Part 15

THE appearance on our table of an exquisitely beautiful card of invitation to the great _Dinner at Faneuil Hall_ on the Seventeenth of June (a kindness of the 'Committee of Arrangements,' for which, although unfortunately adscititious, we desire to render our cordial acknowledgments) reminds us to speak of _another_ species of card, from the same press, which we must believe is little known, but which only _requires_ to be known, to be found in the possession of every tasteful lover of the Beautiful. Mr. DICKINSON, of Boston, has recently completed a variety of ornamental cards, of various sizes, large, medium, and _petite_, one use of which we desire to indicate to our metropolitan readers; not without the hope also that the information will not come amiss to our readers every where; for the cards are 'awaiting' as well as 'under _orders_.' As frames for medium and small engravings, we certainly know of nothing so tasteful and so appropriate. In color various; of tints inconceivably delicate; and with borderings of the most chaste yet elaborate and distinct _bas-relief_; they are 'just the thing' for the purpose we have indicated. We shall be happy to afford 'the ocular proof' to any one who may doubt the justice, or impugn the good taste, which we conceive to characterize as well the cards as our encomiums! These admirable specimens of American taste and skill may be found at the establishment of the Messrs. WOODWORTH's (late BONFANTI's) and at NESBITT's in this city. * * * THE interest still excited by the slightest object connected with the name of NAPOLEON has recently been curiously illustrated by the opening of a 'NAPOLEON Museum' in London, consisting of a vast collection of mementos of the great hero and his associates, from the day of his birth to the time of his burial. Among them is a morceau of his penmanship in his latter days, on the back of a card, the ominous nine of diamonds, which has caused a good deal of merriment to the cockneys, although it strikes us they should 'laugh on the wrong side of the mouth.' The imperial prisoner appears to have been making an attempt to commit some English words to memory, and to have noted down the difference between _hungry_ and _angry_--words which must have sounded marvellously similar in his ears, from the mouths of his English visitors: 'Are you 'ungry?--are you angry?' We do not wonder at his perplexity. His memorandum runs thus upon the card: 'Are you 'ungry?'--'_Avez vous faim?_' 'Are you angry?--'Etes vous en colere?' * * * '_Polemics_' is an article catholic and cogent in spirit and argument, _but_ it is TOO LONG for an essay. (We wish we could impress upon our didactic correspondents the necessity of at least _comparative_ brevity!) Rev. THEODORE PARKER, in the following, has expressed every fact and argument which our correspondent has expanded over eight letter-sheet pages! Indeed, himself shall be the judge:

'WHO shall tell us that another age will not smile at our doctrines, disputes, and unchristian quarrels about Christianity? Who shall tell us they will not weep at the folly of all such as fancied Truth shone only in the contracted nook of their school, or sect, or coterie? Men of other times may look down equally on the heresy-hunters and men hunted for heresy, and wonder at both. The men of all ages before us were quite as confident as we, that their opinion was truth; that their notion was Christianity, and the whole thereof. The men who lit the fires of persecution, from the first martyr to Christian bigotry down to the last-murder of the innocents, had no doubt their opinion was divine. No doubt an age shall come, in which ours shall be reckoned a period of darkness, like the sixth century, when men groped for the wall, but stumbled and fell, because they trusted a transient notion, not an eternal truth. But while this change goes on; while one generation of opinions passes away and another rises up; Christianity itself, that pure religion, which exists eternal in the constitution of the soul and the mind of GOD, is always the same.'

'FANCY'S VISION,' says a correspondent, in a running commentary upon the poetry of our May number, 'is very well done for a Scotch song; although I think BURNS and others have too well occupied that field, for foreign imitators to expect to glean much. It seems a little unnatural for Americans to compose in the Scottish dialect, however simple and well-adapted to love-lyrics that English-Doric may be thought. Some Scotticisms, such as 'bonnie,' 'burnie,' 'wimplin,' etc., are very sweet; but others, in my view, such as 'hame,' 'drap,' etc., are inferior to the English. Perhaps, however, the writer is a Caledonian.' To be sure she is; and 'that makes a difference;' yet we do not disagree in the main with our correspondent. By the by, speaking of Scottish poetry, here is a specimen of the true thing. It is from the pen of an esteemed friend and contributor, and has been widely circulated, and as widely admired, both at home and abroad:

THE WEE VOYAGER.

