REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS.

Natural History of New York: By Authority. Albany, Thurlow Weed, Printer to the State. New York, Wiley & Putnam, and D. Appleton & Co.

We are among those who believe that, as characterizing the present age, the cultivation of purely mechanical and natural science has been carried much too far, or rather, has been made too exclusive and absorbing. It is not the highest science—for it concerns only that which is around us—which is altogether outward. Man is always greater than the world of nature in which he lives, and just as clearly must the science of man, the philosophy of his moral and intellectual being, rank far above that of the soulless creation which was made to minister to his wants. When, therefore, this lower science so draws to itself the life of any age, as to disparage and shut out the higher, it works a positive injury to the well-being of that age. Still it is only thus in comparison with a nobler and more lofty study that we would venture to cast the faintest reproach upon that natural science which in no slight degree absorbs the intellectual effort of the present generation. Regarded as related to, and a part of, a complete system of education, it becomes most important and necessary; and its cultivation, even to apparent excess, a cause of rejoicing and a source of the highest hope.

We need scarcely say, then, that we look upon the explorations which have been made “by authority” into the Geology and general Natural History of several of the most important States in the Union, as among the proudest achievements of the present day. Most of them, it is true, grew out of designs not the highest on the part of those by whom they were originated. The development of resources, the discovery of mineral wealth, or other elements of power, formed in most cases the principal aim of those at whose instance these surveys were undertaken. But this is of little importance. The results are, on this account, none the less valuable to the cause of natural science, nor is our joy at their successful prosecution the less ardent or sincere. In all the States in which they have been undertaken, they have been fruitful of the best results; and the facts thus brought together will be found of priceless value to students and inquirers for ages to come.

The State of New York has just completed her survey, which has been conducted on a scale commensurate with her wealth and enterprise. The different departments of the survey were, in 1836, assigned to eight gentlemen well qualified for the task, and from that time until their completion, the explorations were conducted with energy and enthusiasm. The reports are to be published in ten magnificent quarto volumes, of which the first is now before us. A more splendid monument of intelligent enterprise in the cause of science, has seldom been erected by any State. The first volume contains only a portion of the first report on Zoology, by Mr. James E. DeKay, to whom this department was committed. Governor Seward has written an introduction to the work, which occupies nearly two hundred pages. It is valuable as a historical record of the progress of the arts, the sciences, and the various branches of enterprise and industry in the State, though as a literary performance it can claim no especial merit. It is, indeed, little more than a compendium of the history of the State, and of its general statistics, of which the different portions have been contributed by different persons. The portion of the Zoological Report which this volume contains—relating merely to the Mammalia of the State—is highly valuable, and, to the naturalist, exceedingly interesting. Previous to this survey, no complete Zoology of the State had been attempted. In 1813, Samuel L. Mitchell commenced an account of the fishes of New York, which was the first work on the subject ever undertaken; and the impulse given to the science by his labors in fact laid the foundation for whatever has been effected in the same department since. Several other branches of Zoology had received some slight attention before the commencement of the State survey. Bachman, a well known naturalist of South Carolina, had made interesting discoveries in the families of smaller quadrupeds, and much valuable information concerning the ornithology of the State had been collected by Wilson, Audubon, Cooper, Bonaparte and DeKay. Barnes had classified the Unionidæ of the lakes and rivers, and the Mollusca of the sea coast had been well studied by Dr. Gay, of New York city. But the report of Mr. DeKay in this department presents by far a more full and comprehensive account of the Zoology of New York than had ever before been made. The State was divided into four Zoological districts: first, the western district, embracing all the western portion of the State, as far east as the sources of the Mohawk; second, the northern, comprising all that portion of the State lying north of the Mohawk valley; third, the valley of the Hudson, including all the counties watered by that river and its tributaries; and fourth, the Atlantic district, embracing Long Island. In regard to its natural history, the northern district is by far the most important. Strange as it may seem to those who are accustomed to hear only of the wealth, the refinement, and the advanced civilization of the “Empire State,” there is embraced in this northern district a great tract of a thousand square miles, lying in loneliness, fresh as it came from the hand of God, untouched, and almost unvisited by man. It is clad with forests of great and majestic beauty, echoing only the sigh of the tempest, the screams of the untamed dwellers in its wilds, and now and then the rifle of the hunter, who there finds game, such as in long gone times the red men loved to chase. It is thickly overspread with lakes, embosomed in mountains, now lying calmly and smilingly beneath the sun, and the next hour lashed into frowns, when

“The tempest shooteth, from the steep,

The shadow of its coming.”

