GERMANY, Etc.
A correspondent of the London Literary Gazette gives an account of an interesting quarrel between the directors of the Theatre Royal at Brussels and the Press. Disliking some of the criticisms of the latter, the directors posted placards announcing that they had withdrawn from sundry papers a specified number of free admissions worth a specified sum per annum. The proprietors of the paper had sued them for libels, and the case was before the courts.
Few of living literary men have enjoyed a wider reputation in the same department than the celebrated German critic Heinrich Heine. The literary world will, therefore, learn with regret that he is dying. An article in a late number of the London Leader says, that "paralysis has killed every part of him but the head and heart; and yet this diseased body—like that of the noble Augustia Thierry—still owns a lordly intellect. In the brief intervals of suffering Heine prepares the second volume of his 'Buch der Lieder;' and dictates the memoirs of his life—which he will make a picture gallery, where the portraits of all the remarkable persons he has seen and known will be hung up for our inspection. Those who know Heine's wicked wit and playful sarcasm will feel, perhaps, somewhat uncomfortable at the idea of sitting for their portraits; but the public will be eager 'for the fun.' There is little of stirring interest in the events of his life; but he has known so many remarkable people, and his powers of vivid painting are of an excellence so rare in German authors, that the announcement of his memoirs will create a great sensation."
The King of Bavaria has formed the gigantic design of causing to be executed a series of pictures on subjects derived from the annals of all times and all nations; the whole being destined to form a sort of pictorial universal chronology. But the expense and vastness of such a project warrant the fear that it will never be realized.
The Emperor of Russia has resolved to have copies, in default of the originals, of all the great paintings of the old masters of all schools; and he is at present causing to be copied in Venice two great works of Titian. It is to be done by M. Schiavone who is quite celebrated for the skill with which he copies. The Ex-Emperor of Austria, it is said, surprised to find, in one of his visits to Venice, that no monument had been erected to the memory of Titian, ordered, at his own expense, the construction of one worthy of the immortal painter. He left to the Academy of Venice the choice of the form of the monument, and of the site on which it should be erected. The Academy, after a discussion pro forma, confided the monument to one of its members, M. Zandomeni, professor of sculpture. The monument is to be placed in the church of St. Mary of Frari, near that of Canova. It will be inaugurated in about a year's time with great pomp. Shortly after the monument was commenced, Zandomeni died, but his son has carried out his design.
LITERARY NOTICES.
The Reveries of a Bachelor, by Ik. Marvel (published by Baker and Scribner), some portions of which have already been presented to the public in the October number of our Magazine, and in the Southern Literary Messenger, where they originally appeared, is one of the most remarkable and delightful books of the present season. Under the artistic disguise of the reveries of a solitary bachelor, yielding to the sweet and pensive fancies that cluster around his contemplative moments, inspired to strange, aerial, and solemn musings by the quiet murmur of his old-fashioned wood-fire, or gathering a swarm of quaint moralities from the fragrant embers of his cigar, the author stamps his heart on these living pages, and informs them with the most beautiful revelations that can be drawn from the depths of a rich experience and a singularly delicate and vivid imagination. Perhaps the most striking feature of this volume, is its truthfulness and freshness of feeling. The author has ventured to appropriate the most sacred emotions as the materials for his composition. Scenes, over which the vail is reverently drawn in real life, and which are touched lightly by the great masters of passion, are here depicted with the most faithful minuteness of coloring, and fondly dwelt on, as if the artist could not leave the tearful creations of his fancy. Nothing but an almost Shakspearian fidelity to nature could give success to such an experiment. The slightest tincture of affectation, or false sentiment, would ruin the whole. We always distrust the man who would play upon our emotions, and are glad to take refuge in the ludicrous, to save ourselves from the pathetic. If a single weak spot can be detected in the magic chain which he would throw around our feelings, if every link does not ring with the sound of genuine metal, the charm is at once broken, and we laugh to scorn the writer who would fain have opened the fountain of tears. It is no mean proof of the skill of the "Bachelor," that his pathetic scenes are always true to their aim. He has risked more than authors can usually afford, by dealing with the most exquisite elements of feeling, but he always forces you to acknowledge his empire, and yield your sympathies to his bidding.
