Figs one and two
The present models are—
Fig. 1.—A night-dress with plaited front and full sleeves, an extremely neat and excellent pattern, designed and furnished by Madame Demorest. The back may be either full in a yoke, or of a sacque form.
Fig. 2 is also one of Madame Demorest's designs, a chemise, plaited front, and highly ornamented yoke, as is the present style. The embroidery is with linen floss, and will wear as long as the garment, a great matter in trimming. The shape combines neatness and ease, and will be found extremely comfortable.
WEhave before us several letters from writers of influence and high consideration in different sections of our country, making inquiries respecting the progress of Female Medical Education. We cannot refuse these earnest appeals for information, and, as we trust our myriad readers will feel an interest more or less in the subject, we shall give the response to all who gather around our Table.
The third annual commencement of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, was held on the 25th of February last, when the Degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred by the President, Charles D. Cleveland, on four ladies—Elizabeth H. Bates, New York; Lucinda R. Brown, Texas; Minna Elliger, Germany; and Elizabeth G. Shattuck, Pennsylvania—the latter belonging to the Medical Missionaryprotégéespreparing to go out to China or India, as opportunity may offer. The number of students in this college during the past session was about thirty, and the applications for admittance to the privileges of the institution for the next session, commencing October 2, are already numerous and earnest.
There is onlyoneobstacle, viz.,the want of funds. Those young women and widows wishing to enter on this study are, usually, poor. The expenses for board and books are all they can meet. If the college were endowed, so that the tuition fees for all might be reduced to the lowest sum[B]named for beneficiaries, while these last were admittedfreeof college charges, the school would be crowded. Are there none among the rich of this city and State who will lend a helping hand to this noble work of qualifying women to become physicians for their own sex?Fifty thousanddollars invested, so that the interest could be annually applied for the benefit of the institution, would be sufficient. There would thus be open a way by which those women who have talents for the profession might enter on the study. What a blessing this would be to them and to society! The sufferings which delicacy imposes on the sex, while compelled to submit their complaints to the knowledge of the male physician only, are shocking, and often fatal—because concealment leads to death. Such a state of ignorance in regard to all that pertains to the preservation of health and cure of diseases should no longer be permitted to prevail among those who have the direct and sole care of infancy, and are the nurses and watchers by the sick. The good results of educating women for the profession are thus truly set forth in the interesting "Valedictory Address," by Dr. Elwood Harvey, one of the Faculty of the Female Medical College:—
WHATFEMALEPHYSICIANS CAN DO.—"No intelligent person doubts that, if we wereobedientto the laws of health, so far as they are now understood, sickness and suffering would be greatly diminished. The average of human life would be prolonged, and its usefulness and happiness increased. In the earliest ages of which we have any recorded history, rules for the preservation of health, and regulations for the prevention of diseases, constitute a conspicuous part of the legal code."
******
"In this country, where the people govern themselves, it is the people that must be enlightened, that they may govern themselves wisely. Though there is not a more law-abiding nation on the earth, we are blessed in having but few laws to be obeyed. There is a larger individual liberty here than elsewhere, and consequently a greater individual responsibility. It is to thepeople, then, that you are to convey a knowledge of the laws that govern their being. You have ample scope for usefulness in this capacity. In your own sex, you will find wives and mothers, ignorant of their own constitutions, bringing wretchedness and misery upon themselves, discomfort and suffering upon their families, and, worse than all, entailing enfeebled constitutions and diseases upon their offspring. To enlighten these, to teach them the duty they owe to themselves, to their families, to society, to posterity, and to Him who created them, and instituted the laws they violate, is your peculiar province. Do this, and the world will owe you a debt it can never repay—but you will have your reward."
FEMALEPHYSICIANSWANTED.—"Some of the obstacles that oppose the entrance of the young practitioner to a remunerative practice will offer less than their usual amount of resistance to you. It commonly happens that the young physician has to wait long years of probation, during which much work has to be done for small pay before he begins to reap the full reward of his labors. Not only is it necessary for him to acquire a reputation for skill and attention to business, but a respectable age must be attained before he can hope to be employed in some of the most profitable departments of practice. With you the case is very different; there is an existing demand for your services which none others can so well supply. Each city in this country is ready to give employment to a large number of female physicians, each lesser town and country village is waiting for one or more; numerous applications from various parts of the country have been made for female physicians. At a moderate computation, we may estimate the number now in actual demand in this country at not less than five thousand. You are wanted for a kind of practice that most male physicians would gladly relinquish to you, whenever they are convinced that you have been regularly educated, and are competent to perform the duties of the position you have assumed."
