now yielded to the din of trade, and the roar of artillery to the noise of machinery; but the patriotic fervor of a free people, kindled anew by war, has not grown cold. Whittier's Tent on the Beach is suggested by a Summer recreation at the seaside with some of his friends. The narrative part describes the tent on the beach, the occupations of its inmates, the scenery along shore, the companions of the excursion; and interwoven with it are several poetic pieces which the author calls "Legends and runes Of credulous days, old fancies that have lain Silent from boyhood, taking voice again." Following this are National Lyrics and Occasional Poems in Whittier's best style. Altogether the volume is of the choicest, filled with genuine poetry, written in a devout spirit, and alive with the hopes of Christian faith. THE GOOD REPORT: Morning and Evening Lessons for Lent. By Alice B. Haven. 12mo. 318 pp. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co.-This book consists of two lessons a day for forty days, the period of Lent. Each lesson is drawn from the Old Testament; the varied experience of the Israel ites in the wilderness serving as the text, and the application, or moral, pointed by significant passages from the New Testament. The name on the title-page will be recognized by many as a dear and familiar one, though no longer responded to on earth by her who bore it. The book itself occupied her attention, at in. tervals, for four years. It was kept by her for revi sion and improvement from time to time, but her life closed before it received its final touches. But it is complete, and written in so fervent a style and with so devotional a spirit, it can not fail of accomplishing the good which the writer had in view. Surely her works do follow her. ton. VENETIAN LIFE. By W. D. Howells. 12mo. 401 pp. Morocco cloth. $2. New York: Hurd & HoughCincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.-The author had excellent opportunities for observing Venetian life. As Consul for the United States he came into contact with all classes of society, and he made good use of his office. The style in which he writes is charming for its simplicity. He tells his story as he would talk at the fireside to a group of children; yet there is no childishness in his language. The history of Venice has always been full of striking and interesting events. From its foundation by fugitives among the lagunes of the Adriatic, during its existence as a republic, a ducal sovereignty, an aristocracy, under the fearful reign of the Council of Ten, its reduction under a foreign power, and its final restoration to an Italian kingdom, its history possesses a fascination scarcely equaled by any other. But much of its romance is lost in sober fact; and Mr. Howells dissipates a deal of sentiment expended over the celebrated "Bridge of Sighs." Over that structure thieves and cut throats were conveyed to dungeon, but no prisoner whose name is worth remembering, or whose punishment deserved sympathy, ever crossed it. Other impositions of a poetic fancy are disposed of in the same matter-of-fact way; and we have left only the actual life and history of a city, still grand and romantic, and whose name still conjures up a thousand incidents that resemble a fairy tale. In a few chapters we have such passages as Venetian Society, Love-making and Marrying, Baptisms and Burials, Holidays, Traits and Characters, Commerce, with descriptions of places, edifices, canals, the population, and the arts of living. We learn more of Venetian life from such a work as this, than from the hasty let ters and books of a thousand travelers. THE MARKET ASSISTANT, Containing a brief descrip tion of every article of human food sold in the public markets of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. By Thomas F. De Voe. 12mo. 455 pp. $2.50. New York: Hurd & Houghton. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co.-In addition to the description of the various meats, game, poultry, vegetables, and fruits sold in market, the author has diligently gathered up many curious incidents and anecdotes. His object has been to bring together in a form easy of reference those items of information which are interesting to all housekeepers, and especially to those who are called upon to provide for the household. Being a practical he writes from actual knowledge of the articles sold in butcher and market man, his experience is large, and the shambles. Mr. De Voe is not a scholar, and it is faulty; but he possesses the merit of clearness, and his not strange that his syntax should occasionally be style is more elegant than that of many professed scholars. His research is thorough, and his historic notes on the old markets of New York are both interesting and valuable. If an epicure or a dyspeptic is in doubt what to eat let him get this book, and all other persons may read it with profit and pleasure. GUYOT'S GEOGRAPHICAL TEXT-BOOK. No. 1. Primary: No. 2. Common School Geography. Cleveland: Ingham & Bragg.