place, you may know there is a lecturer going to bed in it. He shivers wild nights away upon the prairies; he drags out dreary days in rummy bar-rooms; he hires rickety vehicles, with stolid drivers and inadequate horses, to carry him over unbeaten roads to distant towns; and, when he lands in the inevitable bar-room, the inevitable loafer, who is cooking expectoration on a redhot stove, drawls out to him, indifferently, that there "won't be no lecter, koz Miss Smucks has a sort o' party tonight." He pays his team and his lodging, and departs-himself unpaid. He arrives too late for tea, too late to shave, too late to shirt; he plunges, grim and grimy, into the desk, and spins his hour's discourse; he is taken home reluctantly toward that bed; but, before his final fate is reached, he undergoes, tealess, supperless, the homage of a select cirole of literary spinsters, who ask him his views of the Infinite and of Tupper's poetry. With the sad, slow day returns the giddy monotony of the national breakfast-tough steak, weak boot-heels, milk-and-water sauce, hot bread of pearlash, and fried leather blankets, fondly termed buckwheats. He starts again; his feet freeze, his head aches, his stomach refuses to be pacified. His neighbor batters him with questions; he changes cars in the snow, and loses his place, and shakes in his corner by a broken window, where his cold nose gets the fumes of scorched trowsers, fried spit,* and sizzled appleparings from the stove, without any of the warmth. His days are desultoryhis nights dreary. Wherever he goes, he is told, "Oh, you should come in the summer!" Wherever the snow blocks him, banks him, barricades him, the committee evidently considor him at fault, and wonder what they can say to the audience. He must bear with the man who tells him, as he told him last year, that Deacon Bump's evening meeting and the remarkable weather have diminished the audience; and, as they were asleep, and did not applaud, he must blandly smile upon the other man, who recalls to him the olose attention with which he was heard, and informs him that the directors have resolved to keep good order by putting out any boys who endeavor to stamp or clap during the lecture. He must

tire of saying regularly at half-past seven o'clock, of five or six evenings in the week, "In the beautiful antediluvian year one, the wren one morning awoke in Eden, and said to the sparrow, 'good-day."" He must be haunted by the thought that at least twenty of his hearers have heard that before, and anticipate his jokes, and climb his climaxes, and drop asleep upon them, before he arrives. He knows that the lynx-eyed Rhadamanthus of the SemiWeekly Tempestuous Teapot is sitting under him, with his lynx eyes open, and his mind out in great force. He knows that there will surely be applause at the joke, out of which chronic reiteration has long since squeezed the last drop of any fun for himself; and he fears, as he falters out his peroration, as if intellectual deterioration had already set in with dreadful rapidity, and has a dizsy fancy that when his decay is completed, his fellow-countrymen will build him a gray granite monument, with five per cent. off the cost price for cash, and carve upon it, in the space upon which they have not cut their own names: died young, and his country laments him; but she recalls, with pride, that he eat more tough steaks, and faster, in a given time, than any of his fellow-citizens, and stranger, pause !-made upwards of THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM A SINGLE LECTURE. Selah!"

"He

You see it is no summer-pastime to be a lecturer, and the constant iteration and reiteration of the same discourse becomes, at last, even mortifying; so that Thackeray was said to have left us with a kind of sad humility, as if he had traversed the land, making himself a motley to the view.

But, unless you are ready to assert that the sermons of the last six yearS have done no good, you must concede the value of this stated lay preaching. The lyceum is, in truth, a week-day church a little humanized and enlarged, and its direct influence upon Sunday has undoubtedly been, the demand for a more picturesque and pungent style of pulpit oratory. This fact opens the view of its disadvantages. For, the tendency of the lecture-system is, to place brilliancy before all other qualities. A miscellaneous audience is most easily held by a series of sparkling sen

tences and pictures. The popular lecture explodes like a battalion volley. It is a succession of climaxes and points. Often this is natural to the speaker, but, gradually, it shapes the performance of any man; so that, in preparing his lecture, he will be swayed by his consciousness of what the audience will expect, and what will surely amuse them. In reaching this brilliancy, he will naturally often lose, sometimes sacrifice, what is better than brilliancy. His lecture thus fades into a phantasmagoria, or blazes into rhetoric. It tastes sweetly, it looks brightly; but when the auditor gets home he is not fed, and has no vision. You will find, consequently, that the lecture audience is composed mainly of young people, and largely of women. Dry old men, and dryer young ones, quote to you the stalest of old stories, that when Mr. Emerson began to lecture in Boston, an ancient lawyer said, when he was asked, that he did not go because he did not understand him; "but," he added, "my daughters do." The inference was supposed to be that the lecture was nonsense, because the lawyer did not understand it. But then, even the song of the Syrens would be dull, if you had no ear for music.

