government of the Barricades and the dy nasty of Louis Philippe may point with a just pride; reforms which, with all its cant on the subject of religious observances, Sabbath-keeping, and the rest, England has not dared to attempt. We refer to the suppression of gambling houses and the extinction of public prostitution. These social miracles, for they are truly nothing less, have been worked by the present French government. It is known to all who have been acquainted with France, that gambling rooms have always been under the surveillance of the police and were subjected to a tax, from which a considerable revenue resulted. These establishments, in every variety of form, and on every scale of magnitude, abounded in every quarter of Paris. The Palais Royal was especially noted for them, and as the chief part of that edifice is the private property of King Louis Philippe, that personage had a direct advantage in their continuance. Nevertheless, the whole system has been abolished, and no house of play can now exist in Paris without the imminent risk of detection by the vigilance of the police, and consequent subjection to the penalties of the law. And in fact, this measure of moral reform is carried into practical effect. Such houses now either do not exist at all, or exist so rarely and so stealthily as to have no considerable effect on public morals. But a still greater wonder has been accomplished in the purification of Paris from the barefaced exhibition of female vice, which used everywhere to encounter the eyes, and which rendered it impossible for modest females to frequent the public walks at certain hours. All this has been reformed, and vice, wherever it may exist now, is at least compelled to do homage to virtue by preserving the outward appearances and adopting the external manners of decency and propriety. The theatres, the public amusements and the public promenades of Paris are now exempt from the intrusion of any persons who can offend the eye of the most modest, or pollute the ear of the purest; and this is the case at all hours, not only by day but by night. The streets at all hours are quiet and orderly, and the pedestrian encounters nothing indicative of the presence of any other qualities save virtue and propriety. When we remember the condition of the Broadway, from the Astor House to Chambers street, we cannot but admit that the moral evils arising from the want of a strict and efficient police are somewhat manifest. CRITICAL NOTICES. THE MODEL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.-Among the many happy productions of the modern art of perspective drawing, we have always been particularly interested in the aeroscopic, or bird's-eye views of great cities. London, Paris and Rome especially, taken in this way, have been to us particular studies; and we may safely say that we have gained in one hour a better knowledge of the physical aspect of those "places powerful and eke renowned," than we have from reading any books. But no such pictorial view, how ever skillfully executed, can equal in faith fulness and reality of impression the exhibition of a city in carved blocks of wood, by which every street and building, with all the docks and water-craft shall be reproduced to the eye, with an exact attention to proportion. We do not know that we have ever been more struck with any curious work of art than with the "Model of New-York city," now on exhibition, constructed by an ingenious young man, Mr. E. P. Belden, The felicitous minuteness displayed in this creation-for it is a creation-is wonderful. The whole piece is constructed on several compartments, which, united, make a platform of nearly thirty feet square. The city is thus repre sented entire, together with all Brooklyn, and the North and East rivers, with their forests of masts and water-craft. Every street is seen, no longer or wider than it should be in comparison with every other. Each building, large or small, whether the Astor House, the University, or a sentrybox, is carved out of a separate piece of wood, and put in its place, with the exact color and proportion that belong to it. Probably not a man in the city but could at once point out his own dwelling. Some of the larger structures, as Trinity and Grace churches, the City Hall, the University, the Custom-House, and Merchants' Exchange, are exquisitely shaped and finished, and would fetch high prices as models. The number of separate pieces composing some of them amount to several hundreds. Grace has over one thousand. So minute is the work, that the very awning-posts are given, and all the rigging on the well-known vessels and steamers in the bay and rivers. Nothing now in this city is better worth seeing; and if it is to be exhibited over the Union, it will give people in distant places a perfect idea of the American Metropolis. To see it to advantage, it must be studied minutely. Payne's Illustrated London: a Series of Views of the British Metropolis and its Environs; with Historical and Descriptive Letter-press: Each Part containing ten highly finished steel Engravings. Price 25 cents. C. Muller, 118 Nassau Street, New York. These Engravings are really beautiful. We have seen nothing that in so small compass gives so clear ideas of the chief buildings of the great British Metropolis. The written descriptions are also well executed. There are in the two Numbers before us, the Royal Exchange, St. Paul's from the River-a splendid apparitionthe Custom House, Christ's Hospital, the vast stretch of Somerset House along the Thames, that Buckingham Palace, whose