certain will escape the scrutiny of less refined critics of the gentle art of song.' . . SOME newspaper' down east' has been instigated to hint that the lively and gossipping New-York correspondence of the Washington National Intelligencer' is written by JOHN NEAL! As if it were possible to mistake the pleasant style of Mr. WILLIS, for the labored yet slovenly no-style of 'OMNIUM SCRIBLERIUS!' One might as well attribute the authorship of Thanatopsis' to 'Sir WILLIAM MARSH, of Apple Island, Boston Harbor!'... THE paper elicited by the article upon 'Forensic Eloquence' in our last number, is somewhat too kindred in character with that excellent performance, to be at present admissible. As the Ms. is left to our option, however, with permission to add, clip, or destroy,' we annex a passage which will be new to many of our readers: 'CESAR, who was himself an accomplished orator, and knew all the windings of the art, was so shaken on the occasion of TULLY'S oration, that he trembled, dropped his papers, and acquitted the prisoner. Many attributed this to the force of TULLY's elocution; but it seems rather to have been the effect of CESAR's art. He played back the orator's art upon himself. His concern was feigned, and his mercy artificial; as he knew that nothing could so effectually win TULLY to his party, as giving him the pride of having conquered CESAR.' In relation to the different styles of eloquence, the same writer observes: "The pathetic orator who throws a congregation of enthusiasts into tears and groanings, would raise affections of a very different nature, should he attempt to proselyte an American congress; and on the other hand, the finest speaker that ever commanded the House, would in vain point the thunder of his eloquence on a Quaker meeting. VOLTAIRE tells us, that in France a sermon is a long declamation, spoken with rapture and enthusiasm; in Italy, it is a kind of devotional comedy; in England, it is a solid dissertation, sometimes a dry one, which is read to the congregation without action or elocution.' A discourse which would raise a French audience to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, would throw an English one into a fit of laughter.' The D.'s story of 'The Whistling Bridegroom' is very good, but drawn too fine' for the strength of the fabric. Briefly, it is this: A clergyman is uniting two persons in marriage; and when he arrives at the point in the service where he directs the bridegroom to take the bride by the hand,' the former pays no attention to him, but looks steadfastly upon the floor, and indulges in a subdued whistle. The direction is repeated, but again the only notice taken of it is a continuation of the whistling, sotto voce. A third time the command is given, and the only response is the unique musical accompaniment aforesaid. The clergyman pauses, thinking himself intentionally insulted, when the blushing bride, who had doubtless been thinking of other things, raised her eyes, saying: 'He's deaf, Sir; and it's his way to whistle to himself, when he 's any thing on his mind!' explanation was satisfactory; and 'the deaf was made to hear the next repetition of the important direction.... PRETTY good,' but not quite probable, we think, the wonderful 'Lusus Natura described by our Kentucky correspondent! Did he really think we should nibble at that hook? There is a wind-mill, we are informed, on the coast of Holland, which lays eggs and breeds young ones; but its family is not near so remarkable as the Kentucky wonder of our new contributor! Would he have the goodness to try again?' We fancy it must have been with him that the western story of the 'Prock' originated; a singular animal, with its legs, on one side of its body, very short, to enable it to graze on the inclined planes of nature!' It was caught, we remember, by 'heading it,' which reversed the animal, and rendered his legs useless, by changing their position! Vive la Bagatelle!・・・ THE recent death of Hon. HUGH S. LECARE is an event which deserves a particular record in these pages. He was one of the ripest scholars of whom the Union could boast; and in all regards reflected high honor upon our literature. He always wrote from a full mind. Let any one turn to the papers which he furnished for the 'Southern Review' and our own New-York Quarterly, and it will be seen how forcibly they illustrate the justice of this encomium. Had Mr. LEGARE lived, our readers would soon have had an opportunity of admiring his literary performances in the pages of the KNICKERBOCKER. In a late letter to the Editor, written only a few days previous to his leaving Washington for the last time, Mr. LEGARE incidentally exhibits the patient research of which he was about to reap an adequate reward, in the new and high career of public service upon which he had entered. 