It must not be inferred from these comments that our "Bachelor" is always in the lachrymose vein. Far from it. We have alluded to his mastery in the pathetic, because this is one of the most unerring tests of the sanity and truth of genius. But his "Reveries" also abound in touches of light and graceful humor; they show a quick perception and keen enjoyment of the comic; his sketches of character are pointed with a fine and delicate raillery; and his descriptions of natural beauty breathe the gushing cordiality of one who is equally at home in field and forest. With a rare facility of expression, obtained by dallying with every form of phrase that can be constructed out of the English vocabulary, and a beautiful freedom of spirit that makes him not ashamed to unfold the depths of his better nature, Mr. Ik. Marvel has opened a new vein of gold in the literature of his country. We rejoice that its early working gives such noble promise that its purity and refinement will not be surpassed by its richness.
Richard Edney and the Governor's Family (published by Phillips, Sampson, and Co., Boston), is a new novel by the author of Margaret, the original and erratic New England story, which established the reputation of the writer as a shrewd delineator of manners, a watchful observer of nature, a satirist of considerable pungency, and a profound thinker on social and religious topics. Richard Edney is of the same stamp with that unique production. It has all its willful perversity, but with less ability. It is not so fresh and lifesome, but has more method, more natural sequence in the details of the story, and will probably please a more numerous class of readers. We do not think this author has come into the full possession of his powers. He is too conscious to permit their spontaneous and facile use. While he thinks so much of the motion of his wings, he can never soar into the empyrean. He often talks as if the burden of a prophet were on his heart, but he is too introspective for the fullness of inspiration. Even his strange and grotesque ways are not redeemed by showing the fatal inevitableness of a natural product. They do not appear to grow out of a tough, knotted, impracticable intellect; in that case we should not hesitate to forgive them; but they seem to be adopted with malice aforethought; and used with the keenness of a native Yankee, as the most available capital for the accomplishment of his purposes. With this writer, the story is subordinate to another object. He makes it the vehicle for sundry reflections and speculations, that are often ingenious, and always interesting. In this point of view, his book has considerable value. It is suggestive of more problems than it resolves. It points out many tempting paths of inquiry, which it does not enter. No one can read it without receiving a new impulse to his thoughts, and one usually in the right direction. The author is evidently a man of heart as well as of intellect, and inclines to a generous view of most subjects. His book should be looked at rather in the light of an ethical treatise than of a novel. The plot is less in his mind than the moral. But such hybrid productions are apt to fail of their end. If we desire to study philosophy, commend us to the regular documents. We do not wish for truth, as she emerges dripping from the well, to be clothed in the garments of fiction. Such incongruous unions can hardly fail to shock a correct taste, even if the story is managed with tolerable skill. In this instance, we can not highly praise the conduct of the narrative. It is full of improbable combinations. Persons and scenes are brought into juxtaposition, in a manner to violate every principle of vraisemblance. The effect is so to blunt the interest of the story, that we can hardly plod on to the winding-up.
Still we find talent enough in Richard Edney to furnish materials for a dozen better books. It has a number of individual sketches that are admirably drawn. We might quote a variety of isolated passages that impress us deeply with the vigor of the writer, and which, if wrought up with as much plastic skill as is usually connected with such inventive talents, would secure his rank among the élite of American authors. He has not yet done justice to his remarkable gifts, not even in the inimitable Margaret—the poem Philo we regard as a dead failure—and if our frank, though friendly criticism, shall act as a provocative to his better genius, he is welcome to the benefit of it.
