No More Learning

Round about this
«great wood ” were three settlements or
«Marks,) each mark containing many
Houses; and it is with the House of
the Wolfings of Mid-mark that the tale
chiefly deals.
The chief of the Wolfings was Thio-
dolf, the wisest man, and of heart most
dauntless. Hall-Sun, his daughter, ex-
ceeding fair and with the gift of proph-
ecy, was first among the women.
The leading theme of the story is the
war between the Romans and the Mark-
men; how it fared with Thiodolf, and
how the Hall-Sun advises the Stay-at-
Homes by means of her wonderful in-
sight. Thiodolf is chosen War-Duke. He
meets the Wood-Sun, his beloved, a
woman descended from the gods. She
gives him a hauberk to wear in battle;
but owing to a charm that caused whoso
wore this armor to weaken in war, Thio-


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228
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
dolf does not acquit himself bravely in
their first skirmishes with the foe. The
Markmen become somewhat disheartened,
and the Romans advance even to the Hall
of the Wolfings. Then Thiodolf is led
by the Hall-Sun, who personifies courage
and duty, to the throne of the Wood-
Sun, who confesses that, fearing his
death and the end of their love on earth,
she had fastened the hauberk upon him.
Thereupon Thiodolf casts it away, and
subordinating love to duty, he goes forth
to meet a hero's death on the morrow's
battle-field. The sight of the War-Duke,
in his old strength and cheer, incites the
“stark men and doughty warriors » to
the complete undoing of the Romans.
The day is given up to the chanting of
dirges for the dead; and the night wears
away in feasting. All the kindred hal-
low with song the return of the warriors
« with victory in their hands. ” And
thereafter the Wolfings «throve in field
and fold. )
This fascinating story is pervaded with
the charm of a primitive people, who
live a picturesque life both in agriculture
and on the battle-field.
orders a reprieve, in quick succession.
Then, going in person to the prison, she
asks Chastelard to return the reprieve.
He has already destroyed it; and after
one short, happy hour with her, he goes
bravely to his death.
From an upper
window in the palace, Mary Beaton watches
the execution, and curses the Queen just
as Mary enters — with Both well.
In "Chastelard? Swinburne has por-
trayed a fickle, heartless, vain, and beau-
tiful queen; and in the few touches
given to a character of secondary im-
portance, has delicately and distinctly
drawn Mary Beaton. The male charac-
ters are less sympathetic.
The tragedy is conspicuously one to
be read, not acted. It is too long, too
much lacking in action, and of too sus-
tained an intensity, for the stage. The
style is essentially lyric, full of exqui-
site lines and phrases; and as a whole,
the play presents an intense passion in
a form of adequate beauty. It contains
a number of charming French Songs,
and is dedicated to Victor Hugo. It
was published in 1869.
The style of the authora the quaint Roundabout ePapers The, by William
English, molded frequently
into a beautiful chant or song, makes
(The House of the Wolfings) a most
artistic and attractive tale.
ties as
Chast
hastelard, by Algernon Charles Swin-
burne. The scene of this tragedy
is laid at Holyrood Castle, during the
reign of Mary Queen of Scots. Mary
Beaton, one of the “four Maries,
prom-
ises Chastelard to arrange a meeting be-
tween him and the Queen. When he
comes to the audience-room, however, he
finds only Mary Beaton herself, who, in
shame, confesses her love for him. While
he is assuring her of his pardon, they
are discovered by the other Maries. The
Queen, angry at what she has heard,
tries to make Chastelard confess his de-
sertion of her; and declares her intention
of marrying Darnley. Chastelard, by
the agency of Mary Beaton, gains access
to the Queen's chamber, discloses himself
when she is alone, and after having con-
vinced her of his love for her, submits
to the guards, who take him to prison.
Mary, fickle and heartless, in her desire
to avoid both the shame of letting him
live and the shame of putting her lover
to death, tries to shift the responsibility
to Murray, signs his death-warrant, and
Makepeace Thackeray. Thackeray
undertook the editorship of the Cornhill
Magazine; in the year 1859. (The Round-
about Papers' were sketches for the
magazine, coming out simultaneously, be-
tween 1859 and 1863, with Lovel the
Widower and “The Adventures of Philip.
They represent Thackeray's best quali-
an essayist, and cover a wide
range of subjects. Some of the titles
are: "On Two Children in Black,) On
Screens in Dining-Rooms, 'On Some
Late Great Victories,' On a Hundred
Years Hence,) and (A Mississippi Bub-
ble. One of the papers, (The Notch on
the Ase,' displays the author's peculiar
genius for burlesque story-telling. It is
a dream of the guillotine, occasioned by
his grandmother's snuff-box and a sensa-
tional novel. The essay On a Joke I
Once Heard from the Late Thomas Hood
is a cordial tribute to that poet's mem-
ory, and in it the joke is not repeated.
One of the most noteworthy of the
papers is called (On Thorns in the
Cushion. ) The task of editing a maga-
zine was irksome to Thackeray's kindly
and sensitive nature. «What, then,” he
writes, “is the main grief you spoke of
as annoying you,- the toothache in the
Lord Mayor's jaw, the thorn in the


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
229
cushion of the editorial chair? It is Joe Bagstock, the major. The scene is
there. Ah! it stings me now as I write. laid in England at the time the novel
It comes with almost every morning's was published, in 1848.
post.
