No More Learning

In the marriage of
Solomine and Marianne is seen the union
of reform, as distinguished from the in-
effectual idealism of an aristocracy that
lacks the practical knowledge and the
social mediation of a middle class.
on
sea.


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474
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Æne
Æneid, The, the golden branch on the which, like a trumpet-call, roused Savo-
ilex-tree of Latin literature, was the narola to seek the things that are above.
work of Publius Virgilius Maro, who was And this line Dante heard on the lips
born October 15th, 70 B. C. , and died Sep- of the Church Triumphant, at the open-
tember 22d, 19 B. C.
ing of the Paradise of God. ”
The poem is interwoven with pre-
neid, The, an epic by Heinrich von
Christian civilization, with mediæval and
Veldeche, a minnesinger of the
modern thought, as is no other poem of
the ancient world. It is the Bible of the
twelfth century and one of the earliest
German poets. It is distinguished for
later classical literature, as the Iliad is
the elegance of its form and the har-
of the earlier, linked by its very nature
mony of its versification. In this poem,
to the visionary Middle Ages. For in
love (die Minne) is for the first time in-
the Æneid, conflict has become spiritual.
troduced as a theme. The story follows
ized; and the warrior Æneas bears al-
the same line as Virgil's until the hero
ways about him the remoteness of the
comes to Latium. There it pauses to de-
priest, or of one mindful ever of the place
of souls. It is the detachment of the
pict the love of Lavinia for Æneas, and
this is its most original and successful por-
hero from the passion of love, from the
tion. Æneas marries Lavinia, becomes
passion of war, which made him appeal
so powerfully to the mediæval mind, pre-
king, and builds Alba. Gawain Douglas
translated the Æneid into the Scottish
occupied with the Unseen. Only the
dialect in 1513. This vigorous adaptation
creator of Æneas could be Dante's guide
probably suggested to the Earl of Surrey
among the shades. Of him Tennyson
the idea of turning the second and fourth
writes:-
books into blank verse, the earliest exam-
"Light among the vanished ages; star that gild-
ple of blank verse in the language. Dou-
est yet this phantom shore ;
Golden branch among the shadows, kings and
glas takes some strange liberties with his
realms that set to rise no more. ”
author. He changes the sibyl into a nun,
and makes her admonish Æneas to be
The Æneid is in twelve books: the
first six in imitation of the Odyssey; the
sure to say his prayers and tell his beads.
The English translations are numerous;
last six, of the Iliad. The Trojan hero
is led to Italy, where he is to be the
Dryden's, Conington's, and notably Sir
Charles Bowen's, being perhaps the best.
father of a race and of an empire su-
That of William Morris is much admired
preme among nations. On his way thither
also, and in America the versions of C. P.
he tarries at Carthage, whose queen,
Cranch and of Prof. Geo, H. Palmer are
Dido, loves him as with the first love
of a virgin. To her he tells the story of
examples of good scholarship and good
taste. The epic has been often travestied.
Troy. For love of him she slays herself
The first travesty, entitled Eneide de
when the gods lead him from her shores.
Arrived in Italy he seeks the underworld,
Virgilio Travestida,' appeared at Rome in
1633. It was very popular among the friv.
under the protection of the Sibyl of Cu-
olous; but scholars, to whom everything
mæ. He emerges thence to overcome
his enemies. The Æneid was not per-
written by the Mantuan was sacred, were
scandalized. The Eneide Travestie) of
fected at the time of Virgil's death, and
Scarron is a French classic.
his friends Varius and Tucca edited it
at the request of the emperor Augustus,
Angel in the House, The, Coventry
It has since become the heritage of the Patmore's most noted poem, was pub-
world.
lished in four parts between 1854 and
“On this line the poet's own voice fal- 1862. (The Betrothal' appeared in 1854,
tered as he read. At this Augustus and (The Espousals) in 1856, Faithful For-
Octavia melted into passionate weeping. ever) in 1860, and "The Victories of
Here is the verse which Augustine quotes Love) in 1863. The entire poem is idyl-
as typical, in its majestic rhythm, of all lic in form. It is a glorification of do-
the pathos and the glory of pagan art mestic life, of love sheltered in the home,
from which the Christian was bound to and guarded by the gentle and tender
fee. This is the couplet which Fénelon wife. In consequence it has been ex-
could never read without admiring tears. tremely popular in British families of the
This line Filippo Strozzi scrawled on his class it describes, — high-bred gentlefolk,
prison wall, when he slew himself to to whom the household is the centre of
avoid worse ill. These are the words | refining affection.


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
475
Age of Chivalry, The, or THE LEGENDS
estimate of Greek culture as providen-
OF KING ARTHUR, by Thomas Bul- tially ordained not less than Hebrew,
finch, was published in 1858. More than and to be studied the same as Hebrew.
twenty years after, an enlarged edition In view of the corruption of his own
appeared under the editorship of Edward times, Roger Bacon said: “The ancient
Everett Hale. In Part First, the legends philosophers have spoken so wonderfully
of King Arthur and his knights are con- on virtue and vice, that a Christian man
sidered. Part Second deals with the Ma- may well be astounded at those who
binogion, or ancient prose tales of the were unbelievers thus attaining the sum-
Welsh; Part Third with the knights of mits of morality. On the Christian vir-
English history, King Richard, Robin tues of faith, hope, and charity, we can
Hood, and the Black Prince. From the speak things of which they knew nothing.
time of its first publication the popularity
But in the virtues needed for integrity
of the book has been great. No more
of life, and for human fellowship, we are
sympathetic and fitting introduction could not their equals either in word or deed. )
be found to the legends of chivalry. The
A section of his moral philosophy Roger
book is written in a youthful spirit that
Bacon devotes to the first attempt ever
commends it to the young.
made at the comparative study of the
religions of the world.
