New York: D. Appleton & Co. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co.-Here we have indeed a literary treat of the highest order and richest flavor. Lord Bacon well says that "such letters as are written from wise men are of all the words of man the best, for they are more natural than orations and public speeches, and more advised than conferences or private ones." In the volume before us we have about two hundred such letters, written by the wisest and best men and women of modern times on a vast variety of topics, embraced in six books. The task of the accomplished editor has been that of selection from many hundreds of volumes, of classification upon a comprehensive system, and of occasional illustration and explanation. "No letter has been introduced to which it was supposed any exception could be taken on the ground of taste or morals. Those only have been selected whose intrinsic merit was preeminent, or which shed light on some great public transaction, or the character of some distinguished person." The book, we are sure, will be welcomed by thousands. It is issued in a style worthy of its interesting and valuable contents.

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION, Drawn from Nature and Revelation and Applied to Female Education in the Upper Classes. By the author of "Amy Herbert." 12mo. Pp. 476. $2.50. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co.-The author of "Amy Herbert" has written many excellent books, thinks well, writes easily, has read and observed much, is imbued with good sense, and possesses a fine religious spirit, and is fully entitled to be heard in whatever she has to say upon the education of her own sex. We have not yet had time to give this work an entire reading, but as far as we have gone we are greatly pleased with it. The volume, she tells us, is not the result of theory, but of experience. We like that, and agree with her that education is too important a matter for theory. The risks of mistake are too fatal. She professes to base the principles of education upon the teaching of God in nature and revelation, claiming rightly that where these laws for the training and government of children are truly deduced from these sources they are no longer merely advisory, but become authoritative. We hope to be able to recur to this book again.

THE ORIGIN OF THE LATE WAR: Traced from the Beginning of the Constitution to the Revolt of the Southern States. By George Lunt. Post 8vo. Pp. 491. $2.50.

New York: D. Appleton & Co. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co.-We do not know "George Lunt," which, indeed, may be "to argue ourself unknown," but we confess our ignorance. Further, we have no particular desire for any more extended acquaintance with "George Lunt" than we get through this book. He is a good writer, and has undoubtedly worked hard and written with great haste in order to finish his work in time to save the nation. We think the government will live; that Congress will be able to take care of itself; that in due time we will secure reconstruction and restoration on a permanent basis, even without the aid of this book, or in despite of it. Mr. Lunt does not merely give us "the other side," which might be well enough for all of us to read, and which we did read with right good humor in the recent

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work of Ex-Senator Foote, but he gives us "the Southside view" well heaped on. State rights, State sovereignty, antislavery agitation, northern aggression, loss of our liberties, unconstitutionality of the Emancipation Proclamation, of all acts of Congress against slavery, of the Constitutional Amendment itself, and the whole catalogue of pro-slavery war-cries make up the staple of the book. The grand remedy for all our troubles is to go back just where we were before the war, under the Constitution and Union as they were, with the antislavery agitation forever suppressed and the question of slavery left absolutely with the States themselves. Poor George! how the world has moved forward and left him behind, and he in Boston, too!

THE WOMEN OF METHODISM: Its Three Foundresses-Susanna Wesley, the Countess of Huntingdon, and Barbara Heck. With Sketches of their Female Associates and Successors in the Early History of the Denomination. By Rev. Abel Stevens, LL. D.

12mo.

p. 304. New York: Carlton & Porter. Cincinnati: Poe & Hitchcock.-This is "a Centenary offering to the Women of American Methodism from the American Ladies' Centenary Association," and a most beautiful, appropriate, and desirable offering it is. In its beautiful typographical finish it looks just like a lady's book, and every page in it is a tribute to her The putting forth of this volume was a happy conception of the ladies, and their idea has been nobly carried out by both author and publishers. The women of Methodism portrayed by "the historian of Methodism" could not fail of being an intensely-interesting book. What more need we say about it than that it is published and ready for the people? Surely every Methodist family will want a copy.

sex.

