But we cannot forbear to commend the steel-engravings with which these volumes are illustrated, as admirably executed and as conveying some satisfactory idea of the picturesque and beautiful architecture of Bangkok. The portrait of the first king, or, as he delights to call himself, "Rex Major Siamensium," is a very faithful one.

In this connection, too, we are glad to call attention to the very lively and entertaining sketch of "Siam and the Siamese," from the pen of an American traveler, Dr. William Maxwell Wood, of the United States Navy. It will be found in his volume entitled "Fankwei," recently issued from the press of Harper & Brothers in New York. Although very brief and unpretending, it will be read with pleasure by many who would be dismayed by the size and style of Sir John Bowring's octavos.

FIJI AND THE FIJIANS.*-This is one of a class of books always popular, and in these days of geographical inquiries, particularly important to those who would keep informed in respect to the condition and prospects of every portion of the human race. The visit of the United States Exploring Expedition under Commodore Wilkes, to the Fiji Islands, several years ago, not only brought the characteristics of this group prominently before the attention of the civilized world, but made definite, and in some respects complete, the scanty information which had reached the continental worlds in unsatisfactory reports since the days when Tasmar, the Dutch navigator, announced the discovery of the Islands, and the later days when the renowned navigator, Captain Cook, explored that portion of the Pacific. But much has remained unknown which could only be revealed by the long continued residence of civilized man among the island barbarians. We now have before us the record of such a residence. Rev. Thomas Williams, for thirteen years a missionary in Fiji, sent by the Wesleyans of England, has published the results of his long protracted observations, directing his attention chiefly to the physical features of the country, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, their origin and language. Rev. James Calvert, for the longer period of seventeen years a resident of the Islands, has contributed to the same volume a history of the efforts to introduce Christianity. The materials of both missionaries have been

Fiji and the Fijians. By THOMAS WILLIAMS and JAMES CALVERT, late Missionaries in Fiji. Edited by GEORGE STRINGER Rowe, New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1859. 8vo. pp. 551. Illustrated.

arranged and edited by George S. Rowe. To all who are engaged in ethnographical inquiry, to the friends of Christian missions, and to the still wider circle of those who read with avidity good books of travel, we commend this valuable compendium of what is known respecting that distant and interesting portion of the globe.

MAGDALA AND BETHANY.*-This is the title of a little volume which aims to reproduce, as freshly as can be done in words, the impressions which the author received in visiting these sacred places, and also to bring clearly before the mind of the reader the hallowed scenes with which these names are associated. It is adapted to all classes, being written in clear and simple style; and it breathes a reverent, Christian spirit, in full sympathy with the theme. The value and interest of the book are enhanced by the fact that the author was eminently qualified to render the impressions he conveys just and accurate as well as vivid. He is the eldest son of Dr. Malan, of Geneva, Switzerland, a name wellknown and held in high esteem among American Christians; and from an interesting introductory sketch by a brother-in-law in this country, we learn that he was able to converse in Latin at the age of six-a graduate of Oxford-appointed at twenty-two Professor of Oriental Languages at Calcutta—a resident for some time among the Arabs, and familiar with many of their dialects—an associate of Mr. Layard in the exploration of Nineveh, and his principal draughtsman-and withal, a prodigy of linguistic attainments, thinking and speaking in twenty-six distinct languages, and reading at pleasure a hundred and twenty-two. He is now a rector in the Church of England, and among other fruits of authorship has given to the world the little work before us.

ACADIA. In this sprightly and very agreeable book we have the record of a month's residence in Nova Scotia, with graphic sketches of incidents and scenery, and much interesting historical information respecting the province, and particularly respecting the fortunes, of the Acadians, with whom all readers of Mr. Longfellow's Evangeline cannot but feel a special sympathy. Mr. Cozzens was on the lookout for these singular people, and his notes respecting them and their history form an instructive commentary on the Poem. In his historical sketches, how

*Magdala and Bethany. By Rev. S. C. MALAN, M. A., Rector of Broadwindsor, Dorset, England. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 1859. pp. 201.

Acadia; or a month with the Blue-noses. By FREDERIC S. COZZENS. New York: Derby & Jackson. 1859. pp. 329.

ever, we are sorry to see on the part of the author a disposition to sneer at the Puritans and the Pilgrim Fathers, and to malign their memory. We give, as a favorable specimen, an extract from an instructive conversation that the author had with an old colored woman, a runaway slave from Maryland, who now figures as the landlady of a tavern. The exuberant mirthfulness of her son William," adds much to the effect.

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Mrs. Deer," said I, "how long have you lived here?" "Oh, sah! a good many years; I cum here afore I had Bill dar!" Here William flashed in the pan twice. "Where did you reside before you came to Nova Scotia ?" "Sah!" "Where did you live?" "Oh, sah! I is from Maryland." William at it again. "Did you run away?" "Yes, sah; I left when I was young. Bill, what you laughing at? I was young once." "Were you married then-when you run away?" "Oh yes, sah!" a glance at Bill who was off again. "And left your husband behind in Maryland ?" Yes, sah; but he didn't stay long dar after I left. He was after me putty sharp, soon as I traveled;" here Mrs. Deer and William interchanged glances, and indulged freely in mirth. "And which place do you like the best-this or Maryland ?" "Why, I never had no such work to do at home as I have to do here, grubbin' up old stumps and stones; dem isn't women's work. When I was home, I had only to wait on misses, and work was light and easy." William quiet. "But which place do you like the best-Nova Scotia or Maryland?" "Oh! de work here is awful, grubbin' up old stones and stumps; 'tain't fit for women." William much impressed with the cogency of this repetition. "But which place do you like the best?" "And de winter here, oh! it's wonderful tryin." William utters an affirmative flash. "But which place do you like the best?" "And den dere's de rheumatiz." "But which

