, 1874-12-19

possessed tho poet, Il raads him happy a. an
| Of poverty and disappointment. No trouble
could perfnnnant!y diatxh tho soron1ty Of h,a
mind; and. whom friends failcd. tho npirlts com,
piaisnntly tniniatoroa to him, and noothod eyory
Of tho choortul. contcntod nature Of tue man Ia
contained in tho stnooro invocation ha once ut
turel In ha Old ago toa lovely lttto girl: "'alay
aod make thtB world to you, ms child. "a boau.
richest blasting he could ast for another, WHO
had hinsolf received In Bcanticnt measure tho
| 1oya aud rownrtla ordinarily priced by mankind,
Biake died III 1897, conldont to tho laB. TINT
spl5ation Of tho apiritu constantly about him,
ami that. therefore, 1t could but be true and
noble work. It wan indeed, much of It noble
work. admired and honorod by thoac hcst capa.
ble of approcia!ins tho ruraHt art; but there
was mingled with it no l'ttc that WAS grosoa?uo.
aud vagun, and incomrrchenBib1o When Dlako
was about 90 ycara OF ago l1o published volume
Of .eonga Of lnnoconco and Experiences, i'll.
cludpg alxty.olght lyrlcs, many Of tho beat Of
which had boon composcd betwcon hia l2th aud
auth yoar. Tlioao poems, which uro now regarti-
cd with much more eHtoom thnn in Diako'a life.
| time, Wordsworth said wero tho productions Of
"grent but undoubtedly insane genius,"
bia veraeo BY lilo usual u,othod, Gut 10 wroto
yaHt doaf, leaving at h{s tioath, IL is said by tue
author Of "hIo1orn PaintcrH," not less than a
| hundred MS. volumes. From tims to time, bo-
! Ing, destitute Of tho n1eaus of printing thou,,
Dlako would cngrayo volume Of his songs. In
torwoayiug with thn lext original Illustrations,
and. BY tho aolo hop Of h1B loving. Following
| wife, cotnploto all tho procoasos necessary to
| prosent 1t In porfect book-slaro. SO ho lived
| oil, managing to keep above actual doatltution,
| by hack-work at engraving, Tho ealo OF water
! color drawing or OF copy Of Ills poetua, whtch,
In everything but thu manufacture OF the paror,
was tho work OF liiH brnin and hand Ruppte-
.(1i 1nno hi
catod and influenced till eho uan but second
aelt>
III 1868. n biography Of Dlakc, with selections
from luis poetry. whA published by Mr. GiichriHt;
swinbnrne, and printed portions Of llis poetry,
tho roal character Of his genius has bcon ro-
roalcd. Tho proHont edition Of bis works. ia Tho
first which las boom givon to tho Amotican
reador. It nc!utley Tho pootical skotchcs, songs
OF 1nnoconce aid Experience, THU, Tifiol, aud
various miscellaneous poems cntled from tho
Ms. volumes. lilo notnoir introducing them
prcaouts . careful aud genial anaiyas Of tho
poets achievements and character. 1u style it
ntrlknely resembles tho writing Of Dante 9.
Rossdtti, tho painler aud brother Of the oditar.
Tho book ia rendered. complete by portrait Of
Mr.. Blake.
NOVELS.
A FoREaoHx CoHoLus1oH. By ". .. HouEILs, Author
Of "Tenetisu Life /" '*TAeiE WeAdng~aauvnsy," ese.
12mo., pr. eu5. Boston: Jansea Il. Oegood s Co.
Of IA Memorial Of Alice aud rhLnbe Cary" otc.
lano.. pp. 6s5. Now York: nurd L Houghton.
hr. IoWolls has given us npothor Of liB dc1l-
cious compositions. Call It novel, romanco,
whatever you ploaso It rcmains undor any namc,
o pure prose-pooul. We 10 more caro- to analyzo
its constituents, or aeflno its character, than
We alould II the theme woro actually arranged IN
metre. TIoge iH subtle, indoinable grace poryal-
ing tho whole thing, plot, poSBouG dotails, nua
dlotion.-thAt completely captivatos tho fancy,
and renders us oblyiouH or indifferent to faults,
II thoro bo my aucl marrlng tho perfection Of
tho work. In fact, did violations OF probability
in the conduct Of the narrative stare us directly
in tho faco, ne should rather relish them than
otherwisc, aa atfordlug tic moro conspicuous ex-
arnples Of tho authors peculiar art Of investing
eyory Hcnne and circumstance with sorno special
beauty.
is thcro glamour on tho oyc, making things
In fact or III fancy soom moro truo, moro lovely,
than thoy really aro2 Who would hayo it vipcd
away that dofoEmity might bo known to 30 do
fo1nty, or falnehood oven oxposod In its natural
ugllnoss7 No. rather Let ua bo dcludcd in uu-
important things, IL 80 ba RIO gain ths infinite
comfort OF believing and admiring whore, o1Bc,
wero tho light thrown Oh, NO should flnd
far less charm or merit than We had
suspected. ThuB We nhall not inspect
closely tho mechanism by which Mr. How
oils producea his charming oteo.a. Leave
that to cold-bloodcd critics, who would tear 4
rose in piocea to discover its anatomy or tho &C.
cret OF its fragrauco.
The title, "a Foregono Conclusion" seems
utterly unneaning boforo reading the book;
then It assume. an apt Significance. Wien two
young peoplo Of opposite Bo1ea with hoastB dis
engaged and attractive pcraonH arc thrown
much together under propit1oua circumstances,
i may DO accounted forogono conclusion TINT
they wlll fail in love with each other. Aud 10
thoy do in Mr.. Howola' story. But, unhappilv,
tharo ara three young people In this caso,-two
gcntlomen and q, lady,-and, st the last, ono
sry 10 ..oeo ho ppo1aoas %as nesas
aud gets strong hold Of tho renders
sympatl,oB; and, when hs lifo pays tho forfeit
OF q too fcryent attachment, there ia . sincere
mourner in every individual who has followed hs
tier hint regarding tho story. saro that 1t Is To-
Gated in Von1ce, and that Nhoeyor would onjoya
plenBuro akin to visit in porson to thae famed
old city, tho beautiful Br1do Of the Altiatlc.
should so along with dr. Ho"ells in !AiH lmasin-
arX trip Of hia deyisiug.
Thoto ia too uuch BY half OF "Hta Two
Wives" Not that We object to 8 mans marry
Ing twico, II ho haze the INCLINATION, and can do
so LOCALLY, nor to tho novelist making nso If
such 4 circumstance us tho pivot on whios, to
hinge his strhtagous. Our structure rofera
exclusively to the inordlnato ongtA to which the
history of tho affair Inns becn drawn ous
ip tho present Instance. There must DO unconl-
mon Siieor and power in story to sustain it
through nearly GOO pages. And this, If tho truth
bo said tho uoset under notice quito fails Of do
inc. Tho aosion is cloggod With descriptive
passsgeB introduced at every possible oppor-
tunity, wl,ich, though roadablo In thcnaaelyos
aud ia tholr appropriate place, wear out tho pa-
tionco whom tho mind il lutont Oh tho movement
OF drams. 4 multitude Of unnecessary details,
too cunlbor tho narrative and woaken its tntor-
cat.
Ihon tho subiect is too subjective. No aro
mado constantly to focl TINT il IL tho writcr'a
solf who ia talking to I'LL through The mouths Of
hcr various characters. Te art OF mailing thcau
independent, spontaneous, aud original, is laclk-
snn. Uhey arc all more or TcA5 oEvipttg raf1ec.