was, or ever will be, found immaculate. At least, there seen through the obscuring glasses of friendship;-on should be presented on the other side such examples of piety and virtue-such lessons of wisdom and truth-as have been furnished by the Church, which is placed upon its trial; and if this were done, the Catholics would certainly not lack a powerful counterpoise, to the mass of odium and reproach that is heaped in the other scale.

another, most scandalous anecdotes of Charles IV. of Spain, the queen, and the "Prince of the Peace ;"—and again still more outrageous on dits of the Prussian Court, Ferdinand, and the handsome chamberlain, Schmettau, who annually announced to the king the birth of a prince, and received for answer from his master on the third announcement. "Schmettau trois! c'est assez."

our own.

The fact is, that the Catholic church is the oldest in Christendom-it has been longest and most intimately associated with the State-it has grown up in the darkest ages of Christianity-it has possessed the largest secular power-it has amassed the greatest wealth. In all these respects, the Protestant churches have been, more or less, contrasted with it. They have struggled into existence from poor beginnings, amid difficulties and dangers, discouraged by the government, jostled and impeded by one another, and never attaining the possession of unbounded power and exhorbitant wealth, such as those enjoyed by the Church of Rome. But, just in proportion as they have acquired these great objects of human desire, in the same degree has the purity of the Church been the sufferer: in the same degree, have pride, luxury, sloth, intolerance, and cruelty, reared their fronts in the holy temples of the Prince of Peace. And, if the Protestants have fewer and less gross errors to be purged out of their churches, they owe it to the kind Providence which ordained that they should be planted in an age of more light, and should flourish amid influences more favourable to the preserva-written for the Messenger, and our readers have therefore Several of the pieces which compose this volume were tion of their original spirit. Let us not, therefore, boast ourselves of our superiority, which is not of ourselves : had the opportunity already afforded them of making up but rather, while we view with satisfaction the changes | an opinion upon Mr. Mulchinock's powers as a poet. which are silently wrought in the Church of our Catholic For ourselves we rate him, if not among the first, yet as brethren by the spirit of religious freedom, let us look far above the middle class of rhymers, although, assuredly, narrowly into the defects of original construction, and the the contents of the present work are rather to be taken as breaches which have been made by time, in the fabric of an earnest of what Mr. Mulchinock can do, than as efforts upon which he would be willing to rest his fame. Very great facility of versification and rare choice of epithets are what strike us most forcibly as the good points of the author. On the other hand, a somewhat too diffuse expression of a single thought, the result of haste in composition, is the most frequent blemish that we notice. But we are not disposed to look for faults in the verses of one who writes for his daily bread, and who can not therefore permit his MSS. to undergo the mellowing process which Henry Richard, Lord Holland, was a favorite with his Horace recommends. Mr. Mulchinock is a young Irishgeneration and his name is still, to all who came in con- man whom the political disturbances of his native land tact with him during his long life, a synonyme for every have driven to our shores, and upon whose exertions dething upright and excellent. To a spirit as guileless as a pends the support of a wife and children. We could wish child's, and a warmth of heart which never lost sight of him a more lucrative profession than that of poet, in an those to whom his friendship had once been given, he uni- age and country so utilitarian as our own, but we are not ted a consistency in politics seldom met with in the trou- without hopes that the peculiar circumstances of the case blous times in which he lived. For forty years he remain- will ensure him a handsome reward for his present labor. ed a staunch Liberal without varying or shadow of turn-One piece of advice, Mr. Mulchinock will permit us to give ing, and though his talents were not of the first order, his him and we offer it with all respect. Having contended observations display a faculty of accurate discrimination so long with the evils of a bad government, it is but natuand an insight into human motives, highly creditable to ral that Mr. Mulchinock's feelings and sympathies upon his intellect and character. becoming the citizen of a republic, should be democratic The "Reminiscences," however, in our opinion, have (we use the word in no party sense) and he has given utbeen somewhat overrated. They have naturally chal- terance to them boldly and becomingly in his "Chaunts for lenged extensive notice for the new light thrown upon Toilers." But there is danger, we think, that he may be many of the events and personages of the French Revo- hurried away by his impulse into the ranks of the ultralution, but this attention they must have excited under ists whose fevered and fitful complainings have found the any circumstances-the literary merits of the work had way to the common ear, always too open to such adnothing to do with it. Lord Holland writes in but an indif- dresses, as well through the ringing lines of the versiferent style, and his ideas spurn all connection whatso- fier as in the editorial columns of socialistic newspapers. ever;-he flits from subject to subject-from France to We fear our young friend has got into bad company when Spain, from Talleyrand to Charles and Ferdinand, with- he fraternizes with Greeley and Whittier-and we cauout connecting in the reader's mind by so much as a hur- tion him above all not to write anything upon Slavery ried sentence the sequence of events. until he has made himself acquainted with the Southern people. We offer this friendly admonition not because

On one page we have an account of Talleyrand in which that delectably cold-blooded, selfish and treacherous time- we think Mr. Mulchinock's verses will be apt to endanger server is made out every thing upright, truthful and pure- the stability of our domestic institutions, but because we

FOREIGN REMINISCENCES. By Henry Richard, Lord Holland. Edited by his son Henry Edward, Lord Holland. New York. Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff street.

