Literary Notices.
Rural Hours, by A Lady, published by G.P. Putnam, is an admirable volume, the effect of which is like a personal visit to the charming scenes which the writer portrays with such a genuine passion for nature, and so much vivacity and truthfulness of description. Without the faintest trace of affectation, or even the desire to present the favorite surroundings of her daily life in overdone pictures, she quietly jots down the sights and sounds, and odorous blossomings of the seasons as they pass, and by this intellectual honesty and simplicity, has given a peculiar charm to her work, which a more ambitious style of composition would never have been able to command. Her eye for nature is as accurate as her enthusiasm is sincere. She dwells on the minute phenomena of daily occurrence in their season with a just discrimination, content with clothing them in their own beauty, and never seeking to increase their brilliancy by any artificial gloss. Whoever has a love for communing with nature in the “sweet hour of prime,” or in the “still twilight,” for watching the varied glories of the revolving year, will be grateful to the writer of this picturesque volume for such a fragrant record of rural experience. The author is stated to be a daughter of Cooper, the distinguished American novelist, and she certainly exhibits an acuteness of observation, and a vigor of description, not unworthy of her eminent parentage.
A new edition of the Greek and English Lexicon, by Professor Edward Robinson (Harper and Brothers) will be received with lively satisfaction by the large number of Biblical students in this country and in England who are under such deep obligations to the previous labors of Dr. Robinson in this department of philology. The work exhibits abundant evidence of the profound and discriminating research, the even more than German patience of labor, the rigid impartiality, and the rare critical acumen for which the name of the author is proverbial wherever the New-Testament Lexicography is made the object of earnest study. Since the publication of the first edition, fourteen years since, which was speedily followed by three rival editions in Great Britain, and two abridgments, the science of Biblical philology has made great progress; new views have been developed by the learned labors of Wahl, Bretschneider, Winer, and others; the experience of the author in his official duties for the space of ten years, had corrected and enlarged his own knowledge; he had made a personal exploration of many portions of the Holy Land; and under these circumstances, when he came to the revision of the work, he found that a large part of it must be re-written, and the remainder submitted to such alterations, corrections, and improvements, as were almost as laborious as the composition of a new Lexicon. The plan of the work in its present enlarged form, embraces the etymology of each word given—the logical deduction of all its significations, which occur in the New Testament—the various combinations of verbs and adjectives—the different forms and inflections of words—the interpretation of difficult passages—and a reference to every passage of the New Testament in which the word is found. No scholar can examine the volume, without a full conviction of the eminent success with which this comprehensive plan has been executed, and of the value of the memorial here presented to the accuracy and thoroughness of American scholarship. The practical use of the work will be greatly facilitated by the clearness and beauty of the Greek type on which it is printed, being an admirable specimen of the Porson style.
The Berber, or Mountaineer of the Atlas, by William S. Mayo, M.D., published by G.P. Putnam, is toned down to a very considerable degree from the high-colored pictures which produced such a dazzling effect in Kaloolah, the work by which the author first became known to the public. The scene is laid in Morocco, affording the writer an occasion for the use of a great deal of geographical and historical lore, which is introduced to decided advantage as a substantial back-ground to the story, which, in itself, possesses a sustained and powerful interest. Dr. Mayo displays a rare talent in individualizing character: his groups consist of distinct persons, without any confused blundering or repetition; he is not only a painter of manners, but an amateur of passion; and hence his admirable descriptions are combined with rapid and effective touches, which betray no ordinary insight into the subtle philosophy of the heart. The illusion of the story is sometimes impaired by the introduction of the novelist in the first person, a blemish which we should hardly have looked for in a writer who is so obviously well acquainted with the resources of artistic composition as the author of this volume.
