"The publisher, Lemonnier, at Florence, is now printing, and will shortly publish a thick volume, containing 'The Apology for the Political Life of Guerrazzi,' written by himself. The announcement of this publication, is of a nature to excite great curiosity; it will at the same time be a thunderbolt to the Neo-Moderati, and the most conclusive condemnation of their acts during the period Guerrazzi was in power. Guerrazzi therein unpitifully and ably scourges their political weaknesses, and theirportefeuillerivalries, which obliged the Grand Duke in the end to throw himself into the arms of the democratic party. This book of Guerrazzi's will be a peremptory reply to the proudly-compiled apology of the Italian Constitutional party, published by Messrs. Gualterio and Farini, and especially to the base and calumnious imputations, directed by the latter against our excellent and loyal Grand Duke, in the recently published third volume of his work. Not only will the Constitutionalists be denounced in the book of Guerrazzi, but the intrigues of the Piedmontese Government with regard to Tuscany will be exposed, as likewise those of Sir G. Hamilton, British ambassador at Florence."
"The publisher, Lemonnier, at Florence, is now printing, and will shortly publish a thick volume, containing 'The Apology for the Political Life of Guerrazzi,' written by himself. The announcement of this publication, is of a nature to excite great curiosity; it will at the same time be a thunderbolt to the Neo-Moderati, and the most conclusive condemnation of their acts during the period Guerrazzi was in power. Guerrazzi therein unpitifully and ably scourges their political weaknesses, and theirportefeuillerivalries, which obliged the Grand Duke in the end to throw himself into the arms of the democratic party. This book of Guerrazzi's will be a peremptory reply to the proudly-compiled apology of the Italian Constitutional party, published by Messrs. Gualterio and Farini, and especially to the base and calumnious imputations, directed by the latter against our excellent and loyal Grand Duke, in the recently published third volume of his work. Not only will the Constitutionalists be denounced in the book of Guerrazzi, but the intrigues of the Piedmontese Government with regard to Tuscany will be exposed, as likewise those of Sir G. Hamilton, British ambassador at Florence."
This certifies the publication to be a bargain between Guerrazzi and the Tuscan Ministry to give vent to their hatred of the Constitutional party and of Piedmont. Guerrazzi writes in prison, from prison sends to the printers, and the Minister acts as reviser. It is really an odd thing—but characteristic of Italian affairs, perhaps,—for a disgraced and impeached minister to buy his life by turning "States' Evidence." In better days such results were for rascals of a lower grade.
F. A. Gualteriobrings out an account of the late Italian revolution—Gliultimi Rivolgimenti Italiani, Memorie Storiche, con Documenti inediti—the first part of which, in three large octavo volumes, only comes down to the accession of Pius IX. to the Pontificate. The work is published in Florence, and has made considerable sensation, especially in Tuscany and Piedmont. The publications on the subject that appear in Italy are of course all on one side. The other side is represented by a party, or by several parties, who are in exile, and the number of books published on Italy and Italian affairs, in London and in Paris, is very great: more than a hundred during the last year.
In Berlin we observe that Sigismund Wiese, the author of two pious plays, entitled respectivelyMosesandJesus of Nazareth, has put forth another pair of similar dramatic productions, bearing the names of theApostle Peter, andThe Apostle Paul. Whether this be a retrograde movement toward the ancient Bible mysteries of the middle ages, or whether the theatre in Berlin (as we should infer from certain recent curious works and movements) is actually undergoing a spiritual renovation, we have not as yet ascertained.
A work calledEssai de Socialisme Rationnel, by M.Colins, has appeared at Paris, where it is exciting some attention. It is dedicated to Emile de Girardin, though in the dedication the author declares his complete dissent from the doctrines of that eminent journalist. M. Anatole Leroy is reviewing it in a series of articles inLa Presse. The motto of M. Colins is this: "What I understand by socialism is the abolition of all pauperism, whether moral relating to knowledge, or material relating to riches. I affirm that this socialism has become necessary to order, and that it can be established without disorder."
Pleasant reading is there in theMemoires Pittoresques d'un Officier de Marine, just published at Paris in two handsome octavos, with the name of CaptainF. Laconteas their author. The French in general are not great travellers, but the best narrators in the world. Our Captain adds to the reputation of his people in both respects. He tells the story of his adventures and experiences in out-of-the-way parts of the world with a gayety andlaissez-allerwhich charm the reader. For the rest, what he saw in the South Sea, in Russia, in Turkey, at Madagascar, was well worth the telling in such a style. When he prints another book we hope to hear of it.
A book which our students of belles-lettres should have is M. de laVillemarque'sPoemes des Bardes Bretons du VIeSiecle. It is an excellent proof of the thorough study now devoted to the early popular literature of France, whose richness, by the way, is not much suspected by the elegant scholars of other countries. M. de la Villemarque has treated his subject with equal conscientiousness and affection. He gives abundant specimens of the songs of the bards in the form of translations from the original Celtic into French. The work is concluded by some philological disquisitions of value to whoever wishes to study the Celtic tongue.
M.Perrymond, one of the most intelligent and learned staticians of France, has published a reply to Thiers's Report on Paupers and Public Charity: the title ofPerrymond'swork isLe Pain du Proletaire, ou le Commerce des Peuples. It is socialistic.
