There is similar value and interest in that couplet of Luther's, also, which Mr. Hedge quotes, exhibiting a pious man's piety with no sour phase :"Who loves not wine, woman, and song,

Remains a fool his whole life long."

The reader who has gone through this volume, cannot but feel strongly drawn, if he have the time, to the study of the original German. He will have formed some notion of the extent and variety of German Literature, ranging from the abstrusest of metaphysics in Kant, to light fiction in Tieck and Chamisso; yet throughout, in the fiction as in the philosophy, marked and pervaded by soberness and thoroughness. One department, one vast branch of this literature, the volume before us gives little idea of, except indirectly; its profound scholarship in every kind of learning, particularly in philology. To the student of any aspiration, indeed, the German is almost an indispensable acquisition merely as an implement, a tool to work with, a means towards the higher aim of his studies. But this is a topic on which there is no need of enlarging. The last twenty years have witnessed the labors of Carlyle (some of whose fine versions from Goethe, Tieck, and Hoffman, are given in this volume) and of other faithful students, who have secured, from the world of general readers in England and America, a pretty full and unqualified recognition of the excellences of German Literature.

But to the American, to the Merchant, we would address one or two remarks, in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine.

If it be any reason for studying Spanish that that language is of very extensive use and application in the mercantile relations of this country, German is equally worth studying, for the same reason. The commerce between the United States and Germany is growing every day. The northern States of Germany are devoting themselves with increasing zeal to manufactures; hence a constant increase of our export trade in cotton and tobacco.

In fact, any one who takes much interest in the fortunes of Germany, cannot be unaware of a change that is coming over that country. That people, the student, the thinker, the dreamer, perhaps, among nations, seems about to enter upon a new kind of existence, and to undergo a transition from the life of reflection to the life of action. Having studied "Philosophy, Jurisprudence, and Medicine, through and through," the German people, Faust-like, seem to be yielding to that yearning for activity, for the life of business, politics, and passion, which, in the cases of individuals, drives the student into what is called the World. Everywhere political agitation, everywhere railroads, growing manufactures in the North, and a commercial union of many of the States, too strikingly similar to the first movement towards our own political confederation, not to remind the most careless, all these things are signs of the change, are stages in it.

But there is one other feature in this change, more important, perhaps, than all the rest; one which, at least, is of most concern to Americans. The Germans have become a migratory people. Already the class of German merchants, resident here, and maintaining constant business com. munication with the land of their birth, is very large. But this is far from all. There is another, a national consideration connected with this fact. When we read American history, colonial and revolutionary, closing

the book, we lay it down with the conclusion that ours always has been and always will be a nation of the same distinctive stock; a compound of the Celtic and the Saxon, called, generally, Anglo-Saxon, to the too great exclusion of the Celtic element, which, if there be anything in early history or modern ethnography, we undoubtedly derive from the first races of Britain. Such is our impression, derived from reading. There hap pens to be a chapter of American history which we all read carelessly, if at all; which we con principally by fragments, in the items of the daily newspaper. It is the chapter of present events. Who casts a second glance at the paragraph which announces the arrival of five hundred German emigrants, in one day, at the port of New York? Who thinks of past eras of emigration, the movements of past ages; of Hengist with his Saxons in England, of the Northmen in France? Yet, in a quiet way, the present is an era of emigration, than which there never, perhaps, was a greater. There has been a constant movement towards the shores of America, almost from the hour when they were discovered. But the emigration of the last ten or fifteen years has been of an extent, a volume, to which even the great emigrations by which this country was settled are small. And in this movement, with the exception, perhaps, of the Irish, the Germans bear the largest part. What shall we say of the fact of over 50,000 Germans landing at one port, New York, in one year, 1847? What shall we say of Ohio, that counts its German citizens by hundreds of thousands? Its German citizens we say; for these emigrants are mostly adults, or persons approaching maturity. In years, they are men; in law, they become citizens not after twenty-one, but after five years' residence, full as soon as they learn enough of our language to understand our politics. These people become tillers of American soil-become American merchants and mechanics. They intermarry with our people, and thus literally, and without figure of speech, the German element is being poured into the veins of our population.

Thus, by the will of Providence, by the fate of History, or whatever it is that orders those events over which man has but indirect control, if any at all, the national blood seems destined to be largely re-enforced in both of its great elements at the same time: in the Saxon, from the pure and unmixed Teutonic of Germany; in the Celtic, from Ireland.

That any one, that any American, can feel unconcerned as to the result of this infusion of new blood, of this new development of nationality, we cannot believe. As a matter of enlightened curiosity, it is interesting to study the temper, the character, the cast of mind of a people who are to give something more than a tinge to a whole nation. To that nation itself, it is a matter of the deepest interest and the gravest concern. That the German is a noble race, full of solid qualities of character and mind, with all the excellences of the Saxon branch, so to speak, of our own national stock, is certainly a satisfactory thought. A volume, like the one before us, is ample evidence of all this, and hence the peculiar, the national utility, so to speak, of such a work; hence the national importance and interest of the study of the German language and literature in general. Nothing can tend more to facilitate and hasten that amalgamation of races which must take place, than a readiness, on the part of the native born, to learn to understand and to sympathize with the German character and mind.

