Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-04-03
NATIONAL lNTELLIGENCER:
NOTES ON NEW BOOKS.

i ADRIAN: or the Clouds Of he Mind. Romance. BY
GP r. James, Esq. and Maunsell b. Field, Esq.
q FLORENCE SAcKvnLE; or Self Dependence An Auto
biography. BY Mrs Burbury
Q. TIM HEAD or THE FAMILY. A EoreL by the author
of Olive" and The ogilyies.'
Grave and stately reviewers, like Lord jeffrey,
occasionally stopped from their high asslzes held in
the realms of poesy, the wide domain OF history,
to dabble in the itigatons of those lower courts in
literature for the trial of small causessuch as the
merits of provincial romance" by the /" Great
Unknown" or the dement's of mk-and-water
novel by Miss Edgeworth. 1t is true the great
critic who so long presided over that urn of judg
ment, the I" Edinburgh Review" at first limited a
sort of apology for understanding to notice such
publications, generally regarded as among the
lower productions of our literature" The genius
however displayed in the Waverley Novels and
Tales of My Landlord subsequently, avaed, as J Of
frey himself confessed to render this department Of
literature worthy of grave critical notice." and
finally raised it from the ssunken and degraded
condition" in which, as he says Sir Walter Scott
found it, despite the labors Of Cervantes and lie
Sage, OF Marivaux, Rousseau, and Voltare abroad,
or of Richardson and Fielding at home So great
was the change produced by the Wizard Of the
North in the estimate attached to this branch Of
literary production, that we afterwards find the same
oracle OF criticism delivering its opinions on novels
in this wise 80 If they not fated to last as long
as epic poems, they are at least great deal more
popular in their season and slight as their struc-
ure, and imperfect as their finishing may often be
thought IN comparison, we have no hesitation in
saying that the better specimens of the art are in
comparably more entertaining and considerably
more instructive"
We inscribe above, the titles Of three "spe-
cimens Of the ar" which, without being among the
BEST certainly beneath the usual average of
cxscI g. T.
nature of the day in our hasty /" Notes, Z we are
compelled, of course, to content ourselves with the
occasional exhibition of such specimens" as may
suffice to mark the progress of the art" or such as
indicate remarkable skill in the artist Having ac-
quired the incoDvenient habit Of reading what we
take occasion to remark upon our readers may well
believe that find it impossible to pronounce SEN
tence on the multitudinous and multifarious off
spring of modern fancy, in any other way than by
decmaon-a method of nficting justice which has al
ways seemed to cruel and unfair the code military
but which commends itself our favor as very conve-
nient canon Of criticism In fact this is the only way in
which we assert authority this wide domain
modern literature just representative government
seems best adapted to the management of popuous
stituency filing wide area of freedom" we were
only living in those demurgc days that the biologists tell
as of and if lives then gaciousy prolonged to
antediiuvian longevity might cherish faint hope
rary art but unfortunately the life of man in these post
duvian days has dwindled to span and that too
at the period in which the facilities for the manuac
ture of such products Of ar have infinitely multi
ped so that if the old Greek philosopher had to
complain that art is long but time Short much more
have Of this nineteenth century The healing art we
told has lately undergone such ameiorations and i'm
provsments in its curative processes that human life in
civilized communities has been perceptiby heightened
N,,+ xrha4 10
of the worlds which modern fancy has created? The an
clients had novels because presume, they had no
steam presses cheap paper and steel pens these three
things being given novels the necessary
but in the days Of tablets and the stylus parch
ment papyrus and goose quilts the sensible people very
wisely thought that nOvel :. would not pay
We feel seriously inclined to dgress from the subject
Immediately in hand in order the influence
literature Of elliott and Bagey, with their steel and
gold pens We satisfied that their invention has
ceved its due award Of Importance have been too
much disposed to regard it merely great blessing to
writing counting house clerks and geese Now,
undenabe that the steel pen has relieved the two
former classes Of much trouble and difficulty and il
doubtless matter Of consolaory reflection to all amabe
members Of the Animals Friends Society" that the an
bped is longer subject TO the ruthless pucngs
of remorseless sehooboys and mercenary quivenders
But the steel pen has only in this way in
fort Of and goose but has played active and i'm
portant role in the literary world and is therefore worthy
of distinguished consideration Pauio raajora ca
ncnus In the by-gone days, when authors were COM
PEELED at the end Of almost every sheet, pause and
mend the pen entirely anew, least every now and
then suspend the fury Of composition in order nib
the point Of their grey goose gull" is il any thing
than barely possible to conceive Of the preparation Of
novel? These successive pauses all many breath
ing spells they provocatives to meditation they
gave rumnative writer little time weigh his ideas
well mould his periods they enforced the lima labor
Of the Roman critic; they suggested the sober
second thought " that made erase silly passage
here and all rant ustan there they enabled him that
wrote with fury" TO " correct with phlegm !" these
winged moments, in short, just good SO many
little fairies blandy whispering the scribbers ear be-
Of writing - and he must have been hardy
and reckless wight, indeed, that under such difficulties
would have persisted in writing Hor such as most Of
those which give this name Keep turning the
stylus said Horace in his day. You wish TO write what
win be worth second reading often you mend the
pen said Boileau in his mend what you ndited but
in this age Of steel pens this iron age" what precep,
can elliott Bagey give that shall lay injunction on
the eacoees scendi which they have greatly con.
trbuted and which daily many paper
and sheds such foods Of ink
We indebted the ancents for all the forms Of ou
literature except the novel Greece invented the cpl,
drama he history oration IN,