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will and sincerity to the test, by enabling me to do something for you here, and use my humble efforts in serving the interests of Hunt's Merchants' Magazine.

Hoping that you will honor me with a few lines, acknowledging the receipt of the small parcel, and informing me of your wants, if you have any, of publications of interest to the specialty of your Magazine.

I am, dear sir, your very humble servant, and grateful friend,

FREEMAN HUNT, Esq., Editor Merchant's Magazine.

ALEXANDER VATTEMARE.

A SHORT NOTE ON A "SERMON OF COMMERCE."

FREEMAN HUNT, Editor Merchants' Magazine, etc. :—

SIR: In the "Sermon on Commerce," published in your last number, is the following passage: "It is an interesting question, worthy of consideration, what would have been the influence upon the nations of antiquity had Carthage conquered Rome, or Napoleon conquered Wellington at Waterloo? Who can doubt, for a moment, that the former would have been far more beneficial to the old world, and the latter far more injurious to the modern?" Is not the preacher here putting himself before his master? Had he been ruler of the universe, Hannibal would have beaten Scipio! Rome might have sunk in Tiber, and we should never have seen either the Coliseum or St. Peter's! We are inclined at present to take the opposite side of this question, which, with reverence be it spoken, is also the safe one. We think that at that stage of the world, the courage, chastity, and temperance of the Roman, which made both his strength and his religion, were a more valuable possession and bequest than the punic faith and sensual refinement of the Carthagenian. The brave and pious David was a better prince than the wise, rich, mercantile, and idolatrous Solomon, and the Jewish nation were more favored and progressive under the father than the son. Besides the Commercial has never yet been a primitive state of our race—it is always sequent and transitory-Esau must always be born before Jacob.

Of such speculations, we think the following passage in an old book, not now much read, is a good exposition. I give it at length.

64

"The king of Bohemia, an' pleas your honor," replied the corporal, was unfortunate as thus: that taking great pleasure and delight in navigation and all sorts of sea affairs, and there happening throughout the whole kingdom of Bohemia to be no seaport town whatever

"How the deuce should there, Trim," cried my uncle Toby, "for Bohemia being totally inland, it could have happened no otherwise." "It might," said Trim, "if it had pleased God." My uncle Toby never spoke of the being and natural attributes of God, but with diffidence and hesitation. "I believe not," replied my uncle Toby, after some pause, “for being inland, as I said, and having Silesia and Moravia to the east, Lusatia and Upper Saxony to the north, Franconia to the west, and Bavaria to the south, Bohemia could not be propelled to the sea without ceasing to be Bohemia ; nor could the sea, on the other hand, have come up to Bohemia without overflowing a great part of Germany, and destroying millions of unfortunate inhabitants who could make no defense against it." "Scandalous," cried Trim. "Which would bespeak," added my uncle Toby, mildly, "such a want of compassion in him who is the father of it, that I think, Trim, the thing could have happened no way."*

I was much gratified otherwise with the sermon, but in this age of progression and manifest destiny, we are apt to consider ourselves rather as artificers than instruments -the potter and not the clay. Do not the clergy, especially in our large cities, lead the way? They should sometimes take the text-" Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind."

TIBERINUS.

Tristram Shandy, vol. iii, 19.

MERCANTILE HONOR.

TO FREEMAN HUNT, Editor Merchants' Magazine :—

DEAR SIR-The facts herein mentioned came to my knowledge from private sources, and I wish to put them in your possession, that an act of justice to others, and one so highly honorable to the individual and the mercantile community, may have a record in your journal.

In 1836, Daniel Bingham and Amos P. Tapley were engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe business in Boston, under the firm of Daniel Bingham & Co., and from causes they could not control were obliged to suspend payment, and compromise with their creditors for 40 per cent of their demands. They afterward resumed the business in the name of Bingham & Tapley, and continued it for several years with success, at different times making voluntary payments to their old creditors, until they had paid them 70 per cent of the original amount of their claims. Mr. Bingham retired from the firm in 1846, in consequence of ill health, and died soon afterward. Mr. Tapley continued the business, and on the 1st January, 1849, paid the balance remaining unpaid of his share of the debts of the old firm; and on the 1st January, 1853, he paid the interest on the same from 1836 to that time, making a full payment of principal and interest on his share of the debts of Daniel Bingham & Co. He was a minor when he commenced business, and did not then incur any legal liability.

