with much fidelity- not to mention Elizabeth's peasant costume: her short red petticoat, reindeer trousers, squirrel-skin boots, and fur bonnet. A less virile writer than Madame de Staël, Madame Cottin nevertheless helped to pave the way for the romantic school in France; her best work coming between The Genius of Christianity' and the Meditations.>

Cossack Fairy Tales. This collection

of folk-lore was selected, edited, and translated from the Ruthenian by R. Nisbet Bain, and published in 1894. The Ruthenian or Cossack language, though proscribed by the Russian government, is spoken by more than twenty million people. There are in the original three important collections of folk-tales, from which Mr. Bain has made a representative selection for translation. There are, Slavonic scholars maintain, certain elements in these stories found in the folklore of no other European people. Among these may be mentioned the magic handkerchief, which causes a bridge across the sea to appear before a fugitive, or a forest to spring up in his rear delaying his pursuer. There is the magic egg, which produces a herd of cattle when broken; and the magic whip, which can expel evil spirits. Many elements and episodes common to other mythologies are found, however. There are, for example, Cossack versions of Cinderella, and the woman who took her pig to market. One tale of a Tsar expelled by an angel is an almost literal rendering of King Robert of Sicily, with Cossack coloring. There is a Samson-like hero, who reveals the secret of his strength; and an episode of a man in a fish's belly, which resembles Hiawatha and the sturgeon rather than Jonah and the whale.

The

The serpent figures prominently in these stories; and is generally, though by no means invariably, malign, and always represents superior intellectual power. The women are frequently treacherous, especially when beguiled by the serpent; but it is interesting to notice the number of men who cannot keep a secret. lower animals are always friendly to man, and frequently assist him in performing difficult tasks. The whole tenor of the stories is charmingly naif and inconsequent; among the vampires and magic fires it is somewhat startling to encounter guns and passports. The style is simple and poetic, especially in "The Little

225

Tsar Novishny,' perhaps the prettiest and most characteristic story of all.

Coss

His

ossacks, The, by Tolstoy. This Russian romance is a series of picturesque studies on the life of the Cossacks of the Terek, rather than a romance. The slight love story that runs through it simply serves as an excuse for the author's graphic descriptions of strange scenes and strange peoples. The hero, Olenin, is a ruined young noble, who, to escape his creditors and begin a new life, enters a sotnia of Cossacks as ensign. One fine night he leaves Moscow; and at the first station on his way, he begins already to dream of battles, glory, and of some divinely beautiful but half-savage maiden, whom he will tame and polish. arrival at the camp of his regiment on the Terek gives occasion for a fascinating and most realistic picture of the wild races he meets so suddenly. The young ensign falls in at once with his half-savage maiden, a tall, statuesque girl, with red lips, a rose-colored undergarment, and a blue jacket, who looks back at him with a frightened air as she runs after the buffalo she is trying to milk. As he is lodging with her parents, he sets about taming her immediately. But he has a rival, young Lukashka, whose threadbare kaftan and bearskin shako had long before captivated the fair Marianka. The love affairs of the rivals, whom she treats impartially, although she has already made up her mind, go on in the midst of hunting, ambuscade, and battle, which are the real subjects of the book. At last Olenin discovers that he is too civilized for Marianka. "Ah!" he says to himself, "if I were a Cossack like Lukashka, got drunk, stole horses, assassinated now and then for a little change, she would understand me, and I should be happy. But the cruelty and the sweetness of it is that I understand her and she will never understand me." The young Cossack is wounded in battle; and the ensign, not displaying much emotion at this calamity, receives a look from Marianka that tells him his company is no longer desirable: so he decides to exchange into another sotnia. Tolstoy's pictures of the rough life of the Cossacks have a wonderful charm. The story is particularly interesting as showing the first germs of the altruistic philosophy which Count Tolstoy has developed into a vigorous system of self-renunciation, and almost a cult.