'My studies,' he writes, 'have for many years been of a very severe and serious cast, looking all of them, more or less, to useful results in active life, and most of them connected with political economy and jurisprudence.' Works of recondite research and striking views, such as those of NIEBUR, SAVIGNY, and others of that illustrious German line, had richly furnished his adversaria and port-folios; and it was from these that he was to have enriched and diversified our pages. The death of such a man, in the prime of life and in the midst of his usefulness, is a public loss, which cannot fail to be widely and deeply felt. Honorable and high-minded in all the relations of life, Mr. LEGARE met his last hour with perfect composure. In dying as in living, he was the admiration of his friends. We saw the other day what its possessor termed a ‘Dogberry-o'type likeness' of MILLER, the Prophet - a counterfeit presentment of a cunning old humbug, ‘on its very face. Its exhibition led to a story of one of MILLER'S converts, which we thought worth remembering. A matter-of-fact old gentleman in New England, whose wife was a thoroughgoing 'Destructionist,' was awakened out of his sleep by his 'possessed' rib, one cold and stormy March night, with: Husband! did you hear that noise? It's GABRIEL a-comin'! It's the sound of his chariot-wheels!' 'Oh, psha! you old fool!' replied the gude man; 'do you s'pose GABRIEL is such an ass as to come on wheels, in such good sleighing as this? I tell you it's the wind; turn over, and go to sleep!' We believe she did... THE Confessions of a Belle' is not a new title, and it strikes us that we have encountered some of its incidents before. The lesson, howbeit, is an excellent one THEODORE HOOK speaks forcibly to this point, in a portrait of one of his female characters: With all this blaze of notoriety, did any body esteem her particularly? Was there any ONE man upon earth who on his pillow could say, 'My GoD! what an angel is FANNY WILDING! Had she ever refused an offer of marriage? No! for nobody ever had made her one. She was like a fine fire-work, entertaining to look at, but dangerous to come near to; her bouncing and cracking in the open air gave a lustre to surrounding objects, but there was not a human being who could be tempted to take the exhibition into his own house.... IF 'J. P. S.' will look once more at our remarks, touching which he begs leave to demur,' he will find that we differ very little from himself. His pride of opinion runs to a point, and reminds us of a reply we once heard a quaint old Friend make to the eager question of a group around him, touching the relative speed of two steam-boats which were running a race, and a very even one, through Long Island Sound. 'Don't you think we 've gained on her, in coming the last forty miles?' 'Yes,' replied the Quaker, with great gravity; 'I should say we had.' 'Well, how much, should you think?' 'I may be mistaken,' responded our Friend, but, I should say, about an inch! We believe this close observer' was not again appealed to for his judgment in the premises. . ... WE do not much affect parodies, generally, but the following, from the London ‘Charivari,' is too good to be lost. It is entitled 'The Macadamized, and is set to the air of The Monks of Old: ' MANY have told of the reals of el4. For it woes beyond the Slouch of Despond, And it grows. ha ha! to your clothes, ha ha! | 6 And when it is fine, if the sun should shine. For it turns to dust, and at every gust And it tries, as it dries, in a cloud to rise, 6 'The Croton Fever,' by 'STRAWS, JR.' has good points. Some of its humor is rather fine,' certainly, but only because it is strained. The satire, however, is in one instance just. A friend in a sister city, recently returned home from a visit to New-York, writes us that he is henceforth a Baptist, greatly preferring immersion to sprinkling, of which latter practice of ours, he entertains a vivid recollection. In short,' he writes, I never saw such a set of incorrigible squirts as you have in Gotham. Morning and evening, every householder, who can afford it, stands before his door, playing with his machine; now deluging the walk, now the pavement, and anon flooding his doors, windows, and blinds with hissing streams of Croton. When you write DICKENS next, just tell him that the application of the douche to the pigs, from hundreds of Croton-pipers, has well-nigh driven those quadrupedal republicans from the thoroughfares. That's one comfort!' Ah! yes; and clean streets, and murmuring fountains, and cool side-walks, are comforts' also, 'which they of the adverse faction want.' The grapes are not sweet, and that's the humor on't! THE Idleberg chronicle' will be concluded in our next. The loss of a sheet of the copy (which has now been re-supplied by the author) is the cause of the delay. The fourth number of Meadow Farm' will also appear in our August number. The following papers are filed for insertion, or awaiting adequate consideration: 'Greek Epitaphs and Inscriptions;' 'The Doomed Ship; Thales of Paris;' 'Chronicles by an Antiquary; My Leg, a Sketch;' 'A Defence of the Pythagorean System;' The Novel-Reader;' 'Disguised Derivative Words in English; MARY MAY, the Newfoundland Indian;' 'An Old Man's Reminiscence;' 'Polygon Papers,' Number Ten; The Birth-Day,' by W. C.;' New Version of an Old Fable; 'The Count of Paris;' The Painted Rock;' 'The Hour of Rest;' 'Song,' by Lady ALICIA JANE SPARROW, Ireland; 'Orators and Bells;' The Maiden's Burial,' etc. The Consumptive' is both labored and common-place. 