Harper and Brothers have issued the Fifth Part of The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey, which brings the biography down to the fifty-fifth year of his age, and to the close of the year 1828. The next number will complete the work, which has sustained a uniform interest from the commencement, presenting a charming picture of the domestic habits, literary enterprises, and characteristic moral features of its eminent subject. Mr. Southey's connection with the progress of English literature during the early part of the present century, his strong political predilections, the extent and variety of his productions, and his singular devotion to a purely intellectual life, make his biography one of the most entertaining and instructive records that have recently been published in this department of letters. His son, Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, by whom the work is edited, has acquitted himself of his task [pg 714] with admirable judgment and modesty, never obtruding himself on the notice of the reader, and leaving the correspondence, which, in fact, forms a continuous narrative, to make its natural impression, without weakening its force by superfluous comment. The present number contains several letters to our distinguished countryman, George Ticknor, Esq., of Boston, which will be read with peculiar interest on account of their free remarks on certain American celebrities, and their criticisms on some of the popular productions of American literature.
Among the late valuable theological publications, is The Works of Joseph Bellamy, D.D., with a Memoir of his Life and Character, by Tryon Edwards, issued by the Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, Boston, in two volumes. As models of forcible reasoning, and of ingenious and subtle analysis, the theological disquisitions of Dr. Bellamy have seldom been surpassed, and their reproduction in the present form will be grateful to many readers who have not been seduced by the excitements of the age from their love of profound and acute speculation. The memoir prefixed to these volumes gives an interesting view of the life of a New England clergyman of the olden time.
Adelaide Lindsay, from the prolific and vigorous pen of Mrs. Marsh, the author of “Two Old Men's Tales,” “The Wilmingtons,” &c, forms the one hundred and forty—seventh number of Harper and Brothers' “Library of Select Novels.”
Popular Education; for the Use of Parents and Teachers (Harper and Brothers), is the title of a volume by Ira Mayhew, prepared in accordance with a resolution of the Legislature of Michigan, and discussing the subject, in its multifarious aspects and relations, with a thoroughness, discrimination, and ability, which can not fail to make it a work of standard authority in the department to which it is devoted. The author has been Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Michigan; his official position has put him in possession of a great amount of facts and statistics in relation to the subject; he is inspired with a noble zeal in the cause of education; and in the production of this volume, has given a commendable proof of his industry, good sense, and thorough acquaintance with an interest on which he rightly judges that the future prosperity of the American Republic essentially depends.
C.S. Francis and Co. have published The Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning in a beautiful edition of two volumes, including “The Seraphim, with other Poems,” as first published in England in 1838, and the contents of the previous American edition. This edition is introduced with a Critical Essay, by H.T. Tuckerman, taken from his “Thoughts on the Poets,” presenting in refined and tasteful language, a discriminating view of Mrs. Browning's position among the living poets of England. Mr. Tuckerman makes use of no extravagant encomium in his estimate of her powers; his remarks are less enthusiastic than critical; and, indeed, the more ardent admirers of Mrs. Browning would deem them of too subdued a tone, and deficient in an adequate appreciation of her peculiar boldness, originality, and beauty. The edition now presented to the public will be thankfully accepted by the wide circle which has learned to venerate Mrs. Browning's genius, and will serve to extend the healthful interest cherished by American readers in the most remarkable poetess of modern times.
The Companion; After Dinner Table Talk, by Chetwood Evelyn, Esq. (New York: G.P. Putnam), is the title of a popular compilation from favorite English authors, prepared with a good deal of tact and discrimination, and forming an appropriate counterpart to The Lift for the Lazy, published some time since by the same house.
George P. Putnam has just issued The Deer Slayer, by J. Fenimore Cooper, being the first volume of the author's revised edition of The Leather Stocking Tales.
Among the swarm of Discourses and Funeral Orations, occasioned by the death of the late President Taylor, we have seen none of a more striking character than The Sermon delivered at the Masonic Hall, Cincinnati, by T.H. Stockton. It presents a series of glowing and impressive pictures of public life in Washington, of the tombs of the departed Presidents, of eminent American statesmen now no more, of the progress of discovery in this country, and of the march of improvement in modern times. The too florid character of some portions of the Discourse is amply redeemed by the spirit of wise patriotism and elevated religion with which it is imbued, while it has the rare merit of being entirely free from the commonplaces of the pulpit. In a note to this discourse, it is stated that the author is desirous of forming a collection of Sermons, Orations, Addresses, &c., on the death of General Taylor, and that editors and speakers will confer a favor on him by forwarding him a copy of their several publications.
