The
American
peo-
to Diderot's Système de la Nature.
to Diderot's Système de la Nature.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v30 - Guide to Systematic Readings
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-
## p. 479 (#515) ############################################
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,
## p. 481 (#517) ############################################
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
an
## p. 482 (#518) ############################################
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
But
## p. 483 (#519) ############################################
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
son
## p. 484 (#520) ############################################
484
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.
now given to the world for the first time, Tom Burke, the son of an Irish gentle-
together with many poems not before man, being orphaned runs away from
printed. Appended the second vol-
home to escape the persecutions of his
ume are a number of personal recollec- father's attorney. He falls in with
tions of the poet, by men distinguished Darby the « Blast,” shrewd, odd
as statesmen and men of letters.
The character, who is prominent among the
whole forms a unique portrait of one United Irishmen. They reach Dublin,
who was in many respects a complete where Tom meets Charles de Meudon, a
type of a nineteenth-century gentleman, young French officer, who gives him a
- a figure whose greatness will increase letter to the Chef of the Polytechnique
rather than diminish through the long at Paris, where he is to become un
perspectives of time.
élève. On graduating from the military
academy, Tom becomes an officer in the
Two Men, Elizabeth Stoddard's second Eighth Hussars; but from an accidental
novel, was published in 1865. As in acquaintance with the Marquis de Beau-
her two other stories, the scene is laid vis, a Bourbonist, he unconsciously be-
in a New England seaport town; the comes involved in a political intrigue,
characters being the members of one and his actions are closely watched by
family, all of them of strongly marked the police. In aiding De Beauvis to
individuality. The head of the house escape, Tom is himself arrested and im-
is Sarah Auster; whose husband Jason, prisoned for treason. Through the inter-
once a ship-carpenter, is overshadowed vention of General D'Auvergne and
by her aggressive nature, and by the Mademoiselle Marie de Meudon, the sis-
great wealth which is hers from her ter of Charles, with whom he has fallen
grandfather, and which she hopes will in love, Burke is se free. Troops are
descend undivided to her son Parke, - ordered to the front, and Napoleon
a beautiful, sweet-natured boy, untainted invades Germany and Austria. After
by his mother's strange perverse disposi- meritorious service at Austerlitz, Tom
tion. There is another heir, however, Burke, whom General D'Auvergne has
- her cousin Osmond Luce, a seaman. made aid-de-camp, is promoted to
After a long absence he suddenly ap- captaincy and takes part in the battle
pears with his little daughter Philippa. of Jena. But, disgusted at having con-
He resigns his rights in his child's favor, stant watch over his actions, he throws
and goes to sea again. Sarah takes un- up his commission and quits the service.
willing charge of Philippa, who grows On reaching Dublin Tom is arrested on
into strange, silent girl. She loves her old scores; but is ac tted through the
cousin Parke with a grave, intense love, testimony of Darby, and comes into his
but he knows nothing of it. He is at- inheritance, an estate of four thousand
tracted only by brilliant colors of char- pounds a year. For several years Burke
acter,
beauty of form. He leads a lonely life: but finally returns to
entertains a wayward love for a beauti- France and again enlists, also aiding
ful girl, Charlotte Lang, in whose veins the Napoleonic cause with money. On
is negro blood.
The shadow of their re- the field of Montmirail, Burke is re-
lation crosses at last the threshold of ported to the Emperor, and for
Parke's home. His mother dies of her attack on the Austrian rear-guard at
grief. Charlotte dies at the birth of her Melun he is made colonel. After his
child. Then Parke sails away from the ga ant conduct at the Bridge of Mon-
scene of his tragedy, leaving Philippa tereau, where he leads the assault, Burke
a
or
by
an
## p. 485 (#521) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
485
cross
a
is given the Emperor's own
of that control society, and for that patient
the Legion. Napoleon's doom is sealed, development of character and destiny that
and he is exiled. Tom, refusing to inferior novelists slight or ignore. The
serve under the Bourbons, though offered chief scene is the Poyser farm in the
the grade of general, throws aside all Midlands, a delightful place of shining
thought of military ambition, marries kitchens, sweet-smelling dairy-houses, cool
Marie de Meudon, and retires to private green porches, wide barns, and spreading
life.
woods. Here Mrs. Poyser, a kind-hearted
woman, with an incorrigibly sharp tongue,
Proverbial Philosophy, by Martin
has taken her husband's niece, Hester
Farquhar Tupper. Tupper's Pro-
verbial Philosophy) is a book of essays,
Sorrel, - an ambitious, vain, empty-headed
ìittle beauty,- to bring up. Adam Bede,
or poems in blaak verse, dealing with
almost every emotion and condition of
the village carpenter, an admirable young
fellow, is her slave.
life. The author begins thus: “Few and
A skeleton of the plot would convey no
precious are the words which the lips of
wisdom utter;" and he proceeds to com-
impression of the strength and charm of
pile a work filling 415 pages.
the story. It seems to have been, in the
The poems or meditations were pub-
author's mind, a recognition of the hero-
lished between 1838 and 1867; and are
ism of commonplace natures in common-
in two series, dealing with over sixty
place surroundings, of the nobility of noble
character wherever found. But Adam
subjects. The book contains many wise
sayings, but it is mostly padded common-
Bede. intelligent, excellent, satisfactory
place. For many years it was in great
though he is, is quite subordinated in
demand, but lately it has been subjected
interest to the figure of poor Hetty, made
to ridicule.
tragic through suffering and injustice.
