No More Learning

When I am only household drudge, only retained because
me you see what it is. »
of the dying man's injunction to John.
(In the Apple Country) relates how a Felicitas accidentally discovers the Old
young Englishman receives into his home Mamselle, her benefactor's aunt, ostra-
Gemma, a hot-tempered, warm-hearted cized by the family, and living in a re-
little Italian girl, with her grandfather mote part of the mansion; and through
and brother, who have been arrested for her loving instruction, in stolen hours,
strolling. And when Gemma has grown Felicitas becomes very accomplished.
into a beautiful girl, impulsive still, but Nine years later, John, now become a
sweet and gentle, she consents to give up famous physician in Bonn, orders his
forever the grapes and oranges of Italy cousin, the Councilor's widow, to X-
to live in the "Apple Country,” as Philip for her child's health; and together with
Corey's wife.
him they become members of the Hell-
Perhaps the most charming of the sto- wig household. The beautiful but vio-
ries is (The Child of Urbino. ) Two lent-tempered young widow lays siege
friends of the child Rafaelle — Luca, a to John. He, however, falls in love
noble youth, and his sweetheart Pacifica, with Felicitas, whom as a child he had
a gentle maiden — are in great trouble. treated harshly. She hates him bitterly,
Pacifica's father, a great artist, has prom- and hopes soon to live openly with the
seven.


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180
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
same
Old Mamselle. But the latter inoppor- | along by the torrent of its passion to ul.
tunely dies, leaving all her property, not timate wreck, is the theme of this book,
to Felicitas, but to the Von Hirsch- written most poetically in a style of the
sprung heirs, if found. Felicitas is frankest romanticism. Bent Sörensen is
about to destroy a little book in compli- a poor Jutlander student, whose god is
ance with her friend's wishes, when the Mathematics, and whose one idea is the
Councilor's widow intervenes, reads it, practical duty of getting his degree and
and flings it at John's feet, thus reveal- caring for his old parents and his young
ing the Old Mamselle's secret. She had brothers and sisters. He meets Giacinta,
loved in her girlhood Oscar von Hirsch- a young singer, absorbed in her art.
sprung, a poor neighbor, occupying an- They fall in love at first sight. Hence-
other portion of the
mansion. forth Bent's course of life is changed.
Felicitas had long known that her real He neglects his studies and companions
mother was a Von Hirschsprung, and and is warned of expulsion. But he
the happy dénouement may be easily abandons himself to his passion,-even
imagined.
writing poetry, with a mathematical cast,
This story, published in 1867, has to her praise. She makes her debut in
passed through many editions; the Eng- opera with tremendous success in the
lish version by Mrs. A. L. Wistar is re- first two acts; in the third she falls in a
garded as even superior to the original. swoon with a hemorrhage. She recovers
and marries the old Hofrath, her protec-
Fruit: Flower, and Thorn Pieces, by
Richter (Jean Paul), appeared in
tor; but Bent's career is ended. Another
1796–97. It is a strange combination of
lover is introduced, only to be rejected.
The burning sun of love has touched
humor, tenderness, and fine imagination,
three lives, and the resistless current of
purporting to be the record of the «mar-
ried life, death and wedding of the
their melting snows has left stranded
three wrecks. The interest of the story
lawyer of the poor, Siebenkäs. ) The
dream-indulging, impractical poet of a
is in the author's handling of the scenes
of passion and tragedy. The English
lawyer represents Jean Paul himself;
translation by Margaret Symonds was
while Siebenkäs's wife, Lenette, the em-
published in 1895.
bodiment of the practical in life, stands
for Richter's good old mother. Her de
Am
mazon, The, by Franz Dingelstedt, is
votion to every-day ideas is well illus- a lively, witty story of Berlin society
trated when "Siebenkäs, in the midst in artistic and social circles, in which
of a grandiloquent harangue upon eter- love at cross-purposes finds a pleasant so-
nity, is interrupted by her exclaiming: lution. Roland, a distinguished painter,
"Don't forget to leave off your left is attracted by Armgard Krafft, whose
stocking to-morrow morning: there is a father is a rich banker; while Seraphine,
hole in it! » Of all Jean Paul's more a prima donna of popular fame, who
prominent characters, Siebenkäs is one poses for Roland as an Amazon, is for a
of the least extravagantly sentimental; time drawn towards a diplomat of high
and his history, though less ambitious rank. Thus the principle of the attrac-
than either «Titan” or “Hesperus,” is tion of opposites seems to be illustrated,
more popular. It displays Richter's but the novel proves to be a satire on the
kaleidoscopic variety of thought, wild doctrine of elective affinities. It is full
figures of style, and bewildering leaps of both poetry and humor; and in spite
from the spiritual to the earthly and of its bohemianism, thoroughly healthy
grotesque - and thence again to ideal in tone. It was published in 1868. The
heights. In some passages the rapid title refers also to an opera in which
sweep of thought seems too strong for Seraphine appears.
coherent utterance, and again it calms
This
ood Luck, by Ernest Werner.
down to a placid sweetness very ingenu-
Good
story describes in
a picturesque
His phrases, linked by hyphens,
and interesting manner the development
brackets, and dashes, almost defy the
of conjugal affection that follows a love-
translator's art, and are sufficiently diffi-
less marriage. Baroness Eugenie von
cult for even the German scholar.
Windeg, a beautiful girl of aristocratic
Melting Snows, by, Prince Emil zu lineage, marries Arthur Berkow, a civil.
Schönaich-Carolath. A virgin hu- ian, much beneath her in rank, whose
man soul, awakened by love and swept wealth is necessary to restore the fallen
ous.


