Harley L'Estrange is seated beside Helen at the lattice-window in the
cottage at Norwood. The bloom of reviving health is on the child's face,
and she is listening with a smile, for Harley is speaking of Leonard with
praise, and of Leonard's future with hope. "And thus," he continued,
"secure from his former trials, happy in his occupation, and pursuing the
career he has chosen, we must be content, my dear child, to leave him."
"Leave him!" exclaimed Helen, and the rose on her cheek faded.
Harley was not displeased to see her emotion. He would have been
disappointed in her heart if it had been less susceptible to affection.
"It is hard on you, Helen," said he, "to separate you from one who has been
to you as a brother. Do not hate me for doing so. But I consider myself
your guardian, and your home as yet must be mine. We are going from this
land of cloud and mist, going as into the world of summer. Well, that does
not content you. You weep, my child; you mourn your own friend, but do not
forget your father's. I am alone, and often sad, Helen; will you not
comfort me? You press my hand, but you must learn to smile on me also. You
are born to be the Comforter. Comforters are not egotists; they are always
cheerful when they console."
The voice of Harley was so sweet, and his words went so home to the child's
heart, that she looked up and smiled in his face as he kissed her ingenuous
brow. But then she thought of Leonard, and felt so solitary--so
bereft--that tears burst forth again. Before these were dried, Leonard
himself entered, and obeying an irresistible impulse, she sprang to his
arms, and, leaning her head on his shoulder, sobbed out, "I am going from
you, brother--do not grieve--do not miss me."
Harley was much moved: he folded his arms, and contemplated them both
silently--and his own eyes were moist, "This heart," thought he, "will be
worth the winning!"
He drew aside Leonard, and whispered, "Soothe but encourage and support
her. I leave you together; come to me in the garden later."
It was nearly an hour before Leonard joined Harley.
"She was not weeping when you left her?" asked L'Estrange.
"No; she has more fortitude than we might suppose. Heaven knows how that
fortitude has supported mine. I have promised to write to her often."
Harley took two strides across the lawn, and then, coming back to Leonard,
said, "Keep your promise, and write often for the first year. I would then
ask you to let the correspondence drop gradually."
"Drop!--Ah, my lord!"
"Look you, my young friend, I wish to lead this fair mind wholly from the
sorrows of the Past. I wish Helen to enter, not abruptly, but step by step,
into a new life. You love each other now as do two children--as brother and
sister. But later, if encouraged, would the love be the same? And is it not
better for both of you, that youth should open upon the world with youth's
natural affections free and unforestalled?"
"True! and she is so above me," said Leonard, mournfully.
"No one is above him who succeeds in your ambition, Leonard. It is not
_that_, believe me!"
Leonard shook his head.
"Perhaps," said Harley, with a smile, "I rather feel that you are above me.
For what vantage-ground is so high as youth? Perhaps I may become jealous
of you. It is well that she should learn to like one who is to be
henceforth her guardian and protector. Yet, how can she like me as she
ought, if her heart is to be full of you?"
The boy bowed his head; and Harley hastened to change the subject, and
speak of letters and of glory. His words were eloquent, and his voice
kindling; for he had been an enthusiast for fame in his boyhood; and in
Leonard's his own seemed to him to revive. But the poet's heart gave back
no echo--suddenly it seemed void and desolate. Yet when Leonard walked back
by the moonlight, he muttered to himself, "Strange--strange--so mere a
child, this cannot be love! Still what else to love is there left to me?"
And so he paused upon the bridge where he had so often stood with Helen,
and on which he had found the protector that had given to her a home--to
himself a career. And life seemed very long, and fame but a dreary phantom.
Courage, still, Leonard! These are the sorrows of the heart that teach thee
more than all the precepts of sage and critic.
Another day, and Helen had left the shores of England, with her fanciful
and dreaming guardian. Years will pass before our tale reopens. Life in all
the forms we have seen it travels on. And the Squire farms and hunts; and
the Parson preaches and chides and soothes. And Riccabocca reads his
Machiavelli, and sighs and smiles as he moralizes on Men and States. And
Violante's dark eyes grow deeper and more spiritual in their lustre; and
her beauty takes thought from solitary dreams. And Mr. Richard Avenel has
his house in London, and the honorable Mrs. Avenel her opera box; and hard
and dire is their struggle into fashion, and hotly does the new man,
scorning the aristocracy, to pant become aristocrat. And Audley Egerton
goes from the office to the Parliament, and drudges, and debates, and helps
to govern the empire in which the sun never sets. Poor Sun, how tired he
must be--but none more tired than the Government! And Randal Leslie has an
excellent place in the bureau of a minister, and is looking to the time
when he shall resign it to come into Parliament, and on that large arena
turn knowledge into power. And meanwhile, he is much where he was with
Audley Egerton; but he has established intimacy with the Squire, and
visited Hazeldean twice, and examined the house and the map of the
property--and very nearly fallen a second time into the Ha-ha, and the
Squire believes that Randal Leslie alone can keep Frank out of mischief,
and has spoken rough words to his Harry about Frank's continued
extravagance. And Frank does continue to pursue pleasure, and is very
miserable, and horribly in debt. And Madame di Negra has gone from London
to Paris, and taken a tour into Switzerland, and come back to London again,
and has grown very intimate with Randal Leslie; and Randal has introduced
Frank to her; and Frank thinks her the loveliest woman in the world, and
grossly slandered by certain evil tongues. And the brother of Madame di
Negra is expected in England at least; and what with his repute for beauty
and for wealth, people anticipate a sensation; and Leonard, and Harley, and
Helen? Patience--they will all reappear.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Continued from page 386.
FRAGMENTS FROM A VOLUME OF POEMS
BY THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES.
[Just Published in London.]
NOTHING ALONE.
All round and through the spaces of creation
No hiding-place of the least air, or earth,
Or sea, invisible, untrod, unrained on,
Contains a thing alone. Not e'en the bird,
That can go up the labyrinthine winds
Between its pinions, and pursues the summer,--
Not even the great serpent of the billows,
Who winds him thrice around this planet's waist,--
Is by itself in joy or suffering.
LOVE.
O that sweet influence of thoughts and looks!
That change of being, which, to one who lives,
Is nothing less divine than divine life
To the unmade! Love? Do I love? I walk
Within the brilliance of another's thought,
As in a glory.
INNOCENT WELCOME TO EVIL.
How thou art like the daisy in Noah's meadow,
On which the foremost drop of rain fell warm
And soft at evening; so the little flower
Wrapped up its leaves, and shut the treacherous water
Close to the golden welcome of its breast,--
Delighting in the touch of that which led
The shower of oceans, in whose billowy drops
Tritons and lions of the sea were warring.
THE IMPARTIAL BANQUET.
The unfashionable worm,
Respectless of crown-illumined brow,
To cheek's bewitchment, or the sceptred clench,
With no more eyes than Love, creeps courtier-like,
On his thin belly, to his food,--no matter
How clad or nicknamed it might strut above,
What age or sex,--it is his dinner-time.
ARGUMENT FOR MERCY.
I have a plea,
As dewy piteous as the gentle ghost's
That sits alone upon a forest-grave
Thinking of no revenge: I have a mandate,
As magical and potent as e'er ran
Silently through a battle's myriad veins,
Undid their fingers from the hanging steel,
And drew them up in prayer: I AM A WOMAN.
O motherly-remembered be the name,
And, with the thought of loves and sisters, sweet
And comforting!
INTERCESSION BETWEEN A FATHER AND A SON.
There stands before you
The youth and golden top of your existence,
Another life of yours: for, think your morning
Not lost, but given, passed from your hand to his
The same except in place. Be then to him
As was the former tenant of your age,
When you were in the prologue of your time,
And he lay hid in you unconsciously
Under his life. And thou, my younger master,
Remember there's a kind of God in him;
And, after heaven, the next of thy religion.
Thy second fears of God, thy first of man,
Are his, who was creation's delegate,
And made this world for thee in making thee.
Authors and Books.
