North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1852, 1851-05-10
LITERARY NOTICE.

defects is 10 portray the sufferngs of the
cons and show how these sufferings may DC aie
ted. For the mere novel reader, It con'a'n' '''"o
any interest. There is no plot, and tue s'o'y 10
Nv string on which to hang instances u "'lO
onnressiop. which Americans can naroiy oeiie'e ~
nc, ax.en, in the Imagination OF the writer Inc
1af.te oGbe English government anu clergy are cedr
l., demonstrated, and reformation, not desructlon'
IS Tho establishment loudly called for Through the
.hi.k veil which the negligence and Incidence of her
oarrv have thrown around her, the glorious beauties
,f ,6e Church of England shine brightly out. But
--L1o che is shown to be the only bulwark of the
.oo, ,raust the medieval tyranny of rank and the
fodsrn tyranny of Mammon, she is proved by many
Tic ,,uths to be an insufficient one, and sadly in
need of repair.
Alton Locke, the hero, is young Tailor, who,
,bouob obliged labor every moment of the day at
bis trade. in order to gain scanty pitance wherewth
W Leep soul and body together, is determined to ed
..a,o himself His mother, Baptist and rigid Cal
,i, carried to their fullest extent the doctrines of
1,,ion and Predeslinaon, as held by her sect. she
nodi, animpious thing for those who believe mankind
o.. ho children of the Devil, until they have been con-
iorsIv converted to baptze Unconscious infants, and
them the sign of God mercy, on the mere chance
of thatm
~, even pay for the conversion of her offspring
esty as she prayed on every other subject. though
,nv Of her sect would have done so, her clear log
cal sense would yield to no such tender inconsistent
:. had it not been decided from all eternity, and
could her prayers alter it. They were elect or they
were reprobate' She believed all books except the
Bible and Pilgrims Progress carnal and unlawful
Our Young genius is therefore Obliged to conceal
from her bgoted eyes those volumes he obtained from
an old Scotch Bookseller As might be expected,
che detects him in his secret studies, porting over
Ia,in ViroiI. Convinced that Latin cannot save his
sou in her horror of his sin his misdeed is laid be-
fire her minister, and discussion ensues which
shows to what length ultra Calvinists will go in sup
port of their fvorite doctrines. AT length Alton in
rage declares that according to the Minister'S views
of Election and PredeStinaon, it makes no difference
what he reads for if he is of the eject he will be
saved no what he does, and if not he shall be
damned He declares his belief that Jesus died for
all men, and not alone for the chosen few whom Cal
vniss call elect On page l3 he says:
81 speak as Christian man-an orthodox Church
man. (if you require that shbboleth) Was so very
wrong! What there in the idea of religion that
was presented TO at home to caPtvate me ! What
was the use of child's hearing Of Gods great love
manifested in the scheme of redemption" when he
heard in the breath that the effects of that
denbtion practically confined only 70 one hui
being of thousand, and that the other nine
hundred and ninety-nine were lost and damned from
their birh-hour to all eernitY not only by the abso
lutte will and Reproduction of God, (though that infer
nal blasphemy heard often enough,) but also put
ting that out of the question: by the fact Of be-
ing born of Adams race-and this to generation to
whom Gods love shines out in every tree, and flow
and hedgesde bird; to whom the daily discoveries
of science revealing that love- in every microsco-
pic annacuIe which peoples the stagnant pool 20
&c.
The Minister maintains Jesus did not die tor all |
men; speaks Of the narrow way of discriminating
grace, and how much it enhances the believers views
of his own exceeding privilege to know that but few
are saved, and much more such cant. From such |
teachings Alton naturally revolts and into the |
other extreme. Becoming a sceptc, he is turned gu;
of his mothers house and taken in by Sandy Mackaye
the old Bookseller who first lent him books. With |
him and Crossthwaite fellow workman, he becomes |
Chatst, abandons his trade, Cor rather it abandons
him. and writes for living By the help of an old
dean whose acquaintance he makes in picture gal
lery, he publishes volume of poems and is ac- |
knowledged genius; still he can hardly support |
himself. And then come powerful and thrilling de-
scrPtons of the suferings of the English artisans,
particularly the Tailors and MISREPRESENTATION
which almost any English newspaper proves to be |
not too highly eolored. Ireland has heretofore been
the object of American sympathy but if this book be
true picture, and cannot but believe it is, there
are thousands and tens of thousands starving in Eng
land! glorious old England while there is bread |
enough and TO spare. With the author, we cannot !
but believe heavy judgment awaits the English
government tor their criminal neglect of the poor 1t
the tyranny of Mammon is lettering to it's fall as he
seems to Think let the English government beware |
lest it be crushed beneath its ruins If it will not
take steps to prevent the oppression of the poor by
the rich, the sufferers will themselves throw off the
yoke. Because they have heretofore failed is no rea-
son icy should never succeed and wo to the lofty
ones when they do.
Our hero falls In love with the old deans daughter,
ana though ne never dares to tell her of it, quarrels
with rich cousin for loving her too. Mistrused by
MS own class for being seen with those above him,
IN an effort to retrieve his character he becomes i'm
pcated In riot, and is sentenced to three years i'm
Prlsonment. He is released just before the Chartist
movement OF the 10th of April Is4s The failure of
that movement, and the causes of it. are we'll related
and IT the book had ended here, we think It wonId
nave been more TO the authors credit II flare nor
ceptibly after the death of old Sandy Mackave ,vbo
embodies most Of the common sense, and is decided
~ the best character in it. Ee is an amiable odd;t
well sustained throughout. The excitement and dis
appointment consequent the failure Of the petition.
and on finding Lillian engaged to his cousin, bring
a brain fever Alton, from which he never entirely
RECEIVERS. The author seems to have been slightly
touched with it himself, for he wanders off into sort
oil trance, and afterwards endeavors to show how all
Nnlhgs may be set right. How-we confess we do