No More Learning

It deals with the growth
or decline of the monarchy, the aristoc-
racy, and the democracy; of the Church
and of Dissent; of the agricultural, the
manufacturing, and the commercial in-
terests; the increasing power of Parlia-
ment and of the press; the history of
political ideas, of art, of manners, and
of belief; the changes that have taken
place in the social and economical con-
dition of the people; the influences that
have modified national character; the
relations of the mother country to its
dependencies; and the causes that have
accelerated or retarded the advancement
of the latter. In its earliest form the
work dealt with Ireland in certain sec-
tions, as the general course of the history
required. But on its completion, Mr.
Lecky made a separation, so as to bring
all the Irish sections into a continuous
work on Ireland in the eighteenth cen-
tury, and leave the other parts to stand
as England the eighteenth century.
In a new edition of twelve volumes, seven
were given to England and five to Ire-
land. Mr. Lecky writes as a Liberal, but
as a Unionist rather than Home Ruler.
English Nation, The, by Arouet de Vol-
taire. (1733. ) These letters concern-
ing the English nation were written by
Voltaire while on a visit to London to
his friend Thiriot. Though very simple
in style and diction, they are graced by
a certain charm and by delicate touches
which are a constant delight.
They might be divided into four main
sections. The Quakers, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and Unitarians occupy the
first seven letters, and are subjected to
the witty but not biting remarks of the
French critic. The second division dis-
cusses the government of England as a
whole. The philosophy of Locke and the
science of Sir Isaac Newton, with an in-
teresting letter on Inoculation, including
its history and uses, can be classed to-
gether in the third division. To all lov-
ers of English literature, and especially
of Shakespeare, the fourth division is of
much interest. In his remarks on the
English drama, Voltaire says of Shakes-
peare,
“He was natural and sublime, but
had not so much as a single spark of
good taste. ”
In speaking of religion, Voltaire says,
"Is it not whimsical enough that Luther,
Calvin, and Zuinglius, all of 'em wretched
authors, should have founded sects which
are now spread over a great part of Eu-
rope, when Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Clark,
John Locke, and Mr. Le Clerc, the great-
est philosophers as well as the ablest
writers, should scarce have been able to
raise a small handful of followers ? »
England: Its People, Polity, and Pur.
suits, by T. H. S. Escott. (2 vols. ,
1879. ) A work designed to present a com-
prehensive and faithful picture of the
social and political condition of the Eng-
land of the nineteenth century, the Eng-
land of to-day. No attempt at historical
retrospect is made, except in so far as it
is necessary for understanding things as
they are now. The author spent much
time in visiting different parts of Eng-
land, conversing with and living amongst
the many varieties of people, which vari-
ety is a remarkable fact of English so-
ciety. He made also a large collection
of materials, to have at his command
exact knowledge of the entire world of
English facts. His general conception is
that certain central ideas, which he ex-
plains in his introductory chapter, and
around which he attempts to group his
facts and descriptions, will enable him
closely and logically to connect his chap-
and show a pervading unity of pur-
pose throughout the work. The land and


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30
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
its occupation, the cities and towns, com- friendships. With his wife and children
merce, industries and the working classes, he roamed about Liverpool and London,
pauperism, co-operation, crime, travel and visited many cathedral towns, and lin-
hotels, education, society, politics, the red at Oxford and among the lakes.
Crown, the crowd, official personages, the He speaks of himself as not observant;
Commons, the Lords, the law courts, but if he missed detail, he had the rare
the public services, religion, philosophy, faculty of seizing the salient features
literature, professions, amusements, and of what he saw, and conveying them to
imperial expansion, are his special themes. others. His constant preoccupation was
with the unusual or fantastic in human
English Traits, by Ralph Waldo Emer-
experience, and this led him to observe
son, 1856, comprises an account of
much that most spectators would have
his English visits in 1833 and 1847, and
failed to see.
a series of general observations on na-
tional character. It is the note-book of
a philosophic traveler. In the earlier Junius Letters, The. During the pe-
riod between November 21st, 1768,
chapters, the sketches of his visits to Cole-
and January 21st, 1772, there appeared
ridge, Carlyle, and Wordsworth, while
in the London Daily Advertiser a series
personal in some degree, reveal Emer-
son's character and humor in a delightful
of mysterious letters aimed at the Brit-
ish ministry of that day, and signed by
way. The trend of his mind to general-
ization is evident in the titles given to
various pen-names- the most remark-
the chapters. With the exception of
able of them by that of one "Junius. ”
(Stonehenge) and “The Times,' they are
During the century ensuing, the author-
ship of these epistles has been assigned
all abstract, -(Race,' (Ability,' 'Charac-
ter,' Wealth,' or (Religion. Far re-
with some degree of probability. Yet
moved from provincialism, the tone is
enough of uncertainty, of mystery, still
that of a beholder, kindred in race, who,
remains to make the genesis of the
Junius Letters) one of the most in-
while paying due respect to the stock
from which he sprang, feels his own eyes
teresting of literary puzzles. A bibli-
ography has developed, and new light is
purged of certain illusions still cherished
by the Old World.
These playthings,
still shed from time to time upon the
as it were, of a full-grown people, — the
problem. Meanwhile the merits of the
(Letters) have been sufficient to give
court and church ceremonial, thrones,
them a life all the more vigorous, per-
mitres, bewigged officials, Lord Mayor's
shows,- amused the observer. Every
haps, because they have been conjectur-
ally assigned to Sir Philip Francis.
one of these islanders is island
The author was a man thoroughly cog-
himself, safe, tranquil, incommunicable. »
This work remains unique as a search-
nizant of British politics; a vehement
opponent of the government, and of the
ing analysis, full of generous admiration,
ministerial leaders, Sir William Draper,
of a foreign nation's racial temperament,
the Duke of Grafton, and the Duke of
by a strongly original individuality.