WHILEon this subject, we will give here an original article, written for our "Book" by a professor in another institution,[C]which shows that this liberal feeling towards
female practitioners is fast gaining public favor in this city:—
LADIES' MEDICALEDUCATION.—That it would be very useful and conducive to the health and happiness of families, if the mothers of families, and women in general, were familiar with the principal doctrines of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, so as to understand, to some degree, the organization, functions, and diseases of the human system, there cannot be any doubt. But whether it be in accordance with the natural position of woman in society to take upon herself the office, labors, and responsibilities of a physician is another question, which need not here be decided. So much, however, may be said with propriety, without at all deciding the question alluded to, that such ladies as are desirous of obtaining a full medical education, and devoting themselves to the study of the medical sciences in good earnest, ought not to be refused such an education, but have as much chance given to them as the other sex enjoy. For, however we may disagree respecting the propriety of woman practising medicine as a profession, certainly herknowledgeof medicine cannot be detrimental to the good of society. If a more general diffusion of medical knowledge among the ladies had no other effect than to enforce a higher standard of education among the physicians on one side, and to annihilate the greatest bane of ignorance, quackery, on the other side, this alone would be a sufficient reason for spreading "more light" among the ladies, though it be "medical."
We cannot, therefore, see any harm in the establishment of female medical schools, but would suggest the propriety of organizing them in such a manner that their teachings should not be confined to the comparatively few ladies who enter them for a full medical education; but also be made accessible to the generality of ladies, especially young ladies, who do not want a "professional" education in medicine, but who would study some branches, such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, and perhaps chemistry, natural philosophy, and botany, with much delight and profit, without asking for a diploma, but to carry the delightful satisfaction with them that they possess that which may save themselves and others around them untold disease and suffering, and protect them against all sorts of knavery and quackery, not to speak of the accomplishments and intellectual joys such studies are apt to give to ladies.
AVERY SENSIBLEDOCTOR.—Dr. J. Wilson, of Alabama, proposes, in theSouthern Medical Journal, that female classes be formed in our medical colleges for instruction in anatomy—excluding the surgical and pathological—human physiology, medical chemistry, materia medica, and all female diseases. We hope those who have the direction of medical education will act on this hint. Why should woman be excluded from the study of medicine? She is the Heaven-appointed guardian of the sick and of helpless infancy; she should know how to preserve health and how to restore it.
THEPRACTICAL.—We have lately met with a rather astounding and extremely practical proposition, well suited to the genius of our nation. We, the mightiest people on the face of the globe, will not allow our scenery to remain scenery without some Barnum-like investment upon it. We do not intend that our natural curiosities shall continue natural. Jonathan must make his playthings useful, else he may as well fling them behind him. The Falls of Niagara have been too long exempt from the common lot; it is time they should be trained to propriety and productiveness. No doubt it is extremely fine to see them wandering at their own wild will, plunging madly down the precipice; but will any one pretend to say that in all this there is anything practical? The fact is, Niagara is of no use to us, and we can no longer tolerate her as a drone; she must be forced to work. Let her be made the motive power of numberless mills and manufactories. Thus would be secured a noble union of Nature and Art! How much more manly and suggestive than the common rhymes addressed to her grandeur and magnificence would be some such invocation as the following:—
Oh, thou that grindest buckwheat on thy way,Free and unfettered on thy watery wing,Creation's wonder! How much corn a dayDoth thy sublimity to flour bring?
Oh, thou that grindest buckwheat on thy way,Free and unfettered on thy watery wing,Creation's wonder! How much corn a dayDoth thy sublimity to flour bring?
Oh, thou that grindest buckwheat on thy way,Free and unfettered on thy watery wing,Creation's wonder! How much corn a dayDoth thy sublimity to flour bring?
Oh, thou that grindest buckwheat on thy way,
Free and unfettered on thy watery wing,
Creation's wonder! How much corn a day
Doth thy sublimity to flour bring?
We wonder what our nation would do with Mont Blanc if they had it? Place an ice-cream freezing establishment on its summit, perhaps; or tunnel it,à laThames, and settle a Yankee colony within. We shall next expect to hear that Mammoth Cave has been partitioned off into comfortable apartments, to let to small families. Rooms containing stalactites extra charge, as in such cases clothes-pins would be unnecessary.
Imperial Rome folds her mantle grandly around her, and sits in magnificent sadness at the base of her broken statues and fallen temples—Niobe weeping for her children. Young America strides along in broadcloth and beaver, and only sees that the statue might have been a mantle-piece, or the temple a machine-shop. He forgets whence the money-changers and sellers of doves were driven, because they made the Father's house a house of merchandise. He does not see that stars burn brighter than patent oil, or that earth was intended for another purpose than a plantation. He is more eager to manufacture the napkin than to improve the talent within it. His life is practical; his body is practical; his soul is practical. He would make death and eternity practical, if he only knew how to do it.
Oh, Niagara! are the clanking of machinery and the noise of the water-wheel to be thy dirge? Shall a saw-mill be located on Goat Island, or a stove-foundry near Table Rock? Shall thy rainbow span the summit of a comb manufactory, or thy spray fall silvery on a button establishment? Shall we bewail thy beauty and grandeur forever, as we cry, "Niagara has fallen—has fallen into a mill-dam!"
