Chapter XII (2)

A cool attempt to swindle the treasury out of £20,000 has been made in behalf of the estate of the late Queen Dowager. Her comfortable annuity of £100,000 was made payable at regular quarter-days, commencing after the death of William IV. As it happened, he died ten days before the quarter-day, so that the queen received pay for a whole quarter for those ten days. She died 63 days after the last quarterly payment; and a claim was made for payment for that time; although blending the two periods together she would have received a quarter's payment for 19 days less than a quarter's time. The court, however, refused to grant the privilege of burning the candle at both ends; and the beggarly German heirs of the late queen fail in gaining the sum.

Petitions have been presented to Parliament from the bishop, commissioners of parishes, and householders of Capetown, stating that the Legislative Assembly of the colony has lost the confidence of the colonists, and presenting the details of a constitution which they pray may be granted them.

Certain Protestants of Dublin addressed a letter to the Duke of Wellington urging him to fulfill a pledge which they infer him to have made many years ago, when he was Premier, to move the repeal of the Catholic Relief Bill, if it should, on trial, be found not to work satisfactorily. The Duke replies in one of the curtest letters in all his curt correspondence; and in terms which the liveliest imagination can not interpret as complimentary, refuses to have any thing to do with them or their request.

The Commissioners of the Exhibition have decided upon the following rates for admission: Season tickets for a gentleman will cost three guineas, for a lady, two guineas. These tickets are not transferrable, and will admit the owner at all times to the Exhibition. On the day of opening those only are to be admitted who have season tickets. On the two subsequent days, the price of admittance will be twenty shillings. On the fourth day, it will be reduced to five shillings, at which sum it will continue till the 22d day, when it will be lowered to one shilling. After that period, the rate will be one shilling, except on Fridays, when it will be two shillings and sixpence, and Saturdays, when it will be five shillings. The severest tests have demonstrated the stability of the building.

The proposed abolition of the Vice-royalty in Ireland, excites great opposition, especially in Dublin. A large meeting has been held, at which the Lord Mayor presided, for the purpose of petitioning against the intended abolition, and protesting against the system of centralization which, it is alleged, has been so destructive of the best interests of Ireland.

FRANCE.

The main features of interest are confined to the quarrel between the President and the Assembly. Bonaparte is gaining ground. The Minister of Finance presented the bill asking for a dotation for the President. The question was an embarrassing one for the Assembly. If they granted it, it would be giving additional power to him. If they refused, he would become an object of sympathy, and still gain power. The amount asked was 1,800,000 francs, in addition to his salary of 600,000. M. de Montalembert was the principal speaker in favor of the bill. He declared that the President had fulfilled his mission in restoring society and reestablishing order, and warned the majority not to persist in their course of hostility, or they would repent it in 1852. Upon taking the question, there were 294 for the bill, and 396 against it; so that it was lost by a majority of 102. In anticipation of this rejection, subscriptions were set on foot throughout the country in aid of the President; but Bonaparte, by an official notice in the _Moniteur_ declined to receive any such contributions, choosing, as he said, to make any personal sacrifices rather than endanger the peace of the country. He made immediate preparation to live according to his means: stopped his expensive receptions, and announced a sale of his horses. He is playing a subtle and well-considered game for re-election to the Presidency; and if the constitutional prohibition can be repealed or overridden, there seems little question that he will succeed. His popularity among the middle classes is great and increasing. When the question of the revision of the Constitution comes up, the great contest of parties will begin, which will decide the fate of the Republic. It is almost impossible that the incongruous combination which now constitutes the formidable majority against him can hold together, against his cool and cautious policy, and with so many elements of disunion among themselves.

GERMANY.

The doings of the Dresden Conference have not officially transpired. But enough is known to make it evident that our previous accounts are correct. In addition it is now said, and with probable truth, that Austria and Prussia have determined to share the executive power of the Diet between them, to the absolute exclusion of the minor Powers. Austria brings into the Confederacy the whole of her Sclavic and Italian possessions. This will call forth the vehement remonstrances of the other European states, who look upon it as undoing the work of the Holy Alliance, and disturbing the balance of power. In consideration of granting this real advantage to Austria, Prussia gains the empty honor of sharing the Presidency in the Diet, which was formerly held by Austria exclusively. The pacification of Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse is complete. In the latter the malcontents are undergoing the penalties of Bavarian courts-martials. Hamburg is occupied by Austrian troops. Well authenticated accounts of a conspiracy at Vienna have been received, but the particulars are not given. The 150th anniversary of the erection of Prussia into a kingdom was celebrated at Berlin on the 17th of January, with great pomp.

ITALY.

There can be little doubt that an insurrection, of which Mazzini is the soul and centre is in course of organization. Funds to a considerable amount have been provided. The overthrow of the democratic cause throughout Europe has disbanded an immense number of soldiers, who will be ready for any enterprise, and will be especially glad to fight for the old cause, against the old enemy, upon Italian ground. Various parts of the country are terribly infested with brigands, whose enterprises are carried on with an audacity which reminds one of the middle ages. There are reports of an approaching Austrian interference in Piedmont and Switzerland. The Pope is said to be desirous of the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome, that he may place himself under the more immediate protection of Austria and Naples. The Austrian army in Italy has been considerably reinforced, to provide against the action of Mazzini and the growing discontent in Lombardy. Archbishop Hughes of this city is preaching at Rome to increasing audiences. He predicts, there as well as here, the speedy downfall of Protestantism, and prophesies that ere long it will have disappeared from the world as completely as the heretical sects of the Arians and the Manichæans. There is apparently no doubt that the Archbishop will be raised to the rank of Cardinal. At the sitting of the Piedmontese Chamber of Deputies, in Turin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a speech on occasion of presenting the Budget, marked by a liberality for which we are not accustomed to look to statesmen of Italy.