Travelers who would wander through it, must provide themselves with guides, and trust to hunting and chance for food and lodging. No one lives there—the whole is one vast, solitary wilderness, untouched by man—lying in its own majesty—unconscious even that the foot of the adventurous Genoese has been set upon the continent.

“Still this great solitude is quick with life;

Myriads of insects, gaudy as the flowers

They flutter over, gentle quadrupeds,

And birds that scarce have learned the fear of man,

Are here, and sliding reptiles of the ground,

Startlingly beautiful.”

This vast wild region is inhabited by many animals that are rarely found in any other portion of the State. The bear, the moose, the panther, the deer, and most fur-bearing animals, make their homes among its mountains. Arctic birds, too, that are never known farther south, are seen in abundance. The whole district covers an area of about six thousand square miles. The western district is eminent for its fertility and beauty, and has also a high degree of zoological interest.

The number of quadrupeds enumerated in the report, as found within the State, is something more than one hundred. Each of these is scientifically and fully described. Included in the volume are a great number of illustrations, taken with the greatest care from the living animals or the best specimens that could be found. The real colors are preserved, and in every case the relative size is indicated. The outlines, for the purpose of accuracy, were always taken with a camera lucida, and the illustrations, drawn by Hill, were lithographed by Endicott.

The whole style of the work is eminently worthy the enterprise, results of which it contains, and the State which undertook its fulfilment. We look for the forthcoming volumes with no little interest. The botanical department has been under the charge of John Toney; the mineralogical and chemical were assigned to Lewis C. Beck; the geological to W. W. Mather, Ebenezer Emmons, James Hall, and Leonard Vanuxem, and the palæontological to Timothy A. Conrad. Beside these reports, the results of the survey appear in eight several collections of specimens of the animals, plants, soils, minerals, rocks and fossils, found within the State—one of which collections constitutes a museum of natural history at the capital of the State, and the others are distributed among collegiate institutions. We rejoice at the completion of this great survey, and hope soon to see a similar exploration effected in every State of the Union. The cause of science will receive from it an aid of which scientific men alone can rightly estimate the value.

The Holy War, made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. By John Bunyan. Philadelphia, American Sunday School Union.

The celebrated Dr. Owen was occasionally one of the hearers of Bunyan, when he preached in London; and being asked by Charles the Second how a learned man, like him, could listen to the prating of an illiterate tinker, he is said to have replied, “May it please your Majesty, could I possess that tinker’s abilities for preaching, I would gladly relinquish all my scholarship.” His genius as an author was even greater than he exhibited in the pulpit. Southey, Macauley, and other eminent critics, regard him as one of the “immortal authors of England.” The Pilgrim’s Progress has been the most popular of his sixty or seventy works. Probably no book by an uninspired writer has been more universally read. The Holy War was written ten years after the appearance of that beautiful creation, and if not equal to it in all respects, is certainly one of the most ingenious allegories in the language, as well as one of the most useful exhibitions of practical Christianity. The edition before us is superior to any other printed in America, in its typography and illustrations.

The Little Gift; Useful Stories; Poems for Little Folks. Three small volumes.

Mr. Colman, of New York, in the autumn of every year, publishes numerous miniature gift books for children, with fine engravings, instructive tales and poems, etc., of which the above are specimens.

Thulia: A Poem: By J. C. Palmer, M. D., U. S. N. Illustrated with Twelve Original Designs, by A. Agate, Artist of the late Exploring Expedition. One volume, octavo. New York, Samuel Colman.

This beautifully printed and illustrated volume resembles very much, in its appearance, the elegant edition of Gray’s “Elegy,” published several years since in London. We can say no more in praise of its typography and embellishments. The poem itself possesses considerable merit. Doctor Palmer was attached to the Exploring Expedition which returned to this country last summer from the southern seas, and “Thulia” is founded on incidents which occurred on the war-ship Peacock, and the schooner Flying Fish, while in the Antarctic ocean. The verse is free and melodious, and the ideas and illustrations generally appropriate and poetical. We quote a lyric that will convey to the reader a just idea of the poet’s style.

ANTARCTIC MARINER’S SONG.

Sweetly, from the land of roses,

Sighing comes the northern breeze;

And the smile of dawn reposes,

All in blushes, on the seas.

Now within the sleeping sail,

Murmurs soft the gentle gale.

Ease the sheet, and keep away:

Glory guides us South to-day!

Yonder, see! the icy portal

Opens for us to the Pole;

And, where never entered mortal,

Thither speed we to the goal.

