The Life of Wilbur Fisk, S. T. D. first President of the Wesleyan University. By Joseph Holdich. One vol. 8vo. Pp. 455. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Wilbur Fisk was one of the purest and most useful men of our time. With a temperament remarkably sanguine and ardent, all his qualities were so subdued and harmonized by religion, as to form one of the finest models of elevated Christian character that has been presented to the world. He was a native of Brattleborough, Vermont, where he was born in 1792. In his early years he enjoyed no advantages that are not within the reach of almost every young man of New England. When about twenty-two years of age he began to study the law, but soon after turned his attention to the ministry, and in the spring of 1818 was licensed to preach by a Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1823 he was made a ruling elder, and in 1825, principal of the Methodist Seminary of Wilbraham. In 1829, he received the degree of Doctor in Divinity, from Augusta College, and from Brown University, and the following year was elected to the presidency of the Wesleyan University at Middletown. In the autumn of 1835, he visited Europe, and passed about a year on the continent and in Great Britain. The record of his travels, published soon after his return, has been one of the most popular works of its kind written by an American. He died at Middletown, after a long and painful illness, borne with singular fortitude and resignation, on the twenty-second of February, 1840. The Memoirs before us, by his friend Professor Holdich, are written with ability and candor; but the most interesting portions of the work are Dr. Fisk’s admirable private letters, distinguished alike for a beauty of style, simplicity, earnestness, and affection, that indicates, better than any labored delineation by another hand, his high character and endowments. Philadelphia: H. Perkins.
A Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises. By Richard J. Cleveland. Two vols. 12mo. Cambridge: John Owen, 1842.
This is one of the many narratives of adventures at sea given to the public in consequence of the success of Mr. Dana’s “Two Years before the Mast.” The author, who retired from the merchant service more than twenty years ago, presents some interesting reminiscences of voyages to India, South America, and other parts of the world, written in a style of simple elegance rather unusual for a veteran sailor. The industry and enterprise of the New Englanders is in nothing more conspicuous than in their mercantile marine, and we infer from his pleasant work, that Mr. Cleveland has done his part to gain for them their enviable reputation.
Athanasion, and other Poems. By the Author of “Christian Ballads.” New York: Wiley & Putnam.
The author of “Christian Ballads” is the Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Rector of St. Anna’s Chapel, Morrisania, near New York: a young poet who has won an enviable reputation by numerous contributions to the periodical literature of the day, and by some more elaborate writings. “Athanasion” is, perhaps, his best metrical composition. It has, with many excellencies, some defects, which we lack space and inclination to point out in this number of our Magazine. The volume before us is printed in a style equal to that of the best English impressions.
Fathers and Sons: a Novel. By Theodore E. Hook, Esq. Two vols. 12mo. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1842.