THE EAST.

In INDIA, on the whole, tolerable tranquillity was prevalent. Sir Charles Napier, in taking leave of the army of India, of which he was commander-in-chief, addressed a most ultra-Naperian epistle to the officers. Instead of reminding them of the laurels they have won, and the territories they have overrun, he berates them for their habits of lavish expenditure, and for contracting debts which they have no means or expectation of paying. An interview has been held between Gholab Singh, the ruler of Cashmere, and the Governor-general, in which the usual protestations of eternal friendship were interchanged. These interviews, since the days of Hastings and Clive, have betokened fresh accessions to the territories of the Company.

An insurrection of a formidable character which had been raging in some of the provinces of CHINA, the object of which was the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty, was, at the latest dates, entirely suppressed. The famous Commissioner Lin, whose energetic proceedings gave rise to the opium war, is dead. From the un-oriental energy of his character, and the salutary dread with which he had inspired his countryman, his death is a loss to the Empire.

Difficulties are apprehended in EGYPT. The Porte demands certain reforms of the Viceroy; among which are the abatement of taxes and the reduction of the army. The Viceroy refuses to comply, and is determined to offer forcible resistance, in case of an attempt to enforce the demands.

The hostilities at Bagdad between the Turks and Arabs have been renewed since the death of Bem. Vigorous measures, are to be taken to reduce the insurgent Arabs to subjection.

From Southern AFRICA, under date of Sept. 6, we have authentic intelligence of terrible atrocities committed by the Namquas upon the Danish missionary station. Numbers were killed; and women and children cruelly tortured.

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, ART, PERSONAL MOVEMENTS, ETC.

UNITED STATES.

It is seed-time rather than harvest in the world of Literature and Art, as well as in that of matter. Publishers are in deep consultation over projected works. The still labor of brain, eye, and hand goes on in the library of the author and the studio of the artist, the results of which, when ready for the public eye, we shall chronicle. The series of lectures before the Artists' Association has been brought to a very appropriate close by a lecture from HUNTINGTON, the painter. His subject was "Christian Art." He claimed, in theory, for his Art that lofty and sublime mission which he has attempted to exemplify in practice.----The most attractive series of lectures delivered in this city during the last season has undoubtedly been that of Mr. LORD, on the "Heroes and Martyrs of Protestantism." Those who might feel inclined to dissent from several of his views and conclusions, could not be other than pleased by the earnestness and zeal with which they were set forth and advocated. As literary productions, these lectures are deserving of high praise.----BANVARD'S three-mile Panorama of the Mississippi has been the fruitful parent of a multitude of staring and impudent productions, which it were almost a libel upon Art to call pictures. The "cheap side" of Broadway is lined with these monstrosities, which for the most part have met with the very moderate patronage which they deserve.

MARTIN FARQUUHART TUPPER, has arrived in this country. We copy from the _Evening Post_ the following graceful lines, written in the harbor on the morning of his arrival:

Not with cold scorn or ill-dissembled sneer,
Ungraciously your kindly looks to greet,
By God's good favor safely landed here.
Oh friends and brothers, face to face we meet.
Now for a little space my willing feet,
After long hope and promise many a year,
Shall tread your happy shores; my heart and voice
Your kindred love shall quicken and shall cheer,
While in your greatness shall my soul rejoice--
For you are England's nearest and most dear!
Suffer my simple fervors to do good,
As one poor pilgrim haply may and can,
Who, knit to heaven and earth by gratitude,
Speaks from his heart, to touch his fellow man.

WASHINGTON'S BIRTH-DAY was celebrated with unusual splendor in this city. An oration was delivered by Hon. H. M. FOOTE, of Mississippi. At the public dinner letters were read from President FILLMORE, and Messrs. WEBSTER, CLAY, and CASS. The principal speech of the evening was made by Hon. EDWARD EVERETT, in reply to the toast of "the Constitution."

WASHINGTON IRVING has written a pleasant and characteristic letter, which has been going the rounds of the papers, to Jesse Merwin, of Kinderhook, the original Ichabod Crane, of the far-renowned "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

EUROPEAN.

Among the recent issues of the London press we notice "_The Mirror for Maidens_," by Mrs. Sherwood and her daughter, Mrs. Streeten. The well-won reputation of the mother, acquired so many years ago, will not be enhanced by her share in this tale.--A volume of _Poems_, by W. C. Bennett, is made up of pieces of very unequal merit. Some portions are extremely beautiful, while others are utterly devoid of expression or character. The readers of Mrs. Marsh's tales will remember many mottoes taken from Mr. Bennett, giving promise of no common degree of poetic talent.--Sheridan Knowles, the dramatist, has taken the field as a religious controversialist in a volume upon Transubstantiation, in reply to the lectures of Cardinal Wiseman. He shows more familiarity with the principles and details of the controversy than could have been anticipated from his former avocations.--_England as it Is_, by Wm. Johnston, is an attempt to point out the political, social, and industrial state of the kingdom in the middle of the nineteenth century. The author is of the opinion that, on the whole, the mechanical inventions and money-making spirit of the last fifty years have lessened the comforts and deteriorated the character of the poorer classes. The book does not seem to be written with sufficient ability to make any decided impression.

