The Aldine, Vol. 5, No. 1., January, 1872 by Various

V >> Various >> The Aldine, Vol. 5, No. 1., January, 1872

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

[Illustration: A VENETIAN FESTIVAL.--C. HULK.]

THE ALDINE,

A

TYPOGRAPHIC ART JOURNAL

[Illustration]

"_Il ne faut pas tant regarder ce qu'on doit faire que ce qu'on
peut faire_."

VOLUME V.

NEW YORK:
JAMES SUTTON & COMPANY.
1873.

[Illustration]

"_THE ALDINE PRESS_."--JAMES SUTTON & Co., Printers, 58 Maiden
Lane, New York.

[Illustration]

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by
JAMES SUTTON, JR., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress
at Washington, D. C.

CONTENTS

Abyssinia, A Peep at _Editorial_ 186
Adirondacks, The Heart of the _Editorial_ 194
After the Comet _W.L. Alden_ 136
A Great Master and His Greatest Work _Editorial_ 83
Aldine Chromos for 1873 _Editorial_ 228
Alpine World, The _Editorial_ 134
America, Home Life in _Editorial_ 76
American Robin, The _Gilbert Darling_ 327
Angling, A Few Words on _Henry Richards_ 155
Architecture _W. Von Humboldt_ 43
Art 28
Artistic Evening, An _Editorial_ 248
Art-Musee in America, An _Erastus South_ 127
Art, Roman _Ottfreid Mueller_ 32
At Rest. (Poem) _Julia C.R. Dorr_ 234
August in the Woods _W.W. Bailey_ 161
Ausable, Morning on the _Editorial_ 40
Authorship, Style in _Stewart_ 75
Autumn Rambles _W.W. Bailey_ 212
A Yarn _Uncle Bluejacket_ 216

Babes in the Wood, The _Editorial_ 223
Badger Hunting _Editorial_ 225
Barry Cornwall, To. (Poem) _A.C. Swinburne_ 50
Beauty, Of _Bacon_. 107
Beside the Sea. (Poem) _Mary E. Bradley_ 161
Biography _Henry Richards_ 65
Bishop's Oak _Caroline Cheesebro_' 172
Black Gnat, The _A.R.M._ 34
Blood Money _Editorial_ 207
Blue-Birds _Gilbert Burling_ 163
Books, Borrowing _Leigh Hunt_ 36
"Bridge of Sighs," Hood's _Editorial_ 50
Bronte's (Charlotte) Brother and Father _January Searle_ 111
Building of the Ship, The. (Poem) _Longfellow_ 89

Cedar Bird, The _Gilbert Burling_ 85
Celebration of the Passover, The _Editorial_ 64
Chase, After the _Editorial_ 227
Chet's, Miss, Club _Caroline Cheesbro'_ 59
Children, Loss of Little _Leigh Hunt_ 104
Chinese Stories _Henry Richards_ 215
Christmas Trees _W.W. Bailey_ 234
Coleridge as a Plagiarist 23
Coming Out of School _Editorial_ 12
Cosas de Espana _Editorial_ 86
Crown Diamonds and other Gems _S.F. Corkran_ 181

Daisies, Among The _A.S. Isaacs_ 23
December and May _Editorial_ 147
Death Chase, The _Editorial_ 236
Dogs, About _Henry Richards_ 175
Dogs, Education of _Henry Richards_ 234

Englishmen, Religion of _H. Taine_ 183
English Rhymes and Stories _Henry Richards_ 96
En Miniature. (From the German) _M.A.P. Humphreys_ 132
Exquisite Moment, An _Editorial_ 93

Fancie's Dream _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 34
Fancie's Farewell _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 114
Fawn Family, A Day with a _Editorial_ 107
Feast of the Tabernacles, The _Editorial_ 64
Fra Bartolomeo _Editorial_ 106
Forester's Happy Family, The _Editorial_ 167
Forester's Last Coming Home, The _Editorial_ 56
Fortune of The Hassans, The _C.F. Guernsey_ 123
Friendship of Poets, The _Editorial_ 50
Frosty Day, A. (Poem) _J.L. Warren_ 11

Garden, In the _Betsy Drew_ 138
Gems, Colored _W.S. Ward_ 39
Going to the Volcano _T.M. Coan_ 245
Green River. (Poem) _W.C. Bryant_ 72
Gypsies, The _Editorial_ 166

