No More Learning

He cannot be read for
exact, judicious, comprehensive narrative
of the facts of French history, but rather
as a great advocate at the bar of letters
and learning, telling in his own way the
things which most enlist his sympathy or
arouse his indignation; perhaps rash in
generalization, too lyrical and fiery for
sober truth, in matters ecclesiastical es-
pecially giving way to violent wrath, but
always commanding, by his scholarship
and his genius, the interest of the reader,
and always rewarding that interest. His
work exists, both in French and in an
English one-volume translation, as a his-
tory of France down to the close of the
reign of Louis XI. It was due to the fact
that he broke off at this point in 1843, and
devoted eight years (1845-53) to writing,
almost in the form of an impassioned epic,
the story of the French Revolution. Later
he resumed the suspended work, and made
the whole reach to the nineteenth century.
The French people was the idol of his
enthusiasm, and human rights the gospel
eternally set in the nature of things.
Humanity, revealing divine ideas, and
history, an ever-broadening combat for
freedom, were the principles to which he
1
1


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
85
He is specially Chronicles of Froissart, The.
a
continually recurred.
The
interesting moreover as the complete em-
Chronicles of the French poet and
bodiment of one type of French charac- historian Jean Froissart embrace the
teristics.
events occurring from 1325 to 1400 in
England, Scotland, France, Spain, Brit-
France, History of: From The Most tany, and the Low Countries. They are
REMOTE TIMES TO 1789. (Final re- of great value in illustrating the man-
written edition (3d) 1837, 19 vols. ) By ners and character of the fourteenth cen-
Henri Martin. A masterpiece of histori- tury. Froissart began his work on them
cal writing, and of importance for the when but twenty years old, in 1357; they
complete history of the French race, from were not completed until 1400. They
its origins, earlier than any other of the present a vivid and interesting picture
European nations, down to the great of the long-continued wars of the times,
Revolution which, with the creation in setting forth in detail not only the fight-
America of the United States, initiated ing, but the feasts, spectacles, and all
the triumph of democratic principles in the pageantry, of feudal times; and they
the modern world.
are enlivened throughout by Froissart's
Drawing from original sources, M. Mar- shrewd comments and observations,
tin pictures the development of France Among the many interesting historic
within itself and its influence in Europe, personages are King Edward III. of
the growth of national unity, strength, England, Queen Philippa, Robert Bruce
and culture, and the great part played of Scotland, and Lord James Douglas
by the French mind in European civili- who fought so valiantly for the heart
zation. He sees France serving as of Bruce. Froissart depicts the invasion
bond holding in one course the European of France by the English, the battle of
group of peoples; initiating advances in
Crécy, the great siege of Calais, and
development; the comprehensive embodi- the famous battle of Poitiers; describes
ment of European characteristics, and a the brilliant court of the great Béarnese,
leader in European activities; saving the Lord Gaston Phæbus, Count de Foix,
West from Mohammedan conquest; mak- whom he used to visit; and portrays
ing and unmaking political greatness for among other events the coronation of
the papacy; recovering Greek and Roman Charles VI. of France, the heroic strug-
culture; now the seat of Catholicism and gle of Philip van Artevelde to recover
now the cradle of philosophy; and to the rights of Flanders, and the insurrec-
crown all, planting the standard of equal- tion of Wat Tyler. There is also a
ity above the wreck of the feudal world. valuable description of the Crusade of
The genius, the characteristics, the ac- 1390. Froissart obtained his material by
complishments, the graces and gifts, of journeying about and plying with ques.
the French people, the twofold direction tions the knights and squires whom he
of French interest to religion and to hero- met, lodging at the castles of the great,
ism, M. Martin notes with loyal ardor; and jotting down all that he learned
with prophetic confidence that in know- of stirring events and brave deeds. He
ing herself, France can only proceed was much in England, being at different
steadily onward and upward from that times attached to the households of Ed-
great new departure which she made in ward III. of England and of King John
1789.
of France, and becoming an especial
The pages which M. Martin has de- favorite with Queen Philippa, who made
voted to the story of thought and science him clerk of her chamber. The Chron.
in France, from the time that Locke's icles) first appeared in Paris about the
ideas set in motion the developments end of the fifteenth century. In the Li-
which ended with the celebrated (Ency- brary at Breslau is a beautiful MS. of
clopédie); the story of Voltaire, Con- them, executed in 1468.
dillac, and Helvétius; of Buffon, the
prophet, of Naturalism, and of Diderot France under Louis XV; by James
and D'Alembert, Turgot, and other polit-
Perkinspublished
ical economists,- are pages singularly volumes in 1897. The method of treat-
lucid, instructive, and fascinating; an ment is chronological, each briefer or
admirable narrative of a great passage longer term of years within the life of
in the history of modern intellectual de- Louis being designated by some import-
velopment.
ant event and treated more or less closely


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86
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
were
in relation thereto. Delving beneath the
surface for chains of causes, and widely
tracing the course of effects, the author
has made a profound, scholarly, and im-
partial study of the times. International
affairs are given large attention, and
some new data presented as material
for the formation of modern judgment of
a period now so remote as to make an
unprejudiced estimate possible. But the
work is most valuable as embodying keen
analytical studies of the men whose lives
were then most potential. Not only the
French monarch, but his contemporary
sovereigns, littérateurs, leaders in the
arts, statesmen, and others, are set forth
with lifelike vividness. The chapters
thus afford a complete picture of the
times.
which succeeded the rule of the revolu-
tionists, and that concerning the current
forms of French thought, are among the
most striking in the book. Of these
habits of thought Taine says: “Never
finer barracks constructed, more
symmetrical and more decorative in as.
