The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-03-15

of the naturalness and symmetry of their char
: acters. The irreverence and profane freedom
ofiudgment here expressed is all our own. They
are not whit overdrawn, and they are never
betrayed by their delineator; but they are SC
faithfully drawn, that they are well exposed to
such criticism as they deserve.
The courtship of the Five Points Missionary
and the fashionable and spiritual Miss Stella is
a specimen piece of private preaching. The
extent to which the candor of cant may run, in
denaturalizing earnest and noble natures, could
not be better exhibited and, what is best OF
all, the writer seems to be in the profoundest
sympathy with the whole process. Mr.. Falcon
tells Stella that I" the union of hearts in a great
purpose, is the blessing of God, the seal of his
approval" of their proposed marriage. And
Stella, never having been able to manage her.
self, or to know what to do with herself, "felt
in her heart that her redemption had drawn
night"
| We object to making human marriage by
turning the grace of nature out of the heart, to
make room for the enthusiasm of partnership
in public benevolence. st. Paul did not think
it necessary to marry any of the lady fellow
laborers " in the Gospel, of whom he speaks so
respectfully; but st. Paul was gentleman,
and would not profane a natural institution for
the purpose of furthering philanthropic or re-
ligious movement. Still, this mangled marriage
is an illustrations" and the illustrations of this
book are all perfect, the sentiment being always
fairly left to the choice and at the risk of the
reader.
| But there is another class of illustrations in
this large gallery of portraiture, and the heart
warns to them as they grow and glow in it's
recognition. Miss Watson, for instance, lady
teacher and author, who quit teaching when she
had earned competency for her support, and
writing, when she had nothing more to say
worth reading, but comes back into the abori-
Gus activities Of life, for the service of the man
who had cOurted her when she was young, and
married her bosom friend Now, that he is
convicted of legal rascality, and imprisoned
for life she supports his wife and adopts his
child, and thus realizes so much as there is real
in all this of the dream of her girlhood. The
authors power In analysing this character, is
| admirable. Shakespeare would have found no
fault with the presentment, and not a pen, now
in the service of fictitious literature, could exc
cute it better. Then, again, the jealousy of the
Literateurs young wife, at the intellectual friend
ship between him and Miss Watson, and the
cure of that jealousy-that is a masterpiece of
literary work-a beautiful, a generous concep-
tion and it sets a lesson to the reader which
may save her from sin, sorrow, and death.
There is in it such vindication of liberty, as
leaves love all its sanctity, and multiplies its
strength, and blesses it with truth and trust.
Very chastely, very religiously is this sketch
made from life, and dedicated to the uses of
lfe
Layard is a polite, thoroughbred piece of
selhshness, but he is not fool or a scoundrel
and he makes a most excellent Catholic priest
in good time. So faultless is his life and so
serviceable to the best social ends in all his
interferences, that he will be greatly and very
earnestly surprised at the left hand allotment
which necessarily awaits him, when the goats
| shall be finally separated from the Sheep but
this does not abate the satisfaction one must
feel in the certainty of his getting that ultimate
destination. He could not be spared from the
Church militant, but he could not be endured
in the Church triumphant. This character is
drawn with a delicate, strong, well-practiced
hand.
David Baldwin is a mere dilletante piece of
daintiness, in the details of his existence, but
there is something substantial in him, and
Layard, with Susy's unsupported and unac-
knowledged help, makes a man of him, for his
own selfish purposes; and so he is saved to us,
without bit of old Falcons preaching, but
rather by the effect of that same admirable old
gentleman's conscientious gouging; for if the
missionary had not sucked in Miss Stella,
David would not have turned to the dear little
Susy, and learned to love all gentleness, and
goodness, and earnestness, until he grew into
| the selfsame image.
The fashionable Miss Isadore sits for the
picture of her tribe, and there are some of the
they see themselves in it, but they will not be
able to run quite away from the reflection.
Mr.. Horace Chiffon is worthy of the grave
consideration of the young gentleman of genius
and jerking enterprise. 1t will miss its provi-
dental use, if it does not stick to them like a
blister. His sister affords pattern for girls
to live and die by, when living is laborious, and
dying early inevitable; and Lucia Tree and
Young Vane are safe instances of artistic en-
thusiasm for sympathy and emulation.
Our general impressions of the book are, that
every chapter is replete with wisdom, and bril-
liant in gems of poetic beauty. We do not
know when we have seen book of so much
depth and so little pretence. The author is
capable of the largest range of psychical inves-
tigation, and the most effective deliverances OF
its results. Hawthorne has freer use of the
dictionary of correspondence, and finer power
of allegory, but he is the only writer of fiction
in this country who outranks the author Of
Getting Along, in his own vein.
Our conclusion as to the authorship is, that
she is woman, American born and bred, and
of the Northern States, moreover; for all the
characteristics of the sex, country and climate,
are in the work. She may never be popular
novelist, but she will certainly be one of our
worthiest in that field of literary service. We
recommend our friends to become intimately
acquainted with this new unknown.
SENIOR.
PurSAMs MONTHLY.
Among the multitude of literary publications
which fall under our notice-many of them OF
decided merit-we have no hesitation in assign
ing the first place to Putnams Monthly Maya
| No How IL II