NEW BOOKS.

MR. JOBSON'S "AMERICA AND AMERICAN METHODISM" is well worthy of republication. Written in a flowing, easy style, graphic in its descriptions, liberal in its views, and impressed every-where with the English heartiness of its author, it would be read with interest and profit on this side of the Atlantic. London, City Road, and New York, John-street: Virtue & Co. 12mo. 400 pp.

A COMPANY was organized for the exploration of Africa under the auspices of the British Government in 1849. It was placed under the direction of Mr. Richardson, who died while the expedition was in progress. Dr. Barth, a German professor and noted traveler, was a member of the expedition, and, on the death of Mr. Richardson, came into the command of it. The expedition left Tripoli on the 5th of February, 1850, to penetrate central Africa through the Great Desert. The incidents of a journey through this region, embracing Fezzan, Asben, Sokoto, Bornu, Timbuktu, etc., were of no ordinary character, and are narrated in a terse manner by Dr. Barth. The ethnological observations are rich in information at once new and interesting. The reader will be surprised at the ancient ruins and inscriptions found and described by the explorers; and will also find that the Great Desert of his early school geography is something very different from what he imagined. The style of the work is somewhat marred by the egotism of the author and his pedantic use of local and dialectic terms. But it is a contribution to our literature and to our science of no questionable value. The entire work-DISCOVERIES IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA-will be comprised in three octavo volumes, finely illustrated. New York: Harper

& Brothers.

MR. J. S. C. ABBOTT has added to his splendid series of biographies the "HISTORY OF KING PHILIP." It includes the history of the early settlers of New England, with some account of their Indian wars. We need hardly say that it is one of the finest in the series. By the way, this series of histories is admirably adapted in size, price, and style to the young, and furnishes the right kind of reading for them. It will instruct at the same time it charms. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Derby & Co. 16mo. 410 pages. 60 cents.

WHEN Mr. Dickens produced his Child's History of England he opened a new and rich mine, which has since been worked to capital effect. The Child's History of the United States and the Child's History of Rome, we have already noticed. Now we have "A CHILD'S HISTORY OF GREECE" in two 16mo. volumes, of about 300 pages each, from the pen of John Bonner, author of the two histories above named. The present work is issued, like the above, in the best style of the Messrs. Harper, and finely illustrated. All these works may be obtained of any bookseller in the country.

THE Rev. Daniel De Vinne, of the New York East conference, has recently published a work discussing the relations between "the Methodist Episcopal Church and Slavery." It contains a brief historical account of the

relations of the early Methodists to slavery, the manner in which it obtained foothold in the Church, her efforts to extirpate it-embracing a historical and critical examination of "the Rule." The conclusion that the position that the Church is and always has been antislavery is legitimately reached. Without indorsing all the minor opinions of the author, and also regretting some degree of vagueness in the use of terms and in definitions, we are free to recommend earnestly the careful perusal of this work. Francis Hart, 63 Cortlandt-street, New York.

CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP: A Treatise on the Scriptural Obligation, Method, Measure, and Privilege of Systematized Beneficence. By Rev. J. Ashworth, of the East Genesee Conference. Auburn: W. J. Moses.-This is a duodecimo volume of 183 pages, in which, in seven chapters, are discussed, The Beneficence of God; Human Beneficence; Divine Instruction Pertaining to Systematic Beneficence; Examples of Systematic Beneficence, with Evident Tokens of Divine Approval, Adduced from the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian Dispensations; Advantages of Systematic Beneficence; Impediments to the Practice of Systematic Beneficence; The Duty of Pastors. The style of the work is perspicuous, the propositions are clearly stated, and the illustrations furnished are to the point. Judge M'Lean, in a published note, gives it the very highest commendation. We should be glad to furnish our readers with samples of Mr. Ashworth's style and logical aptness, but our space forbids.

WE have before noticed Pitezel's "LIGHTS AND SHADES OF MISSIONARY LIFE." It is now on sale for $1, and

contains travels, sketches, incidents, and missionary efforts during nine years among the Indians in the Lake Superior region. Its mechanical execution is of a superior order, and we reiterate the favorable opinion of it heretofore expressed.

