The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-09-13
LITERATURE.


Books.
IGYiER.WALlY: A TALE OF THE TyRoL. Trans
lated from the German Of Wilhelmine Won Hi
lern. New York: ID. Appleton Il Co. Chica
90: Jansen, McClurg Il Co. Ottawa: Osmal
d Hapeman. Price, 30 cents
Germany, in spite of the boundless range AM
wealth of her literature, has no great novelist
no Scott, or Dickens, or Cooper yet this is no
saying she has no novels, for she has them il
abundance, and good ones, too,-amoDg whicl
must unquestionaby be classed "Geier- Wally,
though compared with the conventional Englisl
novel, it is but short story. The scene il
among the mountains and valleys Of the Tyrol
of which We have such realistic descriptions, in
tcrwoven with such thrilling Incidents as to in
dictate that the authors inspiration comes NOR,
from actual sight and experience than magma
| ton. "Gcier Wally was the handsomest and
strongest girl in all the Tyrol, and very rich be
sides" but left motherlcsS from her birth, was
allowed to range forest and mountain with the
freedom of the hawk, after which she was nam.
ed. Her father, Old Srommingcr, the high
peasant" of the district, desires her TO marry a
wealthy but hateful favorite, while the "Geier'
has set her heart on another, and IL is out Of this
hand and love on the other that grow all the va
ried trials troubles and trlbuations that 90 to
make up the res gtste Of very fascinating story,
IMPRESSIONS OF THEoPHRATUs SUCH. BY George
Eliot, author Of "Adam Bcde," "Daniel Deron-
da," DC. New York: Harper & Bros ChiCa-
GO Jansen, McClurg IL Co. Ottawa: Osman
IL Hapeman. Price, 10 cents.
The book appears as No, 81 in the cheap form
of EIarpcrs Franklin Square Library" Unlike
anything else George Eliot has given to the pub
lie, there is here no attempt at connected story
The opening chapter presents to us an magma.
ry person, whose impressions" are supposed to
follow, but We lose all further sight Of him, and
he stands in the same relation to the whole as
any other of the individual characters that the
book dclineatcs. In reality, "Theophratus
Such may be taken to mean George Eliot her.
self, and the series Of Observation-Disclosures ap-
pear to be such as from time TO time crossed her
path or presented themselves TO her mind and
which she drew out for future use as occasion
might offer in the construction Of her stories ]
Some of them are in the authors best vein, and
all stand out as bold, vivid pictures such Ms few
artists but George Eliot could draw.
THE ICLUS AND THE BRITISH FRONTIER. By
Thomas j. Lucas, Captain Of the late Cape
Mounted Rifles New York: Harper ~ Bros.
Chicago: Jansen, McClurg ~ Co. Ottawa: Os.
man " llapeman Price, 10 cents.
Capt Lucas has undeniably done the world a
service in giving very clear as well as comprc-
hensive exposition Of the entire British situation
in South Africa. He writes not only as one thor
oughly posted, but evidently also with the single
purpose to tell the exact truth And the impress
sion his pages give Of the situation in South
Africa is certainly different from what one gets
from the newspapers. England is not to be
blamed Tor establishing a military post on the
southern point of Africa Her own commerce
and that Of the world required it; and nothin e
was more natural than that the establishment OF
such n post should be succeeded by Il colony A
colony established, it was natural it should ex-
pand, and this necessarily brought 1t into contact
with the surrounding savages. Thenccforth the
case was that Of our own country and the Indians.
There is an irrepressbe conflict between savagery|
and civilization, and whether the colony be En-
glish, French or German, its expansion implies
constant collision with the surrounding native
tribes. Doubtless in the conduct Of these ever re-
acted with harshness and Oftencr with stupidity,
as Capt Baker shows without mincing; yet war
between England and the Xnlus some time or
other was as inevitable as such conflicts have
been between our western fronticrsmen and the
Indians. Thus while the book gives one clearer
IDEAS OF the merits of the British case, it also
greatly enlarges ones conception OF the impor.
lance a m on .,f
Africa rs region inviting immigration from Eu-
rope and the East.
GAsrARD DE COLONY marquis de Chatllon,) Ad.
mlral OF France, Governor of Pcardy, &c. BY
Walter Besant, NJ. A. New York Harper IL
brothers. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg 4 Co.
Ottawa; Osman Il llapeman. Price 25 cents.
Though compressed into one Of the numbers
Of the Iarpers Half Hour Series, there is mat
ter enough in il for an octave volume of 200 pag-
rs. Coligny was leader Of the French Hugue.
no's and the principal victim of the st. Bartho.
omcw massacre Aug 9th, 1872. OF noble
birth, and inhertlng the marquisatc Of Chatlon,
like all the young mobiles Of France in his day,
he at an early age entered the army, where he
soon became greatly distinguished and rapidly
rose to Il position second only to that Of the Con.
stable. With the genius Of warrior he combin
ID the icrvcr of religious reformcr. When Cal.
FIN began his anti.papal preaching in France one
II his first converts was Coligny; and afterwards
when through the intrigues of the Duke dc Guise
'nd Catherine de Medici, the government under
DON TO stamp out the protcstants, ColigHy be-
,amc their military leader. Realizing, however,
he hopclessness Of the contest, he projected the
establishment of colonies of lluguenots in South
CAROLINA and Florida, and though the colonies
we're afterwards nearly destroyed by the Span
ards, many of the best families of the Carolinas
o this day trace their descent from these colo
lists The story crowded as il is with thrilling
vents and incidents, is told by Mr. Besant With
great power; and he has succeeded in working II
nto biogra ply of absorbing interest,
TALES FROM ECRlpIpES. BY Vincent King Coon.