olution, and
especially
on the framers
faith among his people.
faith among his people.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 to v30 - Tur to Zor and Index
The sketch entitled (A Rill from
the Town Pump) is perhaps the most
famous in the collection, which contains
here and there themes and suggestions
that Hawthorne later elaborated in his
longer stories; notably the picture of a
beautiful woman wearing an embroi-
dered “A” upon her breast, who aftor-
wards reappears in (The Scarlet Letter. "
(The Great Carbuncle) was especially
admired by Longfellow, who commends
its poetic beauty. The Tales) have
often a sombre tone, a fateful sense of
gloom, weird and sometimes almost un-
canny: but they possess an irresistible
fascination. Among those best known
are (The Gray Champion, (The Gentle
Boy,' and the Wedding Knell. "
a
A'
urelian, a historical novel by William
Ware, an American author born in
1797, was first published in 1838 under the
title Probus. It was a sequel to Let-
ters of Lucius M. Piso, published the year
before; and like that novel, it is writ-
ten in the form of letters. The full title
reads (Aurelian; or, Rome in the third
century. In Letters of Lucius M. Piso,
from Rome, to Fausta, the daughter of
Gracchus at Palmyra. ? The novel pre-
sents a singularly faithful picture of the
Rome of the second half of the third
century, and of the intellectual and spir-
itual life of the time as expressed in both
## p. 291 (#327) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
291
Christians and pagans. The Emperor Au-
relian figures prominently in the story,
which closes with the scene of his assas-
sination. The style of Aurelian' is dig-
nified and graceful, with enough of the
classical spirit to meet the requirements
of the narrative.
Accomplished Gentleman, An, by Jul-
ian Russell Sturgis, was published
in 1879. It is a good example of the well-
written, readable novel. The scene is laid
in modern Venice, where a colony of Eng-
lish and Italians gives material for the
characters. The gentleman of accom-
plishments is Mr. Hugo Deane, a kind
of fashionable Casaubon, engaged upon a
monumental work, the history of Venice.
In the interests of this work he sacrifices
his first wife, and is willing to sacrifice the
happiness of his daughter Cynthia, be-
loved by Philip Lamond. All ends well,
however. The book may be ranked among
the comedies of fiction.
Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trol-
lope, is the second of the eight vol-
umes comprised in his (Chronicles of
Barsetshire. ) The noteworthy success of
(The Warden) led him to continue his
studies of social life in the clerical circle
centring at the episcopal palace of Bar-
chester. He gives us a pleasant love
story evolved from an environment of
clerical squabblings, schemes of prefer-
ment, and heart-burnings over church
government and forms of service. The
notable characters are Bishop Proudie,
his arrogant and sharp-tongued wife Mrs.
Proudie, and Eleanor Bold, a typical,
spirited, loving English girl. Trollope
excels in showing the actuating motives,
good and bad, of ordinary men and
In a book as thoroughly (Eng-
lish as roast beef,” he tells a story of
every-day life, and gives us the inter-
est of intimate acquaintance with every
character. A capital sense of the Estab-
lishment” pervades the book like an at-
mosphere.
Undiscovered Country, The, by W. D.
Howells, is a favorite with many of
the author's lovers. The central figure,
Dr. Boynton, an enthusiastic spiritualist,
is an admirable study of a self-deceiver,
an honest charlatan. He is a country
doctor, who has become a monomaniac
on the subject of spiritualistic manifesta-
tions, and has brought up his daughter,
a delicate, high-strung, nervous girl, as a
medium. His attempts to take Boston
by storm end in disaster. He is branded
as a cheat, his daughter is believed to
be his confederate, and and Egeria
seek refuge in a community of Shakers,
whose quaint and kindly ways are por-
trayed with a loving pen. The peaceful
monotony of the daily life, its plain
plenty, its orderliness, its thrift, its con-
stant and unoppressive industry, the
moral uprightness of the broad-brimmed
straight-skirted community, the
strangeness of the spiritual culture which
forbids the sowing of any seeds of senti-
ment, the excellence of character which
is so perversely one-sided and ineffective
- all these conditions and effects are so
vividly reported that the reader seems
to behold with his bodily eyes the long
barns bursting with harvests, the bare
clean
of the houses, and the
homely pleasantness of every-day activ-
ity. In this islanded tranquillity Egeria
blossoms into beautiful womanhood, and
her supernatural powers vanish forever.
A happy life opens before her; but the
eyes of the poor visionary, her father,
cannot turn away from the Undiscovered
Country. Unbalanced trickster that he
is, little Dr. Boynton is yet a lovable
and pathetic figure, honestly a martyr to
his cause.
The story is told with an
unfailing humor and sympathy, which
make the Shaker settlement seem almost
a place of pilgrimage.
rooms
women.
Garth, by Julian Hawthorne, appeared
first as a serial in Harper's Maga-
zine. (1875. ) Garth Urmson, the hero,
is a member of a New Hampshire fam-
ily, upon which rests a hereditary curse.
In the seventeenth century the founder
of the family in America had violated a
sacred Indian grave. From that time
forth, the shadow of the crime rests
upon
his descendants. Garth, the last
of the race, seems to carry the weight
of all their cares and sorrows; but at th
same time he feels the dignity which
was theirs by right of many noble qual-
ities. He is a dreamer, but a lofty
dreamer. He cannot, however, escape
misfortune. His love affairs with two
women, Madge Danvers and Elinor Len-
terden, are unhappy, in so far as they
are controlled by the hereditary curse.
The novel possesses a peculiar haziness
of atmosphere. It is perhaps an imita-
tion of the elder Hawthorne's House of
the Seven Gables. )
## p. 292 (#328) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
292
an
Sforza, by William Waldorf Astor. however, is prevented by Doltaire, an
(1889. ) The scene of this novel is instrument of La Pompadour, who has
laid in Italy, at the opening of the 16th brought Moray into these straits for pur-
century. Several historic and semi-his- poses of his own: by keeping him alive,
toric characters figure in the story. The that is, Doltaire hopes to obtain papers
author has adhered truthfully to historic in Moray's possession that are of great
facts, and has set forth the intriguing importance to La Pompadour. More-
Italian civilization, with accuracy over, he suspects Moray of affection for
and attention to detail which bespeak Alixe Duvarney, whom he himself loves,
careful study of the times pictured; and and would torture his rival with the
his descriptions of costume, architecture, knowledge of his own success.
and natural scenery, are very effective. The monotony of the imprisonment is
The story deals with the history of the varied by interviews with Gabord the
wars between Ludovic Sforza and Louis jailer, “who never exceeds his orders
XII. of France. Ludovic has murdered in harshness); and by occasional visits
his nephew, the rightful Duke of Milan, from the brilliant Doltaire, or from Vau-
and reigns in his stead, keeping the ban the barber, who is the connecting
widow Isabelle and her son captive. link with Alise and her world.
Harassed by a French invasion, and by Of two attempts to escape, the first
the knowledge that he is about to be is frustrated by Doltaire; the second, a
assailed by the Venetians, Ludovic sends year later, meets with better success. Ga-
his nephew Hermes on a secret mission bord has been induced to bring Alixe
for aid to the doge of Venice. Hermes to her lover, and a marriage ceremony
succeeds, but barely escapes the Inqui- is performed by an English clergyman
sition. Bernadino, Ludovic's governor, who has been smuggled into the quar-
who is in love with Isabelle, betrays ters. That night Moray and five other
Ludovic, who is beaten and captured by prisoners make their escape, and in a
the French. Isabelle scorns Bernadino, few days succeed in reaching the Eng-
and he is assassinated in the French lish lines.
camp. Narvaez, a famous young Span- Moray's information as to the condi-
ish fencing-master, figures conspicuously tion of the city, and the pass by which
in the book, and performs many daring the Heights of Abraham may be reached,
exploits, finally turning out to be a is invaluable.
in love with Hermes. This After the battle and the capture of the
forms the very slight love motive of the city, Moray begins the search for Alise.
book. Almodoro, Ludovic's soothsayer, Accidentally he learns of the death of
who prophesies his fate, and whose en- Doltaire. He finds Alixe at last in the
couraging words are freighted with a mountains above the city, where she had
double meaning, is a prominent person- taken refuge from the persecutions of
age, and sways the duke's fortunes by Doltaire. Here she tends her wounded
his supernatural revelations and his wily father, and has for her companion Ma-
scheming The Chevalier Bayard is thilde, the poor, demented sweetheart
introduced with one of his famous feats of Vauban. The characters are all well
of arms. The excellence of the book drawn.
lies rather in detached scenes than in
the continuous narrative.
Champions of Christendom,
The, by Richard Johnson. This is a
The Seats of The Mighty, by Gilbert romance of chivalry, which was one of
Parker, (1896,) is a historical ro- the best known and most popular books
mance, of which the scene is laid in of its time. The oldest known edition
Quebec at the critical period of the war is dated 1597. In it are recounted the
between the French and English. It exploits of St. George of England, St.
is a rapid succession of exciting advent- Denis of France, St. James of Spain, St.
ures wherein figures prominent in nis- Anthony of Italy, St. Andrew of Scot-
tory play their part with the creations land, St. Patrick of Ireland, and St.
of the author.
David of Wales. St. George kills the
Captain Robert Moray, of Lord Am- dragon, and after seven years' imprison-
herst's regiment, is a hostage on parole ment escapes, marries Sabra, and takes
in Quebec. On a false charge of be- her to England. He draws the sword
ing a spy he is imprisoned. His death, of the necromancer Ormandine from the
woman
Seven
## p. 293 (#329) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
293
or
enchanted rock, rescues David, who had
been unable to draw the sword, and
kills Ormandine. St. Denis, after an
enchantment of seven years in the shape
of a hart, rescues Eglantine from the
trunk of the mulberry-tree. St. James,
by knightly prowess, wins the love of
Celestine. St. Anthony kills the giant
Blanderon and rescues Rosalinde; but
her six sisters remain enchanted, in the
forms of swans. St. Andrew forces the
father of Rosalinde to become a Christ-
ian; and God, in recompense, restores
the daughters to their former shapes.