Bacon, Roger, his Opus Majus. (A. D. His protests against the intellectual
1267. ) Newly edited and published, prejudices of the time, his forecasts of
with introduction and full English Anal- an age of industry and invention, the
ysis of the Latin text, by J. H. Bridges. prominence given to experiment, alike
(2 vols. , 1897. ) An adequate publication, as the test of received opinion and the
after 630 years, of one of the most re- guide to new fields of discovery, render
markable productions of the human mind. comparison with Francis Bacon unavoid-
The work is an exhortation addressed able. In wealth of words, in brilliancy
to Pope Clement, urging him to initiate of imagination, Francis Bacon was im-
a reform of Christian education, in order measurably his superior. But Roger
to establish the ascendency of the Cath- Bacon had the sounder estimate and the
olic Church over all nations and religions firmer grasp of that combination of de-
of the world. Its author wished to see ductive with inductive method which
recognition of all the sciences, since marks the scientific discoverer.
all are parts of one and the same com- The competent editor, whose judg-
plete wisdom. He first gave experiment ments we give, has furnished analyses of
the distinct and supreme place which Bacon's Latin text which enable the
was later revived by Descartes, and car- English ler to gather easily his lead-
ried out in modern science. He formed
ing ideas,
a clear conception of chemistry, in his
day not yet separated from alchemy; Adv
dvancement of Learning, The, by
and of a science of living things, as re-
Francis Bacon, 1605, the original title
sulting with chemistry from physics. being Of the Proficience and Advance-
(The generation of men, and of brutes, ment of Learning, Divine and Human. )
and of plants,” he said, “is from ele- This book, received with great favor by
mental and liquid substances, and is of the court and by scholars, was afterwards
like manner with the generation of in- enlarged and published in Latin with the
animate things. ”
title De Augmentis Scientiarum,' as the
The central theme of his work was first part of a monumental labor, (The
the consolidation of the Catholic faith as Instauration of the Sciences, of which
the supreme agency for the civilization the second part was the still famous
and ennoblement of mankind. For this Novum Organum,' on which Bacon's
end a complete renovation and reorgan- fame as a philosopher rests. The (Advance-
ization of man's intellectual forces was ment of Learning) considers first the ex-
needed. The four principal impediments cellence of knowledge and the best way of
to wisdom were authority, habit, preju- spreading it, what has been already done
dice, and false conceit of knowledge.
to scatter it, and what left undone. The
The last of these, ignorance under the author then proceeds to divide all knowl-
cloak of wisdom, was pronounced the
edge into three kingdoms or inclosures, -
worst and most fata
A striking feature history, poetry, and philosophy: which
of this scheme of instruction was its appeal directly to the three manifestations


## p. 476 (#512) ############################################

476
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
of human understanding, memory, imagi- | tory of the Conquest of Mexico,' which
nation, and reason. The smaller third is usually regarded as the author's most
of the book relates to revealed religion. brilliant production. Of the opportuni-
ties this afforded, Prescott himself re-
Astro
stronomy, The Dawn of, by J. Nor- marks: “The natural development of
man Lockyer (1897). A popular study the story is precisely what would
of the temple worship and mythology of be prescribed by the severest rules of
the ancient Egyptians, designed to show art. ” The portrait drawn of Pizarro,
that in the construction of their magnific who is the principal figure in the drama,
cent temples the Egyptians had an eye is that of a man brave, energetic, tem-
to astronomical facts, such as the rising perate, and though avaricious, extrava-
or setting of the sun at a particular time gant; bold in action, yet slow, and at
in the year, or to the rising of certain the same time inflexible of resolution;
stars; and so planned the long axis of a ambitious; exceptionally perfidious. An
great temple as to permit a beam of light effort is made to counterbalance the
to pass at a particular moment the whole tendency to hero-worship and pictur-
length of the central aisle into the Holy esque coloring by the occasional inser-
Place, and there illuminate the image of tion of passages of an opposite character.
the deity,-giving at once an exact note
of time, and a manifestation of the god The Jesuit Relations and Allied
by the illumination, which the people
Documents: Travels and explora-
supposed to be miraculous. Mr. Lockyer's
tions of the Jesuit Missionaries in New
France. (1610-1791. ) The original
clear discovery of these astronomical facts
French, Latin, and Italian texts, with
explains very interestingly the nature of
the gods and goddesses, many of whom
English translations and notes; illus-
are found to be different aspects of the
trated by portraits, maps, and fac-simi-
les.
same object in nature. For both the sci-
Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites.
