The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-06-27

Tom" cut q the Geld. wsuld. however.
wager . trife, that when Mr.. Hawthorne comes
TO make . collection Of his works, the
biography Of President Pierce win not be among
them; and / would wager a very largo amount
If had it-that one hundred years hence, Pres
| ident Pierce will be held up az an eminent and
enlightened patron Of literature, because OF the ap
! pointment Of Mr.. Hawthorne 70 the Liverpool Con
sulate What farce this life especially the pc
litcal part Of t.. Fifteen years ago, Mr.. Hawthorne
spoke OF there being but "a few flowers and sweet
| scented twiRs Of literature intermixed among the
nettles and burrs which alone flourish in the arena
If party strife He has himself only had 10 look
csrelessdy into that "arena' (he word is not very
good one for 40 accomplished writer to employ, for
there are neither flowers nor twigs nor burrs nor
nettles to be found III an arena unless Of the
widest kind Of flowers, wilder even than burrs or
netes. are to he found the site Of what was the
arena Of the Flavian amphithcatre, Coliseum to
behold nugget Of the most gigantic proportions,
ani to have it walk calmly into his pockets II was
laid Down. however, by certain eminent authority,
long ago. THAI eleventh hour were quite as good
as those who besr the burden and heat of the day.
1t may be mentioned that Mr.. Hawthorne rarely, II
ever aludes to politicians without a sneer, or
without attrbuting to them the basest mo
tiyes, or otherwise treat ting them in a depre-
eating manner; all Of which they may deserve, but
which comes with rather bad srace from one whose
only place in politics has been to share "the spos"
of victory that he had part in winning who has
often been first at the feast, without having been
anywhere In the fray 1t may be said that offices are
given, III theory at least NOT Tor p0ltcnl services
that have been rendered, or which to be render
ed but account of the fitness of the persons who
receive them; theory, the reduction of which to
practice, would send Mr.. Hawthorne TO anywhere
else rather than to Of the first commercial cities
in the world in the capacity Of American consul
Beside the works already named, Mr.. Hawthorne
published, at the commencement Of 1852, volume
entitled " The Snow Image, and other Twice-Told
Tales Some of the contents were recently written
for the National Era newspaper the abolition organ
at Washington and other portions Of 1t are of older
date Itsnot good It's predecessors though good
in itself. One OF the stOres-"The Old Stone Face"
makes pretty thorough work with Presidential
candidates. especially those whose "claims" have
rested on their military exploits. Mr.. Hawthorne
has also written several works for children. wherein
he has, / think, wasted his timo.
The general tone Of Mr.. Hawthornes writings
leaves q strong impression Of the worthlessncss Of
human life. l have never read one of his prOduc-
tions of the serious kind without being reminded Of
a passage in one Of Calderons plays-"La Vida es
Sueno," (Life is Dream,) think It occurs in-and
which has been thus "Englished:"-
What is lfef Ills hut madness.
What Is Hfe9 mere illusion,
FieetiDg shadow, fond deluiion.
Short lived Joy that ends In sadness.
Whose most steadfast substance seems,
But the d,eam Of other Dreams
In short, that life is flask of bad champagne with
o splitting headache and cruel heartache at the
bottom of it, which, as Colonel Mordaunt said just
before he blew his brains out, nothing but church
yard sleep can cure. / am not sure that he isn't
right. ALGohA.