the match, and Trilby, after saying yes, decides it to be her duty to refuse, which drives her lover into a brain fever. Amongst the bohemians who frequent the studio is Svengali, an Austrian Jew, who is of repulsive character but a gifted musician. He is attracted by Trilby, and discovers that she has the making of a splendid singer He half repels, half fascinates her; and by the use of hypnotic power forces her to go away with him. She wins fame as a concert artist, always singing in a sort of hypnotic trance under his influence. The three artists, visiting Paris after a five years' absence, attend one of these performances, and are astounded to recognize Trilby. Svengali, now rich and prosperous, dies suddenly at a concert while Trilby is singing; and she, missing his hypnotic influence, loses her power to sing, goes into a decline, and dies, surrounded by her old friends. Little Billee, heart-broken, also dies, though not before he has won reputation as an artist. The final pages form a sort of postscript twenty years after, telling of the fate of the subsidiary characters. The main interest is over with Trilby's death.

Vicar of

Wakefield, The, Oliver Goldsmith's famous story, was published in 1766. Washington Irving said. of it: "The irresistible charm this novel possesses, evinces how much may be done without the aid of extravagant incident to excite the imagination and interest the feelings. Few productions of the kind afford greater amusement in the perusal, and still fewer inculcate more impressive lessons of morality." The character of the Vicar, Dr. Primrose, gives the chief interest to the tale. His weaknesses and literary vanity are attractive; and he rises to heights almost sublime when misfortune overtakes his family. The other actors in the simple drama are Mrs. Primrose, with her boasted domestic qualities and her anxiety to appear genteel; the two daughters, Olivia and Sophia; and the two sons, George, bred at Oxford, and Moses, who "received a sort of miscellaneous education at home,»-all of whom the Vicar says were "equally generous, credulous, simple, and inoffensive.» Squire Thornhill resides near the family, and elopes with Olivia, to the great distress of the Vicar. He suspects Mr.

Burchell, who turns out to be Sir Will iam Thornhill, the uncle of the young Squire. Sir William asks for Sophia's hand, and sets right the family misfortunes. Numerous pathetic and humorous incidents arise out of the story. Among the latter is that of the family picture, which, when finished, was too large for the house. Mrs. Primrose was painted as Venus, the Vicar in bands and gown, presenting to her his books on the Whistonian controversy; Olivia was an "Amazon sitting upon a bank of flowers, dressed in a green joseph, richly laced with gold, and a whip in her hand; Sophia, a shepherdess; Moses, dressed out with a hat and white feather»; while the Squire "insisted on being put in as one of the family in the character of Alexander the Great, at Olivia's feet." Austin Dobson says that the Vicar of Wakefield "remains and will continue to be one of the first of our English classics.»

Speed The Plough, by Thomas Mor

ton. To this comedy, first produced in 1796, we owe one of our bestknown characters, - the redoubtable Mrs. Grundy. Here as elsewhere she is invisible; and it is what she may say, not what she does say, that Dame Ashfield fears. Farmer Ashfield has brought up from infancy a young man named Henry, whose parentage is unknown. Sir Philip Blandford, Ashfield's landlord, is about to return after many years' absence, to marry his daughter Emma to Bob Handy, who "can do everything but earn his bread.» Sir Abel, Bob's father, is to pay all Blandford's debts. In a plowing-match, Henry wins the prize, and Emma bestows the medal. It is a case of love at first sight. Sir Philip hates Henry, and orders Ashfield to turn him from his doors, but he refuses. Sir Philip is about to force Ashfield to discharge a debt, when a man named Morrington gives Henry the note of Sir Philip for more than the amount. Henry destroys it, when Sir Philip declares that Morrington, whom he has never seen, has by encouraging Sir Philip's vices when young, possessed himself of enough notes to more than exhaust Sir Philip's fortune. Sir Philip confides his secret to Bob. He was to marry a young girl, when he found her about to elope with his brother Charles. He killed Charles, and

hid the knife and a bloody cloth in a part of the castle which he has never visited since. Sir Abel, in experimenting with a substitute for gun-powder, sets the castle on fire. Henry saves Emma from the flames; and breaking into the secret room, brings forth the knife and cloth. Morrington appears, and proves to be Sir Philip's brother and Henry's father. To atone for the wrong done his brother, he had gathered all the notes which his brother had given to usurers, and now gives them to him. Bob marries Susan, Ashfield's daughter, whom he was about to desert for Emma; and the latter is married to Henry.

