* * * * *
NEW ORLEANS AS SEEN BY A GERMAN PRINCE is very naturally not quite
the same city as in the opinion of her own pleasure-loving citizens,
nor can the republic whose South-western metropolis is condemned with
the rigidity of a merciless judge and the jaundice of an unfriendly
traveler, hope to get clear of censure from the same super-royal pen.
It seems that his serenest highness Major-General Duke Paul William,
of Wirtemburg, is traveling in America, and that the _Ausland_, a
weekly paper, of Stuttgart, is from time to time favored with the
results of his experience on the way. From some recent portions of his
correspondence _The International_ translates the subjoined _morceau_,
which, however, despite its great exaggeration, is not altogether
devoid of truth: "It is not necessary here to mention how much
New Orleans has altered, increased, and deteriorated, for it is an
established thing that cities which grow to such gigantic proportions
gain nothing in respect to the morals of their inhabitants. Here
drunkenness and gambling, two vices of which the Americans were
ignorant in the time of the founders of their great federation,
have taken very deep root. The decrease of the inflexible spirit of
religion, and the increase of vice and luxury, gnaw the powerful tree,
and are fearful enemies, which cannot be resisted by a structure that
might resist with scorn all foreign foes, and would have played a
mighty part in the world's history had the spirit of Washington and
Franklin remained with it. The annexation of Texas, the war with
Mexico, and now the gold of California, have transformed the United
States. A people which makes conquests, loses inward power in
proportion to the aggrandizement of its volume, and the increase of
its external enemies."
* * * * *
AN ARABIAN NEWSPAPER, with the title _Mobacher_. has lately been
commenced in Algiers, at the expense of the French Government. It
is edited in the cabinet of the Governor-General, issued weekly, and
lithographed, as less expensive than printing, which in Arabic types
would be quite costly. It contains political news from Europe and
Africa, the latest advices from Constantinople, all those laws and
decrees of the Government which in any way concern the Arabs, and
descriptions of such new discoveries and inventions as can be made
intelligible to the readers for whom it is designed. A thousand copies
are printed weekly and sent to the chiefs and headmen of all the
tribes that are under French rule or influence. At first it was not
read much, but now the vanity of the Arabs has been excited by it as a
mark of special attention from the Governor-General, so that they take
it as an honor, and a degree of curiosity has been excited to obtain
news from other parts of the world.
Within a short time, also, an additional importance has been given to
the paper by the publication in it of the amount of the tribute which
each tribe is required to pay to France. Formerly this was known only
to the chiefs who would accordingly exact from their people whatever
amount they deemed best, under the pretense that it was for the
government, while the greater part was retained by themselves. These
tribes have profited greatly by the French conquest; it is estimated
that of the eighty millions of francs which the army in Algeria costs
yearly, from twenty to twenty-five millions remain in the hands of the
Arabs. The Arab sells his corn, dates, horses, sheep, the baskets he
weaves, &c., to the European population, but never buys anything from
them in turn, except it be arms and powder. The rest of his money he
carries home and buries where no one knows but himself, so that, if
he dies suddenly, it is lost. Only the chiefs of the tribe know how to
extort anything of these hidden sums. According to the most moderate
estimates the tribes must have from two to three hundred millions
of French money. The gains which the chiefs draw from this wealth is
considerable; some of them have from a hundred to a hundred and fifty
thousand francs income. They are beginning to build large houses,
and cultivate gardens around them, a disposition which the government
favors, because it is easier to keep tribes in order that are
settled and have dwellings to lose which they cannot take with them.
The publication of the tribute in the _Mobacher_, is, under these
circumstances, of great value for the Arabs, because it enables them,
as it were, to supervise their chiefs, and to refuse to pay exorbitant
taxes laid under pretense of a high tribute. This has increased the
respect generally felt for the paper, though it has not rendered it
more a favorite with the chiefs. The power of these leaders is very
great in the various tribes, having been in most cases hereditary, at
least since the tenth century, and although not always inherited in
direct line, the tribes have never suffered it to pass into the hands
of new families. Hitherto nothing has diminished it; the war rather
gave it new strength, and it is only by means of the chiefs that the
French can keep Algiers quiet. It would be a remarkable fact if the
dissolving power of publicity through the press should be manifested
here as elsewhere, and begin the overthrow of the long standing
influence exercised by the great Arabian families.
