Chapter XIX: Part THE SECOND (3)

From NEW MEXICO we have intelligence of some interest. It seems that the people, becoming impatient of the delay of Congress in acting upon the question of framing a government for them, and probably taking the hint from the declared sentiments of President TAYLOR, resolved to form a government for themselves. Public meetings were accordingly held, and resolutions adopted, requesting Governor MUNROE to call a convention of delegates from the several counties to form a State Constitution. Col. MUNROE accordingly issued a proclamation to that effect, and a Convention met at Santa Fé on the 15th of May. The session lasted eight or ten days, and a Constitution was adopted, which was to go into operation in July. The boundaries of the state were defined, and slavery was prohibited. An election was soon to take place for members of the Legislature. Two Senators and one Representative in Congress were to be elected, and application was to be made for the immediate admission of the State into the Union.

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Of LITERARY INTELLIGENCE there is little of general interest. The distinguished English novelist, Mr. G. P. R. JAMES, arrived with his family at New York on the 4th of July, and will spend several months in visiting different sections of the United States. There are very few Englishmen who would be more cordially welcomed to this country than Mr. JAMES. His long and most honorable and productive career as an author has made him universally known, and his works have been very widely read in the United States as well as in England. The officious and impertinent gossip of a portion of our newspaper press led Mr. JAMES to publish a note disclaiming the intention of writing a book upon this country. We regret that he should have found it necessary either to announce such a purpose, or to form it. This country has nothing to lose from the published observations of a man at once so competent and so candid. Mr. JAMES had for fellow-passengers Count DEMBINSKI, who was a major in the Hungarian service and nephew of General DEMBINSKI, whose name is so well known to the whole world in connection with that gallant but ill-fated struggle. Count D. was also aid to KOSSUTH, and fled with him, accompanied with his wife, whom he had married at Temeswar during the war, to Turkey, whence he came to this country. He is a young man of great talent and accomplishments, and will probably make the United States his home.--The anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence was celebrated on the 4th throughout the country with the usual demonstrations. Orations were delivered in nearly all the principal cities of the Union, some of which have since been published. The ablest one that has fallen under our notice was delivered by Mr. E. P. WHIPPLE before the authorities of Boston. He spoke upon Washington and the Principles of the Revolution, holding up the former as a model of greatness, combating the popular notion that he was not a man of genius, and dwelling upon the fact that our revolution was fought, not on abstract principles, or in the assertion of abstract rights, but for the redress of practical evils and the attainment of practical ends. It was a timely, able, and judicious address, and was marked by the peculiar vigor of style and of thought, injured by an occasional straining after effect in expression and phrases, which characterize the writings of Mr. WHIPPLE. Senator FOOTE, of Mississippi, delivered an address before the Washington Monument Association at the National Capital; it was a strong appeal on behalf of united and harmonious councils, and was both timely and effective. Hon. J. W. EDMONDS, of New York city, delivered the address at Washington's Head Quarters at New-burgh, which the Legislature of New York, very properly and creditably, took measures at the last session to preserve as a permanent monument of the revolution. E. A. RAYMOND. Esq. delivered an address at Rochester, which was a skillfully condensed summary of the growth of the country, and especially of its political development.--A new Historical Society of the Episcopal Church has just been formed at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., of which Bishop BROWNELL has been chosen President.--The inventor of the Ramage printing press, which, until superseded by subsequent improvements, was an important step in the progress of printing, ADAM RAMAGE, died at Philadelphia on the 9th of July. He was a native of Scotland, and was nearly eighty years old at the time of his death.--MARGARET FULLER, well known in this country as a gifted and accomplished lady, and author of several works of marked value and interest, perished on the 19th of July, by the wreck of the ship Elizabeth from Leghorn, in which she had taken passage with her husband, the Marquis d'Ossoli, and her child, in returning to her native land from Italy, where she had been spending several years. Her loss will be deplored by a large circle of personal friends, and by the still larger number of those who knew her only through her writings. She was the eldest daughter of Hon. Timothy Fuller, formerly a lawyer of Boston, but more recently a resident of Cambridge. She was remarkable for her thorough intellectual cultivation, being familiar with both the ancient and most of the modern languages and their literature--for the vigor and natural strength of her mind--for her conversational powers, and for her enthusiastic devotion to letters and art. She was at Rome during the recent revolution, and took the deepest interest in the struggles of that day. She had been for some time engaged upon a work on Italy, which it is feared has perished with her. Her husband and child were lost at the same time. Mr. Henry Sumner, of Boston, also perished.--RALPH WALDO EMERSON is traveling in the region on the Upper Waters of the Mississippi.--No original books of special interest have been published during the month. In our department of Literary Notices mention is made of those which are of most importance.--Mr. PRESCOTT, the historian, is traveling in Europe. He is announced as having been present at a recent meeting of the London Archaeological Society.--Mr. H. N. HUDSON, whose lectures on SHAKSPEARE have made him widely and favorably known as a critic, has been engaged by a Boston publishing house to edit a new edition of the works of the great Dramatist, which will be published during the coming year. Mr. Hudson's ability and familiarity with the subject will enable him to make a very valuable and interesting work.--GARIBALDI, who achieved distinction in the defense of Rome against the French, is coming to New York, where he was to be honored with a public reception from the authorities.--The capture of Stoney Point was celebrated this year at that place, for the first time. HUGH MAXWELL, Esq., of New York, delivered the address. The celebration is hereafter to be annual.--In no department of mechanism is the progress of the age more conspicuous than in printing presses, as is shown by the fact that Messrs. Hoe and Co., of New York, are now constructing a press which will work from 15,000 to 20,000 per hour. It will be thirty-three feet long, with eight printing cylinders, and will cost about $21,000.--A newly invented locomotive engine, intended for use in the streets of cities, has just been put upon the Hudson River Railroad at its termination in New York. It consumes its own smoke, and is entirely inclosed from public view--presenting the appearance of a simple baggage-car. The engine is of ninety horse power.

