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advance toward an understanding of them, it will yet be a satisfaction to study them and to combine increasing knowledge with that inborn love we devote to them as the cradle of Swiss freedom and nationality."

KARL THEODOR VON KUESTNER gives in his newly published Vierunddreissig Jahre meiner Theaterleitung (Thirtyfour Years of my Theatrical Management), a pretty complete view of the condition of the German stage, with an endless stock of anecdotes of actors and actresses. The difference between the mechanical and scenic resources of the stage at the time Mr. von Küstner began his career, is striking; but we do not find that dramatic art has advanced in any thing like the same proportion; he himself admits that the acting and singing of thirty years ago were about as good as those of the present day. And yet it would seem that the enormous sums which the governments of France and Germany spend in support of theatres ought to produce some improvement. The French government gives the Grand Opera $120,000 a year, or more than a third of its whole expenses, and to the Opera Comique, the Odeon, the Italian Opera, and the Theatre Français $10,000 each. The Prussian government gives the Royal Theatre at Berlin $100,000 yearly; this establishment Mr. von Küstner regards as the most perfect in the world, employing more persons and doing a more varied and extensive business than any other. In the little city of Mannheim, a place of 24,000 inhabitants, $10,000 is contributed to the theatre, the government paying a fifth and the municipal treasury the remainder. This is, of course, in addition to what is received at the doors as the price of admission.

-A complete account of the new way of raising and multiplying fish, discovered and practised in France, is given in a work by Dr. Haxo, published at Leipzic under the title of Die Befruchtung und Ausbrütung der Fischeier auf Künsetlichem Wege als eine der Nutzbringendsten entdeckungen dargestellt. It is illustrated with engravings.

-The fifth volume of the present scries of FREDERICK VON RAUMER'S Historisches Taschenbuch contains a number of interesting and valuable articles, first among which is one on the English in the Indian Archipelago, and especially in Borneo, by Dr. NEUMANN of Munich. RAUMER himself contributes an account of a journey to South America. Dr. SOLDAN

has an article on the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, which casts new light on that monstrous crime. The concluding article

of the book is by Dr. COLLOFF on Rembrandt's Life and Works, based on documents not used by former writers. The Taschenbuch this year fully sustains its reputation.

-Great attention will be roused, espe cially in the Catholic Church, by a pamphlet of which Prof. LEU, of Luzerne, is the author, entitled Warnung vor Neuerungen und Uebertreibungen in der Katholischen Kirche Deutschlands. (A Warning against Innovation and Extravagance in the Catholic Church of Germany.) The author we hold to be the ablest Catholic writer in the German language, as well as one of the soundest scholars in the Church. A great part of this pamphlet is occupied by local controversies; but such is the keenness of the satire, and the vigor of the reasoning, that it interests, if it does not edify, even the distant Protestant reader. Prof. Leu is a decided ultramontane, and contends that the attempt to separate the Church from the State, and under the pretence of rendering it more independent, is an error and absurdity, especially in Germany at the present time. The bishops, who are in the habit of declaiming against the Protestant governments under which they live, are handled with great severity, as contrary to the traditions and the interests of the Church. The Jesuits are criticized for their insubordination to the decrees of Rome, which they have manifested on several recent occasions in Germany.

-An excellent popular manual of astronomy is MEYER'S Die Erde in ihrem Verhältniss zum Fixsternhimmel, zur Sonne und zum Mond. (The Earth, in its relation to the Fixed Stars, to the Sun and Moon.) In no country has the popularization of the natural sciences advanced with such admirable rapidity as in Germany since the appearance of Humboldt's Cosmos. There are many works in regard to the various kingdoms of nature, which might very advantageously be rendered into English, and the present is one of them.

-We commend KLIPPEL'S Deutsche Lebens-und Characterbilder (Pictures of German Life and character) to whomsoever would read an agreeable collection of biographies of men, most of whose names are strange to him. The author covers the last three centuries in the plan of his work, and of course begins at the beginning in the first volume, which is now published.

-We learn that Tauchnitz of Leipsic has published an edition of Mr. R. B.

