take too little account. Its style, both of thought and structure and imagery, seems to have been strongly affected by a kind of literature with which the writer is probably far more familiar than any of his readers or critics, - a literature which contains some of the rarest and finest utterances of the human mind, but which is imperfectly acclimatized among us. That literature of memoirs, correspondence, and mystical or reflective poetry, so largely reflected in Mr. Alger's writings, and tempering the accumulations of his patient study with a mellow warmth as rare as their curious abundance, is rich in a style of sentiment and imagery which is somewhat more familiar to us, and in truth somewhat more to our taste, under the translucent haze of a foreign idiom. We wish, now and then, that we could forget the associations of our English speech, and read some of these thoughtful and suggestive paragraphs in the French or German diction, to which they seem rather native. And it has occurred to us, that the writer, to whom we owe so much for what he has transposed from other tongues to ours, would do well to make himself familiar with the more plebeian uses of those tongues, and especially to cultivate that quick appreciation of humor, so essential in self-criticism, and so important in giving what we may call the stereoscopic effect of the words one uses, and winning a true mastery of style.

Whatever the justness or aptness of these suggestions, there will be many readers of this volume who will feel no such drawback on their satisfaction in the instruction, counsel, inspiration, and comfort they get from it. Even the reader most critically minded, and craving to keep closest to facts tangible and outward, for the sentiments and emotions he slights are after all facts, though of another order, will be attracted and instructed by the personal sketches which make rather more than half the book. Some of them - for example the first, that of Gotama Buddha are full enough to be biographical sketches, of a curious and independent value. Others, such as those of Pascal, Rousseau, and Comte, are studies of character, or exercises in moral analysis, of much insight and psychological instruction. The closing one, that of Jesus, which with a frank simplicity is presented among the rest in this new aspect, is a real contribution to a study of everlasting interest and typical importance. In general, we should say of these sketches, that their value would be increased by a more scrupulous selection and more uniform fulness and carefulness of treatment; since many of them are mere hints and fragments, increasing the number of names, without adding to the

weight of testimony. But where a book errs through abundance, the reader's remedy is the easy one of skipping what he does not want; while the writer's judgment may be correct, after all, as to the names that really fit his plan.

THE author of the report to the Cornell University Trustees* has since been chosen President of the Institution, and is in a position to carry out his ideas in regard to the arrangement of studies and the choice of lecturers and professors. If these ideas are carried out, the Cornell University will take rank as the first among American literary institutions. It will be before, and not behind, the time; a place where the student may find and seek new truths, and not merely learn by rote old formulas or count old fossils. President White will not have in his college any sinecure offices, any superfluous and ornamental men, any plodders, to turn the crank of a barrelorgan in routine studies. He will get live men, who believe in progress, believe in democratic ideas, and are ready to teach what the people want to learn. There is no mediæval tone in this remarkable report. It has the American idea in it, and it belongs to the nineteenth century. Of all the plans for practical University efficiency and reform that we have seen, so numerous in these last years, this is the broadest, the wisest, the best adjusted, and the most clearly stated. Mr. L. W. Jerome has recently, we believe, established in Princeton College an annual prize for gentlemanly deportment. President White means, that all his teachers, in addition to their literary and scientific attainments, shall teach good manners by their example, and shall show students that a scholar is not a boor or a clown, but the truest gentleman. He does not intend, moreover, to allow any quarrels or jealousies among the professors; and if they cannot live peaceably together, cannot work harmoniously, he will "cut the Gordian knot," and dismiss the whole of them. No man shall be appointed an instructor because "he is poor or pious, or a 'squatter' on the college domain." No man will be favored because he belongs to a particular sect, or rejected because he holds. an unpopular creed. In this institution, a Unitarian and a Roman Catholic have the same chance as a Presbyterian or Methodist.

* Report of the Committee on Organization. Presented to the Trustees of the Cornell University, Oct. 21, 1866. Albany: C. Van Benthuysen & Sons. 8vo. pp. 48.

There will be no sectarian test, either in the scholarship of students or in the fitness of professors.

We have been beyond measure charmed and refreshed by this vigorous document, and commend it to all our readers.

THE publication of "King René's Daughter inaugurates an enterprise for which we hope a great success, the presentation to the American public of some of the choicest poems of foreign literatures, such as Lessing's "Nathan the Wise," Goethe's "Hermann and Dorothea," Molière's "Tartuffe," Calderon's "Life is a Dream," Tasso's "Aminta," and others from the Swedish, the Norwegian, the Russian, the Turkish, and the Sanscrit. Every friend of culture in America should cordially welcome these productions of the finest genius of other lands. Their influence is needed among us, and can be made effective for great good, both with our young poets and with our intelligent readers of poetry.

The little poem of Hertz, which is already, we trust, in the hands of many of our readers, is one of the most charming to be found in any language. The conception of Iolanthe, King Rene's daughter, blind from infancy, brought up in a secluded paradise without the knowledge of her misfortune, wonderfully self-helpful through her other powers, beautiful with graces hardly known under the glare of the great world's light, was worthy of a true poet. As the tale proceeds, and Iolanthe meets in her garden the noble gentleman to whom in earliest infancy she had been betrothed, it seems impossible that sight could add any thing to so clear and bright a life. Indeed we think it a defect in the close of the poem, that the art of the Moorish physician succeeds in giving sight to Iolanthe. The natural close of so fine a poem after the intended husband had seen Iolanthe blind, and lost his heart to her, ignorant of her parentage; and she, through ear and touch and other channels for the soul of the sightless, had found in him a hero would have been the demonstration of the superiority of the soul to the limitations of physical organization. The poem has prepared us for this, and has almost made this necessary. We feel that Iolanthe without sight, the loveliest creature of pure faith, will be less than herself with the gift of sight. But this imperfection of the poem, as we regard it, will undoubtedly please the majority of

* King René's Daughter: a Danish Lyrical Drama. By HENRIK HERTZ. Translated by Theodore Martin. New York: Leypoldt & Holt, 1867.

readers, who are but little familiar with the ideal aspects of human life. And to us it is no hindrance to enjoyment of the poet's success in the creation of Iolanthe and the delineation of a life whose light was wholly the light ineffable within the soul. It is an admirable success. King René's Daughter" is a work of pure beauty, and of that spiritual beauty which is the most precious gift of heaven to the eye of man.

