No More Learning

equal accuracy and discrimination, and
Inside, he finds Cupid, Beauty, Riches,
with
more charm. Its abstracts
Courtesy, and other graces. He chooses
more interesting, and its characteriza-
an opening rosebud, but finds it sur-
tions are often done not only with exact-
rounded by a thick hedge of thorns.
ness, but with a picturesque touch that
(Kind Welcome » allows him to kiss the
gives the subject a contemporary in-
rose, but «Evil Mouth” gossips so much
terest, and makes Horace or Virgil or
about it that Jealousy confines the Rose
Cicero a personal acquaintance. The lit-
in a tower, guarded by Danger, Fear,
erary criticism is excellent of its kind,
and Shame. L'Amant, separated from
and the book is as valuable a companion
his Rose, abandons himself to despair.
to the reader for pleasure, as to the stu-
At this point the romance of Lorris
dent with a purpose.
ends. By the aid of Cupid, Venus, Na-
French Literature, History of, by ture, and her confessor Genius, the tower
Henri Van Laun. This work, in of Jealousy is forced to capitulate, and
three octavo volumes, - beginning with L'Amant is at last permitted to gather
Roman Literature, History of, A, by
are


## p. 217 (#253) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
217
the Rose. The first part is a eulogy of
women and chivalrous love, while the
second seems to be almost a satire on
the first; for Meung reduces love to the
pleasure of the senses, and respects noth-
ing that the Middle Ages were accus-
tomed to venerate. Meung is less of a
poet than Lorris, but the former is the
more erudite, and the second part is en-
cyclopaedic in its references, ranging
from Latin quotations to the Philoso-
pher's Stone, and the complaints of the
lower classes. This work has excited
almost as much adverse criticism as
praise, the priests at one time thinking
there was something in the allegory
derogatory to dogma. It enjoyed great
popularity when allegory was esteemed,
relates the birth, childhood, the journey
to Paris, the education, and the farcical
adventures, of the giant Gargantua, son
of Grandgosier; also the war which he
waged against the invader Picrocole,
the mighty deeds of his friend and ally
Jean des Entommeurs, and the founda-
tion of the abby of Thélème. This book
also is probably the best known and
most prized, as illustrating the serious
ideas of its author upon war, the educa-
tion of children, and the organization of
monastery life. The myth of Gargantua
was of Celtic origin, dating from the
time of the importation of the Arthurian
legends into France by the troubadours
of William the Conqueror.
but to-day it must be considered some précieuses Ridicules, Les, by Mo-
а
are
(
what tedious.
lière. No one of Molière's come-
dies is better known than this famous
satire on the Précieuses,' which was
Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Fran-
çois .
Towards 1532, at produced for the first time in 1659. It
Lyons, Rabelais edited series of can almost be entitled a farce, being
almanacs, in which
found 'La an exaggeration of an exaggeration. It
Pantagrueline Pronostication) (The Fore- is in one act, and is a satire on a style
castings of Pantagruel), and Les Chro- of speech, and an affected taste in art
niques Gargantines) (The Chronicles of and literature, prevalent among a cer-
Gargantua), under the immediate title tain class at that time. It is said that
of Pantagruel, roi des Dipsodes, res- when writing it, Molière had in mind
titué en son naturel, avec ses faits et the literary lights who assembled at the
prouesses espouvantables; composés pour Hôtel de Rambouillet. The story is of
M. Alcofribas, abstracteur de quintes- two country ladies, Madelon and Cathos,
sence? (Pantagruel, king of the Drunk- | just arrived in Paris, who reject two
ards, portrayed according to life, with suitors proposing marriage, unless they
his amazing deeds and feats of prowess; first serve a long apprenticeship of court-
written by M. Alcofribas, distiller of the ship and gallantry as do the heroes in
very quintessence). This forms the sec- (Artemène) and (Clélie, two novels by
ond book of the work as it now stands; Mademoiselle Scudéry, much in vogue
for Rabelais, seeing the success of his at that time. In revenge, the rejected
efforts, revised his Chroniques Gargan- suitors clothe their valets, Mascarille and
tines) and made of them the (Vie très Jodelet, in rich dress, and send them to
horrifique du grand Gargantua, père de masquerade as the Marquis de Masca-
Pantagruel ( The very horrible life rille and Vicomte de Jodelet. They are
of the great Gargantua, father of Pan- warmly welcomed by the ladies, who are
tagruel), which is now the first book. charmed with Mascarille's expressed in-
Then came the (Tiers livre des faits et tention of writing the history of Rome
dicts héroiques du bon Pantagruel) in the form of madrigals. Mascarille
(Third book of the heroic sayings and composes a ridiculous impromptu of four
doings of the good Pantagruel), to lines, which he dissects word by word,
which Rabelais affixed his own
calling attention to the many esoteric
with the additions of «docteur en mé- beauties, invisible except to the veritable
decine et calloier des isle d’Hieres )) « Précieux. ) The deception is kept up
(physician and monk of the island of until their masters come and despoil
Hyeres). In 1552 appeared the fourth them of their rich clothes, leaving them
book. The fifth book (1564) is post- in their servant's dress. Molière, in his
humous, and it is doubtful if Rabelais preface, says the piece was printed
composed it. The five books form against his better judgment, as much of
sort of satirical epopee.
The first book, the success which it attained depended
which alone forms a complete whole, upon the action and tone of voice. The
>
name
)
a


