her
numerous
cities, her fine lakes, as lustrious Orators, by Cicero.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 to v30 - Tur to Zor and Index
The in- tory, and from the beginning was read
terest of Cædmon's name and story justi- for the delight of the fancy. Students,
fies taking note of him, although little of even at that day, were indignant with
his genuine work now exists. His most its lack of veracity; and good Welshmen
striking production seems to have given scouted it as history. In that day works
Milton more than a suggestion for his of imagination were not recognized as
Satan. Mr. George Haven Putnam, in having a close connection with history.
his Books and their Makers,' speaking Yet this very chronicle is the source of
of the literary monks of England, says: one of the purest streams of English
(
## p. 362 (#398) ############################################
362
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
concerns
poetry,- that which flows from the story forthwith he fled. First he went to
of King Arthur.
Greece, where he delivered the Trojan
As finally arranged, the history is di- captives; and next he gained the Ar.
vided into twelve books. In the first, morican Isles, which he conquered, give
Brut, escaping from Troy, is made the ing them the name of Britain. Afterward
founder of New Troy, or London. In he made war upon the king of Poitou,
the next two books, various persons are founding the city of Tours, which he
invented to account for the names of named in honor of his son. From Poitou
English rivers and mountains and places. he returned to the Armorican Isles, over-
The fourth, fifth, and sixth books give coming the giants in possession of that
the history of the Romans and Saxons region, and once more naming it Britain.
in Britain; the seventh gives Merlin's He immediately founded the city of
prophecy; the eighth tells about Arthur's London, and reigned long and gloriously
father, Uther Pendragon; King Arthur there.
is the hero of the ninth and tenth; and The narrative now
itself
the last two give a list of the British with the descendants of Brutus. The
kings, and an account of Arthur's vic- adventures of Lear, of Belin, of Bren-
tory over Mordred.
nus who voyaged to Italy, of Cassivel-
In the twelfth century, Alfred of Bev- launus who so bravely resisted Cæsar,
erly made an abridgment of this history, of all the bellicose chiefs who opposed
but it was not until the eighteenth cen- the dominion of the Roman emperors,
tury that it was translated into English. are minutely related. But not until King
Geoffrey Gaimar made an early transla- Arthur is introduced do we meet the
tion into Anglo-Norman verse; and Wace real hero of the Roman de Brut. ) Arthur
or Eustace made a version in French performs prodigies of valor, is the ideal
verse which became very popular.
knight of his order of the Round Table,
Although there is probably much truth and finally departs for some unknown
mingled with the fiction in this chronicle, region, where it is implied he becomes
it is valued now chiefly for the influence immortal, and never desists from the
which it has had on literature.
performance of deeds of valor. In this
portion of the narrative figure the en-
Brut, Roman de. A poem in eight- chanter Merlin, bard to King Arthur;
syllable verse, composed by Robert the Holy Grail, or chalice in which
Wace, but indirectly modeled upon a were caught the last drops of the Savior's
legendary chronicle of Brittany entitled blood as he was taken from the cross;
(Brut y Brenhined? (Brutus of Brittany), Lancelot of the Lake, so styled from
which it seems was discovered in Ar-
the place in which he was trained to
morica by Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, arms; Tristan and his unhallowed love;
and translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Perceval and his quest of the Holy Grail.
Monmouth. This translation is declared These and other features of the Roman
to have been the source from which de Brut) made it unprecedentedly popu-
Wace drew his materials. He presented lar. It was publicly read at the court
his poem to Eleonore of Guyenne in 1155, of the Norman kings, that the young
and it was translated into Anglo-Saxon knights might be filled with emulation;
by Layamon.
while fair ladies recited it at the bed-
The Roman de Brut) relates that after side of wounded cavaliers, in order that
the capture of Troy by the Greeks, their pain might be assuaged.
Æneas came to Italy with his son As-
canius, and espoused Lavinia, daughter
Brut, The, a metrical chronicle of early
of King Latinus; she duly presented a British history, both fabulous and
son to him. This son, as well as Asca- authentic, and the chief monument of
nius, succeeded to the kingly power; Transitional Old English, first appeared
and the throne devolved at last upon not long after the year 1200. Its author
Silvius, son of Ascanius. Silvius fell in Layamon, the son of Leovenath, was a
love with a damsel who died upon giv- | priest, residing at Ernley on the banks
ing birth to Brutus, from whom the of the Severn in Worcestershire. His work
(Roman de Brut) takes its name. Brutus is the first MS. record of a poem written
was a mighty hunter. One day he had after the Conquest in the tongue of the
the misfortune to slay his father with a people. The Norman-French influences
misdirected arrow aimed at a stag, and had scarcely penetrated to the region
## p. 363 (#399) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
363
where he lived. On the other hand, the 1 Colin
olin Clout (or Colyn Cloute), by
inhabitants were in close proximity to John Skelton. This satire of the
the Welsh. The additions that Layamon early British poet (fl. 1460 ? -1529) was a
made to the Brut) show how deeply vigorous pre-Reformation protest against
the Arthurian legends had sunk into the the clergy's lack of learning and piety,
minds of the people.
disregard for the flock,-
The (Brut) is a translation, with many
" How they take no hede
additions, of the French (Brut d’Angle-
Theyre sely shepe to fede, » --
terre) of Wace, which in its turn is a
translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's and gross self-indulgence. It was writ-
(Historia Britonum. ' Layamon's version ten in from four to six syllable rhymes
begins thus:
and even double rhymes, whose liquid
« There was a priest in the land Who though brief measures served their eccen-
was named Layamon. He was son of tric author's purpose: a form since desig-
Leovenath,— May the Lord be gracious
nated as Skeltonical or Skeltonian verse.
to him! - He dwelt at Ernley, at a noble The poet employed various other verse
church Upon Severn's bank. Good it forms: often the easily flowing seven-line
seemed to him, Near Radstone, Where stanzas of his true parent in the poet's
he read book. It came to him in mind, art, Chaucer, dead less than a hundred
And in his chief thought, That he would years, with only the inferior Lydgate no-
of England Tell the noble deeds. What table between. Like Chaucer, he helped
the men were named, and whence they
to establish and make flexible the ver-
came, Who English land First had, After nacular English tongue. But though in
the flood That came from the Lord That holy orders, and sometime rector of the
destroyed all here That is found alive country parish of Diss, he was believed to
Except Noah and Sem Japhet and Cane wear his clerical habit rather loosely, like
And their four wives That were with the Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, Friar
them in the Ark. Layamon began the
Tuck, whose “Pax Vobiscums » had been
Journey Wide over this land, And pro- silent now for two generations. Under
cured the noble books Which he took for Henry VII. Skelton had been tutor to his
pattern. He took the English book that second son, Henry, who succeeded to the
Saint Bede made, Another he took, in throne; and though his satires, published
Latin, That Saint Albin made, And the in both reigns, often hit the sins and fol.
fair Austin Who brought baptism in hither; lies of the court, he was not seriously
the third book he took, Laid there in the molested by these monarchs. But in
midst, That a French clerk made, Who (Colin Clout) he sped more than one
was named Wace, Who well could write, clothyard shaft of wit at Wolsey; and at
and he gave it to the noble Eleanor that last in (Speke, Parrot,' and (Why Come
was Henry's Queen, the high King's. Ye Not to Court, so assailed the prelate's
Layamon laid down these books and arrogant abuse of power that he found
turned the leaves. He beheld them lov- it prudent to take sanctuary with Bishop
ingly. ”
Islip in Westminster Abbey: and there
The (Brut) contains, however, few
he died and was buried «in the chancel
traces of Bede's chronicle. It follows of the neighboring church of St. Marga-
Wace closely, but amplifies his work and ret's,” says Dyce. His most famous
adds to it. Some of the additions are poem gets its title from the rustic per-
concerned with the legendary Arthur. sonage supposed to be speaking through
Layamon's most poetical work is found
it: -
in them. The beautiful legends of the
"And if ye stand in doubte
great king seem to have appealed pow-
Who brought this ryme aboute,
erfully to his imagination and to his sym-
My name is Colyn Cloute. ”
pathies as a poet. He makes Arthur say The surname is clearly suited to the os-
in his dying speech:-
tensibly dull-witted clown of the satire;
“I will fare to Avalun, to the fairest and the Colin is modified from Colas,
of all maidens, to Argante the Queen, short for Nicolas or Nicholas, a typical
an elf most fair, and She shall make my proper name.
This dramatic cognomen
wounds all sound; make me all whole was copied by several poets of the fol.
with healing draughts. And afterwards lowing reign, Elizabeth's, - her favorite
I will come again to my kingdom, and Edmund Spenser using it to designate
dwell with the Britons with Mickle Joy. " himself in pastoral poems, and rendering
## p. 364 (#400) ############################################
364
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
en-
a
.
even
to
it once more famous as a poem-title in
(Colin Clout's Come Home Again. )
Caleb Williams, by William Godwin
(1794), a curious, rambling, half sen-
sational and half psychological story, met
with immediate popularity, and furnished
the suggestion of the well-known play
(The Iron Chest. ) Caleb, a sentimental
youth, who tells his own story, is the sec-
retary of a Mr. Falkland, a gentleman of
fortune, cold, proud, and an absolute re-
cluse. Caleb learns that his patron had
once been a favorite in society; his retir-
ing habits dating from his trial some years
earlier for the murder of one Tyrrel, a
man of bad character, who had publicly
insulted him. Falkland having been ac-
quitted, two laborers, men of excellent
reputation, both of whom had reason to
hate the knavish Tyrrel, have been
hanged on circumstantial evidence. Ca-
leb, a sort of religious Paul Pry, is
convinced that Falkland is the murderer,
and taxes him with the crime. Falkland
confesses it, but threatens Caleb with
death should he betray his suspicions.
The frightened secretary runs away in
the night; is seized, and charged with
the theft of Mr. Falkland's jewels, which
are found hidden among his belongings.
He escapes from jail only to fall among
thieves, is re-arrested, and makes a state-
ment to a magistrate of Falkland's guilt,
a statement which is not believed. The
trial comes on; Falkland declines to pros-
ecute, and the victim is set at liberty.
