parent glass, but which, in reality, is a truly beautiful and valuable diamond, weighing eighteen and threequarter carats, or seventy-five grains, measuring from extreme point to point rather above seven lines, and worthy of being styled a Nonpareil, if not an Om-i-noor, (sun of light,) not only because it is by far the largest ever found on the continent of North America, but more especially on account of its superior limpidness, which is nearly perfect, with the exception of a slight greenish tinge and a partial chafoyancy, arising from the salient edges of its apparently infinite number of laminæ, and in part, perhaps, attributable to the multiplicity of minute striæ, curvilinear, and straight lines, and the miniature graven equilateral triangles that embellish its surface, and most emphatically show exertions of power divine.'"

Such specimens of the "high-fellutin" are frequent in our exchanges. A writer in The Laurensville (S. C.) Herald, lately attended the examination of a female school in Laurens District, and was so completely enraptured with all he saw and heard, that he breaks forth in the following strain :

"At ten o'clock the procession was formed, all uniformed with white dresses, and badges of blue ribbon, the tallest in front, and so on alternately to the lastlooked grand in the sublimest degree. Like to the highest pinnacles of the Alps, decorated and adorned with heaven's beautiful robe of white, surrounded by its lesser points of notoriety, bedecked in all the magnificence of a snow-wreathed mountain. And as they proceeded, the mellifluent sounds of the sweet and consonant violin and flute caused the very hills and dales to echo and reecho; and if there should

Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands-Thoughts and Things at Home and Abroad-Puddleford and its People-History of Cuba-James Baird-Bohn's Serials-The Youth of Jefferson-Fifty Years in both Hemispheres-Florence Egerton-Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food for Man.

MRS. STOWE'S Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands have evidently not disappointed her readersthey sell well, we are informed. The English press is apparently in delight with them, and they meet a uniformly good verdict from our own critics. We pledge our readers a treat in reading these two volumes; albeit we cannot vouch for the engraved illustrations-they might have been printed better. Professedly partial as Mrs. Stowe's Sketches are, they are nevertheless exceedingly instructive as well as entertaining the shrewd observations of a sagacious and suggestive mind. Most of the literary and philanthropic notabilities of England figure in them, as usual in such books. Phillips, Samp

son & Co., Boston.

title of Puddleford and its People, have been issued by Mr. Hueston, in one volume, with several exceedingly well-designed illustrations. The work is from the pen of N. A. Riley. Its pictures are of the grotesque-satiric class, overdone occasionally, but full of genu

ine humor.

Phillips, Sampson & Co., Boston, have published the History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Trav eler in the Tropics, from the pen of Mr. M. M. Ballou. It comprises a well-prepared outline of the history of the island, relieved by entertaining sketches of its scenery and society. The pending questions respecting this important island will give unusual interest to Mr. Ballou's volume. It is a good authority for reference, as well as an attractive narrative.

James Baird; or, The Basket-maker's Son, is the title of a handsome little volume for the youngsters of the household; showing them the advantages of early virtue, as illustrated in a personal narrative. The story is well told, and embellished by several fine engravings. Carlton & Phillips, New-York.

We are indebted to Bangs, Brother & Co., New-York, for another batch of Bohn's serial volumes, comprising: First, India, Pictorial and Historical-a well-written narrative extending from the earliest date of East Indian history to our own times, and founded mostly upon the wellknown work of Miss Correr. The engravings amount to nearly one hundred, and are finely Second, The Miscellaneous Works of Dedone.

foe, with prefaces and notes, including those of Walter Scott. The present volume contains Captain Singleton and Colonel Jack. A very fine portrait embellishes it. Third, Devey's new work on Logic; or, the Science of Inference, a manual designed for popular use, but singularly able. It is a systematized view of the principles of evidence and the methods of inference in the various departments of human knowledge. Lastly comes another example of the classical series-a volume of Erotica, including Petronius, Propertius, and others, works of which the least said the better. Such illustrations of

ancient morals have their value no doubt, though a melancholy one; but their literal translation for popular use is a crime against good morals, and in the present instance would be indictable by the English laws against demoralizing publications.

