made on the Island of St. Helena, now more that those works which have been thought worthy of prethan 25 years ago, by Napoleon. He was speak-servation by posterity, have not always been most eagerly ing with reference to the future prospects of sought after in the life time of their authors, while, on the contrary, those which have commanded the largest share of France and said: contemporary applause, have often been least able to stand the test of Horace. Without undertaking to decide this very delicate question, we can say that we have rarely seen any book so well calculated to take the public by storm aa "My son will reign if the popular masses are permitted to act without control; the crown will belong to the Duke of Orleans (Louis Philippe) if those who are called Liberals gain the victory very circumstance that would seem to forbid it a long peover the people; but then sooner or later the peo-riod of existence. The very familiarity of the style will ple will discover that they have been deceived-be certain to captivate the majority of readers, who will be that the white are always white, the blue always delighted to see the stern muse of history unbend herself, blue—and that there is no guarantee for their true and condescend to tell her story with all the careless freedom of a friend, when he talks to his friend in his gown interests, except under the reign of my dynasty, be- and slippers, by his own fireside. cause it is the work of their creation.” the one now under consideration, and that too from the No remark is necessary to make evident the truth of his prophecy. The son it is true died. The revolution of 1830 verified so much of the prediction as relates to Louis Philippe. The remarkable fact is that it was precisely in the mode indicated by Bonaparte that Louis Philippe attained the throne by a victory of the Liberals over the People. Nearly the whole of the first volume is a preliminary dissertation upon the history of England, and her condition at various stages of her political existence. As the materials of knowledge become more plentiful with the advance of time, the dissertation of course takes a wider range, and Englishman of the reign of Charles II. precisely as he then acquires a greater compass. We are introduced to the was, with all his prejudices, whether Whig or Tory, town or country, fresh about him. Before entering upon the main object of his labors,-the history of England from Lafitte, the Banker, Thiers, Lafayette and some others paused before they reached a republic, checked the movement and, by a coup d'etat, made Louis Philippe king. The people in 1848 found themselves deceived and have returned under the reign of Napoleon's dynasty. What event was more improbable than this four or six est. An Englishman of the present day, or an American months ago? the accession of James II. down to a period within the make us as familiar as may be, with the point from which recollection of persons now living,-the author wishes to we set out in his company. He depicts the life of the English of those days and gives us an infinite number of facts, historical and statistical, by the consideration of which we become the better prepared for what is to follow. Your Friend, NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. C. THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of James the Second. By Thomas Babington Macaulay. Vol. I. New York: Harper & Brothers. And these facts and these statistics are replete with inter who has almost as much claim in the great men of England in the olden time as the former,-naturally desires to know something of his ancestors, besides what he can read in the narratives of battles and sieges, or the skirmishes in parliament. He desires to know how they lived-how they tilled their fields-what degree of mental or moral culture they enjoyed-what was the state of learning and religion among the masses-how they spent their time-what was the fare, the drink and the amusements of the day-what was the condition of their houses-and a thousand other things, all relating to the domestic life of his ancestors. The knowledge of these matters is important, in one point of view, which is historically the most important of all. It enables us to take a general view of the progress of the world-to say whether or not the condition of man has been advancing,-to decide whether we are better off than our ancestors or the reverse, and thus to know how far we shall persevere in pressing forward, or when it will be wise to think about receding. The first volume of this long expected work has, in the course of three weeks, run through two editions, and found perhaps a larger circle of readers among a people whom the As we conceive this to be one of the greatest, if not the author has never seen, that it can possibly find at home, even should it be sent out in the cheapest form of publica- very greatest, of the objects of history, we must concede tion, that has ever issued from the English press. Written to the work of Mr. Macaulay a very high character. From in a style, which may be regarded by some as rather too other works on the same subject, did we not