seeks to determine what poetry ries are usually anonymous at first, he
is; and Chapters iii.
is; and Chapters iii.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v30 - Guide to Systematic Readings
Start-
ing from an introduction on the causes
of freedom, especially its close connection
with civilization, the research deals with
the marked absence of freedom in Ori-
ental history, and then reviews the
or
as
men
as
on
,
## p. 351 (#387) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
351
ce
Fifteen
Decisive Battles of the World,
as
an
developments of popular power in Greece and by a remarkably opportune report,
and Rome, and the vicissitudes of pro- which had the fortune of being printed,
gress in the Dark Ages to the Revival that Vespucius came to the front in a way
of Learning It then traces the new to suggest to the editor and publisher of
progress the Italian republics, Switz- his report the use of the word "America »
erland, the Netherlands, France, and as a general New World name not includ-
England. The work shows careful studying Columbus's «West Indies. ” That in-
of the inner life of republics, ancient and clusion came later; and from first to last
modern; of the most memorable revo- Vespucius had no more to do with it than
lutions, and the greatest national strug- Columbus himself.
gles for civil and religious liberty; and
of the various degrees and conditions of
democracy, considered as the sovereignty by E. S. Creasy, describes and dis-
of the whole body of the people. The cusses (in the words of Hallam) «those
author regards popular power
few battles of which a contrary event
essential condition of the social advance- would have essentially varied the drama
ment of nations, and writes as an ardent of the world in all its subsequent scenes. ”
admirer of rational and enlightened po- The obvious and important agencies, and
litical liberty.
not incidents of remote and trifling con-
sequence, are brought out in the discus-
Dise
iscoveries of America to the year sion of the events which led up to each
1525, by Arthur James Weise, 1884. battle, the elements which determined its
A work of importance for its careful re- issue, and the results following the vic-
view and comparison of the various state- tories or defeats. The volume treats, in
ments of historical writers concerning the order: The Battle of Marathon, 413 B. C. ;
voyages of the persons whom they believed Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, 413
to have been the discoverers of certain B. C. ; The Battle of Arbela, 331 B. C. ;
parts of the coast of America between The Battle of the Metaurus, 207 B. C. ;
Baffin's Bay and Terra del Fuego. The Victory of Arminius over the Roman Le-
full statements are given, as well as a gions under Varus, A. D. 9; The Battle
judgment upon them. It appears,” says of Châlons, 451; The Battle of Tours,
Mr. Weise, “that Columbus was not the 732; The Battle of Hastings, 1066; Joan
discoverer of the continent, for it was seen of Arc's Victory over the English at
in 1497 not only by Giovanni Caboto [or Orleans, 1429; The Defeat of the Span-
John Cabot, his English name), but by ish Armada, 1588; The Battle of Blen-
the commander of the Spanish fleet with heim, 1704; The Battle of Pultowa, 1709;
whom Amerigo Vespucci sailed to the Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne
New World. ” The entire story of the dis- at Saratoga, 1777; The Battle of Valmy,
coveries of the continental coasts, north 1792; The Battle of Waterloo, 1815.
and south, apart from the islands to which The author concludes: “We have not
Columbus almost wholly confined his at- (and long may we want) the stern ex-
tention, is of very great interest. John citement of the struggles of war; and we
Cabot was first, about June 1497. Colum- see no captive standards of our European
bus saw continental coast land for the neighbors brought in triumph to our
first time fourteen months later, August shrines. But we witness an infinitely
1498. It was wholly in relation to conti-
prouder spectacle. We see the banners
nental lands that the names New World of every civilized nation waving over the
and America were originally given; and arena of our competition with each other
at the time it was not considered as dis- in the arts that minister to our race's
turbing in any way the claims of Colum- support and happiness, and not to its
bus, whose whole ambition was to have the suffering and destruction.
credit of having reached the isles of In-
a Peace hath her victories
dia beyond the Ganges ) - isles which
No less renowned than war. "
were still 7,000 miles distant, but which to
the last he claimed to have found. The
Charles XI! . History of, by Vol-
names «West Indies ) and Indians » (for taire. This history was published
native Americans) are monuments to Co- in 1731. It is divided into eight books,
lumbus, who did not at the time think of which the first sketches briefly the
it worth while to pay attention to the con- history of Sweden before the accession
tinents. It was by paying this attention, of Charles. The last seven deal with his
## p. 352 (#388) ############################################
352
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
power of
thoroughness with which he managed
his farm. Level-headed and practical,
Washington had organizing genius; and
it was that attribute, with his dauntless
integrity, which lifted him to command.
He had not the mental
any
one of his ministers. Yet he was the
best administrator of all. John Ad-
ams possessed the qualities of a brill-
iant lawyer, and the large forecast of a
statesman. At the same time he was
extremely impetuous, outspoken, and
high-tempered, and made many enemies.
Jefferson, like Washington, and unlike
Franklin and Adams, was a man of po-
sition and means; and was perhaps the
most cultivated man in America. With
these incitements to aristocratic views,
he was yet the truest democrat of them
all, and did more than any one of the
others to destroy the inherited class dis-
tinctions which were still so strong in
this nominally republican country for
years after the separation from England.
Mr. Parker follows the plan of consid-
ering the life and achievements of each
of his subjects, by periods, and then ex-
amines his mental and moral qualifica-
tions, his emotional impulses, and his
religion. This method, while it detracts
somewhat from the literary grace of the
essays, is admirably adapted to afford a
vivid and incisive presentment of char-
acter.
But apart
expedition into Poland, its consequences,
his invasion of Russia and pursuit of
Peter the Great, his defeat at Pultowa
and retreat into Turkey, his sojourn at
Bender and its results, his departure
thence, his return home, his death at
the siege of Frederickshall in Norway.
Intermingled with the narrative of bat-
tles, marches, and sieges, we have vivid
descriptions of the manners, customs, and
physical features of the countries in which
they took place. It resembles the (Com-
mentaries) of Cæsar in the absence of
idle details, declamation, and ornament.
There is no attempt to explain mutable
and contingent facts by constant under-
lying principles. Men act, and the narra-
tive accounts for their actions. Of course,
Voltaire is not an archivist with a docu-
ment ready at hand to witness for the
truth of every statement; and many of
his contemporaries treated his history as
little better than a romance.
from
inaccuracies, natural to a
writer dealing with events in distant
countries at the time, the History of
Charles XII. ' is a true history. Accord-
ing to Condorcet, it was based on mem-
oirs furnished Voltaire by witnesses of
the events he describes; and King Stan-
islas, the victim as well as the friend
and companion of Charles, declared that
every incident mentioned in the work
actually occurred. This book is consid-
ered the historical masterpiece of Voltaire.
Historic Americans, by Theodore Par-
ker (1878), contains four essays, on
Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Ad-
ams, essays originally delivered as lect-
ures, shortly before the author's death in
1860. They were written when the anti-
slavery agitation was at its height; and
the preacher's uncompromising opinions
on the evils of slavery decide their point
of view and influence their conclusions.
Yet in spite of the obsoleteness of that
issue, the vigorous style and wide knowl-
edge displayed in the papers insure
them a permanent interest. Franklin,
the tallow-chandler's son, is in the au-
thor's opinion incomparably the greatest
man America has produced. Inventor,
statesman, and philosopher, he had won-
derful imagination and vitality of intel-
lect, and true originality. In Washing-
ton, on the other hand, Mr. Parker sees
the steady-moving, imperturbable, unim-
aginative country gentleman, directing
the affairs of the nation with the same
some
Chara
haracteristics, by Anthony Ashley
Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. The
three volumes of Shaftesbury's (Charac-
teristics) appeared anonymously in 1713,
two years before the death of the author
at the age of forty-two. These, with a
volume of letters, and a certain preface
to a sermon, constitute the whole of his
published works. The Characteristics)
immediately attracted wide attention; and
in twenty years had passed through five
editions, at that time a large circulation
for a book of this kind. The first vol-
ume contains three rather desultory and
discursive essays: (A Letter concerning
Enthusiasm); (On Freedom of Wit and
Humor); Soliloquy; or, Advice to an
Author. ) The second volume, with its
(Inquiry con
oncerning Virtue and Merit,'
and the dialogue "The Moralists: A
Philosophical Rhapsody,' forms his most
valuable contribution to the science of
ethics. In the third volume he advances
various Miscellaneous Reflections, in-
cluding certain defenses of his philosopbi-
## p. 353 (#389) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
353
verse.
cal theories, together with some essays the fine power of apt distinction, with
on artistic and literary subjects.
the richness of rhetoric and the play of
From the first appearance of the Char- delicate humor, which those who heard
acteristics,' it was seen that its philo- Mr. Curtis remember, and those who
sophical theories were to have an import- know him only in his published works
ant part in the whole science of ethics. must recognize. To lovers of Emerson
De Mandeville in later years attacked and Hawthorne these chapters will long
him, Hutcheson defended him, and But- be a delight, written as they were while
ler and Berkeley discussed him, — not al- the companionship of which they spoke
ways with a perfect comprehension of was still warm and fresh in the author's
his system. Its leading ideas are of the memory.
relation of parts to a whole. As the Equally interesting and valuable as
beauty of an external object consists in contributions to the biography of Amer-
a certain proportion between its parts, ican letters are the chapters on Oliver
or a certain harmony of coloring, so the Wendell Holmes, Washington Irving,
beauty of a virtuous act lies in its rela- and Longfellow. Perhaps no one has
tion to the virtuous character as a whole. given us more intimately suggestive
Yet morality cannot be adequately stud- portrait-sketches of the personalities of
ied in the individual man. Man must these familiar authors than are given
be considered in his relation to our earth, in these collected essays. Particularly
and this again in its relation to the uni- interesting to American readers are the
occasional reminiscences of personal par-
The faculty which approves of right ticipation in scenes, grave or humorous,
and disapproves of wrong is by Shaftes- where the actors were all makers of his-
bury called the moral sense, and this is tory for New England. The book con-
perhaps the distinctive feature of his tains Mr. Curtis's brilliant essay on the
system. Between this sense and good famous actress Rachel, which appeared
taste in art he draws a strong analogy. in Putnam's Magazine, 1855; a delightful
In its recognition of a rational as well sketch of Thackeray in America, from
as an emotional element, Shaftesbury's the same source; and a hitherto unpub-
( moral sense ) is much like the "con- lished essay on Sir Philip Sidney, which
science » described later by Butler. While is instinct with the author's enthusiasm
the “moral sense » and the love and rev- for all that is strong and pure and truly
erence of God are, with Shaftesbury, the gentle.
proper sanctions of right conduct, a tone
of banter which he assumed toward re-
Constable, Archibald, and his Lit.