SPIRITUALISM IDENTICAL WITH ANCIENT SORCERY, NEW TESTAMENT DEMONOLOGY, AND MODERN WITCHCRAFT: With the Testimony of God and Man Against It. By W. M' Donald. 16mo. Pp. 212. New York: Carlton & Porter. Cincinnati: Poe & Hitchcock.-The

"

object of the author in this work has been mainly to prove that modern spiritualism, claiming to be a "new If spiritudispensation," is older than Christianity. alism," says the author, "be the work of spirits, they are such spirits or demons as the Greek and Roman sorcerers evoked; such as possessed the man among the tombs in the country of the Gadarenes; such as possessed the damsel who troubled Paul and Silas at Philippi; such as were present in the witchcraft of Europe and America. If spiritualism be the action of odylic force, as claimed by Rogers, Mahan, and others, or if it be an intermediate agent between spirit and matter, nearly answering to odylic force, as claimed by Dr. Samson, or if it be mere sleight of hand, deception, humbuggery, as claimed by Prof. Mattison and those who think with him, then this odylic force, intermediate agent, sleight of hand, or humbuggery has produced in the past all the phenomena of modern spiritualism." To prove this constitutes the labor of the book, its point being to show that modern spiritualism is not the new thing it claims to be. The author is inclined to believe that spiritualism is, in part at least, the work of demons. We have not seen or read any thing yet that has forced us to raise the phenomena of so-called spiritualism much out of

the sphere of "sleight of hand, deception, and humbug gery." The book before us is a strong one, deals vigorous blows against the enemy, contains a dreadful chapter on the fruits of spiritualism, and, we think, would constitute a complete antidote for any one having the slightest tendency toward these abominations.

THE CONVERTED COLLIER; or, The Life of Richard Weaver. By R. C. Morgan. 18mo. Pp. 176. New York: Carlton & Porter.-This reads like a book of

the olden time. Richard Weaver is a brand plucked from the burning and made into a burning and shining light, by whom God has been and still is leading thousands of the vilest of sinners to the cross of his dear Son. Get it and read it, and it will do your heart good.

HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH THE SECOND, called Frederick the Great. By Thomas Carlyle. In Six Volumes. Vol. VI. 12mo.

Pp. 608. $2. New York: Harper

& Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.-The history of Frederick the Great is ended. We see him at the last "lying in state in the palace, thousands crowding from Berlin and the other environs to see that face for the last time. Wasted, worn, but beautiful in death, with the thin gray hair parted into locks and slightly powdered." On Friday evening, the 18th of August, 1786, "he was borne to the GarnisonKirche of Potsdam and laid beside his father in the vault behind the pulpit there." The history in this volume covers a period of twenty-six years, from April, 1760, the opening of "the fifth campaign of the Seven Years' War," to the death of the hero in 1786. We have already commented upon these volumes. Of course those who have the preceding five will want this one, especially as it contains a copious index to the whole work. We repeat that we read these volumes quite as much to study Carlyle as to know any thing more about Frederick. A statesman and a warrior, and great as both, undoubtedly Frederick was, but we certainly are led to admire him no more for being depicted in these volumes. To Carlyle, the hero-worshiper, he was a great hero, and thus he dismisses him: "I define him to myself as hitherto the last of the kings; when the next will be is a very long question. But it seems to me as if nations, probably all nations, by and by in their despair, blinded, swallowed, like Jonah, in such a whale's belly of things brutish, waste abominable-for is not anarchy, or the rule of what is baser over what is nobler, the one life's misery worth complaining of, and in fact the abomination of abominations springing from and producing all others whatsoever?-as if the nations universally, and England too, if it hold on, may more and more bethink themselves of such a man and his function and performance with feelings far other than are possible at present. Meanwhile, all I had to say of him is finished; that, too, it seems, was a bit of work appointed to be done. Adieu, good readers; bad also adieu."

A TEXT-BOOK ON PHYSIOLOGY. For the Use of Schools and Colleges. By John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. 12mo. Pp. 376. $1.50. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.-Dr. Draper is an original contributor to the sciences of

physiology and chemistry, and stands in the front rank of men of science in our country. However much he may go astray when he ventures out of his own sphere, and however unreliable in his theories and deductions in other departments of knowledge beside his own specialties, in his chosen field of physiology and chemistry he has no superior. We certainly have cause for thankfulness when such men labor to furnish our schools and colleges with scientific text-books. We noticed a month ago a work in the same department of science by Prof. John C. Draper, a son, we think, of the author of the present volume. An admirable work it is, too, and having its place as a text book in the high-schools, seminaries, and the family as a popular treatise. The present volume would, perhaps, make a better college text-book, being more full and more minute in its details. It is, in fact, an excellent abridgment of Dr. Draper's well-known Treatise on fession, and contains about all that the general student Human Physiology," a standard work in the pro

desires to know. The volume is illustrated with about one hundred and fifty wood engravings.

