For this she forgave the great wrong I had wrought,
And mingled my name in her last sweet thought;
And promised that in an hour of fear,
Her soul should be as a guardian near.

On a little seaward sloping lawn

The first bright half hour after dawn,-
With golden hair, and cheeks as red'

As the hue in the brightening orient spread,

The child, and the light of the fisherman's home,

Bearing a pail that drift its foam

Like snowflakes on the wayside grass,

Went singing as if her soul would pass

Into the air, and o'ertake that bird'

Which sang in the sky, less seen than heard.

He calls upon the name of the lost, and the fiend is overcome. The soul of the suicide is with him, comforts him, and tells of a promise of future redemption for herself when she shall be able to obtain a second bodily existence through the commission by another of the crime for which she suffers. But the devil is not to be put off thus. There is a storm on that "one sea with the terror of many seas over which Roland looks from his "magic casements." Cotton Mather saw no heresy in believing that "the devil had sufficient skill of chymistry to conjure a tempest," so that we may safely set this down to the old serpent.

Roland rescues a lady, and recognizes in her the very woman he has been mourning as dead. This is the "weak invention of the enemy," which in the end, however, proves sufficiently strong. St. Anthony stood everything but the "handsome woman with two black eyes." This counterfeit presentment intimates that the real soul with which Roland has been lately communing is a demon. The description of the rescuing is brief and beautiful:

Then bewildered with pain and fright,
Roland descended the stony height,
Finding his way by the phosphor light,
To seek, amid the wild uproar,

The drowning bodies thrown on shore.
Suddenly at his feet a form

Lay like an offering from the storm.
White as a stranded wreath of foam-
White as a ghost from its charnel home,
It lay where the gust, with blinding flight,
Strove to hide the thing from sight,
Like a maniac murderer, to and fro,
Raving and flinging the scattering snow
Over the victim that mocks his despair,
With its unveiled face and tell-tale stare.

And thus this " offering," when subsequently telling how she escaped death, intimates the deception of the ghost:

"Oh, Roland, a fearful dream was mine,

Those swooning moments among the brine !
I saw thee stand in a midnight tower,
And a beautiful fiend had thee in her power;

I saw her pale lips pressed to thine

I saw ye kneel at an altar-shrine;

And then I heard your mingled prayer,

That, like a raven croaking in air,

Hung black and ominous, but did not soar; And then you named her by my name, And that hot word clung to my heart like flame Slung from a torch! and I heard no more. But the fisherman's daughter loves Roland, and crazed with jealousy and despair, leaps into the sea -commits the same crime for almost the same cause. She is the redeeming idea. She is rescued by Roland and by him resuscitated; and here we have a recurrence of that strange idea of the existence of the first love in the person of the second. We suppose the disembodied spirit must be thought to have crept into the body at the resuscitation.

Days dawned and set, and year by year,
The bride became more fair and dear;
And Roland saw with secret delight,
As her face grew more refined and bright,
How through every feature it seemed
That the light of his long-lost Ida beamed.

The devil, being defeated, goes off, and the poem ends in a lesson; teaching:

That it is not in the world abroad,

In the sight of men, and the light of God, That fierce temptations chiefly dwell; But in the misanthropic cell, Where the selfish passions are all enshrined, And worshipped by one darksome mind. As a fiction, this is very admirable. Its elements are in keeping, and each in the combination is managed with such propriety, that the effect is perfect. Agatha is most delicately sketched, giving the very picture of purity, and the fair fiend is

The story is told with exquisite grace, and a purity and clearness of diction that seem never to lapse. These passages may be taken as fair examples of the style of the narrative:

Did the countless earths abroad, like snails,
Leave behind them shining trails,
What a web of strange design
Thro' the eternal space would shine!
And such a web of marvellous lines
Left by each satellite and sun,
Though by us unseen, still clearly shines
To the observant eye of One.

And up in the tower, the iron bell,
Suddenly felt the joyous spell,
And flung its accents clear and gay,
As if it were rung on a wedding day;
And like a singor swaying his head,
To mark the time

Of some happy rhyme,
Breathing his heart in every line,

Thus swayed the bell, and swaying said-
"Mine and thine! mine and thine!"

There is a pure healthful tone to these extracts, and indeed the whole volume is singularly free from intensity.

It is long since we have read a poem with which we were better pleased. From the nature of the material, the desired effect must be wrought out rather by delicacy, than power of handling; and, where this is the case, the true poetical spirit is more entirely in its proper element, than under any other circumstances. Thus, there is a good commencement, and though, in the conduct, this delicacy of treatment is sometimes so managed, as to amount to clear power-it never becomes rugged power, and there is nothing jarring. The verse always runs accordingly with the subject, and is always graceful. In the circumstance of exquisitely varied metres, each perfect in its construction and employment, the poem much resembles the Golden Legend of Prof. Longfellow; it resembles it, indeed, in other respects, but is, in the same style, a much superior poem. We think that the House by the Sea must unquestionably take precedence among recent long poems by first-rate authors.

BOOK NOTICES.

Merry Old England, and her History. By MISS JULIA CORNER.-Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co. 1856.

