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the river whence these sunshiny letters emanated, is that picturesque landing called Fishkill, opposite Newburgh, on the Hudson. Like many of the best books that have been published, the contents of this volume were not designed for publication in book form; they were what they profess to be, real letters from up the river, conveying news of no more important personages than Shanghai hens, and chronicling no more important events than the domestic accidents of a country parson. But these are important enough subjects for the embellishments of genius, which always loves to stoop to a humble theme; Dean Swift could write charmingly upon a broomstick, and the heel of an old shoe supplied a theme for Cowper; it is only swaggering talent that seeks to elevate itself by getting astride the shoulders of a lofty subject, where it shows like the dwarf on the giant's back. Mr. Shelton has a rich vein of pure comic humor, without the slightest alloy of satire or irony. His style is tender, graceful and quaint, and his humor is of that genial and sympathetic quality which sinks into the mind of the reader, without ruffling the placidity of his temper. The letters were originally published in the Knickerbocker Magazine, and they are prefaced with a characteristic dedication to the editor of that old and popular favorite. Mr. Shelton has not the slightest taint of affectation, but writes with the honest unreserve of a private correspondent, and makes all his readers feel as if they were the personal friends to whom he addressed himself. We are very well aware that advice to authors is an ill-bestowed commodity, but we cannot refrain from suggesting to the author of the Blood Stone, that he should eschew humor, and to the author of Up-river Letters that he eschew every thing else.

HOLIDAY BOOKS.-The literary gauds which expand their flowers in the holidays have almost become an extinct tribe; but there are a few of the better class which have blossomed this season, and among them is WEBBER'S Wild Scenes and Song Birds, whose twenty illustrations are most richly and beautifully printed in polychrome; the birds and flowers are exquisitely drawn and colored after nature by Mrs. Webber, and the text, by her husband, the celebrated Hunter-naturalist, is full of romantic poetry, and an intelligent love of nature. It is one of the prettiest gift-books we have seen, and one of the most intrinsically valuable. The Homes of American Statesmen, published as a companion volume to the Homes

of American Authors, is a much handsomer volume than that popular and elegant work, and is as full of interest for the American reader. The illustrations are more numerous, and the general style of the work more striking and beautiful than the first volume. The tinted paper on which it is printed has a very rich and beautiful effect, giving it the appearance of an antique work with all the luxury and elegance of modern type and delicacy of modern illustration.

-To a traveller who goes to England with the knowledge of its literature, history, and people, a month is as good as a year, for the purposes of book making; and Mr. HENRY T. TUCKERMAN has made a very readable and pleasant volume out of his observations in the "Mother Country" during that short period. His Month in England, recently published by Redfield, may be read with pleasure even by Englishmen themselves, for the first impressions are every thing with a traveller, and, let them remain as long as they will in a country, it is the first month that furnishes the materials for the book.

Few studies or investigations are more interesting than that of the antiquities of a place with which we are familiar, and Mr. D. T. VALENTINE, the worthy clerk of the common council for so many years, has furnished us an almost inexhaustible topic, in his "History of the City of NewYork." It is not a voluminous work, and yet it traces, with much clearness, the progress of the metropolis, from its earliest beginnings to its present florid development, giving us many rare and curious items, not of external events merely, but of the inhabitants of the island their names, occupations, family circumstances, and various personal fortunes. This narrative, which makes no great literary pretensions, is yet simple and animated, and is illustrated throughout by old maps, engravings, and town views, that are exceedingly valuable. Thus, we have an outline of the city in 1642, when the present Maiden Lane was quite in the woods; a ground plan of the fort, which was the first permanent structure in the island; a view of the New Netherlands, and the surrounding country, in 1656; representations of several of the principal buildings, taken at the close of the same century; and again, an actual survey of the city in 1755. In the letter-press we have also. besides the more strictly historical parts, biographical and local sketches, lists of early grants and deeds, names of attorneys,

physicians, and schoolmasters, between 1695 and the revolutionary war, estimates of the value of houses and lots, and many other curious particulars. Mr. Valentine's long familiarity with the city records has enabled him to bring together a mass of the most interesting information, for which he deserves the thanks of every Gothamite.

– Dictionary of English and French Idioms, illustrating by phrases and examples the peculiarities of both Languages, and designed as a supplement to the ordinary Dictionaries now in use, is the self-explaining title of a valuable work for the French student, from Professor Roemer, of the Free Academy. It supplies the want which every one interested in acquiring the French language has experienced, of some manual to show the relative force of idioms; which is an absolute necessity to every one who would speak that most universal tongue with elegance and case. complished scholarship of Professor Roemer certifies the great skill with which he has done the work. His own practical familiarity with the languages is the best possible guaranty of his fitness for the task.

