The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-03-31

This is commendable boldness, and in
dicates an original "intellectual mind.n
The Old Dominion stands sponsor for
this new aspirant, and pays him a high
compliment in its local columns. Per-
haps it was the production of one of its
many local literateurs. 1t contains all
their ear marks and is likely T., be taken
by more than one for their property.
We regret that the modesty of the author
of Matte Lee, should have deprived us
of the pleasure of a fuller knowledge OF
zone who writes SO WELL" The English
language has long stood in need OF I'M
nrovement,-for since the days OF Adj
olson, of Steele, of Johnson, and OF
Crabbe, no progress has been made i'm the
work of "beautifying and adorning' our
mother tongue. True, Walter Scott and
Washington Irwin, and Macauly and
Artemus Ward have done something
for it,-and Tom Carlyle and Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Walt. Whitman
and Bill Arp, have also contributed
their SHIRE towards polishing the rough
diamond bequeathed to by our mixed
Norman and Saxon ancestry; but it re-
NAMED for the author of Matte Lee to
give it the finishing touch, and make
the language SO simple that dictio aaries
and grammars will now be useless lum-
Der, and little children will understand,
with the understanding of grown per-
sons. We propose to make q few ex-
tracts from this "gem"-this prize story
published in our Roanoke Square CO.
temporary. We cannot afford to deprive
our readers of the wealth of words and
| ideas that fall around us like 'shower OF
stars" as eread the following pathetical-
ly grand opening of this tale of "Mattie
Lees heart sorrows.n Says the learned
story-teller
Night had wrapped around herself
clouds of darkness; no star of twinkling
beauty peeped through the inky black.
ness to dispel the gloom. To add to the
loneliness of the hour, the mutterings OF
distant thunder broke in upon the quiet
ness of The scene, as if striving to break
the monotony that was chained to each
passing moment. In that way time lin
gered; and as the old city clock struck
the hour of ten, sigh could have been
heard, emanating from one that was as
dreary as the canopy that overhung the
earth, as if the sky were in mourning
for the depravity of the people.
There is musical rythm pervadinq
this paragraph, which, could one discover
it, far surpasses any blank verse ever
indited by Milton Just to think
might had wrapped around herself
clouds of darkness" How POLITICALLY the
euphoneous expression "around herself
comes in here. But all the sentences are
full Of beauties "that are as dreary as the
canopy that overhung the EARTH" What
a beautiful thought, too, is that, in which
this word painter represents the sky
mourning for the depravity of the people
of Norfolk The date of this story
must be somewhat antique, as the emf
nent novelist alludes to the old city clock
striking ten. 1t has been many weary
year since that venerable time-piece
made "ten strike" The following is 6
sublime sentiment, though we doubt
whether it will be generally understood
Too soon many forget the vows love
and think not of the moments OF weary
toll that they cause by not fulfilling
their pledges OF courIsnIp. THUS, II
many instances, occasioning the life-tide
to flow passively to the home of rest.
1.-THE life-tide flowing passively to the
home of rest" shows that there is tide
in the affairs of men which leads to
final rest, if taken at the food.
But a sigh " was "let" by somebody
the exact size of which is not stated
This paragraph is 80 replete with beau
ties, that we must ask the Indulgence o
our readers to give it entire. We cannot
afford to | 3se any of Its fragrant odors
by destroying its unity:
But the one from whom the sigh came
as it was caught by the summers breeze
and carried to worlds beyond our gaze,
at the window sat, hoping that one little
| gem of sparkling beauty would be com
petent to peep through the curtain Of
| night, that caused the raven to hide it.
self, on account of its previous boastings
| OF its blackness. But her treasured gems
Of beauty, unable to penetrate the obli-
] vious clouds that hung like pail over
] the dead, made her heart of melancholy
sigh. But the Greariness of the scene
correspondent with her feelings. III may
! use the expression. the clouds were the
4 reflectors of the mind that found {, feel
j ing of congeniality, and as the wind
harmonizes with the music Of running
waters, so does the saddened hsart in
unity blend to that which is emblemati-
cal of solitude In Imagination, the
minds Of many, no doubt, have formed
/ conclusions that produce unpleasant re-
! Elections, which filled the mind of Mat
tie Lee on the night she was introduced.
/ We are glad to make the acquaintance
of Miss Lee under such happy auspices,
and to behold her in all the radiance OF
her treasured gems of beauty" while,
at the same time, we regret that the
dreariness of thesccne correspondent with
her feelings. "A very convenient and
sympathetic scene, indeed. But the au-
thor accuses wrongfully the '"minds Of
manyn of having formed conclusionspre-
judicial to his heroine. We don't believe
Matte had an enemy in the world-ex-
cept the writer, who has written her