New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-05-19

,uc' hV 4ythng is drawn in such hattering coiort d"
h'uc" but faint conviction Oh the doctrine OF orsai
n'', The heroine Is paragon Of wOmany digni'', ~
crness and grace; lovely in the strength OF icoN ~
nterestedness; inspired with the deepest ana
affections which overflow on every living thing without
trace Of foolish sentimentay, or even the iein'"e
passion for conquest and admiratiohi WIN uno.,ne
truthfulness and beauty Of intellect but Win no Pren
ons 20 miraculous mental vIgor always saying INC EuV
word and doing the right thing AT INC r's' iV'.'
with the certainty Of fate; but al the same nm "e
no immersion of forced mechanical virtue or the mon
strosy of nature which can never De lempeu anu can
never 90 wrong. Margaret is free ana spontaneous IN
her angelic goodness; she is thoroughly human and
womanly and in spite of her excellence without ai"y'
WINS the heart az surely rs II there was more OF the
old Adam in her composition. Her lover, Mr. Russell,
who is fully as prominent az hersen IN the PICTURE Is
fashioned after the same gracious model II he has a
fault il never appears the surface His ike Is certain
~ not TO be met with every day III Wall street nor IN Broad
way Yet he is pedant no precisian, no formal cold
booded automaton but full of generous, glowing i'm
pulses loving flowers and little children and breathing
the prest spirit of Christian sanctty though never air
ing his goodness in way TO wound the sefove OF those
who are not 20 good himself The vein Of excel
ence runs through the whole tissue of the narrative
There are two model physicians whose equals have not
been known since the days Of ST. Luke the children
nicer in all respects than the common Of schoobOys
the ancient nhers the of former day. the
hired the farm has big good heart beneath his
rough EXTERIOR and the little black goblin Chloe too
decided Renaissance Of Mrs Stoves TOpsey by the by
forced get rid Of her mpsh tricks under the influence
of better examples Indeed with the exception Of Fanny
the scheming heartless and selfish widow who Is thrown
in foil TO the prevailing exempauness Of character,
and the brokendown and helpless father who at last dies
in the that the funess Of faith will compensate
for wasted life high tone of superiority marks the per
sonage of the story which, in other hands might have be
through safety OF virtue. The writer
has sympathy with impure and unworthy passions,
and reluctant to attempt their illustration Her pen
derives pquancy from the deneaton Of vice. nor does
she aim effect by creating unnatural and extray
agant situations The secret Of her power consists in
the fidelity and force with which she portrays the higher
forms Of human excellence, without the tameness Oh
moral reflection any set didactic purpose Her para
CONS are truly human, and hence win upon our sym
pathies, though without presenting attractions TO
morbid and perverted taste. The reader who needs not
the spice Of depravity to stimulate jaded curiosity will
take pleasure in these aess representations Of natural
experience, and may find nthe sweet and pure atmos
phere OF the story wholesome relief from the delrous
fctOns of the day.