As a specimen of the work, we may here introduce a single translation,

the most appropriate for our Journal. It is from Hamann's Schriften, being the supplement to a translation of Dangeuil's Remarques sur les Avantages et les Desavantages de la France et de la Gr. Bretagne, par Rapport au Commerce et aux autres Sources de la Puissance, &c.

THE MERCHANT.

Nothing reminds us more impressively of the advantages of union than the benefits which flow from commerce in human society. Through this it is, that that is everywhere, which is anywhere. It satisfies our wants, it prevents satiety by new desires, and these it allays too. It maintains peace among nations, and is their horn of plenty. It furnishes them with arms, and decides their doubtful fortune. Men labor for it, and it rewards their diligence with treasures. It enlarges their intercourse, develops their powers, makes itself not only their weapon, but employs their genius, their courage, their virtues, their vices. Every harbor, every canal, every bridge, every floating palace and army, are its works. Through its influence, the arts are awakened and extended. Our sideboards and the toilets of the ladies are adorned with its gifts. The poisons of our kitchens, and the antidotes of our physicians pass through its hands. It atones for frugality by profusion. Its exercise consists in exact integrity, and from its gains the patriot distributes prizes, and performs his vows.

What happy changes may not the world promise itself from the commercial spirit, now beginning to prevail, if it should be purified by insight and noble impulses? Perhaps we may not vainly flatter ourselves with the hope that, through its influence, the love of the public good will be re-established, and the virtues of the citizen raised from their ashes to their original splendor.

The demand of commerce for liberty promises to hasten the happy return of that blessing to man. The unrestrained energy, the unimpeded skill of each individual, and all that each undertakes not at variance with the common good, will gradually banish that unbridled audacity with which every one in our times al lows himself in every thing, and aims to make possible whatever he considers use

ful to himself alone.

Inestimable good! without which men can neither think nor act, whose loss robs him of every privilege! By thee, trade blooms, and extends through all ranks! Each resumes his ancient and natural rights, which we had renounced from servile passions and prejudices!

Holland has, to the advantage of her trade, abolished tyrannical persecution for conscience' sake, and adopted among her fundamental laws that freedom of opinion which is as reasonable as it is beneficial. Why should it not tend to the renown of the Roman tax-gatherers, that they were the first who concerned themselves to relieve their countrymen from the blindness of superstition ?*

The spirit of trade may perhaps abolish in time the inequality of ranks, and level those heights, those hills, which vanity and avarice have thrown up, in order not only to receive sacrifices thereon, but to control with more advantage the course of nature. The incapacity of the idle ceases to be a mark of distinction gratifying to his pride, where the effort, and labor, and sweat of contemporaries make their life costly, and alone claim consideration and favor. The laurels wither with the decay of the fathers. Their rest on the bed of honor has become to us more indifferent than to their useless posterity, who enjoy the same repose on the cushions of prosperity and tedium. These dead are here, to bury completely the glory of their dead. Trade is, at the same time, the shovel which stirs the heaped-up gold, like the corn, and preserves it either for the bosom of the earth, or for the enjoyment of her children. Through it, gold is not only increased and made fruitful, but also useful, and a medium of life for man. But where it stands

Cicero says, De Nat. Deor. III. 19, that they were the first who considered it absurd to believe those gods who had been men. Self-interest led them to this rational conclusion, because the lands consecrated to the Immortals were exempt from taxes. Whether we have profited more from distempered and false, or suffered more from great and noble views, may be a problem.

highest, the citizen must be most moderate in his gains, since, were all the world to have enough, none would have too much or too little.

Men knew formerly very little of the principles of trade. It was pursued rude. ly, and was so much contemned, as to be left almost entirely to the Jews. Now, on the other hand, men have with much sagacity aimed to make a science of commerce. Although its objects and ideas are in part arbitrary, and depend on the imagination; yet men have attempted to unite the theory of trade, and its exercise with as much exactness as the astronomers to found their reckonings on imaginary lines and hypotheses. How much weighty insight, have not the prince and the people gained besides, by a thorough examination of the sources of trade?

That instructive satire on monarchs, which the inventor of chess, according to the fancy of a distinguished poet, had in mind, is no longer a picture of our kings. They have better learned to appreciate the worth of their subjects. They now know that the state becomes great, only when they promote population by abundant sustenance, regard idleness as an injury to their violated majesty, punish it with contempt and hunger, consider it the masterpiece of their wisdom, to multiply the hands of diligence, as well as to lighten its labor, and watch over the education of orphans and foundlings.

The subject has learnt better to understand and to employ the fruits of the soil and his own sweat. Philosophy is no longer sculpture. The scholar is called back from the Spanish castles of the intellectual world, and from the shades of the library, to the great theatre of nature and her doings, to living art, and her implements to social employments, and their moving springs. He is an attentive spectator, a scholar, an intimate of the peasant, the artisan, the merchant, and through universal observation and research, becomes the helper and teacher of all.

