The Sunday herald., 1886-11-07
LITERARY NOTES.

will be astonIshed by the wealth OF interest, the
thoroughness OF the text, and the completeness oil
pictorial Illustration which characterize the FIRST
iustallmcnt OF this biography, given in the Novcm-
bor number OF the century Magazine The innova-
tlon Of publishing such work as a serial will no
douht prove pleasant one for q multitude OF read
crs as well as n profitable one Tor the monthly
Both OF the authors acted at different times In the
capacity OF private secretary TO the martyr rrosl-
dent; but their qualification for the task which they
have undertaken is much broader aud deeper than
any mere personal relation could provide. Their
aim has been to write absolute, impartial history,
and they bring both conscience and capacity to the
accomplishment OF this aim. IA they say IN the
preface over their fac-simile sgna,wres; m %e &c cam
sixteen years OF almost unremittng asslduiy; that
we have neglected no means IN our power TO as
certain the TRUTH that we have rejected no huthen-
tic facts essential to candid story; that we have
had no theory to establish, no personal grndge TO
aimed to write sufficiently full and absolutely
honest history OF great man and great time; and
although we take It for grsnied nat we nave male
and Inaccuracies as are unavoidable In so large
work, we promise there shall not be found line in
II Is subject for curious reflection that Abraham
Lincoln, our Presidents ancestor who came OF rc-
orisln@owned at one time seventeen hundred acres
OF land In Kentucky, and II he had held on to u
might have left his descendants In the position OF
rich landed propretors. This ancestor removed to
the western country because OF friendly assoca-
tion with Daniel Boone, the pioneer hunter But
Of family originally English, from Norwich, well.
to-do and comfortable, lapsed Into poverty and
% S, Ss ,ee ' 10
known TO history, and likely to be known for all
time, was preserved to us and grew up in pristine,
and their leader a. A Wealthy real estate owner i
Ia not likely that he would have come forward In the
Ba M S Sh 81 on
new soil, the frst American," he and his Immediate
iorerunners had undergone all the terrible hard.
savaees and with cruel nature until Lincoln himself
attained TO q sinewy strength Of mind. body. and
savage false civilization, and the crueer forces OF
stnpendous civil war. His grandfsther was Killed
wne wSfk m mes eeoa
| by his side at the time. Thomas became an easy.
s9nR not very , man. who - brought as
town, where he and she and want dwelt together IN
fourteen feet square" OF little Abraham, who was
his boyhood; but there is tender touch In the mis-
cry which he felt at the scant ceremony attending
his mothers burial In a comm OF green lumber cut
with whlpsaw, and his contrivng to get wander
mon above her grave, stiff and white with the early
loft of the cabin on ladder Of wooden pins driven
into the logs and slept upon he'd OF forest leaves
This rude and lonely existence mas been dressed up
| these biographers say candidy: "The life was
neither enjoyable. nor. wholesome, The woods
time to m time ravaged the settlements The inhabitants
were superstltious. poor aud generally without am.
billion. But Abraham Lincoln, born In the deepest
poverty began early to lift himself above the level
| Of his surroundings. He Illustrated, we may say,
the only possible perpetual motion, that which ex-
lists diviney In the human breast, anu at the very
moment when his life seemed to he at the lowest
ebb no began to rise toward the lofty summit which
he finally reached. He had an Unsuitable thirst for
knowledge and Improvement: he also developed the
drmest and finest traits OF character. Thoroughly
PRACTICAL hard working, and determined 10 succeed,
/ he vaa nd nj cOn q h
ing could show this better than his letters to his
step brother, Johnston. whom he aided with money,
himself by steady work. In that case he offered to
give his step.brother one dollar for every dollar he
% most OF Ills fellows lie grew up in Inc n midst Of Of
poverty and Ignorance; he was poisoned with the
enerva,ng malaria Of the Western woods, az all his
fellows were and the consequences OF 1t were seen
In his character and conduct to the end OF his life
- He did not love work, probably, any better
than John Johnston, hut he had an innate sef-re-
| spect and consciousness that his self was worthy
OF respect, that kept him from ideness as It kept
S all psr e ina @
ters contain an interesting sketch of uncouth Iii
nois life IN 1885, and bring the hero as far as New
Salem. The history thus far Is almost Biblical iI
Its simplicity and direcness, Its Impartial and per
fectly graphic quality, and we shall look forward tC
be the most remarsahie biography ever produced il
the United States. The following sonnet, the nohles
plement to the opening OF the Lincoln history:
NJ, ON THE LIFE-MAsK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
This bronze doth keep The very form and mold
, OF our great martyrs face. Yes, this is he.