Heart of Kosciusko, The _Editorial_ 113
Heartsease. (Poem) _Mary E. Bradley_ 43
Hello! _Editorial_ 193
Home and Exile _Editorial_ 237
House with the Hollyhocks, The _A.L. Noble_ 177
House Wrens _Gilbert Burling_ 105
How to Tame Pet Birds _January Searle_ 146
Hunt (Leigh), A Last Visit to _January Searle_ 192
Hunting Snails _T.M. Coan_ 156

Ideal, The _Theodore Parker_ 133
Il Beato. (From the German) _M.A.P. Humphrey_ 183
Ill Wind, An _Leslie Malbone_ 112
Inside the Door _Caroline Cheesebro'_ 30
Ireland, A Glimpse at _T.M. Coan_ 119
Island, On an _Caroline Cheesebro'_ 114

Jack and Gill _Editorial_ 223

King Baby. (Poem) _George Cooper_ 224
Kingfisher, The _Editorial_ 125
King's Rosebud, The. (Poem) _Julia C.R. Porr_ 107
Knowledge _Ethics of the Fathers_ 135

"Lais Corinthaica," Holbein's _Editorial_ 182
Lalalo--A Legend of Galicia. (From the Spanish) _H.S. Conant_ 164
Lamp-Light _Julian Hawthorne_ 165
Lisbon, Loiterings around _Editorial_ 44
Literature 28, 47, 67, 88, 108, 128, 148, 168, 188, 208
Little Emily _Editorial_ 178
Liverworts. (Poem) _W.W. Bailey_ 70
Longfellow's House and Library _Geo. W. Greene_ 100
Love Aloft _Editorial_ 116
Love's Humility. (Poem) _B.G. Hosmer_ 141

Mandarin, A _From the French_ 19
Manifest Destiny. (Poem) _R.H. Stoddard_ 47
Man in Blue, The _R.B. Davey_ 50
Man in the Moon, The _Yule-tide Stories_ 120
Man's Unselfish Friend _Editorial_ 60
Married in a Snow-Storm. (From the Russian) _Wm. Percival_ 152
Marsh and Pond Flowers _W.W. Bailey_ 126
Martinmas Goose, The _Editorial_ 243
Maximilian Morningdew's Advice, Mr. _Julian Hawthorne_ 74
Millerism _Editorial_ 10
Minster at Ulm, The _Editorial_ 158
Misers, About _Betsy Drew_ 99
Mother is Here! 20
Morning Dew _Editorial_ 76
Morning and Evening _Editorial_ 242
Mountain Land of Western North Carolina _J.A. Oertel_ 52
Mountain Land of Western North Carolina _J.A. Oertel_ 214
Mountains, In the _Editorial_ 16
Mouse Shoes _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 197
Music in the Alps _Editorial_ 33

Necessity of Believing Something _Jean Paul_ 31
Neighbor Over the Way, My. (Poem) _G.W. Scars_ 110
Newport, At. (Poem) _Geo. H. Boker_ 10
Niagara _Editorial_ 213
Noble Savage, The 110
Nooning, The 16

Oblivion _Browne_ 120
October _W.W. Bailey_ 192
Old Maid's Village, The _Kate F. Hill_ 26
Old Oaken Bucket, The _Editorial_ 152
Othello, How Rossini Wrote _L.C. Bullard_ 91
Out of the Deeps _Elizabeth Stoddard_ 94

Painted Boats on Painted Seas _Hiram Rich_ 201
Patriotism and Powder _Editorial_ 132
Pavilions on the Lake, The. (From the French) _H.S. Conant_ 14
Pepito _Lucy Ellen Guernsey_ 212
Perkins, Granville 48
Peruvians, Among the _Editorial_ 24
Play for a Heart, A. (From the German) _H.S. Conant_ 54
Pleasure-Seeking _Editorial_ 240
Poet's Rivers _Editorial_ 70
Portugal, Wanderings in _Editorial_ 224
Pottery, Ancient _S.F. Corkran_ 72
Prince and Peasant. (From the German,) _H.S. Conant_ 196
Puddle Party, The _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 83
Punishment after Death. (From the Danish) _James Watkins_ 218
Puss Asleep _Henry Richards_ 143