Hopes before and doubts behind,

On we fly before the wind.

Steady, so—now let it blow!

Glory guides, and South we go.

Vainly do these gloomy borders,

All their frightful forms oppose;

Vainly frown these frozen warders,

Mailed in sleet, and helmed in snow.

Though, beneath the ghastly skies,

Curdled all the ocean lies,

Lash we up its foam anew—

Dash we all its terrors through!

Circled by these columns hoary,

All the field of fame is ours;

Here to carve a name in story,

Or a tomb beneath these towers.

Southward still our way we trace,

Winding through an icy maze.

Luff her to—there she goes through!

Glory leads, and we pursue.

The notes appended to the poem contain the most interesting account of the expedition that has yet been given to the public.

Scenes in the Holy Land: one volume square duodecimo. Philadelphia, American Sunday School Union.

This work is founded on, or rather is a free translation of, the “Scènes Evangéliques” of Napoleon Roussel, published a year or two since in Paris. It contains an account of the principal incidents in the lives of the Savior and of the great apostle of the Gentiles, written with singular simplicity and perspicuity, and illustrated with numerous etchings by a clever French artist. It is published, we believe, as a juvenile gift book for the holiday season.

Ladies’ Annual Register for 1843. New York, S. Colman.

The Ladies’ Annual Register is a neat little annuary, edited for several years by Mrs. Gilman, of Charleston. It embraces, beside the usual contents of the almanacs, many useful recipes for the housewife, with anecdotes, poems, etc.

Biblical and Prophetical Works of Rev. George Bush, D. D., author of “The Life of Mohammed,” etc., and Professor of Hebrew in the New York City University. New York, Dayton & Newman.

Professor Bush is one of the most profound and ingenious scholars and critics of the present age, and we perceive with pleasure that he is rapidly multiplying the fruits of his industrious pen. To all the lovers of sound biblical exposition it must be gratifying to know that the Hebrew Scriptures are in a fair way to develop their riches to the English reader more fully than ever before. Professor Bush’s commentaries on the Old Testament, now extending to six volumes, embrace all the works of the Pentateuch but the last two, and these, we learn, he proposes shortly to enter upon. His careful study, his scrupulous fidelity in eliciting the exact meaning of the original, and his peculiar tact in explaining it, have made his Notes everywhere popular, so that before the completion of the series, the first volume has reached a sixth edition, the second a fifth, etc. In all of them will be found discussions on the most important points of biblical science, extending far beyond the ordinary dimensions of expository notes, and amounting in fact to elaborate dissertations of great value. Among the subjects thus extensively treated are, in Genesis, the temptation and the fall, the dispersion from Babel, the prophecies of Noah, the character of Melchizedec, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the history of Joseph, and the prophetical benedictions of Jacob; in Exodus, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, the miracles of the magicians, the pillar of cloud as the seat of the Shekinah, the decalogue, the Hebrew theocracy, the tabernacle, the cherubim, the candle-stick, the shew bread, the altar, &c.; in Leviticus, a clear and minute specification of the different sacrifices, the law of marriage, including the case of marriage with a deceased wife’s sister, very largely considered, and a full account of the Jewish festivals. The sixth volume, including Joshua and Judges, contains an ample and erudite exposition of the Song of Deborah, and an extended discussion on the subject of Jeptha’s vow, with a view to determine whether the Jewish warrior really sacrificed his daughter. The Professor gives an array of very strong reasons in favor of the negative.

In his celebrated “Treatise on the Millennium,” which merely as a literary performance has received the highest commendations of the critics, our author has assumed the position that the millennium, strictly so called, is past. But by the millennium he does not understand the golden age of the church, which he, in common with nearly all good men, regards as a future era. He contends that as the memorable period of the thousand years of the apocalypse is distinguished mainly by the binding of the symbolical dragon, we must first determine by the legitimate canons of interpretation what is shadowed forth by this mystic personage, before we can assure ourselves of the true character of the millennial age. But the dragon, he supposes, is the grand hieroglyphic of Paganism—the “binding of the dragon,” but a figurative phrase for the suppression of Paganism within the limits of the Roman empire, a fulfilment which he contends commenced in the reign of Constantine, and was consummated in that of Theodosius, his successor. Professor Bush draws largely on the pages of Gibbon in support of his theory, assuming all along the great foundation principle that the apocalypse of John is but a series of pictured emblems, shadowing forth the ecclesiastical and civil history of the world. From a cursory examination of his Treatise, we are inclined to adopt the opinion of one of the first theologians of our country, that if his premises be admitted, his conclusion is irresistible; and that he did not know how to gainsay the premises.

