We all heartily thanked the old German for his narrative. Since the

Revolution, and the consequent impossibility of selling his machines in

Germany, he has come to Paris, and taken to portrait-painting once more.

His perseverance and endurance are untiring. His wife died long since, and

he is like a mother to his four girls;--all of whom are most industrious

and devoted. He still believes in his flying machine; but, for the sake of

his parental love, his hard-working head and fingers--for the sake of his

goodness of soul, his eccentricities, he must be forgiven for this

invincible credulity.

None can fail to admire the original dreamer when he is also a practical

worker; while few will be willing to patronize the mere visionary, who is

always thinking and never doing.

From Ainsworth's Magazine.

ART EXPRESSION.

"What is the highest degree of expression that art can delineate?" said

Piombino. "Sleep," replied the master, to the surprise of all present, not

excepting Leonardo. "I will explain," resumed Michael Angelo, "lest you

should have misapprehended me. When I say that sleep is the highest

expression that artist can put into form, I mean that it is the last and

crowning effort of art; that it is the figure surmounting the pyramid on

whose sides are prefigured life's many phases--all passion, emotion,

thought. And to elevate the idea to its highest limit, it is necessary to

depict it in youth--witness the Venus asleep--in order that man may feel

how turbulent a sea of life is calmed under its spell." "But would not

death itself express as much--a peace to the same passions, a peace more

lasting?" said Piombino. "No," said Michael Angelo, "the passions live in

sleep; are growing; in death they are at an end; hence in sleep the eye is

closed to hide the naked forms of passion that lie within; in death the eye

is open and sightless, a circumstance so effectually related in marble--a

material in which the open eye has a look of death united to

immortality."...

"But you have not told us," said Leonardo da Vinci, on observing that

Piombino was satisfied, "in what consists this long debated notion which we

call the fine ideal?" "By the fine ideal," said Michael Angelo. "I presume

we both understand not the work of art itself, but the conception out of

which it springs. Art is the exercise of an imitative faculty upon visible

things; but fine art is the transcendental idea entertained after the study

of nature, and transferred from the mind itself to the canvas or marble."

"How is that idea acquired?" asked Leonardo. "The study of unsophisticated

nature yields the ideal, or similitude of things seen; and this study,

impressing the recollection, affords in due time a conception of abstract

beauty itself to curious and sensitive minds." "By what process can such

conception be achieved?" "Alas! to make real progress in this enterprise

demands, on setting out, the possession of the finest faculties; powers so

transcendental as few are able to value. Such is, however, the prospect of

all who deserve success in the highest departments of knowledge." "Let us

suppose one to be thus endowed; what then?" "Well, let him go forth in a

genial mood and make himself master of the real; this done, he will have

observed the groupings of inanimate forms, and have learned nature's

failures and successes in giving features to the world. He will then ask

what each feature would express, whether it be not something spiritual

which lies deeper than the outer shape. Does the human face alone give

utterance through its lineaments to thought and feeling? are not those of

the landscape also pregnant with meaning?"

From the Paris Journal des Debats.

THE MEETING OF THE VEGETARIANS.

The Vegetarians lately held a meeting in London, under the presidency of

Mr. Brotherton, M.P. There were about 400 persons present; as many women as

men; a great many children, and a great many Quakers; and as in that

country people dine _a propos_ of everything, even when they only live on

vegetables, there was a banquet of Vegetarians. We have no need to say that

the flesh of all kinds of animals was rigorously excluded; the bill of fare

consequently could be neither so brilliant nor so full of variety as those

of Guildhall or the Hotel de Ville. These was only little pies of

mushrooms, toasted bread and parsley, rice cakes, _blanc mange_, cheese

tarts, and all sorts of pastry. The desert was composed of raspberries,

cherries, and preserves; the whole washed down with tea, milk, coffee, and

iced water. After dinner there naturally came speeches. It is probable,

from the bill of fare, that the speakers were in full possession of their

_sang froid_; they have then no excuse for making, and it is not permitted

for any one to make, after such dinners, such speeches as they delivered.

If a speech be inevitable in an English banquet, there is also something

inevitable in the speech, a quotation from the Bible. The Bible (we ask

pardon for the expression on account of the circumstance) is served up with

all sorts of sauce. The President of the Vegetarians, then, relied on the

verse in Genesis, in which it is said: "And God said--Behold, I have given

you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and

every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall

be for meat." That is very good, but something else is to be found in the

Bible; and if the Vegetarians quote to us the 29th verse of the first

chapter of Genesis, we may answer them with the 28th, in which God, after

having created man and woman, said: "Be fruitful and multiply, and

replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the

sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth

upon the earth!" So much for the theological part of the question; but

there remains the political part, that of economy and health. In a

political point of view, the Vegetarians place their panacea above all

others; according to them, society will not be regenerated until all men

shall live on parsley and tapioca: "Passing in review," says the report,

"all the plans of social reform, the Peace Congress, popular education,

&c.," the chairman expressed the opinion that none of these plans attack

the root of the evil, and that a reform in eating and drinking should

precede all others, "For," said he, "a man who, from conscientious motives,

shall abstain from the slaughter of animals, will not be guilty of murder

of his fellow creatures." As to the economic part of the question, the

Vegetarians are decided free-traders, decided partisans of direct exchange.

"It has been proved," said the chairman, "that the nutritious quality of

animals is derived from vegetables, and, consequently, men take their good

second-hand." The Vegetarians declare then for the abolition of

intermediaries and for direct consumption. As for health, the advantages of

the vegetable system are presented to us under the most encouraging colors.

Thus, the East Indians, the porters of Cairo and Constantinople, and in

general a great part of the Orientals, never eat meat, and yet they are the

finest types of the human race. The Russians eat black wheat, the Scotch

oats, and they are very industrious laborers. To this it may be answered,

that if the Orientals eat little or no flesh, it is probably for them an

affair of temperature as well as of temperament; that the conditions of

health are not the same in all countries; that if the peasants of the North

do not eat meat, it is probably because they cannot get it; if the English

army were fed on rice, oats, and milk, instead of roast beef and beer, we

should be curious to know the results of the _regime_. But that does not

prevent men from being in good health by indulging in an enormous

consumption of parsley; that herb is only fatal to parrots. The chairman of

the Vegetarians, Mr. Brotherton, is a living proof of it. For forty two

years he has followed the vegetable _regime_, and he affirms that it suits

him. There was also in the meeting an American, who came expressly all the

way from Philadelphia, and who had belonged to the fraternity for forty

years. He declared that he enjoyed the best health, that he had five

children, all well, that his children had married vegetarians, that he had

twenty-one grandchildren, who could never be made to taste meat. There is

in the society _one_ member of parliament, and, we may perceive sometimes,

that the others do not live on raspberries and cream; there is a

magistrate, before whom there will be no necessity of appealing to Philip

Sober; there is an alderman, and we hope that he was not the other day at

the Hotel de Ville; there are 21 medical men, but they are there for the

sake of experiment; there are ten members of the clergy, but that is not

many; there are ten literary men--alas! it is, perhaps, not their fault!

And there are 50 lawyers, 26 merchants, 11 fundholders, 871 workmen--in all

718, of whom 513 are men, and 205 female. We remember having seen at Paris

an Englishman who made a very large fortune by selling pills entirely

composed of extracts of vegetables. A caricature once represented his

patients in full flower, that is covered with carrots, turnips, and

potatoes, proving the success of the medicine. Perhaps we shall see it

proved that it is forbidden to men to eat animals, and we do not despair of

seeing it proved that it is permitted to animals to eat men.

_Authors and Books._

The magazine literature of Germany is quite different from ours, a fact

which generally speaking is not to its discredit. Indeed there are several

periodicals in Germany which may be compared with the best English

magazines for their varied excellence, while their cost is comparatively

trifling. Among these are the _Deutsche Monatschrift_, a republican

monthly, edited by ADOLF KOLATSCHECK, and published at Stuttgart; and the

_Grenzboten_, a weekly, of conservative and constitutional opinions, edited

by GUSTAV FREYTAG, and JULIAN SCHMIDT, and published at Leipzig. The

American reader of these two periodicals, will have an excellent

apprehension of the general scope and tendencies of current thought in

Germany, as well as some knowledge of the new books as they make their

appearance. Those who wish a convenient and cheap mode of becoming

acquainted with the productions of German novelists, may find it in the

_Illustrirtes Familienbuch_, (Illustrated Family Book), published monthly

at Treves. This is mainly made up of romances by the best writers of the

day; there is also a department for artistic criticism, but it is not very

good. The engravings are tolerable.

* * * * *

German Poets are prolific just now. Mr. HOPPL has brought out a volume at

Stuttgart, full of suppressed tears and melancholy miseries. He is unloved

and unappreciated, and must, therefore, have a bad time in this dreary and

woeful world. Of a similar strain is the second edition of CARL AUGUST

LEBRET'S _Gedichte_, likewise published at Stuttgart; if anything he is

more pitiable and stupid than Hoppl. ADOLPH GLASSBRENNER, of Berlin, serves

up poems of another sort, in his freshly printed third edition. He is known

to every reader of current German literature as a comic writer of no small

ability, and these poems prove his talent. They are mostly political in

their tendency, and are good of their kind. _Dunkles Laub_ (Dark Leaves) is

a youthful poem of Mr. _Frederik Ruperti_, published at Bremen. It recounts

the awful experiences, and spiritual and other struggles of the author's

youth. He suffers especially from an unhappy passion, and is apparently

convinced that the man never lived who endured so much. Still, he shows

great poetic ability, and now that his youth is disposed of something may

be hoped from him.