_Revelations of Hungary_, by the Baron Prochazka, presents the Austrian view of the question with more zeal than ability. The author details with the utmost complacency the fearful atrocities of the campaign, wondering all the while that the Austrians were hated by the oppressed population. Appended to the Revelations is a "Memoir of Kossuth," designed to instruct the world as to the true character of the illustrious Magyar. Every good quality which has been attributed to him, from genius down to personal beauty, is vehemently disputed. The world is assured that "Kossuth is by no means the handsome man his partisans represent him to be; he is of middle stature; his figure is insignificant; his hair was brown, but being bald, he wears a wig of that color." This last allegation, we fear is too true; for Kossuth lost not only his hair, but his health and every thing but life, hope, and honor during his imprisonment in Austrian dungeons.

_The Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Cotes_, edited by J. Eddleston, M.A., presents a view of all the ascertained facts in the personal and intellectual history of the great mathematician. When he was engaged in elaborating his theory respecting light and color, in order "to quicken his faculties, and fix his attention, he confined himself to a small quantity of bread during all the time, with a little sack and water, of which, without any regulation, he took as he found a craving or failure of spirits."

A continuation of the _Dix Ans_ of Louis Blanc has been commenced by M. Elias Regnault, under the title of _L'Histoire de Huit Ans_, 1840-48.

The London _Leader_ speaks of a new work by Harriet Martineau and Mr. Atkinson which is likely to excite attention. It is entitled "Letters on Man's Nature and Development." The _Leader_ having read a few of the proof sheets, says that for boldness of outspeaking on subjects usually glozed over, and for power of philosophic exposition, it has few equals. The marvels of mesmerism and clairvoyance are stated with unflinching plainness, as facts admitting of no dispute. Materialism is unequivocally and even eloquently avowed; and phrenology assumes quite a new aspect from the observations and discoveries here recorded.

The London _Critic_ contains an interesting paraagraph giving an account of the payments made to authors in France. It is said that Lamartine, for the single volume of his _Confidences_, received 8000 dollars. Chauteaubriand, a few years before his death, contracted with a company to sell them, at the price of 4000 dollars per volume, any new works he might write and desire to print. Victor Hugo, by contract with the publishers, is paid 3000 dollars for each new volume with which he may furnish them. De Balzac, in 1837, entered into a contract with his publisher, Delloye, by which the publisher acquired the property for fifteen years of the works of De Balzac at that time published. The pecuniary consideration paid to the author, was 12,000 dollars cash, and an annuity of 3000 dollars. Eugene Sue sold for 9600 dollars the right of publishing and selling, during five years only, his novel called _Martin the Foundling, or the Memoirs of a Valet de Chambre_. The work was already in course of publication in the _feuilleton_ of _The Constitutionnel_, and the purchaser's rights were confined to France. It was the _Mystères de Paris_ that made the great literary name and fortune of Eugene Sue. Previously the remuneration of his literary labors was much more modest. _La Salamandre_ was disposed of at 300 dollars per volume. _The Wandering Jew_, and _Les Mystères de Paris_, were sold at 20,000 dollars the volume: and the purchaser made 12,000 by the operation. In August, 1845, _The Constitutionnel_, wishing to secure M. Sue exclusively to itself, made with him a contract which was to last for thirteen years and a half. By its terms the author bound himself to furnish for publication in the _feuilleton_ of _The Constitutionnel_ not less than four, nor more than six volumes of novels per annum, for which he was to be paid 2000 dollars per volume on delivery of the manuscript.

LAMARTINE seems determined to surpass the literary fecundity of James, or even, if such a thing be conceivable, that of the renowned Alexandre Dumas. In addition to his History of the Directory, mentioned in our last number, it is announced that he has contracted to write a History of the Restoration, in some eight or ten volumes. The _Leader_, which is good authority on these matters, however, states that this last is substituted for the History of the Directory, which Lamartine abandoned in disgust when he found that Garner de Cassagnac had undertaken the same subject for feuilleton publication. A romance, after the manner of Genevieve, is advertised to appear in the feuilleton of _La Presse_. He has long been under engagements to furnish, under the title of the _Conseiller du Peuple_, a monthly pamphlet on current political events; and he is said to have engaged to write another similar one every fortnight. Finally, he has in contemplation a History of Turkey. He is, moreover, an active member of the Legislative Assembly, and a frequent speaker. During one of the late ministerial crises he came very near being placed at the head of the Ministry. With such a number of engagements, undertaken under the pressure of pecuniary necessities, it is not to be wondered that his recent productions have been unworthy of his former reputation.

