Independent Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1842-1844, 1844-01-20
cessariy everyday and familiar; most o

tcosdIily eNSi 'u"y M" i"'''''' -
The characters still living, and performing
their parts OH this mortal siage-no. yet
dismissd to that eyentful sleep which fol-
lows 'life's fitful fever.n Under such cir,
cums'aucesos these,dn author has far grea-
ter difficulties 10 encounter, the scrutiny
of all can be fixed upon every item oGhe
parpherna'ia, and every spoke of The ma
chhery can be subjected 10 the criticism
of the most ordinary reader, 1t is Ger
tainly a bold undertaking to atemp, 70 ex.
hibii the "wich"taft by davligh "-the i'm.
agery Of fiction stripped Of the tim worn
garb of antiquity, and rife with the persons
and incidents which teemod in the streets
of yesterday. When we are allowed TO
look back to the indis'inrt and shadowy
traces of the past, with which even the eve
of the antiqulry has only misty familiar
iiy we can give aloafto the play of fancy
and allow an unbrided license to the va
carries of exaqger ton. The 'mhre vest
m nts Of a distqnt age, the utter change Of
scene, the mlil-cad soldierv and mitred
churchmen, the al-celehra ell, m ST prince
" order of chiyalry, spread over the era
Of the middle age, the mngic robes Of
mystery The author has conirived 10
develop "mysreries" of equol interest with
out those poetic ails, and though there is
something unnatural in some of the char
acters, probability is never shocked.
In one point Of view we think The au.
thor exhibits bad taste, or perhaps ii might
be termed lad arrangement of matter.
There are explanatory lectures al the ends
of some of the chapters pointing out what
idea is intended 10 be developed, what re.
formation sought, or what abuse corrected.
These things we thiak could with more
proprleiy be left to the dlsccrnment Of the
reader. If the author was afraid that
those who peru,cd would fail to find ''the
moral of bis strain" his time was i'll EN-
ployed in its composition. Or if there
was anything about which he wished plr-
tcularly TO remark, he could have modest
~ appended it 10 the book in the way Of
note. where il would not have been sin The
way" Of the reader
Like most Of tho romance writers Of the
French school, the bad Characters are
supremely bad-alr monsters without one
redeeming trait. The devil would not
have tempted them, they would have anti
cipated his wishes; he could not have
made them worse, they were beyond his
powers of corruption. We can scarce re-
cognize them as belonging to the human
family, they seemed to have stolen brief
space from the prison house Of hell to re.
vel in the crucities they wantonlv infict-
ed.
The character of Podolphe, the hero,
has been much objected to by critics, as
unnatural, over-wronght, and Qniyotic, bit
the same objection would apply to the
whole range of fiction. II must to some
extent lie removed from the insipid same
ness of commonplace life, to attract the
attention Of minority Of readers. Il is
true, it seemed strange cnnducfflra Ger
man price, TO leave his own domnions,
and devote bis fortune and abilities to ale
viatc the sufferings Of strangers; and
there is not much probability that we will
meet with n circumstance like il, tut the
principal question is: was he meritorious-
ly employed? Was his conduct what the
world ought to commend, could he have
to the sum Of hnmln happiness
in any other way? Is his Character in
keeping with the nature Of romance? Do
not those very things to which persons
object. greatly increase The interest which
ia attached 10 his career? The force Of
the objection is in the atty, that he was
not sufficiently selfish, that he ought to
nave sought some other mode of promoting
his own happiness, than that Of ten ling
10 that of others. Thew look up'n his n
lions Of utility as not Of he most praclical
that he orgbt to have cnns'ru,i-
made tunnels, and lu'l cries,
This might have cen very well in its pro-
per place, but would have scarcely afforded
for hero Of romance.
In accordance with the fashionable ma