LITERARY RECORD.

'We have perused, and for the most part with critical attention, the volumes namned below. A lack of time and space, however, prevents more than the mere 'record,' which the title of this department indicates, of their general character.

'AN EXPEDITION OF DISCOVERY INTO THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA,' is the title of two volumes from the press of Messrs. CAREY AND HART. The reader follows the traveller, Capt. ALEXANDER, through the hitherto undiscovered countries of Great Namaquas, Boschman, and Hill Damara; and but for certain minuteness of detail, and the introduction of divers small matters, he will find the journey interesting, and his company agreeable. There is certainly much of new and valuable information in the volumes, and hence we may commend them as worthy of general perusal. The same publishers have issued, in two volumes, 'NAPOLEON'S MEMOIRS; Evenings with Prince Cambarces. By Baron LANSON.' It needs but the thousand and one passages from this work, which have found their way into American journals from English periodicals and newspapers, to attest the romantic interest and agreeable variety which are their national and literary characteristics.

'MANUAL OF CONCHOLOGY, according to the system laid down by LAMARCK, with the late improvements by M. de BLAINVILLE. Exemplified and arranged for the use of Students. By THOMAS WYATT, M. A.' This is a beautifully-executed volume, from the press of the Brothers' HARPER, illustrated by thirty-six colored plates, containing more than two hundred types, drawn from the natural shell. The whole is a free translation of LAMARCK's system, simplified, and will be found greatly to facilitate the study of a beautiful and interesting science, by divesting it of numerous technicalities, and by dividing it into four classes, to each of which are assigned its various families, to each family its genera, and to each genus its living species; thus making it plain, and within the reach of the meanest capacity. The work is an easy introduction to the science, being unincumbered by numerous divisions and subdivisions, which only serve to perplex and hinder the student. The publishers, we remark, have in press a work by the same author, on Natural History, for the use of schools, in which is comprised a synopsis of all the branches of that beautiful study.

'BABYLON.' - A poem by a young writer, C. W. EVEREST, Esq., of Hartford, (Conn.,) thus entitled, and containing certain pencilled passages, having been 'clandecently' taken from our table or apartment, we are unable to do more than record our remembrance of its merits and defects. With a good deal of imagination, ease of rhythm, and correct measure, there were associated occasional negligences, which we had designed to point out, in a spirit of candor and kindness, to the clever and promising young writer. One or two songs, in a measure differing from the main poem, we call to mind, as especially felicitous, while to the whole may be awarded, under the circumstances, much encouragement and praise. We may look with confidence, if we do not misjudge, for a higher and more sustained flight, from one whose spring is so full of promise.

PELAYO: A STORY OF THE GOTH. - This latest novel of the popular author of 'Mellichampe,' 'The Yemassee,' 'Guy Rivers,' etc., reaches us, by some inadvertance, not to say negligence, at so late an hour, that we are unable to notice it in detail. We have given it, however, a cursory examination, and are free to say, that such novelreaders as kindle at passionate language, and stirring dramatic incident, will find in these volumes a welcome treat. The writer has departed, in some few instances, from what is usually received as history, yet not so materially as to take from his work the character of a historical romance. The volumes are distinguished, in their externals, by the neatness which is a characteristic of all the works from the press of the publishers, the BROTHERS HARPER.

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN. — The 'juvenile portion of the community' are not a little indebted to Mr. JOHN S. TAYLOR, Park-Row, for the many beautiful, entertaining, and instructive volumes, which he is from time to time putting forth, for their pleasure and improvement. Among his late issues, are two, which are especially intended as Christmas presents. They are entitled 'Stories from Scripture,' and 'Moral Lessons and Stories,' and are beautifully printed, and illustrated by that prince of wood-engravers, ADAMS, in his best style. Both in externals and matter, they deserve warm commendation. The same publisher has issued two little books, of a similar character, entitled 'The Lofty and the Lowly Way,' and the 'Triumph of Faith, and Songs of Heaven.' RELIGIOUS ANNUALS. We had intended an elaborate notice of two native annuals, of distinguished merit, the CHRistian KeepksaKE, and the RELIGIOUS SOUVENIR ; but important avocations have prevented. The first-named, and the largest volume, is edited by Rev. JOHN A. CLARK, Philadelphia, and illustrated in the first style of American art. Its literary contents, it may be remarked, are in good keeping with its externals. The 'Souvenir' is edited by Mrs. SIGOURNEY, which is an abundant guaranty for the excellence of its literary department; while the engravings and typographical execution sustain the high character which the work has hitherto enjoyed.