They don't sting quite so
sharply as they did, but a skin is a skin, David Copperfield; of all my books,
bite, after , most . says in his
Ah me! we wound where we to this immortal novel, “I like this the
never intended to strike; we create anger best.
Like many fond parents,
where we never meant harm, and these I have in my heart of hearts a favorite
thoughts are the thorns in our cushion. ” child. And his name is David Copper-
Thackeray, in fact, resigned the position field. ” When David Copperfield) ap-
of editor in 1862, though he continued to peared in 1850, after Dombey and Son)
write for the magazine as long as he and before Bleak House,' it became so
lived.
popular that its only rival was Pick-
wick. ) Beneath the fiction lies much of
Dombey and Son, by Charles Dickens. the author's personal life, yet it is not
The story opens with the death of
an autobiography. The story treats of
Mrs. Dombey, who has left her husband David's sad experiences as a child, his
the proud possessor of a baby son and youth at school, and his struggles for a
heir. He neglects his daughter Florence livelihood, and leaves him in early man-
and loves Paul, in whom all his ambitions hood, prosperous and happily married.
and worldly hopes are centred; but the Pathos, humor, and skill in delineation,
boy dies. Mr. Dombey marries a beau- give vitality to this remarkable work;
tiful woman, who is as cold and proud and nowhere has Dickens filled his can-
as he, and who has sold herself to him vas with more vivid and diversified char-
to escape from a designing mother. She acters. Forster says that the author's
grows fond of Florence, and this friend- favorites were the Peggotty family, com-
ship is so displeasing to Mr. Dombey that posed of David's nurse Peggotty, who was
he tries to humble her by remonstrating married to Barkis, the carrier; Dan'el
through Mr. Carker, his business manager Peggotty, her brother, a Yarmouth fisher-
and friend. This crafty villain, realizing man; Ham Peggotty, his nephew; the
his power, goads her beyond endurance, doleful Mrs. Gummidge; and Little Em’ly,
and she demands a separation from Mr. ruined by David's schoolmate, Steer-
Dombey, but is refused. After an angry forth. “It has been their fate,” says For-
interview, she determines upon a bold ster, as with all the leading figures of
stroke and disgraces her husband by pre- his invention, to pass their names into
tending to elope with Carker to France, the language and become types; and he
where she meets him once, shames and has nowhere given happier embodiment
defies him and escapes. Mr. Dombey, to that purity of homely goodness, which,
after spurning Florence, whom he con- by the kindly and all-reconciling influ-
siders the cause of his trouble, follows ences of humor, may exalt into comeli-
Carker in hot haste. They encounter ness and even grandeur the clumsiest
each other without warning at a rail-
forms of humanity. ”
way station, and as Carker is crossing the Miss Betsy Trotwood, David's aunt;
tracks he falls and is instantly killed by the half-mad but mild Mr. Dick; Mrs.
an express train Florence seeks refuge Copperfield, David's mother; Murdstone,
with an old sea-captain whom her little his brutal stepfather; Miss Murdstone,
brother, Paul, has been fond of, marries that stepfather's sister; Mr. Spenlow
Walter Gay, the friend of her childhood, and his daughter Dora, - David's child-
and they go to sea. After the failure of wife ));- Steerforth, Rosa Dartle, Mrs.
Dombey and Son, when Mr. Dombey's Steerforth, Mr. Wickfield, his daughter
pride is humbled and he is left deso- Agnes (David's second wife), and the
late, Florence returns and takes care of Micawber family, are the persons around
him. The characters in the book not whom the interest revolves. A host of
immediately concerned in the plot, but minor characters, such as the comical lit-
famous for their peculiar qualities, are tle dwarf hair-dresser, Miss Mowcher,
Captain Cuttle, Florence's kind protector, Mr. Mell, Mr. Creakle, Tommy Traddles,
who has a nautical manner of expres- Uriah Heep, Dr. Strong, Mrs. Markle-
sion; Sol Gills, Walter's uncle; Mr. Toots, ham, and others, are portrayed with the
who suffers from shyness and love; and same vivid strokes.


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230
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
a
Li
ittle Dorrit, by Charles Dickens, was
published 1856-57, when the author's
popularity was at its height. The plot
is a slight one on which to hang more
than fifty characters. The author began
with the intention of emphasizing the
fact that individuals brought together
by chance, if only for an instant, con-
tinue henceforth to influence and to act
and react upon one another. But this
original motive is soon altogether for-
gotten in the multiplication of characters
and the relation of their fortunes. The
central idea is to portray the experiences
of the Dorrit family, immured for many
years on account of debt in the old Mar-
shalsea Prison, and then unexpectedly
restored to wealth and freedom. Having
been pitiable in poverty, they become
arrogant and contemptible in affluence.
Amy, Little Dorrit,” alone remains pure,
lovable, and self-denying. In her, Dick-
ens embodies the best human qualities
in a most beautiful and persuasive form.
She enlists the love of Arthur Clennam,
who meantime has had his own trials.