## p. 181 (#217) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
181
fortunes of the Windegs. The match is the book as a whole presents a vivid
brought about by Berkow's father, a and dramatic picture of social and indus-
vulgar and unprincipled man, who has trial life in Germany. (1876. )
made his fortune in mining, and who,
being a large creditor of Baron Windeg, Dosia, by Henri Gréville (Madame Du-
uses every means in his power to bring
rand), (1877,) is a vivacious story
of Russian life. The heroine, Léodocia
about this brilliant marriage for his only
son, whom he idolizes and on whom he
Zaptine, is a frolicsome young madcap,
with the kindest heart, who is always
has lavished every luxury. While the
bridal couple are being driven to their
getting into scrapes. Grief-stricken be-
future home, their horses take fright and
cause of well-deserved scoldings, she de-
run away; and but for the brave and cides to elope with her cousin Pierre
prompt action of Ulrich Hartmann, one
Mourief, a young lieutenant staying in
of Berkow's miners, a dangerous and un-
the house; but thinks better of it when
ruly fellow, the carriage and its occu-
they are but a mile or two from home,
pants would have been dashed over a
and returns to the paternal roof. After
precipice. On reaching her palatial resi-
this escapade, Dosia is taken in hand
dence, Eugenie, whose anguish and re-
by the young widow Princess Sophie
gret have up to this time been sup-
Koutsky, the sister of Pierre's comrade
pressed, gives way to her feelings, tells
in arms Count Platon Sourof. Dosia and
Arthur of her scorn and dislike for him,
Pierre make the mutual discovery that
and taunts him with his motives in
they are not in the least in love with
bringing about their marriage. Arthur
each other; and the headlong, generous
receives her gibes in an indifferent man-
Pierre wins the Princess Sophie, while
ner, and after telling her that she has her grave brother Platon loves and mar-
been mistaken in this regard, leaves her,
ries the naughty Dosia.
The story is
with the assurance that in future she agreeably told, and is a good specimen
shall be freed from his society, except
of the best type of domestic novel.
when it is necessary to preserve appear-
ances. As time goes on, Eugenie dis Dosia's Daughter, by Henri Gréville
(Madame Durand), (1886,) like its
covers qualities in her husband which
predecessor Dosia,' has a slight plot,
win her respect and love; but he con-
charmingly told; and like that, presents a
tinues to treat her with cool politeness
and indifference. The elder Berkow
pleasant picture of society life in Rus-
sia. Agnes, or Ania, the daughter of
dies, leaving his miners in a state of in-
Count and Countess Tourof, considers
surrection; and Arthur takes control in a
herself a much misunderstood and un-
manner which shows great courage and
strength of character. At this time
appreciated young woman, and decides
Baron Windeg, who has come into pos-
to go out into the world and earn her
bread as a governess.
She runs away
session of a large inheritance, tries to
from home, and a very short experience
bring about a legal separation between
as her own mistress is enough to bring
his daughter and her husband, whose
her back to her parents, with the convic-
plebeian birth he cannot forgive. He
tion that home is best. The charm of
takes Eugenie home with him in order
the novel lies in its naturalness and sim-
to procure the divorce; but while the
plicity.
papers are being drawn up she hears of
Arthur's extreme danger at the hands of Jean Teterol's Idea (L'idée de Jean
the infuriated miners, led by Hartmann, Têterol), by Charles Victor Cherbu-
and, her love for her husband asserting liez. (1878. ) A clever narrator rather
itself, she flies to him and is welcomed than a keen psychologist, Cherbuliez can
with open arms. An explosion takes tell a good story in a picturesque style,
place in the mine just as matters reach with an accompaniment of interesting
a crisis, and Arthur risks his life to save philosophic reflections. Jean Têterol, a
his miners, thereby winning their esteem young peasant abused by his master,
and settling the controversy. His enemy the Baron Saligneux, shakes the dust of
Hartmann accompanies Arthur into the Saligneux from his shoes, and departs,
mine, and saves the life of his hated vowing vengeance. The idea which
master at the sacrifice of his own. The
to him then, and which thence-
interest in this story is well sustained; forth dominates his life, is a determi-
the characters are forcibly drawn, and nation to become a rich proprietor of
comes


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182
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
land instead of a serf. He goes to Paris,
and there by hard work and by shrewd-
ness amasses a fortune. At fifty-five,
many times a millionaire, he is a wid-
ower with one son, Lionel, to whom he
looks for the fruition of all his ambi-
tions. This boy, his “Prince of Wales,”
has had every sort of advantage. He
may marry an aristocrat and become one
himself. His father regards him with
a tyrannical pride and affection, some-
what galling to Lionel's more refined
nature. Jean Têterol returns to the vil-
lage of Saligneux, and there learns that
his old master is dead; that his son,
the present Baron, has a beautiful daugh-
ter, Claire; and that the estate is em-
barrassed and the Baron in debt. Jean
craftily manages to become his chief
creditor, and then demands Claire's hand
for Lionel From this point the compli-
cations of the story multiply rapidly.
Claire is made an interesting heroine:
Lionel rises in the esteem of the reader:
and the fortunes of the two, and of
the old estate, offer to Cherbuliez the
material of an agreeable domestic tale.
The manner of it is graceful, and its
touch delightfully free.
Immortal, The, by Alphonse Daudet.
(1888. ) L'Immortel) is the last
noted work of the late distinguished
French critic, dramatist, and novelist,
Alphonse Daudet. It professes to be a
description of maurs parisiennes, but is
really a satire on the pretensions of the
French Academy; its title, “The Immor-
tal, being the epithet popularly applied
to the forty members of that exclusive
and self-perpetuating body. Daudet him-
self, although his novel (Fromont Jeune
et Risler Aîné) was crowned by the
Academy with the Jouy prize, was never
elected to its membership; and with the
brothers Goncourt, Zola, and others, he
formed a rival literary clique.
