is not, and will not be, made sufficiently energetic-the people are willing enough to legislate, but not to give power-the children forsooth are to be instructed, but the parents are wise enough; school houses are therefore to be built, but no plan shall be imposed-school books used, but none chosen-libraries shall be purchased, but the choice of books unguided; and thus it often comes to pass, (saving the majesty of the sovereign people,) that what Anacharsis said of the Athenian state is true of ours, namely, that it was one in which the wise deliberate and fools decide! As patriots, we wish well to this and all similar popular efforts; but then, as christians, we pray also that they may be wisely guided to all good.

15.-A Lecture on the Literary Opportunities of Men of Business, delivered before the Athenian Institute and Mercantile Library of Philadelphia, April 3, 1838. By HENRY REED, Professor of English Literature in the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: 1838. 12mo. pp. 36.

THIS little pamphlet we deem a jewel, and that too of the first water. It were little to say it is worth its weight in gold, for that would scarce mount it to a pennyweight, or to measure it by its bulk, for it can be held between the finger and thumb without feeling it; and yet we know many folios, both in philosophy and divinity, that would kick the beam if weighed against it, for good sense, right feeling, and judicious advice, set off too with all the beauties of an unpretending simplicity of style and manner. Nor is this all our author is original without pretending to be so, and brings down the high truths of philosophy to bear upon his cause, with a familiarity and a kindliness that proves he has not studied in vain in the school of Wordsworth. It is, we believe, to his past labors that we owe the recent American edition of that wisest of poets, and the present shows that he has drank deep of that most safe, refreshing, and unintoxicating of all poetic fountains of Parnassus. Our only quarrel with this address, is the form in which it appears, which is wholly unworthy of its merit. If "spare cash" were a little more plenty with reviewers, we would ourselves have undertaken to amend this error, and by a handsome New York edition, to attain the double end of giving to our citizens a lesson of wisdom they need even beyond those to whom it was originally addressed; and also of mixing up our claim to public merit with that of its accomplished author.

16.- Saint Jonathan, the Lay of a Scald. New York: 1838. 12mo. pp. 48.

THERE is more merit in this light-toned poetical satire, than we were led to expect from its most unpromising title, and awkward epistle dedicatory. In the prose of its author we discern the pen of the youthful aspirant, but in his rhymes are forced to recognize the truth of Bacon's adage, that "poetry is a plant that groweth up without seed." On the whole, we see in it talent, and that (speaking comparatively) of no common order; but such as we think will soon win for its author a foremost rank among American poets, at least in the style of poetry he has here chosen. His lines have point and force in thought, as well as expression; and he varies from grave to gay, and satirical to tender, with a freedom, and sometimes a grace, that would be far from discrediting an experienced pen. Doubtless all this is an easier task than at first sight appears. "L'abandon" is perhaps after all the great secret of such poetry. Give reins to fancy, and then, in the counsel of Britomart, "be bold-be bold-be bold." Therefore it is, among other reasons, we are no enthusiastic admirers of this "Poesia Bernesca," to which the talents of Byron first gave popularity, and have, as it were, "domesticated" in our more staid homeborn literature. This leads us to another objection. Byron's paternity has stamped on all such poetry somewhat of a Satanic taint, from which few that have followed him have wholly kept free; the brimstone goes with them even into the sweet and pure beauties of nature. That our author is not wholly out of the spell, may be argued from his motto prefixed, "fie thou dishonest Sathan;" though we cannot flatter him in the belief that his exorcism has been completely successful. But for the better view. The satire of our unknown poet is both well placed and well put, and right and good ends are always at the bottom as well as mostly at the top of all he says, whether of wisdom or foolery. He promises, we see, a second canto better than the first, and doubtless he can perform what he promises; and yet, as he kindly terms us, my tender cousin of the new church journal," we will venture to exercise the privilege of an elder, as well as a clerical relative, and give him a word of parting advice. The motley coat he wears, even in satire, is a wearisome dress; let him not then wear it too long. He indeed disclaims it, and has besides shown himself well entitled to clothe his verse in its nobler garb of truth and soberness. Nor is this all; we would say further to him, young as we think him to be-talented as we know him to be-let not the praise of a popular poet withdraw you from the duties of a man and a christian; be not betrayed into becoming a regular trader in the poorest of all the commodities of a poor trade; and remember, that he who caters unwholesome stimulants for the craving intellect of the public, can have no right to rank himself on the "Temperance" side, when the question comes up, of the bodily appetite.

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17.-Liberty and Law; a Lecture delivered before the Young Men's Association in Geneva, New York, November 8, 1837. By BENJAMIN HALE, D. D., President of Geneva College. Geneva: 1838. Svo. pp. 24.