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Kimball's novel of St. Leger, or the Threads of Life, and that he has remitted a voluntary remuneration to the author, whose Romance of Student Life is about to be published by the same publisher. Tauchnitz has published editions of nearly every popular English author, and, unlike the Brussels and American piratical publishers, in all casés makes a remuneration to the author.

the growth of the arts which are not so called. The future uses of the Crystal Palace are not yet exactly determined upon; but agents are now in Europe to secure articles for another Exhibition, and it will, doubtless, become a permanent institution; that is as permanent as a bubble of glass ribbed with iron can be expected

to be.

FINE ARTS.

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Music and Art are now suffering syncope and awful pause," very natural to the excitement of the past season, for after such storms there must always come a calm. The Crystal Palace has fulfilled its mission and ceased to exhibit its wealth of artistic merchandise; the Opera artists have all deserted us to sing to the Cubans, the Mexicans, and the Peruvians, making discoveries and achieving victories that their great predecessors, Columbus and Cortez, never aspired to; Metropolitan Hall, the beautiful, the gilded cage that has held so many singing birds, has been burned down, and Jullien's grand bal paré has ended in smoke. Jullien himself has given his farewell concert, for the present, and gone South; Sontag is concertizing in the backwoods somewhere among the mocking-birds; even Powell's ( great national painting" has been taken to New Orleans; our "resident artists" are quietly preparing for the next exhibition, and there is nothing left for our public but Uncle Tom's Cabin, which has a fascination beyond the reach of philosophy to account for. The genius of Meyerbeer and the united talent of the best opera troupe that has been heard in New-York, failed to fill one place of amusement with paying audiences, while Uncle Tom fills three of our theatres nightly and gives fortunes to their proprietors, thus reversing the old proverb, for "the Prophet" was without honor in a strange country, while Uncle Tom is not without profit at home. We have not the shadow of a misgiving as to the future of Art in this progressing country of ours; but, at present, there seems to be a determination by our enterprising countrymen not to put too fine a point upon it, for all our art tends to a rather coarse development, and, instead of producing Sèvres vases and Gobelin tapestries, or operas and oratorios, we are rather ambitious to develope ourselves in the form of Pacific railroads and monster steamships. But these things call for artistic embellishments, and the fine arts will flourish all the more vigorously by

BOOKS RECEIVED.

GOD WITH MEN, or Footprints of Providential Leaders. By Samuel Osgood. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co. 1853.

THE DAY SPRING, or Simple Bible Instruction for the Least and Lowest. New-York, 147 Nassaustreet. 1853.

GOLDEN LINK, or Poems and Tales for the Young. New-York: Charles Scribner. 1853. GUSTAVUS LINDORN, or Lead us not into Temptation. By Emilie Carlen, with a Preface to her American readers by the authoress. From the original Swedish by Elbert Perce. New-York: Charles Scribner. 1953.

HARRY HARSON, or the Benevolent Bachelor. By the Author of the Attorney, with illustrations. New-York: Samuel Hueston.

TIP-TOP, or a Noble Aim; a Book for Boys and Girls. By Mrs. L. C. Tuthill. New-York: Charles Scribner. 1853.

OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY,
Illustrating the Historical portions of the Old and
New Testaments. By Edward Hughes, F. R. A. S.,
F. R. G. S. Philadelphia: Blanchard & Lea. 1858.
THE MYSTERIOUS PAROHMENT, or Satanic License.
Dedicated to Maine Law Progress. By Rev. Joel
Wakeman, Boston: J. P. Jewett & Co. 1853.
THE CONVENT AND THE MANSE. By Hyla. Boston:
J. P. Jewett & Co. 1853.
THOUGHTS TO HELP AND CHEER.

Nichols & Co. 1853.

Boston: Crosby.

SPARING TO SPEND, or the Loftons and Pinkertons. By T. S. Arthur. New-York: Charles Scribner. 1853.

AN ATTEMPT TO EXHIBIT THE TRUE THEORY OF CHRISTIANITY AS A CONSISTENT AND PRACTICAL SYSTEM. By William S. Grayson. New-York: D. Appleton & Co. 1858.

THE ART OF PORTRAIT-PAINTING IN OIL COLORS, with Observations on Setting and Painting the Figure. By Henry Murray. Now-York: W. Schaus. 1858.

THE JEW OF VERONA, an Historical Tale of the Italian Revolutions of 1846-49. Translated from the second revised Italian edition. 2 vols. Baltimore: John Murphy & Co. 1853.