1851.

If the reader, however, once consents to yield himself to Lord Holland's guidance, he will find the anecdotes, on dits and personal details of the exalted personages who figure in these pages, very entertaining. In a historical point of view too they are valuable as transcripts from the diary of a man who was "a part of all that he had met," who knew intimately the prominent characters of his day, and whose recollections, though obscured in some degree by personal likes and dislikes, bear the stamp of the author's upright and truthful character. Morris and Brother have the book for sale.

THE BALLADS AND SONGS of William Pembroke Mulchinock. New York: Published by T. W. Strong, No. 98 Nassau Street. 1851.

feel an interest in him, and would dislike to see him ren- means, that this volume is as satisfactory to the admirer der himself ridiculous. His present efforts are altogether and constant reader of Horace as the luxurious and magunexceptionable and we commend them most heartily tonificent volume of Dean Milman, for it is designed, we are public appreciation.

told, for schools and colleges, and is of course without the expensive illustrations of that costly edition. But it contains what is of more consequence to the young studentcopious and well considered notes which elucidate the text, while they do not too greatly assist him in making out the construction. In addition to this, it has a complete "Index of Proper Names" by which one can turn immediately to the passage where any particular place or person may be found. The book is well printed and has a few wood cuts here and there. It is for sale by J. W. Randolph.

THE POETICAL REMAINS of the late MARY ELIZABETH
LEE. With a Biographical Memoir. By S. GILMAN,
D. D. Charleston, S. C.: Walker & Richards. 1851.

Our readers of some years standing will recollect the various contributions to the Messenger of Mary E. Lee. It will be pleasing to them to learn, from the beautiful memoir prefixed to this collected edition of her writings, that her character was as lovely as her poetry was graceful, and in all the relations of private life she adorned the woman, as before the public she added to the stores of her country's literature. The exact measure of Miss Lee's merits has been awarded by Dr. Gilman with singular justice and impartiality, when we consider in what close and confiding relation they stood to each other, and how greatly the gentle qualities of the suffering poetess must have won upon his affectionate regard. His memoir, as a revelation of a secluded life, without other incident than the domestic changes of this world of vicissitude, is full of a subdued interest. It is not difficult to see that the preparation of the memoir, though by no means an easy task, was done con amore.

success from one end of the country to the other. It is
neatly and carefully printed, of convenient size for the
school-boy, and the fact of its being approved by the
learned German doctors whose names we have just men-
tioned, is a sufficient voucher for its value as a lexicon.
It may be obtained of Morris & Brother.

It is only necessary for us to say of this work that it belongs to the excellent classical series of Drs. Schmitz

and Zumpt, which have met with such large and merited MARY BELL; By the author of the Rollo Books. New

York: Harper & Brothers.

WALLACE. Same Author and Publishers.

THE WORKS OF HORACE: With English Notes. For
the use of Schools and Colleges. By J. L. LINCOLN,
Professor of the Latin Language and Literature in
Brown University. New York: D. Appleton &
Company, 200 Broadway.

THE POEMS OF ELIZABETH Barrett BrowNING. Two
Volumes. New York: C. S. Francis & Co. 252
Broadway.

Professor Lincoln has already given to the public some very excellent school editions of the classics, but none of them has pleased us so much as the volume before us. It is just possible that our judgment in this matter has been biassed by a long standing preference for Horace over all the writers, either in verse or prose, of the Latin language. Being better able to form an opinion, in the premises, on this account, we may assign the book a superiority which

it does not really possess. It is always a delight to us to go along with a man who performs the task of a guide understandingly, to the cave of Pyrrha, gaze with him on the white summit of Soracte, and linger in his company in the Via Sacra or the Sabine Grove. Such a friend is Professor Lincoln. We do not mean to imply, by any

We have never particularly admired Mrs. Browning's poetry, and for a reason that we have some hesitation in expressing-we have always thought it affected. Affectation is a charge easily made, and not unfrequently with injustice, and it applies after all more to the manner in which the thought is expressed, than to the sincerity of purpose of the writer; so that when we make the charge, we do not do so idly. But we have so frequently been bewildered by the obscurity of Mrs. Browning's style, and perplexed with the difficulty which she seems to endeavor to throw around the simplest matter, that we have been tempted more than once to give her up altogether. We know that there are very many people who are fond of Mrs. Browning, to whom this new and beautiful edition of her poems will be most acceptable, and we shall certainly not quarrel with them for enjoying what we confess we may not properly appreciate-a strain to which our own spirit is not attuned.

These volumes are for sale by Morris & Brother.

Mr. Jacob Abbott has done more for the "rising generation" than any other person of our time, (not excepting Peter Parley,) that has ever written a line. The excellent Historical Series of the lives of great people, Kings, Queens and Commanders, which he published during the last year, has been succeeded by a new undertaking-the Franconia Stories-two of which are now before us. They are beautifully printed and illustrated, and will no doubt meet with the success they deserve.

These little books may be obtained of Morris & Brother.