WE are indebted to Luther Tucker & Son, of Albany, for the "ILLUSTRATED ANNUAL REGISTER OF RURAL

AFFAIRS." It is a 12mo., of 144 pages, and may be had for twenty-five cents. It is just such a work as every farmer, and every horticulturist and pomologist ought to have. The suggestions in the chapter on "country houses," observed by the people, would lighten the expense, and, at the same time, contribute to the beauty and comfort of country dwellings every-where. It may be obtained by mail from the publisher.

THE deception and fraud practiced by pretended sorcerers and necromancers in all ages have met with exposure from time to time; but in some form or other have as often revived and been perpetuated. Its more recent manifestations are well exposed in a little work now before us-" ANCIENT SORCERY, AS REVIVED IN MODERN SPIRITUALISM, EXAMINED BY THE DIVINE LAW AND TESTIMONY." It is from the pen of Rev. Charles Munger, of the Maine conference, and is published by H. V. Degen, Boston. "In discussing the claims of modern spiritualism, the author endeavors to ascertain the principal fact or element which distinguishes it, the predictions which point to it, the names which have been used to express

it, the testimony which exposes it, the law which forbids it, and the portion of those who engage in it." He shows that the verdict of the Bible against it is, that "all who do such things are an abomination to God."

PERIODICALS AND PAMPHLETS.

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.-This new candidate for public favor made its appearance promptly with November. Its exterior is sober, Quaker-like-not pretentious certainly. Its only embellishment is the head and ruffled neck of old Governor Winthrop. Our space forbids the notice of its contents we would like to make. It will be remembered by our readers that this magazine is designed to occupy the place in literature made vacant, by the demise of Putnam. Its coming has been well heralded, and its array of contributors is imposing. The articles generally are of marked ability, and the editorial departments are made up with taste and skill. Here and there, however, we discover the Emersonian tincture. Take, for instance, the first stanza from the poem entitled "Brahma:"

"If the red slayer think he slays,

Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtile ways

I keep, and pass, and turn again."

There, gentle reader, what do you make out of that? Well, that is the vein of the whole poem. It seems to us that it would make little difference whether it was read from the top downward or from the bottom upward. Phillips & Sampson, Boston. $3 per annum.

| Assistant Secretaries. Members, 14,352; Sunday school scholars, 17,142; local preachers, 151; number of churches, 191-value, $212,145; number of parsonages, 39 value, $20,775.

The above are model minutes in both editorial and mechanical execution.

CATALOGUES.-1. Wesleyan University.-Our thanks are due to Professor Johnston, acting President, for the Catalogue of this institution for 1857-8. Dr. Cummings enters upon the presidency at the commencement of the spring term. The whole number of students is 149.

2. Iowa Wesleyan University.-Rev. L. W. Berry, D. D., President. Students in college classes, 23; preparatory, 76; scientific, 39; grammar school, 267. Total, 405 3. Fort Edward Institute.-Rev. J. E. King, A. M. Students-ladies, Principal, assisted by 16 teachers. 281; gentlemen, 504: total, 785.

4. New Jersey Conference Seminary, at Pennington.Rev. J. T. Crane, D. D., Principal, assisted by 8 teachers. Students-gentlemen, 160; ladies, 98: total, 258.

OUR PERIODICAL PRESS.-The time is at hand for renewing subscriptions on the part of old subscribers, and for making them on the part of new ones. To stir up the minds of our readers, and to inform such as may not be posted in such matters, we subjoin a complete list of our General conference publications. The circular of the Publishers, relating to the Repository, will be found in the fly sheet connected with this number. The others are as follows:

1. Methodist Quarterly Review-Rev. D. D. Whedon, D. D., editor-$2 per annum.

3. Christian Advocate and Journal, New York city$1.50-Rev. Dr. A. Stevens, editor; Rev. Dr. W. P. Strickland, assistant editor.

2. North Ohio-Bishop Baker, President; E. R. Jewitt, Secretary. Members, 14,844; Sunday school scholars, 16,738; local preachers, 146; number of churches, 282-value, $315,720; number of parsonages, 57-value, $33,800.

3. Cincinnati-Bishop Morris, President; J. T. Mitchell, Secretary, and J. F. Marlay and J. J. Thompson Assistant Secretaries. Members, 27,401; Sunday school scholars, 25,516; local preachers, 236; number of churches, 404-value, $648,910; number of parsonages, 62-value, $76,500.

