The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-07-24
EaW Rnnka.

NATIONAL LYRICS. BY JOHN OleenleaI
Whittier. Boston Ticknor and Fields,
1865.
The publishers send out in this, the third
volume of their edition of "~COmpanion
Poets for the People," LOngfelloW and
Tennyson have already gone before ;
Browning, Holmes, Mrs Stowe, and others
will quickly follow. The series is a very
popular one, made so not more by the
cheapness of the books, than by the judi
cious selection of pieces.
In point of illustration, this volume is
decidedly superior to its ~forerunners. The
designs are furnished by GeorgeG White,
q. Fem and Charles A: Barry, and are ex-
cellent. Among the poems We notice that
stirring lyric, "Barbars F~rietchie," illus
trated, and a number of his best pieces, in
spired by events and incidents in the course
of the war for the Union and slave.
As for Whittier, nothing need be said
he is his own evidence. His temperament
is essentially poetic. He is more the child
of inspiration than any American poet, ex-
cspt Bryant. Longfellow is more the schol-
ar and artist than the genuine child of
song. He swerves sometimes from the ar
pument, the sense, to the expression, and
50 becomes literary. Whittier lives in the
present, and life dictates the choice of sub
iects. His muse at one and the ssme time
reveals the divinity of human nature and,
by contrast, the ~depravity of man..
This little volume is for sale by Cobb,
Andrews & Co.
LETTERS TO VARIOUS PERSONS. By Henry
D. Thoresu. Boston: Ticknor and
Fields. 1865.
In spite of the liberal and liberalizing
institutions n which we brsg 30 much, il
must be owned that we are a very shallow
people, We have mon. in evsry depart
mept, of fine parts and sttainments, but IN
democratic America there is q great lack o.
what is called character. Our public men,
where is one that the hand cannot easily
pass through? We have q multitude Of
clever, faciIe writers, minds of refinement
and cultivation, of whom Winthrop was 6
good representative, but they amount tc
nothing. What's the use of poetry if
poet is not back of it2 or of any fine
writing or neat performance, if 6
real man is not behind them
We are always willing to excuse much
in the way of details of execution, if We
can but meet in literature or politics mer
of deep insight, wild vigOr of purpose, of
disposition TO deal at first hand with mel
and things, aDd of those virile qualities thai
90 far to compensate for almost any defects
We can forgive Carlyle and Thoreau theil
dogmstism aad narrowness, their barbara.
ties of style, headiness and bad blood, wher
we remember how their immense force 81
it were that of natural agents, has minis
tered unto us. Their service is then seer
to be of incslculsble value.
Considering the general tam o
American life and literature, Thoreau mus
be esteemed our most peculiar and yet nat
ural product. For, dreadful extremist a
he is, he Is q product, although q rebound
as a Universalist is rebound from Calvin
ism, and a spirited Republican son from
& Democratic father.
Aside from the general good service dom
American letters, as indicated above, Tho
reau's special value consists in his contri
buttons to natural history, and his leas
value in his attempts at criticism. Mer'
seeing, observing, is the most difficult art
Better eyes no man eve had than he, ant
q Porr5US Ry-r-hE and understanding
waited On his vision. His interpretation u
nature is adequate, but his criticism on lif
is dogmatic, transcendental and of littl
worth.
These letters will be read by all reader
of Thoreau, but they are not pleasant an'
wise. He is too interpretive and self-in
voIved. The effect of such observation an
analysis of self, is as perniciOus as tn
teachings of that system of theology which
Ehtd tEhfhsf; 1nsssadU or t5UHIhg- uufwsrGiint
the clear daylight
This book is for sale by Ingham L Bragg