Her beauty, her vanity, her very silli-
ness, endear her.
Dinah Morris, the wo-
Pilot and His Wife, The, by Jonas Lie.
This story is of Norwegian sim-
man preacher, is a study from life, serene
plicity. The scene is laid partly in Nor-
and lovely. Mr. Irwine, the easy-going
way, partly in South America where the old parson, is a typical English clergyman
hero goes on his voyages. Salve Kris-
of the early nineteenth century; Bartle
tiansen loves Elizabeth Rakley, whom
Massey, the schoolmaster, is one of those
he has known from her childhood, which
humble folk, full of character, foibles,
was spent in a lighthouse on a lonely
absurdities, and homely wisdom, whom
island, with her grandfather. Salve is George Eliot draws with loving touches;
a sailor, later on a pilot. He hears that
while Mrs. Poyser, with her epigrammatic
Elizabeth is engaged to a naval officer
shrewdness, her untiring energy, her fine
named Beck, and in a rage goes on a
pride of respectability, her acerbity of
long voyage.
Later he finds the report
speech, and her charity of heart, belongs
false; she confesses her love for him, and
to the company of the Immortals.
they are married.
He is of a jealous,
suspicious nature, and fierce in temper
. Trilby, by George Du Maurier, is a
She is often unhappy, but at last she
story of English and Continental
sees that it is useless to submit passively;
art life and literary life of a generation
that there can be no happiness without ago, narrated by one who participated
mutual trust: so she reclaims and shows
in the scenes and recalls them in mem-
him the letter in which she refused to
ory. The action is chiefly in Paris.
marry Beck because my heart is anoth- Trilby is a handsome girl whose father
er's. ) Convinced at last of her loyalty,
a bohemian Irish gentleman and
Kristiansen after a struggle conquers his
her mother a Scotch barmaid. Trilby
is laundress and artist's model in the
jealousy, and life is happy at last.
Latin Quarter. She is great friends
Ad dam Bede, the earliest of George Eliot's with three artists who are chums: Taffy,
novels, was published in 1859, as “by a big Yorkshire Englishman; the Laird,
the author of (Scenes of Clerical Life. ) » a Scotchman; and Little Billee, an Eng-
The story was at once pronounced by the lish fellow who has genius as a painter,
critics to be not more remarkable for its and whose drawing of Trilby's beautiful
grace, its unaffected Saxon style, and its foot is a chef d'auvre. He loves her,
charm of naturalness, than for its percep- and she returns the feeling, but Little
tion of those universal springs of action Billee's very respectable family oppose
was
## p. 486 (#522) ############################################
486
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
the match, and Trilby, after saying yes, Burchell, who turns out to be Sir Will-
decides it to be her duty to refuse, iam Thornhill, the uncle of the young
which drives her lover into a brain Squire. Sir William asks for Sophia's
fever. Amongst the bohemians who fre- band, and sets right the family misfor-
quent the studio is Svengali, an Austrian tunes. Numerous pathetic and humorous
Jew, who is of repulsive character but incidents arise out of the story. Among
a gifted musician, He is attracted by the latter is that of the family picture,
Trilby, and discovers that she has the which, when finished, was too large for
making of a splendid singer. He half the house. Mrs. Primrose was painted
repels, half fascinates her; and by the as Venus, the Vicar in bands and gown,
use of hypnotic power forces her to go presenting to her his books on the Whis-
away with him.
She wins fame as a tonian controversy; Olivia was an Ama-
concert artist, always singing in a sort zon sitting upon bank of flowers,
of hypnotic trance under his influence. dressed in a green joseph, richly laced
The three artists, visiting Paris after a with gold, and a whip in her hand;
five years' absence, attend one of these Sophia, a shepherdess; Moses, dressed
performances, and are astounded to rec- out with a hat and white feather); while
ognize Trilby. Svengali, now rich and the Squire insisted on being put in as
prosperous, dies suddenly at a concert one of the family in the character of
while Trilby is singing; and she, missing Alexander the Great, at Olivia's feet. ”
his hypnotic influence, loses her power Austin Dobson says that the Vicar of
to sing, goes into a decline, and dies, Wakefield) (remains and will continue
surrounded by her old friends. Little to be one of the first of our English
Billee, heart-broken, also dies, though classics.
not before he has won reputation as an
artist.
The final pages form a sort of Speed The Plongh, by Thomas Mor-
postscript twenty years after, telling of
.
first
the fate of the subsidiary characters. duced in 1796, we owe one of our best-
The main interest is over with Trilby's known characters, the redoubtable Mrs.
death.
