It is a pitiable story to tell of the senseless drudgery to which such an intellect as Oliphant's was condemned in the Brocton community. Mrs. Oliphant records the facts with remarkable moderation and keen sympathy; and her chapters relating to the Brocton life are the most interesting part of the second volume. We shall not linger over them. The spectacle of one

of the cleverest and most brilliant men of the age set to "live the life' by cadging strawberries at railway stations, working as a farm teamster, sleeping in a straw bed over a stable, and eating his meals off a deal box, is both painful and irritating. And all this with a view to be more Christlike! It would be difficult to find a greater insult to common-sense in the grossest extravagances of medieval Roman Catholic asceticism. And poor Lady Oliphant, too, a woman refined and gentle, and well stricken in years, was sent to work out her salvation in the wash-tub! "Live the life," indeed! It is perhaps unnecessary to mention that on joining the community, Laurence Oliphant had to make over his property to its common fun as administered by Mr. Harris, subject, however, to a right of withdrawal should he cease to become a member of it.

As an illustration of Harris's power and methods, we must quote the following account of his administration of the interests, human and material, which lay under his sway:

"He arranged them in groups of three or four persons to assimilate; but if the magnetism of one was found to be injurious to another, Harris was aware of it at once, and in stantly separated them. Any strong, merely natural affection was injurious.' In such cases, all ties of relationship were broken ruthlessly, and separations made between parents and children, husbands and wives, until the affection was no longer selfish, but changed into a great spiritual love for the race; so that, instead of acting and reacting on one another, it could be poured out on all the world, or at least on those who were in a condition to receive this pure spiritual love,' to the perfection of which the most perfect harmony was necessary, any bickering or jealonsy immediately dispelling the influx and breaking the sphere.'

"And not only did the head of the community keep incessant watch over all these occult manifestations, but he was at once the director of the domestic life within, where the

members of the community worked together at agriculture-and also the head of every operation without, many of his disciples being sent out into business affairs, to conduct commercial operations or other kinds of profitable work, in order that they might bring in money for the community. All the schemes connected with it, mercantile or agricultural, were in his hands; and he would constantly their minds were becoming too much enchange the heads of departments if he thought grossed in business, recall and replace them with others who often knew nothing of their management, and had to learn through mis

takes.

Oliphant went through the trying ordeal of the menial drudgery of Brocton with his usual brave indifference to circumstances, and without losing much of his light-heartedness. That he imagined he had benefited from the discipline and from Harris's teaching, is evident from the fact, that when after three years he returned to England, he was still loyally devoted to the prophet and the interests of the Brocton community. His association with the Harrisites had produced little external change in Laurence Oliphant that his friends upon his return could detect. He may have been “ more assured in his faith than ever;" but to the world he was, as Mrs. Oliphant says, as serious, as humorous, as entertaining, as delightful a companion, and as much disposed to social enjoyment, as when he had been one of the most popular men in London." It was about this time, shortly before his return, that he sent home to "Blackwood' that daring outburst of humor, "Dollie and the Two Smiths," the first of a brilliant series of "Traits and Travesties" which he continued to contribute to the

Magazine in subsequent years. Whatever the effects of "living the life" may have been on Laurence Oliphant, they did not obtrude themselves on the surface-although he was perfectly frank when questioned about his religious experiences-and he still appeared as the brilliant, humorous, and sarcastic man of the world, with an infinite capacity for enjoying everything that was enjoyable, whether it took the shape of pleasure or adventure.

Oliphant, on his return, again threw himself into literary and journalistic work. He served for some time as special correspondent of the "Times" during the

There is a buoyancy about Oliphant's writings during his Brocton life which we are tempted to ascribe to a reaction against his environments: they afforded a safetyvalve for the feelings of disillusionment which, we think, must have speedily followed upon his second arrival at Brocton. While he was in Wall Street, his wife and mother were washing the pocket-handkerchiefs of the community or working in their cottage garden. Mrs. Laurence Oliphant, however, appears to have been occasionally allowed to join her husband in New York, and even to accompany him on a visit to Lord and Lady Dufferin in Canada. But this happiness was too great to last. The prophet's fiat went forth, and husband and wife were separated. Mrs. Oliphant makes a very shrewd guess at the reasons

"As iron sharpeneth iron, so were these two likely to act upon each other, perhaps to a consciousness of the wonderful character of their subjection, perhaps to independent plans of their own, both of which would have weakened the master's hold upon them, and made their emancipation merely a question of time."

