, and publish epic its most perfect form in his (Rein-
the Contes de Mère l'Oye,' or ecke Fuchs. ) In the twelve cantos of
( Tales of Mother Goose); and there is the Reinecke Fuchs,' which is written
no reason to think that “Mother Goose » in hexameters, Goethe gives an amusing
was a term ever used in English liter- allegory of human life and passions, tell-
ature until it was translated from the ing the story of the fox and his tricks
French equivalent, Mère l'Oye. It is in a more refined tone than his early
probable that her fame first reached
predecessors, but losing something of
England in 1729, when Mother Goose's their charm of naive simplicity.
Fairy Tales) were translated by Robert The drawings of the noted German
Samber. The original Mother Goose's artist, Wilhelm Kaulbach, which illus.
Melodies) was not issued until 1760, trated an edition de luxe of recent
when it was brought out by John New- years, have renewed the interest of the
bery of London. While «Mother Goose » reading public in Goethe's poem. Per-
herself is of French origin, many of the haps the most familiar trick of Reynard
(Melodies) are purely of English ex- is the story of how he induced the bear
traction, some of them dating back to to put his head in the crotch of a tree
Shakespeare's time and earlier.
in search of honey, and then removed
Famous writers of fiction «may four- the wedge which held the crotch open,
ish and may fade, great poets pass into leaving the bear a prisoner, caught by
distant perspective; but until time has the neck.
ceased to be, it is certain that Mother
Goose) will reign in the hearts, and pearl,
Pearl, a poem of the fourteenth cen-
murmur in the ears, of each succeeding
tury, a link between the Canter.
generation.
bury Tales) and the work of the early
Saxon poets, Cædmon and Cynewulf,
written
Reynard the Fox. This is one of the
by a contemporary of
cycle of animal-legends which are Chaucer, whose name is unknown. Hid.
generally supposed by scholars to be of den from the world of letters for many
Oriental origin, and which have been
centuries, this jewel of old-English verse
adopted into most of the Germanic lan- appeared in modern setting in 1891.
guages. The group of stories clustering The edition is the work of Israel Gol-
about the fox as hero, and illustrating
lancz, of Christ's College, Cambridge.
his superiority over his fellows, as cun-
Prefixed to it is the following quatrain
ning is superior to strength, first ap-
by Tennyson:-
peared in Germany as Latin productions
« We lost you – for how long a time-
of the monks in cloisters along the banks True pearl of our poetic prime!
of the Mosel and Maas. This was as
We found you, and you gleam reset
In Britain's lyric coronet. ”
early as the tenth century, and France
knew them by the end of the twelfth A manuscript of the Cottonian collec-
under the name of Le Roman du Re- tion at Oxford contains (Pearl, with
nard. "
three other poems,—Gawain, 'Clean-
In 1170 the material took definite shape ness,' and Patience,'— each a gateway
among the secular poems of Germany in into the visionary or romantic world of
the hands of Heinrich der Glichesäre, the fourteenth century. In the opinion
who composed an epic of twelve "advent- of the editor, all four poems are by
ures » in Middle High German, on the the same unknown author, and antedate
theme. In all the old versions there is Chaucer's work. The inter
a tendency toward satirical allusions to turies have swept away every evidence
a
was
cen-
## p. 38 (#74) ##############################################
38
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ness.
of this author's name and place; but his a gem too fair to be hidden in earth,
works reflect a vivid personality, mak- and partly of a Vision of the child's
ing himself seen even through the ab- bliss with God. Throughout, the sym-
stractions of medieval allegory. The bol of the Pearl is used, the type of
editor endeavors to trace the outlines of Margaret, the type also of perfect holi-
this personality, guided, as he says, by
The "Vision) is rich in gorgeous
“mere conjecture and inference. » He imagery, as if the poet had drawn his
supposes the author of Pearl) to have inspiration from the Apocalypse. He is
been born about 1330, somewhere in carried in spirit to a land of unearthly
Lancashire, and reared amid the nat- beauty, where he beholds his daughter
ural beauties of Wordsworth's country, clothed in shining garments sown with
probably in a nobleman's household. pearls. She tells him of her happiness,
There is no decisive evidence whether reveals to him the heavenly Jerusalem,
(Gawain or Pearl) was the first writ- and so comforts him that he becomes
ten of the four poems; the editor be- resigned to his loss. The poem reflects
lieves, however, that "Gawain) was first. the mystical devotion of a painting by
Its date is approximately determined by an early master.