## p. 218 (#254) ############################################

218
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
justice of this remark is appreciated if
one has seen its performance at the
Comédie Française, where tradition has
preserved intact all the original «busi-
ness » of the piece.
It was a great success; and as his at-
tacks on quackery had made possible a
reform in medicine, so this comedy ren-
dered ridiculous the name «Précieux,"
which had before been considered
distinction.
Membe
ember for Paris, The, by Grenville
Murray. A tale of the Second Em-
pire, showing the bribery and corruption
then prevalent. Horace and Émile Gerold
are sons of the Duke de Hautbourg, who,
being an ardent Republican, refuses to
bear his title. His sons go to Paris to
practice law. Horace, beginning his ca-
reer brilliantly, is gradually led astray
by Macrobe, an unscrupulous speculator,
against whom he was warned by his
father. He enters political life, is made
Member for Paris, abandons Georgette,
a young girl who loves him, and mar-
ries Macrobe's daughter Angelique, fan-
cying himself in love with her. He
forsakes his Liberal opinions, and comes
to blows over his father's grave with
a political opponent. He now assumes
the title and takes possession of his
estates. His brother Émile, who has
remained honest and upright, is elected
deputy in his place; and his wife, An-
gelique, learning that he loves Geor-
gette, drowns herself in the lake on
the day of their arrival at the ducal
castle. A letter is found, showing the
cause of her rash act. Horace drops
dead beside her. A truthful picture of
life in Paris under the Second Empire,
with its network of police, its great man-
milliner Worth, its feverish speculation
and scramble for political preferment,
the story opens in 1854 and ends in
1857. It was published in 1871, the au-
thor, a well-known diplomat, disguising
his identity under the name of “Trois-
Étoiles. )
Cinq. Mars, by Alfred de Vigny. The
subject of this historical romance is
the conspiracy of Cinq-Mars and De Thou
against Richelieu, its detection, and the
execution of the offenders at Lyons in
1642. The work is modeled after the
Waverley novels. All the action cen-
tres around the great figure of Richelieu.
The aristocratic prejudices of the author
prevent him from doing full justice,
perhaps, to the statesman who curbed
the power of the French noblesse; and
many critics think that Bulwer depicts
him more truly.
The Richelieu of De
Vigny is Richelieu as he appeared to
the courtiers of the time: the organizer
of assassination and espionage, in con-
junction with Father Joseph and Lau-
bardemont,- Richelieu in his days of
hatred and murder. The author is more
just to the Cardinal when he shows
him making successful efforts to place
France at the head of Europe, prepar-
ing and winning victories, and sending
his king to fight like obscure captain.
The character of Louis XIII. is finely
drawn, and we have a lifelike and admir-
ably colored portrait of that strange and
gloomy monarch, who is the master of
France and the slave of Richelieu, and
who sends his most devoted friends to
the scaffold at the bidding of the man
he hates. Indeed, the contrast between
the obedient monarch and his imperious
servant is the most striking feature in
the romance. There are many scenes
of great historic value; as for instance,
that in which Richelieu retires on the
King's refusal to sign a death-warrant,
and abandons Louis to himself. The
presentation of Cinq-Mars is also very
vivid: we have a Cinq-Mars, who, if not
true to history, is at least true to human
nature. The outline of De Thou is per-
haps just a little shadowy.
Duchesse de Langeais, The, by Balzac,
analyzes carefully the Faubourg
Saint-Germain, or the aristocracy of Paris
under the Restoration. In a most logi-
cal and impartial way, Balzac explains
how the patrician class loses its natural
ascendency when it does not produce the
results its advantages of birth and train-
ing warrant. After learning that the
“Great Lady» had no influence on the
morals of the time, that she was hypo-
critical and artificially educated, it is
not to be expected that the heroine of
the story, the Duchesse de Langeais, will:
prove an anomaly of virtue. Parisian
to the core, the young duchess lives in
the luxury of the boudoir and the fickle
gayety of the ball-room. She is charac-
terized as “supremely a
and
supremely a coquette. ” Unhampered by
her husband, who lives his military life
apart, the duchess feels free to attach to
her suite numberless young men, whom
she encourages and repulses by turns.
woman


## p. 219 (#255) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
219
nuns
In Armand de Montriveau, however, she by a writer of the highest authority, Mr.
finds at last a man of pride and strong George Ticknor, in his History of Span-
will, as well as an ardent lover. He no ish Literature. Speaking of Oviedo,–
sooner discovers that Madame is trifling whose (General and Natural History of
with his affection than he resolves to have the Indies,' an immense work in fifty-one
his revenge. He arranges an interview, books, of which the first twenty-one were
brings the duchess face to face with her- published in 1535, served as an author-
self, and denounces her as a murderer, itative account of the discoveries, treat-
on the ground that she has slain his hap- ment of the natives, etc. ,- Mr. Ticknor
piness and his faith - and bids her fare-
says:
well. The duchess immediately falls in “But, both during his life and after his
love with him, sends him repentant letters death (1557), Oviedo had a formidable
which receive no response, and after a adversary, who, pursuing nearly the same
desperate attempt to see him in his own course of inquiries respecting the New
house, leaves Paris just as Monsieur is World, came almost constantly to con-
hastening to call upon her. Armand de clusions quite opposite. This was no less
Montriveau searches five years for his a person than Bartolomé de las Casas,
lady, finding her at last immured in a the apostle and defender of the American
convent in Spain. Determined to rescue Indians,- a man who would have been
her from such an imprisonment, he suc- remarkable in any age of the world, and
ceeds in penetrating to the cell of her who does not seem yet to have gathered
who was called by the «Sister in the full harvest of his honors. He was
Thérèse,” only to find the dead body of born in 1474; and in 1502, having gone
the Duchesse de Langeais. This is one through a course of studies at (the uni-
of the most famous of Balzac's novels. versity of] Salamanca, embarked for the
The story is told with all his vigor and Indies, where his father, who had been
minuteness, and the characters impress there with Columbus nine years earlier,
themselves on the memory as persons had already accumulated a decent for-
actually known.
tune. The attention of the young man
was early drawn to the condition of the
Cas
asas, Las: HISTORY OF THE (West] natives, from the circumstance that one
INDIES. (Historia de las Indias, of them, given to his father by Columbus,
por Fr. Bartholomé de las Casas. ) The had been attached to his own person
Spanish original in manuscript, 1527–61; as a slave while he was still at the Uni-
only printed edition, 5 vols. , 1875–76. It versity; and he was not slow to learn,
is one of the most notable of books, not on his arrival in Hispaniola [Hayti:
only in its contents, -as a history of Span- 1502], that their gentle natures and
ish discoveries from 1492 to 1520, and a slight frames had already been sub-
contemporary Spanish Catholic criticism jected, in the mines and in other forms
as well as story of Columbus, – but in the of toil, to a servitude so harsh that the
circumstances which prevented its publi- original inhabitants of the island were
cation for more than three hundred years, beginning to waste away under the se-
and which still leave it inaccessible ex- verity of their labors. From this moment
cept to readers of Spanish. Its author he devoted his life to their emancipation.
was the most illustrious figure of the New In 1510 he took holy orders, and contin-
World during its first half-century, and ued, as a priest, and for a short time as
not less illustrious to all Europe as a rep- bishop of Chiapa, nearly forty years, to
resentative of the Catholic Christian feel. teach, strengthen, and console the suffer-
ing which led Queen Isabella to condemn ing flock committed to his charge. Six
Columbus for sending shiploads of Amer- times at least he crossed the Atlantic,
ican natives to Spain to be sold as slaves. in order to persuade the government of
His entire life and all his writings were Charles the Fifth to ameliorate their con-
devoted to urging the duty of humane dition, and always with more or less suc-
treatment of the Indians; and after pub- cess. At last, but not until 1547, when
lishing in his lifetime appeals and pro- he was above seventy years old, he estab-
tests which stirred the Catholic conscience lished himself at Valladolid in Spain,
throughout Europe, he left at his death where he passed the remainder of his
the great History, which Spanish feel- serene old age, giving it freely to the
ing refused the honors of the press until great cause to which he had devoted the
1875. The whole matter is dealt with freshness of his youth. He died in 1566,


