No More Learning

Eugénie Grandet, by Honoré de Balzac,
appeared in 1833, and is included
among the Scenes of Provincial Life. )
In it, the great French master of realism
depicts with his accustomed brilliant pre-
cision the life of a country girl, the only
child of a rich miser. Eugénie and her
mother know little pleasure in the cold,
silent, pallid dwelling” at Saumur where
they live. Father Grandet loves his wife
and daughter, but loves his money bet.
ter, and cannot spare enough of it to
supply his family with suitable food and
clothing. His rare gifts to his wife he
usually begs back, and Eugénie is ex-
pected to hoard her birthday gold-pieces.
Eugénie's charming, handsome cousin
Charles arrives one day for a visit, and
Eugénie braves her father's anger to sup-
ply him with sugar for his coffee and a
wax instead of a tallow candle. Charles
has been brought up in wealth, but his
father now loses all and commits suicide.
Eugénie's pity for her unhappy cousin
turns to love, which he seems to recipro-
cate. Engaged to marry her, with her
savings he goes to the West Indies. The
years wear on drearily to her, and she
does not hear from him. Her mother
dies, and she is an heiress, but is per-
suaded by her father to make over her
property to him.
The old man dies too,
and Eugénie is very rich. At last she
receives a letter from Charles, who is
ignorant of her wealth, asking for his
liberty, and telling her of his wish to
marry a certain heiress whose family can
aid him in his career. The reserved and
self-controlled Eugénie releases him with-
out complaint; and discovering that his
match is jeopardized by his father's debts,
she sends to Paris her old friend Mon-
sieur de Bonfons, president of the civil
courts of Saumur, to pay this debt, and
thus clear Charles's name. As a reward
for his services, she marries Monsieur
de Bonfons without love. Early left a
widow, and the solitary owner of wealth
which she has never learned to enjoy, she
devotes the rest of her life to philanthropy,
thus completing her career of self-abne-
gation.
père Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac.
(1834. ) This story is one of the most
painful that the master of French fiction


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184
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ever forced upon a fascinated but reluc- Life. ) In it he intended to portray «a
tant reader. It is the history of a mod- poor and simple-minded man, an old man,
ern Lear. Père Goriot, a retired manu- crushed by humiliations and insults, for-
facturer of vermicelli, having married giving all and revenging himself only by
his daughters, Anastasie to the Count benefits. ” The hero is Sylvain Pons, a
de Restaud, and Delphine to the Baron simple-hearted old musician who has seen
de Nucingen, is abandoned by them his best days professionally, whom his
after he has settled on them his whole purse-proud cousins the Marvilles, weary-
fortune. Even to see them he is re- ing of his visits, slight and insult. The
duced to the extremity of watching on vicissitudes of the poor fellow make the
the street to get a glimpse of their be- story. Greed and cunning, in all grades
loved faces as they drive by. In the of society, receive their due celebration.
wretched pension where he lives he The Marvilles, the titled Popinots, the
meets Eugène de Rastinac, whose dis- theatre director Gaudissard, the various
tant relationship to the Viscountess de lawyers, the Jewish picture dealers, down
Beauséant enables him to frequent the to the very lodging-house keepers, all are
select society of the Faubourg Saint- leagued against the one simple-hearted
Germain. He there makes the acquaint- man and triumph at last. It is interesting
ance of Père Goriot's daughters, and be- to know that Cousin Pons's great collec-
comes the cavalier of Delphine. The tion, as described in the story, was actu-
daughters, mere devotees of fashion, ally Balzac's own, which M. Champfleury
treat the poor old man with increasing visited in 1848, and which, although seen
barbarity, until, knowing that he is on for the first time, seemed strangely fa-
his death-bed, they both attend a ball, miliar to him until «the truth flashed
though he beseeches them to come to
upon me. I was in the gallery of Cousin
him. He is buried by charitable ac- Pons. Here were Cousin Pons's pictures,
quaintances; and as the body is brought Cousin Pons's curios. I knew them now. ”
from the church, the empty coaches of The American translation is by Katherine
the daughters fall in behind and follow Prescott Wormeley.
it to the grave.
Crowded with inci-
dents, and made profoundly interesting Modeste Mignon, by Honoré de Bal-
zac. (1846. ) The heroine of this ro-
by its merciless fidelity of characteriza-
mance, Modeste Mignon, lives in a small
tion, (Père Goriot) compels attention;
while in style it is one of the most
city in northwestern France. She has the
brilliant of Balzac's long succession of
religious faith of a child, while her mind
novels.
is exceptionally well informed in many
ways. The machinery of the story is
Cousin Bette, by Honoré de Balzac. slight. The young girl, daring in her
This powerful story, published in simplicity, writes to a famous author to
1846, is a vivid picture of the tastes thank him for his books. A friend of
and vices of Parisian life in the middle that author, charmed by the freshness of
of this century.
Lisbeth Fischer, com- the letter, replies; and a pretty love
monly called Cousin Bette, is an eccen- story is the result. Many characters
tric poor relation, a worker in gold and appear, and there are fresh and dewy
silver lace. The keynote of her charac- pictures of rural France.