The political and social theory of Mazzini, and especially his doctrine that the idea of duty, with the utter subjection of the individual to the general interest, is the sole base for society and government, is the subject of some vigorous and unmerciful essays in theJournal des Debats, by Alexandre Thomas.
A late number of theRevue des Deux Mondes, has an article by M.Taillandier, on the Swiss popular poets, in which they are duly praised, and considerable extracts given from their writings. M. Taillandier thinks, however, that Switzerland is in serious danger of moral and mental corruption from the inroads of the Hegelian philosophy.
Those who wish in the briefest space to get an idea of the philosophical system ofAuguste Comte, will find a valuable aid in some articles by M.Romain Cornut, now published inLa Presse. M. Cornut proposes to give a succinct yet complete summary of all the teachings of the great Positivist.
A work has just begun to appear at Paris, which must excite the attention of every student of history, and claim a place in every library that pretends to any degree of completeness. It is a collection of the speeches and parliamentary reports of the principal French orators from 1789 to the present day. The first volume is published containing the speeches ofMirabeau, with a biography and a great variety of critical notices of the great revolutionist and his career. The speeches of Robespierre will appear promptly, as well as those of Bussot, Vergniaud, Danton, Maury, Cazalles, &c. The price is seven francs the volume.
We have mentioned with the praise which we believe it deserved, theHistory of the Protestants of France, byG. S. Felice, lately published by Mr. Walker. This work was simultaneously translated, by the author of Mr. Walker's version, and by a very accomplished woman whose labors that version made profitless. On the same subject we have from Lea & Blanchard, of Philadelphia, in two volumes, aHistory of the Protestant Reformation in France, by Mrs.Marsh, the authoress of "Emily Wyndham," &c. This work will be popular. Several years ago we read aHistory of the Reformed Religion in France, by Mr.Smedley, published by the Harpers, who still, we believe, have it on their trade lists. It is quite as eloquently written, as dramatic, and in all respects as able as either of the others; and any of the three may be commended as not less engrossing than the last new novel.
The library of the poet Gray, which had been kept together in the family of William Penn, was at length scattered by a sale at auction, in London, on the 26th of August.
When M.Guizot, many years ago, published his "Collection of Memoirs relating to the History of the Revolution in England," in twenty-seven volumes, he added to that great work biographical sketches of the various authors whose works he had translated. Those biographical studies, carefully revised and corrected, with some that he had contributed to dictionaries, and others entirely new, are now collected into a volume ofBohn's Library(New-York, Bangs & Brother), and, with the memoirs of General Monk, constitute a sort of gallery of portraits, in which personages of the most different characters appear in contrast—chiefs or champions of sects or parties, Parliamentarians, Cavaliers, Republicans, and Levellers, who, either at the termination of the political conflicts in which they were engaged, or when in retirement towards the close of their lives, described themselves, their own times, and the parts they played therein. M. Guizot has written the History of the English Revolution in these lives of the Revolutionists; forallparties were revolutionary in those days—the Cavaliers by their denial of right no less than the Parliamentarians by their assertion of it. The studies are of Denzil Hollis, Edmund Ludlow, Thomas May, Sir P. Warwick, John Lilburne, Fairfax, Mr. Hutchinson, Sir Thomas Herbert, John Price, Lord Clarendon, Burnet, the Duke of Buckingham, Sir John Reresby, with notices of theEikôn Basiliké, &c., and Memoirs of James II.—a sufficient variety to enable the author to exhibit all the facettes of the diamond.
At the distribution of prizes awarded to pupils in the various colleges of Paris, three or four weeks ago, the new Superior Council of Public Instruction, including MM. Thenard, Giraud, Daniel-Poinsot, and Ortila, attended officially at the Sorbornne: they were placed behind the Minister of Public Instruction, beside whom were M. Portalis, President of the Court of Cassation, and M. Saint-Marc Girardin, Secretary of the Council. The other members of the Council who assisted the Minister were M. Dupin, President of the National Assembly; M. Laplagne-Barras, wearing the magnificent dress of the superior officers of the Court of Cassation; Cardinal Gousset, seated, wearing the scarlet robe and hat of his office, &c. But the real hero of the solemnity wasGuizot, who, on his entrance into the hall to resume his ancient place among the professors, was greeted with loud acclamations and the most respectful salutations, which were repeated still more warmly when the name of his son, William Guizot, was pronounced as of one of the prizemen.
A new novel, in two volumes, byEugene Sue, with the title ofMiss Mary;a tale byHenri Murger, calledClaude et Marianne; and volumes iv. and v. ofAnge Pitou, byAlexander Dumas, have just appeared in Paris.
The witty feuilletoniste,Jules Janin, has published in a volume the letters he wrote from London during the Great Exhibition to theJournal des Debats. J. J., as everybody knows, is the most delightful journalist of art and society in the world, and all Paris anticipates the articles under his signature as a principal part of each day's satisfaction. Apropos of this new book of his, the LondonMorning Chroniclesays, "From the first line to the last, he has rioted in his own peculiar style—laughed, cried, sung, danced, in the same, and almost in every breath—jumped about in one page like a kitten catching its tail—and struck himself into an awful attitude of moral meditation, with an aspect as wise as Aristotle's, in the next—accomplishing all these literary feats by a most miraculous outpouring of words—capital words, fanciful, witty, fantastic, scholarly words—and jumbled, tossed, piled up on each others' backs—jerked this way and that—sharpened one against the other, glittering and gleaming, one by the aid of another—a perfect firework of words, Roman-candle sentences, and Catherine-wheel periods—rockets of epithets, and girandoles of antitheses!" But yet Janin's self-respect would not allow him to say that, in some instances, he has "sacrificed thought and sense, pith and shrewdness, to build up a barley-sugar temple of verbal prettiness, and to deck and wreath it with artificial flowers of rhetoric and of phraseology, which for a moment may seem to have smell, and sap, and savor, but which, upon closer inspection, too often reveal themselves in their true, and dry, and dreary substance of wire, and gauze, and calico."
