LITERARY NOTICES.

Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy, delivered at the Royal Institution, in the years 1804, 1805 and 1806. By the late Rev. SIDNEY SMITH, M. A. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1850.

THE most remarkable thing about these lectures, is, as it seems to us, that they actually breathe the breath of a vigorous life into Scotch Metaphysics. It is certainly no small proof of the genius of Sidney Smith that he could have devoted five years to that particular form of philosophy, analyzing, classifying and reducing to rule the various workings of the human mind, and yet retain so much that is genial and spontaneous in the working of his own mind. We really think there is more life, more that is the natural growth of genius, in these fragments than is to be found-may we be permitted to say it-in all the works of Dugald Stewart. Not that the philosophical doctrines are either better or worse, but "there is a vein for the silver" throughout the whole. Far are we from saying that the field of philosophy, as cultivated by Scotch laborers, is a barren waste; but sure we are there are some spots which have been made by our author far more verdant than others, so much so that they irresistibly remind one of the familiar oasis in the desert. But these spots have been pretty well rifled by preceding critics, and nothing remains for us but a few desultory remarks upon the successive lectures.

The Introductory Lecture contains a defense of Metaphysics. In repelling the argument against metaphysics, founded upon the extravagant opinions of some of its professors, the author refers, of course, to Bishop Berkeley; and, in so doing, he asks whether "there is any one out of bedlam who doubts of the existence of matter." We may admit the universality of the belief in the existence of matter, but that does not relieve us of the philosophical problem, to explain the grounds of that belief. The real question is not as to the fact, but as to the explanation of our belief in the fact. For, the reasons almost universally given for the belief are as really false as the belief itself is true. Dr. Johnson, with the stamp of Jove, brought his foot down on the earth and said, "thus I refute Berkeley." With most persons, also, this belief is an inference, instead of being, as it really is, an intuition. This reply of our author, no doubt, satisfied his audience; but it ought not to have satisfied them, and would not, if they had understood the whole case. The next two lectures give a history of philosophy, but they are very imperfect, and are valuable only for detached remarks. The succeeding lectures, which are on "the Powers of External Perception," "on Conception," " on Memory" and "on Reason and Judgment,” are also fragmentary and call for no special remark. But the ninth Tecture, "on the Conduct of the Understanding," is full of wise and truthful remarks, and the young student can hardly read it too much. We would also recommend to his attention the nineteenth lecture, which is on the same subject. The first eight lectures are, as we have already said, imperfect; but the ninth, together with the remaining eighteen, are as the author left them.

The discussion on Wit and Humor, in the tenth and eleventh lectures, is not only quite satisfactory in point of doctrine, but it contains much just criticism. In the lecture on Taste, which is the twelfth, the author examines the theory of Alison on the subject. Never, perhaps, did a philosophical theory, in a philosophical age, obtain so much reputation with so little reason. Error is sometimes respectable, because of the intellectual vigor with which it is maintained. But this theory seems to us to be nothing more than a pretty conceit. Mr. Alison was a most amiable man, of the greatest suavity of manners, and of refined taste; and the kindness with which his treatise was received by his contemporaries is an honorable tribute to him and to them. For they all make a show of receiving what in fact they reject. Dugald Stewart, who would be thought to adopt it, quietly removes the corner-stone of the whole edifice in

rejecting the doctrine of Mr. Alison, that "mere matter is unfitted to produce any kind of emotion," while Mr. Jeffrey, who is a professed follower, rejects the other main principle of the theory, that our sense of beauty consists not merely in the associations of ideas suggested by material things, but "in a connected series or train of such ideas." Our author rejects both.

We must pass over entirely the four lectures on the Beautiful and the Sublime. The best lectures in the book are the seventeenth and eighteenth, "on the Faculties of Animals." Our author does the poor brutes justice. He boldly avows and proves, at least we think so, that "animals have the same sort of faculties as man." We do not know of an abler discussion of this subject, or a more satisfactory refutation of the common objections.

