The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-04-28
DAILY NATIONAL WING.
A NEW hook WORTH READING.


has already come before the eyes OF lne
public, though in different forms and at dli-
ferent times This, however, only renders
the collection more welcome and acceptable.
There is scarcely page in It which The
reader will not remember and turn TO again,
with a fresh sense of delight. II bears the
imprint of Nature in her purest and most
joyous forms and under her most cheering
and inspiring influences. There is no IN
tensifying Of color in the picture--no melo-
dramatic minglDg Of light and blackness.
The drew-drops are real dew the leaves
have their natural tint and soitness, and toss
with as careless grace on the pages as in
the woods of Glenmary the winds and sun
shine keep their buoyancy and brightness
and we see the landscape as in mirror,
only that it is softened and penetrated by
the presence Of human thought and human
affection The unity Of inspiration from
which the different portions Of the book
were written, links them equally to the
readers sympathy, and gives him delight
iul interest in following the same mind, al
ways varied yet always cheerful and inspir-
ing in its expression, through other scenes
and experiences. We would ask no pleas
anter companion than this volume Of Willis
(saving his real presence) for summers
ramble into the fields or among the hills
The title we have already quoted gives
note Of the separate writings which compose
the book In point Of paper, typography
and binding, it is fittingly neat and elegant.
Willis's dedicatory preface to his little
daughter, which we here copy, will tell our
readers more of his purpose and desire, in
its publication Standing at the entrance
Of the volume, first seen and first read, this
dedication reminds US Of an inscription which
we once saw over the door Of a cottage in
the Black Forest: "God bless this house,
and all who cross its threshold. "-NesU
York Tribune.
TO IMooEE.
Mr. SWEET DAUGHTER: The Letters in
this volume which describe your birth
place-mere pulse-countings as they are, in
the way Of literary should be de-
dicated to you, if printed at all /; and | had
therefore written your name after the title
page just ready for the press. A joyous
laugh from you, at play with your doll in an
adjoining room, reached my ear a moment
since, however, and suggested to me the
time that must elapse before you could read
so unsventful book understandingly, and
the necessity there would be, even then,
that the circumstances under which it was
written should be somewhat explained to
you. felt-as man fond Of his grounds
might do, who should see his favorite tree
judged Of by single view at noon-a wish
that it might be seen, also, with the shadows
falling earlier and later. The interest with
which these simple letters from Glenmary
may be read BY you, must depend much
upon your knowing over what ground, in
my own mind, this. brief passage Of my life
threw its influences. If | had any of that
instructive feeling, which we sometimes
vaguely trust, that ! should be here, when
you are grown to womanhood, to say to you
what have taken my pen to nrite | should
still let the dedication Of this least labored
yet favorite volume, to my beloved child,
stand simply with her name.
At the time Of your birth, had lived four
years at Glenmary and when-pacing the
walk in front of my cottage, beneath the
stars Of night Of June heard your first
faint cry, recognized, in my fearful thanks
TO God, that a drop vas overhowngly ad-
ded, to cup Of happiness already swelling
to the brim For enjoyment of the rural
life found so delightful, had, it is true,
made somewhat the preparation with which
one sleeps in house that the haunting oil
some nameless spirit has made untenantable
by Understanding first, with the candle
OF experience, every apartment beside the
one ! intended to occupy. ! had tried life
in every shape which, if left untried, might
fret Imagination. had studied human ma
ture under all the changes which can he
wrought by differences Of climate, rank,
culture and association. My demands, for
happiness, had closed in and concentrated
upon my own heart the farther ! went and
the more changes tried. came to Glen
mary, absolute in my conviction that
brought with me, or could receive there,
from God, all the material requisite for my
best enjoyment of existence. In my FIVE
years trial Of this upshot Of experiments in
happiness, every hour welded my love to it
more strongly. Even the anxiety with
which the loss Of our small competency
clouded the first year that the sweet thread
Of your life was braided through--even that
{ harsh trouble, and the disasters and broken
reliances which followed close upon its
heels, and finally drove me back to the life
| had rejected, failed to touch, while could
cling to the hope Of remaining there, the
essential elements Of my endearment to that
calm paradise. Misfortune, that changes
the looks Of men, my dear Imogen, leaves
the stars looking as kindly down, and the
trees and flowers answering the eye as un-
reluctantly.
You may understand, from this, how, in
the life pictured in these letters, lay frame
work Of nurture for yourself, the much pom
dered promises Of which were the ties hard
est to sunder. In all my observation Of your
sex, had so learned the value Of character
formed under the influences Of refined rural
life, and taking its thought pressure and
guidance, meantime, from those minds, only,
Il ~ LII Al r