The Relations of the American Scholar to his Country and his Times (Baker and Scribner), is the title of an Address delivered by Henry J. Raymond, before the Associate Alumni of the University of Vermont, maintaining the doctrine that educated men, instead of retiring from the active interests and contending passions of the world, to some fancied region of serene contemplation, are bound to share in the struggle, the competition, the warfare of society. This is argued, with a variety of illustrations, from the character of the education of the scholar, as combining theory and practice, and from the peculiar tendencies of American society, now in a state of rapid fermentation and development. Mr. Raymond endeavors to do justice both to the Conservative and Radical elements, which are found in our institutions and national character, and to discuss those difficult problems in a spirit of moderation, and without passion. Of the literary character of this production, the [pg 715] writer of the present notice can speak with more propriety in another place.
The Recent Progress of Astronomy, by Elias Loomis (Harper and Brothers), exhibits the most important astronomical discoveries made within the last ten years, with special reference to the condition of the science in the United States. Among the topics treated in detail, are the discovery of the planet Neptune, the addition to our knowledge of comets, with a full account of Miss Mitchell's comet, the new stars and nebulae, the determination of longitude by the electric telegraph, the manufacture of telescopes in the United States, and others of equal interest both to men of science and the intelligent reader in general. Professor Loomis displays a singularly happy talent in bringing the results of scientific investigation to the level of the common mind, and we predict a hearty welcome to his little volume, as a lucid and delightful compendium of valuable knowledge. The author states in the Preface, that “he has endeavored to award equal and exact justice to all American astronomers; and if any individual should feel that his labors in this department have not been fairly represented, he is requested to furnish in writing a minute account of the same,” and he shall receive amends in a second edition of the work.
Professor Loomis's Mathematical Course has met with signal favor at the hands of the best instructors in our higher institutions of learning. New editions of his Algebra and the Geometry have recently been issued; and a new volume on Analytical Geometry, and the Calculus, completing the course, will soon appear.
Truth and Poetry, from my own Life, or the Autobiography of Goethe, edited by Parke Godwin, is issued in a second edition by George P. Putnam, with a preface, showing the plagiarisms which have been committed on it in a pretended English translation from the original, by one John Oxenford. This enterprising person has made a bold appropriation of the American version, with only such changes as might serve the purpose of concealing the fraud. In addition to this felonious proceeding, he charges the translation to which he has helped himself so freely, with various inaccuracies, not only stealing the property, but giving it a bad name. The work of the American editor has thus found a singular, but effectual guarantee for its value, and is virtually pronounced to be a translation incapable of essential improvement. With the resources possessed by Mr. Godwin, in his own admirable command both of the German and of the English language, and the aid of the rare scholarship in this department of letters of Mr. Charles A. Dana and Mr. John S. Dwight, to whom a portion of the work was intrusted, he could not fail to produce a version which would leave little to be desired by the most fastidious critic. It is unnecessary to speak of the merits of the original, which is familiar to all who have the slightest tincture of German literature. As a history of the progress of literary culture in Germany, as well as of the rich development of Goethe's own mind, it is one of the most instructive, and at the same time, the most entertaining biographies in any language.
Daniel Adee has republished, in a cheap form, the twenty-first part of Braithwaite's Retrospect of Practical Medicine and Surgery, a work richly entitled to a place in every physician's library.