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We have examined his work with care, and have no hesitation in saying that there has been no more useful manual laid before the public.

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-It is scarcely five years since a certain Indian territory was organized, at the West, and now we have before us a volume relating to it, called "Minnesota and its Resources." The author, Mr. J. W. BOND, appears to have travelled over the whole region he describes, and to be minutely familiar with every part. He assures us of the complete accuracy of all his facts and statements, so that they may be relied upon by emigrants who may be attracted to the new country by his glowing descriptions of its natural beauties and prospective wealth. After referring to the early history of Minnesota, and giving a general geographical view of its leading peculiarities and its agricultural advantages, he enters into an account of the principal towns, facilities of travel, Indian tribes, physical resources, &c., and concludes with a vision of what the territory is destined to become in the course of a few years. We say vision, and not dream, for we can discover no reason for doubting his prophetic truth. The work closes with some lively "sketchcs by a camp-fire," being notes of a trip from St. Paul to the Selkirk settlement on the Red River of the North, with a description of Prince Rupert's Land. As

a whole the work is one that contains a great deal of useful information, not to be had elsewhere, and brought together with skill and taste.

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-We have been attracted to a little book of receipts, called the "Invalid's own Book," not because we had any special need for such a work, but because, on opening it, our eyes rested on some capital recipes for the preparation of Sherry Cobblers, Mint Juleps, Rum Punch, and other "emulsions and drinks of a more nutritive nature." It is none of your thin and sallow disciples of the Maine Law that could have recommended such "strengthening draughts" for the invalid; nor does the writer mean to stint the convalescent as to quantity. Here, for instance, is the large outline of a milk punch: "Steep the rinds of eighteen lemons in a quart of rum, three days, close covered. Add three more quarts of rum, with the juice of the lemons, five quarts of water and five pounds of sugar. To these add two quarts of boiling milk. Let the whole stand two hours, closely covered. Strain it through

a jelly bag, and bottle it for use, add a few bitter almonds." It cannot be said that there is "an intolerable deal of sack "as in Falstaff's bill, but there is certainly no stinginess as to the rum, considering it is meant for the sick.

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of the life of a well-known negro of this city, Pierre Toussaint, whose devotion to his former mistress, as well as to every good cause, makes him a worthy subject of biography. It is rare that we find so much courtesy, gentleness, benevolence, good sense and honesty mingled in the same character, as was exhibited by this humble slave, under all circumstances of a trying and checkered life. It is a great service to his race, and a lesson to all men, to have recorded his simple story.

Under the title of "Spiritual Visitors," the author of "Musings of an Invalid, &c.," takes advantage of the current spiritual theories, to introduce the departed of all ages that they may discourse of the affairs of the present time. In other

words, his book is a new " Dialogues of the Dead," or a new "Imaginary Conversations," not remarkably brilliant, but still with some lively and agreeable passages in it, rare contrasts and ludicrous conceits. If the veritable" rappers" would only converse with half as much good sense and wit as these ghosts of Whimsiculo, their seances would be far more entertaining and profitable.

-It is really a contribution of no small value to English literature, this translation of GRIMMS' "Kinder und Haus Märchen," or Household Stories. Books for children are rarely written well,-legends and fairy tales least of all. But the Germans appear to have a knack in addressing the young, while none among them appear to have been more successful than the brothers Grimm. Their popular series has become the leading and standard publication of the kind in their own country, read by every body young and old, illustrated by the best artists, adapted by the playwrights for dramas, and even annotated by ponderous professors. In respect to the translation, we can say, that it is generally excellent, preserving the simplicity and spirit of the original, and as much of the quiet humor of the style, as a difference in the idioms of the two languages would allow. We cheerfully commend it to our young friends.

Dr. HICKOCK's treatise on "Moral Science" exhibits a profound and accurate acquaintance with its subject, a rare clearness of statement, and a ready command of precise and cogent terms. It is comprehensive in plan and liberal in tone, but it is not entirely satisfactory to us in its distribution of topics. Why are politics always treated as a mere subordinate branch of moral science? From the time of Paley down to that of President Way

land and Dr. Hickock, we find all the disquisitions of moral science including politics as a part of it which is unphilosophical. Politics is a science by itself, having its own distinct and definite objects, its own method, and its own scope and sphere. It involves simply the relations of men to each other, as they are organized into a state, and the fundamental idea of it is Justice or Equity; while moral science, as it is called, involves the moral qualities of actions, and has for its fundamental idea, Duty. Politics, therefore, relates to questions of social organization and civil administration, but moral science to questions of personal relation and life. We are firmly convinced that as long as the science of politics is not allowed an independent and substantive existence of its own, there will be no correct theory of legislation, nor a really good government. By complicating it with other subjects the minds of men are confused in regard to its proper means as well as ends.