Falkland, whose one idea in life is to
keep his name unspotted, then offers to
forgive Caleb and assist him if he will
recant. When he refuses, his enemy has
him shadowed, and manages to hound
him out of every corner of refuge by
branding him as a thief. Caleb, driven
to bay, makes a formal accusation before
the judge of assizes and many witnesses.
Falkland, in despair, acknowledges his
guilt, and shortly after dies, leaving Caleb
— who, most curiously, has passionately
loved him all this time -- the victim of
an undying remorse.
Heredity: A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF
PHENOMENA, LAWS, CAUSES,
AND CONSEQUENCES, by Th. Ribot. (Eng-
lish edition, 1875. ) Heredity, as the fa-
mous French biologist defines it, is that
biological law by which all beings en-
dowed with life tend to repeat them-
selves in their descendants; that law
which is for the species what personal
identity is for the individual, and by
whose working Nature ever copies and
imitates herself. Many ages of thought-
ful observation and analysis have
wrought at the physical or physiological
basis and expression of this law. M.
Ribot's Heredity, like his Contempo-
rary English Psychology,' is an
deavor to explain its psychological side.
Passing from the familiar but interest-
ing subject of the heredity of the exter-
nal structure, which may insist on the
reappearance of a bent finger or
shortened ear-lobe in the fifth genera-
tion, he asserts that internal conforma-
tions are equally certain of reproduction
as are the tendencies to morbid condi-
tion of these internal organs. This he-
redity occurs also in the nervous system,
in the fluids of the organism, in per-
sonal characteristics, -as in the ten-
dency to long or short life, to fecundity,
to immunity from contagious diseases,
to motor energy, to loquacity or taciturn-
ity, to anomalies of organization, indi-
vidual habits,
accidental
variations. These physiological facts
being admitted, the argument goes on
to consider the nature and heredity of
Instinct, the heredity of the Senses, of
Memory, of the Imagination, of the In-
tellect, the Sentiments, the Passions, the
Will, of Natural Character, and of Mor-
bid Psychological Conditions.
A great
mass of undisputed facts and experi-
ences being collected, M. Ribot deduces
his Laws. Part Third contains a lumi-
nous exposition of the Causes of heredi-
tary psychic transmission, and Part
Fourth, the most interesting of all, a
statement of the Consequences, physio-
logical, moral, and social. In conclus-
ion, M. Ribot's psychological reasoning
coincides with the physical theory that
nothing once created ceases to be, but
merely undergoes transformation into
other forms. Hence, in the individual,
habit; in the species, heredity. What,
in one statement, is conservation of en-
ergy, is, in another, universal causality.
And as to the endless question of the
conflict between free will and fate, or
mechanism, he suggests that if we were
capable of occupying a higher stand-
point, we should see that what is given
to us from without as science, under
the form of mechanism, is given
from within as æsthetics or morals, un-
der the form of free will.
us
## p. 365 (#401) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
365
Econg
conomic Interpretation of History,
by J. E. Thorold Rogers. (1888. ) A
volume of Oxford lectures covering a wide
range of important topics, with the gen-
eral aim of showing how economic ques-
tions have come up in English history,
and have powerfully influenced its devel-
opment. The questions of labor, money,
protection, distribution of wealth, social
effect of religious movements, pauperism,
and taxation, are among those which are
carefully dealt with. In a posthumously
published volume. (The Industrial and
Commercial History of England, (1892,)
another series appeared, completing the
author's view both of the historical facts
and of method of study.
No more fascinating, stimulating, or
instructive volume than this upon a
vital subject hedged about with difficul-
ties, has been given to the world.
Bridgewater Treatises, The, were the
result of a singular contest in com-
pliance with the terms of the will of the
Earl of Bridgewater, who died in 1829.
He left £8000 to be paid to the author
of the best treatise on (The Power, Wis-
dom, and Goodness of God, as manifested
in the Creation. The judges decided to
divide the money among the authors of
the eight following treatises: — "The Ad-
aptation of External Nature to the Mora
and Intellectual Constitution of Man,' by
Dr. Thomas Chalmers, 1833; (Chemistry,
Meteorology, and the Function of Diges-
tion,' by William Prout, 1834; (History,
Habits, and Instincts of Animals,' by
William Kirby, 1835; Geology and Min-
eralogy,) by Dean (William) Buckland,
1836; (The Hand
as Evincing De-
sign,' by Sir Charles Bell, 1833 ; (The
Adaptation of External Nature to the
Physical Condition of Man,' by John
Kidd, M. D. , 1833; (Astronomy and Gen-
eral Physics, by William Whewell, 1833 ;
(Animal and Vegetable Physiology,' by
Peter Mark Roget, 1834. All these es-
says were published as Tracts for the
Times; and have had an enormous circu-
lation, and no small influence in the mod-
ification of modern thought.
Ca
Cambridge Described and Ilustrated :
allista: A SKETCH OF THE THIRD CEN-
TURY, by John Henry Newman. Car-
dinal Newman tells us that this is an at-
tempt to imagine, from a Catholic point
of view, the feelings and mutual relations
of Christians and heathen at the period
described. The first few chapters were
written in 1848, the rest not until 1855.
The events here related occur in Procon.
sular Africa; giving opportunity for de.
scription of the luxurious mode of life, the
customs and ceremonies, then and there
prevailing. Agellius, a Christian, loves
Callista, a beautiful Greek girl, who sings
like a Muse, dances like a Grace, and re-
cites like Minerva, besides being a rare
sculptor. Jucundus, uncle to Agellius,
hopes she may lead him from Christian-
ity; but she wishes to learn more con-
cerning that faith. Agellius, falling ill, is
nursed by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage,
who is in hiding. A plague of locusts
comes. Frenzied by their devastations
and the consequent famine, the mob rises
against the Christians. Agellius is sum-
moned to his uncle for safety. Callista,
going to his hut to warn him, meets
Cyprian, who gives her the Gospel of St.
Luke. While they discourse, the mob ap-
proaches, and they are captured. Cyprian
and Agellius, however, are helped to es-
cape. Callista studies St. Luke and em-
braces Christianity. She refuses to abjure
her religion, is put to death by torture, is
canonized, and still works miracles. Her
body is rescued by Agellius and given
Christian burial. Her death proves the
resurrection of the church at Sicca where
she died: the heathen said that her his-
tory affected them with constraining force.
Agellius becomes a bishop, and is likewise
martyred and sainted.
of Town
and University. By Thomas Dinham
Atkinson. With Introduction by John
Willis Clark. (1897. ) A very complete,
interesting, and richly illustrated account
of the English town and university, which
has been in some respects even
than Oxford a seat of literature, as well
as education, in England. To Ameri-
can readers especially, the work is of
importance because of the extent to which
Cambridge University graduates were
leaders in the planting of New England.
The story of the old town opens many
a picture of early English life and that
of the great group of famous colleges
which constitute the university; and sup-
plies chapters in the history of English
culture peculiarly rich in interest, from
the fact that Cambridge has so largely
stood for broad and progressive views,
while Oxford has until recently repre-
sented narrow conservatism.
more
## p. 366 (#402) ############################################
366
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Georgics, The, by Virgil
. This great this sublime picture, the fresh, idyllic
work, admittedly the masterpiece delineation of country life and the hap-
of didactic poetry, and considered by piness of rustic swains, if they only
many superior to the Æneid in style, knew, sua sic bona norint! then, at the
was begun, probably at the request of end of the third book, the splendid
Mæcenas, in 717, and completed in 724 games and the magnificent temple of
A. U. C. It is divided into four books. white marble he proposes to raise to
The first treats of agriculture; the sec- Augustus; the description of the pest
ond of trees; the third of the raising of that devastated the pasture-lands of Nori-
cattle; and the fourth of bees. Virgil cum, unrivaled for elegance and pathos ;
has utilized the writings of all the au- and the touching story of the love of
thorities on agriculture and kindred sub- Orpheus and Eurydice with which the
jects in the Greek and Roman world. poem concludes.
Thus, besides the Economica) of Xen-
ophon, the works of the Carthaginian CⓇ
æsar: A sketch, by James Anthony
Mago, translated by order of the Senate,
Froude. (1880. ) A life of the great
and those of Cato and Varro, he con-
soldier, consul, and dictator of Rome,-
sulted the Phenomena) of Aratos for
a general and statesman of unequaled
the signs of the weather, those of Eras-
abilities, and an orator second only to
Cicero. Mr. Froude calls his book a
tothenes for the celestial zones, the writ-
ings of Democritus for the revolution of
sketch only, because materials for a
the moon; and so admirably are all his
complete history do not exist. Cæsar's
materials used with his own poetic in-
career of distinction began in 74 B. C. ,
spiration, that precept and sentiment,
later than Cicero's, and ended March
imagination and reality, are merged in
15th, 44 B. C. , nearly two years before
one complete and harmonious unity. No
the death of Cicero. The fascinations
matter how exact or technical the nature
of style in Mr. Froude's brilliant picture
of the teaching, it is never dry. An
of Cæsar are not equally accompanied
image introduced with apparent careless-
with sober historical judgment. As in
ness vivifies the coldest formula: he tells
his other works, he exaggerates in draw-
the plowman he must break up the clods
ing the figure of his hero. He is to be
of his field and harrow it again and
listened to, not for a verdict but a plea.
again, and then at once shows him
Cæs
golden-haired Ceres, who looks down on
*æsars, The Lives of the First Twelve,
by Caius Suetonius, 130-135 A. D.
him from the Olympian heights with pro- A book of biographies of the Roman
pitious eyes. Besides mythology, which
emperors from Julius Cæsar to Domitian;
the poet uses with great reserve, he finds
and largely a book of anecdotes, mere
in geography resources that quicken the
personal facts, and, to no small extent,
reader's interest. Tmolus, India, the
scandal, much of which may have been
countries of the Sabæans and Chalybes, fiction. It throws hardly any light on
enable him to point out that every land, the society of the time, the character
by a secret eternal law, has its own par- and tendencies of the period; but gives
ticular products; and to predict to the
the twelve personal stories with a care
husbandman that, if he follow good
in regard to facts and a brevity which
counsels, a harvest as bounteous as that
makes every page interesting. The first
which arouses the pride of Mysia or six are much fuller than the last six.