Harris had meanwhile opened up a new settlement in California, where he cultivated vines and swayed the souls who had committed themselves into his hands;" and thither Mrs. Laurence Oliphant was ordered to repair, while her husband was to stand fast in New York. Mrs. Laurence Oliphant did not remain long in the Santa Rosa establishment. When Laurence went to California to visit his wife, he was positively refused permission to see her, and promptly ordered back to Brocton; and his wife soon after quitted Santa Rosa, and endeavored to earn her living as a teacher. Though aided by kind friends of her husband's, her life for some years was one of hard toil and of considerable privation. Although away from Harris, she was still under his influence, and vory probably working under his commands.

In 1878, Oliphant was back in England alone. By this time his eyes appear to have been opened, and though he had not yet directly revolted, he was looking about him for an independent sphere of action. Events at that time were directing prominent attention to the Turkish empire and to Palestine, and Oliphant conceived the project of carrying out a colonization of the Holy Land by Jews from the countries where the oppression of the

race was most prevalent. With his usual energy he at once set out for Palestine, and the interest in the country which this visit inspired led him ultimately to select it as his future home. The literary results of this journey took the form of the "Land of Gilead," a considerable portion of which appeared in the Magazine, and in which Laurence Oliphant's wonderful descriptive powers are seen at their best. But his project, like all others that depend upon the concurrence of the Sublime Porte, ended in failure.

On his return to England he was joined by Mrs. Laurence Oliphant, who had seen the necessity of shielding her husband from the aspersions to which their separation and her condition in California had exposed him in society. She must have taken this step in despite of Harris, and from their union in London the date of their emancipation from his despotism may be calculated. But when the final quarrel came, when Oliphant was obliged to assert his independence, and claim his rights in defiance of the prophet, it was a sore trial to his feelings. He had gone out to America to see his mother, who was dying of a painful malady, aggravated by the mortifying discovery that her faith had been misplaced, and that her idol was after all but clay, for rumors had reached Brocton regarding the Santa Rosa settlement sufficient to disenchant the deluded devotees who had been left in the former community. Oliphant took his mother with him to Santa Rosa in hopes of benefit to her health, and they visited Harris, but were far from graciously received. Mrs. Oliphant mentions a significant incident, characteristic of the Harrisian system, which occurred during this visit :

"The sight of a valuable ring belonging to

Lady Oliphant, which had been given over with all other treasured things into the keeping of the prophet, upon the finger of a mem ber of his household, brought a keen gleam of conviction, both to the one who doubted al. ready and the other who did not know whether down every indignity and obey."

to doubt, or, as on former occasions, to gulp

Lady Oliphant died soon after this visit, and Harris seems to have taken the initiative of declaring war, and to have telegraphed to Mrs. Laurence Oliphant requesting her permission to have her husband placed in a lunatic asylum. No such sanction was of course given, and Oliphant

"On the plea that the money placed by the Oliphants with Mr. Harris was placed subject to withdrawal by them, should they at any time sever their connection with him, I insisted on Mr. Harris making restitution. After considerable correspondence, a personal visit from my lawyer, and threats of legal proceedings, Mr. Harris deeded to Oliphant the Brocton property; this, Oliphant informed me, represented some fifteen thousand pounds, placed with Mr. Harris by him and his wife. The property has been sold within the past few months for some eight thousand pounds, and the proceeds distributed in terms of Oliphant's will, so that they are still large contributors to the Harris community."'

In spite of all they had suffered at the hands of Harris, and of the active hostility which they had good reason to believe their revolt had brought upon them, it is remarkable that the Oliphants ever afterward continued to speak of him with respect, and to extenuate any charges that were brought against him and his system. Even in discussing matters which had directly affected themselves, and regarding which an expression of resentment would have been both justifiable and expected, Laurence Oliphant was wont, if he did not take the blame wholly to himself, at least to find plausible excuses for the prophet's share of the transaction. Harris unquestionably did supply some traits for the character of Masollam, but we have good reason to believe that Laurence Oliphant did not intend Masollam to be received as either a caricature or a likeness of the Brocton Prophet.

