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name of the Lord. But those who engage in them are little aware how rapidly they tend to decrease popular reverence for the public institutions of religion.

The exhortation to go to church for the sake of being trusted by capitalists, is a growth from the same stock. It reveals a wide contrast between the present times and the old Puritan days of spontaneous zeal, when people frequently walked ten or fifteen miles to attend a place of worship.'

The great popularity which attended the first volume of Mrs. CHILD'S 'Letters' renders it unnecessary for us to commend the present series to the attention of our readers. The work will make its own way to the public heart.

POEMS BY WILLIAM W. LORD. In one volume. pp. 158. New-York: D. APPLETON AND COM

PANY.

WE have heard, for some time, of the great merit which characterizes the poetical writings of the young author of the volume before us; we are not surprised, therefore, to find it distinguished for strong and well-sustained flights into the realms of song. The great length of the leading paper in this department, however, and the cognate character of its theme, deter us from entering at present upon a review of Mr. LORD's book. That duty we shall aim to perform hereafter. In the mean time, we present a brief poem as an example of our author's style, and of his philosophical musings. The following lines were addressed to a deaf mute on seeing a song interpreted to her by signs:

POOR Girl! I said, hapless thy fate, to whom
Forever silent is the voice of song;

To whom the viol sings not, nor the sweet soul
Imprisoned in the flute: to whom we all,

As thou to us, are deaf, and still, and mute,
And even nature moves in a dumb show.
Yet why to thee may not the effect of sound,
Which is the soul of motion, and hence thought,
With high constraint of harmony to move
The throng of worlds symphonious to the sun;
(And who within himself has never felt

The power of sound control him by this law

To cadent movement of the hand or foot,

Or stirred by swifter impulse, to enact

Its promptings intricate?) why may not the effect

Of sounds melodious be felt by thee

In motion, if that sound itself be naught

But motion given to a subtler sense?

If this may be, (and pity for thy state,

Though with less proof, might make me think it so,)
Then, may this dumb discourse to thee be song,

Our looks be music, and a soothing sign

Or glance affectionate, a sweet-spoken tone;

To thee, the rising sun be a great strain
Majestical, and his departing pomp

An anthem like the evening psalm of heaven,
Sung by responsive choirs angelical

To harp and trumpet; and the rising moon
May be, what almost it has seemed to me,
A prelude soft to the full hymu which Night
Pours forth with the appearing stars, that fill
The trembling heaven with innumerous sounds;
The streams to thee be music, as to us,
The birds in their winged flight be harmonies,
The tyrannous winds, that rock the earth-fast wood
Beneath its perilous weight of swinging boughs,
Sing thee a song of might; or when from sleep
They rouse with slight continuous stir that sets
The leaves a-tremble, and along the fields
Steal whisperingly, and move the seas of grain
Into slight silvery waves, may seem a tune,
Like those we chaunt in snatches to ourselves—
A song made in the silent soul, and sung

To the unuttered music of its own sweet thoughts.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

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AN ORIENTAL EPISTLE: THE KNICKERBOCKER TALISMAN. We are indebted to an esteemed friend and correspondent, long accredited at the Sublime Porte, for a recent interesting epistle from the Turkish capital, portions of which we shall take the liberty to lay before our readers. The following will be read with interest: Lately, FUAD EFFendi, who had been sent on special embassies to Portugal and Spain, to compliment their young Queens on the part of his own young Sultan, has recently returned. He informed me some time since that he made, at Madrid I believe, the acquaintance of Mr. WASHINGTON IRVING, and received from him, as a friendship's present,' some of his writings. He added many civil remarks on the honor and pleasure which he felt on becoming acquainted with him. FUAD EFFENDI is one of the most gentlemanlike, enlightened, and best educated of the officers of the Porte. His father, IZZET MALLA, was one of the best poets of his time. His paternal aunt, yet living, is well known for the sweetness of her Gazals and Sharkies; and he is also himself the author of some well-written odes. His library of European and American works is quite extensive, and well selected; and he enjoys the respect of all the diplomatic corps. He visited many of the Moorish antiquities in Spain; copied many of their Arabic inscriptions; and brought them, and a catalogue of the Arabic works in the library of the Escurial, to offer, with a detailed account of his mission, to his young sovereign. He says that he does not believe there are now any rare Arabic books in the Escurial; for its library having been some years ago pillaged, its most valuable contents found their way into France and Germany. The catalogue which he brought here is to be examined, with those of the public libraries of Constantinople, to ascertain if there are yet in the Escurial any works not possessed or known here.'

