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LITERARY NOTICES.

An Address delivered before the New England Society of the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., December, 1848, on the Anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. By JAMES HUMPHREY. New York: C. M. Saxton, 121 Fulton Street.

WE Commend this Address of Mr. Humphrey to the attention of our readers with a great deal of pleasure. It is one of the very best which these New England Societies have been the occasion of calling forth. It is fraught with feeling and imagination, and written with a classic accuracy and elegance. The sentiments which it expresses, are well considered and just. As a test of our criticism, we quote the following paragraph, and we think our readers, who have not seen the Address, will thank us for making them acquainted with it.

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'In the earliest spring of 1635, less than seven years after the landing of Endicott in Salem, and less than five years after the arrival of Winthrop and his companions at Boston, there landed, from one of the English vessels, in Massachusetts Bay, a youthful stranger, whose coming excited in the minds of the colonists an unwonted interest;-less on account of the high rank and the wealth of his family in England, than of those remarkable personal qualities, that already attracted every eye, and gave promise of that eventful career, and final immortality, which awaited him. The eldest son of one of the principal secretaries of Charles the First, the lineal heir of wealth and power and honors, he turned from the allurements of the court, and, 'that he might preserve faith and a good conscience,' he chose the better part,' with the exiles who had gone before him into the remote wilderness of Massachusetts. A high bred gentleman, an accomplished scholar, an humble and earnest Christian, he united the greatest power and range of intellect with the highest nobility of soul and the simplest purity of spirit; and all his rare qualities were vivified and inspired by a deep and tranquil enthusiasm, which possessed him wholly-like some divine afflatus-thrilling in every word he spake, beating like a pulse in every line he wrote, and illuminating his very countenance with its beaming light. He had,' says Clarendon, an unusual aspect, which made men think there was something in him of extraordinary, and his whole life made good that imagination.'

"He was one of those persons, who have the singular power of awakening the enthusiasm of all those with whom they come into contact; he was possessed of a wonderful faculty of influencing men, and it is not surprising that his earnest piety, combined with all those high qualities, which soon after marked him as the most consummate statesman of England, should have captivated the minds of those ardent colonists, and that the next year after his arrival among them, HENRY VAne the YOUNGER, at the age of twenty-three, was elected the fourth Governor of Massachusetts.

"It were not an inappropriate pleasure, to dwell at this time upon this divinely beautiful character, since in it were combined all the nobler traits of our early fathers, added to which,-as its chief and crowning grace,-was that free and generous charity, that full and enlightened toleration, which placed him far in advance of his brethren at Boston, and of the age in which he lived; and made him, through all his eventful life, the champion of the liberty of conscience and perfect freedom of religious opinion. During the year of his administration, suddenly broke out the celebrated Antinomian controversy, which swept over the peaceful colony like a storm howling through one of their primeval forests. Then was the cardinal doctrine of his faith and practice, called into immediate and forcible expression, in the generous protection, which he extended to that woman of admirable genius, Anne Hutchinson, who, whatever may have been the imperfections of her philosophy or the indiscretions of her conduct, yet shared with him the spiritual freedom of a later age; rivalled her adversaries alike in metaphysical acuteness and in passionate belief, and divided with them the realms of Truth and Error;-and whose eventful life and awful death form one of the most romantic and tragic passages in American history. "But Providence had prepared a wider theater for the display of the transcendent genius, and spotless character of the younger Sir Harry Vane. We can not follow

him there, through his career of glory, onward to his sublimely triumphant martyrdom, to extract the great lessons which he taught in his life, and which were spoken in more touching accents in his death-let us use his own language in that prayer with his children the night before his execution, which no one can read without tears not by the words of his mouth only, but by the voice of his Blood and Death also, which will speak when he is gone."-pp. 26-29.

We should be glad to quote all that the author says of Sir Henry Vane, but we have not space.