4. Indiana-Bishop Morris, President; Rev. W. M'K. Hester, Secretary. Members, 22,859; Sunday school scholars, 12,345; local preachers, 176; number of churches, 297-value, $255,114; parsonages, 61-value, $39,325. 5. Genesee-Bishop Baker, President; Revs. J. M. Fuller and W. H. De Puy, Secretaries. Members, 10,860; Sunday school scholars, 11,575; local preachers, 106; number of churches, 143-value, $370,450; parsonages, 62-value, $45,950.

6. Delaware-Bishop Baker, President; Professor W. L. Harris, Secretary-E. B. Morrison and P. S. Donelson,

4. Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati-$1.50

sistant editor.

5. Northern Christian Advocate, Auburn, New York$1-Rev. F. G. Hibbard, editor.

6. Pittsburg Christian Advocate, Pittsburg, Penn.$1-Rev. Dr. I. N. Baird, editor.

7. North-Western Christian Advocate, Chicago, Ill.$1.50-Rev. T. M. Eddy, editor.

8. Central Christian Advocate, St. Louis, Mo.-$1.50Rev. J. Brooks, editor.

9. California Christian Advocate, San Francisco, California $5-Rev. E. Thomas, editor.

10. Pacific Christian Advocate, Salem, Oregon territory-$3-Rev. T. H. Pearne, editor.

11. Zion's Herald, Boston-$1.50-Rev. E. O. Haven, D. D., editor.

Rev. W. Nast, D. D., editor. 12. Christian Apologist-German-Cincinnati-$1

13. Sunday School Advocate-25 cents for single copy; 20 cents in packages of ten or more copies-Rev. D. Wise, editor.

14. Sunday School Bell-German-Cincinnati. 25 cts.

THERE are two kinds of "book noticers" in theso days-"critics" and "puffers." We run into extremes, even in the matter of assisting at the advent of a new work, and instead of hitting the happy mean of candid, kindly, but honest criticism, our literary godfathers are rather ferociously down upon the bantlings whose entrance into the world of letters they are appointed to superintend, or else-worse fate-hail the new-born with such a tornado of windy platitudes that is pretty sure to put out the modest rush-light of a beginner.

What a trade it has come to be-this puffing! where masses of trash are yearly ushered in with tremendous blasts of literary tin-trumpets and penny-whistles. John Smith, finding himself seized with the writing-itch, blots an indefinite number of quires of paper with a violently absurd story of love, murder, and mystery, gets a publisher with as little brains but more money than himself to put it into print for him-and straightway becomes famous. The publisher sends advance volumes to his hangers-on, and these, making a minute of the book's title, send the book itself to the second-hand stalls, and then, taking the title for text, and the publisher's name at the bottom of the title-page for their inspiring watchword, immediately rush off into enthusiastic platitudes, wherein it is asseverated that "every page of this work glitters with genius," or "is graven in letters of fire," or "is the most delightful book of its class," while the author-now transformed into John Smith, Esq.-is pronounced another Irving, or Cooper, or what not.

That is the first dodge. The circulation of these "opinions," duly credited to the Daily Bungtown Copyer, or the Tri-Weekly Squashville Flagstaff, is the preliminary "move" next comes an advertisement certifying that a fabulous number of thousands of the belauded volume are "ordered in advance of publication," and booksellers in remote country districts are implored by the benevolent publishers to "send in their orders quick, as they must be filled in the order in which they are received." This is reiterated for some weeks, and, finally, amid another flourish of trumpets, and the triumphant waving of innumerable flaring handbills and posters, John Smith, Esq.'s, great novel, "the most brilliant book of the season," is actually published.

adjectives; a few would-be well-read young men and women go about asking every man they meet, "Have you read Smith's Misery?" and receive invariably answers in the negative-and, finally, with another flourish of trumpets editorial, the second edition is announced. Two days thereafter the third edition, and then gradually the excitement dies out, the publisher recovers his wonted placidity, and the reading-world-is let alone, till Jones publishes his new volume, called "Risings."

