New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-24
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
COME NEW NOVELS.

SOME NEW NOVELS.
an, yrcAr, OF BUIIHAMPTON. A Novel BY An
TuorY TROIIoPE, syo PIP. 900 Harper Y BROS
Of the making of novels like "The Vicar Of Bull
hampton t is not easy TO sec why there should be
any beginning; but once begun, It Is equally az
6cult to see why any OF them shorud ever come
Az an end. Reduced to it's original clements Mr.
TolIopes latest story no, not the latest exactly Tor
he has already two others under way is minute
ANALYSIS of the perpexities of most uninteresting
young lady, pursued by an eligible squire and pen
piloss captain She refuses the squire and accepts
the captain: breaks the engagement Tor pru
Dental reasons accepts the squire; breaks tnaV
engagement also again accepts the captain INC
perplexities of any respectable young person III 'e
course Of an experience like this must httuuiS I've
unlimited and Mr.. TrollOpe might have hlieu WIN
them seventeen volumes just as easily as one
have little taste for the Anatomy OF worry, "
which he is so distin guished professor and We Hu
the contemplation of il in the present case especy
tedious because there is much of 1t, because the
tropble has very duh way Of getting solved anu
hooouso Mary Iowther aud her two lovers are al
three such indstinct and. unattractiye characters
that we should not care if they were miserable al
the rest of their lives. The secondary personagos'
"a so often happens in Mr.. Troopes books are Huch
better than the chief actors in the story Inc vicar
Is a pleasant sort of gentleman; the Brattie fanny
ara drawn
headed Lord Trowbrdge and the dissenting preacher
Mr. Puddleham, who wants to be prosecuted we
have some fine touches Of that Tacy humOr which
vas so deliqhtful in the Barchester stories. But
after all has been said we cannot help calling the
novel tiTcsOme.
HAMMER AND RAPIER. BY, JOHN EsTEN COOKE
New-YOTk Carleton.
If+he sneaker is one and the nearer another the
proposition is equally true of the writer and the
reader Indeed. the reader has the advantage, in
that he need not read unless he peases-a choice not
granted to the hearer-and reading, may drop the
book when he loses interest in it, The compusion
Of good manners does not apply to him. at least as
regards print although in the matter of MSS he may
sometimes find himself in the predicament OF Pope
when beset by the laureatos Of Grub street
Il sit with sad civility Iresd.'
There exists one exception TO this happy rule, as
10 most rules in the person of the unfortunate man
whose business it is to read for his fellowship
critic Whatever the provocatiOn, and whatever his
determination, there is escape for him, except to
fatty sllk bis duty with the plea Of Sydney smith
that il prejudices him TO read the books he re-
views Not having this plea TO offer, as regards
Hammer and Rapier," we suppose we must confess
ourselves prejudiced against Mr. Cooke, or rather
against his book for we have prejudice so far as
we are aware against himself. We remember a
number of stories from his pen, the work of his
younger years, and mostly concerning speclalles OF
character and manners incident to early Virginia
life. They left agreeable impression ON our
mind such as we sometimes take from the theater
after seeing an elegant little comedy in which there
il a touch of melodrama. They were pretty, and
immature But time, thought would change
that and IL has in measure; for if Mr. Cookies later
hooks are still immature, they certainly not
pretty On the contrary, they fierce, not to say
rebeIious We have no objection to RebelliOus Lit
ersture per se-no critical objection, that is If the
Literature itself is good but whenlt is as bad as In
Mr. Cookies recent novels, must protest against
it as discreditabe to his talents, which are numer-
ous and to the taste of his readers who we imagine
are numerous likewise. Southern Literature is not
advanced by such writing, nor the Southern mind and
heart benefited by it, 1t is partisan should think
itwoud defeat ts object whateverthat may be, even
among Mr.. Cookies admirers who by this time ought
TO be able TO separate History from Fiction. This
accomplishment is not possessed by Mr.. Cooke
himself who does not appear TO be aware that they
can exist apart TOhm they are zone and indivisible.
We feel this in all his fctOns, and we feel il in
"Hammer and Rapier" which, we suppose is one of
his histories. Our doubt and our Discrimination to
offend remind us of little story Once upon tlmea
certain English gentleman came up to London from
the country, determined to say his say to an eminent
publishing firm, who had a circulating library TO
which he subscribed and from which he failed to get
the books he wanted. He marched into the Office,
md stated the circumstance Extensively that the
person to whom he was talking told him ne
growing personal. Il don't mean to be- he replied.
"H you are Mr. Saunders, say cOnfOund Mr. Ottley;
and if you are Mr.. Ottley, say confound Mr. Saun
ders' So say We with difference, of Hammerand
Rapier" If this is history, we prefer fiction and if
this fiction, we prefer history. We all remember
the chief events of the war; what battles were won
and lost and whether by the North or South; in
some cases figures which we believed 10 be trust
worthy are impressed upon our minds; but recoec-
tons Of this sort are at best but the materials for
history, and not history, as Mr. Cooke to be-
lieye Ii may be too TO write the History of
the Rebellion from the historical point of view but
1T is certainly too late TO write it from the point of
view of Mr. Cooke which is not only one-sided as was
TO have been expected in his case but which never
rises above the level of the hastiest daily Journal
ism. His book reads like newspaper record of the
struggle while it was in progress and as such has
now no more excuse for being" than the kilograms
of the period of which it is not too much to say that
the most accurate still need verfcatOn for though
we have discarded the of most of the military
weapons of our ancestors, the longbow is not among
the number.
ARACE FOR A WIFE ByHAwIEY SMART. New-YOrk:
ID. Appleton Co.
Literary rules may be very good for the average
literary man and woman, but they should never
he allowed to stand in the way of exceptional writ
ers and works The dramatist should not be con-
demned TO spin out his tragedy, his comedy, TO
five acts, when he could write it in four, say; nor
should the novelist be compelled TO fill three vol
umes with his story when he could just well tell it
in one There il deal of nOnsen vogue in these