New-York tribune., 1872-09-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS,
cnrrs CONCORD DAYS.
soNCoRD DAYS. BY A. BRONSON ALcolr iSno
M q76. Roberts Brothers

~. - h;ob this volume o consists give il the charm
a o-,oiD annarcut naIvet6 of expression, although
IL il in fact pervaded by an air OF profound seii
consciousness which is perhaps the necessary coiS
auence of making the intimate Thoughts aho ieci-
mos of the writer the subject of perpetual record
Only a singularly healthy nature can escape 'he
morbid influence of this process The haolt Oh CON
s,ant selfexamination is regarded by the soundeSt
easuists as unfavorable to genuine moral progress
absorbing the energies in trivial details Oh eNpeIf
ence tnat should be given to free and generous ac
tion. The invalid who has always his finger ON the
puIse is not likely to be restored to natural ana
permanent health. Mr.. Alcotts CONCESSIONS now
ever are for the most part of purely nteliecVuai
character critical and descriptive. rather than re-
Elective relating his impressions instead oil anaiyznig
his emotions, and thus preserving vital contact
with the outward world, while nominally devoted
to the history of private internal experience In
this manner they introduce us into the sphere OF
stndv and letters and almost entirely free from
the details of spiritual anatomy which usually make
the eomposition OF the perusal of private journal
matter of doubtful tendency.
In the outset of his book, however, Mr.. Alcott
agreeably excuses himself for this habit OF tran
scribing his life into written volumes. lie received
the earliest hint of the practice when mere BOY
from being shown the little journal of his mother IN
an old oaken cabinet. He was thus led to set out in
much part Of his habitual day as the rising and
setting Of the sun He acknowledges that he has
been educated by IT into whatever skill he possesses
with the pen, and to much besides 10 has made MN
emulous of the art of portraylng bis thoughts occu
patlons friendships If he could sketch to the life
single days doings he would esteem himself as
having accomplished the ehiefest feat OF literature
There is something in the still and qmet atmosphere
. Of ancient Concord which would seem TO De pro-
pitious 70 this form of personal expression. ha"-
thorne wrote nothing better than his transparent
notices of everyday life in the mossy old manse
Ernersons finest compositions, also, as we are here
Informed have been stored in his cOmmon-places
and gathered as they ripen," their contents tran
seribed at intervals and classified. lie never con-
ceives his piece a whole and then sits down 10
execute his task AT a heat Hence the apparent dis
order of his most admirable productions, OF when
mono complain but those who have not learned the
secret Of his method. 1t is the order OF loeas
saws Mr. Alcott who seems to have made profound
study of the mental habits of his friend OF imagl-
nation observed in the arrangement, not of logical
sequence. You may begin at the last paragraph
and read backwards 'Tis Irisbuilt. Each period is
self-poised there nav be a chaSm of years between
The opening passage and the last written, and there
il endless time in the composition" " Every one
finds that if he take an essay or verses, however
the writer may have pleased himself with its cum
ming workmanship 'tis cloud-fashioned, and blind
pathway for any one else" " Dssolvng views
prospects vistas opening wide and far, yet earth,
skv-realities all not illusions. Here is substance
sod sun: much fair weather in the seer as in his
leaves. The whole quaternon of the seasons, the
sidereal year has been poured into these periods
Afternoon walks furnished their pers1echves,
rounded and melOdized them. These good things
have been talked and slept over, meditated stand
ing and sitting, read and polished in the uterance
submitted 10 all various tests and, so accepted they
pass into print Light fancies dreams, moods re-
trains were set foot, and sent jauntng about the
fields along wood paths, by Walden shores, by hill
and brook-sides to come home and claim their rank
and honors too in his pages. COmpOsedof surround
ing matters. p5pulOus with thoughts brisk with
images these books are wholesome. homelke, and
could have been written only in New-England, and
by poet"
Az an illustration of what we have said that Mr..
Alcotts interpretive tendencies have not swallowed
ND his powers of external observation, we may refer
70 the charming description of his domestic environ
nent under the venerable ems that shade his modest
mansion. His house is represented as having the
most picturesque appearance of any of the pleasant
dwellings in Concord The secret Is found in adapt
ing the Colors and the repairs TO the architecture,
and holding these in keeping with the spot The
house in which he lives doubtless resembles the
ideal abode which he pOrtrays In so enchanting
sketch Like a person. IT invites by aullaDle re-
serves as if il loved TO be introduced in perspective
and reached by courteous approaches" 1t shows
baHhfully behind shrubberies, and screens its pro-
portions decorously in PLAN tlnts A wide lawn in
front soping TO the road gracefully gives it the
stately air and courtly approach. The fences and
gates arc unlike any other in the world. If less
durable than others, the cost is snconsderabe, hay
ing come out Of such ideal capital as had invested
in my own head and hands" common carpenter
would have planted his pickets in straight lines
with angular corners to defom the landscape, while
the painter would have followed with tint
mixed neither by nature nor art. Now my work
delights my eyes whenever step out of doors add
mg its ornament to the spot. Grotesque IL may be
with it's bnotted ornaments, Druid supports, yet in
keeping with the woods behind it, Besides, what
pleasure the construction has given! Form, color,
ornamentatiOn alike concern builder and occupant,
a. they were blossoms Of his taste and of the land
scape"
The house is a hundred and fifty years old. 1t was
country house of the first order in its day, with its
spacious windOw-seats In parlOrs and chambers,
ornamental easements. and ample fiTe-placeS The
site is not surpassed bY any the old Boston road.
"The view from the rustic seat overlooking my
house commands the amphitbeater in which the
house stands and through which flows Mill brook,
orered on the south and east by the Lincoln woods
Ii is a quiet prospect, and might be taken for an
English landscape needs but tower or castle over
topping the trees surrounding it, The willows by
the rock bridge over the brook, the winding lane
once the main track of travel before the turnpike
branching of from the old Boston road by EmersOns
door was built adds 20 the illusion, while on the
east stands the pine-clad hill HawthOrnes fayOrite