The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-11-13

=, the topic that has taken such hold on
.h;,k;ng mind. The books are sold and are
They are talked about; opinions are COM
there is an insensible influence from
-, nervading the whole community. 1t cannot
~ .bsrvise. and it is this fact among others
II ossures US that the leaven of sound opin-
-. Spreading among all the masses, which
- -5.-. any ultimate retrograde action impossi-
- The next generation will have had more
-, co poured upon their minds than any pre-
r,, No one but must know and feel that
- thousands of copies of one and another
'I.or autobiography are falling into the hands
rks young as we'll as those of ripper years, it
-, all the bars and bolts of despotism that
hold its citadel from final downfall. Our
p.,Jation was aided by no such mighty engines
=, b,,trr down the walls of oppression; yet the
lion sounds that year after year came pealing
.bs ears of our sires had their effect, and at
=, Doured their echoed thunder upon the very
.L.,ns So il will be now. Such being the case,
:, cannot but watch with no little interest the
.l.,ost daily issues OF the press bearing any re-
r.,on 10 this subject. Writers who thus come
a., IN the field should feel their responsibility,
,.i,h well their strength, and so shape thef
.4,-ts As not to let them be lacking in interest
n might Of conviction.
The authoress of this volume Las drawn
,.-k enough picture of SlaverJ; It's most re-
ING features leer upon as with horrid
hery of religion md morality. Facts,
: u as she has depicted, no doubt exist. They
., the necessary result of the system carried
,oi,s legitimate results Unlimited power,
o.. an instrument OF passion and sensual ex-
-, must bs balefnl and damning in their
vork or the soul of man. The moral sense
vu be bunted, too, even where these worst
consequences are not developed, and the feel.
IN, of responsibility to God is impaired, till it
Gases to be realized, except on some startling
ssasion. A spiritual numbness creeps over
The heart, and the eye can see, the ear can
near. the tongue can speak, its apologies, as it
xmn not once have done. Habituated to
miogle with others as insensible, if not far
more so. to the evils known, soon the in
il,tce and the sin is unthought OF, and the
daily occurrences of such state of the in
tsrlor society so far beneath them, is as little
cared for AS among the brutes that herd in
their fields. God, however, must see it all
With different eye. And it is because
they are not mere brutes, but destined to
live forever, that the voice of the blood
she'd and the cries of down-trodden men and
women have such fearful meaning. 1t is
this point which Mrs. Stowe has urged with
sgeh effect; and this it is, with other things,
which imparts su,,h moral power to her
Jaas TOMS Cabin and bred. Our authoress,
IN the book now nnder notice, too, has not
been wanting in setting hold of this element,
and her tale is in many respects well conceived,
and portions Of it are suitably carried out. 1t,
however, is too involved in its plot, aud there
is degree Of apparent exaggeration in its
Incidents, that may ,detract from its effect.
We would not charge any real exsggeration of
possible situations or conditions but, in our
view d Tess rem Iucuou COi manly IHioc Touuu
Aud round of the serpent, less elaborated net
work of contingencies cast over the persons
who figure through the scenes, would have been
better The volume in parts should have been
.horter; with fewer details, the breaks here
and there Of the main thread of the story are
100 great. Whether or not practiced writer,
she evidently describes with great sincerity of
purpose. We think she fails in the negro dia-
.v,A, it is less true to nature than in some
other books There is want of distinctness
also in certain portions of the book; at least,
the Incidents and language do not make that
impression that the mind recalls them when
their remembrance is needed to further the
progress toward the end. The operation of the
curse in one generation after another is strong
lT depicted, and we feel it. But the whole in
Haence, after all, is not 80 concentrate as to
produce the effect that she aims at We rise
from its perusal as from tale of horror, but
the abiding power is soon lost. We state our
impression of the book as it seemed to us
when we had gone through it all. Our readers
may be differently affected, and the authoress
should have the benefit of such admission, as
she has our sincere wishes that her book may
prove better auxiliary than we have regarded
IT. IN the great cause of moral Improvement
aud Philanthropy.