ligious questions, and his leaning toward erary Correspondents, by Thomas
Deism, drew on him more or less criti- Constable. (1873. ) The story of the
cism from the strongly orthodox. Ву great Edinburgh publishing-house which
his (Characteristics) Shaftesbury became established the Edinburgh Review; be-
the founder of what has been called the came the chief of Scott's publishers;
«benevolent system of ethics; in which issued, with valuable supplementary Dis-
subsequently Hutcheson closely followed sertations by Dugald Stewart, the fifth
him.
edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica);
initiated the publication of cheap popular
Literary and Social Essays, by George
volumes of literature, art, and science;
The nine essays
and by a bold liberality in payment of
which compose this volume were col- authors, with remarkable sagacity in
lected from several sources, and pub- judging what would succeed with the
lished in book form in 1895. Written
public, virtually transformed the business
with all the exquisite finish, the lucidity of publishing. An apprenticeship of six
and grace which characterized every years with Peter Hill, Burns's friend,
utterance of Mr. Curtis, these essays are enabled Constable to start as
a book-
like introduction into the actual seller, January 1795. He began by pub-
presence of the gifted men of our cen- lishing theological and political pam-
tury in whose splendid circle the author phlets for authors, but in 1798 made some
was himself at home. Emerson, Haw- ventures on his own account. In 1800
thorne, and the placid pastoral Concord he started the Farmer's Magazine as a
of their liomes, are the subjects of the quarterly. The next year he became pro-
first three chapters, and are treated with prietor of the Scots Magazine, and in
XXX--23
an
## p. 354 (#390) ############################################
354
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
as
as
October 1802, the first number of the yet rigid course, like a gigantic and
Edinburgh Review appeared. The gen- splendid piece of firework; his follies re-
erous scale of payment soon adopted, peating themselves, like his inability to
twenty-five guineas a sheet, - startled the follow success, and his careless abandon-
trade, and greatly contributed to make ment of one way after another that
Constable the foremost among publish- might have led to a better and happier
ers of his day. He began with Scott in fortune. His harvest was like a south-
1802, a part interest only, but secured en- ern harvest, over early while it was yet
tire interest in 1807 by paying Scott a but May; but he sowed no seed for a
thousand guineas in advance for Mar- second ingathering, nor was there any
mion, and the next year one thousand growth or richness left in the soon ex-
five hundred pounds for his edition of hausted soil. ” His plays are analytically
Swift's Life and Works. ) Differences and critically considered, a whole chap-
arising now separated Scott and Constable ter being given to "The School for
until 1813, but in 1814 (Waverley) ap- Scandal' and (The Critic. ) The book
peared with Constable's imprint. The is attractively written in six chapters,
financial breakdown of various parties in follows: "Youth,' First Dramatic
1826 not only overthrew Constable, but Works,' (The School for Scandal, (Pub-
involved Scott to the extent of £120,000. lic Life,' Middle Age, (Decadence. It
Constable died July 21, 1827.
is the story of the most brilliant man of
the most brilliant period of the eigh-
Sheridan, by Mrs. Oliphant, is a bi- teenth century,- a man, who, but for a
ography in the English Men of Let- certain residuum of conscience, might be
ters) series. This agreeable history called an astonishingly clever juggler;
begins by picturing Sheridan the who, while youth, health, and novelty
young man of genius, setting ordinary favored, kept the ball of prosperity flash-
regulations at defiance, taking up posi- | ing hither and yon through the air, only
tions untenable by every rule of reason, to see it fall and shiver to atoms when
yet carrying through his purposes by these attributes failed him. Yet the
the force of brilliant natural gifts; care- vices of Sheridan were those of his time
less of literary fame; set most on achiev- and his fellows; and his virtues, if not
ing power,- even if by unsound methods. too many, were always charming and
Earlier, there are indolent school days at lovable. Indeed, so sympathetic is Mrs.
Harrow; a romantic youthful marriage, Oliphant's story of him, that the reader
followed by extravagant London house- involuntarily recalls that kind judgment,
keeping; the triumphs of dramatic au- _('Tis said best men are molded out of
thorship; the proprietorship of Drury faults. "
Lane Theatre. «There are some men,”
the author says of this period of his life,
“who impress all around them with such by William Makepeace Thackeray,
a certainty of power and success, that appeared first in Punch, and was pub-
even managers dare, and publishers vol- lished in book form in 1848. The idea
unteer, in their favor.
Sheridan was of the work may have been suggested to
evidently one of these men. ” Then Thackeray when, as an undergraduate at
came amazing social success; a great Cambridge in 1829, he contributed to a
and growing reputation as a wit; the little weekly periodical called The Snob.
friendship of Fox and Burke; entry into In any case, the genus Snob could not
Parliament; two great orations at the long have escaped the satirical notice of
trial of Warren Hastings; home, busi- the author of Vanity Fair. ) He was in
ness, and public troubles; an unfortunate close contact with a social system that
friendship with the Prince of Wales; a was the very nursery of snobbishness.
second marriage; financial ruin in the In his delightful category, he omits no
burning of the Drury Lane Theatre; type of the English-bred Snob of the
the loss of a seat in Parliament; arrest; university, of the court, of the town, of
poverty; death, - these are the main feat- the country, of the Church; he even in-
ures of the history that is made to pass cludes himself, when on one occasion he
before us. The picture at the end is severed his friendship for a
man who
different: «Through all these contradic- ate peas with a knife,- an exhibition of
tions of character, Sheridan blazed and snobbery he repented of later, when
exploded from side to side in a reckless the offender had discovered the genteel
Book of Snobs, The, a series of sketches
## p. 355 (#391) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
355
Browning Elizabeth Barrett, Letters
uses of the fork. The half-careless, half- ment of the French Revolution in the
cynical humor of it all becomes serious in (Tale of Two Cities. Among the import-
the last paragraph of the last paper: – ant characters, many of whom are the
“I am sick of court circulars. I loathe authors of sayings now proverbial, are
haut-ton intelligence. I believe such Gabriel Varden, the cheerful and incor-
words as Fashionable, Exclusive, Aris- | ruptible old locksmith, father of the charm-
tocratic, and the like, to be wicked ing Airt Dolly Varden; Mrs. Varden, a
unchristian epithets that ought to be type of the narrow-minded zealot, de-
banished from honest vocabularies. A voted to the Protestant manual; Miss
court system that sends men of genius Miggs, their servant, mean, treacherous,
to the second table, I hold to be a Snob- and self-seeking; Sim Tappertit, an ap-
bish System. A society that sets up to prentice, an admirable portrait of the
be polite, and ignores Art and Letters, half-fool, half-knave, so often found in
I hold to be a Snobbish Society. You the English servile classes half a cen-
who despise your neighbor are a Snob; tury ago; Hugh the hostler and Dennis
you who forget your friends, meanly to the hangman; and Grip the raven, who
follow after those of a higher degree, are fills an important part in the story, and
a Snob; you who are ashamed of your for whom Di kens himself named a fa-
poverty and blush for your calling, are vorite raven.
a Snob; as are you who boast of your
pedigree or are proud of your wealth. ”
by
Barnaby Rudge was Dickens's fifth (2 vols. , 1897. ) This definitive presenta-
novel, and was published in 1841.
tion of Mrs. Browning's character and
The plot is extremely intricate. Barnaby career is a selection from a very large
is a poor half-witted lad, living in Lon- mass of letters collected by Mr. Brown-
don toward the close of the eighteenth ing, and now used with the consent of
century, with his mother and his raven R. Barrett Browning. It is made a
Grip. His father had been the steward chronicle, and practically a life, by the
of a country gentleman named Haredale, character of the letters and the addition
who was found murdered in his bed, of connecting links of narrative. The
while both his steward and his gardener letters give an unusually full and inter-
had disappeared. The body of the stew- esting revelation of Mrs. Browning's char-
ard, recognizable only by the clothes, is acter, and of the course of her life. The
presently found in a pond. Barnaby is absence of controversy, of personal ill-
born the day after the double murder. feeling of any kind, and of bitterness ex-
Affectionate and usually docile, credulous cept on certain political topics, is noted
and full of fantastic imaginings, a sim- by the editor as not the result of any
pleton but faithful, he grows up to be excision of passages, but as illustrating
liked and trusted. His mother having
Mrs. Browning's sweetness of tempera-
fled to London to escape a myst rious ment. The interest of the work as a chap-
blackmailer, he becomes involved in the ter of life and poetry in the nineteenth
famous "No Popery » riots of Lord George century is very great.
Gordon in 1780, and is within an ace of
perishing on the scaffold.
The black; Bronte, Charlotte, Life of, by Mrs.
mailer, Mr. Haredale the brother and Gaskell, was published in 1857, two
Emma the daughter of the murdered years after the death of the author of
man, Emma's lover Edward Chester, and Jane Eyre. It has taken rank as a
his father, are the chief figures of the classic in biographical literature, though
nominal plot; but the real interest is not without inaccuracies. Its charm and
not with them but with the side harac- enduring quality are the result of its ideal
ters and the episodes. Some of the most worth. It is a strong, human, intimate
whimsical and amusing of Dickens's record of a unique personality, all the
character-studies appear in the pages of more valuable because biased by friend-
the novel; while the whole episode of ship. A biography written by the heart
the gathering and march of the mob, as well as the head, it remains for that
and the storming of Newgate (quoted in
reason the most vital of all lives of Char-
the Library), is surpassed in dramatic lotte Bronté. A mere scrap-book of facts
intensity by no passage in modern fic- goes very little way toward explaining a
tion, unless it is by Dickens's own treat- genius of such intensity.
## p. 356 (#392) ############################################
356
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
1
Bronte, Charlotte, and her Circle, by Differences); and leaving behind for the
Clement K. Shorter, was published benefit of the new generation annals of
in 1896.
It is not a biography, but a a life so wonderful in its completed work,
new illumination of a rare personality, so harmonious in its domestic relations, so
through an exhaustive collection of let-
unassuming in its acceptance of worldly
ters written by, or relating to, the novel- distinctions, that the mere reading of
ist of Haworth. In the preface the editor it elevates and strengthens.
writes: “It is claimed for the following There are charming descriptions of
book of some five hundred pages that childhood days in the Scottish home of
the larger part of it is an addition of Burntisland; days of youth when she
entirely new material to the romantic arose after attending a ball to study at
story of the Brontés. " This material five in the morning; a delicate reticence
was furnished partly by the Rev. Arthur concerning the first short-lived marriage
Bell Nicholls, Charlotte's husband, and with her cousin Craig, succeeded by the
partly by her lifelong friend Miss Ellen truer union with another cousin, the
Nussey.