The Youth of Jefferson is a chronicle of college scrapes at Williamsburgh, Va., not worth the reading. It is quite a contrast to the usual sterling issues of Redfield, its publisher.

One of the most attractive books of the year is unquestionably the translation from the German, of Fifty Years in both Hemispheres; or, Reminiscences of the Life of a Former Merchant. It is the autobiography of Vincent Nolte, late of New-Orleans. He is one of the most "remarkable men of the age." His narrative

extends over about seventy years, and some way or other connects him with most of the great events and great men of that long period. The amount of real information, useful and amusing, in the book, is immense, and it is thoroughly readable; but it is too marvelous to be true in all respects, and the writer's waywardness of life characterizes his pen.

Carter & Brothers have issued a very handsome volume from the pen of the author of "Clara Stanley," entitled Florence Egerton: or, Sunshine and Shadow. It is a spirited narrative ing some of the most important moral lessons of the personal career of a young girl, illustratgravings and neatly printed. of every-day life-finely embellished with en

One of the ablest treatises we have yet met, in the "vegetarian controversy, has been It is entitled Fruits and Farinacea the Proper recently issued by Fowlers & Wells, New-York. Food of Man, by John Smith, (the veritable man,) with notes and illustrations by Dr. Trall. It attempts to prove from history, anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, that the original, natural, and therefore best diet of man is derived from the vegetable kingdom. Our stomach proves to us the contrary; yet we give credit to the able author, and his still more able commentator, for having made out a "tremendous strong case" against us.

North-Western University-Periodical Literature--Uncle Tom and the Lamplighter-Literary Pensions -Prescott's New Work-An Old Printer-Gabriele Rosetti-Prescott's History of Philip II.-Benton's Thirty Years in the United States Senate-Alison's History of Europe-Book-publishing in EnglandFanny Fern's Leaves-Asbury University-Humboldt-Education in New-Hampshire-George Sand -Literature in France.

THE North-Western University, near Chicago, promises to be one of the most commanding literary institutions of the country. Its financial basis is large and substantial: the trustees report about $250,000 already provided; nearly $150,000 of which is in real estate; and they propose to extend the endowment to half a million. A Biblical Institute, on the University premises, but on a distinct financial basis, has already more than $100,000 pledged to it. The trustees of the University, at their last meeting, elected Rev. Messrs. W. D. Godman, U. S. Noyes, and A. Stevens, professors. Other professors are soon to be chosen. How far the services of those already announced may be contingent has not been stated; but we doubt not that an institution of such substantial promise can command all desirable ability. Rev. Dr. Hinman, whose labors in founding the institution have been indefatigable, is its president. Its scheme of instruction is comprehensive, and strikes us as devised with much wisdom. It includes the principal features of the new course of Brown University that is, in other words, the best

points of the European method. It is thus stated by the trustees:

1. A Classical Course of four years. 2. An Elective Course of four years. 8. A Scientific Course of four years.

The Classical Course and the knowledge necessary for admission to it, will be fully equal to that of any of the older colleges in the country, not excepting Yale or Harvard.

The Elective Course of four years will allow of se lections from a prescribed range of studies, on a plan similar to that recently adopted at Brown University and the University of Virginia. The same acquire ments will be necessary for admission as in the Classi cal Course, and no degree will be conferred without s full equivalent to the latter. It will be made the heav iest single course in the University.

The Scientific Course will embrace four full years, and in a portion of its studies will be parallel with the Classical Course. It is designed to impart a more extensive knowledge of the English language and literature, of mathematics and the natural sciences, and chemistry, together with a more practical application of the latter to agriculture and the industrial arts than is usual in most colleges.

Students, who are not candidates for a degree, or their parents or guardians for them, will be permit ted to select such studies as taste and utility may dic tate, or the designs of the future life require. With this privilege, the student may study what he chooses, and for a longer or shorter period as he chooses, provided he is prepared to enter the college classes of the studies selected, and is not idle on the one hand, nor too grasping on the other, and secures a complete knowledge of the branches selected before entering upon others.

To secure a degree in both the Classical and Scientific courses will require at least six years of ordinary college study after matriculation; nevertheless, the qualification of the student, and not the length of time

spent in the University, shall be the standard for a degree in either. After the University is fully organized, students will be admitted to advanced standing from other colleges on the usual conditions.

