1839.] operations on numbers and fractions, are probably too full and complex 21. First Lessons in Algebra, embracing the elements of the Science. By CHARLES DAVIES. Hartford: 1839. A. S. Barnes. 12mo. Pp. 252. THIS work is designed as an introduction to the larger treatise on algebra, by the same author, and is intended "to form a connecting link between arithmetic and algebra; to unite and blend, as far as possible, the reasoning on numbers with the more abstruse method of analysis." It is, in general, admirably adapted to this end; the rules are simple and deduced mostly from particular examples; so that as little of the abstract reasoning on which the operations are founded, as is consistent with perspicuity, is obtruded on the student in this early stage of his progress. At the same time, numerous examples, worked out at length, give a clear idea of the reason of the different operations; and there is a large collection of examples under the several rules, for the student's exercise. Several improvements will undoubtedly suggest themselves to the author, before another edition is called for. We may mention one or two that have struck us on a hasty perusal. The rule in article sixty-eight, is faulty; each term in the equation, whether entire or fractional, is to be multiplied by the common multiple of the denominators, and this renders the fractional terms entire, since the product of a fraction by any multiple of its denominator, is the same multiple of its numerator. The word combine in the rule of article seventy-seven, as well as in others of our author's works, appears loose in its signification, and indefinite when so applied. We object also to the insertion in this book, as well as in the arithmetic, of the answers to the examples; to the private student, they may be of use, but to the classes of a school, they do more harm than good. 22. The Jubilee of the Constitution; a discourse, delivered at the A GRANDER Occasion has rarely been presented for the exercise of a lofty eloquence, than that offered by the "Jubilee of the Constitution;" and rarely, also, has the theme, which an occasion suggested, been more felicitously treated, than the proper theme of that day was treated by Mr. Adams. Nothing could have been happier than the orator's great idea of identifying the principles of the two mightiest events of our history, and showing that the establishment of a government which united the states by a common bond, and formed them into one, was but the sealing of that instrument which declared them to be "free, sovereign, and independent." This formed his leading topic, and as we can now devote but little time and space to a general notice of the address, to that point our attention will chiefly be directed. After a classical and beautiful peroration, and a brief, but vivid, sketch of the causes which drove the people of the thirteen Colonies first to a union of resistance, and then to an assertion of independence, he proceeds to a close examination of the principles of the Declaration, and points out its inconsistency with the claim of the States to a separate sovereignty. "The Signers of the Declaration, though qualifying themselves as the Representatives of the United States of America in general Congress assembled, yet issued the Declaration, in the name and by the authority of the good people of the Colonies. And they declare, not each of the separate Colonies, but the United Colonies, free and independent. The whole people declared the Colonies, in their united condition, of RIGHT, free and independent States. "The independence of each separate State had never been declared of right it never existed in fuct. Upon the principles of the declaration of independence, the dissolution of the ties of allegiance, the assumption of sovereign power, and the institution of civil government, are all acts of transcendant authority, which the people, alone, are competent to perform, and accordingly it is in the name and by the authority of the people that two of these acts, the dissolution of allegiance, with the severance from the British Empire, and the declaration of the United Colonies as free and independent states, were performed by that instrument." In the same spirit with these principles, was the recognition by Great Britain, of the Independence, not of the several colonies or states, but of the United States. "But there still remained the last and crowning act, which the people of the union alone were competent to perform-the institution of civil government for that compound nation, the United States of America." This "last crowning act" was yet to be deferred; instead of it, after five years of deliberation, the congress sent forth, not a constitution of government, but certain articles of confederation; which, says Mr. Adams, somewhat sarcastically, "seem little more than an enumeration of the functions of a national government, which the congress, constituted by the instrument, was not authorized to perform." By the first article, "each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in congress assembled." "Where," continues he, "did each state get the sovereignty, freedom, and independence, which the articles of confederation declare it retains? - not from the whole people of the whole union- not from the declaration of independence- not from the people of the state itself. It was assumed by agreement between the legislatures of the several states, and their delegates in congress, without authority from, or consultation of, the people at all." We add to this brief abstract of a part of the oration, a single fact, relating to the articles of confederation, which may be new to many, and strikingly illustrates Mr. Adams's position of a want of congeniality between that instrument and the declaration. The fact is thus stated: "The draught was prepared by John Dickinson, then a delegate from Pennsylvania, who voted against the declaration of independence, and never signed it, having been superseded by a new election of delegates from that state, eight days after his draught was reported." It was our intention to review this oration at length, but the late day of its publication has prevented our doing so, and we have, therefore, preferred, in noticing it in this place, to confine ourselves to a single portion which appears most characteristic. The remainder is occupied by a comparison of the constitution with the principles of the declaration, and a rapid review of the progress of our government since its adoption. To speak of this oration as merely eloquent, would be to do it great injustice. With striking force and beauty of diction, it contains deep wisdom, and the reflection of years. As an exposition of the principles of our institutions, it may be ranked with Washington's farewell address, and we commend it as a manual for the student and the statesman. Before dismissing this subject, we must add one word as to Mr. Adams's reception in New York, upon this occasion. To the honor of our city, he received such testimonials of heartfelt respect, as were justly due to him, and such as must have convinced him, that amidst all the bitterness of political contests, his various great and faithful services to his country are neither forgotten, nor remembered without a deep and lasting gratitude by a large portion of his fellow citizens. Did time allow, we would gladly add a few remarks, which are suggested by a reference to the commemoration of this eventful day, but we must close with a single one- an expression of astonishment that it should have been allowed to pass away, almost unheeded by the nation at large. 