The great
ter is jealousy, the special object of it her whirlpool of Paris does indeed devour
beautiful and noble-minded cousin Ade- its allotted victims; but the atmosphere
line, wife of Baron Hector Hulot. The of the book, as a whole, is tranquil, and
chief interest of the story lies in the devel-
its influence not uncheerful.
opment of her character, of that of the
and of the base and empty voluptuary
Dudevant (George Sand), published
Hulot. Les Parentes Pauvres, which
in 1842, and its sequel (The Countess of
Rudolstadt, issued the following year,
includes both Cousin Bette) and (Cousin
form a continuous romantic narrative, of
Pons,' are the last volumes of (Scènes
which the first book is the more famous.
de la Vie Parisienne. ) Gloomy and de-
While not the most characteristic novel,
spairing, they are yet terribly powerful.
perhaps, of the great French authoress,
Cousin Pons, by Honoré de Balzac. (Consuelo) is the best known to general
Cousin Pons, written in 1847, belongs readers. It is a magnificent romance, kept
to Balzac's series of (Scenes from Parisian always within the bounds of the possible,
m
unscrupulous beauty Madame Marneffe, Consuelo, by Amandine Lucile Aurore


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
185
а
yet exhibiting a wealth of imagination his three children. Germain demurs,
and idyllic fancy not always found in con- largely because he cherishes so fondly
junction with such restraint. Consu- the memory of his wife. But at last
elo, like her creator, has in her veins the he consents to go to the neighboring
blood of the people; she has no dowry but village of Fourche, to see the widow
a wonderful voice, and a noble natural Catherine Guérin, daughter of Farmer
purity that is her defense in all trials and Leonard, who is well off, and accord-
temptations. Her childhood is spent in ing to Maurice, of suitable age to marry
the Venice of the eighteenth century; a Germain. Before he starts on his jour-
golden childhood of love and music, and ney, a neighbor of Germain, the poor
a poverty which means freedom. After a widow Guillette, asks him to take in
bitter experience of deception, she leaves his care her sixteen-year-old daughter
Venice to live in the Castle of Rudol- Mary, who has engaged to go as
stadt in Bohemia, as companion to the shepherdess to a farmer at Fourche. On
Baroness Amelia. One of the household the way, Pierre, the young son of Ger-
is Count Albert, a melancholy half-dis- main, insists that his father shall take
traught man of noble character, over him as well as little Mary to Fourche
whom Consuelo establishes a mysterious on his horse, La Grise. The trio lose
influence of calmness and benignity. their way, the horse runs off, and they
The interest of the story is now held are obliged to spend the night on the
by certain psychic experiments and ex- borders of the haunted pool. ” The
periences, and it closes as the reader hopes tact of little Mary, and her kindness to
to have it. Consuelo) abounds in pict- his child, so work on Germain that be
uresque and dramatic scenes and inci- falls in love with her. He goes on,
dents, in glowing romance, in the poetry however, to see the widow; but her co-
of music and the musical life. It retains quetry, and the insincerity of her father,
its place as one of the most fascinating disgust him, and he does not make his
novels of the century.
offer of marriage. On the way home
he overtakes little Mary, who has been
Haunted Pool, The, by George Sand. insulted by her employer at The Elms.
The Haunted Pool (La Mare au At first she refuses to marry Germain,
Diable) was the first in a series of rus- calling him too old.
But in the course
tic novels begun by George Sand at of a year she changes her mind, and
Nohant in 1846, of which Les Maîtres makes him perfectly happy.
Sonneurs) was the last. These simple
stories, which have been called the
Li ittle Fadette (La Petite Fadette), a
(Georgics) of France, are quite unlike novel by George Sand, appeared in
the earliest works of their author, In- 1848.
diana,' Valentine, and Lelia,' both in It is one of George Sand's short stud-
style and in matter; and mark a dis- ies of peasant life, considered by many
tinct epoch in French literature. critics her finest work, in which she
explaining her purpose in writing them, embodied loving reminiscences of her
George Sand disclaimed any pretense childish days in the province of Berry.
of accomplishing a revolution in letters: It is a poetic idyl, recounted with a
I have wished neither to make a new simple precision which places the reader
tongue, nor to try a new manner. She vividly in the midst of the homely inci-
had
grown tired of the city, and her dents and daily interests of country life.
glimpses of rural life had led her to an To Père and Mère Barbeau, living
exalted view of the peasant character. thriftily upon their little farm, arrive
The poetry which she believed to exist twin boys whom they name Landry and
in their lives, she succeeded in infusing Sylvain. As the boys grow up, they
into the romances which she wove around show an excessive fondness for each
them.
other, which their father fears may cause
(The Haunted Pool) has for its central them sorrow. So he decides to separate
figure Germain, a widower of twenty- them by placing one at service with his
eight, handsome, honorable, and living neighbor, Père Cailland. Landry, the
and working on the farm of his father- sturdier and more independent, chooses
in-law, Maurice by name. The latter the harder lot of leaving home. He
urges his son-in-law to marry again, adapts himself to the change and is
both for his own good and for that of happy; while Sylvain, idle, and petted
In


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186
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
toilers; a woman of the convent and of
bohemia; a genius in literature striving
for the welfare of her kind.
by his mother, suffers from the separa-
tion and is jealous of his brother's new
friends. Later the two brothers both
love the same woman, little Fadette.
The plot centres itself in the outcome of
this situation.
Histoi
istoire de Ma Vie, L', by George
Sand. This work was begun in 1847,
and completed in 1855. It was published
in Paris at the latter date, and repub-
lished, essentially unchanged, in 1876.