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News from LIBERIA has been received announcing that the government has at last been able to effect the purchase of the Gallinas territories, including the whole from Cape Mount to Shebar, except a small strip of five miles of coast which will soon fall into their hands. The chief importance of this purchase springs from the fact that Gallinas has been for many years the head quarters of the slave-trade--an enormous number of slaves having been shipped from there every year. The government paid $9500 for the territory, and further agreed to appoint commissioners to settle the wars in the country, and open trade with the interior tribes, as well as to settle among them and instruct them in the arts of civilized life. This may prove to be an important step not only toward the suppression of the horrible traffic in slaves, which the united efforts of England, France, and the United States have hither to been unable to effect, but also toward the civilization of Africa, a result to which no philanthropic mind can be indifferent.

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In ENGLAND by far the most important event of the month is the sudden death of Sir ROBERT PEEL. On the 29th of June he had called at Buckingham Palace to pay his respects to the Queen, and was riding away upon horseback, when his horse swerved slightly and threw him to the ground; he fell sideways, striking upon his left shoulder. He was at once raised up by several gentlemen who rushed to his assistance, and said that he was very much hurt indeed. He was taken to his residence and received all the attention of the highest surgical skill, which, however, was less effective than would have been anticipated on account of the intense pain which he suffered. He lingered until near midnight of the 2d July, when he expired. A partial examination of his body showed that one of his ribs had been broken and was pressing upon his lungs. His family declined a public funeral tendered by the government, and his remains were interred at Tamworth. Both houses of Parliament adjourned, and demonstrations of profound regret and respect for his character were general. An outline of his life and political career will be found in the preceding pages of this Magazine. His death is justly considered an event of great political importance. It was generally anticipated that he would soon be called upon to resume the office of prime minister, and universal confidence was felt in his large experience, his eminent ability, and his intimate acquaintance with the condition and events of the United Kingdom.

The Greek question was still under discussion at our last advices: it has led to events of no small importance in connection with the politics of England and the fundamental principles of the British constitution. On the 17th of June, in the House of Lords, Lord STANLEY moved a resolution censuring the government for having adopted coercive measures to enforce claims against Greece, doubtful in point of justice or exaggerated in amount. He supported his motion at great length, entering into a detailed history of the whole matter, and accusing the government of having, through its foreign minister, insisted on exorbitant demands, oppressed the weak, and endangered the peace of Europe. He was sustained by the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Brougham and others, and was answered by the Marquis of LANSDOWNE who, with others, defended the government. The resolution was _carried_ by 169 to 132, showing a majority against the government of 37. On the 20th, Mr. ROEBUCK called the attention of the Commons to the vote of the Lords, and desired to know whether the government would adopt any special course of conduct in consequence of it. Lord JOHN RUSSELL replied that they should not alter their course in respect to foreign powers at all, and that they did not feel called upon to resign because the House of Lords had passed a vote of censure. That house did not represent the nation: whenever the House of Commons should adopt such a resolution the ministry would quit office. On the 24th, for the purpose of enabling the Commons to express their opinion upon the subject, Mr. ROEBUCK moved a resolution declaring that the principles on which the foreign policy of the government had been regulated were calculated to maintain the honor and dignity of the country, and in times of unexampled difficulty, to preserve peace between England and foreign nations. The motion was warmly opposed by Sir James Graham and others, and was advocated with equal zeal. Lord PALMERSTON defended the foreign policy of the government in a speech of five hours, marked by great ability and eloquence. After going over the whole ground fully and in detail, he concluded by challenging the verdict of the house, whether the principles which had guided the foreign policy of the government had been proper and fitting, and whether, as a subject of ancient Rome could hold himself free from indignity by saying, "Civis Romanus sum," a British subject in a foreign country should not be protected by the vigilant eye and the strong arm of his government against injustice and wrong. The debate was then adjourned, and had not been resumed at our latest advices. The ministry seems very firmly to have taken the position that England can be governed without the House of Lords, and that its foreign policy is not to be shaped according to their wishes, but according to the popular will, as represented by the Commons. This position indicates the strong tendency which prevails in England even, toward popular and democratic government. Lord John Russell, on the 20th, also remarked, in reply to the intimation that the foreign policy of the government was calculated to foment differences between England and other nations, that he could answer for it that Lord Palmerston, so long as he should continue in office, would act not as a minister of Austria, Russia, France, or any other country, but as the minister of England. The declaration was received with great applause, not only in the house but throughout the country. It is understood that the diplomatic misunderstanding between France and England, growing out of the Greek question, has been settled. No other business of general interest in this country has been before Parliament during the month. Inquiries were made in both Houses as to the Cuban expedition, and the ministers stated that it was fitted out against the most strenuous efforts of the American government, which has, nevertheless, been very strongly censured for its inability to prevent it.--The government has issued orders restricting very considerably the posting and delivery of letters on Sunday, which has elicited very clamorous complaints in every part of the country. Lord BROUGHAM in speaking of the matter in Parliament, doubted the power of the government to issue such orders, and said that it was causing a vast increase of Sunday travel and work throughout the kingdom, as messengers were now dispatched to obtain indispensable intelligence formerly received by mail. Lord Ashley had carried a motion in the House of Lords to suppress Sunday labor in the post-office, by a vote of 93 to 68.--Sir Edward Buxton on the 31st of June, moved a resolution against exposing the free-grown sugar of the British colonies to unrestricted competition with the sugar of slave-trading countries. It failed, however, by 275 to 234.--A bill prohibiting intra-mural interments, has passed the Commons. The remaining transactions of Parliament have no general interest.

