tains many articles from his pen, (both in prose and poetry,) that might well deserve a place among the best selections of American literature. and ornamental arts, to describe the rise of religious sects and the changes of literary taste, to portray the manners of successive generations, and not to pass by with neglect, even the revolutions which have taken place in dress, furniture, repasts and public entertainments. I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history, if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors." 1848. The name of the other person, whose death we lament, our readers have doubtless anticipated. DR. J. L. MARTIN, late Chargé d'Affaires to the Papal States, died a few weeks since at Rome. Of Dr. Martin's political life, at home and abroad, it becomes us not to speak. But it will not be denied to us to say that he was a most accomplished THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY. Lowell: Daniel Bixby & Co. scholar and a writer of great vigor and refinement. The pages of the Messenger bear abundant testimony to his educated taste in letters, and the high estimation in which he was held at Paris, while discharging the duties of the Secretaryship of Le-tion of the subject of which it treats. gation at the French Court, furnishes the best evidence of the kindness of his nature and the cour-be (as we presume) a resident of Massachusetts, we must tesy of his manners. He has been cut off in the midst of his usefulness and we are called upon at once to imitate the virtues of his character and to deplore his untimely end. Notices of New Works. We have received, from a highly esteemed friend in this State, a copy of the pamphlet, whose title is given above: and we propose now to devote some time to a considera Considering the latitude, in which this treatise was published, and the iufluences which surround the author, if he infer that he is at least a sincere and fearless advocate of the opinions which he advances. He maintains without flinching, upon scriptural precedent, the lawfulness, and the Christian morality of the institution of slavery, past and present. Commencing with the sentence of servitude, pronounced by Noah upon Ham and his descendants, be considers the existence of slavery, thus begun and continued to our own times, as warranted by the Divine Authority in its origin, and no where prohibited by subsequent revelations, Jewish or Christian. He quotes from the atguments of Dr. Channing and others, against the institution of slavery, derived from the sacred writings, and replies to them: with what success, we must leave to the decision of others, better qualified than we to judge of hib NEW BOOKS. Mr. G. P. Putnam has issued two handsome editions of the "Sketch Book," which we have look-lical and theological questions. To our minds, however, ed over (not overlooked) with great pleasure; One a duode- we confess that this is not a satisfactory method of discusscimo, uniform with Knickerbocker's History of New York, ing the subject. Without designing to detract in the slightand forming Vol. II of the New Series of Irving's Complete est degree from the reverence, with which the Christian Works, the other an elegant octavo, with the best illustra- world regards the Old and New Testaments, it is obvious, tions on wood, by Darley, printed on paper of the finest that all the institutions of the Hebrews were not intended quality. Messrs Appleton & Co., among other novelties, to be equally sacred and permanent, nor were all their acts have published" Ellen Middleton,” a highly-wrought and meant to be set up as models of imitation, On the contrary, entertaining fiction, by the author of "Grantley Manor." they are sometimes expressly denounced and punished, for This work was one of the first, we believe, of Lady Geor- having departed from the paths of righteousness. In other giana Fullerton's romances, and did much to establish her places, events are narrated, without any intimation, either reputation. The Harpers, unremitting in their efforts to of approbation or censure. And, consequently, wherever please and instruct, have sent forth a good novel, with three it does not manifestly appear, that their laws and customs heroines (!) entitled the "Three Sisters and Three For- were stamped with the authority of God, as commands to tunes; or Rose, Blanche, and Violet. By G. H. Lewes, be observed through all ages, we are at liberty to examine Esq," and a capital edition of "Xenophon's Memorabilia them, in their application to ourselves and our circumstan of Socrates." They have also issued a work of great arces, by the aid of such other lights as have been vouchsafed tistic excellence, in Lane's Illustrated Arabian Nights. to us by his bounty. This principle has been recognized But a recent announcement of this house heralds the ap- and acted upon, by the purest and best, as well as the most pearance of the book, par excellence, of the age, Macaulay's faithful and orthodox, of Christian divines. Not to menHistory of England. We hazard nothing in the prediction