Dr. J. F. SCHRÖDER has produced a unique work on Talmudic and Rabbinic maxims and usages. As a specimen of these, we give some of the refinements and distinctions relating to the observance of the Sabbath: "Hunting is totally forbidden on the Sabbath, and since fly-catching is a species of hunting, it is prohibited--nay, the prohibition extends so far, that a Jew must not cover vessels in which there are flies, because in this way a sort of catching might take place. Fleas must first have bitten before they may be caught; and it is not allowable to kill them when caught. A louse found on the body may be killed, but not one that has taken up its abode in the outer parts of the garments. Animals, on the contrary, which are tame and willingly allow themselves to be taken, may be caught even on the Sabbath; some, however, consider this not allowable. An egg laid on the Sabbath, or fruits which have been plucked on that day, may not be used.... If any body wishes to borrow any thing of another on the Sabbath, he must not say, '_Lend me this or that_;' but '_Give it me, and I will give it you back_.' If a pledge is to be restored, the lender must lay it down in silence. He who wishes to have some beer or wine on a Sabbath, must not say to the tavern-keeper, '_Give me so much wine or beer for so much money_;' but '_Give me the vessel full or half full_.' After the Sabbath the vessel may be measured, and the value of the wine or beer received may be determined. Letters must not be either written or opened on the Sabbath; but if any one not a Jew has opened them, without having received orders to do so, and one is anxious to know the contents, they may be read; but the words must not be uttered aloud. News also may be read in this way. Accounts, on the contrary, bills of exchange, and such things, relating to trade, may not be read. If a leg, &c., falls out of a chair or bench on the Sabbath, the injury must not be repaired on that day. Should a wine-cask or any thing of that sort begin to leak, a vessel may be put under it, but the hole must not be stopped up."

CHARLES KNIGHT, the eminent publisher, in an effective pamphlet advocating the repeal of the paper-tax, presents some facts showing the bearing of that tax upon the diffusion of knowledge. He has had in contemplation a Supplement to the National Cyclopædia, to consist of a series of treatises upon Scientific, Social, and Industrial Progress, to extend to four volumes. To produce this as it should be done, he must secure the assistance of the most eminent men in every department of knowledge; which assistance will cost £2000. To cover the outlay he must sell at least 25,000 copies; which will consume 6400 reams of paper, the duty upon which would be £880. This additional expense, adding nothing to the value of the work, makes him hesitate to embark in the enterprise, If this burden were removed he might either save it in the original cost, or expend it in adding to the value of the work. In either case he would not hesitate to carry out his design.

ROBERT CHAMBERS shows the bearing of the same tax upon labor. His Miscellany of Tracts was stopped as not paying, although it had a regular sale of 80 000. While published it had paid a paper-tax of £6220. This publication, which might have been continued had it not been for this tax, distributed £18,000 a year in labor. He had since started a similar series at three halfpence, of which, owing to the increase in price, only half as many were sold as the other. It is calculated that this tax keeps out of employment, in London alone, full 40,000 people. The whole value of the paper annually manufactured in the kingdom is estimated at £4,000,000, upon which a duty is laid of £800,000. This is levied almost entirely upon labor, the mateterial used being almost entirely without value.

LEOPOLD RANKE, author of the History of the Popes, in the course of his researches in the National Library at Paris, has discovered a manuscript portion of the Memoirs of the famous statesman Cardinal Richelieu, which has long been supposed to be lost. In the manuscript deposited at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a series of leaves is wanting. These Mr. Ranke found by accident in a bundle of old papers. It is thought that this discovery may throw some light upon the disputed question whether the cardinal was the actual author of the works which are attributed to him, or merely revised and corrected them.

The _Quarterly Review_ tells a story about George IV. which reflects little credit upon the "First Gentleman of Europe." The noble library of George III., in the British Museum bears an inscription purporting that it was a gift to the nation from his successor. It appears, however, that the library was a purchase. George IV., in one of his frequent pecuniary straits, had negotiated for its sale to the Emperor of Russia, and was only prevented from completing the contract by the most urgent remonstrances, backed by the receipt of the value of the Russian rubles, in sterling coin, from the droits of the Admiralty. It is suggested that the inscription in the Museum should be erased; as there can be no good reason why the nation should be called upon to supply by a public forgery the deficiency of worthy records left behind by that monarch.

According to the _Journal de la Librairie_ the whole number of books and pamphlets printed in France during the past year is 7208, of which 5848 are new publications. The publications in the French language were 6661; in the dialects spoken in France, 68; in German, 53; in English, 61; in Spanish, 51; in Greek, 83; in Latin, 165; in Portuguese, 16; in Polish, 14; in Hebrew, 9.

A _Grammar of the Kaffir Language_, by Rev. JOHN W. APPLEYARD, a Wesleyan Missionary in British Kaffraria, is another valuable contribution to science resulting from missionary labors. This language, although, of course, destitute of literary treasures, presents some features of interest to students of comparative philology. Those relations of words to each other which in other languages are indicated by change of termination, are in this denoted by prefixes, which are regulated by similarity of sound. Neither gender nor number has any influence upon grammatical construction, being lost sight of in the euphonic form of the word or prefix. The noun is the leading word in a sentence, the prefix to it determining that to the other words. Thus, _abantu_ means "the people," and _ziyeza_, "are coming;" but a Kaffir would not express "the people are coming" by _abantu ziyeza_, but by _abantu bayeza_, it being necessary that the prefixes to the verb and its subject should have a similar sound. The language is also remarkable for freedom from anomalous usages and exceptions, and for great facility of forming compound words. Mr. Appleyard's work contains also valuable ethnographical materials in the shape of a general classification of the South African dialects.

