Chapter 17

Realizing this fact, Mr. KIMBALL, a lawyer of twenty years' standing in Wall St., and consequently perfectly familiar with all its characteristics, has devoted literary talents, which long ago acquired for him not merely an enviable American but a wide European celebrity, to describing this broker-life, with its lights and shadows. Choosing a single subject and a single class, he has elaborated it with a truthfulness which is positively _startling_. As we often know that a portrait is perfect from its manifest verisimilitude, so we feel from every chapter of this book that the author has, with strictest fidelity, adhered to real life with pre-Raphaelitic accuracy but without pre-Raphaelitic servility to any tradition or set mannerism. The pencil of a reporter, the lens of the photographer, are recalled by his sketches, and not less life-like, simple and excellent are the reflections of the business office as shown in its influence in the home circle. The reader will recall the extraordinary popularity which certain English romances, setting forth humble unpoetic life, have enjoyed of late years. We refer to the _Adam Bede_ and _Silas Marner_ school of tales, in which every twig is drawn, every life-lineament set forth with a sort of DENNER minuteness--truthful, yet constrained, accurate but petty. In this novel, Mr. KIMBALL, while retaining all the accuracy of _Adam Bede_, has swept more broadly and forcibly out into life;--there are strong sorrows, great trials seen from the stand-point of a man of the world, and a free, bold color which startles us, while we, at the same time, recognize its reality.

The 'hero' of the work is a merchant, who, like many others after incurring bankruptcy, takes to Wall Street--to selling notes as an under-broker for a living. In describing his trials, the author has, with consummate skill and extraordinary knowledge of both causes and effects, pointed out the peculiarities, institutions, and good or bad workings of the American mercantile system, in such a manner as to have attracted from the soundest authority warm praise of his work, as embodying practical knowledge of a kind seldom found in 'novels.' From 'broking' to speculating--from that again to the old course--alternately buoyed up or cast down, through trials and troubles, the bankrupt, at last, in his darkest hour, lands on that 'luck' which in America comes sooner or later to every one. It is worth remarking that in all his characters, as in his scenes, the author is careful to maintain the balance of truth. He shows us that among the sharks and harpies of Wall Street there are phases of honor and generosity--that the arrogance or coldness of a bank-officer may have a rational foundation--that feelings as intense are awakened in common business pursuits as in the most dramatic and erratic lives. In this _just_ treatment of character,--this avoiding of the old saint and angel system of depicting men,--KIMBALL is truly pre-eminent, and under it even the casual SOL DOWNER strikes us with an individuality and a force not inferior to that of the hero himself.

We can not take leave of this truly remarkable book without referring to the under-current of kindly, humane feelings with which it abounds. There is a delicate, tremulous sympathy for the sufferings and joys which he depicts, which reflects the highest credit on the author. There are, in this book, unaffected touches of pathos, founded on the most natural events in the world, which have never been surpassed by any novelist.

We are glad that novelists are leaving romance and going to real life. One breaking into the harsh industry of the factory and market, another taking down the joys and sorrows of the humble weaver, another describing, as in this work, the strange hurrying life of the 'outside broker' to the sharpest-cut detail,--all giving us truth and observation in the place of vague imagination;--such are the best results of late literature; and prominent among these the future historian will place the Under-currents of Wall Street.

MARGARET HOWTH. A Story of To-Day. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862.

We know of no other truly American novel into which so many elements have been forced by the strength of genius into harmony, as in _Margaret Howth_. One may believe, in reading it, that the author, wearied of the old cry that the literature of our country is only a continuation of that of Europe, had resolved to prove, by vigorous effort, that it _is_ possible to set forth, not merely the incidents of our industrial life in many grades, in its purely idiomatic force, but to make the world realize that in it vibrate and struggle outward those aspirations, germs of culture and reforms which we seldom reflect on as forming a part of the inner-being of our very practical fellow-citizens. The work has two characteristics,--it breaks, with a strong intellect and fine descriptive power, into a new field, right into the rough of real life, bringing out fresher and more varied forms than had been done before, and in doing this makes us understand, with strange ability, how the thinkers among our people _think_. We all know how it flows _in_ to them, from lecture and book, from the _Tribune_ and school--but few, especially in the Atlantic cities, know what becomes of culture among men and women who 'work and weave in endless motion' in the counting-house, or factory, or through daily drudgery and the reverses from wealth to poverty. Others have treated a single **o [transcriber's note: illegible word] of life, dramatically and by events, as well as Miss HARDING, but no one American has dared such intricacies of thought and character in individuals--has raised them to such a height, and developed them with such a powerful will, without falling into conventionalism or improbability. Unlike most novels, its 'plot,' though excellent, is its least attraction--we can imagine that the superb pride which gleams out in so many rifts has induced the author to voluntarily avoid display of that ingeniously spinning romantic talent in which novelists excel precisely in proportion to their lack of all nobler gifts. It is a certain rule, as to literary snobs, that in proportion as the food which they give diminishes in excellence, does the plate on which it is served increase in value. But let none imagine that _Margaret Howth_ lacks _interest_--it is replete with burning, vivid, thrilling interest--it has the attraction which fascinates _all_ readers, based in a depth of knowledge so extraordinary that it can be truly appreciated by but few. The immense popularity which it has acquired and the general praise awarded it by the press, proves that it has gone right to the hearts of the people--whence it came.