Returning from India, after long ab-
sence, he finds his mother a religious
fanatic, domineered over by the hypo-
critical old Flintwinch, and both preyed
upon by the Mephistophelian Blandois,
perhaps the most dastardly villain in the
whole Dickens gallery. The complica-
tions, however, end happily for Arthur
and Amy. The main attack of the book
is aimed against official «red tape » as
exemplified in the Barnacle family and
the «Circumlocution Office. ” It also
shows up Merdle the swindling banker,
«Bar,) «Bishop,” and other types of “So-
ciety. ) The Meagleses are practical
people with soft hearts; their daughter
is married to and bullied by Henry
Gowan, whose mother is a genteel pau-
per at Hampton Court. Other characters
are Pancks the collector, “puffing like a
steam-engine,” his hypocritical employer
Casby, the humble and worthy Plor-
nishes, the love-blighted and epitaphic
young John Chivery, and the wonderful
Mr. F. 's aunt with her explosive utter-
here introduced. There is the central
story of Our Mutual Friend, himself the
young heir to the vast Harmon estate,
who buries his identity and assumes the
name of John Rokesmith, that he may
form his own judgment of the young
woman whom he must marry in order
to claim his fortune; there is the other
story of the poor bargeman's daughter,
and her love for reckless Eugene Wray-
burn, the idol of society; and uniting
these two threads is the history of Mr.
and Mrs. Boffin, the ignorant, kind-
hearted couple, whose innocent ambi-
tions, and benevolent use of the money
intrusted to their care, afford the author
opportunity for the humor and pathos of
which he was a master.
Among the characters which this story
has made famous are Miss Jenny Wren,
the doll's dressmaker, a little, crippled
creature whose love for Lizzie Hexam
transforms her miserable life; Bradley
Headstone, the schoolmaster, suffering
torments because of his jealousy of Eu-
gene Wray burn, and helpless under the
careless contempt of that trained adver-
sary — dying at last in an agony of de-
feat at his failure to kill Eugene; and
the triumph of Lizzie's love over the
social difference between her and her
lover; Bella Wilfer, the boofer lady,
cured of her longing for riches and made
John Harmon's happy wife by the plots
and plans of the Golden Dustman, Mr.
Boffin; and Silas Wegg, an impudent
scoundrel employed by Mr. Boffin, who
is, at first, delighted with the services
of “a literary man with a wooden leg,”
but who gradually recognizes the cheat
and impostor, and unmasks him in dra-
matic fashion.
As usual, Dickens finds occasion to in-
cite his readers to practical benevolence.
In this book he has a protest against
the poor-laws in the person of old Betty
Higden, whose dread of the almshouse
haunts her dying hours. By many, this
volume, published among his later works,
is counted as among the most important.
ances.
ens.
Our
vir Mutual Friend, by Charles Dick-
«In these times of ours, are
the opening words of this book, which
was published in England in 1864-65.
The scene is laid in London and its im-
mediate neighborhood. All the elaborate
machinery dear to Dickens's heart is
Fool's Errand, A, by Albion W. Tourgee.
1879, purports to have been written
by one of the fools. It is the first of a
series dealing mainly with events con-
nected with the Civil War. «The Fool »
is Comfort Servosse, a Union colonel, who
removes from Michigan to a Southern
plantation after peace is declared. The
story of his reception there and the diffi-


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
231
culties encountered, arising out of old himself deceived, seeks out Carroll de
prejudices upon the one hand and his own Lancy, the other party in the affair,
training and convictions upon the other, and from him learns that, when he was
is told with great detail and strong local too ill to travel, his sister had masquer-
coloring. The author with great fairness aded in his West Point uniform, taken
considers the questions of reconstruction, Miss Rivers as companion, and reached
while some thrilling chapters deal with the death-bed of an uncle in time to
the outrages of the Ku-Klux. A love secure the favorable disposition of his
episode is introduced, which proceeds as property. The scene of reconciliation
a simple narrative with no complications follows immediately. The story is well
of plot.
told, and the dramatic possibilities of
the unconventional adventure lend color
Floyd Grandon's Honor, by Amanda
M. Douglas. The scenes of the story
to an otherwise commonplace narrative.
are laid in a New York suburb.
Floxid ,
Grandon, a young widower, returning Miss F. F. Montrésor (1895) is a plea
from England with his motherless child, for the ideal in daily life. To Margaret
Cecil, to wind up his deceased father's Deane, the beautiful imaginative young
affairs, promises over the death-bed of heroine, life becomes intolerable under
one of the partners, Mr. Percival, to
the guardianship of her uncongenial and
marry his daughter, Violet, a seventeen-
worldly aunt, Mrs. Russelthorpe. Her
year-old girl; a promise made and after-
spiritually sensitive nature is touched
ward redeemed through pity for her by the preaching of Barnabas Thorpe, an
defenseless position, fear of the avowed earnest revivalist; and by conforming to
designs of another partner, Jasper Wil- his teaching, she incurs her aunt's con-
marth, and gratitude for her rescue of
temptuous persecution. An unfortunate
his own
child from a terrible death. chance throws the two together late at
This marriage, contracted without the night; and to protect her from insult,
usual conditions of courtship or even Barnabas marries her. He is poor, un-
previous acquaintance, is the theme of
couth in manner, barely able to read
the story. Transplanted exotics require
and write; while Margaret is refined and
special treatment before they become ac- book-loving, and accustomed to all ad-
climated; and marriages à la française, vantages of wealth and position. In
amid prosaic American surroundings, af- picturing the results of this hazardous
ford ample opportunity for the imagina- | marriage, the author emphasizes a con-
tion of a novelist, an opportunity of which tempt for moral makeshifts. Barnabas
the author has made the most.
