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ments and reasoning on both sides of a question of the
more able and educated leaders of party. He reads them
in the newspapers-he talks them over with his neighbors
he reflects upon them, and he delivers his vote upon men
and measures with an enlightened judgment and a clear
insight into his own and his country's interests. His pow-
ers of thought are thus exercised and improved and hence
it is that the sagacity, the caution, the power of resource
and the fertility of invention of the Yankee have become
a "bye word among the nations." To nothing else than
this working of our system of government, and great diffu-
sion of education, can the unexampled progress of this na
tion be attributed.

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how he felt the pulse of the beautiful grisette, who showed him the way to the Opera Comique, and talked with poor Maria by the poplar, near Mouline.' This Mr. Ik. Marvel, as he is pleased to denominate himself, is somewhat like Sterne-alike with a difference as Charles Lamb says. He seems to us, (who believe in the hereditary transmission," &c.,) what a descendant of Sterne would be in these days; possessing some of his grandfather's qualities, but wanting some and having others that did not belong to him; with all his characteristic altered by these modern times, and affected by modern literature. He has a great deal of the peculiar humor of Sterne, but more subdued; he has much of his imaginative tenderness, but is more romantic; while he wants his deep pathos; and although he is a close observer of individualities, never shows that strong, keen intellect, which is continually flashing like steel through the va garies of the Englishman. It is decidedly the most agreeable book of the season,-and it will be read when the season is over, too. The author's mind is peculiarly healthy and fresh; and those who have been irritated and fevered by the reading of such books as Martin the Foundling, or the Count of Monte Christo, (intellectual gin drinking,) will find this a most soothing, as well as a most delightful book. It produces that same pleasant and dreamy feeling, which a lonely ride in a clear evening of this sweet season creates. A great deal of useful information is to be obtained from this book,-information that sticks. He gives mental We say that he has exhibited a rare combination of gifts, daguerreotypes of the Cafes and Maisons Garnies of Paris, for we think it remarkable that a man who has been thus and of Hungarian peasants and inns. Nor is the "Pipe engaged all his life long in these active and engrossing pur-with the Dutchman" inferior to the first part. From this suits, should have shown, as he has done in this address, the far-sightedness of the thoughtful philosopher combined with the grace and elegance of the accomplished scholar. It abounds with rich classical allusion and graceful and happy quotation, and we would have given much to have heard his soft and most musical voice pronouncing in the nalls of his Alma Mater, and to the listening youth, who nurtured in the same lap, were to succeed him in the great business of life, the following concluding sentences of the address

In the composition of this address, Mr. Mason has exhibited a rare combination of talents. He has been from his youth up eminently a man of action; the harness has been seldom laid aside; early engaged in the "discords of professional strife, the hard competitions of business," the fierce and engrossing struggle for political supremacy, and the labors of legislation. Then came the honors and duties of the bench in his native State, the administration of the Navy Department, the high law office of the government, and finally the heart of the Navy swelled with joy to welcome him back again to that station where he had won so much admiration and regard by the vigor of his administration, the justice of his decisions, the kindness of his heart and the amenities of his manner.

"Living under the only free government on earth, upon us are concentrated the dearest political hopes of man. Wherever glitters the crown of despotism, or faintly throbs the heart of freedom-wherever toil goes unrewarded, or

human right is crushed beneath oppression-from patriots of all climes, and the oppressed of every land-come blended to our ears voices alike of warning and entreaty; all invoking us to be faithful to our holy trust and to preserve it sacredly for the civil redemption of the world. The voices of the past come mingled with the voices of the present, and amid the graves of fallen empires, and the splendid ruins of departed greatness, we gather anew the solemn lesson of individual duty. Let us receive it with submission, and reverence, and awe; and let it increase the warmth of our patriotisin, the earnestness of our virtue, and the devotedness of our toil. If we would discharge aright the duty which we owe to our country and mankind, let us begin by discharging aright the duty which we to

ourselves.

"This above all; to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.'"

Fresh Gleanings, or a New Sheaf from the Old Fields of
Continental Europe. By Ik. Marvel.

portion we take the following extract, which may serve as an example of the descriptive style of this author:

"Little yards were before the houses and stocked with all sorts of flowers arranged in all sorts of forms, and so clean-walks, beds, and flowers-that I am sure a passing sparrow could not have trimmed his feathers in the plat without bringing out a toddling Dutch wife with her room. The fences were absolutely polished with pains; and the hedges were clipped, not with shears, but with scissors. Now and then, faces would peep out of the windows, but in general, the curtains were close drawn. We saw no men, but one or two old gardeners and half a dozen painters. Girls we met, who would pass a word to my entertainer and a glance to ine, and a low courtesy, and would

chuckle the baby under the chin and glance again. But they were not better dressed nor prettier than the rest of the world, besides having a great deal shorter waists and larger ankles. They looked happy, and healthy, and homelike.

"Little boys were rolling home from school-rolling I mean as a seamen rolls-with their short legs and fat bodies

and phlegmatic faces. Two of them were throwing off hook and bait into the canal from under the trees; and good fishers I dare say they made, for never a word did they speak; and I almost fancied that if I had stepped quietly up and kicked one of them into the canal, the other would have quietly palled in his line-taken off his bait-put all in his pocket, and toddled off in true Dutch style to tell his

Dutch mamma."

We are indebted to our obliging friends, Messrs. Drinker & Morris, for transmitting us the following new works: Louis the Fourteenth, or the Court of France in the Seventeenth Century. By Miss Pardoe. Part 5. This part is quite equal in point of exquisite embellishThis is the sweetest of "sentimental Journeys" sincement and typography to any of its predecessors and does that in which we read how Sterne travelled from Calais in infinite credit to the taste and enterprise of Harper & the chaise with the lady whose "face of about twenty-sixof a clear transparent brown," is so well known to us all;

Brothers.