know better, familiar for history, it is yet full of instruction, derived we should imagine that the whole population spent their from an infinite variety of sources, inaccessible to the time in plotting, in debating and in fighting. We should eral reader, and rendered, probably, the more popular by and in the country, who kept the noiseless tenor of their never suppose that there were millions, both in the towns that very absence of dignity which has generally been regarded as one of the incidents essential to historical narraway onward, and that these men unknown and unheard of tive. Whether it will survive the hundred years, considered by Horace as absolutely necessary to test the true merits of an author, we regard as questionable; it is a fact not less remarkable for its singularity than for its notoriety tory of England" can give us no conception. Yet it is, in •Est vetus atque probus centum qui perficit annos. gen are the ancestors of the great British nations. Theirs is truth, the history of England; the history of the rise, prog- ful kingdom of Great Britain, whose dominions have no | Authors of America." This is a book of which any critic setting sun and Whose flag has braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze.* The accounts of parliamentary intrigues-of plots in the palace—of the personal habits of this king or of that—of his quarrels with the Lords and Commons-of his wars foreign or domestic-even of revolutions, make but a small part of the history of a great nation. That can never be written, it is true; but when a historian undertakes to give us an account of the political changes of a country, he ought to give us some idea of the state of the society in which they occur. In order to affect as much as possible, in this department of his historical labors, Mr. Macaulay has extended his researches into every thing which promised the least degree of light. Nothing has been to minute to escape his observation; nothing too voluminous or obscure to baffle his scrutiny. The letters of Barillon, and the editorials of Roger L'Estrange receive an equal degree of attention from him. The most obscure pamphlets, the least remembered lampoons, the slightest records of the turf, the memoranda of overseers of parishes and of roads have been carefully investigated, whenever he has thought they might shed light upon his subject. The last chapter alone of the volume before us, can be properly said to be the beginning of his history. The rest is merely preliminary. He relates in this chapter, with many additional circumstances, the invasion of Scotland by Argyle, of England by Monmouth, the death of those two chieftains and the atrocious persecutions which followed. We look for the second volume with great interest. THE FEMALE POETS OF AMERICA. By Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. successful. 66 This is a large volume, to match "The Poets and Poetry of America," The Prose Authors of America," and "The Poets and Poetry of England"-previous compilations of Mr. Griswold-all of which have been eminently and justly Compilations," however, is not precisely the word; for these works have indisputable claims upon public attention as critical summaries, at least, of literary merit and demerit. Their great and most obvious value, as afford. ing data or material for criticism--as mere collections of the best specimens in each department and as records of fact, in relation not more to books than to their authors-has in some measure overshadowed the more important merit of the series: for these works have often, and in fact very generally, the positive merits of discriminative criticism, and of honestyalways the more negative merit of strong common-sense. The best of the series is, beyond all question, "The Prose in the country might well have been proud, without reference to the mere industry and research manifested in its compilation. These are truly remarkable ;-but the vigor of comment and force of style are not less so; while more independence and self-reliance are manifested than in any other of the series. There is not a weak paper in the book; and some of the articles are able in all respects. The truth is that Mr. Griswold's intellect is more at home in Prose than Poetry. He is a better judge of fact than of fancy, not that he has not shown himself quite competent to the task undertaken in "The Poets and Poetry of America," or of England, or in the work now especially before us. In this latter, he has done no less credit to himself than to the numerous lady-poets whom he discusses-and many of whom he now first introduces to the public. We are glad, for Mr. Griswold's sake, as well as for the interests of our literature generally, to perceive that he has been at the pains of doing what Northern critics seem to be at great pains; never to do-that is to say, he has been at the trouble of doing justice, in great measure, to several poetesses who have not had the good fortune to be born in the North. The notices of the Misses Carey, of the Misses Fuller, of the sisters Mrs. Warfield and Mrs. Lee, of Mrs. Nichols, of Mise Welby, and of Miss Susan Archer Talley, reflect credit upon Mr. Griswold and show him to be a man not more of taste than-shall we say it?