The following passage refers to two very tasteful presents, safely received from our correspondent. With the beautiful talisman upon our finger, we turned our face to the East, and making seven salaams, rendered audible thanks to our friend for his valuable and most acceptable gift: 'I sent you in one of my late packages a little antique stone, with a gazelle engraved upon it. I now have the pleasure of enclosing you a pure fine white cornelian for a signet-ring, with the word 'KNICKERBOCKER' engraved in Eastern characters in its centre; and the names of the Seven Sleepers and their Dog' around it. The word KNICKERBOCKER signifies in Turkish 'The Good Virtuous Man,' or rather the Good Old Bachelor,' for such you no doubt consider to be the modern deus, which you have placed on the title-page of your worthy periodical, as a Catholic would say, its titular (title-lar?) saint, but which an Orientalist is bound to regard as a good Genn, or Talisman, to preserve it from the evil eye' of all competitors. Beside the remarkable coincidence of the name of the periodical which you so ably direct, and the Turkish, or rather I ought to say, Eastern words, Neek Er Bakr, (the first Persian, the second Turkish, and the latter Arabic,) they have an appropriate signification, adding particular interest to the seal. I must not forget to add, that the PROPHET himself wore on his little finger a white cornelian-ring, and this circumstance has made the stone a favorite one among his many devoted followers, who believe that when white cornelians are set au jour in a ring so as to touch the skin, it will

protect the wearer from all disease.* Around the court-yards of the great Imperiel mosques of Constantinople (superb and awe-inspiring edifices they really are, and especially that of the most revered one of EYOUB EL AASAREE, one of the Prophet's own friends and companions, whose holy remains found a place of repose here,) are found at all times of the day natives of Yemin and Bakhara, vending to the faithful and devout, cornelians, agates, and heliotropes, sometimes cut in the shape of hearts, or balls perforated so as to be suspended on the neck and arms of Mussulman females, children, and sometimes full-grown males, who may put faith in their virtues. These stones are found in Arabia, the birth-place and tomb of their Prophet; and this circumstance is the original and first source of value attached to them by Mussulmans. If these stones are subsequently engraved with any religious verses or names— and all Islam or rather Arabic names are religious - they become full talismans, and their virtue can only be augmented by being worn for some time by a devout and holy person. They are frequently cut into particular shapes, and so finely engraved as to require a magnifying glass to be read. I have a red cornelian, not much larger than my thumb-nail, on which the entire ninety-second chapter of the Koran is engraved, and each letter beautifully perfect.

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'It was at the gateway of the Mosque of Eyoub, and from a native of Yemin, that I purchased your white cornelian. I might write you a long chapter on the use which Orientals, from the earliest period, have made of such stones, and others more costly. The Decalogue was written upon stone, and AARON's breast-plate was the first talisman which I now remember in history. SOLOMON's seal yet bears a great renown in the East; it is said to have been engraved in the form of a triangle, with the inscription, This also will pass away;' which is in perfect accordance with the little value which, it is mentioned in Holy Writ, he attached to all things in this world. It was by means of this seal that, according to Oriental tradition, he possessed so much wisdom; and once having lost it, he refrained from ascending his throne until it was found. Sometimes the seal bears only the name of the owner, but it is generally accompanied by an expression from the Koran, the names of the earlier Caliphs, a verse from some favorite poet, or mystical name, such as those on the seal I send you. The story of the Companions of the Cave and their Dog' inspired the Islam prophet to write a chapter for his book, to which his followers subsequently gave the name of the Cave.' In that chapter he tells the tale of their long sleep in a manner peculiar to himself and the literature of his age. In his non-commital style, he says:

SOME say the sleepers were three, and their dog was the fourth; and others say, they were five, and their dog was the sixth; guessing at a secret matter; and others say they were seven, and their dog the eighth. Say, my Lord best knoweth their number: none shall know them, unless a Jew. Therefore dispute not concerning them, unless with a clear disputation, according to what has been revealed unto thee; and ask not any of the Christians regarding them. And they remained in the cave three hundred years and nine years more. And thou wouldst have judged them to have been awake, while they were yet a-sleeping. And their dog stretched forth his fore-feet in the mouth of the cave. And so we awoke them from their sleep, that they might ask questions of one another. One of them spoke, and said, 'How long have we tarried here? They answered, We have tarried a day and part of a day. The others said, Your Lord best knoweth the time you have tarried; and now send one of you with this money into the city, and let him see which of its inhabitants hath the best and cheapest food, and let him bring you provisions from him.'