and Margaret desire at any cost to live
sincerely. Her friends regard her as a
Reverend Idol, A, by Lucretia Noble
(1882). The Reverend Idol is Rev.
disgrace to them, and blot her name
Kenyon Leigh, a popular New York
from the family Bible; but her new life
clergyman, who, pursued by the unwel-
teaches her to disregard rank, wealth,
come attentions of his feminine parish-
and popular esteem. She knows poverty,
ioners, fees to a quiet boarding-house
sorrow, humiliation, danger, yet feels
richer than in her days of ease. There
on Cape Cod for summer outing:
There he meets Monny Rivers, a charm-
are striking pictures of prison life at
ing Boston girl and an artist of
Newgate, and many dramatic incidents;
but the interest lies above all in the
ability. Commencing with
slight feeling of hostility, they drift
analysis of emotional life based upon a
first into toleration, then companionship,
conviction of human instinct for what is
and finally to love. The course of this
true and noble.
affection does
smooth. Mrs. Jerome, by Mary E. Wilkins. Jerome
Van Cortlandt, who has marked the is the vignette of a New England
Reverend Idol for her own, invades the youth, relieved against a background
solitude of sand and
of provincial types. When hardly out
nizes in her young and beautiful rival of his teens, he is called upon by the
a participant in an adventure, which, sudden disappearance of his father to
though harmless in reality, in appear- take upon his shoulders the burden of
scandalous in the extreme. the family. His course is a pathway of
She imparts only the semblance of the misfortune, sacrifice, and hardship, lead-
truth to Kenyon Leigh, who, believing | ing by rugged steps to a summit of
a
no
mean
a
not
run
sea.
She recog.
ance
was


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232
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
acter.
are
a
well-earned prosperity. A great sacri- Spanish blood, he has a fearless and hon-
fice to a high ideal is the turning-point est soul. The novel comes to a climax
of the story. Like Miss Wilkins's other in a piot made against him by his ene-
works, Jerome) is a careful and truth- mies in Gloria. Besides the hero, “The
ful study of New England village char- Dictator) introduces two or three other
characters of especial interest: Captain
Sarrasin, who has traveled and fought in
Agnes of Sorrento, a romance by Har-
The scene is
many countries, and whose wife on oc-
casion can don men's garments and handle
laid in central Italy during the time of
a gun; Dolores Paulo; and the Duchess
the infamous Pope Alexander VI. (from
of Deptford, of American birth, a cari-
1492 to 1503). Agnes is the daughter of
cature rather than a true type. The plot
a Roman prince who secretly marries,
involves the use of dynamite, and much
and then deserts, a girl of humble par-
mining and countermining; in spite of
entage. The young mother dies of grief,
which the book remains an entertaining
and Elsie, the grandmother, takes Agnes
domestic story.
to Sorrento, where she lives by selling
oranges in the streets. Her beauty and The
The Life and Adventures of Jack of
her purity attract to her many lovers, the Mill, commonly called Lord
worthy and unworthy, and involve her in Othmill, created for his eminent services
many romantic and dramatic incidents. Baron Waldeck and Knight of Kitcottie.
The story is delightfully told, the Italian A fireside story, by William Howitt. The
atmosphere is well suggested, and the scenes of these adventures lie partly in
book, though not Mrs. Stowe's best, takes England during the reign of Henry V. ,
good literary rank.
partly in Bohemia and Germany. They
succession of bloodthirsty and
Cºlon
olonel Enderby's Wife, by Lucas
thrilling conflicts, in which Jack, the
Malet » (Charles Kingsley's daugh-
hero, with scarcely an effort, overcomes
ter, now Mrs. Harrison). The scene of
robbers and gipsies, fights the opponents
this story, published in 1886, is laid in
of the Lollards and the Hussites with equal
England and Italy during the seventies.
vigor, and obtains honors, preferment,
Colonel Enderby is a disinherited Eng-
and a lovely wife. From the moment
lishman of middle age, whose life has
when, a runa
inaway boy, he fills his pockets
been shadowed by his father's neglect
with fish-hooks to trap the hands of
and injury. At the age of forty-eight
thieving companions, to the time when,
he marries in Italy a glittering young with a single companion, he overcomes
creature of wonderful beauty. The tra-
the robber-baron Hans von Stein, with
gedy which follows is that which always
his train,-a semi-historical character
comes when a crass and brutal selfish-
whose castle, honeycombed with dun-
ness arrays itself against the generosity
geons, is still visited by tourists in Ger-
of a higher nature, if two people are so
many,-- his wit and success never fail;
bound together that they cannot escape and as valor as well as virtue has its
each other. The ending, though sad, is
due reward, Jack, the vagrant frequenter
that which the logic of the situation
of the old mill, becomes in turn John
makes inevitable.
The book has been
Othmill, respected and feared by society,
very widely read and praised.
and finally the great Lord Warbeck.
The author allows himself considerable
Dictator, The. by Justin McCarthy,
When Justin McCarthy published
latitude of imagination and plot, and the
result is aptly named in the quaint term
(The Dictator,' in 1893, he had been
known to the novel-reading public for
of apology he uses in the preface, a
«hatch-up. ”
twenty-six years, and had written a score
of books. (The Dictator,' a story of con- Cudjo's Cave, by J. T. Trowbridge, an
temporary life in England, gives scope anti-slavery novel, first published in
to its author for the display of his knowl- 1863, was, like its predecessor Neighbor
edge of politics.