pect,
more satisfactory to superficial
view, more acceptable to vulgar good-
sense, more suited to narrow egoism,
better kept and cleaner, better adapted
to the discipline of the average and low
elements of human nature, and better
adapted to etiolating or perverting the
superior elements of human nature. In
this philosophical barracks we have lived
for eighty years. ”
French Revolution, The, by Hippolyte
Adolphe Taine. (1878. ) This forms
the second part of that elaborate work
on (The Origins of Contemporary France)
on which Taine spent the last years of
his life (from 1876 to 1893), and which
obtained for him his seat in the French
Academy. Taine's famous formula of
Race, time, and circumstance, as ac-
counting for all things and everybody,
which underlay all his other work, lies
at the basis of this also. The book dif-
fers, therefore, diametrically from Car-
lyle's history of the same epoch; Carlyle's
theory, as is well known, being that his-
tory is shaped by the exertion of heroic
human wills. If the two works be read
together, a stereoscopic view of the period
may be obtained; and if Laurence Grön-
lund's (Ça Ira) be added to the list, a
newer, and possibly a more philosophical
opinion still, will be the result. From
the opening argument in favor of his
theory of «spontaneous anarchy,” through
the chapters on the Assembly, the Appli-
cation of the Constitution, the Jacobites,
and those on the overthrow of the Revo-
lutionists' government, the pages hold
the reader with an irresistible fascina-
tion. The essay on the psychology of
the Jacobin leaders, – which characterizes
Marat as partially a maniac, Danton as
(an original, spontaneous genius » pos-
sessing “political aptitudes to an eminent
degree, but furthering social ferment
for his own ends, Robespierre as both
obtuse and a charlatan "on the last
bench of the eighteenth century, the most
abortive and driest offshoot of the clas-
sical spirit,” – that on the government
French Revolution, The: A History,
by Thomas Carlyle. (1837. ) One of
the monumental books of all literature,
On its appearance John Stuart Mill took
pains to review it in the Westminster;
and Carlyle's name was securely placed
on the roll of great English authors. Mr.
R. H. Hutton pronounced it quite pos-
sible that it will be as the author of the
(French Revolution,' a unique book of
the century, that Carlyle will be chiefly re-
membered. ” Carlyle himself said, “You
have not had for a hundred years any
book that comes more direct and flam-
ingly from the heart of a living man. ”
With almost unequaled power of pictur-
ing incidents and portraying characters
and scenes, Carlyle flung upon his pages
a series of pictures such as the pen has
rarely executed. He deals less with
causes and effects, but for the immediate
scenes of the story his power is almost
perfect; and his book can never lose its
living interest for readers, or its value in
many ways to students, though it is often
called a prose poem rather than a history.
French Revolution, The History of,
by H. Morse Stephens. (Vol. i. , 1886;
Vol. ii. , 1891; Vol. iii. not yet published. )
An important definitive work consider-
ably in advance of previous works, either
French or English, in consequence of the
wealth of materials now available, and
the spirit of impartial examination of all
evidence which Mr. Stephens has used.
Taine and Michelet displayed great gen-
ius in their treatment of the subject; but
could not, from French predisposition,
weigh impartially the characters of the
story. Martin's "continuation » of his
great history was a poor work of his old
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
87
a
new
age.
Thiers is often inaccurate and un- esying of present times, he reviews the
fair; Louis Blanc and Quinet were alike last quarter of a century, and carefully
influenced by their political opinions. notes the steps of change and the stage
Mignet stands almost alone for a work of progress which has been reached.
which is still a most useful manual, and
which is certain to retain its position.
A"
ncient Régime, The, by H. A. Taine.
Carlyle wrote with marvelous power 1875. A study of the France which,
indeed, and fidelity to his sources; but after twelve hundred years of develop-
these were few compared with those now ment, existed in 1789; the part which
available. It is for thorough, impartial, clergy, nobles, and king played in it; the
and comprehensive use of the immense organization of politics, society, religion,
mass of new as well as old resources and the church; the state of industry,
that Mr. Stephens undertakes a new his- education, science, and letters; and the
tory; and the two volumes already pub- condition of the people: with reference
lished justify his ambition. He traces especially to the causes which produced
the story of these sources, from the con- the French Revolution, and through that
temporary histories, the memoirs of a
catastrophic upheaval created
following age, and the more complete France. Not only the more general facts
histories from Mignet to Taine, and leav- are brought to view, but the particulars
ing all these behind, proposes to use for of industrial, domestic, and social life are
his work the labors of a new school of abundantly revealed. First the structure
specialists created since the influence of of society is examined; then the habits
Ranke and of German methods began to and manifestations of character which
be operative in France. This new school were most notably French; then the ele-
has produced a great number of pro- ments of a dawning revolution, the rep-
vincial histories of extraordinary excel- resentative figures of a new departure,
lence; it has brought out many valuable master minds devoted to new knowledge;
biographies, a large number of works on
philosophers, scientists, economists, seek-
the foreign relations of France, and a ing a remedy for existing evils; then the
rich succession of special papers in the working of the new ideas in the public
reviews and magazines. There are avail- mind; and finally the state of suffering
able, also, a variety of publications of and struggle in which the mass of the
proceedings, which bring many early rec- people were. A masterly study of great
ords to light. The great story, with its value for the history of France and for
terrible lights and not less terrible dark- judgment of the future of the French
ness, begins therefore to be clearly open Republic. Taine's phenomenal brilliancy
to unprejudiced investigation, and Mr.
of style and picturesqueness of manner,
Stephens's volumes are an attempt to give his philosophical contemplation of data,
the results of such investigation. He and his keen reasoning, have never been
leaves upon his readers a clear impres- more strikingly exhibited than in these
sion of his success.
volumes, which are as absorbing as fiction
and as informing as science.
