Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880. by Various None (smart ebook reader .txt) 📕

Books At This Epoch,  When He Is Most Fitted To Enjoy Them. When Romance

And Other Delights Have Blankly Vanished--"Gone Glimmering Through The

Dreams Of Things That Were"--He Is Scarcely Fitted To Trust The Worth Of

His Own Impressions. Reading From Mere Idle Curiosity Or With Critical

Intentions,  And Reading With Delight,  With Eager Absorption In The Story

And An Eager Desire To Know How It Turns Out,  Are Two Different Matters.

The Loss Of This Capacity For Enjoyment Of The Every-Day Novel Is Not A

Subject For Self-Gratulation,  Coming As It Does From Our Own Absence Of

Imagination And From Narrowing Instead Of Increasing Powers. That Period

Of Our Existence When We Could Read Anything Which Offered Should Be

Looked Back Upon With A Feeling Of Purely Admiring Regret,  And In Our

Efforts To Master The Novel Of To-Day We Should Endeavor To Bring Back

The Glory And The Sweetness Of The Early Dream.

It Is Not So Very Long Ago That Mr. William Black'S Novels Began To

Charm Us. He Did Not Take Fame At A Single Leap,  But Wooed Her

Patiently,  And Suffered Many A Repulse. His First Book,  _Ion; Or,

Marriage_,  Was Probably The Very Worst Novel Ever Written By A Man Who

Was Finally To Make A Great Success. _The Daughter Of Heth_ Achieved

This Result,  And _The Strange Adventures Of A Phaeton,  A Princess Of

Thule_ And _Macleod Of Dar_ Deepened,  One By One,  The Witchery The

First Threw Over Us. The Author'S Power Was Especially Shown In

Investing His Maidens With Glamour And Piquancy: Coquette And Sheila Led

Their Captives Away From The Suffocating Dusts And The Burning Heats Of

Life. Then His Backgrounds Were So Well Chosen--Those Mysterious Reaches

Of The Far Northern Seas,  The Slow Twilights Over The Heaving Ocean,  The

Swift Dawns,  The Storms And The Lightnings,  And The Glad Blue Skies.

Even The Music Of The Bagpipes Inspired Lamentations Only Less Sweet

Than Notes Of Joy. Mr. Black Still Has Lovely Girls; His Yachts Still

Pitch And Roll And Scud Over The Tossed And Misty Hebridean Seas; There

Are The Same Magical Splendors Of Air And Sky And Water And Shores; The

Wail Of The Pibroch Is Heard As Of Yore--

    Dunvegan! Oh,  Dunvegan!

Why,  Then,  Is It That His Last Book Fails To Do More Than Arouse Dim

Memories Of Some Previous Enjoyment? Why Are His Violets Without

Perfume? Why Is His Music Vacant Of The Old Melodies?

In _Roy And Viola_,  On The Contrary,  Mrs. Forrester Is Seen At Her Best,

And Has Given Us A Book Of Lively Interest. The Situation In Some

Respects Suggests That Of _Daniel Deronda:_ D'Arcy Is A Sort Of

Grandcourt Cheapened And Made Popular,  Acting Out His Instincts Of

Tyranny And Brutality With More Ostentation And Less Good Taste. What Is

Subtly Indicated By George Eliot Is Given With Profuse Effect By The

Present Writer. Viola,  If Not A Gwendolen,  Is Yet An Unloving Wife. Sir

Douglas Roy Plays A Somewhat Difficult Role--That Of Friend To The

Husband And Undeclared Lover To The Wife--Without Losing Our Respect. He

Is In Many Ways A Successful Hero,  And Acts His Part Without Either

Insipidity Or Priggishness. A Genial Optimist Like Mrs. Forrester,  As

Her Old Readers May Well Believe,  Sacrifices To A Hopelessly Unhappy

Marriage No Lot Which Interests Us. Disagreeable Husbands Die At An

Auspicious Moment,  And Everybody Is Finally Made Happy In His Or Her Own

Way,  Which Includes The Possession Of Plenty Of Money. The Conversations

Are Piquant,  And The Interest Of The Story Is Well Kept Up.

_The Wellfields_ Is A Falling Off From _Probation_,  Which In Its Turn

Was A Distinct Falling-Off From Miss Fothergill'S Initial Story,  _The

First Violin_. The Characters Are Dim,  Intangible,  Remote,  Possessing No

Reality Even At The Outset,  And As They Progress Becoming Even More

Estranged From Our Belief And Sympathy. Jerome Is Too Feeble To Arouse

Even Our Resentment,  Which We Mildly Expend On Sara Instead For

Displaying Grief For So Poor A Creature. When An Author Publishes One

Successful Book,  It Should Be A Matter Of Serious Thought Whether It Is

Not Worth While To Make Such A Triumph The Crowning Event Of His Or Her

Destiny,  Lest Fate Should Have In Reserve The Tedious Trials Which Await

Those Who Are Compelled To Hear That Their Sun Has Set.