«Somerville » of whom she speaks with
The arrangement of the book is cal- much tenderness; domestic gains and
culated to assist the reader to a clearer losses, births and deaths; the begin-
understanding of Charlotte Bronté's life. nings, maturings, and successes of her
A chapter is given to each person or group work; trips to London and the Conti-
of persons in any way closely related to nent; visits to and from the great; the
her. Even the curates of Haworth are idyllic life in Italy, where she died and
not overlooked. Yet the editor's discrimi- is buried; loving records of home work
nation is justified in every instance by and home pleasures; sorrow's bravely met
letters relating directly to the person or and joys glorified, -all told with the un-
persons under consideration. The entire affectedness which was the keynote to
work is a most interesting and significant her amiable character. Little informa-
contribution to the ever-growing body of tion is given of the immense labor which
Bronté literature.
preceded her famous works. The woman
who, as Laplace said, was
the only
Personal Recollections of Mary Som- woman who could understand his work,
erville, with SELECTIONS FROM HER who was honored by nearly every scien-
CORRESPONDENCE, by her daughter Martha tific society in the world, whose mind
Somerville.
was akin to every famous mind of the
Never has the simplicity of true great- age, so withdraws her individuality to
ness been more clearly shown than in give place to others, that the reader is
the life of Mary Somerville, the life often inclined to forget that the modest
of a woman entirely devoted to family writer has other claims to notice than
duties and scientific pursuits; whose en- her intimate acquaintance with the great.
ergy and perseverance overcame almost And as in many social gatherings she
insuperable obstacles at a time when was overlooked from her modesty of
women were excluded from the higher demeanor; so in these Recollections,
branches of education by prejudice and pages of eulogy are devoted to the
tradition; whose bravery led her to achievements of those whose intellect
enter upon unknown paths, and to make was to hers as moonlight is to sun-
known to others what she acquired by light,” while her own successes are ig-
so courageous an undertaking. After a nored, except in the inserted letters of
slight introduction concerning her family those who awarded her her due meed
and birth, which took place December of praise, and in the frequent notes of
26th, 1780, the Recollections, begin in her faithful compiler.
early childhood and continue to the day
of her death. She lived to the ripe old Poetry, the Nature and Elements of,
age of ninety-two, preserving her clear- by Edmund Clarence Stedman. The
ness of intellect to the end; holding fast lectures contained in this volume, pub-
her faith in God, which no censure of lished in 1892, were delivered by the
bigot, smile of skeptic, or theory of sci- author during the previous year at Johns
ence could shake; adding to the world's Hopkins University, inaugurating the
store of knowledge to her final day,- her annual lectureship founded by Mrs.
last work being revision and com- Tu bull of Ba ore. M Stedman
pletion of a treatise on the Theory of treats of the quality and attributes
))
## p. 357 (#393) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
357
of poetry itself, of its source and effi- many other eminent philologists maintain,
cacy, and of the enduring laws to which Mr. Lang denies; declaring that the analy-
its true examples ever are conformed. ” sis of names, on which the whole edifice
Chapter i. treats of theories of poetry of philological comparative mythology)
from Aristotle to the present day; Chap- rests, is a foundation of sifting sand. Sto-
ter ii.
seeks to determine what poetry ries are usually anonymous at first, he
is; and Chapters iii. and iv. discuss, believes, names being added later, and
respectively, creation and self-expression adventures naturally grouping themselves
under the title of Melancholia. These around any famous personage, divine, he-
two chapters together (afford all the roic, or human. Thus what is called a
scope permitted in this scheme for a Greek myth or a Hindu legend may be
swift glance at the world's masterpieces. ” found current among a people who never
Having effected a synthetic relation be- heard of Greece or India. The story of
tween the subjective and the objective Jason, for example, is told in Samoa, Fin-
in poetry, the way becomes clear for an land, North America, Madagascar. Each
examination of the pure attributes of of the myths presented here is made to
this art, which form the themes of the serve a controversial purpose in so far as
next four chapters. Mr. Stedman avoids it supports the essayist's theory that ex-
much discussion of schools and fashions. planations of comparative mythology do
(There have been schools in all ages not explain. He believes that folk-lore
and centres,” he says, ' «but these figure contains the survivals of primitive ideas
most laboriously at intervals when the common to many peoples, as similar physi-
creative faculty seems inactive. » This cal and social conditions tend to breed
book constitutes a fitting complement to the same ideas. The hypothesis of a myth
Mr. Stedman's two masterly criticisms common to several races rests on the as-
on the (Victorian Poets) and the Poets sumption of a common intellectual condi-
of America. The abundance of finely tion among them. We may push back a
chosen illustrative extracts, and the pains god from Greece to Phænicia, from Phe-
taken by the author to expound every nicia to Accadia, but at the end of the end,
point in an elementary way, make the we reach a legend full of myths like those
volume not only delightful reading for which Bushmen tell by the camp fire, Es-
any person of literary tastes, but bring kimo in their dark huts, and Australians
into compact shape a fund of instruction in the shade of the “gunweh,) — myths
of permanent value. Mr. Stedman cheers cruel, puerile, obscure, like the fancies of
the reader by his hopeful view of the the savage myth-makers from which they
poetry of the future. "I believe," he sprang. The book shows on every page
declares, «that the best age of imagi- the wide reading, the brilliant faculty of
native production is not past; that po- generalization, and the delightful popu-
etry is to retain, as of old, its literary larity and the unfailing entertainingness
import, and from time to time prove of this literary «Universal Provider,)
itself a force in national life; that the who modestly says that these essays are
Concord optimist and poet was sane in (only Aint-like flakes from a neolithic
declaring that the arts, as we know workshop. ”
them, are but initial, that (sooner or
later that which is now life shall add
Art
rt of Poetry, The ("L'Art Poétique)),
a richer strain to the song. ) »
a didactic poem, by Boileau. The
work is divided into four cantos. In the
Custom and Myth, by Andrew Lang.
first, the author intermingles his precepts
(1886. ) This book of fifteen sketches, with an account of French versification
ranging in subject from the Method of since Villon, now taking up and now
Folk-lore and Star Myths to the Art of dropping the subject, with apparent care-
Savages, illustrates the author's concep- lessness but with real art. The second
tion of the inadequacy of the generally canto treats of the different classes of
accepted methods of comparative my- poetry, beginning with the least import-
thology. He does not believe that (myths ant: eclogue, elegy, ode, epigram, son-
are the result of a disease of language, as net, etc. The third deals with tragedy,
the pearl is the result of a disease of the comedy, and the epic. In the fourth,
oyster. ) The notion that proper names in Boileau returns to more general ques-
the old myths hol the key to their expla- tions H gives, not rules for writing
nation, as Max Müller, Kuhn, Breal, and verse, but precepts addressed to the poet:
## p. 358 (#394) ############################################
358
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
are
>
and points out the limits within which Little is known of Philip Stubbes.
he must move, if he wishes to become Thomas Nash makes a savage attack on
perfect in his art. Although his work is the (Anatomie) and its author, in a tract
recognized as one of the masterpieces of published in 1589. Stubbes himself throws
the age of Louis XIV. , Boileau has preju- some light upon his life, in his memorial
dices that have long been out of date. He account of his young wife, whose «right
ridicules the choice of modern or national | virtuous life and Christian death » are
subjects by a poet, and would have him circumstantially set forth. The editor be-
confine himself exclusively to the history lieves him to have been a gentleman-
or mythology of Greece and Rome. (either by birth, profession, or both”; to
nalysis of Beauty, The, an essay on
have written, from 1581 to 1610, pam-
certain artistic principles, by William phlets and books strongly on the Puritan
Hogarth, was published in 1753. In 1745 side; before 1583 to have spent (seven
he had painted the famous picture of
winters and more, traveling from place
himself and his pug-dog Trump, now in
to place, even all the land over indiffer-
the National Gallery. In a corner of this ently. ” It is supposed that in 1586 he
picture appeared a palette bearing a ser-
married a girl of fourteen. Her death
pentine line under which was inscribed:
occurred four years and a half afterwards,
«The Line of Beauty and Grace. ) This following not many weeks the birth of
inscription provoked so much inquiry and
a “goodly man childe. ) Stubbes's own
comment that Hogarth wrote «The Anal- death is supposed to have taken place
ysis of Beauty) in explanation of it. În not long after 1610.
the introduction he says: "I now offer
(The Anatomie of Abuses) was pub-
These are in the
to the public a short essay accompanied lished in two parts.
with two explanatory prints, in which I form of a dialogue between Spudens and
shall endeavor to show what the princi- wickedness of the people of Ailgna (Eng. .
Phil nus (Stubbes), concerning the
ples are in nature, by which we
directed to call the forms of some bodiesland). Part First deals with the abuses
beautiful, others ugly; some graceful and of Pride, of Men's and Women's Ap-
others the reverse. The first chapters
parel; of the vices of whoredom, gluttony,
of the book deal with Variety, Uniform- drunkenness, covetousness, usury, swear-
ity, Simplicity, Intricacy, Quantity, etc.
ing, Sabbath-breaking, stage-plays; of
Lines and the composition of lines are
the evils of the Lords of Misrule, of
then discussed, followed by chapters on
May-games, church-ales, wakes, feasts, of
Light and Shade, on Proportion, and on pestiferous dancing," of music, cards,
Action. The (Analysis of Beauty) sub-dice-tables, tennis, bowls, bear-baiting; of
jected Hogarth to extravagant praise cock-fighting, hawking, and hun ng, 01
from his friends and to ridicule from his
the Sabbath; of markets, fairs, and foot-
detractors. Unfortunately he had him-
ball playing, also on the Sabbath; and
self judged his work on the title-page, in finally of the reading of wicked books:
the words “written with a view of fixing the whole being followed by a chapter
the fluctuating ideas of taste. ” This am-
on the remedy for these evils.
bition it was not possible for Hogarth to
Part Second deals with corruptions in
realize. The essay contains, however,
the Temporalty and the Spiritualty. Un-
much that is pertinent and suggestive.
der temporal corruptions the author con-
siders abuses. in law, in education, in
Stubbes, was entered upon the Sta- in the relief of the poor, in husbandr
,
tioners' Register in 1582–83; republished and farming. He also considers abuses
by the New Shakspere Society in 1877- among doctors, chandlers, barbers, apoth-
79 under the editorship of Frederick I. ecaries, astronomers, astrologers, and prog-
Furnivall.
nosticators.
