THE END.
Leon lay there a long time, unconscious of the flight of time.
His scattered faculties slowly recovered their power of calmly
contemplating the situation, though he found no peace. He rose to leave
the house, and wandered vaguely from one room to another, seeking his
way to the hall. When at length he reached it, he thought he heard
strange voices, and stood still to listen; then, turning away, he
descended a flight of back stairs that led to the basement floor, and
tried to find his way out into the garden. After going in and out
for some time in the endless and tortuous corridors of the servant’s
premises, he saw a door which he opened.
All the blood in his body rushed in a cold tide to his heart and gave
him a shock like a sudden fall, as he found himself in the chapel,
lighted up by innumerable flambeaux. He took off his hat and gazed
with open eyes. He was too much startled to do anything for some time
but stand motionless at the door; he hardly seemed to breathe, and
his bewildered mind was aware only of a mountain of light, for so it
appeared to him: a mass of ruddy slender flames which stretched their
quivering tongues to the very roof, rising from the melting wax that
dropped in yellow streams. In the midst, as a base to this blazing
pyramid, a funereal object filled, as it were the throne of honour;
white drapery and two marble hands were all that could be distinguished.
It needed all his manly courage to carry him nearer. Before stepping
forward he glanced round him. No one was there; he could not hear a
sound, not even a living breath, was audible; the cold remains of a
human being, robed in the garments of a saintly death, seemed guarded
by silence. The statue of a pallid youth stood upon the altar; his
eyes, painted like life, shone across the chapel, to watch all who
entered, and say: “Beware! Touch her not!”
Leon advanced slowly, treading softly that he might not hear the sound
of his own steps. Reverence, the sanctity of the spot, his agonising
hesitancy between the wish to approach and the instinct to withdraw,
caused him to go through half a dozen separate states of mind in the
course of the twenty steps between the door and the altar: anxiety and
curiosity, nay fear--or superstition. He had time to assure himself
that it was awe that held him back, and the audacious curiosity of that
very awe which urged him forward.
He saw her. There she lay, before him, on the ground, and at the very
threshold, as it were, of the realm where her immortal soul might find
complete repose. Her spirit, selfish rather than generous, had already
passed, with a sigh perhaps of surprise and awe, into the unknown
land where love is the only wisdom, and where good and evil are more
exactly appreciated and understood.
After once looking at her, and the first shock of reverence and pain
over, he remained gazing thus; hearing the throbbing in his own temples
and the rush of the blood in his veins, like the roar of an internal
tide.
She was covered with a white robe, laid over her limbs by pious
friends, with severe purity. Ample folds lay in straight lines from
her neck to her feet, broken only by the marble hands which held a
crucifix. A semi-transparent veil was over her face, neither concealing
it nor too plainly revealing the outline, but letting it be seen
vaguely, remotely as it were, through a mist of clouds, like the image
that survives from a dream in eyes but half-awake. He would have liked
to see more clearly what remained of her unequalled beauty, which,
under the hand of death, was fading like some withered violet-tinted
flower. In that face, blind and dead as it was, there was still some
trace of expression. Leon found himself gazing into the depths of that
vacant mystery, made deeper by the clouds of gauze, and recognised the
look he had last seen on her features--a look less of love than of
irony.
His brain was busy with all the solemn thoughts that besiege a man
in the great crises of life: he reflected on the wide distance that
divides us from true happiness--a distance that mind cannot measure,
and that man has no means of shortening. Suddenly his meditations were
interrupted by a commonplace and intrusive sound--a cough. He looked
round. He and the dead were not alone. In a corner of the chapel sat
a watcher. It was the little priest, seated on a bench with his eyes
fixed on his prayer-book. Leon could not help admiring the fidelity
of the spiritual friend who, having been her guide during life, had
constituted himself her guardian in death. Without lifting his head,
the Italian raised his eyes and looked for a few seconds at Leon
fixedly--very fixedly. Then he looked down again and went on reading.
This simple, calm drooping of the eyes was expressive of the most
sovereign contempt imaginable. Paoletti murmured on, as though not a
soul were present: “_Ego sum vermis et non homo, opprobium hominum et
abjectio plebis._”
Why was it that, as he left the chapel--no less reverently than he had
entered it--Leon felt in his soul a soothing sense of consolation?--He
had seen, face to face the worst terrors of the moral and physical
world, and the struggle to which the contemplation had given rise
had left his soul surrounded by melancholy ruins. _Impavidum ferient
ruinae_, as a heathen said! But though he was crushed, alone, exiled
and injustly judged, what could he care while his conscience was free
in the sunshine that brightens it when it is sure of having acted
rightly.