costly walls were consecrated, at building, by the curses of the people and the blood of Charles, the massive masonry of Northumberland House, with many others These two handsome volumes are written in a lively and pleasing vein, in the form of what appear to have been the veritable impressions of the moment, written down in journal fashion. Notwithstanding an attempt to avoid saying too much on hackneyed scenes and subjects, we think the author might have compressed his work into half the space, and made it far more interesting to the reader, by omitting much that is said about the ship, the officers, and the passages from place to place, and by confining himself to sketches here and there, and only where he felt it to be an object to give nothing more than a glance. As it is, much of the work will be interesting only to those who traveled in company, or who are acquainted with the author and his friends. The best thing in the first volume is the account of Jerusalem, in which he sums up, in a small space, the actual state of things in the Holy City, without venturing into any elaborate conjectural details as to which are the true and which the false relics; a maze, in endeavoring to unwind which, most modern travelers contrive to sicken both themselves and their readers midst the mass of superstition, bigotry and importance which they encounter at every turn. He hed several peeps at the slave-markets of Constantinople and other Turkish places. The ugly slaves seemed to be very happy and contented, but he gives vent in several places to his sympathy for the Circassians, and his contempt for their masters, especially on one occasion, when, in the kitchen of the Harem, he tasted a sort of vile mince-meat mess on which the beauties were compelled to lunch. The second volume contains some graphic sketches of scenes in Egypt, on the Nile, and more especially in Granada. There are many serviceable observations, by the way, on matters and things of general interest, but no attempts at labored dissertations and discussions. We should say that the author was an excellent fellow, sition, but without any great pretensions with a refined taste, and a jovial dispothat his book would be a good companion in any one department of knowledge; and at a watering place or rustic retreat. The Novitiate; or a year among the English Jesuits. Harper & Brothers. THIS is an account of the writer's experience during one year spent at the College of Stonyhurst, in a preparatory course for entering the Society of the Jesuits as a priest. The book contains about three hundred pages, but might have been made much shorter had the writer confined himself to a simple statement of what he was required to do under the "Exercises of Ignatius," without giving at length his meditations and reflections which are rather dull reading, and show that Mr. Andrew Steinnietz would not have distinguished himself as a preacher had he remained in the society. He appears to have been sincere, however, and his statements bear every appearance of truth. He had formed an exalted idea of the Jesuits' "intellectuality and austerity;" he was to live among men "whose very name had become a pass-word to literature-men who considered intellectual eminence worthy of emulation, and had the means, by sequestration from the world and ample wealth, of encouraging every talent and predilection to their greatest development." In this he was disappointed. He saw but few indications of talent, or even of extensive information among the fathers who were introduced to him. To one of them he put the question, "How it happened that amongst so many clever men of the society, no triumphant answer was put forth to meet the Provincial Letters of Pascal ?" "There was," said he; "but Father Daniel's reply was heavy-it lacked the wit of Pascal." He gives the fathers and his fellow-novices full credit for sincerity, but found it impossible to accommodate his opinions to the standard, and often caught himself in the act of putting the question, "Cui bono?" instead of deferring, as in duty bound, to the judgment of his superiors, and so left them. Obedience was everything, and he was pointed to this Saint and that who had distinguished himself as a model of obedience-doing nothing except "permissu superiorum," and what seemed a natural consequence of this " ad majorem Dei gloriam." There are many curious details tending to shed light on the peculiar devices for habituating the mind to one particular set of opinions. One single example was held forth to show the nature of blind obedience and its reward. A certain holy man was ordered by his superior to water a dry stick set upright in the ground. He obeyed without a question or a thought of a question and behold! the stick put forth branches and grew a beautiful tree." In the matter of chastity, our novice found some singular facts to help him in keeping that most difficult of vows, such as that love divine in all its objects-but most to the Virgin and other female saints of the calendar-was 66 but human love, with all its raptures; only it was shorn of its grossness" following upon which discovery, there was a "curious dream." Again he observed that "men prefer female saints for their patronesses, and that women prefer male saints for their patrons. Some of the instances given in illustration of holy obedience, would be amusing, were they not disgusting-but the flagellation is truly laughable when he describes "Twenty whips crackling like a hail-storm on twenty innocent backs :" and further tells us that "in the excitement, very