The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-02-09
LITERARY.
NAMELEss; Novel. By Fanny Murdsugh Downing
Raleigh: Smith u Co. 1866.

!
I Raleigh: Smith Co. 1866
We owe our copy Of this novel-from the pen of
one of the most accomplished Of the female writ
ers Of tho south.--to some unknown source, to
viii ch ne are graifed for bringing to our l1nowl-
edge one of the most graceful tasteful and felici-
tous Of all the fctions produced among our sever
al female authors for many a day. We say this
without hesitation, and commend the story espe-
cally to all that class which can appreciate inge-
nious art q flowing and graceful style, an easy,
unaffected manner, and tale wrought out, in
spite Of many difficulties of the subject, te the
happiest conclusion.
AS { story sNameless" is one Of sufficient inter-
est to keep the reader wakeful and excited to the
close; from its happily chosen incidents, the con-
tinued progress which it makes, and it's very ad-
mirable characterizati ton.
In this one particular the writer is especially ez-
cellent; exhibiting much knowledge Of mankind
womankind included, Of COURSE as: being, what
TENNYsoN calls ssthe lesser mani happy tact in
discrimination, and equally happy talent in the
dialogue, which is always simple, naturnl, direct,
] and true to the several persons Of the drama.
| This felicity Of Characterization is so uniformly
excellent as to make us regret one failure Of the
author-as we think tin the portrait Of Miss
| Go1DNG. Here, it seems to us that her right
hand has failed somewhat Of it's cunning and, in
the desire to furnish a proper foil to her other
parties, and to afford, perhaps, specimen OF the
judicious pretension Of vulgarity, she has over
passed those limits Of beautiful propriety, which,
in all the other characters, is 30 uniformly appa-
rent, and so admirably sustained. How should
such q person as Hiss Go1DMa have found her
way into such circle as that Of which Lady
HAUGHyc was the cynosure-the presiding deity
with such o beautiful collection Of sweet spirits
about her, as came naturally within her sphere,
and were 80 ftly associated with it {? Making all
due allowance for the insolence which mere
wealth, without accomplishments is apt to en-
gender, Miss GoLDMa would still find herself re-
buked to |. certain degree Of modesty, meelsness
and simplicity, in such circle especially as the
wealth Of Lady HACGHToN, and Of the family OF
the CHEsTERs, was more than equal to her own ;;
and Lady HAuaHToN at least, had no reason to
conciate vulgarity of any sort merely because OF
it's wealth. The atmosphere Of such g circle
would subdue and RESTRAIN such o mere animal as
Miss GoIpMa; nor is it possible for such woman,
breathing such an atmosphere, not to. be forced
to imbibe it's sentiments, at least, and, in some
degree, to adopt it's habits and observaIces.
We can easily understand that the author had
two objects view, if more in her portraiture
Of this ridiculous woman. In the first place, the
character is natural conception, and as such, is
illustrative of certain characters to be met with in
all large circles, and possibly in many small ones.
She serves as foil TO the better ones, and affords
variety to the general interest Of book. She
illustrates, at the Same time, the nsolence Of real
wealth. acquired by accident or the caprice Of for
tune and serves to rebuke the tendency of the
world, to exaggernte the merits Of the possossor OF
fortune. 90
In the second place, she is properly employed Us
The Fate, by which to pursue and punish one OF
the most worthless Of all those persons of the
drama, who sacrifice all the virtues Of manhood,
intellect and moral in the pursuit Of fortune ut
terly regardless Of tho liberal endowmeats Of MI
ture to himself, aud as utterly regardless Of those
acquisitions Of society and education which might
have lifted him into honorable distinction, aud
made him the possessor Of the happiest domestic
enioyments, had he been less Of the Hercenary
and voluptuary.
So far all is well in the design Of the author.
Our charge is that she has been guilty OF such an
errqgeratton Of the vulgar portraiture as to ina:
pair it's uses for her moral by making it an e1cres-
eence upon the story, and njuring the proprieties
Of narrative which is Otherwise exqnisitely true
to good taste and to nature. We repeat that such
a woman as Miss GoLDNG could not breathe such
an atmosphere of society as that in which we tind
her; and t0,plaoe her there, q tolerated inmate Of
that circle was 10 disparage its own claims to our
sympathies and respect. :a go
We can understand how q selfish and even MAJ
ignant man Like Osborne should be tolerated;
since, openly, be appears the well-bred gentlo-
man. 9: If his morals are bad, his manners, in So
oiety are scion les seges. It is the objection to
Miss Golding, that her ns1nmers are 80 bad, 100
bad tor the circle; SO bad indeed, that we do not
suspect her Of any morals whatever, and do not
care into what circle she shall fall.
We have dwe1t more on this matter than we
should ordinarily in discussing any ordinary book
tt is because sNdneMss' is not an ordinary book
that We object to the exaggeration in the portra-
ture Of this vulgar woman. It impairs the harmo-
ny Of the story just as rude character in rcd ano
yellow would impair tho beauties Of Titan OF
Claude Lorraine And ne confess to sentiment
Of surprise, that writer whose general portrai-
ture is 80 nicely and deicatey hed,-with such
nm excellent sense Of the proprieties-that she
should have fallen into the e1aggeration of this
one portrait.
We do not deny that such person does exist in
t1tis ,world-th the character is true enough to
nature in certein conditions; but ne do protest
that such person would never have been admit
ted into our circle, the writer's OVID circle, or
the circle which she has brought us to know, IN
this charming little volume.
OF Mrs. DowN1Ne's writings, hitherto, we have
known little or nothing. few graceful little
poems are al that have mot our eyes. We arc
told that she has written other volumes Of prose
fiction, such as the present, which are all spoken
Of With. favor if; not admiration. We trust that
she will persevere in the present province OF let
ters, which seems to come naturally to her hands,
Nothing here is on stills. There is no vain stry-
ing at the sensational or spasnodic. All is easy,
graceful, natural, and very artistike. Good taste
she certainly possesses in an eminent degree,
purity OF thought as Of style, and that sense OF
nice propriety which is required to be the very
foundation Of good taste. We commend to her
the choice of Home subjects.
The English, themselves, give us quite enough
of their fctionB from high and fashionable life.
Let us leave them in possession of these topics.
Let Mrs. DOWNING next give us just such story
as this and lay the scene in the good old Getty OF
the Oaks"-Raleigh-o in her own pleasant town
OF Charlotte, and we promise her o wider reputa-
ton and letter compensation than she could pos
sibly acquire from delving in the foreign and con-
| temporary material. Let her do as we counsel,
and the good sold North State" will spread her
patriarchinl arms above her, and call her blessed
among the daughters who have done honor 70 her
soil.
TIE AnaosH Magazine OF Tales, Travels, Essays and
POEMS
The February number has been sent us by Mr
i InHN RUSSELL. the agent of the Magazine FOR ttls