may be mentioned, "The Paris Sketch he had a very large brain, weighing no Book," "The Irish Sketch Book," "The less than 53 oz. He thus died of the Chronicle of the Drum," ," "The Great Hog- complaint which seemed to trouble him garty Diamond," bis "Christmas Stories," and his numerous contributions to Punch, under the title of "The Book of Snobs," "Jeames' Diary," &c.-not forgetting "The Newcomes," "Lovel the Widower," and "The Adventures of Philip." least. He died full of strength and rejoicing, full of plans and hopes. On Monday last he was congratulating himself on having finished four numbers of a new novel; he had the manuscript in his pocket, and, with a boyish frankness, showed the last pages to a friend, asking him to read them and see what he could make of them. When he had completed His lectures upon "The Four Georges," delivered both in England and this coun-four numbers more, he would subject himtry, attracted great attention. A few years since he commenced the publication of the "Cornhill Magazine," a most attractive periodical, with which he maintained a brief editorial connection. self to the skill of a very clever surgeon, and be no more an invalid. In the fulness of his powers, he has fallen before a complaint which gave him no alarm." Our table will not be exempt, more than It is but a few weeks since we were gratified by the announcement that Thack-others, we fear, from the burden of comeray was writing a new novel for the plaints and misrepresentations of its offer"Cornhill," with which it appears he had made considerable progress. Unfortunately, the world will never witness it in its completed form, as, like Sheridan, of whom it is said, that during the performance of the first four acts of the "Rivals," he was in the green-room writing the fifth, Thackeray's industry waited to be spurred by the near approach of his engagements. We append an extract from the "London Times," giving an account of some of the circumstances attending his last hours: ings to the taste and judgment of the public. We did not anticipate, however, that our salutatory, which we tendered with so polite a bow, and with so many blushes, could contain anything unpalatable to the sensibilities of our literary friends, or could arrest for a moment even, their serious attention in perplexed study as to our meaning. It was, indeed, a grievous fault, (or rather misfortune, because we . had not sufficient space,) that we did not explain more elaborately our views with reference to fictitious composition, for pos"He was suffering from two distinct complaints, one of which has now wrought sibly we might then have avoided the his death. More than a dozen years ago, false and stupid position which some of while he was writing 'Pendennis,' it will our friends have assigned us, of hostility to be remembered that the publication of this class of literature, and should not that work was stopped by his serious ill-have ringing in our ears the indignant ness. He was brought to death's door, and he was saved from death by Dr. El liotson, to whom, in gratitude, he dedicated the novel, when he lived to finish it. But ever since that ailment, he has been subject, every month or six weeks, to attacks ard productions in Romance and Fiction, of sickness, attended with violent retching. He was congratulating himself the other day on the failure of his old enemy to return, and then he checked himself, as if he ought not to be too sure of a release from his plague. On Wednesday morning the complaint returned, and he was in great suffering all day. He was no better in the evening, and his servant, about the time of leaving him for the night, proOur table has been the recipient of posed to sit up with him. This le de- anxious inquiries as to the possible appliclined. He was heard moving about mid-cation of our comparison of the numerous night, and must have died between two chorus of the countless legions of representatives which this department of authorship has in the Confederacy. Unfortunately, writers capable of stand have so rarely manifested themselves to the anxiously inquiring gaze of the world, among Southern authors, that we did not feel authorized in making a distinction of classes, though, perhaps, justice to the exceptional few, would have rendered such distinction eminently proper. and three in the morning of yesterday. romances, etc., published in the South His medical attendants attribute his death during the war, to those of Sylvanus Cobb to effusion on the brain. They add that and Emerson Bennett. One friend has ventured the suggestion that we have done the majority of mankind to seek the parent great injustice to the latter by such juxta-stream of knowledge, but their perfect position. We have no apology to offer contentment to receive its copious draughts Cobb & Bennett, or our Southern authors. from any current that may ripple before We thought the former worthy representa- them-until the whole mental soil betives of that detestable