The four volumes of autobography,
comprising over 1,800 pages, deal with
the first forty years of the author's life,
and close twenty-one years before her
death. The first and second may be
styled the introduction to the story; be-
ing devoted mainly to the antecedents
of the writer, her lineage, her father's
letters, and to a running commentary
on the times. The autobiography proper
begins in the third volume. Here the
extremely sensitive nature, and vivid,
often wild, imagination of a girl, may be
seen unfolding itself in continuous ro-
mance, sufficient in quantity and quality
to foreshadow, if not to reveal, one of
the most prolific novelists in French lit-
erature.
In these pages, the writer portrays a
genius in embryo fretting over its ideals,
- in the passion for study and observa-
tion; in the convent experience of trans-
ition from realism to mysticism; in
domestic hopes and their rapid disillus-
ioning In the last volume appear the
beginnings of the George Sand of our
literature, — the mystic transforming into
the humanitarian and the reformer; the
dreamer subdued by many sorrows; the
new novelist happy or defiant amidst
her friends and foes.
As a work of art and as an autobi-
ography, L'Histoire de Ma Vie) is de-
fective in the lack of proportion involved
by overcrowding the story at the begin-
ning with extraneous matter and child-
hood experiences, to the exclusion of
important episodes of maturer years,
and the abrupt ending of the narrative
where the author has just entered upon
her literary career.
But taken as a whole, the autobi-
ography is an invaluable contribution to
the French literature of the first half of
the nineteenth century.
Outside of con-
temporary interests, we have, with
few reservations, the frank, vivid por-
traiture of a child both of kings and
Elle
lle et Lui, by George Sand. (1859. )
A novel based on the author's rela-
tions twenty-five years before, in 1834,
with Alfred de Musset, whose death oc-
curred in 1857. As the story was one
to which there could be no reply by
the person most concerned, an indignant
brother, Paul de Musset, wrote Lui et
Elle) to alter the lights on the picture.
At the entrance of the woman known in
literature as George Sand upon the bohe-
mian freedom in Paris, she shared her
life with Jules Sandeau, and first used
the pen-name Jules Sand, when he and
she worked together and brought out a
novel entitled (Rose et Blanche. ' En-
abled shortly after to get a publisher for
(Indiana,' which was wholly her own
work, she changed her pen-name to George
Sand. But Sandeau and she did not con-
tinue together. Alfred de Musset and
she entered upon a relationship of life
and literary labor which took them to
Italy at the end of 1833, gave them a
short experience of harmony in 1834, but
came to an end by estrangement between
them in 1835. Her side of this estrange-
ment is reflected in Elle et Lui,) and his
in Paul de Musset's "Lui et Elle. )
Delphine, by Madame de Staël
, was her
first romance; it was published in
1802. The heroine is an ideal creation.
Madame d'Albemar (Delphine), a young
widow, devotedly attached to her hus-
band's memory, falls promptly in love with
Léonce as soon as she meets him. The
feeling is reciprocated, and Léonce bit-
terly repents his engagement to Delphine's
cousin Mathilde. But Delphine's mother,
Madame de Vernon, a treacherous, in-
triguing woman, determines to separate
the lovers; and the story relates the pro-
gress of her machinations.
Its bold imagery, keenness of observa-
tion, and power of impassioned descrip-
tion, perhaps justify Delphine's) posi-
tion among the masterpieces of French
literature. But neither situations nor
characters are true to nature. The only
real person in the book is Madame de
Vernon, a mixture of pride, duplicity,
ostentation, avarice, polished wickedness,
and false good-nature. But the romance
had a special interest for Madame de
Staël's contemporaries, for several of the
a


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
187
thor the anger of Napoleon, who ordered Roman Affairs aicities Affaires
an
great men and women of the time appear besides its romantic and sentimental in-
in it under the thinnest of disguises. M. terest, in its treatment of literature and
de Lebensée, the noble Protestant, is Ben- art it has always been considered au-
jamin Constant; the virtuous and accom- thoritative. It served indeed for many
plished Madame de Cerlèbe is Madame years as a guide-book for travelers in
de Staël's mother; Delphine is of course Italy, though modern discoveries have
Madame de Staël herself; and Madame somewhat impugned its sufficiency. When
de Vernon is Talleyrand: “So we are it first appeared in 1807, its success was
both,” said he to her, “in your last book, instantaneous; and Napoleon, who de-
I hear; I disguised as an old woman, and tested the author, was so much chagrined
you as a young one. ” As in the case that he himself wrote an unfavorable crit.
of (Corinne, the liberal ideas scattered icism which appeared in the Moniteur.
through the story drew down on the au-
('de
to
Rome'), by Félicité Robert de Lam-
ennais, was written after the rupture of
Corinne; or, Italy, by Madame de the author with the Papacy. It con-
Staël. Corinne's story is quite sec- tains account of his journey to
ondary, in the author's intention, to her Rome, with Montalembert and Lacor-
characterization of Italy, but it runs daire, and their efforts to obtain a deci.
thus: Oswald, Lord Nelvil, an English- sion on the orthodoxy of the doctrines
man, while traveling in Italy, meets Co- inculcated by their journal L'Avenir
rinne, artist, poet, and musician, with a (The Future), which held that the
mysterious past. Their friendship ripens Church should put herself at the head
into love; but Oswald tells Corinne that of the democratic movement. The book
his dying father desired him to marry contains also, under the caption Des
Lucile, the daughter of Lord Edgermond. Maux de l'Eglise et de la Société, what
Corinne then discloses that her mother, the author considered a faithful picture
an Italian, was the first wife of Lord of the Catholic Church throughout the
Edgermond; and that after her mother's world, as well as of the state of society.
death and her father's second marriage, He indicates remedies to cure the evils
her life had been made so unhappy by of both, while affirming that there is
her stepmother that she had returned to a complete antagonism between the
Italy, where she had been for eight years Church and the people in every country,
when Oswald arrived. He goes back to an antagonism growing ever more acute.