France, Evolution of, under the Third
Republic, by Baron Pierre de Cou-
French Literature, A Short History of,
bertin. (Translated by Isabel F. Hap- by George Saintsbury, 1897. Among
good, 1897. ) An excellent study of re- Professor Saintsbury's works, which have
cent developments in France, including been mostly on literature, few have been
not merely politics and matters of State, more serviceable than this handbook. It
but ideas, habits, social relations, literary covers a broad field, and one especially
tendencies, and whatever shows what attractive to English readers, as well as
France is becoming, or has become, un- not too accessible to them. Accurate in
der the order of things since September its statements of fact, short, simply and
4th, 1870. The story of the Franco-Ger- directly written, and yet comprehensive,
man War is not attempted, but only that it considers all departments of literature,
of the developments which began with including history, theology, philosophy,
the close of that war. For the origin of and science. It starts with origins,
the evolution, the full accomplishment of and ends with writers of the present
which is found in the Third Republic, day; treating respectively of Mediæval
Coubertin looks back to 1792; and with a Literature,! . (The Renaissance,) (The
general view of the Revolution as proph- Seventeenth Century,' The Eighteenth


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88
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Century,) (The Nineteenth Century,' and Queen of Navarre. The (Nouvelles) also
offering a sufficient though necessarily show us that the Middle Ages are past.
brief description of the various men and Instead of gallant knights performing
works “whereof knowledge is desirable impossible feats to win a smile from
to enable the reader to perceive the main romantic châtelaines, we have a crowd
outlines of the course of French litera- of princes and peasants, nobles and
ture. ” In the interchapters, inserted at tradesmen; all, with their wives and mis-
the ends of the books, are summed up the tresses, jostling and duping one another
general phenomena of the periods as dis- on a footing of perfect equality. Another
tinguished from particular accomplish- sign that a new era has come is the
ment.
mixed social condition of the thirty-two
story-tellers; for among them, obscure
Cent
ent Nouvelles Nouvelles. This col- and untitled men, probably domestics of
lection of facetious tales was first the Duke of Burgundy, figure side by
published at Paris in 1486. They were side with some of the greatest names in
told at the table of the dauphin, after- French history.
ward Louis XI. , in the Castle of Genappe
during his exile. Their arrangement in Caractéres on Meurs de ce Siecle, by
their present form has been attributed La Bruyère. The first edition ap-
to the Count of Croi, to Louis himself, peared in 1688. The eight editions that
and to Antoine de La Salle. The latter, followed during the author's lifetime con-
however, seems to have been the editor. tained so many additional portraits, max-
In spite of the difference in character ims, and paragraphs, that they were really
and position of the narrators, the Nou. new works.
Each (Caractère ) is the por-
velles) are uniform in tone and style, trait of some individual type studied by
and have the same elegance and clear- La Bruyère in the world around him.
ness of diction that distinguished La His position in the family of Condé, and
Salle’s ‘Quinze Joyes de Mariage. ' Be- consequent opportunities for character-
sides, the number actually related was study, afforded him all the materials he
far in excess of a hundred. A practiced needed; and so he has given us a whole
writer therefore must have selected and gallery of dukes, marquises, court prelates,
revised the best. The work is one of court chamberlains, court ladies, pedants,
the most curious monuments of a kind financiers, and in fact representatives of
of literature distinctively French, and every department of court, professional,
which, since its revival by Voltaire in literary, or civic life. He gets at them
the last century, has always been suc- in the different situations in which they
cessfully cultivated: the literature that are most likely to reveal their personal
considers elegant mockery and perfection and mental characteristics, and then
of form adequate compensation for the
makes them tell him their several se-
lack of morality and lofty ideals. Al- crets. Unlike Montaigne and La Roche-
though several of the stories are traceable foucauld, he does not
much care
to
to Boccaccio, Poggio, and other Italian meddle with the man and woman of all
novellieri, most of them are original. times and places. His victim is this or
The historical importance of the collec- that man woman belonging to the
tion arises from its giving details re-
second half of the seventeenth century.
garding the manners and customs of the Naturally, a mind-reader of this sort, who
fifteenth century that can be found no- was also a master of the most polished
where else. Its very licentiousness is sarcasm, clothed in the most classical
commentary enough on the private life French ever written save that of Racine
of the men and women of the time. In and Massillon, would make many ene-
spite of its title, however, there is nothing mies; for under the disguise of Elmire,
novel in the incidents upon which the Clitiphon, and other names borrowed from
(Nouvelles) are based. Their novelty the plays and romances of the age, many
consists in their high-bred brightness great personages of the literary and fash-
and vivacity, their delicately shaded and ionable world recognized themselves. La
refined but cruel sarcasm. With a slight Bruyère protested his innocence, and no
modernization of the language, they might doubt in most cases several individuals
have been told at one of the Regent's sat for a single portrait; but it is also
suppers, and they are far superior to pretty certain that he painted the great
those related in the Heptameron of the Condé in Émile,' and Fonteneile in
or
>


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
89
men
(Cydias,' and that many others had
cause for complaint. While it is admitted
that the picture he presents of the society
of his time is almost complete, it does
not appear that the Caractères) were
composed after any particular plan. Still,
although there may not be a very close
connection between the chapters, there is
a certain order in their succession. The
first, which paints society in its general
features, is a sort of introduction to the
nine following, which paint it in its dif-
ferent castes. Universal ethics are the
subject of the eleventh and twelfth, while
the eccentricities and abuses of the age
are dealt with in the thirteenth and four-
teenth, and in the fifteenth we have the
Christian solution. Some critics hold
La Bruyère a democrat and a precur-
sor of the French Revolution. The Ca-
ractères, however, teem with passages
that prove he accepted all the essential
ideas of his time in politics and religion.