-of courage. Let our readers be assured that, (as matters are managed among the four or five different cliques who control our whole literature in controlling the larger portion of our critical journals,) it requires no small amount of courage, in an author whose subsistence lies in his pen, to hint, even, that any thing good, in a lite erary way, can, by any possibility, exist out of the limits of a certain narrow territory. We repeat that Mr. Griswold deserves our thanks, under such circumstances, for the cor diality with which he has recognized the poetical claims of the ladies mentioned above. He has not, however, done one or two of them that full justice which, ere long, the public will take upon itself the task of rendering them. We allude especially to the case of Miss Talley, (the "Susan" of our own Messenger.) Mr. Griswold praises her highly; and we would admit that it would be expecting of him too much, just at present, to hope for his avowing, of Miss Tal ley, what we think of her, and what one of our best known critics has distinctly avowed-that she ranks already with the best of American poetesses, and in time will surpass them all-that her demerits are those of inexperience and excessive sensibility, (betraying her, unconsciously, into imitation,) while her merits are those of unmistakeable ge nius. We are proud to be able to say, moreover, in respect to another of the ladies referred to above, that one of her poema is decidedly the noblest poem in the collection-although the most distinguished poetesses in the land have here in cluded their most praiseworthy compositions. Our allusion is to Miss Alice Carey's "Pictures of Memory." Let our readers see it and judge for themselves. We speak delib erately-in all the higher elements of poetry-in true imagination-in the power of exciting the only real poeti cal effect-elevation of the soul, in contradistinction from mere excitement of the intellect or heart-the poem in question is the noblest in the book. * The introduction of this well-known couplet from Mr. Campbell's famous lyric affords us an opportunity of acknowledging a graceful compliment to America, from an English officer, at a recent banquet given by the authorities The Female Poets of America" includes ninety-five of Southampton on the occasion of the visit of the U. S. names-commencing with Ann Bradstreet, the contempofrigate St. Lawrence to that port. It is indeed a gratifying rary of the once world-renowned Du Bartas-him of the evidence of increasing good-will between the citizens of "nonsense-verses"-the poet who was in the habit of sty the two countries. The officer proposed the sentiment, "Columbia need no bulwarks, No towers along the steep, Her march is on the mountain wave, Her home is on the deep." ling the sun the "Grand Duke of Candles"--and ending with "Helen Irving"-a nom de plume of Miss Anna H. Phillips. Mr. Griswold gives most space to Mrs. Maria Brooks, (Maria del Occidente,) not, we hope and believe, merely because Southey has happened to commend her. The claims of this lady we have not yet examined so thorough ly as we could wish, and we will speak more fully of her that "the tailor and milliner have less to do with the formahereafter, perhaps. In point of actual merit-that is to say tion of society than is generally imagined," they certainly of actual accomplishment, without reference to mere indi-have a good deal to do with "the body, form and pressure of cations of the ability to accomplish-we would rank the the times," and are frequently left by the " upper ten" to first dozen or so in this order—(leaving out Mrs. Brooks for take the measure of an unpaid bill. In a technical sense, the present.) Mrs. Osgood-very decidedly first—then Mrs there are no people who have more to do with the "formaWelby, Miss Carey, (or the Misses Carey,) Miss Talley, tion" of society than the tailor and the milliner-for it is Mrs. Whitman, Miss Lynch, Miss Frances Fuller, Miss their "imagination" which "bodies forth" to beau and belle Lucy Hooper, Mrs. Oakes Smith, Mrs. Ellet, Mrs. Hewitt," the forms of things unknown." Miss Clarke, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. Warfield, But we must not forget the first part of the title of this (with her sister, Mrs. Lee,) Mrs. Eames and Mrs. Sigour-volume-Etiquette at Washington. Under this head we ney. If Miss Lynch had as much imagination as energy of are instructed as to the best manner of approaching the expression and artistic power, we would place her next to great functionaries at the Federal Metropolis; and the humMrs. Osgood. The next skilful merely, of those just men-ble visiter is warned not to become impatient or irritated tioned, are Mrs. Osgood, Miss Lynch and Mrs. Sigourney. at being left to cool his heels in the ante-room of the White The most imaginative are Miss Carey, Mrs. Osgood, Miss House while more important personages are admitted to Talley and Miss Fuller. The most accomplished are Mrs. the presence of the President. An invitation to dine with Ellet, Mrs. Eames, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Whitman and Mrs the President must be treated as Mr. Lowndes said of the Oakes Smith. The most popular are Mrs. Osgood, Mrs. office itself, and be "neither sought nor refused"-the latOakes Smith and Miss Hooper. The most glaring omister half of the maxim being more rigidly obeyed than the sans are those of Mrs. C. F. Orne and Miss Mary Wells. ETIQUETTE AT WASHINGTON, Together with the Customs adopted by Polite Society in the other Cities of the United States. By a Citizen of Washington. Baltimore: J. Murphy. 