Gargarus shall reward his toil. The epi- In none of them is there any attempt
sodes and descriptions scattered through
at historical judgment of the characters
the poem
are of surpassing beauty. whose picture is drawn. We get the
Among them may be mentioned: the
superficial view only, and to no small
death of Cæsar, with the prodigies that extent the view current in the gossip of
accompanied it, at the end of the first
the time. A fair English translation is
book; in the second, the praise of Italy, given in the Bohn Classical Library.
its climate and its flocks and herds; the
pride and greatness of Clitumnus, with Brutus; or, Dialogue concerning 11.
her numerous cities, her fine lakes, as lustrious Orators, by Cicero. The
broad and as terrible in their fury as work takes its title from Brutus, who was
seaswith her robust population and one of the persons engaged in the discus-
great men who gave to Rome the em- sion. The author begins by expressing
pire of the world; and, as a pendant to his sorrow for the death of Hortensius,
## p. 367 (#403) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
367
Cice
and the high esteem in which he held feudal Japan which is now passed away,
him as a speaker. Still he feels rather and illustrates the common ideas of the
inclined to congratulate him on dying people concerning pre-existence and re-
when he did, since he has thus escaped birth. ” Mr. Hearn's knowledge of, and
the calamities that ravage the republic. sympathy with, his subject seem inex-
Then he explains the occasion and the haustible.
object of this dialogue, which is a com-
plete history of Latin eloquence. He
Ecclesiastical Polity, The Laws of,
relates the origin of the art of oratory by Richard Hooker. (1593-97. ) A
among the Romans, its progress, and its learned and broadly rational treatise on
aspect at different epochs; enters into the principles of church government, the
an elaborate criticism of the orators that special aim of which was
to prove.
have successively appeared; and gives, against the Puritanism of the time, that
in an informal sort of way, rules for religious doctrines and institutions do not
those who seek to excel in the oratorical find their sole sanction in Scripture, but
art, and lays down the conditions without may be planned and supported by the
which success is impossible. The work is use of other sources of light and truth;
at once historical and didactic, and em. and that in fact the Scriptures do not
braces every variety of style: being at supply any definite form of church order,
one time simple and almost familiar, at the laws of which are obligatory. The
another almost sublime; but always pure, course of church matters under Queen
sweet, and elegant.
Elizabeth had so completely disregarded
the views and demands of the Puritans
icero, Marcus Tullius, The Life of.
By William Forsyth. (2 vols. , 1863. )
as to give occasion for a work represent-
ing other and wider views; and Hooker's
A chapter of personal history, and of
genius exactly fitted him to supply a
the story of classical culture, in the first
philosophical and logical basis to the
half of the last century before Christ, of
Elizabethan church system. Of the eight
great interest and value. It deals not
books now found in the work, only four
only with the orator and statesman, and
were published at first; then a fifth,
the public affairs in which he played so
longer by sixty pages than the whole of
great a part, but with Cicero as a man,
the first four, in 1597; and three after
a father, husband, friend, and gentle-
his death (November 2d, 1600), – the sixth
man, and with the culture of the time, of
which Cicero was so conspicuous a rep-
and eighth in 1648, and the seventh in
resentative. The picture serves particu-
1617. The admirable style of the work
has given it a high place in English lit-
larly to show along what lines moral and
erature; while its breadth of view, wealth
religious development had taken place
of thought, and abundant learning, have
before the time of Christ. Cicero's pub-
caused it to increase in favor with the
lic career covered the years 80-43 B. C. ,
advance of time.
and within these years fell the career
of Cæsar.
G"
reatest Thing in the World, The,
Gleanings in Buddha Fields, by Laf- by Henry Drummond, takes both
cadio Hearn, (1897,) the sub-title be- theme and title from 1 Cor. xiii. , wherein
ing (Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far (R. V. ) Love is declared to be the great-
East. ) Of its eleven chapters, two are
est of the three Christian graces.
travel sketches, describing trips to Kyoto The author treats Love as the supreme
and Osaka, with additions of much ver- good; and following St. Paul, contrasts
satile information. Japanese art and folk- it favorably with eloquence, prophecy,
song are treated with affectionate care, sacrifice, and martyrdom. Then follows.
while a discussion of certain phases of the analysis: «It is like light. Paul
Shintoism and Buddhism unfolds them passes this thing, Love, through the
from within, the chapter on Nirvana show- magnificent prism of his inspired intel-
ing deep reflection, and marvelous beauty lect, and it comes out on the other side
of phrase. The story of «The Rebirth of broken up into its elements. ”
Katsugoro) is of unusual value and inter- « The Spectrum of Love has nine in-
est as belonging to the native literature gredients: -
of Japan. A translation of a series of Patience – Love suffereth long. '
documents dating back to the early part Kindness - And is kind. "
of the nineteenth century, it reflects the Generosity -- 'Love envieth not. '
## p. 368 (#404) ############################################
368
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Humility – Love vaunteth not itself, a catastrophe which the author indicates
is not puffed up. '
but does not picture.
Courtesy – Doth not behave itself un-
ur Village, by Mary Russell Mitford,
Our
seemly.
Unselfishness — Seeketh not her own. '
was one of the first books written
which show the poetry of everyday life
Good Temper — 'Is not easily pro-
in the country; and Miss Mitford may
voked. )
fairly be called the founder of the school
Guilelessness — "Thinketh no evil. ”
of village literature. There is no cori-
Sincerity — Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
nected story, but the book contains a
but rejoiceth in the truth. )))
series of charming sketches of country
The author then declares that Love
scenes and country people. The chron-
comes by induction - by contact with
icler wanders through the lanes and
God; that it is an effect, — «we love be-
meadows with her white greyhound May.
cause He first loved us. )
flower, gossips about the trees, the flow-
The closing chapter dwells upon the
ers, and the sunsets, and describes the
lasting character of Love (1 Cor. xiii:
8), and asserts its absolute supremacy -
beauty of English scenery. The chap-
terson The First Primrose, Violeting,
“What religion is, what God is, who
The Copse, The Wood, The Dell, and
Christ is, and where Christ is, is Love. "
The Cowslip Ball, seem to breathe the
very atmosphere of spring; while others
Fair God, The, by Lew Wallace, 1873,
tell interesting stories about the people
passed through twenty editions in ten
and village life. In her walks, the saun-
years. It is a historical romance of the
terer is accompanied by Lizzy, the car.
conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, its
penter's daughter, a fascinating baby of
scene laid upon Aztec soil, in the early
three, who trudges by her side, and is a
part of the sixteenth century. The title
very entertaining companion. Descrip-
is derived from Quetzalcoatl, “the fair
tions of the country are dwelt on more
god, the Aztec deity of the air. De-
frequently than descriptions of the peo-
scriptions of the religion and national
ple, but there is a capital sketch of
customs are pleasantly interwoven with
Hannah Bint, — who showed great judg.
the plot. The Emperor Montezuma is
ment in setting up as a dairy-woman
drawn as a noble but vacillating prince,
when only twelve years old, — besides
whom the efforts of nobles and people
various short discourses on schoolboys,
alike fail to arouse to a determined op-
farmers, and the trades-people of the
position to the invading Cortez. At first
town. The scenes are laid in (shady
thinking that the Spaniards are gods, he
yet sunny Berkshire, where the scenery,
insists upon welcoming them as guests,
without rising into grandeur or breaking
ignoring the protests of his subjects, and
into wildness, is so peaceful, so cheerful,
even permitting himself to be craftily shut
so varied, and so thoroughly English. ”
up, a voluntary prisoner, in the quarters
The first series of sketches in Our Vil-
of the Spaniards. Guatamozin, nephew
lage) appeared in 1824.
and son-in-law to Montezuma, mighty in
arms as wise in counsel, organizes the Margaret Ogilvy, by J. Barrie.
,
M. .
This is Barrie's loving tribute (pub-
A fierce conflict rages for many days. lished in 1896) to the memory of his
Toward its close the melancholy Monte- fond mother, who, according to an old
zuma appears upon the prison wall. Be- Scotch custom, was called by her maiden
fore all the people Guatamozin sends a name, Margaret Ogilvy. “God sent her
shaft home to the breast of his monarch, into the world,” he says,
who lives long enough to intrust the em- the minds of all who looked to beau-
pire to his slayer, and also free him from tiful thoughts. ” Margaret was a great
blame for his death, explaining that the reader; she would read at odd
shaft had been aimed at his (Montezu- ments, and complete, the Decline and
ma's) own request.
The Aztec army Fall' in a single winter. It was her
now rallies, and the Spaniards yielding delight to learn scraps of Horace from
at length to starvation, disease, and su- her son, and then bring them into her
perior numbers, leave the empire. Too conversation with colleged men. ”
shattered to regain its former vigor, even Barrie, after leaving the university,
under the wise rule of Guatamozin, the enters journalism, and his proud mother
State gradually totters to its eventual fall, cherishes every scrap he has written.
(to open
mo-
## p. 369 (#405) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
369
These two people strike up a close com-
radeship, and Bernardine discovers un-
suspected depths of kindness and ten-
derness under the gruff exterior of the
Disagreeable Man. Her own nature is
insensibly softened and enriched by the
sight of the suffering around her. At
the end of the winter Bernardine's
health is re-established, and she returns
to the old second-hand book-shop where
she lives with her uncle. Robert Allit-
sen parts from her with scarcely a word;
but when she has gone, he pours out
in a beautiful letter all the love he feels
for her, and has fought so hard against.
The letter is never sent. Bernardine
confides to her old uncle her love for
this man.
In the meantime Mrs. Allit-
sen, his mother, has died; and shortly
after, Robert Allitsen appears in the
old book-shop. Bernardine requires him
to continue the sacrifice now for her
sake. That same day she is killed by
omnibus; and the Disagreeable
Man »
goes back to Petershof to live
out his lonely life. A sad picture is
given of the thoughtlessness of the care-
takers who accompany the invalids.
her
She laughs when she sees the title of
(An Auld Licht Community in a Lon-
don paper, and is eager to know if
her son receives pay for such an arti-
cle, being greatly amazed to learn that
this is the best remunerated of all his
writing.
“It's dreary, weary,
up-hill
work, but I've wrastled through with
tougher jobs in my time, and please
God, I'll wrastle through with this
one,” said a devout lady to whom some
one had presented one of Barrie's books.
He feared that his mother wrestled
with his writings in the same spirit.