St. Patrick rescues the six sisters from
the hands of satyrs. The Seven Cham-
pions collect immense armies from their
native countries to attack the Saracens;
but St. George is called to England to de-
fend Sabra, who has killed the Earl of
Coventry in defense of her honor. He
defeats the champion of Coventry and
returns to Egypt with Sabra, where she
is crowned queen. Going to Persia, he
finds the other champions, under the spell
of the necromancer Osmond, devoting
themselves to the love of evil spirits,
who are in the form of beautiful wo
He breaks the spell, and the armies of
the champions defeat those of the Sar-
The second part relates the
achievements of St. George's three sons,
and the rest of the noble adventures of
the Seven Champions; also the manner
and place of their honorable deaths, and
how they came to be called the Seven
Saints of Christendom.
simultaneously reformed the political
condition, the religious creed, and the
moral practice of his countrymen. In
the place of many independent tribes,
he left a nation; for a superstitious be-
lief in gods many and lords many, he
established a reasonable belief in one al-
mighty yet beneficent Being, and taught
man to live under an abiding sense of
this Being's superintending care. He
vigorously attacked, and modified
suppressed, many gross and revolting
customs which had prevailed in Arabia
down to his time. For an abandoned
profligacy was substituted a regulated
polygamy, and the practice of destroy-
ing female infants was effectually abol-
ished. ” In the view of this historian,
Christianity and Mahometanism are the
only two really catholic religions. The
likeness in their origin and progress he
finds remarkable. And here again he
discriminates between race taints and
religious consequences. He considers
that the doctrines of Mahomet, though
at first a gospel of deliverance to the
peoples who heard them, contain matter
irreconcilable with the highest civiliza-
tion. Mahomet justified three
which the progressive world has agreed
to abandon; - despotism, slavery, polyg-
amy;- and his code was one of exclus-
ion. He condemned the unbeliever, as
such, to subjugation destruction.
After the Hegira he himself abated
much of his own ideal. Believing pro-
foundly in his mission at first, he came
in the end to seek his own advance-
ment, and degraded what should have
remained a great religious movement.
As both Goethe and Emerson have per-
ceived, SO this later biographer sees,
that “what in Mahomet's character is
earthly, increases and develops itself;
the divine retires and is obscured: his
doctrine becomes a means rather than
an end. ) The book is valuable for its
fairness of mind, though its statement
of the position of Christianity is less
judicial and liberal than its estimate of
Mahometanism.
vomen.
errors
acens.
or
Christ
hristianity and Islam; the Bible
and the Koran. Four lectures, by
Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, Prebendary of
Chichester. This book presents the esti-
mate of Mahomet's mission and its re-
sults, which seems fair to a conservative
English Churchman. It is his desire to
do justice to the teachings of the Koran,
and to make a full admission of the
inherent defects and vices of the races
over whom the influence of this code
of faith and conduct has certainly been
salutary, and even spiritualizing. That
is, he attributes to blood the evil tend-
encies and characteristics too often at-
tributed to religion. Mr. Stephens urges
the view that to his followers Mahomet
was a great benefactor. “He was born
in a country where political organization
and rational faith and pure morals were
unknown. He introduced all three. By
a single stroke of masterly genius he
A ntiquities of the Jews, The, by Fla-
vius Josephus. This work was con-
cluded in the thirteenth year of the reign
of Domitian. It was addressed especially
to the Greeks and the Gentiles; and for
this purpose the author had condescended
to acquire the Greek language, and to
adopt the «smooth periods of the pagan
## p. 294 (#330) ############################################
294
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
can
writers, held generally in contempt by a those whom he seeks to convince - the
people who believed their language sacred exponents of a loose kind of deism. »
and their law the repository of all wis. He then argues that he who denies the
dom. The well-known events of Jose- Divine authorship of the Scriptures, on
phus's life go to account for the singular account of difficulties found in them, may,
largeness of view, liberal culture, and for the same reason, deny the world to
tolerant judgment which everywhere have been created by God: for inexpli-
characterize his historic writings, and give cable difficulties are found in the course
them a liveliness of style not often found of nature; therefore no sound deist should
in lengthy national annals.
be surprised to find similar difficulties in
The Antiquities, so far as they relate the Christian religion. Further, if both
to events covered by the Bible, are hardly proceed from the same author, the won-
more than a free version of and running der would rather be, that there should
commentary on the books of the Old not be found on both the mark of the
Testament, including the Apocrypha. same hand of authorship. If man
After that the Persian, Macedonian, and follow the works of God but a little way,
Roman invasions, and the Herodian reigns, and if his world also greatly transcends
are told with varying degrees of thorough- the efforts of unassisted reason, why
ness down to Nero's twelfth year, when should not His word likewise be beyond
the uprising occurred which gave rise to man's perfect comprehension ? In no
the Jewish War in which Josephus bore sense a philosophy of religion, but an
so conspicuous a part, and which he re-
attempt rather to remove common ob-
lates in the book so named. To Chris- jections thereto, the work is necessarily
tians the most interesting passage in his narrow in scope: but within its self-imposed
writings, notwithstanding its disputed limitations the discussion is exhaustive,
authenticity, is that containing his de- dealing with such problems as a future
scription of Jesus, Chapter iii. , Book xviii. life; God's moral government; man's pro-
“Now there was about this time Jesus, bation; the doctrine of necessity; and
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a
most largely, the question of revelation.
man;. for he was a doer of wonderful To the Analogy) there are generally sub-
works, a teacher of such men as receive joined two dissertations: one on Personal
the truth with pleasure. He drew over Identity, and one on The Nature of Virtue.
to him both many of the Jews, and many
of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. A
dam, the drama, is a work of the
And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
twelfth century by an unknown au-
principal men among us, had condemned
thor. It is written in French, with the
him to the cross, those that loved him at exception of the responses and canticles,
the first did not forsake him: for he ap-
which are in Latin; and it derives its chief
peared to them alive again the third day; importance from the fact that it is the
as the divine prophets had foretold these
oldest drama in the language. It gives
and ten thousand other wonderful things
the history of the fall of Adam and the
concerning him. And the tribe of Christ. murder of Abel, followed by a procession
ians, so named from him, are not extinct of all the prophets who foretold the com-
at this day. ”
ing of the Messiah. The piece was played
This passage is twice quoted by Euse- on the public square in front of the church.
bius, and is found in all the MSS.
The platform upon which it was repre-
sented must have been backed against
the portal; for in the stage directions, the
Analogy of Religion, The, by Bishop
Joseph Butler, first appeared in 1736,
actor who takes the part of God is told
and has ever since been held in high
to return at once to the church, when-
esteem by orthodox Christians. The full
ever he leaves the stage. Some of the
title is (The Analogy of Religion, Nat-
are managed with considerable
ural and Revealed, to the Constitution
skill; and there is a good deal of clever
and Course of Nature. The argument,
character-drawing and vigorous dialogue.
which is orderly and concise, is briefly
The scene where the serpent tempts Eve
this: The author lays down three prem-
is especially noteworthy for its simplicity
ises, - the existence of God; the known
and animation.
course of nature; and the necessary limit-
A"
ations of our knowledge. These premises
braham, Studies on the Times of,
by Rev. H. G. Tomkins, with four-
enable him to take common ground with teen plates of ancient monuments and
scenes
## p. 295 (#331) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
295
cenus,
as
inscriptions. 1878. A valuable account by St. John of Damascus,- or Damas-
of the new light thrown by discoveries
he is sometimes called, -a
in Babylonia upon the far eastern world Syrian monk born about the end of the
of Abraham's time (about 2250 B. C. )- seventh century. The name of Barlaam
when the city of Ur was a great seat of and Josaphat appear in both the Greek
trade, and of worship of Sin the Moon- and Roman lists of saints. According
god, as the Father-god to whom the sun to the narrative of Damascenus, Josaphat
was a son and the evening star a daugh- was the son of a king of India brought up
ter; and of all the customs and ideas in magnificent seclusion, to the end that
familiar to Abraham before he went he might know nothing of human misery.
west » to Palestine. This is a book of Despite his father's care, the knowledge
special value for Bible study.
of sickness, poverty, and death cannot
be hidden from him: he is oppressed by
Acts of the Apostles, The (Actes des
the mystery of existence. A Christian
Apôtres'), a series of satirical pam-
hermit, Barlaam, finds his way to him
phlets directed against the French Rev-
at the risk of life, and succeeds in con-
olutionists, by Peltier, who was assisted
by several royalist writers. It is full of
verting him to Christianity. The prince
uses his influence to promote the new
witty attacks on the leaders of the Rev.
olution, and especially on the framers
faith among his people. When he has
of the constitution of '89, who are repre-
raised his kingdom to high prosperity,
he leaves it to spend the remainder of
sented as rope-dancers performing their
feats on
a very thin wire. It attacks
his days as a holy hermit.
Professor Max Müller traces a very
all new ideas, ridicules reforms of every
close connection between the legend of
kind, and boldly defends the principles
Barlaam and Josaphat, and the Indian
of the aristocracy. The work forms nine
legends of the Buddha as related in the
volumes.
Sanskrit of the Lalita Vistara. This con-
A postolic Fathers, The : Revised Texts, nection was first noticed, according to
with English Translations. By J. B. Professor Müller, by M. Laboulaye in the
Lightfoot. A collection of about twelve Journal des Débats (July 1859). A year
of the earliest Christian writings, directly later, Dr. Felix Liebrecht made an elab-
following those of the Apostles, made with orate treatment of the subject.
great care and learning by the ablest of The episodes and apologues of the ro-
recent English Biblical scholars. The mance furnished poetic material to Boc-
writings gathered into the volume repre- caccio, to Gower, to the compiler of the
sent those teachers of Christian doctrine (Gesta Romanorum,' and to Shakespeare;
who stand in the history nearest to the who is indebted to this source, through
New Testament writers, and the account Wynkyn de Worde's English translation,
of them given by Dr. Lightfoot is not for the casket incident in the Merchant
only the best for students, but it is of of Venice. ) The entire story is found in
great interest to the general reader. the (Speculum Historiale) of Vincent of
Beauvais, and in a briefer form in the
Apocryphal Gospels, and Other Docu-
(Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine.
ments relating to the History of
It has been translated into several Eu-
Christ. Translated from the originals
in Greek, Syriac, Latin, etc. , by B. H.
ropean tongues, «including Bohemian,
Polish, and Icelandic. A version in the
Cowper. A trustworthy, scholarly, and
last, executed by a Norwegian king, dates
complete collection of the writings, not
included in the New Testament, which
from 1204; in the East there were ver-
sions in Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and
sprang up in various quarters as attempts
Hebrew, at least; whilst a translation into
to recover the story of Christ. They form
a singular body of curious stories, mostly
the Tagala language of the Philippines
legendary fictions without historical value,
was printed at Manila in 1712. )
but very interesting and significant as
showing how legends could arise, what Arcadia, a pastoral romance, by Sir
Philip Sidney, was begun in 1580,
form they could take, and what ideas they
while he was in retirement at the seat
embodied.
of his brother-in-law, the Earl of Pem-
Barlaam and Josaphat, one of the broke; and published in 1590, four years
most popular of early mediæval ro- after his death. Composed with no thought
mances, is supposed to have been written of publication, but as an offering to a
## p. 296 (#332) ############################################
296
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a full account of the event or the man
for which the place is memorable.
