ts himself with a very slight embroidery of outward
manners,--the faintest possible counterfeit of real life,--and
endeavors to create an interest by some less obvious
peculiarity of the subject. Occasionally a breath of nature, a
rain-drop of pathos and tenderness, or a gleam of humor, will
find its way into the midst of his fantastic imagery, and make
us feel as if, after all, we were yet within the limits of our
native earth. We will only add to this cursory notice, that M.
de l'Aubepine's productions, if the reader chance to take them
in precisely the proper point of view, may amuse a leisure hour
as well as those of a brighter man; if otherwise, they can
hardly fail to look excessively like nonsense."

Hawthorne is as accurately as he is happily described in this curious
piece of criticism, though no one who takes his works in the "proper
point of view," will by any means agree to the modest estimate which, in
the perfect sincerity of his nature, he has placed upon them. He is
original, in invention, construction, and expression, always
picturesque, and sometimes in a high degree dramatic. His favorite
scenes and traditions are those of his own country, many of which he has
made classical by the beautiful associations that he has thrown around
them. Every thing to him is suggestive, as his own pregnant pages are to
the congenial reader. All his productions are life-mysteries,
significant of profound truths. His speculations, often bold and
striking, are presented with singular force, but with such a quiet grace
and simplicity as not to startle until they enter in and occupy the
mind. The gayety with which his pensiveness is occasionally broken,
seems more than any thing else in his works to have cost some effort.
The gentle sadness, the "half-acknowledged melancholy," of his manner
and reflections, are more natural and characteristic.

His style is studded with the most poetical imagery, and marked in every
part with the happiest graces of expression, while it is calm, chaste,
and flowing, and transparent as water. There is a habit among nearly all
the writers of imaginative literature, of adulterating the conversations
of the poor with barbarisms and grammatical blunders which have no more
fidelity than elegance. Hawthorne's integrity as well as his
exquisite--taste prevented him from falling into this error. There is
not in the world a large rural population