No More Learning

" Nevertheless
the (Grand Dictionnaire Universel) is a
splendid monument to the learning and
the indomitable energy of its founder,
Pierre Larousse.
(Men and Women of the Time) is a
dictionary of living notabilities of all
countries; the latest edition is very re-
cent. It is an English publication, and
obviously of indispensable utility. A
similar work in French is Vapereau's
(Dictionnaire des Contemporains. ) The
English work is revised at intervals of
about ten years; the French at longer
intervals.
Among the notable annual works of
reference, belonging to the same class
as Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia,' is
(Hazel's Annual, a volume which gives
a brief summary of the political and
economic conditions of all countries; no-
table events of their history for the year;
the year's necrology; record of the year's
progress in science, art, literature, etc.
The Statesman's Year-Book,' also an
English annual, is devoted wholly to the
governmental conditions of the countries
of the world, and gives the personnel
of the several monarchies, republics,
and other States, their statistics of pop-
ulation, commerce, production, and
industry, finance, army and navy estab-
lishments, internal communications, edu-
cation,
etc. , compiled from official
returns: it is a work of unquestioned
authority.
The Library of American Literature,'
compiled and edited by Edmund Clar-
ence Stedman and Ellen Mackay Hutch-
inson, comprises eleven volumes of about
600 pages each, published 1887–91. It
gives, by means of selections from the
works of the more noteworthy writers,
a general view of American literature,
from its beginnings to the present time.
The selections are representative, and are
made with judgment; and no attempt is
made to gather in every book written
in America during the period since the
beginning of the 17th century. The
reader is thus saved from having thrust
upon him much trivial and ephemeral
matter; and the selections are of such
volume and compass as to present a
fairly adequate specimen of each au-
thor's style and mode of thought. This
principle of selection is happily likened,
by the editors in their preface, to the
law of selection which should govern in
the formation of a national gallery of
fine art, designed to show the develop-
ment of art from age to age. Here we
have presented to us the whole history
of our literature: the changes of topic
and style, the rise of learning, imagina-
tion, and creative power, resulting finally
in a true home-school. of authorship.
Appended to the last volume are short
biographies of all the authors repre-
sented in the work.
Appleton's Cyclopædia of American
Biography,' edited by James Grant Wil-
son and John Fiske, was published in
six volumes of about 750 pages each,
from 1886 to 1894. The “American » in
its title is employed in the most com-
prehensive sense, relating to North,
South, and Central America and the ad.
jacent islands; hence it is a biographical
dictionary not only for the United
States, but also for Canada and for the
Spanish-American, Portuguese-American,
and other countries of this hemisphere.
The biographies are of contemporaries
as well as of men of former times; and
the names of men of European birth
and residence who have had any promi.
nent part in the history of America, are
included, — as Columbus, Berkeley, La-
fayette, Whitefield.
The Dictionary of American Authors,'
edited by Oscar Fay Adams, is the suc-
cessor of the same editor's Handbook of
American Authors, published in 1884;
the new work appeared in 1897. It com-
prises, in one volume of 450 pages, the
names and titles of works of more than
6,000 writers in every department of
literature, whether famous or obscure.
The fullness of the information given in
this work is equaled by its really exem-
plary accuracy.
Novum Organum, The, by Francis
Bacon. The Novum Organum,' or
(New Method, forms the second part
of Lord Bacon's great philosophical work
entitled Instauratio Magna,' (The Great


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448
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ous
Restoration) of Science. The first part, remainder of the work is devoted to
entitled De Augmentis Scientiarum,' is illustrating, particularly by observations
an extension of the previous work on of the action of heat, the true mode of
the Advancement of Learning. The making and comparing observations of
third part is the Historia Naturalis. ? natural occurrences. In conclusion the
The Novum Organum) contains the author refers to man's fall from a primi.
outlines of the scientific or inductive tive state of innocence and his loss of
method; viz. , that of proceeding from his dominion over nature. This is how-
facts to general laws, instead of inferring ever capable of restoration first by reli-
facts from assumed general principlesgion and faith and then by the arts and
which have never been proved. This sciences. For labor is not always to be
latter, the philosophical and metaphysical a curse, but man shall (eat his bread in
method, was repudiated by Bacon, and the sweat of his brow,» not indeed in
together with the superstitions of the- vain disputations and idle ceremonies of
ology, was declared to have no place in magic, but in subduing nature to the
the new learning. The New Method,' uses of human lite.
therefore, is an attempt at an interpreta-
tion of nature from direct observation.
Greek
reek Studies, a series of essays by
«Nature,” says Bacon, «we behold by a Walter Pater (1892), are concerned
direct ray; God by a refracted ray; man with some of the most beautiful and
by a reflected ray. ) At the beginning uncommon aspects of Greek thought and
of the Novum Organum) we read this art. The first two essays on Dionysus:
first of the series of 180 Aphorisms of The Spiritual Form of Fire and Dew,
which its two books consist: "Man, the and on (The Bacchanals of Euripides,
minister and interpreter of Nature, can treat of the mystical significance of the
do and understand only so much as he vine, of the religion of the grape as a
has observed in her: more he can neither cult, - subtle, far-reaching, and mysteri-
know nor do. ” As obstacles to correct as Nature herself. The essay o
observation and inference from nature, the Myth of Demeter and Persephone"
he mentions the four kinds of «Idola," goes back likewise to the great natura.
or preconceptions which prejudice the source of the magnificent worship of
mind at the outset and which must earth and its revolving seasons. Hip-
therefore be removed: the Idola Tri- polytus Veiled) is a study from Euripi-
bus, or the misconceptions growing out des. The remaining essays are devoted
of our nature as man; the Idola Specus, to Greek art, the heroic age, the age of
those growing out of our individual or graven images, to the marbles of Ægina,
peculiar nature surroundings; the and to the age of athletic prizemen.