One M.Leon de Montbeillardhas published a work onSpinoza. If that Philosopher has one characteristic more eminent than another, it is commonly supposed to be the precision and exactness of his logic. To say that Spinoza was a rigorous logician is a platitude, a truism. M. Montbeillard declines to walk in such a beaten path. He denies that Spinoza has any skill whatever in the science of reason, that he is a mere rhapsodist!
M.Xavier Sauriac, author of the Socialist tragedy entitledThe Death of Jesus Christ, was lately tried, along with his two booksellers, for pernicious and insurrectionary doctrines put into the mouth of the Redeemer. They were heard by counsel, and the dramatist was admitted to plead at length; but the jury convicted the three, and the court inflicted long imprisonment, and fines.
Mr. Theodore Marten, a frequent contributor to the Edinburgh Review, and the author of the well-knownBon Gaultier Papersin Tait's Magazine, has been married to the celebrated actress, Miss Helen Faucit Saville (best known without the last name).
Thomas Cooper, author of thePurgatory of Suicides, &c., has been on a lecturing tour through Ireland and Scotland, lately, and has given an account of what he observed, in several letters to the LondonLeader. We copy from them a few paragraphs:
I had two hours delightful conversation with Mr. de Quincy, at Lasswade, and was as deeply impressed with his intellectual power in talking, as I was with his writing when, in my boyhood, I read his "Confessions of an English Opium Eater."On my return from visiting Kirk Alloway, and the cottage of Burns, I called on his remaining sister, Mrs. Begg, a highly intelligent woman of eighty, who gave me some information of an important character, as I deem it to be. Her daughter, Isabella, was present while I had the short conversation with her. I told her that I entertained strong doubts of the truth of many things which were said about her illustrious brother, and I wished to have the benefit of her own personal knowledge respecting him. She replied that she would have pleasure in giving me all the information in her power. I told her that a person in Glasgow had declared to me, the other day, that he believed all the accounts of her brother's irregular life; for a friend of his had called on Mrs. Begg lately, andshehad said that she had often seen her brother sit at the table in a morning, after a night's debauch, shading his face with his hand, while the big tears of remorse were dropping on the board before him. Mrs. Begg seemed moved painfully. "Nothing is more false," she replied; "I never had such a conversation; and never could say so, for I never saw my brother either drunk, or showing any such feeling; nor did I ever know him to be drunk. It is true, I saw but little of him in the latter part of his life; but his son, who was with him almost constantly, told me that he never saw his father the worse for liquor but once; and then he was sick, but yet perfectly conscious. His son also said, that though his father would come home late during the latter part of his life, when they lived in Dumfries; yet he was always able to examine bolts and bars, went to observe that the children were right in bed and always acted like a sober man. Besides," added the intelligent old lady, "how was it possible that my brother could be a drunkard, when he had so small an income, and yet, a few weeks before his death, owed nobody a shilling? That speaks for itself." Mrs. Begg furthermore confirmed what I also learned in Glasgow from persons conversant with those who had known every circumstance of the close of Burns's life, that Allan Cunningham has sorely misstated many matters. Burns didnotdie in the dramatic style which Allan tells of. Allan was never in Ayrshire in his life; but had his materials from some old fellow who went about poking into every corner and raking out every false story about Burns. A writer in Glasgow, in whose company I sat for a short time in the evening after I had delivered my oration there on Burns, contradicted Allan Cunningham's account of Burns's death, from personal knowledge—just at the time when Allan'sLife of Burnsappeared; but Allan never took any notice of the pamphlet, and never corrected the misstatement. Mrs. Begg said that she had seen the two volumes of the new life of her brother, by Robert Chambers, and the account was fairer than any she had seen before.
I had two hours delightful conversation with Mr. de Quincy, at Lasswade, and was as deeply impressed with his intellectual power in talking, as I was with his writing when, in my boyhood, I read his "Confessions of an English Opium Eater."