place do you like the best, Mrs. Deer?" "Well," said Mrs. Deer, glancing at Bill, “I like Nova Scotia best." Whatever visions of Maryland were gleaming in William's mind, seemed to be entirely quenched by this remark. "But why," said I, "do you prefer Nova Scotia to Maryland? Here you have to work so much harder, to suffer so much from the cold and the rheumatism, and get so little for it;" for I could not help looking over the green patch of stony grass that had been rescued by the labor of a quarter century. "Oh!” replied Mrs. Deer, "de difference is, dat when I work here, I work for myself, and when I was working at home, I was working for other people." At this, William broke forth again in such a series of platoon flashes, that we all joined in with infinite merriment. "Mrs. Deer," said I, recovering my gravity, "I want to ask you one more question." "Well, sah," said the lady Deer, cocking her head on one side, expressive of being able to answer any number of questions in a twinkling. "You have, no doubt, still many relatives left in Maryland?" "Oh! yes," replied Mrs. Deer, "all of dem are dar." "And suppose you had a chance to advise them in regard to this matter, would you tell them to run away, and take their part with you in Nova Scotia, or would you advise them to stay where they are ?" Mrs. Deer, at this, looked a long time at William, and William looked earnestly at his parent. Then she cocked her head on the other side, to take a

new view of the question. Then she gathered up mouth and eyebrows, in a puzzle, and again broadened out upon Bill in an odd kind of smile; at last she doubled up one fist, put it against her cheek, glanced at Bill, and out came the answer: "Well, sah, I'd let 'em take dere own heads for dat!" I must confess the philosophy of this remark awakened in me a train of very grave reflection. -pp. 63-66.

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE FRENCH CLASSICS.

FRENCH CLASSICS.-Since the appearance of the November number of the New Englander, the series of "Translations from the French Classics," which Messrs. Derby & Jackson are publishing, has been enriched with some of the choicest works in the French language. We are confident that when the peculiar excellencies of this edition are known, it will be received by the public with that favor which the enterprise of its publishers and the careful and intelligent labor of its editor so well deserve. There has always been a difficulty in procuring, in convenient form, and in an English version, the works of the masters in French literature. It has not been easy to procure even the French editions themselves. But so many of our countrymen have now been in France, and familiarity with the language has become so common, that there is an increasing desire even among those who do not profess to be scholars to know more about French literature. It was owing to this new interest that the trash of modern French fiction gained so wide a circulation in the country a few years ago. Fortunately there has been a strong reaction against everything of that description, and now the way seems open for an edition, like the one proposed, which shall embrace translations of the best works of the best writers of the language. We have already noticed the publishing of The Provincial Letters of Pascal; the Germany of Madame de Staël; the Telemachus of Fenelon; the Charles the Twelfth of Voltaire; and the works of Montaigne. We have now upon our table The Thoughts of Pascal; The Martyrs of Chateaubriand; The Henriade of Voltaire; Madame de Staël's Corinne; and LaFontaine's Fables. The excellence of this edition does not consist simply in furnishing good and revised translations; but the editor has brought together in each volume a mass of material-biographical, historical, and critical, selected from the best English and French essays and reviews, and not otherwise easily accessible-which is exceedingly convenient and valuable. Scholars may feel that they must have in their libraries the French editions. But even they will find it very convenient to have at

hand, in compact form, the critical helps which Mr. Wight has thus so amply provided.

PASCAL'S THOUGHTS.*-The first of the recent additions to the series of French Classics which we shall notice, is the "Thoughts" of Pascal. This remarkable fragment of what was to have been the great work of its profound author, still commands the admiration of all students of religious truth. We look to-day with regret upon the ample materials that were collected two hundred years ago, by the most learned and profound scholar of his times, and mourn that he could not have been permitted to give to their arrangement and completion the fruits of all his learning and research. After having made such preparation, how noble a work upon the truths of natural religion and the evidences of Christianity would he have given to the world! But the brilliant career of Pascal closed in 1662, when he had only arrived at the age of thirty-nine. After his death, the manuscripts of the "Thoughts" were found in a condition which "comported but too well with their fragmentary character."

"It appears that he had not even used a commonplace book; but when, after profound meditation, any thought struck him as worth recording, he hastily noted it on any scrap of paper that came to hand, often on the backs of old letters. These he strung together on a file, or tied up in bundles, and left them till better bealth and untroubled leisure should permit him to evoke a new creation out of this chaos. It is a wonder, therefore, that the Pensées of Pascal have come down to us at all. Never, surely, was so precious a freight committed to so crazy a bark." pp. 35, 36.

The friends of Pascal immediately decided that the fragments which he had left behind were far too valuable to be consigned to oblivion. But no literary production has ever suffered more from the hands of its editors.

"They deemed it not sufficient to give Pascal's Remains, with the statement that they were but fragments; that many of the thoughts were very imperfectly developed; that none of them had had the advantage of the author's revision,— apologies for any deficiencies with which the world would have been fully satisfed; but they ventured upon mutilations and alterations of a most unwarrantable kind. In innumerable instances they changed words and phrases; in many others they left out whole paragraphs, and put a sentence or two of their own in

The Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules of Blaise Pascal. Translated from the French, by O. W. WIGHT, A. M. With introductory notices, and notes from all the Commentators. New York: Derby & Jackson. 1859. 12mo. pp. 552. For sale by Judd & Co., New Haven. (See Advertisement in N. E. Advertiser, pp. 8, 9.) VOL. XVIII.

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