An Italian savant announces that when the fog is so thick as to prevent signals being seen from one station to another, the difficulty may be greatly diminished by placing a colored glass between the eye and the eye-piece of the telescope. The best color for those who have strong eyesight is dark red; while those who are short-sighted find light red preferable. He accounts for the fact by stating that the white color of the fog strikes too powerfully upon the eye, particularly if the glass have a large field; and the intensity of the light is diminished by the interception of a part of the rays by the colored glass, so that the eye is less wearied.

_The Velocity of Artificial Light_ has been the subject of some very ingenious experiments by M. Fizean. A point of intense brightness, produced by oxy-hydrogen light, is concentrated by a lens, and being received upon a mirror placed at about two leagues distance, is reflected back again in the same line. This is effected so exactly that scarcely any deviation in the course of the two rays can be perceived, the going and returning ray appearing one within the other. Behind the point of light is placed a wheel having 720 teeth, so adjusted that the light shines between two of the teeth, so that when the wheel is at rest, an eye placed behind it receives the impression of the full ray. When the wheel is moved so that 12·6 revolutions are made in a second, the teeth of the wheel appear continuous, and half the light is obstructed. If the velocity be sufficiently accelerated all the light is cut off, and that rate shows the time necessary for the light to have traversed the two leagues and back again, for the observer sees only the returning ray. The velocity of artificial light has thus been fixed at 70,000 French leagues in a second, which agrees remarkably with that given by astronomers to solar light, 192,500 miles in a second. The English mile, it will be recollected is a trifle longer than the French mile.

A paper read before the British Association, describes several remarkable hail storms which have occurred in India. The weight of some masses of ice which have fallen exceeds 14 pounds. Many of these masses, under a rough external coat, contained an interior of clear ice. Immense conglomerated masses of hail stones had been known to be swept down the mountain ravines by the torrents which succeeded the storms; and in one of these conglomerations a snake was found frozen up, and apparently dead; but it revived on being thawed out.

A patent has been taken out for what the patentee calls the _essence of milk_. Fresh milk is placed in a long, shallow copper pan, heated by steam to a temperature of 110 degrees. A quantity of sugar is mixed with the milk, which is continually kept in motion by stirring. This is continued for about four hours, during which the milk is reduced by evaporation to one-fourth of its original bulk. It is then put into small tin cans, the tops of which are soldered on. These cans are placed for a while in boiling water, which completes the process. This preparation may be kept for a long time, in any climate. It is peculiarly adapted for use on shipboard.

OBITUARIES.

The MARQUIS OF NORTHAMPTON (Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton) died Jan. 16, aged 60 years. He early manifested a love for literature, science, and art, which he cultivated with greater assiduity than is usual among students of his social rank. Among his associates at the university were many whose names have since become known in the world of mind. In 1830 he became a member of the Royal Society. In 1838, when the presidency of that body was resigned by the Duke of Sussex, on the ground that the £13,000 a year, which was granted him as a prince of the blood, was an income too limited to enable him to afford the coffee and sandwiches usually furnished at the _soirées_ of the Society, the Marquis of Northampton was selected to fill that place. If the selection was to be on the grounds of rank rather than of high scientific attainments, no better one could have been made. The _soirées_ which he gave drew together the rank and science of the country, and had a happy influence upon the scientific world. His attainments in almost every graceful branch of intellectual culture were highly respectable. He resigned the presidency of the Royal Society in 1848, and was succeeded by the Earl of Rosse. He took no very decided part in politics, although he was always recognized as belonging to the liberal portion of the House of Peers. Among the large number of the higher classes who have recently died, no one, since the death of Sir Robert Peel, is so great a loss to literature and science as the Marquis of Northampton.

JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D., one of the most learned and eminent of the dissenting clergy of England died Feb. 5, aged 77 years. He was the author of a number of works of decided merit; the one by which he was best known was Scripture and Geology. His attainments in geological science procured his election as a member of the Royal Society. Early in January a company of his friends and admirers presented him with a testimonial of their affectionate regard, in commemoration of the fiftieth year of his academic labors in the Dissenting College at Homerton. The sum of £2600 was raised, the interest of which was to be applied to his benefit during his lifetime, and the principal, after his death, to be applied to the foundation of scholarships. This testimonial to his eminent merit was only in time for an honor, but too late as a pecuniary benefit.

CHARLES COQUEREL, whose recent death is announced in the Paris papers, was the brother of the celebrated Protestant clergyman of France. He was the author of a number of works, among which we remember a History of English Literature; Caritas, an Essay on a complete Spiritual Philosophy; and the History of the Churches in the Desert, or the History of the Protestant Churches of France from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes to the Reign of Louis XVI. In this last work he introduced the substance of a vast mass of private and official correspondence relative to the persecutions undergone by the French Protestants. He was also distinguished for his scientific attainments, and for many years reported the proceedings of the French Academy of Sciences for the _Courrier Francaise_. He was especially interested in Arago's investigations upon light, and was busied with them almost to the day of his death.