The more modern version of their remarkable tale is, that the sleepers were young men of a good family in Ephesus, who, to avoid the persecution of the Emperor DECIUS, A. D. 370, hid themselves in a cave on Mount Cawous, near that city, where they slept for a great number of years, even until the reign of JUSTINIAN the Younger, A. D. 580. The interesting dog belonged to a shepherd of the Mount, named CALBOHORN, and following

* EXTRACT from an ancient Armenian book on precious stones, translated from the Persian of HASSAIN IBIN Toussi: Philosophers have written that whoever wears on him the Akiki Hedjaz, or pure white ccraelian, will be protected from the phthisic, chill blains, colds in the breast, and diseases of the kidneys. If it is reduced to a powder and drank in cold water, it will cure the worst cough. Among the inhabitants of Arabia it is venerated above all other stones, on account of having been worn by their PaоFHET.'

the young men into the cave, participated in their long repose. I had two reasons for putting the names of the sleepers and their dog around that of the KNICKERBOCKER. The first was, the coincidence previously mentioned; and that they are said to possess a virtue universally credited in Eastern lands; that of powerfully protecting the wearer of the ring from harm: when recited hastily and with accuracy, they act as a charm to soothe pain; and for putting restless children to sleep, are worth more than all the narcotics in the Materia Medica, or the whole catalogue of lullabies. I must however tell you them so as to enable you to prove the correctness of the faith placed in them here. Yemlika, Meksilina, Meslina, Mernoos, Dibernoos, Shadnoos, Kostitiyus, and Kitmir.' There has been some learned controversy among the Eastern Ulema, or Doctors on the subject of the latter name, viz., that of the dog. The Prophet called him Al Rakim, and no one will venture to doubt but that he was correct; but his followers, for reasons best known to themselves, give him now the name of Kitmir; and a learned writer gravely adds, have a superstition to write the same on their 'letters which go far, or which pass the sea, as a protection, a kind of talisman to preserve them from miscarriage.' So strong is the public faith here in the virtue of these same names, that the celebrated Orientalist of Vienna, VoN HAMMER, had them handsomely written and framed, and suspended in the cabin of the finest steamer of the Austrian Steam Navigation Company, called 'The Stamboul,' as a charm to put her passengers asleep during storms, and protect the vessel from harm. And, in proof of their efficacy, I will add, that the manner in which the Stamboul' has always weathered the severest storms of the Black Sea during the winter, has excited the fullest admiration of her captain's friends. My second reason for placing the names of the said sleepers and their dog on your seal is, that I have at times thought they were connected with the History of the 'KNICKERBOCKER,' with the same accuracy that characterizes that grave and learned historian's writings. I fancied that DEIDRICH KNICKERBOCKER, alias GEOFFREY CRAYON, Conceived the idea of writing the remarkable account of RIP VAN WINKLE from the preceding story of the youths of the cave; and that in the little village of great antiquity,' must be understood the city of Ephesus; in the Kaatskill mountains, Mount Cawous; in place of the Imperial DECIUS, imagine the no less imperious' Dame VON WINKLE;' Kitmir takes the place of Poor Wolf;' or that DECIUS is KING GEORGE, and THEODOSIUS the Younger, General WASHINGTON: and the astonishment of the sleepers of the fourth century was certainly not greater than that of those of the eighteenth. The superiority of the modern legend serves also as a strong evidence of the progress of literature; and notwithstanding the famed eloquence of the Koran, it bears but an indifferent comparison with the Sketch-Book. If you will have the white cornelian with its long legend set as a signet-ring, beside the protection which it will always afford you, and to your letters which go far, or that pass the sea,' you will confer a favor on your distant friend and correspond. ent.' Thanks again, and 'acceptance bounteous,' for our friend's valuable gift! Henceforth the 'OLD KNICK.' bears a charmed life.