* * * * *
On returning to his empty house he found his servant busy packing in
obedience to his orders given a few hours since. The man expressed
great joy at seeing him, and when Leon enquired as to the cause of his
eager satisfaction, the faithful fellow replied:
“At the Señora Marquesa’s, and in all the houses where you are known,
they said you would be brought home with a bullet through your brains
to-night. They were so sure of it that I could not help crying.”
Leon smiled sadly.
“And so, when I came in to pack, the first thing I did was to hide your
pistols, in case you should kill yourself here if you had not done it
before.”
“Where have you put them? Are they loaded?” said Leon hastily.
“Oh! Master, do not kill yourself!” cried the terrified man.
“Nay, be easy, my friend,” said Leon pointing to his forehead. “This
brain is not bent on suicide.--As to the pistols, if they are loaded
you had better drop them into the street, for the first fool to
experiment upon.”
“Throw them away! They are beauties!”
“Well, keep them yourself then; keep them till you marry.”
“You forget, Sir; I am married.”
“Well then, till you are a widower.”
* * * * *
“_From Marqués de Fúcar to Marqués de Onésimo._
“MADRID, December 1st.
“Before leaving London via Hamburg to purchase the twenty bales of
tobacco, sell all the Rio Tinto shares, and the foreign consols. Buy
at once Paris Gas, and Spanish _crédit mobilier_. The loan--the third
State loan this year--is getting on capitally. I want an investment
here to enable me to propose to the Government to pay off part of the
foreign coupons to English holders, which will promote the affair here
very effectually; the profits I anticipate from this are incalculable.
For everything else act on my instructions of November 23rd. Do not
forget my orders for taking every advantage of the Hamburg tobacco
merchants; no backwardness; business is good, so you need not run up
to extravagant prices.
“My daughter keeps well. Very sad, very lonely, in fairly good health,
resigned and calm. She never leaves Suertebella. Mona, sweeter every
day, sends you three kisses. The wretch holds to his bargain and never
molests us. He has turned stock-broker, and they tell me he watches
the market with great patience and judgment, and is making a huge
fortune. He is clever enough, there is no doubt of that.
“I expect you to eat your Christmas dinner at Suertebella.
“Yours as ever,
“P. Fúcar.
“P. S. If you should come across that queer fellow give him my kind
regards--but only mine.”
THE END.
ADVERTISEMENTS
=ANTINOUS.=--A Romance of Ancient Rome, by =George Taylor=, from the
German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“One of the most thoughtful, feeling, and at the same time scholarly
romances yet translated from the treasury of German literature.
Although the story is laid in the midst of a Roman emperor’s court, it
touches only a few characters, and those not of the higher and more
aristocratic class. Located amidst scenes of almost fabulous wealth
and extravagance, the story is severely simple in style; and although
the author describes with the zeal of a well-informed archæologist
the wonders of Rome and the enormous expenditures of Hadrian in
architecture and landscape-manufacturing, there is no excess in the
language which places these before us. The most remarkable thing about
the book is that no love-making or love intrigues are found in its
pages. In this respect it is even more unique than ‘John Inglesant.’
But like that romance its chief interest rests on the contrast of
religious opinions. The age was one of change and doubt. The ancient
cults of Rome and Greece had wholly lost their hold upon the minds of
thinking men. Christianity, although not yet free from persecution,
was gaining a wider influence, as men turned away dissatisfied from
the ideal of their fathers and found in the spiritual religion of
the despised Nazarene a comfort and a solace which no external rites
could convey. It is the contrast between the subtle spiritual element
and the various forms of idolatry adopted by Rome and Egypt, that
constitutes the strength and fascination of this book.”--_Utica
Herald._
“The story of Antinous lends itself easily to philosophical romance:
a hero who could be made unhappy but not corrupt by an emperor--who
remained faithful to Hadrian after he had ceased to honor him, not
from self-interest, but because in soothing the nerves of an imperial
invalid, he added to the comfort of the world; and who sacrificed his
life at last for a benefactor whom he no longer loved--is a hero such
as is rarely found in literature.”--_The Critic, N. Y._
“It has to the full that strange glamour which lends to romances their
peculiar charm, and in many respects is comparable to Kingsley’s
‘Hypatia.’”--_Yale Literary Magazine._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=CLYTIA.=--A Romance of the Sixteenth Century, by =George Taylor=, from
the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“If report may be trusted ‘George Taylor,’ though writing in German,
is an Englishman by race, and not merely by the assumption of a
pseudonym. The statement is countenanced by the general physiognomy
of his novels, which manifest the artistic qualities in which German
fiction, when extending beyond the limits of a short story, is usually
deficient. ‘Antinous’ was a remarkable book; ‘Clytia’ displays the
same talent, and is, for obvious reasons, much better adapted for
general circulation. Notwithstanding its classical title, it is a
romance of the post-Lutheran Reformation in the second half of the
sixteenth century. The scene is laid in the Palatinate; the hero,
Paul Laurenzano, is, like John Inglesant, the pupil, but, unlike John
Inglesant, the proselyte and emissary, of the Jesuits, who send him
to do mischief in the disguise of a Protestant clergyman. He becomes
confessor to a sisterhood of reformed nuns, as yet imperfectly detached
from the old religion and forms the purpose of reconverting them.