England, with the intention of restoring The Church of the future will not be,
to Corinne her fortune and title; and he maintains, that of Rome, whose day
there meets Lucile, and learns that his is past, nor will it be that of Protestant-
father had really wished him to marry ism - illegitimate, illogical system
Lord Edgermond's elder daughter, but that, under the deceptive appearance of
had distrusted Corinne because of her liberty, has introduced the brutal despo-
religion and Italian training. And now tism of force into the State and is the
the too facile Oswald falls in love with
of egotism in the individual.
Lucile. Corinne, who has secretly fol- What the future Church is to be, how-
lowed him, sends him his ring and his ever, Lamennais does not make clear.
release. Believing that Corinne knows
nothing of his change of feelings, but Orien
riental Religions: INDIA, CHINA,
,
Persia, by Samuel Johnson. Mr.
marries Lucile. Five years later, Oswald Johnson's labors in producing this tril-
and Lucile visit Florence, where Corinne ogy extended over many years.
The
is still living, but in the last stages of first volume, India, appeared in 1872;
a decline which began when Oswald the second, China, in 1877; and the last,
broke her heart by marrying. The sis- Persia, in 1885, after the author's death.
ters are reconciled, but Oswald sees Co- The volumes, although separate, really
rinne only as she is dying.
constitute one work, the underlying idea
In Corinne and Lucile, the author has of which is that there is a Universal
endeavored to represent the ideal woman Religion, «a religion behind all relig-
of two nations; the qualities which make ions »); that not Buddhism, nor Brahmin-
Corinne the idol of Italians, however, ism, nor Mahometanism, nor even Christ-
repel the unemotional Englishman. But ianity, is the true religion; but that
an
source


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188
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Christianity, in China: Tartary, and
these are only phases of the one great
religion that is back of them all and Thibet, by the Abbé Huc.
expresses itself, or various phases of ously interesting and elaborate history of
itself, through them all. And he main- the presence in the Chinese Empire of
tains that the «Universal Religion is Christian missions from the time of the
revealed and illustrated in the Oriental Apostles to the end of the seventeenth
religions. This thesis pervades the century. The author was a Roman Cath-
whole work and is present in every olic missionary in China, 1840–52. By
chapter. It presides over the search for shaving his head and dyeing his skin
facts and the selection and coinbination yellow, and wearing a queue and Chinese
of facts, and is defended with skill and costume, and by a thorough command of
enthusiasm. The work is therefore not the Chinese language, he was able to travel
really a history, or a compendium of not only in China proper, but in Thibet
Oriental philosophy, but the exposition and Tartary. He published in 1850 an
of this theory to which the author had exceedingly interesting account of his
devoted the study of a lifetime. Mr. travels during 1844-46, and in 1854 a work
Johnson was a sound scholar, a deep on the Chinese Empire. His first work
thinker, a patient investigator, and an related marvels of travel which aroused
earnest and eloquent writer. It is not incredulity; but later researches have
necessary to accept his estimate of the amply shown that this was unjust. The
relative values of Christianity and the final work, connecting the history of the
religions of ancient life in Asia; but this Chinese Empire with the maintenance
whole work taken together, certainly through centuries of Christian missions,
forms a valuable contribution to the is a work of great value for the history
elucidation of the thought expressed of the far East. Huc wrote in French;
by Chevalier Bunsen in the title to one but all the works here mentioned were
of his works, "God in History. '
brought out in English, and met with
wide popular acceptance. The (Travels
Esoteric Buddhism, by A. F. Sinnett,
in the Chinese Empire) came out in a
was first published in England in cheap edition, 1859; the Chinese Em-
1883, and appeared in America in a revised pire, Tartary, and Thibet,' was in 5 vols. ,
form in 1884.
1855-58; and the Christianity,' etc. , 3
The author's claims are modest; the vols. , 1857-58.
work purporting to be but a partial expo-
sition, not a complete defense of Bud: Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical
the eso- Arehitecture, by
teric. There are difficulties for the exo- work of curious interest, designed to trace
teric reader in the terminology employed, the very wide use of animal symbols in
which seems as yet to have come to no religious relations. The famous work of
widely accepted definitiveness; but much an Alexandrian Greek, known as the Phy-
of the exposition may be readily grasped siologus) or The Naturalist, became at a
by the attentive lay mind. Great stress very early date a compendium of current
is naturally laid on the Buddhist theory opinions and ancient traditions touching
of cosmogony, which is a form of evo- the characteristics of animals and of
lution, both physical and psychic; on the plants, viewed as affording moral or re-
doctrine of reincarnation, distinctly af- ligious suggestion. The mystical mean-
firmed; on Nirvana, “a sublime state of ing of the various beasts grew to be a
conscious rest in omniscience )); and on universally popular study, and the (Phy-
Karma, the idea of ethical causation. siologus) was translated into every lan-
Tbe author gives also a survey of occult guage used by readers.
