Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

should have him to dine with them; but what need of such blatant publicity? what justification for such interminable and such miserable speeches as were made at him in Gotham? Why did not one compliment in each town suffice? and why must he be persecuted with watches and run down by crowds? Why, except because some people are allowed to pamper their silly vanity by means of other people's silly curiosity? Good sense and good taste revolted at these exhibitions ; but good sense and good taste are undemonstrative, while folly and vulgarity are bold and carry the day. In all such matters, we of this country allow ourselves to be misrepresented by a comparatively few impudent people, with their own ends to serve. This book is somewhat open to like objections. Its title is too pretentious; its style is braggart, and tainted with the vulgarity of an English flash reporter; and yet this is tempered by a certain constraint, as if the writer could not but occasionally think how ill such a style was suited to his subject. The portrait is wretched, and a certain likeness to Mr. Morphy adds to its offensiveness.

Summer Pictures. From Copenhagen to Venice. By HENRY M. FIELD, Author of" The Irish Confederates and the Rebellion of 1798." New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 1859.

THE unpretending title to this neat volume expresses the modest purpose of the writer. Escaping from care and responsibility, he has made a rapid tour through parts of Europe, some of which are rarely frequented; -from London to Normandy; thence to Paris, Holland, Denmark; through the Baltic to Berlin, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna; thence to the Adriatic, Venice, Milan, and so round again to Paris.

To see all this with new eyes, and to present the world with a perfectly fresh book of "Travels in Europe," requires a rare man and a rare audacity; and we congratulate Mr. Field that he has not attempted the doubtful task. But, in his rapid run, he has gathered a flower here, a specimen there, a bit of history, a sight of a man, a pebble from the Baltic, a

moss from Venice, a sigh from the heart of Italy, a word of hope and happiness from the domestic life of France. He has seen the cloud rising in Italy, and ventures to hope, almost against possibility. He has seen the firesides and homes of France, and assures us that in Paris, too, exist honest and warm and pure hearts, and generous and holy souls, and that all France is not a den in which liars and charlatans only struggle and tear one another. Mr. Field looks at things with somewhat of a professional eye, and draws what encouragement he can for the future of the Protestant religion. His facts and speculations will thus interest a large and valuable class of readers, while to some few of another class a certain suspicion of prosiness will be distasteful. The volume is well prepared, and we are sure that the manly, generous sentiments of the writer will be welcomed by a large number of personal friends, and by a discriminating public.

Adam Bede. By GEORGE ELLIOT, Author of "Scenes of Clerical Life." New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 496.

As Nature will have it, Great Unknowns are out of the question in any other branch of the world's business than the writing of books. If, through sponsorial neglect or cruelty, the name of our butcher or baker or candlestick-maker happens to be John, with the further and congenial addition of Smith, JOHN SMITH it is on sign-board, pass-book, and at the top, and sometimes at the bottom, of the monthly bills, in liv ing and familiar characters. But in the matter of authorship, the world is yet far short of the Scriptural standard; in a variety of instances it has found itself unable to know men by their works; and, in deference to this short-sightedness of their fellows, merchants and lawyers and doctors have their cards, and clergymen, at least once in every twelvemonth, make the personal circuit of their congregations, so that no sheep shall wander into darkness through ignorance of the shepherd. We believe that no pursuit should be marked by greater frankness and fairness than the literary. It is a question, at least, of kindness; and it is not kind to set good people on an uneasy edge of cu

riosity; it is not kind to bring down upon the care-bowed heads of editors storms of communications, couched in terms of angry disputation; it is not kind to establish a perennial root of bitterness, to give an unhealthy flavor to the literary waters of unborn generations, as "Junius" did, and Scott would have done, had he been able.

"Adam Bede" is remarkable, not less for the unaffected Saxon style which upholds the graceful fabric of the narrative, and for the naturalness of its scenes and characters, so that the reader at once feels happy and at home among them, than for the general perception of those universal springs of action which control all society, the patient unfolding of those traits of humanity with which commonplace writers get out of temper and rudely dispense. The place and the people are of the simplest, and the language is of the simplest; and what happens from day to day, and from year to year, in the period of the action, might happen in any little village where the sun shines.

We do not know where to look, in the whole range of contemporary fictitious literature, for pictures in which the sober and the brilliant tones of Nature blend with more exquisite harmony than in those which are set in every chapter of "Adam Bede." Still life-the harvest-field, the polished kitchens, the dairies with a concentrated cool smell of all that is nourishing and sweet, the green, the porches that have vines about them and are pleasant late in the afternoon, and deep woods thrilling with birds-all these were never more vividly, and yet tenderly depicted. The characters are drawn with a free and impartial hand, and one of them is a creation for immortality. Mrs. Poyser is a woman with an incorrigible tongue, set firmly in opposition to the mandates of a heart the overflows of whose sympathy and love keep the circle of her influence in a state of continual irrigation. Her epigrams are aromatic, and she is strong in simile, but never ventures beyond her own depth into that of her author.

