BOOK NOTICES.

rest, for the purpose of producing a perfectly elegant general effect; and no doubt he spent much time and pains in the attainment of his object.' This is no doubt true. Brummell put in practice, he hardly knew why, the principles of harmony and contrast of colors long before Monsieur Chevreul wrote his theory and explanation of those principles.

"He had quite as correct an eye with regard to harmony of shape as to that of color. The highest in the land were not ashamed to seek a sort of professional opinion from this man as to the propriety of their costume. The Duke of Bedford once did this Brummell examined his grace with touching a coat. the cool impertinence which was his grace's due. He turned him about, scanned him with scrutinizing, contemptuous eye, and then taking the lappel between his dainty finger and thumb, he exclaimed, in a tone of pitying wonder, 'Bedford, do you call this thing a

coat?'

"But he did not spare his own relations. He was one day standing in the bow-window at White's, amid a knot of well-dressed admirers, when one of them remarked, 'Brummell, your brother William is in town. Is he not coming here?' 'Yes,' said Brummell, 'in a day or two; but I have recommended him to walk the back streets till his new clothes come home.'

"Brummell however may be excused if he became For a season he was undoubtedly vain of his power. the very King of Fashion, and a terrible despot he was; but he was flattered by kings, or by their representatives. The Prince of Wales passed long matutinal hours in Brummell's dressing-room in Chesterfield-street, watching the progress of his friend's toilet. The progress was occasionally so extended that the prince would dismiss his equipage, invite himself to dinner, and the master and pupil, Arcades ambo, set to, and make a night of it."

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"George Brummell's wardrobe, indeed, dwindled down to the suit in which he died; but the wardrobe of the other George sold, after his death, for upward of fifteen thousand pounds. How many a poor man might have been warmed beneath the cloth the sovereign never used! The original cost of the wardrobe would not have surprised Alexander; but we do not live in the days of the Macedonian; and in the area of high-priced bread, England was half-appalled at the thought that a hundred thousand pounds had scarcely purchased what was sold for fifteen. Among it all was a celebrated cloak, the sable lining of which alone had originally cost eight hundred pounds. Lord Chesterfield, as little nice about wearing a cheap cast-off garment as one of his own lackeys, procured this mantle for little more than a fourth of the original price of the lining.

"Brummell never recovered the effects of the wager which he won by telling 'Wales' to 'ring the bell,' and which order, although obeyed, was followed by another for Mr. Brummell's carriage.' He struggled indeed long, and not unsuccessfully, to retain his place among dandies and wits; but his prestige gradually failed, play went against him, liabilities increased, and creditors were clamorous. He put a bold face on his ugly position, and was never more brilliant or at his ease than the last night he appeared at the opera-one Saturday night, when, with the Sunday before him, he had determined to fly leisurely to the Continent, and leave his creditors to regret their confidence in him."

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"Retributive justice fell upon this splendidly useless human being. He had been proud of two things, his extreme refinement and his mental qualifications. He was terribly smitten in both directions. After his release from prison he fell into the tender keeping of the Sisters of Charity of the 'Bon Sauvéur' at Caen. He was His infirmities were of an abject pauper, and worse. that sort at which a nice and healthy nature is repelled; and he who had detected vulgarity in the odor of a rose, became, in his degraded hours, ere death relieved him, offensive to a degree that turned sick and disgusted the charity of all but of the sisters who nursed him."

A Pocket Diary has become almost one of the necessaries of life. That of Carlton & Phillips for 1856 is a trifle larger in the size of its pages than those of former years, and is made, we are glad to find, of better paper.

The Sure Anchor; or, the Young Christian Admonished, Exhorted, and Encouraged, is the title of a neatly-printed volume from the pen of Rev.

H. P. Andrews. It is written in an unpretend-
ing style, and with the manifest intention of
doing good. Boston: J. P. Magee.