Perhaps no
and theosophic doctrines in general, and book,” says Mr. Evans, except the Bible,
the esoteric conception of Buddha; in has ever been so widely diffused among
a word, he discusses the origin of the so many peoples and for so many cen-
world and of man, the ultimate destiny of turies as the “Physiologus. ) »
The story
our race, and the nature of other worlds of this symbolism in its application, with
and states of existence differing from modifications, in architecture, is told by
those of our present life. The exposi- Mr. Evans with fullness of knowledge and
tion is frankly made, and the language, sound judgment of significance of facts.
occasionally obscure, is generally incisive It is a very curious and a sin arly in-
and clear.
teresting history.
a
(
>


## p. 189 (#225) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
189
race.
»
It <
Bible
ible Lands, Recent Research in: Its systematic handling of the whole sub-
Progress and Results. Edited by ject of prehistoric Greek culture in the
Hermann von Hilprecht. (1897. ) A work light of the monuments. This was writ-
of definitive and comprehensive excel- ten in Greek and published at Athens.
lence, presenting in eight chapters, by as Dr. Manatt, of the Greek chair at
many writers of high authority, the best Brown University, undertook, on his
new knowledge of the fruits of Oriental return from a four-years' residence in
exploration throwing light on the Bible. Greece, to prepare an English version
It grew out of a series of articles pre- of Tsountas's work; but later, in view
pared by leading American and European of three years' rapid progress of explo-
specialists for the Sunday-School Times; rations, and with the aid of new mate-
and it thus carries an attestation which rials furnished by Tsountas, he made
will commend it to readers who desire a a largely new work, bringing the My-
trustworthy account of the recent most cenæan story up to date.
This story
remarkable expansion of knowledge con- is “a great chapter of veritable history
cerning Palestine, Babylonia, Egypt, and newly added to the record of the Greek
Arabia, in respect of their history previ-
covers the period approxi-
ous to and during the Mosaic » period. mately from the sixteenth to the twelfth
As some of the art objects pictured in century B. C. » It had been taken for
the illustrations are of date 4000 B. C. , it granted that the time of Homer repre-
will be seen that the recovery of a time sented the earliest known stage of Greek
long before Abraham's opens to view civilization, the childhood of the race.
pages of the story of mankind of extreme But Homer lived in lonia of Asia
interest and significance. The new light Minor, as late at least as the ninth
thus thrown upon the ancient East shows century B. C. ; and the new discoveries
how «Ur of the Chaldees was, to older show the Mycenæan civilization widely
cities near the head of the Persian Gulf, spread in Attica and central Greece,
a new mart of trade and seat of culture, and Crete even, seven hundred years
such as Chicago is to New York; and before Homer. Of the life and culture
how Abraham in going to Palestine went of this pre-Homeric Greece, the story
to the Far West of that Oriental world, told by Drs. Tsountas and Manatt gives
where the east coast of the Mediterra- a full, exact, and richly illustrated view.
nean was to the world of culture what
the American Pacific coast is to-day; It Myths of Greece and Rome, by H. A.
on
the advice, “Young man, Go West. ” of Grecian and Roman mythology, with
The date of his defensive expedition special regard to its great influence
related in Genesis xiv. is now definitely upon literature and art. Upwards of
fixed by Babylonian inscriptions at about seventy-five full-page illustrations of
2250 B. C. ; and the invasion he repelled paintings and statuary show how art
is found to have been in pursuance of
has taken its subjects from mythology;
aims on which the kings of Babylonia and poetical quotations represent the
are known to have acted as early as subject's literary side. The volume in-
3800 B. C. , or fully 1500 years before cludes a double-page map of the classic
Abraham.
regions, a genealogical table, and a
glossary.
Mycenæan Age, The. A Study of the
monuments and culture of Pre-
Classical Greek Poetry, THE GROWTH
Homeric Greece, by Dr. Chrestos Tsoun- AND INFLUENCE OF, by Professor R.
tas and J. Irving Manatt. With C. Jebb. (1893. ) Delivered originally as
intr duction by Dr. Dörpfeld. A most lectures at Johns Hopkins University,
valuable summary of the discoveries these chapters compose a brilliant sketch
of twenty years, from Schliemann's first of the history and character of Greek
great “findat Mycenæ to 1896. Dr. poetry, epic, lyric, and dramatic. The
Tsountas was commissioned in 1886, by introductory analysis of the Greek tem-
the Greek government, to
continue perament is followed by an account of
Schliemann's work; and after
the rise of the lyric in Ionia, -as a par-
years of explorations, he brought out a tial outgrowth of the earlier epic, -- and
volume on Mycenæ and the Mycenæan of the newer form, the drama, which
Civilization, in which he undertook a came to supersede it in popularity. One
a
an
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190
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of the most interesting chapters is occu-
pied with the discussion of Pindar, in
some respects the most interesting indi-
viduality in Greek literature, - «the most
wonderful, perhaps, in lofty power, that
the lyric poetry of any age can show. ”
In the last chapter, on «The Permanent
Power of Greek Poetry, Professor Jebb
sums up the great elements in our pres-
ent civilization directly traceable to the
force and genius of the Greeks. In this
work he unites rare literary skill with
the ripest scholarship. To the student
who seeks to know what Greece and her
literature means to the present age, but
who has no time for superfluous dates
or facts, or disquisitions, this work is in-
dispensable; for the author, a true Greek
in a modern age, stands among the lead-
ing interpreters of her greatness.