The Queen while riding with the Prince in an open carriage, on the 27th of June, was struck across the face by a respectably dressed man, armed with a small cane. Her bonnet was cut through, and a severe wound was inflicted upon her forehead. She attended the opera, however, in the evening, and was received with great enthusiasm. The assailant proved to be a discharged officer, named Robert Pate, subject to attacks of insanity. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to transportation for seven years.--Very shortly, fifteen screw steamers will ply between Liverpool and various ports in the Mediterranean.--Meyerbeer, the composer, has received the degree of Doctor from the University of Jena.--Dr. GUTZLAFF, who is preaching at Berlin and at Potsdam, on behalf of the Chinese mission, expresses a confident hope that the Emperor of Japan will be converted to Christianity.--Mr. CORBOULD, the artist, has received the commands of her Majesty to paint a large picture of the grand coronation scene in the opera of "La Prophete," as represented at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent-garden.--Mr. GIBSON, of Rome, now in England, has received an order for a colossal group, in marble, of figures of her Majesty, Queen Victoria, supported on either side by Justice and Clemency. The figure of the queen will be ten feet in height; the side figures, eight feet. This group will occupy a place in the new Houses of Parliament.--The Duke of CAMBRIDGE died on the 8th of July. He was the seventh and youngest son of George III., and was seventy-six years old at the time of his death.

Many accidents to vessels in the Northern Atlantic have arisen during the season from floating icebergs. The ship Oriental, of Liverpool, was lost, with all her crew and cargo from this cause, on the 27th of April; and on the 29th of March, the English ship Signet, with all on board, also foundered. Eighteen or twenty other vessels are known to have been lost in the same manner, their crews having escaped. New hopes of the safety of Sir John Franklin have been suggested by these reports. It is supposed that these vast fields of ice are portions of the slowly released masses, the growth of many preceding winters, which were first broken two winters ago by the strong southwest and southerly gales over all the North Atlantic and North Pacific; but which, in consequence of their bulk and extent, were again condensed before they could be fairly swept into the Atlantic, and thus offered continued obstruction to the release of Franklin and his ships. Nor would this appear to be impossible, assuming detention in the ice to have been the only danger, and that continued means of subsistence were accessible.--The Steamer _Orion_, plying between Liverpool and Glasgow, was wrecked June 18th, off Port Patrick, in a smooth sea, by striking upon a rock, and over two hundred lives were lost.--The baptism of the infant prince was celebrated June 22d, the Duke of Wellington being one of the sponsors, and the ceremony being performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who named the royal infant, "Arthur William Patrick Albert."

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The English LITERARY INTELLIGENCE of the month is summed up in the Household Narrative, from which mainly we copy. It remarks that the class of books which has received the largest additions, is that of biography. Mr. Edmund Phipps has published extracts from the diaries and literary remains of the author of _Tremaine_, with biographical and critical comment, under the title of "_Memoirs of the Political and Literary Life of Robert Plumer Ward_;" and the book has been made more interesting than the subject would have seemed to promise, by the fact of Mr. Ward's intimate connection, both in private and public life, with the leading tory statesmen of the administrations of Addington, Perceval, and Liverpool. The political and administrative characteristics of the Duke of Wellington have probably never had such vivid illustration.--Mr. Leigh Hunt has published his "_Autobiography, with Reminiscences of Friends and Contemporaries_," of which very copious extracts were given in the July number of this Magazine. It will be issued in a few days from the press of the Harpers. Some of it is the republication of a former work, but the greater part is original, or at least so changed by interpolations, recantations, or additions, as to produce the effect of novelty.--The Reverend Mr. Field, an enthusiast for the separate and silent system of imprisonment, has published a new _Life of Howard_, dedicated to Prince Albert, of which the design appears to be to counteract the evil tendency of a recent memoir of the philanthropist, remarkable for what the reverend enthusiast calls "the advocacy of democratic principles, and the aspersion of a godly prince."--Each in a goodly-sized volume, we have had a sort of general biographical notice of _Celebrated Etonians_, and of _Speakers of the House of Commons_, the first by an able man, quite competent to the subject.--Miss Pardoe has edited the first volume of a series of _Memoirs of the Queens of Spain_, of which the author is a Spanish lady, resident in America. An ingenious northern antiquary has published memorials of one of the old border mansions, called Dilston Hall, which amounts in effect to an interesting _Memoir of the Earl of Derwentwater_, who suffered in the Jacobite rebellion. And, finally, Mr. Andrew Bisset has done good service to both history and biography by a very careful publication of the _Memoirs and Papers of Sir Andrew Mitchell,_ Lord Chatham's embassador at the court of Frederic the Great, and one of the very ablest of English diplomatists.