J. M. C.

"THE BEARINGS OF PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES UPON THE DEVELOPMENT OF

COMMERCE."

An article with the above title was published in the Merchants' Magazine for May, 1853. It was delivered, originally, as a Lecture, before the students of Mr. Comer's Initiatory Counting Room, in Boston, and first published in our journal, in compliance with the request of that gentleman, and the wishes of many who heard it. Our printer inadvertently, in making out the Table of Contents for the number, credited Mr. George N. Comer as the author, instead of RICHARD EDWARDS, Esq., who delivered the Lecture before Mr. Comer's students, as above stated. We make the correction in justice to Mr. Edwards, the author of that able and interesting article, which has been copied entire into the Western Journal, a judiciously conducted monthly magazine, published in St. Louis.

NECESSITIES OF TRADE.

"Trade has its artificial necessities."-ADAM SMITH.

Any one who will take the trouble to walk down to their daily paper and ask, will be astonished to learn, that their paper pays from $500 to $2,000 a-year for telegraphs. Ask then, what the telegraphs pay them, and they will learn "nothing." "Why do you have them," says the merchant. "They are the necessaries of the daily press. If our cotemporaries did not have them we would not; but now we must have them or-lose ground." The merchants of Baltimore should recognize the analogy here in regard to ocean steamers, without the aid of FREEMAN HUNT OF ADAM SMITH. These steamers to Europe have become necessities of trade-expensive to be sure-but not the less absolute necessities. If New York, Boston, and Philadelphia had none, Baltimore could do without them, for they would then all be on an equal footing. But those cities having them, gives them an advantage over Baltimore. The necessity exists-is apparent-has its effects upon trade. Baltimore has an extensive railroad communication westward, northward, and to the south. What outlet is there? There is a necessity this day for a line of steamers to Europe.-Baltimore Cotton-Plant.

The biographical sketch of T. P. SHAFFNER, ESQ, in the June number of the Merchants' Magazine, was erroneously attributed to GEO. D. PRENTICE, ESQ., of the Louisville Journal. It was, we are informed, written by a gentleman connected with the press in Louisville, and hence the mistake,

THE BOOK TRADE.

1.-Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon: with travel in Armenia, Hindostan, and the Desert. Being the result of a second expedition undertaken for the Trustees of the British Museum by Austin H. Layard, M. P. With maps, plans, and illustrations. 8vo., pp 686. New York: G. P. Putnam.

This is in reality the second part of the famous work of Layard on Nineveh, in which those dreams and fancies awakened by the half-unfolded discoveries of the former volume become the most stupendous and wonderful realities. Since the publication of the first work much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions, chiefly through the sagacity and learning of those English scholars, Col. Rawlinson and Dr. Hincks. An advantage has thus been derived from these interpretations, in the more recent explorations, and there cannot remain a doubt that its true reading is found. Independent investigators have arrived at the same results, and have not only detected numerous names of persons, nations, and cities, in historical and geographical series, but have found them mentioned in proper connection with events in sacred and profane writers. With this light before him, the author introduces us to the contents of various records discovered in the Assyrian palaces, which seem almost like one raised from the dead. As many illustrations from the Scriptures have been introduced as the limits of the work would admit. This is an English impression, bound in this country. It makes a very tasteful and elegant volume, full of interest from the first to last page. Indeed, those who are acquainted with Layard's former volumes need not be told of the high merit which this possesses.

2.-Rural Essays. By A. J. DOWNING. Edited, with a Memoir of the Author, by GEO. W. CURTIS, and a Letter to his Friends by FREDERICA BREMER. 8vo., pp. 557. New York: G. P. Putnam.

This posthumous volume edited by G. W. Curtis, completes the series of Mr. Downings works. Prefixed is a well written biography, and a consolatory letter addressed to the friends of the deceased, who was one of the victims on the Henry Clay, by Miss Bremer. His valuable publications on the various branches of rural economy have spread his name far and wide. He was elected corresponding member of the Royal Botanic Society of London, of the Horticultural Societies of Berlin, the Low Countries, etc., and was presented by Queen Anne of Denmark with a magnificent ring in testimony of the pleasure received from the perusal of his works. This volume before us forms a large octavo, with numerous plates, and is issued in a style creditable to the publishers, and worthy of the genius and talents of the author. The contents embrace six sections, horticulture, landscape gardening, rural architecture, trees, agriculture, fruit. Appended are some very interesting letters from England, descriptive of the baronial halls of present and past days: Warwick Castle, Kenilworth, Chatsworth, together with the professional observations on the exquisite beauties of Kew Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon, and the parks of London.