Au excellent history for children. Miss Corner has embodied in a small compass, a great deal of information on the manners, customs, habits, dress, dwellings, laws, &c., of the people from the earliest accounts of the Britons to the present time. This is very much better than the mere biographies of kings, which have so long usurped the place of history. The style is simple, and within the comprehension of the young, though not of the highest degree of elegance.

We note the word Witena-gemote, marked we suppose by mistake, thus:-Wit-en-age-mote, and cannot reconcile the spelling of "skillfull" and useful" on the same page.

One more point must be noticed. We were reading on with great complacency, rejoicing that our fair country woman, for fair of course we presumed Miss Julia to be, had produced so excellent a book, a real child's book, when on the 118th page we were surprised to read, speaking of the dress of the middle classes, in the reign of Richard the III;"The coat was like that now worn by our blue-coat boys, our blue-coat boys! They are not one of our institutions." We almost wished the Know. nothings were in power, and would pass a law to compel the simple honesty of putting "reprint" on the title-page. Only imagine an American boy with knee-breeches, yellow stockings, shoes, and a long-tailed blue gown of a coat, with a mite of a cap no larger than the palm of his hand. Why it is as absurdly ridiculous as the idea that we, republicans, could ever have our servants dressed up in liveries; it is as bad as Mr. Dombey's turning 'poor Biler into a Grinder."

66

The Prayers of the Bible: With their Answers. Collected by a Church member.-New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. 1855.

This is a devout and pious book; a collection of the prayers recorded in the Bille and their answers when given. The brief observations accompanying them are explanatory of the circumstances and experimental. The only thing we regret is the frequent inaccuracies or inelegancies of the style. We should recommend careful revision in another edition. "They filled their inch of time,"-inch objectionable. "All that was earthly of Abram lies now in the dust of yonder cane," as if

the

cane was in sight, some short distance off." Most nobly had Abram given Lot the choice of his home, and the fertile plain of Sodom was now his dwelling-place:" Abram, being the subject of the previous member of the sentence, is properly the antecedent of "his" in the latter."The Lord made known his intention to Abraham of destroying the cities of the plain," should be "made known to Abraham his intention, &c."-" Abraham is alarmed at the intimation, and knows it is no small sin that has thus called down the

66

terrors of the Almighty,"-"has" expresses the past with reference to the present, and is therefore incorrect here, for the terrors were not come, and 'called down terrors" is not a desirable expression. The promises made by God to the successively reduced number of the righteous for whom this prayer was made, encourages us;" here we have a plural subject and a singular verb. These, with the exception of the first two, are within the compass of a couple of pages. We notice them because they are a disfigurement to the book, which is really valuable, profitable and convenient.

This is a novel in the decided style. The authoress is not troubled with a timidity-become somewhat fashionable recently-lest all her young ladies should be stigmatized as romantic, and her men as magnanimous. She draws persons perfect up to that standard which required the heroes of novels to be all that young ladies would desire in husbands, and the heroines to be much more than any reasonable man could expect in a wife. To the real novel reader, consequently, the book will be something of a treat. The name of the authoress is a sufficient guarantee that the moral is unexceptionable.

Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language, Corrected. New York: Daniel Burgess & Co. 1856.

This little book, though by no means original in design or perfect in execution, is one which will be

found of considerable service to people whose education "stopped on the wrong side of the art of spelling." The author has not classified the five hundred errors, and perhaps classification would have been, not only difficult, but of little utility, yet we should have preferred some method. Among this collection of mistakes, are given a few nice distinctions and examples of bad grammar, from which, persons of tolerable education are not always free. It is, however, more expressly intended to correct decided and unmitigated vulgarisms. We have seen a little book published in England in the last year, entitled "Errors in Speaking and Writing Corrected," which treats particularly of synonyms and words of similar sounds, and is not only applicable to those whose education is deficient, but to those who from carelessness violate the laws of the language either by positive errors or by inelegancies. The book published by Messrs. Burgess & Co. is not one which could be of any great service to those who have become familiar with the elementary rules of grammar. Those of our readers who say "soger arms,' 97.66 drownded," or "chimbley," had better procure it at once, and we have no hesitation in recommending it to those who call waistcoat, "weskut," and spell "winegar" with The book unhesitatingly condemns such expressions as "flunk out," and admonishes us all against saying "turkle soup." The author is a humorist, and occasionally strengthens his examples by an illustration; and, also, in one or two instances indulges in a joke, of which the precise application is difficult to be detected. This, however, has the effect of lightening the labor of going over all the errors cited, and we are inclined to think it a merit. One good will probably arise from the circulation of these "Five Hundred Mistakes Corrected," and that is, to induce a study of Grammar, by pointing out the great number of errors to which those who have not had that advantage are liable. In a few instances the author dogmatizes with too much confidence. He says, in example II., that the superlative can be used properly, only when three or more persons or objects are compared; yet it might very easily be shown here, and has already been shown by grammarians, that the use of the superlative in such cases as he objects to, is not an error, and, of course, that "the best of the two" is a proper expression. Superficial consideration would no doubt pronounce against this, but it is abundantly sustained by reason and analogy. In example 27 exception is taken to the expression "No extras or vacations," in which phrase the author directs the substitution of nor; we think the exception is not well taken. In a well written preface and introduction, the design of the work is clearly stated, and considerable valuable knowledge imparted. To those who, being without a very intimate acquaintance with grammar, would like to have the most common errors corrected, we would strongly recommend the present volume.