Bedford; a supporter of Wilkes, the op-
English Notes, by Nathaniel Hawthorne position chief;. and a fiery pleader for
(1870), was published by his wife popular liberty. The dominant message
after his death. During his residence is sounded in these words from the first
as consul at Liverpool, he kept a close letter of the series: «The admission of
record of all that struck him as novel a free people to the executive authority
and important in the United Kingdom. of government is no more than com-
Much of this material he afterwards devel- pliance with laws which they themselves
oped in a series of sketches entitled Our have enacted. ” Much constitutional
Old Home. The remaining notes, given knowledge is shown in these trenchant
to the public in their original form of attacks, which continually refer to the
disconnected impressions, are interesting British Constitution as the bulwark of
for their animation and vigorous bits the people's rights. In manner, the let-
of description. They are a striking rev- te's are vigorous, bold, and among the
elation of Hawthorne's personality, and finest specimens of impassioned invective
show the cheerful side of a man usually and irony in English literature. To read
considered gloomy. In spite of the shy- them now is to understand readily the
ness which made after-dinner speeches a stir they made on their appearance be-
trial to him, he formed many delightful fore an already excited public.
an


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
31
For years their authorship was not
assigned to Francis. Burke, Lord Tem-
ple, Hamilton, Dr. Butler, Wilkes, and
several others were suspected, and many
ingenious arguments proved the validity
of this claim or that, no less than thirty-
five names having been considered by
students of the subject. In 1813, forty
years after their publication, John Tay-
lor published his “Discovery of the Au-
thor of the Letters of Junius, in which
they were attributed to Sir Philip Fran-
cis and his father; the first of whom was
still living when the volume appeared,
and did not deny them.
Sir Philip Francis, son of an Irish
clergyman and schoolmaster of repute, a
man of culture and travel, holding im-
portant governmental positions and hav-
ing intimate knowledge of the political
machine, was, at the time the Letters)
appeared, in the War Office. Taylor
points out that Junius shows remarkable
familiarity with that department, many
of the letters having been written upon
war-office paper. It is known, too, that
Francis kept elaborate note-books on the
English constitutional questions so ably
discussed in the 'Letters. ) Woodfall,
the publisher of the Daily Advertiser, in
which the Junius Letters) were printed,
was a schoolmate of Francis at Eton.
Expert examination of the disguised
handwriting in which the letters were
penned, identified it with the hand of
Francis. W. R. Francis, Sir Philip's
grandson, in his Junius Revealed,'
strengthens the case. He discovered a
poem known to be written by Francis,
yet copied out in the feigned hand of
Junius. He found also that several of
the seals used on the Junius Letters )
were used on private letters by Francis.
To these significant facts the grandson
adds that Sir Philip's character, as re-
vealed in his official work, was of the
same arrogant, sarcastic strain which
comes out in the Advertiser communica-
tions.
This testimony, some of it very signifi-
cant, more of it cumulative in effect,
makes altogether a good case for the
Franciscan theory. Judging the Let-
ters) as literature, however, the whole
question of the personality of Junius be-
a secondary one. Enough that
they represent one of the most powerful
examples of political polemics in Eng-
lish literature, which even now, when the
events that begot them seem but the
shadow of a shade, stir the blood and
compel admiration. The letter which
made the deepest sensation at the mo-
ment is the famous one addressed to the
King. The edition of 1812, upon which
the many later ones are based, is that
of Woodfall, the publisher, who was ar-
raigned for trial because of printing the
Junius screeds.
Letters of Horace Walpole, fourth
Earl of Orford (1798), are among
the most brilliantly written correspond-
ence of the eighteenth century; and new
editions, with added pages, continued to
appear down to 1847. Enjoying the in-
come of three sinecures secured to him
through his father, the thrifty Sir Rob-
ert, the elegant Horace dawdles through
a charming society life, dilating, for the
pleasure of the pretty women and fashion-
able men whom he chooses to favor with
his observations, on the butterfly world
of trifles and triflers in which he futters
his fragile wings. A fascinating chron-
icle of small-talk it is, which this busy
idle gentleman has bequeathed to later
generations. His own hobbies and fan-
cies, as he indulges them in his Gothic
villa at Strawberry Hill, he dwells
upon with an indulgent smile at his
own weakness; and he praises or con-
demns, with equal mind, the latest fash-
ions of Miss Chudleigh's ball, the Amer-
ican war, or his own love of scenery.
Witty, lively, thoroughly cheery, are his
descriptions of his environment. «Fid-
dles sing all through them,” says Thack-
eray; "wax-lights, fine dresses, fine jokes,
fine plate, fine equipages, glitter and
sparkle there: never was such a brill-
iant, jigging, smirking Vanity Fair as
that through which he leads us. ) Per-
fectly heartless, quite superior to emo-
tion, these gossipy pages of the most
whimsical of triflers and the wittiest of
fops” have never failed to delight the
literary public of succeeding generations,
which enjoys seeing the eighteenth cen-
tury reflected in the mirror of a life
long enough to stretch from Congreve
to Carlyle.
Berry, Miss, The Journals and Cor.
respondence of. Edited by Lady
Theresa Lewis. These interesting rec-
ords cover the long period 1783-1852,-
say from American Revolution to Cri.
mean War, nearly. They were edited by
Lady Lewis at Miss Berry's request, and
were published in three volumes in 1865
comes


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
32
Miss Mary Berry was born in 1763, and
was brought up with her younger sister
Agnes. Neither of the two was robust,
and a large part of their lives was spent
traveling on the Continent in search of
health. While young girls the Misses
Berry became acquainted with Horace
Walpole, afterwards Lord Orford, and the
friendship then begun ended only with
his death in 1797. The lonely old man
was charmed with their good sense and
simplicity, and his intercourse and corre-
spondence with them comforted his declin-
ing years. He bequeathed his papers to
Miss Berry, who edited and published
them, as well as the letters of his friend
Madame du Deffand. She also wrote
some original works, the most important
being A Comparative View of Social Life
in England and in France,' in which she
strongly advocated a better understanding
between the two countries. She devoted
herself to the serious study of events and
character, and lived with her sister in
modest retirement. They were long the
centre of a little coterie of choice spirits,
and both died in 1852, beloved and la-
mented by the children and grandchildren
of their early friends.