The verse
consists of monotonous
Alexandrine couplets, seldom relieved
by any striking passages. Drayton ob-
viously takes great enjoyment in full-
sounding names of places and people,
and in references to classic authors.
There is, however, no inspiration in the
work. Even the patriotic admiration
for England, characteristic of the time,
does
not
amount to a passion with
him. Still, the whole poem is a patri-
otic attempt to glorify England in every
aspect.
>
beloved sister the Countess of Pembroke;
the Arcadia' bears the character of a work
intended for no harsher judgment than
that of love and intimacy. It seems to
have been written in a dreamy leisure,
filling the idle spaces of long summer
days, sheet after sheet passing from the
poet's hand without revision, sometimes
without completion. It is a pastoral of
the artificial order: Arcadia is in Greece;
its inhabitants are half-gods in mediæval
dress, knights and shepherds, princes and
helots; fair maidens who worship Christ
and Apollo and other people of the same
order, who never lived save in the fair
and bright imagination of a poet-soldier.
That the Arcadia) is formless and with-
out plot constitutes much of its charm.
In fairy-land there are no direct roads;
and no destinations, since it is all en-
chanted country.
There the shepherd-
boy pipes “as though he should never be
old,” in meadows (enamelled with all
sorts of eye-pleasing flowers”; there the
humble valleys » are comforted with
the «refreshing of silver rivers”); there,
there are pretty lambs” and “well-tuned
birds.
Such was the popularity of the Arca-
dia,' that, previous to the middle of the
seventeenth century, upwards of ten edi.
tions were published; a French translation
appeared in 1624. Its value is perpetual
not only as the work of a most noble and
gallant gentleman, but as the embodi-
ment of the sweetness and beauty of a
spirit forever ageless.
Polyolbion, by Michael Drayton. The
Polyolbion appeared first in 1613,
early in the reign of James I. It is a
poetical gazetteer of England, appar-
ently based on Camden's Britannia. It
contains about 100,000
verses, divided
into thirty books of uneven lengths.
Its enormous length has always kept it
from popularity, even among the read-
of the seventeenth century, who
had time and willingness to read long
books The account is based on a jour-
ney of the Muse, which takes her up
and down the various rivers of England;
and throughout, all the countries, mount-
ains, rivers, cities, towns, and fields are
described in full, as well as the birds
and beasts that inhabit them. At ap-
propriate points, such battle-fields,
landing-places of great men, homes of
poets, and graves of heroes, the Muse
pauses long enough to give the reader
1
a
a
Le eviathan, by Thomas Hobbes. In this
treatise, published in English in
1651, and in Latin in 1668, the author's
principles in psychology, ethics, and poli-
tics are developed with remarkable logi-
cal power. There is constantly within
us the image of things outside us; and
the representation of the qualities of
these entities is what we name “con-
cept, «imagination,” or “knowledge. ”
Sensation engenders all our thoughts,
and intelligence is only the faculty of
noting sensations. Our general ideas are
but conventional signs. Sensation, which
is the matter of the understanding, be-
comes also the motive force of the will.
It gives birth to pleasure and pain,
and consequently to appetite and aver-
sion. Appetite, applied to a particular
object, is called desire; to
a present
object, love. Beauty and ugliness are
names for the apparent and probable
signs of good and evil. Beauty, good-
ness, and pleasure, the same as ugliness,
evil, and pain, are but different names,
different modes of the same thing. En-
joyment being the sole object of the
appetites, and suffering that of the aver-
sions, every man is a limit, an obsta-
cle for every other man, and hence his
enemy. The state of nature, therefore,
can only be a state of war and an-
archy. Then Hobbes develops his the-
ory of absolutism, which forms the most
celebrated of his speculations. He con-
ceives anarchy not as an accident, a
transitory disorder, but as the normal
state of humanity. But men soon see
that it is their interest to issue from
a condition destructive of all security.
Hence the social contract, by which
each pledges himself to each and all
to sacrifice all of his natural right that is
necessary for peace. Thus society is
ers
as
## p. 297 (#333) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
297
man.
a work of pure convention, dictated by trivances for his comfort: how he builds
selfishness and fear. But society cannot him a habitation, procures food to sus-
be constituted except by an absolute tain life, and makes a raft by which
sovereign. This sovereign must neces- means he gets to the shipwrecked ves-
sarily have all power, legislative and ex- sel, and succeeds in getting many arti-
ecutive, judicial and spiritual; for any cles that are of use to him. An exciting
separation of powers would restore the incident in the story is when, after
state of nature, the state of war. Fi- eighteen years of solitude, he comes
nally, monarchy is the logical form of across the imprint of a human foot in
this sovereignty, which is absolute both the sand, and in consequence of this
in its objects and its attributes; for discovery is thrown into a state of ter-
monarchy is the farthest removed from ror and consternation. He lives for a
the primitive anarchy, and is the best long time in great suspense, as he finds
defense against the struggles and rival- evidence that the island is visited by
ries of the state of nature. Religion cannibals; but it is not until six years
is the offspring of the imagination and later that he encounters them. On this
of fear. Its phantoms may be the crea-
occasion one of their victims escapes,
tion of the individual imagination, and and Crusoe saves his life and keeps him
then it is called superstition, or of the for a servant and companion. He names
collective imagination, and then it is him Friday, and teaches him civilized
true religion and a means of peace and ways. He proves honest, devoted, and
government. Hobbes gave his work reliable, and shares Crusoe's life and
the odd title of Leviathan,' because he duties until, a few years later, they are
saw in political society an artificial body, rescued and taken from the island on
a sort of imaginary animal larger than an English ship. Crusoe eventually re-
The Leviathan is the artificial turns to England, where he marries and
man organized for the protection of the settles down to enjoy the wealth that
natural man. Hobbes's ethical theory he has accumulated during his strange
had an immense influence on the pro- adventures. The first volume ended at
gress of English speculation for over a this point, and met with such remark-
hundred years, but this influence arose able success that the author, four months
chiefly from the criticism and opposi- later, brought out a second volume en-
tion which it called forth. The prin- titled, “The Farther Adventures of Rob-
ciples of the Leviathan) were in the inson Crusoe); and this in turn
main adopted by Spinoza, and some of followed, one year later, by a third re-
his ideas have found favor with the lating his (Serious Reflections) during
philosophical radicals the present cen- his wanderings. The simplicity of style,
tury. His acute psychological analyses and the realistic atmosphere which per-
have been the subject of appreciative vades the narrative, have caused the
comment by James Mill and the As- popularity of this book to remain unim-
sociationist school. Hobbes's style is
paired.
remarkable for its clearness and vigor.
Baron Trenck, Life of, published 1787,
Rºbinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. is the autobiography of Baron Fried-
(1719. ) This world-famous tale of rich von Trenck, whose life was a succes-
atventure is supposed to have been sug-
sion of adventures scarcely less marvelous
gested by the real experience of Alex- than the romantic and highly colored ac-
ander Selkirk, who was shipwrecked and count he gives of them. He entered the
lived for years on a desert island. Rob-
Prussian service while still a mere boy,
inson Crusoe, a young Englishman, goes
and stood high in Frederic the Great's
to sea in his youth, is captured by the favor, until, through his love affair with
corsairs, is shipwrecked and washed the King's sister, he incurred the royal
ashore on an uninhabited island, for- displeasure, which caused his first impris-
merly supposed to have been in the onment, the beginning of no end of
Pacific, but recently satisfactorily identi-
misfortunes: loss of property, numerous
fied with Tabago in the Caribbean Sea. imprisonments and attempts at escape,
The narrative consists of a careful de- dangerous wounds, and perils of all kinds.
scription of his adventures and experi- These are all most graphically described
ences during the twenty-eight years of
in a manner that reminds one of Mun-
his exile. It tells of his ingenious con- chausen's marvelous tales. The anecdotes
was
a
## p. 298 (#334) ############################################
298
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
was
sove
Nero, by
at
interspersed give, whether true or false, The novelist, however, softens the his.
a vivid picture of the turbulent condition torian's verdict by bestowing in the last
of court life at the time of Frederic the scene a semblance of manhood and cour-
Great and Maria Theresa, under whom age upon the fallen Emperor. Nero is
Baron Trenck later served. His restless at bay, with the faithful Acte, Epaphro-
adventurous temperament led him to Paris, ditus, and Phaon by his side. To the
when the Revolution was in full swing; soldiers who come to arrest him he says:
he was there accused of being a secret
Announce to the Senate my supreme
emissary of foreign powers, and was be- contempt. I hold the knaves, who while
headed by Robespierre's order in July
I
vereign slavishly licked my
1794.
sandals, unworthy to crimson my brow
His cousin, Baron Franz von Trenck, with the flush of anger during the last
an equal hero and swashbuckler, has also moments of my life. Phaon, I thank
written an autobiography, which how- you. And you too, Epaphroditus. Guard
ever has not attainud the celebrity of my corpse.