GASPAR SPONTINI, composer of _La Vestale_, and many other less successful operas, died recently in the Roman States, at an advanced age. For many years he was chapel-master to the late King of Prussia, where both himself and his music were unpopular to the last degree among artists; and it was an article in the contract of more than one _prima donna_, that she should not be required to sing Spontini's music. The one great work of his life was _La Vestale_, produced in 1809. It was in rehearsal for a twelvemonth, and while in preparation was retouched and amended to such an extent, that the expense of copying the alterations is said to have amounted to 10,000 francs.

MRS. SHELLEY, wife of the poet, and daughter of Godwin and the celebrated Mary Wolstoncroft, died in London on the 11th of February, aged 53 years. She was herself an authoress of no inconsiderable repute. Her wild and singular novels, among which are the Last Man, Walpurga, and Frankenstein, are unequaled in their kind. The last in particular, notwithstanding the revolting nature of the legend, is wrought up with great power, and possesses singular fascination for the lovers of the marvelous and the supernatural.

JOANNA BAILLIE, the most illustrious of the female poets of England, unless that place be assigned to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, notwithstanding her many affectations and great inequalities, died at Hampstead, on the 23d of February, at the age of 90 years, within a few weeks. She is best known by her "Plays on the Passions," in which she made a bold and successful attempt to delineate the stronger passions of the mind by making each of them the subject of a tragedy and a comedy. The first volume was published in 1798, and was followed by a second and a third in 1802 and 1812, and in 1836 by three additional volumes. In addition to these she published at different times miscellaneous poetry, which was in 1841 collected into a volume. Her career as an author thus extends over almost half a century. A complete edition of her works in one large volume has been issued within a few weeks. To Miss Baillie and Wordsworth, more than to any others is to be attributed the redemption of our poetry from that florid or insipid sentimentalism which was its prevailing characteristic at the beginning of the present century. They boldly asserted, by precept and practice, the superiority of nature over all affectation and conventionalism. "Let one simple trait of the human heart," says she in the Introduction to her first volume, "one expression of passion genuine to truth and nature, be introduced, and it will stand forth alone in the boldness of reality, while the false and unnatural around it fades away upon every side, like the rising exhalations of the morning." Her dramas are wrought wholly out from her own conceptions, and exhibit great originality and invention. Her power of portraying the darker and sterner passions of the human heart has rarely been surpassed. Scott eulogized "Basil's love and Montfort's hate" as a revival of something of the old Shaksperean strain in our later and more prosaic days. But her dramas have little in common with those of Shakspeare, so full of life, action, and vivacity. Their spirit is more akin to the stern and solemn repose of the Greek dramas. They have little of the form and pressure of real life. The catastrophe springs rather from the characters themselves than from the action of the drama. The end is seen from the beginning. Over all broods a fate as gloomy as that which overhung the doomed House of Atreus. Her female characters are delineated with great elevation and purity. Jane de Montfort--with her stately form which seems gigantic, till nearer approach shows that it scarcely exceeds middle stature; her queenly bearing, and calm, solemn smile; her "weeds of high habitual state"--is one of the noblest conceptions of poetry. Miss Baillie was a conspicuous instance of high poetic powers existing in a mind capable of fulfilling the ordinary duties of life. Among her friends were numbered most of those whose genius has adorned their day. Her modest residence at Hampstead was sought by visitors from all parts of Europe, and especially from America, attracted by admiration of her genius, and love for her virtues. In her has set one of the last and brightest stars of that splendid constellation of genius, which arose during the early part of the present century.

LITERARY NOTICES.

Lippincott, Grambo & Co. have issued the third edition of _California and Oregon, or, Sights in the Gold Region_, by THEODORE T. JOHNSON, a work which has deservedly met with a favorable reception from the public, and which can not fail to be highly appreciated by the emigrant to the shores of the Pacific. The author describes the incidents of his voyage to Chagres, the journey across the Isthmus, his stay at Panama, and his observations in the Gold Regions, in a spirited and graphic style, which renders his volume no less amusing than instructive. The chapters devoted to Oregon are full of valuable information, and form not the least interesting portions of the work. In the opinion of the author, Oregon is destined to be the permanent seat of American Empire on the Pacific coast. The tide of emigration to California is now setting in with gradual but increasing force toward Oregon, and of the thousands among the population of that territory who have visited the placers of the Sacramento, none have become settlers, but all have returned to resume their abode in Oregon. The statements embodied in this volume concerning the climate, soil, physical resources, and social condition of Oregon, by Hon. Mr. Thurston, the able Representative to Congress from that Territory, are distinguished for their good sense and practical character, and have already made a strong impression on the public mind. They should be taken into consideration by every one who proposes to establish his residence in the Farthest West.

_Mount Hope, or, Philip, King of the Wampanoags_, by G. H. HOLLISTER (published by Harper and Brothers) is a new historical romance, founded on the scenes of Indian warfare which occurred in the first century after the settlement of New England. The fruitful legends of that period, which present such rich materials to the novelist, are interwoven with the historical incidents of the day, in a tale of more than common vigor and beauty. The development of the plot is accompanied with numerous portraitures of real characters, some of which betray no mean powers of description, and predict the future distinction of the writer in this line of composition. Among the historical personages who figure in the story, are Whalley and Goffe, the regicide judges, who found an asylum for many years in Massachusetts, and who have left so many traditions of mysterious interest concerning their fate. A scene from the death-bed of the former presents a favorable specimen of the author's ability:

"On a beautiful peninsula, formed by the most graceful curve which the Connecticut (the loveliest of all the rivers that gleam among the hills of the north) makes in its long, winding journey to the ocean, stood the rural village of Hadley. It was situated upon the very point of the peninsula, with one main street running north and south, and abutting at either extremity upon the river. The settlement was then new, and had in it few houses; but most of them indicated, from their size and neatness, as well as from the degree of culture that surrounded them, the industry and comparative opulence of the inhabitants.