On my return from visiting Kirk Alloway, and the cottage of Burns, I called on his remaining sister, Mrs. Begg, a highly intelligent woman of eighty, who gave me some information of an important character, as I deem it to be. Her daughter, Isabella, was present while I had the short conversation with her. I told her that I entertained strong doubts of the truth of many things which were said about her illustrious brother, and I wished to have the benefit of her own personal knowledge respecting him. She replied that she would have pleasure in giving me all the information in her power. I told her that a person in Glasgow had declared to me, the other day, that he believed all the accounts of her brother's irregular life; for a friend of his had called on Mrs. Begg lately, andshehad said that she had often seen her brother sit at the table in a morning, after a night's debauch, shading his face with his hand, while the big tears of remorse were dropping on the board before him. Mrs. Begg seemed moved painfully. "Nothing is more false," she replied; "I never had such a conversation; and never could say so, for I never saw my brother either drunk, or showing any such feeling; nor did I ever know him to be drunk. It is true, I saw but little of him in the latter part of his life; but his son, who was with him almost constantly, told me that he never saw his father the worse for liquor but once; and then he was sick, but yet perfectly conscious. His son also said, that though his father would come home late during the latter part of his life, when they lived in Dumfries; yet he was always able to examine bolts and bars, went to observe that the children were right in bed and always acted like a sober man. Besides," added the intelligent old lady, "how was it possible that my brother could be a drunkard, when he had so small an income, and yet, a few weeks before his death, owed nobody a shilling? That speaks for itself." Mrs. Begg furthermore confirmed what I also learned in Glasgow from persons conversant with those who had known every circumstance of the close of Burns's life, that Allan Cunningham has sorely misstated many matters. Burns didnotdie in the dramatic style which Allan tells of. Allan was never in Ayrshire in his life; but had his materials from some old fellow who went about poking into every corner and raking out every false story about Burns. A writer in Glasgow, in whose company I sat for a short time in the evening after I had delivered my oration there on Burns, contradicted Allan Cunningham's account of Burns's death, from personal knowledge—just at the time when Allan'sLife of Burnsappeared; but Allan never took any notice of the pamphlet, and never corrected the misstatement. Mrs. Begg said that she had seen the two volumes of the new life of her brother, by Robert Chambers, and the account was fairer than any she had seen before.
The name of the "BaronessVon Beck" has been familiar through the English reviews, during the last year or two, as the authoress of a book on the late Hungarian war. This woman turns out to have been no baroness, not even a "friend" of Kossuth, but a paid spy in the service of the National Hungarian Government, and lately a paid spy in the "recently established foreign branch of the English police force." She was on the thirtieth of August apprehended at Birmingham for obtaining money under false pretences, and died in the anteroom of the court, from a sudden affection of the heart, induced by the emotion caused by her detection. She had played a remarkable part. Her Memoirs were published by Bentley, and had a large sale, but they appear to have been written by another person. At the time of her arrest she was procuring subscriptions for a new volume descriptive of her pretended Adventures.
Mr.Thackerayis writing a novel in three volumes, to be published in the winter. The scene is in England early in the eighteenth century, and among the characters will be Bolingbroke, Swift, and Pope; and Steele will play a prominent part. Mr. Thackeray has concluded to publish no more "serials," and we hope his new scenes and persons will suggest to him a little respect for human nature, which hitherto he appears to have regarded as a mere trick and imposture.
A pension of 200l.a year on the civil list has been conferred on Mr. Silk Buckingham. A pension of 200l.a year has also been given to Colonel Torrens, the author of several works on political economy. Mr. Buckingham had just obtained 400l.a year, as we have before mentioned, from the East India Company. It seems to us that these pensions can have but little to do with the "encouragement of literature."
The venerable poetJames Montgomerywill be eighty years of age on the fifth of November, and the people of Sheffield are preparing suitable honors for the occasion. A statue, to be set up in a conspicuous place, is talked of, and a general desire is felt that the festival which is proposed, and the honors which are to be given, shall be worthy of the man and the city.
A curious Diary ofEdmund Bohen, a voluminous writer of the seventeenth century, has been discovered in Suffolk, England, his native county, and is about to be published under the editorship ofS. W. Rix, of Beccles, author of the Fauconberge Memorial.
John Stuart Mill, we are advised by letters from England, is hereafter to be editor of theWestminster Review, which is now the grand organ of the socialists and disorganizers of society.
We have from Mr. Hart, of Philadelphia, in two beautiful volumes,Memoirs of the Life of Mary Queen of Scots, by MissBenger. They are written with neatness, and could not fail of a dramatic interest. Indeed, we know of no memoir of Mary Stuart, in the two or three dozen we have read with more or less attention, that is in all respects as attractive as Miss Benger's. But it seemed an unfortunate time to publish this, when theHistory of Mary Queen of Scotsby M.Mignet, Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, was advertised, and it was known that its character would be such as necessarily to give it precedence of all other works on the subject. We noticed the design of M. Mignet two or three months ago, and we have now before us a translation, published by Bentley, of London, of his first volume. It fully realizes our expectations, in evident candor, research, and ability. It owes its existence to Prince Labanoff's collection of the queen's letters, and is the substance of a series of papers on that extraordinary work in theJournal des Savants. But M. Mignet had obtained access to original documents (chiefly the dispatches of the Spanish embassies in England, France, and Rome) which even Prince Labanoff had not explored, and has thus been able to give an original character to his narrative. It is an excellent specimen of condensed yet clear historical writing. Leading incidents stand out boldly, and no essential facts are omitted, yet there is not an excess of details. Motives are discriminated, and doubtful questions cleared, while we are spared the fatigue of elaborate disquisition. The book is little more than a sketch—but it is a most valuable one. With more materials before him than any previous biographer, the author has had to contend with fewer prejudices of his own. He is neither the apologist, nor the traducer of his heroine. Neither as Catholic nor as Protestant, as Scotchman nor as Englishman, does he sit in judgment on her history; he views the scenes of her career with an impartiality as far removed from harshness as from indulgence and may perhaps be pronounced her first unbiassed biographer. It is right at the same time to add that his historic coldness of temperament does not always enable him to judge quite fairly the difficulties under which both parties (but especially the Protestant party) labored at particular times; and perhaps it stops short, now and then, of the compassionate considerations which would best explain some points of Mary's conduct.