Jackwood,' very widely read. The scene
The Dictator of the story, Ericson, when of the story is eastern Tennessee, at the
first introduced to the reader, has just outbreak of the rebellion. The State,
been ejected by a revolution from his though seceding, contained many Union-
position as chief of the South American ists; and their struggles against the per-
Republic, Gloria. Of mixed English and secution of their Confederate neighbors,


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
233
slave-holders, and poor whites, form the and picturesque descriptions of the Rivi-
plot of the book. The ostensible hero is era, where the author passed the last
Penn Hapgood, a young Quaker school- months of her life. Published in 1879, it
teacher, whose abolitionist doctrines get was left unfinished, the last chapters be-
him into constant trouble; but the really ing written by Mrs. Macquoid. The story
heroic figure of the book is a gigantic principally concerns itself with the love
full-blooded negro, Pomp, a
runaway
affairs of two cousins, Emmie West and
slave, living in the woods in a great Alma Rivers; and the moral of it is that
cave with another runaway, Cudjo. Cudjo tribulation worketh patience, and patience
is dwarfish and utterly ignorant, a mix- godliness. Lady Rivers, Sir Francis, and
ture of stupidity and craft; but Pomp is charming Madame de Florimel, are clev-
one of nature's noblemen. Cudjo's cave erly sketched characters.
The story,
becomes a refuge for the persecuted aboli- which is very simple, is so natural and
tionists of the neighborhood, a basis of homely, and its psychology is so faithful,
operations for the Union sympathizers, that it became at once a favorite, and
and finally the seat of war in the region. is still one of the most popular domestic
The novel, though written with a strong novels.
ethical purpose, is interesting and effect-
ive simply as a story, containing much Newport, by George Parsons Lathrop.
incident
(1884. ) Newport) is a story of soci-
some capital character-
ety,- the intrigues, adventures, and su-
studies.
perficialities of one summer affording
9
, (the author
a
tale of Aquitaine, during the Eng- grammatic remarks, vivid descriptions of
lish occupation, in the early fifteenth the principal places of local interest, and
century. The country was in a state of photographs of men and women of the
civil war; and free companies, nominally leisure class. The love affair of a charm-
fighting for French or English, but in ing widow, Mrs. Gifford, and a widower,
reality for their own pockets, mere plun- Eugene Oliphant, incidently engages the
derers and bandits, fourished mightily. reader's attention; a love affair which,
The most dreaded freebooter in the after a slight estrangement and separa-
valley of the Dordogne was Le Gros tion, is ended by a sudden and incredi-
Guillem, who from his stronghold at ble catastrophe, an unexpected finale
Domme sweeps
down
upon the farms
strangely out of harmony with the pref-
and hamlets below; till at length the ace of elopements, Casino dances, polo
timid peasants, finding a leader in games, Airtations of titled heiress-hunters,
Ogier del Peyra, a petty sieur of the and other trivialities of social existence.
neighborhood, rise
up against their The characters are well chosen and very
scourge, destroy his rocky fastness, and well managed, the individual being never
put his men to death or flight. Guil- sacrificed to the type, though the reader
lem's daughter, Noémi, a madcap beauty, is made to feel that the figures are
joins her father's band of ruffians; but really typical. In no other piece of fic-
soon sickens of their deeds, and risks tion has the flamboyant and aggressive
her life to save Ogier from the oubli- life of Newport — that life wherein amuse-
ette, because she loves his son. The ment is a business, and frivolity an occu-
book is filled with thrilling and bloody pation — been more vividly painted.
incident, culminating in the storming
of L'Eglise Guillem, as the freebooter's Phroso, by Anthony Hope (Hawkins),
den is ironically called, and the strange
is the story of one Lord Charles
death of the robber chieftain. The de-
Wheatley — told by himself — and his ex-
scriptions of the wild valley of the Dor-
periences in taking possession of the
dogne, and the life of the outlaws, are
small Greek island, Neopalia, which he
striking; and the pretty love story, set
has purchased from Lord Stefanopoulos.
against this background, very attractive.
Denny Swinton, his cousin, Hogoardt,
a factotum, and Watkins, his servant,
As a picture of a fierce and horrible
period, it hardly less vivid than the
accompany him. The natives, under Con-
(White Company) of Conan Doyle.
stantine, Lord Stefanopoulos's nephew,
violently oppose them and threaten their
Doubting Heart, A, by Annie Keary. lives. They all escape from the island
The scene of the story is laid in Eng- by a secret passage to the sea, except
land, although there are some charming / Wheatley, who is imprisoned. He is


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234
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
scenes
Own
WOOS
to
cesca
-
about to be stricken to death before the society girl, Bessie Lynde, who Airts
populace, when Phroso, the Lady of with Jeff for the sake of a new sensa-
the Island,” leaps to his aid, declaring
tion. The
are laid partly in
that she loves him better than life. Boston, partly in the mountains. The
Wheatley shows the people that Con- vulgarity of certain aspects of both city
stantine has lately assassinated his uncle and country life is mildly satirized. The
and is now plotting the murder of his novel is supremely American.