-These text-books on geography are introduced into many of the schools throughout the country, and the testimony of teachers who use them is universally in their favor. They are prepared with great care, the principal facts of geography being given without needless detail, and the arrangement natural and easy. The primary geography is printed in small quarto size, and the common school geography in royal quarto. They are handsomely illustrated, and for mechanical execution are unsurpassed. The price of the former is 90 cents, and of the latter $1.50; teachers' edition, with full exposition of Prof. Guyot's system, $2. THE BROTHER SOLDIERS: A Household Story of the American Conflict. By Mary S. Robinson. New York: N. Tibbals. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. 18mo. 204 pp. Illustrations.-The patriotism of American boys ever since the days of the Revolution has been fostered by stories of the war of independence. Henceforth, not the contest for colonial freedom but the struggle for national unity, will furnish themes for story writers and novelists. Already many have gleaned in this field, and here is one of the sheaves garnered from the gleanings. It is a neatly-told story, and traces the fortunes of a soldier boy with clever hand. The author is, we believe, the widow of Rev. George C. Robinson, of lamented memory. PAMPHLETS.-Premium List of t e Illinois State Agricultural Society, for 1867.—The Riverside Magazine for Young People, published by Hurd & Houghton, New York, at $2.50 a year. Eiterary, Brinutifir, and Statistical trus. KINGS AND PRINCES ON THE "RETIRED LIST."A German journal gives a list of dethroned princes who now live in different parts of Europe. First there is Don Miguel, dethroned in 1830, who resides in Germany, having married a German princess; next the Count de Chambord, in exile since 1830, residing generally in Austria. With him may be joined the Orleanist princes, who reside mostly in England. Leopold and Ferdinand of Tuscany, Francis V of Modena, and Robert of Parma were driven from their States in 1859. The first three reside in Austria, the last in Switzerland. The following year Francis II was sent to in. crease the list of retired kings. In 1862 King Otho of Greece was driven from his throne. King George of Hanover, the Elector Frederick William of Hesse, the Duke Adolph of Nassau, have recently been added to the list, which may be further augmented by the addition of Prince Couza, who now resides in Paris, and the Prince of Augustenburg, who lives in Bavaria. MAGNESIUM IN THE OCEAN.-It has been estimated that the ocean contains 100,000 cubic miles of magne sium-a quantity which would cover the entire surface of the globe, both sea and land, to a thickness of more than eight feet. In obtaining salt from sea-water, the residuum is largely magnesium. It constitutes thirteen per cent. of magnesium-limestone, a rock found in all parts of the world in enormous quantities. Three years ago all the chemists who had obtained it probably did not possess an ounce among them. One year ago its price was 112 guineas-about $600 in gold-per pound! Now, owing to improvements recently introduced, magnesium wire is sold at three-pence per foot. It has been suggested that, when it should be cheap enough, vessels of war should be built of it, for, while it is but little heavier than "heart of oak," it is as strong and tenacious as steel.-American Gas-Light Journal. THE RUSSIAN STEPPE.-The Steppe, says a writer in the Fortnightly Review, consists of a vast, illimitable plain, its monotonous expanse stretching away in every direction to the horizon, never broken by a rill, or even a tree, but undulating like an ocean whose waves have suddenly been arrested. For thousands and thousands of miles these gentle undulations succeed one another, such a sameness pervading the landscape that at last, though the traveler knows that his horses are galloping on, and he sees the wheels of his car turn round, yet he seems fastened to the same spot, unable to make any progress. Not even a bush is to be seen on the level ground, not a rivulet to be heard, but here and there in the hollows are tall green reeds and scattered wild willows, where sullenly rivers flow slowly along between sandy banks. So far do these desolate tracts ascend that it has been declared that a calf born at the foot of the great wall in China might eat its way along ti it arrived, a well-fattened ox, on the banks of the I iester. In the Spring the Steppe possesses a peculiar charm of its own. The grass is then comparatively soft, and of a dazzling green. Here and there, literally, "you can not see the grass for the flowers," for they grow in masses, covering the ground for acres together, hyacinths and crocuses, tulips and mignonette. The air is fresh and exhilarating, the sky is clear and blue, and the grass rings with the song of innumerable birds. In the district over which Koltsof was accustomed to roam, the Steppe retains for some time the beauty with which Spring has clothed it; but in the interior, where