New-York tribune., 1874-08-13
BOSTON.
LITERARY NOTES.

"coNEY IsLAND"-"TnE LADY or LITTLE FISH
INGr-"EAsY" MONEY! A FoREGoNk C0NCLU-
srcNr-THE POEMS OF THE NUMBER
tFRom 4 REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF Tue TRIBUNEI
BoSToN, Aug. 11.-"Who was she ?" is the
question which opens the September Aad'te' ana IL
s. Mr. Bayarj Taylor who asks III as the title TO pleas
ant little tale tender passon The confession pre-
tends TO be genuine aud reads honestly enough but'
having the honor Of Mr TaylOT's acquaintance, ana
knowing him 20 be an eminently reasonable man-ior
poet-I take doubt he ever figured IN so lde
and elusive and altogether one-sded ana uhsausiae'o!
romance. 1t was at Wampsocket Springs, wherever
they may be that the spell began The nero had iound
lovely retired nook. at some distance from tue hole
which the crowd of pleasuresoekers had not yet dis
covered and which he meant 10 keep TO himself thereih
10 loaf and invite his sou But after few successful
visits he found the nIt, warm rcck overhanging
clear taru, which his own especial throne, some
vithering wild flowers and book. Iu the square, thlh
hook which suggested sketches, were studies OF
rocks and trees, a few caucatures. and many rag
mentary thoughts written down IN pencil Ihese heo
randa revealed HIN that the owner OF the Dook was
Thoughtful, bright Independent and unmarried lie
became interested and yentured to write little note
on OF the blank pages asking the unknown whether
she would share with him this his pet nook to which he
acknowledged her equal right, must he be Dansheu
Then he began TO fancy what his unknown was hRe'
Che might be twenty-five and surely she had large uaA
eyes with long, dark lashes He looked with fresh III
could be sure that found Her. He tried TO eaten her
IN the chosen nook among the hills found tokens Of
her late r-esence-never Her. 1t was case of Emer'
sons "FOreTunners -
,'Their near haunts my spirit knows,
BY signs gracious as ralu-JOWs'
One day ne pursued reckessy, down the hills some
thing white which he thought the nutter of gown;
and ne caught fall aud sprained ankle which con-
fined him for some time to his room. There bouquet
came 10 him. with line OF writing il the same hand he
had found in the ske;chbOOk, but with no clue 10 the
writer. Aud then che wrote HIM queer letter. she,
too was seekcr-fOr friend man who should reaiiIe
her ideal in certain directions which she would not e&-
plain But she promised TO become acquainted with
him. without his knowing which woman Of the many
She was H. in any real sense they found each other
Well-if not, DO harm would have been done. lie hao
no means Of answering this letter and he went back 10
town aud tried show forth the most OF manlness he
had In him. order that his unknown observer might be
satisfied.
He got another note from her, after while and,
somehow his conception of changed She was three
years Older-2S nOw-and after all, her eyes were ol
pure mpd gray. and she was Infinitely more fascinat
lng than be had fancied her at first. Another year
slipped away aud he got tired of waiting. He framed
carefully written Personal" from Isnotus 10 Ignotu
and with reckless extravaganza printed 1t simuane-
ously four Of the morning papers. lie renewed IL
from time TO time until about the end OF the third week.
when, at last came answer 1t was very tantaAz
stopped, with a dash -. However, II gave mm perlnls-
sOn ~ write, ana promised to SEND messenger Tor Ills
reuv in six DAYS OF course into this reply he poured
ont his whole soul. She answered briefly. promising at
the end Of SIX months more LET him know whether or
10, they TO be anything to each other When the
Elk months passed. the last letter came. She had
failed TO be satisfied with him-the eXactlng mink
She had seen him all that pleased her in his public
career aud toward men but toward women she had
found him obsequious too polite too little disposed to
recognize them AS individual souls, with independent
thoughts. 1t was the end. b. I. inever knew who
che was. l think il may have been Susan b. Anthony
at any a woman for she had the last word
One seldom reads q fascinating paper than The
Moon" by Prof. n S. shaer of Harvard College His
pen touched with poetry well with philosophy and
inspires you with sort of solemn awe ana an intense
interest in view this strange ghOsy world which has
no and water, aud where can be no life IN our
sense of the word-a world whose death is the old
eternal death chaos il has net even the charm
of life extinct.
Standing in the presence of than ruined world
feel our confidence in the universe 10 be weakly
founded. Benefcence, creative power oinnisclence-al
the great words for use on earth seem TO have
no place here. aud sObered and sdddened To
again. but with time the lesson ooses ITS severity
and IN better and tluer shape IL teaches not
mstrust IN the world but consciousness OF our own
snort VISION, however aided There may be something
higher than organic hle-something to which all TINS
word of existence suborunated the atom Is 10 the
universe Because :yO atoms differ, must the whole be
"A muddle With time the persistent student OF the
vii find it, silence and peace wonderfully & aItraG
He
vadng han the hustle OF the Vng edrth can ever give
He will ind pny sca Nirvana where matter has lost
its .erue,s ana endless lOngngs 10 rest III peace
James Jackson Jaryes writes con Gmore, OF Pescag-
La the Home Of a 3Iad Artist" and Charles Dawson
shaney adds such horrors TO always ororn idea OF
'Couey Island" that surely good New-Yorker who
reads The Atlantic will ever willingly 20 there again.
According MS showing, II is kind OF immature Pan
demOuium, the familiar demons OF which ride TO and fro
Oh horsecars Brooklyn and the island sieared
with the blood OF their hand hand fights, and reekng
with tad liquor aud worse oaths
IL is seldom, save when Bret Hlrte. the Prince OF
shortstory writer's cOndescend to tell US tae that we
chance upon fine one as The Lazy OF Little FISH
ing" It's fresh, original peculiar and most touching;
told with wonderful naturalnes as II by an old woods
man. and so clevery that you never guess the wo
mans hand iu II, till yOu come upon the name OF Con
stance FennOre WoosOn at the close q. =. Lathrop
contributes to this number long ami somewhat heavy
dissertation on The Novel and ITS Future" Ii Is full
of suggestion of thought arriving at not few good
CONCLUSIONS but the style to the last degree cunbrous
and involved; with of the strong simplicity winch
1eloncs 10 the great men whom Nr. Ltthrops wor
chipping enthusiasm Is so freely poured out what DO
you think OF such "a sentence as this
And herein lies special superiority OF the novel over
drama, that II Is thus fitted 10 exhibit the nero AZ Tue
recipient of impressions onycOncentratiug III hliu the
phautasmagOrc elaboration OF ali surrounding life
through Ls individual senses aud perceptions while at
any moment, mis- position may be reversed. 50 that his
views OF things shall ho Longer pIedohiuae purely
dramatic development DelnS accorded ~ ali alike
And precisely what does MI Lathrop mean when he
talks about subjects abOundng in farAashng exter-
ualties Z" Why should he speak OF artistry instead
OF arti II his thoughts were less really valuable one
could more easily pardon his uDehastened and many
syllabled EXPRESSION OF them
Alexander Young gossIps entertaiuiDgly concerning
the supersttions connected with Birds OF Ilomeu;"
aud ID the present nstallmeat of "a Rsbes ReeOllec
tious," George Carey EsgestOn recOlleccs the time
"wben money was easy at South. II chapter