The sa-
tirical thrusts in (The Immortal) were
keenly felt and resented by the Acade-
micians. Apart from this personal con-
nection, L'Immortel) cannot be said to
vie in interest or merit with the cele.
brated trine of the (Tartarins,' or with
Numa Roumestan, Kings in Exile,'
(Sappho. The hero of the story is
bookworm, Academician whose
works have been successively crowned
by the Academy) until its crowns were
exhausted, and nothing remained but to
elect him to membership. Meanwhile
he has been employed by the govern-
ment as Archivist of Foreign Affairs;
but an unhappy expression introduced in
the history of the house of Orleans –
«Then, as to-day, France, submerged
under the wave of demagogism” – gave
such offense to the government that it
cost him his position, his salary, and his
livelihood. He now devotes himself to
the editing of certain MSS. of untold
value, which have come into his posses-
sion, and his hopes and ambitions hang
upon the delight with which the world
will welcome these treasures. Treated
by his ambitious wife and spendthrift
son with ironical contempt and heartless
neglect, his misfortunes are crowned by
the revelation that his prized archæologi-
cal documents are forgeries; and that
the Academy, indignant at the disgrace
thus brought upon it, is discussing his
degradation among the “mortals. ) Ridi-
culed by all Paris, and berated at home
by his angry and disappointed wife,
“the perpetual secretary of the Acad-
emy,” finding neither solace nor protec-
tion in its shelter in this hour of his
dire need, ends his troubles by throw-
ing himself into the Seine. The story
is a work of pessimistic realism, portray-
ing the sordid and heartless selfishness
of mother and son, as contrasted with
the father's entire but wasted devotion
to what in the end is only delusion and
fraud.
Chou
houans, The, by Balzac. This was
the novelist's first important work.
The title, when it appeared in 1829, was
(The Last Chouan; or, Bretagne in 1800. )
In 1846 it was rearranged in its present
form. It is the story of a young girl,
Marie de Verneuil, sent by Fouché to
entrap the leader of the royalists in
Bretagne, the Marquis de Montauran.
She falls in love with him, reveals her
disgraceful mission, and devotes all her
energies to save him, until a trick of his
enemies leads her to believe him false.
Then she plots his ruin, is undeceived too
late, and both die together. Marie is an
exquisite creation, revealing that deep
and intuitive knowledge of the soul of
woman of which Balzac was to give so
many proofs afterward. Montauran also
is an original character, vigorously and
delicately drawn. In Hulot, the rough
republican commandant sprung from the
ranks, and in Marche-à-Terre, the fero-
cious but honest fanatic, we have two of
>
or
a
an


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
183
Balzac's «types, designed and classified
truthfully and convincingly. Many of the
scenes are of tragic intensity. Nothing
could be more terrible than that of the
massacre of the Blues at Vivetière, that of
the unmasking of the spy among her ene-
mies, or that of the roasting of the old
miser by the Chouans to compel him to
reveal his treasure. The description of a
mass said by a priest in rags, in the midst
of the forest, before a granite altar, while
the insurgents, kneeling near their guns,
beat their breasts and repeat the re-
sponses, is singularly grand and imposing.
The author made a profound study of the
scenery of Bretagne, and the manners of
its people, before he wrote his romance;
and his pictures of both scenery and peo-
ple have the stamp of reality and truth.
Country Doctor, The, by Honoré de
Balzac, belongs to the series known
as (Scenes from Country Life); a part of
his great cycle of fiction, «The Comedy
of Human Life. It appeared in French
in 1833, and in the standard English trans-
lation by Miss Wormeley in 1887. It is
one of Balzac's noblest pieces of fiction,
presenting beautiful traits of human na-
ture with sympathy and power. The
scene is laid in a village near Grenoble
in France, and the story begins with the
year 1829. To this village comes Genes-
tas, a noble old soldier who adores Na-
poleon, and believes in the certainty of
his return to save France. Under the
assumed name of Captain Bluteau, he
rests from his wounds, and is cared for
by Dr. Benassis, the country doctor, the
central character, and a remarkable study
of the true physician. He is a sort of
Father Bountiful in Grenoble. He treats
the poor peasants without pay, and dis-
likes taking money except from the
rich. He teaches the peasantry how to
improve their land, introduces methods
of work which make for prosperity, sug-
gests new industries, and effects a great
change for the better in the neighborhood;
so that in ten years the population is
tripled, and comfort and happiness are
substituted for poverty and misery. The
Doctor lives in an attractive old house
with two servants, one of whom, Jacquotte,
the cook, a scolding, faithful, executive,
and skillful woman, proud of her culinary
ability and devoted to Benassis's interest,
is one of the most enjoyable personages
in the story. The incidents of the plot
have their explanation in the events of
a preceding generation. The novel as a
whole is one of the simplest of Balzac's,
free from over-analysis of character and
motive.
Eugénie Grandet, by Honoré de Balzac,
appeared in 1833, and is included
among the Scenes of Provincial Life. )
In it, the great French master of realism
depicts with his accustomed brilliant pre-
cision the life of a country girl, the only
child of a rich miser. Eugénie and her
mother know little pleasure in the cold,
silent, pallid dwelling” at Saumur where
they live. Father Grandet loves his wife
and daughter, but loves his money bet.
ter, and cannot spare enough of it to
supply his family with suitable food and
clothing. His rare gifts to his wife he
usually begs back, and Eugénie is ex-
pected to hoard her birthday gold-pieces.