WRITTEN ON SEEING IN A GLASGOW NEWSPAPER THAT THE CREW OF A VESSEL DISCOVERED A HARE FLOATING IN THE FRITH OF FORTH UPON A SHEET OF ICE TO THE OCEAN.

BY JAMES LAWSON.

AN' where are ye gaun ye wee voyager, Wi' look sae fleyed or blate? An' where are ye gaun ye wee voyager, On sic an unco gate?

Ye're sailin' awa in a cauld cauld bark, An' nae a frien' beside ye; Ye're sailin' awa in a frail frail bark, Without ane helm to guide ye.

Ye hae nae a mast, ye hae nae a sail, Nae bield frae win' to hide ye; An' the lift cours' down wi' a threatenin' glow'r Sae ill maun sure betide ye.

The gloamin is mirk, and the gurley sea Is yaupin to rin ower ye; The big pellocks soom, an' the wild maws wing, As watchin to devour ye.

The wraith of the storm shaws her grim grim face, The petrel skreighs aloud; An' the yird looks sick, an' the lift as t'wad fa' For nature's funeral shroud.

Then wherefore sail ye in this frail frail bark At sic an uncany hour? Come your ways wi' me (the skipper then cried) Frae gurly ocean's power.

An' his coggly punt the gude skipper launched, Upon the roarin' wave; An' stoutly he skulled wi' his stumpy oar The voyager to save.

Then, giegly he reached the wee timid puss, An' snatched her frae the flood; An' now the wee maukie that sailed the sea, Rins in the bonny green wood.

This would be 'ower Scotch,' perhaps, for an English ear, but that the very _sound_ of the doubtful words is expressive of their meaning. * * * THE '_Reminiscence of Little Burke_' is not to our taste. He was an extraordinary urchin, certainly; but like all _very_ precocious children, he grew to--_nothing_. We have always utterly detested infant theatricals. We know of no more ridiculous a sight than one of these dramatic juveniles 'strutting like a Lilliputian grenadier; trying to knit its brow, and flourish its little falchion at an over-grown victim of its vengeance,' who is bending half way down, to hear more distinctly the penny-trumpet tones in which he is threatened. 'Little BURKE'S' father had no very exalted opinion of his son's genius! 'Oh, no! by no means! oh, certainly not!' * * * WE cannot resist the employment of a line or two, though sadly pressed for space, to commend to citizens and strangers the establishment of the _American Museum_, as conducted by its present indefatigable proprietor. It was our intention to have particularized some of the numerous attractions of this very popular resort; but as these are constantly changing, our intelligence would be likely to prove 'JOHNNY THOMPSON'S news' at the end of the month in which we write. The corps of gentlemen-singers, for example, who adopted the 'Ethiopian' garb, were alone worth a walk of miles to hear. Think of a charming _duet_, in the most perfect time and harmony, on a pair of tongs and an accordion! * * * WE derive from a lady-friend, to whose kindness our readers have heretofore been indebted, the stanzas translated from the German by FITZ GREENE HALLECK, Esq., in preceding pages. They were withheld originally from publication; the fastidious taste of the writer suggesting infelicities, which we are certain will escape the scrutiny of less refined critics of 'the gentle art of song.' * * * SOME newspaper 'down east' has been instigated to hint that the lively and gossipping New-York correspondence of the Washington 'National Intelligencer' is written by JOHN NEAL! As if it were possible to mistake the pleasant style of Mr. WILLIS, for the labored yet slovenly _no-style_ of 'OMNIUM SCRIBLERIUS!' One might as well attribute the authorship of 'Thanatopsis' to 'Sir WILLIAM MARSH, of Apple Island, Boston Harbor!' * * * THE paper elicited by the article upon '_Forensic Eloquence_' in our last number, is somewhat too kindred in character with that excellent performance, to be at present admissible. As the MS. is left to our option, however, with permission to 'add, clip, or destroy,' we annex a passage which will be new to many of our readers:

'CÆSAR, who was himself an accomplished orator, and knew all the windings of the art, was so shaken on the occasion of TULLY's oration, that he trembled, dropped his papers, and acquitted the prisoner. Many attributed this to the force of TULLY's elocution; but it seems rather to have been the effect of CÆSAR's art. He played back the orator's art upon himself. His concern was feigned, and his mercy artificial; as he knew that nothing could so effectually win TULLY to his party, as giving him the pride of having conquered CÆSAR.' In relation to the different _styles_ of eloquence, the same writer observes: 'The pathetic orator who throws a congregation of enthusiasts into tears and groanings, would raise affections of a very different nature, should he attempt to proselyte an American congress; and on the other hand, the finest speaker that ever commanded the House, would in vain point the thunder of his eloquence on a Quaker meeting. VOLTAIRE tells us, that 'in France a sermon is a long declamation, spoken with rapture and enthusiasm; in Italy, it is a kind of devotional comedy; in England, it is a solid dissertation, sometimes a dry one, which is read to the congregation without action or elocution.' A discourse which would raise a French audience to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, would throw an English one into a fit of laughter.'

D.'s story of '_The Whistling Bridegroom_' is very good, but 'drawn too fine' for the strength of the fabric. Briefly, it is this: A clergyman is uniting two persons in marriage; and when he arrives at the point in the service where he directs the bridegroom to 'take the bride by the hand,' the former pays no attention to him, but looks steadfastly upon the floor, and indulges in a subdued whistle. The direction is repeated, but again the only notice taken of it is a continuation of the whistling, _sotto voce_. A third time the _command_ is given, and the only response is the unique musical accompaniment aforesaid. The clergyman pauses, thinking himself intentionally insulted, when the blushing bride, who had doubtless been thinking of other things, raised her eyes, saying: 'He's deaf, Sir; and it's his way to whistle to himself, when he's any thing on his mind!' The explanation was satisfactory; and 'the deaf was _made_ to hear' the next repetition of the important direction. * * * 'PRETTY good,' but not _quite_ probable, we think, the wonderful '_Lusus Naturæ_' described by our Kentucky correspondent! _Did_ he really think we should nibble at that hook? There is a wind-mill, we are informed, on the coast of Holland, which lays eggs and breeds young ones; but its family is not near so remarkable as the Kentucky wonder of our new contributor! Would he have the goodness to 'try again?' We fancy it must have been with him that the western story of the '_Prock_' originated; a singular animal, with its legs, on one side of its body, very short, to enable it to 'graze on the inclined planes of nature!' It was caught, we remember, by 'heading it,' which reversed the animal, and rendered his legs useless, by changing their position! _Vive la Bagatelle!_ * * * THE recent death of Hon. HUGH S. LEGARE is an event which deserves a particular record in these pages. He was one of the ripest scholars of whom the Union could boast; and in all regards reflected high honor upon our literature. He always wrote from a _full_ mind. Let any one turn to the papers which he furnished for the 'Southern Review' and our own New-York Quarterly, and it will be seen how forcibly they illustrate the justice of this encomium. Had Mr. LEGARE lived, our readers would soon have had an opportunity of admiring his literary performances in the pages of the KNICKERBOCKER. In a late letter to the Editor, written only a few days previous to his leaving Washington for the last time, Mr. LEGARE incidentally exhibits the patient research of which he was about to reap an adequate reward, in the new and high career of public service upon which he had entered. 'My studies,' he writes, 'have for many years been of a very severe and serious cast, looking all of them, more or less, to useful results in active life, and most of them connected with political economy and jurisprudence.' Works of recondite research and striking views, such as those of NIEBUR, SAVIGNY, and others of that illustrious German line, had richly furnished his _adversaria_ and port-folios; and it was from these that he was to have enriched and diversified our pages. The death of such a man, in the prime of life and in the midst of his usefulness, is a public loss, which cannot fail to be widely and deeply felt. Honorable and high-minded in all the relations of life, Mr. LEGARE met his last hour with perfect composure. In dying as in living, he was the admiration of his friends. * * * WE saw the other day what its possessor termed a '_Dogberry-o'-type_ likeness' of MILLER, the Prophet--a counterfeit presentment of a cunning old humbug, 'on its very _face_.' Its exhibition led to a story of one of MILLER'S converts, which we thought worth remembering. A matter-of-fact old gentleman in New England, whose wife was a thoroughgoing 'Destructionist,' was awakened out of his sleep by his 'possessed' rib, one cold and stormy March night, with: 'Husband! did you hear that noise? It's GABRIEL a-comin'! It's the sound of his chariot-wheels!' 'Oh, psha! you old fool!' replied the gude man; 'do you s'pose GABRIEL is such an ass as to come _on wheels_, in such good sleighing as this? I tell you it's the wind; turn over, and go to sleep!' We believe she did. * * * THE '_Confessions of a Belle_' is not a new title, and it _strikes_ us that we have encountered some of its incidents before. The _lesson_, howbeit, is an excellent one. THEODORE HOOK speaks forcibly to this point, in a portrait of one of his female characters: 'With all this blaze of notoriety, did any body esteem her particularly? Was there any ONE man upon earth who on his pillow could say, 'My GOD! what an angel is FANNY WILDING!' Had she ever refused an offer of marriage? No! for nobody ever had made her one. She was like a fine fire-work, entertaining to look at, but dangerous to come near to; her bouncing and cracking in the open air gave a lustre to surrounding objects, but there was not a human being who could be tempted to take the exhibition into his own house.' * * * IF 'J. P. S.' will look once more at our remarks, touching which he 'begs leave to demur,' he will find that we differ very little from himself. His pride of opinion runs to a point, and reminds us of a reply we once heard a quaint old Friend make to the eager question of a group around him, touching the relative speed of two steam-boats which were running a race, and a very even one, through Long Island Sound. 'Don't you think we've gained on her, in coming the last forty miles?' 'Yes,' replied the Quaker, with great gravity; 'I should say we _had_.' 'Well, how _much_, should you think?' 'I maybe mistaken,' responded our Friend, 'but, I should say, _about an inch_!' We believe this 'close observer' was not again appealed to for his judgment in the premises. * * * WE do not much affect parodies, generally, but the following, from the London '_Charivari_,' is too good to be lost. It is entitled '_The Macadamized_,' and is set to the air of 'The Monks of Old:'