CARL IMMERMAN'S _Theater-Briefe_ (Letters on the Theatre), says a German
critic, "is interesting not only as a history of a German theatre, but as
an excellent addition to the literature of aesthetic criticism. This work
refers more especially to the years 1833-37, during which time, as is well
known, Immerman attempted to establish in Duesseldorf an _ideal_ theatre,
somewhat in the style of that at Weimar." We have frequently, in
conversation with a gentleman who held an appointment in this Duesseldorf
_Ideal Theatre_, received amusing and interesting accounts of Immerman's
style of management. That his plan did not succeed is undoubtedly for the
sake of Art to be regretted; yet we can by no means unconditionally approve
of the ideas upon which Immerman based his theories. He was certainly right
in endeavoring to form a unity of style in dramatic representations; but
how he could have deemed such an unity possible, when grounded upon such
diametrically opposed aesthetic bases as those of Shakespeare and Calderon,
is to us unintelligible. The remarks on the most convenient and practical
style of executing certain pieces--for example, Hamlet--are worthy of
attention, as also a few explanations relative to Immerman's own dramatic
conceptions.
* * * * *
KOHL, whose innumerable and well-known books of travel have caused him to
be cited even in book-making Germany as an instance of _Ausserordentlichen
Fruchtbarkeit_, or extraordinary fertility, has published, through Kuntze
of Dresden, yet another work, entitled _Sketches of Nature and Popular
Life_, which is however said to be inferior to the average of his
works--principally, we imagine, from his falling into the besetting sin of
German writers since the late revolutions, namely, of talking politics when
he should have quoted poetry. We should not be surprised to find some day a
treatise on qualitative chemistry, commencing with an analysis of the
Prussian constitution, or an anatomical work, concluding with a dissection
of Germany in general. Kohl possesses, however, great faculties of
observation, is an accurate describer, and has, perhaps, done as much as
any man of the age towards making different countries acquainted with each
other.
* * * * *
The friends of the Italian language and literature, will do well to cast an
occasional kindly glance on _L'Eco d'Italia_ (The Echo of Italy), an
excellent weekly paper published by Signor SECCHI DE CASALI, in this city,
at number 289 Broadway. Many admirable poems find their way from time to
time into this periodical, while its foreign correspondence is of a high
order of merit.
* * * * *
The Polish authoress NARCISA ZWICHOWSKA, well known to all who are
acquainted with the literature of that country, has received from the
Russian authorities an order to enter a convent, and no longer to occupy
herself with literature, but with labors of a manual kind, which are more
becoming to women. She is to receive from the treasury a silver ruble, or
about sixty-two and a half cents a day for her support.
* * * * *
Cooking is no doubt a great science, and its chief prophet is undeniably
EUGENE BARON BAERST. This gentleman, who is well known in Germany and
elsewhere for his gallant services in Spain, in the army of Don Carlos, has
just brought out a work in two volumes, of some six hundred and fifty pages
each, entitled _Gastrosophie, oder die Lehre von den Freuden der Tafel_
(Gastrosophy, or the Doctrine of the Delights of the Table). In this he
evinces a thoroughness of knowledge and a fire of enthusiasm well
calculated to astonish the reader, who has probably not before been aware
of the grandeur of the subjects discussed. He begins with the very elements
of his theme. "The man," he exclaims in his preface, "who undertakes to
write a cook-book, must begin by teaching the mason how to build a
fire-place, so as not merely to produce heat from above or below, but from
both at once; he must teach the butcher how to cut his meat, and above all
the baker how to make bread, and especially the _semmel_ (a sort of small
loaves with caraway or anise seed, much liked in Germany), which are often
very like leather and perfectly indigestible. It is true that in Psalm CIV.
verse 15, we are told that bread strengthens the heart of man, but the
semmel sort does no such thing; and when Linguet affirms,--and it is one of
the greatest paradoxes I know of,--that bread is a noxious article of food,
he must be thinking of just that kind. Further, it is necessary to instruct
the gardener, the vegetable woman, the cattle dealer and feeder, and a
hundred other people down to the scullion, who must learn to chop the
spinage very fine and rub and tie it well, and also not to wash the salad,
&c. And this is all the more necessary, because bad workmen,--and their
name is legion,--love no sort of instruction, but fancy that they already
know every thing better than anybody else." To this extensive and thankless
work of instruction, the Baron declares that he has devoted himself, and
that the iron will necessary to its accomplishment is his. The iron health
is however wanting, and accordingly he can do nothing better for "the
fatherland's artists in eating" than the present work. At the last advices,
the valiant Baron was dangerously ill.
* * * * *
Works on natural history and philosophy seldom possess much interest for
the uninitiated in "the physically practical." An exception to this may
however be found in the beautiful _Schmetterlingsbuch_, or _Butterfly
book_, recently published by Hoffman of Stuttgart, containing eleven
hundred colored illustrations of these "winged flowers," as the Chinese
poetically term them. Equally attractive to every lover of exquisite works
of scientific art, is the recent American _Pomology_, edited by Dr.
BRINCKLE of Philadelphia, and published by Hoffy of that city. This, we
state on the authority of the Philadelphia Art-Union Reporter, is the most
splendid work of the kind ever published in this country or Europe, with a
single exception, which was issued under royal patronage.
* * * * *
A valuable and useful book in these times is STEIN'S _Geschichte der
socialen Bewegung in Frankreich von 1789 bis auf unsere Tage_ (History of
the Social Movement in France from 1789 to our day). It is in three
volumes, published at Leipzig. The _Socialismus und Communismus_ of the
same author has given him a wide reputation for impartiality and
thoroughness, which the present work must confirm and extend. We do not
coincide in all his views, historical or critical, but cordially recommend
him to the study of all who desire to inform themselves as to one of the
most important phases of modern history.
* * * * *
An interesting work entitled _Die Macht des Kleinen_, or _The power of the
Little, as shown in the formation of the crust of our earth-ball_, has
recently been translated from the Dutch of _Schwartzkopt_, by Dr. SCHLEIDEN
of Leipzig. This book treats entirely of the works and wonders effected by
that "invisible brotherhood" of architects, the _animalculae_, and shows how
greatly the organic world is indebted to coral insects, _foraminiferae_,
polypi, and other cryptic beings, for its existence and progress. The
illustrations are truly admirable.
* * * * *
Among the recent publications at Halle, is a heavy octavo by Dr. J. H.
KRAUSE, on the _History of Education, Instruction and Culture among the
Greeks, Etruscans and Romans_. It is drawn from the original sources, and
is the result of a most studious and thorough investigation of the subject.
* * * * *
A very intelligent young priest, by name JOSEPH LUTZ, has recently
published by Laupp of Tuebingen, a _Handbook of Catholic Pulpit Eloquence_.
This work will be found highly interesting to those desirous of
investigating the history and theories of modern eloquence. We were already
aware that in New-England smoking and whistling are regarded as vices, but
first learned from the prospectus of this work that, according to Theremin,
eloquence is a _virtue_!
* * * * *
A collection of the popular songs of Southern Russia is now being published
at Moscow by Mr. MAKSIMOWITSCH, who for twenty years has been in the
Ukraine, engaged in taking down and preserving these interesting products
of the early life of his people in that region. This is not the first
contribution of the kind that he has made to Russian literature; in 1827 he
published the _Songs of Little Russia_, consisting of one hundred and
thirty pieces for male and female voices; in 1834 the _Popular Songs of the
Ukraine_, consisting of one hundred and thirteen songs for men; and in the
same year the _Voices of Ukraine Song_, twenty-five pieces with music. The
present work is called by way of distinction _Collectaneum of Ukraine
Popular Songs_; it is to be in six parts, containing about two thousand
national poems. Each part is to be accompanied with explanatory notes, and
the last volume will contain an essay on Russian popular poetry in general,
as well as on that of the Ukraine in particular. One volume has already
appeared; it is in two divisions: the first of Ukraine _Dumy_, the second
of cradle songs and lullabys. The _Dumy_ are a particular sort of poems
peculiar to the Ukraine. They are in a most irregular measure, varying from
four to twelve syllables, with the cadence varying in each line. The only
requirement is that they should rhyme, and frequently several successive
lines are made to do so. These poems are the production of the
_Vandurists_, or bards of the country, who are even yet found on the
southern shore of the Dnieper. These singers, usually blind old men, chant
their _Dumy_ and their songs to the people, accompanying themselves with
both hands on the many-stringed _vandura_. The _Dumy_ flourished most in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There are some existing composed
by Mazeppa after the battle of Pultowa, and one or two other poets have
left a _Dumy_ of the eighteenth, but they are not equal to those of more
primitive times. Since then there have been no new compositions in the way
of popular songs and ballads, but the older works have been repeated with
variations and to new melodies. The most frequent subjects of these ballads
were, of course, historic personages and warlike deeds; but often they sung
of domestic matters and feelings, winding up with a moral for the benefit
of the young. In this volume of Mr. Maksimowitsch, are twenty _Dumy_; their
subjects are such as these: Fight of the Cossack with the Tartar, the Three
Brothers, On the Victory of Gorgsun (1648). He reckons the number in
existence at thirty. Of these he publishes, four have not before been
known.