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- All lovers of good eating-what a numerous class it is!-know of BrillatSavarin's famous book, called the "Physiologie du Goût," and will be pleased to learn that an American edition of it has been prepared by Mr. FAYETTE ROBINSON. It was among the earliest of those French works which treated gastronomy as a fine art, and we cannot recall any that has appeared since, more alive with vivacity, and more sparkling with wit. Its author was a member of nearly all the learned societies of France, and served in a great many legislative and legal capacities; he was a man, too, of eloquence, of character, of wide political influence; but nothing that he ever said or did is likely to give him so general and lasting a reputation as his brilliant jeux d'esprit on the art of eating. His personal history, by the way, was full of adventure and vicissitude, for after being a member of the Constituent Assembly, President of the superior Civil Court of Aix, Justice of the Court of Cassation, Mayor of Bellay, &c., he was driven into exile during the Reign of Terror, came to the United States, where he taught the languages in Boston, Philadel phia, Hartford, and New-York, and played the first violin at the Park Theatre,-and then finally returned to France to become a distinguished politician again, as Secre tary of the General-in-Chief of the armies of the Republic, and as Commissary of the Department of the Seine and Oise.

There are few authors of the present day who write with more earnestness of conviction than the Rev. CHARLES KINGS

LEY, Rector of Eversley in England, but better known as the author of Alton Locke. His mastery of language, his liberal and kindly spirit, his boldness in facing the most difficult questions of social life, his keen perception of character, and his occasional eloquence, give an originality and power to his books that place them among the best of the day. Hypatia, his last, is worthy of his fame. It is an attempt to describe, by means of a story, the struggle of the Church of the fourth century, against its own internal temptations and the overwhelming corruptions of the Pagan world. Hypatia, the heroine, was that celebrated female philosopher of the Eclectic School, whose extensive learning, elegant manners, and tragic end, have rendered her name memorable. She was the daughter of Them, a mathematician of Alexandria, who, discovering her extraordinary genius, had her taught in all the sciences and arts of the time. The reputation she soon acquired caused her to be invited as a preceptress to the school in which Ammonias, Hierocles, and other distinguished philosophers had presided. There, her vast crudition and graceful address won her a world of admirers, so that her house became the intellectual centre of Alexandria. Orestes, the governor, was among her friends, but she was bitterly opposed by Cyril, the patriarch of the Church, and, getting involved in the disputes which raged between the two dignitaries, she was one day assaulted by the adherents of the latter, torn almost limb from limb, and committed in that mangled condition to the flames.

It will be seen that the time and the subject allow the author a wide scope and an admirable opportunity for the exercise of his imagination, and we need scarcely say that he has made the best use of his learning. The life of those stormy days is brought vividly before us; the characters of the monks, the Jews, the heathen leaders, the philosophers, and the true Christians, are strongly contrasted; the deep religious questions involved are treated with masterly vigor and penetration, while the artistic effects are wrought out with exquisite beauty. In his exhibitions of the profligacy, the cruelty, and the selfishness of the era, he spares neither the Church nor the world; nor does he fail, at the same time, in showing the infinite superiority of the Christian doctrine to all schemes of philosophy, both as a purifying faith and a sustaining principle. There is a terrible pathos in some of the incidents too, which imparts a thrilling interest to the book as a mere narrative, VOL. III.-8

though its abounding merits lie, we think, in the vivid portraitures.

The French have had the monopoly of books relating to the captivity of Napoleon in St. Helena, and have given such sketches of the conduct of the British jailor, Sir Hudson Lowe, as suit their projudices. But Sir Hudson, it seems, sus picious of the representations that would be made of him, was cautious enough to preserve the material for his vindication. His memoranda, letters, and documents have been published by Mr. WILLIAM FORSYTH, and put quite another face on the question of treatment received by the French Emperor at the hands of his captors. The book is certainly a good do fence of the calumniated Sir Hudson,who figures so conspicuously and ludicrously in the melodramas of the minor theatres of the Boulevards, as some of our readers may have seen.

The Religions of the World and their Relations to Christianity, is the title of a small volume of discourses, preached as a part of the Boyle Lectures, by FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, the distinguished Professor of Divinity in King's College, London, who has recently been removed from his post on account of his heretical opinions on the subject of the eternal duration of punishment. He had doubts on the subject, and as the rulers of the University had not, they gave him good reason for believing in the eternity of intolerance in this world, let the case be as it may in the next. Professor Maurice's work is a short, but intelligent and original discussion of the principles of Mahometanism, Hindooism, the old Persian, Greek, and Roman faiths, and Judaism, and of their bearings upon the establishment of a pure and uncorrupted form of Christianity. There is a remarkable liberality in the tone of these lectures, as well as an unusual clearness and elevation of thought.

