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vocation in obscurity and secresy, had looked into the and watched the workings of the hidden mechanism that mysterious empire still so imperfectly known, thoug over a surface greater than that of all Europe, and population of one third of the human race. His know institutions, religion, manners, and customs of the Chin taken on hearsay from the accounts of others, but ga actual experience, and he has communicated his k the reader, not in a heavy, formal dissertation, but in a anter manner, apropos to the various incidents of his e journey."

13. We have received from the publishers, Mess Nichols & Co., the last two numbers of the North Americ This Review, which has been published for thirty-nine the leading position among the best periodical works of o Since it came under the charge of the present editor, it its ultra conservatism, and deals fearlessly with the reform of the age. It aims to express the best tone of America and no literary or public man can well afford to be with new volume commences in July.

14. The History of Napoleon Bonaparte. By John S. Two vols., large 8vo., with Maps and Illustrations. pp. 611 Published by Harper & Brothers. Revised and reprinted pages of Harpers' New Monthly Magazine.

There are so many different stand-points from which the and influence of Napoleon may be estimated, that no "his that extraordinary genius can hope for anything like u approval from any one, nor for general approval from even ty of readers. The "history of Napoleon is far fr finished. Its issues, whether on the whole for good or for not, as yet, developed. We of to-day, even, are his conten We live too near him; and our thinking, our feelings, and san relations are so involved in the operations which he se that we could not, even if we would, fully and accurately a his mission. There are four facts, however, which may b ered as settled: Napoleon had an inordinate, even insane a his impulses, though inconsistent, were often generous, never permitted to interfere with his schemes of aggrandizer was a lover of science, and made his victories tell, inciden the spread of learning and the discovery of knowledge, and ever may have been his motives-his ascendency had the weakening the crowned despotisms of Europe.

In estimating the character of Napoleon, the matter of m directly involved; and this is a matter, which, for reasons given, the present age cannot determine. One party will t

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ground that his motives were uniformly good, another party that they were uniformly bad; and between these two, there is room for all grades of opinions.

Mr. Abbott stands prominent among the eulogists of Napoleon. He presents him as a model hero, and assumes, that, from first to last, he was actuated by generous impulses, enlarged and progressive purposes, and that he died the benefactor-on principle, the benefactor-of his age, and of the world. We must regard this as too high an estimate of the moral character of the great warrior; and such, we think, will be the almost unanimous verdict of the critics. Though not competent to pronounce an authoritative judgment, we feel that Mr. Abbott has been misled by his enthusiasm, and that, unconsciously, he has given his hero altogether too much of a saintly halo.

We are not aware that any good critic complains of Mr. Abbott's simple statement of fact. The style is easy, flowing, and, in many passages, truly fascinating.

The printing is above all praise. We know not where to look for a finer specimen of typography. The plates and maps are the same as in the Magazine; but the letter-press is entirely new. The columes are single. The two volumes are handsomely bound. So far as regards the mechanical execution, it will be a long while before even the Harpers excel the two volumes which embrace the History of Napoleon.

E.

15. Tri-colored Sketches in Paris, during the years 1851-2-3. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1855. 12mo. pp. 368.

Written originally as a journal for one of the New York daily papers. It will be seen, from the dates in the title, that it covers the whole period of the late French revolutions; and, being a diary of events and observations noted down at Paris, the very centre of the movements and the theatre in which the several characters acted their parts, it gives us the impressions of the passing instant as they arose from the author's point of view. He describes the scenes in a lively, sportive style, often with an air of humorous mockery, and always with considerable effect. His scorn of Louis Napoleon is not at all allayed by the metamorphosis of the adventurer into Emperor, nor by the change which the tone of the English press has undergone since the successful coup d'etat. Parisian customs, manners, and character, the state of society, and the political parties, together with the distinguished men, have their share of notice, amid the shifting pictures that come before us. On the whole, we have found the work quite amusing, and quite instructive, notwithstanding the author's undisguised partisanship.

16. History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People. By Heinrich Zschokke. With a continuation to the Year 1848, by Emil Zschokke.

Translated by Francis George Shaw. New York: C. Co. 1855. 12mo. pp. 405.

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In our country, a history written" for the people' distinguished by any peculiarity in the mode of trea for the Swiss people," Zschokke seems to have thou to adopt such a tone and manner as we should think to the capacities of children or of young persons. All made for this peculiarity, it is but just to say that the ten in a simple, plain, straight-forward style, and, for th in a condensed form. The author begins his account w est notices that we have of the ancient inhabitants of and, passing cursorily over the contests of the Helveti Romans, and the influx of the Northern barbarians, he more particular narrative with the commencement of th century. From this time onward, the history becomes fuller, till it reaches the present day. The reputation Zschokke, as a historian, gives this work a high char authority, and the intrinsic interest of the subject will make it quite popular. It is hardly needful to obser history of the Swiss Republics, of their noble struggle pendence, and of their subsequent revolutions, has a s on the special attention of the citizens of every free state sources must we chiefly look for the lessons of experien us in the preservation of that liberty which has been co us as a sacred charge.

