NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

Margaret. A Tale of the Real and Ideal, Blight and Bloom, including sketches of a Place not before described, called Mons, Christi. Boston: Jordan & Wiley. 12mo. pp. 460.

THE book bearing the above title contains an account, interesting on the whole, of the fortunes and character of a remarkable girl, of her progress from an obscure and painful condition to one of influence, respectability and refined happiness, from extreme ignorance to high wisdom. It is divided into three Parts. The first of these might have been withheld from the printer without essentially diminishing the value of the whole; or at least it might have been advantageously compressed into half a dozen pages. It abounds in dull and diffuse details of persons and things that possess few claims to the reader's attention, and some of which make but a small figure in the narrative. It is encumbered with dialogues of low life conducted without that humor, raciness, and spirit, which alone can make such conversation otherwise than tedious, if not quite revolting. We have been unable to discover, after a careful perusal, that it really teaches anything, unless it be that the manners of our people in the new country half a century ago were excessively rude, standing in undoubted need of the temperance reform, that a murderer may love flowers, and that a simple-hearted child will behave like a child in very different situations. The language that is recorded here, too, although we cannot deny that there are regions where it may be in use, is yet composed of some elements with which we must presume the gentlemen who compiled our standard dictionaries to have been unacquainted. Occasionally, however, we find passages of more than ordinary beauty. And while some of the descriptions are wearisome and intrusive, others are graphic and well-drawn; while vulgar images are sometimes introduced unnecessarily as figures of speech, others occur that are chaste and strikingly appropriate. The episode relating to Brückmann, is a happy instance of feeling delicately managed.

We allude to the faults of this portion of the volume the more particularly, because to a certain extent they appear throughout. There is here and there such an indulgence by the author of his faculty in the enumeration of particulars, such an extensive catalogue in natural history, as almost to give one the impression that his forte lies in minute details. We also thought we detected in various places a leaning to the fantastic, the strange,

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in fact, to oddity, which is always a blemish in a true work of art. We are aware there is a certain class of persons that greatly admire and mightily extol whatever in books or characters inclines to eccentricity. Among these are some who are ready to affirm that singularity is an infallible mark of genius, and that common sense, modesty, what Cicero calls constantia, and a respect for the classical rules and models of composition, are qualities that can by no means enter into the character of a great writer. But wiser men will notwithstanding continue for the present to believe that no writer can be truly great who despises them. A few cases of trifling inconsistency in the development of this story might be noticed, as where Margaret is made to do a thing she is represented as so manifestly incompetent to, as giving a ball. It might well be doubted, too, whether the first conversations of Mr. Evelyn, being not remarkably plain, were calculated so eminently to clear up the theological ideas of an uninstructed young female. And, to complete our censure, we cannot conceive why the flash and profane language of vicious characters, should be suffered to mar a book, in other respects, of unexceptionable purity.

However, as we have intimated, the farther one advances in the reading of the volume, the more do imperfections vanish and excellencies appear. While the first Part excited in us something very like disgust, the latter portions awakened a strong feeling of admiration. The unnaturalness and stiffness of the beginning wear off. Earnest thoughts are uttered, and earnest sympathies are engaged. Merely as a romance, the work is not perhaps more than respectable; but as a record of many just ideas and lofty sentiments, it stands far above the level of most of the books which the press "groans daily to deliver." The author has, clearly, a deep, genuine love for his race, and a hearty desire to serve well the interests of humanity. Nor is he without a marked degree of originality and skill in the art of collecting and combining the materials of a readable production. The success which we doubt not will attend his effort, will be owing in large measure to his talent for apprehending and presenting subjects in the concrete, - a talent that is liable, if not guarded, to pass, as we have seen, into excess. "Margaret leaving her home at "the Pond,” and “Chilion" in the jail, afford scenes and passages of uncommon pathos, and are most felicitously sketched. The chapter on Christianity is full of eloquence and power and truth. We do not often meet with finer illustrations and statements of the nature, character and real mission of Christ, and the significance of the Gospel. This, together with the kindred passages in the third Part, and the description of the effect of ecclesiastical formalities and pious cant on the mind of a sincere and pure maiden, may be regard

ed as constituting the chief substance and worth of the book. Here is the centre and essence of the whole production. And although we cannot help thinking that the limits of good taste and decorum are sometimes overstepped, in the neglected child's rather offensive talk on subjects and beings that we can never too sacredly reverence, yet there is much that is both true and instructive in the natural rebellion of her soul against the dogmas and absurdities of creed-worshippers, against Pharisaism and all religious pretension. Pure goodness is beautifully contrasted with the mockery of it. Margaret's letters, at the close, are delightful. They give a picture of what may be considered almost a perfect state of society, and the church. They show how the kingdom of Christ veritably comes on earth. They preach liberal Christianity, in the highest sense. In a noble spirit, they heighten our conception of what the New Testament means, and in striking and animating forms set forth the exalted dignity of those who are ready to carry on, with brave and trusting hearts, that work of love which Jesus began.

H.

Morning and Evening Meditations, for every Day in a Month. London. 1845. 12mo. pp. 227.

