Lewis Colby has published The Churches and Sects of the United States, by Rev. P. Douglass Gorree, giving a brief account of the origin, history, doctrines, church-government, mode of worship, usages, and statistics of the various denominations in this country. The copious information which it presents, although reduced within a narrow compass, will be found to comprise most of the essential facts concerning the different topics treated, and from the diligence and candor evinced by the author, we have no doubt of its entire reliability.
The same publisher has issued A Cenotaph to a Woman of the Burman Mission, being a memoir of Mrs. Helen M. Mason, whose devoted piety and modest worth eminently entitled her to this feeling commemoration by her husband.
Tallis, Willoughby, and Co. continue the serial publication of The Life of Christ, by John Fleetwood, beautifully illustrated with steel engravings; and Scripture History for the Young, by Frederick Banbridge, profusely embellished with appropriate plates, representing the most remarkable incidents in the Old and New Testaments.
Ticknor, Reed, and Fields have published a new volume of Poems by Grace Greenwood, consisting of a selection from her contributions to the Magazines, with several pieces which we have not before seen in print. Like all the productions of that popular authoress, they are marked with strong traces of individuality, varying with the mood of the moment, now expressing a deep and melancholy pathos, and now gay with exuberant hope and native elasticity of spirit. A transparent atmosphere of intellectuality is the medium for the loftiest flights of her fancy, inspiring confidence even in her most erratic excursions, and giving a healthy tone to her glowing effusions of sentiment.
We have also from Ticknor, Reed, and Fields a new edition of The Grandfather's Chair, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, with Biographical Stories from the lives of Benjamin West, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Johnson, Oliver Cromwell, Benjamin Franklin, and Queen Christina. Mr. Hawthorne's narratives for juvenile reading are no less original and attractive in their kind, than the admirable tales and descriptions by which he is known to the majority of readers.
A cheap edition of the powerful sea-story, The Green Hand, has been published in one volume complete, by Harper and Brothers, enabling the admirers of that racy production to enjoy its flavor without making "two bites of the cherry."
The New-Englander, for November (published at New Haven by J.B. Carrington), is an able number of this bold and masculine periodical, discussing various topics of interest with a healthy grasp of intellect, and a fresh energy of expression, which show that it has escaped the incubus of a lifeless religionism, and breathes a free, independent, and aspiring spirit, equally removed from presumption and timidity. Among the articles, is an elaborate and able reply to Professor Agassiz, on "The Original Unity of the Human Race," an admirable Review of "Tennyson's In Memoriam," a paper on California, with others of no less interest.
The Bibliotheca Sacra, conducted by B.B. Edwards, and E.A. Park, for November (Andover, W.I. Draper), abounds in choice and recondite learning, with a sufficient sprinkling of popular articles to attract the attention of general readers. "The Life and Character of De Wette" gives an instructive account of the position and influence of that eminent German theologian. The whole number is highly creditable to the condition of sacred literature in this country.
Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, have published Lyrics of Spain and Erin, by Edward Maturin, a neat volume of spirited and graceful poetry, consisting of Spanish Ballads, Legends and Superstitions of Ireland, and Miscellaneous Pieces.
We have also from their press Astræa, A Phi Beta Kappa Poem, by O.W. Holmes, gleaming with brilliant flashes of wit, and playfully scoring some of the prevalent follies of the day; a volume of Biographical Essays, by Thomas De Quincey, a work of extraordinary interest, as presenting the judgment of that bold and vigorous thinker on such names as Shakspeare, Pope, Lamb, Goethe, and Schiller; and Numa Pompilius, translated from the French of Florian, by J.A. Ferris.