Death

eath of Ivan Ilyitch, The, and Other Stories, by Count Lyof N. Tolstoy, contains a series of short stories which represent the latest phase in the evolution of the author's peculiar views. With the exception of The Death of Ivan Ilyitch,' a sombre and powerful study of the insidious progress of fatal disease, and a vehicle of religious philosophy, these tales were written as tracts for the people, illustrated in many cases with quaint wood-cuts; aiming to bring a word of cheer and comfort to the poorer classes oppressed by Russian despotism. The second story, 'If You Neglect the Fire, You Don't Put It Out,' describes a trivial neighborhood quarrel resulting in ruin. Where Love Is, there God Is Also › is the study of a humble shoemaker who blames God for the death of his child, but reaches peace through the New Testament. (A Candle' and 'Two Old Men,' told in a few pages, point a wide moral. Six Texts for Wood-Cuts,' the titles of which suggest the subject of each cut, follow. Under the heading of 'Popular Legends' are the subjects How the Little Devil Earned a Crust of Bread'; (The Repentant Sinner'; 'A Seed as Big as a Hen's Egg'; and Does a Man Need Much Land?'

Ekkehard, by Joseph Victor von Schef

fel, is a story told by one who believed in the "union of poetry and fiction." To him "the characters of the past arose from out the mist of years, and bade him clothe them anew in living form to please his own and succeeding generations." The time is the tenth century, the century of King Canute's conquest of England. The hero, Ekkehard, is a young Benedictine monk of the holy house of St. Gall, in Suabia, a house whose abbot is an old man named Cralo. The abbot is a distant cousin to Hadwig, countess of Suabia, whose deceased lord, Burkhard, had been a tyrannical old nobleman who in his dotage wedded Hadwig, a fair daughter of Bavaria, who had entered into the alliance to please her father. At Burkhard's death the emperor has declared that the countess shall hold her husband's fiefs so long as she does not marry again. But the countess, young, beautiful, rich, and idle, -in a moment of recklessness decides to visit the monastery of St. Gall, which has a rule that woman's foot must never step across its threshold; and while

the countess waits without, and Cralo and his monks discuss what should be done, the ready-witted young Ekkehard suggests that some one carry the countess across the portal. He is deputed to do so; and from the hour when he takes her into his arms, the poet-monk loves the Countess Hadwig. Later, when he is sent to be her tutor, despite his selfrestraint he reveals his love to her. He is as "the moth fluttering around a candle.» Fleeing love's temptations, Ekkehard goes far up into the mountains with his lyre, and amid the snow-capped peaks, sings his master-song. This he transcribes, and tying it to an arrow, he shoots it so that it falls at the countess's feet. It is his parting gift. He journeys into the world, his songs making a welcome for him everywhere; and in her halls the countess keeps his memory to fill her lonely hours. In 1885 the story had reached its eighty-sixth edition in the original German, while innumerable translations have been made into English. Though Scheffel gave the world other volumes of prose and poetry, none is so well known, or considered so good.

Hero

ero of Our Times, A, by Mikhail Lermontof. The novel portrays the vices of the modern Russian of rank, fashion, and adventure, and his utter selfishness and want of principle and conscience. The story takes the form of a series of tales, of which the libertine Petchorin, and his unhappy victims, mostly confiding women, are the subjects. Lermontof was a great admirer of Byron; and the fascinating Petchorin, the rascal of the stories, with his mysterious attractiveness, strongly resembles Don Juan. The publication of the story excited much controversy; and was the cause of the duel in which the author was killed in 1841. Many people claimed that Petchorin was a portrait; but the author distinctly states that he is not the portrait of any person, but personifies the vices of the whole generation. The author does not set himself up as a reformer, his idea being simply to denounce evil.

with his father, Thor Gunnarson, and his grandmother, old Gunhild. Gunnar's mother, Birgit, having died when he was a baby, his father and grandmother bring him up carefully; and the latter fills his mind with stories of Huldre and Necken, and other strange creations of Norse mythology. As his father Thor is only a houseman or rent-payer, a sharp distinction is drawn between him and the famiilies of the neighboring gaardmen or landowners. One of the chief of these is Atle Larsson, Thor's landlord and the leading man in the parish. As Gunnar grows up, he falls in love with the beautiful Ragnhild, "a birch in the pine forest," niece of Atle, and daughter of his haughty sister, Ingeborg Rimul. It is the love affair of Gunnar and Ragnhild which forms the texture of the story, its troubled course, the dangers encountered, the loyalty and patience of the lovers. 'Gunnar carries the reader into an unfamiliar world of romance and poetry, where he comes in contact with the minds of the simple Norwegian peasants, with their beliefs in fairies and other mystical beings. Many of their customs are described: the games of St. John's Eve, the ski race, the wedding festivities at Peer Berg's, and some of the religious ceremonies, such as those attending confirmation.