similar to a shower-bath, we could not help tossing the whip into the desk; and then, diving into the sheets, felt very comfortable indeed." The chain around the loins was the worst; like "the huge centipedes of the west, crawling round the limb, that felt a sudden sting if it made the slightest motion; for it was when we moved that we were truly mortified. He sums up the conclusion to which he finally came, in the following words, "I had long endeavored to distinguish between thegreater glory of God,' and the greater glory of the Society of the Jesuits; I had fixed the idea in this matter, as in everything else, that the end was distinct from the means, and I am compelled to declare that every remark but one pronounced in the novitiate, whether by novices or superiors, who visited us, brought home the growing conviction that we were prepared to take our "shares" in a grand speculation, which was to invest the entire earth in its grasping monopoly." ** satisfactory as was the opinion I formed of "Un the intellectual attainment of those whom I met at Stonyhurst, I doubt not, (and I candidly record the fact,) that each and all had their peculiar talent: their tact adapted to some peculiar emergency." The concluding part of the book contains a summary of the history and constitutions of the Society, which presents much information in a small space. Some of the questions of casuistry, and their answers, certainly look too much like justifying the means by the end. But this, of course, is their peculiar inheritance. The American Journal of Science and Arts, conducted by Prof. SILLIMAN, B. SILLIMAN, jun., and JAMES B. DANA. This work has, on the whole, done us cal published in this country. It has been more honor abroad than any other periodireceived by the European world as the repdiscoveries in the United States. And such resentation of the scientificlattainments and it is. Its merit is parallel, or very nearly, with the course and condition of science There is never a number withamong us. able and accomplished men in what is, raout some interesting articles from our most ther arbitrarily, called science. It ought to be widely patronized-especially as America. Its efficiency has been increased being the only Journal of the kind in by the addition of Mr. Dana's name, and its interest for the general reader, by the greater frequency of its publication-being now issued every two months. Bartlett and Welford's Catalogue of Ancient and Modern Books, recently imported. The Catalogue published by this house, and to be seen at the end of the Review, will be found to contain many works of very great merit, and some rarely to be met with. We have examined many of them-the prices are affixed; and it may be added with perfect confidence, that any person from a distance, noticing a particular work, and desiring to possess it, may order it with perfect security, that its condition will be found to correspond with the description. Antiquaries buying books for no other reason than because they are old, will find them preserved in leather cases of a musky fragrance, dreaded by all worms, next to embalmment. FILTRATION OF WATER.-There is no subject which has more thoroughly tasked the ingenuity of man than the filtration of water. Simple as the matter seems to every one, millions have been expended to effect it, and no means has been devised by which it could be accomplished on anything like an extended scale. The quality of the best river water is more or less impure; dele terious substances, animalcules, and the like, are constantly visible in the waters of the Croton and Schuylkill, when in their natural state. We are glad to observe, therefore, that the necessity which its impurity begets has been supplied, in a convenient, simple and ingenious contrivance by W. H. Jennison. We seldom give place to the notice of such matters, but as the invention is truly beneficial, and its construction founded on scientific principles, we do not hesitate to urge its usefulness upon every resident citizen. We shall have more to say about the Croton, and its introduction into this metropolis. French Domestic Cookery—combining elegance with economy, &c. Harper & Brothers. As no manual of politeness will of itself make a gentleman, so can no book of cookery of itself make a cook. Experience is wanted in both cases. It is not sufficient to be told when and where to make a bow; but one must have been in the habit of doing it all his lifetime to make it come easy and graceful to him. A receipt for making an omelette is apparently a very simple thing, but it requires the science of an experienced operator to " pour the eggs into the pan and fry quickly, taking care that it be nicely browned underneath, fold it in half upon a dish and serve" so as to present the delicate light and savory preparation which graces a Frenchman's breakfast table. Among the receipts here given is one for" omelette au rum," which finishes with the direction to " pour over it a good quantity of rum, and set fire to it at the moment of sending it to the table." We remember to have heard of a lady in the country, who having seen, when dining out, a plumb pudding served up in this way, determined, when next she invited company, to astonish them with the same. The receipt was placed before the cook who prepared the pudding, and poured over it the brandy or rum; but, lest it should all burn out before reaching the dining-room, she lit a piece of paper, and quietly following the stout Irish girl who officiated as waiter, set fire to the liquid just as she was entering the