* * * * *
MRS. M. ST. LEON LOUD, of Philadelphia, has in the press of Ticknor,
Reed & Fields, of Boston, a collection of her poems, entitled,
"Wayside Flowers." Mrs. Loud is a writer of much grace and elegance,
and occasionally of a rich and delicate fancy. The late Mr. Poe was
accustomed to praise her works very highly, and was to have edited
this edition of them.
* * * * *
THE LITERATURE OF SOCIALISM occupies the press in France. The subject
is warmly debated, _pro_ and _con_. In a pamphlet called _Despotisme
ou Socialisme_, M. Pompery rapidly sketches the alternative which, he
says, lies open to those who rise against despotism. There are but two
religious doctrines according to him: the one absolutist, represented
by De Maistre, and the Catholic school, which is, logically enough,
desirous of reestablishing the Inquisition; the other professed by all
the illustrious teachers of mankind, by Pythagoras, Jesus, Socrates,
Pascal, &c., which, believing in the goodness of the Creator and the
perfectibility of man, endeavors to found upon earth the reign of
justice, fraternity, and equality. A more important work on Socialism
is that of Dr. Guepin, of Nantes, _Philosophie du Socialisme_; and M.
Lecouturier announces a _Science du Socialisme_.
* * * * *
MR. G.P.R. JAMES has taken a cottage at Jamaica, Long Island, and
is domiciliated as an American--we hope for a long time. He has made
troops of friends since his arrival here, and is likely to be as
popular in society as he has long been in literature. We are sure
we communicate a very pleasing fact when we state that it is his
intention to give in two or three of our principal cities, during the
autumn and fall, a series of lectures--probably upon the chivalric
ages, with which no one is more profoundly familiar, and of which
no one can discourse more wisely or agreeably. His abilities, his
reputation, and the almost universal acquaintance with his works,
insure for him the largest success. We are indebted to no other living
author for so much enjoyment, and by his proposed lectures he will not
only add to our obligations, but furnish an opportunity to repair
in some degree the wrong he has suffered from the imperfection and
injustice of our copyright system.
* * * * *
"THE LIFE, CHARACTER, AND GENIUS OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT," is a volume
by January Searle, author of _Leaves from Sherwood Forest_, &c., who
knew the corn-law rhymer well, and has been enabled to give very
characteristic sketches, original descriptions, correspondence, &c.
There are in it many judiciously selected specimens of Elliott's
poems, prose productions, and lectures. Mr. Searle observes of him,
that "he was cradled into poetry by human wrong and misery; and was
emphatically the bard of poverty--singing of the poor man's loves and
sorrows, and denouncing his oppressors." Again: "He has one central
idea--terrible and awful in its aspect, although beautiful and
beneficent in spirit--before which he tries all causes, and men, and
things. It is the Eternal Idea of Right; his synonyme of God. And this
idea is perpetually present in his mind, pervades all his thoughts,
will not be shuffled nor cheated, but demands a full satisfaction from
all violators of it."
* * * * *
THE LATE MRS. OSGOOD was in a very remarkable degree respected and
beloved by those who were admitted to her acquaintance. Without envy
or jealousy, or any of the immoralities of the intellect which most
commonly beset writers of her sex, she occasioned no enmities and was
a party to none, but was regarded, especially by the literary women
of this country, with a feeling of tenderness and devotion probably
unparalleled in the annals of literature or of society. Immediately
after her death, therefore, a desire was manifested to illustrate
the common regard for her by some suitable testimonial, and upon
consultation, it was decided to publish a splendid souvenir, to
consist of the gratuitous contributions of her friends, and with the
profits accruing from its sale to erect a monument to her memory in
the cemetery of Mount Auburn. This gift book, edited by Mrs. Osgood's
most intimate friend, Mary E. Hewitt, will be published by Mr. Putnam,
on the first of October, under the title of _The Cairn_, and it will
contain original articles by George Aubrey, Lord Bishop of Jamaica:
the Right Rev. George W. Doane, the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, the
Hon. R.H. Walworth, the Hon. J. Leander Starr, the Rev. C.S. Henry,
D.D., G.P.R. James, Esq., N.P. Willis, Esq., W. Gilmore Simms, Esq.,
Bayard Taylor, Esq., J.H. Boker, Esq., Alfred B. Street, Esq., R.