1848. first. We hope no slur is intended upon the Secretary of the Treasury in the sentence, there is no place in the United States where less attention is paid to mere money than at the seat of government." Whether this be true or not, we venture to say "there is no place in the United States" more visited for the sake of money, and the author of this work would have accommodated a very large class in the community, and have secured a better sale of his book if he had devoted a chapter to office-seekers. This is a modest little volume, purporting to be the ora- ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. By E. L' a ness of a knife,” (the duty of a fork, and the office of able to accomplish more in the way of instruction, and case, for in widening the field of his operations, he will be duties; as a belles-lettres clergyman, of less industry than The author seems to have rather an amusing idea of chasteness. He says "a lady should be particular to select her dress with an eye to chasteness. Silky and pliable materials which show the graceful contours of the female form are more desirable than harsh unyielding ones." "The Orators of the American Revolution" is a work, comprising among many original sketches several contributions which have appeared from time to time in the best chase the volume (and we hope many will do so) will not magazines of the country. Those of our readers who purfail to recognize one or two of the articles as old acquaintances, introduced to their notice through the Messenger. Proverbs for the People" his latest production, is an unpretending, though most attractive little volume, consisting, from the Sacred Scriptures. The style of Mr. Magoon, in for the most part, of illustrations of practical wisdom drawn his more sustained and aspiring efforts, is calculated, in an We certainly agree with the writer that a lavish display of jewelry, especially of a cheap kind, is improper. The same eminent degree, to fix the attention of the reader, though objection holds also, we can tell him, against that pinch- perhaps it might be better were it less ornate, and would beck morality with which forms are every thing and kneel-certainly conform more strictly to established models with ing is religion. It was under such a code as this no doubt fewer of those mere fripperies of rhetoric, which a writer, that a gentleman with pious politeness left his card upon the altar! so thoughtful as Mr. Magoon, does not at all need for the proper transmission of his meaning. These books are for sale by A. Morris. It must be peculiarly edifying to the happy owner of one suit of "seedy black" to be told that "there are dresses appropriate for the house, street and carriage," and that "gloves should always be worn at church and other public assemblies." Whether it be true, as this writer affirms, There is genuine poetry in this tasteful volume, and this RHYMES OF TRAVEL, BALLADS AND POEMS BY BAYARD TAYLOR. New York. G. P. Putnam. In connection with this subject it may not be amiss to say a word with reference to the Courier des Etats Unis, under the spirited management of M. Paul Arpin. We regard it as one of the most agreeable publications that we receive, embodying as it does in the best style of the feuilleton the latest continental gossip and putting forth in the Semaine Litteraire some of the most delightful specimens of French Literature, such as, with all our abhorrence for Dumas and his school, we can generally approve. Comte Alfred De Vigny's novel of Cinq Mars, which suggested to Bulwer the play of Richelieu, was published in this manner and at the present time, the sheets of Chateaubriand's great posthumous work, "Memoires d'outre Tombe,” (a fragment of which our Paris correspondent so agreeably translates for the present number of the Messenger) are passing through the same press. we consider no light praise. The author won for himself nient edition of the Constitution is within the reach of the sympathy and estimation of a large class of readers by all who desire to make themselves acquainted with the pehis "Views-a-Foot." His gallant feats of pedestrianism culiar features of the French Republic. in Europe, and the powers of just observation manifested in the record of them which he gave to the world, suggest an adventurous and enthusiastic mind. In the poems now collected we have these qualities in a more deliberate and artistic form. We have read most of the volume with great satisfaction. There is a lyric flow, a continuation of tone and expression, and, above all, an earnestness of feeling in Taylor's poetry that we recognize with sincere delight. His