Ask the new Cæsar not to
Baron Friedrich's wonderful mixture of forget that all human affairs are subject
fact and imagination.
to change, and that it does not beseem
the ruler of Rome to insult his con-
Ernst Eckstein. (1888. ) quered enemy in death. ”
Translated by Clara Bell and Mary
J. Safford. This historical romance calls Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent
up the Rome of ancient days, when the
, ,
imperial city was its greatest in Professor of Archæology in the University
power, magnificence, and brutality. The of Rome, and Director of Excavations for
principal characters in the story are the the National Government and the Munici-
well-known Emperor; his wife Octavia, pality of Rome: 1888. In his character of
the chaste and beautiful; the gentle, in- official investigator, Professor Lanciani has
fatuated Acte; the base and scheming grouped, in this volume, various illustra-
Agrippina, mother of Nero; Poppæa, the tions of the life of ancient Rome as shown
shameless, cruel, intriguing mistress; in its recovered antiquities, – columns,
Nicodemus, the fanatic; and the grasp- capitals, inscriptions, lamps, vases; busts
ing pagan, Tigellinus.
or ornaments in terra-cotta, marble, ala-
These characters are woven
into a
baster, or bronze; gems, intaglios, cameos,
complicated but fascinating plot, in bas-reliefs, pictures in mosaic, objects of
which vice and virtue, honor and crime, art in gold, silver, and bronze; coins, relics
Christianity and heathenism, are in per- in bone, glass, enamel, lead, ivory, iron,
petual conflict.
copper, and stucco: most of these newly
The author, while allowing himself the found treasures being genuine master-
usual license of the novelist for scope pieces. From these possessions he reads
and imagination, is generally faithful to the story of the wealth, taste, habits of
the history of the period. And while he life, ambitions, and ideals, of a vanished
has drawn many graphic pictures de- people. The book does not attempt to be
scriptive of that terrible age,- such as systematic or exhaustive, but it is better.
the popularly conceived brutal character It is full of a fine historic imagination, with
of the Emperor, the burning of Rome, great charm of language, and perennial
and the illumination by human torches richness of incident and anecdote which
of Nero's gardens,— his real purpose has make it not only delightful reading, but
been more to indicate the stages that the source of a wide new knowledge.
lead up to these fatal tragedies, than With the true spirit of the story-teller,
to portray the tragedies themselves. Professor Lanciani possesses an unusual
As the story opens the Emperor is in- knowledge of out-of-the-way literature
troduced as the royal youth, gentle in which enriches his power of comparison
nature, magnanimous in spirit, and giv- and illustration. "Pagan and Christian
ing every promise of a triumphant, noble Rome,' 1892, made up in part of magazine
reign. But as the plot unfolds, unfore- articles, and intentionally discursive, at-
seen traits come to the front, fostered tempts to measure in some degree the
by circumstances domestic and civic, till debt of Christian art, science, and ceremo-
almost every mark of the divine seems nial, to their Pagan predecessors. Ruins
obliterated from the man who would set and Excavations of Ancient Rome, a Com-
himself up as a god.
panion Book for Students and Travelers,
## p. 299 (#335) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
299
)
1897, is, on the other hand, a systematic less naive, less grotesque. ” Many quaint
treatise on modern discovery, supplied negro songs are given, and stories told
with maps, diagrams, tables, lists, and a in dialect. The diary displays great
bibliography The descriptions begin moderation
and good
taste,- merits
with the primitive palisades, and come never absent from Colonel Higginson's
down to the present time, treating pre- work; and had it no other merit, it
historic, republican, imperial, mediæval, would be delightful reading, from its
and modern Rome; and the book, though vivid description of Southern scenes and
more formal, is hardly less entertaining
its atmosphere of Southern life.
than its predecessors.
Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads,
An
nnals of a Fortress: By E. Viollet-
by Rudyard Kipling. This volume
le-Duc: translated by Benjamin is about evenly divided between poems
Bucknall, 1876. A work of highly prac- written in English and those written in
tical fiction, telling the story through suc-
cockney dialect. The first half is seri-
cessive ages of an ideal fortress, supposed ous; and most of its themes are found in
to have been situated at a point on a Hindoo legends and wild sea-tales. The
branch of the Saône River which is now
last half deals with the joys and woes of
of special importance in view of the
Tommy Atkins, and the various expe-
present eastern frontier of France.
The
riences of the British private, from the
story follows the successive ages of mili- «arf-made recruity) to the old pensioner
tary history from early times down to the
on a shilling a day.
No such vivid por-
present, and shows what changes were traiture of the common soldier, with his
made in the fortress to meet the changes dullness, his obedience, and his matter-
in successive times in the art of war. of-course heroism, has ever been drawn
The eminence of the author, both as an
by any other artist. The book contains,
architect and military engineer, enabled
among other favorites, Danny Deever,'
him to design plans for an ideal fortress,
(Fuzzy Wuzzy,' and The Road to Man-
and to give these in pictorial illustra-
dalay), besides the grim story of Tom-
tions. The work is as entertaining to linson, too ineffective either in virtue or
the reader as it is instructive to the stu-
sin to find place in heaven or hell.
dent of architecture, and the student of
war for whom it is especially designed.
Ballads, English and Scottish Popular,
by Francis J. Child. Ten Parts, or
Ari
rmy Life in a Black Regiment, by Five Volumes, Imperial Quarto. (1897. )
Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The A complete collection of all known Eng-
First South Carolina Volunteers was the lish and Scottish popular ballads; every
first slave regiment mustered into the sery- one entire and according to the best pro-
ice of the United States during the late curable text, including also every acces-
Civil War. It was viewed in the begin- sible independent version; and with an
ning more in the light of an experiment introduction to each, illustrated by par-
than as an actual factor in the war, and allels from every European language.
Colonel Higginson, who left a company In its recovery and permanent preserva-
of his own raising to take command, tells tion of songs which date far back of mod-
the story of this experiment in the form ern civilization,-songs which show the
of a diary, the first entry being dated thought and feeling of the child-life of
Camp Saxton, Beaufort, South Carolina, humanity, and the seed from which the
November 24th, 1862; the last, February | old epics sprang, the collection is of
29th, 1864. While the regiment did not the highest value to the student of prim-
engage in any great battles, it made many itive history. It is a storehouse of lan-
minor expeditions, was on picket duty, guage, of poetry, of fiction, and of folk-
engaged in constructing forts, etc. , all lore, so many times the richest ever
these duties being described in detail. made, so complete, learned, and accurate,
The diary is valuable, in the first place, as to occupy a final position.
It is a
for the account of camp life, its priva- monument of research, scholarship, and
tions and pleasures, work and recreation; laborious service to literature, -and of
secondly, for the description of the colored the essential unity of all races and peo-
man as a soldier, and the amusing ac- ples in their popular poetry, - to have
counts of his peculiarities before freedom raised which was the work of a noble
had made him “more like white men, life.
## p. 300 (#336) ############################################
300
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Balla
are
mono-
llades and Verses Vain, by Andrew tragedy are enumerated by the Count,
Lang. Mr. Lang's light and grace- Pompilia, Caponsacchi, the Pope, and
ful touch is well illustrated in this little others, each from his or her peculiar
volume, containing some of his prettiest point of view; and two opposing aspects
lyrics. He is fond of the old French of the case as seen from outside are of-
verse forms, and the sentiments which fered by “Half Rome ” and “The Other
belong to them. The gay verses
Half. ) Browning in conclusion touches
wholly gay; the serious ones are pervaded upon the intended lesson, and explains
with a pensive sadness — that of old mem- why he has chosen to present it in this
ories and legends. Mr. Lang's sober muse
artistic form. The lesson has been
is devoted to Scotland, and after that to already learned from the Pope's sad
old France and older Greece; but whether
thought:--
grave or gay, his exquisite workmanship
" — Our human speech is naught,
never fails him.
Our human testimony false, our fame
And human estimation words and wind. ”
The Ring and the Book, by Robert The Pope's soliloquy is a remarkable
Browning This dramatic
piece of work, and the chapters which
logue, the longest and best sustained of contain the statements of Pompilia and
Browning's poems, was published in four Caponsacchi are filled with tragic beauty
volumes in 1868–69, and is his great- and emotion. The thought, the im-
est constructive achievement. This poem agery, and the wisdom embodied in this
of twenty-one thousand lines contains story, make it a triumph of poetic and
ten versions of the same occurrence, be- philosophic creation.
sides the poet's prelude. It presents
from these diverse points of view the
A"
urora Leigh, a poem by Mrs. Eliza-
history of a tragedy which took place in beth Barrett Browning, which ap-
Rome one hundred and seventy years peared in 1857. She called it the most
before. Browning, one day in Florence, mature » of her works, the one in which
bought for eightpence an old book which «the highest convictions upon life and art
contained the records of a murder that are entered. ” It is in reality a novel in
of the olden time in Rome, with the blank verse. The principal characters are
pleadings and counter-pleadings, and the Aurora Leigh, who is supposed to write the
statements of the defendants and the story; Romney Leigh, her cousin ; Marian
witnesses; this Browning used as the raw Earle, the offspring of tramps; and a fash-
material for (The Ring and the Book,' ionable young widow, Lady Waldemar.
which appeared four years later. The The book discusses various theories for the
story follows the fate of the unfortu- regeneration of society. The chief theme
nate heroine, Pompilia, who has been is the final reconcilement of Aurora's
sold by her supposed mother to the ideals with Romney's practical plans for
elderly Count Guido, whose cruelty and the improvement of the masses. Bits of
violence cause her eventually to fly from scenery, hints of philosophy, and many of
him. This she does under the protection Mrs. Browning's own emotions and re-
of a young priest named Giuseppe Ca- flections regarding art, are interspersed
ponsacchi, whom she prevails upon to through the narrative. Aurora Leigh, the
convey her safely to her old home. She child of a cultivated and wealthy English-
is pursued by the Count, who overtakes man, is at his death sent from Tuscany
her and procures the arrest of the two to England, and put into the care of a
fugitives, accusing her and Caponsacchi | prim maiden aunt. She devotes herself
of having eloped. They are tried; and to study; refuses the hand of her rich
the court banishes Caponsacchi for three cousin Romney, who has become a
years, while Pompilia is relegated to a cialist; and goes to London to gain a live-
convent. Having at a later period been lihood by literary work. Romney Leigh
removed from there to her former home, wishes to afford society a moral lesson by
she is suddenly attacked by the Count a marriage with Marian Earle, a woman
and several hired assassins, who brutally of the slums, who becomes involved in a
murder her and her two parents; then tragedy which renders the marriage im-
follows the Count's trial and condemna- possible, when Romney retires to Leigh
tion for the murders, and (even in Italy) Hall. Through an accident he becomes
his final execution. The events of the blind, and these misfortunes reveal to
SO-
## p. 301 (#337) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
301
and the early dramatists, with all the
various types of versifiers who were
famous in that period. Mr. Courthope's
broad and generous spirit, his keenness
of analysis, his wide learning, and his
clearness of vision, make his work, so far
as it is completed, an ideal history of
poetry.
Guy of Warwick. This old metrical
so
romance
are
Aurora her love for him; and the poem
closes with a mutual exchange of vows
and aspirations. It is filled with pass-
ages of great beauty, and ethical utter-
ances of a lofty nature.