To the department of philosophy a somewhat remarkable contribution is to be noticed, under the title of _The Progress of the Intellect as exemplified in the religious development of the Greeks and Hebrews_. The writer is Mr. Robert William Mackay. Its design is to explain by a rationalistic process all the religious faiths and beliefs which have exerted the greatest influence over man, and to refer them exclusively to moral and intellectual development. In this design the writer may, or may not, have succeeded; but it is certain, making all draw-backs on the score of what has probably been borrowed from German investigation, that the book has high pretensions to eloquence and research, and reminds us of a time when publication was less frequent than now, and a single book might embody the labor of a life. For its antidote in respect of opinion and purpose there has been published, not inopportunely, after a peaceful slumber of nearly two centuries in the library at Wotton, _A Rational Account of the True Religion_, by John Evelyn. Here the design is, by all possible arguments and authorities, to confirm our faith in Christianity.

We must speak very summarily and briefly of the publications in general literature. Of books of travel and adventure, the most attractive and interesting in point of subject is, _Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa_, by Mr. Roualeyn Gordon Cumming, a kinsman of the Chief of Argyll, in whom a love of deer-stalking seems to have gradually expanded into dimensions too gigantic to be satisfied with any thing less than the stalking of the lion, the elephant, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, or the rhinoceros. The book is filled with astonishing incidents and anecdotes, and keeps the reader very nearly as breathless with excitement as the elephant and lion-hunter himself must have been. Copious extracts from the work will be found in the preceding pages of this number.--Mr. Aubrey de Vere has published some very graceful _Picturesque Sketches of Greece and Turkey_; and the brave and high-minded old General Pepe has given the world, _A Narrative of Scenes and Events in Italy from 1847 to 1849_. Mr. Johnson, the distinguished geographer of Edinburgh, has issued the most complete _General Gazetteer of the World_ that has yet been comprised in a single volume; and as part of the republication of the treatises of the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, in separate and portable volumes, we have to mention an interesting volume on Greek Literature by Mr. Justice Talfourd, the Bishop of London, and other accomplished scholars.--In poetical translation, a new version of _Æschylus_ by Professor Blackie, of Aberdeen, has been issued; and in poetry, with the title of _In Memoriam_, a noble and affecting series of elegies to the memory of a friend (son of the historian Hallam), from the pen of Mr. Alfred Tennyson.

Considerable interest was excited by the unswathing of an Egyptian mummy at the residence of Lord Londesborough, at which Mr. Birch of the British Museum, describing the embalming process, and following in this the narrative of Herodotus, said the subject had evidently suffered from the use of bitumen and the application of heat, as the bones were charred and the muscles calcined. DR. CORMACK has published a letter in the _Athenæum_ expressing and sustaining the opinion that all mummies were prepared in this way.--A recent number of Galignani contains an interesting item of intelligence. It may be remembered that GOETHE in 1827 delivered over to the keeping of the Government of Weimar a quantity of his papers, contained in a sealed casket, with an injunction not to open it until 1850. The 17th of May being fixed for breaking the seals, the authorities gave formal notice to the family of Goethe that they would on that day deliver up the papers as directed by the deceased poet. The descendants of the poet Schiller also received an intimation that, as the papers were understood to concern their ancestor likewise, they had a right to be present. The casket was opened with all due form, and was found to contain the whole of the correspondence between Goethe and Schiller. It is added, that these letters are immediately to be published, according to directions found in the casket. A new society has recently been formed in London for the investigation of the laws and nature of epidemic diseases, of which Dr. Babington has been chosen President. Another has been instituted for the collection of facts, observations, &c, in Meteorology, of which Mr. Whitbread is to be the first President. ROGERS the poet was severely injured by being knocked down by a cab in the streets of London. Being 87 years old his case was considered precarious, though at the last accounts he seems to have partially recovered.--Several meetings have been held at the house of Mr. Justice COLERIDGE for the purpose of initiating a subscription to do honor, in some form, to the memory of Wordsworth, and have resulted in the formation of a powerful committee, with the Bishop of London at its head. The objects which this committee have in view are--to place a whole length effigy of the deceased poet in Westminster Abbey--and, if possible, to erect some monument to his memory in the neighborhood of Grasmere. The list of subscriptions is headed by the Queen and her Royal Consort, with a sum of £50.--Some singular decisions have recently been made by the Vice Chancellor. It seems that a Mr. Hartley deceased in 1843, left directions in his will that £300 should be set apart as a prize for the best Essay on "Natural Theology," treating it as a substantive science, and as adequate to constitute a true, perfect, and philosophical system of universal religion. It was ruled by the Vice Chancellor that this bequest was void, on account of the evident tendency which the essay so described would have to demoralize society and subvert the church. Another decision, arising out of the same trial, is yet more curious. Mr. Hartley had left £200 for the best essay on Emigration, and appointed the American Minister trustee of the fund. This bequest was also declared void, on the ground that such an essay would encourage persons to emigrate to the United States, and so throw off their allegiance to the Queen! The race of Justice Shallows seems not to be extinct.