H. Stoddard, Esq., Miss Fredrika Bremer, Mrs. Sigourney, Mrs. Oakes
Smith, Mrs. Embury, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Neal, Mrs. Willard, Mrs. Whitman,
Miss Lynch, Miss Hunter, Miss Cheesebro', and indeed nearly all the
writers of her sex who have attained any eminence in our literary
world. The volume will be illustrated with nine engravings on steel,
by Cheney and other eminent artists.
* * * * *
THE REV. WALTER COLTON has just published through A.S. Barnes & Co.
"Three Years in California," a journal of experiences and observations
in the gold region, from the period when it first attracted the
attention of the Atlantic cities. Mr. Colton was some time alcade
of Monterey, and he had in every way abundant opportunity to acquire
whatever facts are deserving of preservation in history. His "Ship
and Shore," "Constantinople and Athens," "Deck and Port," and other
works, have illustrated his genial temper, shrewdness, and skill in
description and character writing; and this book will increase his
reputation for these qualities. It contains portraits of Capt. Sutter,
Col. Fremont, Mr. Gwin, Mr. Wright, Mr. Larkin, and Mr. Snyder, a map
of the valley of the Sacramento, and several other engravings, very
spirited in design and execution.
* * * * *
MR. GEORGE STEPHENS, author of the "_Manuscripts of Erdely_," has
been struck by ill health and reduced to poverty, and an amateur play
has been prepared for his benefit at the Soho Theater. He wrote "The
Vampire," "Montezuma," and "Martinuzzi."
* * * * *
The Gallery of Illustrious Americans, conducted by Mr. Lester,
continues with every number to increase in interest. The work is
designed to embrace folio portraits, engraved by Davignon, from
daguerreotypes by Brady, of twenty-four of the most eminent American
citizens who have lived since the time of Washington. The portraits
thus far have been admirable for truthfulness and artistic effect. It
may be said that the _only_ published pictures we have, deserving to
be called portraits, of the historian Prescott, or Mr. Calhoun, or
Colonel Fremont, are in this Gallery. The great artist, naturalist,
and man of letters, Audubon, is reflected here as he appears at the
close of the battle, receiving the reverence of nations and ages.
In the biographical department Mr. Lester has evinced very eminent
abilities for this kind of writing. He seizes the prominent events
of history and the strong points of character, and presents them
with such force and fullness, and happy combination, as to make the
letter-press as interesting and valuable as the engraved portion
of the work. We are pleased to learn that the Gallery is remarkably
successful. No publication of equal splendor and expensiveness has
ever before been so well received in this country. The cost of it
is but one dollar per number, or twenty dollars for the series of
twenty-four numbers. It is now half completed.
* * * * *
M. Max Schlesinger, author of "The War in Hungary, in 1848-9,"--a
work which, from what we read of it in the foreign journals, is much
the most striking and attractive of all that have appeared upon its
subject in English,--is described in the _Athenæum_, as by birth
a Hungarian, by the accidents of fortune a German. For some time a
resident in Prague, and more recently settled in Berlin, he has had
excellent opportunities of seeing the men and studying the questions
connected both in the literary and political sense with the present
movement of ideas and races in Eastern Europe. His acquaintance
with the aspects of nature in his native land--his knowledge of the
peculiar character of its inhabitants, their manners, modes of thought
and habits of life--his familiarity with past history--his right
conception of the leading men in the recent struggle--are all vouched
for as "essentially accurate" by no less an authority than Count
Pulszky. It would be an injustice merely to say that M. Schlesinger
has given in an original and picturesque way a general view of the
course of events in the late war, more complete and connected than is
afforded in any account hitherto presented to the public. He has done
more: he has enabled the German and English reader to understand the
miracle of a nation of four or five millions of men rising up at the
command of a great statesman, and doing successful battle with the
elaborately organized power of a first-class European state, shaking
it to its very foundations, and contending, not without hope,
against two mighty military empires,--until the treachery from within
paralyzed its power of resistance.