WE presume that we violate no secrecy in saying, that for this little volume we are indebted to Miss Mary Carpenter, daughter of the late Dr. Carpenter of Bristol, England. It is "a first offering of love and gratitude to the memory of a revered father." The plan and arrangement of the work are somewhat new, and admirably adapted to the purposes of Christian devotion. It does not profess to be a Manual of prayer; but it is— what in our view is far better highly suggestive of devotional thoughts and fitted to awaken the spirit of prayer, and therefore is in the best sense a Guide to prayer. It affords, for daily use, and also for various particular occasions, reflections founded on passages of Scripture, followed by well-chosen pieces of poetry in harmony with the subject of meditation. These are in all cases of a moderate length. The compiler has manifested judgment and taste and a catholic spirit in her selections, and the pieces for which she, and other members of her family, and some immediate friends are responsible add very much to the value of the book. We hope to see it soon republished here. We notice one or two errors in the Index of authors, which would easily be corrected in a new edition. The piece for Monday evening of the first week, attributed to H. Ware, is by James Montgomery. That for Wednesday evening of the second week, marked anonymous, is by Mrs. Gilman of Charleston, S. C. The volume has our cordial approval, and the editor our sincere thanks.

M.

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Hora Biblica; being a connected Series of Notes on the Text and Literary History of the Bibles, or Sacred Books of the Jews and Christians; and on the Bibles or Books accounted Sacred by the Mahometans, Hindoos, Parsees, Chinese, and Scandinavians. Volume the first, containing a connected Series of Notes on the Original Text, Early Versions, and Printed Editions of the Old and New Testament. Boston: J. Munroe & Co. 1845. 12mo. pp. 108.

IT should have been stated in an advertisement or preface, that this is a republication of part of a work of the late Charles Butler, published some years ago in England. The title of the

reprint differs slightly from that of the edition before us, which is the fifth, issued in 1817. One or two other minute discrepancies we have observed, not of a nature, however, to impair the merit of the republication. The book is necessarily a dry one, but contains a great deal of information in a condensed form, and will prove valuable, not simply to the theological student, but also to the Sunday school teacher, and in fact to intelligent Christians generally. Butler was a Roman Catholic, but an enlightened man, and in the main a fair and impartial critic. L.

Miscellaneous Writings of GEORGE Lectures to Young Women, etc. the Author. Baltimore. 1845.

W. BURNAP, Author of Collected and revised by 12mo. pp. 343.

THIS volume contains several of Mr. Burnap's publications originally issued in separate pamphlets, some of which have never before fallen under our eye. They are on various subjects, literary as well as religious, and in bringing them together and presenting them to the public in a less perishable form than that in which they before existed, Mr. Burnap has enlarged the sphere of their usefulness, besides gratifying those who have already learned to regard him as one of our best writers, alike for correctness of thought and purity of language.

L.

With

Epitaphs from the Old Burying-Ground in Cambridge.
Notes. By WILLIAM THADDEUS HARRIS, Junior Sophister
in Harvard College. Cambridge: J. Owen. 1845. 12mo.
Pp. 192.

THIS "transcript" of all the epitaphs in the Cambridge burial-ground "from the earliest date to the year 1800," with the names of those to whose memory monuments have been since erected, may have little interest except for readers who connect domestic or academical associations with the ground which Mr. Harris has so carefully traversed; but as a memorial VOL. XXXIX. 4TH S. VOL. IV. NO. III.

36

which such persons will value, and as an evidence of his antiquarian diligence, we esteem the volume worthy of respectful mention, and accept with gratitude the contribution he has here made to our "monumental literature." The earliest inscription in the Cambridge yard, — over the grave of "Ann Eriton, aged 77 years," bears the date of 1653. We sympathise with Mr. Harris in his feelings of regret at the "desolate appearance" which this burial-ground, in the midst of one of our wealthy and populous towns, is allowed to retain. It is creditable neither to the people of Cambridge nor to the University, that the restingplace of so many honored both in the local and the literary history of the place should be neglected and misused, as we have often had occasion to observe is the case in our walks over this spot.

G.

The Young Ladies' Elocutionary Reader; containing a Selection of Reading Lessons, by ANNA U. RUSSELL: with Introductory Rules and Exercises in Elocution, adapted to Female Readers, by WILLIAM RUSSELL, author of "Lessons in Enunciation," etc. Boston J. Munroe & Co. 1845. 8vo. pp. 480.

Introduction to the Young Ladies' Elocutionary Reader: containing a Selection of Reading Lessons; together with the Rudiments of Elocution, adapted to Female Readers. By WILLIAM and ANNA U. RUSSELL, Authors of the above-mentioned Reader. Boston: J. Munroe & Co. 1845. 8vo. pp. 252.

MR. RUSSELL'S reputation and success as a teacher, long known and universally respected in our community, are a sufficient security for the character of that part of these works which comes from his pen; and the selections for which we are indebted to his daughter, are made not only with the strict regard to purity of sentiment which should mark every book intended for female readers, but with that attention to the suitableness of the pieces as exercises for those who would accomplish themselves in a valuable, but too much neglected art, which will recommend them to use in both schools and families. There may not seem to have been an absolute need of this addition to the number of good books of a similar kind which have been published among us within a few years, but it increases the variety of choice, and in some respects these are preferable to the works by which they have been preceded. We regret to see in the larger volume that vicious system of punctuation adopted, now so common in American books, by which commas are multiplied, not only to the annoyance of the eye, but in utter disregard of the closest connexion of thought.

G.