New-York tribune., 1875-03-06
BOSTON LITERARY NOTES.
FICTION IN A NEW FIELD.
LAKE COUNTRY SKETCHES" BY CONSTANCE FEM
MORE wooIs0N

BosToN. March 4-Since the day when Inc
Luck of Roaring Camp" awoke us oil toa new 'ensa-
ton there has been publshedno book OF short soess
fresh In scenery and incident, so indisputapy ors
as q volume by Constance Fenmore WoO'son' eh'."o
.Caste Nowhere: Lake Country Sketches, winch D.
r. Oseood q Co. now have ready for publication uo
not mean that woolson's stories are hner co
su,ion than for instance those of Mr.. Adrieh OF MI
Henry James There regards in which these gehto
men surpass her; but in the quality OF freshness III o
use OF scenery and incident she mas sVoo
amaroh on them both She displays sfamiiiariy "i'n
the Lake Country with the features OF its landscape as
well as the peculares Of It's inhabitants such as cou
only result from long intimate acquaintance she
has wonderful freedom Of touch, because se 50 cer
rain ground. AS for the stories themselves 'o'
are singularly quaint Most OF them nave aready ap
peared in the magazines; put Ihe ini'ia' 'sie' N0
Nowhere" is freshly written
Itis the story OF man who had forty years before
committed a great crime-a crime terrible that in
consequence 1t he fed away from humanity lHfo an
exile in then wilds OF the Lake Country an exile al
terward shared by his sister Alter time he found
nameess child-the offspring OF mother WHO nae just
died in poorhouse-a poor, little waif of child 10
whom else laid any claim; and this little one ne
adopted resolving to secure good and her happi-
ness at whatever cost himself II was to be his ex
piatiOn for his crime; and certainly not bad ohe'
the methods which he carried out his plan had been
less questionable BE kept the child without the slight
est knowledge OF God religion. He had her taught 10
read but he never told her Of the Bible Days were
alike 10 her-there Sunday in her life, no Christ
mas no prayer, no praise she pure and
GOOD; but 1t was the purity OF the hareOeH
In the glade-the ignorant innocence which has III IL
none of the heroic quality of virtue Tne old man. oiu
Amos Fog ar he called himself had no hesitation, when
other means failed to supply her needs. in turning
wrecker and Turing vessel on the pitess rocks
What were the lives OF these rough he ressonei to
hersi Let them die, that she might daintiy hveI he
even made merit Of this, and considered IL part OF
his expiston Silver, for that was the name he gave
her. grew up of singular ovelness, and with
guleess transparency Of nature which enhanced her
other charms aud made her unique. or course, the
inevitable lover came while; and, OF course he
hesitated to marry this founding, this walf or
the poor-house and adopted daughter OF the
old wrecker OF Castle Nowhere for Castle Nowhere was
the name Of the mysterious home where the old man
had hidden himself and his household. This household
was composed after his sisters death. only OF himself
the girl and an old colored servant, until the lover
came, and by chapter OF favorng circumstances gO'
dones sticated among them. The love was strong tha'
finally conquered his prejudlces and Induced nun 10
make Silver his wife, 5ut stronger yet was the love oi
old Amos Fog, which made him willing to resign the one
object for whom he had lived and foed and slnned'
and been ready any moment 10 die. This great love
Of tie old is depicted with such power and pathos
that it carries your sympathes, IN your own des
pite and for the sake of almost forgive his awful
very 6ne-moray tins Is the great defect of it, that
teaches doctrine which frequently appears in our
modern lteraturethe doctrine that single noble emo
ton single deed Of heroism single SHINING quay'
can outweigh years of siu, and wash clean soul black
with crime. The d" "cussedness" OF Jim Blucso '-tue
high courage the last OF Ramon the peon engineer,
the love old Amos FOgthey show, indeed, the Divine
spark which may yet kndle the blackes sou but they
do not make wrong right or enable man to reap from
n bad life the fruit Of good one.
With the other stories this volume such fault can
be found and very remarkable stories they almost all
are Peter the Parson is illustration OF h0v ZEAL
and selfdenial and moral herosn in fran ana poor
body such it would be hard to match. The death
scene of the poor little Parson Is passage one can
scarcely read with dry eyes. " Solomon " and The
Lady Of Little Fishing" also stories displaying posi-
tive genius and by the publication OF which literature is
richer Indeed whole book is one OF marked power
"A power which promises still better things TO come,
aud makes US ready offer Woolson glad welcome
into the tel1 Of letters
JBF Ford& Co. of No II Bromheldst have ready
book entitled Christ in Art" edited by Dr. Edward
Eggleston This book tells the of the words and
acts Of Jesus as related in the language OF the four
Evangehss, in continuous narrative with the ar
raugement OF chapter discarded. The work Is
illustrated with hundred fuu-page plates on steel and
wood executed b. BreGd Amour OF Dusseldorf after
the famous designs OF Alexander Bida. Monsieur Bida
made these illustrations vita the most conscientious
care He went 10 the Holy Land and passed years
there in STUDYING the details OF scenery lecture,
cnstom and costume for the purpose Of insuriug ac
curacy in his designs. He, himself is Christian Jew;
the faces IN his pictures are Jewish - thoroughly
Oriental, and taken from the real Syrian types These
designs were originally used as illustrations For Les
SQintes Erangtles" French work which gained WIDE
fame by ls superb etchngs steel from tue drawings
OF Bda Some idea OF their Importance be given
by the fact that twelve years spent in the prep
araIOn drawings aud the engravngs. and s250OO
on their production. The lowest price at which the
French work sold S16j. In order to bring the
book within the Of ordinary book buyers Messrs.
Ford Co.. instead OF having the designs etched, took
them 10 the great xylographc establishment OF Brend
'AmOur ~ Dusseldorf aud had them engraved there in
the best style OF thai famous cngrdver l. C.
DIR. JOHN GARDENERS BOOK on LONGEVITY
now TO LIVE FOREvER-NOT TIE FOUNTAIN OF
YOUTH. But WHAT Is BETTER-ANOTHER
LITTLE CLASSIC y" ROMANCE
tPRoM REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.l
BosToN, March ALL that man hath will
be give for life surely the valuable Of
books would be one which should tell how pre-
serve andlengthe this earthly existence. This is what
DR. John Gardner attempts to do in his work entitled
Longevity: The Means Of Prolongng Life
After Middle Age" volume which William
r. Gil & Co. about reprintng from the
third Euglish edition. The book is addressed,
rs the Doctor tells his preface persons OF middle
age and In decline OF life, and its purpose is not to
supersede the pny cian the treatment of their mala
dies but to call attention to those pecuarities OF the
constitution which distinguish romEouth and early
manhood and point out such symptoms OF deviation
from healthy standard as are usually disregarded
or considered unavoidable incidents Of but which
are likely to glide into fatal diseases If neglected
little intelligent OF themselves the part OF
elderly persons might often give aud comfort IN
Ola OF II