New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-03-11
NEW PUBLICATIONS
UEDGED IN.

,,c,,D IN nv TLIZABETH STUART IIihihs i'u"''
HED"SD m 595 Fields OsgoOd 70 -.
Tho nrohem which supplies the motNe VI t'''
novel Is one of the most serious oil all 'ha' PeipiA
tbe reformer and phianthropist' Can Won'"n "no
~. 600 fo,len from virtue he restored not only TO
,ho favor of God but TO the smiles OF society Is tere
obno left for the penitent but life in sack-cloth
cd asbcs ? No WY ont of the mre but through the
a. of an asylum II people in real life resemble
the bfe-like people whom find in novels we might
sav that Miss Phelps had given satisfactory answer
To the question But, if may be pardoned the oui'
the most lfe-ke characters of fiction are apt 10 oe
very different from the people who make up ,no
society of our modern villages and citles -
Phelps has shown us what ought to DC "H"V =,
some rare and exceptional case perhaps hhghV
he; but that she has done much To oIe"A uo" -, W
cruel barrier which hedges in the uhiortui"'o las
of whom we speak we ought hoV 10 ann, I'M. -.
novel is the story of young giil' NiN9 hio"'' o.
onteast from birth. brought up in the Sums OF
,oat ct,, sodpced and deserted when she is almost
o. ;,norant 70 comprehend the nature OF her SIN,
t,r after the birth of her child to keep honest"
INT dreading an asylum more than death, ana re-
pulsed by all good Christians as soon as her story Is
known. On the brink Of destruction, she is rescued
nv Margaret Purcell. widow lady who has ideas"
abe is taken into the family and educated with Marga
ret daughter Christina. She becomes lovely ana
accomplished woman. In the course of few years
she determines TO reclaim the child whom she had
abandoned. She does not love it; she knows
that it is well cared for in q public
institution; she knows that to bring 1t
home will proclaim TO all the world the secret which
only Margaret Purcell and Christina know; still she
thinks il her duty to take care of it, and braves dis
grace The disgrace of course comes, and 1t IS even
harder to bear than she had feared but her two
friends support her and in time the world acknowl-
edges its injustice Miss Phelps treats The subject
with true religions feeling, but she has carefully
avoided parade of pious sentiment and Scripture
common-places, and she makes plenty OF fun OF
well-meaning ladies who think they have done their
whole duty when they subscribe to a Magdaen Asy-
lum and disgust the unfortunate with cant phrases
Nor should we omit to say that she treats it with
equal delicacy and bodness, with the courage of a
Christian and the most perfect womanly refinement.
The literary merits of the book deserve still
warmer praise than its purpose and spirit. If Miss
Phelps has not created types of character, she
has chosen types somewhat apart from the common
novelist's collection, and drawn them with free,
dashing hand, that suggests more than 1t
paints and is fertile in the realistic touches which
betray the genuine artist The characters of Marga-
ret Purcell the innocent, loving and thoroughly hui
man Christina, and the cOnventionally pious Mrs
MYRTLE are scarcely more than outlined
we seem to have known their counterparts in the
flesh The strength of the book, however. is concen-
trated in Nxy Trent. From the miserable tenement
whence, with her thTee-weeks baby, she runs away
in dread of benevolent doctor who talks to her
about an asylum" through the degradation and
suffering of her wanderings in search of Gods
folks through the development of her better nature
under Margares CARE through the trials of peni-
tent life to the last scene where she is found
dead in her room at the foot of a cross, the pic
lures Of this heroine are perfect. She is not
converted by a miracle, but the uneducated
heart and conscience, never wholly corrupt, are
developed by slow degrees and the process of this
development described as it is without false senti-
ment OF a paltering with the difference between
right and wrong is the best part of the novel There
IS q very truthful and powerful scene describing
Nixys first awakening--long after Mrs. Purcell has
given her home-tO a burning oyerpoweTing shame
of her past SIM there is touching and equally power
ful scene when Christina, who has been kept in ig
norance of Nxys history accidentally learns it, and
for while is stupefed at the discovery what this
woman was that she had learned to love- The last
chapters nearly all tragedy but it is tragedy of
healthy and elevating tone, and there is peace at
last even this side of the grave, for those who
suffer and peTsevere.
Hearth and Home has recently published
number Of excellent humorous sketches by Mr. Thomas
Worth artist who has been long before the world
but has develnnnd genuno eeuc talent which deserves
20 be highly priced. HIS drawing is not perfect but
with all his be is Of the foremost Of the funny
men Hearth and Home has three Of his illustrations