'EVENINGS AT HOME.'-THE LIFE OF CHRIST.- 'Evenings at Home, or the Juvenile Budget Opened,' is the title of a handsome volume, of some four hundred quarto pages, most liberally and beautifully ornamented and illustrated, by ADAMS; the contents, varied and interesting, by Dr. AIKIN and Mrs. BARBAULD. This is, in every respect, a very agreeable and handsome Christmas-Gift. Its publishers, the BROTHERS HARPER, have also issued, in a similar dress, and with a like number and character of adornments, "The Life of CHRIST, in the Words of the Evangelists: a complete Harmony of the Gospel History of our SAVIOUR; for the use of young persons.'

"THE MIDDY, Or Scenes from the Life of EDWARD LASCELLES,' is the title of a novel in two volumes, from the press of Messrs. CAREY AND HART. We have little hesitation in pronouncing it one of the best sea-novels of the season. The style of the work is good, the descriptions graphic, and the grouping of the incidents artist-like and dramatic. The many imitations of 'Peter Simple,' which have been spawned upon the public, have made us suspicious of this species of composition; but a few such works as the one before us, would go far toward mitigating the most confirmed distaste.

'THE CHRISTMAS GIFT,' published by APPLETON, is one of the cleverest annuals of the season. It is absolutely crowded with various delightful pictorial conceits, from the pencil of CHAPMAN. We need only say of its literary contents, that they bear incontestable evidence of having been furnished by one who has before contributed to American literature an equally pleasant 'Salmagundi.'

'COUNTRY STORIES.' Here are twelve charming stories, by Miss MITFORD, each one of which is worth more than the trifling sum demanded for the volume. A cheerful spirit, a fine eye for the beautiful in nature, and the graceful pen of a ready writer, have so long been associated with the name of this clever authoress, that it were a work of supererogation to commend her sketches to favorable acceptance.

EXHIBITION AT THE BARCLAY-STREET ACADEMY. -The fine pictures by Dubufe, of Don Juan, Haidee, and Lambro,' 'The Circassian Slave,' 'St. John in the Desert,' and 'The Princess of Capua,' have already been mentioned, in terms of deserved praise, in these pages. To this distinguished collection are now added, 'The Destruction of Jerusalem,' a noble production of WICHELO, and 'The Revolt in Paris,' by GIRAUD.

CHESTERFIELD. -The Brothers' HARPER have published, in a large and handsome volume, of six hundred and fifty pages, "The Works of LORD CHESTERFIELD, including his 'Letters to his Son,' etc.; to which is prefixed an Original Life of the Author. First complete American edition.' The mere title of this work, indicates its character.

THE FINE ARTS: 'DUNLAP EXHIBITION,' STUYVESANT INSTITUTE. — - Here are upward of two hundred pictures, very many of them of the rarest beauty and value, from the pencils of eminent masters, which we should be glad to notice in detail, but for the fact, that we have small space, and would at once direct the reader to the exhibition, which will remain open only a brief period after this Magazine is issued. In addition to the works of modern artists, who (with numerous distinguished possessors, and patrons of the art,) have contributed liberally of their best, there are eminent productions of COPLEY, West, Stuart, and others, altogether making a collection, which it is better worth a dollar than twenty-five cents (the small sum demanded) to procure a sight of. The proceeds are to be devoted to the printing of the valuable history of the 'New-Netherlands,' which was warmly commended in our November number.

PAINTING. In a brief notice, in our last number, of the labors of Mr. HITE, (whose exquisite miniatures of children have excited the admiration of all who have visited his rooms at the Astor House,) we referred, incidentally, to Mr. POWELL, who, ‘upon young shoulders carries the weight of years,' in the matter of art. His portraits deserve all the encomiums which they have received. The picture of Miss TREE, at the Stuyvesant Institute, in color, drawing, and general effect, is such as to cause many to doubt that it is the production of a young gentleman, not twenty years of age; but such is the fact. Yet, excellent as is this portrait, it is not his most felicitous effort. Mr. POWELL's rooms are at No. 90 Chambers-street.