Upon the whole, it will be seen from M. Mignet's judicial and masterly exhibition of the case, that there is very little ground upon which to base a belief of the poor queen's innocence of the great crimes of which she is accused. For her wit, beauty, and misfortunes, notwithstanding her wickedness, the world clings to her memory, and until human nature is changed men will receive proofs of her guilt as they would such proofs against a sister. M. Mignet presents these proofs so that they cannot be rejected.
Among the recent French Lives of Mary Stuart, is one by M. Duguard—a sentimental romance that acquired a temporary rage, and was aided by George Sand in an elaborate letter of compliment addressed to the author. Miss Agnes Strickland will devote to the same heroine one entire volume of herLives of the Queens of Scotland.
Among the recently established publishing houses of this country no one appears to be conducted with more judgment—so far at least as the selection and execution of books is concerned—than that of W. M. Moore & Co. of Cincinnati. Among their original publications we haveService Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican War, by Lieut.Semmes, (a second edition is just issued,) which by the common consent of reviewers is in attractiveness and absolute value inferior to none among the very large number of works that treat of the Mexican campaigns; and the list of their republications includesThe Course of Creation, by the Rev. Dr.Anderson, of Scotland, in which, with unusual ability, candor, and eloquence, the relations of natural science and the divine revelation are discussed;The Footprints of the Creator, the most able, and, in a scientific point of view, the most interesting of the works ofHugh Miller; andScenes and Legends of the North of Scotland, by the same author—a singularly entertaining performance. They have in press a volume onAesthetiks, by ProfessorMoffat, of Miami University, said to be written with singular ability, and designed chiefly for purposes of education.
Among the most attractive books in recent religious literature isThe Ancient and Modern History of the Rivers of the Bible, lately published in London and just reprinted in New-York by Stringer & Townsend, with an introduction by the Rev. Dr. George B. Cheever. The Euphrates, the Hiddekel or Tigris, the Chebar, the Ulai, the Jordan, the Jarmuk, the Jahbok, the Arnon, the Kishon, and the Nile, the brooks Zered, Cherith, Kedron, Elah, Eshcol, and Besor, and the pool of Siloam, are treated with a degree of knowledge and a pleasing simplicity of style somewhat rare in works of this description. The author has given particular attention to the discoveries of Rich, Layard, and others, by the Euphrates and the Tigris, and we have nowhere else a better exhibition in brief of the appearance of the classical and sacred lands through which these rivers have flowed, half the time since the creation was witness of the most remarkable events in human history. The volume is illustrated by excellent wood-engravings of natural scenery, antiquities, and existing cities.
Among the passengers from this port to Europe, in the steamer of the 10th September, was the AbbeBrasseur de Bourbourg, for three years past an active archæological student in Mexico—that land of monuments and traditions, whose ancient history is second only to that of Egypt in its features of gloom and mystery. Some of the results of the Abbe's researches have been indicated in his recently publishedCartas, addressed to the Duc de Valmy, which are only the introduction to an elaborate work, within which it is the author's design to bring all that is known of the ancient and modern history of Mexico. Among the various materials for the illustration of that part of this work relating to the aborigines, the Abbe has succeeded in obtaining from the neglected and not yet half explored libraries of Mexico, the following original and valuable materials.
1. Part 1. of a manuscript, by a priest of Chiapas, named Ordoñes, entitled, "Historia del Cielo y de la Tierra," etc. etc., being a translation of an ancient Tzendal hieroglyphical MS. containing the Indian account of the first settlement of Southern Mexico, the founding ofNa Chan, or Palenque, etc. Also, portions of Part II. of the same MS. 2. Another manuscript of Ordoñes, without title, being a sort of memoir upon the ruins of Palenque, and on Antonio Del Rio's expedition. 3. A few chapters of a MS. of Santa Clara, taken from an inedited history of Peru, but relative to Mexico. 4. The original MS. of Cabrera upon Palenque. 5. Principles of a Grammar of the Tzotzil language. 6. Principles of a Grammar, Doctrinarium, and part of a Vocabulary of the Tzoque language (Chiapas). 7. A complete Vocabulary of the Maya and Spanish, with a great many etymological explanations. 8. A Vocabulary of the Spanish and Maya, less complete, 9. Codex Chimalpopoca, being the manuscript of the collection of Boturini, catalogued under the name of "Historia de los Reyes de Culhuacan," in the Aztec or Nahua language. 10. Codex Gondra, being the same known in the collection of Boturini, under the name of "Historia Tultaca," often cited by Gama; Spanish and Mexican. 11. "Fuente de los Verbos y Substantives Mexicanos," a host of Spanish and Mexican vocabularies. 12. Relacion que le envia su Magestad por D. Juan Baptista de Pomar, en 9 dias de Marz de 1582. This is a relation concerning Tezcuco. 13. A MS. in Mexican hieroglyphics, being a title of property in the Kingdom of the Tezcucan Prince Nezahualpilli, with a portrait of this prince, all onPapel Maguey. 14. Several prayer books in Mexican (MS.). 15. A few prayers in Maya, MS. 16. The original MS. explanation of the Codex Borgia, composed by the Father Fabrega, for Cardinal Borgia, of which speaks Baron Humboldt in his "Vues de Cordilleres," etc. in Italian. 17. A short vocabulary of the Huabi language spoken near Tehuantepec. The Abbe has also four or five Mexican Grammars printed in Mexico, and other rare books not included in the catalogue of Ternaux Compans. The collection is, therefore, more complete than any other made by any individual, and in the hands of an indefatigable student like the Abbe Bourbourg, will not fail to throw a flood of light on the ancient history of Mexico.