and plaintive; solemn as a Greek tragedy, and constitutionally inappreciative of a joke. He desires to encourage elegant essays, and deplores, "that the elegance, the gracefulness and beauty, which characterized the

English literature of the eighteenth century, seem al

most foreign to that of the nineteenth!" No, no, T. W. M., not while you wield a pen! T. W. M. has written an article, by way of model, we suppose, upon "Publishers, Critics and Criticism," which oscillates easily between poetry and pathos. He speaks, after long consideration, with a full heart and dim eyes, but without precipitancy, without anger; appealing to Socrates and Plato, Bayle and Montaigne, and other gentlemen who are usually invoked on such occasions. As was remarked of an equally classical author, "he has roamed with old Romulus, soaked with old Socrates, and ripped with Euripides." The learning of T. W. M is but little, if any, superior to his modesty and, perhaps, his sensibility. He lays down the law to critics. Besides many other qualifications, he says that the critic "ought to be able to present the readers of his journal with a clear and succinct view of the latest discoveries made in Pompeii and Herculaneum, in Babylon and Nineveh." Now this is reasonable, but it does not go far enough. The Critic should know more, a great deal more; he should know all about the discoveries which are going to be made, not only in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but elsewhere; in Mexico and Timbuctoo, Patagonia and Peru. The critic should know what is good for the toothache, and possess an infallible remedy for rheumatism. T. W. M. also desires that critics should not give long notices of light literature, but, "an analytic view of that Philosopher's [Plato] ideas of the soul's immortality;" and he says, "To nine-tenths of the community, an ably written article on the empirical philosophy of Hume, in review of his essays, would be highly instructive and acceptable; while whole pages, selected at random or with care, from the contents of some stupid novel, will fail to interest one out of every twenty, upon whose reluctant attention they are forced."

With all respect for T. W. M., we think that "whole pages from some stupid novel" would fail to interest more than one out of twenty, whether the pages were selected from the contents or from any where else. Our essayist sums up thus:

"Consequently, in a review of Lewes's 'Life of Goethe,' or of Forster's Life and Times of Goldsmith,' for instance, the critic should not presume too much upon the intelligence of his readers. Many of them might, naturally enough, inquire, who, and what was Goethe Hence the critic should place him in the centre, as it were, of a system; around which would revolve the Klopstocks, and Herders, and Schillers of Germany; setting forth the influence which they had upon their country, and the history of literature in general. And so in treating of science, philosophy, and history; the critic ought to be capable of setting forth, not only the views, but the omissions and imperfec

tions also of an author."

We hope these ex cathedra directions will be implicitly obeyed. The result will be anxiously looked

for.

We approach a portion of this essay, near the end, which is so harrowing as to be beyond the consolation of its position. "If you have tears, prepare to shed

them now!"

"The recent contagious infection, of burlesquing

'The Song of Hiawatha,' must, we believe, have rendered obvious the necessity of a reformation in our critical literature. The rapid spread of that disense was alike humiliating, disgraceful, and disheartening; and the sorrow occasioned by it was rendered more intense, from the fact that the critics who thus gloried in detracting from the fame of a genius that nature did not permit them to approach, were unconscious that they were only exposing the superciliousness and naked sterility of their own minds!"

he is better. Let him dry his eyes and look kindly upon nature and his fellows. They are not so very bap after all. Cheer up against colds, catarrhs, and influenzas, and reconsider the matter under the genial influence of a pleasant sun. Or, if that fails, we advise

a mild alterative. T. W. M. could never weep over a parody, even upon "Hiawatha," in a state of bodily health.

TO BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS. To those booksellers and publishers who have advised us of their intention to subscribe, we beg to return our thanks. It is our intention to discontinue the sending of the CRITERION to all who do not express their desire to receive it; the better way to do which is to remit the amount of subscription. The "Trude" are allowed a discount of one-third from the regular

rates.

During the progress of the first volume of the CRITERION, subscriptions will be received for any time less than a year, at the rate of $3 per annum. This will afford an opportunity of becoming familiar with the paper without the necessity of pre-paying for a longer period than may be considered requisite.

New York and Brooklyn, at Six Cents per week. The CRITERION will be delivered by carriers in Those wishing to subscribe will please leave their names at the office, No. 113 Nassau Street.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

J. O. B.-We shall not be able to avail ourselves of our correspondent's offer. All the departments of this paper are filled. X. Y. Z.-We do not exactly "profess to be a kind of middleman between publishers and the public," but have no objection to give what information we may have for the benefit of the Scribbling"

brotherhood. To get your MS. pronounced upon, take it to a publisher whom, in your good sense, you consider to be one that can appreciate your work, and then, as far as your modesty will permit, pour into his reluctant ear as vivid an idea as you can ex

press of its merits. You must then leave it with him, and discharge the matter entirely from your mind for at least six months, when you may address a note, politely inquiring "whether, amid his many occupations, he has found leisure," &c. This sort of note may be repeated at quarterly intervals, until the MS. be either acdential interviews with the publisher, upon the terms, which we leave entirely to yourself.

cepted or returned. If accepted, you will have, of course, confi

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

DOMESTIC.