Her [ereward the Wake, by the Rev. Charles Kingsley. Mr. Kingsley was Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, on the very site of his story. The author's propaganda of the religion of rugged strength also made him quite at home in his theme.

The story, which is largely based on the old ballads and chronicles, opens near the end of the reign of Edward the Confessor, when Hereward is made a "wake" or outlaw; and the tales of his wanderings, his freaks, and feats of arms, in the North, in Cornwall, in Ireland, and Flanders, have their foundation in the old English records. The author tells in dramatic style how the hero returns from Flanders, and begins his daring resistance to the Normans; running the gauntlet of William's most skillful generals, and at last meeting and defeating the forces of the great master. Hereward's strategy and daring elicits the admiration of the stern Con

queror himself. The story of the de

227

fense of the Camp of Refuge at Ely, and the successes attending the arms of the little band of patriots in that fen country; the sacking of Peterborougn by the Danes; the last stand made by Hereward in the forest, are all graphically described. Mr. Kingsley is liberal sometimes in his allowance of redeeming faults to his virtuous characters; yet, in the fall of Hereward, he forcibly impresses the lesson that loss of self-respect is fatal to noble effort.

There are fine passages in the book; and the mourning of the stricken Torfrida and the true-hearted Martin Lightfoot over the defeated Hereward is full of pathos. The genial abbot of Peterborough, Uncle Brand, and Earl Leofric, are agreeably sketched. Ivo Taillebois is true to life, or rather to the chronicles and ballads; and William himself is well drawn. The novel is a book for Englishmen, and helps to popularize their heroic traditions; but it is of interest to all those who cherish the ideals of manliness and heroism. The story was first published in Good Words in 1866.

Hous

use of the Wolfings, The, by William Morris. "The tale tells that in times long past, there was a dwelling of men beside a great wood." Thus does the first sentence of the book take us into the atmosphere-half real, half mystical, and wholly poetic — which pervades the entire story. These "men" belonged to one of the Germanic tribes of Central Europe. Round about this "great wood" were three settlements or "Marks, each mark containing many Houses; and it is with the House of the Wolfings of Mid-mark that the tale chiefly deals.

The chief of the Wolfings was Thiodolf, the wisest man, and of heart most dauntless. Hall-Sun, his daughter, exceeding 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, anu how the Hall-Sun advises the Stay-atHomes by means of her wonderful insight. 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

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 WoodSun, 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 hallow 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.

The style of the author, the quaint and simple English, molded frequently into a beautiful chant or song, makes The House of the Wolfings' a most artistic and attractive tale.

Chastelard, by Algernon Charles Swin

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," promises Chastelard to arrange a meeting between 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 desertion 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 convinced 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

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 Bothwell.

In Chastelard Swinburne has portrayed a fickle, heartless, vain, and beautiful queen; and in the few touches given to a character of secondary importance, has delicately and distinctly drawn Mary Beaton. The male characters 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 sustained an intensity, for the stage. The style is essentially lyric, full of exquisite 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. was published in 1869.

It

Rou
Roundabout Papers, The, by William

Makepeace Thackeray. Thackeray undertook the editorship of the Cornhill Magazine; in the year 1859. The Roundabout Papers' were sketches for the magazine, coming out simultaneously, between 1859 and 1863, with Lovel the Widower' and 'The Adventures of Philip.' They represent Thackeray's best qualities as 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 Bubble. One of the papers, The Notch on the Axe, 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 sensational novel. The essay On a Joke I Once Heard from the Late Thomas Hood' is a cordial tribute to that poet's memory, 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 magazine 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

cushion of the editorial chair? It is there. Ah! it stings me now as I write. It comes with almost every morning's post. . . . They don't sting quite so

Joe Bagstock, the major. The scene is laid in England at the time the novel was published, in 1848.

and they bite, after all, most wickedly.