During the process, however, he falls in love with one of their number,
the beautiful Clytia, the original, Mr. Taylor will have it, of the
lovely bust in whose genuineness he will not let us believe. Clytia,
as is but reasonable, is a match for Loyola; the man in Laurenzano
overpowers the priest, and, after much agitation of various kinds, the
story concludes with his marriage. It is an excellent novel from every
point of view, and, like ‘Antinous’ gives evidence of superior culture
and thoughtfulness.”--_The London Saturday Review._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=THE DEVIL’S PORTRAIT.=--By =Anton Giulio Barrili=, from the Italian
by Evelyn Wodehouse, in one vol. Paper, 40 cents. Cloth, 75 cents.
“The wide and terrible limits of Italian tragedy have seldom been
filled out with a rounder measure than in this powerful but melancholy
romance of the 14th century. It is a romance of art and passion; the
art which made the walls of old churches glow with frescoes before
which the world now stands to study and admire, and the passion which
not only loves and adores, but which hates and destroys. It is a
romance not only of the brush but of the dagger.
“The scene is laid in Arezzo in the Val di Chiana. The town is small,
with wide, clean, small, and well-paved streets, possesses many
celebrated works of art, has a bishop, two inns, and a café, and women
who are passing fair. Among the women is Fiordalisa, the daughter of
the painter Jacopo, a disciple of the school of Taddeo Gaddi. Ever
since she had come with her father from Florence, where she was born,
to live at Arezzo, she has been acknowledged as a peerless beauty.
These are the warm colors, borrowed from the world about him, in which
the Italian novelist paints her:
“‘Good God! how beautiful she looked there, twice... with her eyes
cast down, and her head and throat jealously guarded by a veil of
white silk flowing over her shoulders. Dressed simply in a robe of
some half-woollen, half-silken stuff, made with loose sleeves, and
large folds descending gracefully from her hips: a white kerchief just
covering the nape of her neck, but no other trimming or superfluous
adornment to disguise the curves of her perfect form, Madonna
Fiordalisa seemed a very miracle of grace and beauty. The head crowned
with chestnut tresses, and the profile of that delicately-tinted face,
both displayed such purity of outline, combined with such sweetness of
expression, that it seemed to Spinello that he had never before beheld
anything to compare with them.’”--_Literary World, Boston._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT.=--A Romance by =Anton Giulio Barrili=, from
the Italian by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“If Italian literature includes any more such unique and charming
stories as this one, it is to be hoped that translators will not fail
to discover them to the American public. The ‘Eleventh Commandment’
deals with a variety of topics--the social intrigues necessary to
bring about preferment in political life, a communal order, an
adventurous unconventional heiress, and her acquiescent, good-natured
uncle, and most cleverly are the various elements combined, the whole
forming an excellent and diverting little story. The advent of a
modern Eve in the masculine paradise (?) established at the Convent
of San Bruno is fraught with weighty consequences, not only to the
individual members of the brotherhood, but to the well-being of
the community itself. The narrative of M’lle Adela’s adventures is
blithely told, and the moral deducible therefrom for men is that, on
occasion, flight is the surest method of combating temptation.”--_Art
Interchange, New York._
“Very entertaining is the story of ‘The Eleventh Commandment,’
ingeniously conceived and very cleverly executed.”--_The Critic, New
York._
=A WHIMSICAL WOOING.=--By =Anton Giulio Barrili=, from the Italian by
Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 25 cts. Cloth, 5 cts.
“If ‘The Eleventh Commandment,’ the previous work of Barrili, was a
good three-act play, ‘A Whimsical Wooing’ is a sparkling comedietta.
It is one situation, a single catastrophe, yet, like a bit of
impressionist painting of the finer sort, it reveals in a flash all
the possibilities of the scene. The hero, Roberto Fenoglio, a man of
wealth, position, and accomplishments, finds himself at the end of his
resources for entertainment or interest. Hopelessly bored, he abandons
himself to the drift of chance, and finds himself, in no longer space
of time than from midnight to daylight--where and how, the reader
will thank us for not forestalling his pleasure in finding out for
himself.”--_The Nation, New York._
“‘A Whimsical Wooing’ is the richly-expressive title under which
‘Clara Bell’ introduces a cleverly-narrated episode by Anton Giulio
Barrili to American readers. It is a sketch of Italian life, at once
rich and strong, but nevertheless discreet in sentiment and graceful
in diction. It is the old story of the fallacy of trusting to a proxy
in love matters.”--_Boston Post._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=THE WANE OF AN IDEAL.=--A Novel, by =La Marchesa Colombi=, from
the Italian by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper cover, 50 cts., Cloth
binding, 90 cts.