23. Catalogue de la Bibliothèque de son Excellence M. Le Comte D. BOUTOURLIN. Florence: 1831. PUBLIC attention has been repeatedly directed to this splendid library, and we once more recall the subject, chiefly for the purpose of stating how soon the opportunity will forever pass away, of obtaining it entire. In the spring of 1840, it must be sold by public auction, in lots, if not before disposed of to some individual purchaser. Probably no such library could now be collected for five times the amount at which it is offered; it is rich in every description of works, of which all the libraries in this country are entirely barren-Manuscripts, Incunabula, illuminated editions, and bibliographical curiosities of every kind, and all in the most perfect order, and in the richest bindings in which fortune and taste could clothe them. The number of volumes is about twenty-four thousand; of these two hundred and forty-four are manuscripts, nine hundred and sixty-four works printed before the year 1500, four hundred and twenty-three Aldine editions, three hundred and seventy-seven Bodoni, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight Italian Classics, six hundred and three Theological, nine hundred and seventy-four Science and Fine Arts, one thousand two hundred and seventeen Belles Lettres, one thousand two hundred and sixty Historical. We know that much of this is luxury; and do we not seek for luxuries in every thing else, and shall we not care to have the most elegant of all luxuries, a splendid library? But setting aside the luxuries, and counting them as of no value, the books, acknowledged intrinsically useful, and not merely for their rarity, could not now be purchased for a much larger sum than is demanded for the whole library; in fact, many of them could not be had at all. It cost the distinguished collector of this library a large portion of his life, to bring it into the state of perfection in which he left it, and in which it still remains. 24. A Lecture on the Romance of American History, etc. etc. By WILLIAM B. REED. Philadelphia: 1839. THAT the strange things of real life are stranger than fiction, we have long been persuaded, from our personal experience and observation. The ample page of this world's history, is full of confirmation of this truth. Mr. Reed illustrates it out of the American annals. Our most cordial sympathies are with him in his design; in this literal, fact-requiring, "useful-knowledge"-seeking age, when, in Mr. Reed's own words, "Sinbad the Sailor has been ridden to death by that old man of the sea and of the land, Peter Parley" in an age like this, we say, our cordial sympathies are with an author, who undertakes to point out the rich sources of cultivation for the imaginations and affections which are to be found within the domain of the actual in the facts of our own domestic history. By the "romance of history," Mr. Reed means those portions of the chronicles of the past, which present to us events and incidents, scenes and traits, full of picturesque and romantic beauty and interest. In this lecture, he has explained and illustrated his idea, with here and there a sketch in exemplification; and has pointed out the spirit in which our annals might be searched, not without rich fruits; how well and how pleasantly he has done this, may be judged from the following sketch: "There is a volume of biography which slumbers on the shelves of your libraries, which contains the record of the lives and fortunes of one such Puritan woman. She was young, she was beautiful. She was a heroine of romantic history, who, without the sternness that makes Volumnia awful, or the timidity which renders Virgilia a cipher, was the Portia of her time, her husband's friend and counsellor, and whose character, before she became a wife, was feminine enough to be the type of that other Portia, from whose lips has fallen the most beautiful character which poet ever gave of woman. But she may learn; and happier than this, "Such was Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson, a matron of the Commonwealth." 25. Remarks on the Exclusion of Atheists as Witnesses. Boston: 1839. Weeks, Jordan, & Co. Ir is one among many indications of the height to which the spirit of Pseudo-Liberalism has risen, in some parts of the country, that one of the Law Professors at Cambridge should have felt called upon to put forth, in this little pamphlet, a defence, ad populum, of the old immemorial law respecting the qualification of witnesses. What Mr. Greenleaf has felt called upon to do, he has done well. In a very brief compass he has put into clear light all the material -points of the case; and he has exposed, in a tone of dignified calmness, the futility of the objections made in the interest of Psuedo-Liberalism. In regard to the legal qualifications of witnesses, Mr. Greenleaf establishes, quite satisfactorily, that all the evils which can, by any possibility, result from the operation of the law, are extremely "few, and speculative, and remote; not to be compared with those which would be let in upon the community by the removal of this protecting barrier. Hard cases may arise under the operation of any rule of law; . . . . but these are much fewer in fact than in imagination; and of these few, a large proportion may be avoided by common prudence." The operation of the law in no way deprives the Atheist of any personal and private right whatever. Wherever he is a party in court, or out of court, seeking his rights, he stands on a perfectly equal footing with every other citizen; the law will not allow his testimony to be objected to on the score of unbelief. It is only under one condition that the operation of the law excludes his testimony. When he was brought into court at the instance of individuals, or of the State, it is competent to the other party, liable to be affected by his evidence, to object to his being admitted to take the oath, on the ground of his atheism. Now, if the atheist be an honest man, he cannot be willing to belie his real opinion under such circumstances, and to take the oath, which would be equivalent to the falsehood of declaring himself a believer; and it would certainly be absurd and wrong in the law to throw contempt upon her most solemn sanctions by the mockery of administering it to an avowed atheist. And, if in some cases the testimony of an honest man may thus be excluded, it is no more than happens, probably much oftener, under the rule of law which excludes an interested witness, or under the rule of law which refuses to receive verbal evidence of a promise to pay; or a hundred other rules of law, out of which Jacobinical Liberalism cannot make so much profit in its appeals to the "passions of the ignorant and unthinking." |