AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
359 
HAWTHORNE’S STYLE. 
We recommend the remarks of the North 
British Review on the style of Hawthorne to 
American writers. The great fault of nearly all 
modern writing is diffuseness, verbosity, mag¬ 
niloquence, and a want of polish. Study con¬ 
densation as attentively as Demosthenes did 
action. 
“Mr. Hawthorne’s language, though for an 
American extraordinarily accurate, is always 
light and free ; his illustrations and incidents, 
though often startlingly odd, and, for the mo¬ 
ment, apparently unrelated, have never the air 
of being far-fetched, but seem rather to be the 
best possible for the occasion; and the nar¬ 
rative, though curiously elaborated, is so well 
contrasted and proportioned in its several parts, 
that it makes, when we have finished, an im¬ 
pression full of simplicity and totality. His 
tales always deserve a double reading, one for 
the story, and one for the art. * * * * Mr. 
Hawthorne’s chef d'oeuvre is his last work, 
‘The Blithdale Romance.’ In this tale, the 
writer, with an irony of withering calmness, 
exposes the vanity and selfishness which under¬ 
lie the seemingly worthy and benevolent pur¬ 
poses of the various dramatis persona , who 
engage themselves in one of the many schemes 
of politico-modern reformation, which moderns 
have invented ns substitutes for the reformation 
of themselves. * * * * We believe that he 
is altogether the most remarkable prose writer 
yet produced by America. His writings are 
highly condensed, which is more than can be 
said of nine-tenths of the American novelists, 
essayists, historians, or theologians; and they 
are admirably consecutive and well brought 
out, which is more than we can say of any but 
one or two individuals of the remaining tenth; 
who, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Long¬ 
fellow, are condensed, but ejaculatory, and in¬ 
capable of pursuing a thought or a story with 
logic and determination. He also writes pure 
English, which is what the Americans ought, 
just now, chiefly to look to, for, as we shall 
show, they are in danger of abusing their noble 
inheritance of a pure, sweet, and powerful lan¬ 
guage, by an admixture of slang, flippancies, 
and false grammar, which will become a chronic 
and even an incurable disease, unless it is sea¬ 
sonably withstood and checked by writers like 
Mr. Hawthorne.” 
-- 
What is a Fop? —A Mr. Stark, in a lecture 
before the Young Men’s Association, at Troy, 
N. Y., thus defines a fop: 
“ The fop is a complete specimen of an out¬ 
side philosopher. He is one-third collar, one- 
sixth patent leather, one-fourth walking stick, 
and the rest kid glove and hair. As to his re¬ 
mote ancestry there is some doubt; but it is now 
pretty well settled that he is the son of a tailor’s 
goose. He becomes ecstatic at the smell of new 
cloth. He is somewhat nervous, and to dream 
of tailor’s bill gives him the night mare. By his 
hair one would judge he had been dipped like 
Achilles; but it is evident that the goddess must 
have held him by the head instead of the heel. 
Nevertheless, such men are useful. If there 
were no tadpoles there would be no frogs. They 
are not so entirely to blame for being devoted 
to externals. Paste diamonds must have a 
splendid setting to make them sell. Only it 
seems to be a waste of materials, to put five 
dollars’ worth of beaver on five cents’ worth of 
brains.” 
-•••- 
Retailing Hay.—A few days since a good old 
lady of this city, meeting a farmer in our streets, 
on a load of hay, inquired if it was for sale; on 
being answered in the affirmative, she asked 
him to turn his team around and drive to.her 
husband’s yard some quarter of a mile distant. 
Her request was complied with, and after reach¬ 
ing the barn-yard, the old lady informed him 
that she only wanted a cent’s worth of hay for 
her hen’s nest, and that while he was throwing 
it off she would step into the house and get the 
change! The driver was ungallant enough to 
curse the old lady and the hens, and refused to 
retail his hay.— Portland Transcript. 
- -• © •- 
Domestic Politeness. —By endeavoring to ac¬ 
quire the habit of politeness, it will soon become 
familiar, and sit on you with ease, if not with 
elegance. Let it never be forgotten that polite¬ 
ness is a great fosterer of family love; it allays 
accidental irritation by preventing harsh retorts 
and rude contradictions ; it softens the boister¬ 
ous, stimulates the indulgent, suppresses selfish¬ 
ness, and, by forming a habit of consideration 
for others, harmonizes the whole. Politeness 
begets politeness, and brothers may easily be 
won by it, to leave off the rude ways they bring 
home from school or college. Sisters ought 
never to receive any little attention without 
thanking them for it, never to ask a favor of 
them except in courteous terms, never to reply 
to their questions in monosyllables, and they 
will soon be ashamed to do such things them¬ 
selves. Both precept and example should be 
laid under contributions, to convince them no 
one can have really good manners abroad who 
is not habitually polite at home. 
Breaking the Peace in America.— The cost 
of “ breaking the peace” varies according to lo¬ 
cality. You may give a fellow a drubbing in 
Washington for a mere nothing, that will cost 
you a good sum in New York—something upon 
this Irish principle : A man was fined £5 by a 
magistrate at the College Police-office, Dublin, 
for assaulting another; and as he paid the 
money into court with considerable reluctance, 
he shot a glance at the victim of his indiscretion, 
and said: “Wait till I get you in Limerick, 
where beating’s cheap, and I’ll take the change 
out of you.”— Bunn's Old and New-England. 
flow to Prosper in Business. —In the first 
place, make up your mind to accomplish what¬ 
ever you undertake ; decide upon some particu¬ 
lar employment, persevere in it. All difficulties 
are overcome by diligence and assiduity. 