Those who accuse _Margaret Howth_ of harshness and a lack of winsomeness, have neither understood the people whom it describes nor the degree of stern strength requisite to wrest from life and nature fresh truth. The pioneers of every great natural school (and every indication shows that one is now dawning) have quite other than lute-sounding tasks in hand, however they may hunger and thirst for beauty, love, and rose-gardens. Under the current of this book runs the keenest, painfulest craving to give freely to life these very elements--its intensest inner-spirit is of love and beauty; it throbs and burns with a sympathy for suffering humanity which is at once fierce and tearful. As regards the minor artistic defects of _Margaret Howth_, they are, if we regard it entirely, the shadows inseparable from its substance, felt by those who remain in them, but in no wise detracting from the beauty of the edifice when we regard it from the proper point of view.

ETHICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, CHIEFLY RELATIVE TO SUBJECTS OF POPULAR INTEREST. By A.H. Dana. New York: Charles Scribner, 124 Grand Street; Boston: Crosby & Nichols. 1862.

A delightful collection of essays of the most valuable character, in which the agreeable is throughout fully qualified with the useful. The titles of several of these chapters are of themselves attractive: Races of Men, Compensations of Life, Authorship, Influence of Great Men, Lawyers, Hereditary Character, Sensuality, Health, Narcotic Stimulants, Theology, and The Supernatural,--all of them treated with a clearness and comprehensiveness which can not fail to earn for the work extensive popularity.

BAYARD TAYLOR'S WORKS, VOL. III. Caxton Edition. At Home and Abroad. Second Series. New York: G.P. Putnam.

The third volume of this exquisitely, printed and fully-illustrated series of the works of BAYARD TAYLOR is, in all respects, fully equal to its predecessors, both as regards typographic and literary merit.

THOMAS HOOD'S WORKS, VOL. III. 'Aldine Edition.' Edited by Epes Sargent. New York: G.P. Putnam.

The materials of the present volume, as we are informed by the editor, have been chiefly drawn from the collections of humorous pieces published by THOMAS HOOD under the title of _Hood's Own_, _Whimsicalities_, and _Whims and Oddities_. In connection with the first volume of this series it completes the reprint of _all_ of HOOD'S poems. The present volume is, like its predecessors, most exquisitely printed and bound. It contains a grotesque title-page from the pencil of HOPPIN, with a fine steel engraving of the author.

A SOUTH CAROLINA PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1861.

A very interesting letter from HENRY LAURENS, second President of the Continental Congress, to his son, Col. JOHN LAURENS, dated Charleston, S.C., Aug. 14, 1776, now first published from the original letter. It contains a vehement plea for Emancipation, and speaks with bitter contempt of England for encouraging the slave-trade in America.

THE REBELLION; ITS LATENT CAUSES AND TRUE SIGNIFICANCE. In Letters to a Friend abroad. By Henry T. Tuckerman. New York: Jas. G. Gregory. 1861.

An excellent work, discussing the social peculiarities of the South with great ability.

* * * * *

BOOKS RECEIVED

PAMPHLETS ON THE WAR.

Among the many publications on the War which have from time to time found their way to our table, are the following pamphlets:--

RELATION OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS TO SLAVERY. By Charles K. Whipple. Boston: R.F. Wallcut. 1861.

WITHIN FORT SUMTER. By one of the Company. New York: N. Tibbals & Co. 1861.

A LECTURE ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. By Noble Butler. Louisville, Ky.: John P. Maton. 1862.

THE WAR. Correspondence between the Young Men's Christian Association of Richmond, Va., and the City of New York. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1861.

SPEECH OF GEN. HIRAM WALBRIDGE, of New York, at Tammany Hall, Aug. 21, 1856, on the Reorganization of our Navy. New York. 1862.

THE REBELLION: OUR RELATIONS AND DUTIES. Speech of Hon. Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, delivered in the House of Representatives, Feb. 14, 1862. Washington. 1862.