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In FRANCE, after the passage of the electoral law, a bill was presented for increasing the President's salary to 3,600,000 francs per annum. Its introduction created considerable feeling. The committee to which it was referred reported in its stead a bill granting 1,600,000 francs to defray expenses incurred at the President's inauguration: and this was afterward modified so as to grant 2,160,000 for the expenses of the President, in which form it was adopted by the Assembly, by a vote of 354 to 308, a majority of 46 for the government. This is regarded as a government triumph, but it was not won until after a sharp struggle, and it has increased very considerably the public disaffection.--New laws for the restriction of the press have also been brought forward. The amount of caution money which newspapers are required to deposit is increased, and the system of postage stamps is introduced. During the discussion of these laws on the 8th of July, a scene of some warmth occurred in the Assembly. M. Rouher, in the course of a speech, spoke of the revolution of February as a great catastrophe, for which he was immediately called to order by Girardin, recently elected a member by the department of the Lower Rhine, as well as by others. The President refused to call him to order, but rebuked those who had interrupted him. The laws in regard to the press have been declared "urgent" by a vote of 370 to 251.--A man named Walker has been arrested on his own confession of a design to assassinate Louis Napoleon, for which purpose he had waited several hours for him to pass out of his gate. He proves to have been insane.--M. Thiers has been on a visit to London, where he was received with distinction. He visited Louis Philippe, whose health is said to be failing.

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In GERMANY the settlement of the Constitution makes little progress. The Saxon chambers were suddenly dissolved on the 1st, to evade a discussion in the Second Chamber on an address to the sovereign, expressing dissatisfaction with the conduct of the government on the German question; and the Second Chamber broke up in solemn silence, withholding the usual cheers for the king. The Wurtemburg Diet, for a similar reason, was prorogued on the 4th. The German senate has given its consent for the meeting of the Peace Congress at Frankfort, and its sessions will commence on the 23d of August. It is to be a New World's Convention of the Friends of Peace.

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The King of PRUSSIA has recovered from the wound inflicted by the assassin Sefeloge. A royal decree has been published at Berlin, curtailing still further the Freedom of the Press. The system of "caution-money" is re-established, with the government powers of canceling the license to sell newspapers, and of refusing conveyance by post to obnoxious journals; and certain offenses against the press laws are "withdrawn from the competency of a jury." Among the journals affected by the decree is the London _Punch_, which has been proscribed in the city of Konigsberg and its province, and placed on the list of journals that are no longer permitted to pass through the post-office.

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From PORTUGAL we have intelligence of difficulties with this country, growing out of claims on that government which have been in existence for many years. The amount claimed is about $300,000. The principal one grows out of the destruction of the American ship, the General Armstrong, during the war of 1812, by a British fleet, while lying in the neutral port of Fayal, and therefore entitled to the protection of the Portuguese government. According to the law of nations, Portugal is responsible for her failure to protect her; and although Great Britain is the party in equity responsible, the United States have to look, in conformity to law, only to Portugal. The claims have been unsuccessfully pressed for a number of years; but the administration of General Taylor demanded an immediate settlement. Our Chargé, Mr. Clay, under instructions, had required an answer to his demands within twenty days, and an American squadron had meantime arrived in the Tagus to enforce them. Some uneasiness was felt as to the issue, but it was believed that the Portuguese government would yield.

LITERARY NOTICES.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. Edited by William Beattie.
In two volumes, 8vo, pp. 1077. New York: Harper and Brothers.

This charming piece of biography is already familiar to the reading public in this country, from the copious and flattering notices it has received from the British journals and reviews. It will be welcomed in its present complete form by every lover of literary history, no less than by the admirers of the favorite poet of "The Pleasures of Hope." The author had _abundance of materials at his command_, and has executed his task with commendable industry and good taste. In any hands, the subject could not be without intense interest, and as it has been treated in the volumes before us, possesses a fascination rarely found in any recent production. Free use is made of the letters of CAMPBELL, many of which are of the highest order of epistolary composition, abounding in those delicate and expressive touches which reveal the heart of the man and the genius of the poet in the purest and most beautiful light.

The American edition is introduced by a letter of WASHINGTON IRVING to the publishers, in which our admirable countryman relates some personal reminiscences of CAMPBELL with so much felicity and exquisite grace, that we can not avoid transferring them to our pages:

"My acquaintance with Campbell commenced in, I think, 1810,
through his brother Archibald, a most amiable, modest, and
intelligent man, but more of a mathematician than a poet. He
resided at that time in New York, and had received from his
brother a manuscript copy of "O'Connor's Child; or, the Flower
of Love lies bleeding," for which he was desirous of finding a
purchaser among the American publishers. I negotiated the
matter for him with a publishing house in Philadelphia, which
offered a certain sum for the poem, provided I would write a
biographical sketch of the author to be prefixed to a volume
containing all his poetical works. To secure a good price for
the poet, I wrote the sketch, being furnished with facts by his
brother; it was done, however, in great haste, when I was 'not
in the vein,' and, of course, was very slight and imperfect. It
served, however, to put me at once on a friendly footing with
Campbell, so that, when I met him for the first time a few
years subsequently in England, he received me as an old friend.
He was living at that time in his rural retreat at Sydenham.
His modest mansion was fitted up in a simple style, but with a
tact and taste characteristic of the occupants.