Queen's Closet, The _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 27

Rainy Day, The. (Poem) _H.W. Longfellow_ 120
Raymondskill, The _E.C. Stedman_ 154
Real Romance, The _Julian Hawthorne_ 10
Ruse de Guerre. (Poem) _H.B. Bostwick_ 63

School-Children _Editorial_ 198
Scissor Family, The _Lolly Dinks's Mother_ 144
Secret, A. (Poem) _Julia C.R. Dorr_ 212
September Reverie, A _Editorial_ 172
Serious Case, A _Editorial_ 203
Shadows _Julian Hawthorne_ 142
Shakspeare Celebrations _Editorial_ 90
Shakspeare Portraits _R.H. Stoddard_ 103
Shameful Death. (Poem) _Wm. Morris_ 83
Shrews _A.S. Isaacs_ 63
Simple Suggestion, A _Mary E. Bradley_ 216
Smallpox, Worse than _L.E. Guernsey_ 157
Snow-Bird, The _Gilbert Burling_ 207
Song Sparrow, The _Gilbert Burling_ 32
Song or Wood Thrush, The _Gilbert Burling_ 66
Sonnet _Alfred Tennyson_ 67
Sparrows' City, The. (Poem) _George Cooper_ 165
Stael, Baroness de, The Salon of. (From the French) 43
Story of Coeho, The _R.B. Davey_ 71
Street Scene in Cairo, A _Editorial_ 239
Stuffing Birds _January Searle_ 246
Summer Fallacies _C.D. Shanly_ 176
Sunshine _Julian Hawthorne_ 92
Superstition _Bacon_ 56
Swift, Dean _Lady Mary Wortley Montague_ 53

Temple of Canova, The _Editorial_ 203
Thievish Animals _Editorial_ 238
Thistle-Down. (Poem) _W.W. Bailey_ 145
Tired Mothers. (Poem) _Mrs. A. Smith_ 172
Tropic Forest, A. (Poem) _Montgomery_ 20
Trout Fishing _C.D. Shanly_ 141
Truants, The 40
Two _J.C.R. Dorr_ 152
Two Gazels of Hafiz _Henry Richards_ 145
Two Lives, The. (Poem) _S.W. Duffield_ 201
Two Queens in Westminster. (Poem) _H. Morford_ 132

Uncollected Poems 50
Uncollected Poems by Campbell. _Editorial_ 144
Uncollected Poems by "L.E.L." _Editorial_ 94
Uttmann, Barbara. (From the German) 66

Venice, A Glimpse of _Editorial_ 13
Violins, About _J.D. Elwell_ 36
Virginia, On the Eastern Shore of _Mary E. Bradley_ 79

Water Ballad _S.T. Coleridge_ 67
Weber (Von), Karl Maria _Editorial_ 206
Wine and Kisses. (Poem) From the Persian _Joel Benton_ 27
Winter-Green. (Poem) _Mary E. Bradley_ 90
Winter Pictures from the Poets _Editorial_ 14
Winter Scenes _Editorial_ 230
Wolf, Calf and Goat, The _AEsop, Junior_ 124
Woman in Art _E.B. Leonard_ 145
Woman's Eternity, A _E.B.L._ 204
Woman's Place _Editorial_ 162
Wood or Summer Ducks _Editorial_ 187
Woods, In the. (Poem) _G.W. Sears_ 192
Woods Out in the. (Poem) _Mary E. Bradley_ 126
Wordsworth _Taine_ 33
Wyoming Valley _Editorial_ 36

Young Robin Hunter, The _Editorial_ 60

Zekle's Courtin' _Editorial_ 30

ILLUSTRATIONS

Adirondack Scenery _G.H. Smillie_ 97
Advance in Winter, The 236
After the Storm _Schenck_ 231
After the Storm a Calm. (I, II, III, IV,) 244
Agnes _R.E. Piguet_ 112
Albai, View on the River 183
American Robin, The _Gilbert Burling_ 227
Artistic Evening, An 248
At Home 239
Ausable, Morning on the _G.H. Smillie_ 41

