Weekly national intelligencer., 1848-07-15

mol grace, 10 magnify wnere thcrc was not statuIe
for some exaggeraton may havea pleasing effect
or rather there be tines and men that leave little
possibility of any such effect without some touching
of, some poetic heghtening. Upon the whole,
then, we must grant TO the literary limner of the
living that license, without which his brother the
porraitpainter, could not aseyeTy body knows) earn
his daily salt, let alone his bread the license that
is to say, of bestowng where il is needed lMle
establishment, by way of redressing the wrongs
which Nature seems to have taken pleasure in heap
ing upon some peoples counenances. He who
drew every sitter just as he ID would soon be driven
from society," by the sovereign voice OF majority,
as the cruellest of caricaturists and indeed seeing
how large part of mankind are very little more
than a rather betier-looking sPrt of monkey, the
artist should perhaps. be treaed as hosteDa hu-
mani generis, who could have he heart to show so
many folks 10 themselves in Eh tter proper hi
deousness. Well, thefportrait and the character
painter are victims to a common necessity Of not,
by too severe truth, making enemies Of all their
sitters and the families and friends of their sitters.
We must allow both to beautify little; exacting
only that the face, though fattered, shall be recog-
nzabe at the first glance, and that lest proportion
be lost there shall be an equitable establishment of
all alike. If the short set upon stills, the tall
must be lifted upon poles if every mortal is TO re-
ceive the lineaments of hero, then each hero must
take the semblance of god. In short we must
not permit the living to be confounded in one uni
versal blaze of exaggeration.
So much for what we conceive to be the general
rules--perhaps not considered by certain Of our
contemporares-unde which productions like that
before US come. We proceed TO examine how far
the present performance will sustain their appli-
| cation.
The author has brought to it the quality which is
the peculiar one requisite to his undertakings
thorough knowledge, that is TO say, of the men and
things of whom he is to treat. Long leading
Congressional Reporter, he is master, Of course of
all that which man must have in order to be a
Reporter at all-namely great facility and plancy
in composition; general information enough to
catch, at the first word, all illusions and illusua-
tions; an intimate acquaintance with the political
and party history of our country. Few persons, in
short, better understand the anatomy physiology,
and 1--WE may add psychology, general and special,
of that great nondescrpt, United States Congress:
thing which-besides being. in its. proper repre-
sentative character, the epitome of whole nation
most mutable and most various, most wise and
weak, most instructed and ignorant, most excellent
in discourse and most empty, most courageous to act
and yet most dilatory and inefficient, most prudent
and rash, most economical and extravagant--is as
pretty microc0sm as heart could desire of all that
morasts have said or sung of human contradictions :
so that it may say of the land and Of itself, with
singular truth
How beautiful is all this visible earth,
How glorious in its action and itself
But we, that boast ourselves its masters We
Half dust half deity, alike unf,
To sink soar, with our mkt essence make
conflict Of its elements, and breathe
The breath Of degradation and Of pride,
Contending with low wants and lofty will
Till our mortality predominates,
And men are-what they own not to themselves,
And trust not to each other
Possibly, with all his Congressional experience,
Mr.. WHEELER did not originally, any more than
have done certain of his critics. conceive all the diff
hcultes OF what he has set about The trial of
thing is however, marveously instructive, as they
would presently find who have been in haste to
condemn his book, obviously 1--WE think) without
| having examined Its contents, except through the
ta6le OF these nor read even this further than to as
certain how many comparative pages were given to
the several biographies. The fact is plainly beio-
kened by the precipitancy with which we perceive
that leading journal has, in notice quite as posi-
tive as il is brief, condemned the performance, in
very harsh terms, as giving, out OF partiaiiy large
space to Lives particularly in one nstance) which
do not excite any special interest," and as giving, on
the other hand but narrow space to men Of more
| iharh' Such - the pTiHfea judgment which we
| have met in one influential quarter: and. guided
probably by that criticism, many among the politi-
cal party in Congress to which does moi belong the
member apparently favored with large share Of
pages seem TO have inferred that the book is written
to magnify the Democratic party at the expense
of the Wings. Meantime, BY yerv curious con-
currence of mistakes, and as If to show that Wings
and Democrats little agree in criticism as in
politics, we find that leading persons in the public
Departments have refused to take the book as en-
bedying, in that very Life Senator DoucLAs's)
which has excited the wrath OF their adversaries.
views entirely Whig! We need hardly saw that
these contradictory accusations OF unfairness, Of
bias, are strong prina facie evidence that Mr.
WHEELER is impartial, and that he is only paving,
under the complaints OF which we have spoken, the
usual-penalty, like Pope's-
In moderation placing all bis glory,
While Tories cali him Whis and Wings Tory.
Now, as man who has himself carefully survey
ed country can usually, by the description which
another person gives Of tell whether he has ever
gone over it or not, so, we think we can generally.
after reading book, judge with some certainly
whether brother critic has or has not observed
that ceremony, before pronouncing upon it. And
thus, in the present instance we should have very
little hesitation in deciding that they who describe
as we have seen, the book in question: have done
like traveller who writes a very positive account
of kinUdom of some extent. when he h.. H..