Grundy. Here as elsewhere she is in-
visible; and it is what she may say,
Wakefield, The, Oliver not what she does say, that Dame
Goldsmith's famous story, was pub- Ashfield fears. Farmer Ashfield has
lished in 1766. Washington Irving said brought up from infancy a young man
of it: «The irresistible charm this novel named Henry, whose parentage is un-
possesses, evinces how much may be known. Sir Philip Blandford, Ashfield's
done without the aid of extravagant in- landlord, is about to return after many
cident to excite the imagination and in- years' absence, to marry his daughter
terest the feelings. Few productions of Emma to Bob Handy, who can do
the kind afford greater amusement in everything but earn his bread. »
Sir
the perusal, and still fewer inculcate Abel, Bob's father, is to pay all Bland-
more impressive lessons of morality. ” ford's debts. In a plowing-match, Henry
The character of the Vicar, Dr. Prim- wins the prize, and Emma bestows the
rose, gives the chief interest to the tale. medal. It is a case of love at first sight.
His weaknesses and literary vanity are Sir Philip hates Henry, and orders Ash-
attractive; and he rises to heights almost field to turn him from his doors, but
sublime when misfortune overtakes his he refuses. Sir Philip is about to force
family. The other actors in the simple Ashfield to discharge a debt, when a
drama Mrs. Primrose, with her
named Morrington gives Henry
boasted domestic qualities and her anx- the note of Sir Philip for more than
iety to appear genteel; the two daugh- the amount. Henry destroys it, when
ters, Olivia and Sophia; and the two Sir Philip declares that Morrington,
sons, George, bred at Oxford, and whom he has never seen, has by en-
Moses, who «received a sort of miscel- couraging Sir Philip's vices when young,
laneous education at home,» — all of possessed himself of enough notes to
whom the Vicar says were equally gener- more than exhaust Sir Philip's fortune.
ous, credulous, simple, and inoffensive. » Sir Philip confides his secret to Bob.
Squire Thornhill resides near the family, He was to marry a young girl, when
and elopes with Olivia, to the great dis- he found her about elope with his
tress of the Vicar. He suspects Mr. brother Charles. He killed Charles, and
Vicar of
are
man
## p. 487 (#523) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
487
common
seaman,
hid the knife and a bloody cloth in often brutalities, which accompany a sea-
a part of the castle which he has never man's life. Mr. Dana sets forth from
visited since. Sir Abel, in experiment- his own personal experience the thoughts,
ing with a substitute for gun-powder, feelings, enjoyments, and sufferings, as
sets the castle on fire. Henry saves well as the real life and character, of the
Emma from the flames; and breaking
In reading it one
into the secret room, brings forth the finds more than the ordinary record of
knife and cloth. Morrington appears, a sea voyage; for there runs through the
and proves to be Sir Philip's brother simple and lucid narrative an element
and Henry's father. To atone for the of beauty and power which gives it the
wrong done his brother, he had gath- charm of romance. The book was im-
ered all the notes which his brother mediately successful, passed through
had given to usurers, and now gives many editions, was adopted by the Brit-
them to him. Bob marries Susan, Ash- ish Board of Admiralty for distribution
field's daughter, whom he was about to to the navy, and was translated into
desert for Emma; and the latter is mar- many Continental languages. In 1869
ried to Henry
the author added a supplementary chap-
ter giving an account of a second visit
Two Years Before the Mast, by Rich- to California, and the subsequent his-
ard Henry Dana. This personal tory of many of the persons and vessels
narrative of a sailor's life is probably mentioned in the original work. Will-
the most truthful and accurate work of iam Cullen Bryant, who procured the
its character ever written. Although first publication of the book, recom-
originally published in 1840, the produc- mended it to the publishers as “equal
tion of a youth just out of college, it to Robinson Crusoe )); and the event has
still holds its charm and its popularity ustified his forecast, with the additional
in the face of all rivals and successors. merit that the story is absolutely real
The author, upon graduating from Har- and truthful.
vard College in the year 1837, at the
age of twenty-two, was forced to sus-
Till Eulenspiegel. The origin of this
pend his studies on account of an affec- book of the adventures of Till Eulen-
tion of his eyes. Having a strong pas- spiegel is doubtful. It is supposed that
sion for the sea, he shipped before the these stories were collected and first pub-
mast » upon the brig Pilgrim for a voy- lished in Low Dutch, in the year 1483.
age around Cape Horn on a trading trip The hero of them, whose first name was
for hides to California. After rounding Till or Thyl, was a traveling buffoon,
the Horn the Pilgrim touched at Juan who, besides presenting farces and the
Fernandez; the next land sighted being like, was a practical joker. The name of
California, then inhabited only by In- Eulenspiegel probably comes from a pict-
dians and a few Spaniards. She visited ure or coat of arms which he left after
Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, perpetrating a joke, which consisted of
and finally San Diego, the depot of the an owl (Eule) and a mirror (Spiegel),
business. Here Dana remained sev- and which is to-day shown, on what is
eral months ashore, handling and curing said to be his gravestone, in Lüneburg.
hides. He did not return home in the The motive of many of the jokes is the
Pilgrim, but upon the arrival of the ship literal interpretation by Till of what he
Alert, consigned by the same owners, is told to do; something after the style
he procured an exchange to her. The of Handy Andy, except that Till's mis.