ARE THE SOUTHERN PRIVATEERS PIRATES? Letter to the Hon. Ira Harris, United States Senator. By Charles P. Daly, LL.D., First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the City of New York. New York: Jas. B. Kirker, 599 Broadway. 1862.

SPECIAL MESSAGE DELIVERED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF IOWA. By Governor S.J. Kirkwood. Des Moines, Iowa: F.W. Palmer. 1862.

PICTURES OF SOUTHERN LIFE--SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND MILITARY. Written for _The London Times_, by William Howard Russell, LL.D., Special Correspondent. New York: Jas. G. Gregory. 1861.

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT MT. KISCO, Westchester Co., New York, July 4, 1861. By John Jay, Esq. New York: Jas. G. Gregory. 1861.

THE REJECTED STONE; or, INSURRECTION _vs_. RESURRECTION IN AMERICA. By a Native of Virginia. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co. 1861.

THE INDISSOLUBLE NATURE OF THE AMERICAN UNION, considered in connection with the assumed Rights of Secession. A Letter to Hon. Peter Cooper, of New York. By Nahum Capen. Boston: A. Williams & Co. New York: Ross & Tousey. 1862.

THE UNION. An Address, by the Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, delivered before the Literary Societies of Amherst College, July 10, 1861. New York: Jas. G. Gregory. 1861.

ALLEGHANIA. The Strength of the Union and the Weakness of Slavery in the High Lands of the South. By JAMES W. TAYLOR. Saint Paul: James Davenport. 1862.

A pamphlet deserving close study and general circulation.

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, in Tremont Temple, Boston, Dec. 16, 1861.

This address has enjoyed great popularity, and will deservedly take place among the most characteristic and valuable pamphlets of the war.

AMERICA, THE LAND OF EMANUEL; or, CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY A REFUGE FOR THE GATHERING TO SHILOH. By Lorenzo D. Grosvenor, of Shaker Community, South Groton, Mass. A. Williams & Co., 100 Washington St., Boston. 1861.

SPEECH DELIVERED BY HON. J.M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO, ON THE REBELLION, ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES, at the College Hall, in the City of Toledo, Nov. 26, 1861, Towers & Co., Washington, D.C. 1861.

An excellent pamphlet, which has been extensively and favorably noticed by the press, and been several times reprinted.

THE AMERICAN CRISIS, its Cause, Significance and Solution. By Americus. Chicago, Ill.: John R. Walsh. 1861.

A vigorous and able document.

WAR AND EMANCIPATION. A Thanksgiving Sermon preached in the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., on Thursday, Nov. 21, 1861. By Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. Philadelphia: W. Peterson & Brothers. 1861.

Concise, spirited, and full of sound ideas.

* * * * *

EDITOR'S TABLE.

On the ninth of March President LINCOLN made the first announcement of an official endorsement of the great principle of gradual Emancipation, by transmitting to Congress a message recommending that the United States ought to cooeperate with any State which may adopt a gradual emancipation of slavery, by giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used at its discretion, to compensate for the inconvenience, public and private, which may be produced by any such change of system.

Any member of Congress, with the census tables and the treasury notes before him, can readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would purchase, at a fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a position on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right by federal authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject, in each case, to the State and its people immediately interested.

It is almost needless to point out to the reader that the views, both direct and implied, which are urged in this message, are in every respect identical with those to advance which the CONTINENTAL was founded, and for which it has strenuously labored from the beginning. There is nothing in them of the 'Abolitionism' which advocates 'immediate and unconditional' freeing of the blacks; while, on the other hand, the only persons who can object to them are those who hold that slavery is a good thing in itself, never to be disturbed. It is, in short, all that the rational friends of progress can at present desire--an official recognition of the great truth that slavery ought to be abolished, but in such a manner as to cause the least possible trouble.

It is amusing to observe the bewilderment of the pro-slavery Northern Democratic press, which has so earnestly claimed the Executive as 'conservative,' and on which this message has fallen like a thunder-clap. They have, of course, at once cried out that, should it receive the sanction of Congress, it would still amount to nothing, because no legislature of a slave State will accept it; an argument as ridiculous as it is trivial. That the South would, for the present, treat the proposal with scorn, is likely enough. But the edge of the wedge has been introduced, and emancipation has been at least _officially_ recognized as desirable. While such a possible means of securing property exists, there will always be a strong party _forming_ in the South, whether they attain to a majority or not, and this party will be the germ of disaster to the secessionists. There are men enough, even in South Carolina, who would gladly be paid for their slaves, and these men, while maintaining secession views in full bluster, would readily enough find some indirect means of realizing money on their chattels. It may work gradually--but it _will_ work. As disaster and poverty increase in the South, there will increase with them the number of those who will see no insult or injury in the proposition to buy from them property which is becoming, with every year, more and more uncertain in its tenure.

