Kitabı oku: «Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VI, November 1850, Vol. I», sayfa 28

G.P. Putnam has issued a new and improved edition of Prof. Church's Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus.

Lonz Powers, or the Regulators, by James Weir, Esq. (Philadelphia, Lippincott, Grambo, and Co.), is a genuine American romance, written in defiance of all literary precedents, and a vigorous expression of the individuality of the author, as acted on by the wild, exuberant frontier life in the infancy of Western Society. The scenes and characters which are evidently drawn from nature, are portrayed with a bold, dramatic freedom, giving a perpetual vitality and freshness to the narrative, and sustaining the interest of the reader through a succession of adventures, which in the hands of a less skillful chronicler, would have become repulsive by their extravagance and terrible intensity. In addition to the regular progress of the story, the author leads us through a labyrinth of episodes, most of them savoring of the jovial forest life, in which he is so perfectly at home, though dashed with occasional touches of deep pathos. The reflections and criticisms, in which he often indulges to excess, though considerately printed in a different type to show that they may be skipped without damage, are too characteristic to be neglected, and on the whole, we are glad that he had enough verdant frankness to present them to his readers just as they sprung up in his mercurial brain. We imagine that the fame of Milton will survive his attacks, in spite of the mean opinion which he cherishes of the Paradise Lost. With all its exaggerations and eccentricities, Lonz Powers has many of the elements of a superior novel – glowing imagination, truthfulness of description, lively humor, spicy satire, and an acute perception of the fleeting lights and shades of character. If it had ten times its present faults, it would be redeemed from a severe judgment, by its magnetic sympathies, and the fascinating naturalness with which it pours forth its flushed and joyous consciousness of life.

The History of Xerxes, by Jacob Abbott (Harper and Brothers), is intended for juvenile reading and study, but its freshness and simplicity of manner give it a charm for all ages, making it a delightful refreshment to those who wish to recall the remembrance of youthful studies.

Universal Dictionary of Weights and Measures, by J.H. Alexander, published by Wm. Minifie and Co., Baltimore, is a work of remarkable labor and research, presenting a comparative view of the weights and measures of all countries, ancient and modern, reduced to the standards of the United States of America. It is executed in a manner highly creditable to the learning and accuracy of the author, and will be found to possess great practical utility for the man of business as well as the historical student.

America Discovered (New York, J.F. Trow), is the title of an anonymous poem in twelve books, founded on a supposed convention of the heavenly hierarchs among the mountains of Chili in the year 1450, to deliberate on the best mode of making known the American continent to Europeans. Two of their number are elected delegates to present the subject before the Court of Heaven. In the course of their journey, after meeting with various adventures, they fall in with two different worlds, one of which has retained its pristine innocence, while the other has yielded to temptation, and become subject to sin. Their embassy is crowned with success, and one of them is deputed to break the matter to Columbus, whose subsequent history is related at length, from his first longings to discover a new world till the final consummation of his enterprise. The poet, it will be seen, soars into the highest supernal spheres, but, in our opinion, displays more ambition than discretion. He does not often come down safe from his lofty flights to solid ground.

Christianity Revived in the East, by H.G.O. Dwight (Baker and Scribner), is a modest narrative of missionary operations among the Armenians of Turkey, in which the author was personally engaged for a series of several years. The volume describes many interesting features of Oriental life, and presents a vivid picture of the toils and sacrifices by which a new impulse was given to the progress of Christianity in the East. The suggestions of the author with regard to the prosecution of the missionary enterprise are characterized by earnestness and good sense, but they are sometimes protracted to so great an extent as to become tedious to the general reader.

Grahame; or, Youth and Manhood (Baker and Scribner), is the title of a new romance by the author of Talbot and Vernon, displaying a natural facility for picturesque writing in numerous isolated passages, but destitute of the sustained vigor and inventive skill which would place it in the highest rank of fictitious composition. The scene, which is frequently shifted, without sufficient regard to the locomotive faculties of the reader, betrays occasional inaccuracies and anachronisms, showing the hand of a writer who has not gained a perfect mastery of his materials. Like the previous work of the same author, the novel is intended to support a certain didactic principle, but for the accomplishment of this purpose, recourse is had to an awkward and improbable plot, many of the details of which are, in a high degree, unnatural, and often grossly revolting. The pure intentions of the writer redeem his work from the charge of immorality, but do not set aside the objections, in an artistic point of view, which arise from the primary incidents on which the story is founded. Still, we are bound to confess, that the novel, as a whole, indicates a freshness and fervor of feeling, a ready perception of the multifarious aspects of character and society, a lively appreciation of natural beauty, and a racy vigor of expression, which produce a strong conviction of the ability of the author, and awaken the hope that the more mature offerings of his genius may be contributions of sterling value to our native literature.