Margaret was a great admirer of Car-
lyle, but her verdict of him was (1
would rather have been his mother
than his wife. » She always spoke of
<that Stevenson with a sneer, but could
not resist reading (Treasure Island and
his other books. Barrie asks, «What
is there about the man that so infatu-
ates the public ? » His mother's loyal
reply is, «He takes no hold of me; I
would hantle rather read your books. ”
Margaret is greatly pleased and very
proud to find herself so often depicted
in her son's books. She affects not
to recognize it, but would give herself
away unconsciously. She says, chuck-
ling, “He tries to keep me out, but he
canna; it's more than he can do. ))
At the ripe age of seventy-six, Mar-
garet Ogilvy peacefully passed away.
Her last words were “God” and “love );
and her son adds, «I think God was
smiling when he took her to him, as
he had so often smiled at her during
these seventy-six years. ”
»
an
But
ut Yet a Woman, by Arthur Sher-
burne Hardy, is a romance of real
life, its scene laid mainly in Paris during
the time of the Second Empire. Renée
Michael, a fair young girl destined to be
a religieuse, shares the home and adorns
the salon of her elderly bachelor uncle,
M. Michael. They enjoy the friendship
of M. Lande, and his son, Dr. Roger
Lande. The four, together with Father
Le Blanc, a kindly old cure, and Madame
Ships that Pass in the Night; by Stephanie Milevski, make up a congenial
. This little
at
story achieved notoriety when it was on Mt. St. Jean. Stephanie, the half-
published in 1894, largely on account of sister of her host, is the young widow of
its taking title. The scene is laid in a a Russian nobleman who has died in
Swiss winter-resort for consumptives. exile. She was associated with the emi-
Bernardine, a pathetic worn-out school- nent journalist M. De Marzac in the
teacher, of the new-woman type, who Bourbon restoration plot, and became the
has had hitherto little human interest, object of his ardent though unrequited
finds herself one of the 250 guests of love. Her affection is for Dr. Roger
the crowded Kurhaus at Petershof. Her Lande; but he loves Renée, and not in
neighbor at table is Robert Allitsen, vain. Stephanie induces M. Michael to
a man whom long illness and pain have allow her to take Renée on a journey to
rendered so brusque and selfish, that he Spain. Upon the eve of their departure,
goes by the name of the Disagreeable De Marzac, angered by Stephanie's con-
Man. ) He declares that he has no fur- tinued denial of his suit, accuses her of
ther duties towards mankind, having taking Renée to Spain in order to prevent
made the one great sacrifice, which is Roger from wooing her until the time
the prolonging, for his mother's sake, of set to begin her novitiate shall have ar-
a wearisome and hopeless existence. rived. The unraveling of this situation
XXX-24
## p. 370 (#406) ############################################
370
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
are
makes an excellent story. The book, girls rowing out of the sunset,-Althea
published in 1883, is written with charm- Indagine, and Cottle's younger daughter
ing delicacy of treatment, and conceived Cassie. Althea is the daughter of an
entirely in the French spirit.
unsuccessful and embittered poet, with
whom the girl leads a hermit life, seeing
Dialogues of the Dead, by George,
Lord Lyttelton. Lord Lyttelton is
no one but the Cottle family and an ad-
opted cousin, Oliver,- whom twenty years
a writer with whom only students of the
before, her uncle Dr. Luttrell had bought
English language and literature
likely to be familiar. In fact, his only
from his grandmother for £5, intending
to see how far education, kindness, and
claims to recognition as a littérateur rest
refined association could eradicate the
upon his (Observations on the Convers-
brutish tendencies in a gipsy child of
ion and Apostleship of St. Paul,' and
the Dialogues' here presented, which
the worst type. The boy, having become
first appeared in 1760. The conversation
an eminent chemist, displays when op-
of the Dialogues » shows how thoroughly portunity offers the worst characteristics
of his race. Lawrence falls in love with
versed the writer must have been in the
Althea; and Oliver Luttrell appears as
history of all times. The ruthless Cortez
his rival, having already, unknown to
sneers at the humanitarian efforts of
William Penn; Cardinal Ximenes haugh- friend Cassie. In the end Oliver is ex-
Althea, trified with the affections of her
tily pulls to pieces the reputation of his
posed as a forger, a discovery which
rival Wolsey; Boileau and Pope, the
deeply pains his foster-father.
Like a
satirists, hold a highly instructive conver-
fairy prince Lawrence comes to the as-
sation upon the merits of their respect-
sistance of all his relatives, revealing
ive literatures; and then comes Charles
himself at the most dramatic moment,
XII. of Sweden in hot haste to Alex-
ander the Great, with a proposition that
and shipping most of them to Australia,
where there is room for all.
The un-
they two “turn all these insolent scrib-
happy poet, too, decides to emigrate.
blers out of Elysium, and throw them
down headlong to the bottom of Tar-
tarus in spite of Pluto and all his A"
ntonina, by Wilkie Collins. A romance
of the fifth century, in which many
guards, because an English poet, one
of the scenes described in the Decline
Pope, has called us (two madmen. ) »
Alexander demurs at this Draconic meas-
and Fall of the Roman Empire) are re-
ure, and by a few leading questions, Only two historical personages are in-
set to suit the purpose of the author.
which he answers himself, soon shows
troduced into the story,- the Emperor
the royal Swede that he was only a
Honorius, and Alaric the Goth; and
fool. In connection with this work, it
these attain only a secondary importance.
is interesting to note the Dialogues des
Among the historical incidents used are
Morts,' by the French free-thinker Fonte-
the arrival of the Goths at the gates of
nelle, and the Imaginary Conversa-
Rome, the Famine, the last efforts of
tions,' by Walter Savage Landor. The
the besieged, the Treaty of Peace, the
first complete edition of Lord Lyttelton's
introduction of the Dragon of Brass, and
works was published in London in 1776.
the collection of the ransom, - most of
Bell of St. Paul's, The, by Walter
,
these accounts being founded on the chron-
Besant, is a romance covering in icles of Zosimus. The principal charac-
actual development only three months, but ters are Antonina, the Roman daughter
going back twenty years or more for a of Numarian; Hermanric, a Gothic chief-
beginning Lawrence Waller, a typical tain in love with Antonina; Goisvintha,
hero of romance, a young, handsome, rich sister to Hermanric: Vetranio, a Roman
Australian, comes to London and takes up poet; Ulpius, a pagan priest; Numarian,
his residence at Bank Side, in the house a Roman Christian, Father of Antonina
of Lucius Cottle. Although they are not and a fanatic; and Guillamillo, a priest.
aware of the fact, Cottle and his family This book does not show the intricacy of
are cousins to Lawrence's mother; whose plot and clever construction of the au-
husband, an unsuccessful London boat- thor's modern society stories; but it is
builder, having emigrated to Australia, full of action, vivid in color, and suffi-
has become after thirty years premier of ciently close to history to convey a dra-
that colony. On the night of his arrival matic sense of the Rome of Honorius and
the young Australian sees two lovely, the closing-in of the barbarians.
## p. 371 (#407) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
371
erous.
-
Baby's Grandmother, The, by L. B. essay, and is the name of the imaginary
Walford. The heroine of this pleas- village in which they were written:–«An
ant story, one of the most fascinating inland English village where everything
heroines of fiction, is Lady Matilda Wil-
around one is unhurried, quiet, moss-grown
mot, sister of the Earl of Overton. Mar- and orderly. On Dreamthorpe centuries
ried at seventeen, for reasons of policy, have fallen, and have left no more trace
to a bad husband, she comes back in her than last winter's snowflakes. Battles
widowhood to her early home, Overton have been fought, kings have died, history
Hall, to live with her two brothers: the has transacted itself, but all unheeding
elder the little, ugly, shy, kind-hearted and untouched, Dreamthorpe has watched
Earl; and the younger, the Hon. Edward apple-trees redden, and wheat ripen, and
Lessingham, a handsome, affectionate fel- smoked its pipe, and rejoiced over its new-
low, not quite as bright as other people, born children, and with proper solemnity
obstinate, headstrong, and very hard to carried its dead to the church-yard.
manage, yielding his whims to nobody «The library is a kind of Greenwich
but his beautiful sister. Lady Matilda Hospital for disabled novels and romances.
has one daughter, a girl as dull and con- Each of the books has been in the wars.
ventional, as puritanic and self-seeking, The heroes and heroines are of another
as her mother is arch, brilliant, and gen- generation. Lovers, warriors, and villains
This girl, Lotta, marries (out of as dead to the present generation as
the school-room) a young prig, Robert, Cambyses - are weeping, fighting, and in-
in every way suited to her. Thus Lady triguing. It is with a certain feeling of
Matilda, at thirty-seven,- beautiful and tenderness that I look upon these books:
blooming, full of gayety and fun, ready I think of the dead fingers that have
to help everybody, and rejoicing in her turned over the leaves, of the dead eyes
very existence,- finds herself a grand- that have traveled along the lines.
mother. Her son-in-law invites two «Here I can live as I please, here I can
young Londoners, Mr. Challoner and Mr. throw the reins on the neck of my whim.
Whewell, to stand godfather to the baby. Here I play with my own thoughts; here
They come down to the country, and I ripen for the grave. ”
both fall in love with Lady Matilda. Perhaps no better idea can be given of
The plot of this clever story is re. the rest of the essays than by these quota-
markably well managed, -trifling causes tions. Dreamthorpe-the village of dreams
producing large results, as they do in casts its spell over all of them. The love
life. But its great charm and merit lie of quiet, of old books, and reverence for
in its skillful delineation of character, the past, finds its place in them, and if
its artistic contrasts, and its delightful they be dreams, the reader does not care
and never-flagging sense of humor.
to be awakened.
The titles of the other essays are: (On
Am
nne, a novel, by Constance Fenimore
the Writing of Essays); (Of Death and
Woolson, appeared serially in 1882. the Fear of Dying); (William Dunbar);
It immediately took, and has since main- (A Lark's Flight); (Christmas); (Men of
tained, high rank among American novels. Letters); (On the Importance of Man to
The story traces the fortunes, often sad Himself); A Shelf in my Bookcase);
and always varied, of Anne Douglas, a (Geoffrey Chaucer); Books and Gardens);
young orphan of strong impulses, fine (On Vagabonds. '
character, and high devotion to duty.