Be not afraid to work with your own hands, 
and diligently, too. “A cat in gloves catches 
no mice.” 
“He who remains in the mill grinds ; not ho 
who goes and comes.” 
Attend to your own business, and never trust 
it to another. “ A pot that belongs to many is 
ill stirred and worse boiled.” 
Be frugal. “ That which will not make a pot 
will make a pot lid.” 
“ Save the pence and the pounds will take care 
of themselves.” 
Be abstemious. “ Who dainties love, shall 
beggars prove.” 
Rise early. “ The sleeping fox catches no 
poultry.” 
“ Plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you 
shall have corn to sell and keep.” 
Treat every one with respect and civility. 
“ Every thing is gained and nothing lost by cour¬ 
tesy. Good manners insure success.” 
Never anticipate wealth from any other source 
than labor; especially never place dependence 
upon becoming the possessor of an inheri¬ 
tance. 
“ He who waits for dead men’s shoes may have 
to go for a long time barefoot.” 
“ He who runs after a shadow has a weari¬ 
some race.” 
Above all things, never despair. “ God is 
where he was.” 
“ Heaven helps those who help themselves.” 
Follow 7 implicitly those precepts, and nothing 
can hinder you from accumulating. 
A Step Forward.— “Mother,” said a Spar¬ 
tan boy, going to battle, “ ray sword is too 
short.” “Add a step to it,” was the reply of 
the heroic woman. So should it be with all our 
duties of life. When we cannot reach a height 
we aim at—add a step, and keep on adding un¬ 
til we reach it. 
One of the Judges. —“OurDaniel” remarked 
the other day, that the next time he put up at a 
hotel, he would enter his name as “ Daniel 
Sharp, Judge.” 
We asked him (says an exchange) if he had 
tried it, and he replied: 
“Yes, I tried it once, and it worked like a 
charm, I had the best accommodations in the 
house for about a week, without any expense, 
till the landlord one day touched me on the arm. 
Says he— 
1L “ You are the judge of Probate, are you not?''* 
“ No,” I replied. 
“ Not of the Supreme Court, certainly?” 
“ No rejoined I, not of any court.” 
“Of what are you judge, then?” continued 
he, thinking of the many fixin’s he had sent up 
to my room. 
“I am judge,” I pompously replied, “of good 
living." 
Rendering Lard.— One of the best house¬ 
keepers in the County of Philadelphia, has 
communicated to us the following recipe for 
rendering lard, which was obtained from 
Charleston, and which possesses many impor¬ 
tant advantages over the common mode. It is 
simply to put in the kettle before the lard—say 
three pints of ley, made of hickory ashes, to a 
common barrel-kettle, (generally holding less 
than a barrel.) The advantages of this, are, 
that the lard renders easier , becomes much 
whiter , is sweeter , and will lceep longer. This 
method has been pursued for some years, with 
the highest satisfaction. 
Will not some of the numerous house-keep¬ 
ers who read this paper, try it this season, and 
inform us of the result?— Telegraph. 
A Light Pie-Crust.— A light pie-crust may 
be made b} 7 rubbing into one pound of flour 
two ounces of butter worked into a cream, and 
one spoonful of carbonate of soda; dissolve 
with water half a teaspoonful of tartaric acid, 
and pour it over the ingredients, quickly adding 
a sufficiency of water to make it a proper thick¬ 
ness for the crust. This is still better wdien a 
w T ell-beaten egg is added to the flour, &c., before 
the water is put in. 
A fine Glossy Starch. —To those who de¬ 
sire to impart to shirt-bosoms, collars, and other 
fabrics, that fine and beautiful gloss observable 
on new linens, the following recipe for making 
gum-arabic starch will be most acceptable, and 
should have a place in the domestic scrap-book 
of every woman who prides herself upon her 
capacity of a house-keeper, and the neatness of 
her own, her husband’s and her family’s dress, 
and if she does not take pride in them, her hus¬ 
band is an unfortunate man : 
Take two ounces of white gum-arabic pow¬ 
der, put into a pitcher, and pour on it a pint of 
boiling water, according to the degree of strength 
you desire, and then, having covered it, let stand 
all night. In the morning, pour it carefully 
from the dregs into a clean bottle, cork it, and 
keep it for use. A tablespoonful of gum-water 
stirred into a pint of starch that has been made 
in the usual manner, will give lawns (either 
black or printed) a look of newness, when noth¬ 
ing else can restore them after washing. It is 
also good, much diluted, for thin white muslin 
and bobbinet.— National Free Press. 
How to Pass through Smoke. — In the 
course of an inquest in London, lately, Mr. 
Wakely, the coroner, observed that it would be 
well to acquaint the public with the fact, that if 
persons in a house on fire, had the presence of 
mind to apply a damp cloth or handkerchief to 
their mouth and nostrils, they could effect a 
passage through the densest smoke; but the 
surest way would be to envelop the head and 
face completely in the damp cloth. 