We do not feel any serious apprehension that the lecturers will be too brilliant, or that any American audience will permanently dine upon whipped syllabub however ingeniously flavored with rosewater. It will surely do no harm that the popular mind requires a rather higher tone in preaching, for the dullness of sermons is proverbial; but it will, we confess, be rather hard upon the clergy, if they are compelled to prepare two "brilliant" lectures every week. Doubtless, however, they will assert their privilege by not doing so.

We will not follow E. M. and the Herald, by indulging in vaticination. It is not easy to foresee what modifica tions the lecture system will undergo, but we have no fear that it will perish. Perhaps, instead of the miscellaneous courses now offered, there will be a combined literary and scientific course, thereby giving unity to the interest of VOL. IX.-21

the winter, and making it worth a man's while to prepare a series of lectures upon subjects of his especial study; or, the interest may languish for a little, but will certainly revive again and flourish. For, to return to our text, it is the American amusement which is most congenial to our habits and tastes. The opera is always an exotic with us; the theatre is a reproduction of the English, in which the actors, the plays, and the local humor are British, and the dramas we have ourselves produced, are either adaptations of the French, or mere spectacles of the lowest and most prurient sarcastic scandal. The negro minstrelsy, which is partly indigenous, has degenerated into coarse burlesque and sentimental buffoonery. These things only thrive in the city, and there only by rapid and exciting changes. And in the city, naturally, lectures languish. Scarcely a lecture in the city this winter has attracted a crowd. in the country, where the insanity for intense excitement is less imperious, and the genuine Yankee character has fairer development and play, the weekly lecture flourishes, and the strolling theatre or minstrelsy live for a few uncertain evenings, and then move like other vagrants.

But,

on,

Since, then, the public will be amused, and is generally intelligent and sensible, is it likely to return to Jim along Josey, or to require that the lecture shall be constantly better and more attractive? As men of cultivation and talent find that they have the gift of public talking, and that they can, in that way, turn their advantages to the best pecuniary account, are they not likely to labor to make themselves more and more acceptable?

And every noble man, who knows the magic of speech, and believes that, in this country of good general morality and common schools, as great and as profound an influence is to be exerted, morally as it is politically, by that persuasive magic, will not let his talent lie and rot in the handsomest damask napkin, but will keep it turning and accumulating in the great exchange of the world.

-WHOEVER loves trees-and we trust there are few men with soul so dead as not to love them-will welcome Dr. PIPER's enterprise, called the Trees of America. It is a serial publication, in which he proposes to rescue those noble and beautiful objects, which distinguish our landscape above almost any other, from forgetfulness, and to give them a name and a history. The regular writers upon horticulture and botany have described and classified the monarchs of our fields and forests with sufficient precision; but Dr. Piper proposes to take their portraits. An engraver as well as a draughtsman, he visits every locality in which famous trees are to be found, gets a perfectly accurate likeness of them, which he transfers to steel, and then publishes their images, with such descriptive, poetical and scientific remarks as the theme suggests. Two numbers of his publication are before us, and we have been both instructed and delighted by them. His drawings of trees are remarkable for their fidelity, while the letter-press illustration always contains some useful thought. In the last number, for instance, he directs attention to the uses of trees in preventing a too rapid evaporation of heat and moisture, presenting the subject in what is to us a novel light, and suggesting some highly important considerations, as to vegetable economy in general. Several years since, a writer in the North American Review predicted that many and serious evils would result from the rapid destruction of our forests. Prominent among these evils, he placed the injurious influence of it upon the climate, arguing from the fact that other countries had been affected in this way, to such extent, indeed, that, in some regions, large tracts of territory had been rendered uninhabitable from this cause. Dr. Piper contends that these bad influences are already making themselves felt; but he accounts for the effect in another way than is commonly adopted.