the connection the editor traces between The poems (Cleanness) and (Pa-
the Gawain romances, so popular in tience) are, in the opinion of the editor,
the fourteenth century, and the origin pendants to Pearl. ” (Cleanness) relates
of the Order of the Garter. In the in epic style the Scriptural stories of
poem (Gawain,' a fair young knight of the Marriage Feast, the Fall of the An-
Arthur's Round Table is protected in a gels from Heaven, the Flood, the Visit
combat with the Green Knight by a of the Angels to Abraham, Belshazzar's
mystic girdle, the gift of his hostess, Feast, and Nebuchadnezzar's Fall. The
the wife of the Green Knight. In the poem Patience) relates episodes in the
three days preceding the combat, she life of Jonah. A vivid, childlike descrip-
had tempted him three times, and three tion is given of Jonab's entrance into
times he had resisted the temptation. the whale's belly and his abode there.
To reward him for his chastity, the The artistic form of these poems rep-
Green Knight permits him to keep the resents compromise between two
mystic circlet, and to wear it as an hon- schools: the East Midland school which
orable badge, as well as a protection produced Chaucer and looked to French
from injury.
In the editor's opinion, literature for inspiration, and the Saxon
these incidents of the poem refer di- school of the West-Midland poets,
rectly to the adventure of King Edward « whose literary ancestors
Cæd-
III. with the Countess of Salisbury, and mon and Cynewulf. ) It would seem
to the subsequent founding of the Order «that there arose a third class of poets
of the Garter. The contemporary poets during this period of formation, whose
thus sought to honor the King by com- avowed endeavor
harmonize
paring him with
Gawain, the very
these diverse elements of Old and
flower of courtesy and purity; the con- New, to blend the archaic alliterative
ception of Gawain as a false knight rhythm with the measures of Romance
« light in life belonging to a later day. song. "Pearlis a singularly successful
To pass from (Gawain' to Pearl is instance of the reconciliation of these
to pass from earthly to heavenly ro- two widely diverse forms of poetry. It
mance. (Gawain) reflects the gay chiv- is a large bead in the rosary of English
alry of the fourteenth century, Pearl) verse, marking a transition from the
its disposition to see visions and to mediæval to the modern.
dream dreams. Before Chaucer, the
Muse of English verse had closed eye- Chaucer, Studies in: His LIFE AND
lids. A brilliant example of the me- WRITINGS, by Thomas R. Louns-
diæval dream-poem is found in Pearl. ? bury, LL. D. (3 vols. , 1892. ) One of the
It is an ancient In Memoriam,' a lyric most interesting and valuable books, both
of grief for the poet's dead child Mar- in matter and treatment, which recent
garet; and it finds its truest counter- research in letters has produced; alike
part in the delicate miniatures of medi- admirable in learning and singularly sa-
æval missals, steeped in richest colors gacious and lucid in criticism. The first
and bright with gold. ” The poem con- design of the work was that of a com-
sists partly of a Lament over the loss of pendious and easily accessible account
a
were
was
to
a
## p. 39 (#75) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
39
arth,
bild's
sed
koli
geous
o his
He is
arthir
ghter
with
ipess.
alen
Cones
efectes
og by
les
e de
7285
TIE
there
of the results of recent investigation; / genius at its best, – the "facetious grace
but examination showed that many of which was noted in Shakespeare, and
these were questionable or worthless, which the Baconians have ignorantly
and that the field of Chaucer interest pre- made to mean comic instead of finished,
sented a range of problems not half of elegant, witty - Dr. Lounsbury's pages
which had been treated adequately, and are very rich.
many of which had not been touched at
all. The exact scope and design of the Chaucer, The Student's: A complete
edition of his works. Edited by
work were therefore changed, not only
Walter W. Skeat. (1895. ) For ordinary
from what was at first contemplated, but
literary use, as perfect a book contain-
to attempt a task far larger and more
ing all of Chaucer as the best editorship
thorough than anything yet undertaken.
The conception, happily, was not beyond
and best manner of publication can be
expected to make. In addition to the
the powers and the resources of the au-
complete text of all the writings of Chau-
thor. No clearer, more effective, or more
cer, the volume has a Glossarial Index
interesting work of learning and study of
fully adequate to explain words not known
culture, whether for the scholar or for
to the English reader to-day. With this
the general reader and student, has been
aid to overcome the difficulties of read.
added to the modern library. Nor are
ing Chaucer, and a volume very low in
its honors modern only: they are those
price, the old master of early English
of universal literature, of the few books
song should become widely familiar to
whose quality raises them to the highest
readers of the best books.
line of their class.
