The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-08-24


We have read this beck through. When We be
gan il. with tho impressions Of friends and tho no
GSes Of ccitos frcsh in cur cars, wo wors prepsxo
fer . cisver skstoh Of tho communist msvemea
madc, some years ago, in this country. We did no
know whether the author had nI-used tho sect. O
had bsoons its apoIssist but We confidently anti
oipated Some powerful portrait painting, and, u
least, few ideas-ths offspring of thinkers brain
to shod new light on dogmas and social problems
which arc emincnty worthy Of the profoundest
study. What theme moro noble, more original,
ndoxtcroudy handled, than tho ohivalrous, though
perhaps utopian, schemes Of tho little band Of re-
formers, who, revellipg in the consciousness Of in
teilectua power, and blinded by tho impstussty Of
ardent youth, dared. from the purcst motives, to
propose tho snDhiaton Of the social edifoe-littls
rocking Of their own utter beplcssness to rebuild
single wall While France has bogotten Fourier.
| aProudhop, Leroux, and CADET, to become the
baae Of tho operatives and tho scorn Of the yetares
| Of plain common sense-whilo England has rejected.
| with unmerited contempt poor Robert Owen, but is
irreastbIy fascinated by the inoshercat aspirations
Of Charles Kingsloy and the Westminater reviewers
America has not been bsrpn Of "new lights :,
and amid tho cfervescenco Of practical energy, has
found room for splendid theorists, whose honest
philanthropy deludc5 the heart while their faultesH
logic involves the mind in labyrinth. Hote were,
indeed, Geld of unexampled scope for . man Of
talent. To grasp the nettle philosophy with UNI
fincDg hand and hold it up 70 tho strong light of
every day lifs-to subject il to tho microscope Of
political enonomy, and to lay bare the thorns aud
prcklcs latent upder the leavecthis wore task to
earn a solid monument of fame for him whs would
accomplish it.
That man is vet TO csme. The Corvautes Of o.
cialist knight-errantry is unborn. Mr.. Hawthorne,
from whose acknowledged ability We had oxpooted
more, has barely SKINNED over the surface Of tho
abyss We had hoped he would have sounded to its
lewast depths. Brook Farm, Or Blithedale, as he
is phascd to csl il, is the accidental place Of
meeting Of his heroes, whore they assemble to make
love, pick quaErels, and milk COWS. For aught w
can sec, the Aston House, tho Pavilion at Mis-
CARA, country village, the deck Of steamboat or
boarding house in Chambers street, might be sub
sttuted for the abode offraternity and lsve without
interfering with the plot, or deprving US Of single
Interesting scene. The great question Of socialism
is disposed Of in few lines, rudey ntercalatod in
love passages, and never ending descriptions. Mr..
HawthOrne's belief in the subject may be thus
summed up.-The aim Of the honest socialists, whs
consccntiousy believe that the defects Of social
and rebuilding it on a new basis, is very laudable.
Such men
Though fOlled,
And forced to abandon what they bravely sought,
Deserve, At least, applause for the attempt,
And pity for their loss.
DIV resfc, Mr. Hawthorne is candidly of opinion that
the Brook Farm was a failure.
Now, what man of average ability but would have
evolved doctrine equally pregnant with instruc.
ton? Nay, what mechanic, what farmer, but would
have said the Same thing in he Same words! Where
sv1I fhnf ifv NJ fhn fhn
#e may DO told that it is not our province to die
tate to an author what ho should write. His pom
obeys tho inspiration of his mind and cannot travel
farther than the intellect can reach Be it 50. We
aro only expressing our profound disappointment
that man Of Mr.. Hawthorne's powers should have
grappled with such topic as socialism, and failed
TO leave the world richer by single idea.
There are passages, however, where he scars
above the mere novel writer for the mass. Abiding
to the most absurd Of all the humbugs, which have
evidenced the incredible gulhbiity Of the American
people, the spiritual rappings," he says
What they indicate ina spiritual Why except that
the foul Of man is descending to lower poict than 1t
has before reached while ncornAte, We are pur
.ugc dowswaTa course In the eternal march, and thus
bring ourselves into the same range with beings whom
death in requita Of their gross and evil lives has de-
graded below humanity. 10 hold intercourse with pir
its Of this order must stoop, and gfovel in ele
ment more vile than earthly dust These goblins they
exist at all are but the shadows of past mortality, out
casts mere refuse stuff sdudgcd unworthy Of tho etc.
ling gradually into Dothingness."-p. 232.
Restless spirits Of the departed! Venerable rcve-
n0nt Of Cook lane! Hear you the abuse lavished
on your hesds9 Are you really refuse stuff, =
enjoy friendly chat with grovelDg mortals or
willing to become spiritual postmen between the
realms of Pluto, and some silly girls bedroom in
Rocheeter? We had no idea such trash was to be
found in any book printed in the nineteenth centu-
~, unless it were fairy tale What. in the name
Of all the ghosts in ghoetdom, is the meaning Of
"pursuiDga downward course in the eternal march,"
and s'the seul of man descending to lower point
than it has ever before reached while incarnate -
Can we wonder that the heads Of boarding school
girls are turned by such folly, when men like Mr..
Hawthorne, timidly censure the delusion, without
daring to pronounce it sham
So much for the philosophy Of the Blithedale Ro-
nance. The tale, or plot, is soon teld Fauntieroy,
q rich man, is ruined, commits q forgery, and is
He subsists badly enough, on the charity Of his
relatives, but marries again, and has another
daughter Meanwhile il is believed that he is dead,
and his eldest daughter, Zenoba, inherts her unces
fortune, becomes authOress advocates the rights
of women, and joins the Biithedale community. BY
some unaccountable accident, her sister, of whom
she never heard, Priscilla, joins her there. Both
fall in love with rough, honest, stalvart black
Howard, for the reformation of criminals Hol-
lingsworth, devoted body and soul to his scheme,
would prefer Zenobia, who is rich, to Priscilla,
who is poor; but their father turns up, Zenobia
10 olscoVeIeu W De pegguIt anu uolimBeWortu
throws the handkerchief to Priscilla. The high
minded Zenobia, who is altogether an impossible
character, inflated is she with PRIDE false philoso
ply, passionate love, and unwomanly hardness Of
heart, browns herself in brook hard by. There
some other Observation-Disclosures whom We
cannot better describe than by calling him largo
green patch, with man crouching behind it-such
leading part does the patch play in his appearance
an unknown rascal, Westervelt with fine eyes
and false teeth, who is always intruding, no one
knows why, coming no one knows whence, and 60
ing no one knows where, who seems to have been q
husband or lover of Zeneba's and winds up his |
part by running away with Priscilla, for the honors
bic purrose of exhibiting her the yelled lady |
Miles Coverdse, who tells the story idle aimless
poet Who for the readers qualification, is constantly
putting the most impcrtnent quertions to Zenoba
and Hollingsworth, and getting snubbed for his
pains; but they are hardly essential to the story
As the reader will perceive, all this might have