REVIEW. 



Rural Hours: By A Lady. (One vol., 12mo., 

 521 pages; published by Geo. P. Putnam, 

 New- York.) 

 The present generation of young readers is 

 almost buried under the avalanche of modern 

 fiction, which our publishers, roaming about 

 for exciting tales and novels, like buccaneers 

 among the high seas, have captured and let 

 loose upon the country. Eugene Sue and 

 Dumas have shaken even the far west more 

 than the fever and ague ; and it is doubtful 

 if Thackeray and James, taken in such 

 large doses as they have been for some time 

 past, have not produced a species of jaundice 

 and dyspepsia. 



Society and nature were both intended for 

 the education of man. If he will only have 

 lessons from the first, he is sure to grow heart 

 sick sooner or later, and, like Solomon, cry 

 out " all is vanity." If he lives wholly upon 

 nature, he will become an anchorite or a 

 dreamer ; or, what is worse, his eyes may 

 gradually close up (like those of the sight- 

 less fish in the Mammoth Cave,) to the 

 great relations and duties of man as a social 

 being. 



Novels and tales — especially those of a 

 healthier cast than the bulk of those alluded 

 to — have their uses — very valuable ones, 

 too — of teaching men human nature, and the 

 workings of many problems of society ; and 

 we are not among those who think only true 

 stories — meaning thereby histories, often full 

 of falsities — should be put into the circulating 

 libraries. Hans Anderson's story books, 

 and Miss Bremer's novels, have more health- 

 ful truth in them than is contained in many 

 of the most veracious volumes ever written ; 

 and we have been forced to swallow a good 



deal of French sauce lately, as a (needless) 

 accompaniment to the wholesome viands that 

 have come across the water to us by the same 

 vessels. 



The misfortune for us has been, that almost 

 all the literature of the day puts us in contact 

 with man, while little or none of it brings us 

 in relation with nature. It is a continual 

 drinking of stimulating beverages, which un- 

 doubtedly enlarges our conceptions, and vivi- 

 fies our understanding, but leaves us forever 

 excited, and forever asking for more. The 

 true balance can only be restored by some- 

 thing that takes us by the hand and leads us 

 back occasionally to nature. It is only from 

 her, and the good teachings that should go 

 with her, that we shall regain that serenity 

 and peace of mind, which we have lost in the 

 constant movement of the complex wheel- 

 work of the social machine. Hence, the na- 

 tural desire of citizens for the country, of the 

 poet for the solitude of mountains, and the 

 man of science for the hidden secrets of earth, 

 air and sea. 



We welcome Miss Cooper's " Rural 

 Hours," therefore, as we would welcome a 

 clear spring of sweet water, gushing out of a 

 cool mossy bank, after a dusty day's travel. 

 What deep and pure draughts of simple rustic 

 enjoyments one drinks from its pages. What 

 a healthy spirit, like a soft but fresh breeze, 

 breathes through its characters. What a 

 feeling of serenity and peace of mind, like the 

 calm of an October day, pervades it. Here 

 is the exact counterpoise which so many of 

 our young people need for their overexerted 

 imaginations. Here is a natural spring of 

 sweet water, which, if they will only live in 

 the country and drink daily, is sure to react 