"On the eastern side of the street, and about midway between the arms of the river, stood the large, well-built mansion of Mr. Russell, the parish clergyman, almost hidden behind the branches of two magnificent elms of primitive growth. In the rear of the house was a lawn covered with apple-trees.

"It was about ten o'clock in the evening of the day mentioned in the preceding chapter, when a gentleman, closely enveloped in a long cloak that perfectly concealed his person, emerged from the tall forest-trees that skirted the river, and entered the orchard. At first, his step was rapid and bold, but as he neared the house, he walked with more caution; and on arriving at the garden-gate he paused, with his hand upon the latch, and looked cautiously around him. Having apparently satisfied himself that he was unnoticed, he passed noiselessly through the garden, and stepped over the little low stile that separated it from the house, stopped suddenly, and stamped his foot upon the ground. The earth beneath him returned a hollow sound, and the traveler, kneeling upon his right knee, commenced removing the rubbish that had been thrown so artfully over the spot as to elude the vigilance of any eye not acquainted with the premises. After he had cleared a space of about two feet in diameter, the clear moonlight disclosed the entire surface of a small trap-door, fastened by a strong padlock. He then pulled from his pocket a bunch of keys, tied together by a thong of deerskin, and, selecting the one that seemed to suit his purpose, applied it to the lock, which yielded readily to his hand. Lifting the door upon its rusty hinges far enough to admit his person, he placed his foot upon a short ladder, letting the heavy door gently down as he descended. The pit in which he had thus voluntarily shut himself was about six feet in depth, and walled in like a well. At the west side, and near the bottom, was a narrow channel or passage, of sufficient size to admit a full-grown man, running horizontally westward with side-walls, and covered with large, flat stones. Along this passage the mysterious night-wanderer crept softly until he came to another door, opening inward, and secured in a similar manner to the one that he had just passed. This he unlocked, and glided through the aperture, shutting and fastening the door carefully behind him. He was now in the cellar of the parsonage, which was so deep that he could stand upright without touching the timbers overhead. After groping about in the dark for some moments he discovered a small movable staircase standing against the wall, and leading perpendicularly upward. This he carefully ascended until he reached a third door, constructed of lighter materials than the others, which he easily raised with a slight pressure of the hand. He now found himself in a spacious closet, shut in with solid panels of oak. Letting the door noiselessly down, he stood a moment, and listened. Putting his ear to the wainscot, he could hear the indistinct murmur of voices in low but apparently earnest conversation. He heaved a deep sigh, and muttering to himself, 'I pray God it be not too late,' knocked distinctly with his heavy hand against the firm partition. The voices ceased, and he heard a light step cross the adjoining apartment, and then a knock against the wall corresponding to his own.

"'Who waits there?' inquired a voice from within.

"'Mr. Goldsmith,' responded the stranger.

"In a moment the door was partly opened from within by Mr. Russell, the proprietor of the mansion, who held a lighted candle in his hand, and who glanced stealthily into the closet, as if in doubt whether he could safely admit his visitor.

"'Thank Heaven!' exclaimed the clergyman, 'my expectations have not deceived me: you are with us at last.'

"'Ay, my son; the wanderer has returned. But you look pale--I am too late--tell me if he yet lives?'

"'He lives, but is fast sinking.'

"'And his mind?'

"'Is still wandering; but there are intervals--I should rather say glimmerings of reason; he spoke incoherently but a moment since; but he replied not to my words, and whether he was sleeping or waking I could not tell. His eyes were closed.'

"'I must see him: lead the way.' And opening wider the massive door, the gray-haired regicide entered the apartment of the invalid.

"It was a small but comfortable chamber, neatly carpeted, and furnished with a table (covered with writing materials and a few books), three large oaken chairs, and two beds, in one of which, with his face turned to the wall, as if to avoid the trembling rays of light that flickered upon the table, lay an old man, apparently about eighty-five years of age. As the evening was sultry, his only covering was a single linen sheet thrown loosely over him, from which his emaciated arm and small, livid fingers had escaped, and lay languidly by his side. His high, straight forehead, and calm features, which, from their perfect outline, neither age nor disease had robbed of their serene beauty, were pale as marble. The window was partly open to admit the cool air from the river, and the night breeze fanned gently the thin, snow-white locks that still lingered about his temples. The tall form of Goffe bent over him, long and silently, while he read with mournful earnestness the ravages of superannuation and disease in every lineament and furrow of the venerable face of his friend. Then, turning to the clergyman, who still remained standing by the table, he asked, in a voice choked with grief, while a tear sparkled in his bright eye, 'How long is it, my son, since he spoke intelligibly? Hath he inquired after me to-day?'

"'About one o'clock, when I brought him his simple meal, he roused himself for a moment, and demanded of me if 'I had seen his dear major-general;' but when I sought to prolong the conversation, and asked if he would see Goffe, his beloved son-in-law, he smiled, and said 'Yes;' but added, soon after, 'No, no: I have no son, and Goffe died long ago.''