Poetry, History of English, by William
John Courthope. The work which
in their day both Pope and Gray con-
templated writing on the history of Eng-
lish poetry, and which Warton began but
never finished, has been taken up anew
but with a far different scope by the
professor of poetry at Oxford. His plan
embraces a history of the art of English
poetry - epic, dramatic, lyrical, and di-
dactic — from the time of Chaucer to
that of Scott, as well as an appreciation
of the motives by which each individual
poet seems to have been consciously in-
spired.
the Town Pump) is perhaps the most
famous in the collection, which contains
here and there themes and suggestions
that Hawthorne later elaborated in his
longer stories; notably the picture of a
beautiful woman wearing an embroi-
dered “A” upon her breast, who aftor-
wards reappears in (The Scarlet Letter. "
(The Great Carbuncle) was especially
admired by Longfellow, who commends
its poetic beauty. The Tales) have
often a sombre tone, a fateful sense of
gloom, weird and sometimes almost un-
canny: but they possess an irresistible
fascination. Among those best known
are (The Gray Champion, (The Gentle
Boy,' and the Wedding Knell. "
a
A'
urelian, a historical novel by William
Ware, an American author born in
1797, was first published in 1838 under the
title Probus. It was a sequel to Let-
ters of Lucius M. Piso, published the year
before; and like that novel, it is writ-
ten in the form of letters. The full title
reads (Aurelian; or, Rome in the third
century. In Letters of Lucius M. Piso,
from Rome, to Fausta, the daughter of
Gracchus at Palmyra. ? The novel pre-
sents a singularly faithful picture of the
Rome of the second half of the third
century, and of the intellectual and spir-
itual life of the time as expressed in both
## p. 291 (#327) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
291
Christians and pagans. The Emperor Au-
relian figures prominently in the story,
which closes with the scene of his assas-
sination. The style of Aurelian' is dig-
nified and graceful, with enough of the
classical spirit to meet the requirements
of the narrative.
Accomplished Gentleman, An, by Jul-
ian Russell Sturgis, was published
in 1879. It is a good example of the well-
written, readable novel. The scene is laid
in modern Venice, where a colony of Eng-
lish and Italians gives material for the
characters. The gentleman of accom-
plishments is Mr. Hugo Deane, a kind
of fashionable Casaubon, engaged upon a
monumental work, the history of Venice.
In the interests of this work he sacrifices
his first wife, and is willing to sacrifice the
happiness of his daughter Cynthia, be-
loved by Philip Lamond. All ends well,
however. The book may be ranked among
the comedies of fiction.
Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trol-
lope, is the second of the eight vol-
umes comprised in his (Chronicles of
Barsetshire. ) The noteworthy success of
(The Warden) led him to continue his
studies of social life in the clerical circle
centring at the episcopal palace of Bar-
chester. He gives us a pleasant love
story evolved from an environment of
clerical squabblings, schemes of prefer-
ment, and heart-burnings over church
government and forms of service. The
notable characters are Bishop Proudie,
his arrogant and sharp-tongued wife Mrs.
Proudie, and Eleanor Bold, a typical,
spirited, loving English girl. Trollope
excels in showing the actuating motives,
good and bad, of ordinary men and
In a book as thoroughly (Eng-
lish as roast beef,” he tells a story of
every-day life, and gives us the inter-
est of intimate acquaintance with every
character. A capital sense of the Estab-
lishment” pervades the book like an at-
mosphere.
Undiscovered Country, The, by W. D.
Howells, is a favorite with many of
the author's lovers. The central figure,
Dr. Boynton, an enthusiastic spiritualist,
is an admirable study of a self-deceiver,
an honest charlatan. He is a country
doctor, who has become a monomaniac
on the subject of spiritualistic manifesta-
tions, and has brought up his daughter,
a delicate, high-strung, nervous girl, as a
medium. His attempts to take Boston
by storm end in disaster. He is branded
as a cheat, his daughter is believed to
be his confederate, and and Egeria
seek refuge in a community of Shakers,
whose quaint and kindly ways are por-
trayed with a loving pen. The peaceful
monotony of the daily life, its plain
plenty, its orderliness, its thrift, its con-
stant and unoppressive industry, the
moral uprightness of the broad-brimmed
straight-skirted community, the
strangeness of the spiritual culture which
forbids the sowing of any seeds of senti-
ment, the excellence of character which
is so perversely one-sided and ineffective
- all these conditions and effects are so
vividly reported that the reader seems
to behold with his bodily eyes the long
barns bursting with harvests, the bare
clean
of the houses, and the
homely pleasantness of every-day activ-
ity. In this islanded tranquillity Egeria
blossoms into beautiful womanhood, and
her supernatural powers vanish forever.
A happy life opens before her; but the
eyes of the poor visionary, her father,
cannot turn away from the Undiscovered
Country. Unbalanced trickster that he
is, little Dr. Boynton is yet a lovable
and pathetic figure, honestly a martyr to
his cause.
The story is told with an
unfailing humor and sympathy, which
make the Shaker settlement seem almost
a place of pilgrimage.
rooms
women.
Garth, by Julian Hawthorne, appeared
first as a serial in Harper's Maga-
zine. (1875. ) Garth Urmson, the hero,
is a member of a New Hampshire fam-
ily, upon which rests a hereditary curse.
In the seventeenth century the founder
of the family in America had violated a
sacred Indian grave. From that time
forth, the shadow of the crime rests
upon
his descendants. Garth, the last
of the race, seems to carry the weight
of all their cares and sorrows; but at th
same time he feels the dignity which
was theirs by right of many noble qual-
ities. He is a dreamer, but a lofty
dreamer. He cannot, however, escape
misfortune. His love affairs with two
women, Madge Danvers and Elinor Len-
terden, are unhappy, in so far as they
are controlled by the hereditary curse.
The novel possesses a peculiar haziness
of atmosphere. It is perhaps an imita-
tion of the elder Hawthorne's House of
the Seven Gables. )
## p. 292 (#328) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
292
an
Sforza, by William Waldorf Astor. however, is prevented by Doltaire, an
(1889. ) The scene of this novel is instrument of La Pompadour, who has
laid in Italy, at the opening of the 16th brought Moray into these straits for pur-
century. Several historic and semi-his- poses of his own: by keeping him alive,
toric characters figure in the story. The that is, Doltaire hopes to obtain papers
author has adhered truthfully to historic in Moray's possession that are of great
facts, and has set forth the intriguing importance to La Pompadour. More-
Italian civilization, with accuracy over, he suspects Moray of affection for
and attention to detail which bespeak Alixe Duvarney, whom he himself loves,
careful study of the times pictured; and and would torture his rival with the
his descriptions of costume, architecture, knowledge of his own success.
and natural scenery, are very effective. The monotony of the imprisonment is
The story deals with the history of the varied by interviews with Gabord the
wars between Ludovic Sforza and Louis jailer, “who never exceeds his orders
XII. of France. Ludovic has murdered in harshness); and by occasional visits
his nephew, the rightful Duke of Milan, from the brilliant Doltaire, or from Vau-
and reigns in his stead, keeping the ban the barber, who is the connecting
widow Isabelle and her son captive. link with Alise and her world.
Harassed by a French invasion, and by Of two attempts to escape, the first
the knowledge that he is about to be is frustrated by Doltaire; the second, a
assailed by the Venetians, Ludovic sends year later, meets with better success. Ga-
his nephew Hermes on a secret mission bord has been induced to bring Alixe
for aid to the doge of Venice. Hermes to her lover, and a marriage ceremony
succeeds, but barely escapes the Inqui- is performed by an English clergyman
sition. Bernadino, Ludovic's governor, who has been smuggled into the quar-
who is in love with Isabelle, betrays ters. That night Moray and five other
Ludovic, who is beaten and captured by prisoners make their escape, and in a
the French. Isabelle scorns Bernadino, few days succeed in reaching the Eng-
and he is assassinated in the French lish lines.
camp. Narvaez, a famous young Span- Moray's information as to the condi-
ish fencing-master, figures conspicuously tion of the city, and the pass by which
in the book, and performs many daring the Heights of Abraham may be reached,
exploits, finally turning out to be a is invaluable.
in love with Hermes. This After the battle and the capture of the
forms the very slight love motive of the city, Moray begins the search for Alise.
book. Almodoro, Ludovic's soothsayer, Accidentally he learns of the death of
who prophesies his fate, and whose en- Doltaire. He finds Alixe at last in the
couraging words are freighted with a mountains above the city, where she had
double meaning, is a prominent person- taken refuge from the persecutions of
age, and sways the duke's fortunes by Doltaire. Here she tends her wounded
his supernatural revelations and his wily father, and has for her companion Ma-
scheming The Chevalier Bayard is thilde, the poor, demented sweetheart
introduced with one of his famous feats of Vauban. The characters are all well
of arms. The excellence of the book drawn.
lies rather in detached scenes than in
the continuous narrative.
Champions of Christendom,
The, by Richard Johnson. This is a
The Seats of The Mighty, by Gilbert romance of chivalry, which was one of
Parker, (1896,) is a historical ro- the best known and most popular books
mance, of which the scene is laid in of its time. The oldest known edition
Quebec at the critical period of the war is dated 1597. In it are recounted the
between the French and English. It exploits of St. George of England, St.
is a rapid succession of exciting advent- Denis of France, St. James of Spain, St.
ures wherein figures prominent in nis- Anthony of Italy, St. Andrew of Scot-
tory play their part with the creations land, St. Patrick of Ireland, and St.
of the author.
David of Wales. St. George kills the
Captain Robert Moray, of Lord Am- dragon, and after seven years' imprison-
herst's regiment, is a hostage on parole ment escapes, marries Sabra, and takes
in Quebec. On a false charge of be- her to England. He draws the sword
ing a spy he is imprisoned. His death, of the necromancer Ormandine from the
woman
Seven
## p. 293 (#329) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
293
or
enchanted rock, rescues David, who had
been unable to draw the sword, and
kills Ormandine. St. Denis, after an
enchantment of seven years in the shape
of a hart, rescues Eglantine from the
trunk of the mulberry-tree. St. James,
by knightly prowess, wins the love of
Celestine. St. Anthony kills the giant
Blanderon and rescues Rosalinde; but
her six sisters remain enchanted, in the
forms of swans. St. Andrew forces the
father of Rosalinde to become a Christ-
ian; and God, in recompense, restores
the daughters to their former shapes.