Domestic History of the Revolution, by Mrs. Ellet (Baker and Scribner), follows the thread of the Revolutionary drama, unfolding many agreeable and often touching incidents, which have not been brought to light before, and illustrating the manners and society of that day, in connection with the great struggle for national life. The researches of the author in collecting materials for “The Women of the Revolution,” have put her in possession of a variety of domestic details and anecdotes, illustrative of the state of the country at different intervals, which she has used with excellent effect in the composition of this volume. Without indulging in fanciful embellishment, she has confined herself to the simple facts of history, rejecting all traditional matter, which is not sustained by undoubted authority. The events of the war in the upper districts of South Carolina, are described at length, as, in the opinion of Mrs. Ellet, no history has ever yet done justice to that portion of the country, nor to the chivalrous actors who there signalized themselves in the Revolutionary contest.
D. Appleton and Company have published an interesting volume of American biography, entitled Lives of Eminent Literary and Scientific Men, by James Wynne, M.D., comprising memoirs of Franklin, President Edwards, Fulton, Chief Justice Marshall, Rittenhouse, and Eli Whitney. They are composed in a tone of great discrimination and reserve, and scarcely in a single estimate come up to the popular estimation of the character described. Doctor Franklin and President Edwards, especially, are handled in a manner adapted to chill all enthusiasm which may have been connected with their names. Nor does the scientific fame of Robert Fulton gather any new brightness under the author's hands. This cool dissection of the dead may not be in accordance with the public taste, but in justice to the author, it should be borne in mind that he is a surgeon by profession.
The same house has issued an edition of Cicero's Select Orations, with Notes, by Professor E.A. Johnson, in which liberal use has been made of the most recent views of eminent German philologists. The volume is highly creditable to the industry and critical acumen of the Editor, and will prove a valuable aid to the student of the classics.
Lady Willoughby's Diary is reprinted by A.S. Barnes and Co., New York—the first American edition of a volume unrivaled for its sweetness and genuine pathos.
The Young Woman's Book of Health, by Dr. William A. Alcott, published by Tappan, [pg 716] Whittemore, and Co., Boston, is an original summary of excellent physiological precepts, expressed with the simplicity and distinctness for which the author is celebrated.
Songs of Labor and Other Poems is the title of a new volume by John G. Whittier, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, containing the spirited lyrics which have already gained a large share of favor in the public journals.
Poems of the Heart, by George W. Nicholson, (G. S. Appleton, Philadelphia), is the “last production of the author's boyhood,” and exhibits the most decided marks of its origin.
The Mariner's Vision is the title of a Poem by T.L. Donnelly, Philadelphia, evidently written with little preparation, but showing some traces of poetic talent, which may ripen into excellence at a future day.
A beautiful reprint of Æsop's Fables, edited by Rev. Thomas Garnes, with more than Fifty Illustrations from Tennial's designs has been issued by Robert B. Collins, New York, in a style of superb typography, which can not fail to command the admiration of the amateur.
The volume before us awakens recollections of “by-gone days,” in the Publishers of this Magazine, upon which we love to dwell. Æsop's Fables was among the first books which passed through our press. Some thirty years since, we printed an edition of it for the late Evert Duyckinck, Esq. (father of the present accomplished editors of the Literary World), one of the leading booksellers and publishers of his day, and, in every sense, “a good man and true,” as well as one of our earliest and best friends. His memory to us is precious—his early kindness will ever live in our recollection.
