, illustrated with engravings by D. C.
JOHNSTON, of Boston. We have re-perused them with renewed delight, and
awakened again the echoes of our silent sanctum, in the excess of our
cachinnatory enjoyment. Our friend MORTON M'MICHAEL, in the 'advance
GRAHAM' for February, (which by the way contains a breathing likeness of
the sketcher,) has the following remarks upon the papers composing the
volume before us, which we most cordially endorse: 'No one, who has his
faculties in a healthy condition, can read them and not feel convinced
that they are the productions of a superior and highly gifted mind. They
not only smack strongly of what all true men love, genuine humor; rich,
racy, glorious humor; at which you may indulge in an honest outbreak of
laughter, and not feel ashamed afterward because you have thrown away good
mirth on a pitiful jest; but when you have laughed your fill, if you
choose to look beneath the surface, which sparkles and bubbles with
brilliant fancies, you will find an under current of truthful observation,
abundant in matter for sober thought in your graver moments. In all of
them, light and trifling as they seem, and pleasant as they unquestionably
are, there is a deep and solemn moral. The follies and vices which, in
weak natures, soon grow into crimes, are here presented in such a way as
to forewarn those who are about to yield to temptation, not by dull
monitions and unregarded homilies, but by making the actors themselves
unconscious protestants against their own misdoings. And to do this well
requires a combination of abilities such as few possess. There must be the
quick eye to perceive, the nice judgment to discriminate, the active
memory to retain, the vigorous pen to depict, and above all, the soul, the
mind, the genius, call it what you will, to infuse into the whole life and
spirit and power. Now, all these qualities Neal has in an eminent degree,
and he applies them with the skill of an accomplished artist. What he does
he does thoroughly, perfectly. His portraits, which he modestly calls
sketches, are unmistakeable. The very men he wishes to portray are before
you, and they are not only limned to the outward eye, but they speak also
to the outward ear, and in sentences thickly clustered with the drollest
conceits, they convey lessons of practical philosophy, and make
revelations of the strange perversities of our inward nature, from which
even the wise may gather profitable conclusions.' Our