* * * * *
A new edition of Hogarth's Works is in process of republication at
Goettingen in a diminished size. There are to be twelve parts at fifty cents
each; the third part has been published.
* * * * *
Of DR. ANDREE'S great work on _America_, whose commencement we noticed some
months since, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth parts have just reached
us. The German savan continues to justify the high encomiums we passed upon
the earlier portions of his work. He has used with the utmost industry and
conscientiousness all the best sources of information on every subject he
treats. Gallatin, Morton and Squier he frequently quotes as authorities.
These four parts are devoted to the conclusion of the essay on the origin
and history of the American race. In this he calls attention to the fact
that all the developments of American civilization took place on high plain
lands and not in the rich vallies of the great rivers--a fact by the way
which confirms Mr. Carey's theory of the first settlement and culture of
land, though to this Dr. Andree does not refer. He then treats of Canada,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Bermudas and the United States. The leading
facts in the geography, history, the sources of population, the political
constitution, the geological structure, soil, climate, industry, resources,
and prospects of these countries are given with admirable succinctness,
thoroughness and justice. As a book of ordinary reference, none could be
more convenient or reliable. The most difficult questions are considered
with a genuine German cosmopolitan impartiality of judgment. The
predominant influence in the formation of the American democratic
institutions Dr. Andree considers to be English, or more strictly speaking
Teutonic. Other races and nations have contributed to the mass of the
people, but only the Teutonic has laid the foundation and built the
structure of the state. It is a great blessing in the history of the
continent that the French did not succeed in their plans of colonization,
for they would everywhere have founded not democratic but feudal
institutions. The slavery question he treats more in the interest of the
south than in the spirit of the abolitionists, whose course he condemns
with considerable plainness of expression. On the mode of finally solving
this question, he offers no speculations, but contents himself with showing
the great difficulties attending colonization and emancipation upon the
soil. The former he thinks impossible, the latter can only produce war
between the two races, in which the latter must be exterminated. This mode
of viewing this subject we can testify is frequent among well-educated
Germans. The statistics relating to the United States, Dr. Andree has
collected in a most lucid manner; we do not know where they are better or
more conveniently arranged. Products, imports, exports, debt of federal and
state governments, taxation, shipping, railroads, canals, schools, are all
given; nothing escapes the vigilance of this most exemplary ethnographer.
His style is no less clear and vivid in these four parts than in those
preceding. The remainder will follow regularly. The work may be found at
Westermann's, corner of Broadway and Reade street, by whose house in
Brunswick, Germany, it is published.
* * * * *
M. ALEXANDER DUVAL has a long article in the _Journal des Debats_ entitled,
_Studies upon German Love_, taking his text from Bettina von Arnim's famous
correspondence with Goethe, and from the _Book of Love_, in which the same
sentimentalist has recorded her relations with the unfortunate Guenderode.
M. Duval finds that in his intercourse with Bettina, Goethe played a part
which was honorable neither to his mind nor his heart. In the _Book of
Love_, says M. Duval, there is a little of every thing--of physics, of
metaphysics, of poetry, of natural history, of biographical anecdotes, the
history of the first kiss, of the second kiss, and of the third kiss
received by Mlle. Bettina, mixed up with apostrophes to the stars, to the
ocean, to the mountains, and above all, to the moon, which she loves so
much that she never leaves it in peace. In fact, she has such a passion for
whatever is lunatic, that the moon above is not sufficient, and she invents
another, an interior and metaphysical moon, which enlightens the world of
our thoughts. About this she writes to Goethe: "When thou art about to go
to sleep, confide thyself to the inward moon, sleep in the light of the
moon of thy own nature." French literature was never disgraced by a girl's
making a god of its most illustrious representative, and his allowing the
silly incense to be burned for years upon his altars; but the evil is
getting into France as well. Rousseau did not dare to publish his
confessions, but Lamartine has had the courage, and has served up to the
public his own letters and the portraits of his mistresses. Madame Sand's
_Memoirs_ are also advertised; another step that way and Germany need no
longer envy the country of Montesquieu and Voltaire, of good sense and
action.
* * * * *
Readable and instructive is HASE'S _Neue Propheten_ (New Prophets), just
published in Germany. The new prophets are Joan d'Arc, Savonarola, and the
Anabaptists of Muenster. They are treated historically and philosophically,
in a style whose simplicity, animation, and clearness, differ most
gratefully from the crabbed and long-winded sentences of the earlier German
writers, in the study of whom we dug our way into some imperfect
acquaintance with that rich and flexible tongue. The book is worthy of
translation.
* * * * *
A new book on a subject which has latterly become prominent among the
themes of European observation and thought is called _Suedslavische
Wanderwagen im Sommer 1850_ (Wandering in Southern Slavonia in the Summer
of 1850). It is a series of vivid and interesting pictures of one of the
most remarkable races and regions of Europe.
* * * * *
A singular work has recently been published by Decker of Berlin, entitled
_Monasticus Irenaeus, von Jerusalem, nach Bethlehem_ (or Irenaeus Monasticus:
a public message to the noble Lady Ida, Countess of Hahn-Hahn: for the
profit and piety of all newly converted Catholics.) In this work we find
much talent, deep learning, and abundance of Schleiermachian philosophy;
but remark on the other hand the following weak points: Firstly, that the
author cuts down a gnat with a scimitar, or in other words overrates the
talent and abilities of his adversary; and, secondly, that he affects to
assume the tone and style in which her work was written, even in the title.
(The reader will remember that the work of the Countess was entitled "_From
Jerusalem_," and bore the motto, "SOLI DEO GLORIA.") In other respects also
is this work, if not decidedly wrong, at least quite indifferent.
* * * * *
LAMARTINE'S History of the Restoration is reviewed at length in the
_Journal des Debats_, by M. Cuvillier-Fleury. It is a very severe piece of
criticism. Lamartine is charged with injustice, confusion, and even a
systematic perversion of the truth, especially toward Napoleon. The account
of the Emperor's last days at Fontainebleau, is pronounced a tragi-comedy,
full of grimaces, of explosions, of puerile hesitations, of impossible
exaggerations. Men and facts are judged without reflection, by prejudice,
by blind passion, by a sort of fated and involuntary partiality. The method
of the book runs into declamation, turgidity, and redundancy; he does not
narrate, he discourses or expounds; he falls into mere gossip or is lost in
analysis; instead of portraits he paints miniatures, and does not conceive
an historical picture without a fancy vignette. His descriptive lyricism,
instead of imparting a grandeur to his subject, diminishes it; instead of
refining it, renders it petty. Besides, in his overstrained and exaggerated
style, he is guilty of writing bad French; M. Cuvillier-Fleury quotes
several striking examples of this. The article concludes by saying that the
historian writes without ballast, and goes at the impulse of every breeze
which swells his sails, and with no other care than the inspiration of the
moment. His subject carries him off by all the perspectives it opens to his
imagination or his memory. He is like a ship moving out of port with
streamers floating from every mast, its poop crowned with flowers, and
every sail set, but without a rudder. In spite of all criticism, however,
this history has a large sale in France: the first edition is already
exhausted. The practice of pirating, usual at Brussels and Leipzic, with
reference to French works of importance, has been prevented, in this case,
by the preparation of cheap editions for Belgium and Germany, which were
issued there cotemporaneously with the publication at Paris.
* * * * *
The second part of the third volume of HUMBOLDT'S _Kosmos_ is nearly
completed, and will soon appear. A fourth volume is to be added, in which
the geological studies of the venerable author will be set forth. He is now
nearly eighty-one years old, and is as vigorous and youthful in feeling as
ever. The first part of the third volume of _Kosmos_ appeared in German and
English several months ago.
