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"Said I, 'Sargent, did not that angel smell of brimstone?'

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Why,' said he, 'do you ask me such a foolish question?'

"Because,' said I, if an angel has spoken to you at all, he was from the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone!' and raising my voice, I said, 'I smell sulphur now!' I walked up to the stump, and called on the people to come d see for themselves. The people rushed up, and soon saw through the trick, and began to abuse Sargent for a vile impostor. He soon left, and we were troubled no more with him or his brimstone angels."

A SMALL CONGREGATION.

"At the upper end of the circuit, not more than eight or ten miles from Nashville, there was a large society and a meeting-house. My predecessor had left a conditional appointment for his successor. I was a total stranger in this region. The day of my conditional appointment was a dark day, misting with After waiting till rain, but I got there in due time. half past twelve o'clock one man came, who had had the misfortune to lose one of his eyes. We sat a little while, and I asked him if there was not an appointment for preaching that day.

"Yes," said he; but there will be no preacher or people, I suppose." I saw from his answer he did not suspect me for the preacher.

"He further said: 'As it is late, and no preacher nor people, we had as well go. Come, go home with me and get some dinner.'

"No,' said I, we must have meeting; and if you will preach, I will conclude after you.'

"No, no,' said he; if you will preach, I will conclude after you.'

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Agreed,' said I, and up I rose in the stand, sung and prayed, took my text, and preached as best I could for forty-five minutes, and then called on him, and he rose, sung and prayed, and prayed well.

"I went home with my one man, my entire congregation, and found him to be a pious, religious elder in the Presbyterian Church. From the novelty of the effort of the day, my friend professed to think it was one of the greatest sermons he had ever heard in all his life."

GENERAL JACKSON AND THE YOUNG
INFIDEL.

"I had preached one Sabbath near the Hermitage,
and, in company with several gentlemen and ladies,
went, by special invitation, to dine with the general.
Among this company there was a young sprig of a
lawyer from Nashville, of very ordinary intellect, and
he was trying hard to make an infidel of himself. As
I was the only preacher present, this young lawyer
kept pushing his conversation on me, in order to get
into an argument. I tried to evade an argument, in
the first place, considering it a breach of good manners
to interrupt the social conversation of the company.
In the second place, I plainly saw that his head was
much softer than his heart, and that there were no
laurels to be won by vanquishing or demolishing such
a combatant, and I persisted in evading an argument.
This seemed to inspire the young man with more con-
fidence in himself; for my evasiveness he construed
into fear. I saw General Jackson's eye strike fire, as
he sat by and heard the thrusts he made at the Chris-
tian religion. At length the young lawyer asked me
this question:

"Mr. Cartwright, do you really believe there is any
such place as hell, as a place of torment?'

"I answered promptly, 'Yes, I do.'

"To which he responded, "Well, I thank God I have too much good sense to believe any such thing.'

"I was pondering in my own mind whether I would answer him or not, when General Jackson for the first time broke into the conversation, and directing his words to the young man, said with great earnestness: "Well, sir, I thank God that there is such a place of torment as hell."

"This sudden answer, made with great carnestness,
seemed to astonish the youngster, and he exclaimed:
"Why, General Jackson, what do you want with
such a place of torment as hell?'

"To which the general replied, as quick as light-
To put such d-d rascals as you are in, that op-
ning,
pose and vilify the Christian religion.""

THE AUTHOR AT A DANCE.

"Late in the evening I hailed at a tolerably decent
house, and the landlord kept entertainment. I rode
up and asked for quarters. The gentleman said I
could stay, but he was afraid I would not enjoy my-
self very much as a traveler, inasmuch as they had a
party meeting there that night to have a little dance.
inquired how far it was to a decent house of enter-
tainment on the road; he said seven miles. I told
him if he would treat me civilly, and feed my horse
He assured me I
well, by his leave I would stay.
should be treated civilly. I dismounted and went in.
The people collected, a large company. I saw there
was not inuch drinking going on.