The Issue of Modern Philosophic Thought is the title of an Oration by Rev. E. A. Washburn, delivered on the 6th of August, before the Literary Societies of the University of Vermont, and published by Phillips, Sampson, and Co., Boston. It is an earnest, eloquent, and discriminating defense of the spiritual views of philosophy, set forth by Coleridge in England and by the late President Marsh in this country, with a vigorous protest against the abuses and errors which the author conceives have sprung up in the train of a false and counterfeit idealism. The Oration exhibits an intimate acquaintance with the development of philosophic inquiry, since the reaction against the French Sensualism of the last century, and the application of more profound and religious theories to Literature, Society, and Art in recent times. With no effeminate yearnings for the return of the "inexorable Past," and with a masculine faith in the designs of Providence for the destiny of Humanity, Mr. Washburn is alive to the dangers incident to a condition of progress, and describes them with honest boldness and fidelity. Without pretending to accord with all his ideas, we must yield the merit to his Discourse of affluent thought, rich learning, and a style of remarkable grace and elegance.
The Memorial, edited by Mary E. Hewitt, and published by G. P. Putnam, is one of the most beautiful gift-books for the present season, and in its peculiar character and design possesses an interest surpassed by none. It is written by friends of the late Mrs. Osgood, and is an appropriate and tasteful tribute to her memory. The profits are to be devoted for the erection of a monument to her in Mount Auburn. Its literary excellence may be inferred from the fact, that Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of "St. Leger," John Neal, W. G. Simms, N. P. Willis, Bayard Taylor, R. H. Stoddard, Bishop Doane, Bishop Spencer, George H. Boker, General Morris, George Lunt, A. B. Street, Mrs. Sigourney, Mrs. Oakes Smith, Mrs. Whitman, and, indeed, most of the celebrities of the time, in this country, are contributors. The volume will be welcome, as a choice specimen of American literary talent, and a graceful souvenir of the distinguished poetess in whose honor it has been prepared.
The Evening of Life, by Jeremiah Chaplin (published by Lewis Colby), is a collection of devotional pieces, original and selected, intended to impart "light and comfort amid the shadows of declining years." The selections are made with excellent taste, being for the most part extracted from the best authors in the religious literature of England and America. Among them we observe the names of Fenelon, Thomas à Kempis, Jeremy Taylor, Bunyan, Madame Guyon, Bishop Hall, Milton, Southey, and Wordsworth; and of American writers, Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, Willis, and W. R. Williams.
A New Memoir of Hannah More, by Mrs. Helen C. Knight, has been published by M. W. Dodd, giving a condensed and interesting view of the history of the celebrated religious authoress. Her connection with the development of practical religious literature, as well as her rare qualities of character, will always give an attraction to every authentic record of the incidents of her life. The present volume is evidently written by one of her warm admirers. It relates the principal facts in her brilliant career with remarkable vivacity. Indeed, a more chastened style would have been better suited to the subject of the memoir, whose own manner of writing, though florid and ambitious, in her more elaborate efforts, always displayed an imagination under the control of an active and discriminating judgment. As an instance of the excessive liveliness of description in which Mrs. Knight not unfrequently indulges, we may allude to her portrait of Hannah More's father, the parish schoolmaster, "besides leading a flock of village urchins to nibble in the green pastures of knowledge, his five little girls follow the same friendly crook, and in their training he beholds the buds and blossoms, as he hopes to realize the fruit of his professional skill and parental fidelity."
Harper and Brothers have now ready two important standard works on philology, A Latin-English Lexicon, founded on the larger Latin-German Lexicon of Freund, edited by E. A. Andrews, LL.D., and A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, by William Smith, edited by Professor Charles Anthon. These works have been subjected to a strict, laborious, and thorough revision by the American editors; large and valuable additions have been made to their contents; the very latest improvements in the science of philology have been incorporated with the researches of their original authors; and in point of exactness of investigation, clearness of method, and precision and completeness of detail, may be warmly recommended to the classical students of this country, as without a rival in their respective departments.
The great work of Dr. Freund is so well known to the best educated scholars, as one of the most consummate specimens of German intellectual enterprise and persistency, that it is hardly necessary to make more than this passing allusion to its signal merits. Its indefatigable author, pursuing the path marked out by Gesenius and Passow in Hebrew and Greek lexicography, has opened a new era in the study of the Latin Language, reduced it to a far more compact and orderly system, and greatly facilitated the labors of those who wish to master the noble treasures of its literature. His Lexicon, published at Leipsic in four volumes, from 1834 to 1845, comprising nearly 4500 pages, has been made the basis of the present work, the Editor, meantime, making use of the best sources of information to be obtained in other quarters, including the smaller School-Lexicon of Dr. Freund himself, and the dictionaries of Gesner, Facciolati, Scheller, and Georges. He has aimed to condense these abundant materials within the limits of a single volume, retaining every thing of practical importance in the works from which they are derived.