voyage home in this vessel is graphic- interpretations are not the result of sim-
ally described. While aboard of her plicity. Many of them are very filthy,
Dana touched at San Francisco, where, while others would to-day be considered
except the Presidio, there then existed
crimes and not jokes. It is difficult to
one wooden shanty only. This was af- understand how this book could have had
terwards rebuilt as a one-story adobe a popularity which has caused it to be
house; and long remained as the oldest translated into many languages. It is
building in the now great city.
to-day only appreciated as a curious pict-
The book contains a straightforward ure of the tastes and customs of its time.
and manly account of the life of a fore- It differs from like books of southern
mast hand at that date; and it gives in Europe in that none of the stories are
detail the adventures, hardships, and too founded on amorous intrigues.
## p. 488 (#524) ############################################
488
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
not
to
Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist, servant Kory-Kory, petted by a score of
by Henry Cockton. This novel has beauteous dusky damsels, and especially
enjoyed popularity since the time of its adored by the incomparable Fayaway.
publication. Its hero, Valentine Vox, a But discontent lurked in his bosom;
young English gentleman living at home and at length, to the sorrow and even
with his mother, a rich widow, is struck against the will of his hosts,- poor Fay-
with admiration of the ventriloquism of away was quite inconsolable, - he con-
an itinerant juggler and magician who trived to make his escape on a Sydney
visits his native place. To his delight, whaler which was short of men.
he finds that he himself possesses the (Omoo) (The Rover) continues our au-
ventriloquial power; and by a diligent thor's adventures, changing the scene to
course of training he perfects himself in Tahiti, whither the steamer Julia pro-
it. On a trip to London Valentine ceeded. While in Papeetee harbor Mel-
visits the House of Commons, the opera, ville and a new friend, Dr. Long
Gravesend, the British Museum, Guild- Ghost,” joined some malcontents among
hall, a masquerade at Vauxhall, the the crew, who had a grievance against
«200, the Ascot races, etc. ; and wher- the captain, and were put ashore. Wil-
ever he goes he indulges his propensity son, the high-handed English consul, or-
for practical joking to the fullest extent dered them into the calaboza,” where,
One adventure follows another with with not too much to eat, they stayed
breathless rapidity. With the whole is several weeks under the benevolent cus-
inwoven a love story, not of a very pro- tody of Captain Bob, an old native.
found nature. There is no plot; and the They were finally helped away to Imeeo,
incidents are a harum-scarum collection a neighboring island, by two planters
of disjointed happenings, while the book who wished to engage them as farm
has little literary merit. But the rois- hands. Digging in the ground with
tering and uproarious fun that fills the primitive hoes proved
their
thick volume makes it a welcome com- tastes, however; and they soon departed
panion to most young people «from six- for Taloo, where they were hospitably
teen to sixty. ”
treated by «Deacon Jeremiah Po-Po, a
native convert. They attended church,
and Omoo, by Herman Melville. participated in a feast, visited a royal
The first-named work, (Typee,' a fa- palace under care of a pretty little maid
mous book, the forerunner of all South- of honor, caught a glimpse of Queen
Sea romances, the most charming of all, Pomaree, and otherwise enjoyed them-
and the source of many new words in selves, until, a Vineyard whaler appear-
our vocabulary, like taboo, is a narrative ing, Melville bade farewell to Dr. Long
of the author's enforced sojourn, in the Ghost,” and sailed away. In these two
summer of 1842, among the cannibal books the author has succeeded in his
Typees on one of the Marquesas Islands. stated purpose of conveying some idea
It appeared simultaneously in New York of novel scenes that frequently occur
and London, and won everywhere the among whaling crews in the South Pa-
highest praise. With Toby, another cific, and in giving a familiar account
young sailor, Melville deserted from the of the condition of the converted Poly-
steamship Dolly, in Nukaheva Bay, in- nesians.
tending to seek asylum with the friendly
Happars; but they missed their way and ves and Daughters, by Mrs. Gas-
arrived in Typee Valley. They were
kell. (1865. ) This is a delightful
well received there, however, were given story of country life in England. It
abundant food (eaten under some appre- follows Molly Gibson through all the
hensions that they were being fattened), various experiences of her girlhood, be-
and except that their attempts to depart ginning with her life as a child alone
were frowned on, they had no cause to with her father, the doctor, in the vil-
complain. After about a month Toby lage; describing her visits and friend-
became separated from his comrade, ships in the neighborhood, and finally,
and was taken off the island in a pass- after her father has married again, her
ing ship. For four months Melville new life with the second Mrs. Gibson
lived an indolent, luxurious life in a sort and her daughter Cynthia. The charac-
of terrestrial paradise, with nothing to ters are unusually interesting and well
do, plenty to eat, waited on by a body drawn, with humor and sympathetic
Typee
Wives
## p. 489 (#525) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
489
derstanding. There is the old Squire of
the town, with his two sons: Osborne,
the pride of his heart, who has married
secretly beneath his social standing in
life; and Roger, a fine, sturdy fellow,
who bears the burdens of the family,
and upon whom every one relies.