(secret) wife, Francesca, that he
may be free to marry Phroso, heiress to Jude the Obscure, a novel by Thomas
the island. Constantine becomes the
Hardy, was published in 1896. The
bar sinister which crosses many of his
prisoner and Wheatley the Neopalians'
favorite, since Phroso, their dear lady,
books is most prominent in Jude. '
loves him. His joy, however, is not
It is the story of a young man of the
unmixed,- he is betrothed to Beatrice
people, ambitious to go to Oxford and
to become a scholar.
Hipgrave in England. Nowraki, a Turk-
He is prevented
ish Pasha, arrives and
Phroso,
from rising in the social scale by him-
greatly complicating matters and nearly
self, by his environment, by a vulgar
demolishing Wheatley's plans. After
natural woman who loves him, and by
a refined morbid woman whom he loves.
many exciting exigencies, the brave
Wheatley weds the lovely Phroso; but
Arabella first drags him in the mud;
Sue then seeks to soar with him
not till Constantine, Mouraki, and Fran-
the stars. Between Arabella's earthiness
are slain, and Miss Hipgrave is
found to be already consoled. Plot is
and Sue's heavenly code of love, poor
rapidly succeeded by counterplot through-
Jude has not a shred of morals left.
He is pushed farther and farther from
out the story, which is written in the
Oxford as the story goes on.
The novel
characteristic romantic style of the author.
becomes at last a hopeless jumble of
Las
andlord at Lion's Head, The, by
illegitimate children, other men's wives,
W. D. Howells, published in 1897, is
misery, more misery, revolt, and death.
It is a remarkable work, but not a
a subtle study of types of character es-
cheerful nor edifying one.
sentially the product of present-day con-
ditions of life in New England. It is
a masterpiece in the sense of its hav- Barry Lyndon, the best of Thackeray's
shorter novels, originally written as
ing been written with the strong and
a serial for Fraser's Magazine, was pub-
sure hand of the finished artist. The
lished in book form in 1844. It is cast
author assumes complete responsibility
in the form of an autobiography. The
for his work, and the reader is at ease.
hero is an Irish gambler and fortune-
The story is concerned chiefly with the
hunter, a braggart and a blackleg, but
fortunes of the Durgin family, New
of audacious courage and of picturesque
England farm-people, who
own little
versatility. He tells his story in a plain
but a magnificent view of Lion's Head
matter-of-fact way, without concealment
Mountain. By the chance visit of an
or sophistication, glorying in episodes
artist, Westover, they are made to real-
which would seem shameful to the most
ize its mercantile value. Mrs. Durgin's
rudimentary conscience, and holding him-
ambitions, aroused by the success of her
self to be the best and greatest but most
(hotel,are centred in her son, Jeff ill-used of men. The irony is as fine as
Durgin. The portrait of this country
that of Fielding in Jonathan Wild the
boy swaggering through Harvard, stand-
Great,' a prototype obviously in Thack-
ing, but with a certain impudence, al-
eray's mind.
ways on the edge of things, is drawn
with wonderful clarity. Another admir- Adventures in Criticism, by A. T.
able creation is Whitwell, a neighbor Quiller-Couch, is a collection of brief
of the Durgins, a sort of rural philoso- critical essays, including a handful of
pher, with a mind reaching helplessly graceful commentaries on some of the
out to the pseudo-occult, and the Elizabethans, two or three eighteenth-
banalities of planchette. His daughter century studies, an examination of Zola,
Cynthia, the most hopeful figure in the some excellent appreciations of Ibsen,
book, is a sweet, strong mountain girl, Björnson, and the Scandinavian cult, and
«capable in the full sense of the word. twenty or more estimates of modern Eng-
In strong contrast to her is the Boston lish writers from Scott to Caine. The
to
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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
235
TOWARDS
critic has a large view of literature, entire political troubles there being made the
sincerity, a charming style. simple and source of the story's action. The chief
direct as Thackeray's, fine scholarship, characters are Sir John Davenne, an Eng-
and absolute independence of judgment. lishman traveling in Italy, his daughter
His book, therefore, surrounds old sub- Lucy, and Doctor Antonio, a Sicilian
jects with a new atmosphere, and gives exile. The personality of the Doctor is
the reader the agreeable sense of being one of singular charm, and holds inter-
made a co-discoverer of profitable places est throughout the book.
When pub-
in well-known territory; so that his essays lished this novel became a universal
have become almost as much liked as his favorite, and it is still read with pleasure.
stirring romances.
Agatha Page, by Isaac Henderson, gives
Dante, A Shadow of: Being an Essay an artistic picture of Italian life.
STUDYING HIMSELF, HIS The heroine, from whom the book takes
WORLD, AND His PILGRIMAGE; by Maria its name, is first seen as she stands upon
Francesca Rossetti. (4th ed. 1884. ) A the turf under the trees playing her vio-
volume of criticism and selections, de- lin to an old priest; and here the Marquis
signed to enable the reader to comprehend Filippo Loreno catches his first glimpse
the poet and his great poem. The study of her. Charmed by the music and the
begins with Dante's conception of the beauty of the musician, he recognizes in
universe, and what autobiography and Agatha his ideal woman. She returns
history show his life experience to have his love, and they are happily united.