'Audi alteram PARTEM.'- Having given, in our October number, a review, from the pen of J. FENIMORE COOPER, Esq., of LOCKHART's Life of SCOTT, we could not, in justice to another correspondent, decline a communication which takes antagonist ground, and aims to rebut the alleged facts and arguments of the first-mentioned article. Both sides of the question are now before our readers, with whom we leave the decision of the

matter.

MUSIC AND PRInt EstablishmeNT.-Messrs. DAVIS AND HORNE, the latter so well known to the public as a delightful musician and vocalist, have opened an establishment at No. 411 Broadway, for the sale of piano-fortes, musical instruments, music, fine prints, etc. The professional skill and knowledge of the parties, will be a sufficient guaranty of the excellence of their commodities.

TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.- Numerous communications, with several from favorite contributors, bide their time for the new volume, the first number of which, in a new and handsome dress, will appear on the first of January proximo. In addition to the articles and series of articles mentioned in our last, we shall present, in the course of the volume, a spirited manuscript poem, by JOEL BARLOW, author of the Columbiad,' written in 1782, and never before published, together with a series of papers, of the most interesting character, from the private journal of a distinguished professional gentleman of New-York, kept during the years 1794-5-6-7,embracing all the prominent topics and occurrences of that eventful period, together with collateral disquisitions and reflections, of a valuable or entertaining character. The writer was the companion of all the chief men of his time, the KENTS, the MITCHELLS, the WOLSEYS, the JOHNSONS, the DUNLAPS, the WISTARS, with JAMES BROCKDEN Brown, Goodwin, etc.; and the literary performances and social movements of these choice spirits, are faithfully recorded. The author of 'The 'Kushow Property,' 'Hans Carvel,' etc., will accept our thanks for his very acceptable favors; the first of which will appear in our next number. Numerous articles of poetry await their turn, or are under advisement for decision.

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

MEN, BRETHREN, AND FELLOW-CHRISTIANS:

New-York, October 25, 1837.

THE numbers of human beings that every day approach your shores from all parts of the old world, must so familiarize you with the arrival of strangers from every quarter of the globe, as to justify your indifference toward all who do not ask your attention on some special account, since it would be impossible for you to show it to every individual of so countless a multitude, and without some grounds on which to establish exceptions, none could be fairly expected to be made. This consideration, while it will fortify me in the propriety of the step I am taking, will also, I trust, dispose you to lend a favorable attention to a short statement of the circumstances which have driven me to your shores, of the motives which impel me to the course I am pursuing, and of the objects which I hope, under the blessing of Providence, and with your aid and protection, to accomplish.

A train of events, much too numerous to be narrated in detail, occasioned me very early in life to leave my native country, England, and to visit most of the nations of Europe still more of the interior of Asia - many parts of the continent of Africa and some portions also of the two Americas. It was after an active life of some twenty years thus devoted, in which it fell to my lot to traverse, I believe, a larger portion of the earth's surface, and to visit a greater number and variety of countries, than almost any man living of my age, that I settled as a resident in the capital of the British possessions in India, where I remained for several years.

During the voyages and travels that I was permitted to make along the shores of the Mediterranean, amidst the Isles of Greece, in Asia Minor, Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Persia, and India, I had an opportunity of personally inspecting almost all the remarkable cities and monuments of ancient greatness in the several countries named; including the gigantic pyramids, colossal temples, stately obelisks, majestic statues, and gloomy catacombs and sepulchres, which stud the classic banks of the Nile, from Alexandria and Grand Cairo to the cataracts of Syene; the hoary mountains of Horeb and Sinai, and the Desert of Wandering, across which the children of Israel were led from out of the land of Egypt, to the promised Canaan; the plains of Moab and Ammon, with Mount Pisgah, the valley of Jordan, and the Dead Sea; the ruined cities of Tyre and Sidon; the ports of Joppa, Acre, and Cesarea; the villages of Nazareth and Cana of Galilee; the cities of Sechem, Samaria, and Bethlehem; the mountains of Lebanon, Hermon, Tabor, and Carmel; the Mount of Olives and Mount Zion; the holy city of Jerusalem, with all its sacred localities, from the pools of Siloam and Bethesda, near the brook Kedron, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, to the more touching and endearing spots of the Garden of Gethsemane, the Rock of Calvary, and the sepulchre in which the body of our Lord was laid.