JAMES LOUIS PETIGRU: A Biographical Sketch. By William J. Grayson. 12mo. Pp. 178. $1.50. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. This is an interesting sketch of one of the few men of the South who, during the past rebellion; remained true to his country. Although surrounded by traitors, yet his loyalty never for a moment wavered. During the period when the nullifiers of South Carolina, led by Mr. Calhoun, were attempting to bring serious trouble to the Government, Mr. Petigru "took his place decidedly with the Union party." Loving his State, district, home, appreciating them at a value which none went beyond, and incapable of abandoning them, he would, nevertheless, desire to see them as component parts always of the great republic." The disruption of the Federal Union was to him an evil without remedy and without measure." When the rebellion broke out Mr. Petigru was again found, as in former years, true to the Government which had so long afforded him protection. Although opposed to the general views of the people of South Carolina, still he was elected to hold a position of honor and trust among them. His death, which occurred in 1863, occasioned universal sorrow.

Vol.

A CHILD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. III. Part Second. History of the Great Rebellion. By John Bonner, author of "A Child's History of Greece," etc. 16mo. Pp. 367. $1.25. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. This volume covers that most exciting period of history extending from the election of Mr. Lincoln in 1860 to his assassination in 1865, and it is written in a style that can not fail to interest the young reader. The book is handsomely issued, and is illustrated with pretty fair wood engravings. All the above works of the Harpers we receive from Robert Clarke & Co., of this city.

WALTER GORING: A Story. By Annie Thomas, author of "Denis Donne," etc. 8vo. Pp. 155. Paper, 75 cents.

AGNES: A Novel. By Mrs. Oliphant. 8vo. Pp. 203. Paper, 75 cents.-These constitute Nos. 264 and

265 of the "Library of Select Novels" issued by the Harpers. For sale by Robert Clarke & Co., Cincin

nati.

MISCELLANEOUS.-Harper's Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion. No. 15. Folio. Pp. 24. 30 cents. This work is issued in numbers as rapidly as is consistent with thorough and careful preparation. Each number contains 24 pages of the size of Harper's Weekly, is profusely illustrated, and printed in the best manner. The present number treats of the peninsular campaign. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.

Chambers's Encyclopedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People. On the Basis of the German Conversations Lexicon. Nos. 100, 101, 102, 103. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. February, 1866. American edition. Leonard Scott & Co., 38 Walker. street, New York.

The Cincinnati Lancet and Observer. February, 1866. An able medical journal, edited by Edward B. Stevens, M. D., and John A. Murphy, M. D.

INTERESTING LETTERS.-Through the kindness of our esteemed friend, Dr. Nast, we are permitted to give to our readers three interesting autographic letters, one from John Wesley, one from Charles Wesley, and one from Mr. Fletcher. These letters are the property of Rev. Richard Gray, the venerable city missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this city, a descendant of one of the earlier followers of Mr. Wesley. His uncle, Rev. Peard Dickinson, was well known in the early Wesleyan movement, and was present at the death-bed of its founder. The letters are genuine, and we wish it was possible to give fac similes of them. Though of no historical importance, yet each one is characteristic, and as we read them we feel ourselves in contact with the spirits of the great men who wrote them.

"

The first is from John Wesley, addressed to Miss Betsy Briggs at Shoreham, near Sevenoaks, Kent." Miss Betsy was a special favorite of Mr. Wesley. She was the granddaughter of the venerable Vincent Perronet, with whom she resided at the time of his death in 1785; and Mr. Wesley in his journal commends her faithful nursing of her grandfather. In a letter addressed to Rev. Peard Dickinson in 1787, sixteen years later than the date of our letter, we find her still standing high in the esteem of Mr. Wesley. He says: "Truly I claim no thanks for loving and esteeming Betsy Briggs, for I can not help it. And I shall be in danger of quarreling with you if you ever love her less than you do now." The letter itself we do not give as a novelty, for it is published, all except the beautiful introduction, in Mr. Wesley's works, but because we now hold the original itself in our own hands:

CHESTER, MARCH 17, 1771. My Dear Betsy,-You do well to break thro' that needless Fear. Love me more and fear me less. Then you will find "Love, like Death, makes all distinctions void."

