done, he took the chair which Helen used to occupy, | is a comfort to me to write, and tell you again and and placing it at her table, he proceeded to open the again, of the love and gratitude that swell my packet. It contained all the letters he had written heart. I think of you, and pray for you, and the to his wife before their marriage; one, written by dear children all the time. herself, to each of her children, to be handed to them at a future day,—and last of all, one to himself. This he opened with trembling eagerness, and a throbbing heart. It was dated a few days later than the last he received from her while in Washington; but it was written at intervals, and with evident effort. The writing testified how weak and tremulous was the hand that guided the pen. It was as follows:My dear, dear Husband,

I know I need not enjoin it on you, my dearest husband, to be kind to my father; and to consider him, during life, as a parent. It is very touching to see him now. He retains his wonted self-command, but looks heart-broken at the prospect of losing his last remaining child. O, strive to console him, in his utter loneliness! May he be sustained by Almighty strength. Ah, how unworthy am I of all this love and regret!

Permit me to request, dearest, that you wil The days of your own Helen are numbered, and praise the children when they do well. The human almost finished. Yesterday I solemnly adjured heart needs commendation for its encouragement Dr. Miller to tell me the worst of my case; and in the path of rectitude; and we have the example he says that a few weeks must finish my earthly of our blessed Saviour, and his inspired apostles, And must we part!-forever,—and so to warrant its usefulness and propriety. May I soon!-The very morning of my life is scarcely further request, that you leave them not too much past,—and yet I am summoned away! How shall to the care and instruction of others. No one, bear to leave my husband, and my children? like yourself, can train them up to virtue and piety.

course.

For many long months past, my heart has seemed To-day I have been thinking of our parting in as if congealed in my bosom,-and in looking November. It came fresh to my memory, as an back, all seems like a troubled dream. Have I unheeded sound will return on the ear. The rebeen in a kind of sleep? Thank Heaven, I am now awake!—and my heart beats with fervent love and gratitude, though so soon to cease beating forever!

membrance of your look of anguish, when about leaving us, wrings my heart with sorrow and regret How could I be so unfeeling then?-Forgive me, O, forgive me, dearest husband!—

"The shadows lengthen as my sun declines." My heart, at times, sinks in my bosom like lead. When the paroxysms of fever pass away, a mest distressing lassitude follows. O, that you were with me! O, that I might be permitted to breathe my last breath on your kind and affectionate bose But if it is otherwise ordered, thy will, O Father,

My dear husband, you were my idol. I lived only for you and myself. Happy-0, how happy in your love. I forgot the hand that "loaded me with benefits," that showered blessings in such profusion upon me! I needed all the chastisement I have received, to arouse me from my forgetfulness and ingratitude. But O, what cause for humiliation, sorrow, and regret, that until my heartstrings were breaking, I should never think of con-be done! secrating myself to him, who has done so much for me! Dearest husband, avoid my example as you would avoid the pangs of remorse, and perhaps, final destruction.

Dear husband, we shall meet again! Beyond the grave all looks bright and glorious. Here, the shadow of death rests upon every thing. HowI have been a source of great unhappiness to ever good, however beautiful, however precies you, my dear husband, ever since we were united. any thing may be, that fearful shade is by, to bluss Had you found a wife free from such defects as I and destroy. But there is life-life in unfa unfortunately had, how happy had you been! My vigor, and bloom, and purity!-You mast—you only consolation is, that it was my sincere and con- will give your heart to the gracious Redeemer, th stant wish to please you, however far I came short you may be made "meet to partake of the inhere of it. O, forgive me, for every pang I ever cost tance of the saints in light," and then in what you, and think of me with kindness and lenity, blessedness shall we meet to part no more-forwhen my many imperfections can trouble you no ever!-Precious, cheering, sustaining thought!

more !