This most curious work — without the
Under matters spiritual the author sets
aid of which, in the opinion of the editor.
forth the Church's sins of omission rather
(no one can pretend to know Shaks-
than of commission; but he treats of
pere's England » — is an exposure of the
wrong preferment, of simony, and of the
abuses and corruptions existing in all evils of substitution.
classes of Elizabethan society. Written The entire work is most valuable, as
from the Puritan standpoint, it is yet not throwing vivid light upon the manners
over-prejudiced nor bigoted.
and customs of the time, especially in
>
## p. 359 (#395) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
cure
our
359
the matter of dress. An entire Eliza-
Demonology and Devil-Lore, by Mon-
bethan wardrobe of fashion might be
D. Conway, 1879. In this
reproduced from Stubbes's circumstantial scholarly history of a superstition, the
descriptions. Concerning hose he writes: author has set before himself the task of
« The Gally-hosen are made very large finding the reason of unreason, the be-
and wide, reaching downe to their knees ing and substance of unreality, the law
onely, with three or four guardes a peece of folly, and the logic of lunacy. » His
laid down along either hose. And the business is not alone to record certain
Venetian hosen, they reach beneath the dark vagaries of human intelligence, but
knee to the gartering place to the Leg, to explain them; to show them as the
where they are tyed finely with silk inevitable expression of a mental neces-
points, or some such like, and laied on sity, and as the index to some spiritual
also with reeves of lace, or gardes as the facts with large inclusions. He sees that
other before. And yet notwithstanding primitive man has always personified his
all this is not sufficient, except they be own thoughts in external personal forms;
made of silk, velvet, saten damask, and and that these personifications survive
other such precious things beside. ” as traditions long after a more educated
intelligence surrenders them as facts.
Anatomy of Melancholy, The, by Rob- He sets himself, therefore, to seek in
ert Burton, is a curious miscellany, these immature and grotesque imagin-
covering so wide a range of subjects as ings the soul of truth and reality that
to render classification impossible. This once inspired them. From anthropology,
torrent of erudition flows in channels sci- history, tradition, comparative mythol.
entifically exact. Melancholy is treated as ogy and philology; from every quarter
a malady, first in general, then in partic of the globe; from periods which trail off
ular. Its nature, seat, varieties, causes, into prehistoric time, and from periods
symptoms, and prognosis, are considered almost within own remembrance;
in an orderly manner, with a great num- from savage and from cultivated races;
ber of differentiations. Its cure is next from extinct peoples and those now ex-
examined, and the various means dis-isting; from learned sources and the tra-
cussed which may be adopted to accom- ditions of the unlearned, he has sought
plish this. Permissible means, forbidden his material, This vast accumulation of
means, moral means, and pharmaceutical facts he has so analyzed and synthesized
• means, are each analyzed. After dispos- as to make it yield its fine ore of truth
ing of the scholastic method, the author concerning spiritual progress. Related
descends from the general to the particu- beliefs he has grouped either in natural
lar, and treats of emotions and ideas mi- or historical association; migrations of
nutely, endeavoring to classify them. In beliefs he has followed, with a keen
early editions of the book, there appear
for their half-obliterated trail;
at the head of each part, synoptical and through diversities his trained eye dis-
analytical tables, with divisions and sub- covers likenesses. He finds that devils
divisions,— each subdivision in sections have always stood for the type of pure
and each section in subsections, after the malignity; while demons are creatures
manner of an important scientific treatise. driven by fate to prey upon mankind for
While the general framework is orderly, the satisfaction of their needs, but not
the author has filled in the details with of necessity malevolent. The demon is
most heterogeneous material. Every con- an inference from the physical experience
ceivable subject is made to illustrate his of mankind; the devil is a product of his
theme : quotations, brief and extended, moral consciousness. The dragon is a
from many authors; stories and oddities creature midway between the two,
from obscure sources; literary descriptions Through two volumes of difficulties Mr.
of passions and follies; recipes and ad- Conway picks his dexterous way, coura-
vices; experiences and biographies. A geous, ingenious, frank, full of knowl-
remarkably learned and laborious work, edge and instruction, and not less full of
representing thirty years of rambling read- entertainment. So that the reader who
ing in the Oxford University Library, follows him will find that he has studied
(The Anatomy of Melancholy' is read to- a profound chapter of human experience,
day only as a literary curiosity, even its and has acquired new standards for
use as a “cram ” being out of date with measuring the spiritual progress of the
its class of learning.
sense
race.
## p. 360 (#396) ############################################
360
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Burnet's History of the Reformation
Ecce Homo, by John Robert Seeley of it a work which could not be over-
(1865), was a consideration of the looked. Newman, Dean Stanley, Glad.
life of Christ as a human being. In the stone, and others high in authority,
preface the author writes:-
hastened to reply to it. The vitality of
<< Those who feel dissatisfied with the the work still remains.
current conception of Christ, if they can-
not rest content without a definite opin-
of the Church of England) (3 vols. ,
ion, may find it necessary to do what to
persons not so dissatisfied it seems au-
1679, 1681, 1714); and History of his
Own Time) (2 vols. , 1723, 1734), are Eng-
dacious and perilous to do. They may
lish standard books of high character and
be obliged to reconsider the whole subject
value. The second of these works is of
from the beginning, and placing them-
selves in imagination at the time when
great intrinsic worth, because without it
our knowledge of the times would be
he whom we call Christ bore no such
exceedingly imperfect. For the first the
name, to trace his biography from point
author was voted the thanks of both
to point, and accept those conclusions
houses of Parliament. Burnet was bishop
about him, not which church doctors, or
even apostles, have sealed with their au-
of Salisbury, 1689–1715; and in 1699 he
brought out an Exposition of the Thirty-
thority, but which the facts themselves,
nine Articles) which became a church
critically weighed, appear to warrant.
classic, in spite of high-church objection
This is what the present writer under-
to his broad and liberal views. He was
took to do. )
from early life a consistent representative
The result of this undertaking was
of broad-church principles, both in politics
a portrait of Christ as
a man, which,
whether accurate or not, is singularly
and divinity. His tastes were more secu-
lar than scholastic. Of bishops he alone
luminous and suggestive. The author
brought to his task scholarship, historical
in that age left a record of able and con-
scientious administration, and of lasting
acumen, above all the power to trace the
work of great importance. Although bit-
original diversities and irregularities in
terly attacked from more than one quarter
a surface long since worn smooth. He
on account of the History of His Own
takes into account the Zeitgeist of the
Time,' the best judgment to-day upon
age in which Christ lived; the thousand
this work is that nothing could be more
and one political and social forces by
admirable than his general candor, his
which he was surrounded; and the na-
tional inheritances that were his on his
accuracy as to facts, the fullness of his
information, and the justice of his judg-
human side, with special reference to his
ments both of those whom he vehemently
office of Messiah. Thereby he throws
opposed and of those whom he greatly
light upon a character (so little compre-
admired. The value of the work, says a
hended as a
He makes many
recent authority, as a candid narrative
astute observations, such as this on the
and an invaluable work of reference, has
source of the Jews' antagonism to Christ:
continually risen as investigations into
««They laid information against him be-
original materials have proceeded. The
fore the Roman government as a dan-
best edition of both the Histories is that
gerous character; their real complaint
of the Clarendon Press (1823–33: 1865).
against him was precisely this, that he
was not dangerous. Pilate executed him
Britain, Ecclesiastical History of,
on the ground that his kingdom was of by Bæda or Bede. A work doubly
this world; the Jews procured his execu- monumental (1) in the extent, faithful-
tion precisely because it was not. ness, care in statement, love of truth, and
other words, they could not forgive him pleasant style, of its report from all trust-
for claiming royalty, and at the same worthy sources of the history (not merely
time rejecting the use of physical force. ecclesiastical) of Britain, and especially
They did not object to the king, of England, down to the eighth century ;
they did not object to the philosopher; and (2) in its being the only authority for
but they objected to the king in tne garb important church and other origins and
of the philosopher. ” The Ecce Homo) developments through the whole period.
produced a great sensation in England Bæda was by far the most learned Eng-
and America. Its boldness, its scientific lishman of his time; one of the greatest
character, combined with its spirituality writers known to English literature; in a
and reverence for the life of Christ, made very high sense “the Father of English
man.
In
»
## p. 361 (#397) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
361
>
History); an extensive compiler for Eng- « The first of the Anglo-Saxon monks to
lish use from the writings of the Fathers be ranked as a poet appears to have been
of the Church; an author of treatises the cowherd Cædmon, a vassal of the
representing the existing knowledge of abbess Hilda and a monk of Whitby.
science; and a famous English translator Cædmon's songs were sung about 670.
of Scripture. In high qualities of genius He is reported to have put into verse the
and rare graces of character, he was in whole of Genesis and Exodus, and later,
the line of Shakespeare. From one of the life of Christ and the Acts of the
his young scholars, Cuthbert, we have a Apostles; but his work was not limited
singularly beautiful story of the vener- to the paraphrasing of the Scriptures. A
able master's death, which befell about thousand years before the time of Para-
735 A. D. , when he was putting the last dise Lost,' the Northumbrian monk sang
touches to his translation of the Fourth before the abbess Hilda (The Revolt of
Gospel. From his seventh year, 680, Satan. ) Fragments of this poem discov-
to the day of his death, May 26, 735, he ered by Archbishop Usher, and printed
passed his life in the Benedictine abbey, for the first time in 1655, have been pre-
first at Wearmouth and then at Jarrow; served, and have since that date been
but it was a life of immense scholarly frequently published. Cædmon died in
and educational activity. A recent au- 680 and Milton in 1674. ) A principal
thority calls him “the greatest name in interest of Cædmon's conception of Satan
the ancient literature of England”; and is the character for independence, liberty,
Green's History) says of him: «First rude energy, and violent passion, in which
among English scholars, first among he represents not an infernal, but an
English theologians, first among English Anglo-Saxon ideal. It was largely from
historians, it is in the monk of Jarrow following Cædmon that Milton made his
that English literature strikes its roots. Satan not only so lofty a figure, but one
In the six hundred scholars who gath- of so great interest that we hardly re-
ered round him for instruction, he is the member his supposed nature.
father of our national education. It was
in point of view and name only that Historia, Britonim, by: Geoffreypf
was
. The History the
history. It covered all the facts drawn Britons, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Bishop
from Roman writers, from native chron. of St. Asaph, is a translation from the
icles and biographies, from records and Cymric into Latin, made about the mid-
public documents, and from oral and dle of the twelfth century. Before this,
written accounts by his contemporaries. Geoffrey, who was known as a learned
It was written in Latin; first printed at man, had translated the prophecies of
Strasburg about 1473; King Alfred trans- Merlin; and the story is that he was
lated it into Anglo-Saxon; and it has asked to translate the Historia Britonum,'
had several editions and English vers- by Walter Map (or Calenius), who had
ions in recent times. The whole body come upon the manuscript in Brittany.
of Bæda's writings, some forty in number, There is no known manuscript of the
show his unwearied industry in learn- original in existence, and we cannot now
ing, teaching, and writing, his gentle and decide to what extent Geoffrey may have
cultivated feelings, his kindly sympathies, interpolated material of his own. The
and the singular freshness of mind which question is still a mooted one with schol-
gave life and beauty to so many pages of ars; though no one now, as in former
his story of England's past.
times, professes to believe that the work
is a true record of events.