The name of Collins (publisher of the present edition), has been so long and closely associated with the book trade in this country, that we apprehend the public may feel some interest in a short sketch of the rise and progress of this most respectable publishing firm. Isaac Collins, a member of the Society of Friends, was the founder of the house. He originally came from Virginia, and commenced the printing and bookselling business in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, about the close of the Revolutionary War, where he printed the first quarto Bible published in America. This Bible was so highly esteemed for its correctness, that the American Bible Society was at some pains to obtain a copy, from which to print their excellent editions of the Scriptures. It would take too much space to follow the various changes in the firm, under the names of Isaac Collins, Isaac Collins & Son, Collins, Perkins & Co., Collins & Co., down to the establishment of the house of Collins & Hannay, about the close of the last war. This concern was composed of Benjamin S. Collins (the son of Isaac), and Samuel Hannay, who had been educated for the business by the old house of Collins & Co. The enterprise, liberality, and industry of this firm soon placed them at the head of the book trade in the city of New York, where they are still remembered with respect and esteem by the thousands of customers scattered all over our immense country, and with affection and gratitude by many whose fortunes were aided, and whose credit was established, by their generous confidence and timely aid. Mr. Benjamin S. Collins is now living in dignified retirement, on his farm in Westchester County. Several other members of the family, formerly connected with the bookselling business, have also retired with a competency, and are now usefully devoting their time and attention to the promotion of the various charitable institutions of the country. Mr. Hannay died about a year since—and here we may be permitted to record our grateful memory of one of the best men, and one of the most enterprising booksellers ever known in our country. His exceeding modesty prevented his marked and excellent qualities from being much known out of the small circle of his immediate friends—but by them he is remembered with feelings of love and veneration. The house of Collins & Hannay became subsequently B. & S. Collins; Collins, Keese, & Co.; Collins, Brother, & Co.; and Collins & Brother; now at last Robert B. Collins, the publisher of the work under notice. We trust he may pursue the path to fortune with the same honorable purposes, by the same honorable means, and with the same gratifying result, which signalized the efforts of his worthy predecessors. Nor are the names of the printer and stereotyper of the present volume without a fraternal interest. The printer, Mr. Van Norden, one of our early and highly esteemed associates, may now be termed a typographer of the old school. The quality of his work is good evidence that he is entitled to the reputation, which has been long accorded to him, of being one of the best printers in the country. The stereotyper of this work, our old friend Smith, is by no means a novice in his department. We are glad to see that he, too, so ably maintains his long-established reputation. May the publisher, the printer, and the stereotyper of this edition of Æsop, ever rejoice in the sunshine of prosperity, and may their shadows never be less!
Geo. P. Putnam has published a work entitled New Elements of Geometry, by Seba Smith, which can not fail to attract the notice of the curious reader, on account of the good faith and evident ability with which it sustains what must be regarded by all orthodox science as a system of enormous mathematical paradoxes. The treatise is divided into three parts, namely, The Philosophy of Geometry, Demonstrations in Geometry, and Harmonies of Geometry. In opposition to the ancient geometers, by whom the definitions and axioms of the science were fixed, Mr. Smith contends that the usual division of magnitudes into lines, surfaces, and solids is without foundation, that every mathematical line has a breadth, as definite, as measurable, and as clearly demonstrable as its length, and that every mathematical surface has a thickness, as definite, as measurable, and as clearly demonstrable [pg 717] as its length or breadth. The neglect of this fact has hitherto prevented a perfect understanding of the true relation between numbers, magnitudes, and forms. Hence, the barrenness of modern analytical speculation, which has been complained of by high authorities, the mathematical sciences having run into a luxuriant growth of foliage, with comparatively small quantities of fruit. This evil Mr. Smith supposes will be avoided by adopting the principle, that as the measurement of extension is the object of geometry, lines without breadth, and surfaces without thickness, are imaginary things, of which this rigid and exact science can take no cognizance. Every thing which comes within the reach of geometry must have extension, must have magnitude, must occupy a portion of space, and accordingly must have extension in every direction from its centre. Hence, as there is but one kind of quantity in geometry, lines, surfaces, and solids must have identically the same unit of comparison, and must be always perfect measures of each other. The unit may be infinitely varied in size—it being the name or representative of any assumed magnitude to which it is applied—but it always represents a magnitude of a definite form, and hence a magnitude which has an extension in every direction from its centre, and consequently represents not only one in length, but also one in breadth, and one in thickness. One inch, for example, in pure geometry, is always one cubic inch, but when used to measure a line, or extension in one direction, we take only one dimension of the unit, namely, the linear edge of the cube, and thus the operation not demanding either the breadth or the thickness of the unit, geometers have fallen into the error of supposing that a line is length without any breadth. These are the leading principles on which Mr. Smith attempts the audacious task of rearing a new fabric of geometrical science, without regard to the wisdom of antiquity or the universal traditions of the schools. To us outside barbarians in the mysteries of mathematics, we confess that the work has the air of an ingenious paradox; but we must leave it to the professors to decide upon its claims to be a substitute for Euclid, Playfair, and Legendre. Every one who has a fondness for dipping into these recondite subjects will perceive in Mr. Smith's volume the marks of profound research, of acute and subtle powers of reasoning, and of genuine scientific enthusiasm, combined with a noble freedom of thought, and a rare intellectual honesty. For these qualities, it is certainly entitled to a respectful mention among the curiosities of literature, whatever verdict may be pronounced on the scientific claims of the author by a jury of his peers.