Evidently Miss Betsy, in the letter to Mr. Wesley which called forth the above letter, informed him of her hunger and thirst after the full image of God," and it is most pleasing to find in another letter addressed to her a month later, April 14th, that Mr. Wesley recognizes her as having found this great blessing, and says: "Undoubtedly both you and my dear Miss Perronet are now more particularly called to speak for God." Still a month later, May 31st, he addresses her in another letter, saying: "As yet you are but a little child, just a babe in the pure love of Christ. As a little child hang upon him, and simply expect a supply of all your wants." How much do we learn, both of Mr. Wesley and of Miss Betsy, in this brief corre spondence!

Our second letter is from Charles Wesley, also addressed to Miss Betsy, showing how much he, too, esteemed this excellent lady, and the familiarity existing between them:

MARYBONE, JUNE 25,

We all expect my dear Betsy on Tuesday morning; but she must not think to put us off with Two days of her company. Her sisters will much oblige us by accompanying her, if Mrs. Briggs will be so good as to spare them for that day. Jack* I expected to have seen before now. Bring him with you if you can lay hold on him, and you shall have the Thanks of the House, especially of

My dear Miss B.'s faithful and affectionate serv't.
C. WESLEY.

Our third letter is from the sainted Fletcher, addressed to his most esteemed friend and associate, Mr. William Perronet, son of the venerable Vincent Perronet. Till a short time before the date of this letter Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Perronet had been lodging in one house in Nyon, whither both had gone for restora tion of health. About the beginning of this year1780-they were obliged to separate, Mr. Perronet going to Lausanne. Mr. Fletcher was anxious to return to England, as is intimated in the letter, and pro

things for you already. What you now want is, To come boldly to ye Throne of Grace, that the Hunger and Thirst after his full image weh God has given you may be satisfied. Full Salvation is nigh, even at the door. Only Believe and it is yours. It is a great Blessing that at your years you are preserved from seeking Happiness in any Creature. You need not, seeing Christ is yours. O, cleave to Him with your whole heart! I am, my dear Betsy,

detained by many circumstances, among others the sickness of the friend to whom this letter is written and his own ill-health, so that he did not reach England till April, 1781. His friend, Mr. Perronet, never saw England again, but continued to fail in health,

*Perhaps his brother, John Wesley.

and died December 2, 1781. The matter referred to in the letter is a question of inheritance between Mr. Perronet and the co-heirs, and was settled as advised by Mr. Fletcher:

J. FLETCHER TO MONS. PERRONET.

26 JULY, [1780.]

My Dear Friend,—I have received your paquet. My brother and I think that to apply again at Berne to Leurs Excellences would be wire-drawing, and setting Berne and Geneva together by the ears. That would require much time, trouble, and expense, and the best way is now to agree with the co-heirs and make the best composition you can. You must wait for the instructions Mr. Monod promises to give you. It does not seem the co-heirs deny your right. That question is not touched in the letters. God deliver us from the hands of men! My brother joins me in love to you and Miss Perronet. I do my little jobs as fast as I can, but seem stalled as well as yourself. However, you should try to conclude that we may set out in September. Cast all your burdens upon the Lord. Let nothing make you uneasy. Peace is better than money. Our heavenly inheritance is in good hands. The New Testament is in full force. Jesus keeps possession of the estate for us, and the people of Geneva have no influence before the great Tribunal. I do n't know when I shall go to Lausanne; however, I hope it will be soon. Farewell, my dear friend.

