The title of these volumes is expressive of their valuable contents. “A Synopsis of the Commercial and Revenue System of the United States, as Developed by Instructions and Decisions of the Treasury Department, for the Administration of the Revenue Laws: Accompanied with a Supplement of Historical and Tabular Illustrations of the Origin, Organization and Practical Operations of the Treasury Department and its various Bureaus, in Fulfillment of that System: In Eight Chapters, with an Appendix. By Robert Mayo, M.D. 2 vols. 4to.”
We have not space to enter into details of this truly great work. All that is set forth in the promises of the title page is amply sustained by the body of the work, and an amount of information is given, truly astonishing to those who have not had experience in the numerous ramifications of the overgrown department. While there is scarcely a relation which any citizen could occupy with regard to the treasury department, in all its forms, and while the duty of every officer connected with that branch of government, whatever may be his grade, is amply set forth, it seems as a matter of course that at least one in every hundred of the citizens of this country should have a copy of this instructive work, for the benefit of himself and of the others to whom he is the centurion. And while these various kinds of information are given, the work incidentally contains a history of the department.
Loan holders, applicants for remuneration, and all who have any connection or business with the treasury department, are instructed by these volumes how to proceed—how they ought to proceed—and how others have proceeded. Dr. Mayo has done a public service by preparing these volumes. We hope the public will remember him and his work.
The Women of the Bible; Delineated in a series of Sketches of Prominent Females mentioned in Scripture. By Clergymen of the United States. Illustrated by eighteen characteristic engravings. Edited by the Rev. J. M. Wainwright, D. D. Phila: Geo. S. Appleton, 164 Chestnut street.
This book is as remarkable for the felicity of its design as for the beauty of its execution. The plates which adorn it are eighteen in number, and they are among the best and most exquisite specimens of the engraver’s art that it has ever been our good fortune to examine. The articles have been written by clergymen of the United States, distinguished for their talents, and eminent for their piety; and they have truly rendered a meet offering for those to whom it is appropriately dedicated, “thoughtful readers, men as well as women, the one being interested equally with the other, in what constitutes the character of mother, wife, daughter, sister.” As the inside of the book is rich and attractive, so the skill and taste of the binder have made its exterior truly magnificent. The style is new in this country, being a rich, massive arabesque, and its execution reflects the highest credit upon Mr. J. T. Altemus, of this city, under whose supervisory direction the work was accomplished.
The Republic of the United States of America; Its Duties to Itself, and its Responsible Relations to other Countries. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1 vol. 12mo.
In this volume the author enters upon an elaborate defense of the democratic party of the union, the administration of President Polk, and the Mexican War. As a partisan production it may be considered able and moderate. The writer, however, in his remarks on war in general, and the Mexican war in particular, falls into some offensive cant of his own, in attempting to upset some popular cant of another kind.