especial interest. Count RAOUSSET DE BOULBON, at leaving France for California, left behind him the MS. of a novel called The Conversion. On the strength of the expectation of a sale from the general interest felt in the memory of the man, rather than from any intrinsic excellence in the book, it has since been published. The hero of the tale is a Parisian dandy, who, having become disgusted with the vile and hollow fashionable city life, flees into the provinces, becomes converted by a young country abbess to a most retrogressive Catholicism, and is dismissed in peace at the end of the book, with his conscience easy in a priest's keeping, and his circumstances easy by means of his marriage with an heiress. The story is told in the fiery and extravagantly passionate style which seems proper to men like him, of vehement character, and great physical strength and activity; but will undoubtedly owe whatever success it may enjoy, to the strange fame of its eccentric author.

-M. ROMAIN-CORNUT has re-edited the Confessions of Madame de la Vallière, written by her after her assumption of monastic vows, and corrected by BOSSUET. These mournful meditations of a repentant court-beauty, furnish a sad but interesting picture of the unhappy life and half-regretful reminiscences of the beautiful Louise. The Confessions have heretofore been attributed to Madame DE LONGUEVILLE, and to Madame DE MONTESPAN; but M. RoMAIN-CORNUT is probably entirely correct in his conclusion that Madame DE LA VALLIERE is the actual authoress.

THE FINE ARTS.

-H. K. BROWx's Equestrian Statue of Washington.-At length New York is to have a worthy statue of Washington, erected in a commanding situation-her first public work of Art, and that, commissioned, not by the Government of the City, but by private citizens. This is, at the same time, well, and not well; it is certainly well that the statue of a great public benefactor should be the spontaneous tribute to his memory of those who reap the fruits of his labor; on the other hand, it is not well, that New York, a city of fortunes, should, at this late day, have no public work of Art, whether in Painting, Sculpture, or Architecture, to which her citizens can point as evidence that the

wealth of which the city boasts, is in the hands of liberal and highly educated men.

When we last saw the statue, which is the subject of these remarks, Mr. Brown had it so far advanced toward completion, that portions of the detail were ready to be sent to Chicopee for casting. The figure of Washington was more complete than that of the horse, but still, far from being finished, and, indeed, only the action and the motives of the statue can be comprehended at present, the detail and the minor points of expression and effect, not having been, as yet, fully developed. The work is of colossal size-we are not able to state the exact dimensions-and is noticeable at the first glance for its repose of treatment. The theory of the statue is, that it represents the PRUDENCE of Washington. It is not the Soldier, leading the arms of his country to battle-nor the General, reviewing his troops-nor the President, receiving the acclamations of the people-but it is the Father of his Country, discerning the peculiar dangers that await his children in the future; and throwing the whole weight of his example and his advice on the side of Prudence. It is Washington restraining -curbing; it is a statue of the man, which, if it fail to excite enthusiasm, must always move to reverent regard.

Mr. Brown has not thought it necessary to excite the admiration of the injudicious, by poising the charger on which Washington sits, either on his fore feet, or on his hind feet. He has better understood his art and the natural restrictions of his material. He has sought to carry into the action as well as into the sentiment of the statue, the repose which characterises the best works of Sculpture. It is true, that the action of Washington is a decided one-he lifts his right arm, and stretches out his hand with a mingled air of command and entreaty but it is also a continuous action. The attitude of the horse expresses restlessness and unwilling submission. He stands firmly on three feet, and paws the ground impatiently with his right forefoot; his head also tosses and frets under his master's curbing rein. The conscious action of Washington is directed wholly toward the people; the restraining his horse is involuntary, but it admirably serves the purpose of impressing the motive of the statue upon the mind. As he represses the impatience of the young and mettlesome charger, so would he exercise a restraining influence

upon a youthful, ardent, and ambitious people.