tion the thousand requirements of the Mosaic law, sacerthat the first edition of this work will be exhausted in a dotal and municipal, which are now a dead letter in Chrisweek, indeed we do not doubt that it will find ten readers tian countries, we need only point to the Christian Sabbath, in America for one in Great Britain. The admirers of and the law of Marriage. In the first instance, the simple Macaulay (and who does not admire him?) are familiar usage of the disciples of Christ is regarded as sufficient, with his beau ideal of history, as set forth in several of his to justify the non-observance of the seventh day, although best articles in the Edinburgh Review. From the follow-expressly enjoined in the decalogue. Though the seventh ing extract from the preface of the work, it will be seen day is there sanctified by a law, of which all the other prothat he has endeavored to exemplify this in his forthcoming volume. He says, "I should very imperfectly execute the task which I have undertaken, if I were merely to treat of battles and sieges, of the rise and fall of administrations, of intrigues in the palace, and of debates in the parliament. It will be my endeavor to relate the history of the people, as well as the history of the government, to trace the progress of useful visions are clearly of perpetual force, yet few Christians doubt the propriety of observing at present the first day of the week, in lieu of that, which was originally set apart for rest and worship. By the Mosaic law it was the impera tive duty of a man, to marry his brother's widow, and provide a succession for his inheritance. The neglect of this duty was, in one case at least, signally punished. Yet, by many Christian sects, such an union is now-a-days, point edly disapproved as "contra bonos mores;" and by the laws tution does not necessarily follow from these premises. of many Christian governments it is positively forbidden. It is intimately associated and interwoven with our laws, Nay, our author himself acknowledges the law of divorce, our political relations, and our social interests. It has deas having been allowed to the Jews, only on account of the scended to us, through so many generations, that it is closehardness of their hearts: and in the same category he is dis- ly, if not vitally, connected, with every fibre of our social posed to include polygamy, while he admits that the Scrip- system. The condition of the slave population, of itself tures are silent as to its being in harmony, or in conflict, furnishes a strong argument against precipitate change. with the Divine will. But all Christians (even the Catho- For they are not fitted, either by education, by habit, by lies, by way of dispensation) allow of divorces, either by natural intelligence, or by acquired knowledge, for the raecclesiastical or municipal laws, whether out of tenderness tional and wholesome enjoyment of freedom. They are, to the hard hearts of the people, does not appear: and no taking them in the mass, equally incapable of providing for sect of Christians would for a moment entertain a question their individual wants, and of exercising the rights of citias to the lawfulness of polygamy. zens. Dependent from their birth upon the care and kindness of a master, to abandon them to their own resources, and would be to consign them directly to want, misery, crime. Ignorant of almost every thing necessary for the discharge of social and civil duties, they would carry destruction into all the concerns of the body politic, as the foxes of Samson bore the firebrands among the standing corn. It is hard to say, whether the consequences of immediate emancipation would be more pernicious, to the For these reasons, therefore, we differ with the author of this pamphlet, in his position, that slavery is to be justified or condemned, according to the result of the controversy between himself, and those whose arguments he is combatting. Our own opinions have been formed upon what we conceive to be broader and safer grounds: not upon labored and doubtful interpretations, which the theologian alone can appreciate, but upon the great fundamental truths of the Christian system, which he who runs may read. any master, or to the slave. So far we are discussing this question, as slaveholders ad We do not propose to argue this matter, however, in shape. We know, that in the ferment of the unhappy dis-dressing ourselves to slaveholders. We treat these topics as putes, which have for many years agitated the peace of the Union, every shade of sentiment has risen to the surface, and glittered before the public eye. We know that convictions, once so well settled, that no tongue challenged their soundness, from any quarter, have been, in many minds, overthrown and demolished by the fury of debate; and a large proportion of our people, South and North, have receded, in opposite directions, from the ground they were wont to occupy in common, and taken up positions, equally distant from the field, on which they had formerly stricken hands, in concord and amity. For our