Cædmon, The Revolt of Satan,' and The Historia Britonum occupies the
other writings, of which only some border ground between poetry and his-
fragments have been preserved. 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.
ing from an introduction on the causes
of freedom, especially its close connection
with civilization, the research deals with
the marked absence of freedom in Ori-
ental history, and then reviews the
or
as
men
as
on
,
## p. 351 (#387) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
351
ce
Fifteen
Decisive Battles of the World,
as
an
developments of popular power in Greece and by a remarkably opportune report,
and Rome, and the vicissitudes of pro- which had the fortune of being printed,
gress in the Dark Ages to the Revival that Vespucius came to the front in a way
of Learning It then traces the new to suggest to the editor and publisher of
progress the Italian republics, Switz- his report the use of the word "America »
erland, the Netherlands, France, and as a general New World name not includ-
England. The work shows careful studying Columbus's «West Indies. ” That in-
of the inner life of republics, ancient and clusion came later; and from first to last
modern; of the most memorable revo- Vespucius had no more to do with it than
lutions, and the greatest national strug- Columbus himself.
gles for civil and religious liberty; and
of the various degrees and conditions of
democracy, considered as the sovereignty by E. S. Creasy, describes and dis-
of the whole body of the people. The cusses (in the words of Hallam) «those
author regards popular power
few battles of which a contrary event
essential condition of the social advance- would have essentially varied the drama
ment of nations, and writes as an ardent of the world in all its subsequent scenes. ”
admirer of rational and enlightened po- The obvious and important agencies, and
litical liberty.
not incidents of remote and trifling con-
sequence, are brought out in the discus-
Dise
iscoveries of America to the year sion of the events which led up to each
1525, by Arthur James Weise, 1884. battle, the elements which determined its
A work of importance for its careful re- issue, and the results following the vic-
view and comparison of the various state- tories or defeats. The volume treats, in
ments of historical writers concerning the order: The Battle of Marathon, 413 B. C. ;
voyages of the persons whom they believed Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, 413
to have been the discoverers of certain B. C. ; The Battle of Arbela, 331 B. C. ;
parts of the coast of America between The Battle of the Metaurus, 207 B. C. ;
Baffin's Bay and Terra del Fuego. The Victory of Arminius over the Roman Le-
full statements are given, as well as a gions under Varus, A. D. 9; The Battle
judgment upon them. It appears,” says of Châlons, 451; The Battle of Tours,
Mr. Weise, “that Columbus was not the 732; The Battle of Hastings, 1066; Joan
discoverer of the continent, for it was seen of Arc's Victory over the English at
in 1497 not only by Giovanni Caboto [or Orleans, 1429; The Defeat of the Span-
John Cabot, his English name), but by ish Armada, 1588; The Battle of Blen-
the commander of the Spanish fleet with heim, 1704; The Battle of Pultowa, 1709;
whom Amerigo Vespucci sailed to the Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne
New World. ” The entire story of the dis- at Saratoga, 1777; The Battle of Valmy,
coveries of the continental coasts, north 1792; The Battle of Waterloo, 1815.
and south, apart from the islands to which The author concludes: “We have not
Columbus almost wholly confined his at- (and long may we want) the stern ex-
tention, is of very great interest. John citement of the struggles of war; and we
Cabot was first, about June 1497. Colum- see no captive standards of our European
bus saw continental coast land for the neighbors brought in triumph to our
first time fourteen months later, August shrines. But we witness an infinitely
1498. It was wholly in relation to conti-
prouder spectacle. We see the banners
nental lands that the names New World of every civilized nation waving over the
and America were originally given; and arena of our competition with each other
at the time it was not considered as dis- in the arts that minister to our race's
turbing in any way the claims of Colum- support and happiness, and not to its
bus, whose whole ambition was to have the suffering and destruction.
credit of having reached the isles of In-
a Peace hath her victories
dia beyond the Ganges ) - isles which
No less renowned than war. "
were still 7,000 miles distant, but which to
the last he claimed to have found. The
Charles XI! . History of, by Vol-
names «West Indies ) and Indians » (for taire. This history was published
native Americans) are monuments to Co- in 1731. It is divided into eight books,
lumbus, who did not at the time think of which the first sketches briefly the
it worth while to pay attention to the con- history of Sweden before the accession
tinents. It was by paying this attention, of Charles. The last seven deal with his
## p. 352 (#388) ############################################
352
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
power of
thoroughness with which he managed
his farm. Level-headed and practical,
Washington had organizing genius; and
it was that attribute, with his dauntless
integrity, which lifted him to command.
He had not the mental
any
one of his ministers. Yet he was the
best administrator of all. John Ad-
ams possessed the qualities of a brill-
iant lawyer, and the large forecast of a
statesman. At the same time he was
extremely impetuous, outspoken, and
high-tempered, and made many enemies.
Jefferson, like Washington, and unlike
Franklin and Adams, was a man of po-
sition and means; and was perhaps the
most cultivated man in America. With
these incitements to aristocratic views,
he was yet the truest democrat of them
all, and did more than any one of the
others to destroy the inherited class dis-
tinctions which were still so strong in
this nominally republican country for
years after the separation from England.
Mr. Parker follows the plan of consid-
ering the life and achievements of each
of his subjects, by periods, and then ex-
amines his mental and moral qualifica-
tions, his emotional impulses, and his
religion. This method, while it detracts
somewhat from the literary grace of the
essays, is admirably adapted to afford a
vivid and incisive presentment of char-
acter.
But apart
expedition into Poland, its consequences,
his invasion of Russia and pursuit of
Peter the Great, his defeat at Pultowa
and retreat into Turkey, his sojourn at
Bender and its results, his departure
thence, his return home, his death at
the siege of Frederickshall in Norway.
Intermingled with the narrative of bat-
tles, marches, and sieges, we have vivid
descriptions of the manners, customs, and
physical features of the countries in which
they took place. It resembles the (Com-
mentaries) of Cæsar in the absence of
idle details, declamation, and ornament.
There is no attempt to explain mutable
and contingent facts by constant under-
lying principles. Men act, and the narra-
tive accounts for their actions. Of course,
Voltaire is not an archivist with a docu-
ment ready at hand to witness for the
truth of every statement; and many of
his contemporaries treated his history as
little better than a romance.
from
inaccuracies, natural to a
writer dealing with events in distant
countries at the time, the History of
Charles XII. ' is a true history. Accord-
ing to Condorcet, it was based on mem-
oirs furnished Voltaire by witnesses of
the events he describes; and King Stan-
islas, the victim as well as the friend
and companion of Charles, declared that
every incident mentioned in the work
actually occurred. This book is consid-
ered the historical masterpiece of Voltaire.
Historic Americans, by Theodore Par-
ker (1878), contains four essays, on
Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Ad-
ams, essays originally delivered as lect-
ures, shortly before the author's death in
1860. They were written when the anti-
slavery agitation was at its height; and
the preacher's uncompromising opinions
on the evils of slavery decide their point
of view and influence their conclusions.
Yet in spite of the obsoleteness of that
issue, the vigorous style and wide knowl-
edge displayed in the papers insure
them a permanent interest. Franklin,
the tallow-chandler's son, is in the au-
thor's opinion incomparably the greatest
man America has produced. Inventor,
statesman, and philosopher, he had won-
derful imagination and vitality of intel-
lect, and true originality. In Washing-
ton, on the other hand, Mr. Parker sees
the steady-moving, imperturbable, unim-
aginative country gentleman, directing
the affairs of the nation with the same
some
Chara
haracteristics, by Anthony Ashley
Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. The
three volumes of Shaftesbury's (Charac-
teristics) appeared anonymously in 1713,
two years before the death of the author
at the age of forty-two. These, with a
volume of letters, and a certain preface
to a sermon, constitute the whole of his
published works. The Characteristics)
immediately attracted wide attention; and
in twenty years had passed through five
editions, at that time a large circulation
for a book of this kind. The first vol-
ume contains three rather desultory and
discursive essays: (A Letter concerning
Enthusiasm); (On Freedom of Wit and
Humor); Soliloquy; or, Advice to an
Author. ) The second volume, with its
(Inquiry con
oncerning Virtue and Merit,'
and the dialogue "The Moralists: A
Philosophical Rhapsody,' forms his most
valuable contribution to the science of
ethics. In the third volume he advances
various Miscellaneous Reflections, in-
cluding certain defenses of his philosopbi-
## p. 353 (#389) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
353
verse.
cal theories, together with some essays the fine power of apt distinction, with
on artistic and literary subjects.
the richness of rhetoric and the play of
From the first appearance of the Char- delicate humor, which those who heard
acteristics,' it was seen that its philo- Mr. Curtis remember, and those who
sophical theories were to have an import- know him only in his published works
ant part in the whole science of ethics. must recognize. To lovers of Emerson
De Mandeville in later years attacked and Hawthorne these chapters will long
him, Hutcheson defended him, and But- be a delight, written as they were while
ler and Berkeley discussed him, — not al- the companionship of which they spoke
ways with a perfect comprehension of was still warm and fresh in the author's
his system. Its leading ideas are of the memory.
relation of parts to a whole. As the Equally interesting and valuable as
beauty of an external object consists in contributions to the biography of Amer-
a certain proportion between its parts, ican letters are the chapters on Oliver
or a certain harmony of coloring, so the Wendell Holmes, Washington Irving,
beauty of a virtuous act lies in its rela- and Longfellow. Perhaps no one has
tion to the virtuous character as a whole. given us more intimately suggestive
Yet morality cannot be adequately stud- portrait-sketches of the personalities of
ied in the individual man. Man must these familiar authors than are given
be considered in his relation to our earth, in these collected essays. Particularly
and this again in its relation to the uni- interesting to American readers are the
occasional reminiscences of personal par-
The faculty which approves of right ticipation in scenes, grave or humorous,
and disapproves of wrong is by Shaftes- where the actors were all makers of his-
bury called the moral sense, and this is tory for New England. The book con-
perhaps the distinctive feature of his tains Mr. Curtis's brilliant essay on the
system. Between this sense and good famous actress Rachel, which appeared
taste in art he draws a strong analogy. in Putnam's Magazine, 1855; a delightful
In its recognition of a rational as well sketch of Thackeray in America, from
as an emotional element, Shaftesbury's the same source; and a hitherto unpub-
( moral sense ) is much like the "con- lished essay on Sir Philip Sidney, which
science » described later by Butler. While is instinct with the author's enthusiasm
the “moral sense » and the love and rev- for all that is strong and pure and truly
erence of God are, with Shaftesbury, the gentle.
proper sanctions of right conduct, a tone
of banter which he assumed toward re-
Constable, Archibald, and his Lit.
