ULRIC, THE FARM SERVANT.* IT is with feelings raised to

a high pitch of expectation, not wholly unmixed with awe, that, having read Mr. Ruskin's preface, we see ourselves about to embark upon a story of which the immediate publication has been so instant and so imperative a duty, the difficulties of translation so onerous; which, we are made to feel, it will be so beneficial, so almost

indispensable to our well-being, to read ; and of which we are nevertheless enjoined to partake in very moderate quantities at a time, lest its redundancy of detail should, by putting too great a tax upon our patience, prevent us from receiving the full benefit and pleasure of its perusal. We can hardly

imagine the possibility, to say nothing of the presumption, of forming an independent opinion upon the merits of such a story. Throughout, thanks to Mr. Ruskin's frequently recurring notes, we know what to admire, what to observe, where the author falls short of Mr. Ruskin's standard of con- sistency in the delineation of character, and where he has so surpassed himself in the beauty of its conception, that Mr.

Ruskin has not been able to refrain from italics, which he generally dislikes. In the face of all this, to form an un- favourable judgment, if it were possible, we feel would be ungracious, nor does the scope of the story, we think, admit of two entirely opposite opinions. Its merits as a genuine picture of Swiss rural life, and the skill with which some of the characters are drawn, are undoubted. We must, therefore, be content to follow Mr. Ruskin's guidance, only differing from him sometimes as to the degree in which we measure out our admiration.

There is no excitement and very little incident in the history of Ulric. From a drunken, idle, apparently good-for-nothing, handsome lad, we watch his perhaps too rapid development to good, under the influence of his master, a peasant-proprietor of considerable means, whose nature is a very noble one. The master's sound, well-chosen words of advice to his servants are full of dignity and simplicity ; but we find ourselves not un- frequently sharing the impatience of his wife, a kindly woman, but of inferior stamp, when she exclaims,—" 0, John ! do stop and take breath; you are like our preacher, who talks too much by half !"

If the reader is not too greatly occupied in looking out for the wonders in the book which he fancies he has been led to expect, he will enjoy this picture of homely Swiss life ; he will follow the simple changes of agricultural employment with interest, and be often amused at the free, outspoken, but shrewd and calculating characters to which he is introduced. There is much that is repellent in what Mr. Ruskin has else- where called the "lower grotesqueness of peasant nature," and here we have perhaps a little too much of the repellent part ; but there is also a great deal that is very charming in its cheerful homeliness of detail. The following extract will give an example of the latter, and lead on to the second part of Ulric's career. It describes his master's setting out to the fair, an expedition fraught with consequence for Ulric :-

" In the morning the fine white horse and the clean spring-cart stood before the door. The farmer's wife put on her husband's neckerchief and arranged his collar for him, so that he might look his best ; unfolded a pocket-handkerchief to see that there was not a hole in it, put it into his pocket, and asked him if he had every- thing he wanted. He gave some detailed instructions to Ulric, and got into the cart. His wife had the butter-basket ready, covered with a white, red-bordered cloth. She handed it up to him and said he might put it on the seat for the present, but if he had the chance of a prettier and more lively companion, he must not refuse it. She was not jealous, like Elizabeth Guseburi,

• Ulric the Farm Servant : a Store of the Bernese Lowland. By Jeremlas Gotthelf. Translated into English from the Original German by Julia Firth. Revised and Edited, with Notes, by John Raskin, LL.D., D.C.L. Sunuyside, Orpington, Kent: George Allen. 16E6.

who had paid people to watch, and to tell her who had gone driving with her husband. But don't be late home, added she, and bring back the basket and the cloth. Have you everything now P—Yes, said John; God bless you. Now I am off.—` Blass' stepped out bravely, and the farmer had the air of a man of im- portance as his wife and Ulric watched him from the terrace. He had gone a hundred paces, and Ulric was about to return to the stable, when he stopped.—Run quickly, Ulric, said the wife ; he has left something. I wonder sometimes he does not forget his head. He is the most forgetful man under the sun, she continued, in a low tone, while Ulric ran to the master and received directions to look for some papers which he had laid ready on the table of the little parlour. The good wife heard what he said, hastened in, and met Ulric with them ; her husband again set off, and when he was out of sight, she went in, saying to herself, I am always glad when he is off at last, he keeps me going, and he generally forgets something."

Ulric's change of service, his difficulties, his ultimate con- quest of them, his two mercenary marriage projects, and his final reaching of the goal of his ambition in becoming tenant- farmer, and the hardly quite deserving husband of Freneli, we must leave to the readers of the story, the real attraction of which lies undoubtedly in the delineation of some of the characters. That of Ulric, like that of many heroes in books of a very different kind, is not very interesting, nor, compared with the others, does it strike us as very lifelike. In the wife of Ulric's second master, we have a motherly, kind, true- hearted woman of the type of " John," with less power of conversation, however, and far less strength and capability.