Mrs. Walford'S Last Book Has,  In a Measure,  Retrieved A Certain

Reputation For Interest Which Her _Cousins_ Had Lost. In _Troublesome

Daughters_,  However,  One Looks In Vain For The Fulfilment Of The Promise

Of _Mr. Smith_ And Her Delightful _Van: A Summer Romance_.

In _Brigitta_ We Find Enough Of Auerbach'S Charm To Like The Story,

Simple As It Is. It Recalls His Greater Books Only By The Fidelity Of

The Tone And The Clearness Of The Pictures. Xander Is Well Drawn,  And

The Tragedy Of His Life,  Portrayed As It Is By Those Few Strong Touches

Which Reveal The Real Artist,  Is Profoundly Impressive.

------

_New Books Received._

Geo. P. Rowell & Co.'S American Newspaper Directory,  Containing Accurate

Lists Of All The Newspapers And Periodicals Published In The United

States,  Territories And The Dominion Of Canada,  Together With A

Description Of The Towns And Cities In Which They Are Published. New

York: George P. Rowell & Co.

The Skin In Health And Disease. By L. Duncan Bulkley,  M.D. (American

Health Primers.) Philadelphia: Presley Blakiston.

The Confessions Of A Frivolous Girl. Edited By Robert Grant. Vignette

Illustrations. Boston: A. Williams & Co.

The Life And Public Services Of James A. Garfield. By Major J.M. Bundy.

New York: A.D. Barnes & Co.

The Mystery Of Allanwold. By Mrs. Elizabeth Van Loon. Philadelphia: T.

B. Peterson & Brothers.

Political And Legal Remedies For War. By Sheldon Amos,  M.A. New York:

Harper & Brothers.

Mary Anerley: A Yorkshire Tale. By R.D. Blackmore. New York: Harper &

Brothers.

A Selection Of Spiritual Songs,  With Music For The Sunday-School. New

York: Scribner & Co.

[Footnote 1: I Use Here The Official Nomenclature Of Pennsylvania: By

Whatever Title The Local Officials Are Known In The Various States,  The

General Fact Is Of Course The Same In all.]

[Footnote 2: In Some Tests Given In Richards' _Treatise On Coal Gas_ (P.

293) The Following Results Were Shown: Obstruction Of Light By--

  A      Clear               Glass  Globe,  About 12  Per Cent.

  An    Engraved              "     "      "     24     "

  Obscured  All     Over      "     "      "     40     "

  Opal       "       "        "     "      "     60     "

  Painted    "       "        "     "      "     64     "               ]

[Footnote 3: There Is A Recent Method Of Adding Carbon To The Gas Which

Is Not Liable To The Objection Of Clogging The Pipes. By A Small

Apparatus A Stick Of Naphthaline Is Attached To The Burner So As To Be

Slowly Vaporized. It Is Not Yet In The Hands Of Dealers In

Gas-Fixtures.]

[Footnote 4: Our Narrative Is Drawn From The _Libra Del Passo Honroso,

Defendido Por El Excelente Caballero Suero De Quinones,  Copilado De Un

Libro Antiguo De Mano Por Fr. Juan De Pineda,  Religiose De La Orden De

San Francisco. Segunda Edicion_. Madrid,  1783,  In The _Cronicas

Espanolas_,  Vol. V.]

[Footnote 5: In Modern French,  _Il Faut Delivrer_--"It Is Necessary To

Release," Referring To The Chain Worn By Quinones.]

[Footnote 6: "If It Does Not Please You To Show Moderation,  I Say,  In

Truth,  That I Am Unfortunate."]

[Footnote 7: Prosper Merimee,  In a Note To His _History Of Peter The

Cruel_ (London,  1849,  Vol. I.,  P. 35),  Says,  Referring To The Above

Episode,  "I Do Not Think That At That Period An Example Of Similar

Condescension Could Be Found Anywhere Except In Spain. A Century Later

The _Chevalier Sans Peur Et Sans Reproche_,  The Valiant Bayard,  Refused

To Mount A Breach In company With Lansquenets."]

[Footnote 8: Beginning,  "Libera Me,  Domine,  De Morte Aeterna," Etc.]

[Footnote 9: The Church As Early As 1131 (Council Of Rheims) Endeavored

To Prevent These Dangerous Amusements By Denying Burial In consecrated

Ground With Funeral Rites To Those Who Were Killed In Tournaments.]

[Footnote 10: Puymaigre Explains This Almost Total Absence Of Frenchmen

By The Fact That In 1434 The Wars Between Charles Vii And The English

Were Being Waged. The English Pilgrims To Santiago (The Large Number Of

Whom We Have Previously Mentioned) Were Probably Non-Combatants.]

Publication Date: 05-25-2014

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