ligious questions, and his leaning toward erary Correspondents, by Thomas
Deism, drew on him more or less criti- Constable. (1873. ) The story of the
cism from the strongly orthodox. Ву great Edinburgh publishing-house which
his (Characteristics) Shaftesbury became established the Edinburgh Review; be-
the founder of what has been called the came the chief of Scott's publishers;
«benevolent system of ethics; in which issued, with valuable supplementary Dis-
subsequently Hutcheson closely followed sertations by Dugald Stewart, the fifth
him.
edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica);
initiated the publication of cheap popular
Literary and Social Essays, by George
volumes of literature, art, and science;
The nine essays
and by a bold liberality in payment of
which compose this volume were col- authors, with remarkable sagacity in
lected from several sources, and pub- judging what would succeed with the
lished in book form in 1895. Written
public, virtually transformed the business
with all the exquisite finish, the lucidity of publishing. An apprenticeship of six
and grace which characterized every years with Peter Hill, Burns's friend,
utterance of Mr. Curtis, these essays are enabled Constable to start as
a book-
like introduction into the actual seller, January 1795. He began by pub-
presence of the gifted men of our cen- lishing theological and political pam-
tury in whose splendid circle the author phlets for authors, but in 1798 made some
was himself at home. Emerson, Haw- ventures on his own account. In 1800
thorne, and the placid pastoral Concord he started the Farmer's Magazine as a
of their liomes, are the subjects of the quarterly. The next year he became pro-
first three chapters, and are treated with prietor of the Scots Magazine, and in
XXX--23
an
## p. 354 (#390) ############################################
354
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
as
as
October 1802, the first number of the yet rigid course, like a gigantic and
Edinburgh Review appeared. The gen- splendid piece of firework; his follies re-
erous scale of payment soon adopted, peating themselves, like his inability to
twenty-five guineas a sheet, - startled the follow success, and his careless abandon-
trade, and greatly contributed to make ment of one way after another that
Constable the foremost among publish- might have led to a better and happier
ers of his day. He began with Scott in fortune. His harvest was like a south-
1802, a part interest only, but secured en- ern harvest, over early while it was yet
tire interest in 1807 by paying Scott a but May; but he sowed no seed for a
thousand guineas in advance for Mar- second ingathering, nor was there any
mion, and the next year one thousand growth or richness left in the soon ex-
five hundred pounds for his edition of hausted soil. ” His plays are analytically
Swift's Life and Works. ) Differences and critically considered, a whole chap-
arising now separated Scott and Constable ter being given to "The School for
until 1813, but in 1814 (Waverley) ap- Scandal' and (The Critic. ) The book
peared with Constable's imprint. The is attractively written in six chapters,
financial breakdown of various parties in follows: "Youth,' First Dramatic
1826 not only overthrew Constable, but Works,' (The School for Scandal, (Pub-
involved Scott to the extent of £120,000. lic Life,' Middle Age, (Decadence. It
Constable died July 21, 1827.
is the story of the most brilliant man of
the most brilliant period of the eigh-
Sheridan, by Mrs. Oliphant, is a bi- teenth century,- a man, who, but for a
ography in the English Men of Let- certain residuum of conscience, might be
ters) series. This agreeable history called an astonishingly clever juggler;
begins by picturing Sheridan the who, while youth, health, and novelty
young man of genius, setting ordinary favored, kept the ball of prosperity flash-
regulations at defiance, taking up posi- | ing hither and yon through the air, only
tions untenable by every rule of reason, to see it fall and shiver to atoms when
yet carrying through his purposes by these attributes failed him. Yet the
the force of brilliant natural gifts; care- vices of Sheridan were those of his time
less of literary fame; set most on achiev- and his fellows; and his virtues, if not
ing power,- even if by unsound methods. too many, were always charming and
Earlier, there are indolent school days at lovable. Indeed, so sympathetic is Mrs.
Harrow; a romantic youthful marriage, Oliphant's story of him, that the reader
followed by extravagant London house- involuntarily recalls that kind judgment,
keeping; the triumphs of dramatic au- _('Tis said best men are molded out of
thorship; the proprietorship of Drury faults. "
Lane Theatre. «There are some men,”
the author says of this period of his life,
“who impress all around them with such by William Makepeace Thackeray,
a certainty of power and success, that appeared first in Punch, and was pub-
even managers dare, and publishers vol- lished in book form in 1848. The idea
unteer, in their favor.
Sheridan was of the work may have been suggested to
evidently one of these men. ” Then Thackeray when, as an undergraduate at
came amazing social success; a great Cambridge in 1829, he contributed to a
and growing reputation as a wit; the little weekly periodical called The Snob.
friendship of Fox and Burke; entry into In any case, the genus Snob could not
Parliament; two great orations at the long have escaped the satirical notice of
trial of Warren Hastings; home, busi- the author of Vanity Fair. ) He was in
ness, and public troubles; an unfortunate close contact with a social system that
friendship with the Prince of Wales; a was the very nursery of snobbishness.
second marriage; financial ruin in the In his delightful category, he omits no
burning of the Drury Lane Theatre; type of the English-bred Snob of the
the loss of a seat in Parliament; arrest; university, of the court, of the town, of
poverty; death, - these are the main feat- the country, of the Church; he even in-
ures of the history that is made to pass cludes himself, when on one occasion he
before us. The picture at the end is severed his friendship for a
man who
different: «Through all these contradic- ate peas with a knife,- an exhibition of
tions of character, Sheridan blazed and snobbery he repented of later, when
exploded from side to side in a reckless the offender had discovered the genteel
Book of Snobs, The, a series of sketches
## p. 355 (#391) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
355
Browning Elizabeth Barrett, Letters
uses of the fork. The half-careless, half- ment of the French Revolution in the
cynical humor of it all becomes serious in (Tale of Two Cities. Among the import-
the last paragraph of the last paper: – ant characters, many of whom are the
“I am sick of court circulars. I loathe authors of sayings now proverbial, are
haut-ton intelligence. I believe such Gabriel Varden, the cheerful and incor-
words as Fashionable, Exclusive, Aris- | ruptible old locksmith, father of the charm-
tocratic, and the like, to be wicked ing Airt Dolly Varden; Mrs. Varden, a
unchristian epithets that ought to be type of the narrow-minded zealot, de-
banished from honest vocabularies. A voted to the Protestant manual; Miss
court system that sends men of genius Miggs, their servant, mean, treacherous,
to the second table, I hold to be a Snob- and self-seeking; Sim Tappertit, an ap-
bish System. A society that sets up to prentice, an admirable portrait of the
be polite, and ignores Art and Letters, half-fool, half-knave, so often found in
I hold to be a Snobbish Society. You the English servile classes half a cen-
who despise your neighbor are a Snob; tury ago; Hugh the hostler and Dennis
you who forget your friends, meanly to the hangman; and Grip the raven, who
follow after those of a higher degree, are fills an important part in the story, and
a Snob; you who are ashamed of your for whom Di kens himself named a fa-
poverty and blush for your calling, are vorite raven.
a Snob; as are you who boast of your
pedigree or are proud of your wealth. ”
by
Barnaby Rudge was Dickens's fifth (2 vols. , 1897. ) This definitive presenta-
novel, and was published in 1841.
tion of Mrs. Browning's character and
The plot is extremely intricate. Barnaby career is a selection from a very large
is a poor half-witted lad, living in Lon- mass of letters collected by Mr. Brown-
don toward the close of the eighteenth ing, and now used with the consent of
century, with his mother and his raven R. Barrett Browning. It is made a
Grip. His father had been the steward chronicle, and practically a life, by the
of a country gentleman named Haredale, character of the letters and the addition
who was found murdered in his bed, of connecting links of narrative. The
while both his steward and his gardener letters give an unusually full and inter-
had disappeared. The body of the stew- esting revelation of Mrs. Browning's char-
ard, recognizable only by the clothes, is acter, and of the course of her life. The
presently found in a pond. Barnaby is absence of controversy, of personal ill-
born the day after the double murder. feeling of any kind, and of bitterness ex-
Affectionate and usually docile, credulous cept on certain political topics, is noted
and full of fantastic imaginings, a sim- by the editor as not the result of any
pleton but faithful, he grows up to be excision of passages, but as illustrating
liked and trusted. His mother having
Mrs. Browning's sweetness of tempera-
fled to London to escape a myst rious ment. The interest of the work as a chap-
blackmailer, he becomes involved in the ter of life and poetry in the nineteenth
famous "No Popery » riots of Lord George century is very great.
Gordon in 1780, and is within an ace of
perishing on the scaffold.
The black; Bronte, Charlotte, Life of, by Mrs.
mailer, Mr. Haredale the brother and Gaskell, was published in 1857, two
Emma the daughter of the murdered years after the death of the author of
man, Emma's lover Edward Chester, and Jane Eyre. It has taken rank as a
his father, are the chief figures of the classic in biographical literature, though
nominal plot; but the real interest is not without inaccuracies. Its charm and
not with them but with the side harac- enduring quality are the result of its ideal
ters and the episodes. Some of the most worth. It is a strong, human, intimate
whimsical and amusing of Dickens's record of a unique personality, all the
character-studies appear in the pages of more valuable because biased by friend-
the novel; while the whole episode of ship. A biography written by the heart
the gathering and march of the mob, as well as the head, it remains for that
and the storming of Newgate (quoted in
reason the most vital of all lives of Char-
the Library), is surpassed in dramatic lotte Bronté. A mere scrap-book of facts
intensity by no passage in modern fic- goes very little way toward explaining a
tion, unless it is by Dickens's own treat- genius of such intensity.
## p. 356 (#392) ############################################
356
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
1
Bronte, Charlotte, and her Circle, by Differences); and leaving behind for the
Clement K. Shorter, was published benefit of the new generation annals of
in 1896.
It is not a biography, but a a life so wonderful in its completed work,
new illumination of a rare personality, so harmonious in its domestic relations, so
through an exhaustive collection of let-
unassuming in its acceptance of worldly
ters written by, or relating to, the novel- distinctions, that the mere reading of
ist of Haworth. In the preface the editor it elevates and strengthens.
writes: “It is claimed for the following There are charming descriptions of
book of some five hundred pages that childhood days in the Scottish home of
the larger part of it is an addition of Burntisland; days of youth when she
entirely new material to the romantic arose after attending a ball to study at
story of the Brontés. " This material five in the morning; a delicate reticence
was furnished partly by the Rev. Arthur concerning the first short-lived marriage
Bell Nicholls, Charlotte's husband, and with her cousin Craig, succeeded by the
partly by her lifelong friend Miss Ellen truer union with another cousin, the
Nussey.
