people of that state. These assuredly were the fruit of the exercised common sense of some of the best minds and hearts of the community; of that true public opinion above and beyond all parties of which I have spoken. They alone would prove its existence; and while they also evince its purity and wisdom, show that it is really the supreme power of the government in our country. And yet this large and powerful class of our fellow citizens is, with some few though excellent exceptions, without a newspaper, whilst the smallest faction is abundantly provided. The fact is extraordinary, that in this land of free opinion, almost every chartered exponent is but the organ of a party, and that such a thing as an impartial journal is almost denied existence. Does any one really believe that it were impossible to be successfully maintained? Does every man then in the United States really think and act according to party creeds, or do those creeds always contain the whole truth on political subjects? And must we then consider the government of the country to be the composite of the various opinions enunciated by partisans of all shades and sects? Were such things true, government would cease to be government, and become but the occasional suspensions of anarchy. There is surely no country in the world of the wide-spread and strong intelligence of our own, where such a newspaper, if properly conducted, would find so large an audience, already prepared, by a settled distaste to the sectional character of the existing press to read and support its opinions. But mere impracticable neutrality-mere theory, would not suffice. Its spirit should only be practical reason applied to public affairs; the judgment of a strong mind, polished by study and enlightened by intercourse with its fellows, should be exhibited in its leaders and while uniting the essentials of the earliest and most accurate intelligence of value, derived and digested from authoritative sources, should lift itself up above the parties of the hour, and appeal to the great majority of the people for its approval and support. It would then be really the Times newspaper of America; while, by the simple majesty of free judgment, its influence would be felt both among the parties and in all classes at home;-it would go abroad, as the only reliable exponent of the state of things in our country to Europe. Such a newspaper might be started by individual effort; what is needed only is a conviction of the value of a newspaper of such a character among the business community of the United States. They hold the wealth, and their practical decisions must more or less control parties. Cannot such a newspaper, whose ability and value may fairly be compared with the English Times, be commenced and supported in some of our large cities? What is wanted is an immediate sense of its need; and the necessary com bination of the men, the means and the ability, can be readily formed, the enterprise well started, and by an approving community well sustained. Newspapers of such a stamp would be a new era with us; while they would drive off from popular attention the demoralized portions of the press; they would correct the errors of parties, elevate the tone of political sentiment and discussion, and take and sustain the first place in the esteem and confidence of the great majority of the people. 2. D. From the N. Y. Knickerbocker Magazine, for Jan. 1850. LITERARY NOTICES. SCENES IN THE OLD WORLD: OR SCENES AND CITIES IN pp. 290. A CORRESPONDENT, himself a fellow-traveller with the author over several of the countries described in the aboveentitled volume, and well qualified to speak of the faithfulness, etc., of its descriptions, sends us the following running commentary upon the work: "We thank our fellow-townsman for giving us a pleasant and readable book. Truly, if any one should wish to essay the climax of the difficulties of author skill, let him now undertake to please the general reader by another 'Book of Travels in Europe.' Every man travels with his own pack; that is to say, the change of clime will only furnish new and more extensive fields for the exercise of the educated power of each man's faculties. Some go to Europe for the mere object apparently of finding fault, and seeking occasions for ill-humor with every thing; some go for the steadfast pursuit of exalted studies in those spheres to which the rest of the world has no equal; some for mere material enjoyment; and some, like our author, with head and heart open and attentive to every impression of the good and beautiful. He tells his story well; and the personal incidents thrown in make his reader to become unconsciously a fellow-wanderer at his side, going about strange countries, meeting with odd, outlandish people and scenes, laughing at their follies and their jokes, admiring every thing worthy, never ruffled, but keeping the even tenor of his happy enthusiasm of enjoyment through all nations and all lands. There are no prosy descriptions of the old lions, no dull journalizing details of particulars not worth the memory, no guide-book stuff of routes, inns, prices, etc., but combining the pleasant particulars of his remembrance, he gives us a life-like picture of every thing on his way. After a pleasant sojourn in 'Fatherland,' our author goes over the Channel, and gives us a lively and truthful sketch of much that makes up Parisian happiness. We select at random from the book; and conscious that a vast proportion of the comfort of existence centres in a good dinner, let us first walk with the author to PHILIPPE's in the Rue-Richelieu; PHILIPPE, the Monarque de la Cuisine: "Few who are given to sight-seeing fail to rest the day with a dinner; which leads one to speak of the restaurants. Epicures grieve for those days when princes drove to the 'Rocher des Cancales.' PHILIPPE, in our experience, has supplied its fall, and equals the more noted and dearer of the Boulevards, or the Palais Royal. Beside, one does not wish to be bored by English, but seeks the resort of quiet, fullfed citizens, who have made the reputation of this voluptuous resort tn the Rue Mont-Martre, near the passage Saumon. We quote only the rich tastes of his Sole a la Normande' |