3.-The Works of James Hall. Legends of the West. Author's revised edition. 12mo., pp. 434. New York: G. P. Putnam.

Admirable pictures of Western life and scenery enliven these spirited pages. The author has long been a resident in those distant parts, and has attempted to lay before us as truthful and accurate descriptions of the scenery and population as it was possible where the groundwork and plot has been fictitious. The era of these scenes was many years ago, in the early settlement of the West, in those rollicking, joyful days when judges rode long circuits, and the lawyers and jurors and suitors formed a jovial crowd on session days. The reader will find much entertainment and information in these pleasant pages.

4.-A Hand Book for American Travelers in Europe. By REV. ROSWELL PARK, D. D. New York: G. P. Putnam & Co.

A capital little book which no one will estimate fully until he becomes a traveler in Europe and finds that he is without one.

5.-Portraits of Eminent Americans now Living; with Biographical and Historical Memoirs of their Lives and Actions. By JOHN LIVINGSTON. 2 vols. 8vo., New York: Cornish & Davenport.

The list of eminent men whose portraits are presented in these pages, with sketches of their lives, consists of Lawyers, Doctors, Statesmen, Financiers, Merchants, Manufacturers, and Farmers-men whose talents, energy and enterprise have earned for themselves wealth and distinction. In the two volumes there are upwards of one hundred portraits, which are executed with great care, having been engraved on steel, from daguerreotypes, expressly for this work. The memoirs are said to be accurate and authentic, the facts having been derived from most unequivocal authorities. The volumes have been executed in a very tasteful and superior style. The biographical sketches will be read with great interest. Many of the individuals have by their own unaided efforts risen from obscurity to the highest and most responsible trusts in the land; others have enjoyed every advantage which affluence and early education can bestow. In this country, where every inducement to individual effort exists, there can scarcely be any higher or more acceptable offering to the public than the recorded examples of eminent and self-made men. Such an enterprise cannot fail of making a deep impression upon the minds of the young, and stimulate them to high and noble objects. When it is executed in the manner in which this work has been prepared, it becomes a public treasure which should find a repository in every family whose sons aspire to any degree of eminence and usefulness.

6.-The history of the Crusades. By JOSEPH FRANCOIS MICHAUD. Translated from the French, by W. ROBSON. 3 vols., 8vo., pp. 490, 493, 547. New York: Redfield. If the reader supposes that a history of the Crusades-able, eloquent, and brilliant, occupying three volumes-is of very little interest to himself, we beg leave to say, he is much mistaken. A work which describes one of the most important sections of human history, is important to every cultivated mind. The Crusades were a most extraordinary movement. Their history supplies an abundance of instructive matter to the statesman, the philosopher, the poet, the novelist, and the citizen. Here will be seen men of powerful and ambitious minds seizing upon the worst passions of various ages, superstition, cruelty, and cupidity, and wielding the energies of incredible multitudes in endeavors to work out their own ends and views. Many an invaluable lesson in the conduct of affairs may be gathered from the want of foresight, prudence, knowledge, and unanimity displayed in these astonishing enterprises, whilst the causes of numerous effects now in operation may be plainly traced to these eventful periods. Here may be seen all the feelings and passions of man in undisguised and full play, from the noblest aspirations of true religion and pure honor to the most degraded abasements of superstition, hypocrisy, and sensuality. In wonder, fiction cannot exceed the character of these scenes. The author, born in 1767, lived at a most eventful period of French history, and became a man as distinguished for his attainments as for his nat ural abilities. His work has sustained a high reputation in Europe, and we are sin cerely grateful to the publisher for an opportunity to read it in its present attractive form.

7.-Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare's Plays. By J. P. COLLIER. 12mo., pp. 541. New York: J. S. Redfield.

The reading of Shakespeare without the aid of a glossary has always been attended more or less with a lack of the full understanding of the Poet, from the use of terms in that age which are not understood or misapprehended in this. How much more important, then, that we avail ourselves of the corrections and emendations derived from good authority, and made only sixteen years after the death of Shakespeare. The edition known as "The Second Folio of the Collected Plays of Shakespeare," printed in 1632, has been reprinted up to the present day, "with all its imperfectious," but as appears by a singular chain of circumstances, an old copy of it, corrected and amended by an able hand, and which, without doubt, belonged to a person intrusted in, or connected with the early theaters of that period, fell into the bands of J. P. Collier, who has prepared the copy for publication. To the readers of Shakespeare this will prove an invaluable auxiliary.