«Somerville » of whom she speaks with
The arrangement of the book is cal- much tenderness; domestic gains and
culated to assist the reader to a clearer losses, births and deaths; the begin-
understanding of Charlotte Bronté's life. nings, maturings, and successes of her
A chapter is given to each person or group work; trips to London and the Conti-
of persons in any way closely related to nent; visits to and from the great; the
her. Even the curates of Haworth are idyllic life in Italy, where she died and
not overlooked. Yet the editor's discrimi- is buried; loving records of home work
nation is justified in every instance by and home pleasures; sorrow's bravely met
letters relating directly to the person or and joys glorified, -all told with the un-
persons under consideration. The entire affectedness which was the keynote to
work is a most interesting and significant her amiable character. Little informa-
contribution to the ever-growing body of tion is given of the immense labor which
Bronté literature.
preceded her famous works. The woman
who, as Laplace said, was
the only
Personal Recollections of Mary Som- woman who could understand his work,
erville, with SELECTIONS FROM HER who was honored by nearly every scien-
CORRESPONDENCE, by her daughter Martha tific society in the world, whose mind
Somerville.
was akin to every famous mind of the
Never has the simplicity of true great- age, so withdraws her individuality to
ness been more clearly shown than in give place to others, that the reader is
the life of Mary Somerville, the life often inclined to forget that the modest
of a woman entirely devoted to family writer has other claims to notice than
duties and scientific pursuits; whose en- her intimate acquaintance with the great.
ergy and perseverance overcame almost And as in many social gatherings she
insuperable obstacles at a time when was overlooked from her modesty of
women were excluded from the higher demeanor; so in these Recollections,
branches of education by prejudice and pages of eulogy are devoted to the
tradition; whose bravery led her to achievements of those whose intellect
enter upon unknown paths, and to make was to hers as moonlight is to sun-
known to others what she acquired by light,” while her own successes are ig-
so courageous an undertaking. After a nored, except in the inserted letters of
slight introduction concerning her family those who awarded her her due meed
and birth, which took place December of praise, and in the frequent notes of
26th, 1780, the Recollections, begin in her faithful compiler.
early childhood and continue to the day
of her death. She lived to the ripe old Poetry, the Nature and Elements of,
age of ninety-two, preserving her clear- by Edmund Clarence Stedman. The
ness of intellect to the end; holding fast lectures contained in this volume, pub-
her faith in God, which no censure of lished in 1892, were delivered by the
bigot, smile of skeptic, or theory of sci- author during the previous year at Johns
ence could shake; adding to the world's Hopkins University, inaugurating the
store of knowledge to her final day,- her annual lectureship founded by Mrs.
last work being revision and com- Tu bull of Ba ore. M Stedman
pletion of a treatise on the Theory of treats of the quality and attributes
))
## p. 357 (#393) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
357
of poetry itself, of its source and effi- many other eminent philologists maintain,
cacy, and of the enduring laws to which Mr. Lang denies; declaring that the analy-
its true examples ever are conformed. ” sis of names, on which the whole edifice
Chapter i. treats of theories of poetry of philological comparative mythology)
from Aristotle to the present day; Chap- rests, is a foundation of sifting sand. Sto-
ter ii.
seeks to determine what poetry ries are usually anonymous at first, he
is; and Chapters iii. and iv. discuss, believes, names being added later, and
respectively, creation and self-expression adventures naturally grouping themselves
under the title of Melancholia. These around any famous personage, divine, he-
two chapters together (afford all the roic, or human. Thus what is called a
scope permitted in this scheme for a Greek myth or a Hindu legend may be
swift glance at the world's masterpieces. ” found current among a people who never
Having effected a synthetic relation be- heard of Greece or India. The story of
tween the subjective and the objective Jason, for example, is told in Samoa, Fin-
in poetry, the way becomes clear for an land, North America, Madagascar. Each
examination of the pure attributes of of the myths presented here is made to
this art, which form the themes of the serve a controversial purpose in so far as
next four chapters. Mr. Stedman avoids it supports the essayist's theory that ex-
much discussion of schools and fashions. planations of comparative mythology do
(There have been schools in all ages not explain. He believes that folk-lore
and centres,” he says, ' «but these figure contains the survivals of primitive ideas
most laboriously at intervals when the common to many peoples, as similar physi-
creative faculty seems inactive. » This cal and social conditions tend to breed
book constitutes a fitting complement to the same ideas. The hypothesis of a myth
Mr. Stedman's two masterly criticisms common to several races rests on the as-
on the (Victorian Poets) and the Poets sumption of a common intellectual condi-
of America. The abundance of finely tion among them. We may push back a
chosen illustrative extracts, and the pains god from Greece to Phænicia, from Phe-
taken by the author to expound every nicia to Accadia, but at the end of the end,
point in an elementary way, make the we reach a legend full of myths like those
volume not only delightful reading for which Bushmen tell by the camp fire, Es-
any person of literary tastes, but bring kimo in their dark huts, and Australians
into compact shape a fund of instruction in the shade of the “gunweh,) — myths
of permanent value. Mr. Stedman cheers cruel, puerile, obscure, like the fancies of
the reader by his hopeful view of the the savage myth-makers from which they
poetry of the future. "I believe," he sprang. The book shows on every page
declares, «that the best age of imagi- the wide reading, the brilliant faculty of
native production is not past; that po- generalization, and the delightful popu-
etry is to retain, as of old, its literary larity and the unfailing entertainingness
import, and from time to time prove of this literary «Universal Provider,)
itself a force in national life; that the who modestly says that these essays are
Concord optimist and poet was sane in (only Aint-like flakes from a neolithic
declaring that the arts, as we know workshop. ”
them, are but initial, that (sooner or
later that which is now life shall add
Art
rt of Poetry, The ("L'Art Poétique)),
a richer strain to the song. ) »
a didactic poem, by Boileau. The
work is divided into four cantos. In the
Custom and Myth, by Andrew Lang.
first, the author intermingles his precepts
(1886. ) This book of fifteen sketches, with an account of French versification
ranging in subject from the Method of since Villon, now taking up and now
Folk-lore and Star Myths to the Art of dropping the subject, with apparent care-
Savages, illustrates the author's concep- lessness but with real art. The second
tion of the inadequacy of the generally canto treats of the different classes of
accepted methods of comparative my- poetry, beginning with the least import-
thology. He does not believe that (myths ant: eclogue, elegy, ode, epigram, son-
are the result of a disease of language, as net, etc. The third deals with tragedy,
the pearl is the result of a disease of the comedy, and the epic. In the fourth,
oyster. ) The notion that proper names in Boileau returns to more general ques-
the old myths hol the key to their expla- tions H gives, not rules for writing
nation, as Max Müller, Kuhn, Breal, and verse, but precepts addressed to the poet:
## p. 358 (#394) ############################################
358
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
are
>
and points out the limits within which Little is known of Philip Stubbes.
he must move, if he wishes to become Thomas Nash makes a savage attack on
perfect in his art. Although his work is the (Anatomie) and its author, in a tract
recognized as one of the masterpieces of published in 1589. Stubbes himself throws
the age of Louis XIV. , Boileau has preju- some light upon his life, in his memorial
dices that have long been out of date. He account of his young wife, whose «right
ridicules the choice of modern or national | virtuous life and Christian death » are
subjects by a poet, and would have him circumstantially set forth. The editor be-
confine himself exclusively to the history lieves him to have been a gentleman-
or mythology of Greece and Rome. (either by birth, profession, or both”; to
nalysis of Beauty, The, an essay on
have written, from 1581 to 1610, pam-
certain artistic principles, by William phlets and books strongly on the Puritan
Hogarth, was published in 1753. In 1745 side; before 1583 to have spent (seven
he had painted the famous picture of
winters and more, traveling from place
himself and his pug-dog Trump, now in
to place, even all the land over indiffer-
the National Gallery. In a corner of this ently. ” It is supposed that in 1586 he
picture appeared a palette bearing a ser-
married a girl of fourteen. Her death
pentine line under which was inscribed:
occurred four years and a half afterwards,
«The Line of Beauty and Grace. ) This following not many weeks the birth of
inscription provoked so much inquiry and
a “goodly man childe. ) Stubbes's own
comment that Hogarth wrote «The Anal- death is supposed to have taken place
ysis of Beauty) in explanation of it. În not long after 1610.
the introduction he says: "I now offer
(The Anatomie of Abuses) was pub-
These are in the
to the public a short essay accompanied lished in two parts.
with two explanatory prints, in which I form of a dialogue between Spudens and
shall endeavor to show what the princi- wickedness of the people of Ailgna (Eng. .
Phil nus (Stubbes), concerning the
ples are in nature, by which we
directed to call the forms of some bodiesland). Part First deals with the abuses
beautiful, others ugly; some graceful and of Pride, of Men's and Women's Ap-
others the reverse. The first chapters
parel; of the vices of whoredom, gluttony,
of the book deal with Variety, Uniform- drunkenness, covetousness, usury, swear-
ity, Simplicity, Intricacy, Quantity, etc.
ing, Sabbath-breaking, stage-plays; of
Lines and the composition of lines are
the evils of the Lords of Misrule, of
then discussed, followed by chapters on
May-games, church-ales, wakes, feasts, of
Light and Shade, on Proportion, and on pestiferous dancing," of music, cards,
Action. The (Analysis of Beauty) sub-dice-tables, tennis, bowls, bear-baiting; of
jected Hogarth to extravagant praise cock-fighting, hawking, and hun ng, 01
from his friends and to ridicule from his
the Sabbath; of markets, fairs, and foot-
detractors. Unfortunately he had him-
ball playing, also on the Sabbath; and
self judged his work on the title-page, in finally of the reading of wicked books:
the words “written with a view of fixing the whole being followed by a chapter
the fluctuating ideas of taste. ” This am-
on the remedy for these evils.
bition it was not possible for Hogarth to
Part Second deals with corruptions in
realize. The essay contains, however,
the Temporalty and the Spiritualty. Un-
much that is pertinent and suggestive.
der temporal corruptions the author con-
siders abuses. in law, in education, in
Stubbes, was entered upon the Sta- in the relief of the poor, in husbandr
,
tioners' Register in 1582–83; republished and farming. He also considers abuses
by the New Shakspere Society in 1877- among doctors, chandlers, barbers, apoth-
79 under the editorship of Frederick I. ecaries, astronomers, astrologers, and prog-
Furnivall.
nosticators.