The Poetical Works of Edgar A. Poe. With an Original Memoir. Redfield, New York.

THIS pocket edition of the Poetical Works of Edgar A. Poe is illustrated with a very much idealized portrait of the author. The poems are introduced by an original memoir, which, without eulogy or anathema, gives a clear and succinct account of that singular and wayward genius. The copies of verses are many in number, and most of them are chiefly remarkable for their art, rather than for their power of awakening either pleasing or profound emotion. It is one poem alone which makes an edition of these works emphatically called for. That poem, it is nearly superfluous to mention, is "The Raven," and truly it is unforgetable. In this weird and wonderful creation, art holds equal dominion with feeling. The form not only never yields to the sweep of the thought, but that thought, touching and fearful as is its tone, is made to turn and double fantastically, almost playfully, in many of the lines. The croak of the raven is taken up and moulded into rhyme by a nimble, if not a mocking spirit; and, fascinating as is the rhythmic movement of the verse, it appears like the dancing of the daughter of Herodias. This looks incongruous; and so do the words of the fool which Shakspeare has intermingled with the agonies and imprecations of Lear. In the tragedy, this is held to be a consummate stroke of art, and certainly the reader is grateful for the relief. Had Poe a similar design? Closely analyzed, this song seems the very ecstasy of fancy; as if the haunting apparition inspired the poet more than it appalled the man. We can call to mind no one who has ever played with an inexplicable horror more daintily or more impressively; and, whether premeditated or spontaneous, it is an epitome of the life of the writer, for the marked traits of his character are there, and almost the prevailing expression of his countenance.

Ir becomes the sad duty of the editors of the "ATLANTIC" to record the death of its founder, MR. M. D. PHILLIPS. It indicates no ordinary force of character, that a man, dying at the age of forty-six, should have worked himself, solely by his own talents and integrity, to the head of one of the largest publishing-houses of the country. But it was not merely by strength and tenacity of purpose, and by clearness of judgment, that Mr. Phillips was distinguished. He had also a generous ambition, and aims which transcended the sphere of self and the limits of merely commercial success. Showing, as he did, a rare courage (and that of the best kind, for it was a courage based upon experience and qualified by discretion) in beginning the publication of the " Atlantic" during the very storm and stress of the financial revulsion of 1857, it was by no means as a mere business speculation that he undertook what seemed a doubtful enterprise. His wish and hope were, that the "Atlantic" should represent what was best in American thought and letters; and while he had no doubt of ultimate pecuniary profit, his chief motive was the praiseworthy ambition to associate his name with an undertaking which should result in some good to letters and some progress in ideas and principles which were dear to him.

We speak of him as we saw him. He would not have wished a garrulous eulogy or a cumbrous epitaph. A character whose outline was simple and bold, and which was marked by certain leading and high qualities, demands few words, if only they be sincere. It is less painful to say that good word for the dead, which it is the instinct of human nature to offer, when we can say, as of Mr. Phillips, that his mind was strong and clear, that it was tenacious of experience, and therefore both rapid and safe in decision, that he was courageous and constant, and acted under the inspiration of desires and motives which he can carry with him into the new sphere to which he has passed.

RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.

Memoirs of Vidocq, the Principal Agent of the French Police. Written by Himself, and Translated from the Original French expressly for this Edition. With Illustrative Engravings from Original Designs by Cruikshank. Philadelphia. T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 580. $1.25.

Sketches of Moravian Life and Character; compri-ing a General View of the History, Life. Character, and Religious and Educational Institutions of the Unitas Fratrum. By James Henry, Member of the Moravian Historical Society, etc. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 316.

$1.25.

American Wit and Humor. Illustrated by J. McLenan. New York. Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 206. 50 cts.

Life and Liberty in America; or, A Tour in the United States and Canadas, in the Years 1857-8. By Charles Mackay, LL. D., F. R. S. With Ten Illustrations. New York. Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 412. $1.00.

The Life of Jabez Bunting, D.D. With Notices of Contemporary Persons and Events. By his Son, Thomas Percival Bunting. Vol. I. New York. Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 389. $1.00.

A First Lesson in Natural History. By Actea. Boston. Little, Brown, & Co. 18mo. pp. 2. 63 cts. Germany. By Madame the Baroness de Staël-Holstein. With Notes and Appendices. By O. W. Wight. 2 vols. New York. Derby & Jackson. 12mo. pp. 408, 437. $2.50.

Knitting-Work; a Web of many Textures, wrought by Ruth Partington (B. P. Shillaber). Boston. Brown, Taggard, & Chase. 12mo. pp. 408.

$1.25.

The History of Herodotus; a New English Version, with Copious Notes and Appendices, etc., etc. By George Rawlinson, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, Oxford. Assisted by Colonel Sir Henry Rawlinson, K. C. B., and Sir J. G. Wilkinson, F. R. S. 4 vols. Vol. I. With Maps and Illustrations. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. pp. 563. $2.50.

