Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-07-15
FRIDAY. JULY Is, 1859.

nature swells till the straight swathings oi
Of Puriianlsm are burst DR.. Hopkins. the
conscientious minister. come upon a time
when the social prestige OF the clergymcn
!. waning, and whose Independence will test
the voluntary system of ministerial snp.
post; Simeon Brown. the man Of theologie
dialects, in whom the utmost perfection Of
creed is shown n be not inconsistent with
the most contradictory imperfection Of life
and all ihe.e are characters new 20 liter.
aturc. And the scene Is laid just Ear
enough away in point Of time to give prop
or tone and perspective.
We think we End in the story the prom.
ise Of an in,ercs, as unhackneyej as II will
be intense. There is room Tor the play Of
all the passions and interests that make up
the great ,ragi.comedy Of liIc, while all the
scenery and accessorie. will bc those which
familiarity has made dear TO Us. We are a
little afraid Of Colonel Burr, 90 b. sure. I,
is % hard 20 make n historical personagc
fulfil the conditions demanded by tho novel
OF every day lllo. llei, almost surc to fall
below our traditional conception of him, or
TO ri-e above the natural and easy level OF
character necessary N koping, into the
vuguo or the melo dramatic. Moreover. We
do not want novel Of society iron Mrs.
Stowe she i quite to god TO bs wasted
in tina, way. and her tread is mdch more
firm IN the turf Of tho " door.yard " or the
pasture, and the sandcd door Of the farm.
house. than on the velvet OF the salon. We
havcno notion how she /, 10 develop her
plot, bat wo think we iorscc chances for her
hos, power in the struggle which seems fore.
shadowci between Mhry's conscientious ad-
miration Of the Doctor aud her halfcon.
ious passion for james, before she dis
covers tina, one Of these conflicting feeling.
mean. simply moral liking and approval
and the other that she is woman and
that she loves. And j. not the value OF dog.
matte theology ~ rule Of lie 10 be tho.
roughly tested for Doctor by his slAvchol.
ding ptri'hioners? l. ho not to learn the
bitter difference between intellectual nccCp.
uncc OF - creed and that true partakinc Of
the sacrament ol love and faith and sorrow
,hn, makes Christ the very 'ir.bl,od Of our
being and doing? And has not james Mar.
yyn als, his lesson to b, taught? W. fpra.
SEQ him drawn gradually hack by Mary
from his rccjil asaln., Puritan formation,
70 a perception OF how every creed - plant
and plastic to a beautiful nature, Of how
much charm there may be in an hereditary
faith. even il 1t have become almost conycn.
tional.
Ia the materials Of characters already
prc.en, in the story there i'sc,ro for Mrs.
Stoves humor, pathos. clear moral sense
and quick eye for the scenery Of life. We
DO no, believe that there is any one who, by
brrlh, breeding and natural capacity, has
had the opportunity to know New Ensland
rs we'll ns shs. or who has the peculiar ge-
Mus - n profit by the knoWledse. Alrca-
dy there have bcen scene, IN the " Minis
tcr's Wooing," that, in their lown~,s Of
tone aud quiet truth, contrast as charming
ly with the ;iuid yasueneSs Of the modern
school OF novel writers as the Vicar Of
Wakefield itself, and We are greatly mista-
ken IL il docs no, prove to be the most char
actcristic Of Mrs. Stoves works, and that
on which her fame will chiefly rest with
pOsieriiy.