ence and the religion of Egypt the work
(Vol. i. , 1896. — Vol. xiv. , 1898. ) A part
is of great value.
of a republication of great magnitude
and importance; the fourteen volumes
,
History of the Conquest of Peru, already issued being a beginning only,
covering the years 1610–38. The en-
by William Hickling Prescott.
tire work consists, as to “The Jesuit Re-
(1847. ) Of the five books into which
this admirable work is divided, the first
lations,' in forty volumes of Jesuit
treats of the wonderful civilization of
annual reports in French, which began
the Incas; the second of the discovery
to appear in Paris in 1632, and came
of Peru; the third of its conquest; the
out year by year to 1673. These begin
fourth of the civil wars of the con-
in the present work with Vol. v. ; and
ten volumes carry (Le Jeune's Relation'
querors; and the fifth of the settlement
into 1638.
of the country.
The first book hardly
The very great value of the
work is that of original materials of the
yields in interest to any of the others,
most interesting character for the his-
describing as it does, on the whole, an
unparalleled state of society. In it some
tory of North America from 1611, the
date of the first landing of Jesuit mis-
of the votaries of modern socialism have
sionaries on the shores of Nova Scotia.
seen confirmation of the practicability
and successful working of their own
The present reproduction of documents
theory; but Prescott's verdict of the sys-
takes them in chronological order. Thus
tem is that it was the most oppressive,
Vols. i. -iv. are devoted to the story of
Acadia from 1610 to 1616, and the open-
though the mildest, of despotisms. ” At
least it
ing pages of the story of Quebec, 1625-
more lenient, more
29.
fined, and based more upon reason as
Then comes (Le Jeune's Relation,
as stated above. The execution of the
contrasted with force, than that
of the Aztecs. He describes it very
work by translators, editors, and print-
ers (at Cleveland, Ohio) is every way
fully: the orders of society, the divisions
of the kingdom, the administration of
admirable; and its completion will make
a monumental addition to our historical
justice, the revenues, religion, educa-
libraries.
tion, agriculture, manners, manufactures,
architecture, etc. From the necessities
Nineveh and its Remains (1849).
of its material, the work is more scat-
of
(1853).
tered in construction than is the (His- By Austen Henry Layard. A highly
was
re-
was


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
477
was
as
If a
a
interesting narrative of the earliest of the earth; and his clothing was made
the discoveries which have laid open from the skins of beasts, or
of
to historical knowledge the civilization, skins not made at all. The few simple
empire, and culture of Babylonia (and tools or weapons which he contrived
Assyria), back to about 4000 B. C. , and showed one chief material, except wood
which already promise to make known for handles, and that was stone. Horn
history beginning as early as 7000 B. C. and bone came into use for some minor
Layard, in traveling overland from Lon- implements, but stone was the material
don to Ceylon, passed ruins on the mainly employed for tools and weapons.
banks of the Tigris which tradition Manufactures consisted chiefly in making
pointed out as marking the site of Nine- sharp flakes of stone, some with edges
veh; and the desire which he then felt for knives or hatchets, and others with
to make explorations led him to return points for a thrusting tool or weapon.
to the region. He made some secret If fire was known, and the potter's art
diggings in 1845, and in 1846 and 1847 also of molding moist clay into shapes
pushed his excavations to the first great and baking them to hardness, this added
success, that of the discovery of the not only to the comfort but to the im-
ruins of four distinct palaces, one of plements of primitive man; and shells
which, supposed to have been built by perforated and strung made jewelry.
Sardanapalus yielded the remarkable If there was any money it was shell
monuments which are still a chief at- money. Bone and horn served to make
traction of the British Museum. Beside implements such arrow-heads, and
the bas-reliefs and inscriptions which bodkins, man's earliest needles.
had covered the walls of a palace, use like that of paper was known, a flat
there were the gigantic winged human- bone, like shoulder-blade, served.
headed bulls and lions, and eagle-headed The first art was with a bodkin, scratch-
deities, which are among the objects of ing on the flat of a bone the outline of
Assyrian religious art. As an opening the head of a favorite horse, or of a
of a story of discovery hardly surpassed reindeer captured for a feast. Burial
in the annals of modern research, the customs arose, and funeral feasts; and
work reported in Layard's books is of there seem to be indications of belief
the greatest interest.
that the dead were not so dead but that
they would need food and tools and
Primitive Man, by. Louis Figuier. other means of life.
Revised Translation with Thirty The name given to this earliest Stone
Scenes of Primitive Life and 233 Fig- Age epoch is that of the Mammoth and
ures of Objects belonging to Prehist Cave-Bear, the conspicuous representa-
Ages. (1870. ) A clear popular manual tives of the gigantic animals of that
of the facts and arguments going to time. It was a time of fearful cold, in
show the very great antiquity of man. one of the ages of ice which played so
It presents the evidence of actual relics large a part in the early history of the
of prehistoric life, with special attention globe.
to those found in France. At the time The second of the Stone Age epochs
of its publication English readers were is called that of the reindeer, because
familiar with the views advocated by this animal existed in great numbers,
Lyell and Lubbock, and knew less of the and with it the horse, various great
results of French research, which cattle, elk, deer, etc. , in place of the
prehistoric archæology very largely rests. mammoth, cave-bear, cave-hyena, cave-
In the scheme of this startlingly interest- lion, etc. The intense glacial cold of
ing science the history of primitive man- the first epoch was gone.