66

THE author of the little volume, "Poems, by Robert Weeks,' has given us reason to expect that he will write something much superior to the average productions of our young poets. There is the true spirit of poetry in the first attempts of his pen, and, in some of the pieces in the latter half of his volume, the stream of his song runs quite clear. It is not easy to write poetry fit to challenge in our day the attention of the reading public. We cordially desire to see the author of "Poems" appreciate the true end and use of poetry, and successfully attempt something worthy of the highest praise. No better field ever existed, than our own land to-day affords, for the study and practice of the high art of poetry. The crowd of striplings, every one with his manufactured song, will obtain vulgar applause, while deserving only contempt. Who will win the poet's name and honor?

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

A New Translation of the Hebrew Prophets, with Introduction and Notes. By George R. Noyes. Third edition, 2 vols. Also, Translations of the Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles. By the same. Boston: American Unitarian Association. (To be reviewed.)

Sermons. By Alexander Hamilton Vinton, Rector of St. Mark's Church, New York. Boston: E. P. Dutton & Co. 16mo. pp. 330.

The Restoration of Belief. By Isaac Taylor. A new edition, revised, with an additional section. Boston: E. P. Dutton & Co. 16mo. pp. 389. The Silence of Scripture. By Rev. Francis Wharton, D.D., LL.D., Rector of St. Paul's Church, Brookline, Mass. Boston: E. P. Dutton & Co. 16mo. pp. 122.

The Life of God in the Soul of Man; or, The Nature and Excellency of the Christian Religion. By the Rev. Henry Scougal. To which is subjoined, Rules for a Holy Life. By Archbishop Leighton. New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge. 16mo. pp. 161.

* Poems. By Robert K. WEEKS. New York: Leypoldt & Holt.

Daily Hymns; or, Hymns for every day in Lent.

& Co. 16mo. pp. 107.

Boston: E. P. Dutton

Heaven and its Wonders, and Hell from things heard and seen. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 8vo. pp. 453. Lectures on the Nature of the Spirit, and of Man as a Spiritual Being. By Chauncey Giles, Minister of the New Jerusalem Church. New York: 20, Cooper Union. 12mo. pp. 206.

The Combined Spanish Method: a new practical and theoretical system of learning the Castilian Language. With a Pronouncing Vocabulary. By Alberto de Tornos, A.M. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 12mo. pp. 470. A Complete Manual of English Literature. By Thomas B. Shaw. Edited, with Notes and Illustrations, by William Smith, Author of Bible and Classical Dictionaries. With sketch of American Literature, by Henry T. Tuckerman. New York: Sheldon & Co. pp. 540. (The author has certainly succeeded in his attempt "to render the work as little dry- as readable, in short as is consistent with accuracy and comprehensiveness") The English of Shakespeare, illustrated in a Philological Commentary on his Julius Cæsar. By George L. Craik. Edited, from the third revised London edition, by W. J. Rolfe, Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Boston Crosby & Ainsworth. pp. 386. (Of proved value as a class-book, in skilful hands; carefully edited, and given in a neat and convenient form.) Remarks on Classical and Utilitarian Studies, read before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 20, 1866. By Jacob Bigelow. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. pp. 57.

Report on the Public Schools and the Systems of Public Instruction in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son. pp. 64.

Guide to Boston and Vicinity; with Maps and Engravings. By David Pulsifer. Boston: A. Williams & Co. pp. 293.

The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Complete

(Diamond) edition. pp. 363. The Personal History of David Copperfield; The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. By Charles Dickens. With original Illustrations by S. Eytinge, jun. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. (Diamond edition.)

Christie's Faith. By the Author of "Mattie Astray," "Carry's Confession," &c., &c. 12mo. pp. 519.

Black Sheep. A Novel. By Edmund Yates. 8vo. pp. 166.

The Village on the Cliff. A Novel. By Miss Thackeray, Author of "The Story of Elizabeth." With Illustrations. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 104.

Easy German Reading, after a New System: being selections of Historical Tales and Anecdotes, arranged with copious foot-notes, containing translations of all the prominent words, designations of the genders and declensions of the nouns, the peculiar forms of the verbs and the cases they govern, &c., &c. By George Storme. New edition, revised by Edward A. Oppen. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 18mo. pp. 206.

The Huguenot Galley-slave: being the Autobiography of a French Protestant condemned to the galleys for the sake of his religion. Translated from the French of Jean Marteilhe. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 12mo. pp. 241.

Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects. By Sir John F. W. Herschel, Bart. Alexander Strahan, London and New York. 12mo.

pp. 507. Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis, the great Union guide of East Tennessee for a period of nearly four years during the great Southern Rebellion. Written by himself. Containing a short Biography of the author. Illustrations. 12mo. pp. 430.

With