*

Dr. Miller came in, and caught me in the act My fluttering heart, my trembling hand, and the of writing,—and he peremptorily forbids it. But irregular characters that I trace, admonish me that how can I entirely refrain? Perhaps I may never what I do, must be done quickly. Once speak to you again,—and I think it will be a con- dearest husband, permit me to express to you, solation to you to receive a letter as from the grave deep, the ardent the fathomless love I bear of her you have loved so faithfully. At least, it O, that I could yet once again gaze on your fa.t,

with a long-long look of love and gratitude!—O, it is as painful to reprove, as to be reproved; and that I could hear you pronounce my full forgiveness. that it affords as much pleasure to commend, as to be commended. That if we would be truly good, and live to make others happy, we must look with lenity on their defects, and with severity, and an unforgiving spirit, only on our own.

Were it not for parting with you, the dear children, and my father, I should feel no shrinking from death. O, supply a mother's place to those helpless ones. To you I commend them. To God I commend both them and you.

The letter ended thus abruptly. No doubt Helen hoped to write more, but her strength failed. Had the heart of Mr. Howard been capable of deeper love and regret, or more bitter self-upbraiding, than it already knew, this effusion from that warm, affectionate, and childlike heart, now cold and silent in the grave, would have produced it. Repeatedly he laid it aside, as more than he could bear; but would seize it again with as much eagerness, as if its contents would rend the cloud of darkness in which he was enveloped, or restore to him his

lost treasure.

Notices of New Works.

THE POETS AND POETRY OF AMERICA, with an Historical Introduction. By Rufus W. Griswold. (1 vol. royal 8 vo. pp. 492.) Philadelphia: Carey and Hart.

A good History of Poetry is among the needed books which yet remain unwritten. There are fragments and snatches of it to be picked up here and there-from this old essay, and that fresh review; from Goethe and the Germans, from Christopher North' and the best prose poets; from Curyle and the transcendentalists; perhaps (we say it doubtingly) a page or two from Gifford, Jeffrey, Macaulay and the harsh-natured giants of the quarterlies; The life of a mourner would be short indeed, yet doubtless more than all beside from the scattered redid he always feel as during the first months of mains of the Poets themselves. Poetry is not merely the bereavement, but our infinitely wise and benevo- oldest form of literature; it is the earliest mode of human lent Creator has so constituted us, that the bitter-utterance. The language of a primitive nation is full of ness of grief will pass away. As time rolled on, and flashes with it. it; the speech of an unhackneyed, unperverted child, glows It would surprise an unthinking of Mr. Howard's sorrow subsided, but worldly mind, to note how easily, and with what slight he was always a mourner. Helen was enshrined transition, the discourse of a guileless, erect nature glides in his heart, and there was no room for a new love. into, and assures the Poetic. And thus all cherished tradiIn vain were attractions displayed to the still young The inspired chronicler, knowing nothing of the rules of tion, all sacred record, is pervaded by the spirit of Poetry. and elegant widower; he saw them not. In vain art, thinking of nothing but to state facts plainly and forciwas deep sympathy expressed for the motherless bly, narrates the birth and wooing of Isaac, the rivalries of condition of his children; he understood not its pur-Jacob and Esau, the fortunes of Joseph and his brethren, port. And when, two or three years after Helen's the story of Ruth, in a spirit of simple truthfulness, which death, Mr. Atwood himself inquired, if his happi-modern culture can hardly hope to rival in force and effect. ness would not be promoted by marrying again,' he ended the subject for ever by saying

the

agony

The Psalms of David, the Book of Job may well challenge

imitation, even in vigor of expression; the prayer of Moses, the man of God, is an unapproachable model; and "Never mention it, my dear sir." "Helen was human language has not yet celebrated the glory and gladtoo gentle, too good, too lovely for me!-too gen-ness of creation in fitter strain than that sublime Hebrew tle, too good, too lovely for earth! I never deserved such a treasure: but having possessed her, could I ever hope to love another ?"

64

stanza-' when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.' We adduce these as poems purely, and as illustrating the nature and universality of the poetic element.