A few weeks ago Mr.Schoolcraftpublished a complaint that hisIndian in his Wigwamhad been published without his knowledge by G. H. Derby & Co, of Buffalo, under the title of "The American Indians, their History, Condition and Prospects." Messrs. Derby & Co. have replied in theLiterary World, that they came honestly by the stereotype plates of the book, and that as to the title, they "had an undoubted right to alter it." We beg these gentlemen and all others in like circumstances to reflect a little upon this doctrine, before endorsing it too positively.However indisputable the title of Derby & Co. to the copyright of the book in question, they had no more right to change its name than they had to steal Mr. Schoolcraft's money.He is a very silly person who maintains the contrary. Only theauthorof a book has the right to change even the place of a comma in it.
Mr.Simmshas just publishedNorman Maurice, or the Man of the People, an American Drama, in Five Acts. The scene is partly in Philadelphia, partly in St. Louis, and the plot involves the election of a senator from Missouri—as various passages disclose, in the present time. This is one of the chief faults of the piece, as the history of Missouri politics is so familiar that no illusion in the case is possible. Aside from this, it is in many respects an admirable play—bold, simple, and yet striking in conception, and wrought out with a general fitness and force of incident and style that should secure it, in our opinion, immediate and very eminent success on the stage. There has never been acted anAmericanplay of equal merit. It was originally printed in the Southern Literary Messenger.
We are gratified to learn that the Rev. Dr.Albro, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has in preparation a complete edition of the works of the "learned and renowned Mr. Thomas Shepherd," who was the first minister in that town. These works will fill several octavo volumes, and we regard them as among the most valuable relics of the Puritan age in New-England. We have had for several years the very rare but incomplete collection of them published by Prince, in 1747. Dr. Albro will have some advantages in writing Shepherd's biography, which have not been enjoyed by others who have recently essayed that service.
A new edition ofThe Works of Henry Fieldingwill be published in a few weeks by Stringer & Townsend. Monsieur de Marivaux in France, says Bishop Warburton, and Henry Fielding, in England, stand the foremost among those who have given a faithful and chaste copy of life and manners, and by enriching their romance with the best part of the comic art, may be said to have brought it to perfection. Without attempting a defence of the impurities which may be found in the novels and descriptions of Fielding, it should not be forgotten that the language used, and the manners depicted were those of the age in which he lived, and for which he wrote without further regard to posterity than as his would serve as records and illustrations of past times. In our admiration of a new school of comic writers, many may have forgotten this "prose Homer of human nature," and it will not be an unpleasing or profitless task for any to review and compare Fielding and Smollet with Dickens, Lever, Thackeray and others now living, who have attempted in the same manner to add to the general happiness.
TheTheory of Human Progression, and Natural Probability of a Reign of Justice, a work which has received much attention in England, has just been republished by B. B. Mussey & Co., of Boston. The author says, "The truth I endeavor to inculcate is—ThatCredence rules the world—that credence determines the condition and fixes the destiny of nations—thattruecredence must ever entail with it a correct and beneficial system of society, while false credence must ever be accompanied by despotism, anarchy, and wrong—that before a nation can change itscondition, it must change its credence; that change of credence will of necessity be accompanied sooner or later by change of condition: and consequently, that true credence, or in other wordsknowledge, is the only means by which man can work out his well being and ameliorate his condition on the globe." The author, who appears to be familiar in some way with the writings of Comte, is unquestionably a man of abilities, and the work is in some respects eminently suggestive; but it has not escaped severe criticism in some of the theological and philosophical journals.
Mr.Bartlett'sNile Boat, or Glimpses of the Land of Egypt, has been republished in a beautiful large octavo by the Harpers. The well-known author aims at affording a few distinct and lively impressions, by pencil and pen, of the more interesting objects on the banks of the Nile, with such historical and archæological explanation as may satisfy the reader without confusing him with redundant details. Exaggeration has been studiously avoided, and accuracy studied, and the illustrations have been copied from original sketches taken on the spot.
Dr.Kitto'svery valuableDaily Bible Illustrationshave been published by Messrs. Carter in four small octavo volumes. The entire work is to consist of eight volumes, and will comprise a series of original readings on selected passages of Scripture, illustrative of the history, biography, geography, antiquities, and theology of the Bible. The subjects are arranged so as to extend over two years' daily reading. While specially designed for the family circle, to the youthful members of which the illustrations will render the Scripture histories particularly agreeable, the work is characterized by a degree of scholarship and ability that will make it eminently entertaining and instructive to even the best informed general reader.
TheEarly Life and First Campaigns of Napoleon, with a History of the Bonaparte Family, and a Review of French Politics, to the year 1796, byB. P. Poore, has been published by Ticknor & Co. of Boston, and will be continued in several parts, completing the life of the Emperor. Mr. Poore while residing in Europe as the Historical Agent of Massachusetts, collected many important documents illustrating his subject, and he will undoubtedly succeed in producing not only a very interesting biography, but a comparatively original one.