becomes scandalously merry and roys-
tering, till he discovers the cause of the
wailings and the signs of sorrow in the
house, when he undertakes to rescue Al-
cestis from her fate. The Chorus of old
men bewail the lot of their mistress. Ad-
metus reproaches his father bitterly for
not saving her by the sacrifice of his
life; and the old man hurls back his in-
sults, and taunts him with his cowardice
in consenting to accept the offer of Al-
cestis. In the midst of this, Hercules
once more stands on the threshold, this
time with the veiled form of Alcestis be-
side him. Alceste, ou Triomphe d'Her-
cule) was acted with great success at Paris
in 1674. The music was by Lulli. The
libretto of the Alcestis) of Gluck, the
most admired opera of the great master,
was written by Calzabigi; and unlike most
librettos, is a dramatic poem of a high
order, full of strong situations and instinct
with fervid passion. Browning deals with
the same subject in Balaustion's Adven-
ture. )
(
10m
Epictetus, The Morals of, consisting
of his (Manual) and (Discourses,' are
the sole writings preserved to our age,
through the assiduity of his pupil Arrian.
Published in the early second century,
they afford
our only record of the
doctrines of the greatest of the Stoics.
The Manual,' still a favorite with all
thoughtful readers, is a guide to right
living. Its tone is that of a half-sad se-
renity that would satisfy the needs of
the soul with right living in this world,
since we can have no certain knowledge
of the truth of any other. “Is there
anything you highly value or tenderly
love? estimate at the same time its true
nature. Is it some possession ? remem-
ber that it may be destroyed. Is it wife
or child ? remember that they may die. "
“We do not choose out our own parts in
life, and have nothing to do with those
parts; our simple duty is to play them
well. The Discourses, also, display a
simple, direct eloquence; but they intro-
duce frequent anecdotes to enliven an
appeal or illustrate a principle. Both
disclose the Phrygian freedman as a sin-
gularly noble soul, unaffected, pure, self-
centred, supremely gentle, and winning.
Al
lcestis, a tragedy, by Euripides. Ad-
metus is doomed to die, but the Fates
consent to spare him if he can find some
one willing to die in his stead; and he
is unmanly enough to beseech his aged
parents, who refuse. His wife Alcestis,
however, offers herself, and the unheroic
Admetus accepts. Hercules passes that
way, is entertained by Admetus, and
a drama, by Euripides. (423 B. C. )
The story, wrought into a drama of
high patriotic and of profound human
interest by Euripides, was that of Ion
as the ancestor of the Ionians, or Athe-
nian Greeks, reputed to be the son of
Xuthus and his wife Creusa, but in real-
ity a son of Apollo and Creusa. The
god had caused the infant to be taken
by Mercury from the cave where his
mother had left him, and to be carried
to his temple at Delphi, and brought
up as a youthful attendant. Ion's char-
acter, and the part he plays as a child
devotee at the time of the play, offer
a singularly beautiful parallel to the
story of the child Samuel in the Hebrew
Scripture. The situation in this play,
which circumstances had created, is that
of Creusa, the mother, in a distracted
state, seeking unwittingly the death of
her own son.
One of the finest pass-
ages is a dialogue of splendid power and
beauty between Ion and Creusa. For
freshness, purity, and charm, Ion is a
character unmatched in all Greek drama.
The whole play is often pronounced
the finest left by Euripides. Its melo-
dramatic richness in ingenious surprises
new feature of Greek drama,
which was especially characteristic of
the new comedy of the next century.
Mr. Paley says that “none of the plays
of Euripides so clearly show his fine
was
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
-
191
mind, or impress us with a more favor- out, the bird chorus sings lofty poetry,
able idea of his virtuous and humane and the comedy parts are full of rollick-
character. ” The revelation of domestic ing audacity of wit, — much of it, how-
emotions in the play, the singular beauty ever, so dependent upon local allusion or
of the scenes which it presents, and the verbal play as to make it obscure for the
complexity and rapid transitions of its English reader.
action, suggest a modern romantic drama
rather than one strictly Greek. In its Alexandra, a poem, by Lycophron of
Chalcis, who lived in the third cen-
general design to represent Apollo, the
god of music, poetry, medicine, and
tury before Christ. Alexandra is the
prophecy, as the head, through Ion, of
name which the author gives Cassandra.
the Ionians, the play was of great reli-
The poem is in part a prophecy of the
gious and patriotic interest to its Athen-
downfall of Troy, and is related, not by
ian audience. It can never fail, with its
Cassandra, but by a soldier, who tells
revelations of Greek «sweetness and
Priam that the princess is kept a pris-
light,) to be of the deepest human in-
oner by Apollo, and that he now rehearses
terest.
to the king what he has heard from her
The lon) of Talfourd bears no re-
lips. The work contains 1,474 verses, and
lation beyond that of a borrowed name
is a confused medley of mythology, his-
to the play of Euripides. Its Ion figures
tory, and geography, with here and there
as king of Argos, and the dramatic in-
a few traces of real poetry. Some of
terest centres in his readiness to give
Lycophron's inventions are of a very gro-
his life to appease the Divine anger
tesque character. Among other marvels,
shown by a pestilence raging at Argos.
he makes Hercules live a considerable
The king's character is finely brought
time in the belly of a whale, and chop up
out, and the impression given of the re-
the entrails of the monster for food.
lentless working of destiny is in the
Greek spirit.