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-
## p. 479 (#515) ############################################
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,
## p. 481 (#517) ############################################
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
an
## p. 482 (#518) ############################################
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
But
## p. 483 (#519) ############################################
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
son
## p. 484 (#520) ############################################
484
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.
now given to the world for the first time, Tom Burke, the son of an Irish gentle-
together with many poems not before man, being orphaned runs away from
printed. Appended the second vol-
home to escape the persecutions of his
ume are a number of personal recollec- father's attorney. He falls in with
tions of the poet, by men distinguished Darby the « Blast,” shrewd, odd
as statesmen and men of letters.
The character, who is prominent among the
whole forms a unique portrait of one United Irishmen. They reach Dublin,
who was in many respects a complete where Tom meets Charles de Meudon, a
type of a nineteenth-century gentleman, young French officer, who gives him a
- a figure whose greatness will increase letter to the Chef of the Polytechnique
rather than diminish through the long at Paris, where he is to become un
perspectives of time.
élève. On graduating from the military
academy, Tom becomes an officer in the
Two Men, Elizabeth Stoddard's second Eighth Hussars; but from an accidental
novel, was published in 1865. As in acquaintance with the Marquis de Beau-
her two other stories, the scene is laid vis, a Bourbonist, he unconsciously be-
in a New England seaport town; the comes involved in a political intrigue,
characters being the members of one and his actions are closely watched by
family, all of them of strongly marked the police. In aiding De Beauvis to
individuality. The head of the house escape, Tom is himself arrested and im-
is Sarah Auster; whose husband Jason, prisoned for treason. Through the inter-
once a ship-carpenter, is overshadowed vention of General D'Auvergne and
by her aggressive nature, and by the Mademoiselle Marie de Meudon, the sis-
great wealth which is hers from her ter of Charles, with whom he has fallen
grandfather, and which she hopes will in love, Burke is se free. Troops are
descend undivided to her son Parke, - ordered to the front, and Napoleon
a beautiful, sweet-natured boy, untainted invades Germany and Austria. After
by his mother's strange perverse disposi- meritorious service at Austerlitz, Tom
tion. There is another heir, however, Burke, whom General D'Auvergne has
- her cousin Osmond Luce, a seaman. made aid-de-camp, is promoted to
After a long absence he suddenly ap- captaincy and takes part in the battle
pears with his little daughter Philippa. of Jena. But, disgusted at having con-
He resigns his rights in his child's favor, stant watch over his actions, he throws
and goes to sea again. Sarah takes un- up his commission and quits the service.
willing charge of Philippa, who grows On reaching Dublin Tom is arrested on
into strange, silent girl. She loves her old scores; but is ac tted through the
cousin Parke with a grave, intense love, testimony of Darby, and comes into his
but he knows nothing of it. He is at- inheritance, an estate of four thousand
tracted only by brilliant colors of char- pounds a year. For several years Burke
acter,
beauty of form. He leads a lonely life: but finally returns to
entertains a wayward love for a beauti- France and again enlists, also aiding
ful girl, Charlotte Lang, in whose veins the Napoleonic cause with money. On
is negro blood.
The shadow of their re- the field of Montmirail, Burke is re-
lation crosses at last the threshold of ported to the Emperor, and for
Parke's home. His mother dies of her attack on the Austrian rear-guard at
grief. Charlotte dies at the birth of her Melun he is made colonel. After his
child. Then Parke sails away from the ga ant conduct at the Bridge of Mon-
scene of his tragedy, leaving Philippa tereau, where he leads the assault, Burke
a
or
by
an
## p. 485 (#521) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
485
cross
a
is given the Emperor's own
of that control society, and for that patient
the Legion. Napoleon's doom is sealed, development of character and destiny that
and he is exiled. Tom, refusing to inferior novelists slight or ignore. The
serve under the Bourbons, though offered chief scene is the Poyser farm in the
the grade of general, throws aside all Midlands, a delightful place of shining
thought of military ambition, marries kitchens, sweet-smelling dairy-houses, cool
Marie de Meudon, and retires to private green porches, wide barns, and spreading
life.
woods. Here Mrs. Poyser, a kind-hearted
woman, with an incorrigibly sharp tongue,
Proverbial Philosophy, by Martin
has taken her husband's niece, Hester
Farquhar Tupper. Tupper's Pro-
verbial Philosophy) is a book of essays,
Sorrel, - an ambitious, vain, empty-headed
ìittle beauty,- to bring up. Adam Bede,
or poems in blaak verse, dealing with
almost every emotion and condition of
the village carpenter, an admirable young
fellow, is her slave.
life. The author begins thus: “Few and
A skeleton of the plot would convey no
precious are the words which the lips of
wisdom utter;" and he proceeds to com-
impression of the strength and charm of
pile a work filling 415 pages.
the story. It seems to have been, in the
The poems or meditations were pub-
author's mind, a recognition of the hero-
lished between 1838 and 1867; and are
ism of commonplace natures in common-
in two series, dealing with over sixty
place surroundings, of the nobility of noble
character wherever found. But Adam
subjects. The book contains many wise
sayings, but it is mostly padded common-
Bede. intelligent, excellent, satisfactory
place. For many years it was in great
though he is, is quite subordinated in
demand, but lately it has been subjected
interest to the figure of poor Hetty, made
to ridicule.
tragic through suffering and injustice.