been. It then proceeds to expound the Agatha's influence develops all that is
physical and moral theories on which the best in Filippo; but an element of dis-
poet constructed his three worlds, and cord presently appears in the presence
narrates the course of his pilgrimage of Agatha's cousin Mercede, a beautiful,
through them. In this narration the main clever, but selfish young sculptor. She
object is to read Dante's autobiography returns Agatha's kindness by exerting all
in the poem, to make out his character her powers of fascination upon Filippo,
as self-revealed, and to enter into his in- who, admiring her vivacity and not in-
spiration or spiritual life. The extracts,
sensible to her flatteries, drifts more and
of which there are many, are made with more into her society. Though neglected,
this view, many of the episodes being Agatha's sweetness and faith never fal-
passed over.
ter; her loving patience being at last re-
warded by Filippo's reawakened devotion,
B"
occaccio, Giovanni, As MAN AND Av- when he is forced to contrast the real
THOR, by John Addington Symonds. characters of the two women. Learning
(1895. ) A monograph in a hundred pages that while he is flirting with Mercede,
of fine learning and rare criticism, on one his wife is exposing her life by nursing
of the three founders of modern liter- the cholera patients on his estates, he
ature. ) Dante, first of the three, stood realizes, now that it may be lost to him,
within the shadow of mediæval theol- what Agatha's love has been. The book
ogy; Petrarch, comiirg next, initiated the ends with Filippo's abrupt departure to
Revival of Learning, - humanism, scholar- join her. Among the other leading char-
ship, the modern intellectual ideal. Boc- acters are Count Ricci, Mercede's father,
caccio was the founder of Greek studies, who is a fine old soldier, proud and pos-
and Petrarch's ablest lieutenant in the sessed of an iron will, coupled with much
pioneering work of the Revival of Learn- sweetness and gentleness; and Mr. Peter
ing. He created the novel; and though a Dow, who is a practical and lively Amer-
second only to Petrarch, as Petrarch was ican. This novel, published in 1888, has
a second only to Dante, in force of char- since been successfully dramatized by Mr.
acter and quality of genius, he ruled the Henderson.
course of Italian literature, and its far-
reaching influences, for three centuries.
was published in 1881. The story
Mr. Symonds devotes his monograph. turns on the well-worn incident of the
changing of two children in their cradles.
Doctor Antonio, by Giovanni Ruffini, The plot follows their development, the
is a novel of modern life, the scene gradual manifestation through charac-
of which is laid mainly in Italy, the ter of their true origin. Don John is
Such in outline is the story to which Dºn John, a novel by Jean Ingelow,


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236
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
(
ness.
admirably written, bearing about it the observation and deep feeling, and the
same atmosphere of simplicity and nobil- exciting history of the rebellion led by
ity that surrounds this author's poems. O'Brien, make it very interesting. The
Though a mere mention of the chief in- Irish nature is typified in the golden-
cident implies a poverty of invention, the haired heroine, Ellen, daughter of Squire
book is really one of unusual freshness Daly; in Connor, her brother, who joins
of imagination. The delineation of char- the “Young Irelanders”; and in Cousin
acter is delightfully delicate and exact; Anne of “Good Peoples' Hollow," who,
and the skill with which the puzzle of heedless of the precepts of political econ-
identity is treated leaves the reader in omy, rules her tenants with lavish kind-
the desired mood of doubt to the end of
On the other hand, the careful
the excellent story.
foresight of the Saxon race is well por-
trayed in John Thornely, and in Pelham,
Duchess Emilia, The, is a romantic
the eldest son of Squire Daly, who in-
story of modern Italian life; the
herits English characteristics from his
plot, which turns upon a love affair, be-
mother.
ing complicated with certain religious
considerations, and with the problems of
re-incarnation. All the actors are Italian
Catharine Furze, " by Mark Ruther-
ford; edited by his friend Reuben
except one New-Englander, of a mysti-
Shapcott. ” Published in 1893, this book
cal turn. The action is continuous, the
opens with a description of Easthorpe,
characters are striking, and the interest
the market town of the English Eastern
of the reader is held.
Midlands, in 1840. The two inns are
patronized by landlords, farmers, tenants,
Chaplain of the Fleet, The, by Wal-
ter Besant and James Rice. (1881. )
and commercial travelers; especially on
election days. The story centres about
This story opens on the last day of the
the life of Mr. and Mrs. Furze, and their
year 1750, and gives a detailed account
of the famous Liberties or Rules of the
daughter Catharine aged about nineteen.
old Fleet prison in London, and of the
Mike Catchpole, by an accident in the
Fleet marriages. These «Rules) were
factory of Mr. Furze, loses his eyesight.
houses in certain streets near the Fleet
Catharine, with a sense of justice, insists
Market, where prisoners for debt were
that he shall be made an apprentice in the
allowed to live, outside the prison, on
business. The girl is sent to school to
payment of fees. Among these prisoners
the Misses Ponsonby, who are very strict
were clergymen, who performed clandes-
in their religious habits and manner of
tine marriages. A regular trade sprang
instruction, and whose pupils are ques-
up, touters were employed to bring cli-
tioned upon the weekly sermon by the
ents, and every species of enormity was
preacher, Mr. Cardew. He has not learned
practiced. Gregory Shovel was
one of
the art of being happy with his wife; and
these clergy, and so plumed himself on
when he meets Catharine they discuss
his success in this iniquitous traffic that
Milton, Satan, and the divine eternal plan.
he took the name of “Chaplain of the
Cardew's presence is inspiriting to her.
