717

strable as its length or breadth. The neglect The personal experience of the author, in conof this fact has hitherto prevented a perfect un- nection with the press, extends over a period of derstanding of the true relation between numbers, magnitudes, and forms. Hence, the bar- portion of which time he has been at the head more than fifty years, during a very considerable renness of modern analytical speculation, which of a leading journal in Boston, and in the enjoyhas been complained of by high authorities, the ment of a wide reputation, both as a bold and mathematical sciences having run into a luxuriant vigorous thinker, and a pointed, epigrammatic, growth of foliage, with comparatively small and highly effective writer. In this last respect, quantities of fruit. This evil Mr. SMITH sup- indeed, few men in any department of literature poses will be avoided by adopting the principle, can boast of a more familiar acquaintance with that as the measurement of extension is the the idiomatic niceties of our language, or a object of geometry, lines without breadth, and more skillful mastery of its various resources, surfaces without thickness, are imaginary things, than the author of the present volumes. His inof which this rigid and exact science can take fluence has been sensibly felt, even among the no cognizance. Every thing which comes purists of the American Athens, and under the within the reach of geometry must have ex- very droppings of the Muses' sanctuary at Camtension, must have magnitude, must occupy bridge, in preserving the "wells of English una portion of space, and accordingly must have defiled" from the corruptions of rash innovators extension in every direction from its centre. on the wholesome, recognized canons of language. Hence, as there is but one kind of quan- His sarcastic pen has always been a terror to tity in geometry, lines, surfaces, and solids must evil doers in this region of crime. In the work have identically the same unit of comparison, before us, we should have been glad of a larger and must be always perfect measures of each proportion from the author himself, instead of other. The unit may be infinitely varied in the copious extracts from the newspapers of old size-it being the name or representative of times, which, to be sure, have a curious, antiany assumed magnitude to which it is applied-quarian interest, but which are of too remote a but it always represents a magnitude of a defi- date to command the attention of this "fast" nite form, and hence a magnitude which has an generation. extension in every direction from its centre, of several New England celebrities of a past The sketches which are given and consequently represents not only one in age are so natural and spicy, as to make length, but also one in breadth, and one in us wish that we had more of them. thickness. One inch, for example, in pure for a third volume, embracing matters of a more Materials geometry, is always one cubic inch, but when recent date, we are told by the author, are not used to measure a line, or extension in one wanting; we sincerely hope that he will permit direction, we take only one dimension of the them to see the light; and especially that the unit, namely, the linear edge of the cube, and call for this publication may not be defeated by thus the operation not demanding either the an event, as he intimates, "to which all are breadth or the thickness of the unit, geometers subject-an event which may happen to-morhave fallen into the error of supposing that a row, and must happen soon." line is length without any breadth. These are the leading principles on which Mr. SMITH tions and Speeches, in two large and elegant A new edition of EDWARD EVERETT'S Oraattempts the audacious task of rearing a new octavos, has been published by Little and Brown, fabric of geometrical science, without regard to including in the first volume the contents of the the wisdom of antiquity or the universal traditions former edition, and in the second volume, the of the schools. To us outside barbarians in the addresses delivered on various occasions, since mysteries of mathematics, we confess that the the year 1836. In an admirably-written Prework has the air of an ingenious paradox; but face to the present edition, Mr. Everett gives a we must leave it to the professors to decide slight, autobiographical description of the cirupon its claims to be a substitute for Euclid, cumstances in which his earlier compositions Playfair, and Legendre. Every one who has a had their origin, and in almost too deprecatory fondness for dipping into these recondite subjects a tone, apologizes for the exuberance of style will perceive in Mr. SMITH'S volume the marks and excess of national feeling with which they of profound research, of acute and subtle powers have sometimes been charged. In our opinion, of reasoning, and of genuine scientific enthusiasm, this appeal is uncalled for, as we can nowhere combined with a noble freedom of thought, and find productions of this class more distinguished a rare intellectual honesty. For these qualities, for a virginal purity of expression, and grave it is certainly entitled to a respectful mention dignity of thought. As a graceful, polished, among the curiosities of literature, whatever and impressive rhetorician, it would be difficult verdict may be pronounced on the scientific to name the superior of Mr. Everett, and had he claims of the author by a jury of his peers.

