LEISURE HOURS IN TOWN. By the Author of 'The Recreations of a Country
Parson.' Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 1862.
'The Country Parson' is one of those writers whose hap it generally is
to be overpraised by friendly reviewers, and unduly castigated by those
who appreciate their short-comings. Incurably limited to a certain range
of ideas, totally incapable of mastering the great circle of thought,
unpleasantly egotistical, jaunty, and priggish, he is any thing but
attractive to the large-hearted cosmopolite and scholar of broad views,
while even to many more general readers, he appears as a man whom one
would rather read than be. On the other hand, the generous critic,
remembering that small minds must exist, and that great excellence may
be developed within extremely confined bounds, will perhaps take our
Parson cordially for just what he is, and do justice to his many
excellencies.
And they are indeed many, the principal being a humanity, a
sensitiveness to the sufferings of others, and a tenderness which causes
keen regret that we can not 'just for once,' by a few amiable
pen-strokes, give him nothing but praise, and thereby leave him, by
implication, as one of the million _ne plus ultra_ authors so common--in
reviews. We can hardly recall a writer who to so much firmness and real
energy, allies such warm sympathy for suffering in its every form. The
trials and troubles of young people awake in him a pity and a noble
generosity which, could they be impressed on the minds of all who
control the destinies of youth, would make the world far happier than it
is. Had he written only Concerning the Sorrows of Childhood, the Country
Parson would have well deserved the vast 'popularity' which his writings
have so justly won. 'Covenanting austerity' and Puritanical
ultra-propriety are repulsive to him and, he deals them many a brave
blow. He sees life as it is with singular shrewdness, catches its lights
and shadows with artistic talent, and like all tender and genial
writers, keenly appreciates humor, and conveys it to us either
delicately or energetically, as the point may require. He writes _well_,
too, always. Clear as a bell, always to the point, refined enough for
the most fastidious gentleman and scholar, and yet intelligible and
interesting to any save the very illiterate. If any young aspirant for
literary honor wishes to touch the hearts of the people, and secure the
first elements of popularity, we know of no living writer from whom he
may draw more surely for success than from the Country Parson. Pity that
when we come to higher criticism, to the appreciation of truly great and
broadly genial views, he should fail as he does. Out of his canny
Scotch-English corner of thought, he is sadly lost. Thus, in one place
we have the following avowal, which is only not _naïf_ because evidently
put in to please the prejudices of sympathetically narrow readers. After
arguing, with most amusing ignorance of the very first principles of a
general æsthetic education, that there is really no appeal beyond
individual taste, or beyond 'what _suits_ you,' he says:
'For myself, I confess with shame, and I know the reason is in
myself, I can not for my life see any thing to admire in the
writings of Mr. Carlyle. His style of thought and language is to
me insufferably irritating. I tried to read _Sartor Resartus_, and
could not do it.'
Almost in the same paragraph our Parson proclaims for all the world that
'no man is a hero to his valet,' and says that there are two or three
living great men whom he would be sorry to see, since 'no human being
can bear a too close inspection.' 'Here,' he declares, 'is a sad
circumstance in the lot of a very eminent man: I mean such a man as Mr.
Tennyson or Professor Longfellow. As an elephant walks through a field,
crushing the crop at every step, so do these men advance through life,
smashing, every time they dine out, the enthusiastic fancies of several
romantic young people.'
Is this just? Is it _true_? The Parson, be it observed, speaks not
solely for 'romantic young people,' but for 'you' and for himself. Had
he read Carlyle's _Sartor Resartus_, he might there have learned that no
man is a hero to his valet, not because he is not always great, but
because that valet has a poor, flunkey, valet's soul. He who quotes such
an aphorism as a truth, calls himself a valet.
But let the reader forget and forgive these drawbacks, which are rarely
manifested, and bear in mind that our pleasantly gossiping, earnest,
honest writer is, within his scope, one of the most delightful essayists
in our English tongue. A man need not be a far-reaching thinker and
scholar to be kind, good, and _true_, manly and agreeable. He may have
his self-unsuspected limits and weaknesses, and yet do good service and
be a delightful writer, cheering many a weary hour, and benefiting the
world in many ways. Such a writer is the Country Parson, and as such we
commend him to all who are not as yet familiar with his essays.
CADET LIFE AT WEST-POINT. By an Officer of the United States Army. With
a Descriptive Sketch of West-Point, by BENSON J. LOSSING. Boston:
T.O.H.P. Burnham. 1862.
The American public has long needed a work on West-Point, and we have
here a very clever volume, by one who has retained with great accuracy
in his memory its predominant characteristics, and repeated them in a
very readable form. Occasional stiffness and 'mannerism' are in it
compensated for by many vivid pictures of cadet-life, and we can well
imagine the interest with which every page will be perused by old
graduates of the institution, and others familiar with its details.
We regret to say that, on the whole, the work has not left with us a
pleasant impression of the system of instruction followed at West-Point.