“If this is a fair specimen of the work of the Marchesa Colombi, she
is assuredly entitled to a high place among the novelists of the
day. The scene of the story is laid in a little village in the north
of Italy where lives the ‘Dottorino,’ as he is called, the village
doctor, a gross, ignorant man, but with a gift for a certain sort of
humor and graceful flattery which make him a welcome guest at the
table of the rich Signor Pedrotti. The novel is chiefly concerned with
the doctor’s son, Giovanni, whose infancy under the care of a stupid
yet wholly devoted servant, La Matta, is portrayed with inimitable
pathos and humor. As he grows up, Pedrotti becomes, in a sense, his
patron. But the lad has met Pedrotti’s daughter, Rachel, and his love
being reciprocated he determines to attain wealth and fame that he
may win her father’s consent to their marriage. Pedrotti treats the
proposal with utter contempt and shuts the door in his face. The youth
pledges his love anew to Rachel, who promises to wait for him, and
he then goes to Milan, where after a dreary struggle with poverty he
becomes a celebrated advocate, rich as well as famous. But absence
dims his ideal and the blandishments of a beautiful countess drive the
image of Rachel for a time from his thoughts.
“He had started in live in extreme poverty but with a great love
in his heart; and the goal he had set before his eyes was wealth
and distinction, but still for the sake of love. Now, wealth and
distinction were his--but the love he had lost on the way.
“The closing part of the story tells how, actuated by a sense of
duty rather than of love, he goes back to the little village to
claim the hand of the woman who has waited for him so long. The
ending is written with remarkable power and stamps the book with a
quality closely akin to greatness. All the characters are strongly
individualized; the author’s humor is spontaneous and delightful; and
on every page there is displayed a subtle knowledge of the human heart
and of the fatal consequences of ignoble motives which, in spite of
some unpleasant episodes, renders _The Wane of an Ideal_ as wholesome
morally as it is artistically effective and complete.”--_The Literary
World._
=QUINTUS CLAUDIUS.=--A Romance of Imperial Rome, by =Ernst Eckstein=,
from the German by Clara Bell, in two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.
“We owe to Eckstein the brilliant romance of ‘Quintus Claudius,’
which Clara Bell has done well to translate for us, for it is worthy
of place beside the Emperor of Ebers and the Aspasia of Hamerling.
It is a story of Rome in the reign of Domitian, and the most noted
characters of the time figure in its pages, which are a series of
picturesque descriptions of Roman life and manners in the imperial
city, and in those luxurious retreats at Baiae and elsewhere to
which the wealthy Romans used to retreat from the heats of summer.
It is full of stirring scenes in the streets, in the palaces, in the
temples, and in the amphitheatre, and the actors therein represent
every phase of Roman character, from the treacherous and cowardly
Domitian and the vile Domitia down to the secret gatherings of the
new sect and their exit from life in the blood-soaked sands of the
arena, where they were torn in pieces by the beasts of the desert. The
life and the manners of all classes at this period were never painted
with a bolder pencil than by Eckstein in this masterly romance, which
displays as much scholarship as invention.”--_Mail and Express, N. Y._
“These neat volumes contain a story first published in German. It is
written in that style which Ebers has cultivated so successfully. The
place is Rome; the time, that of Domitian at the end of the first
century. The very careful study of historical data, is evident from
the notes at the foot of nearly every page. The author attempted
the difficult task of presenting in a single story the whole life
of Rome, the intrigues of that day which compassed the overthrow of
Domitian, and the deep fervor and terrible trials of the Christians
in the last of the general persecutions. The court, the army, the
amphitheatre, the catacombs, the evil and the good of Roman manhood
and womanhood--all are here. And the work is done with power and
success. It is a book for every Christian and for every student, a
book of lasting value, bringing more than one nation under obligation
to its author.”--_New Jerusalem Magazine, Boston, Mass._
“_A new Romance of Ancient Times!_ The success of Ernst Eckstein’s
new novel, ‘Quintus Claudius,’ which recently appeared in Vienna, may
fairly be called phenomenal, critics and the public unite in praising
the work.”--_Grazer Morgenpost._
“‘Quintus Claudius’ is a finished work of art, capable of bearing any
analysis, a literary production teeming with instruction and interest,
full of plastic forms, and rich in the most dramatic changes of
mood.”--_Pester Lloyd._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=PRUSIAS.=--A Romance of Ancient Rome under the Republic, by =Ernst
Eckstein=, from the German by Clara Bell. Authorized edition. In two
vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.
“The date of ‘Prusias’ is the latter half of the first century B.