* * * * *
A History of Polish Literature, from the remotest antiquity to 1830, is now
being published at Warsaw, by Mr. MACIEJOWKI, a writer thoroughly
acquainted with the subject. Three parts of the first volume have appeared,
bringing the history down to the first half of the seventeenth century. One
more part will complete the volume, and three volumes will complete the
work.
* * * * *
The study of Russian archaeology and history is prosecuted in that country
with a degree of activity and thoroughness that other nations are not aware
of, and publications of importance are made constantly. Within the present
year the fifth part of the complete collection of _Russian Chronicles_ has
appeared, the fourth of the collection of public documents relating to the
history of Western Russia, and the beginning of a new collection of foreign
historians of Russia.
* * * * *
A curious contrast of light and shade is exhibited in the titles of two
works recently published in Vienna. SIEGFRIED WEISS (or _white_) puts forth
a book, _On the present state and trade policy of Germany_, while in the
next paragraph of the same list N. SCHWARTZ (or _black_) appears as the
author of _The situation of Austria as regards her trade policy_. This
latter we should judge to be an excellent illustration of the old phrase,
"_nomen et omen!_"
* * * * *
Periodical literature is making its way into Asia. A literary monthly has
made its appearance at Tiflis, in the Georgian language. It will discuss
Georgian literature, furnish translations from foreign tongues, and treat
of the arts and sciences, and of agriculture. What oriental students will
find most interesting in this magazine, will be its specimens of the
popular literature of the country. A new Armenian periodical has also been
commenced in the Trans-Caucasian country.
* * * * *
A German version of HAWTHORNE'S _Scarlet Letter_ has been executed by one
DU BOIS, and published by Velliagen & Klasing of Nielefeld.
* * * * *
OTTO HUBNER, the industrious German economist, is about to publish at
Leipsic a collection of the tariffs of all nations.
* * * * *
A work on Freemasonic medals has been published by Dr. MERZDORF,
superintendent of the Grand Ducal Library of Oldenburg: with plates.
* * * * *
The German Universities are well off for teachers. In the twenty-seven
institutions of the kind at the last summer term, there were engaged 1586
teachers, viz.: 816 ordinary, 330 extraordinary, and 37 honorary
professors, with 403 private tutors, exclusive of 134 masters of languages,
gymnastics, fencing and dancing. Muenster has the fewest teachers, numbering
only 18, Olmuetz 22, Innsbruck, 26, Gratz 22, Berne and Basle each 33,
Rostock, 38; on the other hand Berlin has 167, Munich 102, Leipzic and
Goettingen each 100, Prague 92, Bonn 90, Breslau 84, Heidelberg 81, Tuebingen
77, Halle 75, Jena 74. The whole number of students in the last term was
16,074; Berlin counting 2199, Munich 1817, Prague 1204, Bonn 1026, Leipzic
846, Breslau 831, Tuebingen 768, Goettingen 691, Wuerzburg 684, Halle 646,
Heidelberg 624, Gratz 611, Jena 434, Giessen 409, Freiburg 403, Erlangen
402, Olmuetz 396, Koenigsberg 332, Muenster 323, Marburg 272, Innsbruck 257,
Greifswald 208, Zuerich 201, Berne 184, Rostock 122, Kiel 119, Basel 65.
* * * * *
Among the last poetical issues of the German press we notice _Poetis che
Schriften_, by A. HENSEL (Vienna, 2 vols.), are exaggerated, almost insane
expression of Austrian loyalty running through sonnets, lyrics, ballads and
romances; _Friedrichsehre_ (Honor to Frederick), by an anonymous author
(Posen), a new wreath for the weather-beaten old brows of Frederick the
Great; _Erwachen_ (Waking), seven poems by Hugo le Juge (Berlin), a book
with talent in it; _Lebensfruehling_, by Paul Eslin (Liepsic), the second
edition of a collection of neat and pleasing poems for children.
* * * * *
The Russian government has published some book-making statistics of Poland
in 1850. In the course of the year, 359 manuscript works were submitted to
the censorship, being 19 more than in 1849. Almost all were scientific, the
greater part treating of theology, jurisprudence, and medicine; 327 were
licensed to be printed, 4 rejected, and 15 returned to their authors for
modification; upon 13 no decision has been given. In 1850, there were
imported into the kingdom 15,986 works, in 58,141 volumes; this was 749
works less, and 1,027 volumes more than in 1849.
* * * * *
A new work on Russia is appearing at Paris with the title of _Etudes sur
les Forces Productives de la Russie_. Its author is Mr. L. DE TEGOBORSKI, a
Russian privy councillor. The first volume, a stout octavo, has been
issued. It treats of the geographical situation and extent of Russia, the
climate, fertility and configuration of the soil; population; productions
of the earth and their gross value; vegetable, animal and mineral
productions; agriculture; raising of domestic animals. The whole work will
consist of three volumes; the second is in press.
* * * * *
Notices in the later numbers of the _Europa_, of KARL QUENTIN in America,
and _The Art Journal_, are not without interest. The Grenzboten also
contains interesting articles on THOMAS MOORE, and OERSTED.
* * * * *
Of Ritter's great work, the _History of Philosophy_, of which only earlier
volumes have appeared in English, a tenth volume is shortly to be
published.
* * * * *
A new and compendious history of philosophy has been published at Leipzic
in two octavo volumes, called _Das Buch der Weltweisheit_. It gives in the
most succinct form a statement of the doctrines of the leading
philosophical thinkers of all times, and is designed for the cultivated
among the German people. Men of other nations are however not forbidden to
derive from it what advantage they can.
* * * * *
DE FLOTTE, whose election to the French Assembly made such a stir a year
since, has lately published a thick volume entitled _De la Souverainete du
Peuple_. It is a series of essays in which he discusses with great
penetration and remarkable power of abstract thought, the spirit, ends, and
present results of the great general revolution, of which all the special
revolutions that have hitherto occurred, are merely incidents and phases.
De Flotte considers that humanity is advancing toward liberty absolute and
universal, in politics, religion, industry, and every department of life.
"One thing," he says, "has ever astonished me; this is that some men
presume to accuse the revolution of denying tradition, because they think
only of one age, or of one dynasty, while we think of all sovereigns and of
all ages; they oppose, with a curious good faith, the history of a single
epoch or a single party, to the history of all epochs and of all men.
Strange ignorance and singular forgetfulness! Why do they fail to do in
space, what they do in time, in geography what they do in history? Why do
they not deny the existence of negroes and of the Chinese because none of
them come to France? The reason is that life in space strikes the bodily
eye, while life in time strikes the eye of the mind, and theirs is
blinded!"
* * * * *
In France, 78,000 francs have been voted by the National Assembly for
excavations at Nineveh. Mr. LAYARD, without further means for the
prosecution of his researches there, is in England, and we are sorry to
learn, in ill health. His new book, _Fresh Discoveries in Nineveh_, will
soon be published by Mr. Putnam. Dr. H. WEISSENBORN has printed in
Stuttgart, _Nineveh and its Territory, in respect to the latest excavations
in the valley of the Tigris_. Some specimens of the exhumed sculptures of
Nineveh have been sent to New-York by Rev. D. W. Marsh, of the American
mission at Mosul.
* * * * *
A second series of EUGENE SUE's _Mysteres du Peuple_ is announced as about
to commence at Paris. This is an attempt to set forth the history of the
French people, or working classes, the form of a modern story being merely
a frame in which to set the author's pictures of former times. The first
series completes the history of the early Gauls and of Roman domination;
the second will treat of feudalism and of the introduction of modern social
castes and distinctions. Sue has published a preamble in the form of an
address to his readers, in which he draws the outline of the subject he is
about to treat, and establishes his main historical positions by reference
to a great variety of learned authorities.
The same author is now publishing in _La Presse_ a new novel called
_Fernand Duplessis, or Memoirs of a Husband_. We have seen some eight or
ten numbers of it; so far it is comparatively free from the clap-trap
romance machinery in which French writers in general, and Sue in
particular, are apt to indulge, while it is otherwise less unobjectionable
than the mass of his stories.
* * * * *
The historian MICHELET has published a new part of his _Revolution
Francaise_. It is devoted to the Girondists. The conclusions of the author
are that these unfortunate politicians of a terrible epoch were personally
innocent, that they never thought of dismembering France, and had no
understanding with the enemy, but that the policy they pursued in the early
part of '93, was blind and impotent, and if followed out could only have
resulted in the destruction of the republic, and the triumph of the
royalists. The whole is treated in the Micheletian manner, in distinct
chapters, each elucidating some mind.