In pursuance of this method, Professor Andrews has given all the definitions and philological remarks in Freund's larger Lexicon, with his references in full to the original Latin authors, the grammarians, editors, and commentators, retrenching from the citations whatever parts seemed to be superfluous, and entirely omitting such as were redundant or of comparatively trifling consequence. At the same time, he has preserved the reference to the original Latin authorities, thus enabling the student to examine the quotations at pleasure.
This Lexicon, like the Dictionary of Freund, on which it is founded, accordingly, contains in its definitions, in its comparison of synonyms, in its general philological apparatus, and in the number and variety of its references to the original classic authors, an amount of information not surpassed by any similar work extant, while in the luminous and philosophical arrangement of its materials, it is without an equal among the most complete productions in this department of study.
The learned Editor of this work, who has attained such a distinguished reputation, as one of the soundest and most thorough Latin philologists in the United States, has been assisted in its preparation by several friends and associates of great literary eminence, among whom are President Woolsey, of Yale College, Professor Robbins, of Middlebury College, and Prof. Wm. W. Turner, of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. The result of their united labors, as exhibited in the substantial volume before us, is a worthy monument of their high cultivation, their patience of intellectual toil, and their habits of profound, vigilant, and accurate research, and will reflect great credit on the progress of sound learning in this country.
The Classical Dictionary, by Dr. Wm. Smith, is one of the excellent series of Dictionaries prepared under the direction of that eminent scholar, aided by a number of learned philologists, for the purpose of presenting the results of German historical and archæological research in an English dress. This series has been received with the warmest expressions of approbation by the scholars and teachers of Great Britain. In preparing the present work, Dr. Smith has had peculiar reference to the wants of the younger class of students. He has wished to furnish them with a Dictionary, on the same plan with that of Lempriere, containing in a single volume the most important names, biographical, mythological, and geographical, occurring in the Greek and Roman writers usually read in the course of a classical education.
His work is, accordingly, divided into three distinct parts, Biography, Mythology, and Geography. The biographical portion is divided again into the departments of History, Literature, and Art—including all the important names which are mentioned in the classical writers, from the earliest times to the extinction of the Western Empire—a brief account of the works which are extant by the Greek and Roman writers, with notices of their lives—and a sketch of the principal artists, whose names are of importance in the history of Art. The mythological articles have been prepared with great care, and are free from the indelicate allusions which have rendered some former works of this kind unfit to place in the hands of young persons. The geographical portion of this work is entirely new, and exceedingly valuable. The Editor has drawn upon the most authentic sources of information, comprising, besides the original authorities, the best modern treatises on the subject, and the copious works of travels in Greece, Italy, and the East, which have appeared, within the last few years, both in England and Germany.
The present American edition, which has been superintended by Professor Anthon, appears nearly simultaneously with the English edition, having been printed from sheets received in advance, and thoroughly revised for circulation in this country. The experienced Editor has performed his task with the ability which might be anticipated from his critical learning and accuracy. He has made important additions from the most recent authorities, with a view of adapting the work still more completely to junior students. Many errors which had escaped the vigilance of the original editor have been corrected; several valuable tables have been added; and the whole work greatly improved both in substance and form.
It is not intended, however, to supersede the Classical Dictionary of the American Editor, as the articles are brief, and without the completeness of detail required by the more advanced class of students; but for those who desire a smaller and less costly work, this volume will no doubt take the place of the obsolete Lempriere, whose Dictionary, on account of its cheapness, still disgraces some of our seminaries of learning.