Little and Brown, Boston, have issued an interesting work by the Nestor of the New England press, JOSEPH T. BUCKINGHAM, entitled Specimens of Newspaper Literature, with Personal Memoirs, Anecdotes and Reminiscences, which comes with a peculiar propriety from his veteran pen. VOL. I.-No. 5.-Y Y*

of a fastidious taste, with his singular powers
not been too much trammeled by the scruples
of fascination, he would have filled a still broader
sphere than that which he has nobly won in the
literature of his country. We gratefully wel-
come the announcement with which the preface
concludes, and trust that it will be carried into

effect at an early date. "It is still my purpose, | The Lily and Totem, (Baker and Scribner, Ne should my health permit, to offer to the public York) consists of the romantic legends conness indulgence a selection from a large number of❘ed with the establishment of the Huguenots is articles contributed by me to the North American Review, and from the speeches, reports, and official correspondence, prepared in the discharge of the several official stations which I have had the honor to fill at home and abroad. Nor am I wholly without hope that I shall be able to execute the more arduous project to which I have devoted a good deal of time for many years, and toward which I have collected ample materials-that of a systematic treatise on the modern law of nations, more especially in reference to those questions which have been discussed between the governments of the United States and Europe since the peace of 1783."

imaginative reader, while his faithful adherence to the spirit of the history renders him an instructive guide through the dusky and faded memorials of the past. One of the longest stories in the volume is the "Legend of Guernache," a record of love and sorrow, scarcely surpassed in sweetness and beauty by any thing in the romance of Indian history.

Florida, embroidered upon a substantial fabre of historical truth, with great ingenuity and artistic effect. The basis of the work is laid in authentic history; facts are not superseded by the romance; all the vital details of the events in question are embodied in the narrative but when the original record is found to be de ficient in interest, the author has introduced such creations of his own as he judged in keeping with the subject, and adapted to picturesque impression. It was his first intention to have made the experiment of Coligny in the coloniza. tion of Florida, the subject of a poem ; but dreading the want of sympathy in the mass of readers, Echoes of the Universe is the title of a work he decided on the present form, as more adapted by HENRY CHRISTMAS, reprinted by A. Hart, to the popular taste, though perhaps less in acPhiladelphia, containing a curious store of spec- cordance with the character of the theme. With ulation and research in regard to the more his power of graphic description, and the mild mystical aspects of religion, with a strong ten-poetical coloring which he has thrown around deney to pass the line which divides the sphere the whole narrative, Mr. SIMMS will delight the of legends and fictions from the field of wellestablished truth. The author is a man of learning and various accomplishments; he writes in a style of unusual sweetness and simplicity; his pages are pervaded with reverence for the wonders of creation; and with a singular freedom from the skeptical, destructive spirit of the day, he is startled by no mystery of revelation, however difficult of comprehension by the understanding. The substance of this volume was originally delivered in the form of letters to an Episcopal Missionary Society in England. It is now published in a greatly enlarged shape, with the intention of presenting the truths of religion in an interesting aspect to minds that are imbued with the spirit of modern cultivation. Among the Echoes that proceed from the world of matter, the author includes those that are uttered by the solar system, the starry heavens, the laws of imponderable fluids, the discoveries of geology, and the natural history of Scripture. To these, he supposes, that parallel Echoes may be found from the world of Spirit, such as the appearance of a Divine Person, recorded in Sacred History, the visitations of angels and spirits of an order now higher than man, the apparitions of the departed spirits of saints, the cases recorded of demoniacal possession, and the manner in which these narratives are supported and explained by reason and experience. The seen and the unseen, the physical and the immaterial, according to the author, will thus be shown to coincide, and the Unity of the Voice proved by the Unity of the Echo. This is the lofty problem of the volume, and if it is not solved to the satisfaction of every reader, it will not be for the want of a genial enthusiasm and an adamantine saith on the part of the author.

The same house has published a neat edition of Miss BENGER's popular Memoir of Anne Boleyn.