* * * * *

FREILIGRATH, the German poet, is the subject of a searching, yet mildly

expressed criticism, in that excellent periodical, the _Grenzboten_, of

Leipzig. The writer finds that he is superficial in feeling, without a

genuine sense of poetic melody, and not remarkable for mental power.

* * * * *

A tenth edition of BROCKHAUS'S _Conversations-Lexicon_ is now passing

through the press. The first edition was published in 1796. Of the fifth

edition, which appeared in 1818, 32,000 copies were sold; of the seventh

(1826) 27,000; of the eighth (1832) 31,000; of the ninth (1843) 30,000. The

supplementary works issued between the editions, and devoted to current

matters, have also had a large sale. Of _the Conversations-Lexicon der

Neuesten Zeit und Literatur_, (4 vols. 1832-34) 27,000 copies were sold; of

the _Conversations-Lexicon der Gegenwart_ (4 vols. 1838-1841) 18,000; and

the _Gegenwart_ which is now appearing is also sold largely. The new

edition promises to be written in the same spirit of moderation and

liberalism as its predecessors, but if the articles of the _Gegenwart_

afford an indication, it will be more "progressive" and radical, and less

careful to satisfy all parties.

* * * * *

An excellent German critic says of the preface to LAMARTINE'S _History of

the Restoration_, that it is as coquettish as everything in the historic

way that has come from Lamartine's pen of late years. He coquets with the

conflict of his own understanding and sentiments. His heart still beats for

the ancient dynasty; his mind decides for the republic--a very serious

state of things, not only for a statesman, who is called to share in the

immediate development of affairs, and who can never arrive at unity of

action, as long as feeling and reflection impel him to different courses,

but also for the historian. Lamartine, says the writer, is a remarkable

example of that mixture which is often found among the French, of fantastic

sentimentality, and frivolous, superficial reflection. He is especially

remarkable, because he has converted this mixture, of which in most cases,

the person is unconscious, into a sort of system, and justifies it

accordingly. The understanding says Yes, the heart says No, but both speak

vivaciously and clearly, showing that he has them both in a high degree.

This consoles him for the want of harmony between the two; he never thinks

that in such harmony the reality of both consists.

* * * * *

ROBERT PRUTZ, the well-known German historian, has just made his appearance

as a novelist with a romance in three parts, called _Das Engelchen_ (The

Little Angel). A large portion of it has been previously published in the

_Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_, where it has excited a profound interest.

From the author's previous achievements as a lyric and dramatic poet, his

success in this new sphere is only what was to be expected. The Little

Angel is a novel of modern society.

* * * * *

_Zwrei Monate in Paris_ (Two Months in Paris), by ADOLPHE STAHR, is

published by Schulze in Oldenburg. Lest our readers should infer from the

name of the author that this is a political work of solid character, we

subjoin the following remark by a German reviewer, "Written in a light,

easy, careless vein, this work helps to augment the already colossal pile

of books relating to Paris, but is by no means such as we should have

expected from the representative of the Prussian revolution. Nay, it has

been already surpassed by two recent and similar productions--the one by a

lady, a little art-criticism, a little literature, a few theatrical items,

a _bal mabille_, a visit to Heine, and the sketch of a meeting of workmen,

with their songs, all written in that tolerably piquant, lively style, with

which we have however of late been surfeited, form a book, agreeable

enough, it is true, but not such as we should, in these earnest, serious

times, have expected from such a writer." The American reader may however

draw a very different conclusion from that of this "earnest and serious

reviewer."

* * * * *

The last lesson usually taken by the student of ancient art is that in

gems--cameos, intaglios, and the like--a fact the more surprising since

nine-tenths of the spirit of classic life and beauty is thus extant in

miniature. The Venus di Medicis and the Apollo Belvidere, the Parthenon and

the Temple of the Winds--every variety of mosaic, and half-obliterated

scrap of fresco are familiar to the dilettante, ere he reflects over the

incredible grace, beauty, and spirit displayed in the exquisite design of

nearly every classic gem. Those, however, who have learned to appreciate

this department of ancient art, will welcome the appearance of KOHLER'S

_Gesammelte Schriften_, (and the collected essays of H. K. E. KOHLER),

forming the best work known on this subject. In it we find, treated in a

masterly manner, all the intricate methods of judging of ancient gems with

modern inscriptions, gems of an uncertain era, and modern imitations of

ancient cutting. The "darker side" of the work consists of violent and

unmerited attacks on rival writers. Published by Leopold Vossin, Leipzig.

* * * * *

Among the cheapest and most attractive books for children which we have met

with are the recently published _Munich Bilderbuecher_, or picture-books,

consisting of thin folios of all manner of neatly-designed fancies, many of

them by eminent artists. They contain fairy tales, humorous sketches,

historical illustrations, and a vast number of pictures in the well-known

_Slovenly Peter_ style, but far more attractive. Many are colored, and the

publisher has judiciously printed a number on thick, parchment-like paper,

well adapted to withstand the wear and tear of the nursery.

* * * * *

Books are no longer written in Latin. For literature and learning that good

old language has finally given way, in almost every country, during the

present century. In the United States there have been produced some fifty

volumes in Latin since the Revolution, nearly all of which are by

foreigners. The Life of Washington, by Francis Glass, a western

schoolmaster, is the most considerable contribution to Latin literature by

a native American. In Europe only a few pedantic churchmen continue to

write to dead nations, and it is perhaps well enough that they should do

so, since scarce any of them have fit thoughts for the living age, or for

tongues that have been used by free and thinking men. We find an exception

to the prevailing law in _De Caroli Timothei Zumptii Vita et Studiis

Narratio August. Wilh. Zumptii_. Every body is familiar with the name of

Zumpt as that of one of the most learned Latinists of the last half

century, and it is appropriate that his life should be written in a

language to the study and illustration of which it was almost entirely

devoted. The Lives of Hemsterhuys by Ruhnken, of Ruhnken by Wyttenbach, and

of Wyttenbach by Mahne, have long been the delight of scholars, and have

furnished some of the best specimens of modern Latinity. Zumpt will not

take rank among philologers with these great lights of the eighteenth

century, but he rendered services to learning which will deserve a

memorial, and in moral qualities he was not inferior to any of them. He

became in succession a teacher in other Gymnasia in Berlin, and ultimately

Professor of History in the Military College, and of Latin Eloquence in the

University. He published the first edition of his celebrated _Grammar_ in

1818, and it soon became known throughout the civilized world. Of his other

publications the most considerate is his edition of the _Verrine Orations

of Cicero_; his _Dissertations on the Population of the Ancient World, De

Legibus Judiciisque Repetundarum_, and several others, show that he was

well versed in antiquities, but grammar, criticism, and style were his

proper field. Wolf pronounced himself and Zumpt the only men in Berlin who

could write Latin. His incessant labors undermined his constitution, and

brought on a premature decay; and for some time before his death he had

become entirely blind. He died at Carlsbad in 1849.

* * * * *

A third edition of THIBAUT'S well-known work, _Uber Reinheit der Tonkunst_,

with a preface by the Minister R. Bahr, and a portrait of Palestrina, has

just made its appearance, from the establishment of the well-known

publisher Mohr, of Heidelberg.

* * * * *

A new course of _Proces Celebres_ is to be published by Brockhaus, of

Leipsic. Number one contains the _Proces du Comte et de la Comtesse

Bocarme_.

* * * * *

_Remak Rob. Untersuchungen ueber d. Enturckelung der Wirbelthiere_, Berlin,

1851. All who are interested in theories of the development of organic life

will welcome the appearance of this work, which has been received with

cordial approbation by the most eminent German physiologists. This second

volume is devoted to the development of "the chicken in the egg," and is

illustrated with seven admirable copper-plates. Notwithstanding the

researches of Everard Horne, Ratke, and others into this department, this

work of Remak's is distinguished by an even more accurate and detailed

examination of phenomena, and it may confidently be classed among the first

of the age. This is the opinion of _The Centralblatt_. The engravings are

by Haase. This Robert Remak is the brother of Gustav Remak, an eminent

German lawyer in Philadelphia.

* * * * *

In the _Archives for the Study of Modern Languages and Literature_ we

observe a paper by one G. JAP, entitled, _Why does the English Language, in

its acquisition and combination of new words, rather incline to the classic

tongues than the copious and flexible German element?_ To which we may

answer, "Alas, _why_, indeed?" Why is not the study of the Saxon Testament

generally introduced? and why are not school-boys familiarized with the

older forms of our own language--as they are in Germany made to study the

Neibelungen Lied, and Wackernagel's Reader? We can imagine no argument in

favor of a study of Greek which might not be with equal force applied to

Saxon and good _old_ English.

* * * * *

A work has recently appeared in Breslan bearing the title, _The Higher

Classes, as they are, and as they should be_, by Count ARNIM BLUMBERG:

_written in the month of February, 1851_. That the aristocracy of Germany

at the present day are far from being the practical philanthropists which

they should be is beyond a doubt, but that they will become such by

inspiring them with piety, in the unfortunate, melancholy sense in which

that word is generally taken at the present day on the continent, is still

more doubtful. _Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the

Lord_, is piety in America--something contrasting remarkably with the

mystical and world-renouncing _pietismus_ of modern Germany.