The plot centres in Ward Heathcote's ar.
Don Orsino, by F. Marion Crawford.
terest of Cædmon's name and story justi- for the delight of the fancy. Students,
fies taking note of him, although little of even at that day, were indignant with
his genuine work now exists. His most its lack of veracity; and good Welshmen
striking production seems to have given scouted it as history. In that day works
Milton more than a suggestion for his of imagination were not recognized as
Satan. Mr. George Haven Putnam, in having a close connection with history.
his Books and their Makers,' speaking Yet this very chronicle is the source of
of the literary monks of England, says: one of the purest streams of English
(
## p. 362 (#398) ############################################
362
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
concerns
poetry,- that which flows from the story forthwith he fled. First he went to
of King Arthur.
Greece, where he delivered the Trojan
As finally arranged, the history is di- captives; and next he gained the Ar.
vided into twelve books. In the first, morican Isles, which he conquered, give
Brut, escaping from Troy, is made the ing them the name of Britain. Afterward
founder of New Troy, or London. In he made war upon the king of Poitou,
the next two books, various persons are founding the city of Tours, which he
invented to account for the names of named in honor of his son. From Poitou
English rivers and mountains and places. he returned to the Armorican Isles, over-
The fourth, fifth, and sixth books give coming the giants in possession of that
the history of the Romans and Saxons region, and once more naming it Britain.
in Britain; the seventh gives Merlin's He immediately founded the city of
prophecy; the eighth tells about Arthur's London, and reigned long and gloriously
father, Uther Pendragon; King Arthur there.
is the hero of the ninth and tenth; and The narrative now
itself
the last two give a list of the British with the descendants of Brutus. The
kings, and an account of Arthur's vic- adventures of Lear, of Belin, of Bren-
tory over Mordred.
nus who voyaged to Italy, of Cassivel-
In the twelfth century, Alfred of Bev- launus who so bravely resisted Cæsar,
erly made an abridgment of this history, of all the bellicose chiefs who opposed
but it was not until the eighteenth cen- the dominion of the Roman emperors,
tury that it was translated into English. are minutely related. But not until King
Geoffrey Gaimar made an early transla- Arthur is introduced do we meet the
tion into Anglo-Norman verse; and Wace real hero of the Roman de Brut. ) Arthur
or Eustace made a version in French performs prodigies of valor, is the ideal
verse which became very popular.
knight of his order of the Round Table,
Although there is probably much truth and finally departs for some unknown
mingled with the fiction in this chronicle, region, where it is implied he becomes
it is valued now chiefly for the influence immortal, and never desists from the
which it has had on literature.
performance of deeds of valor. In this
portion of the narrative figure the en-
Brut, Roman de. A poem in eight- chanter Merlin, bard to King Arthur;
syllable verse, composed by Robert the Holy Grail, or chalice in which
Wace, but indirectly modeled upon a were caught the last drops of the Savior's
legendary chronicle of Brittany entitled blood as he was taken from the cross;
(Brut y Brenhined? (Brutus of Brittany), Lancelot of the Lake, so styled from
which it seems was discovered in Ar-
the place in which he was trained to
morica by Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, arms; Tristan and his unhallowed love;
and translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Perceval and his quest of the Holy Grail.
Monmouth. This translation is declared These and other features of the Roman
to have been the source from which de Brut) made it unprecedentedly popu-
Wace drew his materials. He presented lar. It was publicly read at the court
his poem to Eleonore of Guyenne in 1155, of the Norman kings, that the young
and it was translated into Anglo-Saxon knights might be filled with emulation;
by Layamon.
while fair ladies recited it at the bed-
The Roman de Brut) relates that after side of wounded cavaliers, in order that
the capture of Troy by the Greeks, their pain might be assuaged.
Æneas came to Italy with his son As-
canius, and espoused Lavinia, daughter
Brut, The, a metrical chronicle of early
of King Latinus; she duly presented a British history, both fabulous and
son to him. This son, as well as Asca- authentic, and the chief monument of
nius, succeeded to the kingly power; Transitional Old English, first appeared
and the throne devolved at last upon not long after the year 1200. Its author
Silvius, son of Ascanius. Silvius fell in Layamon, the son of Leovenath, was a
love with a damsel who died upon giv- | priest, residing at Ernley on the banks
ing birth to Brutus, from whom the of the Severn in Worcestershire. His work
(Roman de Brut) takes its name. Brutus is the first MS. record of a poem written
was a mighty hunter. One day he had after the Conquest in the tongue of the
the misfortune to slay his father with a people. The Norman-French influences
misdirected arrow aimed at a stag, and had scarcely penetrated to the region
## p. 363 (#399) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
363
where he lived. On the other hand, the 1 Colin
olin Clout (or Colyn Cloute), by
inhabitants were in close proximity to John Skelton. This satire of the
the Welsh. The additions that Layamon early British poet (fl. 1460 ? -1529) was a
made to the Brut) show how deeply vigorous pre-Reformation protest against
the Arthurian legends had sunk into the the clergy's lack of learning and piety,
minds of the people.
disregard for the flock,-
The (Brut) is a translation, with many
" How they take no hede
additions, of the French (Brut d’Angle-
Theyre sely shepe to fede, » --
terre) of Wace, which in its turn is a
translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's and gross self-indulgence. It was writ-
(Historia Britonum. ' Layamon's version ten in from four to six syllable rhymes
begins thus:
and even double rhymes, whose liquid
« There was a priest in the land Who though brief measures served their eccen-
was named Layamon. He was son of tric author's purpose: a form since desig-
Leovenath,— May the Lord be gracious
nated as Skeltonical or Skeltonian verse.
to him! - He dwelt at Ernley, at a noble The poet employed various other verse
church Upon Severn's bank. Good it forms: often the easily flowing seven-line
seemed to him, Near Radstone, Where stanzas of his true parent in the poet's
he read book. It came to him in mind, art, Chaucer, dead less than a hundred
And in his chief thought, That he would years, with only the inferior Lydgate no-
of England Tell the noble deeds. What table between. Like Chaucer, he helped
the men were named, and whence they
to establish and make flexible the ver-
came, Who English land First had, After nacular English tongue. But though in
the flood That came from the Lord That holy orders, and sometime rector of the
destroyed all here That is found alive country parish of Diss, he was believed to
Except Noah and Sem Japhet and Cane wear his clerical habit rather loosely, like
And their four wives That were with the Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, Friar
them in the Ark. Layamon began the
Tuck, whose “Pax Vobiscums » had been
Journey Wide over this land, And pro- silent now for two generations. Under
cured the noble books Which he took for Henry VII. Skelton had been tutor to his
pattern. He took the English book that second son, Henry, who succeeded to the
Saint Bede made, Another he took, in throne; and though his satires, published
Latin, That Saint Albin made, And the in both reigns, often hit the sins and fol.
fair Austin Who brought baptism in hither; lies of the court, he was not seriously
the third book he took, Laid there in the molested by these monarchs. But in
midst, That a French clerk made, Who (Colin Clout) he sped more than one
was named Wace, Who well could write, clothyard shaft of wit at Wolsey; and at
and he gave it to the noble Eleanor that last in (Speke, Parrot,' and (Why Come
was Henry's Queen, the high King's. Ye Not to Court, so assailed the prelate's
Layamon laid down these books and arrogant abuse of power that he found
turned the leaves. He beheld them lov- it prudent to take sanctuary with Bishop
ingly. ”
Islip in Westminster Abbey: and there
The (Brut) contains, however, few
he died and was buried «in the chancel
traces of Bede's chronicle. It follows of the neighboring church of St. Marga-
Wace closely, but amplifies his work and ret's,” says Dyce. His most famous
adds to it. Some of the additions are poem gets its title from the rustic per-
concerned with the legendary Arthur. sonage supposed to be speaking through
Layamon's most poetical work is found
it: -
in them. The beautiful legends of the
"And if ye stand in doubte
great king seem to have appealed pow-
Who brought this ryme aboute,
erfully to his imagination and to his sym-
My name is Colyn Cloute. ”
pathies as a poet. He makes Arthur say The surname is clearly suited to the os-
in his dying speech:-
tensibly dull-witted clown of the satire;
“I will fare to Avalun, to the fairest and the Colin is modified from Colas,
of all maidens, to Argante the Queen, short for Nicolas or Nicholas, a typical
an elf most fair, and She shall make my proper name.
This dramatic cognomen
wounds all sound; make me all whole was copied by several poets of the fol.
with healing draughts. And afterwards lowing reign, Elizabeth's, - her favorite
I will come again to my kingdom, and Edmund Spenser using it to designate
dwell with the Britons with Mickle Joy. " himself in pastoral poems, and rendering
## p. 364 (#400) ############################################
364
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
en-
a
.
even
to
it once more famous as a poem-title in
(Colin Clout's Come Home Again. )
Caleb Williams, by William Godwin
(1794), a curious, rambling, half sen-
sational and half psychological story, met
with immediate popularity, and furnished
the suggestion of the well-known play
(The Iron Chest. ) Caleb, a sentimental
youth, who tells his own story, is the sec-
retary of a Mr. Falkland, a gentleman of
fortune, cold, proud, and an absolute re-
cluse. Caleb learns that his patron had
once been a favorite in society; his retir-
ing habits dating from his trial some years
earlier for the murder of one Tyrrel, a
man of bad character, who had publicly
insulted him. Falkland having been ac-
quitted, two laborers, men of excellent
reputation, both of whom had reason to
hate the knavish Tyrrel, have been
hanged on circumstantial evidence. Ca-
leb, a sort of religious Paul Pry, is
convinced that Falkland is the murderer,
and taxes him with the crime. Falkland
confesses it, but threatens Caleb with
death should he betray his suspicions.
The frightened secretary runs away in
the night; is seized, and charged with
the theft of Mr. Falkland's jewels, which
are found hidden among his belongings.
He escapes from jail only to fall among
thieves, is re-arrested, and makes a state-
ment to a magistrate of Falkland's guilt,
a statement which is not believed. The
trial comes on; Falkland declines to pros-
ecute, and the victim is set at liberty.
Falkland, whose one idea in life is to
keep his name unspotted, then offers to
forgive Caleb and assist him if he will
recant. When he refuses, his enemy has
him shadowed, and manages to hound
him out of every corner of refuge by
branding him as a thief. Caleb, driven
to bay, makes a formal accusation before
the judge of assizes and many witnesses.