* * * * *
A work _On the Fabrication of Porcelain in China, with its History from
Antiquity to the present Day_, that is to say, from 583 to 1821, has just
been translated from Chinese into French by STANISLAS JULIEN, and published
at Paris. It puts the European manufacturer perfectly in possession of the
secrets of Chinese workmen, their methods, and the substances they employ.
M. Julien has previously translated a Chinese essay on education of
silkworms, and the culture of the mulberry. He is one of the most learned
sinologues in Europe.
* * * * *
A French archaeeologist, M. FELIX DE VERNEILH, has published an elaborate
essay on the Cologne Cathedral, in which he denies to Germany the credit of
inventing the purest model of the pointed arch, and demonstrates that this
Cathedral was not planned at the beginning of the most brilliant period of
Christian art, but was the climax thereof, and that instead of having
served as the archetype in construction of other edifices, it shows the
influence of them, and especially of the Cathedral of Amiens.
* * * * *
An interesting and instructive little work has been published at Paris on
the Workingmen's Associations of that city and country. It is by M. ANDRE
COCHUT, one of the editors of _Le National_. It gives the history of each
of the more important of these establishments, with their mode of
organization, number of members, and pecuniary and social results. The
title is _Les Associations Ouvrieres; Histoire et Theorie des Centatives de
Reorganisation Industrielle depuis la Revolution de 1848_.
* * * * *
A complete edition of the works of GEORGE SAND is now publishing at Paris,
in parts, with illustrations by Tony Johannot. It is to be elegant, yet
cheap, the whole only costing about $5. There will be some six hundred
illustrations. The first part contains _La Mare au Diable_ and _Andre_,
with a new preface to the former, in which the author contradicts the
notion that it was intended by her as the beginning of a new order of
literature, or was attempted as a new style of writing. Other authors are
to follow in the same manner.
* * * * *
The new volume of THIER's _History of the Consulate and the Empire_ is
regarded as the most able and most interesting of the series. There is to
be one other volume.
* * * * *
ALEXANDER DUMAS has written the following letter to the _Presse_:
"Sir,--I understand that a publisher who at second hand
is the owner of a book of mine called "The History of
Louis Philippe," intends to issue the work under the
title of "Mysteries of a Royal Family." I have written
the history of Louis Philippe, just as I have written
the histories of Louis XIV., and Louis XV., and Louis
XVI., the history of the revolution, and the history of
the empire. I have sold this series of historical works
to a single publisher, M. Dufour. I never had the
intention to provoke the scandal indicated by the title
with which I am threatened in substitution for the one
that I had given to the work. In the life of Louis
Philippe and the royal family there is nothing
mysterious. A fatal obstinacy in a course leading to an
abyss: there's for the king. For the queen there is
goodness, self-sacrifice, charity, religion, virtue.
For the deceased royal prince and his living brothers,
there is courage, loyalty, gallantry, intelligence,
patriotism. You see in all this there is nothing
mysterious. If he persists in giving to my book a title
which I regard as infamous, the courts of justice shall
decide between me and the publisher. May God keep me
from invoking aught but historical truth with regard to
a man who touched my hand when a king, and my heart,
when an exile.
"ALEX. DUMAS."
Conduct of this sort--the changing of titles, in violation of the wishes of
authors, or any change in a book, by a publisher--is atrocious crime, for
the punishment of which a revival of the whipping-post would not be
inappropriate. There have been many such cases in this country, and to some
of them we may hereafter call particular attention.
* * * * *
One of the most truly successful of the younger living French writers is
ALFRED DE MUSSET. His works are principally poetic and dramatic. He
originated a style of pieces called _Caprices_, which have become
exceedingly popular not only from their own point and spirit, but from the
incomparable manner in which they are rendered on the stage of the _Theatre
Francais_. M. de Musset's reputation has been achieved since the revolution
of July. The last number of the _Grenzboten_ devotes a long leading article
to the discussion of his works and his position in the world of letters. We
translate the following paragraph: "We find in him an elegance of language,
a truth of views, even though they be true only for him individually, a
sensibility to all the problems of the soul and heart, and a freedom from
the usual French prejudices, which lay a strong claim to our attention. He
never falls into that shallow pathos with which Victor Hugo in his
'greatest moments' sometimes covers an intolerable triviality; phrases
never run away with him as they do so often with the king of the
romanticists, whose profoundest monologues not seldom turn out to be empty
jingle. In clearness, delicacy and grace, he can be compared, among the
modern romanticists, with only Prosper Merimee and Charles de Bernard. They
also resemble him in the fear of being led away by general modes of
expression and reflection. They strive only for _individual_ truth; but he
differs from them in the breadth and multiformity of his perspectives, and
in a singular power of assimilation which is based on extensive reading. In
fact, the combinations of his wit and fancy often go so into the distant
and boundless, that we think we are reading a German author." The critic
then compares De Musset with Byron; the latter is more original and
spontaneous, the former richer and more comprehensive. The questions Byron
discusses have forced themselves upon him; those of De Musset are of his
own invention. For the rest he has been greatly influenced by Heine and
Hoffmann, as well as by the Faust of Goethe. The more important of his
works are: _Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie_ (1830); _Un Spectacle dans un
Fauteuil_ (1833); _Poesies Nouvelles_ (1835-40); the same (1840-49); _Les
Comedies Injouables_, a collection of small dramatic pieces (1838); _Louis,
ou il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermee_, _Les deux Martiesses_,
_Emmeline_, _Le Seuet de Javatte_, _Le Fils de Titien_, _Les Adventures de
Laagon_, _La Confession d'un Enfant du Siecle_; romances published between
1830-40. De Musset is still a young man. A good deal has been said at
sundry times about his admission to the French Academy, but the vacancies
have been filled without him.
* * * * *
The London _Leader_ announces an abridged translation of AUGUSTE COMTE'S
six volumes of _Positive Philosophy_, to appear as soon as is compatible
with the exigencies of so important an undertaking. The _Leader_ says: "a
very competent mind has long been engaged upon the task; and the growing
desire in the public to hear more about this _Bacon_ of the nineteenth
century, renders such a publication necessary." But we do not believe in
the competence of any one who proposes an _abridgment_ of Comte: the idea
is absurd. In this country, we believe, two full translations of the great
Frenchman are in progress--one by Professor Gillespie, of which the Harpers
have published the first volume, and another by one of the wisest and
profoundest scholars of the time--a personal friend of Comte, thoroughly
familiar with his system, and master of a style admirably suited for
philosophical discussion.
* * * * *
JULES JANIN has published a new romance called _Gaite Champetre_. The
preface has reached us in the feuilleton of the _Journal des Debats_. It is
in the usual elaborate, learned, and fanciful, but most readable style of
the author. He defends his calling as a mere man of letters, a student of
form and style, in short an artist.
* * * * *
We mentioned not long ago (_International_, vol. iii. p. 214,) the pleasant
letters of FERDINAND HILLER to a German Gazette, respecting his experiences
among authors and artists in Paris. We see that Herr Hiller has been
engaged by Mr. Lumley as musical director to Her Majesty's Theatre in
London and the Italian Opera in Paris. He has filled the appointments of
director to the Conservatoire and Maitre de Chapelle, at Cologne, for some
considerable time. His post at the Conservatoire is to be occupied by M.
Liszt. He will be an important accession to society as well as to the
theatres in those cities.
* * * * *
DR. R. G. LATHAM, whose important works on _The Varieties of Man_, _The
English Language_, _the Ethnology of the British Empire_, &c., are familiar
to scholars, and have proved their author the most profound and sagacious
writer, in a wide and difficult field of science, now living, has in press
an edition of the _Germania_ of Tacitus, in which his philological
acquisitions and his skill in conjectural history will have ample room for
display.
* * * * *
MR. JAMES T. FIELDS was a passenger in the steamer Pacific, which left
New-York on the 11th ult. for Liverpool. Mr. Fields will pass the coming
winter in France and Italy.
* * * * *
We hear of four new histories of the war with Mexico, one of which will be
in three large volumes, by an accomplished officer who served under General
Scott.