There appear to be too many studies, too little time to master them, and
too much stress laid on trifles. Certainly a strictly military school
must be different from others, and there can be no doubt that old
officers know better than civilians how young men should be trained for
the army. But we cannot resist the impression that if this work be
truthful, the author has, often unconsciously, shown that there is much
room for reform at West-Point.
A DISCOURSE ON THE LIFE, CHARACTER, AND POLICY OF COUNT CAVOUR. By
VINCENZO BOTTA, Phil. D. New-York: G.P. Putnam, No. 532 Broadway. 1862.
This excellent address which, in its present form embraces 108 octavo
pages, first delivered in the Hall of the New-York Historical Society,
has since been repeated to one of the most cultivated audiences ever
assembled in Boston, on both occasions eliciting the most cordial
admiration from all who were so fortunate as to be present. Of the
ability of the eminent Dr. Botta to write on this subject, it is almost
needless to speak. A late member of the Italian Parliament, and formerly
Professor of Philosophy in the College of Sardinia, intimately
acquainted with the great men of modern Italy, as with those of the
past, in their writings, and cast by personal experience amid stirring
scenes, he is singularly well qualified to write of Cavour, for whom it
was reserved to achieve, in a great measure, the work which the vain
longings of an enslaved people, and the heroic efforts of centuries,
had been unable to accomplish.' The work before us is, in fact, far
more than its very modest title would lead us to infer. It is, in fact,
a comprehensive and excellent history of all that great political
revival of Italy of which Cavour was the centre--a work as admirable for
scholarly clearness as for the evidently vast knowledge on which it is
based. It is needless to say that we commend its perusal, with right
good-will, to all who take the slightest interest in historical studies
or in the politics of modern Europe.
THE KORAN. Translated by GEORGE SALE. With a Life of Mohammed. Boston:
T.O.H.P. Burnham. 1862.
Good authority in Arabic has declared that, after all the many versions
of the Koran extant, there is none better than that by 'George Sale,
Gentleman,' first published in 1734. We therefore welcome the present
edition, and with it even the very old-fashioned Life of Mohammed given
with it--a 'life' so very narrow in its views and antiquated in its
expression, that it has acquired a certain relish as a relic or literary
curiosity. We learn with pleasure that this is the first of a series of
the Holy Books of every nation, to embrace translations of the Vedas,
the Zend-Avesta, the Edda, and many others. Thoreau suggested many years
ago--we think in _Walden_--that such a collection should be published
together for the world's use, and we rejoice to see his wish realized.
JEFFERSON AT MONTICELLO. The Private Life of Thomas Jefferson. From
entirely new materials, with numerous fac-similes. By Rev. HAMILTON W.
PIERSON, D.D., President of Columbia College, Ky. New-York: Charles
Scribner, No. 124 Grand street. Boston: A.K. Loring. 1862.
'The Private Life of Jefferson at Monticello' is too ambitious a title
for a little work of 138 pages, octavo though they be. It is, however,
an extremely valuable and interesting collection of anecdotes,
fac-simile documents, and casual reminiscences of Thomas Jefferson, as
preserved by Captain Edmund Bacon, now a wealthy and aged citizen of
Kentucky, and who was for twenty years the chief overseer and
business-manager of Jefferson's estate at Monticello. In it we see the
author of the Declaration and the statesman as he was at home, generous,
peculiar, and far-sighted. Very striking is the following reminiscence
of Captain Bacon:
'Mr. Jefferson did not like slavery. I have heard him talk a great
deal about it. I have heard him prophesy that we should have just
such trouble with it as we are having now.'
A BOOK ABOUT DOCTORS. By J. CORDY JEAFFRESON. From the English edition.
New-York; Rudd and Carleton. Boston: A. Williams and Company. 1862.
An amusing and interesting collection of anecdotes of English physicians
of all ages, copious enough in detail, and well enough written to escape
the charge of being a mere _pièce de manufacture_ and deserve place
among the curiosities of literature. It is a work which will find place
in the library of many a _medico_, and doubtless prove a profitable
investment to the publisher. Hogarth's 'Undertaker's Arms' forms its
appropriate and humorous vignette.
A POPULAR TREATISE ON DEAFNESS, ITS CAUSES AND PREVENTION. By Drs.
LIGHTHILL. Edited by E. BUNFORD LIGHTHILL, M.D. With Illustrations.
New-York: Carleton, Publisher, No. 413 Broadway, (late Rudd and
Carleton.) Boston: A. Williams and Company. 1862.
Many persons suffer from defective hearing, or lose it entirely, from
want of proper attention to the subject, or knowledge of the structure
of the auricular organs. Thus the old often become incapable of hearing,
yet let it pass without recourse to medical advice, believing the
calamity to be inseparable from the due course of nature. The present
work will, we imagine, prove useful both to practitioner and patient,
and be the means of preserving to many a sense which, in value, ranks
only next to that of sight.
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