New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-11-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS
HAwTHoRNEs AMERICAN NOTEBOOKS.

which everywhere abound in these volumes give
them the charm of autobiography. They not
only disclose his methods of working in the compost
tion of fiction, but throw broad light around MS
personal traits and habits of thought. Mr. Haw-
tborne had the reputation of being man of singular
reserve His love Of solitude never entirely yielded
to the attractions of society Except among the
most intimate friends, his intercourse with Others
was marked by certain appearance of distrust
which might have been construed either want of
confidence in himself, or as a suspicion Of human
nature in general No man had the gift of silence
TO such a remarkable extent; TO persons with whom
his acquaintance was slight he was absolutely im-
penetrable; and even In the full flow of genial
fellowship, his words never glided on in sweet
stream. but seemed to be jerked out rs if by some
mechanical force
Yet Mr.. Hawthorne did not possess an unklndy
nature His affections were of more than ordinary
strength even if they never blaZed forth IN flaming
demonstrations He took cordial delight III 'nc
company of young people, even Of little chIdren' anu
was master of the secret of winning their IoNe ms
treatment Of interiors was gentle ana cohSl"ci''o'
and he often awakened deep interest ahions
those who were far beneath him in position ana
tastes With his equals and with persons OF MS own
ace ne was less conciiatOry there seemed 10 pe 10
common ground between them and himself; but at
the same time he had genius for friendship ana
no man in that relation was ever more deVoted ana
forpetful of self. His finer and more aiiecuonate
traits receive beautiful illustration in these vol
umes. They eyince an almost feminine purity ana
sweetness of mind, a rare freedom from every tant
of evil passions and wonderful sympathy with
nature which often appears to take the place oil sym
patty with his kind.
Indeed. one of the principal charms OF these Vol
umes is the freshness and vitality of their natural
Tha nj
of the New-England landscape are hardly surpassed
in delicate tracery and truthful expression 10y the
poetry of Bryant. His power Of accurate observation
furnished the author with materials for composition
which are wrought up with such impressive cliecT IN
the creations of his fancy. il Is remarkable Win
what a single eye he was wont to contemplate the
scenes of nature. Nothing was too minute for ms
attention: nothing too grand for his sympathy Ihe
commonest objects afforded him ample food for
medtation the humbleSt flower the lowest animal,
were studied with a fond curiosity, as though the
mysteries of an Apocalypse lurked beneath their
insignificant exterior Nor did their qualities take
any Elusive coloring from premature play of the
imagination. His mind transparent medium
through which the realities of nature passed without
change No prsmatc splendors disguised their
character. 4 pure achromatic lens was the only
instrument through which his eye took in the spec
tacle of the universe.
The weird and solnbre fances which form the sta
pie of Mr.. HawthOrne's hotions appear from these
Notes TO have hut slightly entered into the compost
ton of his nature. 1t is true that find perpetual
suggestions of this character presenting materials
for literary art The germs of his most celebrated
works are sometimes found in a single sentence. But
his own temperament as shown in these artless self
confessions, betTays no tendencies TO the melancholy
which throws so dark hue over his writings. Their
A. IL
often rejoicing with deepioy in allnatural delights.
seldom querulous cynical, and always alive TO the
comic and humorous aspects that were presented i'll
the routine of his experience. They indicate man
of robust decided nature, conscious of his powers
though meekly bearing Them with no eiieniuatC
weakness in his disposition, and born with gifts oI
an active sphere. though early thrown by circum-
stances into contemplative secuson.
The first portion of Mr. HawthOrnes Notes is from
journal dated in Salem. 1885, just before the COM
petiOn of the thrty-frst year of his age, and two
years previous to the first public collection Of his
writings under the title of Twice Told Tales"
Many Characteristic hints to the subject of future
compositions illustrate the artistic tendencies Of his
mind at this period. \ change from gay Young
girl to an old woman; the melancholy events, the
effects of which have clustered around her character
and gradually imbued it with their influence, till she
becomes a lover of sics-chambers. taking pleasure in
receiving dying breaths and in laying ont the dead
also having her mind full Of funeral "reminiscences
and possessing acquaintance beneath the
burial turf than above it," The story of a man,
cold and hard-hearted, and acknowledging no
brotherhood with mankind. At his death they might
try 10 dig him grave but. AT little space beneath
the ground strike upon rock, if the earth refused
TO receive the unnatural son into her bosom Then
they would put him into an Old sepucher where the
collins and corpses were all turned to dust and so he
would be alone Then the body would petrify and
he having died in some characteristic act and
expression, he would seem, through endless
ages of death, TO rcpel society as in life, and
no one would be buried III that tomb forever"
1.-The DIVING exclamation of the Emperor Augustus,
HAS it not been well actedV An essay on the mis-
cry Of being always under a mask. a vail may be
needful. but never a mask. Instances of people who
wear masks in all classes of society, and never take
them OFF even in the most familiar moments though
sometimes they may chance to slip aside" Three
years after these records, find MI Hawthorne IN
the homogeneous position Of a CustOm-lIOuse in
spector in Boston, though he took kindly 10 It's
duties regarding il a sort of moral university from
whose lessons he might derive wise instruction. 81
do not mean 10 imply that am unhappy dscOn-
tented for this is not the case. My life only is
burden in the way that il Is TO every tOlsOme
man; and mine is healthy WEAKNESS, such as needs
only nights sleep to remove it. But from hence
forth forever shall be entitled TO call the sons of
toll my brethren, and shall know how to sympathize
with them, seeing that likewise have risen ut the
dawn. and borne the fervOr of the midday SUM- nor
turned my heavy footsteps homewaId till eyentide.
Years hence perhaps the experience that my heart is
acquiring will flow out IN truth and wisdom"
again he writes III the middle Of February "Ihave
been measuring coal all day. board of black little
British schooner i'm a dismal dock at the north end