A WORD TO PUBLISHERS: NEWSPAPORIAL, ETC.-Our friends the publishers, must bear with us a little. The unwonted space occupied in our Literary Notice' department, and the forgotten addition of an index to the present volume, have excluded notices of KIDDER'S 'Sketches of Brazil,' WILKIE'S Exploring Expedition,' PUTNAM's striking' American Facts,' MARTIN AND COMPANY's excellent Illustrated Bible, and several publications by Messrs. HARPER AND BROTHERS, WILEY AND PUTNAM, CAREY AND HART, and others. We had also a few lines in relation to certain changes among our weekly contemporaries, and concerning Mr. BENJAMIN's new weekly journal, The Metropolis.' We shall address ourselves to these publications in our next number; and in the mean time we throw ourselves upon the mercy of the court.'

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MADAME OTTO'S CONCERT. We are indebted to a friend, an accomplished musical critic, for the ensuing notice of the brilliant concert recently given to the amiable, charitable, and clever cantatrice, Madame OTTO: The overture, by WEBER, we have heard much better played. There was not that aplomb in its performance which usually characterizes the efforts of the distinguished professors who took part in the orchestra; in truth, an additional rehearsal or two would have done no harm. Our enthusiastic maestro, HEINRICH, Who led in his own composition, did not have that response which was due to his really clever conception. There appeared to be occasionally a difference of opinion between the band and leader as to what time certain movements should be taken; and then ever and anon the authoritative and powerful thump of the drum would beat in the refractory forces, and the baton of the leader would whip them out again; so that in fact it beat our feeble powers to tell who was in the right. However, the audience took it good-naturedly, and came down handsomely' with a perfect shower of bravos,' canes, pedal-movements, and Æolian attachments' à la bouche, which almost overcame the old hero. Our MARY' led off in the vocal department. Lo! Hear the Gentle Lark!' was fairly given by her, and KYLE imitated the lark as well as a third flute' could, when compared with the Bulbul. Would that this gifted young lady might confine herself to a pretty rigid practice in the solfeggio. Her transition from her chest-voice to the voce di testa, or head-voice, is too abrupt and startling, and is often painful to a refined and cultivated ear. We have always taken an interest in the success of this clever young lady, from the time when she was a very little girl. Some seven years ago, she sang BEETHOVEN'S 'Adelaide,' Anglice Rosalie,' at the anniversary concert of that time-honored and excellent association, the Euterpean Society. She was then a bud of promise, and as an actress she has since made rapid strides in the profession. We must let her glide gently from our hands, and take up the beneficière, Madame OTTO. From the outset this lady had a high compliment paid her, which we have never seen exhibited toward any professional singer in this country. She was conducted on and off the stage by several of the audience; and her entrance was the signal for such a shower of bouquets, and such a storm of applause, as we have rarely witnessed. She never sang better: she gave with much archness and cleverness her different arias and songs, and came FANNY Ellsler over us' by expressing her thanks in a naïve German accent, to this effect: Ladies and Gentlemen: I thank you from the bottom of my heart; and may you always be as happy as you have made me this evening.' Mr. P. MAYER gave with very fair effect the 'Cruda Funesta' from 'La Lucia.' He appeared to be struggling against a severe hoarseness; but sufficient talent was evolved to evince the possession of a fine voice, and much promise. RAPPETTI's style was, as it always is, free, natural, graceful and flowing, with all the impassioned energy of the Italian school. The themas which he played, although somewhat hackneyed, were admirably executed, and several of the variations were beautifully conceived and properly rendered.

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SAN QUIRICO and DE BEGNIS sang a very funny Duetto Buffo' by COCCIA. It was new to an American audience, who however understood it so well, that it received an unanimous encore. But the concert-room is not the place for buffo scenas. Stage, orchestra, dress, and various other little accessories, are necessary to render the dish piquant. Howbeit, the duet was very well acted and sung. An aria from Donna Caritea' ushered in that bird most musical, most melancholy,' Pico. Oh! Pico! PICO! why art thou PICO! When thou openest thy doors of breath,'

'THE Soul is an enchanted boat

Which like a sleeping swan, doth float

Upon the silver waves of thy sweet singing;

And thine does like an angel sit

Beside the helm conducting it.'

There is a soul-stirring quality in some of her notes, below the staff, which strikes a chord

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