Little and Brown, Boston, have issued an interesting work by the Nestor of the New England press, Joseph T. Buckingham, entitled Specimens of Newspaper Literature, with Personal Memoirs, Anecdotes and Reminiscences, which comes with a peculiar propriety from his veteran pen. The personal experience of the author, in connection with the press, extends over a period of more than fifty years, during a very considerable portion of which time he has been at the head of a leading journal in Boston, and in the enjoyment of a wide reputation, both as a bold and vigorous thinker, and a pointed, epigrammatic, and highly effective writer. In this last respect, indeed, few men in any department of literature can boast of a more familiar acquaintance with the idiomatic niceties of our language, or a more skillful mastery of its various resources, than the author of the present volumes. His influence has been sensibly felt, even among the purists of the American Athens, and under the very droppings of the Muses' sanctuary at Cambridge, in preserving the “wells of English undefiled” from the corruptions of rash innovators on the wholesome, recognized canons of language. His sarcastic pen has always been a terror to evil doers in this region of crime. In the work before us, we should have been glad of a larger proportion from the author himself, instead of the copious extracts from the newspapers of old times, which, to be sure, have a curious antiquarian interest, but which are of too remote a date to command the attention of this “fast” generation. The sketches which are given of several New England celebrities of a past age are so natural and spicy, as to make us wish that we had more of them. Materials for a third volume, embracing matters of a more recent date, we are told by the author, are not wanting; we sincerely hope that he will permit them to see the light; and especially that the call for this publication may not be defeated by an event, as he intimates, “to which all are subject—an event which may happen to-morrow, and must happen soon.”
A new edition of Edward Everett's Orations and Speeches, in two large and elegant octavos, has been published by Little and Brown, including in the first volume the contents of the former edition, and in the second volume, the addresses delivered on various occasions, since the year 1836. In an admirably-written Preface to the present edition, Mr. Everett gives a slight, autobiographical description of the circumstances in which his earlier compositions had their origin, and in almost too deprecatory a tone, apologizes for the exuberance of style and excess of national feeling with which they have sometimes been charged. In our opinion, this appeal is uncalled for, as we can nowhere find productions of this class more distinguished for a virginal purity of expression, and grave dignity of thought. As a graceful, polished, and impressive rhetorician, it would be difficult to name the superior of Mr. Everett, and had he not been too much trammeled by the scruples of a fastidious taste, with his singular powers of fascination, he would have filled a still broader sphere than that which he has nobly won in the literature of his country. We gratefully welcome the announcement with which the preface concludes, and trust that it will be carried into [pg 718] effect at an early date. “It is still my purpose, should my health permit, to offer to the public indulgence a selection from a large number of articles contributed by me to the North American Review, and from the speeches, reports, and official correspondence, prepared in the discharge of the several official stations which I have had the honor to fill at home and abroad. Nor am I wholly without hope that I shall be able to execute the more arduous project to which I have devoted a good deal of time for many years, and toward which I have collected ample materials—that of a systematic treatise on the modern law of nations, more especially in reference to those questions which have been discussed between the governments of the United States and Europe since the peace of 1783.”