An Address before the Hartford County Agricultural Society, delivered October 15th, 1847. By JOHN P. NORTON, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in Yale College, New Haven. Hartford: Brown & Parsons.

Address delivered at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Agricultural Society, at Albany, January 19th, 1848. By the same. Albany: Printed by Charles Van Benthuysen.

Address delivered at the Annual Show of the New York State Agricultural Society, at Buffalo, September 6th, 1848. By the same. Albany: Charles Van Benthuysen.

WE have grouped these Addresses together, because they treat of parts of the same general subject, and because we wish to make a single remark upon the establishment of the professorship of which they may be said to be the first fruits. It is probably known to most of our readers that the Corporation of Yale College, a few years since founded a new Department in connection with the Theological, the Medical, and the Law Department, of the Institution. This measure, we think, evinced the same practical wisdom, which has so uniformly characterized the measures of this Corporation. It was done at the right time; neither too soon, nor too late. Our Country has advanced so far that it is necessary to give to those who have the means and the inclination, an opportunity to prosecute particular branches of study, after they have finished their Academical course, while at the same time the general advancement of Society has developed the necessity of other liberal professions, besides the professions of Law, Theology and Medicine, for which a professional school should be established.

Among the studies taught in this new Department, which we believe is called the Department of Philosophy, none have interested us more than those of Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry. We are clearly of the opinion that the time has come when there is a demand for Professional Chemists, and we are happy to learn that several young men are already devoting themselves to these branches with the intention of making themselves accomplished Chemists. It is only in this way that the proper spirit of Agricultural improvement can be excited in the community. There may be an advantage in attending a single course of lectures, but what is most wanted is,-competent teachers. As the improvement of common schools is found to keep pace with the advance of a higher education, so the improvement of Agriculture in the community at large must proceed from the advance of a higher chemical education in the class of liberally educated men. We should then, have more such Addresses as those we have under consideration, instead of loose, rhetorical declamations on the pleasures of Agricultural life, from those who know nothing about the subject.

We very much like the model on which these Addresses are formed. They profess to give knowledge on precise and definite points. They are written with admirable perspicuity and they impart instruction, just such as the farmer needs. Nor is it so easy as many seem to think, to express truly scientific information in language which can be generally understood, not so easy by any means as to adorn worn out common places with the mere ornaments of style.

We are glad to learn through the last number of Blackwood's Magazine, that— we beg leave to quote the whole-that "the editing of the American reprint of the second edition of the Book of the Farm, has been undertaken by our friend Professor Norton of Yale College, (may his shadow never be less!) so well known and esteemed in Scotland, where he obtained the Highland's Society's £50 prize for a chemical examination of our native oat which was published in their transactions. He is a worthy representation of the 'country of steady habits,' to which he belongs; and we hope his countrymen will be discriminating enough to appreciate his own character and scientific labors, as well as the value of the books he undertakes to bring before them."

The Art of Rhetoric, or the Elements of Oratory, adapted to the practice of the Students of Great Britain and Ireland, methodically arranged from the Ancient and Modern Rhetorical writers, viz.: Aristotle, Cicero, Dionysius of Hal., Isocrates, Plato, Quintilian, Vossius, Petrus Ramus, Cyp. Soarius, Dugard, Blackwall, Blair, Burton, Butler, Farnaby, Lowe, Rollin, Smith, Walker, Archbishop of Cambray, Messrs. de Port-Royal, &c. &c.; by JOHN HOLMES, late master of the public Grammar School in Holt, Norfolk, (England,) to which is added Quintilian's Course of an Ancient Roman Education; from the pupil's first elements, to his entrance into the school of Oratory. A new and carefully corrected edition, in two books, entirely remodeled: for the use of Schools, Academies, and Colleges. By JOHN A. GETTY, A. M. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart.

