had thoroughly acquainted himself with the
philosophy of the ancients. At a later day he was attracted by the
speculation of the Germans, and a mastery of their language enabled him
to enter fully into the spirit of Spinosa, Kant, and Fichte, as he did
into that of the finer intelligences, Goeethe and Richter, and pervading
he found the passion to know Whence are we? What are we? Whither do we
go? In "St. Leger," a mind predisposed to superstition by some vague
prophecies respecting the destiny of his family--a mind inquisitive,
quick, and earnest, but subject to occasional melancholy, as the
inherited spell obtains a mastery of the reason--is exposed to the
influences of a various study, and startling experiences, all conceived
with a profound knowledge of human nature, and displayed with consummate
art; having a metaphysical if not a strictly dramatic unity; and
conducting by the subtlest processes, to the determination of these
questions, and the flowering of a high and genial character; as
Professor Tayler Lewis expresses it, "at rest, deriving substantial
enjoyment from the present, because satisfied with respect to the
ultimate, and perfect, and absolute."[9]

Aside from its qualities as a delineation of a deep inner experience,
"St. Leger" has very great merits as a specimen of popular romantic
fiction. The varied characters are admirably drawn, and are individual,
distinct, and effectively contrasted. The incidents are all shaped and
combined with remarkable skill; and, as the _Athenaeum_ observes, "Here,
there, everywhere, the author gives evidence of passionate and romantic
power." In some of the episodes, as in that of Wolfgang Hegewisch, for
example, in which are illustrated the tendency of a desperate philosophy
and hopeless skepticism, we have that sort of mastery of the feelings,
that chaining of the intensest interest, which distinguishes the most
wonderful compositions of Poe, or the German Hoffman, or Zschokke in his
"Walpurgis Night;" and every incident in the book tends with directest
certainty to the fulfilment of its main design.

The only other work of which Mr. Kimball is the acknowledged author, is
"Cuba and the Cubans;" a volume illustrative of the history, and social,
political, and economical condition of the island of Cuba, written
during the excitement occasioned by its invasion from the United States,
in 1849, and exhibiting a degree of research, and a judicial fairness of
statement and a