George Castriot, surnamed Scandeberg, King of Albania, by Clement C. Moore (D. Appleton and Co.), is an agreeable piece of biography, which owes its interest no less to the simplicity and excellent taste of the narrative, than to the romantic adventures of its subject. Castriot was a hero of the fifteenth century, who gained a wide renown for his exploits in the warfare of the Christians against the Turks, as well as for the noble and attractive qualities of his private character. Dr. Moore has made free use of one of the early chronicles, in the construction of his narrative, and exhibits rare skill in clothing the events in a modern costume, while he retains certain quaint and expressive touches of the antique.

George P. Putnam has issued the second volume of The Leather Stocking Tales, by J. Fenimore Cooper, in the author's revised edition, containing The Last of the Mohicans, to which characteristic and powerful work Mr. Cooper is so largely indebted for his world-wide reputation. He will lose nothing by the reprint of these masterly Tales, as they will introduce him to a new circle of younger readers, while the enthusiasm of his old admirers can not fail to be increased with every fresh perusal of the experiences of the inimitable Leather Stocking.

C.M. Saxton has published a neat edition of Professor Johnston's Lectures on the Relations of Science and Agriculture, which produced a very favorable impression when delivered before the New York State Agricultural Society, and the Members of the Legislature, in the month of January last. Among the subjects discussed in this volume, are the relations of physical geography, of geology, and mineralogy, of botany, vegetable physiology, and zoology to practical agriculture; the connection of chemistry with the practical improvement of the soil, and with the principles of vegetable and animal growth; and the influence of scientific knowledge on the general elevation of the agricultural classes. These lectures present a lucid exposition of the latest discoveries in agricultural chemistry, and it is stated by competent judges, that their practical adaptation to the business of the farmer will gain the confidence of every cultivator of the soil by whom they are perused.

An elaborate work from the pen of a native Jew, entitled A Descriptive Geography of Palestine, by Rabbi Joseph Schwartz, has been translated from the Hebrew by Isaac Leeser, and published by A. Hart, Philadelphia. The author, who resided for sixteen years in the Holy Land, claims to have possessed peculiar advantages for the preparation of a work on this subject, in his knowledge of the languages necessary for successful discovery, and in the results of personal observations continued for several years with uncommon zeal and assiduity. The volume is handsomely embellished with maps and pictorial illustrations, the latter from the hand of a Jewish artist, and appears, in all respects, to be well adapted to the race, for whose use it is especially intended.

The Life of Commodore Talbot, by Henry T. Tuckerman (New York, J.C. Riker), was originally intended for the series of American Biography, edited by President Sparks, but on the suspension of that work, was prepared for publication in a separate volume. Commodore Talbot was born in Bristol county, Massachusetts, and at an early age commenced a seafaring life in the coasting trade, between Rhode Island and the Southern States. Soon after the breaking out of the Revolution – having been present at the siege of Boston as a volunteer – he offered his services to General Washington, and was at once employed in the discharge of arduous and responsible duties. At a subsequent period, after having distinguished himself by various exploits of almost reckless valor, he received a commission as Captain in the Navy of the United States. His death took place in 1813, in the city of New York, and his remains were interred under Trinity Church. Mr. Tuckerman has gathered up, with commendable industry, the facts in his career, which had almost faded from the memory, and rescued from oblivion the name of a brave commander and devoted patriot. The biography abounds with interesting incidents, which, as presented in the flowing and graceful narrative of the author, richly reward perusal, as well as present the character of the subject in a very attractive light. Several pleasing episodes are introduced in the course of the volume, which relieve it from all tendency to dryness and monotony.

The Quarterlies for October.– The first on our table is The American Biblical Repository, edited by J.M. Sherwood (New York), commencing with an article on "The Hebrew Theocracy," by Rev. E.C. Wines, which presents, in a condensed form, the views which have been brought before the public by that gentleman in his popular lectures on Jewish Polity. "The Position of the Christian Scholar" is discussed in a sound and substantial essay, by Rev. Albert Barnes. Dyer's "Life of Calvin" receives a summary condemnation at the hands of a sturdy advocate of the Five Points. Professor Tayler Lewis contributes a learned dissertation on the "Names for Soul" among the Hebrews, as an argument for the immortality of the soul. Other articles are on Lucian's "de Morte Peregrini," "The Relations of the Church to the Young," "The Harmony of Science and Revelation," and "Secular and Christian Civilization." The number closes with several "Literary and Critical Notices," written, for the most part, with ability and fairness, though occasionally betraying the influence of strong theological predilections.