The extracts from the journals are
chiefly descriptive of Miss Berry's travels,
and are valuable as pictures of manners
and customs that have changed, and of
modes of travel long obsolete. But the
main interest attaches to her account of
the people she met, among whom were
Scott, Byron, Louis Philippe, and the
Duke of Wellington. She was an inti-
mate friend of Princess Charlotte; and
one of the most important papers in the
collection is Lady Lindsay's journal of the
trial of Queen Caroline, written expressly
for Miss Berry.
The correspondence is even more in-
teresting than the journals, and contains
many of Horace Walpole's letters hith-
erto unpublished. They touch lightly on
political and social topics, and show his
genial nature and brilliant style, as well
as his unaffected devotion to the young
ladies. We find several letters from Jo-
anna Baillie and from Madame de Staël,
who were both warm personal friends of
Miss Berry. There are also cordial let-
ters from Canova, Lord Jeffrey, Sydney
Smith, and other celebrities. The reader
owes a debt of gratitude to Miss Berry
for preserving these interesting and valu-
able papers, and to Lady Lewis for her
careful and sympathetic editorship.
Castle of Otranto, The, by. Horace
Walpole. It is curious that a man
with no purpose in life beyond drinking
tea with Lady Suffolk, or filling quarto
note-books with court gossip, should pro-
duce an epoch-making book; – for the
(Castle of Otranto,' with its natural per-
sonages actuated by supernatural agen-
cies, is the prototype of that extraordi-
nary series of romantic fictions which
began with Anne Radcliffe, and was
superseded only by the Waverley novels.
The reader's interest is aroused with
the first page of the romance, and never
flags. Conrad, son of Manfred, Prince of
Otranto, about to marry Isabella, daughter
of the Marquis of Vicenza, is found in the
castle court, dashed to pieces under an
enormous helmet. Now deprived of an
heir, Manfred declares to Isabella his in-
tention of marrying her himself; when, to
his horror, his grandfather's portrait de-
scends from the wall, and signs to Man-
fred to follow him. Isabella meanwhile,
by the assistance of a peasant, Theodore,
escapes to Friar Jerome. For this inter-
vention, Manfred, now returned from his
tête-à-tête with his grandfather's phan-
tom, leads the youth into the court to be
executed, when he is found to be Jerome's
son, and is spared. At this moment a
herald appears demanding of Manfred,
in the name of Prince Frederick, his
daughter Isabella, and the resignation
of the principality of Otranto usurped
from Frederick; who follows the procla-
mation, is admitted to the castle and
informed of Manfred's desire to marry
Isabella, when word comes that she has
escaped from Jerome's protection. A
series of ludicrous portents hastens the
dénouement: drops of blood flow from
the nose of the statue of Alphonso, the
prince from whose heirs the dukedom
has been wrested; unrelated arms and
legs appear in various parts of the castle;
and finally, in the midst of the rocking
of earth, and the rattling of more than
mortal armor,” the walls of the castle are
thrown down, the inmates having presum-
ably escaped. From the ruins the statue
of Alphonso, raised to gigantic propor-
tions, cries, «Behold in Theodore the
true heir of Alphonso. ” Isabella, having
been rescued at the critical moment, is
of course married to Theodore.
This wildly romantic tale, published in
1764, was enthusiastically received by
the public; who, as Mr. L lie Stephen
so well says, rejoiced to be reminded


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
33
ences
on
as
that men once lived in castles, believed high-flown gallantry, the emotional ex-
in the Devil, and did not take snuff or cesses, and the reasonless catastrophes
wear powdered wigs. )
of the eighteenth-century novel, fainting
heroines, love-lorn heroes, oppressed in-
Mysteries of Udolpho, The, by Mrs.
Anne Radcliffe. (1795. ) Like the
nocence, and abortive schemes of black-
famous Castle of Otranto) of Horace
hearted villainy, form a fitting accom-
Walpole, this story belongs to the school
paniment to the powdered hair, muslin
gowns, stage-coaches, postilions, and other
of lime-light fiction. Udolpho is a me-
diæval castle in the Apennines, where,
picturesque accessories.
during the seventeenth century, all sorts
Old St. Paul's, by William Harrison
of dark dealings with the powers of evil
Ainsworth. This historical story,
are supposed to be carried on. The dealing with the horrors of the plague
love-lorn lady who is more or less the which depopulated London in 1665, was
victim of these supernatural interfer- published in 1841. The old cathedral of
is an English girl, Emily St St. Paul's is made the scene of various
Aubyn; and her noble and courageous adventures. The plot recounts the many
lover, who finally lays the spell, is the attempts of the profligate Earl of
Chevalier Velancourt. The plot, such Rochester to obtain possession of Ama-
as it is, is quite indescribable; and the bel Bloundel, the beautiful daughter of
interest of the book lies in the horrors a London grocer. The hero is Leonard
which accumulate horror's head.