Forests in-
kind is divided into two great periods or stead of ice clothed the earth. But
ages: (1) The Stone Age, divided into these earlier Stone Age epochs are a
three epochs; and (2) The Age of dark dismal night hard to penetrate. A
Metals, divided into two epochs. The third Stone Age epoch followed, called
story of these ages is the story of primi- the Polished Stone epoch, because of the
tive man. Man first appeared in the great improvement effected in imple-
epoch of those gigantic animals which ments by polishing or smoothing the
became extinct long ages ago, the mam- stone parts. Other advances were made
moth and the great cave-bear. He
epartment of rude life.
could only dwell in caves and hollows of It was the age
many tamed animals.
on
in every


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478
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
The Stone Age was succeeded by the whose domains he was royally enter
Age of Metals, in which there first came tained. The party then proceeded to
the Bronze epoch; and after it the Iron Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, at which
epoch, each being marked by knowledge point Stanley again embarked with a
of the use of the metals named. The picked crew, and sailed around the
details, and the exact facts as to the lake. In his subsequent march across
type of man in each of the earliest country, he beard rumors of Dwarfland,
epochs, can be made out but imper- which he afterwards visited, and had
fectly; and since Figuier wrote, not a dangerous skirmishes with cannibals.
little has been added to our knowl- He reached the Luama River, and fol-
edge; yet the story as far as given is lowed it 220 miles until it united with
of extreme interest.
the Lualaba, to form a broad gray river
which he knew as the Livingstone, or
Through the Dark Continent, by Congo. Along its many windings, some-
Henry Morton Stanley, appeared in times delayed by almost impassable rap-
1878. It is a graphic narrative of his ids, through the haunts of zebra and
dangers and remarkable experiences in buffalo, and of friendly and hostile na-
traversing the African continent, from tives, he persuaded his weary men, until
the eastern shore to the Atlantic Ocean. they reached cultivated fields again, and
Already distinguished as an African ex- a party of white men from Bornu came
plorer, he had told the story of his ear- to greet him. Even then his troubles
lier trips in “How I Found Livingstone); were not over, for the sudden relaxation
and the latter's death in 1874 made him from hardships caused illness among his
anxious to continue his unfinished work. men, from which several died.
The London Daily Telegraph and the According to his promise, he took his
New York Herald combined to organize company all the way back to their
an expedition of which he was ap- homes in Zanzibar; and saw their happy
pointed chief. Its objects were to solve meeting with the friends who welcomed
the remaining problems of Central Afri- them as heroes.
can geography, and to investigate the The Anglo-American Expedition had
haunts of slave-traders.
succeeded, and since its work the map
Before beginning his own narrative, of Africa is far less of a blank.
Stanley sums up all that was previously
known about the Nile and great central
Travels with a Donkey in the Ce-
lakes; and the achievements of his pred- vennes, by Robert Louis Stevenson,
ecessors, Speke, Burton, and Living- is one of the author's earliest works,
stone; and shows that the western half published in 1879 when he was under
of the continent was still practically a thirty. It is an account of his journey-
blank.
ings, for health's sake, in the mountains
He reached Zanzibar Island in Sep- of southern France, with a diminutive
tember 1874, where he engaged Arab donkey, Modestine by name. It is full
and Wangwana porters, and bought sup- of charming descriptions of the native
plies of cloth, beads, and provisions. population and of nature, and has lively
Upon November 12, he embarked with fancy, frequent touches of poetry, and
three young English assistants and a sparkling humor, making it one of the
company of 224 men for the mainland
most enjoyable of Stevenson's autobio-
in six Arab dhows. From that day un- graphic writings. The sketch of the
til his triumphal return to Zanzibar in a seemingly meek but really stubborn and
British steamer, over three year later, aggravating donkey, whom he becomes
with the survivors of his company, he fond of in spite of himself, is delicious.
describes a long contention with famine, The itinerary is described under the
disease, insubordination in camps, war headings: Velay, Upper Gévaudan,'
with hostile natives, and other dangers. (Our Lady of the Snow,' and 'The
After pushing inland, he turned north- Country of the Camisard. ? Quotable
ward to Lake Victoria, which he circum- passages abound: – "Night is a dead
navigated in the Lady Alice, a barge monotonous period under a roof, but in
constructed so as to be portable in sec- the open world it passes lightly, with its
tions. Upon this trip he met Tsesa, skies and dews and perfumes, and the
the then king of Uganda, whom he says hours are marked by changes in the face
be converted to Christianity, and in of nature. What seems a kind of tem-


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
479
where the organization of the army for
the invasion of Russia was in hand.
But in its incomplete state even, the
work sufficiently carries on the arraign-
ment of the empire of Napoleon at the
bar of historical judgment to stand as
the ablest and the most complete criti-
cism upon Bonaparte and his career.
romancer
so
poral death to people choked between
walls and curtains, is only light and liv-
ing slumber to the man who sleeps
afield. »
After camping out in a pine wood
over night: “I hastened to prepare my
pack and tackle the steep ascent before
me, but I had something on my mind.