Dr. Lounsbury modestly describes his Doctor Fanstus, by Christopher Mar-
work, in three volumes and sixteen hun-
. This play, written about the
dred pages, as “eight chapters bearing year 1589, is remarkable both as the chief
upon the life and writings of Chaucer; work of the founder of English tragedy,
eight distinct essays, or rather mono- and as the first play based on the Faust
graphs); but the Chaucer unity and the legend. At the time of the Reformation,
unity of masterly treatment hardly per- when chemistry was in its infancy, any
mit any such distinction of parts. The skill in this science was attributed to a
life of Chaucer, the Chaucer legend, the compact with the Evil One. Hence
text of Chaucer, and what exactly are wandering scholars who performed tricks
the true writings of Chaucer, are the top- and wonders were considered magicians,
ics of Vol. i. , and of a third of Vol. ii. ; their achievements were grossly exagger-
and the study is as nearly complete and ated, and they were supposed to have
conclusive as we
pe to have surrendered their souls to the Devil. The
it. The chapter on the Chaucer legend last of these traveling magicians to gain
is a study of legend as a substitute for notoriety was John Faustus, whose public
history, where it would seem impossible, career lasted from 1510 to 1540; and to
which altogether surpasses any study of him were ascribed all the feats of his
the kind yet made. But the two double predecessors. In 1587 the (Faustbuch)
chapters which follow, to the end of Vol. was printed, giving the story of his
ii. , on the learning of Chaucer, first in life and exploits. An English trans-
works still known, and second in works lation, made soon after, was doubtless
and authors now hardly known at all; the source of Marlowe's plot. The theme
and on Chaucer's relations to, first the was afterwards variously elaborated in
English language, and second the religion Germany, and there were many puppet
of his time, - carry Dr. Lounsbury over plays on the subject; but it remained
fields of learning and scholarly penetra- for Goethe's master-hand to ennoble the
tion in which he stands alone. Yet the popular legend, and make it symbolic
succeeding chapters, which fill the third of the struggles and aspirations of the
volume, on Chaucer in Literary History whole human race. Marlowe's 'Doctor
and Chaucer as a Literary Artist, even Faustus) is rather a tragic poem than a
increase our grateful and delighted esti- drama, consisting of only fourteen scenes
mate of the author's wealth of knowl- without any grouping into acts. It is
edge and mastery of exposition; not to remarkable for singleness of aim and
speak of a refinement and charm of style simplicity of construction, though there
rarely found in English prose. In the is plenty of variety and incident. The
felicitous wit which is a note of English passionate and solemn scenes are very
ܕ݂ܰܝ ܘܰܐܶ 8
ren
proti
can
er
pies
tx
;:
ET
## p. 40 (#76) ##############################################
40
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
impressive, and the final tremendous a problem in chemistry, so history at
monologue before Lucifer seizes Faus- bottom is a problem in psychology”; and
tus's soul is unsurpassed in all the he aims here to give a view, more or
range of tragedy. Faustus, dissatisfied less complete, of the English intellect,
with philosophy, resolves to enlarge his illustrated by literary examples, and not
sphere by cultivating magic. He con- a history at all, if by history is meant
jures up Mephistopheles and bids him a record of books produced or of facts
be his servant. The spirit, however, re- gathered together. The defects of the
plies that Lucifer's permission must first book are many and obvious; but when
be gained. Faustus then voluntarily all abatement is made, it remains to the
offers to surrender his soul after four- English reader a most stimulating intel-
and-twenty years, if during that time lectual performance. In its powerful,
Mephistopheles shall be his slave. Luci- though arbitrary, unity of composition,
fer agrees, and demands a promise writ- in its sustained æsthetic temper, its
ten in Faustus's blood. Then Faustus brilliancy, variety, and sympathy, it is
sets out in search of knowledge and a really monumental accession to a lit-
pleasure, traveling about invisible. He erature, which, whatever its limitations
provides grapes in midwinterand calls in the range of its ideas, is a splendid
up the spirits of Alexander and Thais series of masterly compositions. ”
to please the emperor. At the request
of his scholars he summons Helen of
English Novel, The: A STUDY IN THE
Troy, and impressed by her beauty, ex- DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY, by
claims:
Sidney Lanier. (1883. Revised Edition,
« Was this the face that launched a thousand
1897. ) A volume of singularly rich criti.
ships,
cism, based on a course of twelve lect-
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium ?
ures at Johns Hopkins University, 1881.
