Elizabeth daily monitor. [volume] (Elizabeth, N.J.) 1868-1880, 1868-11-04

anu IN QISgilslnS OF OmlttiHS tbe SOM
bre tints of truth. To entitle a book
to our favor it should have written for
some specific object which has in view
a public good. 1t may be that the au;
! thor seeks TO demonstrate some pet
theory by yelling it under u cloud of
love and combining with ii series of
incidents in town thrilling and ludic-
rous His readers are thus put in
speculative frame of mind and are
weighing the probabilities of his argu-
ment unconsciously Another will en-
velope the dry facts of history or the
| legends OF ancient time with such a
perpetual smile Of words that while We
are pleased We are instructed Still a
third places before us characters that
are either familiar or strange. Ii the
formeY, we detect the likeness and APP
plaud its fidelity if the latter, We are
warned by the accuracy of the drawing
and when they cross our path the re-
cognition is immediate and decisive.
Yet another may bring US into the
closest sympathy with himself by Sc
curing in the grasp Of his genius
thoughts identical with our own ideas
that have always been 10 us vague,
shadowy and underlined, > floating in
space beyond our reach, sought for but
never obtained But here we find them
like old friends clothed with the finest
texture OF language and seeming to-
have eyes glistening like our own with
an overflow ofioy.
So Holmes has written with pathcs
poetry and humor. So Irving and
Hawthorne wrote, blending with kind
hands and silvery tones wrcaths of del
icate imagery to deck their precious
memories. SO Theodore Winthrop
wrote with resolute pen and teemipg
brain, with feryent motiyeand patriotic
ardor till an inscrutible Providence
claimed at Big Bethel the royal sacri-
flee of his life. SO Boyd the Country
Parson" has chatted with us pleasantly
from across the sea and linked our
hearts to his by tie as strong as it is
invisible. Familiarity with such lit
erature is wholesome, but there is a
great tendency to neglect it for style
monstrously heroic. Far too large a
proportion of people think book tame
and insipid unless it rehearses situa-
tons that are impossible and characters
that are marvels of proves, or unless
it droops with an absorbing weight of
dewy moonlight sentiment. 1t is also
much to be regretted that so large a.
share of patronage is bestowed on Eng
fish novels Of second and third rate,
which are void in describing the luxury
and ease Of cast, and are secretly foster
ing discomfort with plain Republican
ism. Is our own history SO barren OF
incident, so weak in resources, so def
cient in heroism that accidents of birth
should be worshipped with such fond
idolatry ? We think not. And as the
domestic circles of our growing city
gather for amusement and profit around
the evening lamp while the old gray
mouser purrs with such sincere con
tentment before the fire, and the little
fellows are up stairs sleeping soundly,
each with a fat chubby hand for his
pillow, dreaming of the delights in
"Pinafore Palace, we hope to see that
an improved task has substituted Miss
Mulock for Miss Braddon, Mrs. Howe
for Mrs. Southworth. Irving for Pierce
Egan, and Every Saturday" for the
Mercury" We trust that sometime
we shall hear the last of hero draw
ing himself up to his full height" and
with the piercing gaze of his eagle
eye," chilling the marrow in some poor
plebean bones ? that he will cease to
call the heroine the ''queen of his affec-
TONS" and would be named cal
phonso."