A large number of manuscript “keys »
to the Caractères) appeared after their
publication. Quite a literature has grown
up around these keys. The Comédie de
La Bruyère) of Édouard Fournier deals
with the key question, both exhaustively
and amusingly. The "Édition Servois)
(1867) of the Caractères) is considered
by French critics unrivaled; but English
readers will find that of Chassary (1876)
more useful, as it contains everything of
interest that had appeared in the preced-
ing editions.
Ruins, byn Constantin François Vol-
ney.
These meditations upon the
revolutions of empires were published in
Paris in 1791, and have for their theme
the thought that all the ills of man are
traceable to his abandonment of Natural
Religion. The author, who was an ex-
tensive traveler, represents himself as
sitting on the ruins of Palmyra, dream-
ing of the past, and wondering why the
curse of God rests on this land. He
hears a voice (the Genius of the Tombs),
complaining of the injustice of men, in
attributing to God's vengeance that which
is due to their own folly. Love of self,
desire of well-being, and aversion to
pain, are the primordial laws of nature.
By these laws men were driven to asso-
ciate. Ignorance and cupidity raised the
strong against the weak. The feeble
joined forces, obliging the strong to do
likewise. To prevent strife, equitable
laws were passed. Paternal despotism
was the foundation of that of the State.
Tiring of the abuses of many petty
rulers, the nation gave itself one head.
Cupidity engendered tyranny, and all
the revenues of the nation were used for
the private expenses of the monarch.
Under pretext of religion, millions of
were employed in useless works.
Luxury became a source of corruption.
Excessive taxation obliged the small
landholder to abandon his field, and the
riches and lands were concentrated in
few hands. The ignorant and poor at-
tributed their calamities to some superior
power, while the priests attributed them
to wicked gods. To appease them, man
sacrificed his pleasures. Mista king bis
pleasures for crimes, and suffering for
expiation, he abjured love of self and
detested life; but as nature has endowed
the heart of man with hope, he formed,
in his imagination, another country.
For chimerical hopes he neglected the
reality. Life was but a fatiguing voy-
age, a painful dream, the body a prison.
Then a sacred laziness established itself
in the world. The fields were deserted,
empires depopulated, monuments neg-
lected; and ignorance, superstition, and
fanaticism, joining their forces, multi-
plied the devastation and ruins. The
Genius shows him a revolution, where
Liberty, Justice, and Equality are recog-
nized as the foundation of society. Be-
fore accepting a religion, all are invited
to present their claims for recognition.
The result is not only dissensions among
the different religions, but between the
different branches of the same religion,
each one claiming that his is the only
revealed religion and that all the others
are impositions.
Ninety-three (Quatre-vingt-Treize'),
by Victor Hugo, bears the sub-title:
(Premier Recit. La Guerre Civile, and
was intended to form the first part of a
trilogy. It was published in 1874. The
edition of 1882 contains several remarka-
ble designs signed by the author. The
story deals with an episode of the Ven-
dean and Breton insurrection; the scene
opening in a wood in Bretagne where a
woman, driven distracted by the war
raging around herself and her three
children, encounters a body of republican
soldiers. During this time, a band of
émigrés are preparing to land under
the command of a Breton nobleman,
the Marquis de Lantenac. The English


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90
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
government, though it has furnished them
1829 a young man, in despair because of
with a ship, informs the French authori- failure to succeed in his chosen career,
ties of their design, and a fotilla bars tries the gaming table. He meets an
their passage. The émigrés, after secur- old man, who revives his interest in life
ing the escape of Lantenac, who is com- by showing him a piece of skin, bearing
missioned to raise Bretagne, blow up the in Arabic an inscription promising to
vessel. After landing he learns that a the owner the gratification of every wish.
price is set on his head. A number of But with each request granted the skin
men come towards him, and he believes becomes smaller. The life of the pos-
he is lost, but bravely tells his name. sessor is lessened as the enchanted skin
They are Bretons, and recognize him as diminishes. The unknown young man
their leader. Then ensues a conflict in seizes the skin, crying “A short life but
which the marquis is victorious, and in a merry one! ) Scenes in Paris pass
which no quarter is given except to the before us, taken from lives of artists,
three children, whom the Bretons carry jou alists, politicians. We meet again
to La Tourgue as hostages. La Tourgue Canalis, a chief character in Modest
is besieged by the republican troops Mignon.
One chapter is entitled "The
under Gauvain, the marquis's nephew, Heartless Woman. ) Raphael by virtue of
assisted by the ex-priest Cimourdain, a the talismanic skin becomes rich. Paul-
rigid and inflexible republican who has ine loves him. Life smiles on them,
trained Gauvain in his own opinions. Yet the fatal skin is brought to his
The besieged are determined to blow up eyes, casting a gloom over everything –
the tower and all it contains, if they are scientific work, salons of painting and
conquered.
When their case is desper- sculpture, the theatre - embittering all.
ate and the tower is already on fire, an He brings the skin to Lavrille, a savant,
underground passage is discovered, and for examination. It is the skin of an
they can escape.
