Past the clustering Orient islands, above the coral seas, LINES. "THE PATH THAT ONCE WAS GAY." 'Tis sad to see the hopes decline, One moment seen, but never more And darker storms come gath'ring o'er It brings a dampness o'er the brow, To think we share the sunshine now, Though freshly now the green grass waves, It yet may smile on mould'ring graves Soon may the strains that charmed so much Be lost in slumber's fold, The hand that waked the thrilling touch May soon in death be cold And e'en this heart's warm pulse shall cease, Nor heed the chill decay; And stagnant gloom shall yet deface The path that once was gay. F. M. LITERARY NOTICES. Grace Lee. By Julia Kavanagh, author of "Daisy Burns." Sixth thousand. D. Appleton & Co., Broadway, New-York. AMONG the vast array of female writers who grace the catalogue of authorship in these "the lonesome latter days," there is not one who holds high rank more laboriously, more meritoriously won, than Miss Julia Kavanagh. Avoiding all those subjects which her delicate instincts proclaim to her to be beyond her sphere or at variance with the true development of woman's character, she seizes every phase of social life, and evokes from every picture a moral the more powerful, because it glides into the intellect intuitively, and is not thrust upon us with any Pharisaic ostentation. The vast and permanent popularity achieved by "Daisy Burns" entitles any volume from the same pen to the consideration and respect of the public; and that this obligation is both felt and acknowledged, the announcement that six thousand of "Grace Lee" have already been disposed of is sufficient proof. It is a work of singular fidelity and power; the writer has realized to advantage that nature is more wonderful than art; and that, to interest human passions, she must describe both human scenes and human character. Most carefully and vividly does she illustrate this axiom; and while “Grace Lee" has many scenes of the most exciting and absorbing interest, there is not one which puts a strain upon credulity. Any attempt at an analysis of a plot so intricate and convolute, so versatile in progress and elaborate in its evolvement, we feel would be out of place and impossible in the limits to which we find ourselves confined. We can but recommend the book to all who prefer the truth of character and feeling to the meretricious romance of verbiage, sentiment, and situation. The Summer Land: a Southern Story. By a Child of the Sun. D. Appleton & Co., New-York. THIS work is plainly written, with a good and honest intention. It purposes to present to us, in a series of sketches derived from actual experience and observation, a true picture of the society and institutions of our South ern States: at the same time it has nothing controversial or polemic in its narrative, but states such facts as it may deem of interest, and leaves each reader free to form his own deduction. The characters upon which the thread of the story is hung are evidently drawn from life; there must be an original to every portrait so vigorously and minutely drawn. The style is that of easy colloquy, and the incidents are sufficiently striking to evoke both amusement and interest. The author, while not claiming perfection for the Southern chivalry, still seems to think that most of the enormities, so glaringly paraded by Northern "philanthropists" as arguments against servitude, are in reality the work of Northern hands. He says: "It is the promoted overseer and Yankee-adventurer class that have brought the reproach of cruelty and tyranny upon the slaveholder." And this, to a great extent, we can well believe; for we know that those born to authority and accustomed to a recognized command from infancy will be less apt to abuse their power than those who suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves invested with the sceptre. The book is a pleasant one, and will well repay a more than casual perusal. The Ways of Life. Showing the right way and the wrong way; contrasting the high way and the low way; the true way and the false way; the upward way and the downward way; the way of honor and the way of dishonor. By Rev. G. S. Weaver. New-York: Fowlers and Wells. 1855. THIS somewhat copious and tautological title did not impress us favorably upon taking up the book. To our unsophisticated sense, "The right way and the wrong way" is of sufficient amplitude to cover all the other variations. Thus prejudiced against the book at the outset, the impression was by no means obliterated on finding quotations from "Fanny Fern," and other "astounding popularities," most liberally interspersed through a discourse which pretends to much of the solemnity of a sermon. The author's style throughout is in consonance with the title: he repeats every obvious truism, every sickly cant, every repudiated sentimentalism in a dozen different forms, and with an ambitious but most unfortunate attempt to gain an antithetical expression. We pity him from our hearts; for he appears to have been called upon to fill an exorbitant amount of foolscap while provided with the most homoeopathic supply of ideas. Nevertheless the book may please a certain class, and, we doubt not, will. The principles that it contains are good; but that is all we can say of it. Outlines of History; illustrated by numerous Geographical and Historical Notes and Maps. By Marcus Wilson. New-York: Ivison & Phinney. 