The author first attempts, and with much success, to discriminate the fundamental idea of each of the great forms of religion, and to account for the chief features they have developed. He finds that in each of these systems, at least in its purest form, the religious want of the soul has reached some glimpse of its real object. In opposition, then, to most religionists, he reverences a base of reality in false faiths. In equally marked opposition to a late form of disbelief, which regards all religions as the mere theological drapery with which certain moral emotions clothe themselves-he discovers that the sentiment towards an infinite spiritual objec

tive is precisely the elemental base and power of all theology, and any thing but an outward form. Here, however, though his aim is just, he does not seem to be quite master of his topic. Having settled what the false faiths are- he arrays them in honest collation with Christianity-thus discovering the true character of the revelation in Christ: and by fixing the amount of the element common to them and it, traces the way by which the one high, pure faith may enter powerfully through its points of contact into religions apparently the most alien.

From this he derives just judgments not only of the excellence of Christianity, but of the working of those characteristics which it shares with other religions; noting by their experience the tendency to excess or defect, and the same elements of ours.

So much has been said of the eccentricities and independence of Abernethy, that we are surprised no good biography of him has been printed. Mr. GEORGE MACILWAINS has tried to supply the deficiency in his Memoirs of John Abernethy, which besides giving an account of his life, presents a view of his lectures and writings; but his execution of the last is not the most successful. He is, in fact, strangely dull for one having so lively a subject in hand. Still he has managed to preserve some of the anecdotes of the famous Doctor's rudeness of manner, a few of which we extract. Abernethy, it seems, would sometimes offend (not so much by the manner as by the matter) by saying what were very salutary but very unpleasant truths, and of which the patient perhaps only felt the sting. There was a gentleman, an old fox-hunter, who abused Abernethy roundly; but all that he could say against him was: Why, sir, almost the moment I entered the room, he said: 'I perceive you drink a good deal' (which was very true). Now," added the patient, very naively, "suppose I did, what the devil was that to him!"

Another gentleman of considerable literary reputation, but who, as regarded drinking, was not intemperate, had a most unfortunate appearance on his nose, exactly like that which accompanies dramdrinking. This gentleman used to be exceedingly irate against Abernethy, although all that could be gathered from him amounted to nothing more than this, that, when he said his stomach was out of order, Abernethy said: "Aye, I see that by your nose," or some equivalent expression.

"Mr. Abernethy," said a patient. "I

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"Few old pupils will forget the story of the Major who had dislocated his jaw.

"This accident is a very simple one, and easily put right; but having once happened, is apt to recur on any unusual extension of the lower jaw. Abernethy used to represent this as a frequent occurrence with an hilarious Major; but as it generally happened at mess, the surgeon went round to him, and immediately put it in again. One day, however, the Major was dining about fourteen miles from the regiment, and in a hearty laugh out went his jaw. They sent for the medical man, whom, said Abernethy, we must call the apothecary. Well, at first he thought that the jaw was dislocated, but he began to pull and to show that he knew nothing about the proper mode of putting it right again. On this the Major began to be very excited, and vociferated inarticulately in a strange manner; when, all at once, the doctor, as if he had just hit on the nature of the case, suggested that the Major's complaint was on his brain, and that he could not be in his right mind. On hearing this, the Major became furious, which was regarded as confirmatory of the doctor's opinion; they accordingly seized him, confined him in a strait-waistcoat and put him to bed, and the doctor ordered that the barber should be sent for to shave the head, and a blister to be applied to the part affected.'

"The Major, fairly beaten, ceased making resist ance, but made the best signs his situation and his imperfect articulation allowed, for pen and paper. This, being hailed as indicative of returning rationality, was procured; and as soon as he was sufficiently freed from his bonds, he wrote- For God's sake, send for the surgeon of the regiment.' This was accordingly done, and the jaw readily reduced, as it had been often before. 'I hope,' added Abernethy, 'you will never forget how to reduce a dislocated jaw.'"

--LEIGH HUNT'S Religion of the Heart is not well received by the orthodox writers in England, because it seeks to substitute for the established liturgy a new one, in which the prayers and reflections are said to be more sentimental than devout.

- WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR, the veteran, now, of English prose writers, has just issued what he terms, The Last Fruit off an Old Tree, embracing many of his late political disquisitions and other miscellanies. It will be probably republished in this country by Ticknor & Co. of Boston.

- The second volume of ALISON'S His

tory of Europe is out. It brings the

narrative down to the time of Louis Napoleon. We may have a word to say of it when it gets on this side of the water. -HUFELAND'S Art of Prolonging Life,

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