own part, we abide by the deserted treaty ground-by the ashes of the council-fire. We are content to stand, where once stood Washington, Jefferson, Mar shall, and the other great statesmen of Virginia, of their day; and where they were met by the illustrious patriots of the Middle and Northern States, who had borne with them the toils and burdens of the Revolution. We are satisfied to think as they thought-to follow the example which they set-to adhere to the compromises which they approved; and we trust that we shall yet see our country men, the present excitement allayed and silenced, united once more upon a "platform," better founded in wisdom and justice, than the structures since erected by misguided zeal or exasperated feeling. We concede, then, in the outset, that slavery, in its inception, is a wrong inflicted by one portion of mankind upon another. We hold, that if the question were presented, whether a people now free, either white or black, should be reduced into servitude by another people, it would be prohibited alike by the precepts of Christianity, and the dictates of sound morals. We believe further, that it is detrimental to the interests of the community where it exists, and retards our development and growth. And whatever advantages it may be supposed to confer, in other respects, we do not think them an equivalent for the evils which it occasions. We applaud the action of the General Government in prohibiting the African slave trade, and punishing as pirates, those who engage in its prosecution. We honor the Colonization Society for their laudable, and not unsuccessful, efforts, to provide an abode for civilized blacks, which bids fair, under the providence of God, to become a blessing to benighted Africa, as well as to our own favored and beloved land. they were treated in our local legislatures and our domestic councils, before the fanaticism of the North awakened a spirit of resistance in the South, to what we have always deemed an unjust and unwise interference in affairs peculiarly our own. Whatever it may be proper and necessary for us to do: whether we are bound by the law of morals to apply any remedy at all-and if so, what that remedy shall be-are problems, the solution of which rests exclusively with ourselves. Nor have the confederate States, or the people thereof, any more right, either by physical or moral means, to compel us to this task, than they would have to assume a similar control over the domestic policy of any nation in Europe. The colonies, without regard to such differences in their respective institutions, united in the struggle for their common independence of British rule. A slaveholder was chosen to lead their armies, and fight their battles. When, by the favor of heaven, he had been enabled to conduct the war to a glorious and happy issue, and when experience had proved the necessity of a closer union between the States, our Federal Constitution was formed upon the same basis of the inviolability of local institutions. Nay, the apportionment of representation was made with a particular regard to this difference, and slaves, considered as persons, were entitled to a representation, in the proportion of three to five. Provision was made by law for their restoration, whenever they might escape from their masters, to seek a refuge in the non-slaveholding States. The same slaveholder, who had achieved their independence by arms, was selected by the unanimous voice of the nation to guide their destinies in peace. The offices of the government were filled by men from every section of the Republic, irrespective of distinctions derived from the existence of slavery and, for more than forty years, no voice was raised to question the wisdom, the justice, the morality, or the binding obligation, of the great national compact. We insist upon the principles of this all-important compromise. We believe its preservation of vital consequence to the stability and integrity of the Union-as we believe the continuance of that Union indispensable to the peace, the prosperity, the strength, and the true glory, of the States which compose it. We will not abandon the hope that our fellow-citizens, South and North, will yet dismiss from their hearts the bitter jealousy which has alienated large portions of them from one another, and reBut we maintain, that the duty of abolishing this insti- new once more those relations of friendship and forbear ance, to which we owe all that we have hitherto enjoyed | first contribution to American Annals, from the Virginia of safety and happiness. Historical Society, under its new organization. While New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey, have been sending forth their excellent octavos, and our sister States of the South, Georgia and Louisiana, have been active colaborers in the field of bistoric investigation, Virginia has hitherto added no sheaf to the gleanings,- Virginia, whose fertility of events has been so remarkable and from whom the rest of the Union might reasonably expect such valuable exertions. The present volume