Idola Fori, misconceptions imbibed Pater's treatment of these subjects is
through common speech and opinions remarkably subtle and sympathetic. His
leading to much idle controversy; and peculiar gift of insight into the spirit of
finally the Idola Theatri, or fables and a great dead age here finds full mani-
fictions of tradition that continue to be festation. In no other of his writings
sources of error. He refers contemptu- is the style more perfectly adapted to
ously to the Greek Sophists, and quotes the subject-matter; polished, chastened,
the prophecy of the Egyptian priest con- chiseled, it · resembles in its symmetry
cerning the Greeks: «They are always and beauty a monument of Greek sculpt-
boys: they have neither the age of
science nor the science of age. ”
The second part begins with the Jowett Benjamin, M. A. , D. D. , LL. D. ,
Aphorism, “It is the work and intention MASTER OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, Ox-
of human power to generate and super-
By Evelyn Abbott and Lewis
induce a new nature or new natures Campbell. (2 vols. , 1897. ) A work excep-
upon a body already given: but of a tionally rich in personal interest and in
nature already given to discover a form Oxford interest during nearly sixty
or a true difference, or a nature origi- years (1836–93. ) Born April 15th, 1817,
nating another nature (naturam naturan- and a student at St. Paul's School 1829-
tem) or a source of emanation, this is 36, young Jowett won a scholarship in
the work and intention of human learn- Balliol College, Oxford, in 1835; and from
ing. ” The study of forms is therefore 1836 to the close of his career remained
the object of the new method; and the at Oxford. While yet an undergraduate
or
ure.
FORD.


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
449
as
a
was
he won a Balliol Fellowship, 1838, achieve
ing thus early rare distinction
scholar. In 1842 he became a Balliol tu-
tor, and also an ordained clergyman. He
was an Examiner of Classical Schools in
1849, and again in 1853. In 1854 the
death of the Master of Balliol gave him
a chance to be elected to the position, as
beyond question the ablest of Balliol tu-
tors, and an eminent university man; but
the more conservative party among the
Fellows defeated him by a single vote.
He served the same year as a member
of the Commission on Examinations for
the Indian civil service, and wrote their
elaborate report. He published, in June
1855, his remarkably bold and thought-
ful commentary on Thessalonians, Ga-
latians, and Romans, with special dis-
sertations which greatly stirred public
interest. The same year Lord Palmer-
ston's government appointed him Reg-
ius Professor of Greek, with, however,
only the nominal salary of £40. He
was obliged to add his new duties to
those of tutorship, and to figure as the
most eminent scholar of his college, and
an educator second to none at Oxford,
not given a decent support. Jowett
accepted his Greek chair as more to
his mind than any other “except one
of theology. ” But influences adverse
to him on account of the broad views
expressed in his Commentary) were at
work. A favorable review of the book
was stopped in the Times office by
these influences after it had been put
in type, and even the beggarly Greek
position would have met the same fate
if it had come on a little later. An
accusation of heresy against Jowett was
brought before the Vice-Chancellor, and
the indignity put upon him of being
summoned to appear and anew sign the
Thirty-nine Articles.
assumed
that he would not, but he did it, and
taking up the duties of his Greek chair
began lectures on Plato's Republic,
which he called the greatest unin-
spired writing. ” Though practically un-
paid, he made the lectures free, and for
many years made them a great suc-
(I often think,” he said, “that I
have to deal with the greatest of all lit-
eratures. The sharp attacks made upon
him caused a rapid sale of his book,
and he gave great labor to its revision
for a second edition, and it came out
in the summer of 1859, much enlarged
and in great part rewritten. The Times
now published his friend Arthur P.
Stanley's review of it. But the period of
disfavor with conservatism upon which
he had entered, and which specially
found expression in the repeated defeats
until February 17th, 1865, of all effort
to provide pay for his brilliant labor in
the Greek professorship,
made
greatly darker in 1860-65 by the storm
which
the publication of
Essays and Reviews. ' In 1863 a pros-
ecution of Jowett on account both of his
Commentary) and of his Essay) was
set on foot, but only to collapse upon
being pressed. Two years later, the
scandal of a great scholar at Oxford
brilliantly discharging the duties of a
professorship of Greek for ten years with
hardly any salary came to an end. The
next three years, 1865-68, saw liberal
measures carried in Balliol councils, and
great advances made. In 1869 Jowett
was appointed preacher to the college.
The next year, June 1870, brought a va-
cancy in the Balliol Mastership. A plan
for a second Essays and Reviews) vol-
ume was earnestly pressed by Jowett in
1869 and 1970, but not finally executed.
In February 1871, the earliest four-volume
edition of Jowett's Plato' appeared. The
second edition, with very great improve-
ment of the translation and large addi-
tions to the introductions, came out in
1875. The final edition, constituting
Jowett's magnum opus, was published in
1892, with the perfected work in notes
and dissertations, the matter and style
of which are the author's lasting claim
upon a high place in the literature of the
century. From Plato, Jowett in 1871–72
went on to the translation of Thucydi-
des, which appeared in 1881, and to
a translation of Aristotle's Politics,'
which was published in 1882. A work
on the life of Christ had a place in his
plans almost to the end of his life, but
he did nothing towards it. His idea
was that the life of Christ should be
written (as a history of truths, to bring
the mind and thoughts of Christ a little
nearer to the human heart, in the spirit,
not in the letter); and this he thought
might be the work of another genera-
tion in theology. In 1882 Jowett be-
came Vice-Chancellor of the university,
and held the office four years. It was
his final recognition as the foremost of
Oxford educators. His Life) is exceed-
ingly rich in indications of character, in
penetrating thoughts on a great variety
It was
»
arose
over
cess.
XXX-29


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450
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
The story
owe
of themes, in sagacious independent crit-
icisms, and in reminiscences of Oxford
and of English culture during sixty
years, which will long give it a high
place among books of the century.
Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles
and Mary Lamb. This modest vol-
ume, which was to prove Charles Lamb's
first literary success, was written at the
desire of William Godwin, as one of a
series of children's books published by
him. It consists of the plays of Shakes-
peare transposed into narrative form,-
the comedies by Mary Lamb, and the
tragedies by Charles, and preserving as
far as possible the original language of
the poet's blank verse. Prepared for
children, its entire simplicity proved an
added charm for readers, young and old.
The scholarship and literary taste of its
authors, meanwhile, could but produce
not a mere prose version of the plays
for juvenile amusement, but a critical
introduction to the study of Shakespeare,
in the finest sense.