Eugénie's charming, handsome cousin
Charles arrives one day for a visit, and
Eugénie braves her father's anger to sup-
ply him with sugar for his coffee and a
wax instead of a tallow candle. Charles
has been brought up in wealth, but his
father now loses all and commits suicide.
Eugénie's pity for her unhappy cousin
turns to love, which he seems to recipro-
cate. Engaged to marry her, with her
savings he goes to the West Indies. The
years wear on drearily to her, and she
does not hear from him. Her mother
dies, and she is an heiress, but is per-
suaded by her father to make over her
property to him.
The old man dies too,
and Eugénie is very rich. At last she
receives a letter from Charles, who is
ignorant of her wealth, asking for his
liberty, and telling her of his wish to
marry a certain heiress whose family can
aid him in his career. The reserved and
self-controlled Eugénie releases him with-
out complaint; and discovering that his
match is jeopardized by his father's debts,
she sends to Paris her old friend Mon-
sieur de Bonfons, president of the civil
courts of Saumur, to pay this debt, and
thus clear Charles's name. As a reward
for his services, she marries Monsieur
de Bonfons without love. Early left a
widow, and the solitary owner of wealth
which she has never learned to enjoy, she
devotes the rest of her life to philanthropy,
thus completing her career of self-abne-
gation.
père Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac.
(1834. ) This story is one of the most
painful that the master of French fiction


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184
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ever forced upon a fascinated but reluc- Life. ) In it he intended to portray «a
tant reader. It is the history of a mod- poor and simple-minded man, an old man,
ern Lear. Père Goriot, a retired manu- crushed by humiliations and insults, for-
facturer of vermicelli, having married giving all and revenging himself only by
his daughters, Anastasie to the Count benefits. ” The hero is Sylvain Pons, a
de Restaud, and Delphine to the Baron simple-hearted old musician who has seen
de Nucingen, is abandoned by them his best days professionally, whom his
after he has settled on them his whole purse-proud cousins the Marvilles, weary-
fortune. Even to see them he is re- ing of his visits, slight and insult. The
duced to the extremity of watching on vicissitudes of the poor fellow make the
the street to get a glimpse of their be- story. Greed and cunning, in all grades
loved faces as they drive by. In the of society, receive their due celebration.
wretched pension where he lives he The Marvilles, the titled Popinots, the
meets Eugène de Rastinac, whose dis- theatre director Gaudissard, the various
tant relationship to the Viscountess de lawyers, the Jewish picture dealers, down
Beauséant enables him to frequent the to the very lodging-house keepers, all are
select society of the Faubourg Saint- leagued against the one simple-hearted
Germain. He there makes the acquaint- man and triumph at last. It is interesting
ance of Père Goriot's daughters, and be- to know that Cousin Pons's great collec-
comes the cavalier of Delphine. The tion, as described in the story, was actu-
daughters, mere devotees of fashion, ally Balzac's own, which M. Champfleury
treat the poor old man with increasing visited in 1848, and which, although seen
barbarity, until, knowing that he is on for the first time, seemed strangely fa-
his death-bed, they both attend a ball, miliar to him until «the truth flashed
though he beseeches them to come to
upon me. I was in the gallery of Cousin
him. He is buried by charitable ac- Pons. Here were Cousin Pons's pictures,
quaintances; and as the body is brought Cousin Pons's curios. I knew them now. ”
from the church, the empty coaches of The American translation is by Katherine
the daughters fall in behind and follow Prescott Wormeley.
it to the grave.
Crowded with inci-
dents, and made profoundly interesting Modeste Mignon, by Honoré de Bal-
zac. (1846. ) The heroine of this ro-
by its merciless fidelity of characteriza-
mance, Modeste Mignon, lives in a small
tion, (Père Goriot) compels attention;
while in style it is one of the most
city in northwestern France. She has the
brilliant of Balzac's long succession of
religious faith of a child, while her mind
novels.
is exceptionally well informed in many
ways. The machinery of the story is
Cousin Bette, by Honoré de Balzac. slight. The young girl, daring in her
This powerful story, published in simplicity, writes to a famous author to
1846, is a vivid picture of the tastes thank him for his books. A friend of
and vices of Parisian life in the middle that author, charmed by the freshness of
of this century.
Lisbeth Fischer, com- the letter, replies; and a pretty love
monly called Cousin Bette, is an eccen- story is the result. Many characters
tric poor relation, a worker in gold and appear, and there are fresh and dewy
silver lace. The keynote of her charac- pictures of rural France.
The great
ter is jealousy, the special object of it her whirlpool of Paris does indeed devour
beautiful and noble-minded cousin Ade- its allotted victims; but the atmosphere
line, wife of Baron Hector Hulot. The of the book, as a whole, is tranquil, and
chief interest of the story lies in the devel-
its influence not uncheerful.
opment of her character, of that of the
and of the base and empty voluptuary
Dudevant (George Sand), published
Hulot. Les Parentes Pauvres, which
in 1842, and its sequel (The Countess of
Rudolstadt, issued the following year,
includes both Cousin Bette) and (Cousin
form a continuous romantic narrative, of
Pons,' are the last volumes of (Scènes
which the first book is the more famous.
de la Vie Parisienne. ) Gloomy and de-
While not the most characteristic novel,
spairing, they are yet terribly powerful.
perhaps, of the great French authoress,
Cousin Pons, by Honoré de Balzac. (Consuelo) is the best known to general
Cousin Pons, written in 1847, belongs readers. It is a magnificent romance, kept
to Balzac's series of (Scenes from Parisian always within the bounds of the possible,
m
unscrupulous beauty Madame Marneffe, Consuelo, by Amandine Lucile Aurore


## p. 185 (#221) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
185
а
yet exhibiting a wealth of imagination his three children. Germain demurs,
and idyllic fancy not always found in con- largely because he cherishes so fondly
junction with such restraint. Consu- the memory of his wife. But at last
elo, like her creator, has in her veins the he consents to go to the neighboring
blood of the people; she has no dowry but village of Fourche, to see the widow
a wonderful voice, and a noble natural Catherine Guérin, daughter of Farmer
purity that is her defense in all trials and Leonard, who is well off, and accord-
temptations.
