THE OCTOROON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 300, 28 October 1864, Page 6

THE OCTOROON.

Zoi's JlrttHil. By llio Author of "Recommended to Mercy." In Threu Volumes. Chapman ami iluii. ZjOK Gokuo.v, (he heroine of tliis tale, is a beautiful Octoroon, the daughter of a planter in Louisiana, who is rich but reckless, mid whose estates turn out. to be deeply mortgaged. Zoe's brand is the mark of negro biood "which the fair girl carries upon her ten linker-nails. Although her fair mother shared her lather s home as a faitlifnl and well-loved wife, the tinge ol negro blood in her veil s had been a bar to lawful marriage. [She had been bought with her apparent husband's money, and though a gentle lady, bred to case, and treated to the last, with courtesy honour, she was in fact a slave, Zoe, in her Parisian school, did not know that, si ill less did she know that- she was her father's slave when she had happy holiday in Brittany with her schoolfellow I'auiinc, and made a great hole in the lieart of I'auliiie s clever and gentle brother, the Vieointe Alfred. '.the days in (he t'arisijui pfhsionuat, and the Breton holiday, are pleasantly and cleverly described l>y the writer ot llie story, who seems to have been among the Bretons, as she lias certainly been among the planters of the Mississippi valley. Having Mt'owu trom childhood into a rare beauty of maidenat the I:Yeneh school, Zoe was carried home by her lather, the planter, whose bland, courteous manner seemed to the exacting schoolmistress in the highest degree ariu inix ami well bit'd, yet who when alone with his daughter fell back into his natural stat" ol semi-civilization, showing the want of true refinement in his thoughts, and dropping into the oath-sprinkled language of familiar life bevond the herring-pond. Zoe returned with her father to Louisiana, hidden to keep to her state-room on board the steamer, but not (old that the insults consequent upon detection ol Iter " brand" were what her failicr feared, ller beauty, however, was by accident seen to great advantage during the passage by Mr. Charles Seymour, an ardent young bouth-. rner, born on an estate that lay near M r. 'oordon s, ami between Charles Seymour ami Zoe Brand, while the \ icoiute Alfred, of whose passion Zoe was unconscious, remained fullering in Europe, —tlicry grew up in the new world a luxuriant [Southern passion of love. At the hotel in Kew \oriv, lelt- in her room by her thoughtless father, Zoe was bidden alone to the table tl' h<>te by tin.' blunder ol an Irish servant who took 11 message lrum somebody else's father meant for somebody else. At the tt'l/c d' her beauty, a- she came in doubtlully, late ami alone, first drew all eves upon her. But when her father found her there the keen-eyed "Yankees were alive to her brand, and in coarse tumult resented the insult oifered them in lier companionship at table, inw I'aiily started in her tale, which proves to be a very interesting one, the authoress proceeds to show through it the results of her own .American experience. At tho root of her story is an English hatred of slavery, but she illustrates st rotigly the detestable feeling in the common mind ol the North against fellowship with any person against whom ' nigger ' kindred in the remotest degree can be proved, ami shows that the relations between black and white in the South, however radically evil, are 011 the suriace smoother and more tolerable. But in lier whole story, and its details, the great evil ol slavery is dwelt upon and illustrated. The most detestable person represented in the story is the vulgar trader upon slaveiy, uho plots to possess Zoe, and does bring her into a situation of the utmost peril, from which she is saved partly bv his drinking himself into ih-lii'i'tiii t n mt /<.v, partly bv her own act, partly by t he repentence of a mulatto maid, Angeliquc, who had played against her into the rascal's hand, but by a chance (Iced ol Zoe's was touched in one part ol htrluart that was left, warm, But while the coarse and cruel money-making Yankee is the detestable figure in the story, the detestable tiling is slaverv, as shown in t he degradation of Zoe's lather and the dishonour ol her mother, and Iter own posit ion, which is forcibly represcrted through unhacknied incidents. It is not. as a physical but as a moral evil that the author of Zoe s 'Brand ' represents the slave system in action, /is she doubts whether it answers as a matter ol niere.Cs. d. for exam pie : \ on say, L observed to my friendly host (Ibis was .Davenport .1 account of his famous discovery), that you possess two hundred and seventy ncroes— the value ol which, with your mules, your distilleries, and other pi-r.