Mr.George Taylor, a young lawyer who has distinguished himself in his profession, is the author of a clever book, entitledIndications of the Creator, or the Natural Evidences of a Final Cause. (Charles Scribner.) Mr. Taylor takes the side of the Christian Religion, and of the real against the sham student of nature, in a reviewal of the general subject, in astronomy, geology, comparative physiology, and natural geography.
TheHistory of Pontiac, which, while in press, several weeks ago, we noticed at considerable length in this magazine, has since been published by Little & Brown of Boston, and Bentley of London, and by the common consent of the reviewers it places Mr.Parkmanamong our most able and pleasing historians. Certainly no subject of its kind has hitherto been treated with as much felicity.
The beautiful edition of theWorks of Thomas De Quincey, which Ticknor & Co. have for some time been publishing in Boston, will soon be completed, and the eight or ten duodecimos which it will comprise will be added to as many libraries as are owned by persons of a genuine appreciation in literature. They have never before appeared collectively.
Mrs. (Fanny Forester)Judsonhas been several weeks in England, on her way via the Cape of Good Hope, to the United States. She is in better health than she had been during the last year of her residence in the East.
An octavo volume has just been published in Philadelphia under the title ofThe Female Prose Writers of America, with Portraits, Biographical Notices, and Specimens of their Writings, byJohn S. Hart, LL. D. The book is beneath criticism, and we will dismiss it very briefly after demonstrating the truth of this statement. We have scarcely ever seen so melancholy an illustration of incompetence for a task voluntarily assumed. It appears that to every woman whose name he had ever seen in print Dr. John S. Hart sent nearly a year ago a circular from which the following paragraphs are extracts:
Authorsinterested in having their merits placed on a proper footing before the public, will contribute important facilities to the accomplishment of this end by furnishing me with information in regard to the following particulars:1. The name in full (the middle name, as well as the first and last), and written carefully so as to prevent misprints.2. Date of birth,where there is no objection.6. Extracts.—Indicate any passages, amounting in all to five or six octavo pages, that, in the opinion of the author or her friends, may be taken as fair specimens of her style. The passages should be such as are complete in themselves, and contain something of general interest.8. Critiques and commendatory notices.—Well-written critiques upon the author's style or writings, whether published or unpublished, will be acceptable. In almost every case, probably, articles of this kind have been published, orexist in manuscript, ormay be written for the occasionby thoseentirely acquainted with the subject, and if forwarded would furnish the present editor the most reliable means of doing full justice in each particular case.
Authorsinterested in having their merits placed on a proper footing before the public, will contribute important facilities to the accomplishment of this end by furnishing me with information in regard to the following particulars:
1. The name in full (the middle name, as well as the first and last), and written carefully so as to prevent misprints.
2. Date of birth,where there is no objection.
6. Extracts.—Indicate any passages, amounting in all to five or six octavo pages, that, in the opinion of the author or her friends, may be taken as fair specimens of her style. The passages should be such as are complete in themselves, and contain something of general interest.
8. Critiques and commendatory notices.—Well-written critiques upon the author's style or writings, whether published or unpublished, will be acceptable. In almost every case, probably, articles of this kind have been published, orexist in manuscript, ormay be written for the occasionby thoseentirely acquainted with the subject, and if forwarded would furnish the present editor the most reliable means of doing full justice in each particular case.
The sort of "criticism" which the volume contains may easily be inferred, as may be the class of literary women who would take any notice of an application conceived in a spirit so offensive to delicacy and common self-respect. Accounts of the writings of Miss Sedgwick, Mrs. Kirkland, Mrs. Oakes Smith, Mrs. Sigourney, Miss McIntosh, Margaret Fuller, and a few more, were to be found in a well-known book published in the same city, and of course therefore are included, but to show how ignorant the author is of the field he attempts to survey, let us place in one column some of the names he has altogether omitted, and in another an equal number from among those he has inserted.
Names omitted.Dr. Hart's Female Prose Writers.Mrs.ROBINSON, [Talvi.]Sarah Hall,Mrs.RICHARD K. HAIGHT,Sarah H. Browne,Mrs.WM. C. RIVES,Maria J.B. Browne,Mrs.T.J. CONANT,Elizabeth Larcombe,EMMA WILLARD,Clara Moore,F. WRIGHT D'ARUSMONT,Ann E. Porter,CATHERINE E. BEECHER,Ann T. Wilbur,ANNA CORA MOWATT,Eliza L. Sproat,ELIZA BUCKMINSTER LEE,E. W. Barnes,ELIZABETH P. PEABODY,Caroline Orne,ELIZA L. FOLLEN,Caroline May,MARIA BROOKS,Julia C.R. Dorr,SARAH HELEN WHITMAN,Mary E. Morange,MissH. LEE,Mary Elizabeth Lee,Mrs.PUTNAM,Elizabeth Bogart,Mrs.SOUTHWORTH,Mary J. Windle,MissA. E. DUPUY,Frances B. M. Brotherson,MissALICE CAREY, &c. &c.,&c. &c.
Of the persons named in the second column we believenot onehas the slightest claim to be mentioned in a survey of the compositions of the Female Prose Writers of America. It is not unlikely that some of them have capacities for literature, but if so the public has no sufficient proof of it. On the other hand, see whose places they occupy.