C. Rome is waging her tedious war with Mithridates. There are also
risings in Spain, and the home army is badly depleted. Prusias comes
to Capua as a learned Armenian, the tutor of a noble pupil in one of
the aristocratic households. Each member of this circle is distinct.
Some of the most splendid traits of human nature develop among these
grand statesmen and their dignified wives, mothers, and daughters. The
ideal Roman maiden is Psyche; but she has a trace of Greek blood and
of the native gentleness. Of a more interesting type is Fannia, who
might, minus her slaves and stola, pass for a modern and saucy New
York beauty. Her wit, spirit, selfishness, and impulsive magnanimity
might easily have been a nineteenth-century evolution. In the family
to which Prusias comes are two sons, one of military leanings, the
other a student. Into the ear of the latter Prusias whispers the
real purpose of his coming to Italy. He is an Armenian and in league
with Mithridates for the reduction of Roman rule. The unity which
the Senate has tried to extend to the freshly-conquered provinces of
Italy is a thing of slow growth. Prusias by his strategy and helped
by Mithridates’s gold, hopes to organize slaves and disaffected
provincials into a force which will oblige weakened Rome to make
terms, one of which shall be complete emancipation and equality
of every man before the law. His harangues are in lofty strain,
and, save that he never takes the coarse, belligerent tone of our
contemporaries, these speeches might have been made by one of our own
Abolitionists. The one point that Prusias never forgets is personal
dignity and a regal consideration for his friends. But after all, this
son of the gods is befooled by a woman, a sinuous and transcendently
ambitious Roman belle, the second wife of the dull and trustful
prefect of Capua; for this tiny woman had all men in her net whom she
found it useful to have there.
“The daughter of the prefect--hard, homely-featured, and hating the
supple stepmother with an unspeakable hate, tearing her beauty at
last like a tigress and so causing her death--is a repulsive but very
strong figure. The two brothers who range themselves on opposite
sides in the servile war make another unforgettable picture; and the
beautiful slave Brenna, who follows her noble lover into camp, is a
spark of light against the lurid background. The servile movement
is combined with the bold plans of the Thracian Spartacus. He is a
good figure and perpetually surprises us with his keen foresight and
disciplinary power.
“The book is stirring, realistic in the even German way, and full of
the fibre and breath of its century.” _Boston Ev’g Transcript._
=THE WILL.=--A Novel, by =Ernst Eckstein=, from the German by Clara
Bell, in two vols. Paper, $1.00 Cloth, $1.75 per set.
“SINCE the appearance of ‘Debit and Credit’ we have not seen a German
novel that can rank, in the line struck out by that famous work, with
‘The Will,’ by Ernst Eckstein. It is a vivid picture of German city
life, and the characters, whether quaint, commonplace, tragical, or a
mixture of all three, are admirably drawn. All the German carefulness
is in Eckstein’s work, but there is besides a sparkle and _verve_
entirely French--and French of the best kind.”--_Catholic Mirror,
Baltimore._
“The chief value of the book is in its well-drawn and strong pictures
of life in both German cities and villages, and Clara Bell, has, as
usual, proved herself a mistress of the German Tongue.”--_Sunday Star,
Providence._
“Ernst Eckstein, hitherto known as a writer of classical romance, now
tries his hand upon a _genre_ story of German life. To our mind, it is
his most successful work.”--_Bulletin, San Francisco, Cal._
“The present work is entitled ‘The Will,’ and is written by Ernst
Eckstein, the author of the striking historical novel, Quintus
Claudius. The name of Clara Bell as the translator from the German is
assurance enough of the excellence of its rendering into English. The
plot of the story is not a novel one, but it is skillfully executed,
and the whole tale is developed with much dramatic power.”--_Boston
Zion’s Herald._
“‘The Will,’ by Eckstein, is the latest and best work of its author.
The scene, the people, the events of the story are new, the plot is
ingenious, and the action rapid and exciting enough to please the most
jaded novel reader. The character of schoolmaster Heinzius would alone
make the reputation of a new writer, and there are other sketches from
life none the less masterly. Ernst Eckstein excels in heroines, of
whom there are several in the book--all clearly defined--contending
for the sympathy of the reader.”--_The Journal of Commerce, New York._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=APHRODITE.=--A Romance of Ancient Hellas, by =Ernst Eckstein=, from
the German by Mary J. Safford. Authorized edition. In one volume.
Paper cover, 50 cts. Cloth binding, 90 cts.
“A charming love tale with poetic grace of style and of sentiment.