-onal properly, you estimate at two humlu'd thousand dollars ; added to this you have twenty thousand acres oi' hind, estimated at about thice dollars and a half an acre ; in all two hundred and seventy thousand dollais. One hundred and lifly-f'our " hands ' in work return you each year a profit ot eleven thousand dollars, which, without taking into account the eot of your animals' keep, the w ear and tear of mules and machinery, and of the ioss of your slaves by death, leaves an interest of lour per cent, on your capital. ,Now, with the mere juice of your property, lei us call it seventy thousand dollars, placed out ai safe interest in the Old VVorl t, or in the -North, you could realize a decidedly higher interest by one or two per cent, at least. And if you were to place these seventy thousand dollars in any regn'ar line ol commerce, adding to it as you do your time and labour, you would realize a pivlit inlinitely greater than that which you now obtain from your entire capital." Immediate emancipation would not, be a blessing, sucn is tin.' tenor of the occasional dialogues on tlie suoject introduced into the story, but the negroes eonid work out. their freedom, and in so doing learn to use it worthily, and continue their services as free labourers paid according to the quantity of work they do. 'i hough it deals with a momentous question of civilization, Zoe's 'Brand' is a story full of action, and we must not leave with our readers an impression that it is a disguised treatise on slavery. Here, then, is an example of the writer's" narrative power in 11 description of a boat race on the Mississippi : — Within a distame ot some fifty \arils, a toweriu" steamboat, of the same build, and apparently of about the same dimensions, as 'John U. Calhoun,' was 111:111 ng a mad race with that, majestic vessel by the light ot the broad May moon. A temporary madness seemed to have taken possession of every individual— man, woman, an.t child—oll board the boat ivliieh so lately had been lying still and silent as a painted vcssei in the ijtiiekly-i omiiig twilight. Beiore .-he had well got head-way again, after receiving on board the exhausted boat's itlW, with he apparently liteless body they had recovered from lie w.oer, the noise of approaching puddle-wheels .vas lu-ard in the distance ; ami soon—for tile speeil >f the advancing byat appeared to be prodigious—a argo vessel, which proved to bo a new one culled lie Mangoiia, shot ahead of the 'John C. Calhoun.' i\ow 111 e captain ot' that celebrated boat, was not a nan to take such an affront coolly, especially as there aid been a considerable amounL of chad' and banter •elweeii tin: two comiitandeis previous t,o the tunneling oi the 'Mangoiia.' lie was a smart. 111:111, wtis ,'aptaiu (irigg, fond of his liquor too, and a little ;iven to strung language. But the men liked him as . boon companion, and, moreover, be took care to let lis bar out to a '* gentleman" who thoroughly uudert.ooil his business, and gave them with a pleasant est their money's worth of alcohol. With the ladies, too, Captain Grigg was a prime nvourite, for lie was a bachelor with a " sparking-'' :ind of way with him ; and besides, he let them do irettv inueli as they liked 011 board, never interforiii" ,'ith their amusements, and losing his quarter dollars j them at " brag" or " poker" like a man. In any other country of the civilized world, it .'ould be but natural to suppose that the gentler pasangers on board the 'John C. C'alhoinn' would have een too much agitated by the late nearly tragical i-eurieuee to admit of their craving at that particular

juncture for any freßh excitement. Isot so, however, do the Transatlantic ladies yield to the amiable weaknesses incidental to their sex; and when the fair creature? in erinolino and muslin heard the challenge to tko fight, tlioy ranged themselves with one accord in order of battle, urging their gallant captain to stand iirm, and hold liis own against the bold 'Magnolia,' and lier new liigh-prcssurc engines. " Nothing loth was Captain Grigg lo accept tho challenge offered by the rival commander through his speaking trumpet from the hurricane-deck of the boastful steamer. The order loudly given to heap on fuel was gleefully obeyed, and soon tho 'John C. Calhoun' was almost doubling her former rate of speed. Tho male passengers, with brains heated hv incessant visits to the bar, became excitod to a pitch ol apparent insanity by the noise, and tlib speed with which the steamer tore her wfty upstream in her mad race against tile rival boat. On they went, side by side, i.carccly a yard to show in favour of oithei ; whilo bets ran high, and awl'ul language was hurled from tho lips of captain, crew, and passengers against the adventurous craft which dared to measure speed against the far-famed, and hitherto unconquered, Mississippi monarch. AVlien Zoe left her cabin, tho excitement was at its height. The water between the racing vessels was foaming wildly as if with rage tit this disturbance of its tranquil flow towards the ocean; whilo the tall funnels of eacli rushing vessel (blanched to a white hue by tho hunt of their tires) seemed bending to the race with life-like energy. To describe tho shouts, tho screams, the oaths of men, and the wild eyes and gestures of the women, would 1 e impossible ; and over all these shone, pale, calm, disdainful, the cold face of tho grand " lesserlight" set