The Spring-time cometh with her buds and flowers;But ah, those buds and flowers I ne'er may see!The Spring-time cometh with her rosy hours,But not for me.The birds will sing, among the vales and highlands,Sweet as they sang in the glad days of yore,And lilies fair will circle yonder islandsFor me no more.For me no more the sparkle of the river,Where droop the willows, fairest of the fair;For me no more the joys a bounteous GiverSends everywhere.But scatter o'er my grave the buds and flowers—The buds and flowers that I may never see;And, as ye see depart those rosy hours,Think, think of me.H. L. S.
The Spring-time cometh with her buds and flowers;But ah, those buds and flowers I ne'er may see!The Spring-time cometh with her rosy hours,But not for me.The birds will sing, among the vales and highlands,Sweet as they sang in the glad days of yore,And lilies fair will circle yonder islandsFor me no more.For me no more the sparkle of the river,Where droop the willows, fairest of the fair;For me no more the joys a bounteous GiverSends everywhere.But scatter o'er my grave the buds and flowers—The buds and flowers that I may never see;And, as ye see depart those rosy hours,Think, think of me.H. L. S.
The Spring-time cometh with her buds and flowers;But ah, those buds and flowers I ne'er may see!The Spring-time cometh with her rosy hours,But not for me.
The Spring-time cometh with her buds and flowers;
But ah, those buds and flowers I ne'er may see!
The Spring-time cometh with her rosy hours,
But not for me.
The birds will sing, among the vales and highlands,Sweet as they sang in the glad days of yore,And lilies fair will circle yonder islandsFor me no more.
The birds will sing, among the vales and highlands,
Sweet as they sang in the glad days of yore,
And lilies fair will circle yonder islands
For me no more.
For me no more the sparkle of the river,Where droop the willows, fairest of the fair;For me no more the joys a bounteous GiverSends everywhere.
For me no more the sparkle of the river,
Where droop the willows, fairest of the fair;
For me no more the joys a bounteous Giver
Sends everywhere.
But scatter o'er my grave the buds and flowers—The buds and flowers that I may never see;And, as ye see depart those rosy hours,Think, think of me.
But scatter o'er my grave the buds and flowers—
The buds and flowers that I may never see;
And, as ye see depart those rosy hours,
Think, think of me.
H. L. S.
H. L. S.
HEREis a prose sketch on the same ever-fertile subject, the writer modestly styling her collection, "Shells from the Shore of Thought:"—
SPRING.—Would that thoughts on Spring would spring up in my mind radiant as the gentle flowers which the clarion voice of Spring awakens from their wintry slumber! Would that I could array these thoughts in eloquence as glorious as the vesture which she gives the lovely flowers!
She casts around them a mantle of vivid green, lifts their modest heads beneath a pearly veil of mist, and crowns them with a diadem of dew-drops, which the morning sunlight transmutes to amethysts and rubies, emeralds and diamonds.
But, sad to say, my thoughts are less like the flowers, and more like the seed of that tribe (thistle, &c.) which float through the air on a silken sail in quest of a place of repose. Some find them bright homes in lands far away, like the thoughts of the gifted, which become household words; but others, the silk of whose sail is not fine, float adrift on the waves, to be lost, like my thoughts, in the ocean of years.
Spring is the symbol of the resurrection; flowers, of the human race. In the autumn of life, man falls asleep like the flowers; but the icy reign of the winter of death is broken by the glorious springtide of immortality, where the circling seasons are no more, where there is neither death nor tears.
MEMORY.—Pleasure paints the Present, Memory paints the Past, Hope paints the Future, and spans its shadowy portals with an arch of light, radiant as the sunbow o'er the cataract. Memory tortures the wicked and consoles the righteous. When the sunlight of Hope wanes away from the landscape of life, then the moonlight of Memory its shadowy lustre sheds o'er the scene. Memory—a stereotyped edition of the Past. Memory—as the moonlight is to sunlight, so is Memory unto Hope.
MUSIC.—Sacred music—that which on earth wakes an echo in heaven. Music, the soother of the sorrowing. Music, the praises of One who loves us; notes which dwell in the heart, like the lingering perfume of withering violets, when the voice which created the beautiful music is silent forever on earth.
LOVE.—Life is a tangled web, but through its woof there runs the golden thread of Love.
PHILADELPHIAHIGHSCHOOL FORGIRLS.—When is this institution to be opened?The High School for Boyshas been sustained in the most liberal manner many years, and now a new and costly edifice for the school is nearly prepared. Will not the men of Philadelphia add beauty as well as strength to the recent act of "Consolidation," by founding a HIGHSCHOOL FORGIRLS?
A GREATDUTY WHICH ISIMPOSED UPONMOTHERS.—Listen, good mothers: this is not a question of one of those idle studies, the only aim of which is to stock the memory; it concerns an important question, the most important which can be agitated on the earth; so important, that the manner in which you resolve it will decide, without appeal of your moral life and death, of the moral life and death of your children. It is not only a matter that regards yourselves, but also the flesh of your flesh, the blood of your blood; those poor little creatures, whom you have brought into this world, with passions, vices, love, hatred, pain, and death; for these are, in truth, what they have received from you with the life of the body; and these will, indeed, be miserable presents, if you do not also give them the life of the soul; that is to say, arms wherewith to fight, and a light whereby to direct themselves.
