New-York tribune., 1881-12-25

sHreewd American banker. who had bought it orig-
| nally because loving to circumstances 100 compu-
cated TO set forth it offered AT great nargaln
bought il with much grumbling at its ugllness, us
| antiquity, its incOmmOdity, and who now, at Tue
end of twenty years, had become conscious OF rt "a;
| aesthetic passion for il, so that he knew all lIS
points, and would tell you just where 10 STANG 10
! see them in combination, and just the hour wneh !n
| the shadows of its various protuberances-Nniio VIM
| fell softly upon the warm, weary D1ck kWVrh-
were of the right measuro. Besides tlls, dS nav
said he could have counted of most OF the success
sive owners and occupants, several OF whom WIZ W.T.
known to general fame; doing so, however WIN WIN
| an undemOnstratiye conviction that tne IaIJoV
phase OF its destiny was not the least of
The front of the house, overlooking that portlon .!
| the lawn with which we are corcefled, was not
| the entrance ffont this was IN quite aH0tueI h
Guarter. Privacy here rcighcd supreme am ann t
wide carpet of turf that covered the level Hlliop
| seemed but the extension of Luxurious INTERIOR
| The great still oaks and beeches hung doWh Wi
shade as dense as that of velvet curtains; ana tIe
| place was furnished. like room, wlth cu;hlonc9
| seats, with rich-coOred rugs, with me DOORS anu
papers that lay upon the grass. nc ri't[ WIS e w
some dstanco where the ground began 10 siopo'
! the lawn properly speaking, ceased. BuC IL Was
none the less a charming walk down to the waller
Near the close of the book. when the beroine
begins to feel that her life has been thrown away
there is another bit of landscape equally remarkable
in its way:
! The corrioCe pasSinC out of the walls Cf Rome,
! rolled through narrow lanes where the lid honey
suckle had begun to tangc Itself IN the hedges or
waited for her III quiet places WheiS tnc Ieius lay
IT,
the fOwer-frecked turf, or sat on stone tiat ndu
once had use and gaZed through the ven Oh Icr
personal sadness at the splendid sadness OF @ ene
scene-at the dense warm light, the lar gIadaliohs
and soft confusiops of color the motioness sheP-
herds in lonely attitudes, the hills where the cloud
shadows had the lightneas OF a blush
There is hardly page but has its eplgram OF lts
picture well worth quoting and remembering.
Some of the most remarkable passages OF the book
are those IN which the author allows the character
to draw his own picture, like tnis--t is Mr. Roster
who speaks a young American who lives in Paris:
81 like the dear old asphate. You can't get tired
of it-yOu can't if you try. lou think you wouId,
but you wouldn't there's always something new
and fresh Take the Hotel Drouot now; they
sometimes have three and four sales a week
Where can yOn get such things as yon can mere IN
spite of all they say maintain they are cheaper
too if you know the right places. | know plenty OF
places. but keep them TO myself; Ill tell you, If
you like. as PARTICULAR favor; only you must not
asking me first; / want YOU to promise me that
As general thing avoid the Bolievards therc IL
verv little to be dCne on the {oulevards, speaking
conScientiously- bidgue-l don't believe anyone
knows Paris better than |. You and Mrs. IoUchett
must come and breakfast with me some day, and
I'll show yOu my things il ne r0us DIS gue ca!
There has been great deal of talk about London
of late; it's the fashion to cry up London. Bnt
there is nothing in it-yOu can't do anything III
London. No Louis Quinze nothing OF the FIRST
Empire: nothing but their eternal Queen Anne
It's good for ones bedroom, Queen Anue-f0r one
Washing room: but it isn't proper f9r sgt0a; lo
| spend nv life at the auctionecrs = Mr.. kosler
pursued, in answer to another question OF lsabels
" Oh, no ; haven't the means. wish had You
think I'm mere triiler; / tell by the express
sion of yOuT face--yOu have got a wonderfully cN-
pressive face. ] hope you don't mind my saying
that mean il as a kind of warning. 10u thnR
ought TO do something, and so 90 j, so long as yOu
leave it vague. Bnt when you come to the point.
you see you have to stop can go nome nome ant ne
All. Miss Archer, you overrate me. can buy very
well, but | can't sell; you shouli see when some
times TRY 10 get rid of my things. IL takes much
mo
yourself When | think how clever they must be.
the people who make me Iuy! An, no; | coulhnt
be a shOpkeeper. / can't be a DOCTOR II repul-
sive business. | can't be ? clergyman, l haven't
got convictions. And then ! can't pronounce the
names right in the Bible. They are very dlhcult.
in the Old Testament particularly, ! can't be a
lawyer; don't understand-how do yon call 1t =
the American procedure. Is there anything else
There is nothing for "a gentleman 10 do IN America
! should like to he dplomatist; but American
diplOnacy-that is not for gentlemen either am
sure if you had seen the last min
OF the importance of this volume thcTe can be no
question 1t will certainly remain of the notable
books of the time. 1t is properly to be compared,
not with the light aud cpheineral literature of
amusement but with the gravest aud most serious
works of imagination which have been devoted TO
the study of the social conditions Of the age and
the moral aspects Of civilization. The story is
Of the Simplest possible. young girl richly en-.
dowed in mind, person and character. but with
slight knowledge of the world, Unexpectedly re-
ceves a great fortune. She has previously rejected
two men of entirely suitable position and qualities,
not because she doubts their worth but because she
has certain vague ideals. She falls into the com
pany of a fascinating woman of forty @bo marries
her to an old paramour of her own. There is posi-
lively no incident in the book-there is not one
word of writing for writings sake there is not
a line of meretrcious ornament 1t is a sober,
consistent study of a single human character, with
all its conditions and environments in situations
not in the least strained or exceptional There is
nothing exceptional about the book but the genius
of the author, which is now. more than ever be
fore, beyond question. THIS simple story is told
with every imaginable accessory of w.t. obscrga-
tion. description of nature and of life. But the
reader must take his pleasure as he goes along He
can get from the issue Of the story for no one
in it really prCspers. The heroine and her Ideals
come to a sorry market. Even the wicked are not
happy. The little people who furnish the comedy
of the play go out with the half comic despair of
children sent to bed without the toys they had been
promised. The nearest approach 20. content is the
case of Mrs. Touchett who, after the deaths of her
husband and her only child reflects that after ALL
such things happened to other people and not to
herself Death was disagrecahlc, but IN this case
il was her sons death, not her own she had never
fattered herself that her would be disagreeable
TO anyone but Mrs TOuchett. She was better of
than poor Ralph, who nad left all the commodities
of life behind him, and indeed all the security; for
the worst of dying was, TO Mrs. Touchetts mind,
that it exposed one TO he taken advantage Of For
herself she was on the spot; there was nothing 50
good as that"
LOVE POEMS AND sONNETs. BY OWEN INNsLV.
lGuo pp. I95. Boston: a. william. ~ Co.
There is that in Mr.. Owen Innsys little book
which disposes one to feel kindly toward him,
though not to augur highly Of his future. 1t is no
Impractical hand which is playing upon the instru-
ment-far from it-but ii is hand which will never
have powerful touch nor, apparently, an original
one. Not that we can point out any direct imita-
ton of any single writer, but that all Mr. Innsly's
verse has resulted from his reading the verse of
others; he has not written from his heart but
from the stimulating influence Of books. He is not