St. Patrick rescues the six sisters from
the hands of satyrs. The Seven Cham-
pions collect immense armies from their
native countries to attack the Saracens;
but St. George is called to England to de-
fend Sabra, who has killed the Earl of
Coventry in defense of her honor. He
defeats the champion of Coventry and
returns to Egypt with Sabra, where she
is crowned queen. Going to Persia, he
finds the other champions, under the spell
of the necromancer Osmond, devoting
themselves to the love of evil spirits,
who are in the form of beautiful wo
He breaks the spell, and the armies of
the champions defeat those of the Sar-
The second part relates the
achievements of St. George's three sons,
and the rest of the noble adventures of
the Seven Champions; also the manner
and place of their honorable deaths, and
how they came to be called the Seven
Saints of Christendom.
simultaneously reformed the political
condition, the religious creed, and the
moral practice of his countrymen. In
the place of many independent tribes,
he left a nation; for a superstitious be-
lief in gods many and lords many, he
established a reasonable belief in one al-
mighty yet beneficent Being, and taught
man to live under an abiding sense of
this Being's superintending care. He
vigorously attacked, and modified
suppressed, many gross and revolting
customs which had prevailed in Arabia
down to his time. For an abandoned
profligacy was substituted a regulated
polygamy, and the practice of destroy-
ing female infants was effectually abol-
ished. ” In the view of this historian,
Christianity and Mahometanism are the
only two really catholic religions. The
likeness in their origin and progress he
finds remarkable. And here again he
discriminates between race taints and
religious consequences. He considers
that the doctrines of Mahomet, though
at first a gospel of deliverance to the
peoples who heard them, contain matter
irreconcilable with the highest civiliza-
tion. Mahomet justified three
which the progressive world has agreed
to abandon; - despotism, slavery, polyg-
amy;- and his code was one of exclus-
ion. He condemned the unbeliever, as
such, to subjugation destruction.
After the Hegira he himself abated
much of his own ideal. Believing pro-
foundly in his mission at first, he came
in the end to seek his own advance-
ment, and degraded what should have
remained a great religious movement.
As both Goethe and Emerson have per-
ceived, SO this later biographer sees,
that “what in Mahomet's character is
earthly, increases and develops itself;
the divine retires and is obscured: his
doctrine becomes a means rather than
an end. ) The book is valuable for its
fairness of mind, though its statement
of the position of Christianity is less
judicial and liberal than its estimate of
Mahometanism.
vomen.
errors
acens.
or
Christ
hristianity and Islam; the Bible
and the Koran. Four lectures, by
Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, Prebendary of
Chichester. This book presents the esti-
mate of Mahomet's mission and its re-
sults, which seems fair to a conservative
English Churchman. It is his desire to
do justice to the teachings of the Koran,
and to make a full admission of the
inherent defects and vices of the races
over whom the influence of this code
of faith and conduct has certainly been
salutary, and even spiritualizing. That
is, he attributes to blood the evil tend-
encies and characteristics too often at-
tributed to religion. Mr. Stephens urges
the view that to his followers Mahomet
was a great benefactor. “He was born
in a country where political organization
and rational faith and pure morals were
unknown. He introduced all three. By
a single stroke of masterly genius he
A ntiquities of the Jews, The, by Fla-
vius Josephus. This work was con-
cluded in the thirteenth year of the reign
of Domitian. It was addressed especially
to the Greeks and the Gentiles; and for
this purpose the author had condescended
to acquire the Greek language, and to
adopt the «smooth periods of the pagan
## p. 294 (#330) ############################################
294
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
can
writers, held generally in contempt by a those whom he seeks to convince - the
people who believed their language sacred exponents of a loose kind of deism. »
and their law the repository of all wis. He then argues that he who denies the
dom. The well-known events of Jose- Divine authorship of the Scriptures, on
phus's life go to account for the singular account of difficulties found in them, may,
largeness of view, liberal culture, and for the same reason, deny the world to
tolerant judgment which everywhere have been created by God: for inexpli-
characterize his historic writings, and give cable difficulties are found in the course
them a liveliness of style not often found of nature; therefore no sound deist should
in lengthy national annals.
be surprised to find similar difficulties in
The Antiquities, so far as they relate the Christian religion. Further, if both
to events covered by the Bible, are hardly proceed from the same author, the won-
more than a free version of and running der would rather be, that there should
commentary on the books of the Old not be found on both the mark of the
Testament, including the Apocrypha. same hand of authorship. If man
After that the Persian, Macedonian, and follow the works of God but a little way,
Roman invasions, and the Herodian reigns, and if his world also greatly transcends
are told with varying degrees of thorough- the efforts of unassisted reason, why
ness down to Nero's twelfth year, when should not His word likewise be beyond
the uprising occurred which gave rise to man's perfect comprehension ? In no
the Jewish War in which Josephus bore sense a philosophy of religion, but an
so conspicuous a part, and which he re-
attempt rather to remove common ob-
lates in the book so named. To Chris- jections thereto, the work is necessarily
tians the most interesting passage in his narrow in scope: but within its self-imposed
writings, notwithstanding its disputed limitations the discussion is exhaustive,
authenticity, is that containing his de- dealing with such problems as a future
scription of Jesus, Chapter iii. , Book xviii. life; God's moral government; man's pro-
“Now there was about this time Jesus, bation; the doctrine of necessity; and
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a
most largely, the question of revelation.
man;. for he was a doer of wonderful To the Analogy) there are generally sub-
works, a teacher of such men as receive joined two dissertations: one on Personal
the truth with pleasure. He drew over Identity, and one on The Nature of Virtue.
to him both many of the Jews, and many
of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. A
dam, the drama, is a work of the
And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
twelfth century by an unknown au-
principal men among us, had condemned
thor. It is written in French, with the
him to the cross, those that loved him at exception of the responses and canticles,
the first did not forsake him: for he ap-
which are in Latin; and it derives its chief
peared to them alive again the third day; importance from the fact that it is the
as the divine prophets had foretold these
oldest drama in the language. It gives
and ten thousand other wonderful things
the history of the fall of Adam and the
concerning him. And the tribe of Christ. murder of Abel, followed by a procession
ians, so named from him, are not extinct of all the prophets who foretold the com-
at this day. ”
ing of the Messiah. The piece was played
This passage is twice quoted by Euse- on the public square in front of the church.
bius, and is found in all the MSS.
The platform upon which it was repre-
sented must have been backed against
the portal; for in the stage directions, the
Analogy of Religion, The, by Bishop
Joseph Butler, first appeared in 1736,
actor who takes the part of God is told
and has ever since been held in high
to return at once to the church, when-
esteem by orthodox Christians. The full
ever he leaves the stage. Some of the
title is (The Analogy of Religion, Nat-
are managed with considerable
ural and Revealed, to the Constitution
skill; and there is a good deal of clever
and Course of Nature. The argument,
character-drawing and vigorous dialogue.
which is orderly and concise, is briefly
The scene where the serpent tempts Eve
this: The author lays down three prem-
is especially noteworthy for its simplicity
ises, - the existence of God; the known
and animation.
course of nature; and the necessary limit-
A"
ations of our knowledge. These premises
braham, Studies on the Times of,
by Rev. H. G. Tomkins, with four-
enable him to take common ground with teen plates of ancient monuments and
scenes
## p. 295 (#331) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
295
cenus,
as
inscriptions. 1878. A valuable account by St. John of Damascus,- or Damas-
of the new light thrown by discoveries
he is sometimes called, -a
in Babylonia upon the far eastern world Syrian monk born about the end of the
of Abraham's time (about 2250 B. C. )- seventh century. The name of Barlaam
when the city of Ur was a great seat of and Josaphat appear in both the Greek
trade, and of worship of Sin the Moon- and Roman lists of saints. According
god, as the Father-god to whom the sun to the narrative of Damascenus, Josaphat
was a son and the evening star a daugh- was the son of a king of India brought up
ter; and of all the customs and ideas in magnificent seclusion, to the end that
familiar to Abraham before he went he might know nothing of human misery.
west » to Palestine. This is a book of Despite his father's care, the knowledge
special value for Bible study.
of sickness, poverty, and death cannot
be hidden from him: he is oppressed by
Acts of the Apostles, The (Actes des
the mystery of existence. A Christian
Apôtres'), a series of satirical pam-
hermit, Barlaam, finds his way to him
phlets directed against the French Rev-
at the risk of life, and succeeds in con-
olutionists, by Peltier, who was assisted
by several royalist writers. It is full of
verting him to Christianity. The prince
uses his influence to promote the new
witty attacks on the leaders of the Rev.
olution, and especially on the framers
faith among his people. When he has
of the constitution of '89, who are repre-
raised his kingdom to high prosperity,
he leaves it to spend the remainder of
sented as rope-dancers performing their
feats on
a very thin wire. It attacks
his days as a holy hermit.
Professor Max Müller traces a very
all new ideas, ridicules reforms of every
close connection between the legend of
kind, and boldly defends the principles
Barlaam and Josaphat, and the Indian
of the aristocracy. The work forms nine
legends of the Buddha as related in the
volumes.
Sanskrit of the Lalita Vistara. This con-
A postolic Fathers, The : Revised Texts, nection was first noticed, according to
with English Translations. By J. B. Professor Müller, by M. Laboulaye in the
Lightfoot. A collection of about twelve Journal des Débats (July 1859). A year
of the earliest Christian writings, directly later, Dr. Felix Liebrecht made an elab-
following those of the Apostles, made with orate treatment of the subject.
great care and learning by the ablest of The episodes and apologues of the ro-
recent English Biblical scholars. The mance furnished poetic material to Boc-
writings gathered into the volume repre- caccio, to Gower, to the compiler of the
sent those teachers of Christian doctrine (Gesta Romanorum,' and to Shakespeare;
who stand in the history nearest to the who is indebted to this source, through
New Testament writers, and the account Wynkyn de Worde's English translation,
of them given by Dr. Lightfoot is not for the casket incident in the Merchant
only the best for students, but it is of of Venice. ) The entire story is found in
great interest to the general reader. the (Speculum Historiale) of Vincent of
Beauvais, and in a briefer form in the
Apocryphal Gospels, and Other Docu-
(Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine.
ments relating to the History of
It has been translated into several Eu-
Christ. Translated from the originals
in Greek, Syriac, Latin, etc. , by B. H.
ropean tongues, «including Bohemian,
Polish, and Icelandic. A version in the
Cowper. A trustworthy, scholarly, and
last, executed by a Norwegian king, dates
complete collection of the writings, not
included in the New Testament, which
from 1204; in the East there were ver-
sions in Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and
sprang up in various quarters as attempts
Hebrew, at least; whilst a translation into
to recover the story of Christ. They form
a singular body of curious stories, mostly
the Tagala language of the Philippines
legendary fictions without historical value,
was printed at Manila in 1712. )
but very interesting and significant as
showing how legends could arise, what Arcadia, a pastoral romance, by Sir
Philip Sidney, was begun in 1580,
form they could take, and what ideas they
while he was in retirement at the seat
embodied.
of his brother-in-law, the Earl of Pem-
Barlaam and Josaphat, one of the broke; and published in 1590, four years
most popular of early mediæval ro- after his death. Composed with no thought
mances, is supposed to have been written of publication, but as an offering to a
## p. 296 (#332) ############################################
296
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a full account of the event or the man
for which the place is memorable.