17. My Mother: or, Recollections of Maternal Influ Boston: Gould & Lincoln, &c. 1855. 12mo. pp. 254.

Nothing can be more natural than the manner in w sober though tender reminiscences are told. There is app effort to intensify them; every thing has the peculiar cha ple truth. As a matter of mere taste and judicious exec would refer to this volume as exemplifying how much supe effect of such an unaffected manner, to that of a more one. A mother's gentle and sacred influence forming the of her household-this is the theme that pervades all the ske thought that shines out in every pleasant or sad recollection life. Seldom is her agency, in this respect, adequately app its power is so quiet in its working. For this very reason to be the more frequently and the more distinctly illustrated all that has been written and said upon the subject, few a how much the mother always does towards making her what they become,-fewer still, how much she can do to or to pervert. Thanks to the author of this work for his contribution, though it is in two or three places marked wit tionable Orthodox notions. These, however, are incidenta

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obtrusively, presented; and the general religious tone is worthy of all commendation.

18. Elements of Astronomy, for Schools and Academies, with Explanatory Notes, and Questions for Examination. By John Brockelsby, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Trinity College, Hartford, &c., &c. Fully Illustrated, &c. New York: Published by Farmer, Brace, & Co., &c. 1855. 12mo. pp. 321.

The plan of this work is very different from that of Prof. Loomis's; it being more popular, more superficial, and adapted to a lower range of study. But for the purposes for which it was designed, as specified in the title, we think it the best class-book of Astronomy that we have seen,-clear, though concise, readily understood, well illustrated wherever illustrations were needed, and sufficiently thorough" for schools and academies." Though we agree with the author, that "the hill of science will always be a hill" which can be ascended only with labor, and that it is futile to avoid the difficulties which demand "patient and earnest study," yet the attrac tiveness of his work, and the facilities it offers for the acquirement of the science, are good recommendations.

19. The Philosophy of Sectarianism; or, a Classified View of the Christian Sects in the United States; with Notices of their Progress and Tendencies. Illustrated by Historical Facts and Anecdotes, &c. By the Rev. Alexander Blakie, Pastor of the Associate Reformed (the first Presbyterian Church, Boston. Second Edition. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company. 1855. pp. 362.

While looking through this book, we thought it rather amusing, till we saw at the end the recommendations of some Honorable and Reverend gentlemen, who certify that they have profited by the reading of it, and aver that the friends of truth owe much gratitude to the author. Such being the case, it may be worth the while to state that the Philosophy of Sectarianism is in brief this, viz. : that the true Scotch or Irish Presbyterian form of Church economy is the only kind of ecclesiastical regimen under which can be preserved the precious inheritances of downright old Calvinism, the Synagogue sort of public worship, infant-sprinkling, the doctrine of infant-damnation, (p. 231), the death-penalty, &c. With these, our republican goverment also is equally dependent, for its permanence, on the peculiarities of Presbyterianism. Papacy and Episcopacy are of monarchial tendency; Congregationalism is radical and anarchical; Presbyterianism, if of the right old Scotch stamp, holds the juste milieu,-the American copies having degenerated.

20. Louis Fourteenth, and the Writers of His Age; being a Course of Lectures delivered (in French) to a Select Audience in New York, by the Rev. J. F. Astié. Introduction and Translation by the Rev. E. N. Kirk. Boston: J. P. Jewett & Company. 1855. 12mo. pp. 413.

The very readable and valuable introduction to th tains the following passages: "Our progress in Scienc respectable, and our progress in the material arts wo schools are elevating the standard of literature; but deficiency is in historical science. Too little zeal seen fested for that knowledge of man, of humanity as a u cludes the entire history of civilization, and which important to us." This Course of Lectures is publishe ble contribution to our stock of knowledge concerning liant, and, in many respects, most important period, of France. The subjects of the Lectures are the fol Age of Louis XIV, Pascal's Provincial Letters, Corne La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine, Moliere, Pascal's Thou headings will scarcely indicate to the reader the wide fi vation which is brought under the notice of Mr. Astié read his Lectures with more than ordinary satisfaction very suggestive, marked by a calm and discriminatin unusually free from man-worship, and, by the skill of th clearly and forcibly expressed.

In speaking of the great epochs of human history, V "The thinker, and, what is still more rare, the man o recognize but four periods of the world's history in wh were brought to perfection, and which, serving as epochs ness of the human mind, furnish examples for posterity. happy periods are, that of Pericles in Greece; that of Rome; that of the Medici in Italy; and that of Lou France." Making all necessary allowance for Voltaire's it must be conceded that the age of Louis XIV. was an nary period. The theory of absolutism had its full devel "Louis le Grand." Adored by the people for those pers ties which they admired, and for his entire devotion to th France, his will was felt at the extremities of the nation, resources were open to his view, and subject to his comma was indeed the culminating period of despotic rule; abso then in the full bloom. We recommend the Augusta France to the reader. It is a valuable work.

21. Memoirs of Rev. Edward Mott Woolley. By his Mrs. Fidelia Woolley Gillett, assisted by Rev. A. B. Grosh. Appendix, containing Selections from his Sermons, &c. Published by Abel Tompkins, &c. 1855. 12mo. pp. 360.

We merely insert the title of this volume, at present, as to receive, in season for our next No., a review of it, from pondent who knows well how to sympathize in the filial pie author, and to appreciate such a character and experience as presented.

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