"I quietly took my seat in one corner of the house,
I sat quietly musing, a
and the dance commenced.
total stranger, and greatly desired to preach to this
people. Finally, I concluded to spend the next day
(Sabbath) there, and ask the privilege to preach to
them. I had hardly settled this point in my mind,
when a beautiful, ruddy young lady walked very
gracefully up to me, dropped a handsome courtesy,
and pleasantly, with winning smiles, invited me out
to take a dance with her. I can hardly describe my
thoughts or feelings on that occasion. However, in a
moment I resolved on a desperate experiment. I rose
as gracefully as I could; I will not say with some
emotion, but with many emotions. The young lady
moved to my right side; I grasped her right hand
with my right hand, while she leaned her left arm on
mine. In this position we walked on the floor. The
whole company seemed pleased at this act of polite-
ness in the young lady, shown to a stranger. The
colored man, who was the fiddler, began to put
his fiddle in the best order. I then spoke to the
fiddler to hold a moment, and added that for several
years I had not undertaken any matter of importance
without first asking the blessing of God upon it, and
I desired now to ask the blessing of God upon this
beautiful young lady and the whole company that had
shown such an act of politeness to a total stranger.

"Here I grasped the young lady's hand tightly, and said, 'Let us all kneel down and pray,' and then instantly dropped on my knees, and commenced praying with all the power of soul and body that I could command. The young lady tried to get loose from me, but I held her tight. Presently she fell on her knees. Some of the company kneeled, some stood, some fled, some sat still, all looked curious. The fiddler ran off into the kitchen, saying, 'Lord a mercy, what de matter? what is dat mean?

"While I prayed some wept, and wept out aloud,
and some cried for mercy. I rose from my knees and
commenced an exhortation, after which I sang a hymn.
The young lady who invited me on the floor lay pros-
trate, crying earnestly for mercy. I exhorted again;
About fifteen of
I sang and prayed nearly all night.
that company professed religion, and our meeting
lasted next day and next night, and as many more
were powerfully converted."

HIS OPINION OF SLAVERY AND SLAVE-
HOLDING MINISTERS.

Our author is very far from being an ultraist
upon the subject of slavery, and has no fellowship
with abolitionists, yet he speaks plainly about
At the time of the
the peculiar institution.
General Conference of 1816 he says:

"It is a notorious fact that all the preachers from the slaveholding states denounced slavery as a moral evil; but asked of the General Conference mercy and forbearance on account of the civil disabilities they labored under, so that we got along tolerably smooth. I do not recollect a single Methodist preacher, at that

day, that justified slavery. But O, how have times changed!

"Methodist preachers in those days made it a matter of conscience not to hold their fellow-creatures in bondage, if it was practicable to emancipate them, eonformably to the laws of the state in which they lived. Methodism increased and spread; and many Methodist preachers, taken from comparative poverty, not able to own a negro, and who preached loudly against it, improved, and became popular among slaveholders; and many of them married into those slaveholding familles, and became personally interested in slave property, (as it is called.) Then they began to apologize for the evil; then to justify it, on legal principles; then on Bible principles; till lo and behold! it is not an evil, but a good! it is not a curse, but a blessing! till really you would think, to hear them tell the story, if you had the means and did not buy a good lot of them, you would go to the devil for not enjoying the labor, toil, and sweat of this degraded race, and all this without rendering them any equivalent whatever!"

On the subject of "The Great Secession," in 1844, Mr. Cartwright says:

"These preachers took an ungodly advantage of the members who stood firmly and strongly opposed to a division of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now, to keep up appearances, these very preachers, with their bribed judges, sneeringly call the Methodist Episcopal Church the Methodist Church, North, and say we are all rabid abolitionists, when they do verily know it is all false. At their late General Conference they have fully disclosed the cloven foot of the slaveryloving preachers, for they have stricken out of their Discipline every rule on the subject of slavery, and had well-nigh stricken out that part of the General Rules that interdicts the slave trade, (according to their interpretation.) I should not be greatly surprised if, in few years, this rule goes by the board, and some of these slavery-loving preachers are engaged in importing them by the thousands into this land of the free and home of the brave. O, kind Heaven, prevent it, and reclaim these wretched wanderers!