Falkland, in despair, acknowledges his
guilt, and shortly after dies, leaving Caleb
— who, most curiously, has passionately
loved him all this time -- the victim of
an undying remorse.
Heredity: A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF
PHENOMENA, LAWS, CAUSES,
AND CONSEQUENCES, by Th. Ribot. (Eng-
lish edition, 1875. ) Heredity, as the fa-
mous French biologist defines it, is that
biological law by which all beings en-
dowed with life tend to repeat them-
selves in their descendants; that law
which is for the species what personal
identity is for the individual, and by
whose working Nature ever copies and
imitates herself. Many ages of thought-
ful observation and analysis have
wrought at the physical or physiological
basis and expression of this law. M.
Ribot's Heredity, like his Contempo-
rary English Psychology,' is an
deavor to explain its psychological side.
Passing from the familiar but interest-
ing subject of the heredity of the exter-
nal structure, which may insist on the
reappearance of a bent finger or
shortened ear-lobe in the fifth genera-
tion, he asserts that internal conforma-
tions are equally certain of reproduction
as are the tendencies to morbid condi-
tion of these internal organs. This he-
redity occurs also in the nervous system,
in the fluids of the organism, in per-
sonal characteristics, -as in the ten-
dency to long or short life, to fecundity,
to immunity from contagious diseases,
to motor energy, to loquacity or taciturn-
ity, to anomalies of organization, indi-
vidual habits,
accidental
variations. These physiological facts
being admitted, the argument goes on
to consider the nature and heredity of
Instinct, the heredity of the Senses, of
Memory, of the Imagination, of the In-
tellect, the Sentiments, the Passions, the
Will, of Natural Character, and of Mor-
bid Psychological Conditions.
A great
mass of undisputed facts and experi-
ences being collected, M. Ribot deduces
his Laws. Part Third contains a lumi-
nous exposition of the Causes of heredi-
tary psychic transmission, and Part
Fourth, the most interesting of all, a
statement of the Consequences, physio-
logical, moral, and social. In conclus-
ion, M. Ribot's psychological reasoning
coincides with the physical theory that
nothing once created ceases to be, but
merely undergoes transformation into
other forms. Hence, in the individual,
habit; in the species, heredity. What,
in one statement, is conservation of en-
ergy, is, in another, universal causality.
And as to the endless question of the
conflict between free will and fate, or
mechanism, he suggests that if we were
capable of occupying a higher stand-
point, we should see that what is given
to us from without as science, under
the form of mechanism, is given
from within as æsthetics or morals, un-
der the form of free will.
us
## p. 365 (#401) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
365
Econg
conomic Interpretation of History,
by J. E. Thorold Rogers. (1888. ) A
volume of Oxford lectures covering a wide
range of important topics, with the gen-
eral aim of showing how economic ques-
tions have come up in English history,
and have powerfully influenced its devel-
opment. The questions of labor, money,
protection, distribution of wealth, social
effect of religious movements, pauperism,
and taxation, are among those which are
carefully dealt with. In a posthumously
published volume. (The Industrial and
Commercial History of England, (1892,)
another series appeared, completing the
author's view both of the historical facts
and of method of study.
No more fascinating, stimulating, or
instructive volume than this upon a
vital subject hedged about with difficul-
ties, has been given to the world.
Bridgewater Treatises, The, were the
result of a singular contest in com-
pliance with the terms of the will of the
Earl of Bridgewater, who died in 1829.
He left £8000 to be paid to the author
of the best treatise on (The Power, Wis-
dom, and Goodness of God, as manifested
in the Creation. The judges decided to
divide the money among the authors of
the eight following treatises: — "The Ad-
aptation of External Nature to the Mora
and Intellectual Constitution of Man,' by
Dr. Thomas Chalmers, 1833; (Chemistry,
Meteorology, and the Function of Diges-
tion,' by William Prout, 1834; (History,
Habits, and Instincts of Animals,' by
William Kirby, 1835; Geology and Min-
eralogy,) by Dean (William) Buckland,
1836; (The Hand
as Evincing De-
sign,' by Sir Charles Bell, 1833 ; (The
Adaptation of External Nature to the
Physical Condition of Man,' by John
Kidd, M. D. , 1833; (Astronomy and Gen-
eral Physics, by William Whewell, 1833 ;
(Animal and Vegetable Physiology,' by
Peter Mark Roget, 1834. All these es-
says were published as Tracts for the
Times; and have had an enormous circu-
lation, and no small influence in the mod-
ification of modern thought.
Ca
Cambridge Described and Ilustrated :
allista: A SKETCH OF THE THIRD CEN-
TURY, by John Henry Newman. Car-
dinal Newman tells us that this is an at-
tempt to imagine, from a Catholic point
of view, the feelings and mutual relations
of Christians and heathen at the period
described. The first few chapters were
written in 1848, the rest not until 1855.
The events here related occur in Procon.
sular Africa; giving opportunity for de.
scription of the luxurious mode of life, the
customs and ceremonies, then and there
prevailing. Agellius, a Christian, loves
Callista, a beautiful Greek girl, who sings
like a Muse, dances like a Grace, and re-
cites like Minerva, besides being a rare
sculptor. Jucundus, uncle to Agellius,
hopes she may lead him from Christian-
ity; but she wishes to learn more con-
cerning that faith. Agellius, falling ill, is
nursed by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage,
who is in hiding. A plague of locusts
comes. Frenzied by their devastations
and the consequent famine, the mob rises
against the Christians. Agellius is sum-
moned to his uncle for safety. Callista,
going to his hut to warn him, meets
Cyprian, who gives her the Gospel of St.
Luke. While they discourse, the mob ap-
proaches, and they are captured. Cyprian
and Agellius, however, are helped to es-
cape. Callista studies St. Luke and em-
braces Christianity. She refuses to abjure
her religion, is put to death by torture, is
canonized, and still works miracles. Her
body is rescued by Agellius and given
Christian burial. Her death proves the
resurrection of the church at Sicca where
she died: the heathen said that her his-
tory affected them with constraining force.
Agellius becomes a bishop, and is likewise
martyred and sainted.
of Town
and University. By Thomas Dinham
Atkinson. With Introduction by John
Willis Clark. (1897. ) A very complete,
interesting, and richly illustrated account
of the English town and university, which
has been in some respects even
than Oxford a seat of literature, as well
as education, in England. To Ameri-
can readers especially, the work is of
importance because of the extent to which
Cambridge University graduates were
leaders in the planting of New England.
The story of the old town opens many
a picture of early English life and that
of the great group of famous colleges
which constitute the university; and sup-
plies chapters in the history of English
culture peculiarly rich in interest, from
the fact that Cambridge has so largely
stood for broad and progressive views,
while Oxford has until recently repre-
sented narrow conservatism.
more
## p. 366 (#402) ############################################
366
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Georgics, The, by Virgil
. This great this sublime picture, the fresh, idyllic
work, admittedly the masterpiece delineation of country life and the hap-
of didactic poetry, and considered by piness of rustic swains, if they only
many superior to the Æneid in style, knew, sua sic bona norint! then, at the
was begun, probably at the request of end of the third book, the splendid
Mæcenas, in 717, and completed in 724 games and the magnificent temple of
A. U. C. It is divided into four books. white marble he proposes to raise to
The first treats of agriculture; the sec- Augustus; the description of the pest
ond of trees; the third of the raising of that devastated the pasture-lands of Nori-
cattle; and the fourth of bees. Virgil cum, unrivaled for elegance and pathos ;
has utilized the writings of all the au- and the touching story of the love of
thorities on agriculture and kindred sub- Orpheus and Eurydice with which the
jects in the Greek and Roman world. poem concludes.
Thus, besides the Economica) of Xen-
ophon, the works of the Carthaginian CⓇ
æsar: A sketch, by James Anthony
Mago, translated by order of the Senate,
Froude. (1880. ) A life of the great
and those of Cato and Varro, he con-
soldier, consul, and dictator of Rome,-
sulted the Phenomena) of Aratos for
a general and statesman of unequaled
the signs of the weather, those of Eras-
abilities, and an orator second only to
Cicero. Mr. Froude calls his book a
tothenes for the celestial zones, the writ-
ings of Democritus for the revolution of
sketch only, because materials for a
the moon; and so admirably are all his
complete history do not exist. Cæsar's
materials used with his own poetic in-
career of distinction began in 74 B. C. ,
spiration, that precept and sentiment,
later than Cicero's, and ended March
imagination and reality, are merged in
15th, 44 B. C. , nearly two years before
one complete and harmonious unity. No
the death of Cicero. The fascinations
matter how exact or technical the nature
of style in Mr. Froude's brilliant picture
of the teaching, it is never dry. An
of Cæsar are not equally accompanied
image introduced with apparent careless-
with sober historical judgment. As in
ness vivifies the coldest formula: he tells
his other works, he exaggerates in draw-
the plowman he must break up the clods
ing the figure of his hero. He is to be
of his field and harrow it again and
listened to, not for a verdict but a plea.
again, and then at once shows him
Cæs
golden-haired Ceres, who looks down on
*æsars, The Lives of the First Twelve,
by Caius Suetonius, 130-135 A. D.
him from the Olympian heights with pro- A book of biographies of the Roman
pitious eyes. Besides mythology, which
emperors from Julius Cæsar to Domitian;
the poet uses with great reserve, he finds
and largely a book of anecdotes, mere
in geography resources that quicken the
personal facts, and, to no small extent,
reader's interest. Tmolus, India, the
scandal, much of which may have been
countries of the Sabæans and Chalybes, fiction. It throws hardly any light on
enable him to point out that every land, the society of the time, the character
by a secret eternal law, has its own par- and tendencies of the period; but gives
ticular products; and to predict to the
the twelve personal stories with a care
husbandman that, if he follow good
in regard to facts and a brevity which
counsels, a harvest as bounteous as that
makes every page interesting. The first
which arouses the pride of Mysia or six are much fuller than the last six.