Babes in the Wood, The _John S. Davis_ 222
Badger Hunting _L. Beckmann_ 226
Blood Money _Victor Nehlig_ 190
Blowing Hot and Cold _John S. Davis_ 142
Blowing Rock _R.E. Piguet_ 57
Blue-Birds _Gilbert Burling_ 163
Bonnie Brook, near Rahway _R.E. Piguet_ 112
Bridal Veil _Granville Perkins_ 154
Bridge of Sighs, The (View of) 13
Bridge of Sighs (Hood's) _Georgie A. Davis_ 49
Building of the Ship, The _T. Beech_ 89

Capella Imperfeita, Archway in the 44
Casa do Capitulo, The 224
Casa do Capitulo, Window in the 46
Castle of Meran, The. (Frontispiece) _C. Heyn_. Opp. 189
Caught At Last 238
Cedar Birds _Gilbert Burling_ 85
Chase, After the _David Neal_ 219
Christmas Visitors _Guido Hammer_ 231
Coming Out of School _Vautier_ 12
Crossing the Moor After _F.F. Hill_ 228

December and May _W.H. Davenport_ 146
Death Chase, The 236
Deer Family, The _Guido Hammer_ 106

Enjoyment 241
Evening _Paul Dixon_ 205
Evening 243
Evenings at Home _A.E. Emslie_ 77
Exquisite Moment, An _John S. Davis_ 93

Fashionable Loungers of Lima 24
Feast of the Passover, The _Oppenheim_ 64
Feast of the Tabernacles, The _Oppenheim_ 65
Fisherman's Family, The 239
Forester's Happy Family at Dinner, The _Guido Hammer_ 167
Forester's Last Coming Home, The 56
For the Master _Offterdinger_ (Opp.) 236

Garden, In the _Arthur Lumley_ 138
Gertrude of Wyoming _Victor Nehlig_ 117
Glen, The _F.T. Vance_ 194
God's Acre 232
Gondar, Emperor's Palace at 186
Good Bye, Sweetheart 233
Grandfather Mountain, N.C. _R.E. Piguet_ 215
Green River _August Will_ 69
Green River _R.E. Piguet_ 72
Green River _R.E. Piguet_ 73
Guide-Board, The _Knesing_ 230
Gypsy Girl at her Toilette _G. Dore_ 166

Happy Valley _R.E. Piguet_ 53
Heart of a Hero, The. (Kosciusko's Monument) 113
Here. Chick! Chick! 240
Hollo! _John S. Davis_ 191
House Wrens _Gilbert Burling_ 105
How a Spaniard Drinks _Dore_ 86
Hudson at Hyde Park, The _G.H. Smillie_ 81

In-Doors 243
Infant Jesus, The Copied by _J.S. Davis_ 229
"Is the solace of age." 247
"It ofttimes happens that a child" 245

Jack and Gill _John S. Davis_ 223

Kate _R.E. Piguet_ 112
Keeping House _John S. Davis_ (Opp.) 29
Kingfisher, The _L. Beckmann_ 125
King Witlaf's Drinking Horn _A. Kappes_ 131
Kwasind, the Strong Man _T. Moran_ 109

Lais Corinthaica _Holbein_ 182
Lake Henderson _F.T. Vance_ 195
Limena, Middle-Aged 25
Linville, On the _R.E. Piguet_ 52
Linville River, The _R.E. Piguet_ 53
Little Emily _John S. Davis_ 178
Little Mother, The _John S. Davis_ 80
Loffler Peak, Tyrol, The 135
Longfellow's House _A.C. Warren_ 100
Longfellow's Library _A.C. Warren_ 101
Longing Looks _J.W. Bolles_ 96
Love Aloft _Otto Gunther_ 116

Manifest Destiny _W.M. Cary_ 37
Man's Unselfish Friend _Chas. E. Townsend_ 61
Marston Moor, Before the Battle of 121
Mestizo Woman, Young 25
Mill, in Wyoming Valley, An Old _F.T. Vance_ 36
Minster at Ulm, The 158
Monastery de Leca do Balio, The 225
Monk's Oak, The (After _Constantine Schmidt_) 33
Moonlight on the Hudson _Paul Dixon_ 170
Moose Hunting 232
Morganton, View in _R.E. Piguet_ 53
Morganton, View near _R.E. Piguet_ 214
Morning 242
Morning Dew. (Frontispiece) _Victor Nehlig_. Opp. 69
Morning in the Meadow _R.E. Piguet_ 113
Mother is Here! _Deiker_ 20
Mountains, In the 16
Mueller, Maud _Georgie A. Davis_ 9
Music in the Alps _Dore_ 33