A delicate art atmosphere permeates the story, and a strong and
well-sustained dramatic interest attaches to the plot. The Greece
of antiquity is here reproduced with great vividness, indicating
on the part of the author thoughtful research and a rare faculty
for assimilating the materials he has gathered in the course of his
studious reading. The work is steadily entertaining throughout, and
while it amuses, it imparts information through the agency of a wholly
delightful fiction.”--_Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston._
* * * * *
“‘APHRODITE’ is a story of the Greece of olden time, the scene being
laid in Miletus, 551 B. C., and concerns itself with the art-life
of a young sculptor named Acontius, who won fame by his statuary in
Miletus, and won at the same time the love of Cydippe, the daughter
of Charidemus, the archon of the city. It is a simple story, which
Eckstein has to tell, a story which has been told in all lands and
tongues ever since there were young people in the world, and they were
in the habit of loving each other; but there must be something in it
after all, for as he tells it, it seems to have happened yesterday,
and not further away than the next street. There is in it that touch
of nature which makes the whole work kin, and which puts back the
clock of time until its hands touch the dead and gone centuries.
Acontius and Cydippe may have lived and died twenty-three hundred
years ago, as Eckstein tells us, but we doubt it, for reading his
glowing and picturesque pages we feel that they are alive and exempt
from death, as exempt as Paris and Helen, Romeo and Juliet, or that
pair of pure and happy lovers, Porphyry and Madeline. The charm of
this story, or one of its charms, for they are many, consists in the
life which Eckstein has imparted to his characters, and the vividness
with which he has realized the scenes in which they lived, moved and
had their being.”--_Mail and Express, N. Y._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=THE KING’S TREASURE HOUSE.=--A Romance of Ancient Egypt, by =Wilhelm
Walloth=, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50
cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“It deals, in the main, with the cruel bondage of the Israelites
in Egypt, and is remarkably varied in incident and impressive in
dramatic power. The interest is uncommonly exciting, and is sustained
with great skill to the very end. A fine poetic feeling pervades
the narrative, and the descriptive portions of the book often glow
with picturesque splendor. The work is also very attractive in the
cleverness and the vividness with which the manners and people of
ancient Egypt are depicted, showing in this aspect careful thought
and study. The story may take a foremost rank in the long line
of German romances which have aimed at reproducing the life of
antiquity.”--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, May 23, 1886._
=THE CHALDEAN MAGICIAN.=--An Adventure in Ancient Rome, by =Ernst
Eckstein=, from the German by Mary J. Safford. One vol. Paper, 25 cts.
Cloth, 50 cts.
“The ‘Chaldean Magician’ is a tale of Rome in the days of the
Emperor Diocletian, and is an exposé of the so-called magical art of
that period. The love story which runs through it will please the
sentimental, while the pictures given of Roman life and society will
interest the general reader.”--_Chicago Evening Journal._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=ASPASIA.=--A Romance, by =Robert Hamerling=, from the German by Mary
J. Safford, in two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.
“We have read his work conscientiously, and, we confess, with profit.
Never have we had so clear an insight into the manners, thoughts, and
feelings of the ancient Greeks. No study has made us so familiar with
the age of Pericles. We recognize throughout that the author is master
of the period of which he treats. Moreover, looking back upon the work
from the end to the beginning, we clearly perceive in it a complete
unity of purpose not at all evident during the reading.”
“Hamerling’s Aspasia, herself the most beautiful woman in all Hellas,
is the apostle of beauty and of joyousness, the implacable enemy of
all that is stern and harsh in life. Unfortunately, morality is stern,
and had no place among Aspasia’s doctrines. This ugly fact, Landor
has thrust as far into the background as possible. Hamerling obtrudes
it. He does not moralize, he neither condemns nor praises; but like
a fate, silent, passionless, and resistless, he carries the story
along, allows the sunshine for a time to silver the turbid stream, the
butterflies and gnats to flutter above it in rainbow tints, and then
remorselessly draws over the landscape gray twilight. He but follows
the course of history; yet the absolute pitilessness with which he
does it is almost terrible.”--_Extracts from Review in Yale Literary
Magazine._
“No more beautiful chapter can be found in any book of this age than
that in which Pericles and Aspasia are described as visiting the poet
Sophocles in the garden on the bank of the Cephissus.”--_Utica Morning
Herald._
“It is one of the great excellencies of this romance, this lofty song
of the genius of the Greeks, that it is composed with perfect artistic
symmetry in the treatment of the different parts, and from the first
word to the last is thoroughly harmonious in tone and coloring.
Therefore, in ‘Aspasia,’ we are given a book, which could only proceed
from the union of an artistic nature and a thoughtful mind--a book
that does not depict fiery passions in dramatic conflict, but with
dignified composure, leads the conflict therein described to the final
catastrophe.”--_Allgemeine Zeitung_, (Augsburg).
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.=--_How to Grow and Show Them!_ By =S. Reynolds
Hole=, in one volume. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“There is a June fragrance about this little book that is particularly
refreshing, now that we are on the edge--very ragged edge, to be
sure--of summer. They say the flowers know those who love them,
and come forth only at their bidding. If this be so, surely Mr.