THIS book is a curiosity and as such we recommend it to our curious readers. We give them a specimen in the title page, not the least remarkable thing of which is, that the author is made to acknowledge that he had heard of such names as Blair and Walker. But he does not seem to have met with Campbell and Whateley, whose places, however, are supplied by Vossius and Petrus Ramus. Next we come upon a dedication not by John A. Getty, A. M., but by John Holmes, "to the governors and visitors of Sir John Gresham's Free Grammar School," a long catalogue of whose names is given. This is followed by a dedication in Latin, in which Johannes Holmes presents his work in solemn pomp, "amplissimis eruditissimisque viris, Reverendo admodum in Christo Patri ac Domino D. Thomæ Hayter, Episcopo Norvicensi, nec non præclaro humanissimoque D. Josepho Atwell D. D. ejusdem diœcescos cancellario;”—and here accidentally a date which has escaped the remodeling care of John A. Getty, A. M., betrays the fact that the said John Holmes himself knew nothing of the now modern writers, his book having been published, "Anno Salutis Humanæ, 1775," eight years before Blair's Lectures, and one year before Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric. Then after a short Preface in English, most manifestly by the same John Holmes, we enter the temple itself. The plan of the author is as follows; at the top of the page he places such questions as involve the main points, following each question with short and condensed answers; the remainder of the page contains a more full development of the answers, principally from the ancient writers, either in the original language or in translation. In the introduction, he considers in this way the several topics, What is Rhetoric? Is it an art? Is it useful? He then makes the well known division of Rhetoric, into Invention, Disposition, Elocution and Pronunciation. In treating of the first two the author draws from Cicero and Quintilian. He then illustrates the topics thus far discussed by several themes, in which Proposition, Reason, Conformation, Simile, Example, Testimony and Conclusion, follow each other in due order. These themes are on such subjects as, " Festina lente," "Imprimis venerare Deos," "Mors omnibus communis," and are written in Latin, (in which learned tongue they appear perhaps to the best advantage,) with the exception of one, in English, though as some expiation, this is afterwards turned into Greek.

The part on style is amusing and interesting. It is chiefly taken up with the consideration of Tropes and Figures. There are four primary tropes, Metaphor, Metonymy, Synecdoche, and Irony. There are sixteen secondary tropes, of which we can only mention Diasyrmus, Asteismus, and Paræmia. Figures are of two kinds, figures of Repetitions of Sounds, and Figures of Sentences. Of the former there are fifteen, and of the latter twenty-two kinds, each of the thirty-seven furnished with good substantial names from the Greek. We must not omit to mention there are fourteen other figures, sometimes used by rhetoricians, not to speak of figures of Orthography and Prosody. These figures are carefully defined and the definitions are expressed in verse, and illustrated by many references, most of which are from the Greek and Latin writers. The reader is next treated to the same matter in Latin. Here the definitions are expressed in hexameter verse, with the illustrations from the ancient authors untranslated. Indeed the former is a translation of the latter. The part on Pronunciation consists of little more than extracts from Latin and English authors for speaking. To all this is added by way of Appendix, a translation of the first book of Quintilian's Institutes. We can not recommend the introduction of this book into schools, but it seemed to us that there might be a few among our readers who would be glad to know of its existence.

School Architecture; or Contributions to the Improvement of School-Houses in the United States. By HENRY BARNARD, Commissioner of Public Schools in Rhode Island. Second Edition. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1848. 8vo, pp. 366.

THE author of this work is favorably known to our readers as the laborious friend of common school education. He was for several years the Secretary of the Board of Education in Connecticut. When his native state felt that she had no longer need of his services, he went to Rhode Island at the solicitation of the friends of education in that state, at the time when they were about to re-organize or rather to create a system of common school instruction. In his efforts there, he has been signally successful, so successful that the schools and school system of that state to which the good people of Connecticut were accustomed to point with contempt, now far surpass at this moment those of "the model state," and might reasonably excite her envy and mortification.