'Neanias' of Kentucky is not deemed admissible. . . . SEVERAL publications, among them a Lecture by EUGENIUS A. NISBET, delivered before the Georgia Historical Society at Savannah, in March last; 'A Voice from the Vintage,' by Mrs. ELLIS, etc., will receive attention in our next. Our Philadelphia Friend, in reply to N. S. D.,' shall have a place in the August number. LATE PUBLICATIONS OF THE BROTHERS HARPER. - Independent of the serial works of the HARPER'S, their ALISON, BRANDE's Encyclopedia, etc., which they continue to publish with their wonted regularity, and in their accustomed style of excellence, we have before us, in a large and well-executed volume, 'A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,' illustrated by numerous engravings on wood, and containing numerous additional articles relative to the botany, mineralogy, and zoology of the ancients; by CHARLES ANTHON, Esq., the American editor; a work of too comprehensive a scope and of too great value to be despatched in so brief a notice as the present; and M'CULLOCH'S 'Universal Gazetteer, or Dictionary,' geographical, statistical, and historical, of the various countries, places, and principal natural objects in the world; illustrated by seven extensive and complete maps on steel.' Each article is written with fulness; the arrangement is concise and clear; and the work may be referred to on the instant for any subject embraced in its pages. We should be more indebted to the editor of the American department if he would give us his valuable facts unconnected with his opinions. His sneer at the voyages of discovery in the north-west, in connection with his reference to a ship-canal across the isthmus of Darien, is in bad taste, to say the least of it. Narrow views in relation to great public enterprises which may chance to be unsuccessful, are out of place in a noble work like this of M'CULLOCH, even though they appear in the 'questionable shape' of acknowledged annotation. COBB'S JUVENILE READERS.- Mr. LYMAN COBB deserves well of his country, and especially of its juvenile citizens, for the several excellent school-books for the young which he has prepared with great industry and tact, and from time to time put forth. We find on our table his three progressive Juvenile Readers; and judging from the necessarily cursory examination which we have been enabled to give them, we have no hesitation in pronouncing them the best works of their class we have ever encountered. The author has taken great pains so to arrange the different lessons as to lead the child by a regular gradation from easy to difficult reading; to adapt the subjects to his advancement; and to place before him such matter, and such only, as shall convey to the juvenile mind correct views, and just principles of morality. All words of variable or doubtful orthography are also carefully exhibited. There are numerous other important merits, and improvements upon kindred works, to which we have neither time nor space at present to allude, but which we hope our readers will take occasion to find and admire in the works themselves. Mr. CALEB BARTLETT, corner of Platt and Pearl-streets, is the New-York publisher of Mr. COBB's series. NEW MUSIC: THE FORSAKEN.'- Mr. J. L. HEWITT, 239 Broadway, has sent us The Forsaken, a song sung with effect by Mr. SINCLAIR, and written and composed by JAMES LAWSON, Esq. The words' were originally furnished to the KNICKERBOCKER by their author, and were thence transferred to many American journals with cordial commendations. The music is, we think, of a highly pleasing character; and we are not surprised to learn that the Song' is in very general request. It is not given to every clever man, we can tell our friend and correspondent, to excel both in poetical and musical composition, as himself has done in the instance before us. We know, for example, a poet of the first water' who failed, on a memorable evening not long ago, in improvising a solo for a jews'-harp, then and there being in the hands of a legal friend, who was making the little instrument discourse most eloquent music.' It was rather a rich scene than otherwise. AGRICULTURAL PRIZE ESSAYS. A well-printed pamphlet of an hundred and forty pages lies before us, containing an Essay on the Preparation and Use of Manures,' and on 'Farm Management, by WILLIS GAYLORD, Esq., editor of The Cultivator,' one of the most widely circulated journals in the United States. The first essay is an elaborate consideration of the laws of nutrition; the preparation and distribution of animal, vegetable, and mineral manures; and the second is a well-digested compend of all the various kinds of information and directions necessary to the successful management of a farm. The useful pamphlet concludes with essays upon plans for farm-houses and out-buildings, (illustrated by several clearly-engraved wood-cuts,) by Mr. JOHN J. THOMAS, Macedon, New-York, Mr. G. D. MITCHELL, Salem, Conn., and Mr. T. M. NIVEN, Newburgh. BATTLE OF BUNKER-HILL. The small but very comprehensive volume recently put forth by Mr. C. P. EMMONS, of Charlestown, (Mass.,) containing Sketches of Bunker-Hill Battle and Monument, with