Holt, an apprentice of the grocer, who
Vodern taste finds the romance almost is in love with Amabel but is rejected.
unreadable, yet Sheridan and Fox The Earl is finally successful and carries
praised it highly; the grave critic and off Amabel, to whom he is married.
poet-laureate Warton sat up all night She, like many of the other characters,
to read it; and Walter Scott thought dies of the plague.
that, even setting aside its breathless Leonard Holt frustrates the Earl's at-
interest a story, its magnificence tempts until he is himself stricken with
of landscape, and dignity of conception the plague; but he recovers from it and
of character, secure it the palm; while lives to save the life of King Charles
the author of "The Pursuits of Litera- during the great fire of London, of
ture,' a distinguished scholar, who knew which historical event a graphic descrip-
more of Italian letters than any other tion closes the story. Leonard, in return
in England, discourses on the for his services to the King, is created
mighty magician of “The Mysteries of Baron Argentine; and marries a lady of
Udolpho,' bred and nourished by the title, who at the opening of the story is
Florentine Muses in their sacred solitary supposed to be the daughter of a blind
caverns, amid the paler shrines of Gothic piper, and has loved him patiently all
superstition and in all the dreariness through the six volumes.
of enchantment: a poetess whom Ariosto The book is not cheerful reading, for
would with rapture have acknowledged. ” one is brought into contact, on almost
every page, with ghastly details of the
Children of the Abbey, The, by Re-
Roche The Earl of
plague, — the dead-cart, the pest-house,
Dunreath, marrying a second time, is in-
the common burial pit, and other terrors.
duced by the machinations of his wife to
The language of all the characters is of
cast aside her stepdaughter, for a luck-
the most elegant type, and the conver-
sation of the most
less marriage. It is with the children
common people is
of this marriage that the story deals.
couched in terms as elegant as that of
The motherless Amanda is the heroine;
King Charles and the profligate courtiers
and she encounters all the vicissitudes
by whom he is surrounded. But it once
befitting the heroine of the three-volume
novel.
These include the necessity of Guy Livingstone by George, Alfred
living under an assumed name, of be-
novel
coming the innocent victim of slander, in England in 1857, was the first of a
of losing a will, refusing the hands of class of stories which extol and glorify
dukes and earls, and finally, with her a hero endowed with great muscular
brother, overcoming her enemies, and liv- strength and physical prowess; and while
ing happy in the highest society forever not representing any particular school
after. The six hundred pages, with the of thought or feeling, it expressed an
man
had vogue.
XXX-3


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34
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
enormous
are
Own
were
a
increasing demand for a literary model lived in Moscow toward the close of the
possessed of strength and sternness both seventeenth century. It is a fair exam-
of mind and body. Guy Livingstone is ple of the stories of this prolific writer,
a young Englishman of wealth, who
very popular with a certain class.
combines
physical strength The youth loves and is loved by a
with grimness and ferocity of disposi- young duchess, Rosalind Valdai. Her
tion. His pugilistic prowess enables him guardian, the Duke of Tula, opposes
to thrash prize-fighters and perform va- Ruric because he wishes to repair his
rious remarkable exploits, which
shattered fortunes by marrying
admiringly chronicled by Livingstone's Rosalind and securing her riches; and
intimate friend Hammond, the raconteur he plots the death of another of Rosa-
of the story, who is entertained among lind's suitors, Count Damonoff, in order
other guests at the hero's ancestral to secure his estates.
hall, Kerton Manor in Northamptonshire. Hoping to provoke a quarrel, he sends
Here had dwelt Guy's ancestors, whose the Count to Ruric demanding that he
portraits
characterized by the renounce Rosalind. A quarrel ensues,
same expression of sternness and decis- and Damonoff challenges the young
ion »
as distinguished their powerful de- gun-maker, who in the mean while has
scendant. In this circle of friends are secretly received Rosalind's pledges of
Mr. Forrester, a dandified life-guards- constancy. In the duel Ruric repeatedly
man; Miss Raymond, with whom For- spares Damonoff's life, but the Count's
rester is in love; and Flora Bellasys, a frenzy compels him to inflict a wound in
voluptuous beauty. Mr. John Bruce, a self-defense. The whole affair has been
Scotchman, is introduced; who is en- witnessed by the Emperor, Peter the
gaged to Miss Raymond, and who is Great, in the guise of Valdimir,
made uncomfortable by the other guests Black Monk of St. Michael, who there-
on account of his lack of suitable en- after takes a secret interest in Ruric.
thusiasm for field sports. Forrester and The Duke of Tula hales the young gun-
Miss Raymond afterwards elope, aided maker before the Emperor upon the
by Livingstone, whose engagement to double charge of murder and assault.
Miss Constance Brandon, beautiful To prove that skill had defeated the
young woman of refined tastes, soon Count, Ruric engages in a friendly
takes place. In a thoughtless moment sword contest with Demetrius, the Em-
the hero flirts with Flora, and is dis- peror's Sword-master, and vanquishes
covered by Constance kissing her rival him. The Emperor exclaims with pleas-
in a conservatory. Constance at once ure: «Now, Ruric Nevel, if
you
leave
casts Livingstone off, and then pines Moscow without my consent, you do so
away and dies, after summoning her at your peril. I would not lose sight of
lover to her bedside, which he reaches you. You are at liberty. ”
in time for a last interview, in which The baffled Duke now seeks to wed
she foretells his early death. He is his ward Rosalind; but, repulsed, threat-
stricken with brain fever, and during ens to seize her by violence.
He em-
his convalescence is visited by Flora, ploys Savotano, a villainous priest, to
whom he refuses either to see or to for- poison Damonoff while pretending to
give. He emerges from his sick-room nurse him; and pays him to make way
changed and softened in nature. He with Ruric also. Ruric and the dying
goes to Italy; where he tracks down Count become reconciled, however, and
Bruce, who has barbarously murdered Ruric saves the Count's life; but is
his rival Forrester, and wrings from him himself lured by the Duke's men to
a confession of guilt. Returning to Ker- an ambush, whence he is rescued from
ton, Livingstone gets a fatal fall from death by the Emperor (still disguised as
his enormous horse Axeine, who rolls Valdimir). The monk and Ruric now
on him and crushes his spine. He dies hasten to the castle, and arrive in time
after some weeks of torture. The book to prevent the Duke from forcing Rosa-
enjoyed a wide popularity, and is the lind to marry him. Valdimir discloses
best known of the author's works.
his identity, much to the terror of the
plotters. The Duke is banished, Savo-
Gun
un-Maker of Moscow, The, by Syl- tano executed, and Ruric, endowed with
vanus Cobb, Jr. , tells the story of
the Duke's lands and titles, marries
Ruric Nevel, a Russian armorer, who Rosalind in the royal palace.