In the Hierophant, a monthly publication of which he is editor, he enters elaborately into the nature of the prophetic symbols, and in the last number brings out some grand results as to the physical destiny of the globe. He assumes that a fair construction of the language of the prophets is far from countenancing the idle dreams of Miller and his school respecting the literal conflagration of the heavens and the earth, and does not even teach that such a catastrophe is ever to take place. He denies not that this may possibly be the finale which awaits our planet and the solar system, but if so, it is to be gathered rather from astronomy than revelation—from the apocalypse of Newton, Laplace and Herschell, than from that of John.

In general literature, in science and in art, America has furnished some of the best names in the world of letters; but it is in theology and religious philosophy that our countrymen have made the greatest advances. We need but allude to Edwards, Dwight, Emmons, Marsh, Beecher, Alexander, Stuart, McIlvaine, and Bush in proof of this. Perhaps we may add to the list Orestes Brownson, who, however erratic and peculiar, is a man of singular genius and sincerity. In our endeavors to keep the readers of this magazine advised of the condition of our literature, we should fail of our intent if at times we did not notice books and authors of a grave character. The useful and the true is in every thing the national aim. The writings of which we have spoken particularly in this brief notice, are distinguished for remarkable directness of language and logical clearness, as much as for profound scholarship, and they are among the most original works of their class brought out in our times.

Songs, Odes, and other Poems, on National Subjects: Compiled from Various Sources: by William McCarty. Three volumes duodecimo. Philadelphia, W. McCarty.

Mr. McCarty is a bookseller, of the long established house of McCarty & Davis, in Market street. He is an antiquary also, and has in his chambers one of the best collections of books relating to our history and antiquities to be found in this country. Several years ago he “formed the plan of gathering together our national songs and ballads, deeming the task, however humble,” he says, “one of which the result would be acceptable to his countrymen.” He has since gleaned from all the files of magazines, newspapers and other periodicals, in the public libraries and in his own possession, published since Braddock’s defeat at DuQuesne, every scrap of verse, “good, bad, or indifferent,” relating to men, manners and events in America, and had them printed in three neat volumes, the first of which contains the “patriotic,” the second the “military,” and the third the “naval.” It is certainly a very curious collection. Some of the pieces, indeed, were written by foreigners, and have as little relation to any thing in America as to the quackeries of Græfenberg; and others are not decidedly poetical; but by far the greater number belong to one or another of the divisions in which the compiler has placed them, and, as he well remarks, “the present and future generations of Americans will hardly disdain those strains, however homely, which cheered and animated our citizen soldiers and seamen, ‘in the times that tried men’s souls,’ at the camp-fire or on the forecastle.” We perceive that Mr. McCarty has copied from our Magazine for October most of the pieces included in the article on “The Minstrelsy of the Revolution.” We have many others not embraced in his volumes, of which we intend to present a few additional specimens to our readers, in connection, perhaps, with some of the most curious verses in the books he has given us.

Wing-and-Wing, or Le Feu-Follet. By the author of “The Red Rover,” “The Pilot,” “The Path Finder,” etc. Two volumes, duodecimo. Philadelphia, Lea & Blanchard.

We received this novel too recently to be able to do it justice in our present number. It is a story of the sea, and from a cursory examination we are inclined to believe it equal to Mr. Cooper’s most celebrated naval romances. The scene is in the Mediterranean, in the memorable years 1798 and 1799. Le Feu-Follet is a French privateer, commanded by Raoul Yvard, a skilful, bold and chivalrous sailor, and the interest of the tale turns principally upon the manœuvres by which he preserves her from capture by the English frigate Prosperine. The character second in importance on board the republican privateer is Ithule Bolt, a shrewd Yankee, who, impressed into the British navy, had shared in the dangers of Nelson’s victory, and now added to a patriotic hatred of the English, some slight ill will created by what he deemed unjustifiable appliances of the lash during his service on board the Prosperine. Blended with the main narrative is a history of the loves of the commander of Le Feu-Follet and a beautiful Italian girl, Ghita Giuntotardi, one of our author’s most admirably drawn heroines. Those who would know more of the plot we refer to the book itself, or to the Yankee lieutenant, who in due time returned to the United Slates, married a widow, and “settled in life” somewhere in the Granite State. He is said at the present moment to be an active abolitionist, a patron of the temperance cause, and a terror to evil doers, under the appellation of Deacon Bolt. We are pleased to learn that the publishers have fixed the price of Wing-and-Wing at half a dollar—lower by fifty per cent. at least than an American novel was ever sold for before. For this reason, as well as on account of its remarkable merit, we predict for it a sale equal to that of “The Spy,” or “The Red Rover.”