It was only a fancy; yet a fancy will
sometimes be importunate. I had been
most hospitably received and punctually
served in my green caravanserai. The
room was airy, the water excellent, and
the dawn had called me to a moment. I
say nothing of the tapestries or the inim-
itable ceiling, nor yet of the view which
I commanded from the windows; but I
felt I was in some one's debt for all this
liberal entertainment. And so it pleased
me, in a half-laughing way, to leave
pieces of money on the turf as I went
along, until I had left enough for my
night's lodging. ”
At the end of his trip he sold Modes-
tine: “It was not until I was fairly
seated by the driver . . that I be-
came aware of my bereavement. I had
lost Modestine. Up to that moment I
had thought I hated her, but now she
was gone.
For twelve day's we
had been fast companions; we had trav-
eled upwards of 120 miles, crossed sev-
eral respectable ridges, and jogged along
with our six legs by many a rocky and
many a boggy by-road. After the first
day, although sometimes I was hurt
and distant in manner, I still kept my
patience; and as for her, poor soul! she
had come to regard me as a god. She
loved to eat out of my hand.
She was
patient, elegant in form, the color of an
ideal mouse, and inimitably small. Her
faults were those of her race and sex;
her virtues were her own. Farewell,
and if forever -. »
»
Count of Monte Cristo, The, by
,
Alexandre Dumas, is
the only
novel of modern times which the great
has written; and it is
widely known that «the treasure of
Monte Cristo » has passed into a prov-
erb. The story opens in Marseilles, in
the year 1815, just before the «Hun-
dred Days. ”
Young Edward Dantes,
the hero, mate of the merchant ship
Pharaon, is about to be made her cap-
tain and marry his sweetheart, the
lovely Catalan Mercedes, when his dis-
appointed rivals, one of whom wants
the ship and the other the girl, con-
spire against him, and lodge informa-
tion with the « Procurateur du Roi)
that Dantès is a dangerous Bonapartist,
and is carrying letters from the Em-
peror, exiled in Elba, to his supporters.
Although there is circumstantial evi-
dence against him, the magistrate
knows Dantès to be innocent; but he
has reasons of his own for wanting
him out of the way. He sends him to
the gloomy Château of If, a fortress
built on a rocky ledge in the sea, where
he suffers an unmerited captivity of
nearly twenty years. He escapes at
length in a miraculous manner, with the
knowledge, confided to him by a sup-
posed madman, a fellow prisoner, of an
enormous treasure hidden on the barren
Island of Monte Cristo, off the Italian
coast. Dantès discovers the treasure,
and starts out anew in life, to dazzle
the world as the mysterious Count of
Monte Cristo, with the one fixed pur-
pose of avenging himself on his perse-
cutors, all of whom have risen high in
the world to wealth and honors. He
becomes a private Nemesis for the de-
struction of the rich banker, the honored
general, and the distinguished magistrate,
each of whom his tireless, relentless
hand brings low. The first half of
the book is a story of romantic and
exciting adventure; the second is in
a different key, sombre and unlovely,
and not likely to convince any one that
revenge is sweet.
But the splendid
Napoleon the First, The History of,
by P. Lanfrey. (1871-79. ) A study
of the career and character of Napoleon
down to the close of 1811, in which ad-
vantage is taken of the lapse of time,
and the comprehensive collection made
by many writers of materials, for a
work thoroughly and perfectly historical,
- a clear-sighted estimate of the great
figure which so many eminent writers
have examined, either for
of
apology or for unjust detraction. The
death of the author, November 16th, 1877,
left his work unfinished, at the point
excess


## p. 480 (#516) ############################################

480
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
imagination of Dumas transfigures the forth in the most brilliant colors. It is
whole, its intensity persuades the reader like a historical painting, so many por-
that the impossible is the actual, and its traits are introduced. The description of
rush and impetuosity sweep him breath- the sea trip to Genoa, whither the beau-
less to the end.
tiful yacht of the American millionaire
carries most of the personages of the
A Tragic idyll. (Une Idylle Tra- story, is also most vividly told, and the
gique), by Paul Bourget. (1896. ) episode of the secret marriage is like a
M. Bourget declares that in life there canto of a poem. Surely no ceremony
are two types of beings corresponding in Genoa had ever been more remark.
to tragedy and comedy, to one of which able : « This great Venetian lady had
great departments each belongs, gen- come from Cannes on an American's
erally with no mixture. «For one, the yacht to marry a ruined gentleman of
most romantic episodes end as in a dubious title from Barbentane, assisted
vaudeville. For the other the simplest by a young American girl and an Aus-
adventures end in drama; devoted to trian lady, a morganatic archduchess,
poignant emotions, cruel complications, who in her turn is accompanied by a
all their idylls are tragic idylls. With Frenchman of the simplest, the most pro-
this idea in mind the author pictures the vincial French tradition. ”
young Provençal Vicomte de Carancez, The poetry of the idyll is not to be
a true D'Artagnan, un gourmand de gainsaid, or its fascinating interest, or its
toutes les gourmandises, who has run
dramatic power.