'Beside," pursued he, mentally, "I could never The birth of a nation or people is uniformly signalized Treat another so barbarously as I did her; and by a remarkable manifestation of this element-why, then, should I treat a successor more tenderly, would not had America no poets, through the earlier period of her hose gentle eyes ever be looking on me, in their history? The answer is simple and ready: America had sorrow, that it was not thus with her? No Helenno proper nationality, no distinct existence, down to her Revolutionary era. Our forefathers were Englishmen sent -ruel and unfeeling as I was, I loved thee-and I out into a vast forest to fell timber and let in the rays of will love thee-thee alone-till we meet in Heaven!" the sun; when they had any time to spare from their arduTo Mr. Atwood, Mr. Howard was ever the ten-ous toil, their thoughts reverted instinctively to their fathererest and most sympathizing of sons; to his chil-land; they hung delighted over the pages of Shakspeare ren the most devoted of fathers. The latter grew an independent literature could only find a place in minds and Milton and Pope; these were their poets; the idea of p under his government, his instruction, and his by which that of an independent nationality had first been xample, all he could wish and among the many welcomed. Accordingly, our author has comprised all our essons he taught them, he failed not to enforce the colonial verse he deems worth preserving in an instructive uth-that no correctness of principle, no rectide of conduct, can supply the place of kindness, entleness, and urbanity of manner. That in all ar intercourse with our fellow-creatures;-in all e relations of life, we must make it manifest, that

and entertaining Historical Introduction of some twelve pages only, wherein, after giving the first material effusion composed by a colonist, (Plymouth, A. D. 1623) he gives specimens of the verse of Mrs. Anne Bradstreet, John Cotton, Urian Oakes, Peter Folger, Benjamin Thomson, Cotton Mather, Roger Walcott, Michael Wigglesworth,

Rev. John Adams, James Ralph, Thomas Godfrey, John | copy-right, and the owners demurred to extensive quotaOsborn, Mathew Byles, Joseph Green, William Livingston, tions as calculated to injure the sale of their volumes! In Drs. Sewell and Prince, and Gulion Verplanck. Brief as these extracts necessarily are, and interesting as is the chapter of literary history through which they are interwoven, we think few readers will complain that they are not more extensive.

as any.

Mr. Griswold's list of THE POETS OF AMERICA' opens with PHILIP FRENEAU, a whig lyrist of the revolution; afterward a clerk in the state department under Mr. Jefferson, and then a democratic editor. He was born in New-York, in 1752, and died at Freehold, N. J. in 1832, at the ripe age of 80. He was the friend of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, and long the correspondent of the three last named. His effusions were mainly called forth by the events and the feelings of our revolutionary era, and their point has in a good measure been blunted by the rust of time. Still, many of his more contemplative productions are respectable; 'The Dying Indian' perhaps as good JOHN TRUMBULL, the well-known author of 'McFingal,' born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1750, and who died in Detroit, Michigan, in 1831, aged 81, stands next. His 'Ode to Sleep,' with passages from his Progress of Dulness' and 'McFingal,' and a version of Psalm CXXXVII, are given as specimens of his poetic achievements. Dr. TIMOTHY DWIGHT, born at Northampton, Mass., in 1752, and who died at New-Haven, Conn., in 1817, aged 65, is third in order. His 'Conquest of Canaan,' an epic in eleven books, was published in 1785, and attained considerable celebrity. His writings are voluminous, but consist mainly of theological prose; and his life was, in great part, devoted to personal instruction, first as principal of a seminary, and then as president of Yale College. Seven pages of extracts from his poetical writings, are given by Mr. Griswold. They evince energy and strength, and are correctly written, but not of special excellence as poems. Among them is Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise,' which once enjoyed a considerable, though not lofty, popularity. Col. DAVID HUMPHREYS, born in Derby, Conn., in 1753, and who died in New Haven in 1818, aged 65, and JOEL BARLOW, born in Reading, Conn., in 1755, who died in Poland, in 1812, while hastening to a conference with Napoleon, as our embassador, complete the list of revolutionary bards-four of the five having been born within a few miles of each other, and afterward fellow

students at Yale College. A few pages devoted to RICHARD ALSOP, ST. JOHN HONEY WOOD, WILLIAM CLIFFTON and ROBERT TREAT PAINE, bring us down to the bards of our own time, of whom WASHINGTON ALLSTON is the eldest to his life a page is devoted; to his poems six. Hence the stream of American Poetry flows broad and bright before us.

the vast majority of instances, we need hardly say, a more enlightened self-interest was manifested; and a free selec tion from the writings of all but two or three of our bards was heartily proffered. The exceptions will probably be noted by the reader, and this simple statement will explan them.