While these were the objects of my inspection in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, the Scriptural countries of Syria and Mesopotamia were scarcely less prolific in the abundance of the materials which they presented to my view. In the former were the seaports of Berytus, Byblus, Tripolis, and Laodicea, with the great interior cities of Antioch on the verdant banks of the Orontes, Aleppo on the plains, and the enchanting city of Damascus, whose loveliness has been the theme of universal admiration, from the days of Abraham and Eliezer to those of Naaman the Syrian, and the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and from thence to the present hour: while the great Temple of the Sun at Baalbeck, the splendid ruins of Palmyra, the gorgeous monuments of ancient splendor in the Roman settlements of Decapolis, and the still earlier dominions of those who reigned before either Greek or Roman in Bashan and Gilead, and the regions be

yond Jordan, added splendor to beauty, and combined all that the traveller or antiquary could desire.

Mesopotamia, including the ancient empires of Chaldea, Assyria, and Babylonia, into which I passed from Palestine, largely rewarded my researches. In the former, the celebrated city of Ur of the Chaldees received me within its gates, and I passed many days in this ancient birth-place and abode of the patriarch Abraham. The extensive ruins of Nineveh, spread in silent desolation along the banks of the Tigris, and the fallen Babylon, stretching its solitary heaps on either side of the great river Euphrates, were also objects of patient and careful examination; as well as the Oriental capital of the Caliphs, Bagdad the renowned; and the remains of the great Tower of Babel, on the plain of Shinar, of which a considerable portion still exists to attest the arrogance and folly of its builders.

Media and Persia came next in the order of my wanderings; and there, also, the ruins of the ancient Ecbatana, the tomb of Cyrus at Pasagarda, and the splendid remains of the great temple at Persepolis, gratified in a high degree the monumental and antiquarian taste; while the populous cities of Kermanshah, Ispahan, and Shiraz, with the lovely valleys of Persian landscape, amply fed my love of the beautiful and the picturesque.

In India, as the field was more extended, and the time devoted longer by several years, far more was seen, experienced, and felt. It may suffice, however, to say, that all the outlines of that magnificent 'Empire of the Sun,' from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf on the west, to the Bay of Bengal on the east, were traced by my voyages along its shores; for after navigating, and accurately surveying both the seas named, from Suez to Bab-el-mandeb in the one, and from the mouth of the Euphrates to the port of Muscat in the other, I visited Bombay, and all the ports upon the coast of Malabar; from thence to Colombo and Point de Galle in the Island of Ceylon; afterwards anchored at Madras, and entered the ports of Bimlipatam and Vizagapatam, on the coast of Coromandel and Orissa, in the region of the Idol temple of Juggernaut; and ultimately reached the British capital of India, Calcutta, on the banks of the Ganges. It may readily be conceived that in so extensive and varied a track as this, the personal adventures I experienced were as varied as they were numerous; and I may assert, with confidence, that while privation and suffering had been endured by me in almost every form - in hunger, thirst, nakedness, imprisonment, shipwreck, battle, and disease so also, every pomp and pleasure that man could enjoy, from honors bestowed, and hospitalities received, agreeably relieved the tedium of my way; so that although my course was not invariably on a bed of roses, neither was it always across a path of thorns.

Amid all these changes, however, there was one thing which, in me at least, remained happily the same. No length of travel, no amount of suffering, no blandishments of pleasure, no intimidations of tyranny, no debilitation of climate, no variety of institutions, had been sufficient to abate in me, in the slightest degree, that ardor of attachment to Liberty, civil, political, and religious, which God and Nature implanted in my breast from the cradle-which experience fanned into maturity with manhood - and which Providence, I trust, will keep alive in my heart to the latest period of my advancing age. Animated by this love of Liberty, which you, the people of America, as you know how to cherish among yourselves, will not be disposed to condemn in others, I continued, even under the burning clime and despotic rule of an Eastern tyranny, to think, to feel, and to speak, as every Englishman, proud of his country, his ancestors, and his laws, ought to do, so long as he bears that honored name. For thus presuming to carry with me from the land of my fathers that spirit, which made England for so many years the Hope of the world, and which, infused into the early settlers of your own still freer country, and continued in their proud posterity, makes it now the Asylum and the Home of the Oppressed; for this, and for this alone, I was banished by a summary and arbitrary decree, without trial, hearing, or defence; my property destroyed, to the