In the Massachusetts State Report on Agriculture, it is said that "trees, by their shade, prevent the abstraction of moisture from the earth." This, he thinks, is entire

AND

REPRINTS.

ly a mistake, as mere shade can produce no such effect, so far as in this manner it prevents the elevation of temperature, it acts to this end and no further. Trees prevent evaporation, he says, mainly as they prevent the abstraction of heat by retarding the motion of the air. He does not know that the mere absence or presence of light has anything to do with evaporation, and supposes that it depends solely upon the temperature and motion of the atmosphere. A good illustration of this has recently come under his notice. A gentleman of his acquaintance, who is an extensive piano-forte manufacturer, constructed a large brick building, air and light-proof, with furnace beneath, for the purpose of baking the wood used in his instruments. Upon finishing his building, he invited Dr. Piper to inspect it; he pointed out his friend's error, but he persisted in filling it with lumber, and was much surprised when he found that it really accumulated moisture. This arose plainly from this cause-that the air was completely saturated with moisture previous to the introduction of the timber, and, of course, it could take up no more; but, when the door was opened, a current of cold air rushed in, and, by lowering the temperature, at once precipitated a portion of it, which was absorbed by the wood. The defect has been remedied by the introduction of ventilators. As everybody is aware, the air can take up only a definite amount of moisture, depending upon its temperature. At freezing, it will hold in suspension 1-160 of its weight; at 59°, 1-80, and so on, doubling at every 27° increase of temperature. Now, in a country where there was no motion of the air, and no other sources of loss but evaporation, this might go on forever, and there remain the same amount of water as at the commencement. Of course, in such a country there would be no rain.

Dr. Piper suggests that our railroads, in order to prevent the evils which they occasion by their enormous consumption of the forests (about one hundred thousand acres going annually in this way), should be planted with trees; and contends that, if

the plan should be adopted, not only would the lines be beautified, and a source of income be provided for the future, but that the trees, by preventing the motion of the wind, would lead to no little economy in the use of fuel. He informs us that it is ascertained, from actual experiment, that double the fuel is used in passing through an open, from what is used in passing through a wooded, country. We cannot tell how correct he may be in this utilitarian aspect of the case, but we agree entirely with him as to the artistic bearings of the subject. Our lines of rail are hideously bare and bleak, and ought to be put into wood and grass, for the benefit of the human eyes, if for no other end.

-The best description which can often be given to a book is its title-page; we, therefore, copy as follows: "The Architectural Instructor, containing a history of architecture from the earliest ages to the present time, illustrated with nearly two hundred and fifty engravings of ancient, mediæval and modern cities, temples, cathedrals, and monuments; also, the Greek and early Roman classic orders, their principles and beauties, with a large number of original designs of cottages, villas, and mansions of different sizes, accompanied with practical observations on construction, with all the important details on a scale sufficiently large and definite to enable the builder to execute with accuracy; and further, designs of churches, monuments, and public buildings, together with a glossary of architectural terms. By Minard Lafever, architect." G. P. Putnam & Co. This is a long name, but the book is a big book, and deserving of its name. Designed not only for professional but for popular use, the author has brought together nearly everything that is useful or pleasant to know in regard to the art of construction. With a profound practical knowledge of his subject, he has spared no pains of historical research. Every chapter of the work betrays the most careful study and sound judgment. His principles throughout are also illustrated by plans and cuts, which greatly increase the value of the volume. For the man of wealth or pleasure who is about to build, and to the working architect as well, his instructions will be found to possess the highest utility. Whether Mr. Lafever is always right in

his theoretical principles of art, we shall not stop to say; it is enough that he has considered his theme with great thoroughness, and brings to the discussion of it intelligence and good sense. His volume is a perfect store-house of information in nearly every department of his art.

-Haswell's Mechanics' Tables (Harper & Brothers, 1856).-This small work contains much matter of the first value to manufacturers and mechanics-so necessary that it seems strange that its preparation should have been delayed to this day. Mr. HASWELL is already well known for various other works of value, which he has prepared for engineers and mechanics; and we take it for granted that these tables for measurement of circles and angle iron are correct. Besides these tables, the work contains the weight per foot of wrought and cast iron, of bolts and rods, of copper and lead, of tubes and pipes; also, receipts for the preparation of solders, paints, etc. Altogether, it cannot but be a valuable work, so far as we can judge.