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss! »
It was almost the last work of a writer
At times the desire for repentance seizes
whose death was a heavy loss to American
him; but the exhilaration of pleasure is
letters. The full title given by Lanier
too great, and the powers of evil are too
to his course was, From. Æschylus to
strong. Finally the time expires, and
George Eliot: The Development of Per-
Faustus in agony awaits the coming of sonality. ) The idea suggesting this title
Lucifer. He appeals to God and Christ,
was that in Greek tragedy, represented by
but has forfeited the right to pray; and
Æschylus, the expression of personality
at the stroke of twelve Lucifer bears
is faint and crude, while in George Eliot
him away to everlasting doom.
it reached the clearness and strength of
high literary art. The earlier work of
English Literature, History of, by Lanier on (The Science of English Verse. '
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine. (French and the later study of the novel, were
original, 5 vols. , 1863–64.
English Trans- designed to serve as parts of a compre-
lation by Henri Van Laun, 4 vols. , hensive philosophy of the form and sub-
1872–74. ) An admirably written, sympa. stance of beauty in literature; and the
thetic, and penetrating account of the execution of the plan, as far as he had
aspects of English culture and the Eng- proceeded, was of a quality rarely found
lish race as revealed in English litera- in literary criticism. In the second of the
ture. To no small extent it misses exact work, the last six of the twelve chapters
knowledge of English genius and of the are devoted to George Eliot. The ear-
finer aspects of English literary culture; lier six range over a wide field, and show
but it is a masterly study to come from wealth of knowledge with remarkable in-
the pen of a foreigner, and rich in inter- sight and felicity of expression.
est and suggestion to the thoughtful
reader. The strength of the work is in
Euphues and the Anatomy of Wit,
its study of race and civilization; but and Euphues and His England, by
this is also its weakness, as to
John Lyly, were published respectively
extent the view taken of literary pro- in 1578 and 1580, when the author was
duction is too much colored by the a young courtier still under thirty. They
author's theory of race, which wholly constitute the first and second part of a
fails in any such case as that of Shakes- work which can only loosely be called
peare. "Just as astronomy is at bottom fiction in the modern sense. Perhaps
a problem in mechanics, and physiology the word “romance» best expresses its
some
## p. 41 (#77) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
41
ISOT
ਤਾ
اس دنیا
and I
of fans
OSO
Eing:
portentang
more
specie
men.
AUTE
7 Edo
rick com
e're the one
SAT.
dzie
OL
chris
nature. For a dozen years it was fash- leaves the house, only to be followed by
ionable in the polite circles of England; her tormentor. Finally, being truly in
and the word “Euphuism » survives in love with her, Mr. B— decides to over-
the language to designate the stilted, far- look their difference of station and marry
fetched, ornate style of writing introduced her. The second part of the novel,
and made popular by Lyly. Euphues, the which appeared the following year and
hero, is a native of Athens, who goes narrates Pamela's life after this union,
to Naples and there wooes Lucilla, fickle is less interesting. The story is told in
daughter of the governor.
She is al- the form of letters —a form used in all
ready plighted to his friend Philautus; Richardson's fiction. The moral stand-
and when Euphues seeks to win her in ard – which is that of English society in
spite of this, both mistress and friend the first half of the eighteenth century -
forsake him. Later, he is reconciled seems to the modern reader disgraceful.
with Philautus, and writes a cynical blast Mr. B— acts toward Panela as only a
against all womankind. He then returns profligate and rascal would to a girl of
to his own city, and forswearing love for- his own station; yet Pamela, in the true
ever, takes refuge in writing disquisitions spirit of caste distinction, extols him,
upon education and religion, interspersed when he at last condescends to wed her,
with letters to and from various friends. as not only the greatest but the best of
Incidentally, a fine eulogy on Queen Eliza-
There is much human nature,
beth is penned. The narrative is loosely however, in the book; and the interest
constructed and inconsecutive; the chief is strong and well maintained. Rich
interest in the work for Lyly's contempo- ardson did a new thing in novel-writing
raries was the philosophical dissertations when he chose a girl of the humble
upon topics of timely pertinence, couched, class for heroine, and made
use of
not in the heavy manner of the formal every-day contemporaneous persons and
thinker, but in the light, elegant, finicky scenes for the purposes of fiction. Thus
tone of the man-about-court. The liter- the story of incident and the analysis
ary diction of Euphues) has been well of character came into English fiction;
characterized by a German scholar, Dr. and thus the Modern Novel traces its
Landmann, who says it showed a pecul- development from Richardson.
iar combination of antithesis with alliter-
ation, assonance, rhyme, and play upon Joseph Andrews, by Henry Fielding,
words, a love for the conformity and cor- was the first novel by that master.