Let it be remembered that this message was based on the most positive knowledge held by the Executive of the desires of the Union men in the South, and of their strength. The reader who will reflect for a moment can not fail to perceive that, unless it had such a foundation, the views advanced in it would have been reckless and inexplicable indeed. It was precisely on this basis, and in this manner, that the CONTINENTAL, in previous numbers, and before it the New York KNICKERBOCKER Magazine, urged the revival of the old WEBSTER theory of gradual remunerated emancipation, declaring that the strength of the Union party in the South was such as to warrant the experiment.[O] We have also insisted, in our every issue, that, while emancipation should be borne constantly in view and provided for as something which must eventually be realized for the sake of the advancing interests of WHITE labor and its expansion, everything should be effected as gradually _as possible_, so as to neither interfere with the plans of the war now waging, nor to stir up needless political strife. We simply asked for some firmly-based official recognition of the rottenness of the 'slavery plank in the Southern platform,' and trusted that the _utmost_ caution and deliberation would be observed in eventually forwarding emancipation. We were literally alone, as a publication, in these views, and were misrepresented both by the enemies who were behind us and the zealous friends who were before us. We have never cried for that 'unconditional and immediate emancipation of slavery' with which the _Liberator_, with the kindest intentions, but most erroneously, credits us. We should be glad enough to see it, were it possible; but, knowing that the immediate-action theory has been delaying the cause for thirty years, we have invariably suggested the _firm_ but gradual method. That method has at last been formally advanced by the President, in a manner which can reasonably give offense to no one. The beginning has been made: it is for the country to decide whether it--the most important suggestion of the age--shall be realized.

* * * * *

The news of the capture of Fort Donelson had barely reached us, the roar of the guns celebrating our rapid successes had not died away, ere that fragment of the Northern ultra pro-slavery party which had done so much towards deluding the South into secession, impudently raised its head and began most inopportunely and impertinently to talk of amnesty and the rights of the South. There are things which, under certain limitations, may be right in themselves, but which, when urged at the wrong time, become wrongs and insults; and these premature cries to restore the enemy to his old social and political standing are of that nature. They are insufferable, and would be ridiculous, were it not that in the present critical aspect of our politics they may become dangerous. Since this war began, we have heard much of the want of true loyalty in the ultra abolitionists, who would make the object of the struggle simply emancipation, without regard to consequences; and we have not been sparing in our own condemnations of such a limited and narrow view,--holding, as we do, that emancipation, if adopted, should be for the sake of the _white man_ and the Union, and not of the negro. But 'Abolition' of the most one-sided and suicidal description is less insulting to those who are lavishing blood and treasure on the great cause of freedom, than is the conduct, at this time, of those men who are now, through their traitorous organs, urging the cry that the hour is at hand when we must place slavery firmly on a constitutional basis; this being, as they assert, the only means whereby the Union can ever be harmoniously restored.

In view of the facts, it is preposterous to admit that this assumption is even plausible. He must be ignorant indeed of our political history during the past twenty years, or strangely blind to its results, who has not learned that a belief that the North is ever anxious to concede for the sake of its 'interests' has been the great stimulus to the arrogance of the South. While the principles of the abolitionists have been the shallow _pretence_, the craven cowardice of such men as BUCHANAN and CUSHING has been the _real_ incitement to the South to pour insult and wrong on the North. Concession has been our bane. It was paltering and concession that palsied the strong will and ready act which should have prevented this war; for had it not been for such men as the traitors who are now crying out for Southern rights, the rebellion would have been far more limited in its area, and long since crushed out. No cruelties on our part, no threats to carry all to the bitter end, would so encourage the South at present, as this offer to shake hands ere the fight be half over.

When the time comes for amnesty and 'Southern Rights,' we trust that they will be considered in a spirit of justice and mercy. Till it comes let there be no word spoken of them. The South has, to its own detriment and to ours, firmly and faithfully _believed_ that Northern men are cowards, misers, men sneaking through life in all dishonor and baseness. When millions believe such intolerable falsehoods of other millions of their fellow-citizens, they must be taught the truth, no matter what the lesson costs. Even now the Southern press asserts that our victories were merely the results of overwhelming majorities, and that the Yankees are becoming frightened at their own successes. There is not one of these traitorous, dough-face meetings of which the details are not promptly sent--probably by the men who organize them--all over the South to inspire faith in a falling cause. When the rebels shall have learned that these traitors have positively _no_ influence here,--and the sooner they learn it the better,--when they realize that the people of the North are as determined as themselves, and their equals in all noble qualities, then, and not till then, will it be time to talk of those concessions which now strike every one as smacking of meanness and cowardice.