is indeed a worthy beginning of the labors of the Historical Society, and furnishes a gratifying earnest of what it will hereafter accomplish. But this work has far higher claims upon public atten We take this occasion to notice a charge, which has appeared against the Messenger, during the present year, in Blackwood's Magazine. "The Southern Literary Messenger," says Maga, (see No. for Jan. 1848,) "was established to write up the peculiar institution,' and therefore only suited to and intended for the Southern market." Perhaps to many of our readers at the South, the avowal of such a design might recommend our labors. But it is due to candor as well as to the real aims of our predecessors, to deny this statement. We do so emphatically. We declare, what is well known to all familiar with its history, that this magazine was intended to be, what it professes to be, a literary periodical. And so far from its being "only intend-tion, than simply as the offshoot of the Virginia branch of ed for the Southern market," it has always had, and has at this day, a considerable circulation in the Northern States. It is true that the Messenger has presented articles in defence of the institution of slavery, both from the editor and its corps of contributors. And it is equally certain that, whenever Southern rights may be assailed, from whatever quarter, it will be prompt to ward off the blows of the assailants. We should be recreant indeed to the trust confided to us and to our own duty, could we hesitate a moment as to our course in such an emergency. Ten years ago, in an address to the friends and subscribers of the Messenger, the editor said research. It is national in its character and will take rank, we think, with the stately narratives of our most esteemed historians. The author, Mr. Robinson, has long enjoyed a high reputation at the bar, and as a writer of law books and Reporter to the Court of Appeals, has been most deservedly commended. In his new character, as the compiler of history, he is likely to win even higher encomiums. His style is singularly pure and vigorous, free from mannerisms and affectation. It is a fact that speaks largely for the iadustry of Mr. Robinson, that this work was prepared, while he was associated with Mr. Patton in the important and responsible duty of revising the Criminal Code. Of the contents of the volume, we cannot attempt, in this "Utterly indisposed as we are, and entirely impolitic as it would be, to mingle in political strife, there are some ques-place, to give even a synopsis. In the limits assigned us, tions touching our national existence and union which occasionally force themselves upon our pages, in spite of our selves. On these questions there is no division of party, no difference of opinion, in a large portion of this great confederacy-and we may, with truth add, that the most virtuous and enlightened of the whole nation concur in the propriety of arresting that fanatical spirit which threatens to involve us in the horrors of servile war, and the miseries of disunion." Such were the sentiments of the founder of the work and such are our own. They clearly establish that while ready to defend Southern institutions at all times, the Messenger has never recognized as its leading object the task of "writing up" the "peculiar institution." Were we ambitious enough, (as we are not,) to try conclusions with the veteran editors and contributors of Black wood, we might find topics for recrimination. We might arraign that magazine, as the uncompromising enemy of free dom, in an integral part of the British dominions. Its violent opposition to Catholic emancipation-its unsparing use of every weapon, from dignified argument down to the coarsest ribaldry, by which the cause of equal rights in Ire land might be ridiculed and crushed-these, and many other features of its character and conduct, that must readily occur to its readers, offer vulnerable and inviting points of attack, in the position of these officious advocates of liberty, every where, except in monarchical governments. But we have no inclination for warfare of this sort. We leave it to the journalists of Blackwood, whose superiority in such contests we acknowledge, without envy and without regret. we could not do justice to the subject, and we must therefore defer its consideration to a more extended review. Perhaps the most remarkable portion of it, however, is found in the letter of Mr. Robert Greenhow, touching the discov ery of Chesapeake Bay by Europeans, long before Captaine Iohn Smith was "strucke into the wrist of his arme neare an inch and a halfe” by the stingray fish, near the mouth of the “riuer of Rapahanock." We cannot too highly commend the typography of this volume, which, like all the publications of our townsmen, Shepherd and Colin, is exceedingly clear and beautiful. A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO GREEK PROSE COX POSITION. A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO LATIN PROSE CON POSITION. By Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M. A., Rector of Lyndon, and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Carefully Revised and Corrected, by Rev. J. A. Spencer, A. M. GREEK READING BOOK. By Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M. A. With Notes and Additions, by Rev. J. A. Spencer, A. M. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Philadel phia: Geo. S. Appleton. We are rejoiced to see American republications of these excellent works, the second of which has already reached its fifth edition in this country. They were originally prepared by one, who, in talent, learning, and piety, deserved. ly occupied the very front rank, in England, and whose AN ACCOUNT OF DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, until 1519, object in their publication, as may well be inferred from and of Voyages to and along the Atlantic Coast of North his standing, was neither a mere display of his own learnAmerica, from 1520 to 1573. Prepared for the " Virgi. ing, nor the filling of his own purse. He doubtless had a nia Historical and Philosophical Society." By Conway far higher aim in the advancement of that classical learn Robinson, Chairman of its Executive Committee, and ing, which he so much loved. He brought a powerful and Published by the Society. Richmond: Printed by Shep-perience to a task apparently so simple, yet uninviting to discriminating intellect, ardent enthusiasm, and great exmost men of genius, and seems to have executed it in a herd & Colin. 1848. We are a little proud of this handsome volume, as the manner worthy of his reputation. The use of his books among us, will, we trust, form a new era in the study of the ancient languages. Within a few years, various editions of classical authors, and of Greek and Latin Exercises, have been put forth in the United States; but we have not examined any thing of the same kind equal to that on "Latin Prose Composition." Dr. Arnold's books seem to be free from these objections. His remarks, unencumbered by useless lumber, really enlighten and aid the student, while his plan necessitates constant effort, and makes each successive portion depend, as in mathematical demonstration, on the preceding. All labor-saving machires would be pernicious, if they encour In plan, indeed, it comes up to our beau ideal, and the aged men in idleness; they are valuable, because they give execution appears to be admirable. time for doing more. It contains what we have not observed in any small work So Dr. Arnold's books are not meant to supersede labor in of the sort, a brief yet lucid distinction of synonymes, an either teachers or those taught, but to direct their efforts, and addition not only highly valuable to the student of Latin, make them efficient. They cannot be substitutes for teachbut, what is perhaps more important, conducive to the for-ers, but only, if we may so express it, their supplements. mation of a general habit of nice verbal discrimination. We have not seen the English editions, but believe that It also carefully points out the differences between the Mr. Spencer deserves the thanks and encouragement of Latin and English idiom, thereby encouraging another most American instructors, few of whom we opine, can see these valuable habit in the student of language, and impressing books, especially that on Latin Prose Composition, without on the memory the results of such a comparison between a conscious improvement in their own scholarship. We these two languages. The author besides directs attention, are pleased to observe that Dr. Arnold's work on Latin parby what he styles cautions, to nice points of Latin con- ticles, will soon be published by Mr. Spencer. It will be struction which might otherwise escape observation, and what has been long felt, as a desideratum in the study of instils them thoroughly into the mind by reiterated exam- the language. ples. He has, as he himself states in the introduction to his Greek Prose Composition, imitated Ollendorf's German exercises, in which Imitation and Repetition are relied on as the cardinal principles of successful instruction. The Latin words are not put together in their proper order, as in most books of exercises, but separately in a vo THE AMERICAN FEMALE POETS: With Biographical and This elegant volume comes to us in costly raiment, a cabulary, accompanied by such rules of concord, govern-pleasant presage of the holidays! As such, and for its inment, and arrangement, as will enable the student to com- trinsic merits, we hail it with delight, and bespeak for it a bine them for himself. This we greatly prefer to the old mode of confining the exertions of the pupil with the words gracious reception, not only by that select society of lady arranged before him, to simple inflexion and observation of poets (or poetesses,) whose verses it enshrines, but in the the rules of syntax. The improved method compels him boudoir of every beauty, who has caught occasional glimpto study, in sentences of gradually increasing length and difficulty, that Latin arrangement, which, apparently left to mere caprice, is really governed by