respondence of parallel sentences, and a It appeared in 1742, its full title being
tendency to accumulate rhetorical figures, (The Adventures of Joseph Andrews and
such as climax, the rhetorical question, his Friend Abraham Adams. ) Fielding
objections and refutations, the repetition was thirty-five years old when it was
of the same thought in other forms, etc. ) published. His intention in writing it
Although Lyly's style had in it too much was to satirize Richardson's (Pamela. )
of the affected to give it long life, he un- This novel, given to the world two years
doubtedly did something towards making before, had depicted the struggle of an
the sixteenth-century speech refined, mu- honest serving-maid to escape from the
sical, and choice. It is this rather than snares laid for her by her master. An-
any attraction of story that makes the drews, the hero of Fielding's story, is a
(Euphues) interesting to the modern stu- brother of Pamela, like her in service;
dent of literature.
and the narrative details the trials he
endures in the performance of his duty.
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, by Sam- This story was begun satirically, with
uel Richardson, is the first work of an evident intention of burlesquing the
fiction by an author who began what high-flown virtue of Richardson's hero-
is called the modern analytic novel. It ine by the representation of a
was published in 1740, and won instant under similar temptation. But as the
applause and a wide circle of readers in tale developed, Fielding grew serious,
all classes of society, women especially warming to his work so that it became
following with bated breath the shift- in many respects a genuine picture of
ing fortunes of Pamela Andrews. She life, and contained a number of his most
is a serving-maid whom the son and enjoyable creations; notably Parson Ad-
heir of the family dishonorably pursues. ams, a fine study of the old-style country
She indignantly repels his advances and clergyman, simple-minded, good-hearted,
it
eester
ersum
gre Et
rengi
mu
related
а со
and
is des
elre
and as
change
The end
ante
rules
man
cland.
Petite
thom
re
part of
ve ad
Perla
## p. 42 (#78) ##############################################
42
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
with a relish for meat and drink and a truthful picture of the conventions and
wholesome disdain of hypocrisy and mean- ideals of its period, while it possesses a
ness. Andrews and Adams have numer- perennial life because it deals with some
ous amusing adventures together, many of the elemental interests and passions.
of these being too coarse to please mod-
erne taste. Prethe end itofablishut that Tomed danes bebyna Henier Fieldsnes. ice:
Andrews is really of good , while ceded to that writer's masterpiece,
his sweetheart Fanny, a handsome girl and deemed by some critics the greatest
of humble rank, is the daughter of the English novel, was published in 1749,
parents who had adopted him; and the when the author was forty-two. He had,
pair are wedded amidst general jubila- however, been long at work upon it. The
tion. The confusion arising from the story is Fielding's third piece of fiction,
exchange of children at birth- a device and represents the zenith of his literary
since much used in English fiction — is power; Amelia,' which followed two
cleverly managed. The chief charm of years later and was his last novel, hav-
the story, however, lies in its lively epi- ing less exuberance and happy invention.
sodes, high spirits, and delightful humor. (The History of Tom Jones, a Found-
The success of this novel encouraged ling,' is the full title of the book; Tom
Fielding to write other and better books. is the foundling, left on the doorstep
of a charitable gentleman, Mr. Allworthy,
Clari
larissa Harlowe, by Samuel Rich- who gives him a home and rears him
ardson, was published in 1751, ten with care, but, grieved by his wild con-
years after Pamela,' when Richardson duct as a young man, repudiates him for
was over sixty years old. In Pamela) a time. Tom is a high-spirited, hand-
he tried to draw the portrait of a girl some fellow, generous and honest, but
of humble class in distress; in Clar- perpetually in hot water because of his
issa) he essayed to do the same thing liking for adventure and his gallantry
for a young woman of gentility. She towards women. He loves Sophia West-
is of a good country family (the scene ern, whose father, Squire Western, an
being laid in rural England of the first irascible, bluff, three-bottle, hunting Eng-
half of the eighteenth century, Richard- lish country magnate, is one of the
son's time), and is wooed by Lovelace, best and best-known pieces of character-
a well-known but profligate gentleman. drawing in the whole range of English
The match is opposed by the Harlowes fiction. The match is opposed strenu-
because of his dubious reputation. Clar- ously by the squire; and Tom sets out
issa for some time declines his advances; on his travels under a cloud, hoping to
but as she is secretly taken by his dash- win his girl in spite of all. He is ac-
ing ways, he succeeds in abducting her, companied by his tutor, the schoolmaster
and so compromising her good name Partridge, a simple-minded, learned man,
that she dies of shame,- her betrayer very lovable, a capitally drawn and
being killed in a duel by her cousin, amusing figure. Another character sym-
Colonel Morden. Lovelace's name has be- pathetically sketched is that of Blifil,
come a synonym for the fine-gentleman the contemptible hypocrite who seeks
profligate. He is drawn as by no means Sophia's hand and tries to further his
without his good side, and as sincerely cause by lying about Jones. Tom has
loving Clarissa, who stands as a sym- many escapades, especially of the ama-
pathetic study of a noble-minded young tory sort; and his experiences are nar-
woman in misfortune.