room. Judy, who had not been advised of this movement, and had "never heard of the invenshun before," no sooner saw the blue flames arise than she dropped pudding and all into the fire-place, and by way of comforting the mortified mistress, exclaimed, "Isn't it lucky ye'r didn't ate it before it turned into fire in the insides of ye'r?" We can readily imagine the discomfiture of many a good housewife in the country, who should endeavor to follow in detail the elaborate directions here given for making what, when done, seems a very simple thing, and which a French cook would, by dint of industry, do up in a jiffey. But though such a book will not make a cook, it will contribute to improve one. By adding a little of this, or subtracting a little of that, we add new flavor to a wellknown dish. There are many things in the French cuisine which it is desirable to have better known in this country. We eat generally about twice as much meat as is good for us, or as we should do were the French method of cooking potatoes and other vegetables more generally known. There are some very funny compounds in the book before us, and variety enough to satisfy any gourmand-there being no less than fifteen or twenty different methods of dressing every imaginable thing: sauces, ragouts and stews, in French, English, Italian, Spanish, German, Polish, Russian and Gothic. In turning over the leaves one is astonished at the attention bestowed on trifles. We had supposed that 325 pages of fine print might comprehend everything in the science, but we are told that "there is a quarto volume published, with a great number of figures upon the art of folding a napkin, and giving it the form of animals." There is another, containing the art of carving meats, fowl and fish. There are 7 pages on that subject in this modest " Cuisinière de la campagne et de la Ville." The book before us will be highly useful to those gentlemen who are so perplexed to make out the dishes on French tables, and so afraid of tasting unknown thingsthe thousands of gaping travelers, who dine at the house of a minister abroad, and drink the contents of finger-glasses, thinking it "mighty weak lemonade;" or, in their ig norance of the French language, are obliged to go through the symbolical operation of milking the cow with both hands, before they can make the garcon comprehend that they want café au lait, and not coffee and brandy. We remember hearing a gentleman ask the name of a dish pointing to a disguised chicken on the opposite side of a table d'hote. "Poulet!" was the reply. ""Taint pullet-it's a tough old hen," said an elderly gentleman, who had just helped himself to a piece, and was striving his hardest to masticate it. So ends our chapter about cookery books. PARTY necessity and Party pride of opinion have done their work. The last of the wise and benignant measures of general policy, consummated by the Twenty-Seventh Congress, has been overthrown by the Congress of 1846, under the immediate direction and prompting of the President and Secretary of the Treasury. That which the party now fully in power dared not do when the election of 1844 was pending-dared not even manifest a wish to do by passing a bill through the House, in which their majority was very great-they have not hesitated to do when placed beyond the immediate reach of public reprobation. When the votes of Pennsylvania and New York were indispensable to the election of Polk and the Annexation of Texas, a bill to subvert the tariff of 1842 was decisively laid on the table in a House twothirds hostile to the Whig party and its champion; but when the votes of these States had been secured, and thereby the election of Polk and Dallas, the mask was thrown off altogether, and the measure which the dominant party dared not evince a wish to repeal in 1844, falls beneath the weight of its overwhelming power in 1846. And, as an introduction to our review of the recent act of Congress and the Executive, we have deemed appropriate a republication of the famous letter of Mr. candidate-for-President Polk, in 1844, to his friend and supporter, Mr. Kane, of Pennsylvania. Many of our readers will doubtless be glad to have that letter in a convenient shape for enduring record and convenient reference. Now that its purpose is consummated, it is fit that we inquire how well the expectations which it was skillfully framed to excite are satisfied in the events which it has been made to accomplish. This letter appears on its face to have been written in answer to one of inquiry from Mr. Kane; but that letter of inquiry the public have not been permitted to see. The writer of this made personal application to Mr. Kane for a copy or a sight of it, at a time (February, 1845) when its publication was recent and its purposes only on the eve of consummation-at a time, too, when the inquirer, duly introduced and courteously received, was a sojourner under the same roof with Mr. Polk as well as Mr. Kane. The last-named was urged to take into consideration the various and contradictory interpretations which had been given to the response of Mr. Polk, and the light which the publication of the friendly queries to which it was plainly a reply could not fail to shed on the true and full meaning of the reply itself. All was fruitless, utterly. The letter of Kane to Polk could not be obtained. That of Polk to Kane, howeverthe willfully severed half of this important correspondence-having been given to the public very soon after its reception by Mr. Kane in Philadelphia, and multiplied by millions of copies in every part |