* * * * *
MR. HORACE MANN is engaged on a work illustrating his ideas of the
character, condition, and proper sphere of woman. He does not quite agree
with Abby Kelly.
* * * * *
The old charge that
"Garth did not write his own Dispensary,"
has been revived with exquisite absurdity in the case of General Morris and
the song of "Woodman, Spare that Tree!" We have not seen the original
accusation which appeared in an obscure sheet in Boston, but we give place
with pleasure to the letter of the poet. We can imagine nothing less "apt
and of great credit," as Iago defines the requisites of a judicious
calumny, than this figment. The characteristics of Morris's style are
exceedingly marked, and are altogether different from those of Woodworth,
who was an excellent songwriter and a most worthy man, but was as little
like Morris in his literary manner as two men can be who write in the same
age and country. There are among our living poets few fairer and purer
literary reputations than that of General Morris; few that, in a covetous
mood, one would be more disposed to envy. It lives not in the tumult of
reckless criticism and the noisy dogmatism of friendly reviews, but in the
sympathy and enjoyment of thousands of refined and feeling hearts. His
calm, delicate, and simple genius has won its way quietly to an apprecient
admiration that no assaults can disturb, and it may now look down upon most
of its contemporaries without jealousy and without fear. It will shine in
its clear brightness when many clamorous notorieties of the day are
quenched in night and silence. The charge of the Boston editor is a mere
buffoonery. He could not expect that so ridiculous a fabrication would be
believed by any body. It is a device of common-place, stupid malice,
designed only to annoy a very amiable man. Had we been of counsel with the
poet we should have advised him to take no notice of the foolish slander;
but as he has seen fit to write a very interesting note on the subject, we
are happy to preserve it here. The gentleman to whom the note is addressed
gives the following account of the circumstances:
"Some two or three months ago, the editor of the Boston
Sunday News, took General Morris's literary character
to task, and charged him with having obtained the
famous song of 'Woodman Spare that Tree,' from the late
Samuel Woodworth. In a word, he charged that the
General was not the author of a celebrated poem, which
has long been before the world in his name.
"As the editor in question was a friend of mine, and as
I knew that he had done General Morris great injustice,
I wrote him a long letter, in which I attempted to set
him right, and thus induce him if possible to render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. In other words,
I hoped he would correct his misstatements. Instead of
complying with my expressed hope, he thanked me for my
letter--very kindly published it; but, in the very same
paper, repeated his original charge. In common justice
to General Morris, I beg leave to remark, in closing
this note, that I have known him intimately and well
the last thirty years, and that I never knew a poet or
author in any department of literature who was more
strictly original. He is incapable of the petty conduct
attributed to him, and would scorn to wear honors that
belong to another. A more honorable, high-minded
gentleman never lived."
HOME JOURNAL OFFICE, NEW-YORK, _September 22, 1851_.
TO JOHN SMITH, JR., OF ARKANSAS: _My Dear Sir_:--I
thank you sincerely for your kind defence of me against
the unfounded aspersions of an editor of a Boston
paper. Your course was precisely what was to be
expected from a just man, and a contemporary who has
known me from my boyhood. The editor alluded to,
charges me with a crime that I abhor. It is
substantially as follows: "_That the ballad of
'Woodman, spare that tree,' was not written by me, but
by the late Samuel Woodworth, who, while in a state
intoxication, sold it to me, in a public bar-room, for
a paltry sum_." A more infamous charge was never made,
and the whole story, from beginning to end, without any
qualification whatever, is an unmitigated _falsehood_.
The history of the song in question is simply this: In
the autumn of 1837, Russell, the vocalist, applied to
me for an original ballad, and I wrote him "_Woodman,
spare that tree_," and handed it to him with a letter
which he afterwards read at his concerts, and published
in the newspapers of the day. It also accompanied the
first edition of the music. Mr. Woodworth never saw or
heard of the song until after it appeared in print. I
am not indebted to any human being, dead or alive, for
a single word, thought, or suggestion, embodied in that
song. It is entirely original and entirely my
composition, and this is also true of _all_ the
productions I have ever claimed to be the author of,
with the exception of the play of "Brier Cliff," which
is founded upon a novel by Mrs. Thayer, and the opera
of the "Maid of Saxony," dramatized from a story by
Miss Edgeworth. In both instances I duly acknowledged
my indebtedness to the authors from whom I derived my
materials for those pieces. The attack upon Mr.
Woodworth is also shameful in the extreme, and is in
keeping with the whole affair. A more pure and
honorable man never drew the breath of life, and it is
due to his memory to say that he was not less
remarkable for his habits of _temperance_, than for his
many excellent qualities of head and heart. I do not
think that he was ever intoxicated in the whole course
of his life, and he was too upright a man to lend
himself to such a bare-faced imposition as I am charged
with practising through his agency. If he were alive to
answer for himself, he would spurn, as I do, these
malicious fabrications. The whole of the charges made
against me are _untrue in every particular_, and what
motive any one can have for circulating such vile
slanders in private life, or for proclaiming them from
the house-tops of the press, baffles my ingenuity to
determine. Those who know me will doubtless consider
this vindication of myself entirely unnecessary. If I
were to follow my own inclinations I should not notice
the scandalous libel; but, as you justly remarked, "a
slander well hoed grows like the devil," and as my
silence might possibly be misunderstood, I deem it a
duty I owe myself to contradict the infamous and
malicious aspersions of the Boston editor, and to
declare, in the language of Sheridan, that "there is
not one word of truth in all _that gentleman_ has
uttered." In conclusion, I would say, that my defamer
has either been imposed upon, or that he is one of
those lawless bravos of our profession who really
imagine, because they are "permitted to print they are
privileged to insult." Again, thanking you for your
courtesy and kind interposition in my behalf, I remain,
my dear sir, yours very cordially.
GEORGE P. MORRIS.
* * * * *
PROFESSOR TORREY, of Vermont University, has published the fourth volume of
his translation of Neander's _History of the Christian Religion_--a work
which must have rank with the great historical compositions of Niebuhr and
Grote, which have or will have superseded all modern histories of the two
chief empires of antiquity. The volumes of Professor Torrey's very able
translation of Neander's History are regularly republished in rival
editions in England, and so he loses half the reward to which his service
is entitled. Puthes, of Hamburg, advertises the eleventh part (making half
of another volume), which Neander left in MS. This will, of course, be
reproduced by Professor Torrey.
* * * * *
Another translation of the _Divine Comedy_ has been made in England. It is
by a Mr. C. B. CAYLEY, and is in the original ternary rhyme. From a hasty
examination of it we incline to prefer it to Wright's or Carey's; but we
have seen no version of DANTE that in all respects satisfies us so well as
that of Dr. THOMAS W. PARSONS, of Boston, of which some ten cantos were
published a few years ago, and of which the remainder is understood to be
completed for the press. Speaking of Dante, reminds us of the fact that Mr.
Richard Henry Wilde's elaborate memoir of the great Italian has not yet
been printed. Mr. Wilde wrote to us not long before his death that he had
been occupying himself in leisure hours with the revision of some of its
chapters, and we have no doubt that the work is completed. If so, for the
honor of the lamented author, and for the honor of American criticism, it
should be given to the public.
* * * * *
From a forthcoming volume by ALICE CAREY, _Recollections of Our
Neighborhood in the West,_ (to be published early in December by J. S.
Redfield,) we copy a specimen chapter, under the title of "The Old Man's
Death," into another part of this magazine. It has no particular excellence
to distinguish it from the rest of the work; indeed it is rather below than
above the average of Miss Carey's recent compositions; but we may safely
challenge to it the scrutiny of critics capable of appreciating the finest
capacities for the illustration of pastoral life. If we look at the entire
catalogue of female writers of prose fiction in this country we shall find
no one who approaches Alice Carey in the best characteristics of genius.
Like all genuine authors she has peculiarities; her hand is detected as
unerringly as that of Poe or Hawthorne; as much as they she is apart from
others and above others; and her sketches of country life must, we think,
be admitted to be superior even to those delightful tales of Miss Mitford,
which, in a similar line, are generally acknowledged to be equal to any
thing done in England. It is the fault of our literary women that they are
commonly careless and superficial, and that in stories, when they attempt
this sort of writing, they are for the most part but feeble copyists,
without individuality, and without naturalness. We can point to very few
exceptions to this rule, but among such exceptions Alice Carey is eminent.