The story is rated with great liveliness, reality, and
largely told by letters exchanged be- unction, the reader being carried along
tween Clarissa and her confidante Miss irresistibly by the author's high good
Howe, and between Lovelace and his spirits. No other eighteenth-century story
friend Belford. Its affecting incidents give such truthful, varied, and animated
moved the heart of the eighteenth cen- scenes of contemporaneous life in coun-
tury, and ladies of quality knelt at Rich- try and town. Jones finally triumphs
ardson's feet imploring him to spare his over his enemies, is reconciled with his
heroine. To the present-day reader, the guardian, the blot on his birth is re-
tale seems slow and prolix; but it was moved, and he wins his Sophia. He is
able to enchain the attention of a man throughout a likable fellow, though his
like Macaulay, and has much merit of ethics are not always agreeable to mod-
plot and character.
It is, moreover, a ern taste or conscience.
## p. 43 (#79) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
43
name
а
Expedition of Humphrey Clinker,
The, by Tobias Smollett. This
novel, Smollett's last and generally con-
sidered his best one, was published in
1771, only a few months before he died
at the age of fifty-one. The young man
who gives his
to the story is
really the least conspicuous of its char-
acters, and has not
very strongly
marked individuality. About a quarter
of the story has been told before he is
introduced He then makes his appear-
ance as a “shabby country fellow, who
takes the place of a postilion discharged
from the service of Mr. Matthew Bram-
ble. «He seemed to be about twenty
years of age, of a middle size, with
bandy legs, stooping shoulders, high fore-
head, sandy locks, pinking eyes, fat nose,
and long chin; but his complexion was
of a sickly yellow, his looks denoted
famine, and the rags that he wore could
hardly conceal what decency requires to
be covered. »
In spite of his unattractive exterior,
Humphrey soon wins the regard of his
employer and his family, to whom in
the end he proves to be related, though
by the bar sinister. The story is told in
a series of letters from Matthew Bram-
ble, an elderly bachelor, to his friend
and medical adviser, Dr. Lewis; by his
maiden sister Tabitha, to the house-
keeper, Mrs. Gwyllim; by Winifred Jen-
kins, her maid, to another maid, Mary
Jones; and by Lydia and Jeremiah Mel-
ford, niece and nephew of the Brambles,
to their friends Mrs. Jermyn, and Letitia
Willis, and Sir Watkins Philips. The
time covered by the letters is little more
than six months, and they are written
while the Brambles and their relatives
and servants are making a pleasure tour
through England and Scotland. The
letters are the vehicle of much interest.
ing information about the different places
visited by the family, including Bath and
all its frivolities, Scarborough, London
in the season, Newcastle and other towns
in the north, Edinburgh, Manchester,
and various country regions. Although
the novel has too much the air of a
guide-book through which runs a very
slender thread of story, each one of the
writers has his own point of view re-
garding persons and places. Each one
also displays his characteristics:
Matthew Bramble is observing, amiable
if a little cynical; his sister vain and
bent on getting a husband; Winifred,
her maid, is a youthful Mrs. Malaprop;
Lydia is a dutiful niece, though con-
stant to the lover from whom they try to
separate her; and Jeremiah, fresh from
Oxford, shows that his air of man of
the world is only assumed. In the end
Tabitha secures a husband, a Captain
Lismahago. Lydia's lover, masquerading
under the name of Wilson, proves to be
George Dennison, the son of estimable
and rich parents; and on the day when
aunt and niece are married to the men
of their choice, Humphrey Clinker, now
known as Matthew Lloyd, is married to
Winifred Jenkins.
Though (Humphrey Clinker) may not
altogether meet modern requirements as
a work of fiction, as a picture of eigh-
teenth-century life it is extremely inter-
esting. Smollett had a keen insight into
human nature, which gives a value to
all that he writes. The plot of Hum-
phrey Clinker) is perfectly clean; but in
many places it is stained by what may
be called colloquial coarseness.
Evelina, by Frances Burney: In 'Ev.
elina; or, the History of a Young
Lady's Entrance into the World, Miss
Burney, describing the experiences of her
charming little heroine in London, gives
a vivid picture of the manners and cus-
toms of the eighteenth century.