"Campbell's appearance was more in unison with his writings
than is generally the case with authors. He was about
thirty-seven years of age; of the middle size; lightly and
genteelly made: evidently of a delicate, sensitive
organization, with a fine intellectual countenance and a
beaming poetic eye.

"He had now been about twelve years married. Mrs. Campbell
still retained much of that personal beauty for which he
praises her in his letters written in the early days of
matrimony; and her mental qualities seemed equally to justify
his eulogies: a rare circumstance, as none are more prone to
dupe themselves in affairs of the heart than men of lively
imaginations. She was, in fact, a more suitable wife for a poet
than poet's wives are apt to be; and for once a son of song had
married a reality and not a poetical fiction.

"I had considered the early productions of Campbell as
brilliant indications of a genius yet to be developed, and
trusted that, during the long interval which had elapsed, he
had been preparing something to fulfill the public expectation;
I was greatly disappointed, therefore, to find that, as yet, he
had contemplated no great and sustained effort. My
disappointment in this respect was shared by others, who took
the same interest in his fame, and entertained the same idea of
his capacity. 'There he is, cooped up in Sydenham,' said a
great Edinburgh critic to me, 'simmering his brains to serve up
a little dish of poetry, instead of pouring out a whole
caldron.'

"Scott, too, who took a cordial delight in Campbell's poetry,
expressed himself to the same effect. 'What a pity is it,' said
he to me, 'that Campbell does not give full sweep to his
genius. He has wings that would bear him up to the skies, and
he does now and then spread them grandly, but folds them up
again and resumes his perch, as if afraid to launch away. The
fact is, he is a bugbear to himself. The brightness of his
early success is a detriment to all his future efforts. _He is
afraid of the shadow that his own fame casts before him_.

"Little was Scott aware at the time that he, in truth, was a
'bugbear' to Campbell. This I infer from an observation of Mrs.
Campbell's in reply to an expression of regret on my part that
her husband did not attempt something on a grand scale. 'It is
unfortunate for Campbell,' said she, 'that he lives in the same
age with Scott and Byron.' I asked why. 'Oh,' said she, 'they
write so much and so rapidly. Now Campbell writes slowly, and
it takes him some time to get under way; and just as he has
fairly begun, out comes one of their poems, that sets the world
agog and quite daunts him, so that he throws by his pen in
despair.'

"I pointed out the essential difference in their kinds of
poetry, and the qualities which insured perpetuity to that of
her husband. 'You can't persuade Campbell of that,' said she.
'He is apt to undervalue his own works, and to consider his own
little lights put out whenever they come blazing out with their
great torches.'

"I repeated the conversation to Scott some time afterward, and
it drew forth a characteristic comment.

"'Pooh!' said he, good humoredly, 'how can Campbell mistake the
matter so much. Poetry goes by quality, not by bulk. My poems
are mere cairngorms, wrought up, perhaps, with a cunning hand,
and may pass well in the market as long as cairngorms are the
fashion; but they are mere Scotch pebbles after all; now Tom
Campbell's are real diamonds, and diamonds of the first water.'

"I have not time at present to furnish personal anecdotes of my
intercourse with Campbell, neither does it afford any of a
striking nature. Though extending over a number of years, it
was never very intimate. His residence in the country, and my
long intervals of absence on the Continent, rendered our
meetings few and far between. To tell the truth, I was not much
drawn to Campbell, having taken up a wrong notion concerning
him from seeing him at times when his mind was ill at ease, and
preyed upon by secret griefs. I had thought him disposed to be
querulous and captious, and had heard his apparent discontent
attributed to jealous repining at the success of his poetical
contemporaries. In a word, I knew little of him but what might
be learned in the casual intercourse of general society,
whereas it required the close communion of confidential
friendship to sound the _depths of his character and know the
treasures of excellence_ hidden beneath its surface. Besides,
he was dogged for years by certain malignant scribblers, who
took a pleasure in misrepresenting all his actions, and holding
him up in an absurd and disparaging point of view. In what this
hostility originated I do not know, but it must have given much
annoyance to his sensitive mind, and may have affected his
popularity. I know not to what else to attribute a circumstance
to which I was a witness during my last visit to England. It
was at an annual dinner of the Literary Fund, at which Prince
Albert presided, and where was collected much of the prominent
talent of the kingdom. In the course of the evening Campbell
rose to make a speech. I had not seen him for years, and his
appearance showed the effect of age and ill health; it was
evident also, that his mind was obfuscated by the wine he had
been drinking. He was confused and tedious in his remarks;
still, there was nothing but what one would have thought would
be received with indulgence, if not deference, from a veteran
of his fame and standing, a living classic. On the contrary, to
my surprise, I soon observed signs of impatience in the
company; the poet was repeatedly interrupted by coughs and
discordant sounds, and as often endeavored to proceed; the
noise at length became intolerable, and he was absolutely
clamored down, sinking into his chair overwhelmed and
disconcerted. I could not have thought such treatment possible
to such a person at such a meeting.