'MANY have told of the roads of old, What a swamp of muck they were: But a Macadam-way, on a rainy day, Would make a street sweeper swear. For it goes beyond the Slough of Despond, In its hopeless state of slush: And it grows, ha! ha! to your clothes, ha! ha! In spite of the hardest brush.

'And when it is fine, if the sun should shine, You're no better off than before: For it turns to dust and at every gust It settles in every pore: And it tries, as it dries, in a cloud to rise, And peppers your coat and your hat: And it flies, ha! ha! in your eyes, ha! ha! And makes you as blind as a bat!'

'_The Croton Fever_,' by 'STRAWS, JR.' has good points. Some of its humor is 'rather _fine_,' certainly, but only because it is _strained_. The satire, however, is in one instance just. A friend in a sister city, recently returned home from a visit to New-York, writes us that he is henceforth a Baptist, greatly preferring _immersion_ to _sprinkling_, of which latter practice of ours, he entertains a vivid recollection. 'In short,' he writes, 'I never saw such a set of incorrigible _squirts_ as you have in Gotham. Morning and evening, every householder, who can afford it, stands before his door, playing with his machine; now deluging the walk, now the pavement, and anon flooding his doors, windows, and blinds with hissing streams of Croton. When you write DICKENS next, just tell him that the application of the _douche_ to the pigs, from hundreds of Croton-pipers, has well-nigh driven those quadrupedal republicans from the thoroughfares. That's _one_ comfort!' Ah! yes; and clean streets, and murmuring fountains, and cool side-walks, are 'comforts' also, 'which they of the adverse faction want.' The grapes are not _sweet_, and 'that's the humor on't!' * * * THE Idleberg 'chronicle' will be concluded in our next. The loss of a sheet of the copy (which has now been re-supplied by the author) is the cause of the delay. The fourth number of 'Meadow Farm' will also appear in our August number. The following papers are filed for insertion, or awaiting adequate consideration: 'Greek Epitaphs and Inscriptions;' 'The Doomed Ship;' 'Thales of Paris;' 'Chronicles by an Antiquary;' 'My Leg, a Sketch;' 'A Defence of the Pythagorean System;' 'The Novel-Reader;' 'Disguised Derivative Words in English;' 'MARY MAY, the Newfoundland Indian;' 'An Old Man's Reminiscence;' 'Polygon Papers,' Number Ten; 'The Birth-Day,' by 'W. C.;' 'New Version of an Old Fable;' 'The Count of Paris;' 'The Painted Rock;' 'The Hour of Rest;' 'Sing,' by Lady ALICIA JANE SPARROW, Ireland; 'Orators and Bells;' 'The Maiden's Burial,' etc. 'The Consumptive' is both labored and common-place. 'Neanias' of Kentucky is not deemed admissible. * * * SEVERAL publications, among them a Lecture by EUGENIUS A. NISBET, delivered before the Georgia Historical Society at Savannah, in March last; 'A Voice from the Vintage,' by Mrs. ELLIS, etc., will receive attention in our next. Our Philadelphia Friend, in reply to 'N. S. D.,' shall have a place in the August number.