The remaining lectures are on the "Active Powers of the Mind," and on "Habit." But we are obliged to forbear making any remarks upon them, though we think our author has taken a very heavy burden upon himself in attempting to support the doctrine of Hartley, that "all our passions are derived from pleasure and pain, guided by association."

Life and Letters of Thomas Campbell. Edited by WILLIAM BEATTIE, M.D., one of his executors. In two volumes. New York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff Street. 1850.

WE are glad to see at length a biography of Thomas Campbell. It was full time that the merits of this great poet should be placed in their true light. Much that was prejudicial to his fair fame had been so extensively circulated in literary gossip and many mischievous or malicious anecdotes had been so often repeated, that there was danger they would find their way into the permanent history of literature. These volumes are just what was needed, to vindicate his character and give him his true position among his contemporaries. Campbell appears here, as he really was: as a scholar deeply read in classic and modern literature, and as an author on the one hand, patiently enduring the drudgery of daily toil for a livelihood, and on the other, polishing with unceasing care and unerring taste those poems, on which he would rest his claim for a permanent place in English literature-in Lyric poetry, we think, the very highest place. In all the domestic relations of life, as a son, as a brother, as a husband, as a father, as a friend, his character appears not only without reproach but adorned with no common virtues. As a public man, he was known before as the liberal supporter of freedom and the friend of the oppressed everywhere.

Dr. Beattie, the editor of these volumes, was, for many of the last years of Campbell's life, his family physician and most intimate friend. But, besides this, some years before his death, Campbell had requested Dr. Beattie to be his biographer, a request which was repeated on his death bed. With this in view, he early placed in his hands "every document necessary for that portion of his history, which belongs to the public." Dr. Beattie, moreover, was, perhaps, the only man, who knew what Campbell really was. As he himself says;

"It will be granted, perhaps, that they who only knew Campbell as he appeared in society, in public meetings, or even the privacy of domestic life, had but a one-sided view of his character. In sickness, solitude, and depression, where I had occasion during many years to watch, advise, and converse with him, the thoughts of his heart were unreservedly thrown open-the nobler qualities of his mind brought into new and strong light. At such moments his words had a solemn weight, a depth of meaning, an earnestness of expression, which contrasted very strongly with his ordinary conversation, and brought to mind the best thoughts of his best poems. Before the world, the sparkling graces of his mind were easily discovered-they played lightly on the surface. The hidden treasures of his heart-the fountain of his poetry-lay deeper; its

living waters were only drawn forth in seasons of trial, sorrow, sickness. In his sober estimate of life-in the contemplation of a future existence-they flowed with an inspired and refreshing sound. To these outpourings-often reserved only for the physician-I must always revert when I attempt to convey a just impression of the poet's character."

The work, however, is mostly an auto-biography, being made up principally of Campbell's own journals and letters. Dr. Beattie has judiciously allowed Campbell to speak for himself, and has thus given the public what is always most interesting and useful-a real life.

Abbott's Histories. The history of Cyrus the Great, by Jacob Abbott. The history of Darius the Great, by the same. The history of Alexander the Great, by the same. The history of Hannibal, by the same. The history of Julius Cæsar, by the same. The history of Mary, Queen of Scots, by the same. The history of Queen Elizabeth, by the same. The history of William the Conqueror, by the same. The history of Alfred the Great, by the same. The history of Charles the First, by the same. The history of Charles the Second, by the same. The history of Maria Antoinette, by the same. With Maps and Engravings. New York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff street.