The Poets and Poetry of America: with a Historical Introduction. By Rufus W. Griswold. Third edition. With Illustrations by the First Artists.

Messrs. Carey & Hart have just issued a new edition of this work, with beautiful illustrations from paintings by Leslie, Inman, Creswick, Sully, Thompson, Verbryck, Hoyt, and Harding, engraved by Cheney, Cushman, Dodson, and Forrest. We believe that no other book of so expensive a character has passed to a second edition in the United States during the year. The fact that this has reached a third edition in six months seems to indicate that our poetical literature is properly appreciated, in our own country, at least. The price of the third edition has very properly been reduced to two dollars and a half.

The Little Boys’ and Girls’ Library: Edited by Mrs. Sarah J. Hale. Six books, small quarto. New York, Edward Dunigan.

The stories in these little volumes are written with taste and simplicity. Though Mrs. Hale’s incidents are generally pleasing, we do not in all cases approve their tendency. With deference for her better judgment, we think the boy who, in “The Way to Save,” bought the glass box, was much wiser than he who bought the draught board.

The Youth’s Keepsake: A Christmas and New Year’s Gift for Young People. The Annualette: A Christmas and New Year’s Gift for Children. Philadelphia, Thomas, Cowperthwaite & Co.

Two very beautiful and interesting annuals, of the character of which the titles are sufficiently descriptive.

Sporting Scenes and Sundry Sketches: being the Miscellaneous Writings of J. Cypress, jr. Edited by Frank Forester. In Two vols., 12mo. New York, Gould, Banks & Co., 1842.

“J. Cypress, jr.” was the late William P. Hawes, of the city of New York; and “Frank Forester” is the name by which one of the finest scholars, critics, and writers, whose productions have ever given a charm to our periodical literature—Henry William Herbert, the author of “Cromwell,” and numerous tales and other compositions in this Magazine—is known in the “sporting world.” Mr. Hawes was educated for the bar; his writings were generally on political or sporting topics, in the daily gazettes, or the magazines. The admirable series of papers, entitled “Fire Island Ana,” was written for the American Monthly, while that work was under Mr. Herbert; and most of his later compositions appeared in the “Turf Register.” We have not room to do them justice. They have never been excelled in this country, in richness of humor, freshness, or originality. Mr. Hawes had the modesty of genius. He lived in the quiet enjoyment of the life and the scenes he so felicitously delineated, and was unknown as a writer beyond the limited circle of his intimate friends until they and the world were deprived of his presence.

The Task, and other Poems: By William Cowper. One volume, duodecimo. Philadelphia, Carey & Hart.

Among the poets who have written in the English language on religious themes, Cowper unquestionably ranks next to Milton in genius, and before him as a teacher. The Presbyterian poet is admired for his sublime conceptions and his unequaled mastery of language and the intricacies of rhythm; but the bard of Olney is loved by the good and the true as a friend. The new edition of the Task is one of the most beautiful specimens of typography produced in this country, and the etchings, by Cheney, which illustrate it, are of course admirably executed.

The Way of Life: By Charles Hodge, Professor in the Theological Seminary of Princeton, New Jersey. One volume duodecimo, pp. 348. Philadelphia, American Sunday School Union.

Among the many very excellent works published by the American Sunday School Union, we know of none written with more ability, or calculated to do more good than this admirable treatise. The plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, the great practical doctrines they teach, and the influence which these doctrines should exert upon the heart and life, are set forth by the learned author with candor, simplicity and eloquence.

Books for Youth: Heroines of Sacred History, by Mrs. Steele; Philip and his Garden, by Charlotte Elizabeth; Rocky Island, by Samuel Wilberforce; Alice Benden, by Charlotte Elizabeth; Clementine Cuvier, by John Angell James; The Simple Flower, by Charlotte Elizabeth; The Flower of Innocence, by Charlotte Elizabeth; and Moral Tales, by Robert Merry. New York, John S. Taylor & Co.

The eight volumes, of which we have given the titles above, are bound in a uniform style, and constitute a very neat and excellent library for juvenile readers. We know of no books that can be more appropriately presented to the young in the approaching holidays than those of Archdeacon Wilberforce, John Angell James, and Charlotte Elizabeth.