New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,,pS Urvp1.E,s "REMINISCENCES.


18th lcr marriage in 1884. and carries it on to
1sAs when. after long stay in England among
Tho associates of her youth, she returned to the
Iru,ted States for her first Course\ of readings III
this country n venture so fortunatethat it enabled
her 70 realize her along cherished hdpe OF purchaS'
ing small cottage and few acres II land III inc
beautiful and beloved neighhOrhood ~ LehoA
close to her dear friends, the SedgwlcKS-4H2
narrative covers therefore the whole peliou u
her unhappy married life. separation ana "''o'0V,
her reluctant return to the stage IN Lne.'"" anu
her first appearance as reader Oh "n'N''I
AT the very beginning of the hooK' III n.'''
written only a few months alter her "ouu'ne uS
appoiptment in the marriage betrays llS'ii' an" an
through the unpleasant American experiences VIC
90. co,frmted with the spectacle of a spirited,
h,,l,iapt and intellectual young woman, accus-
toned TO highly cultivated. artificial and luAn-
rons society fretting out her heart amidst uncon-
oep;aI associates. and falling dsmany to adapt
berself 70 a way OF life unlike anything she had
seen before. But the reader who looks hero ior
domestic disclosures will be disappointed. Touch
;nr nearly all personal matters Mrs Butler pIac-
t,scs digniied roticencc the separation from hcr
husband is not even mentioned; we lhu>V ''""
between the lines sometimes to see that sic i "''-
htppy; ana her tale Of troubles and anhoN aHceS 10
humorous oftener than 1t IS bitter Ih'cc" 'io
tonc of the book is surprisingly genial: ana a.
.louoh the comments upon persons do not lacA
sn,artuess they are never iln1tured. IDere arc
No. many volumes of "reminiscences which have so
much TO say about the people OF society," literature
ond art and are so strongly marked bv good temper
The Records" consist principally OF letters ~
, few Of Mrs. Kembles most intimate friends. The
chief Of these Is the same Harriet to whom she
: idresscd part of the contents OF tho hecoru' %
Cirlhood -: and it is no secret that the lady was
Mis- 81 Ieper with whom She carried on copous
and most confidential correspondence for more
than forty veats Next in frequency ana lmpor-
1ancc are the letters to Mrs. Anna Jameson. Mar
ratiye passages are introduced occasionally 10 eA-
nlain and supplement the letters The substance
Of the book may be roughly divided INTO Tour pom
cipal categOries. The first and most douHu'h'
comprises relcct e., and criticisms upon ToiiSloh
philosophy literature. the drama and society," oHeh
distinguished 10y acutcness of thought l"Ice'
clearness ard even heauty Of expression, hUt upon
the whole perhaps less Interesting to the puonc
than they must have been to the friends who
originally received them. Secondly we H"'e '"o
Americau experiences. which are likewise album
dant. and which have lost something OF their
piouancy by ths lapse Of Sine aud the change OF
circumstances. Sull these revelations oil Gull
life aIe never themselves dull. "You can form no
PhiIadelphia lit Is the first letter in the volune'
" no idea-none-nune-of the intellectual dearth
ard drouth in which | am existing at present.
She homes TO find friends 10 her taste after awhile.
but she is disappointed. " No one that belong to
this is a faNOrto and significant form oi express
sion with her during her married liiel takes the
slightest interest in literary pursuits. thrown
back upon her own resources, she undertook TO
cultivate her mind by the study OF Latin ana Oh
bookkeeping by double entry and we know NOT
what other serious tasks She tried to play the
Lady Bountful TO the tenants and ncighborS at her
husbands country place near Philadelphia ana she
was foiled by spirit OF independence OF when
she had no conception. If there vas something
droll in her northern misadveutureS, and even an
element of the ludicrous in her journeys from
Pennsylvania to Georgia, by primitive conyeyances
and through hardships Which tie present genera
ton has forgotten her residence on the Batter
plantation IN Georgia was almost tragicdl. aud the
result of her benevolent interest in the slaves
that members of the family, ThO lad joint IN
terest the estate with tcr husband, positively
objected to her coming there again because she ell
dangered Tie property. Long afierwgrd She pub
Eshed her plantation journals She had refused 10
10 So from an obvious sense OF proproty until after
the outbreak of the rebellion. Then She made
nuhlic her experiences OF slavery in tho hope OF
counteractng the strange sympathy with the Con-
federacy which she observed with deep concern
among the English aristOcracy. Manners modes OF
travelling and living, intellectual poverty, the
aspect OF country roads aud villages. the "abso-
Int absence Of all taste III matters of ornamental
cultivation the wretched quality Of servants-a
these things afrontcd her. The lack of ndepen-
dence in all social matters from churcheoing to the
trimming of petticoats aStOnshed aud disgusted
her The dread OF siugularlty. she declares has
eaten Nc all individuality amongst the Americans
and makes their population like so many moral
and mental Autographs, and their houses like so
many thousand hideOus brick twins. / believe
am getting excited; but the fact Is that beng
politically the most free people on earth tbs Amer-
cans are socially the least and it seems rs
though ever since that little affair o. establishing
their independence among nations, which they
managed so successfully, every American mothers
son of them has been doing hls best to divest him
self of his own private share Of that great publlc
blessing, liberty" But thorg h there was 50 much
on the surface to dsplease her. she failed to
see the solid good underneath. cannot give up
nv hope and confidence in the institutions of your
country she wrote to Theodore Sodgwlck; they
are tho expectation of tho world; and if the
Americans themselves by word or deed, proclaim
their scheme of free government failure, 1t seems
TO me that the future condition OF the human race
is ominously darkened. and that all endeavor after
progress or improvement is fIutless struggle tow
ard an unattanable end" In the course of some
remarks about vulgarity of appearance Mrs.
Kemble has the following observations upon Aineri-
can faces:
With us coarse featured English, and our heavy
faced Teutonic knsfolk, thick outline and Stub
features are generally supposed to lie the vulgar
attributes of our lower classes but the prcdOHi
nance of spirit over matter vindicates itself strik
ingly across the Atlantic, where IN tire lowest
strata % society, the native American rOwdy, with
a face as pure in outline an ancient Greek coin,
and hands and feet as hno as those of Il Norman
noble, strike one dumb with the aspect OF a cOunte-
vii Ia triu nj