rain is unknown, when Summer comes the pools and water-courses run dry, and the earth gradually turns dry, and hard, and black. Shade is utterly unknown, and the heat is every-where the same. At morn and eve the sun rises and sets like a globe of fire, while in the noontide it wears a hazy appearance, due to the dust which pervades the atmosphere like smoke. The herds grow lean and haggard, and the inhabitants appear wrinkled and melancholy, and darkened by the constant dust to an almost African hue. In the Autumn the heat lessens, the dustcolored sky becomes once more blue, and the black earth green; the haze gathers into clouds, and the setting sun covers the sky with the splendor of gold and crimson. With September this phase ends. No yellow corn-fields, no russet leaves, throw a glory over the latter portion of the year; but October comes, wet and stormy, and soon after Winter arrives, cold and terribe, sweeping the plains with hurricanes and snow storms. COFFEE-Coffee was first introduced into Arabia from Abyssinia, where it originally grew, about the year 1450. It was certainly known in England before either chocolate or tea. It is said to have been first brought there about the year 1652, by a Turkey merchant named Edwards, whose Greek servant made the first dish of coffee ever drank in England. This caused several coffee-houses to be opened shortly afterward, both in the metropolis and various other towns throughout the country. These were visited periodically by the excise officers, and a duty of four-pence per gallon was imposed till 1689. Coffee does not appear to have been known in France before 1658, when it was introduced at Marseilles by some merchants of that city, and Thevenot regaled his guests with coffee after dinner, on his return from his travels in the East about the same year. There are at present, in London alone, above fifteen hundred coffee-houses, properly so called, in addition to confectioners' shops and other places where this beverage is sold. POPULATION OF PARIS.-A Paris correspondent of the Newark (N. J.) Advertiser says: The population of the French capital, according to returns just issued by the Hotel de Ville, amounts now to 1,696,151, contained in twenty arrondissements, or districts, each of which is presided over by a Mayor. There are, therefore, in Paris, no less than twenty-one Mayors, the Prefect being the Chief Mayor, and presiding over all. According to these same returns, which I was looking over the other day, I find that the num ber of births in Paris in the last year was 52,312, of which 26,505 were boys and 25,507 girls. Of the whole number, 14,501 were illegitimate and 37,721 born in wedlock. The number of deaths was 42,185, and the excess of births were 10,127. The marriages celebrated were 15.916. FREAKS OF EARTHQUAKES.-The phenomena attending earthquakes, says an article on "the God of Earthquakes" in the London Spectator, are more apparently preternatural than those of any other human event. The ground assumes the appearance of running water in the ocean itself. Not only are valleys exalted and bills made low, but nature appears to be working out on an awful and tragic scale the wonders of a pantomime. After the great earthquake of Quito in 1797, many whom the earthquake surprised in the town of Riobamba were found as corpses on the top of a hill separated by a river from the place, and several hundred feet higher than the site of the town. The place was shown to Humboldt where the whole furniture of one house was found buried beneath the ruins of another, and it could only be accounted for by supposing that it had sunk into the earth at one spot, and been disgorged at the other. In Calabria, in 1783, whole estates were literally shuffled, so that, for example, a plantation of mulberry trees was set down in the middle of a cornfield, and a field of lupines was removed into the middle of a vineyard. For several years after, lawsuits were actively carried on in the courts of Naples to reclaim landed property thus conveyed, without legal forms, from one to another. Who can wonder that people, who thus see what Englishmen emphatically call real property flying like shadows before their eyes, prostrate themselves before the great earthquake, in paroxysms of fear and superstition? MAMMOTH TREES.-When Dartmouth College was founded there was a pine on the college plain 210 feet high. So the sycamores and maples of the Ohio Valley have attained from 16 to 20 feet in diameter. But the largest American trees have grown west of the Rocky Mountains. In Oregon these monster trees are seen towering to the heavens, without a limb within a hundred feet of the ground. Lower down, in Califor nia, they are larger still, some of them measuring from 30 to 60 feet in diameter and 400 feet in hight, of ages estimated at from 3,000 to 5,000 years. The story of the California pines is almost incredible; we can not think of a tree that has survived the great flood, or existed in the days of Moses, or Solomon, or Paul, as fair and green as if planted by our fathers; but they tell a story of a banyan-tree yet growing upon an island in the Nerbudda River, India, which is mentioned by Nearchus, in the time of Alexander the Great, as being capable of sheltering 10,000 men at once. Portions of it have been carried away by floods, but enough yet remains to overshadow 7,000 men. WOOL IN OHIO.