New-York daily tribune., 1861-08-25

II s,ri,ope comparison. lie mas, no"eN0i,
tendencies Of the age, in having become inVrS
onoblv enny soniau in this than in his former "osAF
~,- Soectasor is even still less complimentary
standing all the marvellous productlyenesS Of
:, f.nev Mr., Alexander Smith shows no trace oil al
| s..anstion. There Is nothing within him which
oo5s and stamps with distincs meaning or drt the
,,oss images of his anaogical eye HE poetry is a
.s,etnal iux He sees by far too many subtle resem-
saaees instead of too few because there Is nothing N
a; which determines the direction Of his search re Is
,emp,ed ike butterfly from flower TO flower without
,nv guiding instinct purpose in his flight II fancy
4. the faculty which catches at heeting snaoges ana
maoinstion that which keeps haunting eonvic'oi
emotion or moral picture constantly before the mhu
,ben we fear that Mr. Smiths faculty is fancy OBJ!
the Kaleidoscope power Of ringing infinite
ehanges on every momentary impression Ou' s go,
inc no trace of that pervading uudercni1en' u
nnity which constitutes the very he'r - 49,
roetry. II was one of Coleridges oeoP 'i -,,.s
ibht oyerexcited fancy tends 70 ocii'iu"'
~ a. IN reading Mr.. Alexander Smiths bril-
IN. scepioa Of s;miles and metaphors, which often
,1al :, M delfious dream There is seldom, indeed,
,yen thai amount Of bnding thought of intensity of
feeling which is sufficient center for the shortest Of
ioseal or legendary thread of the production before
ss withdrawn all the frsgmcuary beauties which are
.,ruug upon il might be restrns almost any other
ARMY Like necklace AL the beauty in the beads,
and enc thread is quite "a good another. The con-
necting cord is useful because It uites what would
lerwise rol apart hut il has no necessary relation
win the elements which it connects and they bave no
necesssry relation with each other. The story which
M Alexander Smith has chosen for his present theme
las great poetic capabilities bu, he is quite blind TO
tem. He for. precsely the sane purpose for
which, on s1me pars of the Of Ireland tie peo-
rle Jlan, kind of bindweed among The sand: il gives
certain Conference aud siency 10 the sandy grains
which could not otherwise resist the tide at ALL but
R0ugh The bind-weed thus makes a rope out of the
s&nd The cohesion is mechanical, organic. And 20
II is with Mr.. Smiths story in the present instance
It ga. eIs ur his pictures and SMILES, and meta
phors into a certain mechanical unity, and that is
al Il is tgansplen,ed for that purpose from the
tOlc AngO-Saxon chronicles, and loses everything
iboag Mr.. Smiths fancies calmly the plantation
Nr Smith quite unable to penetrate TO the heart oi
ihe legendary history, and 70 reproduce it from within
fIAe EromiRer quietly remarks But again let nc
Hy that Edwin Of Deirl' is a poem that deserves
and vii command much praise. With all Ks faults,
We take i 10 be tie work of author WHO may yet
learn TIA, he genus afford 10 dispense with tie at
fractions Of false ornament. The writer will stand in
tie esteem Of cultivated readers twice high be
do before lis for ihe present, bis best-and 70 our
ronds BIS only real-poem was written. The tone OF
Il healthy, the invention good, and he conluct
Of .be story feH Of ease and grace" The
Aihengum" winds up the unlneiojious chorus:
Mr. Smith poetry will never be an original so much
~ parasitic growth. The Lauiea,e lie too strong for
b d IN, bs 10
strike root HE t1aers are drawn righ' away 10 the
Teanysonian tree, which they must climb unfold
lhcir le ives Bot for The Princess and the Idylls
d the King, there would have been 10 Edwin of
Dcira IN Tin. shape and rhythm. This granted, we
have 70 chronicle an advance on Mr.. Snhs previous
poetry Had he besn permitted to pass unchallenged
IN his borrowed plomes and feather triumph, We
doubt whether he world have returned viii poem
approaching 60 nearly 70 oneness Of conception, manl-
ne,s u jet,ug and simplicity Of speech, as does the
present work Altogether this is piece of honester
workmanship. lie has not allowed either memory or
iau,y TO play him perpetualy false lie has not vio
Iatsd the facts Of natural relationship Of old. We
.io not find al NatuTe dancing like BaechanaF on
calm Sumner day; nor does the moon come rushing
into lie sty On a serene Summer night Ike stag
wtli one star Ike . hound. Nor is there 80 much %
f. reference to the weather which chaTacterizes the
spaslaodistq and makes Geir pages az meteorological
a. poor Lord Rag,an's Criinean Reports"
The "Msmoirs Of tie late DIR Marsball Hall, by
bs Widow are pronounced absolute failure by the
principal literary authorities in London. Ihe Spc-
1a,oT disnis1es he volume with very summary treat
meat "Wben We have said that all who can really
read this book win carry away with them sincere
esteem FOR DR.. Marshall Halls simple and beneyolen
character and true admiration for bispactieal genius,
We Rave said all that we say in its prase. Very
few win be able TO read Il. Many who take up viii
Jay ), down with hasty disgust at the lavish testimoni
s1ng which peryades IT from beginning TO end.
Ibcs wLo do suecesd in sitting some coherent account
81 MaIshall Hall ont Of The ass Of Biographical rub
aish with which & e crammed viii associate il with
eoufued pile Of materials selected with little Judgment
ard no taste By the blind partially OF an auiable
woman, who wrote 20 their answers, without asking
herseE whether they contained any impression after
an Tbis would be bad enough without the additional
eoniuon produced by the attempt 10 combine seiel
tiGe memoir with a delineation Of character But
when we have first layer Of domestic traits then
stratum of disseeted fogs and excitomotory nerves.
then raw impressions Of Alpine scenery and religious
euotons then another layer Of physiology or sewage
philosophy and all nterspersed in the most unpleasant
way with incObereni letters from admiriDg friends, or
from American newspapers mentioning how full the
thea.ers were at Dr. Marshal Halle casual lectures in
fhe United States, and how attentive the audience,
resat IL produced which constitutes of the very
worst Biographies we have ever had occasion to read
slough Il concerns a thoroughly higb-minded as well
distinguished man, and is inspired by very genu-
inc, but neeectus wish in venerating wife TO paint