sense of beauty is vivid, his insight, as a lover of nature and man, keen and sympathetic; and his tone of sentiment elevated and firm. Thus he possesses both aspiration and tenderness-two of the essential instincts of the poet. We are struck also with the spirited character of his verse. The" Rhymes of Travel" are beautiful memorials of the impressions of a young American on the hallowed ground of Europe. The "California Ballads" met with eminent success when first published, and will be cordially welcomed in a collected form. We are not surprised to hear that the first edition of this volume is already exhausted. HISTORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. By Jacob Abbott. With Engravings. New York. Harper & Brothers. This is another volume of the series of historical compositions, which Mr. Abbott has been engaged in preparing. Though designed for the young, they present a vast deal of information which has slipped away from the memory of many a deep reader of history and may therefore be looked over with profit by all classes. Mr. Abbott's style is very simple and perspicuous, and on that account singularly well adapted to the narration of past events. The handsome appearance which the Harpers have given to these little volumes will commend them to an extensive sale,good paper, large round type and spirited illustrations, with an illuminated title-page, constituting a most worthy dress for the author's composition. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: His Autobiography: With a narrative of his Public Life and Services. By Rev. H. Hastings Weld. With numerous designs by J. G. Chapman. To be completed in eight Parts. Part I. New York: Harper & Brothers. Since the publication of the Pictorial Bible, we have seen no wood engravings at all comparable for softness and finish with those in the present work; and the name of Chapman as the author of the designs furnishes an ample assurance that the subsequent members will be quite as exquisitely embellished. The typography is also very luxurious. Of the text itself nearly one half will consist of Franklin's autobiography and the remainder (275 pages) of a narrative of his public life and services from the pen of the Rev. Mr. Weld, at one time editor of the New World, and most favorably known as a man of fine literary taste. For sale by George M. West. CONSTITUTION OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 1848. New This is a neat publication in pamphlet form, containing French and English versions of the Constitution of the new Republic of France. We have no space here, nor does it belong to our province to submit any reflections of a political nature with regard to this plan of Government, which was brought into existence under the auspices of the enlightened and sagacious De Tocqueville; our desire is simply to call attention to the fact that a cheap and conve. THE NORTH BRITISH REVIEW. BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. January 1849. We receive with very commendable punctuality, through Messrs. Nash and Woodhouse, the Richmond Agents, the Foreign Reviews republished by Messrs. Leonard St and Co. of New York. To the enterprise of these ter gentlemen, the American reader is indebted for an arrange. ment, by which Blackwood is sent out regularly during the early part of the month of its publication in England. To effect this, they have had to pay the most liberal sums for advance sheets by the steamers, so that the mouth of Maga itself is stopped, pro tanto, on the subject of Yankee piracy on the high sea of literature. The old Reviews fully maintain the high reputation they have acquired under the regime of Lockhart, Brougham, Jeffrey and Mackintosh, although we incline to the opinion that the North British, (the "infant phenomenon" of criticism) is carrying off the honors of the "buff and blue" and fairly outstripping the Tory organ in polish and acumen. The number before us contains a truly delightful article on Charles Lamb, embodying a letter of humorous reminis cences concerning his social character, which is understood to be from the pen of De Quincey. There is also a curious speculation on the vexed question of the authorship of Junius. Blackwood contains, among other attractive articles, a continuation of "The Caxtons," Mr. Bulwer's novel, which has awakened such decided interest every. where. We do not think a larger supply of excellent reading can be obtained, on the same terms, than is furnished by Messrs. Leonard Scott & Co. INTERNATIONAL ART-UNION. We have received a Prospectus of this laudable enter prise, together with a catalogue of the works of art now upon exhibition at their Gallery, No. 289 Broadway, New York. The claims of the institution upon those who would promote the Fine Arts in America are very strong, and when it is generally known that one of the objects which it contemplates, is to send one American Artist annually abroad to improve himself in the continental schools, we are satisfied that the number of subscribers will be very large. The plan otherwise is similar to that of the other excellent institutions of this character already in exist. ence,-a