а


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
35
Moon Hoax, The, by Richard Adams Pierre Mortier & Co. , in 1708, bears this
. (1859. ) This pretends to description of its contents: –
announce the discovery of a vast human «Description of the Island of Formosa
population in the moon.
Its contents in Asia: of its Government and its
appeared originally in 1835, in the New Laws: its Manners and the Religion of
York Sun, under the title, (Great Astro- the Inhabitants: prepared from the Me-
nomical Discoveries lately made by Sir moirs of the Sieur George Psalmanaazaar,
John Herschel,' increasing the circulation a Native of that Isle: with a full and
of that paper, it was said, fivefold. The Exact Account of his Voyages in Many
skit was soon afterward published in Parts of Europe, of the Persecution which
pamphlet form, the edition of 60,000 be- he has Suffered on the Part of the Jesuits
ing sold in less than a month. This of Avignon, and of the Reasons which
account pretended to be taken from the have Induced Him to Abjure Paganism
supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of and to Embrace the Reformed Christian
Science, and was most circumstantial and Religion. By the Sieur N. F. D. B. R.
exact. The discovery was asserted to Enriched with Maps and Pictures. ”
have been made at the Cape of Good The book was evidently inspired by
Hope, by means of a new and vastly im- the sectarian zeal of the Reformed
proved telescope invented by the younger Church in Holland, and looked to palli-
Herschel. The article described beaches ating in Christian eyes the offense of the
of gleaming sand; lunar forests; fields Japanese in putting to death the Jesuit
covered with vivid rose-poppies; basaltic missionaries in that country. No suspi.
columns like those of Staffa; rocks of cion or charge is too bad to be enter-
green marble; obelisks of wine-colored tained against the Jesuits. In the preface
amethyst; herds of miniature bisons, with the author illustrates their aspiration to
a curious fold or hairy veil across the universal dominion by a remark of the
forehead to shield the eyes from the in- General of the Order, Aquaviva, to a
tolerable glare of light; troops of uni- cardinal visiting him in his little cham-
corns, beautiful and graceful as the ante- ber at Rome: «Little as my bedroom
lope; and groups of some amphibious looks, without leaving it I
creatures, spherical in form, which rolled the world. ) The preface is employed
with great velocity across the sands. in denouncing the Jesuits, and in de-
Moreover, the telescope discloses the fending the character and the veracity
biped beaver, which constructs huts like of the alleged author of the memoirs,
the human savage, and makes use of His statements are contrasted with the
fire; a semi-human creature with wings; reports of Candidius in the Collection
and race about four feet high, and of Voyages,' published in London, 1703,
very unpleasant in appearance, which to the effect that the island was wholly
certainly has the gift of speech. After without law and government; a state-
observations which fill many pages, the ment which he argues is absurd. The
account goes on to explain that an un- purpose that animates the book, and the
fortunate fire has destroyed the telescope, author's style, may be judged of by the
and that the expedition could not make following quotation:-
the discoveries certainly at that time im- “The Adventures of Sr. George Psal.
minent. The sensation produced by this manaazaar, Japanese and Pagan by birth,
nonsense was wide-spread and profound. the education he received at home from
The press took sides for and against its a Jesuit passing for a Japanese and
authenticity, and for some time a large Pagan like himself, the artifice used by
public credited the statements made. Of the Jesuit in abducting him from the
course the absurdity of the tale soon home of his father and bringing him to
revealed itself, and then the whole mat- France, the firmness with which he re-
ter became known as the “Moon Hoax. ) sisted all solicitations of a powerful and
But the whole invention was set forth formidable organization which has used
with the most admirable air of convic-
every means to make him embrace a
tion, and the book takes its place among religion that seemed to him absurd in
the best of Munchausenish tales.
practice, however reasonable in origin,
finally his conversion to the Protestant
Formosa, by George Psalmanaazaar. religion under no other constraint than
The title-page of this curious book, that of the simple truth, — all this is ac-
published in French at Amsterdam, by companied by circumstances so extraor-
govern all


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36
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
dinary as to have excited the curiosity
of judicious minds both in Holland and
in England, and in all other places vis-
ited by him. People have crowded to
see him, talk with him, and hear from
his lips these remarkable experiences. ”
Roughing It, by Samuel L. Clemens.
In a
.
Mark Twain's droll humor is con-
stantly flashing out as he describes a
long and eventful journey from St. Louis
across the plains, in the early (sixties,”
to visit the mining camps of Nevada.
He notes the incident of a barkeeper
who was shot by an enemy, adding,
(And the next moment he was one of
the deadest men that ever lived. In-
teresting incidents of Mormon life and
customs are given. Brigham Young's
sage advice to an Eastern visitor was, -
"Don't incumber yourself with a large
family; . . . take my word, friend, ten
or eleven wives are all you need -
never go over it. ) Mark Twain failed
to meet the Indian as viewed through
the mellow moonshine of romance.
It was curious to see how quickly the
paint and tinsel fell away from him and
left him treacherous, filthy, and repuls-
ive. ) Describing an absurd adventure
that happened to his party, the author
says: “We actually went into camp in
a snow-drift in a desert, at midnight, in
a storm, forlorn and helpless, within fif-
teen yards of a comfortable inn. ”
He tells interesting stories of life in
the mining camps, of the frenzied ex-
citement, of great fortunes made and
lost, of dire poverty, and of reckless ex-
travagance; instancing a case when he
refused to cross the street to receive a
present of a block of stock, fearing he
would be late to dinner. And that stock
rose in value from a nominal sum to
$70 per share within a week.
