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UNIVERSITY COURIER.
burlesque chronicle, was written "in so quiet a vein of humor as to seem like veritable history." His great work was his "Life of Washington,"a magnificent monument of his power as a truthful and gifted writer. Upon this work he spent the last and best years of his life.
But in his writings in and of Spain, he seems to carry the reader with him, and to revel in magical and fantastic imaginings, as he travels through that home of romance. Especially is this true in the "Alhambra," Standing in the glorious Vega, in the heart of fair Andalusia, and surrounded by mountains about which cluster thousands of fascinating legends of the old Moors and their times, we see the turrets and crags, caverns and ruins, streams and fountains wrapped in a hale of mystery. Under these influences, and that of this delightful clime, listening to the gentle thrumming of some fair one's guitar, one is exceedingly susceptible to the glamour hanging about the lives and actions of dwellers in Grenada, six hundred years ago.
With Washington Irving we find ourselves hurried into that wide mouthed cavern of the lofty mountain and behold, "we stand in the presence of Boabdil and his court." Enchanted are they and enchanted will they remain until their time of penance has expired; then they will come forth and occupy the beautiful land about. But this enchantment is even now broken for the time. On the eve of St. John from all parts of the empire, come the knights and followers of the "Last King of the Moors. For on that night each one is released from the spell which binds him and forth goes he to render homage to his sovereign lord and master. But tarry not, for the moon-light fades, the morning come on apace, and again are they under the strange old charm.
Again how he pictures to us the noble and grandly magnanimous nature exhibited by those knights and doughty warriors of old. The thousand and one little meanness which so debase our modern civilization are all forgotten in his stories. Lessons of noble deed and generous striving are unconsciously gathered while we are held spell-bound by the witchery of his art.
How amusing too, when the "Friar" lying in wait for the "Good Hope" who was making his escape with his riches, thought "he had him sure" and vaulted into the saddle of what he supposed was the treasure-laden pack horse of Lope. "Ah ha!" quoth the Friar "we shall now see who will possess the treasure" and away he went; but alas; soon the friar found that he was mounted on the terrible "Belludo" with the seven goblin hounds in full cry behind him. It was all too late for dismounting, and throughout the live long night the unhappy man was forced to ride the enchanted, headless horse and be followed by the yelling hounds. At the first streak of light the "Goblin steed, kicked up his heels, sent the holy friar a somersault through the air, plunged into the dark vault followed by the infernal pack, and profound silence reigned supreme where late had been the deafening clamor. The friar was "tired," Lope escaped with his wealth.
We would that the works of this, one of the greatest of American writers were more widely read and familiarly known. His writings are varied in their nature; historical writings however composing the chiefest and best of his works, and they too have about them that in describable charm which is so manifest in all of his other writings.
Above all, his life was pure; he was a devoted student.
though occupying at different times important diplomatic positions, at one time minister to the court of Spain, at another secretary to the American Legation in England.
More of his books are bought than read. It is fashionable to have such works on the shelves, but alas, seldom is it that we read them.
THE INFLUENCE OF FRENCH WOMEN.
The French nation is one of the most remarkable of history—a nation great in its misfortunes; now the most steadfast, and again the most fickle; once glorious and dazzling, then darkened by torrents of blood. Among the causes of its changes and reverses, we may look to women, for is it not true "She who rocks the cradle rules the world.
In France's earlier annals Catharine de Medici, the first woman who took an active part in its government, instigated the wickedest crime of history, the massacre of St. Bartholomew. In Paris alone not less than ten thousand were slain, and thence went orders through the provinces, continuing the butchery. And this is only one point in the life of a woman who for twenty years controlled the French policy.
But a few reigns later and Madame de Maintenon prevailed upon the aged King Louis to revoke that famous edict of Henry IV. By that act Louis lost over half a million subjects, mainly skilled artisans and wealthy trades-people, the most valuable men in his kingdom. Thus, the middle class lost, and the gulf between noble and serf grew wider day by day.
Of French literary women, are one of the most renowned is Mme. de Sevigne. But by her devotion to the pomp of the court she reveals to us an excessive love of society and its attendant follies; and by her delight in the persecution of the Huguenots, she displays a cruel and unsympathetic nature. On the other hand we have Jeanne d'Albret, the noble Christian and heroic mother; Josephine, the devoted wife; Mme. de Stael, the gifted author whom the great Napoleon feared more than an army.
A characteristic French woman has perfect features but without the presence of a soul; she is an animated conversationalist but is lacking in real thought. Her nature is not like the mountain lake, deep and pure, but rather like the shallow wayside pond. The French women are noted for their taste, and always present a charming appearance, thus indicating an artistic eye, but they do not seek that higher kind of art which ennobles mind and soul.
The French people is proverbially a homeless race, a nation of boarders. Home, "The only bliss of paradise that has survived the fall," is woman's kingdom, the place where her presence is life and light, but as the French woman has not this position, she cannot exert the invaluable home influence. Thus the individual lacks the proper training and cannot have a well rounded character. The nation suffers from this incompleteness in man or woman. For the home spirit is wanting; and it is families that make the strength of kingdom and republic. "The household that has a bad woman may have an angel for a husband, but he is helpless. The household that has a brute for a husband is safe if the woman be God's own woman. If true womanhood is extinct, woe to the nation; it will grow daily weaker in strength, poorer in wealth, more