PORTRAIT OF WESLEY.-Before the destructive fire which laid in ashes the magnificent building known as Pike's Opera House of this city, and which broke up and scattered for the time many a noble branch of business which was carried on in the immense establishment, we received from Strobridge & Co., a copy of their chromo-lithograph of Mr. Wesley in cabinet size and very handsome oval frame. It is a beautiful picture, and its execution and finish as a chromo-lithograph are worthy of all praise. These pictures are sometimes spoken of as "pictures in oil colors," and, though this is hardly a correct statement of their true character, yet they present not a few of the fine effects of pictures in oil. The original portrait from which this chromo was made was the property of Rev. J. W. Hitt, of Brookville, Indiana, who received it from Rev. Daniel Hitt, one of our early Book Agents, who received it directly from Dr. Coke. It was a favorite portrait with many, and presented some pleasing effects as a likeness of Mr. Wesley, but we did not greatly admire it, nor could we heartily accept it as a standard likeness. We are pained to learn, however, that it also was destroyed by the devouring flames; but we were told by one of the firm to-day that they still possess a very accurate copy of it painted in oil, and we were glad to learn from the same authority that, nothing daunted by their misfortunes, they will proceed as rapidly as possible to reproduce their beautiful chromo-lithograph from this copy. Almost by the time these lines reach our readers they think they will again be ready to receive orders for the new portrait. We admire the courageous and enterprising spirit of these men, and of others who suffered by this calamity, and we devoutly hope that they will soon be able to make good their losses. We should also say here that the noble book establishment of R. W. Carroll & Co., to which we had to make reference in our "Literary Notices," was also destroyed. In those "Notices" we referred as usual to the old firm, as we have assurance that in a very short time they will open another establishment on

Fourth-street, and will be ready to attend to all or ders. Such enterprise deserves success, and we are quite sure they will have it.

MINISTER TO EQUADOR-We are pleased to learn that our friend W. T. Coggeshall, well known as a correspondent of the Repository, has been appointed Minister of the United States to Equador, South America. We are confident that he will honorably and successfully represent our Government, and we are expecting some valuable contributions from his pen.

ARTICLES ACCEPTED.-Being unable, through illness, to dispose of all the articles we had on hand at the close of the previous month, and the number still accumulating on our hands, we will not now be able to clear our table before closing up the number. The following we file for use as opportunity shall offer: Aunt Mary; Docile and Claude; Within the Door; An Autumn Idyl, Like as a Father: Jesus Suffered; How Aunt Ann learned to Ride; Adventures Among the Literati; Uncle Norman Bayly; Sighing for Home; Johnny's Temptation; Birdie; My Brother; The Temptation of Christ; Going Home in Springtime; The-Star; Life's Voyage, and James's Bounty Land.

ARTICLES DECLINED.-The following, for want of room and other reasons, we must lay aside The Caged Bird; California Camp Meetings-a good article, but we are too crowded at present; Sweet Allie-rather pretty, but we receive a great amount of the same kind; Our Methodist Temple, etc.; To day; Beauty; Little Blind Lillie, and others by the same author, that might suit if we were not overpressed with poetry; Plea for the Indian; The Sad, Sad Feast; Authorship; To Ida-personal addresses in poetry never used; Eddie's Sleep—

though declining this we would like to see more from

the author; Reunion; The First Rose; A Reminiscenceonly declined because we will not be able to find room for it; The Past and Future; Hope; The Recompense; Why art thou Cast Down? and The Centenary. We have a number of other articles on hand which we have not yet been able to examine.

OUR ENGRAVINGS.-We offer you two pleasing pictures the present month. The subject of "Saturday Afternoon" will awaken many delightful memories of the long ago. Who has not waited for and welcomed the Saturday afternoon of the Mays that have long since passed? With the school-task over, the Saturday morning's "chores" done up, mother's last touches and kisses resting upon us, how often, with the boys and girls that long ago became men and women, have we hied away to the green fields, to the woods just clothing themselves with their Spring garments, to gather the first flowers of May! Yes, and how often, too, we placed those gathered flowers on little girlish heads, some of which are now blossoming with other flowers more silvery and fine, and some of which are resting in the church-yard with the flowers of this new May growing above them! Alas! how the years and the rough changes of life have been gliding in between those Saturday afternoons and now! A pic. ture of finer execution is the bold coast and stormscene, "The Rescue," painted by Mr. Phillips, and engraved by our ever-faithful artist, Mr. Wellstood. We need not describe it; look on it and study it, and we are sure you will find much to admire.