Collegians, The, by Gerald Griffin.
As a teller of Irish stories, Griffin
takes his place with Carleton, Banim, and
Miss Edgeworth. Boucicault's famous
play (The Colleen Bawn) was based on
this tale, which was published in 1828.
Not many years later the broken-hearted
writer entered a convent, where he died
at the early age of thirty-seven, under
the name of Brother Joseph. The inci-
dents of the book are founded on fact,
having occurred near Limerick, Ireland.
The story is one of disappointed love,
of successful treachery, broken hearts,
and evil fame deserved »; but in the
end virtue is rewarded. Like most other
novels of its period, it is diffuse and over-
sentimental; but it is likely to live for its
faithful delineation of Irish character at
its best- and worst.
The hero is a young rogue who begins
his career as guide to a rascally blind
beggar. The beggar ill-treats him, and
he avenges himself cruelly but comic-
ally. He then passes into the service
of a priest, a country squire, a “par-
doner,” a chaplain, and an alguazil.
The author leaves him in the position
of town-crier of Toledo.
opened the way for the novela pica-
resca, i. e. , the novel of thieves, to
which we (Guzman d'Alfarache)
and "Gil Blas); and is one of the best
of its kind. The author shows his ori-
ginality by breaking away from the
magicians, fairies, knights errant, and
all the worn-out material of the Middle
Ages, and borrowing his characters from
the jovial elements to be found in the
shady side of society. All his charac-
ters, as well as the hero, are vaga-
bonds, beggars, thievish innkeepers,
knavish lawyers, or monks who have
become disreputable; and all throb with
intense life in his brisk and highly
colored narrative. Every episode in
Lazarillo's checkered existence is a mas-
terpiece of archness and good-humor.
The work, which created in epoch in
the history of Spanish prose, is, un-
fortunately, unfinished: the author, hav-
ing apparently become a little ashamed
of this offspring of his youth, refused
to complete it. A second part was
added by De Luna, a refugee at Paris,
in the following century; but it is far
from having the qualities of Mendoza's
fragment.
was
ance
»
Lazarillo de Tormes, by Diego, Hur-
This pica-
resque » novel was first published in 1553,
but was written when the author was
a student at Salamanca (1520-23). Men-
doza's authorship has been questioned,
and it has been attributed to Juan de
Ortega, and to certain bishops, who
are said to have composed it on their
way to the Council of Trent. Still,
the probabilities are all in favor of
Mendoza, and it is the work upon
wluch his literary fame chiefly rests.
Le
es Miserables, by Victor Hugo, ap-
peared April 3d, 1862. Before publi-
cation it
translated
into nine
languages; and its simultaneous appear-
at Paris, London, Brussels, New
York, Madrid, Berlin, Saint Petersburg,
and Turin, was a literary event. It has
since been translated into twelve other
languages. Hugo's first novel since his
great mediæval romance Notre Dame
de Paris,' published thirty-one years
earlier, Les Misérables) is a story of
the nineteenth century. It gives a com-
prehensive view of Paris, and discloses
the author's conception of the present
time, and his suggestions for the future.
Though a novel with a purpose, it is
questionable whether the poet's feeling
for the ideal and picturesque does not
exceed the reformer's practical sense
and science. Les Misérables) is often


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
451
criticized for lack of unity and careless hero is dying. In this complicated his-
arrangement of its abundant matter; but tory, which involves many characters,
its enormous knowledge of life and his- chiefly types of the poor, the unfortu-
tory, and its imaginative power, give it nate, and the vicious of Paris, certain
an irresistible fascination. The central
passages stand out with dramatic intens-
figure of the five books which compose ity; among them being the famous
the story is Jean Valjean, a simple chapter of the battle of Waterloo; the
hard-working peasant, who, stealing a description of the Paris sewers, through
loaf of bread for his sister's starving the intricacies of which Jean Valjean
children, is arrested and condemned to flees with wounded Marius; and of the
the galleys for five years, a punishment defense of the barricade, where Gav-
lengthened to nineteen years by his at- roche, the best existing study of a Paris
tempts to escape. Cruelty and privation gamin, gathers bullets and sings defi-
render him inert and brutish; and on antly as he meets death. The place of
his release the convict begs in vain, till (Les Misérables) is in the front rank of
the Bishop of D- takes him in and successful romantic fiction.
gives him food and shelter.
The aged
Bishop is a saint, shaping his life in Red as a Rose is She, by Rhoda
literal obedience to the divine com-
Broughton. This commonplace love-
mands; but in return for his kindness,
story is very simply told. The scene is
laid in Wales. The heroine, Esther
Valjean steals his silver and escapes in
the night. When the police bring the
Craven, promises to marry Robert Bran-
culprit back, the Bishop saves him by
don, «to keep him quiet,” though caring
declaring that the silver had been a free
much less for him than for her only
brother. But on a visit she meets the
gift to him. Touched to the heart, Val-
heaven-appointed lover, and notwith-
jean henceforth believes in goodness and
makes it his law. His future life is a
standing her engagement the two at once
fall in love.
series of self-sacrifices, resulting in
Interested friends, who do
moral growth. He becomes in time a
not approve the affair, plot and bear
false witness to break it off. Esther
rich manufacturer, mayor of his town,
and noted philanthropist.
confesses to Brandon her change of
Among
other good deeds, he befriends Fantine,
feeling, and he is man enough to re-
lease her. Then ensues
a grisette abandoned by her lover, and
a period of
forced into a life of degradation to sup-
loneliness, misunderstanding, and hard-
port her child.