* * * * *

A second "completely renewed and greatly increased" edition of BERTHOLD

AUERBACH'S _Deutsche Abende_, or German Evenings, has been published by

Bassorman, of Mannheim. Auerbach is in this country rapidly attaining the

popularity which was held a few years since by Zschokke. Apropos of the

latter, we remark a neat and very cheap edition of all his works, now

publishing by Sauerlaender, of Aarau.

* * * * *

One of the most important architectural works which has ever made its

appearance is now being published by Meissner, of Hamburg, bearing the

title _Denkmaler der Bankunst aller Zeiten und Lander_ (Monuments of the

Architecture of every Era and Country), by JULES GAILHABAND, and published

for Germany under care and contribution of Dr. Franz Kugler. The literary

and artistic excellence of the original work is too well known to render

description necessary, and its improvement is guaranteed from its being

under the care of Kugler, who is perhaps better qualified, aesthetically,

for such a task, than any German, or indeed any one living. The 197 and 198

_livraisons_ which now appear, contain engravings of the Chateau Chambord

in France, the Mosque of Hassan in Cairo, the Temple of Gerschen in Nubia,

the Baths of Caracalla, sketches of bridges of the middle ages, the Palace

of Strozzi, and many others. In connection with this we may mention the

_Entwurfez Land-und. Stadt Gebauden_, or Sketches for Domestic Architecture

by F. W. HOLZ, a work which may be commended as _suggestive_ rather than

practical, but still on that very account to be commended to young

architects desirous of developing their creative powers.

* * * * *

Without wishing to render aught save honor to all who diligently pursue the

minutest departments of science, we are still at times reminded, by

occasional works, of the professor who was honored as one inspired by "a

full German blood and a Fatherland's spirit," for a book--the result of

thirty years' unwearied application--on bigamy and polygamy among

grasshoppers. We are irresistibly reminded of this anecdote by a

"preliminary notice" of some thirty odd years' observations of "certain

varieties of thrushes," which are shortly to appear in an ornithological

magazine at Stuttgart.

* * * * *

Among a mass of Lutheran Church literature recently published in Germany,

we observe VOGEL ERNST GUST'S _Bibliotheca Biographica Lutherana, Ubersicht

der zedruckten Dr. Martin Luther betreffenden biograph. Schriften, id est_,

(Gustavus Ernst Vogel's Biographical Lutheran Library: a notice of all the

printed works extant referring to the life of Dr. Martin Luther.) This work

will be found extremely interesting to all readers of the History of the

Reformation, since it embraces notices of many important works which might

otherwise escape attention.

* * * * *

A work interesting to those who like to follow out the different political

trains of thought developed in these "working" times, has recently been

published by Rumpfer of Hanover, bearing the title. _The Excellence of a

Constitutional Monarchy for England, and its inapplicability to the other

countries of Europe_.

* * * * *

The German critics notice an increased interest in what relates to Art and

Literature in the Middle Ages. Among other singular but interesting works,

we observe the commencement of a series of "Manufacturing or Trade

Chronicles" of that time, containing "researches into the mediaeval sources

and archives of many German cities, and consisting of items never before

printed," published at St. Gall, in Switzerland, by Scheitlin and

Zollikoffer. As Switzerland is eminently the country wherein the ancient

_guilds_, or business associations of the Middle Ages, have longest

continued in their original form, we may remark a peculiar appropriateness

in the fact that such a work should there make its first appearance. This

volume consists of _The Chronicles of the honorable Association of

Butchers_. Also, the publication of a manuscript, _Thetmari magistri, iter

ad Terram Sanctum_, 1217, (Thetmar's Journey to the Holy Land, in 1217,) by

Huber & Co., of St. Gall: edited by T. TOBLER. With which we would cite

_Koninc Ermenrikes Duet_. The death of King Ermenrich, an old Flemish Song

and Legend of Theodoric, discovered with notes, by Jac. Grimm, Hanover:

pub. by Ehlerman, price 15s. groschen. This work, which we have as yet not

seen, has, however, been spoken of in terms of high praise, as "although in

many places wanting, still excellent, as giving yet another glance into the

rich vein of German Legendary, and Lyrical Life." Fault is, however, found

with the publisher for a want of precision and accuracy. CONRAD SCHWENCK

publishes through SAUNERLANDER, a "_Mythology of the Ancient German_" while

the "_Origin of the three oldest cities on the Rhine_," namely, Mayence,

Bonn, and Cologne, by Franz Ritter, is not without claims to interest.

* * * * *

One of the most exquisite artistic literary productions which has for years

appeared in Germany, is that which has lately been published by RUDOLPH

BESSER, of Hamburg, bearing the title, _Dr. Martin Luther, der Deutsche

Reformator: In bildlichen Darstellunzen von Gustav Koenig; in

geschichtlichen Umrissen von Heinrich Gelzer_. (Dr. Martin Luther, the

German reformer: artistically illustrated by Gustavus Koenig, with

historical sketches, by Henry Gelzer.) This is one of the works of which

Protestant Germany may well feel proud, inasmuch as it has in every line

the impress and spirit of national art. The entire work sets forth the

artistic feeling which characterized the Nuremberg artists of the sixteenth

century, and we are continually and irresistibly reminded, in turning over

these exquisite engravings, of Albert Duerer, Cranach Wohlgemuth and Hans

Sebald Beham. The work consists in a great part of short sketches and

scenes from the life of Luther, illustrated, as the title implies, by the

eminent artist Koenig, who, though an artist of Munich, is by birth a

Coburger. From Munich he has, however, drawn all the learning and

inspiration of the middle age and high Catholic art, the which knowledge he

has however admirably and consistently applied to an eminently Protestant

subject. Peculiarly in the modernised Duerer style, is one of the first

engravings representing Luther as a boy singing for bread, (as is even yet

the custom in some parts of Germany,) before the door of a house. Luther

gives himself a naive account of this: "They say, (quoth Luther,) and

truly, that the Pope himself hath been in his time a wandering student,

therefore let us not despise the lads who beg before the doors '_panem

propter Deum_', and sing for bread. Such an one have I also been, and

received bread before the doors of houses, particularly at Eisenach, in

mine own dear town." Very animated and expressive is also the scene

representing Luther as accidentally coming upon a copy of the Bible for the

first time in the University Library. In his left hand he holds a massy

folio Aristotle, and near him lie tomes of scholastic philosophy and

theology, while his eye with the rapid glance of intelligence and

conviction peruses the history of _Anna_. This is in short a work which

every patron of art will certainly obtain, nor will it prove less

acceptable to the scholar and theologian from the graphic and excellent

character of the literary matter.

* * * * *

_Deutsches Volkskalender auf das Jahr_, 1852. _Herausg, von Gustav.

Nientz._ There are two works, which, generally speaking, are found in every

Christian family--the Bible and--the almanac. The Almanac has in fact the

greater antiquity of the twain, for in the remote East, as in Norway, it

was universally published "for the million," on blocks of wood or stone, or

on walking-canes, even in the days of paganism. And since it _is_ so

generally distributed, would it not be well for some of our higher literati

to take the matter in hand, and make it a medium for something better than

criminal trials, quack advertisements, and similar subjects? This of

Nieritz is well gotten up, and contains excellent contributions from Jer.

Gotthelf, Karl Barth, A. Wildenhahn, Karl Simrock, and A. Grube. The best

in the collection appears to be _The Broom-maker of Rychiswyl_, by

Gotthelf. All of the engravings are admirable, and the work is published

for "next to nothing."

* * * * *

An _Austrian Biographical Dictionary_ is now publishing, by Moritz Bermann,

at Vienna; useful to students of history and politics.

* * * * *

In SWEDEN, is the title of two volumes of _Sketches of Travel_, by HANS

CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, just published at Leipzic. They are replete with all

the poetic charm and genial humor which his pen imparts to every subject it

touches.

* * * * *

HENRICH ZEISE is a Danish novelist with whose works we have in this country

no acquaintance, but who has just been introduced to the Germans by a

translation into their language of his _Novels of Christian Winther_, which

are praised by the critics as not only well written, but as affording an

excellent idea of Danish social life. Zeise is the son of a country parson

of Lolland; was born in 1796; and first distinguished himself by his

fugitive poems, which in 1820 were collected in a volume. He travelled in

Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and in 1832 published a collection of

translations from the German poets and other writers. In 1835, he brought

out a second series of his own poems, in which he abandoned to a great

degree his previous popular style, and put on the manners of fashionable

society. This was not a successful experiment. His novels are more recent;

the best, _Osterie_, was published in 1843. In 1849 he translated _Reinecke

Fuchs_ into Danish, preserving the original metre. He now has a pension

from government, and lives at Copenhagen.

* * * * *

TEGNER, the great Swedish poet, is known to American and English readers

through _Frithiof's Saga_ and Longfellow's translations of his _Children of

the Lord's Supper_. A German version of his more recent writings is now

making its appearance at Leipzic. The first number contains _Gerda_, a

fragment of an unfinished heroic poem which is spoken of as very admirable,

and a few little comic poems which are said to be charming. Adam and Eve

figure in one of these.

* * * * *

HEINRICH VON ORTENBURG has published a second edition of his poetical tale,

entitled _Nachtbluthen_--Night-blooms, or Night-flowers--and JOHN G. SEIDE,

the Viennese, an increased edition of _The Songs of the Night_. The two

will serve to bind up with _Voices of the Night_--though perhaps there

_are_ German or Sclavonic poems that would better serve this purpose.