G. P. PUTNAM & Co., New York, are to reprint from early sheets "Letters from the United States, Canadas, and Cuba," by the Hon. Miss Murray, Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria. "Prof. Gray's Plates to the Botany of the U. S. Exploring Expedition." Folio, colored, $30. (Nearly ready.) The Text, vol. 1, 4to., $10. Vegetable Physiology, for Schools." 12mo. (in Feb"Prof. Gray's Lessons in Botany and ruary.) "Prof. Gray's Manual of the Botany of the Northern States." New revised edition, 1 vol. small 8vo., uniform with the Botanical Text-Book.

J. C. DERBY, N. Y., is to publish "The Lion Hunter of Algeria, with tales of the Chase in Northern Africa," translated from the French of Jules Gerard, by Charles E. Whitehead.

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, N. Y., have in press "Evening Incense," by the author "Morning and Night Watches."

FOWLERS & WELLS, N. Y., announce "Aids and Aims for Girls and Young Women," by Rev. S, G. Weaver; Essay on Party," by Phillip C. Frieze; and "The Alcoholic Controversy." By R. S. Trall, M.D.

BUNCE & BROTHER, N. Y., will publish on the 15th "Our Cousin Veronica; or, Scenes and Adventures over the Blue Ridge," by Mary Elizabeth Wormely.

LITERARY GOSSIP.

CHARLES DICKENS ON AMERICA.-In the "Holly. Tree Inn," a new Christmas Story, Dickens thus refers to American Hotels. The close of the passage is in accordance with the comprehensive humanity and genial nature of this good and brilliant writer. Some years since, displeased by an excess of sensitiveness on the part of the American public, Dickens permit ted slander to usurp the place of legitimate satire, and drew an offensive and very untrue sketch of this country and people. Yet, with all its exaggeration, there was a suggestiveness in the picture, not without a lesson. After many years he deliberately records his sentiments concerning the Americans.

cessfully defended Gibraltar. He could remember our differences with our American colonies, and the battles of Bunker's Hill, Brandywine, and Germantown, as well as a man now in manhood can remember the three glorious days of July and the Polish insurrection. To have lived in the days of General Washington, and to have heard discussions as to the propriety of admitting the independence of the North American Provinces, and to have been alive but yesterday, seems well nigh an impossibility; but such was the case of Samuel Rogers. When he opened his eyes upon the world, that great and powerful country, which is now known as the United States of North America, was but an insignificant dependence of the mother country-a something not so important as the Antilles, even in their forlorn condition, are at the present moment. They were just rising to be somewhat of a little more significance than the "plantations" to which Defoe smuggled off the troublesome characters in his fictitious tales. They now constitute one of the most powerful States in the comity of nations. Let us take another test-that of our Indian empire. But three or four years before the birth of the subject of these remarks Colonel Clive fought the battle of Plassy, and laid the foundation of it. He lived through the government of India by Warren Hastings, and, being in London at the time, could well understand the discussions which took place upon the subject of the India bill. The battle of Assaye found him a man forty years of age. He was in full possession of his faculties when Lords Hardinge and Gough won their victories in North-western India, but the other day. It would be superfluous to lay before our readers any contrast between the dates of other political events at which this remarkable man must have assisted, at least as an intelligent spectator. Let them carry back their minds to the days of Wilkes and the Duke of Grafton, and remember but the mere names of the statesmen who have administered the affairs of the country from that time to the present, and they will have present to their recollection a list of the associates and friends of the late Mr. Rogers. As might be expected, his more intimate associations were naturally with the leading men of the liberal party, but such was his courtesy of temper and of manner that he was received upon a friendly footing even by those with whom he was known to differ on points of political principle. A mere politician he never was at any period of his career.

It is, however, to the literary history of the century we must mainly look for a correct appreciation of Rogers's career. He not only outlived two or three generations of men, but two or three literary styles. The Poet of Memory, as he has been called, must not be rashly judged by the modern student, whose taste has been partly exalted, partly vulgarized, by the performances of later writers-we are speaking of a contemporary of Dr. Johnson. Rogers must have been a young man some twenty years old when the great lexicographer died, and therefore a great portion of Johnson's writings must have been to him contemporary literature. Let those who are inclined to cavil at the gentler inspirations of Rogers, think for a moment upon what English poetry was between the deaths of Goldsmith and Johnson, and the appearance of Walter Scott's first great poem. Cowper redeems the solitary waste from absolute condemnation as the most unfortunate epoch in our literature. Rogers no doubt formed his style upon earlier models, but he was no servile copyist; he could feel, without any tendency to apish imitation, the beauties of such authors as Dryden and Pope. The poem by which his name is principally known to the public will always remain as among the classical pieces of English literature, while some of his smaller poems will never cease to hang in the memory of men while the English language is understood. This, however, is not the proper place for entering upon any critical disquisition as to the literary merits of the remarkable man who has just terminated his long career. Our intention reaches no further than to call attention to the remarkable duration of his life, and to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of a man who richly deserved it. Among the many remarkable points which may be mentioned in his career, considered as that of a literary man, the fact should be particularized that during the greater portion of his life he was a wealthy banker in the city of London. It must have been by an extraordinary combination of position, of intellectual and social qualities, of prudence and of wisdom, that the same man who was the friendly rival of Byron, of Wordsworth, and Scott, talked finance with Huskisson and Peel upon equal terms, exchanged bon mots with Talleyrand, and was the friend of all the eminent men and of many of the indigent and miserable who flourished

and suffered during three parts of a century. Such a man was Samuel Rogers.-London Times.