Fantine dies just as
ship for the heroine, whose character
Valjean is arrested by Javert, an im-
is ripened by adversity. When happi-
placable detective who has recognized
ness once more stands waiting for her,
the ex-convict. Valjean temporarily
she has learned how to use its gifts.
evades him,
but wherever he goes,
The story moves quickly, and is enter-
Javert ferrets him out. Finally to save
taining
another man mistaken for him, Valjean
surrenders himself and is returned to
. Like the other
the galleys. He escapes, and rescues works of Zschokke, this is renowned for
Fantine's child, little Cosette, from the its graphic description of natural scen-
cruel Thénardiers, sordid inn-keepers to ery, its precise delineation of society
whom her mother had intrusted her. and exact portraiture of the class of
She grows up a beautiful, loving girl, which it treats, as well as for its moral,
the solace of his life, and for her sake philanthropic, and beneficial tendency.
he accomplishes his supreme sacrifice. Its English equivalent may be found in
Marius, a worthy young man, falls in the charming tales of Mary Howitt.
love with her. Valjean arranges the Oswald, the Swiss soldier, «returning
marriage, conceals her ignoble birth, from the wars, finds his native village
and provides for her future. But Mar- of Goldenthal sunk into the depths of
ius misjudges him, and believes him misery and degradation; its inhabitants
guilty of unworthy conduct; and for Co- lazy, shiftless, hampered with debt, fre-
sette's sake, the old man leaves her. quenters of public houses, lost to all
But he cannot live without her; and sense of moral responsibility. He de-
when Marius learns his mistake, discov- votes himself to the amelioration of
ers that he owes his life to Valjean, and their condition; in which, by the help of
hurries to him with Cosette, the patient the lovely Elizabeth, the miller's daugh-
a
The Goldmakers' Villages by Johann


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452
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ure
ter and then his wife, he is successful: schemers and professional beauties, sol-
so developing the various sources of com- diers and merchants, princes and beg.
fort and improvement; so exemplifying by gars. Even St. Simeon Stylites on his
practical illustration the multiplied meth- | pillar is painted in all his repulsive
ods by which a patriot of philanthropy hideousness of saintly squalor. A pretty
may serve the best interests of his fellow- interlude to the development of the story
citizens and country, that in the end he is afforded by several charming interpre-
is rewarded by seeing the home of his tations of the old legend of Narcissus
youth on a par with the best organized, and the Echo.
best conducted, and best credited vil-
Jages of the community, and the “Gold-
ife and Letters of Lord Macaulay,
Life
The, edited and arranged by his
enthalers, from being a synonym to
their neighbors for all that is worthless,
nephew, Sir George Otto Trevelyan
(1876), is recognized as a biography of
at length known and honored as the
whose excellence English literature may
«Goldmakers, for the
thrift which
boast. From the great historian's cor-
changes everything it touches into pre-
respondence, private memoranda, and
cious metal. Although the precise local-
original drafts of his essays and speeches,
ity of the “Goldmakers' Village cannot
and from the recollections of friends and
be found, yet it is to be feared that
relatives, the author has produced a
many an obscure locality can be dis-
model book. Macaulay's untiring pa-
covered where, in many points, the pict-
tience of preparation, the tireless labor
can be matched, and where the
benevolent enterprise of another Oswald
expended in collecting materials, his
is equally necessary.
amazing assiduity in arranging them,
his unequaled memory, and his broad
“
popular sympathies, are sympathetically
Last Athenian, The (Sidste Athe-
described, and reveal to us the most
naren'), by Viktor Rydberg (1880),
distinguished, progressive, industrious,
translated from the Swedish by W. W.
able, versatile party leader of the first
Thomas in 1883. The scene of the novel
is laid in Athens in the fourth century
half of this century. The genuine hon-
esty and worth of his character, and
of our own era; and deals with the inner
dissensions of the Christian church, the
his brilliant scholarship, are as evident
as his limitation in the fields of the
struggles and broils of the Homoiousians
and Athanasians, and the social and
highest imagination. Throughout the
book Trevelyan suppresses himself con-
political conditions involved in or affected
by these differences. The corruption of
scientiously, with the result that this
work ranks among the most faithful and
the upper classes, the lingering power of
absorbing biographies in English.
the old religion of Greece, the strange
melée of old and new philosophies and Phases of Thought and Criticism, by
erratic social codes, are presented by the Brother Azarias, of the Brothers of
introduction of many types and individ- the Christian Schools (Patrick Francis
uals. But a confusing multiplicity of Mullany). A book of search for the
interests and characters interferes with a ideal in thought, with special reference
clear view. The stage is too crowded. to the cultivation of religious sentiment
The parts of the plot are woven together on the basis of the Catholic faith. The
about the love-story of Hermione, daugh- writer states the principles for which
ter of the philosopher Chrysanteus, and he contends, and what may be called
a young Athenian of the degenerate the logic of spiritual discernment, and
type, who from a promising youth then makes an application of them in
passes into the idle and heartless dissi- very carefully executed studies of the
pation of the typical Athenian aristocrat. (Imitation of À Kempis, «The Divina
Influenced by divided motives, he makes Commedia) of Dante, and the In Me-
an attempt to regain his moral standing, moriam) of Tennyson. These three
and does regain Hermione's confidence; studies show the author at, his best, as
but on his wedding night, he is killed an ardent traveler on the road that
by the lover of a young Jewish girl leads to the Life and the Light. ) The
whom he has betrayed and deserted. last of the three is the most elaborate;
The famous historic figures of the epoch and in it the zealous expounder of spir-
are all introduced into Rydberg's pict- itual method “watches a great modern
ure,
emperors and bishops, political poet wrestling with the problem of


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
453
men
bridging the chasm which yawns be- Open Letter to the Moon,' A Bitter
tween agnosticism and Christianity. ” Complaint of an Ungentle Reader, are
some of the fantastic and alluring titles.
My
The essayist owns the artistic soul, and
Hugh Miller (1854), is one of the
finds A Pleasing Encounter with a Pick-
most delightful of autobiographies as far
pocket) pleasing, not because the pick-
as it goes. (It stops with Miller's as-
pocket was marched off by a policeman,
sumption of the editorship of the Edin-
as would be satisfactory to the ordinary
burgh Witness in 1840 - after which he
victim of his cleverness, but because he
was teacher rather than pupil.