The verse
consists of monotonous
Alexandrine couplets, seldom relieved
by any striking passages. Drayton ob-
viously takes great enjoyment in full-
sounding names of places and people,
and in references to classic authors.
There is, however, no inspiration in the
work. Even the patriotic admiration
for England, characteristic of the time,
does
not
amount to a passion with
him. Still, the whole poem is a patri-
otic attempt to glorify England in every
aspect.
>
beloved sister the Countess of Pembroke;
the Arcadia' bears the character of a work
intended for no harsher judgment than
that of love and intimacy. It seems to
have been written in a dreamy leisure,
filling the idle spaces of long summer
days, sheet after sheet passing from the
poet's hand without revision, sometimes
without completion. It is a pastoral of
the artificial order: Arcadia is in Greece;
its inhabitants are half-gods in mediæval
dress, knights and shepherds, princes and
helots; fair maidens who worship Christ
and Apollo and other people of the same
order, who never lived save in the fair
and bright imagination of a poet-soldier.
That the Arcadia) is formless and with-
out plot constitutes much of its charm.
In fairy-land there are no direct roads;
and no destinations, since it is all en-
chanted country.
There the shepherd-
boy pipes “as though he should never be
old,” in meadows (enamelled with all
sorts of eye-pleasing flowers”; there the
humble valleys » are comforted with
the «refreshing of silver rivers”); there,
there are pretty lambs” and “well-tuned
birds.
Such was the popularity of the Arca-
dia,' that, previous to the middle of the
seventeenth century, upwards of ten edi.
tions were published; a French translation
appeared in 1624. Its value is perpetual
not only as the work of a most noble and
gallant gentleman, but as the embodi-
ment of the sweetness and beauty of a
spirit forever ageless.
Polyolbion, by Michael Drayton. The
Polyolbion appeared first in 1613,
early in the reign of James I. It is a
poetical gazetteer of England, appar-
ently based on Camden's Britannia. It
contains about 100,000
verses, divided
into thirty books of uneven lengths.
Its enormous length has always kept it
from popularity, even among the read-
of the seventeenth century, who
had time and willingness to read long
books The account is based on a jour-
ney of the Muse, which takes her up
and down the various rivers of England;
and throughout, all the countries, mount-
ains, rivers, cities, towns, and fields are
described in full, as well as the birds
and beasts that inhabit them. At ap-
propriate points, such battle-fields,
landing-places of great men, homes of
poets, and graves of heroes, the Muse
pauses long enough to give the reader
1
a
a
Le eviathan, by Thomas Hobbes. In this
treatise, published in English in
1651, and in Latin in 1668, the author's
principles in psychology, ethics, and poli-
tics are developed with remarkable logi-
cal power. There is constantly within
us the image of things outside us; and
the representation of the qualities of
these entities is what we name “con-
cept, «imagination,” or “knowledge. ”
Sensation engenders all our thoughts,
and intelligence is only the faculty of
noting sensations. Our general ideas are
but conventional signs. Sensation, which
is the matter of the understanding, be-
comes also the motive force of the will.
It gives birth to pleasure and pain,
and consequently to appetite and aver-
sion. Appetite, applied to a particular
object, is called desire; to
a present
object, love. Beauty and ugliness are
names for the apparent and probable
signs of good and evil. Beauty, good-
ness, and pleasure, the same as ugliness,
evil, and pain, are but different names,
different modes of the same thing. En-
joyment being the sole object of the
appetites, and suffering that of the aver-
sions, every man is a limit, an obsta-
cle for every other man, and hence his
enemy. The state of nature, therefore,
can only be a state of war and an-
archy. Then Hobbes develops his the-
ory of absolutism, which forms the most
celebrated of his speculations. He con-
ceives anarchy not as an accident, a
transitory disorder, but as the normal
state of humanity. But men soon see
that it is their interest to issue from
a condition destructive of all security.
Hence the social contract, by which
each pledges himself to each and all
to sacrifice all of his natural right that is
necessary for peace. Thus society is
ers
as
## p. 297 (#333) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
297
man.
a work of pure convention, dictated by trivances for his comfort: how he builds
selfishness and fear. But society cannot him a habitation, procures food to sus-
be constituted except by an absolute tain life, and makes a raft by which
sovereign. This sovereign must neces- means he gets to the shipwrecked ves-
sarily have all power, legislative and ex- sel, and succeeds in getting many arti-
ecutive, judicial and spiritual; for any cles that are of use to him. An exciting
separation of powers would restore the incident in the story is when, after
state of nature, the state of war. Fi- eighteen years of solitude, he comes
nally, monarchy is the logical form of across the imprint of a human foot in
this sovereignty, which is absolute both the sand, and in consequence of this
in its objects and its attributes; for discovery is thrown into a state of ter-
monarchy is the farthest removed from ror and consternation. He lives for a
the primitive anarchy, and is the best long time in great suspense, as he finds
defense against the struggles and rival- evidence that the island is visited by
ries of the state of nature. Religion cannibals; but it is not until six years
is the offspring of the imagination and later that he encounters them. On this
of fear. Its phantoms may be the crea-
occasion one of their victims escapes,
tion of the individual imagination, and and Crusoe saves his life and keeps him
then it is called superstition, or of the for a servant and companion. He names
collective imagination, and then it is him Friday, and teaches him civilized
true religion and a means of peace and ways. He proves honest, devoted, and
government. Hobbes gave his work reliable, and shares Crusoe's life and
the odd title of Leviathan,' because he duties until, a few years later, they are
saw in political society an artificial body, rescued and taken from the island on
a sort of imaginary animal larger than an English ship. Crusoe eventually re-
The Leviathan is the artificial turns to England, where he marries and
man organized for the protection of the settles down to enjoy the wealth that
natural man. Hobbes's ethical theory he has accumulated during his strange
had an immense influence on the pro- adventures. The first volume ended at
gress of English speculation for over a this point, and met with such remark-
hundred years, but this influence arose able success that the author, four months
chiefly from the criticism and opposi- later, brought out a second volume en-
tion which it called forth. The prin- titled, “The Farther Adventures of Rob-
ciples of the Leviathan) were in the inson Crusoe); and this in turn
main adopted by Spinoza, and some of followed, one year later, by a third re-
his ideas have found favor with the lating his (Serious Reflections) during
philosophical radicals the present cen- his wanderings. The simplicity of style,
tury. His acute psychological analyses and the realistic atmosphere which per-
have been the subject of appreciative vades the narrative, have caused the
comment by James Mill and the As- popularity of this book to remain unim-
sociationist school. Hobbes's style is
paired.
remarkable for its clearness and vigor.
Baron Trenck, Life of, published 1787,
Rºbinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. is the autobiography of Baron Fried-
(1719. ) This world-famous tale of rich von Trenck, whose life was a succes-
atventure is supposed to have been sug-
sion of adventures scarcely less marvelous
gested by the real experience of Alex- than the romantic and highly colored ac-
ander Selkirk, who was shipwrecked and count he gives of them. He entered the
lived for years on a desert island. Rob-
Prussian service while still a mere boy,
inson Crusoe, a young Englishman, goes
and stood high in Frederic the Great's
to sea in his youth, is captured by the favor, until, through his love affair with
corsairs, is shipwrecked and washed the King's sister, he incurred the royal
ashore on an uninhabited island, for- displeasure, which caused his first impris-
merly supposed to have been in the onment, the beginning of no end of
Pacific, but recently satisfactorily identi-
misfortunes: loss of property, numerous
fied with Tabago in the Caribbean Sea. imprisonments and attempts at escape,
The narrative consists of a careful de- dangerous wounds, and perils of all kinds.
scription of his adventures and experi- These are all most graphically described
ences during the twenty-eight years of
in a manner that reminds one of Mun-
his exile. It tells of his ingenious con- chausen's marvelous tales. The anecdotes
was
a
## p. 298 (#334) ############################################
298
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
was
sove
Nero, by
at
interspersed give, whether true or false, The novelist, however, softens the his.
a vivid picture of the turbulent condition torian's verdict by bestowing in the last
of court life at the time of Frederic the scene a semblance of manhood and cour-
Great and Maria Theresa, under whom age upon the fallen Emperor. Nero is
Baron Trenck later served. His restless at bay, with the faithful Acte, Epaphro-
adventurous temperament led him to Paris, ditus, and Phaon by his side. To the
when the Revolution was in full swing; soldiers who come to arrest him he says:
he was there accused of being a secret
Announce to the Senate my supreme
emissary of foreign powers, and was be- contempt. I hold the knaves, who while
headed by Robespierre's order in July
I
vereign slavishly licked my
1794.
sandals, unworthy to crimson my brow
His cousin, Baron Franz von Trenck, with the flush of anger during the last
an equal hero and swashbuckler, has also moments of my life. Phaon, I thank
written an autobiography, which how- you. And you too, Epaphroditus. Guard
ever has not attainud the celebrity of my corpse.