Memorabilia, The. The Apomnemo-
neumata, by Xenophon, is generally
known by its Latin title of The Mem-
Birds, The, by the Greek dramatist orabilia,' - - an incorrect and somewhat
Aristophanes, is a comedy that ap- misleading translation of the Greek
peared in 414 B. C. It belongs with the word. This is the most important of the
writer's earlier plays, in which farcical writings that the author has devoted to
situations, exuberant imagination, and a the memory of Socrates. Like Plato, he
linguistic revel, are to be noted. The
dwells principally on those doctrines of
comedy is a burlesque on the national the master that harmonize with his own
mythology: the author creates a cloud- views. In the beginning, by way of
land for his fancy to sport in without preface, he replies to the positive accu-
restraint. A couple of old Athenians, sations brought against the philosopher.
Euelpides and Peisthetairos, sick of the Then he proceeds to develop his real
quarrels and corruptions of the capital, purpose; which is to depict the true
decide to quit the country. They seek Socrates, not from the opinions of oth-
Epops, now called Tereus, who has be-
ers, which are always controvertible, but
come King of the Birds. He tells them from his own words and actions, and in
so much about the bird kingdom that this way place under the eyes of the
they are interested; and after a council Athenians a correct likeness of the man
of the birds,— who, at first hostile, finally they condemned because they did not
give the strangers a friendly reception, - | know him. He next treats of the many
propose to build a walled city (Cloud- examples of right living given by Socra-
Cuckoo-Land) to shut out the gods and tes to his countrymen, and of the lesson
enhance bird power. This is done under of his life. After the lesson of his life
Peisthetairos's supervision. Various mes- comes the lesson of his discourses. This
sengers come from Athens and are sum- is embodied in a series of dialogues be-
marily treated; a deputation from the tween Socrates and persons engaged in
gods also comes, offering peace, - which different occupations, upon the subjects
is accepted on condition that the birds which engrossed his whole attention:
are reinstated in all their old-time rights. piety towards the gods, temperance, the
The comedy closes with the marriage duties incumbent on children with re-
hymn for Peisthetairos and Basileia, the gard to parents, friendship, the political
beautiful daughter of Zeus. Through- | virtues, the useful arts, and the science


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192
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of dialectics. As it was Xenophon's ob- even for Troy, a land he lately called
ject to create a feeling of love and his foe, but become for him now a sec-
veneration for his master among the ond country, by reason of so many years
Athenians, he touches chiefly on those of combats and of glory. The names of
points in the character of Socrates that his beloved parents are his last words on
he believed would conduce to this end. earth; the next will be uttered in Hades.
Thus he describes him as teaching that Then follow the attempt to prevent his
in matters of religion every one should burial, which, if successful, would doom
follow the usages of his city. Socrates, him to wander forever, an unhappy and
he says, sacrificed openly and publicly; restless ghost, through the infernal re-
he not only consulted the oracles, but he gions; the despair of his brother Teucer,
strongly advised his friends to consult Teucer's vehement invectives against the
them; he believed in divination, and enemies of the hero, and the noble gen-
paid close attention to the signs by erosity of Ulysses, who undertakes the
which the divinity communicated with defense of the dead.
himself. More than half of the chapters
in the third book are devoted to the con- Æthiopica, by Heliodorus, bishop of
versation of Socrates with generals and
Tricca in Thessaly. This romance
hipparchs, and Xenophon attributes much was written in his youth towards the
of his own knowledge of military mat- close of the fourth century, or according
ters to his good fortune in having been to some, in the second century: and was
acquainted with his master. The most the occasion of reproach to him in his
beautiful dialogues, however, are those manhood, though without reason. It is
which deal with the feelings that ought divided into ten books, and relates the
to actuate the members of the same adventures of the Ethiopian princess
family, — the love of the mother for her Chariclea; who, having as an infant been
child, and of brother for brother. The exposed to death by her mother, is dis-
chapters which conclude the work are covered by some humane people and car-
noted for deep feeling, tenderness, and ried to Delphi, where she meets the beau-
elevation of thought.
tiful Theagenes, and after innumerable
adventures, marries him. The pair live
a tragedy, by Sophocles. After happily for a while, and then encounter
the death of Achilles, the Greek lead- dangers of the most varied character.
ers decide to give his arms to Ulysses, They are about to be killed, when Chari-
as the most worthy to bear them. The clea is recognized and restored to her
neglected Ajax is furious, and goes forth
proper station.
This interminable ro
in the night to avenge the affront. Min-
mance enjoyed a great reputation from
erva deprives him of reason, and he at- the Renaissance down to the close of the
tacks the flocks of sheep in the Greek last century. It is now neglected, al-
camp, mistaking them for his enemies.
though in variety of incident it may be
When exhausted with slaughter, he leads said to rival the modern novel. It has
the surviving sheep, chained as prison- some decided literary qualities. What it
ers, to his tent. When he recovers his lacks is observation of character and real
senses, he sees into what abysses the passion. It abounds in curious details on
wrath of the gods has plunged him. He the state of Egypt at the period of which
must become the jest of the army if he it treats.
remains before Troy; he will shame his
old father if he returns to Salamis: he nthia and Habrocomus, The
resolves to end his dishonored life. The Ephesiaca, a Greek romance, by
prayers of Tecmessa, his captive mistress, Xenophon of Ephesus, written during the
and of his Salaminian comrades, are fourth century of the Christian era. It
unavailing Yet it is with regret that was lost until the eighteenth century, and
he quits this beautiful world. The mono- then found in the Florentine library by
logue in which he bids it farewell, and Bernard de Montfaucon. It was at once
which is the most remarkable passage in translated into most modern languages.
the drama, contains entrancing pictures The subject of the story is the lot of two
of the life he is about to abandon. He lovers united by marriage, but separated
takes leave of his country, his father's by destiny, and coming together again
hearth, the companions of his childhood, only after a long series of misfortunes.
and of glorious Athens. He has tears Their beauty is the cause of all their
Ajax,
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193
Eleg
a
afflictions, lighting the fires of passion, 'legantiæ Latinæ Sermonis: ELEGAN-
jealousy, and revenge, and constantly en- CIES OF LATIN SPEECH, by Laurentius
dangering the fidelity they have sworn Valla (Lorenzo della Valle), 1444; 59th
to each other. But, by marvelous strata-
ed. 1536.