) The
author desired it to be regarded as “a
displays such ability in eluding that fate
that the despoiled one applauds him as
sort of educational treatise, thrown into
a fellow-artist. "The Great Playground
the narrative form, and addressed more
especially to workingmen); but
is a charming paper on out-of-doors; full
of the gipsy love of freedom, which is
and women of all classes find it good
almost greater with the author than her
reading For seventeen years covered
love of books, of dogs, or of old things.
by this volume, he worked at the trade
of stone-mason,— though he had been
(An Inquirendo into the Wit and Other
Good Parts of his Late Majesty King
carefully educated by his two uncles,
Charles the Second) attempts for the
and possessed an extensive knowledge
Merry Monarch what Froude attempted
of English language, history, and liter-
for Henry VIII. The piece is in the
ature,- spending his spare time in geo-
form of a dialogue between a holder of
logical research and in reading. His
the generally accepted view of the Sec-
remarkable powers of observation he
ond Charles's character, and a devoted
must have developed early: he speaks of
admirer of that sovereign, who wears a
remembering in later life things that
sprig of green in his hat on the anniver-
only a sharp eye would have noted, as
far back as the end of his third year.
sary of the Restoration, and feeds the
swans in St. James's Park, because his
Having disposed of his parents' bio-
Majesty once loved to do so.
This apol-
graphy in the first chapter, the work
ogist considers Charles II. as the last
narrates his earliest recollections of his
own life, his school days, his youthful
sovereign with a mind; and for that
merit, he can find it in his heart to for.
adventures, the awakening of his taste
by one of his uncles for the study of
give much to that cynical and humorous
gentleman.
nature, his first attempts at authorship,
visits to the Highlands, choice of
trade, moving to Edinburgh, religious Nelson, The Life of, by Captain A. T.
Mahan. This monumental biography
views, illness, receiving an accountant-
ship in a branch bank at Cromarty,
is a sort of supplement to the author's
(Influence of Sea-Power. ) He considers
marriage, the death of his infant daugh-
Lord Nelson as “the one man who in
ter, etc. It abounds in stories, interesting
himself summed up and embodied the
experiences, keen observation of natural
objects, and anecdotes of prominent
greatness of the possibilities which Sea
Power comprehends, – the man for whom
men,- all in an admirable style.
genius and opportunity worked together,
Patrins, by Louise Imogen Guiney, is to make the personification of the navy
a collection of twenty short essays
of Great Britain the dominant factor in
on things of the day, with one disquisi- the periods hitherto treated. ” Earl Nel-
tion on King Charles II. The little son arose, and in him all the promises of
papers are called Patrins, from the the past found their finished realization,
Romany word signifying the handfuls of their perfect fulfillment. ” Making use
scattered leaves by which the gipsies of the materials of the many who have
mark the way they have passed; Miss written biographies of this fascinating
Guiney's road through the thought-coun- personality, and even richer materials
try being marked by these printed that came into his possession, it was
leaves. The essays are distinctly lit- Captain Mahan's object “to disengage
erary in form and feeling; the style is the figure of the hero from the glory that
grace itself; the matter airy yet subtle, cloaks it. ” His method is to make Nel.
whimsical and quite out of the common. son «describe himself, tell the story of
On the Delights of an Incognito,) (On his own inner life as well as of his
Dying as a Dramatic Situation, An external actions. » He therefore extracts


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454
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
And among
re-
from the voluminous correspondence ex-
tant passages that enable him to detect
the leading features of temperament,
traits of thought and motives of action,
and thence to conceive within himself,
by gradual familiarity even more than
by formal effort, the character therein
revealed. ” In the same way as he thus
reproduces his individuality, so he treats
of his military actions; showing not
merely what he did, but also the princi-
ples that dominated him throughout his
life. The author's logical faculty stood
him in good stead in thus concentrating
documentary evidence to bear on mooted
points, and he most skillfully unravels
tangled threads. At the same time his
vivid and richly embroidered style, com-
bined with just the right degree of dig-
nity, makes his presentation of mingled
biography and history as interesting as
a romance and as satisfying as history.
The two stately volumes are adorned
with numerous portraits and engravings,
and with maps and plans explanatory of
the battles and engagements described.
Am
merican Conflict, The, by Horace
Greeley. This history is not
stricted to the period of armed conflict
between the North and South in the
sixties; but purports to give, in two
large volumes, an account of the drift
of public opinion in the United States
regarding human slavery from 1776 to
the close of the year 1865.
The most
valuable feature of this history is the
incorporation into it of letters, speeches,
political platforms, and other documents,
which show authentically and beyond
controversy the opinions and dogmas
accepted by political parties and their
chiefs, and approved by public opinion
North and South; as the author justly
remarks, nothing could so clearly show
the influences of slavery in molding the
opinions of the people and in shaping
the destinies of the country. Thus the
work is a great magazine of materials
for the political history of the United
States with regard to slavery; and what-
ever judgment may be passed on its
author's philosophy of the great conflict,
the trustworthiness of his volumes, sim-
ply as a record of facts and authentic
declarations of sectional and partisan
opinion, is unquestionable.
The Oxford Reformers of 1498: JOHN
ERASMUS,
THOMAS
MORE: A history of their Fellow-Work,
by Frederic Seebohm. (1867, 1887. ) A
work not designed to offer biographies
of the persons named, but to carefully
study their joint work at Oxford. John
Colet, a son of Sir Henry Colet,
wealthy merchant who had been more
than once Lord Mayor of London, and
was in favor at the court of Henry
VII. , had come home from study in
Italy to Oxford in 1496; and, although he
was not a Doctor, nor even a deacon
preparing for full clerical dignity, he
startled the conservatism of the church
and the university by announcing a
course of public free lectures on the
epistles of Paul. It was a strikingly
new-departure proceeding, not only in
the boldness of a layman giving lectures
on religion, but in new views to be
brought out. What was called the New
Learning, starting from study of Greek,
or the world's best literature, was tak-
ing root at Oxford. Two men of note,
Grocyn and Linacre, who had learned
Greek, were working hard to awaken at
Oxford interest in the study of Greek.
the young students Colet
found one, not yet of age, who showed
the finest type of English genius. He
was called “Young Master More. ” The
fine quality of his intelligence was even
surpassed by the sweetness of his spirit
and the charm of his character. He
was destined to be known as Sir Thomas
More, one of the great historic examples
of what Swift, and after him Matthew
Arnold, called sweetness and light. ”
Colet was thirteen years older than
More, but the two held close converse
in matters of learning and humanity.
They were Humanists, as the men of
interest in all things human were called.