Her childhood is spent in ing to Maurice, of suitable age to marry
the Venice of the eighteenth century; a Germain. Before he starts on his jour-
golden childhood of love and music, and ney, a neighbor of Germain, the poor
a poverty which means freedom. After a widow Guillette, asks him to take in
bitter experience of deception, she leaves his care her sixteen-year-old daughter
Venice to live in the Castle of Rudol- Mary, who has engaged to go as
stadt in Bohemia, as companion to the shepherdess to a farmer at Fourche. On
Baroness Amelia. One of the household the way, Pierre, the young son of Ger-
is Count Albert, a melancholy half-dis- main, insists that his father shall take
traught man of noble character, over him as well as little Mary to Fourche
whom Consuelo establishes a mysterious on his horse, La Grise. The trio lose
influence of calmness and benignity. their way, the horse runs off, and they
The interest of the story is now held are obliged to spend the night on the
by certain psychic experiments and ex- borders of the haunted pool. ” The
periences, and it closes as the reader hopes tact of little Mary, and her kindness to
to have it. Consuelo) abounds in pict- his child, so work on Germain that be
uresque and dramatic scenes and inci- falls in love with her. He goes on,
dents, in glowing romance, in the poetry however, to see the widow; but her co-
of music and the musical life. It retains quetry, and the insincerity of her father,
its place as one of the most fascinating disgust him, and he does not make his
novels of the century.
offer of marriage. On the way home
he overtakes little Mary, who has been
Haunted Pool, The, by George Sand. insulted by her employer at The Elms.
The Haunted Pool (La Mare au At first she refuses to marry Germain,
Diable) was the first in a series of rus- calling him too old.
But in the course
tic novels begun by George Sand at of a year she changes her mind, and
Nohant in 1846, of which Les Maîtres makes him perfectly happy.
Sonneurs) was the last. These simple
stories, which have been called the
Li ittle Fadette (La Petite Fadette), a
(Georgics) of France, are quite unlike novel by George Sand, appeared in
the earliest works of their author, In- 1848.
diana,' Valentine, and Lelia,' both in It is one of George Sand's short stud-
style and in matter; and mark a dis- ies of peasant life, considered by many
tinct epoch in French literature. critics her finest work, in which she
explaining her purpose in writing them, embodied loving reminiscences of her
George Sand disclaimed any pretense childish days in the province of Berry.
of accomplishing a revolution in letters: It is a poetic idyl, recounted with a
I have wished neither to make a new simple precision which places the reader
tongue, nor to try a new manner. She vividly in the midst of the homely inci-
had
grown tired of the city, and her dents and daily interests of country life.
glimpses of rural life had led her to an To Père and Mère Barbeau, living
exalted view of the peasant character. thriftily upon their little farm, arrive
The poetry which she believed to exist twin boys whom they name Landry and
in their lives, she succeeded in infusing Sylvain. As the boys grow up, they
into the romances which she wove around show an excessive fondness for each
them.
other, which their father fears may cause
(The Haunted Pool) has for its central them sorrow. So he decides to separate
figure Germain, a widower of twenty- them by placing one at service with his
eight, handsome, honorable, and living neighbor, Père Cailland. Landry, the
and working on the farm of his father- sturdier and more independent, chooses
in-law, Maurice by name. The latter the harder lot of leaving home. He
urges his son-in-law to marry again, adapts himself to the change and is
both for his own good and for that of happy; while Sylvain, idle, and petted
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186
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
toilers; a woman of the convent and of
bohemia; a genius in literature striving
for the welfare of her kind.
by his mother, suffers from the separa-
tion and is jealous of his brother's new
friends. Later the two brothers both
love the same woman, little Fadette.
The plot centres itself in the outcome of
this situation.
Histoi
istoire de Ma Vie, L', by George
Sand. This work was begun in 1847,
and completed in 1855. It was published
in Paris at the latter date, and repub-
lished, essentially unchanged, in 1876.
The four volumes of autobography,
comprising over 1,800 pages, deal with
the first forty years of the author's life,
and close twenty-one years before her
death. The first and second may be
styled the introduction to the story; be-
ing devoted mainly to the antecedents
of the writer, her lineage, her father's
letters, and to a running commentary
on the times. The autobiography proper
begins in the third volume. Here the
extremely sensitive nature, and vivid,
often wild, imagination of a girl, may be
seen unfolding itself in continuous ro-
mance, sufficient in quantity and quality
to foreshadow, if not to reveal, one of
the most prolific novelists in French lit-
erature.
In these pages, the writer portrays a
genius in embryo fretting over its ideals,
- in the passion for study and observa-
tion; in the convent experience of trans-
ition from realism to mysticism; in
domestic hopes and their rapid disillus-
ioning In the last volume appear the
beginnings of the George Sand of our
literature, — the mystic transforming into
the humanitarian and the reformer; the
dreamer subdued by many sorrows; the
new novelist happy or defiant amidst
her friends and foes.
As a work of art and as an autobi-
ography, L'Histoire de Ma Vie) is de-
fective in the lack of proportion involved
by overcrowding the story at the begin-
ning with extraneous matter and child-
hood experiences, to the exclusion of
important episodes of maturer years,
and the abrupt ending of the narrative
where the author has just entered upon
her literary career.