Lantenac is in safety, ass,” is the decision. Raphael was look-
but he hears the agonizing shrieks of ing for some means to stretch the skin,
the mother, who sees her three children and thus prolong his life. He tries me-
in the midst of the flames. Moved with chanical force, chemistry; but the skin
pity, he returns, saves them, and be- becomes less and still less — till he dies.
comes a prisoner. When he is about to Through all we feel the author's tone of
be executed, Gauvain covers him with irony toward the weakness and sins of
his own cloak, tells him to depart, and society. Some twenty principal person-
remains in his place. A council of war
ages are introduced.
condemns Gauvain; and at the moment
he mounts the scaffold, Cimourdain, who
Jules Sandeau (Paris:
one of his judges, kills himself. 1846). The scene of the story is
Hugo incarnates in his three principal laid in the little village of Saint-Sylvain,
characters the three ages of human so- in the ancient province of La Marche.
ciety.
Lantenac, the monarchic chief, The curé, a priest patterned after the
personifies the past; Cimourdain, the cit- Vicar of Wakefield, who spends most of
izen priest, the present; and Gauvain, his income of 800 francs in relieving his
the ideal of mercy, the future. Although poor, discovers that there is no money
the descriptions and disquisitions are left to buy a soutane for himself and a
sometimes wordy and tedious, and there surplice for his assistant; while the fes-
are many improbabilities in the romance, tival of the patron of the parish is close
the picture of the three little children at hand, and their old vestments are in
tossed about in the revolutionary hurri- rags.
There is consternation in the pres-
cane will always be considered one of bytery, especially when the news arrives
the loftiest achievements of Hugo's gen- that the bishop of Limoges himself is to
ius. The account of the convention of be present. Catharine, the priest's little
1793, and the conversations of Marat, niece, determines to make a collection,
Danton, and Robespierre, also show the and goes to the neighboring château,
hand of a master.
although warned that the Count de Sou-
gères is a wicked and dangerous man.
Magic Skin, The ('La Peau de But Catharine, in her innocence, does not
Chagrin'), by Honoré de Balzac. understand the warning; and besides,
This forms of the Philosophic Claude, her uncle's choir-leader and her
Studies) of the great Frenchman. In friend from childhood, will protect her.
Catharine,
was
one


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
91
When she reaches the château, she meets,
not the count, but his son Roger, who
gives a liberal donation to the fair col-
lector, and afterward sends hampers of
fowl, silver plate, etc. , to the presbytery,
so that Monseigneur of Limoges and his
suite are received with all due honor.
Universal joy pervades the parish, which
Claude does not share. He is jealous;
and with reason, for Catharine and Roger
quickly fall in love with each other.
(Catharine) ranks as one of the best,
if not the best, of Sandeau's works.
While some of the scenes show intense
dramatic power, and others are of the
most pathetic interest, a spirit of de-
licious humor pervades the whole story,
an unforced and kindly humor that springs
from the situations, and is of a class
seldom found in French literature.
victim of war, this thesis, interpreted by
scenes of daily carnage, is more eloquent
and persuasive than if it borrowed argu-
ments from history or philosophy. The
style is simple, familiar; perhaps at times
even vulgar: but it is never trivial or
commonplace, and is always in harmony
with the speaker. As the work was hos-
tile to the Napoleonic legend, numerous
obstacles were put in the way of its cir-
culation at the time of publication. But
notwithstanding, it was scattered in pro-
fusion throughout France by means of
cheap illustrated editions.
an
1
Loki, by Prosper Mérimée, is one of the
strongest and most skillfully con-
structed of his works. The motive is
the almost universal belief that human
beings may be transformed into animals.
A German professor and minister, com-
missioned to make a new translation
of the Scriptures into the Zhmud lan-
guage, is invited by a Lithuanian no-
bleman (Count Szémioth) to reside at
his castle and use his valuable library
during his labors.
The Count's mother, on the day of
her marriage, had been carried off by a
bear, and when rescued, found to be
hopelessly insane, even the birth of her
son having failed to restore her reason.
The Professor finds the Count
agreeable companion, but observes in
him certain strange and often alarming
characteristics. The Count is in love
with a beautiful, witty, but rather friv-
olous young girl, Miss Julia Ivinska, and
the Professor goes with him several
times to visit her at Doughielly. At
last their engagement is announced, and
the Professor is recalled to the castle to
perform the marriage ceremony.
The next morning the bride is found
dead, and the Count has disappeared.
The whole trend of the story, the inci-
dents and conversations, often seemingly
irrelevant, the hinted peculiarities of the
Count, all serve to point, as it were in-
exorably, at the inevitable conclusion
that the man has at last undergone the
terrible transformation and become
bear, after killing and partially eating
his helpless victim.
The perfect simplicity and naturalness
of the language, the realism of its ro-
mance, the grace and wit of the dia-
logue, and the consistency of the char-
acters, - particularly of the Professor,
who narrates the story with the utmost
Conscrit de 1813, Histoire d'un (His-
tory of a Conscript of 1813), by
Erckmann-Chatrian, was published at
Paris in four volumes (1868–70). Joseph
Bertha, a watchmaker's apprentice, aged
20, is in despair when he learns that in
spite of his lameness, he must shoulder a
gun and march against the allies. Hither-
to his own little affairs have bad much
more concern for him than the quarrels of
kings and powers, and he has an instinct-
ive dislike to the spirit of conquest. Still
his is a loyal heart, and he resists the
temptation to desert. After an affecting
farewell to his betrothed, he marches to
join his regiment, resolved to do his duty.