-Two years ago the number of sheep set down to Ohio was 4,800,000. The fleece is estimated at full four pounds to the sheep, which will give over nineteen millions of pounds of wool, worth fifteen millions of dollars. Immense quantities of wool are imported into the United States. Much of this is coarse wool, brought from Buenos Ayres, Chili, Africa, etc., and not exceeding twenty cents per pound in value. This is mixed with the finer wool of our country, and used in the manufacture of coarse woolen goods. Of this species of wool, we import twenty-five millions of pounds per annum. The growth and culture of sheep must for several years to come be a very profitable business. Cotton will never, perhaps, be as cheap as it has been, and it will take some years to bring the cotton-fields back to their former productiveness. Wool will, therefore, be more in demand, and ening the manufacture, will increase the consumption the greater perfection of woolen machinery, in cheapand the profits of woolen goods. There is every inducement, therefore, for farmers to raise sheep. WEIGHT OF PEOPLE-We read in All the Year Round, what is the average weight of a man? At what age does he attain his greatest weight? How much heavier are men than women? What would be the weight of fat people, and what of very fat people? M. Quetelet, of Brussels, some years ago, deemed such questions quite within the scope of his extensive series of researches on man. He got hold of every body he could, every-where, and weighed them all. He weighed the babies, he weighed the boys and girls, he weighed the youths and maidens, he weighed men and women, he weighed collegians, soldiers, factory people, pensioners and as he had no particular theory to disturb his facts, he honestly set down such results as he met with. All the infants in the Foundling Hospital at Brussels for a considerable period were weighed, and the results were compared with others obtained from similar establishments in Paris and Moscow. The av erage returns show that a citizen of the world, on the first day of his appearance in public, weighed about six pounds and a half-a boy baby a little more, a girl baby a little less. Some very modest babies hardly turn the scale with two pounds and a half, while other pretentious youngsters boast of ten or eleven pounds. M. Quetelet grouped his thousands of people according to ages, and found that the young men of twenty av eraged one hundred and forty-three pounds each, while the young women of twenty have an average of one hundred and twenty-nine pounds. His men reached their heaviest bulk at about thirty five, when their av erage weight was one hundred and fifty-two pounds; but the women slowly fattened on till fifty, when their average was one hundred and thirty-nine pounds. Men and women together, the weight at full growth averaged almost exactly one hundred and forty pounds. AN ITEM OF INTEREST.-The average of human life is 32 years. One quarter die before the age of 7. To every 1,000 persons, one rarely reaches the age of 100, and not more than one in 500 will reach the age of 80. There are on the earth 1,000,000,000 persons. Of these about 93,333,333 die every year, 91,824 die every day, 7,789 overy hour, and 70 every minute. The losses are balanced by an equal number of births. The married are longer lived than the single. Women have more chances of life previous to the age of fifty years, but fewer after than men. The number of marriages is in proportion of 70 to 100. Marriages are more frequent after the equinoxes than during the month of June or December. Those born in the Spring are more robust than others. Betrospect of Religions THE BIBLE IN ITALY.-We have already called attention to the progress which the Gospel is making in Italy, but the following paragraph gives a fuller and more cheering account of the results attained: "In the last three years not less than 100,000 copies of the Scriptures have been sold to the Italians. We say sold for two reasons: 1. To call the attention of those who give their money for helping us to supply Italy with the Scriptures to the fact that every precau tion is taken against their destruction by the priests. The poor man who pays even a little of his hard-earned gains for the holy Book is the man who will try to keep it. 2. To show how great is the desire of the people to search the Scriptures. This desire may not always arise from the highest motives. It may be, in some, because the Bible denounces tyranny-in others, from curiosity; but from whatever motive it is read, the truth is God's truth, inspired by God's Spirit, who often makes it mighty to strike conviction to the heart of the most careless. Travelers