Mrs. Robinson and Madame d'Arusmont were born in Europe, but this fact could not have influenced Dr. Hart, who has given a conspicuous place to Miss Caroline May, an Englishwoman, who has been in this country less than a quarter as long as either of these distinguished persons. Mrs. Robinson is the wife of our great orientalist, and is herself one of the most learned women in the world; she has distinguished herself in American history, in romance, and in criticism, beyond almost any writer of her sex. The authoress of "A Few Days in Athens," must certainly be regarded as one of the most able literary women of this age, whatever may be thought of some of her principles. Mrs. Haight is well known by two of the most brilliant volumes of travels ever published by the Harpers. Mrs. Rives (wife of our minister to France), in her "Tales and Souvenirs of a Residence in Europe" (published by Lea and Blanchard), and in other writings, displays abilities that make her right to recognition in such a work unquestionable. Mrs. Conant (wife of the eminent Hebrew professor) is a woman of great and varied erudition, and ranks, generally, with Mrs. Robinson. Mrs. Willard is universally known by her valuable writings on education, in history, and in science, and by her interesting "Journal of a Residence in Europe." Catherine E. Beecher, the authoress of "Letters on the Difficulties of Religion," we believe is regarded as one of the ablest of the celebrated family to which she belongs, and as having the most profound and masculine intelligence exhibited in contributions made by her countrywomen to literature. Mrs. Mowatt is entitled to a high rank among our female novelists. Mrs. Lee, by her lives of Jean Paul and the Buckminsters and the Old Painters, her novel of "Naomi or Boston Two Hundred Years Ago," and other works, is omitted with about as much reason as the Prince of Denmark might be from Hamlet. Another lady of this name, the authoress of "The Huguenots," "The Three Experiments of Living," "The Life and Times of Luther," &c., we believe has done more good by her writings than any other woman in America, and for literary abilities she is entitled to distinguished praise. Miss Peabody is too well known by her essays in Æsthetics to need characterization. Mrs. Follen is one of the best known, and most esteemed female writers of the time. Mrs. Brooks's "Idomen, a Tale of the Vale of Yumuri," is an exquisite production, which alone would preserve the name ofMaria del Occidentein the lists of illustrious women. Mrs. Whitman is a writer of remarkable acuteness and richness, as is shown by her essays on the Transcendental Philosophy. Mrs. Putnam (a sister of James Russell Lowell), is distinguished not more for that masterly controversy which she carried on last summer with theNorth American Review, respecting the Revolutions in Northern Europe, than for that extensive and varied learning, among the fruitsof which were the first American translations of Swedish and Danish literature, including some of the novels of Miss Bremer. Mrs. Southworth, by her "Deserted Wife," "Mother-in-law," &c., appears to have acquired a larger share of popularity than is enjoyed by any of her female American contemporaries. Miss A. E. Dupuy, authoress of "The Conspirator" (lately published by the Appletons), has won praise from eminent critics in the same department. Miss Alice Carey, by her "Ill-starred," and other novelettes, has evinced the possession of such genius as entitles her to a place in the very highest rank of our literary women. And who that knows any thing of American literature forgets Mrs. Sedgwick, who wrote "Allen Prescott;" or Mrs. Louisa J. Hall, who wrote "Joanna of Naples?"
We think we have shown that Dr. John S. Hart knows nothing about "The Female Prose Writers of America." Our readers certainly can judge for themselves; but to us the selection of the persons who are named in the second of the above columns, to the exclusion of those whose names are in the first column, would seem to be an elaborate quiz, if the manner of the thing did not evince a genuine earnestness of purpose. We might have dismissed the book with half a dozen lines, but when we have occasion to condemn any performance thus decidedly, we think it but fair to prove the justice of our judgment.
A second edition ofMrs. Lee'sMemoirs of the Rev. Joseph Buckminster, D.D., and of his Son, the Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster, has just been issued by Ticknor, Reed & Fields, of Boston. In the religious and literary history of this country there have been few more interesting characters than the Buckminsters, and this volume of their memoirs is very judiciously and tastefully written. Mrs. Lee began her task in an attempt to furnish some materials respecting her father, and brother, for the Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany, who has been several years engaged on a work to be entitled "Annals of the American Pulpit, or Biographical Notices of Eminent American Clergymen, of various Denominations."
A very elegant edition of the Moral Reflections, Sentences and Maxims, ofRochefoucauld, has been published by the well-known bibliopole, Mr. Gowan, of Fulton-street. The wise French worldling maintains still a precedence of all the writers of his class, and such an impression of his master-work will increase his audience.
Among the new works announced by Mr. Hart of Philadelphia is thePrinciples of Organic Chemistry, by Dr.Carl Lœwig, professor of Chemistry in the University of Zurich, translated by David Breed, M.D., of New-York.
In a brief and hastily written paragraph in the lastInternational, we referred to a novel byDr. Huntington, asAlice, or the Mysteries, instead ofAlice, or the New Una,—a mistake which any reader of ordinary intelligence, who had ever seen the work in question, might easily have corrected. The character of the literary performances of Dr. Huntington is such as to justify some curiosity respecting his personal history, and in too carelessly attempting to give it, we fell into some errors, which he "corrects" in a letter to theCourier and Enquirer, saying—