New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-01

AGGRESSION IT exercised signal il hoO e"e"1
measured influence upon the course OF eVeh's'
H. was. beyond doubt the greatest AoolulohlsV
daoument ever published Mr.. Stowe is, in short
justified in his assertion that the story came
from tbe heart rather than the head IL was an
outburst of deep feeling. a cry In the darkness
The writer no more thought Of style or literary
excellence than tho mother who PUSHES into the
street and cries for help to save her children
from a burning house thinks of the teachings
OF the rhetorcian or the elooutionish"
The financial success Of the book was soon
beyond question. Within few months Of It's
publication Mrs. Stowe received a check for
$40. 900 from her publishers. and this was doubled
before the end of the first year. From that time
until the present. Uncle Toms Cabin" has re
turned steady and handsome profits and It's circula-
ton abroad and at home has been enormous.
In Great Britain 100000 copies were sold, and
many Of the English publishers were honest enough
to make remittances 10 the author though piracles
were innumerabe The book has been translated
into nineteen languages, and in many instances
has been issued with original illustrations. which
showed very curious conceptions OF American
slavery. Mr.. Stowe illustrates his mothers tfhce
visits TO Europe by extracts from her letters
to her children. She was delightful correspond
ent. and whether writing to her husband children
3
touches and dramatic episodes. Her reception IN
Europe might have turned the head OF alihosO
any one woman or man, but there is no evidences
that she ever lost her balance or ceased 1or d
| moment to be her natural, moGes''
| unaffected self That she was woman
! of remarkable administrative capacity -
shown all through her career She ofough'
I'D large family on income which for many
years did not exceed eight hundred dollars Nhen
she was driven 10 write, In order to make h'Vio
money. she neglected no detail of her domesuc
work, but simply added the new task to the 0io
ones. and carried them all on together
Mr. Stowe gives some interesting CRITICISMS Oh
her later woriKs-" The Pearl of Orrs lslahu'
The Minister'S Wooing," Oldtown FOLKS,
{" Pooanuc People .etc.-by James Russell Lowell
Ruslin, and other distinguished men Oh IeuleIe
Mr.. Lowells observations on The Minister'S
Wooingn are particularly well worth reading
In Ties, later works. the distinctvely literary
element was emphasized and Mrs Stowe fairly
vindcated herself from the charges which super
fetal and unsympathetic critics had brought
| AGAINST Uncle Toms Cabin by demonstrdhS
her ability 10 DO real creative work, and to eVolVe
interest from the study OF character lnsteao Oh
| from emotional and sensational situations Inc
Kvron controversy is dealt with. not IN any
way conclusivcly in separate chapter, In Whloh
Mr. Stowe makes il sufficiently clear that ne re-
erets the occurrence Of the episode ana woulu
have preferred to pass il over silently had thaO
! course been possible. He gives, as suPporuhs
,irs. Stoves position, letter from DE- " W.
Holmes and another from George Eliot, which
nc merely individual expressions Of opinion, and
throw no new light upon the matter. He admits
that Mrs Stoves two volumes entitled Lady
BYRON indicated and The History OF the
Byron Controversy" do not seem TO have satisfied
the public as a whole, and perhaps the expediency
Of the publication of Mrs. Stoves first article 10
doubtful, even to her most ardent admirers
/ lie concludes: The most that can be hoped Tor
through the mention Of the subject IN this
biography is the vindlcaton Of Mrs. Stoves
purity of motive and nobility of intention IN BRING
ing this painful matter into notice"
A curious relation is given concerning Professor
Stowe. who was the original of Harry In " Old
town Folks" 1t consists of extracts from an
account of his infancy and youth
written by the Professor himself Ac-
cording TO this the future scholar ana
theolosian was born with what some people would
call tendency to hallucination, and others would
denorninate faculty for ghost-seelng. Wnat
ever il was the child believed he saw everywhere
strange beings which invisible TO the rest OF
the world, and natural was this KIND Of VISION
to him that some years passed before he realized
that other people did not habituslly see the sawe
things For him the atmosphere, the water, uhe
fire, the earth were swarming each element with
Its own peculiar inhabitants. Without any
knowledge Of fairy-lore and mythology, his world
was peopled by syphs and naiads, salamanders
and fairies Every tree and shrub and flower had
it's own peculiar denizcns He saw them sporting
in the streams and lowering in the air; and since
he had always seen them they did not suggest to
him any thought of the supernatural. At night
another kind Of appearances used to visit HIM
Sometimes these were entirely human in form,
sometimes they were strange, grotesque fantastic
| or hdeous Altogether it is q very unusual eX-
perence and the narrative is full Of interest from
a psychological and physiological point OF view
The biography is brought down to the present
year. and if here and there it has some appearance
of having been hastily imposed, It's value ana
interest as a whole undeniable and it presents
o sympathetic and attractive sketch OF career
Astounding in good and noble works and the eA-
ercise Of womanly and Christian virtues. The
volume contains fac-simile letter of Mrs. Stowe
and several steel portraits of herself and other
members of the Beecher family.
Mrs. McCrays volume entitled The Life Work
Of the Author of Uncle Toms Cabin is much
less satisfactory work. In the first place, there
is considerable room for doubt TO whether the
writer was authorized 10 do what She has done.
In the second place, her whole tone and attitude
are so fulsome that Mrs Stowe and her family
cannot possibly take pleasure in her performances.
In the third place, her book is padded out with
mass of utterly superfuous paraphNastic elucida-
ton of MIS-. Stoves writings. This last work
certainly did not need TO be done Fancy, for
example. any one sitting down deliberately 10
read a synopsis of Uncle Toms Cabin =" ! But,
il il were TO be done, it should have been done
well, and here it Is not we'll but woodcnly done.
Mrs McCray hos given an account of Mrs. Stowe s
first visit to England which is especially marked
by the absence of modesty To suppose such a