handsome engraving being furnished to each subscriber and a yearly distribution of prizes being made by lot. Among the names of the "Committee of Reference,' we find Mr. Washington Irving, Mr Durand, the great landscape painter, and the poet Willis. Messrs. Goupil, Viber & Co. are the Managers. PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM-JNO. R. THOMPSON, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. VOL. XV. RICHMOND, MARCH, 1849. NO. 3. Europe; and finally, in the glare of Moscow's GLIMPSES AT EUROPE DURING 1848. burning, here also was fought that great battle which liberated Europe from the universality of Napoleon's iron sway. THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT. And once more is Germany called upon to be The Continent of Europe in the moral and in- the great battle-field on which some of the most tellectual life of its nations has, with few excep-momentous questions of our day are to be detions, been an almost unknown land to the proud, cided. Her plains will again be crimsoned, her insular Englishman and consequently also to us. cities burnt, her fair fields abandoned and her It was one of those blessings which short-sighted sons slain, that the great principle of Liberty human philosophy rarely perceives but when may rise triumphantly from the midst of the looking back upon the Past, that the Continental flames, as when centuries ago she paid with the Wars brought for the first time armies of Eng- blood of her children for the rich blessings which lish soldiers and of English travellers to invade the Reformation brought to the whole Christian countries which, although within a few hundred world. The struggle is come once more, fearful mes, had been farther from London than most are the throes of the sufferer and sad is the prosof the distant colonies. Since then new discove-pect before us; but not in vain has the land of ries have been made from year to year; Italy has the Saxon ever been foremost in the strife against been annually overrun by its hundred thousand darkness and oppression, and the banner of true "Mylords," British Statesmen have spent their vacations in French villas, and German Philosophy and German Science have become known and respected. The History of the Germans, a people so nearly related to the Anglo-Saxon, and yet so different in all its outward forms, was found to be not without its special interest, until the great historian, judging Germany both by her central geographical position and by her historical importance, called her the Heart of Europe. She is the heart of Europe, and as such has been most lacerated of all the fair countries of the Old World. It is here that in all times have originated those mighty movements which have swayed the destinies of Europe. Liberty, borne by the gallant sons of Germany, will yet wave vietoriously and be loudly cheered by all the nations of the earth that love Freedom and Independence. For here also the struggle is one for Libertythe great watch-word that has at last crossed the broad Atlantic, reached the shores of wellguarded Europe and found an echo in the hearts of its noblest nations. Germany, we must not forget, has sent nearly a million of her sons to the Land of the Free, and the enthusiasm of the young has at last aroused the old mother-country. Germany, once a great and glorious Empire, has been slowly declining ever since the disastrous Herrman, by his victory over the proud legions thirty-years' war. The immediate result of the of Varus, in the Westphalian forests, was the Westphalian treaty was the dissolution of the first to show to the astonished world that Roman national unity and the independence of the Gerfasces and axes were vain when employed to man princes of the Empire, which thenceforth bend men inspired by the inflexible sense of presented no longer one great idea, though, in freedom. Germany was the first great camp of mere form, it continued to exist for nearly a hunthose who crushed the colossus of Roman power dred and fifty years after that peace. The exafter its spirit had passed away. From Germany tinction of the race of Charlemagne, the fatal Charlemagne sent forth his armies to prevent effects of the elective principle, then adopted, the the Saracens from destroying European culture selfish and destructive policy of the house of and Christianity. In the centre of Germany, on Austria, the rise and independence of Prussia those extensive plains where the Empire of the had all gradually reduced the once powerful EmEuropean world has so often been decided, Henry pire to such insignificance that the abdication of the First withstood the attack of the Avares and the last Roman Emperor in 1806 was little more Hungarians, by which, but for him, Europe must than the final act-a formal recognition of an have become the prey of fierce barbarians and evident and uncontested fact. savage Pagans. On these same ensanguined Since then Germany has had but one moment plains the noble King of Sweden died, not only when she might have become once more a united, for the political but for the religious liberty of great Empire; but only one moment, for His-• VOL. XV-17 |