This most curious work — without the
Under matters spiritual the author sets
aid of which, in the opinion of the editor.
forth the Church's sins of omission rather
(no one can pretend to know Shaks-
than of commission; but he treats of
pere's England » — is an exposure of the
wrong preferment, of simony, and of the
abuses and corruptions existing in all evils of substitution.
classes of Elizabethan society. Written The entire work is most valuable, as
from the Puritan standpoint, it is yet not throwing vivid light upon the manners
over-prejudiced nor bigoted.
and customs of the time, especially in
>
## p. 359 (#395) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
cure
our
359
the matter of dress. An entire Eliza-
Demonology and Devil-Lore, by Mon-
bethan wardrobe of fashion might be
D. Conway, 1879. In this
reproduced from Stubbes's circumstantial scholarly history of a superstition, the
descriptions. Concerning hose he writes: author has set before himself the task of
« The Gally-hosen are made very large finding the reason of unreason, the be-
and wide, reaching downe to their knees ing and substance of unreality, the law
onely, with three or four guardes a peece of folly, and the logic of lunacy. » His
laid down along either hose. And the business is not alone to record certain
Venetian hosen, they reach beneath the dark vagaries of human intelligence, but
knee to the gartering place to the Leg, to explain them; to show them as the
where they are tyed finely with silk inevitable expression of a mental neces-
points, or some such like, and laied on sity, and as the index to some spiritual
also with reeves of lace, or gardes as the facts with large inclusions. He sees that
other before. And yet notwithstanding primitive man has always personified his
all this is not sufficient, except they be own thoughts in external personal forms;
made of silk, velvet, saten damask, and and that these personifications survive
other such precious things beside. ” as traditions long after a more educated
intelligence surrenders them as facts.
Anatomy of Melancholy, The, by Rob- He sets himself, therefore, to seek in
ert Burton, is a curious miscellany, these immature and grotesque imagin-
covering so wide a range of subjects as ings the soul of truth and reality that
to render classification impossible. This once inspired them. From anthropology,
torrent of erudition flows in channels sci- history, tradition, comparative mythol.
entifically exact. Melancholy is treated as ogy and philology; from every quarter
a malady, first in general, then in partic of the globe; from periods which trail off
ular. Its nature, seat, varieties, causes, into prehistoric time, and from periods
symptoms, and prognosis, are considered almost within own remembrance;
in an orderly manner, with a great num- from savage and from cultivated races;
ber of differentiations. Its cure is next from extinct peoples and those now ex-
examined, and the various means dis-isting; from learned sources and the tra-
cussed which may be adopted to accom- ditions of the unlearned, he has sought
plish this. Permissible means, forbidden his material, This vast accumulation of
means, moral means, and pharmaceutical facts he has so analyzed and synthesized
• means, are each analyzed. After dispos- as to make it yield its fine ore of truth
ing of the scholastic method, the author concerning spiritual progress. Related
descends from the general to the particu- beliefs he has grouped either in natural
lar, and treats of emotions and ideas mi- or historical association; migrations of
nutely, endeavoring to classify them. In beliefs he has followed, with a keen
early editions of the book, there appear
for their half-obliterated trail;
at the head of each part, synoptical and through diversities his trained eye dis-
analytical tables, with divisions and sub- covers likenesses. He finds that devils
divisions,— each subdivision in sections have always stood for the type of pure
and each section in subsections, after the malignity; while demons are creatures
manner of an important scientific treatise. driven by fate to prey upon mankind for
While the general framework is orderly, the satisfaction of their needs, but not
the author has filled in the details with of necessity malevolent. The demon is
most heterogeneous material. Every con- an inference from the physical experience
ceivable subject is made to illustrate his of mankind; the devil is a product of his
theme : quotations, brief and extended, moral consciousness. The dragon is a
from many authors; stories and oddities creature midway between the two,
from obscure sources; literary descriptions Through two volumes of difficulties Mr.
of passions and follies; recipes and ad- Conway picks his dexterous way, coura-
vices; experiences and biographies. A geous, ingenious, frank, full of knowl-
remarkably learned and laborious work, edge and instruction, and not less full of
representing thirty years of rambling read- entertainment. So that the reader who
ing in the Oxford University Library, follows him will find that he has studied
(The Anatomy of Melancholy' is read to- a profound chapter of human experience,
day only as a literary curiosity, even its and has acquired new standards for
use as a “cram ” being out of date with measuring the spiritual progress of the
its class of learning.
sense
race.
## p. 360 (#396) ############################################
360
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Burnet's History of the Reformation
Ecce Homo, by John Robert Seeley of it a work which could not be over-
(1865), was a consideration of the looked. Newman, Dean Stanley, Glad.
life of Christ as a human being. In the stone, and others high in authority,
preface the author writes:-
hastened to reply to it. The vitality of
<< Those who feel dissatisfied with the the work still remains.
current conception of Christ, if they can-
not rest content without a definite opin-
of the Church of England) (3 vols. ,
ion, may find it necessary to do what to
persons not so dissatisfied it seems au-
1679, 1681, 1714); and History of his
Own Time) (2 vols. , 1723, 1734), are Eng-
dacious and perilous to do. They may
lish standard books of high character and
be obliged to reconsider the whole subject
value. The second of these works is of
from the beginning, and placing them-
selves in imagination at the time when
great intrinsic worth, because without it
our knowledge of the times would be
he whom we call Christ bore no such
exceedingly imperfect. For the first the
name, to trace his biography from point
author was voted the thanks of both
to point, and accept those conclusions
houses of Parliament. Burnet was bishop
about him, not which church doctors, or
even apostles, have sealed with their au-
of Salisbury, 1689–1715; and in 1699 he
brought out an Exposition of the Thirty-
thority, but which the facts themselves,
nine Articles) which became a church
critically weighed, appear to warrant.
classic, in spite of high-church objection
This is what the present writer under-
to his broad and liberal views. He was
took to do. )
from early life a consistent representative
The result of this undertaking was
of broad-church principles, both in politics
a portrait of Christ as
a man, which,
whether accurate or not, is singularly
and divinity. His tastes were more secu-
lar than scholastic. Of bishops he alone
luminous and suggestive. The author
brought to his task scholarship, historical
in that age left a record of able and con-
scientious administration, and of lasting
acumen, above all the power to trace the
work of great importance. Although bit-
original diversities and irregularities in
terly attacked from more than one quarter
a surface long since worn smooth. He
on account of the History of His Own
takes into account the Zeitgeist of the
Time,' the best judgment to-day upon
age in which Christ lived; the thousand
this work is that nothing could be more
and one political and social forces by
admirable than his general candor, his
which he was surrounded; and the na-
tional inheritances that were his on his
accuracy as to facts, the fullness of his
information, and the justice of his judg-
human side, with special reference to his
ments both of those whom he vehemently
office of Messiah. Thereby he throws
opposed and of those whom he greatly
light upon a character (so little compre-
admired. The value of the work, says a
hended as a
He makes many
recent authority, as a candid narrative
astute observations, such as this on the
and an invaluable work of reference, has
source of the Jews' antagonism to Christ:
continually risen as investigations into
««They laid information against him be-
original materials have proceeded. The
fore the Roman government as a dan-
best edition of both the Histories is that
gerous character; their real complaint
of the Clarendon Press (1823–33: 1865).
against him was precisely this, that he
was not dangerous. Pilate executed him
Britain, Ecclesiastical History of,
on the ground that his kingdom was of by Bæda or Bede. A work doubly
this world; the Jews procured his execu- monumental (1) in the extent, faithful-
tion precisely because it was not. ness, care in statement, love of truth, and
other words, they could not forgive him pleasant style, of its report from all trust-
for claiming royalty, and at the same worthy sources of the history (not merely
time rejecting the use of physical force. ecclesiastical) of Britain, and especially
They did not object to the king, of England, down to the eighth century ;
they did not object to the philosopher; and (2) in its being the only authority for
but they objected to the king in tne garb important church and other origins and
of the philosopher. ” The Ecce Homo) developments through the whole period.
produced a great sensation in England Bæda was by far the most learned Eng-
and America. Its boldness, its scientific lishman of his time; one of the greatest
character, combined with its spirituality writers known to English literature; in a
and reverence for the life of Christ, made very high sense “the Father of English
man.
In
»
## p. 361 (#397) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
361
>
History); an extensive compiler for Eng- « The first of the Anglo-Saxon monks to
lish use from the writings of the Fathers be ranked as a poet appears to have been
of the Church; an author of treatises the cowherd Cædmon, a vassal of the
representing the existing knowledge of abbess Hilda and a monk of Whitby.
science; and a famous English translator Cædmon's songs were sung about 670.
of Scripture. In high qualities of genius He is reported to have put into verse the
and rare graces of character, he was in whole of Genesis and Exodus, and later,
the line of Shakespeare. From one of the life of Christ and the Acts of the
his young scholars, Cuthbert, we have a Apostles; but his work was not limited
singularly beautiful story of the vener- to the paraphrasing of the Scriptures. A
able master's death, which befell about thousand years before the time of Para-
735 A. D. , when he was putting the last dise Lost,' the Northumbrian monk sang
touches to his translation of the Fourth before the abbess Hilda (The Revolt of
Gospel. From his seventh year, 680, Satan. ) Fragments of this poem discov-
to the day of his death, May 26, 735, he ered by Archbishop Usher, and printed
passed his life in the Benedictine abbey, for the first time in 1655, have been pre-
first at Wearmouth and then at Jarrow; served, and have since that date been
but it was a life of immense scholarly frequently published. Cædmon died in
and educational activity. A recent au- 680 and Milton in 1674. ) A principal
thority calls him “the greatest name in interest of Cædmon's conception of Satan
the ancient literature of England”; and is the character for independence, liberty,
Green's History) says of him: «First rude energy, and violent passion, in which
among English scholars, first among he represents not an infernal, but an
English theologians, first among English Anglo-Saxon ideal. It was largely from
historians, it is in the monk of Jarrow following Cædmon that Milton made his
that English literature strikes its roots. Satan not only so lofty a figure, but one
In the six hundred scholars who gath- of so great interest that we hardly re-
ered round him for instruction, he is the member his supposed nature.
father of our national education. It was
in point of view and name only that Historia, Britonim, by: Geoffreypf
was
. The History the
history. It covered all the facts drawn Britons, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Bishop
from Roman writers, from native chron. of St. Asaph, is a translation from the
icles and biographies, from records and Cymric into Latin, made about the mid-
public documents, and from oral and dle of the twelfth century. Before this,
written accounts by his contemporaries. Geoffrey, who was known as a learned
It was written in Latin; first printed at man, had translated the prophecies of
Strasburg about 1473; King Alfred trans- Merlin; and the story is that he was
lated it into Anglo-Saxon; and it has asked to translate the Historia Britonum,'
had several editions and English vers- by Walter Map (or Calenius), who had
ions in recent times. The whole body come upon the manuscript in Brittany.
of Bæda's writings, some forty in number, There is no known manuscript of the
show his unwearied industry in learn- original in existence, and we cannot now
ing, teaching, and writing, his gentle and decide to what extent Geoffrey may have
cultivated feelings, his kindly sympathies, interpolated material of his own. The
and the singular freshness of mind which question is still a mooted one with schol-
gave life and beauty to so many pages of ars; though no one now, as in former
his story of England's past.
times, professes to believe that the work
is a true record of events.
Cædmon, The Revolt of Satan,' and The Historia Britonum occupies the
other writings, of which only some border ground between poetry and his-
fragments have been preserved. 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.