* * * * *

_Bomische Rosen, Czechische Volkslieder_ (Bohemian Roses, or National

Songs), by IDA VON DURINGSFELD, and published by Kern, of Breslau, will

undoubtedly attract the attention of the rapidly increasing circle of

friends of Sclavonic literature. Also Sketches of Travel, by the same

authoress, published by Schlodtmann, of Bremen.

* * * * *

An edition of _Hoffman von Fallersleben's Heimatklange_, or Regrets for

Home, a collection of songs, has just made its appearance. Apropos of

ultra-liberal political bards, we see that FRELIGRATH publishes the second

volume of _Neuere Polit und Sociale Gedichte_, or Recent Political and

Social Poems, by Schaub, of Duesseldorf. Freligrath's reputation as a poet

appears to have much advantage from his persecution as a patriot.

* * * * *

The Italians were surprised lately by the announcement that the ex-minister

GUERRAZZI, who is in prison awaiting trial for high treason, was about to

publish _An Apology for his Political Life_, and that sheets of this

Apology are from time to time forwarded to Signor Lami, Minister of Greece

and Justice, who revises them, when they are returned to Guerrazzi for

final correction. It seems incredible--altogether inconsistent with Italian

policy--that a state prisoner should thus be suffered to pre-occupy the

public mind with his defence. But the ministerial paper of the 8th of

August indiscreetly solved the mystery with the following notice:

"The publisher, Lemonnier, at Florence, is now printing, and

will shortly publish a thick volume, containing 'The Apology

for the Political Life of Guerrazzi,' written by himself.

The announcement of this publication, is of a nature to

excite great curiosity; it will at the same time be a

thunderbolt to the Neo-Moderati, and the most conclusive

condemnation of their acts during the period Guerrazzi was

in power. Guerrazzi therein unpitifully and ably scourges

their political weaknesses, and their _portefeuille_

rivalries, which obliged the Grand Duke in the end to throw

himself into the arms of the democratic party. This book of

Guerrazzi's will be a peremptory reply to the

proudly-compiled apology of the Italian Constitutional

party, published by Messrs. Gualterio and Farini, and

especially to the base and calumnious imputations, directed

by the latter against our excellent and loyal Grand Duke, in

the recently published third volume of his work. Not only

will the Constitutionalists be denounced in the book of

Guerrazzi, but the intrigues of the Piedmontese Government

with regard to Tuscany will be exposed, as likewise those of

Sir G. Hamilton, British ambassador at Florence."

This certifies the publication to be a bargain between Guerrazzi and the

Tuscan Ministry to give vent to their hatred of the Constitutional party

and of Piedmont. Guerrazzi writes in prison, from prison sends to the

printers, and the Minister acts as reviser. It is really an odd thing--but

characteristic of Italian affairs, perhaps,--for a disgraced and impeached

minister to buy his life by turning "States' Evidence." In better days such

results were for rascals of a lower grade.

* * * * *

F. A. GUALTERIO brings out an account of the late Italian

revolution--_Gliultimi Rivolgimenti Italiani, Memorie Storiche, con

Documenti inediti_--the first part of which, in three large octavo volumes,

only comes down to the accession of Pius IX. to the Pontificate. The work

is published in Florence, and has made considerable sensation, especially

in Tuscany and Piedmont. The publications on the subject that appear in

Italy are of course all on one side. The other side is represented by a

party, or by several parties, who are in exile, and the number of books

published on Italy and Italian affairs, in London and in Paris, is very

great: more than a hundred during the last year.

* * * * *

In Berlin we observe that Sigismund Wiese, the author of two pious plays,

entitled respectively _Moses_ and _Jesus of Nazareth_, has put forth

another pair of similar dramatic productions, bearing the names of the

_Apostle Peter_, and _The Apostle Paul_. Whether this be a retrograde

movement toward the ancient Bible mysteries of the middle ages, or whether

the theatre in Berlin (as we should infer from certain recent curious works

and movements) is actually undergoing a spiritual renovation, we have not

as yet ascertained.

* * * * *

A work called _Essai de Socialisme Rationnel_, by M. COLINS, has appeared

at Paris, where it is exciting some attention. It is dedicated to Emile de

Girardin, though in the dedication the author declares his complete dissent

from the doctrines of that eminent journalist. M. Anatole Leroy is

reviewing it in a series of articles in _La Presse_. The motto of M. Colins

is this: "What I understand by socialism is the abolition of all pauperism,

whether moral relating to knowledge, or material relating to riches. I

affirm that this socialism has become necessary to order, and that it can

be established without disorder."

* * * * *

Pleasant reading is there in the _Memoires Pittoresques d'un Officier de

Marine_, just published at Paris in two handsome octavos, with the name of

Captain F. LACONTE as their author. The French in general are not great

travellers, but the best narrators in the world. Our Captain adds to the

reputation of his people in both respects. He tells the story of his

adventures and experiences in out-of-the-way parts of the world with a

gayety and _laissez-aller_ which charm the reader. For the rest, what he

saw in the South Sea, in Russia, in Turkey, at Madagascar, was well worth

the telling in such a style. When he prints another book we hope to hear of

it.

* * * * *

A book which our students of belles-lettres should have is M. de la

VILLEMARQUE'S _Poemes des Bardes Bretons du VIe Siecle_. It is an

excellent proof of the thorough study now devoted to the early popular

literature of France, whose richness, by the way, is not much suspected by

the elegant scholars of other countries. M. de la Villemarque has treated

his subject with equal conscientiousness and affection. He gives abundant

specimens of the songs of the bards in the form of translations from the

original Celtic into French. The work is concluded by some philological

disquisitions of value to whoever wishes to study the Celtic tongue.

* * * * *

M. PERRYMOND, one of the most intelligent and learned staticians of France,

has published a reply to Thiers's Report on Paupers and Public Charity: the

title of PERRYMOND'S work is _Le Pain du Proletaire, ou le Commerce des

Peuples_. It is socialistic.

* * * * *

The political and social theory of Mazzini, and especially his doctrine

that the idea of duty, with the utter subjection of the individual to the

general interest, is the sole base for society and government, is the

subject of some vigorous and unmerciful essays in the _Journal des Debats_,

by Alexandre Thomas.

* * * * *

A late number of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, has an article by M.

TAILLANDIER, on the Swiss popular poets, in which they are duly praised,

and considerable extracts given from their writings. M. Taillandier thinks,

however, that Switzerland is in serious danger of moral and mental

corruption from the inroads of the Hegelian philosophy.

* * * * *

Those who wish in the briefest space to get an idea of the philosophical

system of AUGUSTE COMTE, will find a valuable aid in some articles by M.

ROMAIN CORNUT, now published in _La Presse_. M. Cornut proposes to give a

succinct yet complete summary of all the teachings of the great Positivist.

* * * * *

A work has just begun to appear at Paris, which must excite the attention

of every student of history, and claim a place in every library that

pretends to any degree of completeness. It is a collection of the speeches

and parliamentary reports of the principal French orators from 1789 to the

present day. The first volume is published containing the speeches of

MIRABEAU, with a biography and a great variety of critical notices of the

great revolutionist and his career. The speeches of Robespierre will appear

promptly, as well as those of Bussot, Vergniaud, Danton, Maury, Cazalles,

&c. The price is seven francs the volume.

* * * * *

We have mentioned with the praise which we believe it deserved, the

_History of the Protestants of France_, by G. S. FELICE, lately published

by Mr. Walker. This work was simultaneously translated, by the author of

Mr. Walker's version, and by a very accomplished woman whose labors that

version made profitless. On the same subject we have from Lea & Blanchard,

of Philadelphia, in two volumes, a _History of the Protestant Reformation

in France_, by Mrs. MARSH, the authoress of "Emily Wyndham," &c. This work

will be popular. Several years ago we read a _History of the Reformed

Religion in France_, by Mr. SMEDLEY, published by the Harpers, who still,

we believe, have it on their trade lists. It is quite as eloquently

written, as dramatic, and in all respects as able as either of the others;

and any of the three may be commended as not less engrossing than the last

new novel.

* * * * *

The library of the poet Gray, which had been kept together in the family of

William Penn, was at length scattered by a sale at auction, in London, on

the 26th of August.

* * * * *

When M. GUIZOT, many years ago, published his "Collection of Memoirs

relating to the History of the Revolution in England," in twenty-seven

volumes, he added to that great work biographical sketches of the various

authors whose works he had translated. Those biographical studies,

carefully revised and corrected, with some that he had contributed to

dictionaries, and others entirely new, are now collected into a volume of

_Bohn's Library_ (New-York, Bangs & Brother), and, with the memoirs of

General Monk, constitute a sort of gallery of portraits, in which

personages of the most different characters appear in contrast--chiefs or

champions of sects or parties, Parliamentarians, Cavaliers, Republicans,

and Levellers, who, either at the termination of the political conflicts in

which they were engaged, or when in retirement towards the close of their

lives, described themselves, their own times, and the parts they played

therein. M. Guizot has written the History of the English Revolution in

these lives of the Revolutionists; for _all_ parties were revolutionary in

those days--the Cavaliers by their denial of right no less than the

Parliamentarians by their assertion of it. The studies are of Denzil

Hollis, Edmund Ludlow, Thomas May, Sir P. Warwick, John Lilburne, Fairfax,

Mr. Hutchinson, Sir Thomas Herbert, John Price, Lord Clarendon, Burnet, the

Duke of Buckingham, Sir John Reresby, with notices of the _Eikon Basilike_,

&c, and Memoirs of James II.--a sufficient variety to enable the author to

exhibit all the facettes of the diamond.