Colet and More had been together at
Oxford a year when a third Humanist
appeared upon the scene in 1497, the
year in which John Cabot discovered
North America. This was Erasmus, who
was already a scholar, after the manner
of the time, in Latin. He came to Ox-
ford to become a scholar in Greek. He
was scarcely turned thirty,- just Colet's
age,- and had not yet begun to make a
great name. The story of the three men
runs on to 1519, into the early dawn of
the Lutheran Reformation. Colet be-
a Doctor and the Dean of St.
Paul's Cathedral in London (1499), and
on his father's death (1510), uses his
inherited fortune to found St. Paul's
School, in which 153 boys of any nation
comes
AND


## p. 455 (#491) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
455
assumes.
were
or country should be instructed in the must modify a religion; of the general
world's best literature, Greek as well as lines of progress; of the extra-national
Latin; and not monkish church Latin, extension of a conquering religion; and
but ancient classical Latin. Colet de- of the universal religions, which he limits
clared that the corrupt Latin which the to three: Brahmanism, which has grown
later blind world brought in, and which into Buddhism; Judaism, which has grown
may be called Blotterature rather than into Christianity; and the old Arabian
Literature, should be «utterly banished faith, whose product is Islam. And the
and excluded. ) Erasmus wrote a work outlook is that as the great civilized and
(On the Liberal Education of Boys. ) | civilizing nations of the world, in whose
Colet wrote a Latin grammar for his hands are science and philosophy, lit-
boys, by which he hoped they might be erature and art, political and social
helped to “grow to perfect literature. ) progress, hold also to the tenets of
It was in line with the new learning, Christianity, they will carry that faith
that Erasmus edited, and secured the with them and plant it wherever they
printing of, the New Testament in Greek, go, but in a higher form than it now
hoping it would lead, as it later did, to
an English version. He said of «the In following the subject proper, Pro-
sacred Scriptures: I wish these
fessor Toy begins with the period repre-
translated into all languages, so that sented by the name of Ezra, examines
they might be read and understood. I the prophetic writings, and follows the
long that the husbandman should sing literary development of the time as rep-
portions of them to himself as he fol- resented in the ceremonial and uncanoni-
lows the plow, that the weaver should cal books. The progress and variations
hum them to the tune of his shuttle, of the doctrine of God and of sub-
that the traveler should beguile with ordinate supernatural intelligences, both
their stories the tedium of his journey. ) good and evil; the Jewish and Christian
It was in the same humanist spirit that ideas of the nature of man, his attitude
More wrote his Utopia,' published in towards God, his hopes of perfection,
1516, and embodying the visions of hope the nature of sin and righteousness; the
and progress floating before the eyes of inclusions of the ethical code of both
the three «Oxford Reformers. ) More Jew and Christian; the two conceptions
was about entering into the service of of the kingdom of God; the beliefs re-
Henry VIII. ; and he wrote the intro- specting immortality, resurrection, and
duction or prefatory book of the (Uto- the new dispensation; and finally, an
pia, for the express purpose of speaking examination of the relation of Jesus to
out boldly on the social condition of the Christianity,—these occupy the remain-
country and on the policy of the King. der of the volume.
Mr. Toy concludes that both the Cath-
Judaism and Christianity, by Craw- olic and Protestant branches of Christ-
ford Howell Toy, professor in Har- ianity have followed the currents of
vard University. (1890. ) The sub-title modern thought; that there is not a
of this valuable book modestly describes phase of science, philosophy, or litera-
it as a sketch of the progress of thought ture, but has left its impress on the
from Old Testament to New Testament. body of beliefs that control Christendom,
The history opens with an introduction yet that the person of Jesus has main-
of less than fifty pages, as clear as it is tained its place as the centre of religious
condensed, on the general laws of the life. The tone of the book is undog-
advance from national to universal re- matic; and its fine scholarship, clearness
ligions. The rise of Christianity out of of statement, and delightful narrative
Judaism Professor Toy treats as a logi- style, make it agreeable and instructive
cal and natural instance of progress. reading for the laic.
He points out the social basis of re-
ligion, and analyzes and describes the emoirs of General W. T. Sherman,
growth of society, with its laws of ad-
written by himself. (4th ed. 1891. )
vance, retrogression, and decay; the in- In this autobiography General Sher-
ternal development of ideas, and the man tells the story of his life up to the
relation between religion and ethics. He time of his being placed on the retired
then treats of the influence of great list in 1884: a final chapter by another
men; of the external conditions that hand completes the story, and describes
Mem


## p. 456 (#492) ############################################

456
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
his last illness, death, and funeral.
Be-
ginning with a genealogical account of
his family, the work describes his boy-
hood, his appointment to and course at
West Point, his assignment to a second
the justified assurance that he can
travel this broad country of ours, and
be each night a welcome guest in palace
or cabin. ”
lientenancy finor the Third Artillerie stam Wandering Jewira Tebe boys Moncluire
sea »
Florida, experiences in
California in 1846–50, his marriage in
Washington to a daughter of Secretary
of the Interior Ewing, in 1850, his res-
ignation from the army in 1853, and
engaging in business, law, and teaching;
then comes the account in his own
words of the part he played in the Civil
War, which all the world knows. The
tour in Europe and the East is dis-
missed in three short paragraphs. The
whole is told simply, frankly, and in a
matter-of-fact way, in English that is
plain, direct, and forcible, if not always
elegant. The famous «march to the
he describes in a business-like
style, that, when supported by accom-
plished facts, is beyond eloquence.