Some years before the opening of the
story, Sir John Belmont has deserted his
wife. When she dies, their child Evelina
is brought up in the seclusion of the coun.
try by her kind guardian, Mr. Villars. Sir
John is followed to France by an ambi-
tious woman, a nurse, who carries her
child to him in place of his own, and he
educates this child believing her to be his
daughter. Evelina, meantime, grown to
be a pretty, unaffected girl, goes to visit
Mrs. Mirvan in London, and is introduced
to society. She meets Lord Orville, the
dignified and handsome hero, and falls in
love with him. Later she is obliged to
visit her vulgar grandmother, Madame
Duval; and while with her ill-bred rela-
tives she undergoes great mortification
on meeting Lord Orville and Sir Clement
Willoughby, a persistent lover. During
this visit Evelina saves a poor young
man, Mr. Macartney, from committing
suicide. He proves to be the illegitimate
son of Sir John Belmont, and in Paris
he has fallen in love with the supposed
daughter of that gentleman, who, he is
afterwards told, is his own sister. He
own
## p. 44 (#80) ##############################################
44
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
tells Evelina his story: but as no names
are mentioned, they remain in ignorance
of their relationship. At Bath, Evelina
sees Lord Orville again, and in spite of
many misunderstandings they at last
come together. Sir John returns from
France, is made to realize the mistake that
had been made, and accepts Evelina as his
rightful heir. All mysteries are cleared
up, Mr. Macartney marries the nurse's
child so long considered Sir John's daugh-
ter, and Lord Orville marries Evelina.
The characters are interesting con-
trasts: Orville, Lovel, Willoughby, and
Merton standing for different types of
fashionable men; while Captain Mirvan,
Madame Duval, and the Branghtons are
excellent illustrations of eighteenth-cen-
tury vulgarity. The story is told by let-
ters, principally those of Evelina to her
guardian. “Evelina) was published in
1778, and immediately brought fame to
the authoress, then only twenty-five years
old.
Cecil
scene gives up Mortimer. But the hero.
ine has her reward at the end. It is
hard, in our day, to understand the over-
powering family pride and prejudice, the
effects of which constitute largely the
story of the heroine. Cecilia) was pub-
lished in 1782, four years after the issue
of Evelina,' and met with public favor
almost as great as that which welcomed
the earlier romance. Sentimental, arti-
ficial, and unliterary though they are,
Miss Burney's stories present a vivid
picture of the society of her time, and
are likely to remain among the English
classics.
The Diary and Letters of Madame
D'Arblay, the gifted Fanny Bur-
ney, surpass in modern estimation the
rest of her writings. The record begins
with «Evelina. ) The success of her first
effort, the dinings, winings, and compli-
ments that followed, are recorded with
a naive garrulousness perfectly consistent
with simplicity and sincerity. The three
periods of the authoress's life, - her
home life, her service as maid of honor to
Queen Charlotte, and her subsequent trav-
vels and residence abroad with General
D'Arblay, -are described. She draws
portraits of her friends: Johnson, Burke,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thrale, Boswell,
and her “Dear Daddy Crisp. Outside
their talk of literary celebrities, these me-
moirs describe court etiquette under the
coarse Madame Schwellenberg, the trial
of Warren Hastings, the king's insanity
during 1788–89, and many other incidents
which were the talk of the town. In later
life, after her husband had regained his
command, the stay of the D'Arblays in
Waterloo just before the day of the battle
furnishes a passage upon great events.
From this source, Thackeray, when describ-
ing the departure and death of George
Osborne in Vanity Fair,' probably drew
his material. Lively, talkative, gossips,
full of prejudices, the book is as interest-
ing as little Frances Burney herself must
have been.
Castle
astle Rackrent, by Maria Edgeworth.
This, as the author announces, is
(an Hibernian tale taken from facts and
from the manners of the Irish squire
before the year 1782. The memoirs of
the Rackrent family are recounted by
Thady Quirk, an old steward, who has
been from childhood devotedly attached
to the house of Rackrent. The old retain-
er's descriptions of the several masters
»
ecilia, by Frances Burney. "Cecilia;
or, Memoirs of an Heiress) is a
typical English novel of a century ago.
The plot is simple, the story long drawn
out, the style stilted, and the characters
alone constitute the interest of the book,
and justify Dr. Johnson's praise of Miss
Burney as a little character-monger. )
The charming heroine, Cecilia Bever-
ley, has no restriction on her fortune but
that her future husband must take her
She goes to London to stay with
Mr. Harrel, one of her guardians, and is
introduced into society by his wife. Mr.