Illustrative Documents,' should be in the hands of every American, who desires a record of this most important battle of the Revolution. In the preliminary remarks on the opening of the struggle, and the description of the great battle itself, there is nothing included that is irrelevant, while every thing is embraced that could add to the truth or force of the picture. The illustrative documents are of very great interest. On the English side, we have extracts from General Howe's orderly-book, letters from Generals GAGE and BURGOYNE, and several other British officers, together with divers grumbling extracts from the English newspapers, touching the result of the victory.' On the American side, we have the proceedings of the Committee of Safety, the accounts sent to England and to Congress, with descriptive letters from Colonel STARK, Mr. ISAAC LOTHROP, and Rev. Dr. ELLIOT. An account of the inception, progress, and final completion of the Monument, accompanied by a sectional engraving of the structure, appropriately closes the volume. FROISSART'S CHRONICLES.-Who that has ever read the stirring Chronicles of Sir JOHN FROISSART, but will rejoice to learn that an excellent edition of them, upon a new and clear type, and with all the original engravings, is being issued in numbers from the office of the New World? We have never found such a historian as Sir JOHN. Give him a battle to describe, a hero worthy of his pen to hand down to posterity, and what a love of his theme, what a personal enthusiasm, does he throw into his glowing records! We have sometimes thought that our worthy and worldrenowned progenitor, DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER, of blessed memory, derived no small portion of his fervent historical style from a familiar study of his great predecessor. Be that, however, (and every thing else,) as it may, here are the glorious 'Chronicles' of Sir JOHN FROISSART, accessible to all, for a comparative trifle; and the more who embrace this occasion to read them, the fewer stupid people will there be in the country-in our humble opinion. PORT-CHESTER SEMINARY.-This boarding school for young ladies and gentlemen is in Westchester county, in a beautiful situation, and of easy access from the city. It has now for its Principal, RUFUS H. BACON, A. B., a fine scholar, and well skilled in the discharge of his important trusts. The design of the Principal and his subordinate teachers is, to impart a full and thorough knowledge of the branches of a good English education; to fit young men for college and the counting-room; and to prepare the pupils for honor and usefulness, by softening their manners and improving their moral perceptions. Kindness and attention to their neatness, health, and comfort, are not lost sight of. The terms are low, though the references are very high, being all 'O. F. M.'-'our first men.' THE BOSTON CHRISTIAN WORLD.'We have looked through several numbers of this very various and well-supplied weekly journal, with invariable and increasing interest. It is edited, as we learn, by GEORGE G. CHANNING, a brother of the late lamented Dr. CHANNING, assisted by a number of Unitarian clergymen, and is widely sustained throughout the United States by the patronage and contributions of the members of that religious denomination. It is beautifully printed with a large, clear type, upon paper of a fine color and texture. The mechanical department is in the hands of an artist in his profession, to whose good taste and careful supervision this Magazine has heretofore been much indebted, and for which it here renders its acknowledgments. 'NEW PICTORIAL BIBLE.'- The Messrs. HARPER may well pronounce this 'the most splendid and richly-illustrated Bible ever published in the world.' It is to be issued on the cheap plan, in numbers, on foolscap folio sized paper, and will be embellished with sixteen hundred historical engravings, more than fourteen hundred of which are from original designs by CHAPMAN, made expressly for the work, and executed in the most finished manner, at an expense of over twentyfive thousand dollars! Those who subscribe early will have the advantage of proof impressions. A NOTICE of 'Classical Studies, or Essays on Ancient Literature,''The Karen Apostle,' and 'The New Purchase,' were in type for the present number, and will appear in our issue for August. ORIGINAL PAPERS. ART. I. GREEK EPITAPHS AND INSCRIPTIONS. BY HENRY C. LEA, ESQ., V. VIL. THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE: HARRY HARSON. NUMBER SIX, X. NOTH-EAST BY EAST. BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR, XI XII. LINES TO A CANARY BIRD. BY JOHN WATERS, XIII. MEADOW-FARM: A TALE OF ASSOCIATION. NUMBER FIVE, LITERARY NOTICES: 1. WINES'S ON THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE HEBREWS, EDITOR'S TABLE: 1. EARLY AND UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS OF THE LATE R. C. SANDS, 176 4. GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS, 1. THE QUAKERS vs. THE PURITANS. 2. AIMLESS TALKERS: DOING THE LITERARY RECORD: 'WASHINGTON, A NATIONAL POEM;' TOWER'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE CRO- 180 181 182 |