They have also just published,

Part 7 of the cheap serial edition of Thier's History of the Consulate and the Empire, from the press of Carey & Hart.

nounced.

A Simple Story, by Mrs. Inchbald, being No. 102 of those, who, for so many years have extended towards that their Library of Select Novels." Magazine a generous and enlightened patronage, it is due that this new relation I bear to them should be at once anWith the present number, the labors of Mr. Minor, as Editor of the Messenger, are at an end, but it may be proper to state, in this connection, that, in the new vocation to which he proposes to direct his energies, he will still contribute to its pages and materially assist in the for

No. 28 of the Harpers' Pictorial History of England, which has been so highly and justly commended for its illustrations and subject matter.

Tam's Fortnight Ramble and other poems. By Thomas Mackellar, author of " Droppings from the Heart." Philadelphia, Published by Carey & Hart. 1847. pp. 216,

12 mo.

mation of the work.

It is not without some distrust that I assume the control of a periodical, which, during a space of thirteen years, has been the representative of Southern taste and the vehicle of Southern feeling and opinion. Started under adverse auspices by the late Mr. White, and pushed into favor This little volume comes from the pen of a gentleman, by his unflagging exertions, it soon attained a high characwho has long since been registered among the poets, butter and drew around it the support and confidence of a large we fear there is not much in his present effusion to enhance his Parnassian reputation. With here and there a passage of beauty or a gem of thought, there are many puerilities and affectations, which strike us as unworthy of Mr. Mackellar. There has evidently been little labor bestowed upon the manner of the poems and the author's muse has certainly no faculty of description. In his visit to Greenwood Cemetery, the sweetest spot that affection ever selected for the burial of the dead, the verse falls far below the theme and we are entertained with truisms and trite reflections, unrelieved by any felicities of expression or any touches of genuine pathos. The most simple and graceful of the smaller poems, we think, is the short one, at the end of the fifth Canto, of the Watchman's cry of the Hours. It must be said in Mr. Mackellar's praise that his verse runs trippingly and breathes a spirit of wholesome ethics and serene philosophy.

The Public Men of the Revolution, &c. In a series of let ters by the late Hon. Wm. Sullivan, L.L. D., with a Biograpical sketch of the author, and additional notes and references by his sou, John T. S. Sullivan. Philadelphia. Carey & Hart. 1847.

It would be doing injustice to author, editor and publisher to attempt any lengthy notice of this work, after dipping so slightly, as we have done, into its pages. We can only say that it is a well printed octavo, with a handsome portrait of the author facing its title page, and that it contains many historical and biographical sketches of Revolutionary men, colored doubtless by party prejudices, but graphic and drawn with a skilful pen. The portraitures embrace nearly all the worthies who flourished in the early days of the Republic. Without venturing at this time to say how far they are faithful and correct, we predict that this work will make a sensation in the reading world.

A new edition of Livy with English notes, by Professor Lincoln, of Brown University, from the press of D. Appleton & Co.

The late hour at which these volumes were received, must be our apology for this summary acknowledgment of them. Some of them well merit an extended notice and at some future time we may recur to them again.

TO THE PUBLIC.

THE SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.

An arrangement with Mr. B. B. Minor, by which I have become the proprietor of the "Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review," devolves upon me the duties and responsibilities of its editorial management. To

body of influential friends. Four years ago, when death had removed its devoted founder from among us, Mr. Minor succeeded to his arduous office, and has toiled in behalf of the Messenger with a zeal and ability that merited and has received the approval of a discerning public. It is matter of honest pride for those whose efforts have built up and whose counsels have guided the Messenger, to look back upon what it has accomplished. It has called into active exercise talent, which else had lain dormant and useless. It has been the medium through which our ablest men and most thoughtful writers have addressed the literary ear of the reading world. It has furnished amusement and instruction to a large circle of readers and beguiled many a weary hour with the happiest inspirations of the poetic muse. But, the past, full as it is of pleasing recollections, can avail nothing, but as a help and guide to the future. Will the public suffer a work, which has done so much, to decline for want of encouragement? Shall the Messenger ever want friends in the South, of whose rights it has ever been the peculiar guardian? I cannot believe it. I appeal to the literary intelligence of Virginia, of every State between the Potomac and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, to sustain and foster it, and I have an abiding trust that this appeal will not be made in vain. For myself, I want from it only a support. I am determined to work faithfully and strenuously, and I am assured of the assistance and cooperation of able contributors, whose pens will make the Messenger worthy of its best days.

It is not designed to make any changes in the spirit of its conduct. While always prompt to defend Southern interests, it will maintain in politics a strictly neutral ground. No attempt to array one portion of the Union against the other, or to excite sectional feelings and jealousies, will ever meet with countenance in its pages. Its province shall be rather to regard the Republic of Letters as an indissoluble confederacy, recognizing no landmarks or barriers of division, but united together as a literary brotherhood, by sympathies of a kindred nature and a community of tastes, sentiments and pursuits.

In the November number I shall address the Patrons of the Messenger more at length with regard to its prospects. I take occasion, however, to state, that all the debts due the Messenger for the 13th volume have been conveyed to me, and I earnestly request delinquent subscribers to remit, as soon as possible, the amount of their subscriptions. I may say here also, that it is not my intention to abandon my profession, but to continue as heretofore a practitioner of the law.

Editors of journals and magazines, friendly to the Messenger, will confer a favor by granting this notice an insertion in their columns.

JNO. R. THOMPSON,

Richmond, September 25th, 1947.

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