You are mothers according to the laws of our material nature, with all the love of a hen which watches over its little ones, and covers them with its wings. I come to ask you to be mothers according to the laws of our divine nature, with all the love of a soul called upon to form souls.
Assure yourselves well whether or not you owe to your children only the milk of your breasts, and the instruction of the intelligence; and if you interrogate the Gospel and nature, take heed to their answer—"Man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of truth."
Truth is that which renders man free; it is the voice which calls us to the love of God and of our neighbor, and to virtue.
Error, on the contrary, is that which renders us slaves to the passions of others and to our own; it is that which causes us to sacrifice our conscience to fortune, to honors, to glory, to vice.
Thus, virtue springs from truth; crime from error; whence we may infer that a good treatise on education can only be in the end the search after truth.
The destiny of your children depends then on the solicitude with which you engage in this search. You may open out to them the road to happiness, and precede them in it. A delightful task, which calls for all the powers of your soul, and which will place you in the presence of God, of nature, of your children, and of yourselves.
And mark well all that nature has done towards accomplishing this difficult work. In the first place, she has brought you near to the truth which is in her, by detaching your sex from almost all the ambitions which debase our own; and secondly, she has given your love to the tenderness of little children, at the same time that she has filled their hearts with innocence, and their minds with curiosity. Can you doubt the object of your mission, when you perceive the sweet harmonies which unite them to you? Nature attaches them to your bosoms, awakens them by your caresses; she wills that they should owe everything to you, so that, after having received from you life and thought, these earthly angels await your inspirations, in order to believe and to love.—L. Aimé Martin.
TOCORRESPONDENTS.—The following articles are accepted: "And I heard a voice saying, Come up hither," "Secret Love," "The Lost Pleiad," "To a Friend on his Marriage," and "To ——." A number of long articles on hand have not been examined; will be reported next month.
The following are declined, many of them because we have not room. Our drawers are "full" of accepted articles, which may have to wait till the writers suffer greater disappointment than a rejection at first would have inflicted. So we return a number of the contributions sent us last month, as their authors request, though we do not usually comply with such conditions. Those who send articles to us should keep a copy of the MS.; we cannot answer for its safe return. We decline "Coming Events," "Her eyes are with her heart," &c., "To Ada, with a Bouquet," "Our Thoughts," "The Dying Girl's Request," "The Wail of a Broken Heart," "The Child's Wish," "Lines on the Birth of a Child," "The Deserted Lady," "Regina," "Cold Water," "Never say Die," "A Great Prize," "My Friends," and "Conversation."
BOOKS BYMAIL.—Now that the postage on printed matter is so low, we offer our services to procure for our subscribers or others any of the books that we notice. Information touching books will be cheerfully given by inclosing stamp to pay return postage.
From HARPER& BROTHERS, New York, through LINDSAY& BLAKISTON, Philadelphia:—
THE U. S. GRINNELL EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.A Personal Narrative.By Elisha Kent Kane, M. D., U. S. N. As Americans, we certainly have reason to feel, and may therefore be permitted to express an honest pride and gratification in the rapid contributions which our countrymen are continually presenting to the various departments of literature and science. Among the more recent and most valuable of these and similar contributions is the beautiful volume the title of which stands at the head of this article. In 1850, Mr. Grinnell, an eminent merchant of New York, actuated by a most humane and liberal spirit, fitted out two of his own vessels and proffered them gratuitously to the government to be employed in an expedition to the Arctic region, in search of Sir John Franklin, who had not been heard from after the 26th of July, 1850. The officers of this expedition were appointed by the navy department. It was commanded by Lieut. Edwin J. De Haven, and its first surgeon was Dr. E. K. Kane, who, at the request of the commander, became the historian of their perilous and romantic voyage. We say romantic, because the scenes to which we are introduced by the graphic pen of the doctor seem more like the creations of the imagination than the realities of sober observation, or the experience of personal adventure. In addition to the historical, scientific, and descriptive merits of the work, it is profusely and beautifully illustrated by fine mezzotints and wood-engravings.
From D. APPLETON& CO., No. 200 Broadway, New York, through C. G. HENDERSON& CO., corner of Fifth and Arch Streets, Philadelphia:—
BOYS AT HOME. By C. Adams, author of "Edward Clifton," etc. Illustrated by John Gilbert. This is an English story, written especially for the moral instruction and encouragement of young persons in adverse circumstances. It inculcates the highest principles of duty and honor, and, at the same time, shows the necessity of perseverance in the accomplishment of virtuous designs.
THE CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE. By James F. W. Johnson. It should be read by the million, for it informs us all about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil we cultivate, and the plant we rear. The dedication is to Sir David Brewster, one of the most eminent scientific men in England. We shall make some extracts from the work for our June number.