* * * * *

At the distribution of prizes awarded to pupils in the various colleges of

Paris, three or four weeks ago, the new Superior Council of Public

Instruction, including MM. Thenard, Giraud, Daniel-Poinsot, and Ortila,

attended officially at the Sorbornne: they were placed behind the Minister

of Public Instruction, beside whom were M. Portalis, President of the Court

of Cassation, and M. Saint-Marc Girardin, Secretary of the Council. The

other members of the Council who assisted the Minister were M. Dupin,

President of the National Assembly; M. Laplagne-Barras, wearing the

magnificent dress of the superior officers of the Court of Cassation;

Cardinal Gousset, seated, wearing the scarlet robe and hat of his office,

&c. But the real hero of the solemnity was GUIZOT, who, on his entrance

into the hall to resume his ancient place among the professors, was greeted

with loud acclamations and the most respectful salutations, which were

repeated still more warmly when the name of his son, William Guizot, was

pronounced as of one of the prizemen.

* * * * *

A new novel, in two volumes, by EUGENE SUE, with the title of _Miss Mary;_

a tale by HENRI MURGER, called _Claude et Marianne_; and volumes iv. and v.

of _Ange Pitou_, by ALEXANDER DUMAS, have just appeared in Paris.

* * * * *

The witty feuilletoniste, JULES JANIN, has published in a volume the

letters he wrote from London during the Great Exhibition to the _Journal

des Debats_. J. J., as everybody knows, is the most delightful journalist

of art and society in the world, and all Paris anticipates the articles

under his signature as a principal part of each day's satisfaction. Apropos

of this new book of his, the London _Morning Chronicle_ says, "From the

first line to the last, he has rioted in his own peculiar style--laughed,

cried, sung, danced, in the same, and almost in every breath--jumped about

in one page like a kitten catching its tail--and struck himself into an

awful attitude of moral meditation, with an aspect as wise as Aristotle's,

in the next--accomplishing all these literary feats by a most miraculous

outpouring of words--capital words, fanciful, witty, fantastic, scholarly

words--and jumbled, tossed, piled up on each others' backs--jerked this way

and that--sharpened one against the other, glittering and gleaming, one by

the aid of another--a perfect firework of words, Roman-candle sentences,

and Catherine-wheel periods--rockets of epithets, and girandoles of

antitheses!" But yet Janin's self-respect would not allow him to say that,

in some instances, he has "sacrificed thought and sense, pith and

shrewdness, to build up a barley-sugar temple of verbal prettiness, and to

deck and wreath it with artificial flowers of rhetoric and of phraseology,

which for a moment may seem to have smell, and sap, and savor, but which,

upon closer inspection, too often reveal themselves in their true, and dry,

and dreary substance of wire, and gauze, and calico."

* * * * *

One M. LEON DE MONTBEILLARD has published a work on SPINOZA. If that

Philosopher has one characteristic more eminent than another, it is

commonly supposed to be the precision and exactness of his logic. To say

that Spinoza was a rigorous logician is a platitude, a truism. M.

Montbeillard declines to walk in such a beaten path. He denies that Spinoza

has any skill whatever in the science of reason, that he is a mere

rhapsodist!

* * * * *

M. XAVIER SAURIAC, author of the Socialist tragedy entitled _The Death of

Jesus Christ_, was lately tried, along with his two booksellers, for

pernicious and insurrectionary doctrines put into the mouth of the

Redeemer. They were heard by counsel, and the dramatist was admitted to

plead at length; but the jury convicted the three, and the court inflicted

long imprisonment, and fines.

* * * * *

MR. THEODORE MARTEN, a frequent contributor to the Edinburgh Review, and

the author of the well-known _Bon Gaultier Papers_ in Tait's Magazine, has

been married to the celebrated actress, Miss Helen Faucit Saville (best

known without the last name).

* * * * *

THOMAS COOPER, author of the _Purgatory of Suicides_, &c., has been on a

lecturing tour through Ireland and Scotland, lately, and has given an

account of what he observed, in several letters to the London _Leader_. We

copy from them a few paragraphs:

I had two hours delightful conversation with Mr. de Quincy,

at Lasswade, and was as deeply impressed with his

intellectual power in talking, as I was with his writing

when, in my boyhood, I read his "Confessions of an English

Opium Eater."

On my return from visiting Kirk Alloway, and the cottage of

Burns, I called on his remaining sister, Mrs. Begg, a highly

intelligent woman of eighty, who gave me some information of

an important character, as I deem it to be. Her daughter,

Isabella, was present while I had the short conversation

with her. I told her that I entertained strong doubts of the

truth of many things which were said about her illustrious

brother, and I wished to have the benefit of her own

personal knowledge respecting him. She replied that she

would have pleasure in giving me all the information in her

power. I told her that a person in Glasgow had declared to

me, the other day, that he believed all the accounts of her

brother's irregular life; for a friend of his had called on

Mrs. Begg lately, and _she_ had said that she had often seen

her brother sit at the table in a morning, after a night's

debauch, shading his face with his hand, while the big tears

of remorse were dropping on the board before him. Mrs. Begg

seemed moved painfully. "Nothing is more false," she

replied; "I never had such a conversation; and never could

say so, for I never saw my brother either drunk, or showing

any such feeling; nor did I ever know him to be drunk. It is

true, I saw but little of him in the latter part of his

life; but his son, who was with him almost constantly, told

me that he never saw his father the worse for liquor but

once; and then he was sick, but yet perfectly conscious. His

son also said, that though his father would come home late

during the latter part of his life, when they lived in

Dumfries; yet he was always able to examine bolts and bars,

went to observe that the children were right in bed and

always acted like a sober man. Besides," added the

intelligent old lady, "how was it possible that my brother

could be a drunkard, when he had so small an income, and

yet, a few weeks before his death, owed nobody a shilling?

That speaks for itself." Mrs. Begg furthermore confirmed

what I also learned in Glasgow from persons conversant with

those who had known every circumstance of the close of

Burns's life, that Allan Cunningham has sorely misstated

many matters. Burns did _not_ die in the dramatic style

which Allan tells of. Allan was never in Ayrshire in his

life; but had his materials from some old fellow who went

about poking into every corner and raking out every false

story about Burns. A writer in Glasgow, in whose company I

sat for a short time in the evening after I had delivered my

oration there on Burns, contradicted Allan Cunningham's

account of Burns's death, from personal knowledge--just at

the time when Allan's _Life of Burns_ appeared; but Allan

never took any notice of the pamphlet, and never corrected

the misstatement. Mrs. Begg said that she had seen the two

volumes of the new life of her brother, by Robert Chambers,

and the account was fairer than any she had seen before.

The name of the "Baroness VON BECK" has been familiar through the English

reviews, during the last year or two, as the authoress of a book on the

late Hungarian war. This woman turns out to have been no baroness, not even

a "friend" of Kossuth, but a paid spy in the service of the National

Hungarian Government, and lately a paid spy in the "recently established

foreign branch of the English police force." She was on the thirtieth of

August apprehended at Birmingham for obtaining money under false pretences,

and died in the anteroom of the court, from a sudden affection of the

heart, induced by the emotion caused by her detection. She had played a

remarkable part. Her Memoirs were published by Bentley, and had a large

sale, but they appear to have been written by another person. At the time

of her arrest she was procuring subscriptions for a new volume descriptive

of her pretended Adventures.

* * * * *

Mr. THACKERAY is writing a novel in three volumes, to be published in the

winter. The scene is in England early in the eighteenth century, and among

the characters will be Bolingbroke, Swift, and Pope; and Steele will play a

prominent part. Mr. Thackeray has concluded to publish no more "serials,"

and we hope his new scenes and persons will suggest to him a little respect

for human nature, which hitherto he appears to have regarded as a mere

trick and imposture.

* * * * *

A pension of 200_l._ a year on the civil list has been conferred on Mr.

Silk Buckingham. A pension of 200_l._ a year has also been given to Colonel

Torrens, the author of several works on political economy. Mr. Buckingham

had just obtained 400_l._ a year, as we have before mentioned, from the

East India Company. It seems to us that these pensions can have but little

to do with the "encouragement of literature."

* * * * *

The venerable poet JAMES MONTGOMERY will be eighty years of age on the

fifth of November, and the people of Sheffield are preparing suitable

honors for the occasion. A statue, to be set up in a conspicuous place, is

talked of, and a general desire is felt that the festival which is

proposed, and the honors which are to be given, shall be worthy of the man

and the city.

* * * * *

A curious Diary of EDMUND BOHEN, a voluminous writer of the seventeenth

century, has been discovered in Suffolk, England, his native county, and is

about to be published under the editorship of S. W. RIX, of Beccles, author

of the Fauconberge Memorial.

* * * * *

JOHN STUART MILL, we are advised by letters from England, is hereafter to

be editor of the _Westminster Review_, which is now the grand organ of the

socialists and disorganizers of society.