## p. 220 (#256) ############################################

220
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Cast
none
at ninety-two. . Among the principal op- So far as Mr. Ticknor questions at all
ponents of his benevolence were Sepúl- the fairness of Las Casas, his view may
veda, - one of the leading men of letters be presumed to reflect Spanish judgment,
and casuists of the time in Spain,- and about which he might have thought dif.
Oviedo, who, from his connection with the erently if he had spoken simply from a
mines and his share in the government perusal of the pages of Las Casas. He
of the newly discovered countries, had says that Las Casas was “a prejudiced
an interest directly opposite to the one witness, but, on a point of fact within his
Las Casas defended. These two persons, own knowledge, one to be believed. ) The
with large means and a wide influence to prejudice of Las Casas was that of Cath-
sustain them, intrigued, wrote, and toiled olic Europe against slavery and wars of
against him, in every way in
their slaughter, the right to resort to which
power. But his was not a spirit to be Sepúlveda laboriously argued against Las
daunted by opposition or deluded by soph- Casas.
istry and intrigue.
The earli-
est of his works, called (A Very Short
astilian Days, by John Hay, has gone
Account of the Ruin of the Indies, was
through eight editions since its pub-
lication in 1871; a prosperity at which no
written in 1542,-a tract in which, no
reader of the book can wonder. Its sev-
doubt, the sufferings and wrongs of the
Indians are much overstated by the in-
enteen essays present a vivid picture of
the life of Spain. Joining a graceful and
dignant zeal of its author, but still one
brilliant style with the happiest percep-
whose expositions are founded in truth,
tion of the significance of things seen, the
and by their fervor awakened all Europe
to a sense of the injustice they set forth.
author finds a subject worthy of his in-
terpretation in that mediæval civilization
Other short treatises followed, written
with similar spirit and power; bu
of the Iberian peninsula which has lasted
over into the nineteenth century-a civ-
was so often reprinted as the first, and
ilization where the Church holds sway
none ever produced so deep and solemn
as it did in the Middle Ages: where the
an effect on the world. They were all
upper classes believe in devils, and the
collected and published in 1522; and an
edition, in Spanish with a French ver-
peasants dare not yawn without crossing
themselves, lest an imp find lodgment
sion, appeared at Paris in 1822, prepared
within them; where duels are fought in
by Llorente.
all deadliness whenever a caballero's del-
« The great work of Las Casas, however,
icate honor is offended; where alone the
still remains inedited,
,-a General His.
Carnival survives as an unforced, naive,
tory of the Indies from 1492 to 1520, begun
popular fête; where rich and poor play
by him in 1527 and finished in 1561, but
together, and enjoy themselves like child-
of which he ordered that no portion should
Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Alcalá,
be published within forty years of his
Seville, are so described that we see the
death. Like his other works, it shows
people abroad, at home, at church, at the
marks of haste and carelessness, and is
bull-fights, at the miracle-play, in the brill-
written in a rambling style; but its value,
iant light of their sub-tropical skies. The
notwithstanding his too fervent zeal for
whole history of Spain - of its Moors, its
the Indians, is great. He had been per-
Goths, its Castilians- is written in its
sonally acquainted with many of the
streets and its customs; and Mr. Hay has
early discoverers and conquerors, and at
translated it for Western eyes to read.
one time possessed the papers of Colum-
His book is the work at once of the shrewd
bus, and a large mass of other important
social observer and the imaginative poet.
documents, which are now lost. He knew
[of the regular
Alarcón. The opening scene of this
and gives at large his reasons for differing clever and amusing story is laid in Ma-
from them. In short, his book, divided drid, in the month of March 1848. In a
into three parts, is a great repository, to skirmish between the royal troops and
which Herrera, and through him all the a handful of Republicans, Don Jorge de
historians of the Indies since, have re- Córdoba, called Captain Veneno (poison)
sorted for materials; and without which on account of his brusque, pugnacious
the history of the earliest period of the manner, is wounded before the house of
Spanish settlements in America cannot, Doña Teresa Barbastro, who shelters him.
even now, be properly written. ”
A professed hater of women and marriage,
ren.
torians of the New World) anda udariedaisCaptain Veneno, by Pedro Antonio de