Joggeli, her husband, is the cleverest creation in the story. His meeting with Farmer John at the fair, and the whole transaction of hiring Ulric to be his head servant, are capitally drawn. In the vague helplessness of his need of some one to manage his farm, which he details to his cousin, Joggeli speaks lavishly of a hundred or sixty crowns' wages, which offer is instantly and apparently unconsciously dropped to forty, upon the likelihood of a suitable servant being imme- diately forthcoming. His absolute inability to comprehend that his cousin recommends Ulric solely for his advancement, and his frequent recurrence to the subject, as though hoping to unearth some ulterior motive, are very amusing. Baffled in his last brilliant idea of accounting for the mystery expressed

in the question, " Is he related to you I)" Joggeli consents to drive home with the farmer and see for himself ; but even now is compelled to make an excuse to be set down at some inn on the road, to push his inquiries further, which he does with ill-

assumed indifference. Joggeli's whole subsequent behaviour after he has engaged Uhic, and felt the advantages of his skill and industry, is but a further development of that shown on his first appearance. The more his farm prospers, the more morose and dissatisfied he becomes, and the more he looks about for things to grumble at. The following extract will give an idea of his state of mind in contrast to the general contentment :-

" But things were changed by Ulric's forethought. All was done with order and facility, and the mistress was glad at heart to see the basketeful of cherries which were continually brought in, and the hemp and flax spread out in fine layers, for they were very particular not to take the flax into the shade before the seeds were well separated from it. Joggeli, on the contrary, stepped about everywhere uneasily like a troubled spirit ; he thought only of the corn, and could not understand how it could fail to suffer while the other produce was so diligently gathered in. But it was not late after all ! The harvest feast at Steinbrucke fell on the same Saturday as in the neighbouring farms ; formerly it had been a week or a fortnight later. But Joggeli had his notions about this also. He was afraid people would think he had not been able to sow as much corn if he got done so soon, because, as he remarked, short hair is sooner brushed than long. But the cause of the change was very well known."

Too much prominence is given to the spite and exaggerated petty vanity and low cunning of the minor characters, to make the story at all times pleasant reading. The women, as a rule, are especially disagreeable ; but from these, Freneli, the poor,

hardworked relation of Joggeli, stands out in great contrast. There is a firm self-reliance and dignity about her, with all her sweetness and playfulness, and her's is a character far above that of Ulric, whom she marries in the end. We are insensibly led to perceive .her superiority from various little half-noticed indications in the course of the tale, and this gradual leading- up to a true appreciation of her worth and attractions, which scarcely strike us until the closing chapters, is one of the author's most masterly strokes. She is certainly too good for Ulric, two little indications of the deficiency of whose delicacy of feeling the following incident of their journey to the church on the marriage-day, will show. The allusion to Elisi Joggeli's foolish and contemptible daughter, whose wealth had proved too strong a temptation for Ulric once, was hardly suitable to the occasion, though it is quite in harmony with Ulric's nature :—

" Long before three o'clock, they set off in the cold frosty morning air. They drove with glad hearts to meet the hour in which their life-bond was to be consecrated ; a delightful con- fidence in each other and in God had formed itself in their souls ; they did not doubt about their happiness. Ulric kissed his Freneli, and ventured to remark that her glowing cheeks were very unlike Elisi's cold ones. Freneli did not take this amiss, but rejoined that what was past was done with and she wished to forget it. But for the future she would beg him to refrain from ascertaining whether other people's cheeks were cold or hot. The stars began to pale, the air was very cold at the approach of dawn, and Freneli expressed a wish to go into a warm room. They therefore stopped at the next inn, which was comfortless enough so early in the morning.—Eight batzen already ! said Ulric as he paid the reckoning ; and one batz to the ostler makes nine ! It is well Joggeli gave me something."

We have nothing but praise for Mrs. Firth's translation,

which is everywhere easy and natural. Of Mr. Ruskin's main object in- the translation of the tale—the immediate com- parison of the Swiss Protestant with the Italian Catholic character as set forth in Miss Alexander's Tuscan Songs, we can say nothing, not having read the latter book. For the

story's ostensible subject, the gradual change in Ulric, for the " microscopic pains " of watching whose development Mr.

Ruskin prepares the reader, we own to have felt no very great

attraction. We think we have set forth what has charmed and amused us. Beyond that, there is much of detail, and reflection, and petty dealing, which it is impossible to call anything else but tedious ; and we very much doubt whether the readers of Ulric the Farm, Servant will be greatly ex-

hilarated by the hopes held out to them of learning at some future time the fortunes of Ulric the farmer.