Gargarus shall reward his toil. The epi- In none of them is there any attempt
sodes and descriptions scattered through
at historical judgment of the characters
the poem
are of surpassing beauty. whose picture is drawn. We get the
Among them may be mentioned: the
superficial view only, and to no small
death of Cæsar, with the prodigies that extent the view current in the gossip of
accompanied it, at the end of the first
the time. A fair English translation is
book; in the second, the praise of Italy, given in the Bohn Classical Library.
its climate and its flocks and herds; the
pride and greatness of Clitumnus, with Brutus; or, Dialogue concerning 11.
her numerous cities, her fine lakes, as lustrious Orators, by Cicero. The
broad and as terrible in their fury as work takes its title from Brutus, who was
seaswith her robust population and one of the persons engaged in the discus-
great men who gave to Rome the em- sion. The author begins by expressing
pire of the world; and, as a pendant to his sorrow for the death of Hortensius,
## p. 367 (#403) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
367
Cice
and the high esteem in which he held feudal Japan which is now passed away,
him as a speaker. Still he feels rather and illustrates the common ideas of the
inclined to congratulate him on dying people concerning pre-existence and re-
when he did, since he has thus escaped birth. ” Mr. Hearn's knowledge of, and
the calamities that ravage the republic. sympathy with, his subject seem inex-
Then he explains the occasion and the haustible.
object of this dialogue, which is a com-
plete history of Latin eloquence. He
Ecclesiastical Polity, The Laws of,
relates the origin of the art of oratory by Richard Hooker. (1593-97. ) A
among the Romans, its progress, and its learned and broadly rational treatise on
aspect at different epochs; enters into the principles of church government, the
an elaborate criticism of the orators that special aim of which was
to prove.
have successively appeared; and gives, against the Puritanism of the time, that
in an informal sort of way, rules for religious doctrines and institutions do not
those who seek to excel in the oratorical find their sole sanction in Scripture, but
art, and lays down the conditions without may be planned and supported by the
which success is impossible. The work is use of other sources of light and truth;
at once historical and didactic, and em. and that in fact the Scriptures do not
braces every variety of style: being at supply any definite form of church order,
one time simple and almost familiar, at the laws of which are obligatory. The
another almost sublime; but always pure, course of church matters under Queen
sweet, and elegant.
Elizabeth had so completely disregarded
the views and demands of the Puritans
icero, Marcus Tullius, The Life of.
By William Forsyth. (2 vols. , 1863. )
as to give occasion for a work represent-
ing other and wider views; and Hooker's
A chapter of personal history, and of
genius exactly fitted him to supply a
the story of classical culture, in the first
philosophical and logical basis to the
half of the last century before Christ, of
Elizabethan church system. Of the eight
great interest and value. It deals not
books now found in the work, only four
only with the orator and statesman, and
were published at first; then a fifth,
the public affairs in which he played so
longer by sixty pages than the whole of
great a part, but with Cicero as a man,
the first four, in 1597; and three after
a father, husband, friend, and gentle-
his death (November 2d, 1600), – the sixth
man, and with the culture of the time, of
which Cicero was so conspicuous a rep-
and eighth in 1648, and the seventh in
resentative. The picture serves particu-
1617. The admirable style of the work
has given it a high place in English lit-
larly to show along what lines moral and
erature; while its breadth of view, wealth
religious development had taken place
of thought, and abundant learning, have
before the time of Christ. Cicero's pub-
caused it to increase in favor with the
lic career covered the years 80-43 B. C. ,
advance of time.
and within these years fell the career
of Cæsar.
G"
reatest Thing in the World, The,
Gleanings in Buddha Fields, by Laf- by Henry Drummond, takes both
cadio Hearn, (1897,) the sub-title be- theme and title from 1 Cor. xiii. , wherein
ing (Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far (R. V. ) Love is declared to be the great-
East. ) Of its eleven chapters, two are
est of the three Christian graces.
travel sketches, describing trips to Kyoto The author treats Love as the supreme
and Osaka, with additions of much ver- good; and following St. Paul, contrasts
satile information. Japanese art and folk- it favorably with eloquence, prophecy,
song are treated with affectionate care, sacrifice, and martyrdom. Then follows.
while a discussion of certain phases of the analysis: «It is like light. Paul
Shintoism and Buddhism unfolds them passes this thing, Love, through the
from within, the chapter on Nirvana show- magnificent prism of his inspired intel-
ing deep reflection, and marvelous beauty lect, and it comes out on the other side
of phrase. The story of «The Rebirth of broken up into its elements. ”
Katsugoro) is of unusual value and inter- « The Spectrum of Love has nine in-
est as belonging to the native literature gredients: -
of Japan. A translation of a series of Patience – Love suffereth long. '
documents dating back to the early part Kindness - And is kind. "
of the nineteenth century, it reflects the Generosity -- 'Love envieth not. '
## p. 368 (#404) ############################################
368
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Humility – Love vaunteth not itself, a catastrophe which the author indicates
is not puffed up. '
but does not picture.
Courtesy – Doth not behave itself un-
ur Village, by Mary Russell Mitford,
Our
seemly.
Unselfishness — Seeketh not her own. '
was one of the first books written
which show the poetry of everyday life
Good Temper — 'Is not easily pro-
in the country; and Miss Mitford may
voked. )
fairly be called the founder of the school
Guilelessness — "Thinketh no evil. ”
of village literature. There is no cori-
Sincerity — Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
nected story, but the book contains a
but rejoiceth in the truth. )))
series of charming sketches of country
The author then declares that Love
scenes and country people. The chron-
comes by induction - by contact with
icler wanders through the lanes and
God; that it is an effect, — «we love be-
meadows with her white greyhound May.
cause He first loved us. )
flower, gossips about the trees, the flow-
The closing chapter dwells upon the
ers, and the sunsets, and describes the
lasting character of Love (1 Cor. xiii:
8), and asserts its absolute supremacy -
beauty of English scenery. The chap-
terson The First Primrose, Violeting,
“What religion is, what God is, who
The Copse, The Wood, The Dell, and
Christ is, and where Christ is, is Love. "
The Cowslip Ball, seem to breathe the
very atmosphere of spring; while others
Fair God, The, by Lew Wallace, 1873,
tell interesting stories about the people
passed through twenty editions in ten
and village life. In her walks, the saun-
years. It is a historical romance of the
terer is accompanied by Lizzy, the car.
conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, its
penter's daughter, a fascinating baby of
scene laid upon Aztec soil, in the early
three, who trudges by her side, and is a
part of the sixteenth century. The title
very entertaining companion. Descrip-
is derived from Quetzalcoatl, “the fair
tions of the country are dwelt on more
god, the Aztec deity of the air. De-
frequently than descriptions of the peo-
scriptions of the religion and national
ple, but there is a capital sketch of
customs are pleasantly interwoven with
Hannah Bint, — who showed great judg.
the plot. The Emperor Montezuma is
ment in setting up as a dairy-woman
drawn as a noble but vacillating prince,
when only twelve years old, — besides
whom the efforts of nobles and people
various short discourses on schoolboys,
alike fail to arouse to a determined op-
farmers, and the trades-people of the
position to the invading Cortez. At first
town. The scenes are laid in (shady
thinking that the Spaniards are gods, he
yet sunny Berkshire, where the scenery,
insists upon welcoming them as guests,
without rising into grandeur or breaking
ignoring the protests of his subjects, and
into wildness, is so peaceful, so cheerful,
even permitting himself to be craftily shut
so varied, and so thoroughly English. ”
up, a voluntary prisoner, in the quarters
The first series of sketches in Our Vil-
of the Spaniards. Guatamozin, nephew
lage) appeared in 1824.
and son-in-law to Montezuma, mighty in
arms as wise in counsel, organizes the Margaret Ogilvy, by J. Barrie.
,
M. .
This is Barrie's loving tribute (pub-
A fierce conflict rages for many days. lished in 1896) to the memory of his
Toward its close the melancholy Monte- fond mother, who, according to an old
zuma appears upon the prison wall. Be- Scotch custom, was called by her maiden
fore all the people Guatamozin sends a name, Margaret Ogilvy. “God sent her
shaft home to the breast of his monarch, into the world,” he says,
who lives long enough to intrust the em- the minds of all who looked to beau-
pire to his slayer, and also free him from tiful thoughts. ” Margaret was a great
blame for his death, explaining that the reader; she would read at odd
shaft had been aimed at his (Montezu- ments, and complete, the Decline and
ma's) own request.
The Aztec army Fall' in a single winter. It was her
now rallies, and the Spaniards yielding delight to learn scraps of Horace from
at length to starvation, disease, and su- her son, and then bring them into her
perior numbers, leave the empire. Too conversation with colleged men. ”
shattered to regain its former vigor, even Barrie, after leaving the university,
under the wise rule of Guatamozin, the enters journalism, and his proud mother
State gradually totters to its eventual fall, cherishes every scrap he has written.
(to open
mo-
## p. 369 (#405) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
369
These two people strike up a close com-
radeship, and Bernardine discovers un-
suspected depths of kindness and ten-
derness under the gruff exterior of the
Disagreeable Man. Her own nature is
insensibly softened and enriched by the
sight of the suffering around her. At
the end of the winter Bernardine's
health is re-established, and she returns
to the old second-hand book-shop where
she lives with her uncle. Robert Allit-
sen parts from her with scarcely a word;
but when she has gone, he pours out
in a beautiful letter all the love he feels
for her, and has fought so hard against.
The letter is never sent. Bernardine
confides to her old uncle her love for
this man.
In the meantime Mrs. Allit-
sen, his mother, has died; and shortly
after, Robert Allitsen appears in the
old book-shop. Bernardine requires him
to continue the sacrifice now for her
sake. That same day she is killed by
omnibus; and the Disagreeable
Man »
goes back to Petershof to live
out his lonely life. A sad picture is
given of the thoughtlessness of the care-
takers who accompany the invalids.
her
She laughs when she sees the title of
(An Auld Licht Community in a Lon-
don paper, and is eager to know if
her son receives pay for such an arti-
cle, being greatly amazed to learn that
this is the best remunerated of all his
writing.
“It's dreary, weary,
up-hill
work, but I've wrastled through with
tougher jobs in my time, and please
God, I'll wrastle through with this
one,” said a devout lady to whom some
one had presented one of Barrie's books.
He feared that his mother wrestled
with his writings in the same spirit.