ranging the country have come upon humble workmen late in the evening. neither in bed, nor at the cafe, but occupied with the Bible. Others have found readers of the Scriptures, earnestly intent on the study, lying on the banks of the Arno, or some other classic stream of Italy. The blessed results are attested, not only by the reports of the colporteurs, but more strikingly by the rapid increase all over the country, in the number of evangelicals. In the good providence of God they have a Protestant translation of the Bible to read, made three hundred years ago by Diodati-Protestant because a very exact rendering of the original. There is no delay for a translation; no necessity of reading a bad one. As in almost every other point connected with Italian evangelization, so in this vital point, God has wonderfully prepared the way for the evangelization of Italy." CATHOLICS IN PHILADELPHIA.-The total number of Catholic priests engaged in the diocese of Philadelphia is one hundred and fifty-seven, of whom one hundred and fifty are on the mission, and seven otherwise engaged. There are one hundred and thirty sec ular priests and twenty-seven connected with religious orders. There are one hundred and sixty-two churches and eight chapels, four ecclesiastical institutions, and four colleges, eleven female academies, one high school, and one hospital. EGYPT. Great success and prospects cheer the Christian mission in Egypt. A general revival of religion throughout the country is expected. The mission has existed about twelve years, and numbers eight ordained missionaries, and three female assistants, a printer, twenty-nine native preachers, teachers, Biblereaders, and twelve schools, attended by six hundred and fifty children of both sexes. THE JESUITS -The Jesuits, according to their custom, have published the annual statistics of their so Zutelligence. ciety. The company reckoned at the close of 1866 four consistories and twenty provinces; the number of members 8,167, showing an augmentation of 215 over the year 1865. In the French province there are 2,422, whereas in 1865, there was only 2,266. Notwithstanding their expulsion from Naples, Sicily, Turin, Venetia, and the Mexican empire, they are incessantly increasing in number. THIBET MISSION.-Ten years ago the Moravians commenced a mission in Thibet, and they labored hard and struggled long without seeing much fruit. But they are beginning to reap. Four converts have just been baptized as the first fruits. Christianity is diffusing itself among the masses; an inquiring spirit is awakened, and even the most neglected and degraded are turning their attention to the Christian religion. A glorious day of success and triumph for Christianity is opening on the wretched masses of humanity. were THE BIBLE IN PORTUGAL-The British and Foreign Bible Society have received encouraging information in regard to the circulation of the Scriptures in Portugal, and the increasing readiness of the people to buy the sacred books of the Society's colporteurs, regardless of the displeasure of the priests and others. At one place, where they sold many books, a priest undertook to debate with them in the public square, alleging that they bad books." "A large concourse of people soon assembled round us, and the poor priest was greatly humbled, for, in his sight, every body bought Bibles and Testaments, and even, in the evening, came to our lodg ings to buy more. Yesterday, however, the Administrador sent for us, and sent us, with a letter from himself to the Dean, who asked us for our books, and said that he would give us an answer presently. In a short time he gave us his answer in writing, and bid us re turn to the Administrador. The Administrador told us we might continue selling our books, as there was no harm in them." CONCESSION TO THE JEWS IN RUSSIA-The Russian Government has made another step in advance. It has partially thrown open to the Jews two important towns formerly closed against them. Jewish merchants of the second and third guild may now settle at Sebastopol and Nekolayew, trade there, and even acquire real estate. A still greater boon to the Jews, and one which has also a political significance, is the offer made by the Russian Government to the Jews of Bokbara and other central Asiatic countries, to take them under its protection. The offer, it is said, has been eagerly accepted by them, as they were fearfully oppressed by the Mohammedan rulers and population of those countries. GOSPEL IN JAPAN.-The way is preparing for the conversion of the Japanese to Jesus Christ. Already four Protestant missions are established among them. The New Testament, in their language, is soon to be published. A phrase-book and vocabulary of the lan guage have been issued, and a dictionary is soon to follow. UNITED BRETHREN.