LITERARY RECORD.

LATE PUBLICATIONS OF THE BROTHERS HARPER.--Independent of the serial works of the HARPER's, their ALISON, BRANDE's Encyclopedia, etc., which they continue to publish with their wonted regularity, and in their accustomed style of excellence, we have before us, in a large and well-executed volume, 'A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,' illustrated by numerous engravings on wood, and containing numerous additional articles relative to the botany, mineralogy, and zoology of the ancients; by CHARLES ANTHON, Esq., the American editor; a work of too comprehensive a scope and of too great value to be despatched in so brief a notice as the present; and M'CULLOCH's 'Universal Gazetteer, or Dictionary,' geographical, statistical, and historical, of the various countries, places, and principal natural objects in the world, illustrated by seven extensive and complete maps on steel.' Each article is written with fulness; the arrangement is concise and clear; and the work may be referred to on the instant for any subject embraced in its pages. We should be more indebted to the editor of the American department if he would give us his valuable _facts_ unconnected with his _opinions_. His sneer at the voyages of discovery in the north-west, in connection with his reference to a ship-canal across the isthmus of Darien, is in bad taste, to say the least of it. Narrow views in relation to great public enterprises which may chance to be unsuccessful, are out of place in a noble work like this of M'CULLOCH, even though they appear in the 'questionable shape' of acknowledged annotation.

COBB'S JUVENILE READERS.--Mr. LYMAN COBB deserves well of his country, and especially of its juvenile citizens, for the several excellent school-books for the young which he has prepared with great industry and tact, and from time to time put forth. We find on our table his three progressive 'Juvenile Readers;' and judging from the necessarily cursory examination which we have been enabled to give them, we have no hesitation in pronouncing them the best works of their class we have ever encountered. The author has taken great pains so to arrange the different lessons as to lead the child by a regular gradation from easy to difficult reading; to adapt the subjects to his advancement; and to place before him such matter, and such only, as shall convey to the juvenile mind correct views, and just principles of morality. All words of variable or doubtful orthography are also carefully exhibited. There are numerous other important merits, and improvements upon kindred works, to which we have neither time nor space at present to allude, but which we hope our readers will take occasion to find and admire in the works themselves. Mr. CALEB BARTLETT, corner of Platt and Pearl-streets, is the New-York publisher of Mr. COBB's series.

NEW MUSIC: 'THE FORSAKEN.'--Mr. J. L. HEWITT, 239 Broadway, has sent us '_The Forsaken_,' a song sung with effect by Mr. SINCLAIR, and written and _composed_ by JAMES LAWSON, Esq. The 'words' were originally furnished to the KNICKERBOCKER by their author, and were thence transferred to many American journals with cordial commendations. The music is, we think, of a highly pleasing character; and we are not surprised to learn that the 'Song' is in very general request. It is not given to _every_ clever man, we can tell our friend and correspondent, to excel both in poetical and musical composition, as himself has done in the instance before us. We know, for example, a poet 'of the first water' who failed, on a memorable evening not long ago, in improvising a solo for a jews'-harp, 'then and there being' in the hands of a legal friend, who was making the little instrument 'discourse most eloquent music' It was _rather_ a rich scene than otherwise.