The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-11-20
MRS. L0wELL's Bo0K-sEED.GRAIN.

We are sorry that the critical notice of Mrs.
given rise to unpleasant feelings among the
friends of the author. We give place to the
following structures from an anonymous cores
pendent:
SIR: Your notice of the book entitled "Seed-
Grain is most unjust as well as untrue and Sc
we're.
have not time now to examine it at length.
To show its injustice, only quote few SEN
fences among the multitude that might be quo
1t is because of their righteousness that so
many homes are hopeless; it is for want of that
infinite depth of sentiment Of which Christian
ity is in the human soul the fountain, that mar
riages, so many of them, are vapid," &c. "To
be happy together long, man and wife must
be in Christ" &c.
Scripture. They are in everybody's hands, and
there was the more reason for quoting senti-
ments drawn from them which were not so &C
ceptable. She has not quoted, however, from
John Calvin or Jonathan Edwards. Hinc iu9
tachryng. Mrs. Lowell is firm believer in
Scriptures, and sincere and humble follower
of their precepts. Your correspondent flor 1
am not willing to believe it was the editor) has
done her, repeat, great mi ustice in his harsh
and ungentlemanly and unchristian invective
upon her. Your CONSTANT READER,
And Lorer Of Truth and Justice.
We must beg our correspondent to believe,
that as to our religious faith and practice, we
acknowledge but one Master, Christ-and, al
though we have read something of Calvin, Ed
wards, Luther, and Servetus, we are the disci-
pie of none of them.
So much on that point-and that is more than
We have ever said about it in our paper.
AS to our reviews, for some time past, SO large
have been our receipts of new publications, and
so much has our attention been engaged BY DO.
litical matter, we have found it necessary to
engage the services of gentleman of taste,
scholarship, and extensive reading, as i'm
partial critic as can well be found. With some
exceptions, the critical notices are from his pen.
1t is quite possible his religious creed may have
given bias to his judgment of Mrs. Lowells
book, but he is the last man to do intentional
injustice, or lightly wound the feelings of any
one.
That our readers may know the estimation
in which the friends of Mrs. Lowell hold her
and her volume, we take the liberty of inserting
here an extract from private letter from one
of our most valued correspondents,
CAMBRIDGE, November, 1856.
My confidence in your character as lover
of Justice and Truth encourages me to hone
that may be doing you service in pointing
out to you what l consider an unfortunate mis-.
take in the last numbnr of the Era, the criticism
upon late publication of my highly-valued
fr1a / L
pute by the most devout and good among us.
and the heroic beauty of whose life you, If It
had fallen under your notice, would have prob
ably been among the first to reverence and to
honor. The mistake, if | am right in calling it
80, is very natural one, arising from the unu.
suai, not to say unique, character of the book,
and perhaps from an accidental overlooking ofits
title and preface.
Mrs Lowels purpose was not to compile
book for religious instruction. strictly so called
II 1t had been, there are few of US, l dare say,
VINO could have succeeded in it better than she
but to furnish selection of sentences and short
passages calculated to excite interesting and
useful metaphysical and philosophical Discus
sions, pro and con, especially in little informal
debating societies of young persons. In order
to tbs. as you will find, she has collected and
grouped conflicting opinions upon the same
| subjeets, carefully contrasted. No one can
please all the world bst when this subject is
plainly set before you, you will probably agree
with me In thiaking, that no well-regulated
and serious mind could see, without q shudder
the sacred and awful doctrines of revelation set
up as targets for the young idea to shoot at,
or banded about like balls, from light hand to
hand, In chance assemblage of paradox-lov
ing, daring, conceited boys and girls. Those
are matters for faith and evidence, not surely
among Christians for immature nor even for
mature speculation. Religion, rather than ir.
| religion, might be expected to dictate here the
careful avoidance Of the holy name which you
missed.
| Miiard Fillmore and Jas. Buchanan have
been made life members of the Young Mems