On this page
-
Text (2)
-
November 15,1856.] ¦ TH:E . ' £LE AD . -...
-
A BATCH OF AMERICAN" BOOKS. The Jiepvbli...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
A Story Of Harmed Love And Its Troubles....
begins . The cowardice sometimes finds its excuse in the harshness with which error is reproved . Those who are most charitable assume , even in the most charitable actions , an aspect of harshness wliieh is not intended . Thus , Aline ' e husband— 'her real husband , not the phantom bridegroom of her school-days— dkeerns that there is some secret which she is nursing ; addresses her in terms intended to be reassuring ; but the avowal of indulgence for certain imprudences which he conceives possible almost implies censure for the very conduct which , she cannot forget . Thus charity often assumes that very right to condemn which it waives , and in tlie act of pardoning raises alarm for the sentence which might have been pronounced . Such an attempt to win confidence defeats its purpose . In the sequel , indeed , Aline ' s husband proves , by a noble and unqualified generosity , how completely he might have been trusted ; but how was Aline , brought up among suspicions , stem constructions , and harsh censure , even to conceive the completeness of the generosity which she afterwards experienced ? Although the purpose of the book is a moral one , the manner is not
didactic ; although it is a history of the feelings , and therefore necessarily mingled with reflection , it does not proceed by precept . This pei-haps is the reason why the limits within which frankness is absolutely necessary are not strictly denned . It may be said that no close relation can exist between two people without a perfect frankness on their own relation . If any man should many a woman without making her distinctly understand his actual position , whatever it may be ,: it inevitably ¦ modifies his conduct to herself ; it deprives him of the power of explaining-his actions , debars her from understanding what his real feeling is towards herself ; and the one reserve is sure to beget others , until the life of each must be to a great extent divided from the other . In most cases , however , " the very man . who exercises the reseTve for himself , will expect a return in implicit confidence . He knows that he has no right to it , but if it is withheld he is aggrieved . He sees in the separate action of his wife the conduct of one who is opposed to him , the machinations of an enemy ; fear engenders doubt , doubt suspicion , suspicion dislike ; and the reserve , which began by preventing the completeness of a union , ends by converting the two into adversaries , if not enemies .
It not unfrequently happens that the reserve is the natural refuge against exaction . In order to a complete understanding between any two persons , there must be proportionate frankness on all the relations between themselYes ; but in this "world , as it is constituted , bur relations are so interwoven with those around , as to prevent our being-masters of all that we might do or say with reference to third persons . Those that give an imperfect frankness themselves , will yet exact from others a fulness of avowal inconsistent with duties to third parties ; and the evils of reserve are aggravated by the exasperations of inconsistency . Eeserve is sometimes a refuge from the spirit of dictation , or contentiousness . The quiet man , who dislikes being called to account , or is averse from ' scenes ; ' holds his tongue on points ^ that may be debatable . Sometimes it is caused by incompatibility of disposition which makes the pleasure of one the annoyance of the other , or the pride of one the scoff of the other . From whatsoever cause arising , however , reserve is a positive obstruction to completeness of union ; and its commonest cause we believe to be the want of courage either to say or to hear ; for timidity as often shrinks from listening as from speaking .
The cowardice does not always exist , even in the gentlest . The courage to hear may draw forth the courage to tell . A perfect strength of affection and of understanding will know how to confront the perplexities of life , yritliput permitting them to become the master considerations . When there is this large courage , frankness may exist to the extent of thinking aloud , andin that case one mind becomes augmented by union with the other , one spirit enlarged by incorporation with the other ; and this union is completely above any of the machinations which succeed in breaking feeble ties . A Deverell may tear apart the couple already estranged by mutual reserve ; but is destroyed when she risks herself in the endeavour to break a stronger union . In one respect the book is singular : its moral , and the illustrations , will be approved by the most orthodox and conventional , while they will be cordially welcomed by the most advanced ; and yet again , while the moralist will read with pleasure , the ordinary novel-reader will be drawn on by that agreeable and unusual variety—a mystery that he does not penetrate from the first .
November 15,1856.] ¦ Th:E . ' £Le Ad . -...
November 15 , 1856 . ] ¦ TH : E . ' £ LE AD . -EiR . - ' - 1099
A Batch Of American" Books. The Jiepvbli...
