cal journals have called in question his impartiality. That he has produced a full, clear and attractive history of the most extraordinary epoch of modern times, is allowed on all hands. The Messrs. Harper have commenced the republication of this valuable work in monthly numbers of about one hundred and fifty pages each. They are enclosed in neat paper covers, with a very appropriate wood-cut decoration. The print and paper are good, and the shape and arrangement very convenient.

The low price of twenty-five cents each will place the sixteen numbers within the means of thousands; and we cannot doubt that an enterprise so judiciously adapted to the times, and so rich in useful entertainment, and authentic as well as important information, will be most liberally sustained by an intelligent public.

HISTORY OF CHARLES VIII., KING OF FRANCE. Philadelphia: Herman Hooker.

"The reign of Charles VIII. is distinguished as one of the most remarkable periods in French history. It was the age of the centralization of power, and of the triumph of royalty." Count Segur, well known for his vivid and elaborate sketch of Napoleon's Russian campaign, has illustrated this epoch in the memoirs of the King. They contain a variety of valuable information, and the student of history will find them useful for reference and agreeable in perusal. The work has been carefully translated by Richard R. Montgomery, and is neatly printed in two convenient volumes. The same publisher has recently issued, in handsome style, several theological works, and among them "Bickersteth's Family Prayers," and a pamphlet referring to the late charge of the Bishop of Oxford-both from the last London editions.

NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. By Authority. D. Appleton & Co. and Wiley & Putnam.

1942.

This is a noble evidence of official enterprise tastefully directed. Governor Seward deserves great credit for the pains he has taken thus to illustrate the natural resources of New York. It seems to us, however, that the distinctive value and interest of the work is, in no small degree, lessened by the palpable want of attention to the local features to which it should be limited. We allude particularly to the introduction, which, we presume was drawn up by the Governor himself. It contains a fund of valuable and authentic information, and we know of no other work that presents so complete and succinct a view of the scientific, political and educational facts relative to the Empire State. We only regret that these details were not strictly confined to the State itself and what belongs to it. It appears to us that the essential

value of works of this class depends upon a faithful observance of this rule. That it has been disregarded in the present instance, is obvious from a glance at that part of the introduction devoted to literature. Bryant, a native of Massachusetts, is claimed as a New York poet. The same is the case with Halleck, who is well known to have first seen the light in Connecticut. Orville Dewey, a Berkshire man, is ranged, with Stephens and Mackenzie, among the Knickerbocker travellers; and Lucy Hooper, whose young fame is the pride of the pretty village of Newburyport, is chronicled beside the Davidsons. There is no necessity for New York thus to look abroad for jewels to adorn her diadem. While in the departments of Satire and History, she can boast of an Irving; in Jurisprudence of a Verplanck; in Romance and Poetry, of Drake, Sands, Hoffinan, Street, Fay, Mrs. Embury and others,-with so many more illustrious names both in Science and Literature,-why mar the distinctness of her glorious annals, by enrolling those whom other states justly can appropriate and will hardly be disposed to relinquish? We make these remarks in no illiberal spirit. On broad American ground, we believe it desirable to encourage an honest and manly local pride. It identifies genius with scenes that hallow and perpetuate its creations. The generous rivalry in letters as well as arms of the Italian republics, was one great secret of their rapid growth and transcendent renown. Let every state and, if possible, every town, boast its gifted children. So shall a noble emulation be inspired and a wholesome ambition excited. Such publications as the Boston Book, the Rhode Island Book, &c., tend to throw a moral interest around the regions whose intellectual fruits they exhibit. There is a lamentable deficiency of ancestral feeling and local attachment in this country. Its encouragement would give more character to different sections of the land; and the physical resources, history and heritage of mind, would gradually be portrayed and illustrated in each state, until the several tableaux formed a grand national gallery, in which every American would linger with pride and delight. We hope the inadvertencies so obvious in this work will be corrected in future editions.

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUBOE, with special reference to Moral Tendency. Philadelphia: E. C. Biddle. 1843.