. . Ah me! we wound where we never intended to strike; we create anger where we never meant harm, and these thoughts are the thorns in our cushion.» Thackeray, in fact, resigned the position of editor in 1862, though he continued to write for the magazine as long as he lived.

ombey and Son, by Charles Dickens.

Dom

The story opens with the death of Mrs. Dombey, who has left her husband the proud possessor of a baby son and heir. He neglects his daughter Florence and loves Paul, in whom all his ambitions and worldly hopes are centred; but the boy dies. Mr. Dombey marries a beautiful woman, who is as cold and proud as he, and who has sold herself to him to escape from a designing mother. She grows fond of Florence, and this friendship is so displeasing to Mr. Dombey that he tries to humble her by remonstrating through Mr. Carker, his business manager and friend. This crafty villain, realizing his power, goads her beyond endurance, and she demands a separation from Mr. Dombey, but is refused. After an angry interview, she determines upon a bold stroke and disgraces her husband by pretending to elope with Carker to France, where she meets him once, shames and defies him and escapes. Mr. Dombey, after spurning Florence, whom he considers the cause of his trouble, follows Carker in hot haste. They encounter each other without warning at a railway station, and as Carker is crossing the tracks he falls and is instantly killed by an express train. Florence seeks refuge with an old sea-captain whom her little brother, Paul, has been fond of, marries Walter Gay, the friend of her childhood, and they go to sea. After the failure of Dombey, and Son, when Mr. Dombey's pride is humbled and he is left desolate, Florence returns and takes care of him. The characters in the book not immediately concerned in the plot, but famous for their peculiar qualities, are Captain Cuttle, Florence's kind protector, who has a nautical manner of expression; Sol Gills, Walter's uncle; Mr. Toots, who suffers from shyness and love; and

says Charles Dickens in his preface to this immortal novel, "I like this the best. . . . Like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favorite child. And his name is David Copperfield.» When David Copperfield' appeared in 1850, after 'Dombey and Son and before Bleak House,' it became so popular that its only rival was (Pickwick. Beneath the fiction lies much of the author's personal life, yet it is not an autobiography. The story treats of David's sad experiences as a child, his youth at school, and his struggles for a livelihood, and leaves him in early manhood, prosperous and happily married. Pathos, humor, and skill in delineation, give vitality to this remarkable work; and nowhere has Dickens filled his canvas with more vivid and diversified characters. Forster says that the author's favorites were the Peggotty family, composed of David's nurse Peggotty, who was married to Barkis, the carrier; Dan'el Peggotty, her brother, a Yarmouth fisherman; Ham Peggotty, his nephew; the doleful Mrs. Gummidge; and Little Em'ly, ruined by David's schoolmate, Steerforth. "It has been their fate," says Forster, "as with all the leading figures of his invention, to pass their names into the language and become types; and he has nowhere given happier embodiment to that purity of homely goodness, which, by the kindly and all-reconciling influ ences of humor, may exalt into comeliness and even grandeur the clumsiest forms of humanity."

Miss Betsy Trotwood, David's aunt; the half-mad but mild Mr. Dick; Mrs. Copperfield, David's mother; Murdstone, his brutal stepfather; Miss Murdstone, that stepfather's sister; Mr. Spenlow and his daughter Dora,- David's "childwife"; - Steerforth, Rosa Dartle, Mrs. Steerforth, Mr. Wickfield, his daughter Agnes (David's second wife), and the Micawber family, are the persons around whom the interest revolves. A host of minor characters, such as the comical little dwarf hair-dresser, Miss Mowcher, Mr. Mell, Mr. Creakle, Tommy Traddles, Uriah Heep, Dr. Strong, Mrs. Markleham, and others, are portrayed with the same vivid strokes,