Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1833-02-28
From The Ne,o York Epeming Post.

don Quarterly Review, there is an arti-
Gle reviewing Mr.. Ousley's Remarks on
the Statistics and Political Institutions of
the United States, and Mrs. Trolloppe's
Refugeein America. Mr.. Ousley's book
was noticed in this paper some months
ago. II is plain sensible account ofour
country in those respects in which the
writer undertook to treat oft, the opinions
and reasonings put forth supported docu-
mentary evidence, and expressed in a
manly and candid manner. Such book
relative to this country could not ofcourse
altogether escape the ire Of the Charter
ly Review; but we are somewhat surpris-
ed to find that Mrs. Trollope, remember
ing how that woman's former book was
glorified in the Quarterly, has drawn
down upon herself the censures Of that
periodical by the sins of her Refugee in
America. Thewriter of the article seems
quite angry that Mrs. Trolloppe, tickled
probably her the success of her former
exaggerations, should have undertaken an
other picture Of American manners, which
she has drawn in style of such absurd
caricature as to defeat her own end, and
throw doubt on the credibility other pre-
vious production. "She attempts to prove
too much," exclaims the impatient Re-
viewer, and in the first glow of his indig-
nation, he compounds the following re-
cipe for making novel:
SIT is the established faith ofthese days,
that any one who has written any thing,
can write novel. If a traveller has ac-
Iquired some little notoriety by some live
ly sketches of a distant country, his next
step is infallibly to publish a novel. If
a squib has been well laughed at, its auth
or is sure to try a novel. With the
young gentleman who hashadthe felicityto
fill page in the Keepsake or B1ou--the
fair lady whose fond friends have sighed
over some pathetic ballad III Court Mag
azine--in every feeble and fretful stage
of the vain cacoethe, the easy prescrip-
ton, and universal relief is the same
three volumes worth of novel. 1t seems
to be imagined that nothing more is re-
'quired for this purpose, than to couple to-
gether pair or two of the out.of-the- way
|simames, or a well-sounding title or SO,
for the heroes and heroines--to throw in
among them little random love--to con-
jure up in their way two or three good
sweet Williams for the sake of difficulties
and escapes-then to scrape together
lot of things called notices, like the fol-
lowing:--sIs it not better than to be a
lone?-Byron. Signs of love. '--Shake-
speare. She mocks all her woers. -
iShakespeare-and at length, aftera rea-
|sonable quantity Subscription, sentiment
and small-talk to punish the bad and hap
PLY the good by the INSCRIPTIONS and
arbitrary contrivances.
Of Mrs. Trolloppe's book, manufactur-
ed according to this prescription, the Re-
viewer pronounces his opinion in very
categorical terms. "The story is absurd
nonsense. from beginning to end. -"
To say that this tale is singularly
unskilful would be almost flattery,"
(fattery of rather novel kind however,
I'VE have seldommet with more of childish
improbability, combined with less of sur
prise and interest. 1t was intended, we
suppose, as peg whereon to hang the
drapery of satire; but it is peg wretch
eddy i'll fashioned and i'll covered" "The
characteristic wire drawn from beginning
ttoend." The Reviewer cites various in
stances of most absurd plumbers in gram
atical construction and in photography;
but we shall not inflict any Of these upon
our readers.
But though the Quarterly Review speaks
in very different tone of Mrs. Trollope's
last work from that in which her first
was commented upon, it is easy to per-
|ceive that it has lost none of its rancour
towards this country. 1t talks of ''the
miasma of democracy, which blights and
withers every thing most enlightened in
the society over which it sweeps"-"and
in the curse, heplague- mark ofthe United
States. The Reviewer complains of
ga certain mere aceakness in the character
of Americans, their overweening, abso-
Lutte thorough going intolerance of such
criticism, as the natives of any compare
lively uncivilized country must expect to
meet with now and then from the obser-
want travellers of an older and more re-
fined one." He anticipates that lthe es-.
Establishment of a national literature in this
country will lead to the language being
interlarded and corrupted with yankee
ism new words, and old words used in
new senses, that it will no longer be one
and the same with the language ofthe mo-
Their country. He affects to lament that
the barrenness of our country in objects
of interest has had the effect to prevent
the visits of travellers Of the better sort.
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