Going to San Francisco, the author
witnesses the great earthquake, of which
he relates amusing incidents. He then
goes as a reporter to the Sandwich Is-
lands, the land of cannibals, mission-
aries, and ship captains. He does not
enjoy the native food, poi, which too
frequently used is said to produce acrid
humors; "a fact,” says Twain, «that
accounts for the humorous character of
the Kanakas. ” Obtaining a large stock
of rich material for stories, the author
returns to San Francisco, and acquires
notoriety and wealth in the lecture field.
« Thus,” said he, “after eleven years of
vicissitudes, ended a pleasure trip to the
silver mines of Nevada, which I had
originally intended to occupy only three
months. However, I usually miss my
calculations further than that. ” The vol-
ume is a mine of the frontier slang,
such as the author utilizes in (Buck Fan-
shawe's Funeral. )
Orpheus C. Kerr Papers, The, by
Robert Henry Newell. The Let-
ters) composing this book appeared ori.
ginally in the daily press during the Civil
War. Narrating the history of a ficti-
tious and comic Mackerel Brigade »
[Mackerel – Little Mac,” McClellan's
well-known popular nickname], they pur-
ported to be written from the scene of
action; were devoted to the humors of
the conflict; and were widely read at
the time throughout the North.
sense they are historic. Their gibes and
bitterly humorous shafts were directed
chiefly against the dishonest element of
society that the upheaval of the war had
brought to the surface,- the cheating
contractors, the makers of shoddy cloth-
ing, imperfect arms, scant-weight ammu-
nition, and bad supplies for the army in
the field, as well as towards the selfish
and incompetent general officers and
office-seekers. Much of the fun of the
letters is to-day unintelligible, some of
the satire seems coarse; but there is no
doubt that the author did immense serv-
ice in creating a better sentiment as to
the offenses that he scored, and to open
the way, among other benefits, for the
improvement which was to be known as
(civil-service reform. ”
Mother Goose's Melodies. Few books
in the English language have had
so wide-spread a circulation as the col-
lection of nursery rhymes known
(Mother Goose's Melodies. Indeed, the
child whose earliest remembrance does
not embrace pictures of Little Boy
Blue,' The House that Jack Built,'
(Who Killed Cock Robin,' 'Baa, Baa
Black Sheep,' and Patty Cake, Patty
Cake, Baker's Man,' has sustained a loss
of no small magnitude. In 1860 a story
was started to the effect that «Mother
Goose ) was a Boston woman; and she
was identified as Elizabeth Goose, widow
of Isaac Vergoose, or Goose, and mother-
in-law of Thomas Fleet, a well-known
Boston printer, said to have issued
a collection of
Melodies) in 1719.
There is an entire lack of evidence
as
C


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
37
ma
however, to support this assumption; the ecclesiastical body, and toward point-
although Boston has a true claim upon ing a moral for society through the
the fame of “Mother Goose, because mouths or the behavior of the animals.
two Boston publishers issued the book After traveling into the Flemish tongue,
in 1824. But it is now conceded that the adventures of the fox came back
“Mother Goose » belongs to French folk- into German speech; this time to appear
lore and not to English tradition; and in Low German as the famous (Reinke
some writers even connect her with de Vos,' printed in Lübeck in 1498.
Queen Goosefoot, said to be the mother Nearly three hundred years later, 1793.
of Charlemagne. Charles Perrault, born Goethe turned his attention to the long-
in Paris in 1628, was the first person to popular subject, and gave the animal
collect, reduce to writing, and publish epic its most perfect form in his (Rein-
the Contes de Mère l'Oye,' or ecke Fuchs. ) In the twelve cantos of
( Tales of Mother Goose); and there is the Reinecke Fuchs,' which is written
no reason to think that “Mother Goose » in hexameters, Goethe gives an amusing
was a term ever used in English liter- allegory of human life and passions, tell-
ature until it was translated from the ing the story of the fox and his tricks
French equivalent, Mère l'Oye. It is in a more refined tone than his early
probable that her fame first reached
predecessors, but losing something of
England in 1729, when Mother Goose's their charm of naive simplicity.
Fairy Tales) were translated by Robert The drawings of the noted German
Samber. The original Mother Goose's artist, Wilhelm Kaulbach, which illus.
Melodies) was not issued until 1760, trated an edition de luxe of recent
when it was brought out by John New- years, have renewed the interest of the
bery of London. While «Mother Goose » reading public in Goethe's poem. Per-
herself is of French origin, many of the haps the most familiar trick of Reynard
(Melodies) are purely of English ex- is the story of how he induced the bear
traction, some of them dating back to to put his head in the crotch of a tree
Shakespeare's time and earlier.
in search of honey, and then removed
Famous writers of fiction «may four- the wedge which held the crotch open,
ish and may fade, great poets pass into leaving the bear a prisoner, caught by
distant perspective; but until time has the neck.
ceased to be, it is certain that Mother
Goose) will reign in the hearts, and pearl,
Pearl, a poem of the fourteenth cen-
murmur in the ears, of each succeeding
tury, a link between the Canter.
generation.
bury Tales) and the work of the early
Saxon poets, Cædmon and Cynewulf,
written
Reynard the Fox. This is one of the
by a contemporary of
cycle of animal-legends which are Chaucer, whose name is unknown. Hid.
generally supposed by scholars to be of den from the world of letters for many
Oriental origin, and which have been
centuries, this jewel of old-English verse
adopted into most of the Germanic lan- appeared in modern setting in 1891.
guages. The group of stories clustering The edition is the work of Israel Gol-
about the fox as hero, and illustrating
lancz, of Christ's College, Cambridge.
his superiority over his fellows, as cun-
Prefixed to it is the following quatrain
ning is superior to strength, first ap-
by Tennyson:-
peared in Germany as Latin productions
« We lost you – for how long a time-
of the monks in cloisters along the banks True pearl of our poetic prime!