The work before us is one of great value and convenience, to all those interested in the constructing and furnishing of school houses, and contains much that is valuable to the professional architect. The ample information and abundant drawings, in relation to warming and ventilating buildings of all sorts, make it worth more than its cost to any one who proposes to build or repair a private dwelling; while to those charged with the erection of churches or public lecture-rooms, it can not be too earnestly recommended. The introduction of the work, is occupied for some forty pages with a detailed exhibition of the actual condition of school houses in several states of the Union, as given from official and accurate reports. Then follows a familiar discussion of the most important points to be considered in constructing and furnishing a school house. The next head is entitled, "plans of school houses;" and it occupies about 200 pages. First in order are various plans that have been recommended by eminent architects and friends of education. Next are given plans and descriptions of school houses recently erected in Connecticut, New York City, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The elevations, sections and ground plans of these edifices are given, and present a fine variety from which a selection may be made, to suit the taste and means of the country and city. We were particularly pleased, with the beauty and variety of the school houses in Rhode Island, many of which have been erected after plans furnished by Mr. Barnard himself. No two of the school houses out of Provi

dence, are constructed after the same model, and yet all are tasteful and many of them elegant edifices. The fourth section treats of apparatus, and the fifth of school libraries. The sixth section is devoted to miscellaneous suggestions, among which, a great variety of suggestions in respect to ventilation, warming, school desks and furniture, are given, with cuts enough to satify the most ardent admirer of picture books.

The publication of a book on school architecture, is a cheering sign of the times. The fact that this work is meeting with a rapid sale is still more gratifying. The time is not long, since the connection of architecture with any thing pertaining to the school, or the school house, was hardly thought of. That time is passing away we trust never to return. It is to be hoped that no school district in the Union will fail of being provided with this volume. Its circulation has already been very considerable, and the work is rapidly passing through successive editions.

The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides; according to the text of L. Dindorf; with Notes, for the use of Colleges. By JOHN J. OWEN, Principal of the Cornelius Institute. New York: Leavitt, Trow & Co., 1848. WE are glad to see this addition to the series of classical works, prepared by Dr. Owen. All his editions have been well received by the public, and deservedly so. This, however, we regard as the best in the series. The aid which Dr. Owen's notes afford to the student in the attempt to master a work so confessedly difficult as this, is generally, we will not say invariably, just such as is wanted. While it enables him to surmount difficulties, that would otherwise be too great for him, it is not extended so far as to take from him the necessity of close attention and hard thinking. On the contrary the nature and manner of the assistance is such that the mind of the learner is constantly kept on the train of thought in the text, and is made to see clearly the current of the narration. The tendency in our day is to make the study of the Latin and Greek too easy, little else than the exercise of the memory, and thus take from it nearly all demand on the reasoning powers of the learner. In many cases, editors do all the thinking for the pupil. It is much better that the student be thrown more upon his own resources, and that his text-books be such as will allow him the pleasure of finding out something for himself. The study of the languages thus pursued is one of the best methods of mental discipline. When the student is put upon the use of his own powers-when he is obliged to reason closely, to start conjectures, to weigh probabilities, and form conclusions, when he has to grasp the author's train of thought and to judge and discriminate for himself, he is in a process of healthy intellectual training.

We shall hail with pleasure the promised completion of Dr. Owen's labor on this author, in a second volume with an index, verbal, historical and grammatical, which will add much to the value of the work.

A Dictionary of the German and English Languages. By G. J. ADLER, Professor of German in the University of the City of New York, 1849. STUDENTS of German have long felt the want of a dictionary which should have neither the shrunk dimensions of a little 32mo, nor the portly size of a fat quarto; which should suit the purse in point of price and not try the temper by being divided into several volumes, of which the right one is sure not to be taken up, when one is in a hurry to look out a word. In regard to size this one volume of nearly 1400 pages, has hit just the right medium, and comes recommended also by a very handsome style of printing, which makes a favorable impression upon the reader's eye. The plan of the work and its copiousness, Mr. Adler shall explain for himself.

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