MUSIC.

MUSICAL. The opera season closed but last week with Mozart's "Don Giovanni; " produced for the first time during this season, and performed by all the principal artists of the company; La Grange appeared as Donna Anna, Mme. Didiee, as Zerlina; Miss Hensler, as Elvira; Morelli, as Don Giovanni; Rovere, as Leperello, and Salviani as Ottavio. La Grange showed her great versatility of talent, in appearing in a character so different from the other role in the same opera (that of Zerlina) in which she had enchanted us last season. Mme. Didiee sang really very finely, and especially in the "Vedrai Carino," exhibited great taste and elegance. The beautiful Miss Hensler looked bewitching in the becoming black velvet riding habit, and equally fascinating as she leaned out of the window in the serenade scene; her singing was very sweet, but she did not seem to be fully conversant with her part. Morelli's Don Giovanni might have been better, and the Leperello of Rovere was one of the finest features of the entire opera. Salviani did not add to his reputation by his performance of Ottavio. With the closing of this season, another instance is added to the already long list of operatic failures. Mr. Paine, the manager, it is well known, has lost very heavily through his efforts to establish opera amongst us, and although he did not enter upon the management with any idea of making money, of course, he had expected a reasonable share of public patronage to enable him to pay expenses at least. Under this impression, he engaged as fine a troupe as we have ever had here, and produced his operas in a style of completeness hitherto unequalled on this continent. Witness the "Prophet!" What could be finer than that? The scenery was not surpassed by even the opera houses of London and Paris; the music was splendidly sung, and yet the opera was performed only nine times, and scarcely one of those nine performances paid expenses. There is one thing certain we shall never have a more liberal and self-sacrificing manager than Mr. Paine-never one who is more devoted to art, and who will manage an opera, from love of music, and not from a desire to make a successful pecuniary speculation. And yet with all this Mr. Paine has chiefly himself to blame for the failure of the season. It was in a great measure owing to the exorbitantly high rates of admission charged at the commencement of the season, and which Mr. Paine insisted on maintaining against the advice of those who had more experience than himself, that the season did not pay. The rates were lowered, it is true, but not until it was too late; the prestige was gone, and the public were indignant, for they saw that the reduction had been made only from utter necessity, and not from any desire to accommodate them. It appears (as very probably was the case) that an effort was made to make the opera select, and then on finding this impossible, the doors were, as a last resort, reluctantly opened to the plebeians; but the plebeians were angry, as well they might be, and snapped their fingers, and let the opera alone, and so the opera failed, as it always will in this country, if it is attempted to confine it to any particular clique. Even one dollar, the reduced price of admission, is a high charge; the charter of the Academy of Music provides for the performance of operatic and other mu sical performance, at reasonable prices, for the instruction and entertainments of the masses. This has not been done yet, and consequently the Academy of Music has really and legally forfeited its charter.

Another great mistake has been made in the selection of the company. No troupe ever requires more than one contralto, and yet last season, we have had no less than four, Mesdames Didiee, Martini D'Ormy, Ventaldi and Aldini, each of them fully capable of sustaining the contralto parts in all the operas recently produced. One of these ladies (Mme. Ventaldi) though a superior singer and actress, has only appeared once, and that on a stormy evening when the house was almost empty. Another (Mlle. Aldini) has only had an opportunity of appearing in one character, and that, one not at all adapted to her style and physique, and Mme. Didiee is the only one of the four, that has been allowed to appear to advantage. Then there have been two first class barytones, and no basso worth mentioning, excepting, perhaps, Gasparoni, who, though possessed of a good style, a splendid and dignified bearing, and daily improving in his singing, is by no means a first class basso. Yet he is infinitely better than the artist imported to fill the vacancy in this company.

66

Perhaps, next season, Mr. Paine having had more experience will be enabled to cover his expenses, or at least not lose so much as he has done lately. Probably the novelty of Arditi's Americo-Italian Opera, The Spy," will have an effect in attracting the public, We sincerely hope it way be so, but at the same time, the failure of the season just closed, again convinces us, that until the opera is placed on a broad democratic platform with low rates of admission, with both English and Italian performances alternating, so as to have the house open on every evening of the week, like other theatres, (as suggested by an able writer in the daily Tribune) the opera never will succeed here.

"PLYMOUTH COLLECTION of hymns and tunes for theuse of Christian Congregations," is thetitle of a volume of some five hundred pages, recently published by Barnes & Co., and edited by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. This work is now used in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, and its peculiarity consists in having the music of one tune printed on each alternate page, the next page containing the words of different hymns adapted to that particular tune. The hymns are gathered from the collections of every Christian denomination, even from the Roman Catholic; for, as the editor remarks in his preface, "there are certain hymns of the Sacrifice of Christ, of utter and almost soul-dissolving yearning for the benefits of His mediation, which none could write so well as a devout and truly pious Roman Catholic." This is probably the most copious collection ever published for congregational use, the work comprising thirteen hundred and seventy-four different hymns-the tunes number some two hundred and fifty, neatly and legibly printed. The musical portion of the work has been under the charge of Mr. Zundel, formerly organist of Plymouth Church, and Rev. Charles Beecher.