The following is the arrangement of professorships in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts:1. A Professorship of Moral Philosophy and Logic. 2. A Professorship of Intellectual Philosophy, Political Economy, and the Philosophy of History.

8. A Professorship of Rhetoric and English Literature.

4. A Professorship of Mathematics.

5. A Professorship of Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Civil Engineering, and kindred studies.

6. A Professorship of the Greek Language and Lit

erature.

7. A Professorship of the Latin Language and Lit

erature.

8. A Professorship of Chemistry and its Application to Agriculture and the Arts.

9. A Professorship of Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, Zoology, and kindred studies.

10. A Professorship of German, French, and other

Modern Languages and Literature.

11. A Professorship of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages and Literature.

12. A Professorship of the Fine Arts and Arts of Design.

18. A Professorship of Didactics-Physical Education, and Hygiene.

14. A Professorship of Natural History, Comparative Anatomy, and Physiology.

The publication of the "Penny Magazine,"

and of Chambers' Journal," in 1832, was concurrent with a general increase in the demand for periodical works. At the end of 1831 there were issued 177 monthly publications, a single copy of which cost £17 128. 6d. At the end of 1843 there were 236 monthly periodicals, a single copy of which cost £23 38. 6d. At the

end of 1853 there were 362 of the same monthly class, a single copy of which cost £14 178. 6d. In 1831 the average price of the monthly periodicals was 28.; in 1833, 18. 114d.; and in 1853, 94d. Can there be any doubt of the adaptation of periodical literature, during these years, to the wondrous extension of readers in England? The literature and engravings of the "Penny Cyclopædia" cost $210,000, but the speculation involved an enormous loss. It had been calculated that there would have been forty thousand purchasers, in which case the sale would have been remunerative. But one great defect was, that the publication extended over eleven years, during which interval the sale dwindled from fifty thousand to twenty thousand! Periodicals of a great run have all had a downfall in England.

The New Quarterly Review (London) places the "Lamplighter" as high as "Uncle Tom." It says the former is full of American "vulgarisms." Neither work gets much credit from this able journal.

A sum of £1,200 sterling, annually allotted by the British government for the purpose of literary pensions, has this year been bestowed as follows:-£100 a year to Sir Francis Head; £100 to Mrs. Moir, widow of "Delta," of Blackwood's Magazine; £100 to Alaric A. Watts; £100 to Dr. Hincks, antiquarian; £100 to daughters of Joseph Tucker, a Surveyor in the Navy, (not known in literature;) £80 to Rev. William Hickey, "Martin Doyle;" £100 to the widow of Sir Harris Nicolas; £50 to the widow of Dr. Glen, missionary; £100 to the widow of Oliver Lang, Surveyor in the Navy, (not known in literature;) £50 to the widow and daughters

of Joseph Train, antiquarian; £80 to the daughters of Dr. Macgillioray, naturalist; £50 to the widow of James Hogg, "Ettrick Shepherd;" £40 to the daughters of James Kenny, periodical litterateur; and £50 to Mrs. Lee, widow of Bowditch, the African traveler.

66

Prescott's New Work.-We are happy to learn, from the Boston Transcript, that William H. Prescott has finished the second volume of his History of Philip the Second," a work to which he has devoted himself for several years, and which, as the composition of his ripest powers, will doubtless prove to be his chef d'œuvre. The two volumes already completed will be sent to the press at once, and be published in the course of the autumn. The remaining volumes will be published separately, at intervals of about two years, and the whole work will probably embrace six volumes-not too many for so great and complex a subject.

An Old Printer.-M. Barth, printer of Breslaw, celebrated the present year the 350th anniversary of the first book printed in his establishment. This book is a German legend of some rank, and appeared in 1504. M. Barth's printing-office is the oldest in Europe, and has been for 350 years uninterruptedly in the hands of his ancestors and himself.