Naughty Boy, The _John S. Davis_ (Opp.) 89
Navaja, Duel with the _Dore_ 86
New England, Hills of _Paul Dixon_ 204
Niagara _Jules Tavernier_ 211
Nooning, The (After _Darley_) 17

Old Oaken Bucket, The _John S. Davis_ 159
Ornamental, The _Deiker_ 234
Out of Doors 242

Patriotic Education _F. Beard_ 130
Penha Verde, Doorway and Oriel in the 45
Perkins, Granville 48
Peruvian Ladies, Costumes of 24
Peruvian Priests 25
Pets, The 241
Picking and Choosing _Beckmann_ 238
Pines of the Racquette, The _John A. Hows_ 121
Playing Sick _A.H. Thayer_ 174
Preston Ponds, From Bishop's Knoll _.F.T. Vance_ 199
Puss Asleep _C.E. Townsend_ 143

Rainy Day, The _John S. Davis_ 120
Raymondskill, Falls of The _Granville Perkins_ 150
Raymondskill, View on the _Granville Perkins_ 155
Raymondskill, The Main Fall _Granville Perkins_ 155

Scene on the Catawba River _R.E. Piguet_ 210
School Discipline _John S. Davis_ 198
Serious Case, A _Ernst Bosch_ 202
Shakspeare, Ward's _J.S. Davis_ 104
Shipwreck on the Coast of Dieppe, A _T. Weber_ 139
Singing the War Song 187
Snow-Birds _Gilbert Burling_ 207
Song Sparrow, The _Gilbert Burling_ 32
Song or Wood Thrush, The _Gilbert Burling_ 66
South Mountain _R.E. Piguet_ 53
Spanish Postilion _Dore_ 87
Spanish Ladies _Dore_ 87
Sport 240
Squaw Pounding Cherries, Old _W.M. Cary_ 162
Standish, Miles, Courtship of _J.W. Bolles_ 151
Street Scene in Cairo, A Opp. 229
Surenen Pass, Switzerland, View in the 134

Temple of Canova 203
Then fare thee well, my country, lov'd and lost! 237
"There's a Beautiful Spirit Breathing Now" 218
Tight Place, In a _W.M. Cary_ 76
Tropic Forest, A _Granville Perkins_ 21
Truants, The _M.L. Stone_ 40

Useful, The _Deiker_ 235
Uttmann, Barbara 68

Venetian Festival, A. (Frontispiece) _C. Hulk_
Vischer's, Peter, Studio 84
Visconti, Princess (After "_Fra Bartolomeo_") 108
Villa de Conde, Church at 215
Village Belle, The After _J.J. Hill_ 228

Waiting at the Stile 147
Watauga Falls _R.E. Piguet_ 53
Watering the Cattle _Peter Moran_ 171
Wayside Inn, The (After _Hill_) 107
Weber, Von, Last Moments of 206
What Was That Knot Tied For? (After _I.E. Gaiser_) 92
"Which in infancy lisped" 246
"Who Said Rats?" _A.H. Thayer_ 175
Winter Sketch, A. (Frontispiece) _George H. Smillie_. Opp. 149
Wolf, Calf and Goat, The _H.L. Stephens_ 124
Wood or Summer Ducks _Gilbert Burling_ 179

"Ye limpid springs and floods," 237
Young Robin Hunter, The _John S. Davis_ 60

Zekle's Courtin' _Frank Beard_ 29

THE ALDINE

VOL. V. NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1872. No. 1.

[Illustration: MAUD MUeLLER.--DRAWN BY GEORGIE A. DAVIS.]

"MAUD MUeLLER looked and sighed: 'Ah, me!
That I the Judge's bride might be!

"'He would dress me up in silks so fine,
And praise and toast me at his wine.

"'My father should wear a broad-cloth coat:
My brother should sail a painted boat.'

"'I'd dress my mother so grand and gay,
And the baby should have a new toy each day.

"'And I'd feed the hungry and clothe the poor.
And all should bless me who left our door.

"The Judge looked back as he climbed the hill,
And saw Maud Mueller standing still.

"'A form more fair, a face more sweet,
Ne'er hath it been my lot to meet.

"'And her modest answer and graceful air,
Show her wise and good as she is fair.