Yet there was still a third reason why the quantity selected from the works of a poet should not always be measured by their estimated quality. The poems of Bryant, Halleck, Hillhouse, Dana, Mrs. Sigourney, Longfellow, etc., have been collected, and may now be had at the bookstores. while those of Sprague, Brainard, Sands, Rockwell, Pike, Benjamin, W. G. Clark, Street, Burleigh, and many others, must have been sought through an infinity of magazines and newspapers, if sought successfully, before the appearance of this volume. There thus existed an obvious prepriety that the latter class should be more largely quoted, in proportion to their intrinsic worth, than if all had already been alike attainable or unattainable. We dissent from some of the judgments of the editor, but we heartily ap prove the principles by which he has avowedly been governed.

The biographical notices which preface the selections from the writings of each poet, form a most valuable purtion of this work. We speak not of their literary merit, though that is not inconsiderable, but of their worth as collections of facts and materials for future history. From no previous work could one-tenth of the information here collected be obtained-not one-fourth of it from all preceding works together. The mass of American read know very little of the characters or lives of our Poets safe the little they have gleaned or guessed from their works Mr. Griswold has taken unwearied pains to collect and re pare all attainable facts of interest in this department, and his efforts have been generally successful. In this respect alone, aside from the fact that it is incomparably the best collection of American Poetry extant, his book is entiled to a high place in the literature of our country.

AN EXPOSITION of the Unjust and Injurious Relatioms of de United States Medical Corps. By a member. Balti printed and published by John Murphy; 1842. This pamphlet lets us into the secrets of the Docta's prison-house on board ship-and shows that an Assistant Surgeon in a man-of-war, serves a worse than Egyptian bondage-being required "to make bricks out of stras (See page 8.) The children of Israel were required a make bricks without straw, and their task-masters w visited with the wrath of God and scourges from bearÐ We think it high time that some legislative Moses w sent to tell our man-of-war Pharoahs to 'let the Doctan go.' The exposé is written in good temper, and in a be coming spirit. We hope it may serve to call attention a the right quarter, to the condition of the medical staff of the Navy; for we concur fully with this writer, that it does as occupy the position in the service, to which it is justly titled. As he says, an Assistant Surgeon, who, on entr ing the Navy, after years of preparation and study, is p with the boys, and at once placed on a footing, as to priva leges, official relations, etc., with young Midshipmen of 28 He is excluded from the court part of the ship, and w*** he goes in or out, he must take the larboard ganway: Yet it will naturally be objected that from this author other words, whenever he enters the ship, he is made too much, from that, too little, has been taken; this was come in by the back way, whereas the second Lieutenant unavoidable. In the first place, some poets who have of Marines, who may be picked up on the political written well have written comparatively little, while others mons, and of whom no other qualification is required a of lesser repute have written much that is worth preserving. the ability to read and write, and that not very we Again: some who would naturally have been liberally is at once entitled to all the comforts, privileges, drawn upon have either published their works or sold the conveniences of the oldest and most favored officer

The reader will not understand that the work before us is made up of briefer poems only. Among its selections are the Hasty Pudding' of Barlow, 'The Buccaneer' by Dana, 'Curiosity,' by Sprague, 'Thanatopsis,' by Bryant, The Culprit Fay,' by Drake, Melanie,' by Willis, and others of considerable length. Yet the whole number of poems, or extracts of poems, given, exceeds eight hundred, beside the numerous citations embodied in the Introduction and biographical notices. If, therefore, the collection should be deemed incomplete, it cannot be on the ground that it is not sufficiently extensive, since its contents are nearly equal to ten ordinary duodecimo volumes.