Fleet, which gives the book its title,
Tom Catchpole, a clerk in her father's
- the whole plot turning upon one of
store, worships Catharine from afar. At
these Fleet marriages. This novel is
last he confesses his love, and she refuses
considered one of the best of those writ-
him. After her return from school she
ten under the firm-name of Besant 'and
finds life utterly uninteresting, having no
Rice.
scope for her powers. When she falls ill
and fades away, Cardew is sent for :
Castle Daly, by Annie Keary. Castle she tells him that he has saved her. «By
Daly, the most popular of Annie their love for each other they were both
Keary's stories, was published in 1875. saved. ” She takes up her life once more,
It relates the fortunes of an English and and the book ends without a climax
an Irish family. The scene is laid in almost without incident. Written with
Connemara, Ireland, during the famine an almost heartless impersonality, it is a
of 1846 and the formation and insurrec- | striking portraiture of that English lower
tion of the party of “Young Irelanders » middle-class life which Matthew Arnold
in 1846-49. The impartial delineation pronounced so deadly for mind and soul.
of the strong and weak points of Cel- It might be called a tragedy of the un-
tic character, the combination of acute fulfilled.


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SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
237
on
Day of Doom, The, by Michael Wiggles-
worth. When this poem was pub-
lished in 1662, Michael Wigglesworth
was only thirty-one,- young enough to
have had greater compassion on the un-
baptized infants and others whom he
condemned to eternal punishment. The
Day of Doom: or, A Poetical Descrip-
tion of the Great and Last Judgment,
with a short Discourse about Eternity,'
was the full title of this grim poem.
The taste of our ancestors was strangely
shown by their quickly buying up nine
editions of this work in America, and two
in England. Its narrow theology and
severity of style gave it a charm for those
inflexible Puritans, to find which, we of
to-day look in vain. It is said to have
been the most widely read book in Amer-
ica before the Revolution. The modern
reader finds the verse mere sing-song, the
metaphors forced, and the general tone
decidedly unpleasant. Some of the pass-
ages meant to be most impressive have
become merely ludicrous, and it seems
incredible that it could ever have been
taken seriously. It is merely a rhymed
catalogue of the punishments to be vis-
ited on those whose ways of life, or whose
theology, differed from the theology or
ways of life of the bard.
Epistle to Posterity, An, by Mrs. M.
E. W. Sherwood, (1897,) is a series
of pleasant reminiscences of one who has
found life an enjoyable experiment,”
and who has had unusual facilities for
meeting interesting people. The author
explains that she greeted with joy the
first green books which emanated from
Boz and the yellow-colored Thackerays. ”
When she had finished her studies at Mr.
Emerson's private school in Boston, her
father took her with him upon a business
trip across the Wisconsin prairies, dur-
ing which she met Martin Van Buren.
Among the interesting homes which she
visited were Marshfield, where she paid
girlish homage to her great host, Daniel
Webster; and the home in Watertown,
Massachusetts, where she learned to love
Maria White, the gracious first wife of
James Russell Lowell. She saw much
of Boston society in the days of its great-
est literary fame, and had a glimpse of
the Brook Farm Community. When her
father was sent to Congress, she made her
début in Washington society; and was a
frequent attendant at the levees of Pres-
ident Polk and President Taylor. In
Washington she renewed her friendship
with Webster, and met Henry Clay, and
“many of the young heroes destined later
to be world-renowned,” — Farragut,
Lee, Zachary Taylor, “and a quiet little
man who shrank out of sight,” known
later on as U. S. Grant. The conclusion
of the volume, the narration of her wed-
ding trip to the West Indies in the early
fifties; of her different trips to Europe,
including her presentation at the English
and the Italian courts; and of contem-
porary New York society,—though ani-
mated and anecdotal, is less interesting
than her pictures of social life in the Bos-
ton, Washington, and New York of forty
years ago.
Friend Olivia, by Amelia E. Barr. Mrs.
Barr possesses the rare talent of pro-
ducing in her stories that elusive quality
called «atmosphere. Whether reading of
Knickerbocker days, of the times of Bor-
der warfare, or, as in the present case, of
Roundhead and Cavalier, of Charles Stu-
art in Paris and Cromwell at Hampton
Court, one loses touch with the present,
to become for the time thoroughly imbued
with the charm of ancient story. ” (Friend
Olivia) deals with the last months of the
Protector's Commonwealth; with the op-
pression of the Quakers under the leader-
ship of the eloquent George Fox; with the
tragedies produced by unrest and suspi-
cion when religious intolerance flourished,
and political differences separated fam-
ily and friend: a dark background for a
charming love story — that of the modest
Quakeress, Olivia Prideaux, and her chival-
rous neighbor Nathaniel, only son of Baron
and Lady Kelder, strong advocates of
Cromwell and bitter enemies of the “cant-
ing » Quakers with their so-called affecta-
tions of dress and manner. The story is
laid in the coast village of Kelderby. In
those quiet streets pass the participants
in tragic scenes: the pirate and outlaw
John de Burg, his beautiful sister Anasta-
tia, and her hated husband; Roger Pri-
deaux on his way to prison, and others
no less noteworthy; and there, finally, as
on a miniature stage, are witnessed all
the scenes of humiliation, of hopes crushed
and expectations realized, when Cromwell
dies and King Charles returns to his own.
Donovan, a novel of modern English
life, by Edna Lyall, has for its sub-
ject a man's spiritual struggles from doubt
to faith. The hero, Donovan Farrant,
is well drawn, if somewhat conventional
2
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