"Hallam, author of the Literary History of the Middle Ages, who
sat by me on this occasion, marked the mortification of the
poet, and it excited his generous sympathy. Being shortly
afterward on the floor to reply to a toast, he took occasion to
advert to the recent remarks of Campbell, and in so doing
called up in review all his eminent achievements in the world
of letters, and drew such a picture of his claims upon popular
gratitude and popular admiration as to convict the assembly of
the glaring impropriety they had been guilty of--to soothe the
wounded sensibility of the poet, and send him home to, I trust,
a quiet pillow.

"I mention these things to illustrate the merit of the piece of
biography which you are about to lay before the American world.
It is a great act of justice to the memory of a distinguished
man, whose character has not been sufficiently known. It gives
an insight into his domestic as well as his literary life, and
lays open the springs of all his actions and the causes of all
his contrariety of conduct. We now see the real difficulties he
had to contend with in the earlier part of his literary career;
the worldly cares which pulled his spirit to the earth whenever
it would wing its way to the skies; the domestic afflictions,
tugging at his heart-strings even in his hours of genial
intercourse, and converting his very smiles into spasms; the
anxious days and sleepless nights preying upon his delicate
organization, producing that morbid sensitiveness and nervous
irritability which at times overlaid the real sweetness and
amenity of his nature, and obscured the unbounded generosity of
his heart.

"The biography does more: it reveals the affectionate
considerateness of his conduct in all the domestic relations of
life. The generosity with which he shared his narrow means with
all the members of his family, and tasked his precarious
resources to add to their relief; his deep-felt tenderness as a
husband and a father, the source of exquisite home-happiness
for a time, but ultimately of unmitigated wretchedness; his
constant and devoted friendships, which in early life were
almost romantic passions, and which remained unwithered by age:
his sympathies with the distressed of every nation, class, and
condition; his love of children, that infallible sign of a
gentle and amiable nature; his sensibility to beauty of every
kind; his cordial feeling toward his literary contemporaries,
so opposite to the narrow and despicable jealousy imputed to
him; above all, the crowning romance of his life, his
enthusiasm in the cause of suffering Poland, a devotion carried
to the height of his poetic temperament, and, in fact,
exhausting all that poetic vein which, properly applied, might
have produced epics; these and many more traits set forth in
his biography bring forth his character in its true light,
dispel those clouds which malice and detraction may at times
have cast over it, and leave it in the full effulgence of its
poetic glory."

THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ANDREW COMBE, M.D. By George
Combe. Philadelphia: A. Hart. 12mo, pp. 424.

The remarkable popularity of the works of ANDREW COMBE on Physiology and Hygiene, in this country, will make the present biography an object of interest with a very large number of readers. It is written with singular impartiality, indeed with too little of the spirit of affectionate admiration, by the celebrated George Combe, whose own writings on the constitution of man and the observance of physical laws, have made him a general favorite in many intelligent circles, which have no peculiar interest in the special department of science with which his name has been identified. Each of the brothers has the merit of presenting important principles in plain language. With utility for their motto, they have written for the mass of the people, and, perhaps, have done more for the diffusion of popular knowledge, than many authors whose intellectual pretensions are far superior to their own. Destitute, to a remarkable degree, of every ray of imagination, with no approach to the creative power, which is the test of genius, their writings are marked with a robust common sense, a patience and clearness of statement, and a fertility of simple, homely illustration, which account for their deep impression on the popular mind.

In early life, the subject of this memoir displayed none of the brilliant qualities which give promise of future eminence. He was shy and reserved in his manners, and with no facility in the use of words, though often showing a certain droll humor in his actions. His progress in learning was slow, though this may be ascribed in part to the injudicious method which was pursued in his education. While engaged in his medical studies, he first made the acquaintance of Dr. Spurzheim, an event which decided the direction of his mind for the remainder of his life. This soon ripened into intimate friendship, which was cherished by frequent personal intercourse with Spurzheim during a visit at Paris. He at once became a zealous convert to the doctrines of Phrenology, making them the basis of his medical practice, and his anthropological system.

From an imprudent exposure to cold, Dr. COMBE'S health early received a severe shock, from the effects of which his system never fully recovered. His subsequent life was that of an habitual invalid. He was forced to maintain a constant battle with disease. While spreading the principles of health in a multitude of households, wherever the English language is spoken, by his lucid writings on the subject, he was scarcely permitted for a single day to enjoy the inestimable treasure. He, consequently, spent no small portion of his time in traveling in different countries, visiting France, Belgium, Germany, and the United States, and his letters and observations during these various tours constitute one of the most interesting features in the present volume. His death took place on the 9th of August, 1847.