* * * * *

We have from Mr. Hart, of Philadelphia, in two beautiful volumes, _Memoirs

of the Life of Mary Queen of Scots_, by Miss BENGER. They are written with

neatness, and could not fail of a dramatic interest. Indeed, we know of no

memoir of Mary Stuart, in the two or three dozen we have read with more or

less attention, that is in all respects as attractive as Miss Benger's. But

it seemed an unfortunate time to publish this, when the _History of Mary

Queen of Scots_ by M. MIGNET, Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Moral

and Political Sciences, was advertised, and it was known that its character

would be such as necessarily to give it precedence of all other works on

the subject. We noticed the design of M. Mignet two or three months ago,

and we have now before us a translation, published by Bentley, of London,

of his first volume. It fully realizes our expectations, in evident candor,

research, and ability. It owes its existence to Prince Labanoff's

collection of the queen's letters, and is the substance of a series of

papers on that extraordinary work in the _Journal des Savants_. But M.

Mignet had obtained access to original documents (chiefly the dispatches of

the Spanish embassies in England, France, and Rome) which even Prince

Labanoff had not explored, and has thus been able to give an original

character to his narrative. It is an excellent specimen of condensed yet

clear historical writing. Leading incidents stand out boldly, and no

essential facts are omitted, yet there is not an excess of details. Motives

are discriminated, and doubtful questions cleared, while we are spared the

fatigue of elaborate disquisition. The book is little more than a

sketch--but it is a most valuable one. With more materials before him than

any previous biographer, the author has had to contend with fewer

prejudices of his own. He is neither the apologist, nor the traducer of his

heroine. Neither as Catholic nor as Protestant, as Scotchman nor as

Englishman, does he sit in judgment on her history; he views the scenes of

her career with an impartiality as far removed from harshness as from

indulgence and may perhaps be pronounced her first unbiassed biographer. It

is right at the same time to add that his historic coldness of temperament

does not always enable him to judge quite fairly the difficulties under

which both parties (but especially the Protestant party) labored at

particular times; and perhaps it stops short, now and then, of the

compassionate considerations which would best explain some points of Mary's

conduct.

Upon the whole, it will be seen from M. Mignet's judicial and masterly

exhibition of the case, that there is very little ground upon which to base

a belief of the poor queen's innocence of the great crimes of which she is

accused. For her wit, beauty, and misfortunes, notwithstanding her

wickedness, the world clings to her memory, and until human nature is

changed men will receive proofs of her guilt as they would such proofs

against a sister. M. Mignet presents these proofs so that they cannot be

rejected.

Among the recent French Lives of Mary Stuart, is one by M. Duguard--a

sentimental romance that acquired a temporary rage, and was aided by George

Sand in an elaborate letter of compliment addressed to the author. Miss

Agnes Strickland will devote to the same heroine one entire volume of her

_Lives of the Queens of Scotland._

* * * * *

Among the recently established publishing houses of this country no one

appears to be conducted with more judgment--so far at least as the

selection and execution of books is concerned--than that of W. M. Moore &

Co. of Cincinnati. Among their original publications we have _Service

Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican War_, by Lieut. SEMMES, (a second

edition is just issued,) which by the common consent of reviewers is in

attractiveness and absolute value inferior to none among the very large

number of works that treat of the Mexican campaigns; and the list of their

republications includes _The Course of Creation_, by the Rev. Dr. ANDERSON,

of Scotland, in which, with unusual ability, candor, and eloquence, the

relations of natural science and the divine revelation are discussed; _The

Footprints of the Creator_, the most able, and, in a scientific point of

view, the most interesting of the works of HUGH MILLER; and _Scenes and

Legends of the North of Scotland_, by the same author--a singularly

entertaining performance. They have in press a volume on _Aesthetiks_, by

Professor MOFFAT, of Miami University, said to be written with singular

ability, and designed chiefly for purposes of education.

* * * * *

Among the most attractive books in recent religious literature is _The

Ancient and Modern History of the Rivers of the Bible_, lately published in

London and just reprinted in New-York by Stringer & Townsend, with an

introduction by the Rev. Dr. George B. Cheever. The Euphrates, the Hiddekel

or Tigris, the Chebar, the Ulai, the Jordan, the Jarmuk, the Jahbok, the

Arnon, the Kishon, and the Nile, the brooks Zered, Cherith, Kedron, Elah,

Eshcol, and Besor, and the pool of Siloam, are treated with a degree of

knowledge and a pleasing simplicity of style somewhat rare in works of this

description. The author has given particular attention to the discoveries

of Rich, Layard, and others, by the Euphrates and the Tigris, and we have

nowhere else a better exhibition in brief of the appearance of the

classical and sacred lands through which these rivers have flowed, half the

time since the creation was witness of the most remarkable events in human

history. The volume is illustrated by excellent wood-engravings of natural

scenery, antiquities, and existing cities.

* * * * *

Among the passengers from this port to Europe, in the steamer of the 10th

September, was the Abbe BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG, for three years past an

active archaeological student in Mexico--that land of monuments and

traditions, whose ancient history is second only to that of Egypt in its

features of gloom and mystery. Some of the results of the Abbe's researches

have been indicated in his recently published _Cartas_, addressed to the

Duc de Valmy, which are only the introduction to an elaborate work, within

which it is the author's design to bring all that is known of the ancient

and modern history of Mexico. Among the various materials for the

illustration of that part of this work relating to the aborigines, the Abbe

has succeeded in obtaining from the neglected and not yet half explored

libraries of Mexico, the following original and valuable materials.

1. Part 1. of a manuscript, by a priest of Chiapas, named Ordones,

entitled, "Historia del Cielo y de la Tierra," etc. etc., being a

translation of an ancient Tzendal hieroglyphical MS. containing the Indian

account of the first settlement of Southern Mexico, the founding of _Na

Chan_, or Palenque, etc. Also, portions of Part II. of the same MS. 2.

Another manuscript of Ordones, without title, being a sort of memoir upon

the ruins of Palenque, and on Antonio Del Rio's expedition. 3. A few

chapters of a MS. of Santa Clara, taken from an inedited history of Peru,

but relative to Mexico. 4. The original MS. of Cabrera upon Palenque. 5.

Principles of a Grammar of the Tzotzil language. 6. Principles of a

Grammar, Doctrinarium, and part of a Vocabulary of the Tzoque language

(Chiapas). 7. A complete Vocabulary of the Maya and Spanish, with a great

many etymological explanations. 8. A Vocabulary of the Spanish and Maya,

less complete, 9. Codex Chimalpopoca, being the manuscript of the

collection of Boturini, catalogued under the name of "Historia de los Reyes

de Culhuacan," in the Aztec or Nahua language. 10. Codex Gondra, being the

same known in the collection of Boturini, under the name of "Historia

Tultaca," often cited by Gama; Spanish and Mexican. 11. "Fuente de los

Verbos y Substantives Mexicanos," a host of Spanish and Mexican

vocabularies. 12. Relacion que le envia su Magestad por D. Juan Baptista de

Pomar, en 9 dias de Marz de 1582. This is a relation concerning Tezcuco.

13. A MS. in Mexican hieroglyphics, being a title of property in the

Kingdom of the Tezcucan Prince Nezahualpilli, with a portrait of this

prince, all on _Papel Maguey_. 14. Several prayer books in Mexican (MS.).

15. A few prayers in Maya, MS. 16. The original MS. explanation of the

Codex Borgia, composed by the Father Fabrega, for Cardinal Borgia, of which

speaks Baron Humboldt in his "Vues de Cordilleres," etc. in Italian. 17. A

short vocabulary of the Huabi language spoken near Tehuantepec. The Abbe

has also four or five Mexican Grammars printed in Mexico, and other rare

books not included in the catalogue of Ternaux Compans. The collection is,

therefore, more complete than any other made by any individual, and in the

hands of an indefatigable student like the Abbe Bourbourg, will not fail to

throw a flood of light on the ancient history of Mexico.

* * * * *

A few weeks ago Mr. SCHOOLCRAFT published a complaint that his _Indian in

his Wigwam_ had been published without his knowledge by G. H. Derby & Co,

of Buffalo, under the title of "The American Indians, their History,

Condition and Prospects." Messrs. Derby & Co. have replied in the _Literary

World_, that they came honestly by the stereotype plates of the book, and

that as to the title, they "_had an undoubted right to alter it_." We beg

these gentlemen and all others in like circumstances to reflect a little

upon this doctrine, before endorsing it too positively. _However

indisputable the title of Derby & Co. to the copyright of the book in

question, they had no more right to change its name than they had to steal

Mr. Schoolcraft's money._ He is a very silly person who maintains the

contrary. Only the _author_ of a book has the right to change even the

place of a comma in it.

* * * * *

Mr. SIMMS has just published _Norman Maurice, or the Man of the People, an

American Drama, in Five Acts_. The scene is partly in Philadelphia, partly

in St. Louis, and the plot involves the election of a senator from

Missouri--as various passages disclose, in the present time. This is one of

the chief faults of the piece, as the history of Missouri politics is so

familiar that no illusion in the case is possible. Aside from this, it is

in many respects an admirable play--bold, simple, and yet striking in

conception, and wrought out with a general fitness and force of incident

and style that should secure it, in our opinion, immediate and very eminent

success on the stage. There has never been acted an _American_ play of

equal merit. It was originally printed in the Southern Literary Messenger.