*

"What a sad account will many preachers have to give in the day of judgment, who have preached a free salvation to listening thousands, while their poor degraded slaves are deprived of many of the blessings of life, and privileges of civil and religious liberty. These preachers must and do know that slavery is at war with the attributes and perfections of God, who will never punish the innocent or let the guilty go free.

"Who ever before knew of a professed slavery Church? that is, one which justified slavery by the word of God? Well may soine of them be ashamed of their assumed name, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and wish to change it; for it is evident that they can never preach the Gospel successfully in any country that opposes slavery; for they could not, by possibility, have any confidence in such preachers: and the poor slaves, in proportion to their capabilities of reasoning on the subject, just in that ratio must they lack confidence in such preachers. Nay, they must lack confidence in that God and religion that these preachers recommend to them, and I am solemnly afraid that thousands of these poor slaves will be lost under the influence of these slaveholding preachers; but I predict the downfall of such a Church, and hope by other men and means God will yet save the thousands of the South, and preserve our happy Union until it shall give liberty, civil and religious, to unnumbered millions of the human family."

Lectures, however sparkling in the delivery, are usually dull in the perusal. For the most part they are scarcely worth type and press work. But to all general rules there are exceptions, and the Lectures of WILLIAM HENRY MILBURN, familiarly known as the Blind Preacher, are well deserving of the permanent form in which they are given to us by Derby & Jackson. The lectures are entitled, severally, "The Rifle," "The Ax," and "The SaddleBags;" "Songs in the Night, or the Triumphs of Genius over Blindness;" "An Hour's Talk

about Woman ;" and "French Chivalry in the Southwest." The volume has a good likeness of the author, and Dr. McClintock furnishes an introductory biographical sketch, from which we copy the following account of the manner in which Mr. Milburn became chaplain to Congress. It is from the pen of T. P. Thorp, Esq., and will be new to most of our readers:

"On his journey north, Mr. Milburn found himself on board of an Ohio River steamer, on which were three hundred passengers. From the number of days the passengers had been together, Mr. Milburn had become pretty well informed of their character, and he found most prominent among the gentlemen, were a number of members of Congress, on their way to Washington. These gentlemen had attracted Mr. Milburn's attention, on account of their exceptionablo habits. On the arrival of Sabbath morning, it was rumored through the boat, that a minister was on board, and Mr. Milburn, who had up to this time attracted no attention, was hunted up and called upon to 'give a discourse." He promptly consented, and in due time commenced Divine service. The members of Congress, to whom we have alluded, were among the congregation, and by common consent had possession of the chairs nearest to the preacher. Mr. Milburn gave an address suitable to the occasion, full of eloquence and pathos, and was listened to throughout with the most intense interest. At the conclusion he stopped short, and turning his face, now beaming with fervent zeal, toward the 'honorable gentlemen,' he said: 'Among the passengers in this steamer, are a number of members of Congress; from their position they should be exemplars of good morals and dignified conduct, but from what I have heard of them they are not so. The Union of these States, if dependent on such guardians, would be unsafe, and all the high hopes I have of the future of my country would be dashed to the ground. These gentlemen, for days past, have made the air heavy with profane conversation, have been constant patrons of the bar, and encouragers of intemperance; nay, more, the night, which should be devoted to rest, has been dedicated to the horrid vices of gambling, profanity, and drunkenness. And,' continued Mr. Milburn, with the solemnity of a man who spoke as if by inspiration, there is but one chance of salvation for these great sinners in high places, and that is, to humbly repent of their sins, call on the Saviour for forgiveness, and reform their lives.'