-MR. PRESCOTT has performed an acceptable service to historical science, in presenting it a new edition of Robertson's Charles the Fifth. That is a standard work in literature, and could not be easily superseded by any new work on the same subject, and yet it is not au niveau to the present state of knowledge. Since the learned Scottish professor wrote, great developments have taken place in history. The discovery, or, rather, the making public, of the Spanish archives of Simancas, has brought to light a great many important documents, which put a new face on many points in European history. Robertson's book professes to narrate the reign of Charles V., and devotes a few pages only to the life of that monarch, after his relinquishment of his crown. But those pages are not correct. It was no fault of the author that they were not, because he wrote according to the best authorities available to him at the time. The revelations from Simancas have come since then, showing that Charles, instead of being wholly abstracted from the concerns of government and politics, during his retirement, as Robertson represents, was almost as active as he was before. The subject has been treated, under the new light, by Mr. Sterling of England, and by Mignet and Pichot of France, and Mr. Gaehard of Bel

gium, and Mr. Prescott, availing himself of their labors, has also made extensive use of the MSS. in his own possession, copied for his Philip the Second. He is enabled, by these means, to give us nearly two hundred pages of additional matter, which adds greatly to the value of the original work. Apart from the new and interesting matter contributed by Mr. Prescott, we are glad to have a new and handsome edition of Robertson; for the old one, in one volume, which has hitherto circulated, was execrable as to typography and shape.

-No more important work is projected than the Letters and Dispatches of MajorGeneral Nathanael Greene, which will be edited, from originals in the possession of his family, by his grandson, GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE. To this work, one of our ripest and most accomplished scholars brings a rare literary talent, and the filial reverence of a descendant. It is equally unnecessary to remind our readers of the value of the work or the ability of the workman. No unpublished revolutionary records could be so valuable, and every good citizen is interested that they shall be prepared with that tact, and knowledge,

and skill with which the name of Professor

Greene is synonymous. We cannot so well commend his work as in his own words, describing the position and character of his grandfather. The book will be published for subscribers only, in six volumes, of the style of Sparks's "Washington."

"Of all the materials for the history of the war of the Revolution, there are none which, after the letters and dispatches of Washington, are so important as the letters and dispatches of Major-General Greene. General Greene joined the army at the camp before Boston, immediately after the battle of Lexington, in 1775, and continued in active service, without a day's furlough, to the final disbandment, in 1783. From the spring of 1778 to the summer of 1780, he filled, in addition to his rank as major-general, the office of quartermaster-general, which he accepted at the urgent solicitation of Washington-which be found in a state of absolute disorganiza. tion, and which, under all the disadvantages of an exhausted country and depreciated currency, he administered with such promptitude and efficiency as to eall forth from the Commander-in-Chief the assurance that no plan of operations had ever been thwarted or delayed by want of cooperation in his department. After the defeat of General Gates, on the 16th of August, 1780, which left the Carolinas and Georgia in the hands of the enemy, and Virginia open to immediate invasion, he

was appointed to the command of the forces in the southern states; and, within less than a year, with the remnant of an army half. armed, half-clad, and often half-starved, without a military chest, and with no resources had, by four battles and a series of vigorous but those of his own energy and genius, he attacks upon the enemy's posts, driven Cornwallis, with one part of the hostile army, into the toils of Yorktown, and shut up the other in limits hardly more than large enough for them to pitch their tents upon. During the whole of this period he was the confidential friend and counselor of Washington, who relied upon him for advice, support, and sym. pathy, and had, according to the general belief of the army, marked him out as his successor, in case of any disaster to his own person."

-A History of France is a desideratum in English literature. We have no work, on that subject, worthy of the notice either of the scholar or the general reader. That of Crowe is the merest compilation, and that of Mrs. Markham is only intended for beginners. No original, elaborate, has undertaken to supply the deficiency in a well-considered history exists. Mr. WRIGHT book which is now being issued in numbers by Tallis & Co., but not with more than qualified success. Like most of his predecessors, Mr. Wright makes most of his statements at second-hand, and prefers a rapid and superficial narrative to a patient investigation of authorities. In the absence of other and better works, however, his will serve to satisfy the curiosity of the mass of readers. The edition, of which four numbers are before us, is handsomely printed and illustrated.

"The quarry-man," says Dr. HгTCHCOCK, "who has made excavations in the rocks for architectural materials, sometimes looks over the fragments which have been thrown aside, and finds blocks that seem to him worth preserving." Thus has he been doing with the literary debris which, during his active and useful life, have been quarried and wrought on different occasions, and afterwards thrown aside. Under the name of Religious Truth Illustrated from Science, he has gathered into one form numerous addresses and sermons delivered before different scientific and religious bodies. The object of all of them is, to present certain aspects of religious principle in the light of modern science, to show, not only that there is no incompatibility between them, but that they confirm each other. Dr. Hitchcock stands so high in both the religious and