-The United Brethren Almanac for 1867 contains the following "Table of Statistics of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ for 1866:" .4,255 .91,570 ..7,047 ...789 inent gravity, of winning courtesy, of rare practical wisdom, he was a type of those old Methodist preachers who, as Wesley said, "were at it and always at it," and to whose aggressive faith and unflagging endeavor the success of the denomination is so largely due. He retired from active service in 1853, but not on account of any failure of his intellectual powers. These continued to the close of his life. He died because the $197,166 body was worn out; going to his last, long sleep as calmly, sweetly, peacefully, "as flowers at set of sun." A portrait and sketch of the old veteran was published in the Repository for June, 1860. .$250 .755 $25.377 27 cents ......9,209 .$341,279 Making the average contributions for all benevolent and religious purposes about $3.50 per member per annum. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH-The statistical report of the Synodic year gives the following results: 2 Synods, 29 classes, 475 ministers, 1,162 congregations, 109,258 members, 70,432 unconfirmed members, 11,088 baptisms, 6,811 confirmations, 2,392 received on certificate, 90,972 communed, 196 excommunicated, 1,244 dismissed, 4,169 deaths, 926 Sabbath schools, 29,167 Sabbath school scholars, $60,882.46 benevolent contributions. The increase during the year is 1 minister, 33 congregations, 6.927 members, 4,143 unconfirmed members, 1,803 confirmations, 220 receptions on certificate, 59 Sabbath schools, 6,063 Sabbath school scholars, and $16,182.80 benevolent contributions. The decrease is 546 baptisms, and 435 deaths. REV. DANIEL WEBB.-Rev. Daniel Webb, of the Providence Conference, died at his residence in Barnstable, on Tuesday, March 19th, aged eighty-eight years and eleven months. For more than threescore years he labored in the Gospel ministry, sustaining through that long period a spotless reputation. A man of em PROTESTANTISM IN BELGIUM.-The progress of the missionary work in Belgium continues uninterrupted. There are about sixty Protestant laborers at work, of whom thirteen preachers received salaries from the Government, twenty-three from the Evangelical Society, ten being converts from Popery, and the remainder are colporteurs, Scripture-readers, and school teachers. Nearly all the Church members are converts from Romanism, in some Churches there not being a born Protestant, and in several only one. The Evangelical Society has added a Church for the last eight years to the number of its Churches. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN AMERICA.-This was irregularly formed in Providence, Rhode Island, by Roger Williams, in 1639. In 1744 Elder Gregory Dexter, who was regularly baptized and commenced his ministry in England, took charge of the Church. BAPTISTS IN ILLINOIS.-There are twenty Baptist Churches in Illinois which use a foreign language, with seventeen ministers and seven hundred and fifty-three members. Eleven of these are German, three Swede, two French, two Welsh, one Danish, and one Norwegian. filor's Tablr. A VISIT TO ASHLAND.-During our visit to the recent Kentucky Conference at Lexington, we were invited by Mr. Bowman, Regent of the Kentucky University, to dine with him at Ashland, the former residence of Henry Clay. We had previously visited the cemetery in which is found the tall and graceful monument which covers the sarcophagus containing the remains of the illustrious statesman. We were glad of an opportunity to see where he had lived, to pass along the avenues through which he had walked, and where doubtless many great thoughts and patriotic schemes were born. The estate contains three hundred and twenty-five acres, commencing in the suburbs of Lexington and extending for more than a mile along a beautiful turnpike thoroughfare. We could not see the old house in which Mr. Clay had lived. It was torn down nine years ago, and a magnificent structure, standing on the same foundation, and, therefore, retaining much of the form and many of the arrangements of the old homestead, was erected by James B. Clay, son of the great Senator. The son, sympa thizing with the rebellion, and becoming involved in its dangers, escaped to Canada and there died. The estate was purchased by Mr. Bowman for the uses of the University, and has now become very appropri ately the center of what is destined to be one of the greatest educational institutions of the country. We shall not attempt to describe this magnificent building, or even our own emotions, as we passed through its halls, and rode through the avenues of the estate, and visited various buildings now used by the University. Oxe circumstance enabled us still more to feel something of the presence of the departed statesman; it was an admirable painting executed in 1866, by P. Staunton, of New York. It occupies a large space on one side of the room, and contains a group of which Mr. Clay is the center, and around him are gathered the illustrious associates of his last days. Mr. Clay is represented as delivering his last speech in the Senate chamber, and exhibits his tall figure in a commanding attitude, and his noble face animated with the interest |