Of the terrific battles of the period Joseph
relates only what he saw. He does not
pretend to be a hero, but he is always true
to his nature and to human nature in his
alternate fits of faint-heartedness and war-
like fury. He obeys his leaders when
they bid him rush to death or glory; but
he cannot help turning his eyes back, at
the same time, to the poor little cottage
where he has left all his happiness. His
artless soul is a battle-field whereon the
feelings natural to him are in constant
conflict with those of his new condition:
the former prevailing when the miseries
of the soldier's life are brought home to
him; the latter, when he is inflamed by
martial ardor. All the narrative, up to
the time he returns wounded to his family,
turns on the contrast between the perpet-
ual mourning that is going on in families
and the perpetual Te Deums for disas-
trous victories. This is the dominant
note; and in the mouth of this obscure
1
T
a


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92
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
plausibility,- give it the effect of his- vious with the money of all his clients.
tory. While the supernatural is the most Jeanne thus becomes the ward of her good
dramatic quality of the story, every in- old friend, who later sells his treasured
cident in it might nevertheless be ex- library to secure her a marriage portion,
plained scientifically.
and retires to a cottage in the country,
where his declining days are brightened
Crin
rime of Sylvestre Bonnard, The, by the caresses of Jeanne and her child-
by Anatole France. This charming ren.
story, by a distinguished critic and aca-
demician, not only paints the literary life Numa Roumestan, by Alphonse Dau-
det. The author at first intended
of Paris, but depicts the nobler human
to call his romance (North and South';
emotions with delicate humor and pathos.
a title indicative of his true purpose,
In a short prelude entitled “The Log,'
which is to contrast these two sections
the kindliness and simplicity of nature of
of France, not at all to the advantage
the learned archæologist Sylvestre Bon-
of the one in which he was born. Numa
nard, member of the Institute, are revealed.
Roumestan is a genuine Provençal: a
It relates how he sends a Christmas log
braggart, a politician, a great man, and
to a poor young mother, in the attic
a good fellow to boot. He appears in
above him, on the birth of her boy; how,
the opening pages at a festival at Apt,
like a fairy gift, the log comes back to
where he is the choice of his adoring
him on a later Christmas, hollowed out,
and containing a precious manuscript of
fellow-countrymen for deputy. Congrat-
ulations, embraces, hand-shaking, and
the Golden Legend,' for which he has
requests for offices, are the order of the
journeyed to Sicily in vain; and how the
day. He promises everything to every
Princess Trépof, who is the gracious donor,
one, - crosses, tobacco
turns out to be the poor attic-neighbor,
monopolies, what-
whom he had befriended years before.
ever any one asks,- and if Valmajour,
the tambourine player, come to Paris,
When the story opens, we find Sylvestre
he will make his fortune. A friend re-
Bonnard at the château of a Monsieur
monstrates with him. “Bah! ” he answers,
de Gabry, for whom he is cataloguing old
manuscripts. Here he meets a charming they know these promises are of no con-
they are of the South, like myself:
young girl named Jeanne, and discovers
sequence; talking about them will amuse
her to be the portionless daughter of his
them. ” But some persons take him at
first and only love. He resolves to pro-
his word. The story is intensely amus-
vide for and dower her; but she has
ing, and there is not a chapter which
already a guardian in a crafty notary, Mai-
does not contain some laughable inci-
tre Mouche, who has placed her in a third-
dent. The mixture of irony and sensi-
rate school near Paris. Here the good
bility which pervades it is Daudet's
Bonnard visits her and gradually wins her
distinguishing characteristic, and reminds
filial affection; but unluckily at the same
the reader of Heine. There are some
time arouses in the pretentious school-
scenes of real pathos, such as the death
mistress, Mademoiselle Préfère, the am-
of little Hortense. Daudet describes the
bition of becoming the wife of a member
of the Institute who is reputed wealthy.
early career of Gambetta in the chief
character. Gambetta was his friend, but
The defenseless savant, upon receiving
Daudet never shrank from turning his
a scarcely veiled offer of wedlock from
friends into “copy. ”
the lady, cannot conceal his horror; upon
which she turns him out of the house, Faience Violin, The, by J. F. H. Champ;
and denies him all further intercourse with fleury. A dainty book, wrought with
Jeanne. On the discovery that his pro- the delicacy and care of an artist in
tégée is immured and cruelly treated, he some frail and rare material, truly and
is driven to commit his great crime, the without metaphor a romance of pottery.
abduction of a minor. This deed is ef- There is no love episode in the story
fected by bribing the portress of the school save that passion that consumes the col-
and carrying away the willing victim in lector of antiques, which, if yielded to
a cab to the shelter of Madame de Ga- unreservedly, will surely lead to the moral
bry's house. Here he finds that he has result of turning the feelings into stone. ”
committed a penal offense; but escapes The scene is laid in Nevers, the centre
prosecution owing to Jeanne's unworthy of the fine pottery districts of France; and
guardian's having decamped a week pre- the characters, Gardelanne and Dalegre,
((


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
93
at the first warm friends, end in being
rival collectors, consumed with envy and
suspicion. Gardelanne, who lives in Paris,
having learned of the existence of a vio-
lin made of pottery, charges Dalègre, his
old companion at Nevers, the home of
their boyhood, to hunt it up; and on his
failing to find it, undertakes the search
himself at last, discovering it in a col-
lection of old rubbish, and buying it for
a mere trifle, much to Dalègre's chagrin.