## p. 221 (#257) ############################################

SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
221
he laments his prolonged imprisonment to use the words of Professor Marsh: the
in terms which anger the mother and new in the form of a highly-trained, clear-
amuse the daughter; but his kind heart is thinking, frank-speaking modern man;
so apparent that his foibles are humored. the old in the guise of a whole community
When Doña Teresa dies, she confides to so remote from the current of things that
him that she has spent her fortune in its religious intolerance, its social jeal-
trying to secure the confirmation of the ousy, its undisturbed confidence and pride
title of Count de Santurce, conferred on in itself, must of necessity declare in-
her husband by Don Carlos. He hides stant war upon that which comes from
the truth from the daughter, Angustias, without, unsympathetic and critical. The
for a few days; but when she learns that inevitable result is ruin for the party whose
he is paying the household expenses, she physical force is less, the single individual;
insists upon his leaving, now that he can yet hardly less complete ruin for those
walk. He tries to induce her to let him whom intolerance and hate have driven to
pension her, or provide for her in any the annihilation of their adversary. ” The
honorable way except by marrying her, story was published in 1876, and reached
although he professes to adore her. His its ninth edition in 1896.
offers being rejected, he proposes marriage
with one inexorable condition, – that if Dona Luz, by Juan Valera. The scene
of this brilliant emotional story is laid
there should be children, they shall be
in Spain, during the seventies. Doña Luz,
sent to the foundling asylum; to which
she laughingly agrees.
The story is
at the death of her father, the dissipated
written with a breezy freshness; and the
Marquis of Villafria, takes up her abode
with his old steward Don Ascisclo, into
evolution of the Captain's character is
whose hands a large part of the estate of
delightfully done, from his first appear-
the marquis has fallen. High-strung and
ance to his last, where he is discovered
sensitive, with a rare beauty of mind and
on all-fours, with an imp of three on his
person, and entertaining no hope of mar-
back, and a younger one pulling him by
the hair, and shouting Go lang, mule! »
rying according to her inclinations, she
After (The Child of the Ball, this is the
gently repulses all admirers. Among her
friends she counts Don Miguel, the parish
most popular of Alarcón's stories, as it
priest; Don Anselmo, a skillful physician
deserves to be.
but a fierce materialist; and his daughter
Doña Manolita, a charming brunette, ca-
Dona Perfecta, by Benito Pérez Galdós.
This exquisite romance, the transla-
pricious and merry, loyal and affectionate.
tion of which was published in 1880, is a
Into this circle comes the missionary, Fa-
vivid description of life in a Spanish pro-
ther Enrique, nephew of Don Ascisclo, a
vincial town, just before the Carlist war.
man of great wisdom and elevation of
thought; and last of all, the hero, Don
Doña Perfecta Rey de Polentinos is a
Jaime Pimental. Around this group the
wealthy widow, just in all her dealings,
kind and charitable, but a perfect type
movement of the story takes place. The
of the narrow-minded and even cruel
dominant motives spring from avarice and
ambition; and the action is complicated
spirit of old Spain. The Spanish hate
the national government, but have a pecul-
by religious animosities. (Doña Luz) was
iar local patriotism, which in this case
published in Madrid in 1891, and its Eng-
turns an apparently kind and honorable
lish translation by Mrs. Serrano came out
in 1894.
woman against her own nephew, because
he dislikes the customs of her beloved Child of the Ball, The, by Pedro Ana
town.
tonio de Alarcón. The scene of this
This nephew, Don José Rey, handsome, powerful and tragic novel is Andalusia.
generous, and rich, is the hero of the story, Don Rodrigo Venegas mortgages his ha-
whose incidents are the outgrowth of old cienda to Don Elias Perez, and his whole
prejudice - religious and political.
estate is eaten up by usury. When Pe-
The author endeavors to show that the rez's house burns, no one tries to save
offenses of Doña Perfecta are the result it; and he proclaims that it is the work
of her position and surroundings rather of an incendiary trying to destroy all
than inherent in her character. In this evidence of his debt. Rodrigo rushes
book he begins to exploit the modern into the flames and saves the papers, dy-
Spain and its clashing interests. He ing as he delivers them. Rodrigo's estate
brings the new and the old face to face," is put up at auction, and bid in by Perez


## p. 222 (#258) ############################################

2 2 2
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
for one million reals less than his claims. blood, which has declared itself both in
Rodrigo leaves a young son, Manuel, who the personal appearance and the power
is adopted by the curate, Don Trinidad. of acquisition of Felipe, and which ex-
For three years after, Manuel speaks not cites a feeling of loathing in Salustio.
a word; till one day, standing before the He cannot understand why Carmen
image of the infant Christ with a ball should marry Felipe, but overhears her
in its hand (called the “Child of the secret when she is telling it to Father
Ball»), he says: “Child Jesus, why don't Moreno: she marries to escape sanction-
you speak, either ? »
Meeting Perez's ing by her presence in the house a scan-
daughter Soledad when a young man, dalous flirtation of her father. After the
he falls in love with her. He fights this marriage, Felipe, to save expenses, takes
passion; living for months at a time on Salustio into his house; and the results
the mountains, and with no weapon but are very unfortunate.
his hands, battling with the wild beasts.
To bring him back to civilization, Don Nabob, The, by Alphonse Daudet. This
Trinidad tells him that Soledad recipro-
romance is one of the most highly
finished of the author's works. Jansou-
cates his love. At the feast day of the
<< Child of the Ball,” it is customary to bid
let, the Nabob, has emigrated to Tunis
with but half a louis in his pocket.
for the privilege of dancing with any
He
returns with much more than twenty-
lady; the money going to the cult of the
five millions; and becomes at once the
Child. Manuel bids for a dance with
Soledad; but her father outbids him, and
prey of a horde of penniless adventurers,
whose greed even his extravagant gener-
he is obliged to desist. Perez accuses
him of his debt of one million reals; and
osity cannot satisfy. His dining-room in
the Place Vendôme is the rendezvous of
Manuel, to pay it, determines to leave
projectors and schemers from every part
Spain. He promises to return on the an-
of the world, and resembles the Tower
niversary of this day and claim Soledad;
of Babel. Dr. Jenkins, the inventor of
and woe to him who in the mean time
an infallible pill, persuades him to en-
dares to come between them. Eight
dow his famous Asile de Bethléem, hint-
years after, he returns and finds Soledad
ing to him that the Cross of the Legion
married to Antonio Arregui. All efforts
of Honor will reward his benevolence;
of Don Trinidad to dissuade him from
but it is the doctor, and not the poor
killing Arregui are in vain; but he is left
Nabob, who is decorated.
alone with the “Child of the Ball," and
Montpavon,
an old beau, saves a bank, in which he
finally decorates it with the jewels he
had brought for his bride, and lays at its
is a partner, from insolvency with the
money of
the multi-millionaire; the
feet the dagger he had concealed. The
next morning he leaves, but is overtaken
journalist Moessard receives a liberal do-
nation for a eulogistic newspaper arti-
by a letter from Soledad. He returns,
cle: in short, Jansoulet becomes the easy
bids a sum which Arregui cannot equal,
and Soledad Alies to his arms. Arregui
dupe of all who approach him.
(The
Nabob) is a romance of manners and
takes the dagger from the feet of the
image and stabs Manuel, and the lovers
observation; and it blends successfully
fall to the ground dead. The story is told
many of the qualities of both the natur-
alist and the romantic schools. It exhib-
with dramatic force; and tender, idyllic
its a singular faculty for seizing on the
passages lighten its tragic gloom.
picturesque side of things, and a won-
derful gift of expression. Although sev-
Christian Woman, A, by Emilia Pardo-
eral models among the French commer-
In this interesting novel,
cial classes must have sat for Jansoulet,
the author presents a very realistic pict-
most of the other characters are prom-
ure of modern Spanish life, into which
inent figures in Parisian life, very thinly
are introduced many current social and
veiled.
political questions.
The story is an auto-
biography of Salustio Unceta, a student
King
ing of the Mountains, The ("Le
in the School of Engineers in Madrid, Roi des Montagnes'), by Edmond
and a liberal in politics and religion. About, appeared in 1856, when he was
His tuition is paid by his uncle Felipe, twenty-eight. The scene is laid in and
who invites Salustio to be present at his near contemporary Athens. The story is
marriage to Carmen Aldoa. There is in an animated and delightfully humorous
the Unceta family a trace of Hebrew account of the adventures befalling two