board, except the Captain. Why it is so we do not mathematics-full of subtleties, and well calculated to rack know; but it is nevertheless true, that Surgeons on board the brain. At best they are forbidding to the student, with ship, instead of having an assigned rank, place and sta- their dry details; to appear the least attractive, they require tion, seem to be considered very much in the light of a spare the use of that beautiful drapery, which only the most pomaintopsail yard, or something else of the kind, which lished minds can throw in graceful folds around the hard it is well enough to have on board in case of accident. features of the law. Thus adorned, the student of 'quiddiTrue, they have not as yet been lashed out in the main ties and oddities' may be beguiled to lift the veil and look with chains, as the spare yard is,-but had it not been for the pleasure beyond the surface. A fund of legal lore has enatimely interference of an energetic Secretary, the Navy-bled the Judge thus to set off his subject. The work, modestBoard would have cut them adrift, and left them on board ly styled by him 'an Essay,' is a valuable exposition upon without any room, even in the chains, which they could call their own. The condition of this meritorious and honorable class of officers, calls for reform, as among the wrongs to be righted, before the Navy can be got in proper order. We expect much from the contemplated plan of appointing a committee of officers from the several grades, to propose a system of rules and regulations for the Navy. Let officers urge on their friends in Congress, the importance of immediate action on this subject.

AN INQUIRY into the necessity and general principles of reorganization in the United States Navy, with an examination of the true sources of subordination. By an Observer. Baltimore: printed and published by John Murphy; 1842. The cause of 'Reorganization and Reform to the Navy,' has had a 'long pull and a strong pull;' and the word now is, among its advocates and friends, 'pull all together.'

the points to which it relates. The author was led by accident, as it were, to treat of this subject; but the Treatise is not the less valuable for that. Writing a Commentary on the case of Coggs vs. Bernard, Sir William Jones produced his very useful Treatise on Bailments; and the late Florida Judge, having had occasion to examine a certain instrument of writing, was led into an Essay on Trusts and Trustees, which does him great credit; and which we take pleasure in commending to the attention of the Bar. INQUIRY into the validity of the British claim to a right of visitation and search of American vessels suspected to be engaged in the African slave-trade. By Henry Wheaton, L.L.D., Minister of the United States at the Court of Berlin, Author of "Elements on International Law." Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard; 1842.

This is an important subject; and in Europe, where the There are various important Naval Bills, at this time, wait-intrigues and sinister designs of government are oftener ing the action of Congress; and we hope soon to read of felt and better understood than they are here, this claim to the passage into a law of that proposing a board of officers, search our vessels, has attracted great attention; for there, to digest and submit, for the approval of the Secretary of it is generally believed to be the entering wedge to somethe Navy, the President and Congress, an effective system thing else. Mr. Wheaton is a scholar and a jurist, and has of Naval laws and ordinances. This 'Inquiry' is a clever production, the main object of which is to show the necessity for such a system.

treated the subject with great felicity, and with admirable dignity of manner. He evidently wrote this work for European readers. We shall have more to say under this head in another number. In the meantime, we beg Mr. Wheaton to accept our thanks for the handsome manner in which he has defended the course taken by his government on this momentous question.