Gabriele Rosetti, one of the most distinguished Italian poets and prose writers of modern times, died in exile at London recently, at an advanced age. Signor Rosetti wrote a very elaborate commentary on Dante, which was condemned by the Papal Index at Rome as a heretical book. The author was a Protestant, and a strong be liever in evangelical doctrines; being blind, he dictated his poems to his daughter, who lives in exile to mourn the death of her beloved father.

The Boston Transcript: says that Mr. Prescott has already received offers from more than one London publisher for the English copyright of his History of Philip II.; and it is understood that Mr. Bentley has secured it, at a price which is probably greater than has ever before been paid in England for the copyright of an American historical work, namely, one thousand pounds a volume. It is, therefore, not only certain that American books are read in England, but also, which unhappily cannot yet be said of English books in America-that their authors receive more substantial rewards than mere increase of

reputation. The copyright will bring the distinguished author about thirty thousand dollars from Great Britain, and is the most emphatic answer yet made to the unworthy sneer of the English reviewer, who, years ago, wrote that short but bitter slander upon our country— "Who reads an American book?"

Mr. Bernstein, publisher of the Anzeiger, in St. Louis, is translating into German Mr. Benton's "Thirty Years in the United States Senate." He designs publishing an edition of two thousand copies.

The third volume of Alison's "History of Europe, from the Fall of Napoleon," &c., has appeared in England. Alison is a literary charlatan; intolerably diffuse in style, inaccurate in facts, tory in politics, personally conceited, and

is the judgment we have repeatedly given in these columns on his historical volumes. The last New Quarterly Review, London, (decidedly the ablest standard of literary criticism among the British Quarterlies,) slashes him into pieces. It says:

"The work is a scandal to modern history. Every successive volume serves only to illustrate the necessity of this judgment. A third instalment has just appeared, and, after the labor of reading it over, we lay it down with still increasing surprise. So much slovenly carelessness, gross ignorance, and offensive conceit, were never before allowed to scrawl their autographs, and call them history. Sir Archibald's instinct for blundering is too potent to be corrected by any industry in criticism. We have here all the old faults. Sir Archibald is neither industrious nor well-informed. He never strays away in search of a classical allusion, but he misconceives it when obtained, and distorts it in using it. Although he appears to have mastered the rudiments of French since we spoke to him last on that subject, his attempts to twist a French idiom into English are as amusing as ever. His geography is even worse than that taught by the Irish Education Board; for even that learned body does not, we presume, teach its scholars that Georgia is a part of Asia Minor. His references to history-we mean the great notorious facts, the bluff cliffs, high mountains, and glaring light-houses of history-are so shamefully inaccurate, that if a man were to talk as Alison writes, he would be hardly thought fit for the society of educated people. His ignorance of historical authorities is so dense, that he has actually never heard of the only original native history, and the only authentic collection of state papers, that treat of the periods he pretends to chronicle."

The critic admits these charges to be extreme, and scarcely credible; but proceeds to prove them by an overwhelming list of blunders-and pours a hail-storm of critical missiles upon the knighted historian.

From Charles Knight's "Old Printer and Modern Press," we learn that, in 1853, there were three times as many books published in England, as in 1828; that the comparative increase in the number of volumes was not so great, showing, that of the new books more single volumes were published; that the total cost of one set of the new publications had increased by more than one-half of the former cost; that the average price of each new work had been reduced nearly one-half; and that the average price per volume had fallen about 58. below the price of 1828. A further analysis of this Annual List shows, that of the 2530 books published in 1853, only 287 were published at a guinea and upward; and that of these only 206 were books of general information; while 28 were law-books, and 53 of the well-accustomed dear class of guinea-and-a-half novels. Decidedly the quarto dynasty had died out.

The London Athenæum says that the fact "of 175,000 Leaves of Fanny Fern having been sold in the United States, is the saddest satire it has ever read on America and Americans."

The following Professors were appointed at the last commencement of Asbury University, Indiana-Rev. Daniel Curry, D. D., President, and Professor of Mental and Moral Science. Rev. B. H. Nadal, A. M., Professor of English Literature and Normal Instruction. Rev. E. E. E. Bragdon, A. M., Professor of Latin Language and Literature. Rev. S. E. Ferris, A. M., Adjunct Professor of Law, and Principal of Preparatory Department. Hon. A. C. Downey, A. M., Professor of Law.

