starding the author's playful attempt to disarm us, by declaring that his hopes are not all ventured upon poetry, or upon these essays in the art. We congratulate him that it is so, and we congratulate the science to which he has devoted himself. But, though the position of a writer who writes for his own amusement, "And like a little bird sings loud and clear, is both graceful, and generally brings success; yet a book is a book, and as a book it must be dealt with. We greet it with delight, but mark its faults; we prize the treasure we have found, but the specks that mar its lustre must not be overlooked. A new and copious Lexicon of the Latin Language, compiled chiefly from the Magnum Totius Latinitatis Lexicon of Facciolati and Forcellini, and the German works of Scheller and Lueneman. Edited by F. P. Leverett. Boston, J. H. Wilkins, and R. B. Carter, and Hilliard, Gray & Co. New-York, Leavitt, Lord & Co. 1836. pp. 1004. WE greet this book with melancholy interest. The pride and pleasure which we feel in the thought that a work so learned, so elaborate, so admirable in every respect, has proceeded from our country, are sadly alloyed by our regret at the untimely death of its learned editor. Mr. Leverett lived just long enough to carry through the press this work to which he had devoted so much time and labour; and the correction of the final proof sheet was among the last, if not the very last, of his labours. The loss of a man like him, in early manhood too, is not easily replaced. Mr. Leverett's singular modesty and the reserve of his manners obscured his rare merit, or rather concealed it from the observation of the many; and it was not until we saw him no more that we learned fully to appreciate him. He was a man of accurate and profound learning, with none of the arrogance or pedantry of learning. His life was the life of a scholar, laborious but uneventful. He had from his youth devoted himself to the profession of teaching, for which his qualifications were of the highest order. Strict, but consistent in his strictness, and withal perfectly just and impartial, he ensured respect and obedience without forfeiting affection. He had an honourable desire for excellence in his profession, which, no less than his conscientious regard to duty, made him labour indefatigably in his vocation, and give to it all the resources of his mind and all the energies of his vigorous character. Nor was his success disproportioned to his rare merit. Not only were all his scholars admirably trained, and those firm foundations laid in their minds on which alone a solid superstructure of scholarship can be reared; not only did parents esteem it a privilege to have their sons under his charge; but he clevated the profession itself by the learning and talents which he consecrated to it. With a laudable desire to furnish himself with the best materials for the prosecution of his honourable employment, he spent much time, patience, and learning in the preparation of classical school-books. He prepared excellent editions of Juvenal, and Persius, and Cæsar, for the use of schools; and compiled a new Latin tutor, incomparably superior to any thing before it. He also assisted in preparing an edition of Cornelius Nepos. Mr. Leverett's private character was in the highest degree estimable, and even admirable. Perhaps his most conspicuous trait was his uniform and consistent 79 conscientiousness. His life was a perpetual obedience to duty. He reverenced its dictates in the smallest as well as the greatest things. Though his blameless and upright life made every one respect and esteem him, he was not a popular man. His manners were not particularly attractive, and his domestic and laborious habits left him but little time (even if he had had inclination) to cultivate miscellaneous acquaintances; but where he was known, he was loved; and, what is more, where he was best known, he was most loved. His friends reposed entire confidence in him, and leaned upon him as upon one not to be moved or shaken. To many his loss is irreparable; and the void he has left in the community will not soon be filled. His peculiar and unobtrusive style of excellence is as rare as, and more useful than, the more dazzling attributes of mind. Of the eccentric and erratic elements which are so largely mingled up with genius, there is always legitimate excuse for being a little afraid; but in a man like Mr. Leverett there is no room for a shadow of distrust or anxiety. His mind was so sound and vigorous, and he had so much of straight-forward simplicity of character, of moral energy and of directness of purpose, that we felt assured that his progress would have been steadily onward, and that good influences would have beamed from every point of his path. In this Latin Lexicon, the closing labour of Mr. Leverett's life, we have a monument of patient toil quite remarkable in this restless and superficial age. The want of such a manual has long been felt in the community. With nothing have we been more poorly supplied than with vocabularies of the Latin language of a popular character and at a moderate price. The abridgement of Ainsworth, generally used in schools, has but little to recommend it. Dr. Adam, the well-known author of the Roman Antiquities, compiled a much better Latin dictionary, which is however very rarely to be met with, and has, we believe, never been republished in this country. The invaluable work of Facciolati and Forcellini, besides being too bulky for a daily manual of reference, is far too costly for the majority of scholars. Most of the students of Latin in our country were consequently without the scholar's most essential want-a good manual for reference and consultaand their progress could