A Visit to China and Japan, being the last in
the series of Bayard Taylor's descriptive jour-
neys, is before us in a stout duodecimo volume
from the press of Putnam & Co. His former
works, "Journey to Central Africa," and
"Lands of the Saracen," were widely circulat-
ed; and the present volume-in some respects
the most interesting of the three-is marked by
Mr. Taylor's usual acuteness of observation and
vivacity of description.

Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature. These papers, from the pen of M. Schele De Vere, of the University of Virginia, were originally published in Putnam's Monthly. They are full of striking facts and suggestive illustrations, betraying the hand of a ripe scholar and an ardent admirer of God's handiwork throughout his visible creation. They are here presented in all the beauty of the typographic art, as indeed is everything that comes from the press of Putnam & Co.

New Church Miscellanies; or, Essays Ecclesiastical, Doctrinal, and Ethical, by George Bush, is the title of a volume of articles on various subjects from the editorial columns of the New Church (Swedenborgian) Repository. Mr. Bush is a scholar, and a man of unquestionable He utters his sentiments honesty of purpose. fearlessly, even when differing from those professedly of his own faith; avows his belief in the "verily preternatural origin" of the tableturning humbug, although he doubts whether the "puling mawkishness" attributed to the spirit of Swedenborg, by Judge Edmonds and and brings all his powers to bear, in the longest others, really came from that great luminary; article in the volume, on the great curse of Southern Slavery. Those who are vinced by the professor's arguments will, nevertheless, be pleased with his candor and the clearness and purity of his style.

not con

Foot-Prints of an Itinerant is the title of a large duodecimo volume, printed at the Methodist Book Concern in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a record of scenes and incidents in the life of the Rev. Maxwell P. Gaddis, a superannuated minIn that ister of the Cincinnati Conference. section of country where the tracks of the author are still visible, his book will doubtless be sought and read with eagerness. Its circulation, however, will by no means be confined to that locality, as many of the incidents are of general interest, and are told in a pleasing style. The following extract will gratify the

reader :

"In the midst of the mourners at Wesley Chapel I had the pleasure of meeting, every night for more than one week, the lamented President of the United States, the late General William H. Harrison. I was struck with the deep interest he manifested in our altar exercises. He generally staid till a late hour, standing up during the singing, and in a lowly kneeling posture in time of prayer for the penitents. On one occasion he spoke to me in the following deeplyaffecting and interesting manner:- Brother Gaddis, I know there are some of my political opponents that will be ready to impugn my motives in attending this revival meeting at this peculiar time, but I care not for the smiles or favors of my fellow-men. God knows my heart and understands my motives;' and then, laying

his hand upon his breast, he exclaimed with much emotion, and with a fervor that I shall never forget, 'A deep and abiding sense of my inward spiritual necessities brings me to this hallowed place night after night.'"

Olie; or, the Old West Room. The Weary at Work, and the Weary at Rest, by L. M. M. (Mason and Brothers.) A pleasing narrative, at least so we are informed by a lady in whose judgment of such matters we place more confidence than in our own. It is touchingly dedicated to the author's "Sister Ann, whose eye looked so lovingly on its merits, so forgivingly on its faults, but who passed to the silent land ere the last page was written ;" and perhaps a few words from the preface may induce the reader to seek a more intimate acquaintance with Olie herself. "In the great world of art," says the author, "a rude cottage sometimes forms a pleasant contrast to the stately mansions around it; so like some rustic cottage among the statelier palaces of the great thoughtworld was this story framed; not to display any intricacy, mystery, or regularity of plot, but with the hope that to some tear-dimmed eye, a few buds of beauty, a few green memories might spring up and twine around the Old West Room, and no aspbrood hide among their leaves."

Fox's Book of Martyrs, complete in one large octavo volume of more than a thousand pages, in double columns, on good paper and clear type, with numerous spirited wood-engravings, has been published by the Messrs. Carter of this city. The intrinsic value of the work itself, increasing as it does with the lapse of time, and the very low price at which it is sold, will insure its extensive circulation, and remunerate, as we trust, the enterprising publishers.

