ceptable character. He has had the industry to make use of a large body of original materials, now for the first time carefully examined, and his fidelity in selection and in narration cannot be questioned. To the valuable collections of manuscript letters and official documents in the Library of the New York Historical Society of this city, he makes repeated reference; and thus fortified, his work presents a novelty and freshness which give the greatest interest to his labors. We hope to do him justice, upon the comple tion of his book. Andover and New York: 12. Confessions of a Schoolmaster. We have given this volume a careful perusal. We have read it with deep interest, and we lay it down with a strong feeling of res pect for the author's head and heart. It is the record -evidently a true and faithful record of the experience of twelve years spent in the responsible and laborious, yet ill-appreciated and ill-paid, duties of a common school teacher. The early mistakes in methods of teaching, in discipline, and example; the gradual improvement in skill and wisdom, which are the natural result of a conscientious and hearty devotion to one's duties; the obstacles encountered from the old system of mechanical routine, from the contracted views, mean prejudices, and ill-regulated passions of parents: the full story of errors and difficulties is set down in a way to interest and profit all teachers and parents. At the present day, when the awakened interest in public instruc tion has called forth a multitude of books, nine tenths of which are to our minds nauscous quackeries, it gives us no ordinary pleasure to meet with one which may be safely recommended. The unpretending little volume before us, is one which we not only feel incli ned, but bound to recommend to all teachers and parents connected with our common schools. There is here and there a sentiment with which we do not accord; but the whole tone and spirit of the book is good; it abounds with sound principles and practical instructions of the greatest moment, conveyed in a simple yet agreeable style, by a person of good sense, competent experience, and above all, a right heart, conscientiously devoted to the interests of a department of public instruction, upon which, more than upon almost any thing else, the virtue and the well-being of the country depend. We can scarcely name a book which is better calculated to lead the minds of the mass of the people in our country districts to conviction of the necessity of having better teachers, and of paying them better. This is a point of immense importance. Our public schools will never be what they should be-four fifths of the money now expended will be thrown away- until the compensation for such responsible functions as those of the schoolmaster are, is raised from their present degradation below a coachman's wages, to such an amount that suitable persons can engage in common instruction as a profession for life, and one in which they can decently support a family. In its salutary bearing upon these points, this little work should be extensively circulated. 13. The Law Reporter. Edited by P. W. CHANDLER, of the Boston: 1839. Weeks, Jordan, and Co., New York: Scofield and Voorhies. Suffolk Bar. THIS is a Law Journal on a plan, novel in this country, which has already commanded the general favor of the profession, as widely as it is known. It was began in March, 1838, and has now reached the fifth monthly number of the second volume. It is enriched by the contributions of many of our most distinguished jurists; among them we observe the names of Judges Story, Hopkinson, Davis, Ware-Chief Justice Gibson, Professor Greenleaf, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Dr. Lieber, etc. It appears to be one of the great objects of this work to oppose a barrier to the extension of radicalism in the law, by affording a cheap medium for the circulation of facts, and settled principles, in the form of Reports of decisions fresh from the mouths of the judges, instead of speculations, loose opinions, and fanciful notions of reform. By thus giving the courts an opportunity to speak for themselves, in a mode more convenient for circulation than the regular voluminous reports, and with the great advantage of earlier publication in important cases, on which the public mind needs immediate correct information, an essential service is rendered not only to the bar, but also to the community at large, and much hasty and ill advised legislation may thus be prevented. The value of such a work, it must be remembered, is far greater in our country, where we are all legislators, than in any other, and we hope to see it widely extending its useful information and its sound principles, by a general patronage of our knowledge-seeking community. We take occasion here to observe, that the number for September contains the Prussian law of copyright, which is particularly interesting to us at this time, when the same subject is under general discussion among us, and will probably be called up for national legislation at the approaching session of Congress. 14. Blanche of Navarre. A Play. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. New York: 1839. Harper & Brothers. Few authors have written so much, and so fast, as Mr. James, and yet retained their hold upon the public favor so well. If his later fictions are read with less intense interest than some of his earliest, they are yet so immeasurably superior to most works of the sort, which are continually poured forth, that they are still eagerly sought for and extensively read. Some curiosity will naturally be felt to judge of his success in the new form of composition he has here adopted. We have read this play with a high degree of interest and pleasure; and although we do not think it characterized by any remarkable beauty of thought or language, yet the style is well adapted to subserve the unity of effect, being sufficiently chevalresque for the age and scene, without any thing false or exaggerated in tone or expression. On the whole we are inclined to believe that Mr. James will not be thought to have failed in his "first attempt at dramatic composition." Yet the interest of his performance will be found to consist not in the powerful delineation of original character, but in the combination of incident, the conduct of the action, and the skilful development of the plot. 15. Morton's Hope; or, Memoirs of a Provincial. New York: 1839. Harper & Brothers. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 247 and 260. WE received these volumes at so late an hour as to preclude our paying them that detailed attention to which they are entitled. The story is a tissue of wild and extravagant adventures, drawn with boldness and vigor by a masterly and facile pen; the individual scenes and portraits are remarkably graphic, and-with the exception of an occasional caricature, and dark improbability—we should pronounce them faithful delineations. The German scenes are wrought up with great skill, and the reader we are sure will leave Göttingen with regret; for at Prague an episode awaits him which the author himself will one day wish unwritten. Taking the work as a whole, we consider the attempt to span the interval of years, countries, and events, comprised in Morton's Hope, an act of literary heroism; which, added to the ardent spirit that breathes through it, and a generous expenditure of material, of which an older writer would have been vastly more economical-shows the author to be young. If this be the case, he surely has resources in varied acquirement and personal adventure which, when a few years shall have matured and chas tened him, will aid his distinguished ability in placing him high on the ladder of literary eminence. We repeat, we have no time for any thing like analysis of his book. We have to regret a nakedness of detail that in certain parts will prove repugnant to many a reader. The unrestrained freedom of language the want of unity and of artistical symmetry, we are sure the author, if he loves his own fame-will deplore-and one day amend. 16. A Letter by ALEXANDER HAMILTON, of New York, on the subject of Banks and the Currency, etc., etc. New York: 1839. THIS letter has been before the public some months, and would have been taken up in our July number, if it had come into our hands in season. It is addressed to the legislature of this State, and its main purpose is to set forth the evils of the present system of Banking, which he does in a strong light, and to suggest the remedy for them. We cannot enter upon a discussion of this great question, in this department of our Journal, which is exclusively appropriated to summary notices of recent productions of the press we must limit ourselves to a short analytical account of the principal points presented in the letter. To remedy the evils that now exist, and the still greater evils that he foresees, Mr. Hamilton proposes that a State Bank of Issues be created, to be regulated by law, and constantly subject to legislative supervision, with a minimum capital, say of $30,000,000, one third of which shall be owned by the state: that this bank be the fiscal agent of the state, and have the exclusive power of issuing notes or bills; the amount, however, being limited to one half its capital, and to five dollars of notes for every one of specie: that this bank be prohibited from making discounts, or receiving deposites, and its business operations be confined to purchasing bills of exchange, making loans on stocks, etc.: and that the dividends be limited, and the surplus profits be subject to legislative appropriation, for education or internal improvements. The advantages of this plan, in the opinion of Mr. Hamilton, are these: 1. It would afford a sound circulation of uniform credit and undoubted character. 2. It would tend to diminish and put an end to forgery. 3. Such a bank would be able to expand or contract its issues, to meet emergencies better than the present banks can do. 4. And finally, "If corresponding banks should be established in the other states, it would afford a complete basis for the successful employment of a National Bank, similarly restricted and organized." 17. Analysis of the Mineral Waters of Avon, New York. By SAMUEL SALISBURY, M. D. 8vo. pp. 32. Livingston county, THE subject matter of this little tract recommends it to our notice. It is what it professes to be-a plain and practical exposition of the chemical and medicinal qualities of the mineral waters of Avon, drawn up by one who has for several years enjoyed large opportunities of becoming well acquainted with the remedial pro. perties. That the Avon waters, now well ascertained to exhibit, by chemical tests, ingredients of the most active character and beneficial quality, should so long have remained unnoticed, may excite our astonishment; the more so, when we are told that nearly fifty years ago they were accounted by the inhabitants of the place, efficient agents for the removal of cutaneous affections, and the cure of intermittent fevers. The first account of these waters, we believe, was that published in 1833, by Dr. Francis, of this city, who from personal observation of their efficacy in various disorders, and by chemical analysis of their constituents, was induced to speak in terms of strong approbation of them. Dr. Salisbury has made repeated reference to the opinions and inferences of Dr. F., and by his own experience has more than confirmed the original recommendations which the latter gave, of their superior powers for the removal of a large class of serious infirmities to which the human constitution is liable. The Avon waters are of the sulphuretted order, and seem more strongly impregnated than those of any other spring yet ascertained in this country. Beside sulphur, they possess the carbonate and sulphate of lime, magnesia, soda, iodine, etc. There are, however, several springs now discovered in the same vicinity, whose compounds differ in many particulars. The waters well deserve a place in a new edition of Dr. Bell's practical volume, on the baths and mineral waters of the United States. THE QUARTERLY CHRONICLE Is unavoidably omitted in the present number of the Review, in consequence of an accident which occasioned a delay of some days in getting it through the press. This, however, must not be taken as an intimation that this department of the Journal is hereafter to be discontinued: on the contrary, it is the intention of its conductors to take measures immediately for extending it, and giving it additional value and interest. For the above reason, the Quarterly List of New Publications is also omitted. |