A standard work on Latin
gems, they triumph over all the attempts style, written in the days of the earlier
made to compel them to break their vows, Italian Renaissance, when the Latin Mid-
and escape unharmed from the most dif- dle Ages were coming to a close. It is
ficult situations. At length, after many notable as the latest example of Latin
wanderings over land and sea, they meet used as a living tongue.
Valla was a
once more. Anthia declares that she is thoroughly Pagan Humanist. His De
as faithful as when she first left Tyre for Voluptate,' written at Rome about 1443,
Syria. She has escaped unscathed from was a scholarly and philosophical apology
the menaces of brigands, the assaults of for sensual pleasure; the first important
pirates, the outrages of debauchees, and word of the new paganism. The (Ele-
many a threat of death.
Habrocomus gancies) followed, and the two works
assures her, in reply, that no other young gave their author the highest reputation
girl has seemed to him beautiful, no as a brilliant writer, and critic of Latin
woman has pleased him, and he is now composition. At an earlier date (1440)
as devotedly hers as when she left him a Valla had published a work designed to
prisoner in a Tyrian dungeon. The faults show that the papal claim of a grant
of the story are the grotesque improbabil- made to the papacy by Constantine had
ity of many of its inventions and its want no valid historical foundation. This was
of proportion; its merits are pithiness, the first effort of skepticism in that direc-
clearness, and elegance of style.
tion; yet the successor of Eugenius IV. ,
Nicholas V. , invited Valla, as one of the
Alexiad, a life of the Emperor Alexis
chief scholars of the age, to take the post
Comnenus, by the Princess Anna of apostolic secretary at Rome, and paid
Comnena, his daughter. This work, which him munificently for a translation of 'Thu-
is one of the most important authorities cydides into Latin. Valla further did
for the history of the closing years of the pre-Reformation work by his Adnota-
eleventh century, is written in modern tiones) on the New Testament, in which
Greek, and divided into fifteen books. It for the first time the Latin Vulgate ver-
gives a vivid picture of the First Crusade, sion was subjected to comparison with
which the author bad seen, and of the the Greek original. Erasmus re-edited
antagonistic interests of the Greeks and this work, and Ulrich von Hutten repub-
Crusaders, united indeed against the In- lished the attack on the papal claims.
fidels, but in a state of constant hostility The permanent interest of Valla is that
to each other. Her father is her hero; of an able initiator of criticism, linguistic,
she defends all his acts, and attempts historical, and ethical.
especially to prove that the charge of per-
fidy brought against him by the Franks Bohn's Libraries. A uniform (Publi-
A
was baseless. She shows him to have cation Series) of standard works of
been an active and energetic prince, a English and European literature, of which
good captain, a thorough tactician, an in- Thomas Carlyle said: “I may say in
trepid soldier, and a consummate states- regard to all manner of books, Bohn's
She reproaches the crusaders with Publication Series is the usefulest thing
all sorts of crime, particularly Bohemund, I know. ” It covers the whole ground of
the son of Robert Guiscard and the per- history, biography, topography, archæ-
sonal enemy of her father. The work is ology, theology, antiquities, science, phi-
crowded with useless details, which By- losophy, natural history, poetry, art, and
zantine etiquette rendered important; but fiction, with dictionaries and other books
Anna Comnena has preserved the knowl- of reference; and comprises translations
edge of a multitude of curious incidents, from French, German, Italian, Spanish,
which but for her would have been lost Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and
to history. She has been criticized for Greek. The originator of the enterprise,
relating marvels as if they were real Henry George Bohn, a London bookseller,
facts, a habit which simply proves that who startled the English trade by issu-
the Greeks were as superstitious as the ing in 1841 a guinea catalogue of some
Latins. The old Greek and the new Frank 25,000 important and valuable old books,
civilization contrast strongly in her pages. began in 1846 with the Standard Library.
man.
a
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
194
9
His design was to promote the sale of losopher); and in 1854, after the death
good books by a cheap uniform issue of Souvestre, it awarded his widow the
of works of a solid and instructive kind. Lambert prize, which is always bestowed
The choice of type, paper, and binding upon the most useful author of the year.
was most judicious, and for cheap books
on Popular
nothing equal to it has ever been done. Brand's Observations
The Standard now numbers 302 vols.
Antiquities. By John Brand. An
entirely new and revised edition, with
The other libraries added later are (with
the additions of Sir Henry Ellis. (1887. )
present number), the Historical, 23 vols. ;
A work devoted to popular explanation
the Philosophical, 15 vols. ; Ecclesiastical
of the customs, ceremonies, superstitions,
and Theological, 15 vols. ; Antiquarian, 35
etc. , of the common people. It is at once
vols. ; Illustrated, 78 vols.