there to rule the night, but not tho ungodlike spirits let loose to cloud its glory. A few yards gained at hist! Grained by tho noble 'John C. Calhoun,' but at the expense of what - r Of every stick of fuel remaining in the wood-slied when the vain strife I commenced ! Then poured the curses forth in earnest, I and foul words, unmeet to sound in women's ears, thundered along the crowded decks. " Sling you to hell!" the captain shouted, " bring out the chairs and tables ! Burn up the niggers— cuss 'em—there'll bo fat and grease enough then to light a wick, if it was stuck in it." By the time ho had finished this original remark, a dozen hands at least had brought out from the saloon and helped to fling into the tire the first articles of furniture on which they could lay their hands. Then suddenly sprung up the fervent blaze opce more, and soon the gallant vessel rccoveied her lost ground, and even teemed to gain upon her adversary. " Thai's right, go ahead, 011 with 'em," screamed the captain ; for what was file loss of well-carved rose and satin wood, and what were upholsterer's bills, when honour was at slake, and glory to be gained or lost On they sped, the water surging from the paddlewheels, and every timber in the strong built boat seeming to groan beneath tho pressure put upon it. On they sped beneath that clear and ghost-like shimmer, anil so light and daylike was it that those on board (llie steamer having usurped the ' Magnolia's' s'altou nearest the river's bank) could, strange as it may seem, see the brilliantly scarlet Virginia nightingales hopping on the branches'near the stream. A quiet looking, middle-agod man, standing near the terrified Zoe, pointed out the birds to her. " As clear its inornin' about, ain't it now," he said. " iSeems all creation's liz, thinking it's daylight. Guess, though, we can't get along much farrer this way. She's an old boat is 'John C. Calhoun,' aud if her bilers don't bust right away, I'll"— But at tiiat moment the excitement became so intense that words were arrested 011 every lip, for they were within a dozen yards of the ' Magnolia,' and abreast ot her, the water dashed from eaeli separate paddle almost mingling in the space between them. * # £ * But almost beiore she had time to speak tho inward question, the steamer on the deck of which she stood hail shot ahead ; and while Zoe's eyes were still strained to obtain another glimpse of Seymour's face, the • Magnolia' suddenly, and to the unmitigated surprise of every one on beard (110 'John C. Calhoun,' suddenly stopped : llie shouts from her thronged decks were arrested as if by magic : and the smoke, which had a moment before issued in volumes from her over-heated funnels, cleared awav into tho soft night air, leaving the boastful vessel lying like a log upon the water. •' Guess she ain't- got no more wood aboard." " '[jpect she ain't mor'n a cord to take her on to next binding." " Calkilate they're a grain streaked aboard tonight." 'J licso and such-like sarcastic remarks on tlio sudden giving-in ol the rival boat were accompanied ai d diowncd indeed by yells of tiitirnph, with sounds scarcely human, intended to repr. sent the crowin" of cocks ;,nd Other pa'ans, wherewith to celebrate "the victory gained by the ' John C. Calhoun.' L.v Meue if Artiste.—The principal successes of the season had been unquestionably due to Mademoiselle l'iccolomini and Signer Giiiglini; both had worked" zealously and unremittingly to secure the foi tulles of the theatre. The spirit'and ardour of the " pet" never for one moment flagged. Yet she must have had much, with which to contend, both within and without the walls of the theatre. The Countess l'iccolomini, her mother, although born in a higher spiieic, was, iu all her connection with the sta"e°the veritable typo of the "hi.vv tl'Arllxtc." How' slio discouraged her spiightly and buoyant daughter by constant- grumblings, predicting that every new part she undeitouk would be a ''Jiusrn." How she harrassed tho management with complaints that her daughter was being worn to death by her exertions and over-fatigued. " Are you really so much laligtied r I once asked the " pet," in sympathy. " \\ ell, they teil me 1 am," answered the voun<* lady, with a jovous and ringing laugh. These pencil iamer.'.aiioiis were only to be met by pleasantry. '• t.M course- your daughter must be completely worn out, ' would be the piaylul answer ; " she is getting so miserably thin" (she" was as plump as a little partridge) ; "she is actually bent double" (she was bounding about the stage iike a young fawn). "She sang the ' Traviata' last night better than ever; whereas, when she first came, she sang with effort' forc ing her voice. Ot course, all that must be aceouMed for by excessive fatigue." But. Marietta was never happy except when she found herself upon tho stage. " 1 have a bard task between yon," I said to her, goed-huniouredly ; •• your mother complains that 1 make yen sing too much, and you that I make you su.g too little.' —Jtvuiiitincvuccs 'of the Opera, by Uatj'vrdut J.umle>/.