The Middlebury Register

HAWTHORNE'S LIFE OF GEN. PIERCE.—The Boston correspondent of N. Y. Herald (a good Democrat) makes the following criticism upon Hawthorne's Life of Gen. Pierce.

"As a book, the thing is of no possible account whatever, and is never mentioned except to be laughed at. A Democratic friend of mine says it has been read, continuously by only three persons, to wit: the author, the proof reader, and the hero: to which the answer is, that it was not written for the purpose of being read, and, therefore, should not be criticised as a literary performance. Yet it is the most successful book of the age, and in the matter of profit will beat even 'Uncle Tom' out of the field. I would, however, wager a trifle, that when Mr. Hawthorne comes to make a collection of his works, the biography of President Pierce will not be among them; and I would wager a very large amount—if I had it—that one hundred years hence, President Pierce will be held up as an enlightened patron of literature, because of the appointment of Mr. Hawthorne to the Liverpool Consulate. What a farce this life is—especially the political part of it."