The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 120, October, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and PoliticsVarious
General
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 120, October, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
this time, when the life of Swedenborg has been made the subject of fresh
inquiry, as well as the Life which Swedenborg's philosophy is here employed
to illustrate.
_The Sayings of Doctor Bushwhacker and other Learned
Men._ By FREDERICK S. COZZENS. New York: A. Simpson &
Co.
The best thing in this book is that brief sketch of travel, called "Up the
Rhine," in which the British tourist is presented with a delightful
fidelity. Eyes that have once beheld him never forget him, and it is good
to gaze upon him here in his extraordinary travelling-costume, with all his
sightseer's panoply upon him. It affects one like a personal recollection,
when he addresses the American and says:--
"'Going to Switz'land?'
"'Yes.'
"'Y' got Moy for Switz'land?'
"'Moy? I beg pardon.'
"'Yes, Moy,--Moy; got Moy for Switz'land?'
"'Moy! Do you mean money? I hope so!'
"'Ged gad, sir, no! I say Moy.'
"'Upon my word, I _do not_ comprehend you.'
"'Moy, sir, Moy!' rapping vehemently on the red cover of my guide-book that
lay on the table, 'I say Moy for Switz'land.'
"'O, you mean Murray?'
"'Certainly, sir; did n't I say Moy?'"
This is a touch of nature; and nothing else in the book is done with a hand
so free and artistic. Doctor Bushwhacker is passably entertaining in his
talk of tea and coffee and chocolate and wine and salad; but when he comes
to speak of literature, he makes us suspect that the latest thing in
criticism which his professional duties have left him leisure to read is E.
A. Poe's "American Literati." He discourses of "Accidental Resemblances"
between Mr. Longfellow and other poets, defends the venerable Halleck from
the charge of copying "Don Juan" in his "Fanny," and pronounces Joseph
Rodman Drake the only original American poet.
Among the contributions to these "Sayings" by other learned men than Dr.
Bushwhacker, the most admirable are the two imitations of Macaulay by the
late Colonel Porter; of their kind they are nowhere surpassed. But the
editor of the book has left the retiring muse of criticism little to say of
these productions of his _collaborateurs_. In his Preface he efficiently
praises them all, specifying one as "sparkling," and another as
"excellent," and others as coming from persons who have exquisite taste for
true humor, and assemble in themselves great moral, religious, and literary
merits; and finally offers his thanks to the gentleman who indefatigably
urged him to publish the collection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account