As a book adapted for congregational singing, it is the fullest and best extant; but whether congregational singing will be much aided by it, is an entirely different question. Very few among the present congregations of our churches can read a note of music, and to such the tunes printed in this work are useless. Our young people, however, are generally paying more attention to music, and the Plymouth Collection will be more useful to the next generation, than the present.

MISCELLANEA.

THE COMMUNITY OF GAULT.

This community was composed of seven families, all springing from the same source, and bearing the same name. Lands, flocks, and houses belonged to all alike, and the labor of each went into the common fund. The daughters who married out of the community, were paid a marriage-portion of about fifty-five pounds, but they could come back again in case of widowhood or desertion. Those women who married into the community did not lose their dower in the common funds, and they could always retake it if they were left widows, and wished to return to their friends. The father left no private heritage to his children, only the rights belonging to all the members of the community. The authoriHe and the aide who ty of the chief was absolute. was to succeed him, managed the whole affairs of the association; apportioned the work, regulated the internal arrangements of a jarring household, bought and sold, and in all things exercised unlimited and unquestioned authority. He ate at a table apart, with his aide; the rest of the family together in the hall. Each section of these seven families lived in a separate part of the house, and the principal part of their furniture was provided out of the common funds. Linen, clothes, and smaller matters came out of the wife's dot, or any private work they might have done. The chief used to distribute fax and linen, &c., produced by the community, to each mother of a family, and she used to spin and make the clothes of her own separate household. was irreproachable in its morals. Prudent, sober, honest, virtuous, it set an example to the whole district, and was regarded as the moral mirror of Saint Bénin des Bois. But things changed. In eighteen hundred and sixteen, Stephen, or Etienne, son of François, then master of the community, withdrew ; giving the first example during five hundred years, of any one voluntarily renouncing the advantages of the community of Gault. He received the same sum as a woman's marriage-portion-fifty-five pounds, and went off with it. In eighteen hundred and forty-three, François, son of this Étienne, a youth who had been born and brought up out of the community, sued the members of the association before the Court of Nevers for his share. Judgment was

Gault

given in his favor, not as the representative of his father, whose affairs had been duly settled, but as the heir by representation of his grandfather François and of his grandmother, both of whom had died in the community after the retirement of Étienne. The Court of Bourges, where the case was carried, in appeal from the decision of that of Nevers, quashed this verdict, and upheld the community. But the internal dissension to which the case had given rise, broke up the unity and good feeling of the whole, and in eighteen hundred and forty-six, the community of Gault had ceased to exist. An old and intelligent member gave the following version of the

affair.

ther Nicé.

Scottish

caress.

GALRAVICHES.

J. W. P.

Galraviches," as these drinking bouts were called, are well known to all acquainted with "the annals of the bottle," and the one in which Garscadden took his last draught, has been often

told. The scene occurred iu the wee clachan of

Law, where a considerable number of Kilpatrick lairds had congregated for the ostensible purpose of talked and better drank, when one of them, about talking over some parish business. And well they the dawn of morning, fixing his eyes on Garscadden, remarked that he was " looking unco gash." Upon which Kilmardinny coolly replied, "Deil mean him, since he has been wi' his maker these twa hours!

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

AMERICA.

ADAMS.-The Communion Sabbath. By Nehemiah Adams,
D.D. 12mo., pp. 208. [J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston,] Cloth.
$1.00.
ALSOP. The Charms of Fancy; A Poem in Four Cantos,
With Notes. By Richard Alsop. Edited from the Original
Manuscripts, with a Biographical Sketch of the Author.
By Theodore Dwight. 12mo. [D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.]

$1. APPLETON'S British Poets, vol. 18.-Containing the Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett. In 1 vol. 8vo., pp. 254, large type [D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.] Cloth, $1; or, calfextra, $250.

AUNT MARTHA.-More Truth than Fiction; or, Stories for

Little Folks at Home. By Aunt Martha. 18mo., pp. 110. [J. French & Co., Boston.] 50 cents.

BARNES.-The Way of Salvation, illustrated in a series of Dis

courses. By Albert Barnes. 12mo., pp. 474. [Parry & CAREY.-The Slave Trade-Domestic and Foreign: Why it McMillan, Phil] Cloth, $1. Exists, and How it may be extinguished. By H. C. Carey. Second edition, [Parry & McMillan, Philadelphia.]

all the surviving members. His government was wise and respected. He had the entire disposition of the common property, which he divided justly amongst all, according to the needs of each. The members on their side performed with a good grace the labors he assigned to them, sure that the master who had seen them all grow up around him, and who had always treated them as his own children, knew better than they what was right to do. In a word he ruled well, and all were submissive to him. "During his lifetime Father Nicé chose Étienne le Gault, called le Petit-Tienne, brother of my grand (father), whom he took about everywhere with him, and who succeeded him. Under the administration of Master Petit-Tienne all remained as in the past; things went only by the orders of the mas

ter.

"But under François, my grand (sic), who died towards eighteen hundred and thirty, aged eightyfour years, the spirit of insubordination crept into the community; the young men became proud, and would no longer listen to their elders, whom they wished to guide; seeing which Father François often said, 'A hundred devils, my children, you will see that you will no longer prosper.'