THE SUNSHINE OF GREYSTONE.A Story for Girls.By E. J. May, author of "Louis's Schoolboy Days." This is a handsome volume, with many beautiful illustrations. Its greatest beauties, however, will be found in the good sense, the high moral tone, and in the pure religious feeling which pervade its printed pages.
From J. S. REDFIELD, 110 and 112 Nassau Street, New York, through W. B. ZIEBER, Philadelphia:—
THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. By Frederick Dinison Maurice, M. A., Chaplain of Lincoln's Inn. From the second London edition. With a new preface and other additions. The author of this work is a learned clergyman of the Established Church of England. The volume contains seventeen essays on subjects intimately connected with the dogma of that church, and explanatory of the general teachings of Christianity. These essays were originally a series of discourses delivered before the author's own congregation, and embraced numerous topics which he desired to bring under the notice of Unitarians. They therefore partake of a controversial spirit, but in a mild and charitable form.
THE WORKINGMAN'S WAY IN THE WORLD.Being the Autobiography of a Journeyman Printer.This volume furnishes us with what purports to be the true, and certainly is the very interesting history of the struggles of an English journeyman printer.
CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. By James Bruce. This volume is devoted to a description of the personal appearance of a long list of celebrated persons, male and female, ancient and modern, commencing with Sappho, and ending with Madame de Stael. The peculiarities of character, which accompany the "descriptive list," render this volume interesting and instructive in a high degree.
From TICKNOR, REED, & FIELDS, Boston:—
LETTERS TO A YOUNG MAN, AND OTHER PAPERS. By Thomas De Quincey, author of "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater," etc. etc. Exclusive of the "Letters," five in number, this volume contains seven essays: 1. Theory of Greek Tragedy; 2. Conversation; 3. Language; 4. French and English Language; 5. California and the Gold Mania; 6. Ceylon; 7. Presence of Mind; in all which the great reputation of the author as an instructive and philosophical writer is fully sustained.
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY, JOHN BIGLER,Governor of the State of California. Such is the title of a pamphlet sent us from the press of George Kerr, State Printer, Benicia, and the address is worthy of being thus distributed over the whole country. It is a clear and able exposition of the progress and resources of that wonderful portion of our Union. Aladdin, with his genii, could hardly have effected greater changes than gold and the genius of American freedom have effected in California. We are much obliged to the friend who sent us this excellent address. The name of Bigler should be highly honored in Pennsylvania.
WESTERN DEMOCRATIC REVIEW. George P. Buell, Editor and Publisher: Indianapolis, Jan., 1854. This is a new periodical, whose table of contents embraces a variety of subjects, social, political, poetical, biographical, and miscellaneous. We welcome every such manifestation of the growth, the prosperity, and the mental vigor of the Great West. The editor is evidently a man of ability and enterprise, and his articles, varied as they are, are all written with spirit, and show a truly liberal and patriotic mind.
THE SOUTHERN QUARTERLY REVIEW. C. Mortimer, Publisher: Charleston, S. C. We have often wondered that, excepting in political matters, the South has so long been willing to do without a literature of its own. We are glad to see that, at last, a publication devoted to subjects of general interest, as well as to politics, seems to meet with the success it deserves. The articles in it are written evidently with care and thought, and, although generally of too abstruse a nature to interest ladies, there are one or two lighter articles, pleasant chronicles of the olden time, which can hardly fail to please. Rich as SouthCarolina is in such themes, both from its old Huguenot ancestry, and from the characteristic earnestness with which it threw itself into the Revolutionary struggle, it needs only some one with the patient and devoted spirit of the antiquary to rescue from oblivion many scenes and incidents of romantic interest. The political articles, exclusively Southern as they are in thought and sentiment, yet, by their earnestness and acumen, justify the boast that the South is the birth-place of politicians.
From PARRY& MCMILLAN(successors to A. Hart late Carey & Hart), corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia:—
THE PLANTER'S NORTHERN BRIDE.A Novel.By Caroline Lee Hentz, author of "Linda," "Rena," "Eoline," etc. etc. We have not had time to become acquainted with the true character of this novel. We have read sufficient, however, to enable us to say that it is an effort to reconcile the difficulties that are sometimes supposed to exist between "true" lovers on account of their geographical positions. The name of the popular author will be the best recommendation we could give of her work. The volumes sent us are of the cheap edition, with paper covers, price fifty cents each. We are told that an edition is published with six engravings, two volumes, cloth gilt, $1 50. We might have been enabled to speak more confidently of the merits of the work, had we been favored with the plates.