THESE works have the very peculiar merit of uniting the charms of romance with the instructions of authentic history. And how is this done? In the first place, by adhering strictly to facts; in the second place, by making such selection of facts as shall give a clear conception of the characters and of the transactions which are described; and, in the third place, by presenting these facts as objects external to the mind of the author and so projected as to be easily conceived and pictured in the mind of the reader. Without a strict adherence to fact, there might be the charms of fiction, but not of course the instructions of history: without the right selection of facts, there may be essential falsehood even in strictly adhering to fact; while with the right selection of facts without the proper presentation of them, there is little profit and no pleasure. To ascertain facts requires extensive reading and sound and critical judgment. In this respect Mr. Abbott is not deficient, though we do not regard him as superior to many other writers. It is enough to say on this point, that these works may be depended upon as authentic history. As to the selection of facts, there is required insight to penetrate to the character, motive, cause or principle which underlie the facts and which gave birth to them joined with a poetic feeling, which instinctively seizes upon those materials and those only, which are necessary to a perfect representation of a character or transaction. Mr. Abbott possesses both of these requisites in a very good degree. He has also avoided an error into which many historians have fallen, who are possessed of a vivid imagination. There is a great difference between a poetical and an historical selection of facts. It would be possible, for example, to give a character of Mary, Queen of Scots, drawn from facts without admixture of fiction, which should be historically false, though it might be poetically true-which might be true to human nature, but false to that individual nature. Macaulay has not always observed this distinction. Some of his descriptions are poetical as contradistinguished from historical. The distinguished personages whom Mr. Abbott describes, appear only in their individual character. But the peculiar and characteristic merit of Mr. Abbott as a writer consists, we think, in the faculty which he possesses, in a very uncommon degree, of giving objectivity to whatever he describes. Every fact is made to stand forth as an object to be seen by the reader, in the same way as the figures stand out in a good painting. Nor is this mere perspicuity of style, which addresses itself only to the intellect. A very dull writer may be understood. We speak of something much higher, of a power which affects the

imagination and fills the mind with pictures, thus giving activity to the intellect, and strength to the attention. It is this impulse, to make every description easy of re-creation in the mind of the reader, which has led our author, though perhaps unconsciously, to fill his volumes with the sort of engravings and maps which we find in them-not ornaments-not altogether helps to geography-but pictures addressed to the eye in aid of the verbal descriptions. Both of these united make these volumes very pleasant and interesting reading. Having given our reasons for the assertion that these volumes unite the charms of fiction with the instructions of authentic history, we have nothing more to do than to recommend them to our readers. The father of a family could hardly do a better thing for his household than to add these works to his library.

Confessions of an English Opium-eater, and Suspiria de Profundis. By THOMAS DEQUINCY. 16mo, pp. 275.

Biographical Essays. By THOMAS DEQUINCY. 16mo, pp. 284: Boston, Ticknor, Reed, & Fields. 1850. New Haven: T. H. Pease.

ALL lovers of books which are books, ought to be grateful to the publishers of these beautiful volumes-for the plan which they conceived and have executed in part, to give to the American public, the collected writings of DeQuincy. We hope most earnestly that they will make an ample collection from his scattered and various papers. As a writer of pure and natural English he is hardly surpassed-as a critic he is one of the few who give new beauties to our favorite authors. There are passages from his biographical sketch of Shakspeare which are worth whole volumes of declamatory rant on the great Dramatist. Now and then there is in his writings a startling and solemn reference to the supernatural and unseen world; as also touching and awful pathos as he wakens the strongest and tenderest feelings of man's nature which draw and hold the reader as by a magic spell. And yet in his strangest reveries, good sense is everywhere present, and good taste is rarely offended. We trust that the "Letters to a young man whose early education had been neglected," will not be forgotten or omitted in the collection.

The Architecture of Country Houses; including designs for Cottages, Farm Houses, and Villas, with remarks on Interiors, Furniture, and the best modes of Warming and Ventilating. With three hundred and twenty illustrations. By A. J. DOWNING, author of "Designs for Cottage Residences," "Hints to persons about building," &c. 8vo, pp. 484. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton. New Haven: T. H. Pease.