class of sensation comes refreshed and invigorated by a procompositions which has flourished so ex- cess the more effectual because entirely tensively in the columns of the New York unconscious. Fiction, indeed, should be weeklies, the list of whose names and the concentration and reflection of the productions exceeded in length the Ho-light of study and observation during all meric catalogue of ships, and selected time, keeping also steadily before it the them as examples of a class numerous rightful delineation of that actual contemeverywhere, without stopping to consider porary humanity, of which it professes to distinctions and degrees concerning which be the mirror. we are equally ignorant and indifferent. In no department of literature have so many failures been witnessed as in Novel Writing. More prolific than any other, in the number of those seeking its difficult and precarious honours, it has been no less remarkable for the rare examples of successful exertion which it has exhibited. To comprehend the absolute necessity of this wide difference in the degrees of suc cess attainable in Fiction and in other We need hardly tender the assurance that to the cultivation of such a standard of Fiction we would extend every incentive stimulating to aspiring genius. We mean that the "Messenger" shall extend its most potent auxiliary influence to the fostering of this most elevated branch of authorship, and if we do not reach the standard named, we shall at least approximate it as closely as the best contributions of Southern genius will permit. The public will agree with us that the sensation stuff with which they have been branches of authorship, we have only to hold in appreciative remembrance the ex-surfeited almost to nauseating plethora, ceedingly difficult mission which, in its perfection, this class of composition seeks to illustrate and accomplish. The Novel, rightly understood, is not a mere train of disjointed fantasies coming from a morbid imagination, or an overwrought brain, but should ever be preeminently an exposition and application of good sense and sound philosophy, all the more useful and valuable because of should not be tolerated within the pale of such honorable recognition. If so, we need hardly have offered any explanation to them, and assuredly owe no apology to Cobb & Bennett, or their admirers and imitators. In a late number of Harpers' Magazine, the attractive form in which it presents which has been kindly placed at our dislessons of wisdom and virtue which would posal, we find the following characteristic never have taken hold upon our hearts effusion of Yankee arrogance and bombast: and minds if appearing in features and "It is only to repeat history to say that the colours less striking and captivating. Ele- Puritan element has saved our civilization. vated to its rightful standard, it is the most It is the moral influence in it. . . . If the valuable of all teachers, always insin- Revolution of 1688 was the regeneration nating in an agreeable manner, as the sor- of England, Puritanism was the controllcerer insinuates destructive poisons in ing influence of that Revolution" The sweet disguises, much of historical, moral writer proceeds in this fulsome strain to euand social truth, to which, in the more la- logize the great controlling element of Yanborious details of History, Philosophy, &c., kee civilization, and speaks of Massachuthe mass of readers would perchance setts, as the "foremost of all human socienever be introduced. To understand the ties, politically, morally and socially.” usefulness of Fiction as a moral instructor, The entire article from which this is a we have only to remember how univer- brief extract, is an amusing illustration of sally it is read, and the indisposition of the vanity always displayed by Yankee writers in extolling their own immens hostile elements, in the American war, social superiority over the rest of mankind, the facility with which they jump to the most comprehensive conclusions, and the flippant contempt with which they always disregard the truth of history. To the mind of the informed reader, nothing can be more preposterous than this assumption of Puritanism, as a "controlling influence" in that great Revolution so beneficial to the interests of religious liberty, and whose results apart from some purely partisan questions of minor impor again submitting their differences to the stern arbitrament of the sword. Remem. bering the ephemeral triumph to which Radicalism has always seemed predestined, we cannot seriously apprehend the final result of a struggle between Infidelity, Intolerance and Anarchy on the one hand, and Heaven's established ordinances of Order, Obedience and dutiful Allegiance on the other. tance, were directly in conflict with some The following note which we find among of the leading aims of puritanism, and our editorial correspondence, is from a eminently satisfactory to its opponents. young lady who is evidently