of the Mosel and Maas. This was as
We found you, and you gleam reset
In Britain's lyric coronet. ”
early as the tenth century, and France
knew them by the end of the twelfth A manuscript of the Cottonian collec-
under the name of Le Roman du Re- tion at Oxford contains (Pearl, with
nard. "
three other poems,—Gawain, 'Clean-
In 1170 the material took definite shape ness,' and Patience,'— each a gateway
among the secular poems of Germany in into the visionary or romantic world of
the hands of Heinrich der Glichesäre, the fourteenth century. In the opinion
who composed an epic of twelve "advent- of the editor, all four poems are by
ures » in Middle High German, on the the same unknown author, and antedate
theme. In all the old versions there is Chaucer's work. The inter
a tendency toward satirical allusions to turies have swept away every evidence
a
was
cen-


## p. 38 (#74) ##############################################

38
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ness.
of this author's name and place; but his a gem too fair to be hidden in earth,
works reflect a vivid personality, mak- and partly of a Vision of the child's
ing himself seen even through the ab- bliss with God. Throughout, the sym-
stractions of medieval allegory. The bol of the Pearl is used, the type of
editor endeavors to trace the outlines of Margaret, the type also of perfect holi-
this personality, guided, as he says, by
The "Vision) is rich in gorgeous
“mere conjecture and inference. » He imagery, as if the poet had drawn his
supposes the author of Pearl) to have inspiration from the Apocalypse. He is
been born about 1330, somewhere in carried in spirit to a land of unearthly
Lancashire, and reared amid the nat- beauty, where he beholds his daughter
ural beauties of Wordsworth's country, clothed in shining garments sown with
probably in a nobleman's household. pearls. She tells him of her happiness,
There is no decisive evidence whether reveals to him the heavenly Jerusalem,
(Gawain or Pearl) was the first writ- and so comforts him that he becomes
ten of the four poems; the editor be- resigned to his loss. The poem reflects
lieves, however, that "Gawain) was first. the mystical devotion of a painting by
Its date is approximately determined by an early master.
the connection the editor traces between The poems (Cleanness) and (Pa-
the Gawain romances, so popular in tience) are, in the opinion of the editor,
the fourteenth century, and the origin pendants to Pearl. ” (Cleanness) relates
of the Order of the Garter. In the in epic style the Scriptural stories of
poem (Gawain,' a fair young knight of the Marriage Feast, the Fall of the An-
Arthur's Round Table is protected in a gels from Heaven, the Flood, the Visit
combat with the Green Knight by a of the Angels to Abraham, Belshazzar's
mystic girdle, the gift of his hostess, Feast, and Nebuchadnezzar's Fall. The
the wife of the Green Knight. In the poem Patience) relates episodes in the
three days preceding the combat, she life of Jonah. A vivid, childlike descrip-
had tempted him three times, and three tion is given of Jonab's entrance into
times he had resisted the temptation. the whale's belly and his abode there.
To reward him for his chastity, the The artistic form of these poems rep-
Green Knight permits him to keep the resents compromise between two
mystic circlet, and to wear it as an hon- schools: the East Midland school which
orable badge, as well as a protection produced Chaucer and looked to French
from injury.
In the editor's opinion, literature for inspiration, and the Saxon
these incidents of the poem refer di- school of the West-Midland poets,
rectly to the adventure of King Edward « whose literary ancestors
Cæd-
III. with the Countess of Salisbury, and mon and Cynewulf. ) It would seem
to the subsequent founding of the Order «that there arose a third class of poets
of the Garter. The contemporary poets during this period of formation, whose
thus sought to honor the King by com- avowed endeavor
harmonize
paring him with
Gawain, the very
these diverse elements of Old and
flower of courtesy and purity; the con- New, to blend the archaic alliterative
ception of Gawain as a false knight rhythm with the measures of Romance
« light in life belonging to a later day. song. "Pearlis a singularly successful
To pass from (Gawain' to Pearl is instance of the reconciliation of these
to pass from earthly to heavenly ro- two widely diverse forms of poetry. It
mance. (Gawain) reflects the gay chiv- is a large bead in the rosary of English
alry of the fourteenth century, Pearl) verse, marking a transition from the
its disposition to see visions and to mediæval to the modern.
dream dreams. Before Chaucer, the
Muse of English verse had closed eye- Chaucer, Studies in: His LIFE AND
lids. A brilliant example of the me- WRITINGS, by Thomas R. Louns-
diæval dream-poem is found in Pearl. ? bury, LL. D. (3 vols. , 1892. ) One of the
It is an ancient In Memoriam,' a lyric most interesting and valuable books, both
of grief for the poet's dead child Mar- in matter and treatment, which recent
garet; and it finds its truest counter- research in letters has produced; alike
part in the delicate miniatures of medi- admirable in learning and singularly sa-
æval missals, steeped in richest colors gacious and lucid in criticism. The first
and bright with gold. ” The poem con- design of the work was that of a com-
sists partly of a Lament over the loss of pendious and easily accessible account
a
were
was
to
a


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
39
arth,
bild's
sed
koli
geous
o his
He is
arthir
ghter
with
ipess.
alen
Cones
efectes
og by
les
e de
7285
TIE
there
of the results of recent investigation; / genius at its best, – the "facetious grace
but examination showed that many of which was noted in Shakespeare, and
these were questionable or worthless, which the Baconians have ignorantly
and that the field of Chaucer interest pre- made to mean comic instead of finished,
sented a range of problems not half of elegant, witty - Dr. Lounsbury's pages
which had been treated adequately, and are very rich.
many of which had not been touched at
all. The exact scope and design of the Chaucer, The Student's: A complete
edition of his works. Edited by
work were therefore changed, not only
Walter W. Skeat. (1895. ) For ordinary
from what was at first contemplated, but
literary use, as perfect a book contain-
to attempt a task far larger and more
ing all of Chaucer as the best editorship
thorough than anything yet undertaken.