The book which is announced by Mr. Redfield is without the tinsel, or
sickly sentiment, or impudent smartness, which distinguish some
contemporary publications by women, but it will establish for her an
enviable reputation as an original and most graphic delineator of at least
one class in American society--the middle class, in the rural
neighborhoods, with whom rest, in our own as in other countries, the real
distinctions of national character, and the best elements of national
greatness.
* * * * *
Mr. HENRY INGALLS, a writer of considerable abilities, displayed chiefly in
anonymous compositions on questions in law, writes to a friend in New-York
from Paris, that he has devoted two years to the investigation of pretended
miracles in modern Europe; that the number of alleged miracles in the Roman
Catholic church of which he has exact historical materials, is over one
thousand; that the analyses of these will be amply suggestive of the
character of the rest; and that his work on the subject, to make three or
four large and closely printed volumes, will conclusively show complicity
on the part of the highest authorities of the church, in "the frauds that
are now most notorious and most generally acknowledged."
Mr. Ingalls is of opinion that his work will be eminently curious in
literary, philosophical, and religious points of view, and that it cannot
fail of usefulness, especially in illustrating the silly credulity which
has obtained in such poor juggleries as have lately been practiced by the
Smiths, Davises, Fishes, Harrises, and other imposters and mountebanks of
this country.
* * * * *
Among the new works in press by the Appletons is a new novel entitled
_Adrian, or the Clouds of the Mind_--the joint production of Mr. G. P. R.
JAMES and Mr. MAUNSELL B. FIELD. Such partnerships in literature were
common in the days of Elizabeth, and in our own country we have instances
in the production of _Yamoyden_, by Sands and Eastburn, &c. Mr. Field is
not yet a veteran, but he is a writer of fine talents and much cultivation.
Among the original papers in the present number of the _International_ is a
poem from his hand, under the title of _Greenwood_.
* * * * *
The first volume of a _History of the German Reformed Church_, by the late
Rev. Dr. LEWIS MAYER, has been published in Philadelphia; and Professor
SCHAFF, of Mercersburg, has printed in German the first volume of a
_History of the Christian Church, from its Establishment to the Present
Time_. Dr. MURDOCK, the well-known translator of Mosheim's History, has
published a translation of the celebrated Syriac version of the New
Testament, called the _Peshito_.
* * * * *
PROFESSOR HACKETT, of the Newton Theological Institution, has added to his
claims of distinction in sacred learning by a very able _Commentary on the
Acts of the Apostles_, (published by John P. Jewett & Co., of Boston). It
is much praised by the best critics. The last _Bibliotheca Sacra_ complains
that there is a decline of activity in this department, and that in
theology and biblical criticism no important works are now in progress.
* * * * *
Mr. MELVILLE's new novel, _The Whale_, will be published in a few days,
simultaneously, by the Harpers and by Bentley of London.
* * * * *
Mr. HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT, with the general character of whose works our
readers must be familiar, will publish immediately (through Charles
Scribner), _The Captains of the Old World, from the Persian to the Punic
Wars_. The volume embraces critical sketches of Miltiades, Themistocles,
Pausanias, Xenophon, Epaminondas, Alexander, and Hannibal, as compared with
modern generals--not _lives_ but strategetical accounts of their campaigns,
reviewed and described according to the rules and views of modern military
science--the armature and mode of fighting in all the various nations--the
fields of battle, from personal observation or the best modern
travels--with the modern names of ancient places, so that the routes of the
armies can be followed on any ordinary map. The causes of the success or
failure of this or that action are shown in a military point of view, and
the characters of the men are epigrammatically contrasted with those of the
men of the late French and English wars, involving incidental notices and
critiques of modern fields. The work is of course spirited and well
proportioned, and as Mr. Herbert is confessedly one of the best critics of
ancient manners and history, it will scarcely need any reviewer's
endorsement to insure for it an immediate and very great popularity.
* * * * *
A new edition of _St. Leger, or the Threads of Life_, by Mr. KIMBALL, has
just been published by Putnam, who, we understand, has now in press a
sequel to that remarkable and eminently successful novel. Mr. Kimball's
abilities as a writer of tales are not as well illustrated in this
performance as in several shorter stories, which will soon be collected and
reissued with fit designs by Darley. In these we think he has exhibited a
very unusual degree of pathos and dramatic skill, so that scarcely any
compositions of their class in American literature have such a power upon
the feelings or are likely to have a more permanent fame. Mr. Kimball is
one of the small number among our young writers who do not disdain
elaborately to _finish_ what they choose to submit for public criticism.
* * * * *
A new edition of Mr. JUDD's remarkable novel of _Margaret_ has just been
published, in two volumes, by Phillips & Sampson, of Boston, and the same
house has nearly ready _Memoirs of Sarah Margaret Fuller_, in two volumes,
edited by William H. Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It will probably
embrace a large selection of her inedited writings.
* * * * *
The Rev. Dr. TEFFT, of Cincinnati, has published (John Ball, Philadelphia
and New-Orleans,) a very interesting and judicious work under the title of
_Hungary and Kossuth, or an American Exposition of the Hungarian
Revolution_. Dr. Tefft appears to have studied the subject well and to have
made as much of it as was warranted by his materials.
* * * * *
Mr. GREELEY has just published in a handsome volume (De Witt & Davenport)
his _Glances at Europe_, consisting of the letters written for the
_Tribune_ during his half year abroad. We frequently entirely disagree with
the author in matters of social philosophy, but we have the most perfect
confidence in the honesty of his searching after truth, and in these
letters, which were written under very apparent disadvantages, and are here
put forward modestly, we are inclined to believe there is for the mass of
readers more that is new in fact and sensible in observation than is
contained in any other volume by an American on Europe. Even when writing
of art, Mr. Greeley never fails at least to entertain.
* * * * *
Mr. JOHN L. WHEELER, late the treasurer of the state of North Carolina, has
in the press of Lippencott, Grambo, & Co., of Philadelphia, _Historical
Sketches_ of that State, from 1584 to 1851, from original records, official
documents, and traditional statements. It will be in two large octavo
volumes. Dr. Hawks has for some time had in preparation a work on the same
subject.
* * * * *
One of those wrongs for which there is no sufficient remedy in law, has
been perpetrated by Derby, Miller & Co., of Auburn, in getting up a life of
Dr. Judson, to anticipate that by the widow of the great missionary and
deprive her of the best part of the profits to which she is entitled. Their
excuse is, "A public character is public property, and we will do with one
as we please."
* * * * *
MRS. H. C. CONANT, (wife of the learned Professor Conant of the university
of Rochester), has published (through Lewis Colby) _The Epistle of St. Paul
to the Philippians, practically Explained by_ Dr. AUGUSTUS NEANDER. Mrs.
Conant, as we have before had occasion to observe, is one of the most able
and accomplished women of this country, and this version of Neander is
worthy of her.
* * * * *
A small volume entitled _Musings and Mutterings by an Invalid_, has been
published by John S. Taylor. The style is rather careless, sometimes, but
the work appears to be informed with a genuine earnestness, and to be
underlaid with a vein of good sense that contrasts strongly with much of
the desultory literature brought out in similar forms.
* * * * *
Dr. LARDNER's _Handbooks of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy_ have been
republished by Blanchard & Lea, of Philadelphia (12mo., pp. 749); carefully
revised; various errors which had escaped the attention of the author
corrected; occasional omissions supplied; and a series of questions and
practical examples appended to each subject. The volume contains treatises
on mechanics; hydrostatics, hydraulics, pneumatics, and sound, and optics.
The Fine Arts.
The London _Art Journal_ for October praises Mr. BURT's engraving of Anne
Page, issued this year by the _American Art-Union_, and thus refers to the
principal engravings announced for 1852:
The prospectus of this society for the present year
announces a large engraving by Jones, from Woodville's
picture of "American News;" a small etching of this
work accompanies the "Bulletin," to which reference has
just been made. The composition is clever, but we must
warn our friends on the other side of the Atlantic,
that it is not by the circulation of such works as
this, a feeling for true Art will be generated among
their countrymen. The subject is common-place, without
a shadow of refinement to elevate its character; it is,
we dare say, national, and may, therefore, be popular;
but they to whom is intrusted the direction of a vast
machine like the American Art-Union, should take
especial care that all its operations should tend to
refine the taste and advance the intelligence of the
community. Our own Mulready, Wilkie, and Webster, have,
we know, immortalized their names by a somewhat
analogous class of works, in which, nevertheless, we
see humor without vulgarity, and truth without
affectation.
