Orations and Occasional Discourses. By George W. Bethune, D. D. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. 1 vol. 12mo.
This volume contains twelve discourses, originally delivered before Lyceums or Literary Societies, and which obtained great popularity at the period of their delivery. They are worthy of Dr. Bethune’s reputation as an orator and writer, being replete with eloquence, scholarship and sound sense, and characterized by an unmistakeable individuality and independence both of thought and expression. The subjects are Genius, True Glory, The Uses and Abuses of Leisure, The Age of Pericles, The Prospects of Art in the United States, The Death of Harrison, The Eloquence of the Pulpit, The Duties of Educated Men, The Duty of a Patriot, A Plea for Study, and The Claims of our Country upon its Literary Men. Of these we have been particularly impressed by The Age of Pericles, and the Oration last named. The latter was delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Cambridge, and was celebrated at the time for the splendor of its rhetoric and the raciness of its wit.
Glimpses of Spain; or Notes of an Unfinished Tour in 1847. By S. T. Wallis. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1 vol. 12mo.
Mr. Wallis evinces many of the characteristics of a good tourist, and is especially felicitous in understanding both the curiosity and the ignorance of his readers. He has accordingly produced an interesting volume, full of information very pleasingly conveyed, and leaving on the reader’s mind a regret that circumstances should have cut short his tour. To politicians, who think their names are known wherever the sun shines, there is one little paragraph in his book which must leave a saddening impression. We quote it for the benefit of our readers: “In the Diorio [of Seville] of May 14, 1847, an article speculating upon the probable election of General Taylor to the Presidency of the United States, was wound up by the following suggestion:—‘It is to be borne in mind that Generals Fackson and Flamilton owed their election to the Presidency to their military reputation!’ ”
The Old World: or Scenes and Cities in Foreign Lands. By William Farniss. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1 vol. 12mo.
This is a pleasant volume, going over a wide field of observation, and conveying much information not generally known. In the present rage for voyages and travels it will doubtless find many readers. It appears to us, however, that our American publishers are altogether too fertile in their issues of works of this kind. Few have any positive literary merit, and hardly one in a hundred is an addition to the literature of the country.