The conception, happily, was not beyond
and best manner of publication can be
expected to make. In addition to the
the powers and the resources of the au-
complete text of all the writings of Chau-
thor. No clearer, more effective, or more
cer, the volume has a Glossarial Index
interesting work of learning and study of
fully adequate to explain words not known
culture, whether for the scholar or for
to the English reader to-day. With this
the general reader and student, has been
aid to overcome the difficulties of read.
added to the modern library. Nor are
ing Chaucer, and a volume very low in
its honors modern only: they are those
price, the old master of early English
of universal literature, of the few books
song should become widely familiar to
whose quality raises them to the highest
readers of the best books.
line of their class.
Dr. Lounsbury modestly describes his Doctor Fanstus, by Christopher Mar-
work, in three volumes and sixteen hun-
. This play, written about the
dred pages, as “eight chapters bearing year 1589, is remarkable both as the chief
upon the life and writings of Chaucer; work of the founder of English tragedy,
eight distinct essays, or rather mono- and as the first play based on the Faust
graphs); but the Chaucer unity and the legend. At the time of the Reformation,
unity of masterly treatment hardly per- when chemistry was in its infancy, any
mit any such distinction of parts. The skill in this science was attributed to a
life of Chaucer, the Chaucer legend, the compact with the Evil One. Hence
text of Chaucer, and what exactly are wandering scholars who performed tricks
the true writings of Chaucer, are the top- and wonders were considered magicians,
ics of Vol. i. , and of a third of Vol. ii. ; their achievements were grossly exagger-
and the study is as nearly complete and ated, and they were supposed to have
conclusive as we
pe to have surrendered their souls to the Devil. The
it. The chapter on the Chaucer legend last of these traveling magicians to gain
is a study of legend as a substitute for notoriety was John Faustus, whose public
history, where it would seem impossible, career lasted from 1510 to 1540; and to
which altogether surpasses any study of him were ascribed all the feats of his
the kind yet made. But the two double predecessors. In 1587 the (Faustbuch)
chapters which follow, to the end of Vol. was printed, giving the story of his
ii. , on the learning of Chaucer, first in life and exploits. An English trans-
works still known, and second in works lation, made soon after, was doubtless
and authors now hardly known at all; the source of Marlowe's plot. The theme
and on Chaucer's relations to, first the was afterwards variously elaborated in
English language, and second the religion Germany, and there were many puppet
of his time, - carry Dr. Lounsbury over plays on the subject; but it remained
fields of learning and scholarly penetra- for Goethe's master-hand to ennoble the
tion in which he stands alone. Yet the popular legend, and make it symbolic
succeeding chapters, which fill the third of the struggles and aspirations of the
volume, on Chaucer in Literary History whole human race. Marlowe's 'Doctor
and Chaucer as a Literary Artist, even Faustus) is rather a tragic poem than a
increase our grateful and delighted esti- drama, consisting of only fourteen scenes
mate of the author's wealth of knowl- without any grouping into acts. It is
edge and mastery of exposition; not to remarkable for singleness of aim and
speak of a refinement and charm of style simplicity of construction, though there
rarely found in English prose. In the is plenty of variety and incident. The
felicitous wit which is a note of English passionate and solemn scenes are very
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## p. 40 (#76) ##############################################

40
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
impressive, and the final tremendous a problem in chemistry, so history at
monologue before Lucifer seizes Faus- bottom is a problem in psychology”; and
tus's soul is unsurpassed in all the he aims here to give a view, more or
range of tragedy. Faustus, dissatisfied less complete, of the English intellect,
with philosophy, resolves to enlarge his illustrated by literary examples, and not
sphere by cultivating magic. He con- a history at all, if by history is meant
jures up Mephistopheles and bids him a record of books produced or of facts
be his servant. The spirit, however, re- gathered together. The defects of the
plies that Lucifer's permission must first book are many and obvious; but when
be gained. Faustus then voluntarily all abatement is made, it remains to the
offers to surrender his soul after four- English reader a most stimulating intel-
and-twenty years, if during that time lectual performance. In its powerful,
Mephistopheles shall be his slave. Luci- though arbitrary, unity of composition,
fer agrees, and demands a promise writ- in its sustained æsthetic temper, its
ten in Faustus's blood. Then Faustus brilliancy, variety, and sympathy, it is
sets out in search of knowledge and a really monumental accession to a lit-
pleasure, traveling about invisible. He erature, which, whatever its limitations
provides grapes in midwinterand calls in the range of its ideas, is a splendid
up the spirits of Alexander and Thais series of masterly compositions. ”
to please the emperor. At the request
of his scholars he summons Helen of
English Novel, The: A STUDY IN THE
Troy, and impressed by her beauty, ex- DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY, by
claims:
Sidney Lanier. (1883. Revised Edition,
« Was this the face that launched a thousand
1897. ) A volume of singularly rich criti.
ships,
cism, based on a course of twelve lect-
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium ?
ures at Johns Hopkins University, 1881.
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss! »
It was almost the last work of a writer
At times the desire for repentance seizes
whose death was a heavy loss to American
him; but the exhilaration of pleasure is
letters. The full title given by Lanier
too great, and the powers of evil are too
to his course was, From. Æschylus to
strong. Finally the time expires, and
George Eliot: The Development of Per-
Faustus in agony awaits the coming of sonality. ) The idea suggesting this title
Lucifer. He appeals to God and Christ,
was that in Greek tragedy, represented by
but has forfeited the right to pray; and
Æschylus, the expression of personality
at the stroke of twelve Lucifer bears
is faint and crude, while in George Eliot
him away to everlasting doom.
it reached the clearness and strength of
high literary art. The earlier work of
English Literature, History of, by Lanier on (The Science of English Verse. '
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine. (French and the later study of the novel, were
original, 5 vols.