Echoes of the Universe is the title of a work by Henry Christmas, reprinted by A. Hart, Philadelphia, containing a curious store of speculation and research in regard to the more mystical aspects of religion, with a strong tendency to pass the line which divides the sphere of legends and fictions from the field of well-established truth. The author is a man of learning and various accomplishments; he writes in a style of unusual sweetness and simplicity; his pages are pervaded with reverence for the wonders of creation; and with a singular freedom from the skeptical, destructive spirit of the day, he is startled by no mystery of revelation, however difficult of comprehension by the understanding. The substance of this volume was originally delivered in the form of letters to an Episcopal Missionary Society in England. It is now published in a greatly enlarged shape, with the intention of presenting the truths of religion in an interesting aspect to minds that are imbued with the spirit of modern cultivation. Among the Echoes that proceed from the world of matter, the author includes those that are uttered by the solar system, the starry heavens, the laws of imponderable fluids, the discoveries of geology, and the natural history of Scripture. To these, he supposes, that parallel Echoes may be found from the world of Spirit, such as the appearance of a Divine Person, recorded in Sacred History, the visitations of angels and spirits of an order now higher than man, the apparitions of the departed spirits of saints, the cases recorded of demoniacal possession, and the manner in which these narratives are supported and explained by reason and experience. The seen and the unseen, the physical and the immaterial, according to the author, will thus be shown to coincide, and the Unity of the Voice proved by the Unity of the Echo. This is the lofty problem of the volume, and if it is not solved to the satisfaction of every reader, it will not be for the want of a genial enthusiasm and an adamantine faith on the part of the author.
The same house has published a neat edition of Miss Benger's popular Memoir of Anne Boleyn.
A new work by W. Gilmore Simms, entitled The Lily and Totem, (Baker and Scribner, New York) consists of the romantic legends connected with the establishment of the Huguenots in Florida, embroidered upon a substantial fabric of historical truth, with great ingenuity and artistic effect. The basis of the work is laid in authentic history; facts are not superseded by the romance; all the vital details of the events in question are embodied in the narrative but when the original record is found to be deficient in interest, the author has introduced such creations of his own as he judged in keeping with the subject, and adapted to picturesque impression. It was his first intention to have made the experiment of Coligny in the colonization of Florida, the subject of a poem; but dreading the want of sympathy in the mass of readers, he decided on the present form, as more adapted to the popular taste, though perhaps less in accordance with the character of the theme. With his power of graphic description, and the mild poetical coloring which he has thrown around the whole narrative, Mr. Simms will delight the imaginative reader, while his faithful adherence to the spirit of the history renders him an instructive guide through the dusky and faded memorials of the past. One of the longest stories in the volume is the “Legend of Guernache,” a record of love and sorrow, scarcely surpassed in sweetness and beauty by any thing in the romance of Indian history.
Reminiscences of Congress, by Charles W. March, (Baker and Scribner, New York), is principally devoted to the personal and political history of Daniel Webster, of whom it relates a variety of piquant anecdotes, and at the same time giving an analysis of his most important speeches on the floor of Congress. The leading statesmen of the United States, without reference to party, are made to sit for their portraits, and are certainly sketched with great boldness of delineation, though, in some cases, the free touches of the artist might be accused of caricature. Among the distinguished public men who are introduced into this gallery are John Q. Adams, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Jackson, and Van Buren, whose features can not fail to be recognized at sight, however twisted, in some respects, they may be supposed to be by their respective admirers. Mr. March has had ample opportunities for gaining a familiar acquaintance with the subjects he treats; his observing powers are nimble and acute; without any remarkable habits of reflection, he usually rises to the level of his theme; and with a command of fluent and often graceful language, his style, for the most part, is not only readable but eminently attractive.
A new and greatly enlarged edition of Mental Hygeine, by William Sweetser, has been published by Geo. P. Putnam—a volume which discusses the reciprocal influence of the mental and physical conditions, with clearness, animation, and good sense. It is well adapted for popular reading, no less than for professional use.