Alexander Von Humboldt.-A writer in Blackwood, thus describes this veteran :

unrecorded facts and thoughts, he labors daily in com"Age sits lightly upon his active head. Still full of mitting them to the written page,-for the grave, he tells you, waits him early now, and be must finish what he has to do before he dies. And yet he is as full at the same time of the discoveries and new thoughts of others, and as eager as the youngest student of nature in gathering up fresh threads of knowledge, and in following the advances of the various departments of natural science. And in so doing it is a characteristic of his generous mind to estimate highly the labors of others, to encourage the young and aspiring investigator to whatever department of nature he may be de voted, and to aid him with his counsel, his influence, and his sympathy. We found him congratulating himself on the possession of a power with which few scientific men are gifted-that of making science popular-of drawing to himself, and to the knowledge he had to diffuse, the regard and attention of the masses of the people in his own and other countries, by a clear method and an attractive style in writing."

There are in New-Hampshire 2,294 schools; 87,825 scholars; average wages per month of male teachers, exclusive of board, $16 42; of females, $7 18; children from 4 to 14 not attending school, 2,669; from 14 to 21 who cannot read or write, 428; school-houses built last year, 70; incorporate academies, 46; money paid for tuition in academies and private schools, $23,494 30; raised for public schools, $212,324.

The Paris correspondent of The Boston Atlas says that strange rumors have gone abroad of late concerning the determination which, after mature reflection, has seized upon George Sand, of retiring forever from the world and leading a religious life. For this purpose she is said to be now busy interbuilding and arranging her house in Berri for the reception of six ladies, whose conduct and government are to be subjected to the theory laid down by St. Theresa.

A French correspondent of an English periodical says:

"Perhaps nothing in France has received a greater shock from its recent revolutions than its literature, Most of the distinguished writers of the generation which is passing away have been involved in political disasters, and have been prematurely swept from the stage. Victor Hugo lives a broken exile in the isle of

Guernsey. Lamartine is almost forgotten. You some

times meet in Paris a half-negro whose hair has lost its color and become white, and who stoops alarmingly in the shoulders-it is Alexandre Dumas. This popular writer resides with his daughter, at the Maison d'Or, on the Boulevard, but has lately taken a small "hotel" in the Rue d'Amsterdam. I passed one evening on the Boulevard a gouty old man, bent almost double, who seemed hardly able to drag himself along; he was returning from the Divan, a sort of estamint, celebrated as a place of reunion for men of letters, and was pointed out to me as the celebrated critic Gustave Planch, but he looks now like a critic of the past. Alfred de Vigny, the author of St, Mars, is a tolerably constant attendant at the Academie Française, and still holds up his head comme un Saint Sacrement, to use a French phrase: his locks hang long, like those of the Franks described by Thierry; but, alas! they are no longer black. Emile Deschamps has retired to Versailles, where he cultivates his garden more than the muses. Sainte-Beuve has thrown himself into the Moniteur Universel, where he has turned a prophet of evil, and appears in wearisome articles, which are read only in the provinces. The bibliophile Jacob (Paul Lacroix) must also be classed among the forgotten ones, as well as his brother, who once enjoyed a reputation as a writer of romances and dramatic pieces, and who has Some of the married the sister-in-law of Balzac. writers of a higher class of literature remain, such as Guizot, Villemain, Augustin Thierry, and Victor Cousin;

but of these Guizot alone is active."

Important Railroad Inventions and ImprovementsAmerican Artists at Florence-The MicroscopeAsphaltum Researches at Pompeil-Crawford's Great Work-Greece and Washington-Etherization -Leutze's Statue of Washington-Dr. Elster.

A TRULY great reform has been introduced in London, which promises to let the sun shine into its streets, and which ought to be adopted by all our railroad and steamboat companies. By an ordinance of the government, the "smoke nuisance" is abolished; furnaces are to consume their own smoke. Steam-vessels on the Thames between London-bridge and Richmondbridge are to consume their own smoke. Constables may be empowered to enter and inspect furnaces and steam-engines. Soot is the great est nuisance in our own railroad travel, though the dust is bad enough; for the former, at least, there is no apology.