It is not to be supposed that any particular moment in Washington's life has been chosen by the sculptor as the theme or subject of his work. On the other hand, the artist has not erred by attempting to supply a mere portrait statue of the man. As we have intimated, it aims to embody the Prudence, the Conservatism, which characterized Washington as well in his private as in his public relations. Washington's life was a life of self-restraint. His biographers are careful to tell us that he never laughed, never moved hastily, rarely showed anger-although he enjoyed a joke, was an active man in perfect health, and of a very quick temper. Albert Dürer has drawn Fortune, with a goblet in one hand, and a bridle in the other. Washington lived what Dürer drew. All his life he held the cup in his hand, but he put the bridle upon his desire to taste it, and Fortune crowned him with her noblest wreath. If, then, he was distinguished by the predominance of one characteristic, it was that of self-restraint. And he saw that selfrestraint was the great want of his countrymen-that their political and social ambition, unchecked by wisdom, would lead them into unnumbered difficulties.

Washington will stand before us daily in the full sunlight, and amid the prosperous splendor of our city, for ever preach to us the Gospel of Prudence. It is, perhaps, a homely lesson; and there are many who will find fault with a work of Art for preaching any other Gospel than that of Beauty merely. But it is our conviction that Art was meant for more than this-that it can serve, and has served, a higher ministryand that in this very work, to seek no further for an illustration, the artist has wisely seen how poor a substitute for a noble motive, and the perpetual inculcation of a vital truth would have been even the most successful combination of light and shade, the grandest draperies, and the most masterly display of the profoundest anatomical knowledge-wrought into marble, to win admiration for themselves alone.

- The Crystalotype. The valuable work which, under the name of "The World of Art and Industry, an Illustrated Record of the Great Exhibition," did our designers, engravers and the publisher so much credit, appears under a new name, which it derives from the addition of a number of fine photographs or crystalotypes,

representing some of the pieces of sculpture exhibited in the New York Crystal Palace. These make the work much more valuable. The "Flora," by Crawford, is a treasure indeed, and the Sleeping Children" has a tender beauty of its own. "The Soldier's Son," and "the Industrious Girl," please children old and young, but they are scarcely so pretty in these photographic copies, as in the marble originals. They lose none of their naturalness, however, in this style of reproduction.

-The December number of "The Illustrated Magazine of Art," had a valuable article describing the fresco of Raphael in Florence, discovered in 1842, and finally identified in 1845. This article is illustrated with several wood-cuts; a sketch of the whole composition-serving to show the arrangement of the figures-and seven of the heads, admirably drawn to a large scale. The head of Christ is seen to be of a very noble type-and although the conception leans to beauty rather than to power, it is far from being deficient in strength and manliness. This one article, with its illustrations, is well worth more than the price of the whole subscription to the magazine, which is one of the most valuable serial publications that we have.

- The Crayon.-The first number of this long-promised, and, as we believe, anxiously looked for, Art Journal, was published on the 3d January. We regret that the early day on which we are obliged to go to press, will postpone the utterance of our New Year welcome to the handsome stranger, until the first of March, when several numbers will have been issued, and judged by the public. But we will say our "say," nevertheless, and let our good intentions make amends.

"The Crayon" is beautifully printed, on clear white paper, and has a quiet elegance about it, which is very pleasant to contemplate. It would be unfair to attempt any judgment of its merits at this early stageand with so substantial a beginning, everything that is good may be hoped for.

We need such a Journal as " The Crayon," without any question, and there never has been a better time for starting it than the present. With its very reasonable subscription price-three dollars by the year, and it is published every week--with its clear paper and print-there is no reason why its publication should not be a successful undertaking. At the same time, it ought to be always remembered that the

American people cannot be expected to respond cordially to any periodical treating of the Fine Arts, which has not a sterling common sense for its animating principle. This seemingly commonplace basis of treatment is not inconsistent with the highest standard. It only claims that if there is a good reason for anything asserted or denied, that reason ought to be clearly and intelligently given. We have been bullied long enough by amateurs and connoisseurs. We are tired of being kicked by Mr. Ruskin and his peers, and demand that we should be treated as gentlemen and men. Will the Crayon help us to what we want?

BOOKS RECEIVED.

NOTES ON DUELS AND DUELLING, alphabetically arranged, with a Preliminary Historical Essay. By Lorenzo Sabine. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co. 12mo., pp. 394.