Its tenuous moral is
through his inheritance of 600,000 francs; thoroughly French, but is based on this
and contrasts him with his friend Pierre epigrammatic exclamation:-
Hautefeuille, a genuine, sweet-tempered, "Ah! demain ! ce dangereux et mys-
chivalrous, and chaste (at least, compara- terieux demain, l'inevitable expiation de
tively chaste) provincial gentleman. The tous nos coupables aujourd'huis. (Ah
light, fickle, astute, and clever advent- to-morrow, that dangerous and mysteri-
urer, whose very title is in question, in ous to-morrow, the inevitable punisher of
searching for means to recoup his for- all our guilty to-days! ”)
tunes deliberately falls in love with a To an American reader an element of
rich widow, the Venetian Marchioness An- comedy is introduced in the author's
driana Bonaccorsi; and successfully car- amusing portrayal of Marsh the Ameri-
ries his romantic plan into execution, can railway magnate. More realistic is
cleverly parrying all the attempts of her his account of the half-mad scientific
Anglomaniac brother to get rid of him Archduke, who hated his wife and yet
by sixteenth-century methods of poison was jealous of her.
and assassination. Pierre on the other
hand falls under the seduction of the
a romantic novel by «Ouida,”
beautiful and passionate morganatic wife was published in 1883. It has a
of an Austrian archduke: and though picturesque and extravagant plot and
their liaison reaches the last develop- setting. Wanda, the heroine, a beauti-
ment, its guilty fruit is utter wretched- ful woman of high rank and wealth, is
ness for both, — not, as an Anglo-Saxon the possessor of a magnificent ancestral
moralist would have pictured it, from the castle in the mountains of Austria.
breaking of any moral law, but because There the nineteenth century meets the
a former lover of the Baroness Ely de Middle Ages. Wanda is herself steeped
Sallach-Carlsberg is Pierre's most inti- in old-world traditions of honor and
mate friend; their passions cross each chivalry. She will not marry until she
other and clash, and ultimately lead to loves, and she does not love readily.
the death of Olivier du Prat, who in a One stormy night a stranger is rescued
moment of exaltation and moral despair from drowning in the lake beside the
sacrifices himself to save his friend, castle. He calls himself René, Marquis
though he knows that this friend is play- de Sabran-Romaris, but he is really the
ing him false and breaking a solemn oath. natural son of a great Russian noble by
This dead friend becomes the living re- a peasant girl. Yet he is the son of his
morse that prevents the two passionate father rather than of his mother; he has
lovers from ever again meeting.
lived so long in the atmosphere of aris-
The story opens at Monte Carlo, the tocracy that he almost believes in him-
heated unwholesome life of which is set self. The ancient family from which
Wanda,


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
481
he stole his title is extinct. The world dicting his happiness, and laying a curse
accepts him as its last representative. upon those who are dearest to him.
By temperament and training he is in The innocent suffer for the guilty, and
every way a man suited to Wanda von the wages of sin is death.
Szalras. She loves him in spite of her-
self. He on his part loves her honestly Wetherel Affair, The, by J. W. Die
;
Forest. (1873. ) The scene of this
he cannot tell her the true story of his story is laid in America in the present
birth, and that he was once Vassia
ceptury. Judge Jabez Wetherel, a rich
Kazán, a serf. Only one person lives old man of stern religious principles, is
who remembers Vassia Kazán. This is mysteriously murdered in his library at
Egon Vásárhely, Wanda's cousin, who his country-seat in Connecticut, while
cherishes for her a hopeless love. As a rewriting his will; and the document is
boy guest in the house of Prince Zaba- stolen. There is no clue to the mur-
Vassia's father, he had quarreled derer, though some suspicion rests upon
with Vassia, and had wounded him with the victim's nephew Edward, who has
a knife.
been too gay and worldly to suit the
The Marquis of Sabran marries Wanda; old-fashioned ideas of his uncle, who
children are born to them; their married has consequently disinherited him. Pre-
life is wholly happy. After several years, vious to the murder, and contrary to his
Egon is prevailed upon to visit them. uncle's wishes, Edward has become en-
The beautiful features of Wanda's hus- gaged to Nestoria Bernard, a lovely
band awaken strange memories of a young girl who is visiting at Judge
boyish quarrel. By a long chain of cir- Wetherel's house. Nestoria is the daugh-
cumstances, Sabran is at last forced to ter of a missionary in Persia, and has
tell Wanda of his deception. She sends returned home to cor her educa-
him from her, and for three years lives tion; Edward was a fellow passenger
in solitude and bitterness. She forgives with her on the homeward voyage, dur-
him only when he saves the life of their ing which he fell in love with her, at-
eldest son. But he has given his own tracted by her innocence and charm.