But taken as a whole, the autobi-
ography is an invaluable contribution to
the French literature of the first half of
the nineteenth century.
Outside of con-
temporary interests, we have, with
few reservations, the frank, vivid por-
traiture of a child both of kings and
Elle
lle et Lui, by George Sand. (1859. )
A novel based on the author's rela-
tions twenty-five years before, in 1834,
with Alfred de Musset, whose death oc-
curred in 1857. As the story was one
to which there could be no reply by
the person most concerned, an indignant
brother, Paul de Musset, wrote Lui et
Elle) to alter the lights on the picture.
At the entrance of the woman known in
literature as George Sand upon the bohe-
mian freedom in Paris, she shared her
life with Jules Sandeau, and first used
the pen-name Jules Sand, when he and
she worked together and brought out a
novel entitled (Rose et Blanche. ' En-
abled shortly after to get a publisher for
(Indiana,' which was wholly her own
work, she changed her pen-name to George
Sand. But Sandeau and she did not con-
tinue together. Alfred de Musset and
she entered upon a relationship of life
and literary labor which took them to
Italy at the end of 1833, gave them a
short experience of harmony in 1834, but
came to an end by estrangement between
them in 1835. Her side of this estrange-
ment is reflected in Elle et Lui,) and his
in Paul de Musset's "Lui et Elle. )
Delphine, by Madame de Staël
, was her
first romance; it was published in
1802. The heroine is an ideal creation.
Madame d'Albemar (Delphine), a young
widow, devotedly attached to her hus-
band's memory, falls promptly in love with
Léonce as soon as she meets him. The
feeling is reciprocated, and Léonce bit-
terly repents his engagement to Delphine's
cousin Mathilde. But Delphine's mother,
Madame de Vernon, a treacherous, in-
triguing woman, determines to separate
the lovers; and the story relates the pro-
gress of her machinations.
Its bold imagery, keenness of observa-
tion, and power of impassioned descrip-
tion, perhaps justify Delphine's) posi-
tion among the masterpieces of French
literature. But neither situations nor
characters are true to nature. The only
real person in the book is Madame de
Vernon, a mixture of pride, duplicity,
ostentation, avarice, polished wickedness,
and false good-nature. But the romance
had a special interest for Madame de
Staël's contemporaries, for several of the
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
187
thor the anger of Napoleon, who ordered Roman Affairs aicities Affaires
an
great men and women of the time appear besides its romantic and sentimental in-
in it under the thinnest of disguises. M. terest, in its treatment of literature and
de Lebensée, the noble Protestant, is Ben- art it has always been considered au-
jamin Constant; the virtuous and accom- thoritative. It served indeed for many
plished Madame de Cerlèbe is Madame years as a guide-book for travelers in
de Staël's mother; Delphine is of course Italy, though modern discoveries have
Madame de Staël herself; and Madame somewhat impugned its sufficiency. When
de Vernon is Talleyrand: “So we are it first appeared in 1807, its success was
both,” said he to her, “in your last book, instantaneous; and Napoleon, who de-
I hear; I disguised as an old woman, and tested the author, was so much chagrined
you as a young one. ” As in the case that he himself wrote an unfavorable crit.
of (Corinne, the liberal ideas scattered icism which appeared in the Moniteur.
through the story drew down on the au-
('de
to
Rome'), by Félicité Robert de Lam-
ennais, was written after the rupture of
Corinne; or, Italy, by Madame de the author with the Papacy. It con-
Staël. Corinne's story is quite sec- tains account of his journey to
ondary, in the author's intention, to her Rome, with Montalembert and Lacor-
characterization of Italy, but it runs daire, and their efforts to obtain a deci.
thus: Oswald, Lord Nelvil, an English- sion on the orthodoxy of the doctrines
man, while traveling in Italy, meets Co- inculcated by their journal L'Avenir
rinne, artist, poet, and musician, with a (The Future), which held that the
mysterious past. Their friendship ripens Church should put herself at the head
into love; but Oswald tells Corinne that of the democratic movement. The book
his dying father desired him to marry contains also, under the caption Des
Lucile, the daughter of Lord Edgermond. Maux de l'Eglise et de la Société, what
Corinne then discloses that her mother, the author considered a faithful picture
an Italian, was the first wife of Lord of the Catholic Church throughout the
Edgermond; and that after her mother's world, as well as of the state of society.
death and her father's second marriage, He indicates remedies to cure the evils
her life had been made so unhappy by of both, while affirming that there is
her stepmother that she had returned to a complete antagonism between the
Italy, where she had been for eight years Church and the people in every country,
when Oswald arrived. He goes back to an antagonism growing ever more acute.
England, with the intention of restoring The Church of the future will not be,
to Corinne her fortune and title; and he maintains, that of Rome, whose day
there meets Lucile, and learns that his is past, nor will it be that of Protestant-
father had really wished him to marry ism - illegitimate, illogical system
Lord Edgermond's elder daughter, but that, under the deceptive appearance of
had distrusted Corinne because of her liberty, has introduced the brutal despo-
religion and Italian training. And now tism of force into the State and is the
the too facile Oswald falls in love with
of egotism in the individual.
Lucile. Corinne, who has secretly fol- What the future Church is to be, how-
lowed him, sends him his ring and his ever, Lamennais does not make clear.
release. Believing that Corinne knows
nothing of his change of feelings, but Orien
riental Religions: INDIA, CHINA,
,
Persia, by Samuel Johnson. Mr.
marries Lucile. Five years later, Oswald Johnson's labors in producing this tril-
and Lucile visit Florence, where Corinne ogy extended over many years.