From HENRYCAREYBAIRD(successor to E. L. Carey), No. 7 Hart's Buildings, Sixth Street above Chestnut, Philadelphia:—
CORINNE; OR, ITALY. By Madame de Staël. Translated by Isabel Hill; with metrical versions of the odes by L. E. Landon. This is a new and very beautifully printed edition of a work which, from its earliest publication, has continued to be read, admired, and criticised by persons of literary taste and judgment in all the languages of civilized Europe. It cannot fail therefore to prove highly interesting to that portion of our readers who may not have had an opportunity of perusing it in the original French of the celebrated author.
VATHEK:an Arabian Tale. By William Beckford, Esq. With a memoir of the author, and notes critical and explanatory. "Vathek" is an Eastern tale, written before the author had attained his twentieth year, and was composed at a single sitting of three days and two nights. For more than seventy years it has held the highest rank among similar works of imagination. It was a great favorite with Byron, who preferred it even to "Rasselas." In its descriptions of oriental costumes and of the manners of the people, its correctness has been established by writers of judgment, and, for "exquisite humor and supernatural interest and grandeur," is declared to stand without a rival in romance.
From John P. Jewett & Co., Boston, and Jewett, Proctor, & Worthington, Cleveland, Ohio, through Cowperthwait, Desilver, & Butler, Philadelphia: "The Lamplighter." This is a tale of unusual interest, written in a clear, natural style.
From Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, Boston: "The Barclays of Boston." By Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis. A domestic story of great merit.
From D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway, New York, through C. G. Henderson & Co., Philadelphia: "Marie Louise; or, the Opposite Neighbors." By Emilie Carlen, author of "John; or, Is a Cousin in hand worth two in the Bush?" etc. Translated from the Swedish. The author of this tale is deservedly popular, as well on account of the beauty of her style, as because she is always endeavoring to inculcate the purest morals.
From Blanchard & Lea, Philadelphia: Nos. 1 and 2 "Orr's Circle of the Sciences." A series of treatises on every branch of human knowledge. No. 1. On the Nature, Connection, and Uses of the great departments of Human Knowledge. By the Editor. No. 2. The Physiology of Animal and Vegetable Life. By the Editor and Professor Owen. With numerous illustrations. Price 15 cents. These are the first numbers of a work now publishing in London, designed to present in a popular style and condensed space the leading facts and principles of the various departments of human knowledge. The editors of this valuable series are persons of the highest reputation.
From T. B. Peterson, 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia: "Kate Clarendon; or, Necromancy in the Wilderness." By Emerson Bennett. This is a very interesting and romantic tale of the West, connected with the first settlements on the Ohio River.—"Miriam Alroy." A Romance of the Twelfth Century. By B. D'Israeli, M. P. Three English volumes complete in one. Price 37 cents.
From Bunce & Brothers, New York, through T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia: "Carlington Castle: a Tale of the Jesuits." By C. G. H., author of "The Curate of Linwood," etc. This is the story of an Irish heiress, who suffered a fierce persecution and imprisonment in the British dominions, on account of her religious opinions.
From Partridge & Britain, New York: "An Epic of the Starry Heaven." By Thomas L. Harris. There are undoubtedly a great many very high poetical flights in this volume, but really we are unable to judge of their claims to peculiar inspiration or spirituality. We must leave those claims, which we find enforced in the introduction, to the decision of the "spiritualists," with whose peculiar tests we have not yet become familiar.
"THETHREEBELLSQUICKSTEP."—Another of D. B. Williamson's beautiful productions. We cannot do better than publish the following letter from Captain Crighton:—
"NEWYORK,Feb. 18, 1854."D. B. Williamson, Esq., South Fifth Street, Philadelphia."DEARSIR: Your kind note of the 15th, andfourcopies of the nautical song, were received this day."Among all the many expressions of gratitude which I have received from the American nation, for my simple duty towards suffering humanity, there are none I prize more highly than the song of my gallant ship, 'The Three Bells;' she, too, behaved nobly, and you are the first to acknowledge her merits. 'Permit me to write the songs of my country, and I care not who makes her laws,' said one who understood human nature, and I would hope through your instrumentality the name of my good ship will become a household word."Yours, very respectfully,"ROBERTCRIGHTON."
"NEWYORK,Feb. 18, 1854.
"D. B. Williamson, Esq., South Fifth Street, Philadelphia.
"DEARSIR: Your kind note of the 15th, andfourcopies of the nautical song, were received this day.
"Among all the many expressions of gratitude which I have received from the American nation, for my simple duty towards suffering humanity, there are none I prize more highly than the song of my gallant ship, 'The Three Bells;' she, too, behaved nobly, and you are the first to acknowledge her merits. 'Permit me to write the songs of my country, and I care not who makes her laws,' said one who understood human nature, and I would hope through your instrumentality the name of my good ship will become a household word.
"Yours, very respectfully,"ROBERTCRIGHTON."
We are in receipt of another piece of music, "Happy Hearts make Shining Faces;" a very happy title, and very pretty music and words.
"THELITTLEFORESTER," published at Cincinnati, is an excellent publication for children, and, we are happy to hear, is doing well. The terms are only 25 cents a year, or twenty-five copies for $5. We designed to say something in this number about the "Little Pilgrim," but we have not received the last number; yet we see it noticed elsewhere.