LINES FOR THE GENTLE AND LOVING. By Thomas MacKellar. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 1853.

HOME FOR ALL, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building, new, cheap, superior, and adapted to New-York: rich and poor. By O. S. Fowler. Fowlers & Wells. 1854. LIFE SCENES, Sketches in Light and Shadow from the World around us. By Francis A. Durivage. With illustrations. Boston: B. B. Mussey & Co. 1859.

JANUARY AND JUNE. Being Outdoor Thinkings and Fireside Musings. By Benjamin F. Taylor. Illus trated. New-York: S. Hueston. 1853.

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THE FLUSH TIMES OF ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPL A Series of Sketches. By Joseph G. Baldwin. NewYork: D. Appleton & Co. 1853.

OLD ENGLAND AND NEW ENGLAND. In a Series of Views taken on the Spot. By Alfred Bunn. Philadelphia: A Hart. 1853.

THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIO TELEGRAPH; with an Historical Account of its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, also Practical Suggestions in Regard to Insulation and Protection from the Effects of Lightning. By Laurence Turnbull, M. D. Philadelphia: A. Hart. 1853.

LADIES' GLEE BOOK. A New Collection of Choice and beautiful Music in English, French, and Italian, with an Accompaniment for the Pianoforte. By Henry C. Watson. New-York: Lamport, Blakeman & Law. 1851.

THE HEARTH-STONE. Thoughts upon Home-Life in our Cities. By Samuel Osgood. New-York: D. Appleton & Co. 1854.

SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. A Tragedy of Eschylus. Edited with English notes. By Augustus Sachtleben. Boston: James Munroe & Co. 1853. ELEMENTS OF RHETORIC; Comprising an Analysis of the Laws of Moral Evidence and of Persuasion, with Rules for Argumentative Composition and Elocution. By Richard Whately, D. D., Archbishop of Dublin. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe & Co. 1853.

ART AND INDUSTRY, as represented in the Exhibition of the Crystal Palace, New-York, 1353-54. Showing the progress and state of the various useful and esthetic pursuits. From the New-York Tribune. Revised and edited by Horace Greeley. New-York: Redfield. 1854.

SCULPTURE AND SCULPTORS. By the Author of Three Experiments of Living. 2 vols. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co. 1854.

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OLD SIGHTS WITH NEW EYES. By a Yankee. With an Introduction by Dr. Baird. New-York: M. W. Dodd. 1854.

HAPS AND MISHAPS OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. By Grace Greenwood. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields 1854.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ACTRESS; or Eight Years on the Stage. By Anna Cora Mowatt. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields.

VANCONSELOS. A Romance of the New World. By
Frank Cooper. New-York: Redfield. 1853.
THE SPANISH WIFE A play in five acts. By Samuel
M. Snucher, of the New-York Bar. With a Memoir
and Portrait of Edwin Forrest. New-York: W
Taylor & Co. 1854.

LITTLE BLOSSOM'S REWARD. A Christmas Book for
Children. By Miss Emily Hare. Boston: Phillips
Sampson & Co. 1858.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS AT CHESTNUT HILL By Cousin Mary. Illustrated. Boston; Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1853.

BURRCLIFF; its Sunshine and its Clouds. By Paul Creyton. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1851. CARL KRINKEN: His Christmas Stocking. NewYork: G. P. Putnam & Co. 1859,

THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS; or the Boy Hunters in the North. By Captain Mayne Reid. With twelve illustrations. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fielda 1854.

POEMS AND PARODIES. By Phebe Carey. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1854.

PASSION FLOWERS. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1854.

DOVECOTE; or the Heart of the Homestead. By the Author of Cap Sheaf Boston: J. P. Jewett & Co. 1854.

PUTNAM'S MONTHLY.

A Magazine of Literature, Science, and Art.

VOL. III.-MARCH 1854.-NO. XV.

NEW-YORK DAGUERREOTYPED.

PRIVATE RESIDENCES.

PRIVATE dwellings in a country like

the United States, where every man labors for his own individual comfort, and not for the glory of the state, or the ambition of a monarch, offer the best evidences of the prosperity, the intelligence, and the general taste of the people. It is in the private mansions which are built, ornamented, and furnished to conform to the tastes, the incomes, and the exigencies of their occupants, and not in the public edifices that we must look for the true developement of the national taste.