A BATCH OF AMERICAN" BOOKS . The Jiepvblican Tarty nnd its Presidential Candidates . By Benjamin . F . Hall . m ; r ., „ „ Trllbner and Co . I / iree 1 ears on the Jyarisas Border . By a Clergyman of the Episcopal Church . oifcrv jp / vr rj-t . ^ . Tv , Triibner and Co . The Life of Colonel John Charles Fremont . By Samuel M . Smucker , A . M . m -v a , r- » „ Trllbner and Co . fJio Young Americans' Life of Fremont . By Francis C . "VVoodwortli . Trlibner and Co . It was in the year 1819 , during the Presidentship of James Monroe , of Virginia , that the territory of Missouri memorialized Congress for authority to form a State government , and to be admitted into the Union on un equal footing with thus original States . The Bill for this purpose would no doubt have almost
pisseu without discussion , had not General Tallmadge sought to introduce an amendment , prohibiting the introduction of slavery , or involuntary servitude , within the boundaries of the proposed new state . An animated and even fierce debate thereupon ensued . All the old familiar arguments tor and against the existence of slavery were abundantly produced , and Where reason failed , < ibusc was not wanting . A compromise was at length euccted . The Missouri act was passed without restriction upon the state ; out throughout all the territory west of the Mississippi , nnd north of the parallel of 36 ° 30 ' , tho institution of slavery was absolutely and for ever prohibited . But American laws , in durability at least , bear no resemblance io those of the Medes and Persians . The Missouri compromise , as it was « a . ueu , remained undisputed and undisturbed exactly thirty years—the American idea of eternity being thus apparently limited to the average existen ce of a single generation . In 1850 a now compromise was brought aoout under pretence of ' saving the Union . ' California was admittcd °
a state , 3 STew Mexico erected into a territory , and a stringent law passed on the proposition of Mr . Calhoun , for the capture and extradition of fugitive slaves . This compromise was subsequently interpreted as a dissolution , of the compact of 1820 , when the bill for the establishment of a territorial government for Nebraska was laid before the Senate . The whole question of slavery was thus reopened , and a terrible agitation pervaded both divisions of the Union . The despotic Southern party , however , described by-Jefferson as existing "by the continued exercise of forces , against the employment of which all the logic and all the philosophy of our government are necessarily arrayed , " with its unity of purpose and vigour of action , eould hardly fail to gain the victory over the merely theoi-etical and speechifying Abolitionists . It is not , thereforfi , to be wondered at that the act of the 25 th of May , 1854 , which organized the territories of Nebraska and Kansas should contain the following declaration : —
The eighth section of the act , preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union , approved March . 6 th , 1820 , being inconsistent with , the principle of non-intervention by Congress in the states and territories , as recognized by the legislation of 1850 , commonly called the compromise measures , is hereby declared inoperative-and void ; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or state , nor to exclude it therefrom , but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way . The preliminary arrangements havin g been completed , the Hon . Andrew H . Reeder , of Pennsylvania , was appointed the first govei-nor of the newlysettled territory . It now appeared that the principle of non-intervention was construed by the slave-holding states after the Hibernian notions of reci
procity— it was held to apply to one party alone . When the period arrived tor the election of a delegate to Congress , a band of armed men crossed over from the state of Missouri , and elected a representative whose views were in direet variance to those entertained by a majority of the resident citizens of Kansas . Again , in the following year , a still larger force , accompanied with artillery , invaded the territory , and dictated the election of members for the first territorial legislature . It is unnecessary to dwell upon the scenes of lawless Violence that subsequently took place , the demolition of private bouses , the bombardment of towns , the imprisonment of obnoxious persons on a charge of treas on , the persecution of all who were suspected of being opposed to slavery . These almost incredible facts are of too recent date to require to be recapitulated . ' Were the southern states
to pursue good purposes with half the energy and determination they have expended on a bad one , they would become a model to all the peoples of the . world . Even if they confined their exuberant vigour * to the internal affairs of the United States , other nations , however much they might re <> Tet such , waste of productive power , would have no reason to wateh ° heir proceedings with jealousy and disquietude . Unhappily , flushed with success at home , the democratic ' platform ' has avowed its approval and adoption of the doctrine of the Ostend Conference , that ' might makes right . ' In other words , this party professes its intention to annex and absorb any state or territory that is unable to defend itself , and to seize by force of arms whatever is unattainable by money or diplomacy . In justice , however , to Mr . Buchanan and his friends , it must be admitted that gross exaggeration has prevailed on the subject of this famous circular . The eircumstaaces that gave it birth were purely exceptional . Not only Europe , but the whole world , seemed at that time to be seized with a social and political vertigo . Old things were passing away , and new things were looming hazily through the future . It is possible that the American ambassadors then in Europe did not altogether escape the moral epidemic , and may have dreamed of combinations not immaculate in their conception , but which were afterwards stifled in the embryo . It is equally possible that the paraphernalia of that popular comedy may again have been put upon the stage as an electioneering catch * to make the vulgar stare . ' But it is utterly absurd to imagine that a statesman of Mr , Buchanan ' s vast experience and intimate knowledge of European affairs can harbour any real intention of systematic hostility against the Old World . Towards this country he has at all times expressed himself in terms of the utmost respect and amity . No man is more thoroughly sensible of the expediency , not to say necessity , of cultivating a close alliance with Great Britain . Indeed , there is no American , possessed of taste and feeling , who does not look with affectionate reverence towards the land that contains the ashes of his sires , and whence his forefathers crossed the dark waters of the Atlantic to found a new empire . It is still his Fatherland : C ' est la cendre des morts qui crda la patrie . It is , therefore , idle to anticipate war , or even a temporary alienation and rupture of friendly intercourse , because of some ' brave words' hung out as a party emblem at a time of intense and vital agitation . The first Thought of the new President will be to dispel all anxiety from the mind of the British public , and to give every assurance of his hearty desire to maintain a cordial understanding between the two great cognate peoples . With the internal administration of the United States we have no right or pretext to interfere . In the abstract , eveiy Englishman is opposed to slavery , but so likewise are the majority of the Americans , even in the slave-holding -states
But Government cannot be conducted on abstract principles . Government itself is a great wrong , endured for the sake of expediency . In like manner slavery is a fact , and must be accepted as such , however much we may lament that the millennium has not yet commenced when the slave shall starve like a free man , and white man and nigger shall drink out of the sa me pewter pot . Theoretically , we deeply regret the tendency of the southern states to force their institutions on the new territories . But , on the other hand , it must be remembered that they have beoa goaded on by tho injudicious meddling of tho Abolitionists , who omit no opportunity to insult their opponents and mis-state their views and intentions .
Perhaps , strictly speaking , both parties arc to blame for prematurely forcing their respective opinions upon unsettled territories not as yet sufficiently organized to decide upon so important a question as the employment of free or slave labour . Both have been hurried away by psission , and excesses have been committed in the heat of tho moment which ^ turtle and horrify the conventional notions of constitutional and easy-going England . And it is oven to be feared that if the two divisions of tho States
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 15, 1856, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15111856/page/19/
-