* * * * *
The Philadelphia Art-Union issues this year two very beautiful engravings
from the well-known masterpieces of Huntington, _Mercy's Dream_ and
_Christiana and her Children_, from the celebrated collection of the late
Edward C. Carey,--an appreciating patron by whose well-directed liberality
the arts, especially painting and engraving, had more advantage than has
been conferred by any other individual in this country. _Mercy's Dream_ has
been engraved by A. H. Ritchie of this city, and _Christiana and her
Children_ by Andrews & Wagstaff of Boston, each on surfaces of sixteen by
twenty-two inches; and we know of no more perfect examples of combined
mezzotint, stipple, and line engraving. The management may well be praised
for such an exercise of judgment as secures to the subscribers of the
Art-Union two such beautiful works.
A recent visit to Philadelphia afforded us an opportunity to visit its
public galleries. Among the additions lately made to that of the Art-Union
is one of the finest compositions of Mr. Cropsey, in which the
characteristics of the scenery of Italy are combined with remarkable
effect. From a bold and vigorously executed foreground, marked by chesnut
and cypress tress, the eye is attracted by groves and streams, and convents
and palaces, and ruined temples and aqueducts, reposing under such a sky as
bends over that land alone, away to shining and sleeping waters that seem
to reach close to the gates of paradise. _The Coast of Greece_, by Paul
Weber of Philadelphia, is in the grand and imposing style of Achenbach.
There is a breadth and massiveness and solemn grandeur in this picture
which clearly indicate that the artist, who has hitherto given his
attention altogether to landscapes, has in such efforts his true vocation.
_Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert_, by A. Woodside, is a cabinet picture
which would be regarded as good beside any of the many great productions
which illustrate the same subject. In color and composition it is
excellent. Mr. Woodside is the painter of a large and attractive picture,
_The Introduction of Christianity into Britain_, which was among the prizes
of the last distribution of the American Art-Union. _Lager Beer_, by C.
Schnessele, is a genre picture, illustrative of German character in
Philadelphia at the present day. The scene is an interior of a large beer
saloon, by gaslight, in which a dozen or fifteen persons with brimming cups
are gathered round a table where a trio are singing songs of the
fatherland. The drawing, grouping, light and shade, are highly effective.
Mr. Schnessele is a Frenchman, a pupil of Delaroche, and has been in the
United States about three years. His works exhibit that skill in detail and
general execution which is a result of a cultivation very rare among
American painters. _Waiting the Ferry_, by W. T. Van Starkenburgh, is a
landscape with cattle and human figures, with some of the best qualities
conspicuous in Backhuysen's works of a similar character. _Cattskill
Creek_, by G. N. T. Van Starkenburgh,--a brother of the last mentioned
painter,--is full of the beauty of that condition of nature which soothes
the restless spirit of man, when
She glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware.
Mr. Winner has some vigorous heads of old men, and other artists whom our
limits will not suffer us to mention particularly are represented by
various creditable works.
As the plan of the Philadelphia Art-Union is essentially different from
that of any other in this country, we quote from a circular in its last
"Reporter" an explanatory paragraph:
"The distinguishing and most important feature in our
plan, is that which gives the annual prize-holders the
right of selecting their prizes from among the
productions of American Art in any part of the United
States. This plan was adopted as the one which would
best secure the object for which we have been
incorporated, viz., "The Promotion of the Arts of
Design in the United States." It is evident that the
distribution of fifty prize certificates among our
members, as was the case at our last annual
distribution, with which the prize-holders themselves
could purchase their own pictures any where in the
United States, is preferable to any plan which empowers
a committee, composed of a limited number of managers,
with the entire right to control the funds involved in
the purchase, and make the selection of such a number
of pictures. In the one case, individual taste, and
local predilection for some particular style of art, or
certain class of artists, may influence the decision of
a mere picture-buying committee in the selection and
purchase of the whole number of the prizes; but in the
other case, the various taste of a large number of
prize-holders, residing in different sections of our
vast country, is made to bear upon Art, and,
consequently, there must ensue a diffusion of knowledge
upon a subject wherein those persons themselves are the
interested parties. Should a subscriber to the
Art-Union of Philadelphia, residing in St. Louis, be
allotted a prize certificate of one hundred dollars, he
has the option to order or select his picture in that
city, and thereby encourage the Fine Arts at home, just
the same as if that Art-Union were located where he
lived, and with just as much advantage to the artist as
though it were the result of that progress in art, in
his vicinity, which should cause the production of such
a picture. And there can be no doubt of the judicious
selection on the part of such a subscriber. No man with
a hundred dollars to spend for a picture, would be
likely to make such a purchase without having some
knowledge on the subject himself, or without consulting
persons of acknowledged taste in the matter; thereby
insuring more general satisfaction to all concerned,
than would a picture of the same value awarded by
chance from the selection of a committee located in
another part of the country. No committee, no matter
how great its judgment, or how well performed its
duties, could effect a more satisfactory arrangement;
for in our case the prize-holder and the artist are the
contracting parties, without the intervention of the
Art-Union, or the payment of any commission on either
side. Another argument in favor of the Art-Union of
Philadelphia is the fact, that by this plan the
Managers are merely the agents who collect the means
which are necessary to promote and foster the Arts of
Design in our rapidly progressing country, while the
prize-holders themselves actually become the persons
who make the disbursements. Thus giving to the people
at large the means to exercise a public and universal
taste in the expenditure of a large sum--the aggregate
of small contributions--large as the liberality of our
countrymen, by their generous subscription, may assist
us in accumulating."
* * * * *
The _Western-Art Union_ of Cincinnati has lately published a large and
excellent engraving by Booth, of _the Trapper's Last Shot_, and for the
coming year, it will give in the same style, _The Committee of Congress
Drafting the Declaration of Independence_, from a painting by
Rothermel--Mr. Jefferson represented reading the Declaration to the other
members of the committee before it was reported to the Congress. For prizes
of the next distribution the Union will have a bust of Washington, and one
of Franklin, in marble, by Powers, and a beautiful medallion in relief by
Palmer, and two pictures are engaged or purchased from Whittridge, two from
Rothermel, two from McConkey, one from Read, one from Mrs. Spencer, one
from Ranney, and one from Terry, besides others from Sontag, Duncanson,
Eaton, and Griswold, and other western painters.
* * * * *
Mr. HEALY has finished his large picture of _Daniel Webster replying to
Robert Y. Hayne, in the Senate of the United States_, and it has been some
time on exhibition at the rooms of the National Academy of Design. The
canvas is twenty-six feet in length by fifteen in breadth, and embraces one
hundred and thirty figures. Many persons not senators are introduced, and
it is difficult to conceive a reason for this, in the cases of several of
them, who were not then, if they were ever, at Washington. The picture has
good points, but on the whole we believe it is admitted to be a failure--so
far as the fit presentation of the illustrious orator is concerned, a most
complete and melancholy failure. Engravings of it however, if well
executed, may perhaps compete with Messrs. Anthony's immense piece of
mezzotint, studded with copies of Daguerreotypes, which has been published
under the title of Mr. Clay's last Appearance in the Senate.
* * * * *
The illustrations of the life of MARTIN LUTHER published at Hamburg, from
the pencil of GUSTAV KOeNIG, of which the fourth series has just appeared,
continue to receive the praise which has been bestowed on the previous
series. The first, which came out in 1847, consisted of fifteen engravings,
the second in 1848 of ten engravings, the third in 1849 of ten, and the
fourth, which concludes the work, has thirteen. The accompanying
letter-press is furnished by Professor Gelzer, and though very elaborate,
is spoken of as only partially successful. The illustrations on the other
hand are said by competent judges to leave nothing to be desired, and as
far as the earlier series are concerned, we can almost agree with even so
unbalanced commendation. Mr. Koenig has every where taken care to give
faithful portraits of the personages represented, which adds to the value
of his work, for foreign readers especially. At the same time his
compositions are undeniably most spirited and effective.
* * * * *