And now-to satisfy yourself-you go in to the store and purchase Smith's Misery. You get the third edition-perhaps the fourth. You are duly notified that "one hundred thousand copies have been printed of this great work," and if you are a trusty friend of the publisher, he will take you back, and show you snugly stowed away, in readiness for the next trade-sale, all the first and part of the second edition.

Whereupon, if you are a wise man, you will cease to wonder at the fact that you have received a copy of the third. When, in three years, Smith's Misery has reached a calm oblivion, it is reushered into the world, under the title of "Woe! Woe!" and, it may be, if the plates last long enough, a third time, under the title, let us say, of "The Story of an Anguished Heart," a book which should be in every young lady's hands, and without which no library need be considered complete. It is a great machinery-this of the puffer.

But then there is the other class-the real undisguised snarler-who considers the poor author his enemy, and who knows no use for a book, except to abuse it. This class is not so frequent among us, for, to tell the truth, we Americans have not time to abuse any but our political opponents. In Britain there are yet one or two of this genus, and of them the London Athenæum is the chief. To American books it shows no mercy. That an American should write and publish, is cause enough for abuse. But even to its own writers it is not overly merciful. See how it welcomes Mind's Mirror: Poetical Sketches, with Minor Poems. By M. J. J.:

"It is not often," says the Athenæum, "that we have to chronicle the discovery of a new poet; but we have had a glimpse of one in Mind's Mirror' of such singular originality that we feel fairly entitled to ery 'Eureka' if for this occasion only. Without any wish to exaggerate, we may assert that such strains as these have not been heard in England for centuries; and it is quite possible that their like may not be heard again. Perhaps we ought not to have classed him with our Minor Minstrels, for he stands alone. The only person that occurs to us in comparison is a character, we think, in Dickens, who, when asked if he played the fiddle, said he had never tried, but he presumed he could. This is our poet's position as an epic writer. The verse is certainly the worst that spasmodic criticism has hitherto spawned, and leaves the writer crowned king of all those who have been struck with the silver shafts of Luna instead of the arrows from Apollo's golden bow. We have long wondered what verse would come to-and here we may see."

notice" with selections, which he assures us are taken "at random." There is no denying that the citations are utter trash. Listen to some of them. The critic says: "In this volume we have only the first book of an epic of considerable magnitude. Although the title be unassuming, the scope of the poem is vast, and the theme is lofty-nothing less than the Old and New Testament done into rhyme. We have little doubt that our poet considers his forte to lie in description; and we need not scruple to say that it does. For example

'By sense intoxicate to overflush,

Wealth'd dear earth-things, supine will's energies Succumb, delirium's impassioned hush,

Devotion-bowed unto the potencies,

Do immolate ethereal Being's fire,
Shall cope with angels' loftiest aspire.'

"Again :

'Lo! Lightning-Records-fascinate broading gaze

Of shrinking thought; spells, shuddering word by word, The intricate, evolves a fearful maze

Of dark delusions, manhood's passions stirred

Pang, David's bosom.'

66

"A sketch of the crucifixion is unique:

'Horror: sun bloods, a broad and fixed, intense
Indignant eye-deads; terror's pitchy gloom
Envelops earth, swollen agonies, condense,
Sulphuric ires, uptear its hoven womb.
Steeds backward stagger-numbed, the palsy throe
Starks, shivering fore-limbs, shrunken haunches, pressed,
On trem'lous ground, with glazing eyeballs-glow
Dilated whites, terrific fear impressed.

The bellowing heifers blindly rush-belay

Scared, bleating flocks, demented mobs amass:

The crouching dog, moon's famished disk doth bay,
As vague unearthly things, on-crowding pass.'

"Page after page we can not tell whether our author is swearing awfully, or only stuttering mentally, he seems so furiously saying the wrong thing. Listen

'The coo of dove's dissolving, mellow pout,
Lipped, ribaldries, confirm aspersing haze,
Opines, averments, fix the vulgar gaze.

Phantom shades abound,

Glooms palpable, Supernal broadly hoods.
Splendor's boundless vague. How Bright!
Concentric glorious lumines, radiate, show
Stern Beauty contemplate Time's swift up-gliding.
Lo! flame-eyed sun's full blaze

Pales, fleecy cloudlet, horns to cressive moon.
Stars, twinkling, rise in firmament, betrays
Their myriad ardors thrill.