American Education, by Edward D. Mansfield (published by A. S. Barnes and Co.), is an elaborate discussion of the theory of education, with special reference to its bearing on the wants and character of the American people. The author gives a forcible exposition of his views, with a variety of practical illustrations, of remarkable interest. Avoiding a too minute consideration of details, he endeavors to ascend to the region of eternal principles, to elucidate the harmony between the nature of man and the influences of the universe, and thus to shed a clear light on the momentous problem of the destiny of the soul. The tone of his volume is earnest, elevated, and often approaching a thoughtful solemnity, showing the deep religious convictions with which the subject is identified in the mind of the author. No one can peruse his impressive statements without a deeper sense of the importance of "the ideas connected with a republican and Christian education in this period of rapid development."
A. Hart, Philadelphia, has republished The Ministry of the Beautiful, by Henry James Slack, of the Middle Temple, London, consisting of a series of conversations on the principles of aesthetic culture. A vein of refined and pure sentiment pervades the volume; the style is often of exquisite beauty; but the discussion usually terminates in a dim, purple haze, lulling the mind to repose in a soft, twilight enchantment, without imparting any clear conceptions, or enlarging the boundaries of either knowledge or taste.
D. Appleton and Co. have published a valuable educational work by Geo. W. Greene of Brown University, entitled History and Geography of the Middle Ages, intended as the first of a series of historical studies for the American Colleges and High Schools. It is founded on a work in the French language, which describes, with clearness and brevity, the condition of politics, literature, and society during the Middle Ages. The high reputation of the author in every thing relating to Italian literature, will secure attention to his work.
A. S. Barnes and Co. have issued a selection of Hymns and Tunes, entitled Christian Melodies, by George B. Cheever, and G. E. Sweetser. It has been prepared with great care, and will no doubt be found a highly valuable aid in the performance of choral service.
Crosby and Nichols, Boston, have reprinted from the English Edition, A Sketch of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, by Rev. Thomas Binney, being a popular lecture on the character of the great English philanthropist, originally delivered in Exeter Hall, London, before the "Young Men's Christian Association." It relates the most salient incidents in the life of Fowell Buxton, with a running commentary remarkable for its quaintness and vivacity. For young men in particular, to whom it is expressly dedicated, it must prove an instructive and pleasing volume.
J. S. Redfield has published The Manhattaner in New Orleans, by A. Oakley Hall, a collection of agreeably written papers, contributed, in the first place, to a literary journal of this city, and containing a variety of sketches of life in the Crescent City. Without any high pretensions to force of thought or brilliancy of composition, this little volume shows a lively power of observation, an active curiosity, and an unaffected ease of description, which can not fail to win for it golden opinions, among all classes of readers.
The same publisher has issued the second part of an ingenious treatise on Physiognomy, entitled The Twelve Qualities of Mind, by J. W. Redfield, M.D., setting forth a view of the subject which claims to be a complete refutation of the principles of Materialism. The author writes with earnestness and ability, and presents many fruitful suggestions, though he does not succeed in elevating his favorite study to the dignity of a science.
An interesting volume of travels has been published by William Holdredge, entitled A Winter in Madeira, and a Summer in Spain and Florence. The author is understood to be the Hon. John A. Dix, although his name is not appended to the volume. His description of Madeira will be read with interest, as an authentic account of a state of society, concerning which we have little information from modern travelers. His remarks on Spain and Florence are of a less novel character, but are every where distinguished for good sense, clearness of expression, and correctness of taste.
A neat volume adapted to the holiday season, is Gems by the Way Side, by Mrs. L. G. Abel (published by Wm. Holdredge), consisting of choice selections from favorite authors, with several tasteful embellishments.
An excellent service has been done to the cause of good learning by George P. Putnam, in the publication of a handsome volume, entitled The World's Progress, A Dictionary of Dates, edited by himself. The preparation of a work of this character demands such rare patience of labor, such habits of accurate research, such soundness and delicacy of judgment, and such devotion to the interests of knowledge, without the hope of great fame or profit by the enterprise, that the pioneers of literature who undertake it, are entitled at least to the cordial gratitude of every student and lover of letters. In the present volume, Mr. Putnam has collected a large amount of information, from distant and various sources, and arranged it in a lucid order, adapted to aid the investigations of the student, and to promote the facility of general reference. It consists of a series of tabular views of ancient and modern history, compiled from a previous manual by the Editor, and the full and accurate tables of Talboys—an Alphabetical Dictionary of Dates, founded on the well-known work of Joseph Haydn—a Chronological List of Authors, from the Companion to the British Almanac, with additions—a Table of the Heathen Deities—and a general Biographical Index. The task of the Editor has been performed, with diligence and fidelity, although, as he intimates in the preface, it can not be presumed that such a volume can be free from imperfections. We might direct his attention to several obvious errors for correction in a future edition; but we presume they have already been discovered by his vigilant eye.
