THE BOOK TRADE. The Golden Hour. By MONCURE D. CONWAY, author of "The Rejected Stone." Boston: TICKNOR & FIELDS. For sale by D. APPLETON & Co. This is a volume of considerable power, intensely anti-slavery, and well worth reading; for everything that can be said in favor of immediate and general emancipation is said here, and said well. There are admirable passages in the book, but it is spoilt as a whole by the bursts of personal prejudice which are scattered thickly through it. Animosity is not argument; indeed it repels conviction, and neutralizes the most eloquent appeal; the least appearance of prejudice in the assertions of an author or orator, arouses the contrary prejudice in the mind of every hearer, and entirely overthrows the end which might be accomplished by dispassionate, courteous reasoning. Of Mr. Conway's charges and insinuations against General MCCLELLAN we say nothing, as they are too unmanly and ignoble to permit of refutation. These, with many other abusive portions, must be utterly expunged, before the book can even receive the attention which its decided merits have a right to demand. The Flirt; or, Passages in the Life of a Fashionable Young Lady. By Mrs. GREY, author of "The Gambler's Wife," "The Duke and Cousin," &c., &c. Philadelphia: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Price 50 cents. Mrs. GREY has done an injustice to her work by giving it so very frivolous a name; one would suppose it to be the lightest and gayest of foolish fictions, when it is in fact a sober story, with a very sad moral, because a true one. The plot is interesting and the characters good. The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, &c., &c. Collected and Edited by JAMES SPEDDING, ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS, and DOUGLAS DENON HEATH. Volume Fourth. Boston: BROWN & TAGGARD. We have the pleasure of announcing the publication of another volume of this valuable work, from the press of Messrs. BROWN and TAGGARD. We have spoken so frequently of the worth of this edition, and of the fine style in which it is issued, that it would be mere repetition to comment again upon them. The present volume will probably prove of more general interest than some of its all-latin predecessors, as a large portion of it, (the Natural History,) is written in English, in BACON's own quaint and charming style. 1. A Life's Secret; a Story of Woman's Revenge. By Mrs. HENRY WOOD, author of "The Channings," Earls' Heirs," "East Lynne," &c., &c. Philadelphia : T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Price 50 cents. 2. The Channings. A Domestic Novel of Real Life. By the same. Price 50 cents. Mrs. Wood has already achieved for herself a reputation as one of the best of sensation novelists; as such, she must of course rank far below those authors whose claims to fame, rest upon their excellence of style, their strength of thought or their accurate delineation of character. In her own province however, which belongs strictly to the creation and development of plot, she is among the first. There is always a well-kept mystery in her works, skilfully worked out, and generally very sad. In the "Life's Secret," for instance, where very worthy people are kept very wretched from the beginning to the end, the cause of all their woe is so utterly needless, that we think the majority of readers will be more pained than pleased by the perusal of it. The "Channings" is a different sort of book, having a great deal to say about boy life in a Cathedral town, and will probably be more generally liked than the former. The Indian Scout; or, Life on the Frontier. By GUSTAVE AIMARD, author of "The Flower of the Prairie," " The Trail Hunter," "The Gold Seekers," &c., &c. Philadelphia: T B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Price 50 cents. This is a story of Indian and Mexican life on the prairies, and is full of wild adventures. It is said that AIMARD has lived for years among the savages, as the adopted son of a very powerful Indian tribe; that he has been through every phase of prairie life, having been in turn, hunter, trapper, squatter, gold-seeker, warrior, guide, and scout. If this be true, his narratives should have a zest and vigor that nothing less than personal experience could give them. Love's Labor Won. By Mrs. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH, author of "The Lost Heiress,” "The Missing Bride," "The Curse of Clifton," &c., &c. Philadelphia: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Price, paper, $1 00; in cloth, $1 25. We consider this as the best of Mrs. SOUTHWORTH's recent productions. The story hinges upon an unfortunate clandestine marriage, which involves the heroine in a series of distressing embarassments. Such an affair, must of course, produce in a romance, as in real life, at the least, confusion, mystery, and suspicion, if not worse results. The plot is exceedingly interesting, and the characters, particularly those of Marguerite, HELMSTEDT, and CORNELIA very vivid and life-like. The whole story is a startling picture of the lifelong misery entailed upon the participators in one deliberate act of folly and deception, and is as instructive morally, as it is entertaining. The Two Prima Donnas; a Novel of Real Life. By GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA, author of "The Seven Sons of Mammon," "Twice Round the Clock," &c., &c. Philadelphia: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Price 25 cents. Mr. SALA is already well known as a very entertaining writer, and the present work will tend to confirm this reputation. It is a very pretty story, simple in plot, but cleverly told. If the book had no other merit, it would be worth while to read it, for the sole purpose of making the acquaintance of the childlike and charming old Abbè Guillemot. ART. CONTENTS OF No. II., VOL. XLVII. I. TOBACCO: HISTORICAL, STATISTICAL, DIPLOMATIC, AND LITERARY. No. II..... IL THE ANTI-PETROLEUM MANIA... PAGE. 118 127 ... 128 III. CHINA: Its International Relations-Its Resources-Its Rebellion and its IV. PROGRESS OF POPULATION IN MINNESOTA. BY J. A. WHEELOOK. 138 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW. Change in Business-Government Paper-New Tariff-Advance in PricesArmy Pay-Effect on Trade-Imports at New York-Entries for Consumption-Rise in Sterling-Exports for New York-Domestic Produce-Specie Movement-Demand for Export-Hoards-Rates of Bills-Cost of Export -California-United States Stocks-Silver-Stamps-Paper CurrencySilver Coinage-Amount of Paper-Government Interest-Tax LawGovernment Revenue-Excise Law-Operation of-Inflation began-Rise in Prices-Law of Finance... 147 ... 151 157 JOURNAL OF INSURANCE. 1. Marine Losses for Four Years. 2. Report on Marine Insurance, for the year 1861. 3. Marine Losses for May and June.... CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND BOARDS OF TRADE. 175 1. Philadelphia Board of Trade-European Line of Steamers. 2. Buffalo Board of Trade-Dedication of their New Rooms. 3. Iron Trade Meeting....... 180 JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. 1. City Weekly Bank Returns, New York Banks, Philadelphia Banks, Boston Banks, Providence Banks. 2. Weekly Statement Bank of England.... 188 THE COTTON QUESTION. 1. Cultivation of Cotton in India-Debate in House of Commons. 2. Cultivation of Cotton in Queensland and Jamaica. 3. Stock of Cotton in Europe. 4. The Supply will Equal the Consumption. 5. Cotton in Algeria.. 191 JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART. 1. The Salt Wells of Michigan. 2. Lake Superior vs. Cornwall.... 197 STATISTICS OF POPULATION. 1. Paupers in England, Scotland, and Ireland-1851 to 1860. 2. Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England and Wales..... THE BOOK TRADE. Notices of New Publications in the United States.... 200 205 THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. SEPTEMBER, 1862. SALT MANUFACTURE OF THE SAGINAW VALLEY, MICHIGAN. THE Saginaw River is formed by the confluence of the Cass, Shiawassee, and Tittabawassee rivers. It flows by a slightly serpentine course a little east of north, and empties into Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron. Measured by its meanderings it is about twenty-three miles in length, and in a straight line about twenty and one-half miles. A government lighthouse stands at its confluence with the bay. A bar is found across the mouth, but the entrance to the river is not difficult for vessels of large size, which find sufficient water for safe navigation as far as East Saginaw; while small steamboats ascend to St. Charles, on the Shiawassee river, ten miles above the head of the Saginaw. The principal villages on the immediate banks of the river are East Saginaw, Saginaw City, and Bay City. The latter village is situated on the right bank, between four and five miles from its mouth. A small settlement on the opposite bank, one mile nearer the bay, has been named Bangor. Portsmouth adjoins Bay City, and the two villages actually form but one, stretching along the river for the distance of two miles and three-quarters. Zilwaukie is a small settlement on the west bank of the river, fifteen and three-fourths miles from the mouth. Two miles higher up, on the same side, is Carrolton, another nucleus of population; while East Saginaw, with a population of 4,000, lies on the east bank of the river, about eighteen and one-half miles from its mouth. Salina bears the same relation to this place as Portsmouth does to Bay City. Opposite Salina is Saginaw City, the oldest settlement, and the one second in importance on the river. Above Saginaw City, the immediate vicinity of the river to its head is occupied by a marsh. The same is true of the interval between Zilwaukie and Portsmouth, as well as most of the region below Bay City. |