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
223
a
a
English ladies and
young German
everything. He dazzles and fascinates the
scientist, who are captured and held for women by his expressive looks and serene
ransom by the redoubtable Hadgi-Stavros, self-confidence; and being treated as a
king of the brigands. Mrs. Simons is genius, he naturally believes himself one.
an amusing caricature of British arro- He speaks of his immense labors; but
gance. “I am an Englishwoman,” is her all his literary baggage consists of news-
constant refrain; and she cannot compre- paper and magazine articles which he
hend how any one dare interfere with intends to write. He is soon found out,
the rights of herself and her daughter however; and from Daria's salon passes
Mary Ann. The Simons family is rich. into that of an affected old lady, a blue-
Hermann Schultze, the young German, is stocking also, who takes him even more
attracted by pretty Mary Ann, and with seriously than Daria did at first. She
the thrift of his nation, wants to make believes she can understand Hegel's met-
his fortune by marrying her. He tries aphysics when he explains them; so she
to ingratiate himself by proposing plans lodges and boards him, lends him money,
of escape which Mrs. Simons rejects. and insists that all her visitors shall ac-
Hadgi-Stavros dictates his private cor- knowledge his superiority. Unfortunately,
respondence in the presence of his cap- her daughter, a proud beauty, hears so
tives. Thus Schultze learns that the much of this superiority that she be-
king has a large sum of money in a lieves in it, becomes smitten with the
London banking house to which Mrs. great man, and wishes to marry him.
Simons's brother belongs. She writes to This is too much for the old lady, and
have the amount of her ransom paid; Dmitri is shown the door. He is at last
and the king is persuaded to give a re- forced to quit Russia, and dies defend-
ceipt by which he can be tricked out of ing a barricade at Paris. In the character
the amount. Mother and daughter are of Dmitri, Turgeneff satirizes a class com-
released. Schultze tries to escape, but mon enough in every country as well as
fails, and is severely punished. He at- Russia, especially among the young, -
tacks the king, and nearly succeeds in the class of people who niistake words,
poisoning him. A friend in Athens, in which they abound, for ideas, in which
John Harris, a typical American full of they are lacking. And yet, such is Tur-
resources, rescues Hermann. The king | geneff's fine and delicate skill in the an-
is devoted to his one child Photini, a alysis of feeling that he interests us in
schoolgirl in Athens. Harris persuades this poor boaster; he excites our pity for
Photini aboard his barge, keeps her him, - and it is a singular fact that the
prisoner, and threatens to treat her as lower Dmitri falls, the more interesting
Schultze is treated. Thereupon Schultze he becomes. He is a mixture of pride
is released. He afterward narrates the and weakness; and his good faith and
whole story to a friend, between whiffs harmlessness somewhat palliate his faults.
of his long porcelain pipe. This story is
one of the most brilliant and delightful On the Eve, by Ivan Turgeneff
.
In
of About's telling.
this tale which is devoid of plot,
but full of Turgeneff's charm of style
Dmit
mitri Rudin, a story by Turgeneff. and delicate character-drawing, he seeks
This great novel was first published to show the contrast between the dilet-
in 1860. The action passes in the country, tante trifling or learned pedantry of
some distance from Moscow, at the coun- young Russia, and the intense vitality of
try-seat of Daria Mikhailovna, a great conviction in the youth of other nations.
lady who protects literature and art and He first introduces two young Russians,
is determined to have a salon, She has André Bersieneff, a doctor of philosophy
one in embryo already, made up of an old from the Moscow University, and Paul
French governess, a young Circassian secre- Shubin, a gay and pleasure-loving artist,
tary, and a Cossack. The advent of Dmi- who has been modeling the bust of a
tri, a vainglorious creature who thinks beautiful girl, Elena Strashof, whose
himself a great man, completes it. He charms he dwells upon. She is the
has retained a few scraps from the books daughter of a dissipated noble; and her
he has read, some ideas borrowed from mother, a faded society belle, has left
the German transcendentalists, and her to the care of a sentimental govern-
number of keen aphorisms; and so he im-
The ardent girl, filled with high
agines he is able to pull down and set up aspirations, rebels at the prosaic routine
a
ess.