"'Would she were mine, and I to-day,
Like her a harvester of hay.'"

--_Whittier's Maud Mueller._

THE ALDINE.

_JAMES SUTTON & CO., PUBLISHERS_

23 LIBERTY STREET, NEW YORK.

* * * * *

$5.00 per Annum (_with chrono._) Single Copies, 50 Cents.

* * * * *

_AT NEWPORT._

I stand beside the sea once more;
Its measured murmur comes to me;
The breeze is low upon the shore,
And low upon the purple sea.

Across the bay the flat sand sweeps,
To where the helmed light-house stands
Upon his post, and vigil keeps,
Far seaward marshaling all the lands.

The hollow surges rise and fall,
The ships steal up the quiet bay;
I scarcely hear or see at all,
My thoughts are flown so far away.

They follow on yon sea-bird's track.
Beyond the beacon's crystal dome;
They will not falter, nor come back,
Until they find my darkened home.

Ah, woe is me! 'tis scarce a year
Since, gazing o'er this moaning main,
My thoughts flew home without a fear.
And with content returned again.

To-day, alas! the fancies dark
That from my laden bosom flew,
Returning, came into the ark,
Not with the olive, with the yew.

The ships draw slowly towards the strand,
The watchers' hearts with hope beat high;
But ne'er again wilt thou touch land--
Lost, lost in yonder sapphire sky!

--_Geo. H. Boker._

_MILLERISM._

Toward the close of the last century there was born in New
England one William Miller, whose life, until he was past fifty,
was the life of the average American of his time. He drank, we
suppose, his share of New England rum, when a young man; married
a comely Yankee girl, and reared a family of chubby-cheeked
children; went about his business, whatever it was, on week
days, and when Sunday came, went to meeting with commendable
regularity. He certainly read the Old Testament, especially the
Book of Daniel, and of the New Testament at least the Book of
Revelation. Like many a wiser man before him, he was troubled at
what he read, filled as it was with mystical numbers and strange
beasts, and he sought to understand it, and to apply it to the
days in which he lived. He made the discovery that the world
was to be destroyed in 1843, and went to and fro in the land
preaching that comfortable doctrine. He had many followers--as
many as fifty thousand, it is said, who thought they were
prepared for the end of all things; some going so far as to lay
in a large stock of ascension robes. Though no writer himself, he
was the cause of a great deal of writing on the part of others,
who flooded the land with a special and curious literature--the
literature of Millerism. It is not of that, however, that we
would speak now.

But before this Miller arose--we proceed to say, if only to show
that we are familiar with other members of the family--there was
another, and very different Miller, who was born in old England,
about one hundred years earlier than our sadly, or gladly,
mistaken Second Adventist. His Christian name was Joseph, and he
was an actor of repute, celebrated for his excellence in some of
the comedies of Congreve. The characters which he played may have
been comic ones, but he was a serious man. Indeed, his gravity
was so well known in his lifetime that it was reckoned the height
of wit, when he was dead, to father off upon him a Jest Book!
This joke, bad as it was, was better than any joke in the book.
It made him famous, so famous that for the next hundred years
every little _bon mot_ was laid at his door, metaphorically
speaking, the puniest youngest brat of them being christened "Old
Joe."

After Joseph Miller had become what Mercutio calls "a grave man,"
his descendants went into literature largely, as any one may
see by turning to Allibone's very voluminous dictionary, where
upwards of seventy of the name are immortalized, the most noted
of whom are Thomas Miller, basket-maker and poet, and Hugh
Miller, the learned stone-mason of Cromarty, whose many works, we
confess with much humility, we have not read. To the sixty-eight
Millers in Allibone (if that be the exact number), must now be
added another--Mr. Joaquin Miller, who published, two or three
months since, a collection of poems entitled "Songs of the
Sierras." From which one of the Millers mentioned above his
ancestry is derived, we are not informed; but, it would seem,
from the one first-named. For clearly the end of all things
literary cannot be far off, if Mr. Miller is the "coming poet,"
for whom so many good people have been looking all their lives.
We are inclined to think that such is not the fact. We think,
on the whole, that it is to the other Miller--Joking Miller--his
genealogy is to be traced.