life to do this, living only eleven days On the night of the tragedy Nestoria
after the rescue of the child. In the catches a glimpse of the murderer, and
heart of his wife he lives forever, and is impressed with the dreadful belief
with him lives a sleepless and eternal that it is her lover who has committed
remorse. )
the deed. Dreading the thought of meet-
ing him again, and being compelled to
Wage
ages of Sin, The, by «Lucas Ma- testify against him, she fees from the
let,” is a study of character rather house and eventually reaches New York
than a novel of incident. The leading city, where all trace of her is lost. Ed-
personages stand in high relief against ward Wetherel shows great strength of
a background of commonplace English character in this troublous time, and ex-
prosperity. Mary Crookenden, the hero- hibits fine qualities which win the respect
ine, is a charming English girl; beautiful, of all. He finds himself sole heir to the
spirited, and an heiress. Her cousin, large fortune, but chooses to divide it
Lance Crookenden, who is a few years with his relatives, Mrs. Dinneford and
older, has loved her from childhood; but her daughter Alice, and a cousin, Walter
she accepts his devotion as an agreeable Lehming, to whom his uncle had willed
matter-of-course, and in spite of his it. Alice Dinneford becomes engaged to
wealth and good looks, regards him with Count Poloski, a former friend of Ed.
a tinge of affectionate contempt. Mary ward's, who proves to be an adventurer
has many suitors; among them a young and villain and the murderer of Judge
clergyman, Cyprian Oldham, and Wetherel. He resembles Edward in
artist, James Colthurst.
She engages
looks, and it is eventually discovered
herself to Oldham, but finds him too that Nestoria had been deceived by this
conventional to be sympathetic; and be- likeness. The will turns out to be in
comes fascinated by Colthurst, the most the possession of the count, who is killed
gifted and most earnest man she knows, in an encounter with some of his ene-
who loves her passionately. But a sin mies before he can be brought to justice.
of Colthurst's youth lays a heavy hand Nestoria is recovered through the efforts
upon him, pushing away his love, inter- of her friends the Dinnefords; and, over-
XXX—31
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482
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
whelmed with sorrow at having doubted
her lover, writes him a letter expressing
remorse and contrition. Edward at once
forgives her suspicion, and they are hap-
pily reunited. Several eccentric charac-
ters are introduced into the story: among
them Miss Imogen Jones, who expresses
herself in Aowery and grandiloquent lan-
guage; and Mr. John Bowlder, a noisy
and blustering philosopher, who figures
in various amusing episodes.
Ten Thousand a Year, by Samuel c.
Warren. (1841. ) This story, though
regarded by critics as «ridiculously ex-
aggerated and liable to the suspicion of
being a satire on the middle classes,
has held a certain place in fiction for
more than half a century. Tittlebat
Titmouse, its hero, is a vulgar and con-
ceited young clerk in the London shop
of Dowlas, Tagrag, Bobbin & Co.
Through the machinations of Messrs.
Quirk, Gammon, and Snap, Solicitors,
who have discovered a flaw in the title
of an old and rich family, he finds him-
self put in possession of an estate yield-
ing £10,000 a year.
Hitherto abused
and bullied by everybody, he is now
flattered and invited by his former mas-
ter, Tagrag, by Quirk of the great law
firm, and by the Earl of Dredlington,
each anxious to secure him as a son-in-
law. Titmouse marries Lady Cecilia,
and takes his seat in Parliament in
place of Charles Aubrey, dispossessed of
the estate, his election being secured by
scandalous corruption and a reckless ex-
penditure of money. The Earl of Dred-
lington, finding a deed by which his
son-in-law settles £2,000 a year on Gam-
mon, learns that it is hush-money; and
that Titmouse, proving to be an illegiti-
mate child of the great house, has no
right to the estate he enjoys.
In con-
sequence the attorney-general fixes
charge of conspiracy upon Quirk, Gam-
mon, and Snap. Quirk and Snap are
imprisoned, while Gammon escapes only
by suicide. The Aubreys' rights are
restored. The wretched Titmouse goes
through insolvency; and his mind having
become unbalanced by his overthrow, he
passes the remainder of his miserable
life in a lunatic asylum. The story has
no literary standing, and is verbose and
overloaded with irrelevant matter.
the plot is ingenious, the legal compli-
cations are managed in a way that won
the admiration of accomplished lawyers,
and the story with all its faults contrived
to arouse and maintain the reader's
interest.
Thaddeus of Warsaw; by Jane Porter,
(1803,) is an old-time) romance.
Thaddeus, a young Polish nobleman,-
last in the line from John Sobieski, the
famous king of Poland and conqueror of
the Turks, – leaves home with his grand-
father, count palatine, to serve under
King Stanislaus in repelling an invasion
by Russia and her allies. Defeated after
gallant fighting, the old count is slain,
and Thaddeus flies to the defense of his
mother in their castle. She expires in
his arms; Thaddeus is driven forth, and
sees Warsaw and the Sobieski castle
burned. The renowned General Kos-
ciuszko, the King's nephew Prince Ponia-
towski, and other historic characters,
figure prominently in the tale. After
the partition of Poland the exiled Thad-
deus reaches England, where a cloud on
his birth is lifted, showing him a scion
of the Somerset family; his marriage
with a high-born English girl m kes a
happy ending. This was the earliest
of Miss Porter's historical novels, and
it appeared some years before Scott's
(Waverley. Having seen and talked
with many poor and proud, but noble,
Polish refugees in London, Miss Porter
wrote with a pen dipped in their tears,"
representing a pure and generous ideal,
- the nobles as mostly noble, and the
serfs like Arcadian shepherds. And after
all, ideals are as real as deeds.
