New-York tribune., 1872-12-11
BOSTON.
LITERARY NOTES.

tNSN N pk' hoLaSS '
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,reoM RFsut.,R CORRESPONDENT or THs TRBUSEl
Bosrox. Dec. f0.-The Atlantic for January
IN o,n Win ,he rrs instament OF Robert Dale Owens
@Chapers Of Autobiography" He takes for his motto
averse nom French poet;
"Que faites IA, seul ct reveurf"
SJe M entretlens avec moi meme"
All prenez garde du peril extreme
De eanser I'M fatteur'
To talk with oneself be, indeed, to talk with
aatterer, when neither Remorse or Regret Is thrd
party; and neither of these intimate enemies is key 10
trouble Mt owen az the sunset of his errac yet always
kindly and wellintentoned lfe His bosoms lord sits
soHghy throne that he able to look at the past
without sadness and on toward the future with assured
hope. He has large stock Of memories on which 10
draw they began almost with the century MI owen
having been born in 1901 His first distinct recoiieeuon
is OF his grandfathers funeral, when he was not more
than five yea rs old; and scarcely more than
year later than that, came his first love
affair tender little primrose OF a passion
budding IN the very earliest sprngthe sweet innocent
tenderness OF little lad and lass. He was at Rosebank
Oh visit TO his four maiden auuts. ROsebanR was n
country seat-a quaint oldfashiOned mansion, with
honeysueke-shaded porch, pointed gables dormer win
dows slnken that surrounded 1t Ike moat un-
expected hooks and everywhere, and the per
fume Of micnonette filling the air. lt had wonderful
garden, OF beaches, road winding through
shady nooks-iti is no wonder that the "iDexphcable
glamour which invested all this made the place. for him
an abode OF bliss apart from the world its trees its
flowers its mystical paths all Its accessories and ITS snr-
roundngs like none other upon earth, instinct win
vague faucics and feelings, aud obscure emotions NO
wonder that fairy land he should have found his
htte fairy princess He met her in the shadowy Beach
walk wee maiden. from a neighborng farmhouse. a
fewmonths younger than himself very neatly dressed in
tartan, and his thinking the pretiest creature MS
eyes had ever seen. Soon they weh acquainted,
and walking up aud down the avenue TO-
gother as, doubtless, many older lovers had
done before them. Then they found gap in
the hedge which admitted them 10 meadow where
sweet security shut them in, and where they used TO
Epend hours Of every day. His little love shy al
6rst but after they had faithfully promised each other
that they would be married as soon as they grew bg
they came excellent understanding, and had long
talks about kind OF house they would build and the
nice times they woud have in It, Their nest was never
discovered, and the birds singing in the fragrant
hedges, by were no more hghthearted than
they. Their love warm and honest; and plenty OF
tears they shed when the boys visit came to an end ana
their plans and prospects of domestic happiness were
rudey terminated With the exception OF this little per-
eonal reminscence, which only the pathetic loves Of
Nr and Mrs. Harry Wamers, ir, can match the pres
ent chapter concerns Mr.. Owens "forbesrs, as the
Scotch say, rather than hmseh There is a charming
fTankness style, and atmosphere OF romance in
what he which promises wefor the interest oi Iu-
ture numbers
Marshal Oliver wishes in meodeous rhyme, TO be "a
slim taper" which the lazy of his,ove might carry IN
her hand; but he represents himself, even now, as
"swimming fire." the present illumination ought tc
suffice to light her her way Under the title OF
Chance Acquaintance" Mr.. W. d. Howells commences
the account of journey and its consequences, given in
his peculiar and iumitable vein with wit and Wis
don, paOs and philosophy, 50 blent as they can he by
else He gives little pin thrust at the over
weenng England estimate of Boston, when be tells
what Dr. Ellison expected Kitty TO see there
He would have her visit Faneu Han because OF its
revolutionary memories, but not less because Nendei
pblips had there made his first aDti-sayery speech
to the collections OF the Massaehusets HIS
torica Society and II possible certalnponts OF ancient
colonial interest which he named nut at any rate she
was somehow catch sight of the author OF the Big
! Howe OF Col Higginson and Of Mr. Garrison: These
people were all B2stonians TO the n lae"imng M & re
;reS that Kit,v was more likely to see them to-
gether than separately; and perhaps indeed they
less actual PERSONS 70 his admiration than
Fna Fl mS9y gISi TaSi You 1 to g@a y dear he
wrote that "a Boston you are are @ not In % "a & g t ~ M
surreetoD. There everything that is noble and grand
originated, and cannot doubt that You Will ind he
character OF its people marked by every attronte OF
my dear giri, should envy you this privilege Of seeing
be is in himself aud whore color wealth fainly Oceu
patton. and other vulgar ana merericous distinctions
wholly lost sight Ol in the consideration of individual
excellence"
While speaking Of Boston, DR.. Homes's poem the
recent fire order its theme is
interest ludt Will give ~ 10 you chlrcs
AFTER THE FIRE:
While far along the eastern shy
i saw the flags OF Havoc fly,
As II his forces would assault
The sovereign Of the starry vault
Aud huIl Him back the buIning rain
That scared the cities OF the paiE
i read as on crimson page
The words OF Israels sceptTed sage:-
For riches make men, ,oinss. and hey
DO as aa Gayle Fy array.
O vision Of that sleepless night.
What hue shall pant the nlUchlng HShJ
That burned and stained the orient skies
Where peaceful morning loves 10 rise,
As the sun had lost his way
And dawned to make a second day
Above now red with with merry glow,
How dark % those It woke below
On roof and wall, on dome and spire,
Flashed the false jewels Of The hre;
Girt with her belt OF glitiering pdnes
And crowned with starry cleaning yanes,
Our northern queen in glory shOne
With newborn splendOrs not her own,
And stood. transhgured iu our eyes,
victim decked for saerifce
The cloud still hoyers overhead
And stl the midnight sky is red;
AS the lost wanderer str2ys alone
Tis devious footprints sadly tell
The scene, how new! The tale how old
Ere yet the ashes have grown cold!
Again read the words that came
Writ in the ruOrlc Of the flame;
HOwe'er trust 10 mortal things
Each hath its pair Of folded wings;
Though long their terrOrs rest unspIead,
Their fatal plumeS are never shed.
AT last at last, they stretch n night,
And blot the day and blast the nightl
Hope only Hope OF all that clings
Around US, never spreads her wings;
Love, though he break his earthly chain,
stin whispers he will come again;
Bat Faith that scars 10 seek the sky
sLall teach half-1edged sOuls 10 hy
And hnd, beyond the smoke and flame,
The cloudless azure whence they camel
"Among the Ruins" tells. IN sober prose, the
starry of Poefous yyrifes