The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-12-23


white 1t WAS NJ rpine ~ Virginia F. Tosn.end
New York Derby JACKSON. 1853. For sale by +
Philip, Washington, DC. tl5
Wea somewhat puzzleda as to this book We
do not recolect having ever heard of the name
OF the author given. Or is it a nom de plume
There is much in it that has reminded US OF
Martha Russell's New England Tale, which the
readers of the National Era will remember,
that we have at times almost been led to con
clude the name to be fictitious. There are,
however, now and then, grammatical inaccura-
cies, occasional inconsistencies, and want OF
probability in some of the steps to the develop
nent of the plot of the story, that appear rather
TO belong to a new or Impractical writer. After
the earlier pages, we find less forgetfulness or
| inequalities of the language, and it moves for
ward with better skill. The characters are
very well drawn, that of Aunt Ruth especially.
! They are not very numerous, and not more than
half a dozen or so of them may be regarded as
| permanent ones. The working up ofthe details,
with the exception of some improbabilities, is
in general effective. The moral is good, and
the story takes hold of the readers sympathies,
]
ton is such as to satisfy the wishes enlisted for
the proper heroine who is also the narrator.
The author has happily avoided the faults most
common to many writers of fiction in our cOun-
: try, and does not feel it necessary to indicate
pathos or deep feeling BY over-straned Ian
guage. She also evinces considerable graphic
and dramatic power in the management of the
| tale.
ThorndnIc: or, The Conaict OF Opinions BY William
smth, autho Of Ethelwold, Drama" "a Discourse
on Eihics," &c Bostoa: Ticknor Il Field. $50
Fors sale by F. Philip, Washington, DC.
We have never CHANGED to see the former
productions of this author, and we hardly know
how TO characterize the present volume. There
is much good writing III it, eloquent passages,
many truths, and it would be easy to gather out
of it laconies enough to fill hundred pages,
full of point and beauty. 1t is at the same
time also often hazy; it wants unity, and it
would tire most readers to sit down and read it
through, in course. To catch it up, and dip
into page here and there, seems to us best
adapted to favorable impression Of contents
Whole pages may thus be followed out continu-
Ously, while again we are tempted also TO skip
forward without feeling any loss of connection.
1t is book to lie on ones table, therefore, to
be read as well month or two hence as now
Our remarks above, however, do not apply so
well to the latter part of the work as this
which bears the title of the Confession of Faith
of an Eclectic and Utopian Philosopher, II. e.,
Clarence, A. D. l956-deserves rather to be
called series of speculations on mental and
moral philosophy without any interviewer
sketches of characters or descriptive of scenery.
The grand defect of this part of the book is its
Pantheism; for after ALL though the author
says he cannot conceive intelligence without
personality, and so can understand no other
than personal God, yet the drift of his views
seem to us to be otherwise. 1t is, however,
wrapped up in so much abstruse reasoning and
terms not familiar to the common mind, that
probably little injury can be the result of what
we cannot but deem opinions at variance with
the true philosophy. 1t is quite possible that
another reading or examination might modify
our Judgment as it is one of those books III
which an authors drift may be mistaken.
Christmas Hours. BY the Author of the Homeward
Path" Beginning and Growth of the Christ Life
or, The Sunday School Teacher" Boston: ncknor 4
Fields. 1859 For sale by F. Philip, Washington, d. c.
Beautiful for the mechanical execution and in
its contents. The eye loves to rest on the fine
glossy page and the clear, accurately printed
letters, yet greater is the charm of the simple,
sublime truths which they bear to the heart.
The sketches, christmas Eve, parts and ii,
Christmas Day, Christmas Evening" are Just
what they should be-rich in Christian feeling,
embodied with deep pathos, varied imagery, and
leaving solemn impressions of life We can
heartily commend it as a Christmas gift, whose
worth years ofpossession will not impair. The
wood cut, its frontispiece, is sweet picture of
a rural moonlit scene.
The Edinburgh Review for October, 1858. New York
Reprinted by Leonard Scsu & Co.
In this number we have most interesting
article entitled "Report of the Trial of Made
line Smith, at Edinburgh, June, 1857 one
of the causes ceiebreS of Great Britain. An
other article is a review of Bricks History of
ancient Pottery. 1t is wonderful how the rec
ord of ancient civilization has been preserved
by the fragile and perishable wares of the Pot-
tiers of Etruria and Greece. They have helped
the arch@ologist to many clue to guide him
through the labyrinths of ancient history. And
while We have lost the paintings of Polygno-
tus, Of Zeuxis, and Apeles, while the relics of
Phidias and Praxiteles are few and fragment
ary, the vases which now exist are regarded as
undoubted works of artists, contemporaries with
these great men-of those who studied the
frescoes of Polygnotus and the bas-reliefs of
Phidias; the pictures of Zeuxis and ApelIes,
and the statues of Phdias, Praxiteles, and
Lysippus.
There is also an article of great learning
upon the integrity Of Homers Epics. 1t was
Bentley, of England, who first suggested the
doubt of the integrity of the text of Homer
He was followed by German scholarship, and
Homer became myth under their searching
analysis. The Right Hon. Mr. Gladstone has
recently brought out at Oxford work in three
volumes, entitled Studies on Homer and the
Homeric Age" which is here reviewed and
we are gratifed that this eminent scholar, as
well as statesman, goes for the integrity of the
text. And his work is full of instruction as to
the moral and ethical and religious teachings
of Homer, as well as of the manners and GUS
toms of that most interesting period, the Ho-
meric age of the world
Blsckwood's Magazine FOE November. New York Re
printed by Leonard Scott Co.
The leading article in this number is a review