Hole should be a successful cultivator, as he is certainly an
entertaining writer on a subject in which he has long been a
recognized authority. This is the seventh edition of his ‘Book About
Roses’ that has been called for, and in responding to the demand
the happy author contributes some of the latest results of his
experience, which will be gratefully received by all rosarians. Mr.
Hole is an enthusiast, and he communicates much of that quality to
his pages. It is impossible to read long in this charming volume
without becoming impressed with a profound conviction that a rose
is the most perfect thing in creation. Aside from its value as a
guide to cultivators, whether professional or amateur, the work
possesses a rare fascination, that partly belongs to the subject and
partly to its happy manner of treatment. There is a vein of playful
humor in Mr. Hole’s writing that rarely degenerates into flippancy,
and occasionally a little flight of sentimentalism that accords
well with his theme, mingling agreeably enough with the purely
scientific disquisitions like a wholesome perfume, which is happily
not a hot-house, but an out-of-door one. We cordially commend this
book to all who are interested in the cultivation of the queen of
flowers.”--_Chicago Evening Journal._
“The whole volume teems with encouraging data and statistics; and,
while it is intensely practical, it will interest general readers by
an unfailing vivacity, which supplies garnish and ornament to the
array of facts, and furnishes ‘ana’ in such rich profusion that one
might do worse than lay by many of Mr. Hole’s good stories for future
table-talk.”--_Saturday Review._
“It is the production of a man who boasts of thirty ‘all England’
cups, whose Roses are always looked for anxiously at flower-shows,
who took the lion’s share in originating the first Rose-Show _pur
et simple_, whose assistance as judge or _amicus curiae_ is always
courted at such exhibitions. Such a man ‘ought to have something to
say worth hearing to those who love the Rose,’ and he _has_ said
it.”--_Gardeners’ Chronicle._
“A very captivating book, containing a great deal of valuable
information about the Rose and its culture, given in a style which can
not fail to please.”--_Journal of Horticulture._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
=A TRAGEDY AT CONSTANTINOPLE.=--By =Leila-Hanoum=, translated from the
French, with notes, by =Gen. R. E. Colston=, one vol. pa., 50 cts.
Clo., 90 cts.
“The romance has for its groundwork the mysterious and fascinating
subject of harem life in the East, and is founded on facts. The
tragedy is one no less thrilling in culmination than the violent
ending of the Sultan Abdul-Aziz, which startled the world only a few
years ago. The author works her way to this climax by a narrative
almost as strange as a chapter out of the Arabian Nights. Incidentally
it falls to her lot to reveal the secrets of the harems so jealously
guarded from observation. She seems to have enjoyed inside views of
those shrouded places to an extent rare if not unprecedented among
persons not actually inmates of them. At all events no work surpasses
this in its disclosures of the deep shadows of that female slavery
which remains the foulest blot upon the domestic institutions of
Turkey. The Empress Eugénie, Midhat-Pasha, Reshid-Pasha, Hassan-Bey,
and other personages of rank and power in their day, are among the
characters who play their part in this extraordinary book. General R.
E. Colston, long identified with the Egyptian Army, is the translator,
and supplies a preface so good that it should not be skipped.”--_The
Journal of Commerce, New York._
“It is a translation from the French by Leila-Hanoum, by Gen. R. E.
Colston, late Bey on the General Staff, Egyptian Army, who thinks
(and we agree with him) that it will give the readers a more complete
idea of the Mussulman than he could obtain by wading through volumes
of mere description. What the novels of Georg Ebers are to the life
of ancient Egypt and Rome, and the stories of Galdós are to the life
of Spain, the Tragedy in the Imperial Harem is to the life of Turkey,
as revealed in the luxuriant, indolent idleness of the Sultan and
in the endless intrigues of his Pashas and Beys, and as concealed
(at least from the eye of the Giaour) in the stifling recesses of
the seraglio. It is a story of love and vengeance, the love and the
vengeance of harem life running like a black thread through the tawdry
splendor of two generations, and shooting its stains along the web
and woof of other lives than those of the sufferers. If it reminds
us of anything, it is of the early romantic work of Byron, who was
the first Englishman whom the East really inspired, and who painted
with singular poetic power the dark unbridled passion of its souls of
fire--‘with whom revenge was virtue.’ We have in the Tragedy in the
Imperial Harem a prose-poem of striking interest, and of permanent
value, as a picture of Eastern manners.”--_The Mail and Express, New
York._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
A PRACTICAL METHOD
FOR
LEARNING SPANISH
BY
A. RAMOS DIAZ DE VILLEGAS
“Spanish is not under any circumstances a difficult language to
learn. It has in its construction and pronunciation an encouraging
directness very unlike the grammatical involutions of German and the
delicate sound-shadings of French. Working in accordance with the
rules of almost any ‘system,’ a diligent student can in a very little
while acquire a fair mastery of the language; though it is true that
some of the ‘systems’ are much more difficult than others. One of the
simplest and best of them all is ‘A Practical Method for Learning
Spanish,’ by Señor A. Ramos Diaz de Villegas, just now published by
William S. Gottsberger, New York. The ‘method’ of Señor de Villegas
comprehends a collection of anecdotes arranged in short lines with an
English translation, similarly arranged, on the corresponding opposite
page; familiar phrases, with idiomatic renderings in English in
parallel columns; a vocabulary of words in common use, and a complete
list of the Spanish irregular verbs. It will be observed that this
method hardly can be called original; that it is more or less that of
Morales, of Velazquez, of Prendergast, and that some of its features
are found in Ollendorff and in Ahn; but in simplicity of arrangement
and directness of purpose it is superior to all of these--Prendergast
possibly excepted. It certainly is what it is called--a practical
method for learning Spanish. With a relatively small outlay of mental
exertion it produces exceptionally good results.”--_Philadelphia
Times, June 24, 1882._
ONE VOL., 12MO.--PRICE 75 CENTS.
=Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.=
WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER,
_Publisher_,
11 Murray Street, New York.
A METHOD FOR THE
IDIOMATIC STUDY OF GERMAN
BY
OTTO KUPHAL, Ph. D.
--PART ONE--
_LESSONS, EXERCISES, AND VOCABULARY._
Large 12mo.--536 pages. Price $2.25.
This Method is based on the principles of modern philosophy. Gradual
progress and spontaneous development are its leading features. The
sentence is the unit. Natural language precedes literary language. The
example teaches the rule; language teaches grammar.
The work is printed entirely in the Roman character.
“_Spoken language is to written language what the real object is to
its description._
“The knowledge of language is based on sound. Sound is the soul of
language; without it language is dead. Sound imparts life; vividly
and forcibly it impresses _facts_ upon the mind, and _facts_ are the
_absolute basis_ of _all_ knowledge. _No true, no real knowledge_ of
language has ever been attained, unless it was founded on this solid
basis which _the living voice_ alone has the power to create.
“The study of language must conform to the process of nature. Language
was spoken many ages before letters or books were even thought of, and
no one ever attempted to read or write his mother-tongue before he was
able to understand and to speak it. _To go counter to the sequence in
which the faculties naturally and spontaneously develop, is to oppose
the precepts of nature. We must understand a language before we can
speak it; we must speak a language before we can read it._ _Reading_
is indirect _hearing_. In reading we mentally _pronounce_ the author’s
words and these mental _sounds_ are reported to the brain. If we
cannot _pronounce_, we cannot _read_. When we begin to read our
mother-tongue, we recall to our mind _known_ sounds and _known_ ideas.
Must the process not be the same when we begin to read a foreign
tongue? To make reading _the starting-point_ in the acquisition of
a foreign language is contrary to reason and the student, after
fruitless efforts, invariably abandons his task.”--_Extract from
Author’s Preface._
_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York._
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=.
Obvious printing mistakes have been corrected.
Variations in spelling, hyphenation, and accents remain as in the
original unless noted below.
Title page, “PEREZ” changed to “PÉREZ.”
Page 6, “archepiscopal” changed to “archiepiscopal” (“to a deputy who
held the archiepiscopal throne”).
Page 12, 14, 37, 69, 183, “Maria” changed to “María.”
Page 22, “Solomó” changed to “Salomó” (“The Marquesa de San Salomó
was talking”).
Page 63, “mement” changed to “moment” (“said Leon after a moment’s
hesitation”).
Page 85, “sicence” changed to “science” (“to help science to the best
of our little power”).
Page 86, “cemetries” changed to “cemeteries” (“the pantheons of our
cemeteries”).
Page 90, “deen” changed to “been” (“it would have been difficult to
refuse”).
Page 148, “wakfulness” changed to “wakefulness” (“kept him from
thorough wakefulness”).
Page 167, “rigimarole” changed to “rigmarole” (“this coarse rigmarole
and sham rhetoric”).
Page 184, “christian” changed to “Christian” (“a deed of Christian
charity”).
Page 211, “utterence” changed to “utterance” (“means of giving them
utterance”).
Page 270, “Leen” changed to “Leon” (“and the finger pointed at
Leon”).
Page 287, “Fucar” changed to “Fúcar” (“Yours as ever, P. Fúcar.”).
The following changes were made:
Page 34, “eat” changed to “ate” (“her absence the marquesa ate”).
Page 168, superfluous “a” removed in “nature is like an artificial
plant.”
Page 280, “Leon” changed to “Federico” (“said Don Pedro to Federico”).
End of Project Gutenberg's Leon Roch (vol. 2 of 2), by Benito Pérez Galdós