* * * * *

We are gratified to learn that the Rev. Dr. ALBRO, of Cambridge,

Massachusetts, has in preparation a complete edition of the works of the

"learned and renowned Mr. Thomas Shepherd," who was the first minister in

that town. These works will fill several octavo volumes, and we regard them

as among the most valuable relics of the Puritan age in New-England. We

have had for several years the very rare but incomplete collection of them

published by Prince, in 1747. Dr. Albro will have some advantages in

writing Shepherd's biography, which have not been enjoyed by others who

have recently essayed that service.

* * * * *

A new edition of _The Works of Henry Fielding_ will be published in a few

weeks by Stringer & Townsend. Monsieur de Marivaux in France, says Bishop

Warburton, and Henry Fielding, in England, stand the foremost among those

who have given a faithful and chaste copy of life and manners, and by

enriching their romance with the best part of the comic art, may be said to

have brought it to perfection. Without attempting a defence of the

impurities which may be found in the novels and descriptions of Fielding,

it should not be forgotten that the language used, and the manners depicted

were those of the age in which he lived, and for which he wrote without

further regard to posterity than as his would serve as records and

illustrations of past times. In our admiration of a new school of comic

writers, many may have forgotten this "prose Homer of human nature," and it

will not be an unpleasing or profitless task for any to review and compare

Fielding and Smollet with Dickens, Lever, Thackeray and others now living,

who have attempted in the same manner to add to the general happiness.

* * * * *

The _Theory of Human Progression, and Natural Probability of a Reign of

Justice_, a work which has received much attention in England, has just

been republished by B. B. Mussey & Co., of Boston. The author says, "The

truth I endeavor to inculcate is--That _Credence rules the world_--that

credence determines the condition and fixes the destiny of nations--that

_true_ credence must ever entail with it a correct and beneficial system of

society, while false credence must ever be accompanied by despotism,

anarchy, and wrong--that before a nation can change its _condition_, it

must change its credence; that change of credence will of necessity be

accompanied sooner or later by change of condition: and consequently, that

true credence, or in other words _knowledge_, is the only means by which

man can work out his well being and ameliorate his condition on the globe."

The author, who appears to be familiar in some way with the writings of

Comte, is unquestionably a man of abilities, and the work is in some

respects eminently suggestive; but it has not escaped severe criticism in

some of the theological and philosophical journals.

* * * * *

Mr. BARTLETT'S _Nile Boat, or Glimpses of the Land of Egypt_, has been

republished in a beautiful large octavo by the Harpers. The well-known

author aims at affording a few distinct and lively impressions, by pencil

and pen, of the more interesting objects on the banks of the Nile, with

such historical and archaeological explanation as may satisfy the reader

without confusing him with redundant details. Exaggeration has been

studiously avoided, and accuracy studied, and the illustrations have been

copied from original sketches taken on the spot.

* * * * *

Dr. KITTO'S very valuable _Daily Bible Illustrations_ have been published

by Messrs. Carter in four small octavo volumes. The entire work is to

consist of eight volumes, and will comprise a series of original readings

on selected passages of Scripture, illustrative of the history, biography,

geography, antiquities, and theology of the Bible. The subjects are

arranged so as to extend over two years' daily reading. While specially

designed for the family circle, to the youthful members of which the

illustrations will render the Scripture histories particularly agreeable,

the work is characterized by a degree of scholarship and ability that will

make it eminently entertaining and instructive to even the best informed

general reader.

* * * * *

The _Early Life and First Campaigns of Napoleon_, with a History of the

Bonaparte Family, and a Review of French Politics, to the year 1796, by B.

P. POORE, has been published by Ticknor & Co. of Boston, and will be

continued in several parts, completing the life of the Emperor. Mr. Poore

while residing in Europe as the Historical Agent of Massachusetts,

collected many important documents illustrating his subject, and he will

undoubtedly succeed in producing not only a very interesting biography, but

a comparatively original one.

* * * * *

Mr. GEORGE TAYLOR, a young lawyer who has distinguished himself in his

profession, is the author of a clever book, entitled _Indications of the

Creator, or the Natural Evidences of a Final Cause_. (Charles Scribner.)

Mr. Taylor takes the side of the Christian Religion, and of the real

against the sham student of nature, in a reviewal of the general subject,

in astronomy, geology, comparative physiology, and natural geography.

* * * * *

The _History of Pontiac_, which, while in press, several weeks ago, we

noticed at considerable length in this magazine, has since been published

by Little & Brown of Boston, and Bentley of London, and by the common

consent of the reviewers it places Mr. PARKMAN among our most able and

pleasing historians. Certainly no subject of its kind has hitherto been

treated with as much felicity.

* * * * *

The beautiful edition of the _Works of Thomas De Quincey_, which Ticknor &

Co. have for some time been publishing in Boston, will soon be completed,

and the eight or ten duodecimos which it will comprise will be added to as

many libraries as are owned by persons of a genuine appreciation in

literature. They have never before appeared collectively.

* * * * *

Mrs. (Fanny Forester) JUDSON has been several weeks in England, on her way

via the Cape of Good Hope, to the United States. She is in better health

than she had been during the last year of her residence in the East.

* * * * *

An octavo volume has just been published in Philadelphia under the title of

_The Female Prose Writers of America, with Portraits, Biographical Notices,

and Specimens of their Writings, by_ JOHN S. HART, LL. D. The book is

beneath criticism, and we will dismiss it very briefly after demonstrating

the truth of this statement. We have scarcely ever seen so melancholy an

illustration of incompetence for a task voluntarily assumed. It appears

that to every woman whose name he had ever seen in print Dr. John S. Hart

sent nearly a year ago a circular from which the following paragraphs are

extracts:

Authors _interested in having their merits placed on a

proper footing before the public_, will contribute important

facilities to the accomplishment of this end by furnishing

me with information in regard to the following particulars:

1. The name in full (the middle name, as well as the first

and last), and written carefully so as to prevent misprints.

2. Date of birth, _where there is no objection_.

6. Extracts.--_Indicate any passages_, amounting in all to

five or six octavo pages, that, in the opinion of the author

or her friends, may be taken as fair specimens of her style.

The passages should be such as are complete in themselves,

and contain something of general interest.

8. Critiques and commendatory notices.--Well-written

critiques upon the author's style or writings, whether

published or unpublished, will be acceptable. In almost

every case, probably, articles of this kind have been

published, or _exist in manuscript_, or _may be written for

the occasion_ by those _entirely acquainted with the

subject_, and if forwarded would furnish the present editor

the most reliable means of doing full justice in each

particular case.

The sort of "criticism" which the volume contains may easily be inferred,

as may be the class of literary women who would take any notice of an

application conceived in a spirit so offensive to delicacy and common

self-respect. Accounts of the writings of Miss Sedgwick, Mrs. Kirkland,

Mrs. Oakes Smith, Mrs. Sigourney, Miss McIntosh, Margaret Fuller, and a few

more, were to be found in a well-known book published in the same city, and

of course therefore are included, but to show how ignorant the author is of

the field he attempts to survey, let us place in one column some of the

names he has altogether omitted, and in another an equal number from among

those he has inserted.

_Names omitted._ _Dr. Hart's Female Prose Writers._

MRS. ROBINSON, [Talvi.] Sarah Hall,

MRS. RICHARD K. HAIGHT, Sarah H. Browne,

MRS. WM. C. RIVES, Maria J.B. Browne,

MRS. T.J. CONANT, Elizabeth Larcombe,

EMMA WILLARD, Clara Moore,

F. WRIGHT D'ARUSMONT, Ann E. Porter,

CATHERINE E. BEECHER, Ann T. Wilbur,

ANNA CORA MOWATT, Eliza L. Sproat,

ELIZA BUCKMINSTER LEE, E. W. Barnes,

ELIZABETH P. PEABODY, Caroline Orne,

ELIZA L. FOLLEN, Caroline May,

MARIA BROOKS, Julia C.R. Dorr,

SARAH HELEN WHITMAN, Mary E. Morange,

MISS H. LEE, Mary Elizabeth Lee,

MRS. PUTNAM, Elizabeth Bogart,

MRS. SOUTHWORTH, Mary J. Windle,

MISS A. E. DUPUY, Frances B. M. Brotherson,

MISS ALICE CAREY, &c. &c., &c. &c.

Of the persons named in the second column we believe _not one_ has the

slightest claim to be mentioned in a survey of the compositions of the

Female Prose Writers of America. It is not unlikely that some of them have

capacities for literature, but if so the public has no sufficient proof of

it. On the other hand, see whose places they occupy.

Mrs. Robinson and Madame d'Arusmont were born in Europe, but this fact

could not have influenced Dr. Hart, who has given a conspicuous place to

Miss Caroline May, an Englishwoman, who has been in this country less than

a quarter as long as either of these distinguished persons. Mrs. Robinson

is the wife of our great orientalist, and is herself one of the most

learned women in the world; she has distinguished herself in American

history, in romance, and in criticism, beyond almost any writer of her sex.

The authoress of "A Few Days in Athens," must certainly be regarded as one

of the most able literary women of this age, whatever may be thought of

some of her principles. Mrs. Haight is well known by two of the most

brilliant volumes of travels ever published by the Harpers. Mrs. Rives

(wife of our minister to France), in her "Tales and Souvenirs of a

Residence in Europe" (published by Lea and Blanchard), and in other

writings, displays abilities that make her right to recognition in such a

work unquestionable. Mrs. Conant (wife of the eminent Hebrew professor) is

a woman of great and varied erudition, and ranks, generally, with Mrs.