The North American Review sustains the character for learned disquisition, superficial elegance, and freedom from progressive and liberal ideas, which have formed its principal distinction under the administration of its present editor. This venerable periodical, now in its thirty-eighth year, has been, in some sense, identified with the history of American literature, although it can by no means be regarded as an exponent of its present aspect and tendencies. It belongs essentially to a past age, and shows no sympathy with the earnest, aspiring, and aggressive traits of the American character. Indeed its spirit is more in accordance with the timid and selfish conservatism of Europe, than with the free, bold, and hopeful temperament of our Republic. The subjects to which the present number is mainly devoted, as well as the manner in which they are treated, indicate the peculiar tastes of the Review, and give a fair specimen of its recent average character. The principal articles are on "Mahomet and his Successors," "The Navigation of the Ancients," "Slavic Language and Literature," "Cumming's Hunter's Life," "The Homeric Question," all of which are chiefly made up from the works under review, presenting admirable models of tasteful compilation and abridgment, but singularly destitute of originality, freshness, and point. An article on "Everett's Orations" pays an appreciative tribute to the literary and rhetorical merits of that eminent scholar. "The Works of John Adams" receive an appropriate notice. "Furness's History of Jesus" is reviewed in a feeble and shallow style, unworthy the magnitude of the heresy attacked, and the number closes with a clever summary of "Laing's Observations on Europe," and one or two "Critical Notices."

The Methodist Quarterly Review opens with a second paper on "Morell's Philosophy of Religion," in which the positions of that writer are submitted to a severe logical examination. The conclusions of the reviewer may be learned from the passage which closes the article. "We believe Mr. Morell to be a sincere and earnest man, one who reverences Christianity, and really desires its advancement, but we also believe that for this very reason his influence may be the more pernicious; for in attempting to make a compromise with the enemies of truth, he has compromised truth itself; and in abandoning what he deemed mere antiquated outposts to the foe, he has surrendered the very citadel." The next article is a profound and learned statement of the "Latest Results of Ethnology," translated from the German of Dr. G.L. Kriegk. This is followed by a discussion of the character of John Calvin, as a scholar, a theologian, and a reformer. The writer commends the manifest impartiality of Dyer's "Life of Calvin," although he believes that it will not be popular with the "blind admirers of the Genevan Reformer, and that the Roman Catholics, as in duty bound, will prefer the caricature of Monsieur Audin." "The Church and China," "Bishop Warburton," and "California," are the subjects of able articles, and the number closes with a variety of short reviews, miscellanies, and intelligence. The last named department is not so rich in the present number, as we usually find it, owing probably to the absence of Prof. M'Clintock in Europe, whose cultivated taste, comprehensive learning, and literary vigilance admirably qualify him to give a record of intellectual progress in every civilized country, such as we look for in vain in any contemporary periodical.

The Christian Review is a model of religious periodical literature, not exclusively devoted to theological subjects, but discussing the leading questions of the day, political, social, and literary, in addition to those belonging to its peculiar sphere, from a Christian point of view, and almost uniformly with great learning, vigor, profoundness, and urbanity, and always with good taste and exemplary candor. The present number has a large proportion of articles of universal interest, among which we may refer to those on "Socialism in the United States," and "The Territories on the Pacific," as presenting a succinct view of the subjects treated of, and valuable no less for the important information they present, than for the clearness and strength with which the positions of the writers are sustained. The first of these articles is from the pen of Rev. Samuel Osgood, minister of the Church of the Messiah, in this city, and the other is by Prof. W. Gammel, of Brown University. "The Confessions of Saint Augustine," "The Apostolical Constitutions," "Philosophical Theology," and a critical examination of the passage in Joshua describing the miracle of the sun standing still, are more especially attractive to the theological reader, while a brilliant and original essay on "Spirit and Form," by Rev. Mr. Turnbull, can not fail to draw the attention of the lovers of æsthetic disquisition. The brief sketches of President Taylor and of Neander are written with judgment and ability, and the "Notices of New Publications" give a well-digested survey of the current literature of the last three months. The diligence and zeal exhibited in this department, both by the Christian Review and the Methodist Quarterly present a favorable contrast to the disgraceful poverty of the North American in a branch which was admirably sustained under the editorship of President Sparks and Dr. Palfrey.