Two Years Before the Mast, by RichThis personal

ard Henry Dana.

narrative of a sailor's life is probably the most truthful and accurate work of its character ever written. Although originally published in 1840, the production of a youth just out of college, it still holds its charm and its popularity in the face of all rivals and successors. The author, upon graduating from Harvard College in the year 1837, at the age of twenty-two, was forced to suspend his studies on account of an affection of his eyes. Having a strong passion for the sea, he shipped "before the mast >>>> upon the brig Pilgrim for a voyage around Cape Horn on a trading trip for hides to California. After rounding the Horn the Pilgrim touched at Juan Fernandez; the next land sighted being California, then inhabited only by Indians and a few Spaniards. She visited Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and finally San Diego, the depot of the business. Here Dana remained several months ashore, handling and curing hides. He did not return home in the Pilgrim, but upon the arrival of the ship Alert, consigned by the same owners, he procured an exchange to her. The voyage home in this vessel is graphically described. While aboard of her Dana touched at San Francisco, where, except the Presidio, there then existed one wooden shanty only. This was afterwards rebuilt as a one-story adobe house; and long remained as the oldest building in the now great city.

The book contains a straightforward and manly account of the life of a foremast hand at that date; and it gives in detail the adventures, hardships, and too

often brutalities, which accompany a seaman's life. Mr. Dana sets forth from his own personal experience the thoughts, feelings, enjoyments, and sufferings, as well as the real life and character, of the common seaman. In reading it one finds more than the ordinary record of a sea voyage; for there runs through the simple and lucid narrative an element of beauty and power which gives it the charm of romance. The book was immediately successful, passed through many editions, was adopted by the British Board of Admiralty for distribution to the navy, and was translated into many Continental languages. In 1869 the author added a supplementary chapter giving an account of a second visit to California, and the subsequent history of many of the persons and vessels mentioned in the original work. William Cullen Bryant, who procured the first publication of the book, recommended it to the publishers as "equal to Robinson Crusoe »; and the event has justified his forecast, with the additional merit that the story is absolutely real and truthful.

Till Eulenspiegel. The origin of this

book of the adventures of Till Eulenspiegel is doubtful. It is supposed that these stories were collected and first published in Low Dutch, in the year 1483. The hero of them, whose first name was Till or Thyl, was a traveling buffoon, who, besides presenting farces and the like, was a practical joker. The name of Eulenspiegel probably comes from a picture or coat of arms which he left after perpetrating a joke, which consisted of an owl (Eule) and a mirror (Spiegel), and which is to-day shown, on what is said to be his gravestone, in Lüneburg.

The motive of many of the jokes is the literal interpretation by Till of what he is told to do; something after the style of Handy Andy, except that Till's misinterpretations are not the result of simplicity. Many of them are very filthy, while others would to-day be considered crimes and not jokes. It is difficult to understand how this book could have had a popularity which has caused it to be translated into many languages. It is to-day only appreciated as a curious picture of the tastes and customs of its time. It differs from like books of southern Europe in that none of the stories are founded on amorous intrigues,

Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist, by Henry Cockton. This novel has enjoyed popularity since the time of its publication. Its hero, Valentine Vox, a young English gentleman living at home with his mother, a rich widow, is struck with admiration of the ventriloquism of an itinerant juggler and magician who visits his native place. To his delight, he finds that he himself possesses the ventriloquial power; and by a diligent course of training he perfects himself in it. On a trip to London Valentine visits the House of Commons, the opera, Gravesend, the British Museum, Guildhall, a masquerade at Vauxhall, the "Zoo," the Ascot races, etc.; and wherever he goes he indulges his propensity for practical joking to the fullest extent One adventure follows another with breathless rapidity. With the whole is inwoven a love story, not of a very profound nature. There is no plot; and the incidents are a harum-scarum collection of disjointed happenings, while the book has little literary merit. But the roistering and uproarious fun that fills the thick volume makes it a welcome companion to most young people "from sixteen to sixty."

Typee

and Omoo, by Herman Melville. The first-named work, Typee,' a famous book, the forerunner of all SouthSea romances, the most charming of all, and the source of many new words in our vocabulary, like taboo, is a narrative of the author's enforced sojourn, in the summer of 1842, among the cannibal Typees on one of the Marquesas Islands. It appeared simultaneously in New York and London, and won everywhere the highest praise. With Toby, another young sailor, Melville deserted from the steamship Dolly, in Nukaheva Bay, intending to seek asylum with the friendly

servant Kory-Kory, petted by a score of beauteous dusky damsels, and especially adored by the incomparable Fayaway. But discontent lurked in his bosom, and at length, to the sorrow and even against the will of his hosts,-poor Fayaway was quite inconsolable,- he contrived to make his escape on a Sydney whaler which was short of men.