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224
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
sexes.
of her life, and longs for intercourse
with nobler natures. Both the young
men are in love with her, but she de-
spises Shubin as a trifler; and just as
she is beginning to be interested in the
young philosopher Bersieneff, the real
hero appears on the scene. This is
Dmetri Insarof, a young Bulgarian pa-
triot, whose life is devoted to freeing
his country from the yoke of Turkey.
His mother has fallen a victim to the
brutality of a Turkish aga, while his
father was shot in trying to avenge her;
and he is now looked upon by his com-
patriots as their destined leader in the
approaching revolt. His tragic story
and his high aims appeal to Elena's
idealism; but Insarof, finding that «on
the eve of the great conflict, he is
distracted from his mission by love for
Elena, has resolved to leave her forever
without a farewell. She, however, seeks
him out, and avows her devotion to
him, and her willingness to abandon
home and country for his sake. In his
struggle between his passion for her and
his dread of involving her in perils and
hardships, he falls dangerously ill. His
comrade and former rival Bersieneff
nurses him with disinterested friendship
until he is partially restored to health,
when he and Elena are married se-
cretly, owing to the opposition of her
family to the foreign adventurer. They
start together for Bulgaria to take part
in the struggle for his fatherland, but
have only reached Venice when Insarof
dies in his young wife's arms. Elena,
in a heart-broken letter, bids her par-
ents a last farewell before joining the
Sisters of Mercy in the Bulgarian army,
as she has now no country but his.
Thus ends the life story of the noblest
and most ideal pair of lovers the great
Russian novelist has ever drawn.
peasant to the nobleman. She is, in-
deed, the pivot on which the narrative
turns; is both hero and heroine, as she
partakes of the subtler qualities of both
The second though unacknowl-
edged hero is Maurice Jókai himself; his
story being generally, if not circumstan-
tially, autobiographical. In his youth he
had loved Bessy. She rejects his love,
but ever afterwards cherishes the mem-
ory of it as the one noble ideal in her
wayward life.
Even this may be a
form of perversity. Jókai leaves her to
console himself with the pursuit of liter-
Later he takes a patriot's
part in the Hungarian revolution of
1848. In the thick of it he marries an
actress, who is most devoted and faith-
ful to him. From time to time, Bessy
seeks his rather unwilling advice and
protection in her love affairs. From the
lady with eyes like the sea” he can-
not escape.
Its strong local color makes
the book a faithful picture of Hunga-
rian social life, while throughout it is
tremendously stimulating, fresh and bois-
terous as a wind from the Carpathian
Mountains.
ary fame.
Elizabeth; or, The Exiles of Siberia,
by Sophie Cottin, is regarded in
the English-speaking world as her best
work; though in France her Mathilde,)
founded on incidents in the life of Rich-
ard Cour-de-Lion's sister, is more highly
esteemed. The picturesque story of Eliz-
abeth was founded on fact; its theme
the successful attempt of a Polish maiden
of high birth to obtain the pardon of her
exiled parents from the Emperor Alex-
ander, at his coronation in 1801 — is so
exalted that one cannot help wishing it
had been told with more simplicity and
fewer comments, giving Xavier de Maistre
less excuse for retelling a story already
read and loved throughout Europe. Un-
like Madame Cottin, who gave Elizabeth
the moral support of a lover, De Maistre
introduced no fictitious love-making into
his version; convinced that nothing was
needed to heighten the interest created
by her daring resolve and unmixed mo-
tives. Yet the presence of much old-
fashioned sentimentality, and the utter
absence of humor, do not prevent Ma-
dame Cottin's story from having dra-
matic passages. Even the love-making
is not without charm; and the dialogue is
well managed. The descriptions of nature
and of remote corners of Russia are done
Eyes Like the Sea, by the celebrated
Hungarian novelist Maurice Jókai,
was crowned by the Hungarian Acad-
emy as the best Magyar novel of the
year 1890. It takes high rank among
the author's one hundred and fifty works
of fiction. The peculiar title of the
book has reference to the eyes of the
heroine, Bessy, a girl of gentle parent-
age, yet of a perverse, adventurous dis-
position, which during the course of the
story leads her five times into matri-
mony; the five husbands representing
almost every class of society, from the


