Berkeley  in  a  frenzy  of  rage  condemns
Fairfax  to  death,  but  consents  to  his  re-
prieve for  three  months.  Penelope
straightway  sets  out  for  England  to  seek
a  pardon  from  the  King.  She  goes  to
the  house  of  her  uncle,  the  historic
Samuel  Pepys,  and  there  she  meets
Dryden,  Buckingham,  and  various  other
wits  and  beaux.  The  beauty  of  her
portrait,  painted  by  Kneller,  obtains
her  an  audience  with  the  King;  who,
after  a  trial  of  her  constancy,  grants  her
the  pardon,  with  which  she  makes  all
speed  home,  arriving  at  the  critical  mo-
ment when  Fairfax  is  on  the  scaffold.
The  story  ends  as  4t  begins,  with  the
burden  of  an  old  song:  «Love  will  find
out  the  way.»  Though  slight  in  texture,
the  work  is  very  daintily  executed,  and
the  spirit  of  colonial  Virginia  is  well
suggested.
Urlendghips  of  Women,  The,  by  W.  R.
^  Alger  (1868),  is  a  curious  and  sug-
gestive work  on  the  emotional  and
affectionate  side  of  woman-nature.  The
different  chapters  consider  the  friend-
ships of  mothers  and  sons,  of  daughters
and  fathers,  of  sisters  and  brothers,  of
wives  and  husbands,  of  mothers  and
daughters,  of  women  and  women.  Pla-
tonic love  is  also  considered  at  length.
The  author  is  less  the  creator  than  the
editor  of  his  subject.  The  chief  value
of  the  work  is  indeed  the  vast  number


530


SYNOPSES  OF  NOTED  BOOKS


of  historical  examples  brought  together
in  illustration  of  the  kind  of  relationship
in  question.  It  is  a  summing  'up  of
concrete  instances  of  friendship.
The  book  had  great  vogue  in  its  day.
Its  readableness  and  interest  have  not
been  diminished  by  time.