* * * * *
Dr. Mayo's new novel, "The Berber, or the Mountaineer of the Atlas,"
published by Putnam, promises to be scarcely less popular than his
"Kaloolah." The _Evening Post_ says of it: "Kaloolah was a sprightly
narrative of the wanderings of a Yankee, who seemed to combine in
his person the characteristics of Robinson Crusoe with those of Baron
Munchausen; but the Berber professes to be nothing more than a novel;
or, as the author says in his preface, his principal object has been
to tell an agreeable story in an agreeable way. In doing so, however,
an eye has been had to the illustration of Moorish manners, customs,
history, and geography; to the exemplification of Moorish life as
it actually is in Barbary in the present day, and not as it usually
appears in the vague and poetic glamour of the common Moorish romance.
It has also been an object to introduce to the acquaintance of the
reader a people who have played a most important part in the world's
history, but of whom very few educated people know anything more than
the name. As Dr. Mayo has traveled extensively over the regions he
describes, we presume that his descriptions may be taken as true. His
account of the Berbers, a tribe of ancient Asiatic origin, who inhabit
a range of the Atlas, and who live a semi-savage life like the Arabs,
is minute, and to the intelligent reader quite as interesting as the
more narrative parts of the work. It is, perhaps, the best evidence of
the merits of the book, that the whole first edition was exhausted by
orders from the country before the first number had appeared in the
city."
* * * * *
Col. Forbes, who was in Italy during the revolution, and many years
previous, and who was himself, both in a military and civic capacity,
one of the actors in that event, the _Evening Post_ informs us, is
about to give public lectures on the subject of Italy in the various
cities and towns of the United States. Col. Forbes was intimately
connected with the revolutionary chiefs during the brief existence
of the Roman Republic, and was directly and confidently employed by
Mazzini. His knowledge of the country, its people, its politics, and
its recent history, will supply him with materials for making his
lectures highly interesting and instructive.
* * * * *
The Gem of the Western World, edited by Mrs. Hewitt, and published by
Cornish & Co., Fulton street, is a very beautiful gift-book, and in
its literary character is deserving of a place with the most splendid
and; tasteful annuals of the season. Mrs. Hewitt's own contributions
to it embrace some of her finest compositions, and are of course among
its most brilliant contents.
* * * * *
FRENCH PERIODICALS.--A Parisian correspondent of the London _Literary
Gazette_ observes, that if we exclude the _Revue des Deux Mondes_--a,
sort of cross between the English _Quarterly_ and the monthlies,--if
we exclude also a few dry scientific periodicals, and one or two
theatrical or musical newspapers, we shall seek in vain for any
_Quarterly_, or _Blackwood_, or _Art Union_, or _Literary Gazette_;
and that even the periodicals and journals which make the nearest
approach to the weekly, monthly, or quarterly publications of England,
are either wretched compilations, or abominably ill-written and
ill-printed. The _feuilleton_ system of the newspapers is no doubt
the principal cause of the periodical literature being in such
an extremely low condition. But though literary and scientific
periodicals be, generally speaking, vile in quality, they can at least
boast of quantity. There are, it seems, not fewer than 300 of one
kind or another published in Paris alone. Among them are 44 devoted
to medicine, chemistry, natural science, &c.; 42, trade, commerce,
railways, advertisements; 34, fashions; 30, law; 22, administration,
public works, roads, bridges, mines; 19, archæology, history,
biography, geography, numismatics; 19, public instruction and
education; 15, agriculture and horticulture; 8, bibliography and
typography; 10, army and navy; 7, literary; the rest theatrical,
musical, or of a character too hybrid to be classified.