The
is still living, but in the last stages of first volume, India, appeared in 1872;
a decline which began when Oswald the second, China, in 1877; and the last,
broke her heart by marrying. The sis- Persia, in 1885, after the author's death.
ters are reconciled, but Oswald sees Co- The volumes, although separate, really
rinne only as she is dying.
constitute one work, the underlying idea
In Corinne and Lucile, the author has of which is that there is a Universal
endeavored to represent the ideal woman Religion, «a religion behind all relig-
of two nations; the qualities which make ions »); that not Buddhism, nor Brahmin-
Corinne the idol of Italians, however, ism, nor Mahometanism, nor even Christ-
repel the unemotional Englishman. But ianity, is the true religion; but that
an
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## p. 188 (#224) ############################################

188
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Christianity, in China: Tartary, and
these are only phases of the one great
religion that is back of them all and Thibet, by the Abbé Huc.
expresses itself, or various phases of ously interesting and elaborate history of
itself, through them all. And he main- the presence in the Chinese Empire of
tains that the «Universal Religion is Christian missions from the time of the
revealed and illustrated in the Oriental Apostles to the end of the seventeenth
religions. This thesis pervades the century. The author was a Roman Cath-
whole work and is present in every olic missionary in China, 1840–52. By
chapter. It presides over the search for shaving his head and dyeing his skin
facts and the selection and coinbination yellow, and wearing a queue and Chinese
of facts, and is defended with skill and costume, and by a thorough command of
enthusiasm. The work is therefore not the Chinese language, he was able to travel
really a history, or a compendium of not only in China proper, but in Thibet
Oriental philosophy, but the exposition and Tartary. He published in 1850 an
of this theory to which the author had exceedingly interesting account of his
devoted the study of a lifetime. Mr. travels during 1844-46, and in 1854 a work
Johnson was a sound scholar, a deep on the Chinese Empire. His first work
thinker, a patient investigator, and an related marvels of travel which aroused
earnest and eloquent writer. It is not incredulity; but later researches have
necessary to accept his estimate of the amply shown that this was unjust. The
relative values of Christianity and the final work, connecting the history of the
religions of ancient life in Asia; but this Chinese Empire with the maintenance
whole work taken together, certainly through centuries of Christian missions,
forms a valuable contribution to the is a work of great value for the history
elucidation of the thought expressed of the far East. Huc wrote in French;
by Chevalier Bunsen in the title to one but all the works here mentioned were
of his works, "God in History. '
brought out in English, and met with
wide popular acceptance. The (Travels
Esoteric Buddhism, by A. F. Sinnett,
in the Chinese Empire) came out in a
was first published in England in cheap edition, 1859; the Chinese Em-
1883, and appeared in America in a revised pire, Tartary, and Thibet,' was in 5 vols. ,
form in 1884.
1855-58; and the Christianity,' etc. , 3
The author's claims are modest; the vols. , 1857-58.
work purporting to be but a partial expo-
sition, not a complete defense of Bud: Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical
the eso- Arehitecture, by
teric. There are difficulties for the exo- work of curious interest, designed to trace
teric reader in the terminology employed, the very wide use of animal symbols in
which seems as yet to have come to no religious relations. The famous work of
widely accepted definitiveness; but much an Alexandrian Greek, known as the Phy-
of the exposition may be readily grasped siologus) or The Naturalist, became at a
by the attentive lay mind. Great stress very early date a compendium of current
is naturally laid on the Buddhist theory opinions and ancient traditions touching
of cosmogony, which is a form of evo- the characteristics of animals and of
lution, both physical and psychic; on the plants, viewed as affording moral or re-
doctrine of reincarnation, distinctly af- ligious suggestion. The mystical mean-
firmed; on Nirvana, “a sublime state of ing of the various beasts grew to be a
conscious rest in omniscience )); and on universally popular study, and the (Phy-
Karma, the idea of ethical causation. siologus) was translated into every lan-
Tbe author gives also a survey of occult guage used by readers.
Perhaps no
and theosophic doctrines in general, and book,” says Mr. Evans, except the Bible,
the esoteric conception of Buddha; in has ever been so widely diffused among
a word, he discusses the origin of the so many peoples and for so many cen-
world and of man, the ultimate destiny of turies as the “Physiologus. ) »
The story
our race, and the nature of other worlds of this symbolism in its application, with
and states of existence differing from modifications, in architecture, is told by
those of our present life. The exposi- Mr. Evans with fullness of knowledge and
tion is frankly made, and the language, sound judgment of significance of facts.
occasionally obscure, is generally incisive It is a very curious and a sin arly in-
and clear.
teresting history.
a
(
>


## p. 189 (#225) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
189
race.
»
It <
Bible
ible Lands, Recent Research in: Its systematic handling of the whole sub-
Progress and Results. Edited by ject of prehistoric Greek culture in the
Hermann von Hilprecht. (1897. ) A work light of the monuments. This was writ-
of definitive and comprehensive excel- ten in Greek and published at Athens.
lence, presenting in eight chapters, by as Dr. Manatt, of the Greek chair at
many writers of high authority, the best Brown University, undertook, on his
new knowledge of the fruits of Oriental return from a four-years' residence in
exploration throwing light on the Bible. Greece, to prepare an English version
It grew out of a series of articles pre- of Tsountas's work; but later, in view
pared by leading American and European of three years' rapid progress of explo-
specialists for the Sunday-School Times; rations, and with the aid of new mate-
and it thus carries an attestation which rials furnished by Tsountas, he made
will commend it to readers who desire a a largely new work, bringing the My-
trustworthy account of the recent most cenæan story up to date.