As might be supposed, language so bold from a delicate stripling, scarcely twenty-two years of age, had a startling effect. The audience separated, and the preacher returned to his state-room, to think upon what he had said. Conscious, after due reflection, that he had only done his duty, he determined at all bazards to maintain his position, even at the expense of being rudely assailed, if not lynched. While thus cogitating, a rap was heard at his state-room door, a gentleman entered, and stated that he came with a message from the members of Congress-that they had listened to his remarks, and in consideration of his boldness and his eloquence, they desired him to accept a purse of money which they had made up among themselves, and also, their best wishes for his success and happiness through life.

"But this chivalrous feeling, so characteristic of Western men when they meet bold thought and action combined, carried these gentlemen to more positive acts of kindness; becoming acquainted with Mr. Milburn, when they separated from him, they offered the unexpected service of making him Chaplain to Congress, a promise which they not only fulfilled, but through the long years that have passed away since that event, have cherished for the blind preacher' the warmest personal regard, and stand ever ready to support him by word and deed."

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of all evangelical Churches. We quote part of a chapter, and commend the volume most heartily to our readers:

"The pole-star of the pulpit is the cross. The central idea of the Bible is Jesus. The intelligent soul of the world's history is the idea of the world's Saviour. History would be without order, Providence without polarity, but for Calvary. Redemption is the sweet influence of the Pleiades, melting in healing odors over the wounded dying race, anid the wandering music of the stars of the morning; and which faith only can hear, faith only can see, and faith only can feel. Redemption is the great law of gravitation in the moral world, mysteriously attracting it onward to its destiny, upward to its God. Redemption means reconciliation by virtue of a reason. It is the great, felt want of humanity. 'How shall we come before God, and wherewithal can we bow ourselves before the high God, and how can man be just with God?' have conthey have ever filled the ear of the leaden, lazy-footed stituted the outery of the crushed nations, with which ages. In the absence of satisfactory answers to these questions, foolish man has attempted to invent answers. What, otherwise, mean the smoking altars of paganism, the hecatombs of victims at the shrine of idols? What else mean those self-immolations, self-inflicted tortures, and long and painful pilgrimages, which the imperfect annals of man without a Bible are constantly disclosing? The fact is, a consciousness of guilt, a self-disapproval, and a sense of danger, are universal to humanity. These dark shadows fall upon his soul everywhere, (darker at certain seasons than others,) as certainly as his shadow cast from him in the sunlight. Man is instinctively prepared to hear of a Saviour. His condition in the world is to him as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness,' saying, Where is he of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write?' The popular heart feels that a sermon without a Saviour is a solecism. The preacher who preaches most about Jesus and the resurrection, other things being equal, will have the largest and most delighted audiences. It is a striking fact, and yet one often overlooked, that God himself has so arranged, that the principal theme of the pulpit, when properly evolved, will always be the most popular. Men never complain of hearing too much from the pulpit about Jesus Christ."

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Westward Empire; or, the Great Drama of Human Progress. By E. L. MAGOON. (Harper & Brothers.) "Westward the course of empire takes its way," says the hackneyed verse of Berkeley, and Mr. Magoon takes it for his text, his object being to demonstrate the fact that "By a natural movement, in not one of its great elements has civilization gone eastward an inch since authentic history began." Again: Mr. Magoon tells us that "the travels of men and the trade-currents of God move spontaneously and perpetually toward the West," and "all great enterprises by land and by sea have ever commenced in the East, and augmented both their efficiency and worth through a continuous unfolding toward the setting sun." Keeping in view this cardinal idea, our author divides his book into four parts, called respectively, "Pericles, or the Age of Artistic Beauty;" "Augustus, or the Age of Martial Force;" "Leo X., the Age of Scientific Invention;" "Washington, the Age of Universal Amelioration." Each of these parts is divided into five chapters under the several heads of "Literature," 'Art," ," "Science," "Philosophy," and "Religion," all tending to show that we of this Western hemisphere are to be, if, indeed, we are not already, at the head of the world in all these respects. Of our literature, however, Mr. Magoon does not brag quite so boldly as of our advancement in other respects. He assures us, and it is a very comfortable assurance, that "with reference to a worthy national literature

39 66

we are drifting in a right direction." If anybody has any doubt as to our superiority in all other respects, and our prospective literary superiority when we shall have done drifting, we refer him to the pages of Mr. Magoon.