A winsome book for the young, clearly printed and containing many fine wood-cuts, but not the Robinson Crusoe we once read with delight four or five times a year. If a ghost could protest, surely that of De Foe would be eloquently indignant at the liberties taken with his popular fiction. The world is certainly becoming too good for honest people to live in. This removing of ancient landmarks by re-modelling favorite books, to suit the excessive moral refinement of the age, is a kind of sacrilege. What right, we should like to know, have the boys and girls of to-day, or their guardians, to demur at the mental entertainment upon which their fathers and mothers grew strong and happy? We cannot feel a particle of reverence for the complacent worthies who are forever striving to make a good thing better. "Family Shakspeares" are our aversion. We have no opinion of the philosophy that would teach swimming without recourse to the watery element. Let the legacies of genius remain as they are left. If their influence is evil, banish them altogether. "Unfortunate Robinson Crusoe!" says the song, and so say we; not because of thy lonely island, and sad anniversaries, and warfare with cannibals, but because the wise of this generation, in the excess of their morality, will persist in modifying the delectable history of thy adventures, until all the fresh and bold features of the original are lost. How could any man, boasting a true heart, thus meddle with a time-hallowed story? Because he is "virtuous, are we to have no more cakes and ale?" For the babes of the age, this revised "Robinson" will prove an agreeable gift, but we advise all "children of a larger growth," who lovingly remember the original, to eschew the modernized and moralized edition.

THE SALEM BELLE: A Tale of 1692. Boston: Tappan & Dennet. 1842.

This little story possesses some local interest. It is from an anonymous source. The object of the author is to illustrate the extraordinary delusion which resulted in the sacrifice of so many victims of popular superstition, under the name of witches. The period to which the tale refers, abounds in materials for the novelist, and, in judicious and gifted hands, might be rendered fearfully interesting. The present attempt is of a more humble order, and contains some evidences of want of practice or ability in the author. To those, however, who find amusement in such fictions, it will afford entertainment. In the preface it is justly observed that "the elements of delusion always exist in the human mind." The simple narrative of "Salem Witchcraft," however, (as related, for instance, by ham,) appears to us, far more impressive, than

any but a truly powerful delineation of the subject, in the form of a drama, romance or tale.

THE GOLDEN VASE: a Gift for the Young. By Hannah F. Gould. Boston: B. B. Mussey.

"The scent of the roses" hangs round this vase. It is, without exception, the best juvenile keepsake of the season. Leaving out of view the elegant exterior, there is a healthful fancy and attractive style, both in the prose and verse, which cannot fail to win the attention and benefit the minds of the young. Miss Gould's playful vein is one of her best, and when she undertakes to entertain and instruct children, she is not less successful than with those mature auditors who ever welcome her lively and truthful effusions.

POETRY: a Satire. By Park Benjamin.

Some needful truths are ably told in this poem. We never heard a production of the kind more agreeably delivered. It won the interest of a large assembly at once. As an occasional poem, it possesses uncommon merit, although more time and study would have enabled its author to do better justice to his fine imaginative powers. The diction is worthy of high praise, with one or two exceptions, on account of its simplicity and clearness. We cordially echo Mr. Benjamin's spirited eulogium of our much-abused vernacular, the capacities of which many passages of his poem admirably illustrate.

FABLES OF LA FONTAINE. Translated from the French, by Elizur Wright, Jr. In two volumes. Boston: Tappan & Dennet. 1842.