upon the The Revolution of 1688 differed entirely," anxious bench" for matrimony. We so far as it affected the Puritan, from that need not assure "Hattie" of our tender of 1642. The latter revolution was indeed sympathy in her deplorable situation. It a complete triumph of Puritanism. The is hardly an imputation of solicitude upon monarchy was overthrown, the royalist this subject to Hattie's" sex, to say that and church party trampled in the dust, and her case is one that bespeaks the liveliest the mad reign of fanaticism and intoler- compassion for the most inexpressible misance established upon the ruins of every-ery from all young ladies, while we are thing like conservatism and established sure that it involves a sad reflection upon order. By the Revolution of 1688, the the taste and gallantry of the sterner sex. monarchy was probably more firmly estab- Not to have a beau is wretchedness enough, lished. William III. was made king, not but to have a nice young fellow just when protector as was Cromwell. The seals re- he begins to wax eloquent in the story of mained the same, all forms and commis- his devotion, rudely snatched away from sions remained unchanged, and indeed one into the jaws of a ruthless "thrashing nothing happened which might not have machine," to be “chawed up" into an indisoccurred in an ordinary succession of tinguishable mass of bone and flesh, we monarchs-loyalists were satisfied, the submit surpasses all previous records of great shibboleth of their faith, "church lover's woes. and king," was still sacred and intact; the king still occupied the throne with his ancient prerogatives unimpaired, the church was still consecrated in all its dignity and privileges. MR. EDITOR,-Having just finished read. ing your last number of the Literary Messenger, and especially a history of the war, by Howison, the reflection has been brought to my mind with great force, that after this war is closed, how vast a difference there will be in the number of males and fe males. rather difficult to accomplish my wishes. I shall now put forth some of my good qualities. I am exactly eighteen-can catch fish, row a boat in an emergency, sew buttons on shirts, throw socks in a cor In all these features a very different result may be recognized from that at which the radical revolutionary ideas of PuritanHaving made up my mind not to be an ism aimed. Those ideas were to secure old maid, and having only a moderate for universal freedom from all kinds of re-tune and less beauty, I fear I shall find it straint, religious, social and political; everything to be subjected to the test of the reason of the individual. Unrestricted license of thought and action has always been the watchword of the Puritan. Opposing al-ner and say be darn-ed-make brandy ways that conservatism which has recog- peaches, pancakes, rice pudding, apple dumplings 'and always season my sauce nized the solemnity of the Divine decree with brandy. I am very demonstrative, of respect and obedience to established and am of a sanguine temperament. I authority. We find the two irrepressibly have been accustomed to living in the country, and Di. Vernon could not rival me, things as nunneries in this portion of counin equestrianship. I am little inclined to try, I, in a fit of despair, would take the embonpoint and have innumerable other vail and devote myself to religious penangood qualities too tedious to mention. ces in sackcloth and ashes. Now, Mr. Editor, do you think that I will be overlooked "amidst this wreck of matter and crush of men and horses. am a Neaphyte to the arts of Cupid, and think that Love rules the court, the camp the grove, I could dwell on this theme much longer, but will not impose on your valuable time. I I remain, sir, yours, Although I am such an amorous candidate for matrimony, yet still my heart is Fresh as the fountain under ground, I fear if this war lasts much longer, I will become a monomaniac upon the subject. It baunts me, and like "Banquo's ghost, will not down at my bidding." My dear Mr. Editor, I appeal to you for advice in this matter of so much vital importance to me, and as you live in the metropolis of this great and growing Confederacy, and are considered a gentleman of extensive reading and much travel, I doubt not you can throw some light upon my troubled imagination, and relieve me from that chill feeling of despair which tells me all iny hopes are in the deep bosom of the ocean buried." You must know I am a plain unsophisticated country girl" Setting down naught in malice, nothing extenuating"and since this execrable war, have become too well acquainted with the evils of a society composed solely of the feminine gender. I love my sex but entre nous, they are not what they are cracked up to be. Unless they have the sterner sex to restrain their fertile imaginations, they are apt to be led off by some " Will-o'-the-wisp." I have always been unfortunate-I once had a very warm young friend, and the sentiments of