To our country readers we cannot do a better service than to call attention to a new edition of Bement's Poulterer's Companion, just issued from the press of Harper & Brothers. It is a practical treatise, written by one who understands the whole subject of breeding, rearing, and managing all varieties of domestic poultry.. It is embellished with one hundred and twenty illustrations of different varieties of cocks and hens-Shanghais, Dorkings, Malays, Bantams, etc., together with ducks, geese, turkeys; coops and poultry-houses; hatching apparatus, incubators, and artificial mothers, with ample directions upon all collateral subjects. It is beyond question the best book of the kind in the English language.

French Mission Life. By REV. THOMAS CARTER. A series of narrative sketches, remarkable conversions, and incidents in the life of a missionary among the French at Detroit, in the State of Michigan. It contains also five letters written by the author to the Roman Catholic bishop of that diocese. (Carlton & Porter.)

A Child's History of Rome, by JOHN BONNER, has been issued from the press of Harper & Brothers in two very pretty volumes. It is written in a neat and simple style, by no means childish, but adapted to the capacities of juvenile readers. Indeed, children of a larger growth may peruse its pages profitably. We agree with the author that histories for children should be governed by as severe a canon as histories for adults, and that the young should not be taught for fact what, in after life, they will discover to be mere fiction. Hence, although he gives, as legends and stories, the beautiful myths of Livy and others, he commences the narrative of Rome's actual history with the invasion by Pyrrhus.

We are indebted to Messrs. Jewett & Co., of Boston, for two neat and useful volumes entitled The Minnesota Hand-Book for 1856-7, and The Iowa Hand-Book for 1856. They were both compiled by NATHAN H. PARKER, are accompanied by new and correct maps, and contain all that is needed to give the reader a good idea of the soil, general appearance, growth, resources, and other matters connected with these rapidly-advancing regions of the Great West.

Mariamne; or, the Queen's Fate. A Tale of the Days of Herod. By E. H. M. (Pudney & Russell, New-York.) We tried to read the preface of this volume, and stumbled at the closing paragraph. Here it is: "The author of the following pages trusts, that in the recital of events of an awe-arousing epoch in a familiar and interesting manner, that the gentle delights of the romance have been effectively blessed [sic] with those of the Christian reader." This is too deep for our sounding-line, and we lay the book aside, adding, in justice to the publishers, that it is very neatly printed, and em

bellished with the likeness of a gentleman labeled Herod, and of a lovely female, called Marianne, a misprint perhaps for Mariamne.

Friendship very frequently betrays men into erroneous estimates of literary merit. As an illustration we have, in a neat volume, from the press of Carter & Brothers, Poems by the late FRANCIS S. KEY, Esq. The editor thought that | these very inferior rhymes "would prove a most acceptable contribution to the limited classic poetry of our country." His admiration of the character of the departed led him astray in this matter. With only two or three exceptions, the poems are below the average of ordinary newspaper contributions. What does the reader think of the following, which occupies an entire page of the volume?

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Rome, Christian and Papal; Sketches of its Religions Monuments and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, with Notices of the Jesuits and the Inquisition. By L. DE SANCTIS, D. D. (Harper & Brothers.) From the author's preface we learn that he is by birth a Roman, that he occupied the confessional for fifteen years, and for more than half that time was curate of the Magdalene, one of the principal parishes of Rome. He was, moreover, professor of theology in the Roman University, and for ten years filled the office of theologian in the Roman Inquisition. Having been converted to the Protestant faith, he abandoned his brilliant position, and became an humble preacher of the Gospel, a minister of the Waldensian, or primitive Italian Church at Turin. Under the fictitious guise of letters he reveals many of the grosser absurdities of Romanism, its mummeries, impostures, and persecutions. There is, throughout the volume, an air of honest truthfulness which will commend itself to the reader.