Her beauty, her vanity, her very silli-
ness, endear her.
Dinah Morris, the wo-
Pilot and His Wife, The, by Jonas Lie.
This story is of Norwegian sim-
man preacher, is a study from life, serene
plicity. The scene is laid partly in Nor-
and lovely. Mr. Irwine, the easy-going
way, partly in South America where the old parson, is a typical English clergyman
hero goes on his voyages. Salve Kris-
of the early nineteenth century; Bartle
tiansen loves Elizabeth Rakley, whom
Massey, the schoolmaster, is one of those
he has known from her childhood, which
humble folk, full of character, foibles,
was spent in a lighthouse on a lonely
absurdities, and homely wisdom, whom
island, with her grandfather. Salve is George Eliot draws with loving touches;
a sailor, later on a pilot. He hears that
while Mrs. Poyser, with her epigrammatic
Elizabeth is engaged to a naval officer
shrewdness, her untiring energy, her fine
named Beck, and in a rage goes on a
pride of respectability, her acerbity of
long voyage.
Later he finds the report
speech, and her charity of heart, belongs
false; she confesses her love for him, and
to the company of the Immortals.
they are married.
He is of a jealous,
suspicious nature, and fierce in temper
. Trilby, by George Du Maurier, is a
She is often unhappy, but at last she
story of English and Continental
sees that it is useless to submit passively;
art life and literary life of a generation
that there can be no happiness without ago, narrated by one who participated
mutual trust: so she reclaims and shows
in the scenes and recalls them in mem-
him the letter in which she refused to
ory. The action is chiefly in Paris.
marry Beck because my heart is anoth- Trilby is a handsome girl whose father
er's. ) Convinced at last of her loyalty,
a bohemian Irish gentleman and
Kristiansen after a struggle conquers his
her mother a Scotch barmaid. Trilby
is laundress and artist's model in the
jealousy, and life is happy at last.
Latin Quarter. She is great friends
Ad dam Bede, the earliest of George Eliot's with three artists who are chums: Taffy,
novels, was published in 1859, as “by a big Yorkshire Englishman; the Laird,
the author of (Scenes of Clerical Life. ) » a Scotchman; and Little Billee, an Eng-
The story was at once pronounced by the lish fellow who has genius as a painter,
critics to be not more remarkable for its and whose drawing of Trilby's beautiful
grace, its unaffected Saxon style, and its foot is a chef d'auvre. He loves her,
charm of naturalness, than for its percep- and she returns the feeling, but Little
tion of those universal springs of action Billee's very respectable family oppose
was
## p. 486 (#522) ############################################
486
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
the match, and Trilby, after saying yes, Burchell, who turns out to be Sir Will-
decides it to be her duty to refuse, iam Thornhill, the uncle of the young
which drives her lover into a brain Squire. Sir William asks for Sophia's
fever. Amongst the bohemians who fre- band, and sets right the family misfor-
quent the studio is Svengali, an Austrian tunes. Numerous pathetic and humorous
Jew, who is of repulsive character but incidents arise out of the story. Among
a gifted musician, He is attracted by the latter is that of the family picture,
Trilby, and discovers that she has the which, when finished, was too large for
making of a splendid singer. He half the house. Mrs. Primrose was painted
repels, half fascinates her; and by the as Venus, the Vicar in bands and gown,
use of hypnotic power forces her to go presenting to her his books on the Whis-
away with him.
She wins fame as a tonian controversy; Olivia was an Ama-
concert artist, always singing in a sort zon sitting upon bank of flowers,
of hypnotic trance under his influence. dressed in a green joseph, richly laced
The three artists, visiting Paris after a with gold, and a whip in her hand;
five years' absence, attend one of these Sophia, a shepherdess; Moses, dressed
performances, and are astounded to rec- out with a hat and white feather); while
ognize Trilby. Svengali, now rich and the Squire insisted on being put in as
prosperous, dies suddenly at a concert one of the family in the character of
while Trilby is singing; and she, missing Alexander the Great, at Olivia's feet. ”
his hypnotic influence, loses her power Austin Dobson says that the Vicar of
to sing, goes into a decline, and dies, Wakefield) (remains and will continue
surrounded by her old friends. Little to be one of the first of our English
Billee, heart-broken, also dies, though classics.
not before he has won reputation as an
artist.
The final pages form a sort of Speed The Plongh, by Thomas Mor-
postscript twenty years after, telling of
.
first
the fate of the subsidiary characters. duced in 1796, we owe one of our best-
The main interest is over with Trilby's known characters, the redoubtable Mrs.
death.