a profound rhetoric, in adapting language to the passions, the imagination, the ear, and the intellect. We may remark in passing, that Arnold's rules on this subject are peculiarly brief, clear, and satisfactory. The necessity of finding each word with its meaning, before combining it with others, to which this plan subjects the learner, also gives him a much more accurate and ready command of the Latin vocabulary. ses of the radiant summit of Parnassus and held sweet communion with Calliope. If one copy is purchased by each of the class, the volume will find as large a circulamoments, could desire. Indeed, it well deserves a large tion as the enterprising publishers, in their most sanguine sale, for the beautiful style of the work, with its sweet por trait of Mrs. Osgood and its fair printing, is highly creditable to the American press. With regard to its contents, we need say little, and that little in no spirit of critical reflection. The proverbial deference paid to the sex by the American public, especially in the Southern States, will quite disarm the reviewFrom a slighter examination of the Greek Prose Compo-ers of all weapons of attack, if salient points should be sition, we discover that it is in the main on the same plan. But it wants the synonymes, and rules of arrangement, deficiencies common indeed to our Greek exercises, but which certainly ought to be supplied. It does not appear so complete in any point. The Greek Reading Book, has a valuable introduction, the substance of a Treatise on the Greek particles, and copious notes which seem to be well planned. Of the notes the American Editor says: "They are fullest on the introductory exercises, on the forms and idioms of the language, where indeed they are most needed; and considerably less so on the selections from Greek authors, where it may reasonably be expected, the student will be able to master the principal difficulties by his own individual exertions." Some injudicious annotators make "these individual exertions" consist in committing to memory a free translation of nearly the whole text, and groping, amid a confused mass of notes, lengthened rather to increase the size and price of their volumes, than the knowledge of the student, for such explanations, as are really needful and satisfactory. Such editions may aid teachers who can select; but they must injure learners, on the one hand encouraging idleness by ready-made translations, and on the other discouraging investigation by tediousness. discovered, and Miss May, we are sure, will meet with nothing but kind words of commendation for her grateful labors. The Biographical Sketches she has prepared are full of interest, and we are disposed to think that her selections have been exceedingly judicious. We cannot quite account for the omission of some names, which we certainly expected to see in her collection, those for instance of Miss H. F. Gould, Mrs. Worthington and Mrs. Conner, (formerly Miss Barnes.) We could wish for a few pages of their rhyming, that we might pronounce the volume quite comme il faut. It may be found at the bookstore of Drinker & Morris. THE GAMBLER; or the Policeman's Story. By Charles This is one of the most thrilling and life-like narratives, obedient and useful wife-carrying her usefulness so far as to feed her husband with her own hands, although he seems to be apprehensive that she will lose "the energies with which Providence has endowed her" so far, as to be "too lazy" even for that. The leading incident is the substitution, by the schoolmaster and lawyer, of one boy for anoth er, who had been sent from India to England by his parents to be educated, and who in a spirit of independence and in avoidance of Dr. Vyse's tender appliance of the birch, had long since absconded, and was nowhere to be found, when his parents returned home to reclaim him; and the author has traced in a true vein of satire the marvellous discovery which the parents make, that the substituted boy is "the image of his father." If any of our readers are afflicted with the blues or likely to become so, we recommend to them as a most effectual remedy, or preventive, to go and purchase "The Image of his Father, or the Tale Young Monkey." and despair. The scene of the narrative is laid in the city and amusing. Our lady friends too will find in the charaeof New York, its principal character was once a thriving ter of Mrs. Farquhar, in addition to the usual amount of merchant of that city, and the author states in his preface female admiration for military glory, a bright example of an that it is" entirely and substantially true" as he derived it from a Policeman, whose representations are worthy of all credit. But whether it be founded on fact, or be pure fiction, certain it is, the author has traced with the truth of nature all the horrors of the gaming table and the down. ward career of its deluded victims. Commencing with being led astray by a decoy duck in the guise of a gentleman, we see the hero spending the greater part of the night at the faro-bank and losing a large sum,-then returning home to relieve the anxiety of his almost distracted wife with a foul lie-again revisiting the hell, time after time, to retrieve his losses, until he becomes a bankrupt, a thief, a burglar, a drunkard and outcast from society and his family-then restored temporarily to his domestic abode and to virtue, only | to yield again to tempation and sink deeper in infamy than before-and finally as the wretched maniac in the Asylum, whither he is followed by his wife, while one of his sons is an inmate of the Penitentiary and the other fast becoming a fit subject for it. 