Jehovah's shadow lustrates matter rife
To varying phases.'

"We are not misquoting," he concludes. "Each of the above citations is perfect in itself, and we print each as we find it. We are informed that some of the Minor Poems' have appeared in a 'Bergal Annual.' If so, we can only say there is no telling what incitement to insurrection the Bengalese may have found in such proof of the imbecility of the Feringhees."

Few of your readers but have heard of or read Alexander Smith. The publication of his "Life Drama," a few years ago, stamped him a poet, of a certain-or perhaps more correctly of an uncertain order-but certainly as a young man of more than ordinary powers. When Mr. Smith recently gave to the world a second volume of poems, under the title of "City Poems," the Athenæum took him in hand, and, with a premonitory growl,

to the effect that "patience had ceased to be a virtue," proceeded to demolish Mr. Smith, by accusing him of total lack of originality, and charging him with wholesale plagiarism. Some man of great leisure, patience, and memory, mustered up parallel thoughts in City Poems, and in the various poets of the last two centuries-and as the poets have all alike babbled of love and green fields, found, to his intense delight, that that rogue, Alexander, had actually had occasional thoughts in common with some of his predecessors, although he had expressed them very differently, and, thereupon, the critic fills three or four quarto pages with parallel citations, and triumphantly claims to have exposed a literary impostor.

This cool proceeding has alarmed Mr. Punch, who, ever ready to defend the oppressed, comes to Mr. Smith's aid, and informs the public that not one-half of Mr. Smith's plagiarisms have been detected by his critics. Accordingly he gives a list of selections from "City Poems," with parallel passages from other writers, and assures Mr. Smith that this exposure is made in all kindness of feeling, and in the earnest hope that by proving to a young poet that he is utterly without merit of any kind, he may be excited to cultivate his genius, prune his irregularities, and emulate the immortals. I quote:

"In Mr. Smith's City Poems he says:
'And bees are busy in the yellow hive.'

What says Dr. Watts ?

'How doth the busy, busy bee.'

Mr. Smith:

'And these be my last words.'

Sir Walter Scott:

"Were the last words of Marmion.'

Mr. Smith:

'A sigh and a curse together.'

Sir Walter Scott:

'And draws his last sob by the side of his dam.' Mr. Smith:

'And islands in the lustrous Grecian seas.

Lord Byron :

'The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece.

Mr. Smith:

Each star that twinkling in the sky.'

Original Poems for Infant Minds: 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star.'

Mr. Smith:

'I look not forward unto darker days.

Mr. Charles Mackay:

'There's a good time coming, boys.'

Mr. Smith:

Blow, sound trumpets.'

Alfred Tennyson:

'Blow, bugles, blow, set the wild echoes flying.'

Mr. Smith:

'Cradled yonder on lofty pine.'

Nursery song:

Hush-a-by baby, on the tree-top:

When the wind blows the cradle will rock.'"

Mr. Smith's new volume is, in point of fact, superior to his first. He is less flowery, yet equally vivid and brilliant, and his range of imagery, for which he has always been celebrated, seems by no means to be exhausted. In short, the Athenæum to the contrary notwithstanding,

he seems likely to be accepted as a genuine poet, one who may soon take rank with Tennyson and Browning. Here is a pretty picture:

"We saw the tawny valley; here and there
Sheaf-dotted fields; a silent string of carts
Creeping along the whitened country road;
Contented cottage smoke; a shot, and lo!
Into the sunset the disturbed rooks

Arose in noisy clouds from trees that kept
A great man's house a secret.

The Harvest Moon

Stood at our backs, and threw long spears of light Before us 'mong the shades."

Here are several graceful passages:

"Pensive Spring, a snow-drop in his hand,
A solitary lark above his head."

"The low sweet voices of a thousand streams,
Some near, some far remote, faint trickling sounds,
That dwelt in the great solitude of night
Upon the edge of silence."

"And then were heard the sweet

And skyey tones of spirits midst the peaks,
Faint voice to faint voice shouting; dim halloos
From unseen cliff and ledge; and answers came
From some remoter region far withdrawn
Within the pale blue sky."