Grundy. Here as elsewhere she is in-
visible; and it is what she may say,
Wakefield, The, Oliver not what she does say, that Dame
Goldsmith's famous story, was pub- Ashfield fears. Farmer Ashfield has
lished in 1766. Washington Irving said brought up from infancy a young man
of it: «The irresistible charm this novel named Henry, whose parentage is un-
possesses, evinces how much may be known. Sir Philip Blandford, Ashfield's
done without the aid of extravagant in- landlord, is about to return after many
cident to excite the imagination and in- years' absence, to marry his daughter
terest the feelings. Few productions of Emma to Bob Handy, who can do
the kind afford greater amusement in everything but earn his bread. »
Sir
the perusal, and still fewer inculcate Abel, Bob's father, is to pay all Bland-
more impressive lessons of morality. ” ford's debts. In a plowing-match, Henry
The character of the Vicar, Dr. Prim- wins the prize, and Emma bestows the
rose, gives the chief interest to the tale. medal. It is a case of love at first sight.
His weaknesses and literary vanity are Sir Philip hates Henry, and orders Ash-
attractive; and he rises to heights almost field to turn him from his doors, but
sublime when misfortune overtakes his he refuses. Sir Philip is about to force
family. The other actors in the simple Ashfield to discharge a debt, when a
drama Mrs. Primrose, with her
named Morrington gives Henry
boasted domestic qualities and her anx- the note of Sir Philip for more than
iety to appear genteel; the two daugh- the amount. Henry destroys it, when
ters, Olivia and Sophia; and the two Sir Philip declares that Morrington,
sons, George, bred at Oxford, and whom he has never seen, has by en-
Moses, who «received a sort of miscel- couraging Sir Philip's vices when young,
laneous education at home,» — all of possessed himself of enough notes to
whom the Vicar says were equally gener- more than exhaust Sir Philip's fortune.
ous, credulous, simple, and inoffensive. » Sir Philip confides his secret to Bob.
Squire Thornhill resides near the family, He was to marry a young girl, when
and elopes with Olivia, to the great dis- he found her about elope with his
tress of the Vicar. He suspects Mr. brother Charles. He killed Charles, and
Vicar of
are
man
## p. 487 (#523) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
487
common
seaman,
hid the knife and a bloody cloth in often brutalities, which accompany a sea-
a part of the castle which he has never man's life. Mr. Dana sets forth from
visited since. Sir Abel, in experiment- his own personal experience the thoughts,
ing with a substitute for gun-powder, feelings, enjoyments, and sufferings, as
sets the castle on fire. Henry saves well as the real life and character, of the
Emma from the flames; and breaking
In reading it one
into the secret room, brings forth the finds more than the ordinary record of
knife and cloth. Morrington appears, a sea voyage; for there runs through the
and proves to be Sir Philip's brother simple and lucid narrative an element
and Henry's father. To atone for the of beauty and power which gives it the
wrong done his brother, he had gath- charm of romance. The book was im-
ered all the notes which his brother mediately successful, passed through
had given to usurers, and now gives many editions, was adopted by the Brit-
them to him. Bob marries Susan, Ash- ish Board of Admiralty for distribution
field's daughter, whom he was about to to the navy, and was translated into
desert for Emma; and the latter is mar- many Continental languages. In 1869
ried to Henry
the author added a supplementary chap-
ter giving an account of a second visit
Two Years Before the Mast, by Rich- to California, and the subsequent his-
ard Henry Dana. This personal tory of many of the persons and vessels
narrative of a sailor's life is probably mentioned in the original work. Will-
the most truthful and accurate work of iam Cullen Bryant, who procured the
its character ever written. Although first publication of the book, recom-
originally published in 1840, the produc- mended it to the publishers as “equal
tion of a youth just out of college, it to Robinson Crusoe )); and the event has
still holds its charm and its popularity ustified his forecast, with the additional
in the face of all rivals and successors. merit that the story is absolutely real
The author, upon graduating from Har- and truthful.
vard College in the year 1837, at the
age of twenty-two, was forced to sus-
Till Eulenspiegel. The origin of this
pend his studies on account of an affec- book of the adventures of Till Eulen-
tion of his eyes. Having a strong pas- spiegel is doubtful. It is supposed that
sion for the sea, he shipped before the these stories were collected and first pub-
mast » upon the brig Pilgrim for a voy- lished in Low Dutch, in the year 1483.
age around Cape Horn on a trading trip The hero of them, whose first name was
for hides to California. After rounding Till or Thyl, was a traveling buffoon,
the Horn the Pilgrim touched at Juan who, besides presenting farces and the
Fernandez; the next land sighted being like, was a practical joker. The name of
California, then inhabited only by In- Eulenspiegel probably comes from a pict-
dians and a few Spaniards. She visited ure or coat of arms which he left after
Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, perpetrating a joke, which consisted of
and finally San Diego, the depot of the an owl (Eule) and a mirror (Spiegel),
business. Here Dana remained sev- and which is to-day shown, on what is
eral months ashore, handling and curing said to be his gravestone, in Lüneburg.
hides. He did not return home in the The motive of many of the jokes is the
Pilgrim, but upon the arrival of the ship literal interpretation by Till of what he
Alert, consigned by the same owners, is told to do; something after the style
he procured an exchange to her. The of Handy Andy, except that Till's mis.