'Omoo' (The Rover) continues our author's adventures, changing the scene to Tahiti, whither the steamer Julia proceeded. While in Papeetee harbor Melville and a new friend, Dr. "Long Ghost," joined some malcontents among the crew, who had a grievance against the captain, and were put ashore. Wilson, the high-handed English consul, ordered them into the "calaboza," where, with not too much to eat, they stayed several weeks under the benevolent custody of Captain Bob, an old native. They were finally helped away to Imeeo, a neighboring island, by two planters who wished to engage them as farm hands. Digging in the ground with primitive hoes proved not to their tastes, however; and they soon departed for Taloo, where they were hospitably treated by "Deacon » Jeremiah Po-Po, a native convert. They attended church, participated in a feast, visited a royal palace under care of a pretty little maid of honor, caught a glimpse of Queen Pomaree, and otherwise enjoyed themselves, until, a Vineyard whaler appearing, Melville bade farewell to Dr. "Long Ghost," and sailed away. In these two books the author has succeeded in his stated purpose of conveying some idea of novel scenes that frequently occur among whaling crews in the South Pacific, and in giving a familiar account of the condition of the converted Polynesians.

arrived in Typee Valley. They were well received there, however, were given abundant food (eaten under some apprehensions that they were being fattened), and except that their attempts to depart were frowned on, they had no cause to complain. After about a month Toby became separated from his comrade, and was taken off the island in a passing ship. For four months Melville lived an indolent, luxurious life in a sort of terrestrial paradise, with nothing to do, plenty to eat, waited on by a body

kell. (1865.) This is a delightful story of country life in England. It follows Molly Gibson through all the various experiences of her girlhood, beginning with her life as a child alone with her father, the doctor, in the village; describing her visits and friendships in the neighborhood, and finally.. after her father has married again, her new life with the second Mrs. Gibson and her daughter Cynthia. The characters are unusually interesting and well drawn, with humor and sympathetic

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. There is the great family at the Towers, the members of which patronize the villagers, and furnish them with food for speculation and gossip; and then, besides the doctor and his family, there is Miss Browning, Miss Phoebe, and the other funny old ladies of the town. Mrs. Gibson's character is wonderfully depicted. She is one of those delicate, yielding women, with an iron will carefully concealed; and she is diplomatic enough to feign a sweetness of disposition she does not possess. She has little heart or sense of duty; and her child Cynthia, though fascinating and brilliant, is the sort of girl one would expect from careless bringing up and continued neglect. Molly's untiring patience towards Mrs. Gibson, and her generous devotion to Cynthia, even at the expense of her own happiness, endear her to every one; and though Mrs. Gaskell died before the completion of the story, we are told that she intended Roger to marry Molly. As Molly has long loved him, we may suppose that her troubles at length end happily.

Sir Charles Grandison, Samuel Rich

ardson's third and last novel, was published in 1754, when the author was sixty-five years of age. In it he essayed to draw the portrait of what he conceived to be an ideal gentleman of the period, the eighteenth century. The result was that he presented the world, not at all with the admirable figure he had intended, but with an insufferable prig surrounded by a bevy of worshiping ladies. The novel, both in character-drawing and story-interest, is much below his earlier work. (Sir Charles Grandison shows his genius in its decline, after the brilliant earlier successes. The plot is neither intricate nor interesting. It centres in the very proper wooing of Harriet Byron by the hero; who wins her, as the reader has no doubt he will, and who in the course of his wooing exhibits towards her and her sex an unexampled chivalry which strikes one as unnatural. Grandison has everything in his favor,-money, birth,

good looks, high principle, and universal success; and one cannot help wishing this impossible paragon to come down off his high horse, and be natural, even at the expense of being naughty. The novelist overreached himself in this fiction, which added nothing to the fame of the creator of Pamela' and 'Clarissa. Richardson had sympathy for and insight into the heart feminine, but for the most part failed egregiously with men,- though Lovelace in 'Clarissa Harlowe is an exception. Like all his novels, Sir Charles Grandison' is written in epistolary form.

Undine, by De La Motte Fouqué.

(1814.) This is a fanciful German tale, well known for its beauty of conception and expression. Sir Huldbrand of Ringstetten is obliged to explore an enchanted forest to win fair Bertalda's glove. At the end of a day full of mysterious adventures in the forest, he rides out upon a lonely promontory of land, where an old fisherman and his wife give him shelter. Years before they had lost their own child by the lake, and afterwards a beautiful little girl had come to them: it was the waterspirit Undine. She is now eighteen years old; and when she sees the handsome knight she falls in love with him, and causes the elements to detain him many days at their cottage. The storms. send a priest to land, and he marries. Undine and Sir Huldbrand. Undine had been a lovely but irresponsible creature to the day of her wedding, but: after her marriage she becomes possessed of a soul through their mutual love. The waters having subsided, Sir Huldbrand carries his bride back to the city, where Bertalda and Undine become warm friends. The water-spirit Kühleborn warns Undine against Bertalda; but when it is discovered that Bertalda. is the fisherman's daughter, Undine pities. her, and takes her home to the castle at Ringstetten. There Bertalda wins Huldbrand's heart from Undine, and she is very unhappy. Undine tries to save her husband and Bertalda, but the waterspirits become enraged against him; and when they are all in a boat sailing to Vienna, Undine vanishes under the water. On the night that Huldbrand marries Bertalda, Undine arises from the fountain in the court, sweeps into his room, and fulfills the laws of her destiny by a