"'Alas!' replied Goffe--seating himself, and motioning the clergyman to a seat that stood near him--'alas! I fear that my fruitless journey hath taken from me the privilege I most prized on earth--the administering of consolation to the last moments of this more than father.'

"'You call it a fruitless journey, then? And did you hear no tidings of the long-lost son?'

"'None: I have ridden over ground where the sound of my very name would have echoed treason; I have sought him out among men who, had they known the name of the seeker, would gladly have bought the royal favor by seizing and delivering over to the hands of the executioner the wasted, life-weary _regicide_. I have this very day encountered the mortal enemy of me and my race; but my arm struck down the wretch, as it has stricken down many a better man in the days of the Protector. He paid the price of his mad folly in the last debt to nature.'

"'An enemy! and slain! Have you, then, been discovered?'

"'Ay, an enemy to God and man. But did I not tell thee that he was dead? Death is no betrayer of secrets: the hounds that scented my blood, bore off his mutilated remains, but they will gladly leave them in the wilderness to gorge the wolf and the raven.'

"'Who is this fallen enemy?'

"'Edward Randolph.'

"'Edward Randolph! Have you met and slain Edward Randolph?'

"'I have slain him. You look wild--you shudder. Dost think it a sin in the sight of Heaven to stop the breath of a murderer? You start at my words, and the minister of God may well shrink from the weapons which the servants of the Protector have grown old in wielding. But, Russell, Justice always bears a sword, and Oliver only taught us to employ it as the meanest viper that crawls will use his envenomed tooth, to protect his writhing shape from the foot that crushes him.'

"'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal,' interposed the clergyman.

"'Self-defense is the first law of our nature, Russell. But self-defense, when roused against a tyrant, or the minions of a tyrant, and in behalf of a goaded and maddened people, to inspire them with hope and freedom, and lift their eyes to the pure light of heaven, is the sentiment of a Christian patriot, and God will approve it. But let us awaken our aged friend, and try if we can marshal his scattered thoughts for a last conflict with the enemy of man.'

"He walked the room a moment, to banish, by more tranquil thoughts, the frown that still lowered upon his brow and the gleam that had lighted his dark eye--the reflex of many a bloody field; and walking slowly up to the bed of the sick man, stooped over him, and passed his brawny hand over the pale forehead of the sleeper. 'Awake, father, awake!--Dost thou not know that thy son has returned? Let me hear thy voice once again.'

"The invalid turned his face suddenly toward the light, and, opening his eyes, stared wildly at Goffe, but showed no signs of recognition.

"'Speak, Whalley: do you know me?'

"At the sound of his name, the old man started up, and rising upon his elbow, cried, in a voice that rang hollow as the echo of the sepulchre, 'Who calls Whalley? Was it my Lord Cromwell? Was it the Lord General? Tell him that I am ready with two hundred good troopers that carry pistols at their holsters and swords at their girdles.' Then raising his arm, with his small attenuated hand clenched as if it grasped the weapon of which he raved, he continued with increased energy, 'Up, my merry men! to horse! hew the roisterers down!--one more charge like that, and we drive them into the morass!--There again--it was well done--now they flounder man and horse in the dead pool--call off the men. They cry quarter--shame on ye--'tis murder to strike a fallen foe! But I wander. Who called Whalley? Sure I have heard that voice ere this.'

"'It is your son: it is Goffe.'

"'Peace, man! I know thee not. There _was_ a Goffe, who stood once by my side in the armies of the Protector, and who sat with me in judgment upon the tyrant; but he was attainted of high-treason, and hanged--or, if not, he must have died in the tower. My memory is poor and treacherous; I am _old_, sir; but you look--"

"'Hear me, father. Do you remember under whose charge the Stuart was placed at Hampton Court?'

"'Do I _remember_ it!' quoth he. 'Ay, do I, as if it were but a thing of yesterday. Yesterday! better than that. Sir, I have forgotten _yesterday_ already: my thoughts live only in those glorious days; they are written on the tablets of the brain as with a diamond. But what was I saying? It has escaped me.'

"'The Stuart, father--'

"'Who had the Stuart in charge at Hampton Court? _I_ had him, and thought the game-bird would sooner have escaped from the talons of the falcon when poised on the wing, than he from me. But some knave played me false, and for love or gold let the tyrant slip through my hands. And, sir, to own the truth, he was a princely gentleman; and after his escape he wrote me a loving letter, with many thanks for my gentle courtesy and kindly care of him. Yet his phantasy was ever running upon trifles: for in that very epistle he begged me to present in his name a trumpery dog as a keep-sake to the Duke of Richmond. Had it not been for such light follies and an overweening tyranny, he might have ruled England to this hour.'

"Goffe now perceived that he had hit upon the right vein, and proceeded to ply him with reminiscences of his earlier manhood.

"'Had you e'er a wife?'

"'The wife of my youth was an angel. What of her, but that she is dead, and I desolate? Or who are you, that venture to thrust my grief upon me unasked. You tread upon the ashes of the dead!'

"'Pardon me: I wound, that I may heal. Had you ever a daughter?'

"'I had several, but I can not recall their names. Yet I am sure there must have been more than one.'

"'Was not one of them made by your consent the wife of William Goffe?'