As steam conveyance is the great power of the age, all its improvements are preeminently important. To the above we are happy to add an item, apparently well authenticated, respecting Miller's invention for breaking cars. For some time past this invention has been in operation upon the Pontiac road. The apparatus consists simply of a steam-pipe extending from the locomotive to a cylinder attached to each car of the train, and in which there is a piston that operates upon the brake by means of an iron rod. This apparatus is extremely simple, and is under the absolute control of the engineer. The power can be applied to the brakes almost instantaneously upon the first indication of danger. In a late trip upon the Pontiac road for the purpose of giving the invention a practical test, the brake was first applied while the train was going at the rate of twenty miles an hour, and the train was brought to a dead stop in a distance of fifteen rods, without reversing the engine or causing the slightest jar. It was next applied while the train was going at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and in a distance of thirty rods, and in twenty seconds of time, the train was again brought to a dead stand. This was repeated the second time, and with the same result as to time and distance, and again without reversing the engine. If this had been done, the cars would have been stopped in about two-thirds of the distance and time. The value of such an improvement, in the increased safety of travel, is inestimable.

We have also the pleasure of recording a very important improvement in the manufacture of rails. A triumphant experiment of the vertical double-acting rail-mill took place lately at the Trenton Iron Works in the presence of the stockholders, directors, and officers, and a large num. ber of spectators. The machinery was run through rails from 18 to 21 feet in length, 7 inches in height, weighing 93 pounds to the yard, in an average time of 1 minute to each, to the admiration of all present. The peculiarities of this invention are, that rails are run through at a welding heat in about one-half less time and with one-third less labor than by the old

horizontal rollers. The chief advantage accomplished by this new machine is the ability to roll flanged bars of great width, and such as cannot be made by the ordinary means in use. It is proposed to make wrought-iron beams in these rolls, and they are well adapted for this purpose. The triumphant success of the experiment created a sensation of joy throughout the company present. The foreman of the gang of men in charge of the new mill, Mr. David James, mounted the rolls and proposed three cheers for the victory they had just accomplished. These were given with great enthusiasm by the whole crowd. This invention is an important one to the Company, and gives a degree of success in the manufacture of railroad iron not enjoyed in any other establishment in this or any other country.

American Artists at Florence.-A correspondent of The Richmond Inquirer writes from Leghorn as follows:

"At Florence I saw Powers at his studio, having just completed a statue of Washington for the state of Louisiana. He has taken Houdon's statue in our capitol as his model, changing the column from his left side to the right, and giving to him rather a meditative air. The workmanship is excellent. Hart has finished a bust of J. J. Crittenden of Kentucky. No man can execute a better one. And now let me tell the ladies of Virginia that Hart thinks, in about two years more, he will send home the statue of Henry Clay. I saw our friend Barbee, who, with Hart, dined with me, and seemed to be just getting to work. All seemed pleased that young Galt was to execute the statue of Mr. Jefferson."

Was the microscope known to the ancients? is a question among antiquarians. We notice, in foreign papers, that a glass has been discovered at Pompeii, about the size of a crown piece, with a convexity, which leads one to suppose it to be a magnifying lens. Now, it has been said that the ancients were not aware of this power, and the invention is given to Galileo by some; to a Dutchman, in 1621, by others; while the compound microscope is attributed to one Fontana, in the seventeenth century. But, without a magnifying glass, how did the Greeks and Romans work those fine gems which the human eye is unable to read without the assistance of a glass? There is one in the Naples Royal Collection, for example, the legend of which it is impossible to make out unless by applying a magnifying power. The remarkable fact is, that the glass in question was found with a stone ready cut and polished for engraving thereon, which stone is now also to be seen in the Museum of Naples. It would appear, therefore, that a worker of gems possessed and used this instrument.

The Earl of Dundonal, better known as Lord Cochrane, has taken out a patent in this country for a composition of asphaltum for the covering of telegraphic wires, and for the making of foundations for piers and lighthouses; for the preservation of all wood under water; for the making of pipes, tanks, &c. Since the introduction of the electric telegraph in the United States, it has been found impracticable in certain states of the atmosphere to transmit intel