Margaret was a great admirer of Car-
lyle, but her verdict of him was (1
would rather have been his mother
than his wife. » She always spoke of
<that Stevenson with a sneer, but could
not resist reading (Treasure Island and
his other books. Barrie asks, «What
is there about the man that so infatu-
ates the public ? » His mother's loyal
reply is, «He takes no hold of me; I
would hantle rather read your books. ”
Margaret is greatly pleased and very
proud to find herself so often depicted
in her son's books. She affects not
to recognize it, but would give herself
away unconsciously. She says, chuck-
ling, “He tries to keep me out, but he
canna; it's more than he can do. ))
At the ripe age of seventy-six, Mar-
garet Ogilvy peacefully passed away.
Her last words were “God” and “love );
and her son adds, «I think God was
smiling when he took her to him, as
he had so often smiled at her during
these seventy-six years. ”
»
an
But
ut Yet a Woman, by Arthur Sher-
burne Hardy, is a romance of real
life, its scene laid mainly in Paris during
the time of the Second Empire. Renée
Michael, a fair young girl destined to be
a religieuse, shares the home and adorns
the salon of her elderly bachelor uncle,
M. Michael. They enjoy the friendship
of M. Lande, and his son, Dr. Roger
Lande. The four, together with Father
Le Blanc, a kindly old cure, and Madame
Ships that Pass in the Night; by Stephanie Milevski, make up a congenial
. This little
at
story achieved notoriety when it was on Mt. St. Jean. Stephanie, the half-
published in 1894, largely on account of sister of her host, is the young widow of
its taking title. The scene is laid in a a Russian nobleman who has died in
Swiss winter-resort for consumptives. exile. She was associated with the emi-
Bernardine, a pathetic worn-out school- nent journalist M. De Marzac in the
teacher, of the new-woman type, who Bourbon restoration plot, and became the
has had hitherto little human interest, object of his ardent though unrequited
finds herself one of the 250 guests of love. Her affection is for Dr. Roger
the crowded Kurhaus at Petershof. Her Lande; but he loves Renée, and not in
neighbor at table is Robert Allitsen, vain. Stephanie induces M. Michael to
a man whom long illness and pain have allow her to take Renée on a journey to
rendered so brusque and selfish, that he Spain. Upon the eve of their departure,
goes by the name of the Disagreeable De Marzac, angered by Stephanie's con-
Man. ) He declares that he has no fur- tinued denial of his suit, accuses her of
ther duties towards mankind, having taking Renée to Spain in order to prevent
made the one great sacrifice, which is Roger from wooing her until the time
the prolonging, for his mother's sake, of set to begin her novitiate shall have ar-
a wearisome and hopeless existence. rived. The unraveling of this situation
XXX-24
## p. 370 (#406) ############################################
370
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
are
makes an excellent story. The book, girls rowing out of the sunset,-Althea
published in 1883, is written with charm- Indagine, and Cottle's younger daughter
ing delicacy of treatment, and conceived Cassie. Althea is the daughter of an
entirely in the French spirit.
unsuccessful and embittered poet, with
whom the girl leads a hermit life, seeing
Dialogues of the Dead, by George,
Lord Lyttelton. Lord Lyttelton is
no one but the Cottle family and an ad-
opted cousin, Oliver,- whom twenty years
a writer with whom only students of the
before, her uncle Dr. Luttrell had bought
English language and literature
likely to be familiar. In fact, his only
from his grandmother for £5, intending
to see how far education, kindness, and
claims to recognition as a littérateur rest
refined association could eradicate the
upon his (Observations on the Convers-
brutish tendencies in a gipsy child of
ion and Apostleship of St. Paul,' and
the Dialogues' here presented, which
the worst type. The boy, having become
first appeared in 1760. The conversation
an eminent chemist, displays when op-
of the Dialogues » shows how thoroughly portunity offers the worst characteristics
of his race. Lawrence falls in love with
versed the writer must have been in the
Althea; and Oliver Luttrell appears as
history of all times. The ruthless Cortez
his rival, having already, unknown to
sneers at the humanitarian efforts of
William Penn; Cardinal Ximenes haugh- friend Cassie. In the end Oliver is ex-
Althea, trified with the affections of her
tily pulls to pieces the reputation of his
posed as a forger, a discovery which
rival Wolsey; Boileau and Pope, the
deeply pains his foster-father.
Like a
satirists, hold a highly instructive conver-
fairy prince Lawrence comes to the as-
sation upon the merits of their respect-
sistance of all his relatives, revealing
ive literatures; and then comes Charles
himself at the most dramatic moment,
XII. of Sweden in hot haste to Alex-
ander the Great, with a proposition that
and shipping most of them to Australia,
where there is room for all.
The un-
they two “turn all these insolent scrib-
happy poet, too, decides to emigrate.
blers out of Elysium, and throw them
down headlong to the bottom of Tar-
tarus in spite of Pluto and all his A"
ntonina, by Wilkie Collins. A romance
of the fifth century, in which many
guards, because an English poet, one
of the scenes described in the Decline
Pope, has called us (two madmen. ) »
Alexander demurs at this Draconic meas-
and Fall of the Roman Empire) are re-
ure, and by a few leading questions, Only two historical personages are in-
set to suit the purpose of the author.
which he answers himself, soon shows
troduced into the story,- the Emperor
the royal Swede that he was only a
Honorius, and Alaric the Goth; and
fool. In connection with this work, it
these attain only a secondary importance.
is interesting to note the Dialogues des
Among the historical incidents used are
Morts,' by the French free-thinker Fonte-
the arrival of the Goths at the gates of
nelle, and the Imaginary Conversa-
Rome, the Famine, the last efforts of
tions,' by Walter Savage Landor. The
the besieged, the Treaty of Peace, the
first complete edition of Lord Lyttelton's
introduction of the Dragon of Brass, and
works was published in London in 1776.
the collection of the ransom, - most of
Bell of St. Paul's, The, by Walter
,
these accounts being founded on the chron-
Besant, is a romance covering in icles of Zosimus. The principal charac-
actual development only three months, but ters are Antonina, the Roman daughter
going back twenty years or more for a of Numarian; Hermanric, a Gothic chief-
beginning Lawrence Waller, a typical tain in love with Antonina; Goisvintha,
hero of romance, a young, handsome, rich sister to Hermanric: Vetranio, a Roman
Australian, comes to London and takes up poet; Ulpius, a pagan priest; Numarian,
his residence at Bank Side, in the house a Roman Christian, Father of Antonina
of Lucius Cottle. Although they are not and a fanatic; and Guillamillo, a priest.
aware of the fact, Cottle and his family This book does not show the intricacy of
are cousins to Lawrence's mother; whose plot and clever construction of the au-
husband, an unsuccessful London boat- thor's modern society stories; but it is
builder, having emigrated to Australia, full of action, vivid in color, and suffi-
has become after thirty years premier of ciently close to history to convey a dra-
that colony. On the night of his arrival matic sense of the Rome of Honorius and
the young Australian sees two lovely, the closing-in of the barbarians.
## p. 371 (#407) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
371
erous.
-
Baby's Grandmother, The, by L. B. essay, and is the name of the imaginary
Walford. The heroine of this pleas- village in which they were written:–«An
ant story, one of the most fascinating inland English village where everything
heroines of fiction, is Lady Matilda Wil-
around one is unhurried, quiet, moss-grown
mot, sister of the Earl of Overton. Mar- and orderly. On Dreamthorpe centuries
ried at seventeen, for reasons of policy, have fallen, and have left no more trace
to a bad husband, she comes back in her than last winter's snowflakes. Battles
widowhood to her early home, Overton have been fought, kings have died, history
Hall, to live with her two brothers: the has transacted itself, but all unheeding
elder the little, ugly, shy, kind-hearted and untouched, Dreamthorpe has watched
Earl; and the younger, the Hon. Edward apple-trees redden, and wheat ripen, and
Lessingham, a handsome, affectionate fel- smoked its pipe, and rejoiced over its new-
low, not quite as bright as other people, born children, and with proper solemnity
obstinate, headstrong, and very hard to carried its dead to the church-yard.
manage, yielding his whims to nobody «The library is a kind of Greenwich
but his beautiful sister. Lady Matilda Hospital for disabled novels and romances.
has one daughter, a girl as dull and con- Each of the books has been in the wars.
ventional, as puritanic and self-seeking, The heroes and heroines are of another
as her mother is arch, brilliant, and gen- generation. Lovers, warriors, and villains
This girl, Lotta, marries (out of as dead to the present generation as
the school-room) a young prig, Robert, Cambyses - are weeping, fighting, and in-
in every way suited to her. Thus Lady triguing. It is with a certain feeling of
Matilda, at thirty-seven,- beautiful and tenderness that I look upon these books:
blooming, full of gayety and fun, ready I think of the dead fingers that have
to help everybody, and rejoicing in her turned over the leaves, of the dead eyes
very existence,- finds herself a grand- that have traveled along the lines.
mother. Her son-in-law invites two «Here I can live as I please, here I can
young Londoners, Mr. Challoner and Mr. throw the reins on the neck of my whim.
Whewell, to stand godfather to the baby. Here I play with my own thoughts; here
They come down to the country, and I ripen for the grave. ”
both fall in love with Lady Matilda. Perhaps no better idea can be given of
The plot of this clever story is re. the rest of the essays than by these quota-
markably well managed, -trifling causes tions. Dreamthorpe-the village of dreams
producing large results, as they do in casts its spell over all of them. The love
life. But its great charm and merit lie of quiet, of old books, and reverence for
in its skillful delineation of character, the past, finds its place in them, and if
its artistic contrasts, and its delightful they be dreams, the reader does not care
and never-flagging sense of humor.
to be awakened.
The titles of the other essays are: (On
Am
nne, a novel, by Constance Fenimore
the Writing of Essays); (Of Death and
Woolson, appeared serially in 1882. the Fear of Dying); (William Dunbar);
It immediately took, and has since main- (A Lark's Flight); (Christmas); (Men of
tained, high rank among American novels. Letters); (On the Importance of Man to
The story traces the fortunes, often sad Himself); A Shelf in my Bookcase);
and always varied, of Anne Douglas, a (Geoffrey Chaucer); Books and Gardens);
young orphan of strong impulses, fine (On Vagabonds. '
character, and high devotion to duty.
The plot centres in Ward Heathcote's ar.
Don Orsino, by F. Marion Crawford.