friendship on both sides might have ripened into the passion of love, but alas!! alas!!! he was one day chawed up by a vile thrashing machine. When this overwhelming catastrophe reached me, I could not help exclaiming, O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, I have just heard that they are fighting on the Rapidan. I have a dear young friend there, and some misterious presentiment tells me, that he too will be either killed or wounded. Oh! Mr. Editor, I feel as if my boroscope was unfortunate, and "hope deferred maketh the heart sick." I sometimes think that if there were such With very great respect, GLENMORE, Buckingham Co., Va. H. R. THE FLAG OF THE LONE STAR. And Texans will fight For "God, and their right." Shall we who have conquered Our rights as a State? With head, heart, and hand, The Alamo heroes Shall wake from their sleep A vigil to keep; Unworthy to guard, That freedom for which The Star Spangled banner Shall never more wave At first were denied, But now with a yell Of defiance and hate, We honoured so late; With indellible shame, Then up with the Lone Star! As we often have stood:' The ship is in danger And Texans will fight For "God, and their right." For the benefit of those who are des. pondent of our success in our great struggle, because of the great disparity in the numbers of the two sections, and for the information of certain indiscreet legislators, we call attention to the following. historical facts, which are well worthy of their consideration. sension broke out among the Confederates, their armies were defeated and Venice was preserved. The little city of Leyden, in 1573, with stood the whole power of Spain, at the time the most warlike nation in Europe. The Prince of Orange, at the head of several sinall Provinces of Holland, not one of them larger than a Virginia county, maintained their independence against the most powerful monarch in Europe, and defeated armies that were often three times as numerous as his own, and commanded· by John of Austria and Alexander Farnes, the greatest military leaders of the age. Literary Notices. The entertainments provided for their readers under this head, by editors in the The Roman Legion, so famed for its Confederate States, for the present, are neideeds of valor, consisted only of about ther very dainty nor very bountiful. If 8,000 men. A consular army was two however, the day shall yet arrive when by Legions-about 12,000 men. With this the improved value of Confederate curren force Rome conquered the world, but its cy, the materials for publication can be management was very different in many respects from that of the Confederate more readily obtained, the indications of army! Napoleon remarked on several oc- activity in the Southern mind, are favoracasions, that he could not find even able to a large accession to editorial labours Marshall who could handle a single corps in this department. d' armee, numbering about 20,000 men. Has any officer in this country ever fought a battle with, or demonstrated his ability to command, 200,000 men? CONFEDERATE STATES MEDICAL AND SURGI We are indebted to the courtesy of Sur The Athenians, with 10,000 men, defeated a Persian army of 30,000 at Mara-geon General Moore, for the January num thon, and with not more than three times that number won the battles of Platea and Salamis, and drove five millions of invaders from their soil. ber of this valuable periodical, and important contribution to Southern scienee. We gladly welcome to our table such a valua Alexander overran Asia with one-third ble assistant in the development of so inthe number of the forces that opposed hin. teresting a branch of science as Medicine. When the Swiss Cantons determined to The number before us, embraces a variety strike for their independence, with 500 of articles in the form of original commu men they defeated 20,000 Austrians, under the Arch Duke of Austria, at Morgaten. nications, Hospital Reports and Statistics, With an equally disproportionate force a Chronicle of Medical Science-with Edi they fought sixty pitched battles and main-torial and Miscellaneous matter. We comtained their independence. mend the "Journal" to the attention of all When Edward of England invaded Scot-interested in matters relating to the Mediland with 100,000 men, he was met and cal Profession. defeated at Bannockburn by Bruce at the head of 30,000 half-armed Highlanders. "MARYLAND'S HOPE: Her trials and inter- In A. D. 1500, Maximilian of Germany, Louis XII. of France, Ferdinand of Spain, and Pope Julius II., formed the infamous league of Cambray, for the destruction of W. Jefferson Buchanan, an exceedingly Venice. With heroic resolve, Venice took able and interesting pamphlet bearing the the field against the powerful combination. Superior force might, in the end, have overpowered her, but Providence is ever on the side of the right! Discord and dis-present few questions of more absorbing above title. The prospective of Southern History will |