voyage home in this vessel is graphic- interpretations are not the result of sim-
ally described. While aboard of her plicity. Many of them are very filthy,
Dana touched at San Francisco, where, while others would to-day be considered
except the Presidio, there then existed
crimes and not jokes. It is difficult to
one wooden shanty only. This was af- understand how this book could have had
terwards rebuilt as a one-story adobe a popularity which has caused it to be
house; and long remained as the oldest translated into many languages. It is
building in the now great city.
to-day only appreciated as a curious pict-
The book contains a straightforward ure of the tastes and customs of its time.
and manly account of the life of a fore- It differs from like books of southern
mast hand at that date; and it gives in Europe in that none of the stories are
detail the adventures, hardships, and too founded on amorous intrigues.
## p. 488 (#524) ############################################
488
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
not
to
Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist, servant Kory-Kory, petted by a score of
by Henry Cockton. This novel has beauteous dusky damsels, and especially
enjoyed popularity since the time of its adored by the incomparable Fayaway.
publication. Its hero, Valentine Vox, a But discontent lurked in his bosom;
young English gentleman living at home and at length, to the sorrow and even
with his mother, a rich widow, is struck against the will of his hosts,- poor Fay-
with admiration of the ventriloquism of away was quite inconsolable, - he con-
an itinerant juggler and magician who trived to make his escape on a Sydney
visits his native place. To his delight, whaler which was short of men.
he finds that he himself possesses the (Omoo) (The Rover) continues our au-
ventriloquial power; and by a diligent thor's adventures, changing the scene to
course of training he perfects himself in Tahiti, whither the steamer Julia pro-
it. On a trip to London Valentine ceeded. While in Papeetee harbor Mel-
visits the House of Commons, the opera, ville and a new friend, Dr. Long
Gravesend, the British Museum, Guild- Ghost,” joined some malcontents among
hall, a masquerade at Vauxhall, the the crew, who had a grievance against
«200, the Ascot races, etc. ; and wher- the captain, and were put ashore. Wil-
ever he goes he indulges his propensity son, the high-handed English consul, or-
for practical joking to the fullest extent dered them into the calaboza,” where,
One adventure follows another with with not too much to eat, they stayed
breathless rapidity. With the whole is several weeks under the benevolent cus-
inwoven a love story, not of a very pro- tody of Captain Bob, an old native.
found nature. There is no plot; and the They were finally helped away to Imeeo,
incidents are a harum-scarum collection a neighboring island, by two planters
of disjointed happenings, while the book who wished to engage them as farm
has little literary merit. But the rois- hands. Digging in the ground with
tering and uproarious fun that fills the primitive hoes proved
their
thick volume makes it a welcome com- tastes, however; and they soon departed
panion to most young people «from six- for Taloo, where they were hospitably
teen to sixty. ”
treated by «Deacon Jeremiah Po-Po, a
native convert. They attended church,
and Omoo, by Herman Melville. participated in a feast, visited a royal
The first-named work, (Typee,' a fa- palace under care of a pretty little maid
mous book, the forerunner of all South- of honor, caught a glimpse of Queen
Sea romances, the most charming of all, Pomaree, and otherwise enjoyed them-
and the source of many new words in selves, until, a Vineyard whaler appear-
our vocabulary, like taboo, is a narrative ing, Melville bade farewell to Dr. Long
of the author's enforced sojourn, in the Ghost,” and sailed away. In these two
summer of 1842, among the cannibal books the author has succeeded in his
Typees on one of the Marquesas Islands. stated purpose of conveying some idea
It appeared simultaneously in New York of novel scenes that frequently occur
and London, and won everywhere the among whaling crews in the South Pa-
highest praise. With Toby, another cific, and in giving a familiar account
young sailor, Melville deserted from the of the condition of the converted Poly-
steamship Dolly, in Nukaheva Bay, in- nesians.
tending to seek asylum with the friendly
Happars; but they missed their way and ves and Daughters, by Mrs. Gas-
arrived in Typee Valley. They were
kell. (1865. ) This is a delightful
well received there, however, were given story of country life in England. It
abundant food (eaten under some appre- follows Molly Gibson through all the
hensions that they were being fattened), various experiences of her girlhood, be-
and except that their attempts to depart ginning with her life as a child alone
were frowned on, they had no cause to with her father, the doctor, in the vil-
complain. After about a month Toby lage; describing her visits and friend-
became separated from his comrade, ships in the neighborhood, and finally,
and was taken off the island in a pass- after her father has married again, her
ing ship. For four months Melville new life with the second Mrs. Gibson
lived an indolent, luxurious life in a sort and her daughter Cynthia. The charac-
of terrestrial paradise, with nothing to ters are unusually interesting and well
do, plenty to eat, waited on by a body drawn, with humor and sympathetic
Typee
Wives
## p. 489 (#525) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
489
derstanding. There is the old Squire of
the town, with his two sons: Osborne,
the pride of his heart, who has married
secretly beneath his social standing in
life; and Roger, a fine, sturdy fellow,
who bears the burdens of the family,
and upon whom every one relies.