A series of pertinent questions for self-examination, with an appropriate verse of Scripture for every day in the year, forms a neat little book for the pocket, entitled The Christian SelfExaminer, by Rev. John Bate, with a brief introduction from the pen of the Rev. B. M. Hall. (Cluett & Thompson, Troy, N. Y.)

The Methodist Quarterly Review is steadily extending its circulation; and deservedly, for it ranks second to no similar publication in the land. The number for October is more than

beyond the title." Dr. Clark's "Life and Times of Bishop Hedding" is reviewed by Dr. Curry with his usual ability and candor. He falls into a sad blunder, however, in his "Query" relative to the ballots cast by the General Conference when Messrs. Soule and Hedding were elected bishops. The biographer's statement is perfectly clear, and, doubtless, correct. We may add, too, (for the reviewer has paid some attention to critical hymnology,) that his substitution of the word " cross for charge, in the verse quoted from the poet of Methodism, strikes us as equally unnecessary and unhappy. An article "Huc's Travels in China," with more than the usual number of discriminating book notices, closes the number.

on

From our Boston correspondent we have notices of a few volumes recently published in that work of Bayne, entitled The Christian Life, Socity. He says: In the world of literature, the cial and Individual, is making quite a sensation among religious readers. It is written by a Scotch Calvinist, familiar with the writings of former as a literary man, but an earnest and Carlyle and Comte, and a warm admirer of the powerful protestant against his pantheistic and positive philosophy. The charm of the volume These are given as actual illustrations of the is found in its almost inimitable biographies. principles he has previously laid down. We have sketches of Howard, Wilberforce, Budgett, Foster, Arnold, and Chalmers; that of Budgett, the successful merchant, is one of the finest specimens of this style of writing that we have ever read. It will produce upon the mind, in its few pages, a better idea of the man, a profounder respect for him, and a higher appreciation of the principles that guided him, than even the complete and admirable life by Arthur. Dr. Mahon's work upon material spiritualism is finding great favor among our thoughtful men. His theory is very much that of the absent editor of the NATIONAL, if we apprehend it correctly, and therefore must be orthodox here.

The Unitarian Sunday-School Society is issuing a series of volumes, the last of which, styled Beginning and Growth of the Christian Life, is specially prepared for the benefit of Sundayschool teachers. It is a well-written volume,

exhibiting no effort after original thought, but presenting wholesome and inspiring suggestions militant Church. There is scarcely a sentence before the minds of this important arm of the in the volume that will not meet with the hearty sympathy of evangelical teachers. It is with some surprise and great pleasure that we read

usually attractive. "The First Chapter in the History of American Methodism" is an interesting paper, from the pen of the Rev. S. W. Cog geshall. The second article is a discussion of the relative merits of the German and English systems of education,-a modified translation from the German of Jahn. It is followed by an admirably-condensed sketch of the life and labors of the great and good Niebuhr. The Rev. S. Comfort discusses, briefly, the vexed question relative to Jephthah's Vow, presenting, forcibly, the argument in favor of the consecra tion, rather than the immolation of the Judge's daughter, as held by Josephus, and maintained by Michaëlis, and more recently by Dr. Kitto. "The Geology of Words" is an amusing and instructive essay, founded mainly on the recent publications of Trench. By one of those vexatious blunders which sometimes escape proof-living Saviour does the soul need; a sense of the reader, author, and editor, the writer is made to say, "The Diversities of Purley is a book of which even literary men often know but little

"A mere intellectual faith, a belief in Christ as a holy teacher alone, as the Messiah of the past, may be suf ficient to some minds; but it serves not the soul in the hour of deep self-questioning, when the surging waves of conscience and memory rise in their gigantic force, and the holiness of God, and his perfect law, stand a vivid reality before the soul, disclosing all its secret and hidden depths. It serves not amid the daily duties and toils of life; the cares, anxieties, and perplexities; the joys and griefs of each passing hour, when the soul needs a more than human helper to sustain its composure, to preserve its rectitude, to quench the rising passion, to impart peace. No; a

personal sympathy, the ever-quickening influence of
a present Christ; to feel even now the thrilling touch
trustingly to repose on his breast."
of the Master's hand, and, like the disciple of old,

It is a good book, and every Christian teacher that reads it will be profited by it.

