For myself, I confess that I
think the coarsest comedy ever written would be a less detestable
exhibition for the eyes of youth and innocence than such a scene."
* * * * *
SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
THE COFFIN-MAKER.
The paper in the _New Monthly Magazine_, under this title, occupies a
sheet or sixteen pages, and is stated to be from the pen of the Hon. Mrs.
Norton. It is written in an almost breathless, and purposely hurried,
style, and the narrative of feelings and incidents flows with such
rapidity, that the reader is carried onward, _nolens volens, vi et verbis_
through the adventures. The writer is the son of a carpenter: his father
dies; unable to obtain any other employment, he obtains that of a
coffin-maker. His aversion to the trade, and the state of his feelings is
thus naturally described:
"The first few weeks of my employment passed pleasantly enough; my master
was satisfied with me, and on Sunday evenings I was able occasionally to
enjoy a walk. But my spirits soon became less buoyant, and even my health
began to suffer; I entirely lost the florid look which was my poor mother's
admiration; my very step grew slower, and there were Sundays when I
declined the evening walk, which had been my only recreation, merely
because the happy laugh and continued jests of (my friend) Henry Richards
annoyed and distressed me while contrasted with my own heaviness of heart.
Evening after evening, sometimes through a whole dismal night, I worked at
my melancholy employment; and as my master was poor, and employed no other
journey-man, I worked most commonly alone.
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