THOSE who are acquainted with Mr. Downing's former works, on reading the title page of this his last one, if they had not ordered it in advance on the bare announcement of a new work by this author, will at once desire to possess it. For the benefit of any of our readers who may not yet know Mr. Downing as an author, we will say that Mr. D. is a standard authority on the whole subject of House Building and Planting, by which we mean, too, something more than mere carpentry and market gardening. He will tell you how to make a house something more than a mere shed to keep off the weather and furnish a place in which to set a table and put beds. He will show you an intimate connection between the shape and structure of your domicil and the deepest springs of taste and feeling, and demonstrate to you the moral and esthetic qualities of a velvet lawn or a vine covered porch. In short he will give you new ideas of what that blessed English word "home" means, and will give home a higher place than before in your esteem.

We have marked this book for a more extended and formal notice at a future time. For the present, therefore, we will sum up our judgment of it by saying it is worth its cost to any man who may purchase it. If he is about to VOL. VIII.

82

build a structure of no more account than a woodhouse or barn, he will find hints in this book which will enable him to save more than its price. And if he has no prospect of matrimony or need of a dwelling house for a dozen years to come, he can well afford to lose the interest on his investment for that length of time, while he employs his leisure hours occasionally in reading and inwardly digesting what Mr. Downing has here spread before him.

The Farmer's Guide to Scientific and Practical Agriculture. Detailing the labors of the Farmer in all their variety and adapting them to the seasons of the year, as they successively occur. By HENRY STEPHENS, F. R. S. E., Author of the "Book of the Farm," etc. Assisted by JOHN P. NORTON, M. A., Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College, New Haven. New York: Leonard Scott & Co., 79 Fulton street and 54 Gold street. 1850. New Haven: T. H. Pease. Nos. 1-9.

Mr. STEPHENS supposes that the best among existing ways, for a young man to acquire a thorough knowledge of farming, is to become a pupil in the house of a good practical farmer. He thinks the pupil should commence his pupilage with the beginning of the agricultural year" that is in the beginning of the winter," and should make himself acquainted with all the operations of the several successive seasons. But as it is impossible for the farmer always to be at hand to give the requisite explanations, Mr. Stephens supposes very rationally, that a book written solely with reference to the wants of such a class of students would be of very great value.

"By it," to use the words of the author, "the practice of experienced farmers might be communicated to the pupil. By consulting that which had been purposely written for his guidance, while carefully observing the import of daily operations,-which are often intricate, always protracted over considerable portions of time, and necessarily separated from each other, he would acquire that import in a much shorter time than if left to be discovered by his own sagacity."

Mr. Stevens has given an idea of what such a work should be, which we will repeat in his own words as the best account we can give of his own book.

"Such a book, to be a useful instructor and correct guide, should, in my estimation, possess these qualifications. Its principal matter should consist of a clear narrative of all the labors of the farm as they occur in succession, including the reasons why each piece of work is undertaken. While the principal operations are thus being narrated, the precise method of executing every kind of work, whether manual or implemental, should be minutely described. Such a narrative will show the pupil, that farming is really a systematic business, having a definite object in view, and possessing the means of attaining it; and the reasons for performing every piece of work in one way, rather than another, will convince him that it is an art founded on rational and known principles. The perusal of such a narrative, with its reasons having a common object, will impart a more comprehensive and clear view of the management of a farm in a given time, than he could acquire by himself by witnessing ever so many isolated operations. The influence of the seasons on all the labors of the field is another consideration which should be attended to in such a book. In preparing the ground, and during the growth of the crops, the labor appropriated to each kind of crop terminates for a time, and is not resumed until a fit season arrives. These periodical cessations from labor form natural epochs in the progress of the crops toward maturity, and afford convenient opportunities for performing the work peculiarly adapted to each epoch; and, since every operation must conform with its season, these epochs correspond exactly with the natural seasons of the year. I say with the natural seasons, in contradistinction to the common annual seasons, which are entirely conventional. Such a necessary and opportune agreement between labor and the