But who is Mr. Miller, and what has he done? A good many besides
ourselves put that question, less than a year ago, and nobody
could answer it. Nobody, that is, in America. In England he was a
great man. He went over to England, unheralded, it is stated,
and was soon discovered to be a poet. Swinburne took him up; the
Rossettis took him up; the critics took him up; he was taken up
by everybody in England, except the police, who, as a rule, fight
shy of poets. He went to fashionable parties in a red shirt, with
trowsers tucked into his boots, and instead of being shown to the
door by the powdered footman, was received with enthusiasm. It is
incredible, but it is true. A different state of society existed,
thirty or forty years ago, when another American poet went to
England; and we advise our readers, who have leisure at their
command, to compare it with the present social lawlessness of the
upper classes among the English. To do this, they have only
to turn to the late N.P. Willis's "Pencilings by the Way," and
contrast his descriptions of the fashionable life of London then,
with almost any journalistic account of the same kind of life
now. The contrast will be all the more striking if they will
only hunt up the portraits of Disraeli, with his long, dark locks
flowing on his shoulders, and the portrait of Bulwer, behind his
"stunning" waistcoat, and his cascade of neck-cloth, and then
imagine Mr. Miller standing beside them, in his red shirt and
high-topped California boots! Like Byron, Mr. Miller "woke up one
morning and found himself famous."

We compare the sudden famousness of Mr. Miller with the sudden
famousness of Byron, because the English critics have done so;
and because they are pleased to consider Mr. Miller as Byron's
successor! Byron, we are told, was the only poet whom he had
read, before he went to England; and is the only poet to whom he
bears a resemblance. How any of these critics could have
arrived at this conclusion, with the many glaring imitations
of Swinburne--at his worst--staring him in the face from Mr.
Miller's volume, is inconceivable. But, perhaps, they do not read
Swinburne. Do they read Byron?

There are, however, some points of resemblance between Byron and
Mr. Miller. Byron traveled, when young, in countries not much
visited by the English; Mr. Miller claims to have traveled, when
young, in countries not visited by the English at all. This was,
and is, an advantage to both Byron and Mr. Miller. But it was,
and is, a serious disadvantage to their readers, who cannot well
ascertain the truth, or falsehood, of the poets they admire. The
accuracy of Byron's descriptions of foreign lands has long
been admitted; the accuracy of Mr. Miller's descriptions is not
admitted, we believe, by those who are familiar with the ground
he professes to have gone over.

Another point of resemblance between Byron and Mr. Miller is,
that the underlying idea of their poetry is autobiographic. We
do not say that it was really so in Byron's case, although he, we
know, would have had us believe as much; nor do we say that it
is really so in Mr. Miller's case, although he, too, we suspect,
would have us believe as much.

Mr. Miller resembles Byron as his "Arizonian" resembles Byron's
"Lara." _Lara_ and _Arizonian_ are birds of the same dark
feather. They have journeyed in strange lands; they have had
strange experiences; they have returned to Civilization. Each, in
his way, is a Blighted Being! "Who is she?" we inquire with the
wise old Spanish Judge, for, certainly, _Woman_ is at the bottom
of it all. If our readers wish to know _what_ woman, we refer
them to "Arizonian:" they, of course, have read "Lara."

Byron was a great poet, but Byronism is dead. Mr. Miller is not a
great poet, and his spurious Byronism will not live. We shall all
see the end of Millerism.

_THE REAL ROMANCE._

The author laid down his pen, and leaned back in his big easy
chair. The last word had been written--Finis--and there was the
complete book, quite a tall pile of manuscript, only waiting for
the printer's hands to become immortal: so the author whispered
to himself. He had worked hard upon it; great pains had been
expended upon the delineations of character, and the tone and
play of incident; the plot, too, had been worked up with much
artistic force and skill; and, above all, everything was so
strikingly original; no one, in regarding the various characters
of the tale, could say: this is intended for so-and-so! No,
nothing precisely like the persons in his romance had ever
actually existed; of that the author was certain, and in that he
was very probably correct. To be sure, there was the character
of the country girl, Mary, which he had taken from his own
little waiting-maid: but that was a very subordinate element,
and although, on the whole, he rather regretted having introduced
anything so incongruous and unimaginative, he decided to let it
go. The romance, as a whole, was too great to be injured by one
little country girl, drawn from real life. "And by the way,"
murmured the author to himself, "I wish Mary would bring in my
tea."

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8