8.-An Orphan Tale, told in Rhyme.

New York: Robert Carter & Bro.

By Rev. GEO, FISKE, LL. D. 18mo. pp. 180.

This is better than the usual stamp of such performances. Those who can sympathize in an orphan's tale done into clever verse will be pleased with it.

9.-The Annotated Paragraph Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments, according to the Authorized Version, arranged in Paragraphs and Parallelisms, with Explanatory Notes, Prefaces to the several Books, and an entirely New Selection of references to Parallel and Illustrated Passages-Genesis to Solomon's Song. 8vo., pp. 720. New York: Charles B. Norton.

This is a handsomely executed edition of a portion of the Old Testament, with some novel features. The text is a correct reprint of the authorized version, but, like other books, it is divided, according to the changes in the subject or pauses in the narrative, into paragraphs or sections, to which appropriate headings are given; the chapters and verses being marked in the margin for facility of reference. The poetical parts are, in addition, printed according to the natural order of the original, in parallelisms; by which the meaning is often more readily ascertained, and the spirit and beauty more fully exhibited. However universal the practice, it must be confessed that the usual division into chapters and verses necessarily breaks the proper connection of sentences, and in many places, from the arbitrary and defective manner in which it is made, it tends greatly to obscure the sense. Those marginal readings only have been inserted which appear to convey an improved or illustrative rendering, or in some way to throw light upon the passage. The explanatory notes serve to elucidate what is obscure, bring out the true meaning and force of the text, and to illustrate the language by reference to the manners, customs, geography and history of the countries and of the times when the events occurred. The prefaces embrace a short analysis of each book, showing the design of the writers, the nature of the contents, and whatever else may be previously read with advantage.

10.-Interviews Memorable and Useful. By Dr. S. H. Cox. 12mo., pp. 325. New York: Harper & Brothers.

The reputation of Dr. Cox cannot fail to give a character and add an interest to any volume from his pen. This work contains many interesting and familiar conversations with several distinguished personages, viz: Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Emmons, J. Q. Adams, two pseudo apostles, and a fashionable lady in France, preceded by a spontaneous inscription of his book to twelve ruling elders in the Presbyterian church, and dedicating it to God. On reading these interviews the mind is assisted in determining many intricate and delicate points of theology; while there are some others strenuously maintained which do not assume that vital importance which is attached to them by the author. Whether the sin of Adam upoù all his posterity was absolute or mediate, whether election precedes atonement or vice versa, are questions of less moment so long as we are enabled to secure a fair amount of that unencumbered “real estate in eternity," of which the Dr. speaks. His interview with a lady in France is a gem, and his confusion of the philosophy of the two pseudo apostles will be read with interest. 11.-The Art Journal. For April.

New York: George Virtue & Co.

This work, commenced fifteen years ago, and constantly sustained by an encouraging and increasing patronage, has fully remunerated the public by contributing so largely to the advancement of art. The illustrations on wood are remarkable for their perfection, and no less so are the engravings on steel, which are rendered doubly valuable from their combining such a variety of illustrated, historical, and literary matter, at so moderate a charge. We cannot pass this number without reference to the beautiful engraving on steel, by C. W. Sharpe, from the picture of E. M. Ward. The force of the picture lies between Dr. Johnson and the lady who has just left the audience chamber, although the subordinate characters are admirably disposed.

12.-Tales of the Countess D'Arbonville, Translated from the French. By MAUNsell B. FIELD, M. A. 12mo., pp. 272. New York: Harpers.

These three tales reflect much credit upon their author. He exerts a vast power over his readers, such as one can scarcely resist, especially while following poor Madame Van Amberg to the grave of a broken heart, and her daughter Christine to the confines of a cloister. The work is written in a smooth and polished style, and is a very interesting story.

13.-Beatrice; or, the Unknown Relatives. By CATHARINE SINCLAIR. 12mo. New York: Dewitt & Davenport.

Beatrice is a tale of considerable literary merit; as such it will be read with interest. It is also attracting considerable attention with a portion of the public, on the score of claiming to expose the errors of Romanism in opposition to Protestantism.

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