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
225
Tsar Novishny,' perhaps the prettiest and
most characteristic story of all.
with much fidelity not to mention Eliza-
beth's peasant costume: her short red
petticoat, reindeer trousers, squirrel-skin
boots, and fur bonnet. A less virile writer
than Madame de Staël, Madame Cottin
nevertheless helped to pave the way for
the romantic school in France; her best
work coming between (The Genius of
Christianity) and the Meditations. )
suer.
Cºs
'ossacks, The, by Tolstoy. This Rus-
sian romance is a series of pictur-
esque studies on the life of the Cossacks of
the Terek, rather than a romance. The
slight love story that runs through it sim-
ply serves as an excuse for the author's
graphic descriptions of strange scenes and
strange peoples. The hero, Olenin, is a
ruined young noble, who, to escape his
creditors and begin a new life, enters a
sotnia of Cossacks as ensign. One fine
night he leaves Moscow; and at the first
station on his way, he begins already to
dream of battles, glory, and of some di-
vinely beautiful but half-savage maiden,
whom he will tame and polish. His
arrival at the camp of his regiment on
the Terek gives occasion for a fascinating
and most realistic picture of the wild races
he meets so suddenly. The young ensign
falls in at once with his half-savage
maiden, a tall, statuesque girl, with red
lips, a rose-colored undergarment, and a
blue jacket, who looks back at him with
a frightened air as she runs after the buf-
falo she is trying to milk. As he is lodg-
ing with her parents, he sets about taming
her immediately. But he has a rival,
young Lukashka, whose threadbare kaf-
tan and bearskin shako had long before
captivated the fair Marianka. The love
affairs of the rivals, whom she treats im-
partially, although she has already made
up her inind, go on in the midst of hunt-
ing, ambuscade, and battle, which are the
real subjects of the book. At last Olenin
discovers that he is too civilized for Mari-
anka. "Ah! ” he says to himself, if I
were a Cossack like Lukashka, got drunk,
stole horses, assassinated now and then
for a little change, she would understand
me, and I should be happy. But the
cruelty and the sweetness of it is that I
understand her and she will never un-
derstand me. ) The young Cossack is
wounded in battle; and the ensign, not
displaying much emotion at this calamity,
receives a look from Marianka that tells
him his company is no longer desirable:
so he decides to exchange into another
sotnia. Tolstoy's pictures of the rough
life of the Cossacks have a wonderful
charm. The story is particularly inter-
esting as showing the first germs of the
altruistic philosophy which Count Tolstoy
has developed into a vigorous system of
self-renunciation, and almost a cult.
of folk-lore was selected, edited, and
translated from the Ruthenian by R. Nis-
bet Bain, and published in 1894. The
Ruthenian or Cossack language, though
proscribed by the Russian government,
is spoken by more than twenty million
people. There are in the original three
important collections of folk-tales, from
which Mr. Bain has made a representa-
tive selection for translation. There are,
Slavonic scholars maintain, certain ele-
ments in these stories found in the folk-
lore of no other European people. Among
these may be mentioned the magic hand-
kerchief, which causes a bridge across the
sea to appear before a fugitive, or a forest
to spring up in his rear delaying his pur-
There is the magic egg, which pro-
duces a herd of cattle when broken; and
the magic whip, which can expel evil
spirits. Many elements and episodes com-
mon to other mythologies are found, how-
There are, for example, Cossack
versions of Cinderella, and the woman
who took her pig to market. One tale of
a Tsar expelled by an angel is an almost
literal rendering of King Robert of Sicily,
with Cossack coloring. There is a Sam-
son-like hero, who reveals the secret of
his strength; and an episode of a man in
a fish's belly, which resembles Hiawatha
and the sturgeon rather than Jonah and
the whale.
The serpent figures prominently in these
stories; and is generally, though by no
means invariably, malign, and always
represents superior intellectual power.
The women are frequently treacherous,
especially when beguiled by the serpent;
but it is interesting to notice the number
of men who cannot keep a secret. The
lower animals are always friendly to man,
and frequently assist him in performing
difficult tasks. The whole tenor of the
stories is charmingly naif and inconse-
quent; among the vampires and magic
fires it is somewhat startling to encounter
guns and passports. The style is simple
and poetic, especially in "The Little
XXX--15
ever.


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226
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
Death of Ivan Ilyitch, The, and other the countess waits without, and Cralo
Stories, by Count Lyof N. Tolstoy, and his monks discuss what should be
contains a series of short stories which done, the ready-witted young Ekkehard
represent the latest phase in the evolu- suggests that some one carry the count-
tion of the author's peculiar views. With ess across the portal. He is deputed to
the exception of The Death of Ivan do so; and from the hour when he takes
Ilyitch,' a sombre and powerful study of her into his arms, the poet-monk loves
the insidious progress of fatal disease, and the Countess Hadwig. Later, when he
a vehicle of religious philosophy, these is sent to be her tutor, despite his self-
tales were written as tracts for the peo- restraint he reveals his love to her. He
ple, illustrated in many cases with quaint is as “the moth fluttering around a can-
wood-cuts; aiming to bring a word of dle. ” Fleeing love's temptations, Ekke-
cheer and comfort to the poorer classes hard goes far up into the mountains with
oppressed by Russian despotism. The his lyre, and amid the snow-capped peaks,
second story, If You Neglect the Fire, sings his master-song. This he tran-
You Don't Put It Out, describes a triv- scribes, and tying it to an arrow, he
ial neighborhood quarrel resulting in shoots it so that it falls at the count-
ruin. (Where Love Is, there God Is Also) ess's feet. It is his parting gift. He
is the study of a humble shoemaker who journeys into the world, his songs making
blames God for the death of his child, but a welcome for him everywhere; and in
reaches peace through the New Testament. her halls the countess keeps his memory
(A Candle) and (Two Old Men,' told in a to fill her lonely hours. In 1885 the story
few pages, point a wide moral. "Six had reached its eighty-sixth edition in
Texts for Wood-Cuts, the titles of which the original German, while innumerable
suggest the subject of each cut, follow. translations have been made into English.
Under the heading of Popular Legends) Though Scheffel gave the world other
are the subjects How the Little Devil volumes of prose and poetry, none is so
Earned a Crust of Bread; The Repent- well known, or considered so good.
ant Sinner); A Seed as Big as a Hen's
Egg); and Does a Man Need Much Hero of our Times, A, by Mikhail
Lermontof. The novel portrays the
Land ? )
vices of the modern Russian of rank,
fashion, and adventure, and his utter
Ekkehard, by Joseph Victor von Schef-
selfishness and want of principle and
fel, is a story told by one who be-
lieved in the union of poetry and fiction. ”
conscience. The story takes the form of
To him “the characters of the past arose
a series of tales, of which the libertine
from out the mist of years, and bade
Petchorin, and his unhappy victims,
him clothe them anew in living form to
mostly confiding women, are the sub-
please his own and succeeding genera-
jects. Lermontof was a great admirer
tions. ) The time is the tenth century,
of Byron; and the fascinating Petchorin,
the rascal of the stories, with his mys-
the century of King Canute's conquest
of England. The hero, Ekkehard, is a
terious attractiveness, strongly resembles
young Benedictine monk of the holy house
Don Juan. The publication of the story
of St. Gall, in Suabia, a house whose
excited much controversy; and was the
abbot is an old man named Cralo. The
cause of the duel in which the author
abbot is a distant cousin to Hadwig,
was killed in 1841. Many people claimed
countess of Suabia, whose deceased lord,
that Petchorin was a portrait; but the
Burkhard, had been a tyrannical old
author distinctly states that he is not the
nobleman who in his dotage wedded
portrait of any person, but personifies
the vices of the whole generation. The
Hadwig, a fair daughter of Bavaria, who
had entered into the alliance to please
author does not set himself up as
her father. At Burkhard's death the
reformer, his idea being simply to de-
emperor has declared that the countess
nounce evil.
shall hold her husband's fiefs so long as uunnar: A Tale of Norse Life,
she does not marry again. But the count- by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, 1874.
ess, - young, beautiful, rich, and idle, (Gunnar, the one romance of Boyesen,
- in a moment of recklessness decides is also the earliest of his works of fiction.
to visit the monastery of St. Gall, The scene of the story is a small parish
which has a rule that woman's foot must in Bergen Stift, where Gunnar Thorson
never step across its threshold; and while lives in the little hamlet Henjumhei
a
G