He left the character of a man of sterling integrity, excellent judgment, admirable candor and fairness of mind, a single-hearted devotion to truth, and a disposition of rare kindness and disinterested humanity. His biography will be read with satisfaction, by those who feel themselves indebted to his writings. It is simple, honest, unpretending, like its subject. With the singularly prosaic mind of Mr. George Combe, no one can expect to find it animated with any living glow. It records the life of a public benefactor, but with as little freshness or enthusiasm, as if the author were giving a Phrenological lecture on a collection of skulls.

DR. JOHNSON; HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE AND HIS DEATH. New York: Harper
and Brothers. 12mo, pp. 405.

The author of this volume is not surpassed by Boswell in reverence for "the Great Old Samuel," but happily is not infected with his puerilities. His book is a favorable specimen of the right kind of "Hero Worship," dealing tenderly with every relic of the departed, and religiously gathering every precious tribute to his memory. It reproduces a variety of characteristic events and scenes in the life of DR. JOHNSON, without having the air of a compilation. No source of information seems to have been overlooked, while the labors of previous writers are so digested and arranged as to give the effect of an original production. The main subject to which the volume is devoted, is the illustration of Dr. Johnson's religious character, but numerous attractive episodes are also introduced, which relieve it from all tendency to monotony. The last incidents in his life are described with peculiar interest. Several chapters are wholly occupied with his Churchmanship, and under different heads, we have a spirited description of his humanity, his treatment of dissenters, his views of monastic life, his sympathy with Roman Catholics, and his superstition, all the statements being fortified with quotations from his own language. Various questions of collateral interest are discussed by the author, as suggested by the topics under review, and are usually treated with equal ability and religious feeling. The work will doubtless be received as a valuable complement to our Johnsonian literature.

* * * * *

_Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution_, published by Harper and Brothers, has reached its fifth number, and fully sustains the wide reputation which it has acquired, as an elegant, spirited, and instructive work on American history. The union of narrative and description, which forms a leading feature of the series, is managed by Mr. Lossing with remarkable dexterity, and gives a perpetual charm to the composition. In the five numbers already issued, we have a graphic survey of the scenery and historical reminiscences of the portion of the State of New York and of Canada, which is embraced within the routes of our fashionable summer tourists. They describe the principal theatre of the French and Indian Wars, and many of the most interesting localities of the American Revolution, including Glenn's Falls, Lake George, Ticonderoga and Champlain from Whitehall to St. John's, Montreal, Quebec, the St. Lawrence to Kingston, Lake Ontario, Niagara, and a part of the Upper Valley of the Mohawk--all truly classic ground to the lover of American history. Whoever would obtain an accurate and indelible impression of the great battle-grounds of the Revolution, while seeking recreation in a summer jaunt, should not fail to make these beautiful numbers his traveling companions.

Harper and Brothers have reprinted SYDNEY SMITH'S posthumous Lectures entitled _Sketches of Moral Philosophy_, which is introduced with a commendatory letter by Lord Jeffrey, written but a few days before his death, wherein he says that these Lectures "will do their author as much credit as any thing he ever wrote, and produce on the whole a stronger impression by the force and vivacity of his intellect, as well as a truer and more engaging view of his character than what the world has yet seen of his writings. The book seems to me to be full of good sense, acuteness, and right feeling--very clearly and pleasingly written--and with such an admirable mixture of logical intrepidity, with the absence of all dogmatism, as is rarely met with in the conduct of such discussions." The versatile author discusses a great variety of topics, slenderly connected it is true, with Metaphysics or Moral Philosophy, and on this account has left a far more readable volume, than if it had been rigidly devoted to the questions which it professes to treat. His remarks are always lively, pointed, and apposite, betraying a familiar knowledge of the world, and a quick perception of the bearing and character of current events, while their caustic wit is usually attempered with an inexhaustible fountain of good humor.

We have received _The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil_, volume 2d, from the veteran editor of whose zeal and ability in maintaining the doctrine of "harmony" and mutual dependence between all the great branches of domestic industry, it affords abundant evidence.

Mr. Skinner contends, with every appearance of assured conviction, that as our country spreads over so many latitudes, and embraces climates and resources more various and abundant than any other, our policy, too, should be peculiar; and that instead of importing iron, cloth, and other manufactures, for which we have materials, or capabilities inexhaustible, we should import _men_, as the best of all importations, whose demands, while occupied with other industries, would create a steady and remunerating market for the products of agriculture, which, he insists, would be, of all things, the surest guarantee for improvements in the _art_ of terra-culture. This enterprise is one of the ablest of the kind, to illustrate the importance of placing the consumer by the side of the agriculturist; and whether reference be had to the long services of the editor in the cause of cultivators of the soil, or the earnestness and power with which he and his correspondents enforce their doctrine, there can be no hesitation in saying, that those who unite with them in opinion will do well to give encouragement to _The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil_. It is but justice to add, that it is well printed on fine paper, giving no less than 64 pages monthly, at the rate of $5 for two subscribers, or $3 for one. Edited and published by that old and tried soldier in the cause--the founder of the first agricultural journal in the United States--J. S. SKINNER, 79, Walnut-street, Philadelphia.

Phillips, Sampson, and Co. have published a new edition of _The Rebels_, one of the earliest and most popular novels of the admirable Mrs. Child. Its character is too well known to authorize criticism at this time, and its reproduction in the present edition will gratify the troops of friends, with whom the author is a distinguished favorite.