That brow all wisdom, all bentgnity;
That human, humorous mouth; those cheeks thai
hold
, Like some harsh landscape all the summers gold:
a | That spirit ut for sorrow, as the sea
: For storms to beat on; the lone agony
Those silent, patient lips too well foretod.
e Yes, this ia he who ruled a world of men
, AZ might some prophet Of the elder day
Bro0dlng above the tempest and the fray
With deep-eyed thought and more than mortal ken
l
: Or armed strength: 1t was his mighty heart.
While 1t may not he possible to approve all that
a written by Mr.. W. ii. Maock, he scarcely ever fai
h to be readable as well as suggestive. His late
d work, "The Old order Changes" {New York; @.
Is Putnams Sons,) deals with socialism In Its most n
= cent aspects, including the riots In London, while
u are vyldly described In novelIstic way. For III
,, Is In the form OF novel or romance, with the fan
!. lar setting OF the Swiss Lakes aud English COUNT
houses, with some OF the Old drdnlatis neTsonD ar
j. a number of new ones. The burden or moral of tn
n tale seems to be that both arlstocracy and nonasi
/, cism must take new developments to suit the ag
Just what Mr.. Mallock recommends In this dlrectiG
Will hest be "a from tn nar MS t own In
e same unsparinR candor that shocked some peop
,f In his "Romance of the Nineteenth Century" Pa
\, ticularly will his women readers quarrel with h
~ ~ drawing OF Violet Capel. the innocent and angel
e girl who Is continually falling In love with ne
o masculine fashion, with two women at once. B
ar those who know what queer things do occur In re
m liie VIII follow with some zest ms careful define
III ton OF characters entirely outside the convention
le patterns OF the average romance writer. (For. ga
e. by Brentano Bros)
,e The Southern BiuOuac announces that 1t w
ID print In future numbers an important series OF
e. pers bearing the efforts made by the Confedera
Ia government to secure the release of soldiers In
AZ prisoned at the North through the cooperation
"a the organization known az the Sons Of Libert
~ The papers to be published are those OF Thomas
u, Hines and John Is. Castleman. the two men wi
Ia had charge OF all the active operations within q
r.. required for the completion OF the series.
Vide AiDake for November has paper on Poo
hontas and the Rolfes, written by lady OF Heacha
ss England, the birthplace OF the Indian Princess
10 husband. 1t Ia fully Illustrated. The frontlspe
IN Pocahonias and her son. Which hangs In Hescha
ly Hall, having heen obtained In America 1t Ia hopt
=. viii draw forth some psrtlcIars iu regard 10 Il
~ ~ history OF the original portrait.
p George Alfred TOwnsends new novel has he
" named "Katy Of Catocn; or, The Chain Breakers
~ and will he published by the AppIetsns. The wo
" Is, AZ "Gath" Oals 1t, "a national romance" ope
d. Ing with the raid OF John hrown at Harpers FerT
and closing with the death al Lincoln. The story
q, Incidents and vivid deIineati0ns OF character q
"A among the most prominent features
"a Liszts memoirs, which are about to be pubshe
are said to contain remarkable collection Of stor
delineating with considerable vigor the faults ri
u fobles af his friends and enemies. POrtr
q sketches are numerOus, but there 10 no soand
ne The title OF the work Will bp my Life"
er ----------~ -
WOMEN AND BIRDS.
30
lie When look at the hundreds OF beautiful biz
ny and brlght'hued wings now no temptlngy arrang
'st for sale In the sh0ps OF Washington, ! q
ne ashamed that II Is TO meet tho demands OF gent
n tender.hearted women that this wholesale slaugh
hs of our beautiful sonasters dne. Why should sen
no W bic American women c0unienance In this way
w decree OF few French mlnors, who In their scar
as . $3.50, ,'"., ~. .a a. aSs '~''."' ""o" j." ,a"r ~,