BROTHER JONATHAN'S COTTAGE; or, A Friend to the Fallen. By Henry H. Tator. New York: Francis Hart. 12mo., pp. 235.

FUDGE DOINGS: being Tony Fudge's Record of the Same. By Ik. Marvel. New York: Charles Scribner. 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 235 and 257.

THE FOREST EXILES; or, the Perils of a Peruvian Family amid the Wilds of the Amazon. By Capt. Mayne Reid. Illustrated. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 12mo., pp. 360.

COUNTRY LIFE, and Other Stories. By Cousin Mary. Illustrated. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 12mo., pp. 168.

THE ANGEL CHILDREN; or, Stories from Cloud-land. By Charlotte M. Higgins. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 12mo. pp. 134.

UPS AND DOWNS; or Silver Lake Sketches. By Cousin Cicely. New York: J. C. Derby. 12mo., pp. 841.

ROMANCE OF BIOGRAPHY, illustrated in the Lives of Historic Personages. Edited by Rev. F. L. Hawks, D. D. Richard, the Lion-Hearted. New York: Evans & Dickerson. 12mo., pp. 278.

HAGAR, THE MARTYR; or, Passion and Reality. A Tale of the North and South. By Mrs. H. Marion Stephens. Boston: W. P. Fetridge & Co. 12mo., pp. 360.

LILIES AND VIOLETS; or, Thoughts in Prose and Verse, on the True Graces of Maidenhood. By Rosalie Bell. New York: J. C. Derby. 12mo., pp. 442.

EXAMINATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION OF ERNESTI, &c.: A Treatise on the Figures of Speech. A treatise on the right and duty of all men to read the Scriptures. By Alexander Carson, LL. D. New York: Edward H. Fletcher. 12mo., pp. 468.

THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD UPON THE NATIONS. Pius Ninth, the Last of the Popes. New York: E. H. Fletcher. 12mo., pp. 135.

LITERARY FABLES OF YRIARTE. Translated from the Spanish. By Geo. H. Devereux. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 12mo., pp. 145.

NELLY BRACKEN; a Tale of Forty Years Ago. By Annie Chambers Bradford. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 12mo., pp. 377.

SERMONS; chiefly Practical. By the senior Minister of the West Church, in Boston. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 12mo., pp. 362.

MAY AND DECEMBER; A Tale of Wedded Life. By Mrs.
Hubback. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo &
Co. 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 270 and 250.
THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN; containing hints to
sportsmen, notes on shooting, and the habits of
the game-birds and wild fowl of America. By
Elisha J. Lewis, M. D. Illustrated. Philadelphia:
Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 8vo., pp. 494.
Phillips, Sampson & Co.'s Catalogue of Publications.
THE BIBLE PRAYER-BOOK; for Family Worship, and
for other private and public occasions. By W.
W. Everts. New York: Ivison & Phinney. 12mo.,
pp. 244.
HISTORY AND OBSERVATIONS ON ASIATIC CHOLERA IN
BROOKLYN, N. Y. IN 1854. By J. C. Hutchison,
M. D. [From the New York Journal of Medicine.]
New York. Stitched, 12mo., pp. 24.

THE POETICAL WORKS OF THOMAS HOOD; with a bio-
graphical sketch. Edited by Epes Sargent. Bos-
ton: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 12mo., pp. 490.
THR AMERICAN ALMANAC, and Repository of Useful
Knowledge, for the year 1855. Boston: Phillips,
Sampson & Co. 12mo., pp. 352.

By Henry

MY COURTSHIP AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Wikoff. New York: J. C. Derby. 12mo., pp. 438. CORNELL'S PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY, forming part first of a systematic series of school geographies. By S. S. Cornell. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Small Svo., pp. 96.

"FATHER CLARK," or, The Pioneer Preacher. Sketches and incidents of Rev. John Clark, by an Old Pioneer. New York: Sheldon, Lamport, & Blakeman. 12mo., pp. 287.

A THIRD GALLERY OF PORTRAITS. By George Gilfil lan. New York: Sheldon, Lamport & Blakeman. WOLFERT'S ROOST, and other papers, now first collected. By Washington Irving. New York: GP. Putnam & Co. 12mo., pp. 383.