Sherman himself regarded it as of much
less importance than the march from
Savannah northward. The chapter on
Military Lessons of the War) is inter-
esting, especially to military men. Some
of his conclusions in it are that volun-
teer officers should be appointed directly
or indirectly by the President (subject
to confirmation by the Senate), and not
elected by the soldiers, since «an army
is not a popular organization, but an
instrument in the hands of the Execu-
tive for enforcing the law”; that the
country can, in case of war in the fu-
ture, rely to supplement the regular
army officers on the great number of its
young men of education and force of
character. At the close of our Civil
War, some of our best corps and divi-
sion generals, as well as staff-officers,
were from civil life, though «I cannot
recall any of the most successful who
did not express a regret that he had
not received in early life instruction in
the elementary principles of the art of
war)); that the volunteers were better
than the conscripts, and far better than
the bought substitutes; that the greatest
mistake of the War was the mode of
recruitment and promotion; that a com-
mander can command properly only at
the front, where it is absolutely neces-
sary for him to be seen, and for his
influence to be felt; that the presence
of newspaper correspondents with armies
is mischievous. He closes his book in
D. Conway, traces through all its
forms and changes, to its sources as
far as can be perceived, the marvelous
legend which won such general belief
during the Middle Ages. The first ap-
pearance of the story written out as
narrative occurs in the works of Mat.
thew Paris, published 1259, wherein is
described the visit to England, thirty
years before, of an Armenian bishop.
The prelate was asked whether he
knew aught of the Wandering Jew.
He replied that he had had him to
dinner in Armenia shortly before; that
he was a Roman, named Cartaphilus,
door-keeper for Pilate.
This ruffianly
bigot struck Jesus as he came from the
hall of judgment, saying, “Go on faster;
why dost thou linger? »
Jesus answered, “I will go; but thou
shalt remain waiting till I come. ”
Therefore Cartaphilus has lived op
ever since; never smiling, but often
weeping and longing for death, which
will not come.
In the sixteenth cen-
tury there are accounts of the appear-
ance of the Wandering Jew in German
towns. His name is now Ahasuerus;
his original occupation that of a shoe-
maker. In the seventeenth century
he is heard of again and again,- in
France, Spain, the Low Countries, Italy
and Germany. Many solemn and learned
treatises were written in Latin on the
subject of this man and his miracu-
lous punishment. The various stories
of him quoted are so graphically re-
lated that it is a surprise to follow Mr.
Conway into his next chapter, in which
he sets down the myth of the Wan-
dering Jew with that of King Arthur,
who sleeps at Avalon, and Barbarossa
of Germany, who slumbers under the
Raven's Hill, both ready to awake at
the appointed hour. Every country has
myths of sleepers or of wanderers who
never grow old. The Jews had more
than one: Cain, who was a fugitive
and a vagabond on earth, with a mark
fixed on him that none might slay
him; Esau, whose death is unchronicled;
Elias and Enoch who never died, in
the ordinary way. Barbarossa, Arthur,
Merlin, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Lohen-


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
457
grin, — the Seven Sleepers, the Flying Russia through the marriage of the
Dutchman,- all these are variants of one Polish Princess Yadviga with Yagyello,
theme. Judas has had the same fate Grand Prince of Lithuania. The war
in legend So has Pilate; so has Mal- between Poland and Sweden in 1665,
chus, the servant of Caiaphas. Mr. Con- brought on by the action of the Teutonic
way presents the theory that all these Knights, is described in this novel. Like
tales have their root in the primitive its predecessor, it treats of battles, of
myths of savage peoples, perhaps in sieges, of warriors, of the suffering and
sun-myths; but he does not pursue this glory of war. A knowledge of Polish
rather futile speculation, devoting him- history is almost essential to the under-
self rather to the story in its special standing of its intricate and long-drawn-
form of the Wandering Jew, and tra- out plot. In Pan Michael the story of
cing its development, and its expression Poland's struggle is continued and
in folk-lore, poetry, and fiction. The ended, its general lines being the same
book is a fascinating study of the curi- as those of the first two novels.
ous and unusual, scholarly in substance In the historical fiction of this century
but popular in treatment.
nothing approaches the trilogy of Sien-
kiewicz for magnificent breadth of can-
War
ar and Peace, by Count Lyof Tol-
vas, for Titanic action, for an epical
stoy, perhaps the greatest of his
quality well-nigh Homeric. The author's
novels, deals with the stirring conflict
characters are men of blood and iron,
between Napoleon and France, and Kou-
touzoff and Russia, beginning some years
heroes of a great dead age, warriors
that might have risen from huge stone
before Austerlitz. As might be expected
tombs in old cathedrals to greet the sun
of one of the most mystical of modern
again with eagle eyes. These novels as
writers, war is treated not alone as a
history can be best appreciated by Sien-
dramatic spectacle, but as a symbol of
kiewicz's own countrymen, since they
great social forces striving for expres-
appeal to glorious memories, since they
sion. The novel is a combination of
treat of the ancestors of the men to
mysticism and realism. Tolstoy has
portrayed the terror of battle, the emo-
whom they are primarily addressed.
tions of armies in conflict, with surpass-
But the novels belong to the world;
ing skill and power.
The book as a
they are pre-eminent in the creation of
characters, of humorous fighters, of wo-
whole leaves an indelible but confused
to be loved like the heroines of
impression upon the mind of the reader,
Shakespeare, and of such men as Za-
as if he had himself passed through the
din and smoke of a battle, of which he
globa, a creation to rank with Falstaff.
retains great dim memories. But above
known of Anthony Hope's romances,
part that accident plays in all
relates the picturesque adventures of
paigns.
Rudolf Rassendyll, an English gentle-
With
ith Fire and Sword, The Deluge, man, during a three months' sojourn in
and Pan Michael, a trilogy of the Kingdom of Ruritania.
magnificent historical novels, by Henryk He arrives upon the eve of the coro-
Sienkiewicz, treats of that period of nation of King Rudolf, whom he meets
Polish history which extends from 1648 at Zenda Castle. In a drinking bout the
to the election of Sobieski to the throne king is drugged, and cannot be aroused
of Poland as Yan III. It thus embraces to reach the capital Strelsau in time for
the most stirring and picturesque era of the coronation. This treachery is the
the national life. The first of the tril- work of the king's brother, Duke Mi-
ogy deals with the deadly conflict be- chael, who wishes to usurp the king-
tween the two Slav States, Russia and dom. To foil his designs, Colonel Sapt
Poland. It is an epic of war, of battle, and Fritz von Farlenheim successfully
murder, and sudden death, of tyranny assist Rassendyll to personate the king.