Brownson's Quarterly is characterized by the extravagance of statement, the rash and sweeping criticisms, and the ecclesiastical exclusiveness for which it has obtained an unenviable preeminence. Its principal articles are on "Gioberti," "The Confessional," "Dana's Poems and Prose Writings," and the "Cuban Expedition." Some inferences may be drawn as to the Editor's taste in poetry from his remarks on Tennyson, in whom he "can discover no other merit than harmonious verse and a little namby-pamby sentiment." He strikes the discriminating reviewer as "a man of feeble intellect," and "a poet for puny transcendentalists, beardless boys, and miss in her teens."

Fashions for November

As the cold weather approaches, different shades of brown, dust color, green, and other grave hues, predominate, diversified with pink, blue, lilac, and purple. The beautiful season of the Indian Summer, which prevails with us in November, allows the use of out-of-door costume, of a character similar to that of September, the temperature being too high to require cloaks or pelises. Bonnets composed of Leghorn and fancy straws, are appropriate for the season. They are trimmed with nœuds of pink, straw color, and white silk, which are used to decorate Florence straws. These are ornamented, in the interior, with mancini, or bunches of harebells, heaths, and jacinths, intermixed with rose-buds and light foliage. There are plain and simple pailles de riz, having no other ornament than a kind of nœud of white silk, placed at the side, and the interior of the front lined with pink or white tulle, and clusters of jacinths, tuberoses, and rose-buds, forming a most charming mélange. Fancy straws, called paille de Lausanne, are very fashionable abroad, resembling embroideries of straw, and trimmed with a bouquet of the wild red poppies, half blown, while those which are placed next the face are of a softer hue, with strings of straw colored silk ribbon.

Represents a graceful afternoon promenade costume, and a carriage costume. The figure on the left shows the promenade costume. The dress is made quite plain, with low body and long sleeves, with cuffs of plain fulled muslin; chemisette of lace, reaching to the throat, and finished with a narrow row encircling the neck. Pardessus of silk or satin, trimmed in an elegant manner, with lace of the same color, three rows of which encircle the lower part, and two rows the half long sleeves. These rows are of broader lace than the rows placed on either side of the front of the pardessus. Drawn white crape bonnet, decorated with small straw colored flowers, both in the interior and on the exterior.

The figure on the right shows the carriage costume. It is a dress of pale pink poult de soié; the corsage, high on the shoulders, opens a little in the front. It has a small cape, falling deep at the back, and narrowing toward the point, pinked at the edge; the waist and point long; the sleeves reach but a very little below the elbow, and are finished with broad lace ruffles. The skirt has three deep scalloped flounces, a beautiful spray of leaves being embroidered in each scallop. Manteau of India muslin, trimmed with a broad frill, the embroidering of which corresponds with the flowers of the dress. The bonnet of paille de riz; trimmed inside and out with bunches of roses; the form very open. There are others of the same delicate description, lined with pink tulle, and decorated with tips of small feathers, shaded pink and white, or terminated with tips of pink marabout.

Represents a morning costume. Dress high, with a small ruffle and silk cravat. The material is plain mousseline de soié, white, with a small frill protruding from the slightly open front. The body is full, and the skirt has a broad figured green stripe. Sleeves full and demi-long, with broad lace ruffles. The skirt is very full, and has three deep flounces.

Is a plain, and very neat costume for the opera. The body, composed of blue or green silk, satin, or velvet, fits closely. The sleeves are also tight to the elbows, when they enlarge and are turned over, exhibiting a rich lining of pink or orange, with scalloped edges. The corsage is open in front, and turned over, with a collar, made of material like that of the sleeves, and also scalloped. Chemisette of lace, finished at the throat with a fulled band and petite ruffle. Figures 2 and 3 show patterns of the extremely simple CAPS now in fashion; simple, both in their form and the manner in which they are trimmed. Those for young ladies partake mostly of the lappet form, simply decorated with a pretty nœud of ribbon, from which droop graceful streamers of the same, or confined on each side the head with half-wreaths of the wild rose, or some other very light flower. Those intended for ladies of a more advanced age are of a petit round form, and composed of a perfect cloud of gaze, or tulle, intermixed with flowers.

Traveling Dresses are principally composed of foulard coutit, or of flowered jaconets, with the cassaquette of the same material. Plain cachmires are also much used, because they are not liable to crease. They are generally accompanied by pardessus of the same material. When the dress is of a sombre hue, the trimmings are of a different color, so as to enliven and enrich them. The skirts are made quite plain, but very long and of a moderate breadth; the bodies high and plain, and embroidered up the fronts.