THIS is a noble theme, and nobly treated; firm in his principles, our author is equally fearless in the expression of them. Such a discourse cannot but do good. The times need it; and in the hands of men of talent and station, the argument must at length tell upon the public mind. It is one which reason demonstrates, and experience verifies. LIBERTY CAN NEVER BE DIvorced from LAW. It is a marriage so sanctioned by God, that man cannot separate them. Under the guardian roof of law alone it is that liberty can dwell—there alone is she the mother of peace, and order, and all the gentle train of social and domestic virtues. Wandering from that home, she becomes the harlot, and the harlot-mother of force and rapine, and all the progeny of crime and blood. Such is the eternal law written in heaven, and stamped upon the things of earth. This argument is ably put by Dr. Hale. His position is, that "liberty exists by its own limitations ;" and, consequently, that states can continue free only by "submission to law." It was the answer of one of the wisest of the wise men of Greece, that that was the freest form of government where the law ruled and not will; and it is wonderful how little advance the philosophy of twenty-five hundred years has made upon the completeness of his answer. That herein lies our danger, all admit; but it is not every one that is willing to open his eyes to the fact, that our freedom has been already tarnished, and that mob law is still trampling liberty under foot. But laws, to be law, must be wise and good. How shall this be secured? This question, as a necessary adjunct, is also ably argued, and the inability demonstrated of mere intellectual culture to fit men for the task of wise governments. "Knowledge alone. will not do it ;"-" we must not only fill the mind, but form the character- - we must make education moral as well as intellectual." We argue well (we would add in conclusion) of the prospects of Geneva college, from the fact of its having such a head as Dr. Hale, and are satisfied that it will repay to the state a thousand fold the patronage it receives, if it do but send forth its alumni, imbued with the noble and right principles of "liberty and law,' so ably advocated in this address of its president.

18.-Hood's Own, or Laughter from Year to Year, No. I. G. Dearborn & Co. New York.

THIS is poor trashy stuff as to style, with principles as false as they are frivolous. His precept and practice is to drive away death by making a joke of it" to take care of the body, poor body, and give it as long a day as you can ;" and this he calls "the gay hearted philosophy!" Wretched folly! It is of such laughter Solomon speaks, when he says "it is mad." The "gay heart” is a plant of another soil; it comes from the sweet root of christian peace, and can flourish only in the atmosphere of "a conscience void of offence" towards God and towards men. Let us then have no more of such bedlamites dancing in their chains!

19.-Report upon the Finances and Internal Improvements of the State of New York, 1838, by the Committee of Ways and Means.

THIS is an able and lucid document, demonstrating in figures what every intelligent citizen of the state has long since had in his head, namely, that the actual resources of our treasury are even now equal to the highest demands which can be made upon it. The basis of this reasoning is a clear and conclusive one; it is this:Improvements made by the state are the property of the state; and, therefore, their net proceeds are to be reinvested for the benefit of those to whom they belong; that is, the great Erie canal has been made with state funds, or by state loans, therefore its reasonable tolls, after paying off the debt, is a productive capital, to be re-invested for the same object and the benefit of the same parties, and that again is for the cause of internal improvement and for the citizens at large. The tolls of the Erie canal are therefore, in all equity, already a pledged income, and to divert them to any other end, or to make them a present to those who use the canal, either now or hereafter, is robbery and injustice, so long as any internal improvement remains incompleted. This, then, is the fund from which But having the means, we have here, tofore wanted the wisdom. Our legislature has not hitherto appreciated the fundamental principle, (one now beginning to be universally recognized,) that internal improvements are matters of state, not of local policy, and therefore cannot be rightly carried on but by a state board, and upon a general plan, and by state funds. This it the true and only sound principle, and until New York adopts it, and enters vigorously upon it, her movements in the development of her immense resources will be, as they have

our resources are to come.

heretofore been, partial, hasty, and incongruous. Or if, again, such expenditure go beyond her actual means, then is she to borrow upon the strength of them, since every dollar judiciously laid out in opening new avenues to her hidden wealth, counts as fourfold in her treasury. This is a truth beginning to be felt both here and abroad; and European capitalists are at this moment returning home, with the settled conviction that no investment of their capi tal can be so safe as American state stock created for this end. The very investment of the loan becomes the security of the lender; all else that is wanted is honesty in the borrower; then, the very expenditure of the money becomes the sufficient guarantee of the debt. Such is their feeling; and we, in acting upon it, by making from them a sufficient loan for this purpose, should not only be advancing our own interests, but have the farther satisfaction of becoming instruments for advancing the peace and good order of Europe, since every dollar withdrawn thence for occupation here, makes war a less easy burden to them. The peaceful occupations of the new world, we venture to predict, are going to be the "safety valve" to the old; and American loans are about to become the channels by which the waters of strife are to be drawn off from the plains of Europe, and the sinews of war enfeebled. Thus is it in the affairs of this world, that self-interest is bound up with duty, making up the one great volume (which he who runs may read) of God's dispensations for the happiness and improvement of man.

20.-Hints on a Cheap Mode of Purchasing the Liberty of a Slave Population. New York: 1838. G. A. Neuman, 99 Nassau

street.

HERE comes a German mind-for such, from many marks, we conclude the author to be-to the solution of a great and (hitherto considered) insoluble American problem. It is a dark question in more senses than one, but we think he has thrown some new light upon it. It is a striking instance of the new point of view in which a familiar subject may be put by the analytic process, and we recommend its attentive perusal, seriously and practically, to all committees of our abolition and colonization societies, and indeed are by no means sure but that its perusal might with advantage be substituted by the chairmen, at their respective public meetings, for the various eloquent speeches made by gentlemen on such interesting. occasions.

The principle adopted by our author, is that of " uterine emancipation," founded on the received principle of the old Roman law, PARTUS SEQUITUR VENTREM. Setting out from this point, he de