A new work by W. GILMORE SIMMS, entitled

Reminiscences of Congress, by CHARLES W. MARCH, (Baker and Scribner, New York), is principally devoted to the personal and political history of DANIEL WEBSTER, of whom it relates a variety of piquant anecdotes, and at the same time giving an analysis of his most important speeches on the floor of Congress. The leading statesmen of the United States, without reference to party, are made to sit for their portraits, and are certainly sketched with great boldness of delineation, though, in some cases, the free touches of the artist might be accused of caricature. Among the distinguished public men who are introduced into this gallery are John Q. Adams, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Jackson, and Van Buren, whose features can not fail to be recognized at sight, however twisted, in some respects, they may be supposed to be by their respective admirers. Mr. MARCH has had ample opportunities for gaining a familiar acquaintance with the subjects he treats; his observing powers are nimble and acute; without any remarkable habits of reflection, he usually rises to the level of his theme; and with a command of fluent and often graceful language, his style, for the most part, is not only readable but eminently attractive.

A new and greatly enlarged edition of Mental Hygeine, by WILLIAM SWEETSER, has been published by Geo. P. Putnam—a volume which discusses the reciprocal influence of the mental and physical conditions, with clearness, animation, and good sense. It is well adapted for popular reading, no less than for professional use.

FIG. 1.

EV

VENING DRESSES. White is generally adopted for the evening toilet. Muslin, tulle, and barège form elegant and very beautiful textures for this description of dress. They are decorated with festooned flounces, cut in deep square vandykes; the muslins are richly embroidered. A barège, trimmed with narrow rûches of white silk ribbon, placed upon

the edge, has the appearance of being pinked at the edge. Those of white barège covered with bouquets of flowers, are extremely elegant, trimmed with three deep flounces, finished at the edge with a chicorée of green ribbon forming a wave; the same description of chicorée may be placed upon the top of the flounces. Corsage à la Louis XV., trimmed with rûches to match. For dresses of tulle, those with double skirts are most in vogue. Those composed of Brussels tulle with five skirts, each skirt being finished with a broad hem, through which passes a pink ribbon, are extremely pretty. The skirts are all raised at the sides with a large moss rose encircled with its buds, the roses diminishing in size toward the upper part. These skirts are worn over a petticoat of a lively pink silk, so that the color shows through the upper fifth skirt. As to the corsage, they all resemble each other; the Louis XV. and Pompadour being those only at present in fashion.

A very beautiful evening dress is represented by fig. 1, which shows a front and back view. It is a pale lavender dress of striped satin; the body plaited diagonally, both back and front, the plaits meeting

in the centre. It has a small jacquette, pointed at the back as well as the front; plain slee reaching nearly to the elbow, finished by a lace ruffle, or frill of the same. The skirt is long and full, and has a rich lace flounce at the bottom.

The breadths of satin are put together s that the stripes meet in points at the seams Head dress, with lace lappets.

FIG. 2 represents an elegant style o body, worn over a skirt of light lavender silk, with three flounces, each edged with a double rûche, trimmed with narrow rib bon. The body is of embroidered mushr the small skirt of which is trimmed wit two rows of lace; the sleeves are wide they are three-quarter length and are trimmed with three rows of lace and ro settes of pink satin ribbon. This is for a morning costume.

Another elegant style of morning home dress, is composed of Valenciennes cambric; the corsage plaited or fulled, so s to form a series of crossway fullings, which entirely cover the back and front of the

bust, the centre of which is ornamented with a petit décolletté in the shape of a lengthened heart; the same description of centre-piece is placed at the back, where it is closed by means of buttons and strings, ingeniously hidden by the fullings. The lower part of the body forms but a slight point, and is round and stilfened, from which descends a chatelaine, formed by a wreath of planetis descending to the edge of the dress and bordered on each side with a large inlet. gradually widening to ward the lower part the skirt.

of

FIG. 3 represents an elegant promenade eostume. The dress is a rich changeable brocade without flounces, trimmed in front with pinked ribbon, made in double knots. The body is high and the sleeves quarter length. Manteau of green satin or velvet, trimmed with black lace and rich silk guimpe. Bonnet of pink crape trimmed with satin; the form open; the bavolet, or curtain, very deep.

Pardessus and Mantelets, of the Pompadour style, are now in great request. Those intended for young women are principally composed of white, pink, English green, pearl-gray, and écr silk. They are covered with embroideries formed by silk cord, representing gothic patterns. Pompadours, and arabesques.

FASHIONABLE COLORS. It is almost impossible to state which colors most prevail, all are so beautifully blended and intermixed; those, however, which seem most in demand are maroon. sea-green, blue, pensée, &c.

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

No. VI. NOVEMBER, 1850.-VOL. I.

A PILGRIMAGE TO THE CRADLE OF moved about the house with the nimbleness of