Montaigne: The Endless Study and Other Miscellanies, is a translation from the French of Alexander Vinet, with an Introduction and Notes, by Robert Turnbull (published by M. W. Dodd). The principal part of these Essays are addressed to the numerous class of cultivated minds, that with a profound sense of the beauty and grandeur of the Christian religion, have failed to receive it as a divine revelation, or as the authoritative guide of character and life. With regard to the author, we are informed by Dr. Turnbull, that "he was distinguished as much for simplicity as dignity of character, for profound humility as for exalted worth. Apparently as unconscious of his greatness as a star is of its light, he shed upon all around him a benignant radiance. In a word, he walked with God. This controlled his character, this shaped his manners. Steeped in holy love, he could not be otherwise than serene and gentle. He published a volume of philosophical criticisms, in which he discusses with uncommon depth and subtlety, but in language of exquisite clearness and force, some of the highest problems in philosophy and morals, and dissects the maxims and theories of such men as Montaigne, Voltaire, Rochefoucauld, Jouffroy, Cousin, Quinet, and Lamartine. His fine genius for philosophical speculation, in connection with his strong, common sense, and his unwavering faith in the Gospel are here strikingly developed." Among the subjects treated of in this volume, are the Character of Montaigne, The Idea of the Infinite, the Moral System of Jouffroy, The Claims of Heaven and Earth adjusted, and others of a similar bearing. They are discussed in the light of philosophical principles, and with a certain breadth of view, not always found in theological essays. The translator has not confined himself with rigid fidelity to the phraseology of the author, although for the sake of the vivacity and interest which it imparts, he occasionally retains the French idiom—a dangerous precedent to be adopted by unskillful hands.
Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, have published a collection of Orations and Speeches, by Charles Sumner, comprising his Anniversary Discourses on The True Grandeur of Nations; The Scholar, The Jurist, The Artist, The Philanthropist; Fame and Glory; The Law of Human Progress; The War System of the Commonwealth of Nations; a Lecture on White Slavery in the Barbary States; Three Tributes of Friendship to Joseph Story, John Pickering, and Henry Wheaton; and several political Speeches, delivered within the last few years, on various occasions, in Massachusetts. They are adapted to sustain the high reputation of the author for extensive classical learning, an uncommon power of graceful and fertile illustration, and a glowing, and often gorgeous eloquence.
The Broken Bud (published by R. Carter and Brothers), is the title of a small volume of prose and poetry, intended as a tribute to the memory of a beloved child, by a bereaved mother, and containing many passages of touching pathos and genuine beauty.
Bardouac, or, The Goatherd of Mount Taurus, is a charming Persian Tale, translated from the French, in a style of great neatness and vivacity published by Crosby and Nichols, Boston.
G. P. Putnam has published Fadette, a new story by George Sand, illustrative of domestic life in France, translated by Matilda M. Hays. It is a tale of quiet, exquisite beauty, free from the morbid sentiment which abounds in the fictitious works of the modern French school, and rendered into graceful, idiomatic English by the accomplished translator.
R. Carter and Brothers have brought out a new edition of The Memoir of Rev. Alexander Waugh, the celebrated Scottish pastor in London, an admirable piece of religious biography, describing the life of a vigorous and noble-minded man.
J. S. Redfield has issued a little volume, with an uncommonly attractive exterior, entitled Chanticleer, a Thanksgiving Story, consisting of quiet descriptions of American country life and manners, set forth in the framework of a superficial and not very skillfully managed narrative. It contains some passages of considerable beauty, but as a whole, it has hardly sufficient freshness and fervor to produce a wide sensation.