New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-04-24


ru.,.or,h No;,c was -tarred and feathercd and
ridden ON a rail by a mob. on account OF certain
utterapces of his respecting tho school question:
Tho teacber of the parochial school under his care
10 which he wished the children of his congregation
TO be sent was n young lady OF American plrth anu
descent. Miss NJ A. Tinker, the author OF the BOOK
now before us. She subsequently became laVor'o
contributor to periodicals, and for NUMBER Oh yea'
abe has lived in Rome occupying herself WIN ner pen
There is peculiar little colony OF Americans ~ VIZ
Jta,on capital composed in large part OF iahes u
a literary turn most of them ardent CathoieS' "nN
of tbis society Miss Tinker has been weli-knoMh
u,ember Her earliest important works" Inc
Uopse NJ Yorke and "Grapes and Thorns -ap-
reared first in The Catholic World, OF TINS CITY
aSionor Monaldni's Niece" was published III tue NJ
Name Series and quickly became famous. ines1
novels were distinguished by felicity In poe'lc"i
description, acuteness in the study OF char
piauancy of style, force of imaginalioh an' "a
two later ones by tendency toward paiiiui ~
traeical fances Some time ago, Ill cohsc q"cn'o W
a hrief attack of acute illness, Miss tinker WI"
$50 e. ,,h;le nv her friends in a Roman case d,
.aI.to-a proceeding with which since her recovery
she seems 10 have shown lively displeasure'
Hinder ordinary circumstances these personal de-
tails xvould be impertinent in a book notice. ou'
Miss Tnker's own experiences are thrust ior"iu %
resolutey in :" By the Tiber" that she compeis ou'
attention to them. Her purpose Ill writing ,i' ~
was apparenty in part to describe the mode VI ii0
in nm asylum which they call a casa ~ sa'uN ""o'
thew want to coax persons into H. anu q oo'e "e
paSri when they have got them In; out tne P'ihor
-, ,,nrnoso WAC TO stick pins into her acquaintance
The volume opens with the preliminary apparatus
~ n somewhat sensational plot, promising adul-
tory. murder and we know not what other horrors'
hut nothing is finished: and after Naleria Ellsworth
nbo name is an evident reference 10 her New-Eng-
land home) has been invegled into the asylum oe-
cause she knows suspects too much, oil the IN
trcnes and mysteries suddenly dropped, ana inc
incboote plot disappears like burst bubble. MISS
Tinker is an experienced and competent hoVehs''
lint clearly she has not cared much IN TINS instance
about developing q story. Her sketches OF charac-
ter considered merely essays OF the maglhatloh'
are so lively and amusing as to compensate Amply
for the defects in the narrative, and they nave ,o
recommendation of absolute freshness ior INC
society which they serve to set before us is one
which no other writer we believe, has undertaken
10 describe Protestants know little about the
American Catholic colony i'll Rome. and Miss Tinker
"a the first Catholic who has had the ability or the
desire to exhibit it. But, unfortunately, we know
that Miss Cromo, Miss PendletOn, Mrs. Grey ana
the other moro or less hateful or foolish women held
ND for our execration and dersion are designed ~
the representatives of living persons. In some IN
stances the original is indicated as plainly as if the
picture had been labelled. Among those who have
some acquaintance with the circle in which Miss
Tinker has moved tongues are busily waggng and
gossip is hard at work identifying the victims
We do moi intend to make ourselves accompllces III
The outrage bv mentioning any names To the best
of our knowledge Miss Tinkers pictures, far from
being portraits are hardly enough like the originals
10 he called carcatures, and we know whom they
are meant for not by the resemblance, but by some
incident told in connection with them 1hey are
described with epigrammatlc wit at when no.
body can help smiling, and righteousness which
provokes a smile too, though we have seldom seen
bad temper so frankly displayed in print. But let
us look at a few specimens of Miss Ilnkers native
smartness and literary art. Here is description
of the boarding house in which vaer finds herself
Oh her first coming TO Rome:
The American boarders divided the house into mp
and downtown; the English, into West End ana
CITY; and all pleased with their lodgings
wherever they might be situated. For the honsc
was thoroughly well kept, and the landladN, the
Widow passarina, n treasure of her KIND. she was
n large, pleasant-faced woman between bity ana
sixty wears Of age, gracefully cordial IN inane rs,
members of her family. rs she called IT,. were de
yotedy fond of each other, and wished INFINITE go3d
TO herself: she knew how To sympathlze with the
present fSaintih without saying anything against
The absent defendant, and had such a pleading
manner of admonislung quarrelsome or lhsoient
u benignant sovereign 49, 49,, =.
the way of peace-makng; for 1t COMPRISED nein
beers from the four quarters of the earth There
were Americans and English. pretending TO IKE each
other immensely, but missing no opportunity TO Elvo
each other q little wholesome correction; there
were Germans. hated up by French ana down ny
Danes and diagOnally 10y various other nations; ana
there was an lrshman who loved everybody 50
much himself first of all, that everybody III turn
But these enmities were, after all. chiefly geo
graphical and did not prevent good deal of pleas
ant talk and some kind feeling between the bellige
rnts the more that there were other differences
more near and bitter than national ones, which
formed new angles of opinion and new alliances
National foes could forget their clcatrzed wounds
for the moment, and meet halfway to resent tue
bleeding wounds of newer warfare
saxon and Norman and Dane though we be,
We are each all Dane
in the papal or anti-papal cause.
IL must be owned that this combat was not con
Quoted ether side with a very admirable Dug
nity 1t consisted chiefly of what we may hgura,
lively call kicks and pinchcs and twlts AMI small
trinmphs celebrated after the manner Of the cock
that crows in the morn" rather than of the swift
sabre-thrnst that leaves n saddle empty, or the fine
artillery thunder that opens a new red nver-Ocd
through the solid ranks of the foe. IL was how
ever COPY in small of the social state OF Rome NJ
that time which suggested the idea Of two armies
drawn up face 10 face, each one trembling in its
shoes, aud whispering in its ranks the most IN
How the great actors in the drama liked their
chorus, or if they gave IT Thought, would bc nara
TO guess. IL is doubtful if either Prolnetheus or
Jove would have felt himself greatly helped or hon
ored OH seeing lady PARTISAN with ny away
bonnet miraculously sustained III q chlgnon wmch
projected il quite beyond the outline of the SKULL
and nose very much in the air at the other ex.
trrmty OF the head refuse haughtiy TO partake OF
refrrshment at reception where her rival l1taness
or Oiympianess was admitted 1t might have been
considered wiser by some bad she snlliDgly ac-
cepted q seat at the table. and with IT the oppor-
tunity TO poison her opponent in cup OF tea
At the earnest prayer of the Signora PassaTina,
the subject of the Pope and the Italian kingdom
was partially avoided in open discussion; but the