The best work upon Australia-the most full, and in every respect the most interesting and reliable is the volume bearing the somewhat quaint but expressive title, Land, Labor, and Gold. William Howitt is the author, and the interest of the volume is vouched for. The work was written upon the field it describes. It is picturesque and amusing, and yet full of instruction.

Our old physicians are adding to the obligations which our community owe, and love to

pay to them, by using their hours of leisure in writing out the lessons of their experience for their successors. Dr. Warren has appeared in print several times; and now Dr. James Jackson, M. D., LL. D., whose practice began with the nineteenth century, has written a volume entitled Letters to a Young Physician just Entering upon Practice. Apparently professional in their application, the letters are so divested of a technical character as to be full of interest and instruction to all. Every intelligent head of a family would receive invaluable aid from its suggestions.

Literary Record.

about sixty letters of instructions and explanations written by Napoleon while commanding the artillery at Toulon.

Governor Bradford's long-lost MS. "History of Plymouth Colony and People, from 1602 to 1647," has been discovered in Lambeth Palace, London. The MS. must have been taken to

ton in 1776.

A NEW WORK, entitled "Cyclopædia of American Literature," prepared by the Messrs. Duyckinck, will be issued immediately from the press of Charles Scribner, of this city. It consists of biographical and critical articles on the authors of America from the earliest date to the present day, accompanied by selections from their writings. As it covers the early England when the British troops evacuated Boscolonial period from the first settlement of the country, and is especially attentive to the Revolutionary era, the work supplies much curious reading of an historical interest. The Cyclopædia also contains notices of the foreign authors of worth and distinction who have taken up their residences in the country. The work will be embraced in two royal octavo volumes, making together some fifteen hundred pages, and will be well illustrated with portraits and autographs.

The City Council of Concord, N. H., have passed an ordinance for the establishment and perpetual maintenance of a public library. A pledge made by John L. Emmons, Esq., of Boston, a native of Concord, will give $1,000 to start with; and $300 is promised by Octavius Rogers, Esq., besides many donations of books and money from benevolent and patriotic persons. The Council appropriates, in addition to the above, $15,000 for the purchase of library furniture and books.

Five thousand documents have already been transcribed by the commissioners appointed to collect and publish the entire writings of Napoleon. The most interesting of these contributions-because the least known-are those written while the hero of Austerlitz held inferior rank in the army. Numbers of letters written during the early portion of his career have been sent to the Imperial Commission. Many of them were addressed to people who were almost unknown, and were treasured by them after the writer had become celebrated. Of these contributions the most remarkable are

A literary discovery of interest has lately been made. It comprises above a hundred letters of James Boswell, principally addressed to his friend, the Rev. William Templer, rector of St. Gluvias, in Cornwall, whose name is mentioned three or four times in the Life of Johnson. They were rescued some years ago from the hands of a shopkeeper in France, with a mass of other correspondence of less importance, addressed to this Mr. Templer, but have not been thoroughly examined until lately. Preparations are now being made for their publication.

The Works of Professor Wilson, "Noctes Ambrosianæ," edited by his son-in-law, Professor Ferrier, have just been republished in London. There is little doubt but that they will, in their new form, command as wide a circulation as when their wit and wisdom first attracted the literary world.

The first volume of a History of the United States, from the first efforts at colonization to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, by a French author, has been published in Paris, The work is favorably reviewed in the Athenosum Français.

M. Didot, the well-known French publisher, issued a short time since a pamphlet against a projected paper-duty in France. "In 1340," says M. Didot, "King Philip ordered that paper and books, being indispensable to pupils, should be exempt from duty. King John, in 1360, confirmed that privilege; and afterward Louis XII. and François I. declared books exempt from every kind of impost. Henry II., in 1552, ordered that there should always be in France a special favor shown to paper; and in 1789,. when an attempt was made to introduce a paper-duty, the idea was so unpopular that the proposed plan came to nothing."

Arts and Sciences.