Anthony Burns: a History. By CHARLES E. STEVENS. (J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston, 12mo, pp. 295.) Anthony Burns first saw the light in Virginia, that glorious old dominion which has given birth to so many great men. As has been the lot of thousands of his fellow-citizens, Anthony had the misfortune to be stolen and made a slave as soon as he was born. Just as any other son of Virginia might be expected to do, Anthony broke his chains and secured his freedom. He emigrated to the cradle of American liberty, the modern Athens, and supposed himself safe, living, as he did, a law-abiding citizen, in close proximity to Fanueil Hall. But he was mistaken. He was seized in the street, imprisoned upon a false charge, that of having robbed a store, dragged into Boston jail, brought before a commissioner, when the real cause of his arrest was made known to him,

and after futile efforts on the part of a few "fanatics," was sent back, with great pomp, guarded by the military, and protected by the municipal police, to the Old Dominion. It was an expensive job, but Uncle Samuel footed the bill. Mr. Stevens's plain narrative of all the facts in the case has no tendency to inflate the reader with patriotic pride, but rather, in the language of that Virginian slaveholder, Jefferson, to make him tremble for his country when he remembers that God is just.

N. PARKER WILLIS is not only a poet, but one of the readiest prose-writers of the day. The amount of hard work he does with a pen is wonderful. The twelfth volume of his prose works, entitled Paul Fane; or, Parts of a Life else untold, from the press of C. Scribner, is now before us. The author calls it a novel, but it lacks the distinguishing characteristics of that species of literature, and he very naively tells the reader, at the close, that "if it has not turned out so much of a romance as was expected, it is because the real life of this our day, faithfully pictured, seldom is." Paul Fane has many of the author's peculiarities; sparkling outlines of character and quiet bits of satire, with odd patronymics and newly-coined phrases, and is, on the whole, a very readable book, for a leisure hour, but hardly equal to several of the author's previous volumes.

Under the general title of Harper's School History, these eminent publishers have issued an exceedingly attractive volume, entitled, Narrative of the General Course of History from the earliest Periods to the Establishment of the American Constitution. It is intended as a complete textbook of general history for the use of schools, and is admirably adapted for that purpose, being concise in its statement of facts, and illustrated with one hundred and fifty maps and engravings. We almost envy the youth of the present day the facilities afforded them for the acquisition of knowledge. Such a book as this, written in the lucid style of JACOB ABBOTT, so beautifully printed, and so profusely illustrated, would seem to make the study of history a mere recreation.

The North and the South: a Statistical View of the Condition of the Free and Slave States. By HENRY CHASE, A.M., and CHARLES W. SANBORN, M.D., compiled from official documents. (Boston: Jewett & Co.) The value of a work of this kind depends entirely upon its accuracy; and, so far as we have examined the tables here collected, we think they may be depended upon. They present, in contrast, the actual condition of the Free and Slave States, as to territory, population, religion, and general progress. Several very striking facts are brought out with great distinctness, and we commend the volume to the careful study of reflecting men in both sections of the Union.

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"Rudiments of Christianity for Retail Traders," or Religion recommended to Wall-Street Brokers," would, very probably, be passed by, without any careful digestion, by those classes respectively. So, we apprehend, The Bible in the Workshop; or, Christianity the Friend of Labor, by REV. JOHN W. MEARS, just from the press of C. Scribner of this city, well written as it is, and earnest in its appeals, will not reach many of that class of men for whom it is more especially intended. It will be gratifying to find ourselves mistaken in this opinion, and to know that laborers and working-men peruse its pages and profit by them.