not have been but materially retarded by reason tion; thereof. This want can no longer be felt. We have here a lexicon of the Latin tongue which leaves nothing to be desired; which is full enough for the wants of the most advanced scholar, not too bulky for daily use, and cheap enough to ensure a general circulation. it The most obvious advantage which this Lexicon has over preceding works of the kind, consists in the copiousness of its vocabulary. It is not too much to say, that in this respect it is incapable of improvement, and that it contains every word in the Latin language; not only all those which are to be found in the classical writers, but those less common and obvious ones, which, from their obsoleteness or their technical character, are seldom to be met with. In words and phrases belonging to the civil law, it is particularly rich. Its vocabulary of proper names is also ample. Those who have experienced the vexation of looking for a word in the dictionary and not finding it, will be prepared to appreciate a work in which they may be secure from its recurrence. The true test of a dictionary, however, is its definitions; and in this respect Mr. Leverett's Lexicon will come out triumphant from the most rigid scrutiny. The definitions are at once copious and exact. The connexion is traced between the secondary and the primitive meanings of words, and the shades of distinction between synonymes are clearly explained. The definitions are very fully illustrated by examples, which are generally translated. The accurate scholar will not fail to notice with approbation the attention which has been bestowed upon the adverbs, prepositions, and particles generally. Nor has the editor confined him self to the task of finding an English meaning for every Latin word; in many cases he has gone much farther, and given us the elucidations of an encyclopædia rather than the definitions of a dictionary; and has not hesitated frequently to call in the aid of history, geography, botany, mineralogy, and antiquities to explain allusions and illustrate words and phrases. See, for instance, the words "castra, veles, prætor, labarum, legio," as examples in point. To most of the words a Greek synonyme is also given. This, besides often shedding an unexpected light upon the meaning of a Latin word, is commendable, as helping to make the study of the two languages proceed "pari passu”—a consummation much to be desired. The work is also intended to be used as a Gradus, and the quantity of each syllable is marked with great care and correctness. We hope that this labour on the part of the Editor may have some effect in correcting the barbarous pronunciation so common in our schools and colleges, and which is so grating to well-trained ears. The publishers and printers deserve very great praise for the manner in which this Lexicon is got up; for its paper, the beauty and clearness of the type, and the extreme accuracy with which it has been printed. The greatest pains have evidently been taken to ensure typographical correctness, and it has been attained to a degree which would be remarkable in any country; and which in our own (so far as works of this kind are concerned) is quite unprecedented. In closing this brief and imperfect notice, we feel that we are far from having done justice to the admirable work which is its subject. Indeed, it would require a long and elaborate review fully to expound its merits and its infinite superiority over every other work of the kind. It reflects honour, not only upon every person engaged in its preparation, but upon our country; and we have all a just right to feel proud that a work so learned, so correct, so elaborate, is the result of American ability and industry, and American enterprise. Wherever the Latin language is studied and the English language spoken, it will be received with grateful acknowledgements. No scholar will feel that his library is perfect without a copy. Especially and with peculiar delight will it be hailed by those who are in the more advanced stages of their classical education to young men in colleges and the older lads in schools and academies. To them it will be a friend indeed, disentangling what is involved, illumining what is dark, and giving them such help as the generation that went before them knew nothing of. To us the harmonious couplets of Virgil, and the golden periods of Cicero, are things to be remembered rather than enjoyed; but in those days, when they were a familiar presence, we should have hailed this Lexicon as a voice from heaven, answering the questions and resolving the doubts which Ainsworth has prudently declined noticing. - That this Lexicon must immediately drive every other dictionary out of the market, we cannot for a moment entertain a doubt. Books, far inferior to this, have in other countries made the fortune of editors and publishers; and that the like good luck may attend upon this work, we most devoutly hope. It would be but a fair return for the ability displayed in it, and it is high time that literary talent should cease to be at such discount in the market as it has hitherto been in our country. Mr. Midshipman Easy, by the Author of "Peter Simple," &c. Boston. Marsh, Capen & Lyon. THE publication of this work presents an occasion for us to consider briefly a question of momentous importance to the literature of this country. We refer to that which has of late afforded a topic of considerable discussion, viz: whether it be expedient that English authors should be allowed the privilege of copyright in the United States? We unhesitatingly answer, "Yes!"