Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-07-21
band was luly installed as custo

band was dulv installed as custf
liar of the ,lrsp ,i!ed premises ,anl
the Federal hero became it's nlti
m;lt9 poSspsSor! But "tllp year o
jnhelo had come" and with it th.
hOnr of that sort Of i'rrtribntiv,
Justice" Which, though quite I'm
man, was not altogether uncommon
within "the lines Of occnpatinn.'
Had he author more wisely Sc
lecfetl his nineS with less refer
cnce to local patr0nymicS. the st0r,
might have lost in IL Snrt Of inter-
EST, and yet impressed the genera
reader as in better taste. In view
Of the fact that the most delicate
personality may be naturally sng
geStive Of parody, he may possibly
expose the characters Of his Owl
creation. TO the confusion ofcll1nce
Identities. IN one or two instances
also. the reader may he struck with
phrases in which elegance has been
rather inaptey sacrificed to The
rnggednpsS 0fcommnn usage; a not
infregnent example Of the. cnnta
giousness Of slang in the literature
of flle day. III, as on p. ll2 fhe
EXPIRE SION 'slept;llke.a log may
very tnrril5ly apply TO the drunken
stnpor OF Glands WalsingllaIn, it
has The inconvenience of not ap
plying with equal aplomb to the
poetic sluinbers nf.llis fair heroine.
Generally, the dl,llect is over
wrought, hardly fair 10 the provin
cialiSm OF the section, and perhaps
unjust to the author himself.
These objections aside, (and the
reviewer begs TO SLY lie has az
preached them in u spirit of the
utmost candor.) the book has Ger
tainly man; things to commend it.
As an incidental history OF "a STIR
ring epoch, it is, intensely sugges-
tive of those strong passionS,-so
incredible now-which, cropping
mp from the seed of civil discard,
bore not only the fruits of goti.liIlc
courage aud entlurance.~but of bit
ter sacrifice and bereavement that
might well have broken nations
heart. Many OF The pictures held
mp arc vivid and realistic. They
take us back to the saucy, conf
dent enthusiasm Of our shot gun
that went ont nn1inch-
lngly to l0 or die; 90 the Sickening
sense Of retreat and Subjngation,to
and hiSinevitable 'oath,'
from which even our aged mothers
and gland.mothers were not ex-
emp; The squads o: doughty blue
COATS in search OF toy flags and
nther tri1ng trophies of cnnqnest;
10 the blocIalr-runners, and the
Joint companies Of Federal aud
Rebel share holders; the reign or
the intelligent, ubiquitous, omnis-
Gent "contraband." and to the nj
innate collapse of a lost cause
Aud here our author, with a deft
stroke OF his pen, has happily re
the shattered frag-
nents. Oft the Old union by binding
N ,hymencal bands tile surviving
elements otciyil bitterness, that a
in it's veins the Dloort vr, issl,t-"ar
and gray.
The book. barring few exam,
pies of redundancy is simply and
written, and The author
in some of iCs pslssageS,lll
The language OF another OF his re-
viewers, an Imagination scarcely
second to Bnlwer. The description
of Buzzar,ls Hill, and the sad traS
ely Of it's bursting cannon, has
been graphically set forth as typi.
flying the young martial spirit of
the day, AMI toreshadowing it's sad
finale. The chal acter sketches are
fresh, though possibly lacking what
novelists style action.
The tcxs shows the omission of
careful reading in the rooI,whicb
cannot lie blamed upuu The writer
So much as LIS publishers. u.