New-York tribune., 1882-12-31
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
, ,u,r,,opNr,s posrHUMoUs NOVEL.

T2oston James X. OsgoOd q 20
..Do the dsvotees OF Hawthornes genas this
,ook will be priced relic, even by 'hoS' wno uo
nau !, 40 a masterpiece. Yet there are many
,eaders TO whom it will prove tedious auu eve" 10
.n,s,ve To think OF what it wonld have been Il
ston,bor had carried on to completion scheme
.hioh IN fact he has scarcely more than outllneu'
- % mink Of something massive and admlTaoie'-
,Detripg for which the world would always nave
r., grateful That however. Is theme lot inc
imarinatIJn The work, as 1t actnai'N s'an"s' WIZ
awaken no such Thought. Ii is not only unhhiS"ou
ms de(ormed Ii Is not only fragment out "u'n
of il is bopeussly and uselessly gloomy ana u"on
of n is painiully comm Dnplace III contains VI
,onrse the elements of great work OF hctloh luo
material for this had been CHOSEN ana hau ooon
,,p.d ont. and as usual with lIawth ,Tne, bHth
choice and plan were magnificent. But, II we Ju"Ro
,br composition by the standard oil Inc 0caI'e'
op scarcely CHAPTER Of it had been cast into
the farm in whicA the author himself would nave
oire, il 10 tho world. Its characters excepting
that of Dr. Grimshawe, are no more thah laInV
skctches Its juvenile hero Edward he"ciA"e' -
the ouintessence of New-Lngand conVen'oh"l'y'
Its element of gloom is wholly untempereu VIII"
that ouet nckerng and somewhat gIih nu'loI
with which Hawthorne always finally tneed MS
melancholy pictures Of lie Several ol "S COT
,tructive ideas are repeated with tesOme lieI""n'
lis style frequently SHOWS llt thOi VI "
mind. rroiuuuG and terrible mental 'asSlt"He
hangs over it like pail; and from cover TO cover
at smells of mortality" There IS nothing so Ger
tam IN all this world as the certainty that " III
Crmshawc's Secret" in its present condition. "ouu
never have been published by the great man VINO
wrote it.
n, the other hand. ike every Characteristic woik
from Hawthorne pen this story possesses tue power
Of original genius, since it compes ITS rea'eIS "
reflect upon human life, not as mass oi superH''"'
incidents hut rs vast sequence of mgnhcant
Notwithstanding their springs IN the elepehlaI pas
sionsof mankind. and being darllly surrounded with
the atmosphere of tragedy aud death. 1t laySa
firm grasp upon these realities that are resident IN
tbe very fbres of existence. he reader OF II per
cei,es at once mental contact with sohe'h'H4
substantial and permanent Dr. OfIhsna"e
sinister in character and hdeous IL suIrouLuIHeS
and in motive. dwelling in a graveyard an" A'eP"N
fellowship with loathsome splders,-at once con
genial with his yitated nature ana Vpl'" u mo
schemes of veugeauce.-is, nevertheless Ie".
Npcb "a he now hates he has once loved; but crnei
iuiusJice and loug-contnued misery nave ma"e
rain OF him. THIS gl,s,y Iimou. an exile from the
rs,utjfnl English fields OF Warwick, recluslve ia
NeW-England town, Just after the kevoluHoH"Iy
War. Stunned aud drtc,tcd oy his neishbors nat
ing all mankind and living only that ne may tram
ma couple OF children. through one oil whom He
tru,ts to accomplish scheme OF revenge mas ''eh
made by the novelist a actual as II be were IIVus
among MS now; and he differs from the usual per
SONS of ordinary fiction. I'm being endowed with the
PASSIONS OF uurcgeuerate man. Nothing either IN OF
abont him is vapid OF trivial and, coming into ms
,re.ence the reader is ,traahtway confronted with
one OF the darkest Of all social probems-the &c
rra,Itv Of the present as result OF the I'D 7utV ol
the past Actuality, comnnod with enormous
breadth OF visiun and with a sombre splendor oI
imaginative coloring are thdS the great qualities
Of tue book. Life, as depicted here, IS not that
everlasting procession of commonplaces' bearing
the LITTLE streamers OF equyOEe or the painted hlad
ders of wtticsm and banter, which moves through
almost all cOntempoIaueous hcuoni 'ut IL Is
Hack and shining river that flows through gloomy !
caverns underneath the ground. only now and |
then bubbliug Up TO the earth surface ana the |
U,bt of dav II was the Characteristic of llaw- |
thornes mind, irdoel,-and II reapears III TINS |
wnrk.-to brood, in kind OF philosophlc reyeTle' |
mon that strange fateful, terrible certainty with |
which the whole fabric OF mortal things IS welded |
toe.tler so that the acts of men and " omen long |
dead IN distant years, are every day bursting INTO |
+be bloom of result; as the white lilies of |
r.pbtoousuess and beauty now as the deadly night
shade of sin and crime. That was the burden OF !
the House of the Seven Gables tho most unique !
and lovely OF romances-and that, again, Is the
burden of " Ir. Grmshawe5 Secret The grave
ward grass to this thinker, partakes OF the moral
and physical qualities of those who ,ulder he
ncath IT. ave all breathe one another's breath,
rico and proud as we may be- kings ana daintIest
ladies breathing the air that has already served to
,rfate q beqrar's lungs" There arc some children
1vLose material Is staken at secondhand, full Of
dt.e,.e conceit. whims and weaknesses, that have
already served many peoples turns, and been
,noulded up, with some little change of combiua-
tion to serve the turn OF some ptor spirit that
c,uid not get a better case" Tho generations of
men that die abiding in one place use mp from the
dust in the generations Cf men that succeed them,
and existence is tnen bat meaningless round
bringing nothing 20 pass. TINS Hamlet mood OF
Thought was usual with Hawthorne; and it
streaks DR.. Grmshawes Secret in every direc-
tion. like blue veins IN a block OF white marble.
The story is divided mo twenty five chapters.
The first ten aro sequcnt and they relate to the
Hf. and death of Dr. Grimshawe. III his uueer
tbree-story. respectable wooden house in the cor
ner of tae graveyard in the Old New England town.
The remaining fifteen disconnected and
in them the narrative shifts so scenes and incl
dents in the county of Warwick, in England. Dr.
Grimshawe's real nume IS Oglothorpe. and appar-
emily he has suffered bitter wrong at the hands
Of an English nOhlCman Of The house Of Redclyhe,
faulty supposed to he resident upon an ancient
estate IN that county in the history of that family
there is dreadful Secret.-which Dr. GrlmShawe
knows and means to use. One of the members of
it was imprisoned in a certain mysterious chamber
in the ancestral mansion, and there cruelty tor
tured by his brothers-for turning Protestant and
siding with the Roundheads, against Charles the
First But he escaped and He'd TO America, and
his bones lie in the graveyard beneath DR.. Grim
shawes windows--while his descendants are now
the rghtfu heirs to the Redc,yile property in Eng
land. The last OF these wandering schoolmaster