Before finally quitting the Brocton episode, we must congratulate Mrs. Oliphant upon the skill with which she has traversed this delicate and complicated episode of Laurence Oliphant's life. She has preserved a rare moderation when dealing with passages which must have prompted the indignation of any author; she has spared no pains to get at the truth, and has had scruples in telling it; and she has applied her unrivalled power of mental analysis to lay bare the aims and motives on both sides with an impartiality that it

must have been very difficult to preserve. We shall probably never know the exact truth regarding the relations of Harris with Laurence Oliphant; but should it ever come out, it will, we believe, be found that Mrs. Oliphant has penetrated into its essence, and done substantial justice to all parties.

In 1882, Laurence Oliphant settled at the little town of Haifa on the Bay of Acre, and there and in his mountain home on Carmel, at the Druse village of Dalieh, the remainder of his life was spent, varied with occasional trips to England. There can be no doubt that these years in Palestine were the best and happiest of his life. They were full of literary activity. Con tributions came steadily pouring into "Maga" upon all sorts of topics, and all characterized by Oliphant's peculiar vivacity and power. It was there that 'Altiora Peto" and " Masollam' were written, and later on the two works "Sympneumata" and "Scientific Religion," which embodied the peculiar views of his mature years. The life which I was lived at Haifa was at least free from the degrading and objectionable features of the Brocton usage; and, as far as Oliphant and his wife were concerned, it scems to have been one of active benevolence and practical philanthropy. Into the religious principles which regulated the little family at Haifa, whither some few of the remaining members of the Brocton community were soon attracted, we do not choose to enter. England too contributed a small band of inquirers, the most distinguished of whom was Mr. Haskett Smith, an author and clergyman of the Church of England, who became Oliphant's right-hand man in his work. The Haifa community never got beyond the experimental stage, and Laurence Oliphant was still obviously feeling his way toward a faith when his career was cut short whether or not, had he been spared to perfect his views, they would have made a wider impression upon thinkers, it is impossible to say. To us both Sympneumata" and "Scientific Religion" are as unintelligible in their teaching as they are mysterious in their ascribed origin; and it would be of little profit to discuss speculations which had no better foundation than an individual imagination, and which never got farther than the rudimentary stage. The death of his wife

undoubtedly affected Laurence Oliphant's view of things spiritual in a very marked manner, and induced him to translate dreams into actual experiences; but it also deepened the seriousness of his views of life, as well as led him to indulge in wilder conjectures regarding futurity and the unseen. Yet the old fire of genius burned brightly, and Oliphant was probably never more his natural self than when penning those records of his eventful career which appeared in the Magazine under the title of "Moss from a Rolling Stone."

He paid a final visit to America in the spring of 1888, and, to the astonishment of his friends, returned to be married to Miss Rosamond Dale Owen. But the hand of death was upon him. The "loss

of spiritual influx," of which he had for some time complained since the death of his first wife, was really the loss of vital power under an internal malady. A few days after his marriage he was struck down with illness, and though he rallied repeatedly, he was never able to shake off his mortal disorder. His last conscious moment on Sunday," says his wife, one of hope and effort lifeward. passed away as into a tranquil sleep, and woke four hours after in another world, or rather under another form, without having tasted death either physically or spiritually."

was

He

Was Laurence Oliphant's a wasted life? The answer to that question will depend upon the view we take of the work to which he specially devoted himself, and

which he had little more than begun when he was called away. If literary fame be a legitimate aim in life, he certainly earned a fair share of it. If active goodness within one's own sphere and possibilities be a duty to the world, then Oliphant duly discharged his part. If social distinction be an honor worth striving for, then Oliphant with slender advantages outstripped most of his equals in the race. If selfsacrifice confers a title to public respect, then comparatively few can boast of having surrendered more than Laurence Oliphant did. And if we believe that his views were mistaken, that he himself was the victim of a delusion, it detracts nothing from the generous nobility of his character. He was a man who well deserved so admirable a memorial as these volumes supply; and there is no one who ever met him who will not beartily endorse the eloquent words with which Mrs. Oliphant lays down her pen :

"The generation, not only of his contemporaries but of their children, must be exhausted, indeed, before the name of Laurence Oliphant will cease to conjure up memories of all that was most brilliant in intellect, most tender in heart, most trenchant in attack, most eager to succor in life. There has been no such bold satirist, no such cynic philosopher, no such devoted enthusiast, no adventurer so daring and gay, no religious teacher so absolute and visionary, in this Victorian age, now beginning to round toward its end, and which holds in its brilliant roll no

more attractive and interesting name."

-Blackwood's Magazine.