From this time, and under Master Claude, who closed the list of the masters of the community, things went from bad to worse; religious duties were forgotten; the young men began to swear; they would only work according to their own fancy for the community, diverting all that they could, either in work or of other common property, to the advantage of their own private possessions, though the laws forbad the direct cultivation of these. They also arrogated to themselves the right of requiring the accounts, and of watching over the partition of the harvests and produce. From thence distrust, and often quarrels. And from this time the days of calm and of happiness which the community had known disappeared without return."-Household Words.

good company."-Glasgow and its Clubs.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[We notice a disposition on the part of the press to copy the matter in this column without crediting the CRITERION therefor. Editors will oblige us by correcting this impropriety]

THE word barbarous, about the derivation of which some of your correspondents have been curious of late, was doubtless originally used by the Greeks to designate those who spokǝ a different language from themselves Though the word Bapßapos itself is not used by Homer, it appears in the Iliad in composition with own in the adjective Bapẞapopwvos (Kapwv hynσato Bapẞapopwvwr), and its employment in this form goes to strengthen the hypothesis. The original signification of the word had probably been lost sight of when it was adopted by the Romans; but Ovid reproduces it in its primitive sense when he speaks of himself as a barbarian among the Getæ, because his language was not understood See Grote's Greece, Part II., Chap. II. Its derivation is not so clear; but, considering its antiquity and original meaning, is it not likely that the form of the word (and especially the duplication of the syllable Bap) had reference to the confused sound which a foreign language would present to the ears of those unaccustomed to it? In this respect it may be consid ered analagous to the English word gibberish,

A. B.

"The full title and imprint of this curious paper are All Alive and Merry; or, the London Daily Post. London: Printed for A. Merryman, and sold by the Hawkers.' It consisted of a small folio half-sheet, having three columns of letter-press on each side; and several specimens of it may be seen in the late Dr. Burney's Collection of Newspapers in the British Museum, Vol. III. for 1741. It is probable that the "London Gazette" may be considered the origin of most of the cheap and popular news journals of the last century, since the name of the paper was derived from one first published at Venice, the price of which was a coin called a Gazet; which, says Croyat in his "Crudities," Lond. 1776, svo., Vol. II., p. 15, "is almost a penny, whereof ten do make a liver, that is, ninepence." The first of this paper printed in England, su perseded the "Intelligence and News," conducted by Roger L'Erange, Esq., and appeared in 1665; No.1 containing the public events from Nov. 7-14th, under the title of the Oxford Gazette," it being published in that city every Thursday, since the Court was assembled there on account of the plague being in London. It was, however, also reprinted in the metropolis, and, upon the removal of the Court, the name was altered to that of the "London Gazette;" the first of which, No. 24, Feb. 1st-5th, 1665-66, was published on a Monday. Those papers, however, the names of which were expressive of their price, do not seem to have been published until half a century afterwards; but on July 19th, 1715, appeared No. 1 of 'The Penny Post;' on March 13th, following, No. 1 of The Penny Post; or, Tradesman's Select Pacquet;' on October 19th, 1720, No. 1 of the Penny Weekly Journal; or, Saturday Evening's Entertainment; and in 1724-25, a yet cheaper publication was printed, called The Halfpenny London Journal; or, The British Oracle;' whilst three other Halfpenny Posts were published three times every week. Nichols's 'Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century,' London, 1812, 8vo. Vol. I., page 312; Vol. IV., pages 58, 86, 89, 90, 92, 94. The Farthing Posts, however, appear chiefly to have been in circulation during the years 1740-43, and in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for November, 1740, Vol. X., 557, 558, the Craftsman' of November 22d, complains that the reve nue was greatly defrauded by the printers and publishers of Halfpenny and Farthing Posts, which were publicly vended about the streets, without stamps, in equal defiance both of the law and the penalty. It is added, that though they had been frequently informed against, yet that the persons con. cerned in them were supposed to be such poor, low wretches,' living in obscure parts of the town, or in the Rules of the Fleet, and other prisons, that their discovery would be difficult; whilst a suspicion is also hinted, that they were supported by persons in power against the opposition papers and publishers. In plate IV. of the Rake's Progress,' Hogarth has introduced a boy intently occupied in reading a paper, on which is inscribed The Farthing Post,' The stamping of newspapers on single sheets, or half sheets, first took place on August 2d, 1712."

Officers and Institutions in Connecticut, for 1856. 18mo., pp. 192. [F. A. Brown, Hart.] 50 cents. EWBANK THOMAS.-A Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and other machines for raising water, ancient and modern; illustrated by nearly three hundred engrav ings. Fourteenth edition revised and corrected-to which is added a supplement by Thomas Ewbank. 8vo. 608 pp. [J. C. Derby, N. Y.]

FAMILY PASTIME; or, Homes made Happy. A collection of games for the Social Circle. 16mo. 222. pp. [Bunee & Bro., N. Y.] Cloth. FAMOUS Stories about Fairies and other Funny People, with illustrations. 16mo. pp. 303. [Ticknor & Fields, Boston.] Cloth. 75 cents. 6 neat vols. in case.

FOLLEN (Mrs)-Twilight Stories.

smith.