When even the common man becomes an object of importance to the state, because its strength flows from his preservation, industry, and increase, then the interest, which the commonwealth takes in the industry of every day-laborer, is sure to instil into him, in time, nobler sentiments. If those artisans had known,' says Plutarch, that through their labor, Amphion would surround a city with walls, or Thales still a tumult of the people, with what ambition, what delight, had they carved the lyres of these men!'

Trade has served for a demonstration of all these truths, and the pursuit of it has confirmed their force. When, therefore, the deceitful, lying, avaricious disposition, of an ancient nation* is ascribed to their calling, when reference is made to a modern country, rendered habitable by skilful industry, and powerful by trade, where the moral virtues, and the smallest offices of human love are regarded as wares; when it is said that with the art of calculation that resoluteness cannot exist, by which the renunciation of selfishness, and magnanimous sentiments are attained, that attention to trifles limits the circle of mental vision, and reduces elevation of thought, it is certainly the duty of the merchant to refute these charges.

Was it the fault of religion, that in those dark times of superstition, the spiritual order adopted a sort of assiento-contract, that the priest carried on a most lucrative stock-jobbing, derived premiums from the fear of hell, sold the church-soil to the dead, taxed the early days of marriage, and made a profit on sins, which he for the most part invented himself?

We laugh at the wise Montaigne, who was anxious, lest the introduction of powder and shot should annihilate bravery. Let us feel a more earnest anxiety for the moral results of trade. Much pains have been taken certainly to perfect the science, but perhaps too little thought has been given to forming the merchant. The spirit of trade should be the spirit of traders, and their morals, the groundwork of its reputation. Both should be better encouraged by rewards, supported by laws, and upheld by examples.

*The Carthaginians, Cicero's second oration against Rullus.

+ A contract between the King of Spain and other powers for introducing negro-slaves into the Spanish colonies.

The occupation most useful to society," says an ancient writer,' should assuredly be followed with emulation, I mean agriculture, which would prosper great. ly, if rewards were offered, giving it the preference. The commonwealth would hereby gain infinite advantage, the public revenues be increased, and sobriety be associated with improved industry. The more assiduous the citizens became in their occupations, the less would extravagance prevail. In a republic favorably situated for commerce, honors shown to trade would multiply merchants and commodities. If on any one who discovered a new source of gain, without detri ment to the commonwealth, a mark of honor should be conferred, public spirit would never be extinguished. In short, were every one convinced, that reward: would accompany whatever was done to promote the public good, this would be a great impulse to discover something valuable. But the more men have at heart the general welfare, the more will be devised and undertaken for its sake.' This rich passage exhausts almost all I could say, or could wish to say. My readers will therefore be content with the gleaning only of a few remarks.

Our merchants should above all be stimulated by these considerations, to make their calling, not merely a gainful trade, but a respected rank. I remember to have read, that in Guinea, the merchant is the nobleman, and that he pursues trade by virtue of his dignity, and royal privileges. On his elevation to that rank, the king forbids the waves to injure the new nobleman, or merchant. This mon arch doubtless prizes his merchants highly, because from them comes his greatness, and wonders perhaps that our kings grant nobility only to soldiers and cour tiers, or even drive a trade with it, and sell it for ready money.

The nobility of the merchant must not be confounded with military nobility. The prerogatives of the latter are founded on the circumstances of the times when it arose. Nations plundered one another, remained nowhere at home, lived like robbers, or had to defend themselves against robbers. Kings believed they could immortalize themselves only by conquests. These required blood and noble blood. The military order had consequently the highest rank, and whoever distinguished himself in this, was ennobled. The pretensions of these heroes were allowed to descend to their children, that, inflamed by the deeds of their ancestors, they might make it their glory, like them, to die. This was an artifice, to transmit a certain spirit to the children, and to elevate the military class, which at that time was the only privileged one. This being the origin and the purpose of their nobility, those are the genuine knights, who, born in the counting-rooms of acquisitiveness instead of the tent, are trained to be voluptuaries and cowardly prodigals. They might make use of their weapons, like the discarded patron of Venice.† Our times are no longer warlike, and the deeds of the most renowned heroes,

'From Macedonia's madman to the Swede,'

will appear to us soon like the adventures of Don Quixote. The nation, which distinguished itself by the sword to the last, has become much more honorable and mighty through the plough. Men no longer desolate other lands by conquests, but conquer their own by trade. If war is still carried on, it is as a de. fence against jealous rivals, or to establish the balance of power. We prepare, not now for triumphs, but to enjoy peace; and the time is perhaps near, when the peasant and citizen will ennoble their class.

The merchant has thus, as it were, taken the place of the soldier. Does not his rank, consequently, deserve to be elevated by like respect, and like means? The profession of arms has become great through the nobility. Commerce must become great through merchants, that is, such merchants, as do not think it necessary to gain honor by purchased privileges merely, but place their dignity in the prosperity of trade, and hold those gains unworthy, which would poison its

Xenophon, in the Conversation between Hiero and Simonides.

+ St. Theodore, whose statue is in St. Mark's place, holding a shield in the right hand, and lance in the left. The Venitians, instead of this martial saint, have taken St. Mark for their patron since his bones were brought to the city by their merchants.-Amelot de la Houssage.