1855. THIS work, though professing modestly to be intended merely for the young as a school-book, will be found to possess value even for the ripest scholars as a condensed synopsis and book of reference both for ancient and modern history. It is copiously illustrated by maps, which greatly help to elucidate the incidents and combinations of the text. The style is clear, condensed, and vigorous-brief without meagreness and lofty without effort. There are in it no bewildering flights of rhetoric: the simple nobleness of history consists in truth. No better evidence of the sound principles and working of our system of national education could be found than the fact that a work so learned, elaborate, and accurate, has been compiled for our Common Schools. We need not recommend to the public a work whose merit so commends itself. Napoleon par Alexandre Dumas. For the use of Colleges and Schools. By Louis Fasquelle, LL.D. New-York: Ivison & Phinney. 1855. To make the study of a language agreeable and easy, we know no better plan than to place before the student for translation such narratives or extracts as may interest alike his imagination and curiosity. And surely, if any thing were needed to render the acquisition of the French tongue amusing and attractive, the history, the anecdotes, and epigrams of the Great Conqueror would furnish it. Dr. Fasquelle, with native pride, and, as we think, with judicious foresight, has selected the history of Napoleon as the medium of introducing his young readers to the language-not of his hero's birth, but of his adoption; and surely, if the grandeur and the glories of that history fail to cast a light upon the dry labors of the grammar and the dictionary, the student had better resign a hopeless task at once. Satire and Satirists. By James Hannay, author of "Singleton Fontenoy," etc. Redfield, New-York. A MOST agreeable and piquant group of literary celebrities are here submitted to a criticism, whose genial and racy style, in great part, makes up for the lack of earnestness and depth observable. Here we have Horace, Juvenal, Erasmus, Lindsay, Boileau, Butler, Dryden, Swift, Pope, Churchill, Burns, Byron, Moore, et quibusdam aliis, arraigned, exemplified, and sentenced in the most summary and vivacious manner. The judge, we think, is somewhat self-opionated, dogmatic, and inclined to paradox. But his spleen is vented upon rival wearers of the critical ermine, and his subjects escape with, at worst, but a good-natured reprimand. His review of Horace is particularly good; and that of Dean Swift should be read by all who suffered their minds to be poisoned by Thackeray's malignant libel against that greatest and most pungent of all the modern satirists. The merit of these essays is unequal; but the standard throughout is high. Lectures delivered before the Young Men's Christian Association, in Exeter Hall, London, from November, 1853, to February, 1854. Robert Carter & Brothers, New-York. A SERIES of lectures such as these, contributed by some of the most eminent and respected authorities of England, and touching upon subjects of universal interest, will command a wide and long-enduring circulation. The character of the work is pleasingly and profitably diversified; and the variety of style observable gives freshness to the whole. An essay by John B. Gough, upon "Habit," is the only one to which this country can lay claim. The Difficulties of Infidelity. By George Stanley Faber, M.D. To which is added Modern Infidelity Considered. By Robert Hall, A.M. William Gowans, NewYork. THE spirit which actuated Mr. Gowans to the republication of these most valuable essays is one which must command the admiration and support of the whole religious community. Too long the field of literature has been abandoned to the skeptic and the infidel; and inasmuch as it is a far easier task to pull down than to build up, the assailants of our faith have had lamentable success among the heedless and the ignorant. The authors above named-both eminent and learned divines of England-have applied the weapons of their vigorous and sparkling logic to oppose these destructive fallacies: they meet the unbeliever on his own terms, and demonstrate even from his own showing, that the propositions are inconsistent and contradictory, the arguments which pretend to support them sophistical, and the conclusions false. As an antidote to the poison of Voltaire and Paine, we know none more likely to prove efficacious. The Chemistry of Common Life. By J. F. Johnson, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., illustrated with numerous Engravings. Two volumes. New-York: D. Appleton & Co. THESE volumes offer us a clear and condensed account both of the life we bear and of the things which enable us to sustain that life. It gives us an insight into our own organization, the functions which our body is called upon to discharge, and the nature of the food and beverages which best conduce to health. Though written without technicalities, and in a style so simple as to be understood by all, it is plainly the work of a master-hand, and of one conversant with all the minutia and generalizations of his profession. We need this kind of knowledge overmuch; for, though the poet assures us that "the proper study of mankind is man," we have hitherto neglected at least the physical department of that study in toto. We have spent years in metaphysics, while neither physics nor physiology could claim an hour from us. This work will fill a hiatus valde deflendus. Success in Life. The Artist. By Mrs. L. C. Tuthill. New-York: J. C. Derby. This is a work of thought and taste which will be eagerly perused by all who desire the advancement of high art amongst us. It has in it many of the sublimest truths, and the whole is permeated by the delicate perceptions of a woman's spirit. The story possesses just sufficient interest to hang |