Ask the new Cæsar not to
Baron Friedrich's wonderful mixture of forget that all human affairs are subject
fact and imagination.
to change, and that it does not beseem
the ruler of Rome to insult his con-
Ernst Eckstein. (1888. ) quered enemy in death. ”
Translated by Clara Bell and Mary
J. Safford. This historical romance calls Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent
up the Rome of ancient days, when the
, ,
imperial city was its greatest in Professor of Archæology in the University
power, magnificence, and brutality. The of Rome, and Director of Excavations for
principal characters in the story are the the National Government and the Munici-
well-known Emperor; his wife Octavia, pality of Rome: 1888. In his character of
the chaste and beautiful; the gentle, in- official investigator, Professor Lanciani has
fatuated Acte; the base and scheming grouped, in this volume, various illustra-
Agrippina, mother of Nero; Poppæa, the tions of the life of ancient Rome as shown
shameless, cruel, intriguing mistress; in its recovered antiquities, – columns,
Nicodemus, the fanatic; and the grasp- capitals, inscriptions, lamps, vases; busts
ing pagan, Tigellinus.
or ornaments in terra-cotta, marble, ala-
These characters are woven
into a
baster, or bronze; gems, intaglios, cameos,
complicated but fascinating plot, in bas-reliefs, pictures in mosaic, objects of
which vice and virtue, honor and crime, art in gold, silver, and bronze; coins, relics
Christianity and heathenism, are in per- in bone, glass, enamel, lead, ivory, iron,
petual conflict.
copper, and stucco: most of these newly
The author, while allowing himself the found treasures being genuine master-
usual license of the novelist for scope pieces. From these possessions he reads
and imagination, is generally faithful to the story of the wealth, taste, habits of
the history of the period. And while he life, ambitions, and ideals, of a vanished
has drawn many graphic pictures de- people. The book does not attempt to be
scriptive of that terrible age,- such as systematic or exhaustive, but it is better.
the popularly conceived brutal character It is full of a fine historic imagination, with
of the Emperor, the burning of Rome, great charm of language, and perennial
and the illumination by human torches richness of incident and anecdote which
of Nero's gardens,— his real purpose has make it not only delightful reading, but
been more to indicate the stages that the source of a wide new knowledge.
lead up to these fatal tragedies, than With the true spirit of the story-teller,
to portray the tragedies themselves. Professor Lanciani possesses an unusual
As the story opens the Emperor is in- knowledge of out-of-the-way literature
troduced as the royal youth, gentle in which enriches his power of comparison
nature, magnanimous in spirit, and giv- and illustration. "Pagan and Christian
ing every promise of a triumphant, noble Rome,' 1892, made up in part of magazine
reign. But as the plot unfolds, unfore- articles, and intentionally discursive, at-
seen traits come to the front, fostered tempts to measure in some degree the
by circumstances domestic and civic, till debt of Christian art, science, and ceremo-
almost every mark of the divine seems nial, to their Pagan predecessors. Ruins
obliterated from the man who would set and Excavations of Ancient Rome, a Com-
himself up as a god.
panion Book for Students and Travelers,
## p. 299 (#335) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
299
)
1897, is, on the other hand, a systematic less naive, less grotesque. ” Many quaint
treatise on modern discovery, supplied negro songs are given, and stories told
with maps, diagrams, tables, lists, and a in dialect. The diary displays great
bibliography The descriptions begin moderation
and good
taste,- merits
with the primitive palisades, and come never absent from Colonel Higginson's
down to the present time, treating pre- work; and had it no other merit, it
historic, republican, imperial, mediæval, would be delightful reading, from its
and modern Rome; and the book, though vivid description of Southern scenes and
more formal, is hardly less entertaining
its atmosphere of Southern life.
than its predecessors.
Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads,
An
nnals of a Fortress: By E. Viollet-
by Rudyard Kipling. This volume
le-Duc: translated by Benjamin is about evenly divided between poems
Bucknall, 1876. A work of highly prac- written in English and those written in
tical fiction, telling the story through suc-
cockney dialect. The first half is seri-
cessive ages of an ideal fortress, supposed ous; and most of its themes are found in
to have been situated at a point on a Hindoo legends and wild sea-tales. The
branch of the Saône River which is now
last half deals with the joys and woes of
of special importance in view of the
Tommy Atkins, and the various expe-
present eastern frontier of France.
The
riences of the British private, from the
story follows the successive ages of mili- «arf-made recruity) to the old pensioner
tary history from early times down to the
on a shilling a day.
No such vivid por-
present, and shows what changes were traiture of the common soldier, with his
made in the fortress to meet the changes dullness, his obedience, and his matter-
in successive times in the art of war. of-course heroism, has ever been drawn
The eminence of the author, both as an
by any other artist. The book contains,
architect and military engineer, enabled
among other favorites, Danny Deever,'
him to design plans for an ideal fortress,
(Fuzzy Wuzzy,' and The Road to Man-
and to give these in pictorial illustra-
dalay), besides the grim story of Tom-
tions. The work is as entertaining to linson, too ineffective either in virtue or
the reader as it is instructive to the stu-
sin to find place in heaven or hell.
dent of architecture, and the student of
war for whom it is especially designed.
Ballads, English and Scottish Popular,
by Francis J. Child. Ten Parts, or
Ari
rmy Life in a Black Regiment, by Five Volumes, Imperial Quarto. (1897. )
Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The A complete collection of all known Eng-
First South Carolina Volunteers was the lish and Scottish popular ballads; every
first slave regiment mustered into the sery- one entire and according to the best pro-
ice of the United States during the late curable text, including also every acces-
Civil War. It was viewed in the begin- sible independent version; and with an
ning more in the light of an experiment introduction to each, illustrated by par-
than as an actual factor in the war, and allels from every European language.
Colonel Higginson, who left a company In its recovery and permanent preserva-
of his own raising to take command, tells tion of songs which date far back of mod-
the story of this experiment in the form ern civilization,-songs which show the
of a diary, the first entry being dated thought and feeling of the child-life of
Camp Saxton, Beaufort, South Carolina, humanity, and the seed from which the
November 24th, 1862; the last, February | old epics sprang, the collection is of
29th, 1864. While the regiment did not the highest value to the student of prim-
engage in any great battles, it made many itive history. It is a storehouse of lan-
minor expeditions, was on picket duty, guage, of poetry, of fiction, and of folk-
engaged in constructing forts, etc. , all lore, so many times the richest ever
these duties being described in detail. made, so complete, learned, and accurate,
The diary is valuable, in the first place, as to occupy a final position.
It is a
for the account of camp life, its priva- monument of research, scholarship, and
tions and pleasures, work and recreation; laborious service to literature, -and of
secondly, for the description of the colored the essential unity of all races and peo-
man as a soldier, and the amusing ac- ples in their popular poetry, - to have
counts of his peculiarities before freedom raised which was the work of a noble
had made him “more like white men, life.
## p. 300 (#336) ############################################
300
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Balla
are
mono-
llades and Verses Vain, by Andrew tragedy are enumerated by the Count,
Lang. Mr. Lang's light and grace- Pompilia, Caponsacchi, the Pope, and
ful touch is well illustrated in this little others, each from his or her peculiar
volume, containing some of his prettiest point of view; and two opposing aspects
lyrics. He is fond of the old French of the case as seen from outside are of-
verse forms, and the sentiments which fered by “Half Rome ” and “The Other
belong to them. The gay verses
Half. ) Browning in conclusion touches
wholly gay; the serious ones are pervaded upon the intended lesson, and explains
with a pensive sadness — that of old mem- why he has chosen to present it in this
ories and legends. Mr. Lang's sober muse
artistic form. The lesson has been
is devoted to Scotland, and after that to already learned from the Pope's sad
old France and older Greece; but whether
thought:--
grave or gay, his exquisite workmanship
" — Our human speech is naught,
never fails him.
Our human testimony false, our fame
And human estimation words and wind. ”
The Ring and the Book, by Robert The Pope's soliloquy is a remarkable
Browning This dramatic
piece of work, and the chapters which
logue, the longest and best sustained of contain the statements of Pompilia and
Browning's poems, was published in four Caponsacchi are filled with tragic beauty
volumes in 1868–69, and is his great- and emotion. The thought, the im-
est constructive achievement. This poem agery, and the wisdom embodied in this
of twenty-one thousand lines contains story, make it a triumph of poetic and
ten versions of the same occurrence, be- philosophic creation.
sides the poet's prelude. It presents
from these diverse points of view the
A"
urora Leigh, a poem by Mrs. Eliza-
history of a tragedy which took place in beth Barrett Browning, which ap-
Rome one hundred and seventy years peared in 1857. She called it the most
before. Browning, one day in Florence, mature » of her works, the one in which
bought for eightpence an old book which «the highest convictions upon life and art
contained the records of a murder that are entered. ” It is in reality a novel in
of the olden time in Rome, with the blank verse. The principal characters are
pleadings and counter-pleadings, and the Aurora Leigh, who is supposed to write the
statements of the defendants and the story; Romney Leigh, her cousin ; Marian
witnesses; this Browning used as the raw Earle, the offspring of tramps; and a fash-
material for (The Ring and the Book,' ionable young widow, Lady Waldemar.
which appeared four years later. The The book discusses various theories for the
story follows the fate of the unfortu- regeneration of society. The chief theme
nate heroine, Pompilia, who has been is the final reconcilement of Aurora's
sold by her supposed mother to the ideals with Romney's practical plans for
elderly Count Guido, whose cruelty and the improvement of the masses. Bits of
violence cause her eventually to fly from scenery, hints of philosophy, and many of
him. This she does under the protection Mrs. Browning's own emotions and re-
of a young priest named Giuseppe Ca- flections regarding art, are interspersed
ponsacchi, whom she prevails upon to through the narrative. Aurora Leigh, the
convey her safely to her old home. She child of a cultivated and wealthy English-
is pursued by the Count, who overtakes man, is at his death sent from Tuscany
her and procures the arrest of the two to England, and put into the care of a
fugitives, accusing her and Caponsacchi | prim maiden aunt. She devotes herself
of having eloped. They are tried; and to study; refuses the hand of her rich
the court banishes Caponsacchi for three cousin Romney, who has become a
years, while Pompilia is relegated to a cialist; and goes to London to gain a live-
convent. Having at a later period been lihood by literary work. Romney Leigh
removed from there to her former home, wishes to afford society a moral lesson by
she is suddenly attacked by the Count a marriage with Marian Earle, a woman
and several hired assassins, who brutally of the slums, who becomes involved in a
murder her and her two parents; then tragedy which renders the marriage im-
follows the Count's trial and condemna- possible, when Romney retires to Leigh
tion for the murders, and (even in Italy) Hall. Through an accident he becomes
his final execution. The events of the blind, and these misfortunes reveal to
SO-
## p. 301 (#337) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
301
and the early dramatists, with all the
various types of versifiers who were
famous in that period. Mr. Courthope's
broad and generous spirit, his keenness
of analysis, his wide learning, and his
clearness of vision, make his work, so far
as it is completed, an ideal history of
poetry.
Guy of Warwick. This old metrical
so
romance
are
Aurora her love for him; and the poem
closes with a mutual exchange of vows
and aspirations. It is filled with pass-
ages of great beauty, and ethical utter-
ances of a lofty nature.
Poetry, History of English, by William
John Courthope. The work which
in their day both Pope and Gray con-
templated writing on the history of Eng-
lish poetry, and which Warton began but
never finished, has been taken up anew
but with a far different scope by the
professor of poetry at Oxford. His plan
embraces a history of the art of English
poetry - epic, dramatic, lyrical, and di-
dactic — from the time of Chaucer to
that of Scott, as well as an appreciation
of the motives by which each individual
poet seems to have been consciously in-
spired.