and patriotism, of glory and shame. In He is crowned, plays his part without
“The Deluge, two great events of Polish serious blunders, and then sets about
history form the dramatic ground-work accomplishing the king's release, -a task
of the novel: these are the settlement of rendered dangerous and difficult by the
the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, and the cunning and prowess of Michael and his
union of Poland with Lithuania and followers. Rassendyll loves and is loved
men
all is the impression of fatality, and the Prisoner of Zenda, The, the best
cam-


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458
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
by the Princess Flavia. She is also be-
loved by the king and his brother. Only
the release of the monarch-accomplished
haps the most commonplace, and the
most thoroughly human, of Thackeray's
men.
in a series of dashing dramatic epicgales Potiphar Papers, by George William
Rassendyll from wedding
Flavia. The story is told with wonder-
ful vim and spirit, and with a freshness
and healthfulness of feeling remarkable
in an era of morbid fiction. The novel
has been dramatized in a successful play
of the same name.
pendennis, by
Curtis. satire
York society was published in 1856, and
is still read, though it has partly lost its
point owing to changed conditions. The
papers are something in the manner of
Addison's satires on the pretensions and
insincerities of society; but at times the
bitterness becomes more scathing, and
reminds one of Thackeray in its merei-
less analysis of folly and ignorance.
The writer divides the society of which
he speaks into three classes: the newly
rich, who have acquired wealth but not
culture; the descendants of the old fami-
lies, who make the glory of their an-
cestors serve instead of any manliness
or worth of their own; and the dancing
youths into whose antecedents or char-
acters nobody inquires, so long as they
enliven the ball-rooms, and constitute
eligible partners for the young ladies.
A description is given of Mrs. Potiphar's
ball, where dresses are ruined by care-
less waiters, and drunken young fellows
destroy valuable property, and hosts and
guests are thoroughly miserable while
pretending to enjoy the occasion. In
the account of the Potiphars in Paris
see how wealthy Americans, when
lacking innate breeding and refinement,
make themselves ridiculous in the eyes
of foreigners. The gilded youth of the
day, as well as the shallow and flippant
women, are held up to derision, while
our sympathies are aroused by the poor,
toiling, unaspiring fathers, who are not
strong enough to make a stand for their
rights. In reading these papers we can
only be glad that the persons described
by the author are no longer typical of
American society. One of the enduring
characters is the Rev. Cream Cheese,
who sympathetically advises with Mrs.
Potiphar as to the color of the cover of
her prayer-book.
Poets of America, The, by Edmund
Clarence Stedman (1885), a work of
the same general scope and design as
the Victorian Poets,' and a kind of
sequel to it, is written in the belief
that “the literature — even the poetic lit-
erature - of no country during the last
half-century is of greater interest to the
philosophical student, with respect to its
bearing on the future, than that of the
W. M. Thackeray
(1850), is more simple in plot and
construction than his other novels. It
is a masterly study of the character and
development of one Arthur Pendennis, a
hero lifelike and convincing because of
his very unheroic qualities and faulty
human nature. He begins his career as
a spoiled, somewhat brilliant boy, adored
by a foolish mother, and waited upon
by his adopted sister Laura. From this
atmosphere of adulation and solicitude,
Pendennis goes to the university; but
not before he has fallen in love with an
actress ten years older than himself.
He owes his escape from his toils to the
intervention of a worldly-minded uncle,
Major Pendennis, a capitally drawn type
of the old man-about-town. At the uni-
versity he blossoms into a young gentle-
man of fashion, with the humiliating
result of being «plucked in his degree
examination, and having his debts paid
off by Laura. His manliness reawakens,
and he goes back to have it out with
the university, returning this time a
victor. Then follows a London career as
a writer and man of the world. The boy
just misses being the man by a certain
childish love of the pomp and show of
life. Yet he is never dishonorable, only
weak. The test of his honor is his con-
duct towards Fanny Bolton, a pretty
girl of the lower class, who loves
him innocently and whole-heartedly. Pen
loves her and leaves her as innocent as
he found her, but unhappy. His punish-
comes in the shape of Blanche
Amory, a flirt with a fortune. The double
bait proves too much for the boy's van-
ity. Only after she has jilted him are
his eyes opened to the true value of the
gauds he is staking so
much upon.
The wholesome lesson being learned, he
marries Laura and enters upon a life of
new manliness.
His character throughout is drawn
with admirable consistency. He is per-
we
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
459
on
e
United States. American poetry, more whole. Robert Elsmere) had a phe-
than that of England during the period nomenal success, partly owing to the
considered, has idealized, often inspired, nature of its subject, and partly to its
the national sentiment,- the historic genuine literary merit. Aside from its
movements of the land whose writers intrinsic value, the sensation it produced
have composed it. ” After introductory entitles it to rank as one of the most
chapters on Early and Recent Con- remarkable books of its generation. It
ditions, and the (Growth of the is a complete example of the modern
American School,' the author considers problem-novel.
critically the work of Bryant, Whittier,
Emerson, Longfellow, Poe, Holmes, Six Days of Creation; or
THE
Lowell, Whitman, and Taylor, - conclud- SCRIPTURAL COSMOLOGY. (1855. ) By
ing with a chapter on the poetical out- Tayler Lewis. A work of mainly philo-
look. These essays are sympathetic and logical but also metaphysical argument,
scholarly, showing fine insight not only designed to prove that the day of the
into the nature and character of Ameri- Biblical account of creation was not a
can verse, but into the environment also limited short period of time - not a com-
of which it was a product.
mon day at all. Executed with ample
learning, with close and vigorous reason-
Roberta Elsmere by Mrs. Humphry ing, with frequent touches of novel in-
Ward 1888), is a brilliant
terpretation of terms, and not less with
of the embodiment in a work of fiction deep religious earnestness, and eloquence
of intellectual problems of contemporary inspired by the sublimity of the subject,
interest. It recounts the struggles of a the book excited great interest and much
young clergyman who cannot accept all discussion. In reply to objections to
the miracles and dogmas of Christianity, conclusions which he advocated, Profes-
yet is in deep sympathy with its spirit. sor Lewis brought out a second book in
The scene is laid partly in a country 1856, on (The Bible and Science; or,
village in Surrey, partly in London. The World Problem. To this he added
The chief character is Robert Elsmere, in 1860, (The Divine Human in the
a young, sensitive clergyman, fresh from Scriptures.