OURMAYNUMBER.—Another fine display of patterns; beautiful steel plate; colored fashions; crochet patterns; novelties of different kinds. We do not wish to boast; but we think that there is no magazine in the country which gives the variety we do. The ladies may depend upon one thing, that what we give is "the fashion;" and from the patterns that we can furnish them, nicely trimmed, they can make up their dresses, and be in time with the fashions here, for ours are always published in advance. We lead, and what we give is sure to be followed.
OURCOLOREDFASHIONPLATE.—Again we lead, with the fashions, not only in the novelty of style, but in the beauty of the engraving and coloring.
"JOHN, why has the mill stopped?" "There is no water, sir." John's reason was certainly a very good one. Well, we don't intend to stop; but we should like our subscribers to know that money to us is like water to the mill. Ladies, please look at the extract from a letter in another part of our "Arm-Chair," and see how a wife jogged her husband's memory to know if he had paid for the "Book."
WEhave published four editions of our January number, three of February, and, up to this time, two of March. Another edition of the last number is about going to press. From present prospects, we shall have to print another edition of January and February soon.
MEMBERS OFCONGRESS.—Gentlemen, we cannot thank you separately, but we do collectively, for all the documents you have been so kind as to favor us with.
WEare complimented on all sides for keeping up the same number of pages and embellishments we commenced the year with. We intend to do it.
IFwe had but one subscriber, and even if his name was Smith, and we were to receive a letter requesting his "Book" sent to the place where he "now resides," we should be able to make the alteration; but, among 60,000 names, how can we find out where a subscriber's "Book"has been sent, unless we are informed? We are led to these remarks by our continually receiving letters requesting the "Lady's Book" sent to "this place." Once for all, we must always be informed where the "Book"has been sent to.
ONEWORD OFADVICE.—When a person purporting to be a travelling agent offers the "Lady's Book" at less than $3 a year, you may set him down as an impostor. The Balt County "Advocate" says that a person named James Rogers has been in that neighborhood offering the "Book" at $2, and has succeeded in getting a great many subscribers. That is it; to save a dollar, those persons who subscribed lost two. If you want a magazine, the best way to get it is to send your money direct to the publisher.
SEWING-MACHINES.—We will purchase and forward these machines on receipt of the money. See advertisement on cover of April number.
OURPATTERNS.—Ladies do not seem to be aware that these patterns arefac-similesof the originals in color, trimming, &c. At a distance, they would be taken for the garment itself. They could be worn in atableauwithout being detected.
WEdo not doubt it, but wishing the ladies to be fully convinced about the superiority of our fashion plates, we will trouble them to read the following notices: The "St. Clair Observer" says: "The colored fashion plates, and Godey is the only man in the Union that gives them, are magnificent and reliable." The "Fort Plain Phœnix" says: "His fashion plate is the most exquisite one we ever saw." The "Crescent Eagle" says: "The fashion plate is the best that we have ever seen." The "Ohio Register" says: "Its fashion plates are ahead of any we have ever seen." That settles the question; if not, we have some five hundred more notices to the same effect.
"THEbeautiful engraving of 'Christ Healing the Sick' is unparalleled in the history of magazine plates. Among the crowd of readers who carelessly glance at such an engraving, but few there are who appreciate the vast amount of thought and labor expended by none but first-rate artists upon it, and the consequent outlay on the part of a generous publisher in freely offering such gems of art to the public. The fruit of months, nay, sometimes years, of unmitigated toil, taxing the eyes and brain, are thus laid before and received by the masses, without a thought on the part of the latter as to what it cost to furnish the feast."
The foregoing is from the Louisville "Great Valley Trader," a paper of immense circulation in Louisville, Ky. How true are the remarks! To engrave the plate mentioned would take one man, and he must be an excellent artist, at least four months, working eight hours a day, which are about as many hours as an engraver can work. By the time the plate reached us it cost nearly $500. It took four months steady work to print our edition, at a cost of $375; the paper cost $200. To sum up, it was eight months from the time that the engraver took the plate in hand before we could place it before our subscribers, and the whole cost of this one embellishment was $1,075. This is only one item of the expense of a number of the "Lady's Book." Our business, it will be perceived, requires us to look ahead. Eight months is a long time to wait for one engraving.
CORRECTION.—In our April number, we stated that the price of mantilla patterns was $1. It should have been 62½ cents. We can supply patterns of all the dress articles we publish, jewelry, and almost every article for a lady's toilet, dress, etc. Our orders last month were very large.
MONTESQUIEUsays: "I never listen to calumnies, because, if they are untrue, I run the risk of being deceived, and, if they be true, of hating persons not worth thinking about."
BACKnumbers of the "Lady's Book" can be supplied from January, as the work is stereotyped.