In a ponderous octavo of 632 pages, without preface, introduction, or index, we have from the press of Carter and Brothers, Essays and Reviews, by CHARLES HODGE, D. D., selected from the Princeton Review. They are mainly upon Scriptural and Theological themes, written, some of them, twenty and twenty-five years ago, and most of them have long since lost all interest for the general reader. A portion of the volume is devoted to discussions of the ubiquitous question of slavery, and our Southern readers will have no reason to find fault with the reviewer. He estimates the abolitionist as several degrees worse than the slaveholder; but, like all other writers on that side of the question, leaves us to give our own definition to the word abolitionist.

Beaumarchais and his Times. Sketches of French Society in the Eighteenth Century, from unpublished documents. By LOUIS DE LOMENIE. Translated by Henry S. Edwards. (Harper & Brothers.) Beaumarchais was a kind of Jack of-all-trades-poet, politician, merchant-generally successful in his undertakings, goodnatured and benevolent, but an avowed infidel of the Voltaire school. The volume before us is full of anecdote and gossip, and spreads before the reader the varying aspects of Parisian society during a most eventful period in the history of France. The translation is lively and spirited.

OF JUVENILE Bооks we have space to notice a few only.

(1.) Boys and Girls' Illustrated Olio, designed as a Gift Book, full of pictures and instruction on a great variety of subjects, prepared by Dr. WISE, editor of the Sunday-School Advocate, and published, in admirable style, by Carlton & Porter.

(2.) Learning about Common Things, the fourth in the series of Harper's Picture Books for the Nursery. It has one hundred and twenty engravings, and is designed for children just beginning to read.

(3.) Never mind the Face; or, the Cousin's Visit. A pleasing narrative for girls from the pen of a fair lady, who chooses to call herself HETTY HOLYOKE, author of "The Surprise." Like stories for children of a larger growth, it con ducts the reader to matrimonial engagements, and leaves decided impressions of connubial felicity. (C. Scribner.)

(4.) The Story of Columbus, simplified for the young Folks, by SARAH H. BRADFORD, is an interesting and instructive little volume, with several illustrations from original designs. The author is well known as an agreeable writer of books for the young; and, in this instance, has admirably succeeded in telling an eventful story in a style free from puerilities, but adapted to the youthful mind. (C. Scribner.)

(5.) A beautiful and profusely illustrated small quarto volume, entitled, A Winter at Wood Lawn; or, the Armor of Light Illustrated, a very desirable holiday present for youth of both sexes. Interspersed with sketches of scenery and pleasing narrative are conversations about the Christian's armor, the girdle, the shield, the sword, the breast-plate, and the helmet. It is by the author of that well-known little volume, Four Days in July, and is published by Carlton & Porter.

(6.) From the same publishers, Poor Nelly; or, the Golden Mushroom, an Old Lady's Story, a reprint of one of the London Tract Society's publications, making No. 627 of the SundaySchool Library. It is said to be an authentic story.

Literary Record.

New-York Historical Society.-At a late meeting of the New-York Historical Society, the librarian called the attention of the members to a portrait of Cornelis Steenwyck, presented by Mrs. Elizabeth Clark, through Mr. John M'Mullen, of the New-York Society Library. Mr. Moore read a letter from the latter gentleman, giving a history of the discovery of the picture, and stated that Cornelius Steenwyck was very important character in his day and generation, having been scnepen in 1658 and 1660; burgomaster in 1662, 1664, 1665, and 1666; and mayor in 1668, 1669, 1670, 1682, and 1683. He was one of the most intelligent and wealthy merchants of New-Amsterdam. He came here first in government employment, while a young man, and subsequently

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went into business on his own account. He married a daughter of Lysbet Greveratt, and lived and traded near the corner of Whitehall and Bridge streets. He increased his business until his foreign connections in trade, especially with Holland, became more extensive than those of any other merchant of his time. It is said that he was unanimously called on by the gov ernment and citizens, to proceed to Holland to solicit aid against the anticipated expedition which in 1664 transferred the colony of NewAmsterdam to the jurisdiction of the English crown, and changed its name to New-York. He did not go, however, and appears to have been prominent in the negotiations which accompanied the surrender to Nicholis. His name appears many times in the records of the early

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