Here is a "fire" scene which would be recognized as Smith's, wherever found:

"A hasty engine tore along, and trailed

A lengthening crowd behind. Ah! ha I thought,
"That maniac fire is loose, who was so tame

When little children looked into his face.

He laughed and blinked within his prison-gate.

His fit is on-the merry winking elf

Has rushed into a hungry crimson fiend.
Now he will seize a house, crush in the roof,
And leap and dance above his prey, and throw
His roaring, flickering arms across the sky.'"

A French writer, M. Cucheval Clarigny, has just issued a volume called a "History of the Press in England and America." He states, among other things, that nearly all the French authors of our time accomplish their task in the morning. M. Thiers rises, in all seasons, always at six o'clock. M. Scribe, like M. de Lamartine, works from six till twelve. M. Victor Cousin only writes before breakfast. M. Mignet, who rises very carly, writes till two in the day. George Sand is an exception; she writes, from preference, at night. A French journalist recently stated that Alexander Dumas, pere, works by shocks; he will remain four days without touching a pen, and then will write forty-eight hours at a stretch.

A work of great importance is announced as shortly to appear from the celebrated house of Julius Perthes, in Leipzig. It is a historical and genealogical atlas of all the known countries of the world, from the birth of Christ down to our own times. Dr. Carl Hopf, "Privatdocent" in the University of Bonn, is the author, a name which is a guarantee for diligent research and unwearied study. The book will be completed in nine parts.

The international copy-right agitation is to be revived, it seems, and this time I should think with some chance of success. A Washington letter writer says:

"Lord Napier informs me that so soon as he gets his table clear of the Central American question, he shall bring to the attention of our Government the subject of the

international copy-right-a subject in which he seems deeply interested. He is now procuring statistical information, and consulting all our publishers, and he feels confident that a tariff so moderate and just may be agreed upon between the two Governments, that it must meet the approbation of the entire book-trade of the whole country. I learn that the leading feature of his proposition will be-to secure to authors a small tariff, say fice cents on the volume, for all copies sold of the republication of a foreign work. The amount to be accounted for by the publisher. The result of this would be an additional tax to that amount upon the reader; but the sum so trifling, to go to the author of the work which we deem worth reading, no reasonable man would object to. The only thing we would desire to be assured of is, that this sum, trifling as it might seem to be, would certainly reach the party for whose benefit it is paid."

Why don't he say something to the authors? Really, in a question which interests them chiefly, and in which their rights are alone at stake, they seem to be the only class not called upon for opinion or suggestion.

The Weekly Register, a Roman Catholic journal, is "authorized to state, that in accordance with the decrees of the last synod of Westminster, which have lately been returned from Rome with the approbation of the Holy See, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster has intrusted the preparation of a corrected version in English of Holy Scripture to the care of Dr. Newman.

Among recent republications are, "The Christian Life, Social and Individual," and "Essays in Biography and Criticism," by Peter Bayne, A. M., published by Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. In the "Christian Life," Mr. Bayne gives some interesting biographies of eminent Christian philanthropists-Howard, Budgett, Wilberforce, John Foster, Thomas Chalmers, and Thomas Arnold. The "Essays" consist partly of contributions to magazines, and partly of new compositions. To the latter class belong the most interesting and valuable of them; namely, those on Mrs. Browning, Mr. Tennyson, and Mr. Ruskin.

The panic has almost put a stop to the publication of books. Announcements are plenty, but those publishers who have books ready, prefer to keep them upon their shelves rather than publish when the times are so tight. I must close my gossip, and will do so with the following neat, off-hand parody on hoops, made, at sight, the other day, by a gentleman of this city. He offered to furnish a parody to any stanza which might be recited. The following was given by a lady:

"Nigh to a grave that was newly made,

Leaned a sexton old on his earth-worn spade;
Ilis work was done, and he paused to wait
The funeral train through the open gate;
A relic of by-gone days was he,
And his locks were as white as the foamy sea-
And these words came from his lips so thin,
'I gather them in! I gather them in!'"

To which he returned:

"Nigh to a church that was newly made, Stood a lady fair, and thus she said'Too bad! too bad!-I here must wait While they measure the breadth of this open gate; Ah! it is only nine by six, I see!

Too narrow, too narrow, alas! for me;'

And she sighed from her quivering lips so thin'I can't get in-I can't get in ""