Under the present organization of the Navy, there is really very little accountability or responsibility among officers. And under well digested regulations, we doubt not, that for the same money which is now annually appropriated for the Navy, double the efficiency might be obtained. We know not how so desirable an object is more likely to be accomplished, than by selecting officers from the different grades in the manner proposed by the Bill to which we have alluded, and setting them at work upon the foundations of such a system at once. We perceive 'by the cut of his jib,' that the author of this Inquiry' is himself an of- Mr. Van Shaack belongs to an age of remarkable men. ficer. He writes well; but unfortunately for the very lau- He was a man of a strong mind, but idiosyncratic withal. dable object which he has in view, he often presupposes He thought the cause of the revolution not sufficient to for his readers an intimacy and a knowledge of Naval af-justify rebellion, and refused to take up arms in the strugfairs, which few out of the service possess-and as it was gle; in consequence of which he was banished, for the docnot for the instruction of those who are in the service that trine was that all who were not for us were against us. the 'Inquiry' was made, we think it a pity that one who is After the acknowledgment of our independence by other evidently well fitted for the task, should not have enforced nations, Mr. Van Shaack returned to his native State, his general positions by an array of facts, examples, and where he followed the practice of the law for many years. cases in point, illustrative of that necessity so eloquently The style in which the book is got up does credit to those urged by him. It is not sufficient, merely to say that laws concerned. It may be had at the Bookstore of A. S. Lyons, are vague, and trusts are abused; but to convince, illustra- Richmond, Va. tions must be adduced, showing how tal y tal has abused his trusts, and under this vagueness of law, escaped 'unwhipt of justice.'

THE LIFE OF PETER VAN SCHAACK, L.L.D.: embracing selections from his correspondence and other writings during the American Revolution, and his exile in England. By his son, Henry C. Van Shaack. New-York: D. Appleton & Co; 1842.

AN ESSAY ON TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES: in relation to the

THE TWO ADMIRALS: A Tale. By the author of the 'Pilot,' the 'Red Rover,' &c. In two vols. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard; 1842.

We are glad to have it in our power to bestow on these settlement of real estate, the power of trustees—and involv-volumes those commendations which we were constrained ing many of the most abstruse questions in the English and to withhold from the Deer-slayer.' Cooper's forte is the American law of tenures. By H. M. Brackenridge, form-sea, and we welcome him back to an element, upon which erly Judge of Florida. Washington: William M. Morri- he has spent a considerable portion of his life, and upon which he is evidently so much at home. His sea stories

son.

The doctrines of uses and trusts, of estates tail, of re-are circulated and read every where and by every body, mainders and reversions, of powers and estates by implica- and his Two Admirals are calculated to rival their predetion-of springing uses, resulting trusts and the like, are to cessors in public favor. The scene is laid about the middle the law what the infinite scries and fluxions are to the of the last century. With such heroes, he required fleets

VOL. VIII-46

to show them off-and as the United States could afford neither the Admiral nor the fleet, the author was compelled to cross the waters for an officer of the required rank, and go to England for a proper command for him. He intimates that had there been in the round world such a phenomena as an American fleet and an American Admiral to command it, the scene of his story should have been laid there. Mr. Cooper is a sailor, and it is to be hoped Congress will give him an opportunity of showing how well an American fleet can be manœuvred, by creating Admirals for the Navy and sending them to sea. This work is a capital thing. There is a youth sitting at the table on which we write, literally devouring it.

A practical description of Herron's Patent Trellis Railway Structure, embracing the most approved modifications; also, the patent wrought-iron railway chairs, new and improved mode of joining the ends of railway bars, scarfing timbers, and improved fastenings : illustrated by four large plates, or working plans, accompanied by eighteen accurate estimates. Together with a compendious ac

ANTHON'S LATIN PROSE COMPOSITION. We have repeatedly called attention to the valuable labor of the accomplished scholar to whom we are indebted for this introduction to Latin Prose Composition. Classical teachers are well aware how much such a work is required, and how much the subject it is designed to elucidate, has been neglected. The tact of Professor Anthon as a compiler and author in the department of classical education, is generally acknowledged. The present work will enhance his reputation. It contains in addition to the various rules, a complete course of exercises, in which the principles of Latin Syntax are clearly illustrated. The type, paper and binding, are in the same excellent taste as those of the preceding volumes of the series published by the Messrs. Harpers.