History of France; from the Earliest Times to MDCCCXLVIII. By the Rev. James White, Author of the "Eighteen Christian Centuries." New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. pp. 571. $2.00.

Glossary of Supposed Americanisms. Collected by Alfred L. Elwyn, M. D. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 121. 75 cts.

A Popular Treatise on Gems in Reference to their Scientific Value; a Guide for the Teacher of Natural Sciences, the Lapidary, Jeweller, and Amateur, etc., etc. With Elegant Illustrations. By Dr. L. Fleuchtwanger. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 12mo. pp. 464. $3.00.

A Select Glossary of English Words, used formerly in Senses different from their present. By Richard Chenevix French, D.D., Dean of Westminster. New York. Blakeman & Mason. 12mo. pp. 218. 75 cts.

Recollections. By Samuel Rogers. Boston. Bartlett & Miles. 16mo. pp. 253. 75 cts.

Ten Years of Preacher Life: Chapters from an Autobiography. By William Henry Milburn. New York. Derby & Jackson. 12mo. pp. 363. $1.00.

Travels in Greece and Russia, with an Excursion to Crete. By Bayard Taylor. New York. G. P. Putnam. 12mo. pp. 426. $1.25.

Forty-Four Years of the Life of a Hunter; being Reminiscences of Meshach Browning, a Maryland Hunter, roughly written down by Himself. Revised and illustrated by E. Stabler. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 400. $1.25.

Paris; or, A Fagot of French Sticks. By Sir Francis Head. New York. Michael Doolady. 12mo. pp. 495. $1.00.

Parlor Charades and Proverbs, intended for the Parlor or Saloon, and requiring no Expensive Apparatus, or Scenery, or Properties for their Performance. By S. Annie Frost. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 262. $1.00.

A Life for a Life. By the Author of “John Halifax, Gentleman," etc. New York. Harper & Brothers. 8vo. 50 cts.

Breakfast, Dinner, and Tea, viewed Classically, Poetically, and Practically. Containing Numerous Curious Dishes and Feasts of all Times and all Countries, besides Three Hundred Modern Receipts. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 12mo. pp. 350. $1.50.

The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish; a Tale. By J. Fenimore Cooper. Illustrated from Drawings by F. O. C. Darley. New York. W. A. Townsend & Co. 12mo. pp. 474. $1.50. Morphy's Match-Games. Being a Full and Accurate Account of his most Astounding Successes abroad, defeating, in almost Every Instance, the Chess Celebrities of Europe. Edited, with Copious and Valuable Notes, by Charles Henry Stanley. New York. R. M. De Witt. 18mo. pp. 108. 38 cts.

ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, ART, AND POLITICS.

VOL. IV.—NOVEMBER, 1859.-NO. XXV.

E. FELICE FORESTI.

LATE in the autumn of 1836, an Austrian brig-of-war cast anchor in the harbor of New York; and seldom have voyagers disembarked with such exhilarating emotions as thrilled the hearts of some of the passengers who then and there exchanged ship for shore. Yet their delight was not the joy of reunion with home and friends, nor the cheerful expectancy of the adventurous upon reaching a long-sought land of promise, nor the fresh sensation of the inexperienced when first beholding a new country; it was the relief of enfranchised men, the rapture of devotees of freedom, loosened from a thrall, escaped from surveillance, and breathing, after years of captivity, the air where liberty is law, and self-government the basis of civic life. These were exiles; but the bitterness of that lot was forgotten, at the moment, in the proud consciousness of having incurred it through allegiance to freedom, and being destined to endure it in a consecrated asylum, In that air, when first respired, on that soil, when first trod, they were unconscious of the lot of strangers: for there the vigilant eye of despotism ceased to watch their steps; prudence checked no more the expression of honest thought or high as

piration; manhood resumed its erect port, mind its spontaneous vigor; nor did many moments pass ere friendly hands were extended, and kindly voices heard, and domestic retreats thrown open. Their welfare, had been commended to generous hearts; and the simple facts of their previous history won them respectful sympathy and cordial greeting.

Prominent amid the excited group was a tall, well-knit figure, whose high, square brow, benign smile, and frank earnestness bespoke a man of moral energy, vigorous intellect, and warm, candid, tender soul. Traces of suffering, of thought, of stern purpose were, indeed, apparent; but with and above them, the ingenuousness and the glow of a brave and ardent man. This was ELEUTARIO FELICE FORESTI,-subsequently, and for years, the favorite professor of his beautiful native language and literature in New York, the favorite guest and the cherished friend in her most cultivated homes and among her best citizens, the Italian patriot, which title he vindicated by consistency, self-respect, and the most genial qualities. The vocation he adopted, because of its availability, only served to make apparent comprehensive endowments and an independent spirit; the

[blocks in formation]
« EdellinenJatka »