This story
remarkable expansion of knowledge con- is “a great chapter of veritable history
cerning Palestine, Babylonia, Egypt, and newly added to the record of the Greek
Arabia, in respect of their history previ-
covers the period approxi-
ous to and during the Mosaic » period. mately from the sixteenth to the twelfth
As some of the art objects pictured in century B. C. » It had been taken for
the illustrations are of date 4000 B. C. , it granted that the time of Homer repre-
will be seen that the recovery of a time sented the earliest known stage of Greek
long before Abraham's opens to view civilization, the childhood of the race.
pages of the story of mankind of extreme But Homer lived in lonia of Asia
interest and significance. The new light Minor, as late at least as the ninth
thus thrown upon the ancient East shows century B. C. ; and the new discoveries
how «Ur of the Chaldees was, to older show the Mycenæan civilization widely
cities near the head of the Persian Gulf, spread in Attica and central Greece,
a new mart of trade and seat of culture, and Crete even, seven hundred years
such as Chicago is to New York; and before Homer. Of the life and culture
how Abraham in going to Palestine went of this pre-Homeric Greece, the story
to the Far West of that Oriental world, told by Drs. Tsountas and Manatt gives
where the east coast of the Mediterra- a full, exact, and richly illustrated view.
nean was to the world of culture what
the American Pacific coast is to-day; It Myths of Greece and Rome, by H. A.
on
the advice, “Young man, Go West. ” of Grecian and Roman mythology, with
The date of his defensive expedition special regard to its great influence
related in Genesis xiv. is now definitely upon literature and art. Upwards of
fixed by Babylonian inscriptions at about seventy-five full-page illustrations of
2250 B. C. ; and the invasion he repelled paintings and statuary show how art
is found to have been in pursuance of
has taken its subjects from mythology;
aims on which the kings of Babylonia and poetical quotations represent the
are known to have acted as early as subject's literary side. The volume in-
3800 B. C. , or fully 1500 years before cludes a double-page map of the classic
Abraham.
regions, a genealogical table, and a
glossary.
Mycenæan Age, The. A Study of the
monuments and culture of Pre-
Classical Greek Poetry, THE GROWTH
Homeric Greece, by Dr. Chrestos Tsoun- AND INFLUENCE OF, by Professor R.
tas and J. Irving Manatt. With C. Jebb. (1893. ) Delivered originally as
intr duction by Dr. Dörpfeld. A most lectures at Johns Hopkins University,
valuable summary of the discoveries these chapters compose a brilliant sketch
of twenty years, from Schliemann's first of the history and character of Greek
great “findat Mycenæ to 1896. Dr. poetry, epic, lyric, and dramatic. The
Tsountas was commissioned in 1886, by introductory analysis of the Greek tem-
the Greek government, to
continue perament is followed by an account of
Schliemann's work; and after
the rise of the lyric in Ionia, -as a par-
years of explorations, he brought out a tial outgrowth of the earlier epic, -- and
volume on Mycenæ and the Mycenæan of the newer form, the drama, which
Civilization, in which he undertook a came to supersede it in popularity. One
a
an
seven


## p. 190 (#226) ############################################

190
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of the most interesting chapters is occu-
pied with the discussion of Pindar, in
some respects the most interesting indi-
viduality in Greek literature, - «the most
wonderful, perhaps, in lofty power, that
the lyric poetry of any age can show. ”
In the last chapter, on «The Permanent
Power of Greek Poetry, Professor Jebb
sums up the great elements in our pres-
ent civilization directly traceable to the
force and genius of the Greeks. In this
work he unites rare literary skill with
the ripest scholarship. To the student
who seeks to know what Greece and her
literature means to the present age, but
who has no time for superfluous dates
or facts, or disquisitions, this work is in-
dispensable; for the author, a true Greek
in a modern age, stands among the lead-
ing interpreters of her greatness.
becomes scandalously merry and roys-
tering, till he discovers the cause of the
wailings and the signs of sorrow in the
house, when he undertakes to rescue Al-
cestis from her fate. The Chorus of old
men bewail the lot of their mistress. Ad-
metus reproaches his father bitterly for
not saving her by the sacrifice of his
life; and the old man hurls back his in-
sults, and taunts him with his cowardice
in consenting to accept the offer of Al-
cestis. In the midst of this, Hercules
once more stands on the threshold, this
time with the veiled form of Alcestis be-
side him. Alceste, ou Triomphe d'Her-
cule) was acted with great success at Paris
in 1674. The music was by Lulli. The
libretto of the Alcestis) of Gluck, the
most admired opera of the great master,
was written by Calzabigi; and unlike most
librettos, is a dramatic poem of a high
order, full of strong situations and instinct
with fervid passion. Browning deals with
the same subject in Balaustion's Adven-
ture. )
(
10m
Epictetus, The Morals of, consisting
of his (Manual) and (Discourses,' are
the sole writings preserved to our age,
through the assiduity of his pupil Arrian.
Published in the early second century,
they afford
our only record of the
doctrines of the greatest of the Stoics.
The Manual,' still a favorite with all
thoughtful readers, is a guide to right
living. Its tone is that of a half-sad se-
renity that would satisfy the needs of
the soul with right living in this world,
since we can have no certain knowledge
of the truth of any other. “Is there
anything you highly value or tenderly
love? estimate at the same time its true
nature. Is it some possession ? remem-
ber that it may be destroyed. Is it wife
or child ? remember that they may die. "
“We do not choose out our own parts in
life, and have nothing to do with those
parts; our simple duty is to play them
well. The Discourses, also, display a
simple, direct eloquence; but they intro-
duce frequent anecdotes to enliven an
appeal or illustrate a principle.