16mo. [Whittemore & Co., Boston.] GIBBE'S Documentary History of the American Revolution: consisting of Letters and Papers relating to the Contest for Liberty, chiefly in South Carolina. From Originals in the possession of the Editor, and other sources. 1764-1776, Edited by R. W. Gibbe's, M.D. 8vo. pp. 292. [D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.] Cloth. $150. GOLDSMITH.-The Deserted Village, a Poem by Oliver Gold12mo, (D Appleton & Co., N. Y] cloth, $1 50. GOODRICH-The Bible History of Prayer, with Practical Reflections, by Charles A. Goodrich. 12mo. pp. 384. [J. P. Jewett & Co.] Post, cloth. $100. HARRIS.-A Lyric of the Golden Age. By Rev. Thomas L. Harris. 417 pp. Partridge & Brittan, N. Y.] $150. HEADLEY.-The Sacred Plains of the Bible. By J. H. Headley. 12mo., illustrated, pp. 240. [Wanzer, McKim & Co., Buffalo.] Cloth. HEWET'S Illuminated Household. Stories for Little Folks, with fine illustrations by Thwaites.-No. 3. Puss in Boots, No. 4. Little Red Riding Hood. No. 5. Jack and the Bean Stalk. No 6. Tom Thumb. Each 25 cents; or, in muslin, gilt edges, 50 cents each. [D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.] HUNT.-Glances and Glimpses; or, Fifty Years' Social, including twenty years' Professional Life. By Harriot K. Hunt, M.D. 12mo., pp. 418. [J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston.] Cloth, $1. IRVING.-Life of George Washington, By Washington Irving. Vol. 2, pp. 519. [G, P. Putnam & Co., N. Y.] Cloth, $2. KNOWLES-The dramatic works of James Sheridan Knowles. 2 vols., 12mo. [C. Routledge & Co., N. Y.] Cloth, $3. LITTLE Paul, and other Stories. By Lizzie Amory. 16mo., pp. 113. [Whittemore & Co., Boston.] Cloth, 38 cents. MACAULAY.-The History of England, from the accession of James II. By T. Babington Macaulay. Vols. 3 and 4. [Harper & Brothers, N. Y.] 8vo., $3; 12mo., $125; paper,

50 cents.

MAHAN. The Healing of the Nations, a Sermon preached in St. Peter's Church, Albany, on Thanksgiving Day, Novem ber 29, 1855, by M. Mahan, D. D. 8vo., pp. 22. (J. Munsell, Albany.] 10 cents.

MOODIE.-Geoffrey Moncton; or, The Faithless Guardian. My Mrs. Moodie. [Dewitt & Davenport, N. Y.] $1. OLIVER-The Historical Landmarks, and other Evidences of Freemasonry, explained in a series of Practical Lectures, with copious notes, by the Rev. S. Oliver, D. D., with numerous illustrations. 2 vols. in one, 8vo. [J. W. Leonard & Co., N. Y.] $250.

ORTON.-Camp Fires of the Red Men; or, a Hundred Years
Ago. By J. R. Orton, 12mo., pp. 401. [J. C. Derby, New
York.] $1.
O'CALLAGHAN.-History of New Netherland; or, New York
under the Dutch. By E. B. O'Callaghan, M.D. Second
Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. [D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.] $5.
PICTURES of Comical People, with Stories about them. For
children of all ages. Illustrated. 16mo., pp. 364. [C. S.
Francis & Co., N. Y.; Cloth, 75 cents.
PLYMOUTH Collection of Hymns. Edited by Henry Ward
Beecher. 8vo. [A. S Barnes & Co., N. Y.] 75 cents.
READ-The House by the Sea. A Poem. By Thomas Bu-
chanan Read. 16mo., pp. 152. [Parry & McMillan, Phil.]

Cloth, 75 cents.

By

RUSSIAN Empire; its Resources, Government, and Policy. By "A Looker-on" from America. 12mo. pp. 390, [Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co. Cloth. $1 25. SABBATH Talks with the Little Children about Jesus. 18mo. pp. 130. [J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston.] Cloth. 38 cents. SHAKSPEAREAN Oracle. Edited by J. C.Mills. 12mo. pp. 147. [Bunce & Bro., N. Y.] Cloth, gilt, 75 cents. SIGOURNEY.-Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands. Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. New edition, 12mo. pp. 394. [J. Munroe & Co., Boston.] Cloth, $1 25. SOUTHWORTH.-The Discarded Daughter. By Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth. A new edition. 12mo. pp. 412. [T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia.] Cloth, $1 25. STUART-Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the Martyr-Spy of the American Revolution. By J. W. Stuart. 12mo. pp. 230 [F. A. Brown, Hartford.] 75 cents. SUNBEAM Stories.-By the author of "A Trap to catch a Sunbeam," &c., &c. With Illustrations. 12mo. pp. 397. [J. Munroe & Co., Boston.] Cloth, $1 13. WALKER-Jackson and New Orleans. An Authentic Narrative of the memorable Achievements of the American Army under Andrew Jackson, before New Orleans, in the winter of 1814-15. By Alexander Walker. 12mo. pp. 411. [J. C. Derby, N. Y.] $100. ZAIDEE: a Romance. From Blackwood's Magazine. 8vo. Pp. 178. [J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston.] Paper 38 cents.