The Portland daily press., 1867-07-31

WooL-GArHERING. BY Gail Hamilton, Au-
thor of Country Living and Country Think
ing" "Gala- Days" etc. 16mo. Boston: Tick
nor q Fields 5fiit f.i "i if' 500 't-.


wooL-GATHRRrNe. BY Gail Hamilton, Au-
thor of Country Living and Country Think
ing" "Gala-Days, etc. 16mo Boston: Tick
nor & Fields. f''V '' ' f9
Under the above somewhat whimsical title
the Massachusetts. lady who chooses to call
herself Gail Hamilton gives us the results of a
tour Of pleasure and observation through Min
nesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and south as tar
as Alabama, with a return sweep past Lookout
Mountain and the battle-feldJ. The book is
very lively reading; racy, breezy, vigorous and
original. The writer has her own way of look
ing at things, and the Gankness with which
she gives us her impressions brings out her
strong individuality in full light. She rattles
on agreeably of herself and her adventures, of
the queer people she saw in cars and steam
boats, of farming in Minnesota and steamboat
ing on the Ohio, of the mice in her bedroom,
and the black man whose wife did her wash
ing; wisely talking very little Of places and a
great deal of people; her energy never hags;
her wit never fails, her good-nature seldom.
She is always alert, shrewd, little tart to be
sure, but it is in the main o wholesome tart
ness, and she recounts the incidents and little
traits of character that came under her eyes
with great deal of vivacity and humor. Ihe
book is pleasanter to our taste than any Of those
previously produced by its author, for the rea-
son tina, she has not felt call to be didactic to
the same degree as formerly. When she re-
lates she is hearty and amusing; when she
nreaehes she is apt to let her earnestness be-
trav her into scolding. 1t would seem as If
she had fallen into the error of thinking that
rudeness and Aarshness are Synonymous with
strength, serious mistake for any writer to
make, but especially unfortunate for woman.
OF sins of this kind the volume before us has
not many; we wish that we might say that I"
has none, but the following instance Is 'oo
marked to be overlooked. 1t is part OF ~
versation held on an Ohio river steamoca' ~
tween the writer and a supposititious ir'ehu'
Whether the friend be rea' -,os;...,
sort of Mrs. Harris, introouoeU ~
sake makes little difference as 'ne "i.i ao'
NOT d;savow sympathy with wna' Is s'iu Inc
e.;ond is talking of the funeral customs Oh
aEnvnt.-southern Illinois-and says:
.erhe attendants do not follow the body deco
rously; they go before, behind and at the SIDE,
Without any attempt at order. Praying at the
crave is also held to be putting on airs ms,
however. is only modification OF the silly
sentimentality which prompted George Ar
mold to request or direct that there DC no slng-
ing or praying at his grave or over his y.
Georoe must have had keen sense OF the
worthlessness of his poor clay. t- .-i9n
"De naortuis nil nisi bonuna. ,,,lal
asWhen scoundrels die, let all bemoan EN-.
| Not that George was a scoundrei-on a
| wisby- -washy poet, and when a wishy-washy
moet makes such request, it is well enough
to blunt his arrows by telling the worl that
he is wishy-washy, and let it go at that"