To satisfy his friend, however, he puts a
clause in his will leaving to him the vio-
lin; a concession that helps to convert
the former love of his friend into eager-
ness to hear of his death. At length the
coveted porcelain comes into Dalègre's
possession, and is about to be assigned
to the shrine long kept waiting for it,
when, on being tuned for a few delicious
notes of greeting, the precious idol cracks
and falls to pieces on the floor. The
owner, in his grief and mortification, is
for a time thought by his friends to have
fallen in “defaience,” He has horrid
dreams of people who have turned into
fine vases and may not mingle too freely
with their companions lest they spoil
their glaze. At length, recovered from
his malady, he marries; and amid the
joys of home, contrasts the happiness of
domestic life with the hollow pleasures
of those unfortunates (whose feelings are
turning into stone. ) In a preface to an
American edition, the author expresses
his delight at the kind welcome his story
has found in America.
summer
the house gay with Japanese blossoms,
plays her harp, and is as Japanese a
little oddity as he could find; but fails
even to amuse him. She is as empty
of ideality as her name-flower is of fra-
grance, or as the little apartment which
he rents for her and for himself is of
furniture. But the disillusion of Loti
himself, the mocking pessimism under-
lying his eager appreciation of the new
sense-impressions, and the exact touch
and strong relief of his descriptions of
exotic scenes, exercise a curious mag-
netism.
With Chrysanthème, Loti explores Na-
gasaki, goes to concerts, and gives teas;
but he is not in harmony with this bi-
zarre simplicity of life. Suddenly his
ship is ordered to China.
The pretty
home is dismantled. Chry-
santhème must return to her mother.
In future she will be a pleasant mem-
ory, but he leaves her without regret,
with an indulgent smile of light mock-
ery for the clever, gain-seeking little Jap-
anese lady.
Cosmopolis, by Paul Bourget.
This
novel is written to demonstrate the
influence of heredity. The scene is at
Rome, but a glance at the principal char-
acters shows the fitness of the title.
Countess Steno is a descendant of the
Doges. Bolislas Gorka shows the nervous
irritability and facile conscience of the
Slav; his wife is English. Lincoln Mait-
land is an American artist, whose wife
has a drop of African blood. The clever
Dorsenne is French. From the alien am-
bitions and the selfish intrigues of these
persons the story arises. It is most dis-
agreeable in essence, but subtle in analy-
sis, dramatic in quality, and brilliant in
execution.
Germany (Germania), by Tacitus. The
full title of the work is De Origine,
Situ, Moribus, ac Populis Germaniæ. ) It
was written probably in 99, and is a
geographical and political description of
ancient Germany, or at least of the part
of it known to the Romans, which did
not extend far beyond the Elbe. It may
be divided into three parts: Chapters
i. -v. describe the situation of the coun-
try, the origin of its population, and the
nature of the soil; Chapters vi. -xxvii. ,
the manners of the Germans in general
and their method of waging war; and the
remaining chapters deal with the sev-
eral tribes, and give a careful and precise
Madame Chrysantheme, by Pierre Loti
(whose real name is Louis Marie
Julien Viaud), appeared in 1887, when he
was thirty-seven. It is the seventh of
the novels in which Loti has tried to fix
in words the color, atmosphere, and life
of different countries.
The scene
of
Madame Chrysanthème) is Japan, and
the reader sees and feels that strange
land as Loti saw and felt it, - a little
land of little people and things; a land
of prettiness and oddity rather than of
beauty; where life is curiously free from
moral and intellectual complexities. Loti
has but a single theme, the isolated life
of one
man with one woman; but the
charm of Madame Chrysanthème) is
not in its romance. The pretty olive-
hued wife whom the sailor Loti upon
his arrival at Nagasaki engages at so
much a month, conscientiously does her
part. She pays him all reverence, keeps


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94
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
account of the manners and customs that
distinguish one from another. This fine
work is at once a treatise on geography,
political study of the peoples most
dreaded by Rome, a study of barbarous
manners, and, by the simple effect of
contrast, a satire on Roman manners.
It is not only the chief source of the
ancient history of the tribes that were to
form the northern and western nations
of Europe, but it contains an account
of the germs of almost every modern in-
stitution,— military, judicial, and feudal.
Notwithstanding occasional errors in ge-
ography and some misconceptions as to
the religion of the Germans, the striking
accuracy of his details, as well as the
correctness and precision of his general
views, have led some scholars to believe
that Tacitus spent the four years of his
life which are unaccounted for, from 89
to 93, in Germany. But this is only con-
jecture; and the means of information
within his reach were as valuable as a
personal visit to the country he describes
might have been. Many of his friends,
like Rufus, had made campaigns beyond
the Rhine, and their knowledge was at
his disposal. He must have consulted
the numerous hostages and captives that
were always in the city. Deserters, such
as Marbod and Catuald, not to mention
the merchants who trafficked with the
Teutons, may also have helped him to
give his work the character of truthful-
ness and the local color that distinguish
it. He is supposed, in addition, to have
derived great assistance from the (His-
tory of the Wars in Germany,' in twenty
books, by Pliny the Elder, a work now
lost. Tacitus has been accused of a tend-
ency to idealize the ancient Germans,
in order to contrast their virtues with the
vices of the Romans. But while he no
doubt intends now and then to point a
moral for the benefit of his countrymen,
he is not blind to the faults of the peo-
ple he describes, and has no love for
them. He speaks of their bestial drunk-
enness, their gluttony, their indolence,
and rejoices with a ferocious joy at the
destruction of sixty thousand of the Brus-
teri, slain in sight of the Roman soldiers
by their own countrymen.