-and there are several urgent reasons, which the limits of a critical notice do not allow us presently to advance, but out of which we select a few; proffering these to the meditation of our readers till we shall have time to arrange a more formal argumentation or dissertation concerning the existing copyright law. In the first place, to allow English authors to take out copyrights for their works on this side of the water, would be but a generous reciprocation of the favour and advantage which our writers have freely enjoyed on the other side. We believe that we do not misstate, when we hazard the assertion that both Cooper and Irving have derived the greater part of the emolument flowing from their books, in England. This is also true of Mr. N. P. Willis, whose case is more directly to the point. Messrs. Saunders and Otley are this writer's publishers, both in England and in the United States; and they can take out copyrights in both countries so as to secure to themselves that fair remuneration which will enable them to compensate the author for the sale of his works in both markets. Not so with the English author, who constitutes the same Saunders and Otley publishers of his books here. These publishers can extend to him no compensation for the American sale, because they are liable to be "cut in upon" at the moment of publication. Indeed, they no sooner announce an English work, than another house speeds on in preparation to grapple with its reprinting the very instant it appears. The most combustible materials are set ablaze under the boiler of a steam-engine of fourteen horse power; the steam presses are set at work, and a second edition is tossed off into the lap of the public in thirty-six hours after the issuing of the first! Half price is charged, and though it be printed in inferior style on inferior wet paper, the multitude buy it, and the pirated edition ruins the copyright one. From this cause a British author cannot enjoy in America that privilege which has never been withheld from an American author in Great Britain. In the second place, the present copyright law acts like a tariff upon our authors in favour of our booksellers; thus introducing that principle, more obnoxious than any other to the spirit of republicanism-the oppression of one class of citizens for the benefit of another class. So long as a publisher can get a good book from England for nothing, he will of course publish that in preference to a manuscript, for which he will have to pay something. In the third place, abstractly speaking, an English book has a decided advantage over an American; simply because, as a copyright has to be paid on the latter, the former can be sold at a much less price. Take two scientific works on the same subject, American and English-suppose the American the superior of the two-if they be issued together, the English will be generally received, for it can be purchased at one half the cost of the American—that is, if the publisher pay any thing like a reasonable sum for the copyright. In the fourth place, the law, instead of benefitting our booksellers in general, is in reality only as an act for the benefit of one or two large houses; who, from their long establishment being possessed of extensive means, and the power of largely circulating their books, monopolize the whole business of republication, and exclude minor booksellers from any chance of a successful competition. Mr. Midshipman Easy is a forcible instance of the evil of our present system of copyright. Mr. Capen, of the publishing house of Marsh, Capen and Lyon, while on a recent visit to England, entered into an arrangement with Capt. Marryat for the reprinting of his works in this country simultaneously with their appearance in England; for which right a certain per-centage on the sale was agreed upon to be paid to Capt. Marryat. No sooner, however, does this house, acting on their bargain, and relying upon the usual courtesy observed between booksellers, print the latest work of the author of Peter Simple, than another publishing house, with vulture-like eagerness, pounces upon the first American copy that can be obtained, and also republishes. We do not wish to moot the point of the fairness and unfairness of such a procedure, but simply state the fact to set forth the wrong which the British author must suffer in being debarred any pecuniary advantage derivable from a large sale of his work. A new international copyright law should be established. We are told that Mr. Bulwer will soon bring the subject of it before parliament, and that an influential member of the House of Repre sentatives will, during the coming session, strongly recommend a modification of the present unjust law to Congress. We have left ourselves but little space for a critique on the amusing work which has called up the foregoing topic. The style is very loose and careless, but it is perhaps more taking on that very account. As a picture of sea-life we suppose that it must be faithful; but, how in the name of marvel can a captain point all the guns of a man-of-war himself when the ship is under sail and in the heat of battle, so as to take effectual, deadly aim? In other instances, besides this, our credulity is as boldly encountered: but the salt of our author's wit would enable us to swallow larger stories. The book has been out so long, that further criticism or quotation at this eleventh hour would be superfluous, so we "belay." The Mother's Pearl, for 1836. Bancroft & Holley, New-York. THIS little annual has not made much noise, and yet but a few years since its appearance would have attracted no slight attention. Mrs. Sedgwick, Mrs. Ellet, and others equally admired, have contributed to its pages; and Mr. Herbert has introduced this volume with the following admirable lines from his classic and fervid pen. THE MOTHER'S JEWELS. |