* * * * *
THE ILLUSTRATED DOMESTIC BIBLE, edited by the Rev. Ingram Cobbin,
seems to us decidedly the best family Bible ever offered to the trade
in this country. It is printed with remarkable correctness and beauty;
illustrated with a very large number of maps and engravings on wood;
and its notes, written with much condensation and perspicuity, are
such as are necessary for the understanding of the text. Indeed, all
that is added to the letter of the Bible is legitimate and necessary
_illustration_. It is being published in a series of twenty-five
numbers, at twenty-five cents each, by S. Hueston, publisher of _The
Knickerbocker_, Nassau-street.
* * * * *
THE VIENNA UNIVERSITY, long one of the best in Europe, has not been
reopened since the insurrection of November, 1848, its principal
edifice having been occupied as barracks for a regiment of soldiers.
It is now proposed to restore it to its proper use, but great
difficulty is experienced in finding professors. The old ones
are scattered, some as exiles in foreign countries, on account of
democratic opinions,--some in prison for the same reason, others
employed elsewhere. Wackernagel, the eminent professor of the German
Language and Literature at Basle, Switzerland, tempted by liberal
offers, had promised to come to Vienna, and lend the aid of his
reputation and talents to the restoration of the University, but being
lately at Milan, on a wedding tour, as he and his wife were passing
through the _Piazza d'Armi_, their ears were saluted by cries of
pain, which on inquiry they found to proceed from sundry rebellious
Italians, of both sexes, who were receiving each from twenty-five to
fifty blows of the military baton, or cane, employed by the Austrians
in flogging soldiers. Madame Wackernagel at once declared that she
would never willingly inhabit a country whose laws and habits suffered
women to be so brutally punished for patriotism, and her husband could
only agree with her. He has accordingly broken off the engagement, and
the Government cannot hope to supply his place.
* * * * *
HINCKS ON LITERARY LARCENY.--A Canadian friend sends us the following
extract from a speech by Francis Hincks, a leading member of the
Canadian Ministry, touching the International Copyright question:
"The American publisher steals the works of British authors,
because he is immoral enough to do it, because he is scoundrel
enough, and the nation is scoundrel enough to permit it.
(Ironical cheers.) Yes, because the nation is scoundrel enough
to permit it."
Our unknown friend who sends us this wants us to give Hincks a
thorough roasting for it, and evidently expects every hair on our head
to bristle with indignation. Now we have not the least objection to
roasting the Minister aforesaid, and will do it when a fair chance
presents itself, but we don't consider this such a chance. In fact,
though we think Francis has drawn rather a strong draught from "the
well of English undefiled," yet essentially we regard his observations
above quoted as rather more than half right. It _is_ rascally to steal
a man's book, print it, sell it, read it, and refuse him any pay for
the labor of writing it; and we don't see that his being an Englishman
makes any material difference. There may be a cheaper way to get the
proceeds of another man's toil than by paying for it, but we don't
think there is any other strictly honest way.--_Tribune_.
* * * * *
HERR SCHUMANN's opera, "Généviève," was produced at Leipsic on the
28th ultimo. "This work," says the _Gazette Musicale_, "after having
been much recommended beforehand, does not seem to have satisfied
public expectation, being concert music, without any dramatic force."
For the verdict which will finally be passed on "Généviève" every
one must be curious who has at all followed the journals of Young
Germany in the recent crusades which they nave made, not so much to
establish Schumann as a great composer, as to prove him greater than
Mendelssohn.
* * * * *
THE GRAND LITERARY TRADE SALES are now in progress in New York: and
the catalogues of the rival houses are the largest ever printed.
Cooley & Keese at their splendid hall in Broadway present this year a
richer and more extensive series of invoices than has ever before been
sold in America.
* * * * *