vagaries and sentimental tears, which frequently only disguise a sneer at
human grief and pity.

The two books by which Sterne is remembered are _Tristram Shandy_ and _A
Sentimental Journey through France and Italy_. These are termed novels for
the simple reason that we know not what else to call them. The former was
begun, in his own words, "with no real idea of how it was to turn out"; its
nine volumes, published at intervals from 1760 to 1767, proceeded in the
most aimless way, recording the experiences of the eccentric Shandy family;
and the book was never finished. Its strength lies chiefly in its brilliant
style, the most remarkable of the age, and in its odd characters, like
Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim, which, with all their eccentricities, are so
humanized by the author's genius that they belong among the great
"creations" of our literature. The _Sentimental Journey_ is a curious
combination of fiction, sketches of travel, miscellaneous essays on odd
subjects,--all marked by the same brilliancy of style, and all stamped with
Sterne's false attitude towards everything in life. Many of its best
passages were either adapted or taken bodily from Burton, Rabelais, and a
score of other writers; so that, in reading Sterne, one is never quite sure
how much is his own work, though the mark of his grotesque genius is on
every page.

THE FIRST NOVELISTS AND THEIR WORK. With the publication of Goldsmith's
_Vicar of Wakefield_ in 1766 the first series of English novels came to a
suitable close. Of this work, with its abundance of homely sentiment
clustering about the family life as the most sacred of Anglo-Saxon
institutions, we have already spoken[217] If we except _Robinson Crusoe_,
as an adventure story, the _Vicar of Wakefield_ is the only novel of the
period which can be freely recommended to all readers, as giving an
excellent idea of the new literary type, which was perhaps more remarkable
for its promise than for its achievement. In the short space of twenty-five
years there suddenly appeared and flourished a new form of literature,
which influenced all Europe for nearly a century, and which still furnishes
the largest part of our literary enjoyment. Each successive novelist
brought some new element to the work, as when Fielding supplied animal
vigor and humor to Richardson's analysis of a human heart, and Sterne added
brilliancy, and Goldsmith emphasized purity and the honest domestic
sentiments which are still the