HOFFMAN'S VIGIL OF FAITH. As a delineator of Ame

rican scenery, endowed with a native relish for woodland adventure and wild sports of the forest and prairie, Charies thors. His "Winter in the West" and romance of "GreyF. Hoffman holds a preeminent rank among American 34count of the process of kyanizing, in use on the English slaer" secured him this distinction, while another work in railways, for preserving the timber from decay: and the a similar vein published in England, but never reprinted. recent discoveries of M. Boucherie by means of the py-tion abroad. As a poet, perhaps, Mr. Hoffman is not so that we are aware of in this country, confirmed his reputarolignate of iron. Preceded by practical observations on well known beyond the circle of his friends, from the fact the defective nature of the railway structures in use; with an investigation of the principles and structure essential to the stability and permanence of railways, in which the opinions of men, eminent in science and engineering, are collected. By James Herron, Civil Engineer. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart and J. Dobson. E. G. Dorsey, printer.

The title page is a good index to the work, and we can add nothing by way of illustration or explanation without the aid of diagrams, with which we are not prepared. The invention of the Trellis Structure' is considered by practical men as a valuable discovery were it not for the cost. But there are many ready and willing to step forward and bear testimony of the valuable services rendered to those of his calling, by Mr. Herron. We recommend his work to the attention of engineers generally, as relating to a branch of their profession, in which there is much room for improvement. They will find in it suggestions and remarks worthy of attention.

ROCKWELL'S TRAVELS. 2 vols., octavo. Boston: Tappan & Dennot.

The pilgrimage of which this work is the record, was very extensive, comprising the most interesting European countries-parts of Greece and Africa, and various ports and cities of the South and East. The observations of the author are of a very general character, comprising scientific, historical and poetical subjects; so that the taste of every reader will find more or less gratification in perusing this journal. As a Chaplain in the United States Navy, Mr. Rockwell enjoyed various advantages, and his work is interspersed with comments on the naval interests of the country-a subject to which this journal has long been warmly devoted.

Mr. Griswold, we believe, first attempted to collect these that much of his verse has been put forth anonymously. stray gems in a northern periodical, about a year since, and they were extensively copied in the newspapers througho the Union. We hailed with peculiar pleasure, a very s tractive little volume from Mr. Hoffman's pen, published a few weeks since by Colman of New-York. It is enti the "Vigil of Faith ;" and may be designated as an Inda romance of a novel and striking character. It is written in the octo-syllabic stanza, and abounds with vivid pictures of the American autumn landscapes, and impressive glimpses of the faith and peculiar sentiment of the aborigines. We might quote many beautiful passages, but we prefer com mending the volume itself to the lovers of poetry. Seve ral of the author's most popular lyrics are added, and en hance the attractions of the work, which is issued in the style of Longfellow's "Voices of the Night.”

STERLING'S POEMS. We are pleased to see the “Ar chaeus" of Blackwood's Magazine, in this new form. Th 'Sexton's Daughter" is an affecting narrative in verse full of meaning and truth. The "Hymns of a Herm" several of the other pieces, betray a genuine feeling a rare command of language. Sterling's poems are a valsa ble addition to the current poetical literature. They executed in simple and excellent taste. The chote i words is singularly felicitous. The sentiment is elevata and frequently devotional. The work is issued in a hand some manner by Herman Hooker of Philadelphia, with a introduction by R. W. Griswold.

An Epitome of the History of Philosophy. Being th work adapted by the University of France for instru tion in the colleges and high schools. Translated fr the French, with additions, and a continuation of th history from the time of Reid to the present day. By S. Henry, D.D., Professor of Philosophy and History the University of New-York. In two volumes. New York: Harper & Brothers.

UNCLE SAM ON PHRENOLOGY. Ever since the visit of Dr. Spurzheim to this country, phrenology has been slowly but surely gaining ground. Abused as it often has been in the hands of mercenary charlatans, among the judicious its prime truths have been recognized, and many of its practi- These form volumes Nos. 143-4 in the Family Larm cal benefits realized. We welcome any attempt to extend series. The translator has performed his task in an une a proper estimate of its truths, and such is the design of ceptionable manner; but the work is too much epitomise this neat little volume from the press of the Harpers. It is to be of any practicable utility. Short accounts are written in a colloquial and narrative vein, and will enter- of many philosophers, their systems and schoolstain and inform better than a dry treatise. these accounts, for the most part, are too vague for comp