Harrel contrives to influence her for his
own advantage, and succeeds in keeping
about her only those admirers who serve
him personally. She and the hero, Mor-
timer Delvile, have therefore little inter-
After borrowing money from
Cecilia and gambling it all away, Mr.
Harrel in despair commits suicide. Ce-
cilia then visits her other guardian, Mr.
Delvile, at his castle, where she is con-
stantly thrown with Mortimer, his son.
Family pride keeps him from proposing
to Cecilia, whose birth does not equal
his own; but her beauty and gentleness
overcome his resolves, and he persuades
her to a secret marriage. Mr. Monckton,
who wishes to secure Cecilia's fortune,
discovers her plans, and with the help of
an accomplice prevents the marriage, at
the very church. Cecilia returns to the
country, and after a harrowing family
name.
course.
## p. 45 (#81) ##############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
45
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tray various types of the fine old Irish able to domestic happiness. ” His dying
gentleman); foremost among them all father had also enjoined Celebs to take
being Sir Patrick Rackrent, who lived the advice of an old friend, Mr. Stanley,
and died a monument of old Irish hospi- before marrying. Celebs goes to Stan-
tality,
> and whose funeral was such a ley Grove in Hampshire, taking London
one as was never known before or since on his way, and meeting at the house
in the county. ” Then comes Sir Mur- of Sir John Bedfield several fashionable
tagh Rackrent, whose famous legal knowl- women who fail to reach his standard of
edge brought the poor tenants little con- eligibility. At Stanley Grove he finds
solation; and his wife, of the Skinfiint his ideal in one of the six daughters of
family, who had a charity school for the house, Lucilla, with whom he duti-
poor children, where they were taught to fully falls in love, to be at once accepted.
read and write gratis, and where they In the month of his probation he meets
were kept spinning gratis for my lady Dr. Barlow, rector of the parish; Lady
in return. ) Next follows Sir Kit, «God Ashton, a gloomy religionist; the Carl-
bless him! He valued a guinea as little tons, ;-a dissolute and unbelieving hus-
as any man, money was no more to him band who is converted by a saintly wife;
than dirt, and his gentleman and groom and Tyrril, holding the Antinomian doc-
and all belonging to him the same. ) Also trine of faith without works, whose foil
his Jewish wife, whom he imprisons in is Flam, a Tory squire, simple in faith
her room for seven years because she and practicing good works.
The con-
refuses to give up her diamonds. In the versation of these and other personages
words of Thady, it was a shame for supplies the didactic features of the novel.
her not to have shown more duty, when (Celebs) was published in London in
he condescended to ask so often for such 1808, and had an instant and great pop-
a bit of a trifle in his distresses, espe- ularity. The first edition was sold in a
cially when he all along made it no fortnight; the book went through three
secret that he married her for money. ” more within three months, and eleven
The memoirs close with the history of within a year. Its republication in the
Sir Condy Rackrent, who dies from United States was also highly successful.
quaffing on a wager a great horn of
punch, after having squandered the re-
mainder of the family fortune. Castle Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott.
(Guy Mannering,' the second of
Rackrent) was issued in 1801, and was Scott's novels, appeared anonymously in
the first of a series of successful novels 1815, seven months after (Waverley. It
produced by the author, whose descrip- is said to have been the result of six
tions of Irish character, whether grave weeks' work, and by some critics is
or gay, are unsurpassed. Sir Walter thought to show the marks of haste. Its
Scott has acknowledged that his original time is the middle of the eighteenth cen-
idea, when he began his career as a nove tury, its scene chiefly Scotland. Guy
elist, was to be to Scotland what Miss Mannering himself is a young English-
Edgeworth was to Ireland.
man, at the opening of the story trav-
eling through Scotland. Belated
Celebs in Search of a Wife, by Han- night, he is hospitably received at New
nah More. This is the best-known Place, the home of the Laird of Ellan-
work of fiction by that prolific moralist, gowan.
When the laird learns that the
Hannah More. It was written after she
young man has studied astrology, he
had passed her sixtieth year, and was begs him to cast the horoscope of his
intended as an antidote to what she con- son, born that very night.
sidered the deleterious influence of the The young man, carrying out his prom-
romantic tales of that day. In Celebs) ise, is dismayed to find two possible
she sought to convey precepts of religion, catastrophes overhanging the boy: one
morals, and manners, in the form of a at his fifth, the other at his twenty-first
novel. Celebs, a young gentleman of year. He tells the father, however, what
fortune and estate in the north of Eng- he has discovered, in order that he may
land, sets out to find a woman who shall have due warning; and later proceeds on
meet the somewhat exacting requirements his way.
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.
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## p. 46 (#82) ##############################################
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.