The

case is different in other countries; even in England, the residences of the most noble and wealthy are of secondary importance when compared with the palaces of the monarch, and the edifices appropriated to state uses. But, a traveller from the old world sees at a glance, in landing in our city, that here every man is a monarch in his own right, and that palaces are built by the people for their own enjoyment and not for the comfort of a prince. Hence we have an immense number of very fine houses; which, in the aggregate, form streets of greater beauty than any city of the old world can boast of, but no single building to be compared with the splendid triumphs of architecture which constitute the glory and attraction of Paris. Splendors of architecture are not to be looked for here, excepting in the shape of bridges and aqueducts, until we shall have been educated to the point of discovering the superior advantages of a combination of interests in our private dwellings, to the present independent and isolated style of construction; when it shall be found that twenty or thirty families may live in a palace by combining their means, in the construction of one capacious dwelling, while they would be VOL. III.-16

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compelled to live in an inconvenient and plain house, if each one built separately. Our hotels are an indication of what might be done by the plan we have hinted at; but, in the mean while, we are living and learning at a very fast rate, and building, like bees, better than we know. The exigencies of our rapid growth, the sudden accumulations of large fortunes, and the instincts of our building architects, are daily manifesting themselves in some remarkable examples of architectural ingenuity and external ornamentation, which put all precedent at defiance, and set at naught established rules. New-York is continually rising like a phenix from the ashes, and, at each revival with increased elegance and splendor. The old economical style of buildings, without a shadow of ornament, which succeeded the more imposing structures of ante-revolutionary times have nearly all disappeared, and scarcely a vestige of old New-York remains. Stores and warehouses occupy the sites of the houses in which the last generation lived, and the new city has risen up like enchantment telling of new times, a new people, new tastes, and new habits. The old houses in Broadway were all of brick, and plain in their exteriors beyond belief; and the cheapest

colony houses" of the present day, built for the accommodation of poor emigrant families, are elegant structures, externally, compared with the city residences of our wealthiest families but few years since. Plain brick fronts have been succeeded by dressed freestone and sculptured marble; plate glass has become universal, and lace window drapery has displaced the old chintz curtains which onco flaunted their bright colors through small window panes.

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But

The introduction of pure Greek models into England and this country, produced some slight improvement on this plain brick style, and in houses of the best class exhibited designs similar in character to those in Bond and Great Jones streets. the most elegant Grecian mansion in New-York is, without doubt, that in College Place, at the corner of Murraystreet. The Grecian style, however, is not easily adapted to modern uses, though more so than the Egyptian, which has been less successfully adopted by Mr. R. L. Stevens in his house in Barclaystreet. The semicircular Corinthian portico of the house in College Place has a bold and graceful appearance, being ascended by a handsome flight of steps

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in front, to the old level of the College ground, on which it is built. Although

two stories of architraved windows are not in strict accordance with a single Grecian order of columns, we should have preferred them to the mere slits between pilasters which are made to serve for windows in this building. The conservatory to the right, and the dome upon the roof extend and raise the composition to a good proportion. The opposite view from Murray-street, in which the portico appears backed by the trees, is even more picturesque than the one here given.

Twenty years ago, the houses in Waverley Place, forming the north side of Washing ton Square were among the finest private dwellings in New-York. These somewhat resemble the Philadelphia style of building, being of the smoothest red brick, with white marble porches, steps, and lintels; -too violent a contrast of color, and made worse by the addition of green blinds, instead of the Philadelphia white or brown shades. But Waverley Place is still the most uniform and imposing side of a

College Place and Murray-street.

square that New-York can boast of, and presents a solid, respectable, and cheerful aspect; while the interiors of some of the houses, for spaciousness and decoration, are not excelled by many in the Fifth Avenue.

About fifteen years ago, the white marble colonnade row in Lafayette Place was pointed out as the most ornamental block of that part of the city. In itself, this Corinthian colonnade is undoubtedly of great beauty; but it darkens the rooms, is of expensive and not solid construction, and assumes too much the character of a single public building. The balcony railings ought not to have concealed the bases of the columns, but to have been placed between them, or else omitted.

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