New-York daily tribune., 1842-09-09
r He TRIBU u NE.

Ho,g LESLIE: Early Times il the Massachusetts. B.
= The Asthor Of 81 be Linwood." Poor Rich Man,
aEive and Let Live &c vols. Harper Brother.
We rejoice at the new proof Of Miss Sedgwick'
4 increasing popularity, given by the republication
Of this her best tale. We feared that the throns
Of new works of fiction, many of them worse thar
eauiyccsl in character and tendency, had almost
+ destroyed the capacity of appreciating the more
refined beauties Of our American autheress. The
temperance, however after ten years trial, Of
this story, is cheering testimony that the pub
fishers lind the demand for it sufficient to authe-
rze its reprint. 1t has been so long out of print
that it will have all the freshness of new work
to most readers; and many will doubtless avail
themselves of the opportunity to renew their &C
auautance with the kind heart, pure feeling, and
a..s.ssfican spirit Of Miss Sedgwick
TIE CHARACTERS OF SCHILLER: By Mas ELLEr. q VOL
l2ns. pp296.) New-York: John Allen.
There is large and increasing class of readers
to which this work will be peculiarly valuable
we mean that class which, without the leisure or
opportunities 20 master the language and study in
tently the Literature OF Germany, is yet desirous
of ENJOYING the treasures which that language and
Il
those who grasp eagerly the first translation ef
Faust or Wallenstein which falls in their
way are disappointed and repelled BY its perusal
they feel, perhaps, that the excellence is there.
but the authors world of thought, bis modes of ex-
preston, are SO different from those with which
shey are aniliar that they really derive little pro-
At and less pleasure from his works. This class
Ti find their el,ibarrsssments obviated by com.
issncing with The Characters of Schiller which
we regard as not so much key to the exccllences
of that great poet as to right understanding and
appreciation Of the German Mind. Perspicuous,
lucid and unambitious, the general reader will
eeen more instruction and pleasure from this than
perhaps from hundred naked translations. We
give an extract from its opening chapter:
In Schiler's writings the empire of taste i.
paramount, the form is indeed so eminent in his
regard that he often loses the elaborate chaste-
ness of his conception the original ease and fresh
ness of unfettered nature. That he was Justly
dsting guisbed as critic as well as poet, no one
who reads his elegant and finished essays upon
Esthetic cslture, will presume to doubt. He
gave, in fact an example of the very highest and
most exclusive devotion ts the art of criticism; for
il the plenitude OF. bis powers and the zenith of
his success he offered up to it--HlMsELF. He
brought the accumulated treasures Of his scholar
ship, the freshness of his unriyaed genius, the
FIRE Of his Imagination and the vigor of his under
snnding, and with selfsacriiciag zeal delivered
.hem up at the SHRINE of the goddess of his idoa
ty ccnsecratink them For ever and for ever to
her service, Many blamed his devotion, and
prophesicd an inauspieious result; and such
would probably have been the case with mind Of
less power. When he forsook the guidance of
pure nature, ever simple and open in her means
and her ends, and strove through the mazes OF
metaphysical subtletes to reach an ideal beyond
nature or one that should supply her place, he
aayenturcd in the midst of dangers of which he
was not aware. An inferior spirit would have
sunk under difficulties destructive to the original
hire and force of genius; nor were the powers OF
the poet uncircumscrbed and his enthusiasm un-
chilled, by their influence. But Schillers was too
noble mind to be long held in check even by the
principles he himself recognized. With impetu-
ous, almost incredible efforts he bore himself be-
sand restraint and rushed forward into excellence
though the path he had chosen. The system did
no, assist or elevate him; it was he who cnnobled
the system, by enarging and bringing it nearly
aa possible to perfection.
This new search after the beautiful-this en-
deayor to make Z" art second nature" is percept-
be in ell the works Of our author, giving rise to
many OF his defects; and to some of his beauties
His philosophy was undoubtedly erroneous; the
true poet is indeed always philosophical, but his
knowledge of nature is intuitve, not derived from
the study Of theoretical rules. The yigor of
youthful imagination never owes its energy to the
medication of opinions, though its growth may be
thereby strcng thened and its exuberanccs pruned.
Shakspeare's characters are study for the meta
Physician yet the creative intellect of that greatest
poet was never confined within the limits of tbeo-
fes: had it been so, ne might have produced
mighty monuments of urt, but could never have
reached the summit of human excellence. II
Schillers genius emerged from, the clouds, to shine
In tho admiration of succeeding ages, his success
must be regarded as afording proof of the trans
cendent powers of the poet; not of the truth or
safety Of his hypothesis.
There is no greater happiness bestowed on man
than the enjoyment of the ideal. "The end of
art" Schiller remarks, " is unquestionably the
same with tkat OF nature-te produce delight
She gives us sportively what obtain with diff
Guilty from her serious sisters bestows freely what
Is elsewhere the fruit of laborious exertion. By
dihgent Industry we gain the pleasures OF knowl-
edge; by severe abstinence the joys of sense; by
sacrihces we obtain the appreciation OF reason.
Art alone offers esjoyment that need not hrst be
earned; that costs no sacrifice, is followed by no
repentance True; but effort is first necessary to
prepare the mind to receive and appreciate this
ENJOYMENT; and to make this preparation, TO turn
the rough soil and dispose it to receive seed that
shall spring forth in perennial flowers, is the ear
liest and most arduous achievement of the laborer
In the garden of taste. A hard conflict must be
sustained with the Incidence and tmidity of untu.
toned nature. Not without significance did the
ereciaa fable represent the Goddess of Wisdom as
having sprung fully armed from the head OF Joye