A. HART, Esq.—Our friend Hart has retired from the book business. Happy man! He has not toiled so long as we have; but he has been more fortunate in laying up the "siller." But will he be as happy in his retirement as we are, quietly seated at our desk planning out new surprises for our hundred thousand subscribers? We think he will, as he has all the elements of happiness surrounding him—an honest man, beloved by his friends, and respected by all who know him; a cheerful disposition, a contented mind, a good heart—we were going to write Hart; it would have been as appropriate. That old south-east corner, Fourth and Chestnut, how well we know it! We remember Carey & Lea, and Carey, Lea, & Carey; E. L. Carey & A. Hart; and last, A. Hart—no, not last; it is now Parry & McMillan. Mr. Parry we have known—we will not mention the number of years, as we believe our friend Jesse wishes still to pass for a young man, albeit he is married. Matters will go on well, there, under his management. And he has an able partner in Mr. McMillan, who is not new to the business, having been a publisher in the British Provinces. Success to the new firm of Parry & McMillan!
The following remarks were made by Mr. Hart at the Trade Sale, where, by the way, his stereotype plates sold for $55,960, a pretty good day's work. Previous to the sale, Mr. Hart turned to the auctioneer, Moses Thomas, Esq., another of our good old friends, and said—
"You, sir, were thefirst person to introduce me into the book business, having given me a letter of credit to purchase, at the Boston trade sale, held in 1827, when I was but sixteen years of age, an amount of five-thousand dollars, on my own judgment, a confidence which I have remembered to this day; and, two years afterwards, you were instrumental in arranging the partnership for me with the late Edward L. Carey; and now, after twenty-five years of successful business,youare about to conduct me out of the trade, by disposing of my stereotype plates; and I must here acknowledge my gratitude to you for those acts of kindness and confidence extended towards a mere boy."
WEcall attention to the advertisement of Boardman & Gray's Pianos on our cover.We know the instruments, and can recommend them.There is no firm in our country engaged in the manufacture of pianos upon whom more reliance can be placed than upon the gentlemen who are the subject of these remarks. A piano is an article that very few persons purchase more than once in a lifetime; it is therefore the more necessary that you select a manufacturer who is well known, and who can be vouched for—one whose pianos have stood the test of experience. We have been instrumental in selling a number of these instruments, and we have yet to hear the first complaint; on the contrary, we have been thanked for our recommendation of the house of Boardman & Gray. We give an extract of a letter from one of our subscribers, hoping that Messrs. B. & G. may take the hint contained in it:—
"CAMPBELLCO.,Va., Feb. 22, 1854."No article you ever published possessed the hundredth part of the money value to your readers as your article on piano-fortes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are every year invested in pianos, and a large proportion of them are not worth the cost of transportation. You have given us precisely that kind of information we needed, and in which we were greatly deficient. I shall shortly order one of Boardman & Gray's. These gentlemen ought to send to Mrs. Godey one of their best pianos, and, if it were accompanied by two hundred gold eagles, it would be only a fitting acknowledgment of benefits conferred."W. L. G."
"CAMPBELLCO.,Va., Feb. 22, 1854.
"No article you ever published possessed the hundredth part of the money value to your readers as your article on piano-fortes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are every year invested in pianos, and a large proportion of them are not worth the cost of transportation. You have given us precisely that kind of information we needed, and in which we were greatly deficient. I shall shortly order one of Boardman & Gray's. These gentlemen ought to send to Mrs. Godey one of their best pianos, and, if it were accompanied by two hundred gold eagles, it would be only a fitting acknowledgment of benefits conferred.
"W. L. G."
"THEbooks for our Ohio club arrived this morning by way of Cleveland! and, although it was Monday, and my 'girl' busy with the week's washing, and the house in confusion, I took time to read 'Mustard to Mix,' and found others had felt much as I happened to feel this morning. But the story restored my good humor; and so, you see, the 'Book' has done some good already—at least, my husband thinks so."Many thanks for the pleasant story accompanying your letter! I intend sending it to an old bachelor up town, who made remarks similar to those of the young collegian, when I solicited him to subscribe for his sister."With earnest wishes for your happiness and prosperity,"M. C. P."
"THEbooks for our Ohio club arrived this morning by way of Cleveland! and, although it was Monday, and my 'girl' busy with the week's washing, and the house in confusion, I took time to read 'Mustard to Mix,' and found others had felt much as I happened to feel this morning. But the story restored my good humor; and so, you see, the 'Book' has done some good already—at least, my husband thinks so.
"Many thanks for the pleasant story accompanying your letter! I intend sending it to an old bachelor up town, who made remarks similar to those of the young collegian, when I solicited him to subscribe for his sister.
"With earnest wishes for your happiness and prosperity,
"M. C. P."
"THE'Lady's Book' is fast superseding all other periodicals of the kind in this section. The general impression is that it is the best magazine of the kind published."J. R. S.,Ala."
"THE'Lady's Book' is fast superseding all other periodicals of the kind in this section. The general impression is that it is the best magazine of the kind published.
"J. R. S.,Ala."
BY MRS. ADELINE J. WILLIAMS.