The New Orleans crescent., 1868-12-20
rRIcOTRIN.

Tricoirin, new book BY Ouids, with Q por-
trait Of the authoress on the title page.
We look long and earnestly 1t the fair face,
striving IN VAN to gain some index TO the chsrac
ter ofa woman who has written such books.
What manner Of woman can she be who has
travelled all over the world and gathered so rich
harvest Of good and evil, t.fa /
Her writings are equal mixtures Of wheat and
tares, but In some OF them. alas.the tares choke
up the wheat the harvest Is improbable. n
Trico'rin differs very little from previous works ;
the hero spends Wandering Jew life, suffering
for some other mans sin, with the form of god
and tender woman's heart; he wanders through
the world, living Christian life without one
Christian principle. Philosophy Is the god be
worships, and serves him In good stead until
woman comes into his life, and philosophy flies.
The heroine, Of course, is "sweet sixteen"
educated for the purpose, beautiful a. Q houri,
with loneliness that proves curse.
The plot is well handled, the interest kept up to
the last page; once begun you cannot lay 1t down,
and when the end comes you long for more.
The language is exquisite, the descriptions Of
country life among the peasantry Of France are
word-paintiDgs. almost startling, they are so nstu-
raj. Ouids, notwithstanding her knowledge of
art, must be true lover of nature. No one else
could paint such landscapes in such exquisite
words you can almost imagine you inhsle the
perfume of the flowers, and taste the luscious
grapes. The vine.s season on the Loire is besuti-
ful as some poem (; the whole book. in fact. is
poetry In prose. All, II she would only be con-
81.
the stories Of modest daisies and humble, blue
eyed vioets; but she carries you with equal force
and thrilling interest over pages OF Paris life
pages that intoxicate with gorgeous coloring.
much Of sin; to the people, all of good.
As compared with previous works, /" Trcotrin
has far more of good, much that is purer and is
more elevated in moral tone. 49,,
Tie vanities and deceits Of false world, with
al the pomp and glare Of wealth and wicked
Less, are drawn with strong hand, forming q
great contrast to the refreshing gimpses Of quiet
cottages mes ling on the river bank, hay barges
floating down the stream. ruined towers over
Grown with ivy. One extract we give as q fair
sample Of the exceeding gracefuness OF style:
Tricotrin listened one moment to the stream,
then drew the bow across the strings. The music
thrilled out upon the silence, catching the song of
the brook in harmony as Goethe caught il in
verse-an its fresh delicious babble, all its rush
Of silvery sound, all its cool and soothing MUIR
mur, all its pauses Of deep rest. rrr
All Of which the woodland torrent told-of
the winds that had tossed the boughs into its
foam of the women faces its tranquil pools had
mirrored; of the blue burden of forgetme-
nots and the snowy weight of lilies it
had borne so lovingly; Of the sweet
familiar idyls it had seen, where 1t wound its way
below quaint mill house walls choked up with ivy
growth, where the children padded with rosy
feet upon the resting wheel; of the weary sighs
that had been breathed over it beneath the gray
old converts. where it heard the Miserere steal in
Win lts own ripple, ana icOkeQ ltselI q tnlng so
full of leaping joy and dancing mirth to the sad
eyes OF girl of these which it told. the
music told again. The strings were touched by
an artists hand, and all that duller ears heard
but dmly, in the splash and surge of the brown
ferncovered stream, he heard In marvellous
poems and translated into clearer tongue, the
universal tongue which has country and no limit
aud in which the musician speaks alike to sover-
eign and TO savage"
In striking contrast to this pastoral strain come
ever O. anon scenes thrilling in excitement aud
grand uf, scenes thst carry you irresistibIy along
the swift rushing current of glowing words whith.
erl oever she chooses to lead.
1t is well worth reading if only for the trite re-
marks, and exquisite gems Of thought that fall
from the lips Of Tricotrn, the philosopher. 1t is
book that Will do much good and can do but
little harm.
The rewards hollow world gives the votaries
Of pleasure are strikingly illustrated, pointing
fine moral, If the reader young and old chooses to
profit So read it by all means ana we promise
you viii be amply repaid. p
II you wish charming Christmas present for
friend 60 to our courteous friend. Mr.. James A.
Gresham, Of No. 92 Camp street, and purchase
eopp of Trirotrin