Books of the Day [pp. 285-288]

APPLETONS' JOURNAL.
would have been justified had he had the opportunity.
It is always clear, firm, precise, forceful, and expressive;
the instrument of a reflecting and well-stored mind, of a
pure and feeling heart, of a lively imagination, and of a
keen if undisciplined faculty of observation. He would
almost certainly have succeeded as a magazine-writer, for
there are several essays and sketches in the Journal which,
even in their rough state, almost any editor would have
been glad to accept; but to be a poet was the object of
his ambition, and success in any other department even
of literature would probably have been regarded by him
as little better than failure.
At the end of the "Memoir" Miss Mulock has grouped
the best of those poems on which the author built such
high hopes; and in reading them one is driven sadly
and reluctantly to the conclusion that, like many other
"poets" whose wrecks strew oblivion's treacherous sea,
John Martin mistook sensibility to impression for power
of expression. There are musical lines in them, elevated
thoughts and pleasing sentiments, occasionally an original and daring image, or an ingenious fancy; but there
is not a single " piece " which could be truly characterized as a finished and artistic poem, and we are sure that
Miss Mulock was right in thinking that a simple volume
of "Poems by John Martin," composed of these and
such as these, would only have brought disappointment
and mortification to the author. "His life was the
poem," as Miss Mulock says, "not his writing;" and
this public and touching record of it will probably do
more to perpetuate his name than anything he would
have accomplished even had he lived to fulfill the undoubted promise of his youth. "And here," as Emerson would say, "enters the great law of compensation."
OF the nineteen papers contained in Dr. James Freeman Clarke's "Memorial and Biographical Sketches,"
the majority deal with men who have been more or less
prominent in the Unitarian communion; but the viewpoint from which their lives are surveyed is not dogmatic
or denominational, and the qualities brought out and
dwelt upon are those which distinguished them as men
rather than as Unitarians. The thing which interests
Dr. Clarke in the career and achievements of any man
is the character to which they testify; and if he can delineate that faithfully and vividly, he cares very little for
the ordinary biographical details. Of dates and surface
facts and the external events which mark off the successive stages of a life, he makes very sparing use; but he
rarely fails to impart a vivid and abiding impression of
the essential personality of any man whom he undertakes
to portray, and of those vital principles of faith and conduct which distinguish him from his fellows.
The longest and most satisfactory of the sketches is
that of John A. Andrew, the famous "War-Governor"
of Massachusetts, who was for many years an active and
influential member of Dr. Clarke's church. With him
Dr. Clarke enjoyed a long and intimate friendship, and
his affectionate and discriminating memoir conveys a
clearer idea of the man himself as distinguished from the
official than can be obtained from any other source. The
sketch of Charles Sumner is equally appreciative, but is
too brief to have a similar effect upon the reader. It is a
tribute rather than a delineation, and is such a discourse
as one would naturally deliver at the grave of a public
man to an audience of admiring and sympathetic friends.
The sketches of Theodore Parker and William Ellery
Channing portray two of the most brilliant thinkers and
1 Memorial and Biographical Sketches. By James Freeman
Clarke. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co.' I2mo, pp. 434.
preachers that New England has produced, and are very
favorable examples of Dr. Clarke's method and style.
That of Parker is best, chiefly because it is longest, but
partly because of the salient, almost aggressive, personality of the man, which attracts curiosity and compels
attention. The paper on Dr. Howe is a picturesque
summary of a character and career made up of curiously
contrasted qualities and enthusiasms; that on Susan Dimock, the brilliant young surgeon and physician, cut off
at the threshold of a great and useful career, is unsatisfactory because too brief and general. The papers
entitled "George Keats," "Robert J. Breckenridge,"'
"George Denison Prentice," and "Junius Brutus
Booth, the Elder: An Incident in his Life," reproduce
phases of Dr. Clarke's Western experiences when, as a
young man, he held the pastorate of a church in Louisville, Kentucky. These form a connected group, and constitute the most strictly entertaining portion of the book
-that on "Prentice and Kentucky Forty Years ago"
being especially pictorial and animated. The most labored and, on the whole, the least satisfactory paper is
one on Shakespeare, which was delivered as an address
before the New England Historic-Genealogical Society
on the tercentenary celebration of the birth of Shakespeare, April 23, I864. It is painstaking, and shows considerable acquaintance with the Shakespeare literature,
but it is conventional and cold, and seems to indicate on
its face that the subject was not congenial. The paper
on Rousseau is much better as a literary performance, and
is highly creditable to Dr. Clarke's liberality of opinion
and sentiment. It is one of the best short sketches of Rousseau's character, career, and writings, that have yet appeared, and was written, as the author says, because he
has "long desired to utter a protest against the widespread opinion, held by the Christian public, of his [Rousseau's] infidelity in opinion and his immorality of character." Other sketches, not previously mentioned, are
of James Freeman, Dr. Walter Channing, Ezra Stiles
Gannett, Samuel Joseph May, Washington, General William Hull, who was Dr. Clarke's grandfather, and "The
Heroes of One Country Town" (West Roxbury, Massachusetts).
The style of Dr. Clarke has not that polished precision and epigrammatic point at which essayists usually aim
-on the contrary, it is easy, simple, and unpretentious in
the extreme; yet it is never slovenly, and it possesses the
prime quality of readableness. One may open the book
anywhere, and the perusal of the first paragraph on
which the eye happens to fall will be very apt to carry
the reader on to the end of the paper.
A STOUT volume of four hundred and twenty pages,
solidly printed in small type, is apt to present a rather
intimidating appearance to summer idlers, even when it
bears so reassuring a title as" Bits of Travel at Home," I
and is known to be written by H. H.; but, as the reader soon discovers, it does not require a consecutive perusal, but can be taken in morsels to suit the appetite and
the state of the thermometer. In other words, Mrs.
Hunt's book consists of a number of independent articles
varied in subject and in length, and related to each other
only by the fact that they describe places of interest
which may be included in those "tours" which travelers
delight in planning, even if they seldom carry them out
according to programme. The articles are grouped in
three divisions, entitled "California," "New England,"
and "Colorado." In the first division there are sixteen
Bits of Travel at Home. By H. H., author of" Bits of
Travel," etc. Boston: Roberts Brothers. i6mo, pp. 420o.
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