THE

ATHENEUM;

OR

SPIRIT

OF THE

ENGLISH MAGAZINES.

THIRD SERIES.

VOLUME V.

Marc's

OCTOBER TO APRIL, 1830-31.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE on the one hand affords employment to the public mind, and
favors its tendencies to the pursuit of science and intellectual improvement; and, on the other,
it gives a more general and freer spirit to literature itself than it would otherwise have, by
bringing together the productions of every class of mind, displaying the main points of conside-
ration in almost every question that can be started, opening the door to every inquirer whose
talents entitle him to respect, and, in addition to this, offering something, which even in its
lightness is elegant, for those who, were it not for the resources it affords, would live in a state
of perfect intellectual sloth.-Rev. Henry Stebbing.

BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY JOHN COTTON,

(Corner of Washington Street and Franklin Street.)

SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE RECEIVED ALSO BY THE FOLLOWING AGENTS:-CHARLES S. FRANCIS,
NEW-YORK; WHIPPLE & LAWRENCE, SALEM; WILLIAM HILLIARD, CAMBRIDGE; JOHN
W. FOSTER, PORTSMOUTH: SAMUEL COLMAN, PORTLAND; CLARENDON HARRIS, WORCES-
TER; GEO. DANA, PROVIDENCE; HEZEKIAH HOWE, NEW-HAVEN ; LITTLE & CUMMINGS,
ALBANY; E. LITTELL & BROTHER, PHILADELPHIA; EDW. J. COALE, BALTIMORE; J.
THOMAS, GEORGETOWN; JOSEPH TARDIF, QUEBEC; W. T. WILLIAMS, SAVANNAH; WIL-
LIAM H. COFFIN, HUDSON, N. Y.; WILLIAM HOWE, NEW BEDFORD; Collier & BART-
LETT, PLYMOUTH; FARMER & BROWN, HINGHAM; GEORGE W. ELA, DOVER, N. H.;
DENNIS CLAUDE, JR., ANNAPOLIS, MD.; E. 8. DURYEA, CHARLESTON, S. C.; EICHBAUN
& NORVELL, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE; JAMES M. HARALSON, Reynoldsburgh, TENN.;
J. A. HOISINGTON & CO., MONTREAL; AND ODIORNE & SMITH, MOBILE, ALA.

Price $3 stitched, or $ 3,50 bound, including six colored Plates of Female Fashions;
without them, $ 2,50 and $3.

PREFACE.

At the close of another period devoted to the publication and completion of a volume of the ATHENEUM, we are happy in having it in our power to offer its patrons the concluding number of a larger volume of the work than they have heretofore received. The same principles have governed us in the selection and arrangement of its contents, that have been our guide in conducting former volumes; and we will venture to hope that the new literary journals which have lately been received, and the improvement in some of the old ones, together with greater experience, have increased its value in regard to the entertainment and instruction of its pages, as well as their number.

The enlargement of the Atheneum has been attended with expense and difficulty to the Proprietor. One circumstance only, however, has given us cause of regret in regard to this measure: the typography of the work, in consequence of it, has not been so neatly executed as we could have wished. It was necessary that new paper and a new press should be made, and in the qualities of both we have been disappointed. But these defects will be remedied in future; and we shall endeavor to have the Atheneum deserve the credit of being elegantly, as we believe it does now that of being correctly, printed.

It has been suggested to us in various ways, that it would be agreeable to our readers to know from which of the English Magazines each article in the Atheneum is taken. Several editors of newspapers have indeed gone so far as to accuse us of a want of candor and justice in neglecting to give this information. We are always willing to listen to any sugges tions or complaints from these sources,—we duly appreciate any encomiums upon our labors from them, and we also like to see the principle of fair and upright dealing in all things maintained and defended : but when some of these same editors, who are so watchful over this principle in us, entertain no scruples in copying liberally from our pages, without giving credit either to the Atheneum or the source which its very title acknowledges, we must say they show at least a slight degree