George M. West & Brother have sent us Nos. 36 and 37 of the Boston Edition of Shakspeare, containing Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. This fine copy of the great dramatist is now nearly completed, and will make, when bound up, seven sumptuous volumes. The publishers, Phillips, Sampson & Co. deserve large patronage for placing it before the public.

"Tom Racket and his Three Maiden Aunts," is the title of a novel sent us by Long & Brother of New York. It is styled a "Companion to Vanity Fair," and is, in our humble judgment, a very bad companion.

ENGLISH REPORTS

IN LAW AND EQUITY:

PROPOSALS

BY LITTLE & BROWN,

LAW BOOKSELLERS, 112 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON,

FOR PUBLISHING BY SUBSCRIPTION

A NEW SERIES OF LAW AND EQUITY REPORTS.

The want of some system by which the decisions and judicial opinions of the several Courts of Law and Equity in England can be more promptly and cheaply furnished to the legal profession in this country, has long been ser ously felt and acknowledged. To meet a similar want in England, the "LAW JOURNAL REPORTS," and "THE JURIST," which, together, report decisions in all the Courts in Law and Equity, within a few weeks after their delivery, were commenced a number of years since, and have met with the universal approbation of the legal profession. Their high cost, however, has hitherto prevented their general circulation in this country, and their merits are as yet but little known among us.

The subscribers propose to republish these reports IN FULL, as fast as they appear in England and can be receiv ed here. They will contain reports of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the several Courts of Equity, the Court of Queen's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Exchequer and Exchequer Chamber, the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, the Court of Bankruptcy, including, also, the Election Cases, the Crown Cases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal Cases.

These reports will be published in monthly numbers or parts, commencing with the decisions of Michaelmas (November) Term, 1850, and will be carefully edited by a member of the bar, with notes and references to analogous American decisions. The first number will appear in a few days.

Each number will consist of over THREE HUNDRED pages closely printed octavo, on the best paper, and in clear, fair type, and will contain a table of cases, and a full table of contents, thus forming a complete volume by itself, as well as a part of an entire series. Every alternate or second number will be paged consecutively from the number immediately preceding, and will contain a table of cases, and of contents to both, and thus form, every two months, a complete volume, ready for binding, of over six hundred pages. In each volume the cases of the several Courts will be found arranged together, and in point of style and typographical execution, this series will be fully equal to the best reports of England or this country.

It is designed to make this a PERMANENT PUBLICATION, and thus establish a new series of ENGLISH Law and EQUITY REPORTS, which shall, in all respects, be far in advance of any other reprint of English Reports in this country, and which shall furnish to the American lawyer the decisions of Westminster Hall, nearly two years before they could otherwise be obtained, and long before the publication of the contemporaneous decisions of most of our own tribunals.

The profession may be assured that this series will be the most complete of any reports now published. A careful examination of the Jurist and Law Journal, for a series of years, discloses the fact that many important cases are here reported which are not found in the contemporaneous reports of Meeson and Welsby, Manning, Granger & Scott, Adolphus & Ellis, and other reporters; and the Law Journal alone, during the first seven years of its existence, published over 1,000 cases not then elsewhere reported. This publication will include all the future decisions of the Law and Equity Courts hereafter contained in the several series of English Reports.

The price of this publication, forming six volumes octavo, will be $10 a year, payable in advance, or the six volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law sheep, $12.

Each monthly part will be sold separately, if desired, at $1 each.

As to the character of the reports of the " Law Journal” and “ The Jurist," but little need be said. They were established to furnish the profession with the actual decision of causes, and the reasoning of the Court thereupon, with a clear, concise, and sufficient abstract of the facts, without the prolix arguments of counsel usually found in the late English Reports. They are not encumbered with Nisi Prius decisions, but contain only those cases argued and decided in banc, and upon mature consideration. In England these Reports are regarded as of high authority, and are cited with approbation and respect in the English Courts, and by their most eminent elementary writers. They are regularly digested and inserted in the Annual Digests of Harrison, and others, and have received the express sanction of distinguished English Judges. They are cited with confidence, and as authority, in the judicial opinions of Judge Story, and other eminent American Judges, and in the writings of Greenleaf, Kent, Angell, Phillips, Chitty, and others; and, for accuracy, clearness, and brevity are believed to be equal to any English Reports now published. The publishers feel confident that the low price of this series, combined with the promptness and regularity with which the latest decisions will here be offered to the profession, cannot fail to recommend it as a useful and desirable publication.

Orders addressed to the subscribers, No. 112 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., or to any of their Agents.

LITTLE & BROWN.

BOSTON, March, 1851.

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.

JNO. R. THOMPSON, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

JUNE, 1851.

RICHMOND, VA.

MACFARLANE & FERGUSSON.

AGENTS.

MACFARLANE & FERGUSSON, Richmond, Va.
DEWITT & DAVENPORT, New York.
JOSEPH ROBINSON. Baltimore, Md.
C. C. CLEAVES, Memphis, Tenn.
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THIS WORK is publISHED IN MONTHLY NUMBERS AVERAGING SIXTY-FOUR PAGES EACH, AT FIVE DOLLARS, PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.