executing efforts of advance with full
masculine strength and energy. Napo-
leon had in 1803 driven Madame de Staël
from Paris, and in December of that year
she had visited Schiller and Goethe at
Weimar, and Schlegel at Berlin. The
death of her father, a visit to Italy, and
the composition of Corinne) which greatly
added to her fame in Europe, were fol-
lowed by a second visit to Germany in
the latter part of 1807. The book De
l'Allemagne) was finished in 1810, and
printed in an edition of 10,000 copies af-
ter submission to the regular censorship,
when Napoleon caused the whole to be
seized and destroyed, and herself ordered
to leave France at once. By good luck
her son had preserved the manuscript; and
the author was able, after a long wander-
ing through Europe, to reach England,
and secure the publication of her book in
1813. In dealing, as she did, with man-
ners, society, literature, art, philosophy,
and religion, from the point of view of
her observations in Germany, Madame
de Staël gave to France a more complete
and sympathetic knowledge of German
thought and literature than it had ever
had. It was a presentation of the German
mind and German developments at once
singularly penetrating and powerful. The
defects of the work were French, and
promoted rather than hindered its influ-
ence in France. In England an immense
enthusiasm was aroused by the author
and by her brilliant book, which easily
took the highest rank among books of
the time.
I
Ger
erman Empire, The Founding of
the: Based chiefly upon Prussian
State Documents; by Heinrich von Sy bel.
(7 vols. , 1890-98. ) An able authoritative
treatment of Prussian history during the
period 1850–70. Dr. Von Sybel had pub-
lished a History of the Revolutionary
Period from 1789 to 1800,' in which he
pictured the downfall of the Holy Roman
Empire among the Germans.
In sequel
to this he undertook the history of the
Prussian founding of a German Empire.
Bismarck gave permission, March 19th,
1881, for him to use the records in the
government archives; and through five
volumes, bringing the story as far as to
1866, this privilege was of avail to secure
an accurate and comprehensive picture of
Prussian aims and efforts down to the
war with Austria. A few months after
Bismarck's retirement, the permission
Germ
ermany, by the Baroness de Staël-
Holstein (Anne Louise Germaine
Necker). (1813. ) One of the most re-
markable examples in literature of the
genius of woman opening new paths and


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
95
new
cor-
of many other participants in the histories Quideligtful book, published in 1858,
to consult the documents of the Foreign cess laid the foundation of the
Office was withdrawn; but for a empire. The development of Prussian
rect completion of the essential course of power in North Germany and the Franco-
events this proved not a serious matter. Prussian War, ending with the making
The place of the official records was very of King William emperor, are the topics
well supplied by the literature already in of the concluding volumes. The English
print, by the personal knowledge of Von translation of this great work is an Amer-
Sybel himself from his own participation ican enterprise.
in important events, and the knowledge
,
and by an abundance of written records
freely placed at his disposal. The entire is full of charming descriptions of
work, therefore, in seven stout volumes, scenery, and of interesting character-
cannot fail to be a most valuable con- touches. The story had a great vogue
temporary history. It is introduced by in its day. Nora Nixon, one heroine, a
an elaborate retrospect of German history beautiful girl of sixteen, is traveling
from the earliest times to the middle with her father, when he suddenly dies,
(1850) of the reign of Frederick William leaving her alone and penniless. She
IV. (June 7th, 1840, to January 2d, 1861). has been brought up entirely on the
This monarch, after ten years of dogged Continent, and now enters England for
refusal, finally granted Prussia a written the first time. Her mother was of good
constitution and a representative parlia | family; and it is to her relations, the
ment (January 31st, 1850). It is at this Medways, that Nora first addresses her-
point that Dr. von Sybel takes up the his- self, rather than to her father's brothers,
tory for full and exact treatment of the rich and presumably vulgar tradesmen.
steps of change by which the king of Prus- The Medways receive her kindly; but
sia was to become in 1871, January 18th, finding that Lord Medway, an invalid of
at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, rather weak character, wishes to marry
the German emperor.
King Frederick her, they lose no time in preventing
William's shattered health (from paraly- such a mésalliance, and turn her over,
sis and occasional insanity) led to the with scant consideration of her feelings,
appointment of his brother William as to her offended city uncles. This is
regent, October 7th, 1858; and upon the done through the mediation of Charles
former's death, January 2d, 1861, the latter Thorpe, Medway's younger brother; and
succeeded to the Prussian throne as Will- though Nora has never seen him, it is
iam I. The policy of the new king was long before she forgives this insult.
military rather than popular, to strengthen She soon makes herself indispensable,
the army rather than to develop a free however, to her uncle Stephen, as well
Prussia; and this might have overthrown as to his son Arthur, who, though he
him had he not found in Bismarck a loves her, is obliged by his father to
minister able to unite the conflicting make a brilliant marriage. Shortly after
interests. Bismarck's “Blood and Iron, marrying Lady Trebleton, a gay widow,
which has been commonly misunder- he dies at Almenau, in the Bavarian
stood, meant German Blood or Race, - | Highlands. His dying wish is that Nora
German Unity,- and Iron or arms to shall visit his grave and erect a stone
enable Prussia to develop it. Dr. Von over him; and it is to fulfill this trust
Sybel takes up in his first volume the first that, when left an heiress by Stephen
attempt at German unity; then relates Nixon's death, she goes with the Gil-
the failure of the projects for securing it bert Nixons to this beautiful spot. Here
and the achievement of Prussian union. they run
Charles Thorpe, now
In Vol. ii. he deals with the revival of Lord Medway, and his friend Count
the Confederate Diet; Germany at the Waldemar. Against his will, and in
time of the Crimean War; the first years defiance of all his strongest prejudices,
of the reign of William I. ; and the be- for he is a true Englishman in all
ginning of the ministry of Bismarck. He his faults and virtues, - Charles Thorpe
devotes Vol. iii. to the war with Den- falls desperately in love with Nora
mark, and Vols. iv.