The first octavo edition of this charming work was one of the most beautiful specimens of bookmaking ever executed in this country. Its price, however, rendered it unavailable as a popular work. The third edition, now published, is in two small and very neat volumes, and will undoubtedly meet with an extensive sale. We have had an opportunity of witnessing the indefatigable manner in which Mr. Wright pursued his long-cherished object of translating and publishing the fables of La Fontaine. The world have long acknowledged the peculiar merits of the original. Heretofore, English versions have been spiritless, from their prose diction. A large number of scholars certify to the accuracy of the present translation, and it is praised universally for the happy style in which the pleasant inventions of its author are set forth in English rhyme. The preface, index and illustrations are very appropriate, and the work cannot fail to find its way into all juvenile libraries and frequently to the hands of grave elders, who will delight

A peep into this book is enough to induce any imaginative man, with a competence, to set immediately about constructing a rural residence. The author's views are founded on experience and good taste. Indeed, his own cottage, at Newburgh, is the best possible evidence of his fitness to discuss the interesting subject so pleasingly unfolded in the volume before us. Most architectural works are devoted to buildings designed on a grand and expensive scale, and would be of little comparative value in a country like our own. Mr. Downing's descriptions and models refer to residences within the means of those whose pecuniary resources are limited. His arguments in favor of consulting principles of taste in the erection of country dwellings, are admirable, and whoever calls to mind the uncouth and inconvenient houses which disfigure so many fine American landscapes, will welcome this excellent guide to improvement where it is so much needed. At a period like the present, when so many individuals, from motives of economy, are removing from our principal cities to neighboring villages, or turning their attention to agricultural life, this delightful work will be particularly useful. It is handsomely printed, and the designs finely executed.

sense blend with an agreeable relish for the humorous. One secret of the charm of his writings is, that he is content to give us the material, the outline, and let us furnish the coloring and often the light and shade. He does not, like your conceited traveller, forever thrust his idiosyncrasies between the reader and the scene. The Messrs. Harper have spared no expense in the preparation of these elegant volumes; and the combined labors of author and artist render them quite unique specimens of the art of book-making.

THE TRUE LOVER'S FORTUNE, or the Beggar the Pont des Arts. Boston: James Munroe & Co. 1843.

We cannot find much to admire in the majority of continental romances, and doubt if the cause of good literature would suffer if they were less frequently translated. The story mentioned above is from the German, and is not without a certain kind of interest. It will afford amusement to those who are fond of somewhat exaggerated fictions, with enough truth to nature in them to awaken occasional sympathy.

THE SNOW DROP.

We hope the late appearance of this pretty little juvenile keepsake will not lessen its sale. It is written by Mrs. Osgood, whose excellent taste in providing useful and pleasant reading for the young is, we are happy to learn, about to find scope in a periodical exclusively devoted to children.

STEPHENS' CENTRAL AMERICA.

We have examined, with interest, the illustrations of this work, which will be issued in the course of a month. They are very numerous, and the details are executed with remarkable precision. Mr. Stephens is certainly the most fortunate of travellers. We do not allude merely to his rare good luck in escaping from fevers, banditti and the other dangers incident to wandering. The fickle goddess smiles upon him at home as well as abroad. From his first publication, an unparalelled degree of success has attended his labors. His last work has passed through eleven editions in England, and continues to sell at eight dollars a copy. This is better, even, than in the case of Dickens' American Notes, ten thousand copies of which were sold in London, on the day of publication, at a guinea each. Mr. Stephens well deserves both the praise and dollars he has won. He has had the rare wisdom to confine himself to his appropriate sphere. He does not describe foreign scenes with the exceeding minuteness of Mackenzie or the imaginative glow of Lamartine, because they do not strike his mental eye under such aspects. He gives us facts and pictures as they are distinctly reflected in a clear mind, where urbanity and good

HARPER & BROTHERS, in addition to the valuable historical series already noticed, continue their popular “ Family Library,” “ Brande's Dictionary" and "Library of Select Novels." To the former an important addition has recently been made"Smith's History of Education," which we commend to the attention of teachers and school committees; the latter places the standard popular fictions within the reach of that large class of readers who desire to consult, at the same time, economy and convenience.

Our best acknowledgments are due to Mr. Herwig for the fine musical composition he has kindly contributed to the present number of the Miscellany. In common with his numerous admirers, we heartily wish him every success in his efforts to elevate the popular taste in regard to the art of which he is so distinguished a professor.

A variety of articles and literary notices are unavoidably deferred.