Tºm , ,
а
(1895,) is a spirited and most en-
tertaining and ingenious study of labor-
ing life in Staten Island, New York.
Tom Grogan was a stevedore, who
died from the effects of an injury.
With a family to support, his widow
conceals the fact of her husband's death,
saying that he is sick in a hospital,
that she may assume both his name
and business.
She is thenceforth known to every one
as (Tom Grogan. ' A sturdy, cheery,
capable Irishwoman, she carries on the
business with an increasing success,
which arouses the jealous opposition of
some rival stevedores and walking del-
egates of the labor union she has re-
fused to join.
The story tells how, with marvelous
pluck, Tom meets all the contemptible
means which her enemies employ in
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
483
now
order to down her, they resorting even of things. The book is marked by the
to the law, blackmail, arson, and at- serenity of optimism; for the author sees
tempted murder. In all her mannish that the methods employed by “trusts )
employments her mother-heart beats in production work for greater economy
warm and true; and her little crippled and for greater advantage in production:
Patsy, a companion to Dickens's Tiny but he believes that those who create
Tim, and Jenny the daughter with her wealth should share in the wealth; and
own tender love affair, are the objects that the so-called “fortunate few, who
of Tom's constant solicitude.
possess without having helped to create,
The author has given a refreshing should realize their selfishness and be-
view of a soul of heroic mold beneath come henceforth the servants of those
an uncouth exterior, and a pure life whom
they make
serve. Mr.
where men are wont to expect degra- Lloyd's indictment of our modern civili-
dation.
zation is said to have had a great in-
fluence on the altruistic thought of the
Wealth Against Commonwealth, by day.
Henry D. Lloyd. (1894. ) This
treatise begins with an epigram and Pensees Philosophiques, by Denis
ends with a promise. Nature. ”
Diderot (1746), which are said to
says
Mr. Lloyd, is rich; but everywhere
have been put on paper in the space
man, the heir of Nature, is poor. ” Why
of three days, and at the bidding of one
is this so? Because the people who are
of the philosopher's feminine friends,
have been
all the time helping Nature to produce
compared with
Pascal's
wealth are the blind agents of a few en-
(Thoughts) in point of force and elo-
lightened but selfish schemers. The
quence.
But though the comparison
great natural monopolies, which ought
may be made of the manner, it does
to be the property of a nation, are al-
not hold of the matter; for Diderot ex-
lowed to be controlled by private indi-
pended all this ammunition of wit and
viduals. Coal and oil, lumber and iron,
intellect in demolishing the foundations
and hundreds of indispensable commodi-
of all religious faith, and the
ties, are produced; by trusts and the
ments built to it in the shape of sacred
books.
result is that the few are constantly grow-
His statements are made with
such entire confidence, that it is easy to
ing richer and the many are finding the
battle of life an ever-increasing defeat.
believe the work to have impressed its
Mr. Lloyd shows with unsparing detail
readers with faith in the infallibility of
and with unimpeachable accuracy the
its author. It was very widely read and
working of the various “trusts, and the
exceedingly popular among the fashion-
able world at the time of its appear-
tyranny which they stand for in a
called land of liberty. He believes that
the people, who after all are the fount-
ain-head of power, have the right to Thoughts Concerning the Interpret-
ation of Nature (Pensées
regulate all these immense questions.
l’Interprétation de la Nature'), by Denis
«Infinite,” he says, “is the fountain of
Diderot, afterward printed under the
our rights. We can have all the rights title (Étrenne aux Esprits forts, was
we will create. All the rights we will
written in 1754, and forms a prelude
give we can have. The American peo-
to Diderot's Système de la Nature. )
ple will save the liberties they have It is a rather fantastic attempt to
inherited by winning new ones to be- (interpret» nature, and contains a min-
queath. With this will come fruits of a
gling of profound and shallow observa-
new faculty almost beyond calculation.
tions, the whole rendered obscure by
A new liberty will put an end to pauper- a mass of verbiage. As one critic says:
ism and millionairism, and the crimes
« The reader must be patient who wins
and death-rate born of both wretched-
occasional glimpse of illumining
nesses, just as the liberty of politics and
beauty or interest. To very few would
religion put an end to martyrs and
the work prove a real interpretation
tyrants. With a view of educating the
of nature. )
people to a knowledge of their rights,
Mr. Lloyd marshals his appalling array Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Life of,
of facts, and points out a way for im-
by his
Hallam Tennyson.
provement in an unparalleled condition (1897. ) This great biography completes
monu-
SO-
ance.
sur
an
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
and transcends all other memoirs of and Jason alone in the old homestead.
the poet-laureate, since it is written by In time they love and are married.
one who bore the closest relationship (Two Men) is written in the clear, re-
to him, who was in a position to know mote style of Mrs. Stoddard, its stern
not only the daily outward events of his realism being relieved by passages of
life but the events of his inner life, quaint humor.
the great unseen phenomena of a poet's
mind.
The memoir is exceedingly full Tom Burke, of “Ours,” by Charles
and circumstantial, progressing from Lever. (1844. ) This is one of Le-
year to year of Tennyson's life, letting ver's characteristic stories of an exiled
it tell itself for the most part through Irish patriot, who wins glory and pre-
letters. A great number of these are ferment under the banners of France.