Robinson. Mrs. Willard is universally known by her valuable writings on

education, in history, and in science, and by her interesting "Journal of a

Residence in Europe." Catherine E. Beecher, the authoress of "Letters on

the Difficulties of Religion," we believe is regarded as one of the ablest

of the celebrated family to which she belongs, and as having the most

profound and masculine intelligence exhibited in contributions made by her

countrywomen to literature. Mrs. Mowatt is entitled to a high rank among

our female novelists. Mrs. Lee, by her lives of Jean Paul and the

Buckminsters and the Old Painters, her novel of "Naomi or Boston Two

Hundred Years Ago," and other works, is omitted with about as much reason

as the Prince of Denmark might be from Hamlet. Another lady of this name,

the authoress of "The Huguenots," "The Three Experiments of Living," "The

Life and Times of Luther," &c., we believe has done more good by her

writings than any other woman in America, and for literary abilities she is

entitled to distinguished praise. Miss Peabody is too well known by her

essays in AEsthetics to need characterization. Mrs. Follen is one of the

best known, and most esteemed female writers of the time. Mrs. Brooks's

"Idomen, a Tale of the Vale of Yumuri," is an exquisite production, which

alone would preserve the name of _Maria del Occidente_ in the lists of

illustrious women. Mrs. Whitman is a writer of remarkable acuteness and

richness, as is shown by her essays on the Transcendental Philosophy. Mrs.

Putnam (a sister of James Russell Lowell), is distinguished not more for

that masterly controversy which she carried on last summer with the _North

American Review_, respecting the Revolutions in Northern Europe, than for

that extensive and varied learning, among the fruits of which were the

first American translations of Swedish and Danish literature, including

some of the novels of Miss Bremer. Mrs. Southworth, by her "Deserted Wife,"

"Mother-in-law," &c., appears to have acquired a larger share of popularity

than is enjoyed by any of her female American contemporaries. Miss A. E.

Dupuy, authoress of "The Conspirator" (lately published by the Appletons),

has won praise from eminent critics in the same department. Miss Alice

Carey, by her "Ill-starred," and other novelettes, has evinced the

possession of such genius as entitles her to a place in the very highest

rank of our literary women. And who that knows any thing of American

literature forgets Mrs. Sedgwick, who wrote "Allen Prescott;" or Mrs.

Louisa J. Hall, who wrote "Joanna of Naples?"

We think we have shown that Dr. John S. Hart knows nothing about "The

Female Prose Writers of America." Our readers certainly can judge for

themselves; but to us the selection of the persons who are named in the

second of the above columns, to the exclusion of those whose names are in

the first column, would seem to be an elaborate quiz, if the manner of the

thing did not evince a genuine earnestness of purpose. We might have

dismissed the book with half a dozen lines, but when we have occasion to

condemn any performance thus decidedly, we think it but fair to prove the

justice of our judgment.

* * * * *

A second edition of MRS. LEE'S _Memoirs of the Rev. Joseph Buckminster,

D.D., and of his Son, the Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster_, has just been

issued by Ticknor, Reed & Fields, of Boston. In the religious and literary

history of this country there have been few more interesting characters

than the Buckminsters, and this volume of their memoirs is very judiciously

and tastefully written. Mrs. Lee began her task in an attempt to furnish

some materials respecting her father, and brother, for the Rev. Dr.

Sprague, of Albany, who has been several years engaged on a work to be

entitled "Annals of the American Pulpit, or Biographical Notices of Eminent

American Clergymen, of various Denominations."

* * * * *

A very elegant edition of the Moral Reflections, Sentences and Maxims, of

ROCHEFOUCAULD, has been published by the well-known bibliopole, Mr. Gowan,

of Fulton-street. The wise French worldling maintains still a precedence of

all the writers of his class, and such an impression of his master-work

will increase his audience.

* * * * *

Among the new works announced by Mr. Hart of Philadelphia is the

_Principles of Organic Chemistry_, by Dr. CARL LOEWIG, professor of

Chemistry in the University of Zurich, translated by David Breed, M.D., of

New-York.

* * * * *

In a brief and hastily written paragraph in the last _International_, we

referred to a novel by DR. HUNTINGTON, as _Alice, or the Mysteries_,

instead of _Alice, or the New Una_,--a mistake which any reader of ordinary

intelligence, who had ever seen the work in question, might easily have

corrected. The character of the literary performances of Dr. Huntington is

such as to justify some curiosity respecting his personal history, and in

too carelessly attempting to give it, we fell into some errors, which he

"corrects" in a letter to the _Courier and Enquirer_, saying--

"The novel of _Alice, or the Mysteries, I did not write_,

although I am forced to admit that it 'displayed a great

deal of talent as well as a very peculiar morality;' (indeed

its morality I never did quite approve)--_I never was a

village doctor--I never was a Congregational minister--and I

am not now a Catholic priest._"

We may amend our statement thus: Dr. Huntington is the author of a work

entitled, _Alice, or the New Una_, which was very commonly regarded as the

most licentious publication of its season; we understand that in his youth

he was somewhat remarkable for the grimness of his Calvinism; that while a

Congregationalist he became a doctor in medicine; that he afterwards took

orders in the Episcopal church; that he left that church to enter a society

of Roman Catholics; and that it was rumored soon after that he had become a

priest, but, it is now understood, was prevented by disqualifying domestic

relations. We admit that our paragraph had some little inaccuracies, but

certainly they are more easy of explanation than Dr. Huntington's

intimation in his letter of July to the London _Morning Chronicle_ that the

author of _Alban_ and _Alice_ is a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal

Church!

* * * * *

HARPER & BROTHERS have just published _Forest Life and Forest Trees_, by G.

S. Springer, of Boston; Judge Haliburton's recent work on America which we

noticed last month; and Lamartine's _Restoration of the Monarchy in

France_, the most brilliant, superficial and false production of a writer

never remarkable for depth or conscience. They have in press a new volume

of Mr. Hildreth's capital _History of the United States_; Mr. G. P. R.

James's _Lectures on Civilization_, delivered in various parts of the

country last winter; _Sixteen Months in the Gold Diggings_, by Daniel B.

Woods; _Wesley and Methodism_, by Isaac Taylor; _The Fifteen Decisive

Battles of the World_, by Professor Creasy; new volumes of _Memoirs of Dr.

Chalmers_ and Miss Strickland's _Lives of the Queens of Scotland_; and

several new English and American novels.

* * * * *

A very interesting handbook of London, somewhat different from any work of

the kind yet published, is soon to appear in this city under the title of

_Memories of the Great Metropolis_, profusely illustrated with wood

engravings, and with a higher literary finish than is common in such

performances.

* * * * *

The Rev. Dr. HENRY A. BOARDMAN, of Philadelphia, one of the wise, learned

and faithful divines by whom is preserved the best reputation of the best

vocation, has just published (Lippincott, Grambo, & Co.) a volume of

discourses entitled, _The Bible in the Family, or Hints on Domestic

Happiness_. It is quite aside, and evidently was intended to be, from the

usual routine, though not beyond the legitimate domain of the pulpit. We

have treatises on the relative duties, but no book, we believe, of this

sort--not a treatise,--which is adapted to American society. Dr. Boardman's

work is attractive for its original and striking observation and scholarly

finish as a piece of literature, while calculated to be eminently useful

for its illustrations of practical religion.

* * * * *

Among the novelties about to be issued from the press of Mr. Redfield, of

Clinton Hall, is a series of Portraits or Biographies by ARSENE HOUSSAYE,

of the men and women of the eighteenth century, comprising the

philosophers, poets, artists--indeed all who lent a grace to or stamped

their impress on the long and desolate reign of Louis Quinze. They are

executed with a firm hand and possess the brilliant coloring of fiction,

without deviating from historic truth. It is the only work that gives a

just idea of the gay, witty and dissipated society that existed in France

previous to the Revolution, and was one of the causes of that event. Mr.

Redfield also announces _The Ladies of the Covenant_, a series of

interesting biographical illustrations of the religious history of

Scotland, by the Rev. JAMES ANDERSON; _Sorcery and Magic_, by THOMAS

WRIGHT, of the Shakspeare and Percy societies; and a volume of _Tales and

Sketches_, by Miss CAROLINE CHESEBRO.

* * * * *

There is in the possession of descendants of JONATHAN EDWARDS a MS. volume

of Discourses on Christian Love, in his own handwriting. The paper looks

dingy, but the writing is regular and clear. It is now being transcribed,

and will be published during the autumn by Robert Carter & Brothers. The

same house have in the press _Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity,

delivered at the University of Virginia, during the Session of 1850-51_,

among the contributors to which are the Rev. Drs. Alexander, Breckenridge,

Plumer, McGill, Rice, Sampson, Ruffner, &c.

* * * * *

The _Knickerbocker_ has recently contained several chapters under the title

of _The Sketch Book of Me, Meister Karl_, which have the best quality of

Rabelais and Sterne. We have heard them attributed to Mr. CHARLES G.

LELAND, of Philadelphia--one of the youngest of our authors, and one of the

finest scholars and rarest humorists of this time, We believe Pennsylvania

has no other son or citizen who gives fairer promise of distinction in

letters.

* * * * *

ISAAC TAYLOR'S _Elements of Thought, a concise Explanation of the Principal

Terms employed in the several branches of Intellectual Philosophy_, has

been published by W. Gowans, from the ninth London edition.

* * * * *