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
227
with his father, Thor Gunnarson, and
his grandmother, old Gunhild. Gunnar's
mother, Birgit, having died when he was
a baby, his father and grandmother bring
him up carefully; and the latter fills his
mind with stories of Huldre and Necken,
and other strange creations of Norse
mythology. As his father Thor is only a
houseman or rent-payer, a sharp distinc-
tion is drawn between him and the fami-
ilies of the neighboring gāardmen or land-
owners. One of the chief of these is Atle
Larsson, Thor's landlord and the leading
man in the parish. As Gunnar grows up,
he falls in love with the beautiful Ragn-
hild, «a birch in the pine forest, niece
of Atle, and daughter of his haughty
sister; Ingeborg Rimul. It is the love
affair of Gunnar and Ragnhild which
forms the texture of the story, - its trou-
bled course, the dangers encountered,
the loyalty and patience of the lovers.
(Gunnar) carries the reader into an un-
familiar world of romance and poetry,
where he comes in contact with the
minds of the simple Norwegian peas-
ants, with their beliefs in fairies and
other mystical beings. Many of their
customs are described: the games of St.
John's Eve, the ski
race, the wed-
ding festivities at Peer Berg's, and some
of the religious ceremonies, such as those
attending confirmation.
fense of the Camp of Refuge at Ely,
and the successes attending the arms of
the little band of patriots in that fen
country; the sacking of Peterborough
by the Danes; the last stand made by
Hereward in the forest, are all graph-
ically described. Mr. Kingsley is liberal
sometimes in his allowance of redeeming
faults to his virtuous characters; yet,
in the fall of Hereward, he forcibly im-
presses the lesson that loss of self-respect
is fatal to noble effort.
There are fine passages in the book ;
and the mourning of the stricken Tor-
frida and the true-hearted Martin Light-
foot
the defeated Hereward is
full of pathos. The genial abbot of
Peterborough, Uncle Brand, and Earl
Leofric, are agreeably sketched. Ivo
Taillebois is true to life, or rather to
the chronicles and ballads; and William
himself is well drawn. The novel is a
book for Englishmen, and helps to popu-
larize their heroic traditions; but it is
of interest to all those who cherish the
ideals of manliness and heroism. The
story was first published in Good Words
in 1866.
over
House of the Wolfings, The, by Will-
Hereward the Wake, by the Rev.
Charles Kingsley. Mr. Kingsley
was Regius Professor of Modern History
in the University of Cambridge, on the
very site of his story. The author's
propaganda of the religion of rugged
strength also made him quite at home
in his theme.
The story, which is largely based on
the old ballads and chronicles, opens
near the end of the reign of Edward
the Confessor, when Hereward is made
a «wake ) or outlaw; and the tales of
his wanderings, his freaks, and feats of
arms, in the North, in Cornwall, in Ire-
land, and Flanders, have their founda-
tion in the old English records. The
author tells in dramatic style how the
hero returns from Flanders, and begins
his daring resistance to the Normans;
running the gauntlet of William's most
skillful generals, and at last meeting
and defeating the forces of the great
master. Hereward's strategy and daring
elicits the admiration of the stern Con-
queror himself. The story of the de-
iam Morris. «The tale tells that in
times long past, there was a dwelling of
men beside a great wood. ” Thus does
the first sentence of the book take us
into the atmosphere - half real, half
mystical, and wholly poetic — which per-
vades the entire story. These “men
belonged to one of the Germanic tribes
of Central Europe. Round about this
«great wood ” were three settlements or
«Marks,) each mark containing many
Houses; and it is with the House of
the Wolfings of Mid-mark that the tale
chiefly deals.
The chief of the Wolfings was Thio-
dolf, the wisest man, and of heart most
dauntless. Hall-Sun, his daughter, ex-
ceeding fair and with the gift of proph-
ecy, was first among the women.
The leading theme of the story is the
war between the Romans and the Mark-
men; how it fared with Thiodolf, and
how the Hall-Sun advises the Stay-at-
Homes by means of her wonderful in-
sight. Thiodolf is chosen War-Duke. He
meets the Wood-Sun, his beloved, a
woman descended from the gods. She
gives him a hauberk to wear in battle;
but owing to a charm that caused whoso
wore this armor to weaken in war, Thio-


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228
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
dolf does not acquit himself bravely in
their first skirmishes with the foe. The
Markmen become somewhat disheartened,
and the Romans advance even to the Hall
of the Wolfings. Then Thiodolf is led
by the Hall-Sun, who personifies courage
and duty, to the throne of the Wood-
Sun, who confesses that, fearing his
death and the end of their love on earth,
she had fastened the hauberk upon him.
Thereupon Thiodolf casts it away, and
subordinating love to duty, he goes forth
to meet a hero's death on the morrow's
battle-field. The sight of the War-Duke,
in his old strength and cheer, incites the
“stark men and doughty warriors » to
the complete undoing of the Romans.
The day is given up to the chanting of
dirges for the dead; and the night wears
away in feasting. All the kindred hal-
low with song the return of the warriors
« with victory in their hands. ” And
thereafter the Wolfings «throve in field
and fold. )
This fascinating story is pervaded with
the charm of a primitive people, who
live a picturesque life both in agriculture
and on the battle-field.
orders a reprieve, in quick succession.
Then, going in person to the prison, she
asks Chastelard to return the reprieve.
He has already destroyed it; and after
one short, happy hour with her, he goes
bravely to his death.
From an upper
window in the palace, Mary Beaton watches
the execution, and curses the Queen just
as Mary enters — with Both well.
In "Chastelard? Swinburne has por-
trayed a fickle, heartless, vain, and beau-
tiful queen; and in the few touches
given to a character of secondary im-
portance, has delicately and distinctly
drawn Mary Beaton.