'Tis a sad story, but one we fear too often realized in real life. We commend this little volume to the attention of the young especially, nor should it be neglected altogether by those more advanced in life, for in the language of Scripture, (which the author has adopted as the motto of his volume,) "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." For sale by Drinker & Morris. the A HISTORY OF FRANCE: With Conversations at the end of each chapter. By Mrs. Markham, prepared for the use of Schools, &c. By Joseph Abbott. New York: Harper & Brothers. We are disposed to regard with favor any elementary Fo-work, to which Mr. Abbott lends the sanction of his name. We have examined the present volume with some attention, and we are disposed to think it well deserves the commendations, which Mr. Abbott has given it in his Preface. The entire history of France, from the earliest period to the flight of Louis Philippe, has been condensed into a single volume, for the use of the "rising generation," and the. manner of the volume is well calculated to please the some what fastidious taste of these young people. The book has many wood cuts judiciously interspersed, which will serve an useful purpose, we think, in fastening events and personages upon the memory. THE LITERARY WORLD. A Journal of American and reign Literature, Science and Art. New York. Since the appearance of our last number, the Literary World has passed into the hands of Messrs Evert A. and George L. Duychinck, the former of whom was its first editor and proprietor. In the number for the 7th October, Mr. Hoffman takes leave of its patrons in a most graceful valedictory, and the Messrs. Duychinck salute them with words of kindly greeting. We have always regarded the "Literary World" as a work, having peculiar claims upon the patronage of the entire country,—an organ of just and independent criticism, in an age of frivolous and unsatisfying publications-a model of excellence in style, amid the multiplicity of bad brochures, which the Northern press is daily sending forth. It is no disparagement to the labors of HISTORY OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. With Engravings. New York: Harper & Brothers. Mr. Hoffman, (whom as a man and a poet we highly esteem,) to say that in general interest the paper has decidedly The story of the lovely but unfortunate Mary, so full of improved since the accession of the Messrs. Duychinck, sad and moving incidents, will never tire, and here we have for this improvement is, to a great extent, attributable to Mr. it in brave red binding and gold title, with famous embelHoffman himself, who writes equally well, and much more agreeably, as a sketcher than as a critic. Mr. E. A. Duychinck is well known for accurate thinking and a happy In the recent numbers of the Literary World, he exhibits in the arrangement and variety of the materials, that rare faculty of good taste, which lends as much to the charm of a gazette, as to that of a reunion or a dinner. manner. THE IMAGE OF HIS FATHER, or a Tale of a Young Monkey. New York. Harper & Brothers. When we took up this book, we anticipated, from its title, a great deal of amusement, and verily we have not been disappointed. The plot, although an intricate one, is well sustained and the characters for the most part are well drawn-protesting, as we do, at the same time, that the representative of the legal profession is by no means an enviable or just one. "The Young Monkey" is evidently an original and some of his tricks are inexpressibly ludicrous lishments and beautiful typography. But that is not all. The narrative is skilfully managed, and the facts are set forth with scrupulous accuracy. The book is therefore at once useful and entertaining, and deserves a large sale. We recollect an account of Mary's apartments at Holywood, and a description of Loch Leven Castle, given by the author in a previous volume, entitled "A Summer in Scot land,” which account he has expanded in this work and rendered even more interesting. BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, for October, has been recei ved; the American publishers having become exceedingly prompt, since their new arrangement with the Englishprietors of the work. This number is a very good one, and we have read it with great interest, yet not without some choleric feelings, occasioned by the exulting paper on the failure of the French Republic and the abortive efforts of Ireland at civil and religious freedom. |