27.-The Papal Conspiracy Exposed, and Protestantism Defended, in the Light of Reason, History, and Scripture. By Rev. EDWARD BEECHER, D. D., 12mo., pp. 432. New York: M. W. Dodd. Dr. Beecher arraigns the "Romish corporation" on a serious charge, adduces evidence and argues his case with system, force, and earnestness. Besides an introduction, the work is divided into four parts: 1. Romanism, a fraudulent and persecuting conspiracy; 2. Romanism the enemy of mankind; 3. Romanism an imposition and a forgery; 4. The judgment of God and the burning of Babylon. The Appendix contains a letter to the Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, called forth by the speech of that accomplished statesman in the House of Representatives, in which he gave his views on the relation of the Papal power to our national and State governments. 28.-Modern Agitators; or Pen Portraits of Living American Reformers. By DAVID W. BARTLETT., author of "Life of Lady Jane Grey," "Joan of Arc," etc., etc. 12mo., pp. 396. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan. Some of the distinguished anti-slavery, temperance, and religious reformers of the day are portrayed by one who sympathizes with and admires them. Beecher, Seward, Chapin, Gough, Giddings, Greeley, and Bushnell, are among the twenty who are writ ten about. In most instances extracts are made from the writings of the persons sketched. The author's delineations will be interesting to a large class of the community. His style is vigorous. 29.-My Brother's Keeper. By A. B. WARNER, author of "Dollars and Cents," "Mr. Rutherford's Children," &c. 12mo., pp. 385. New York: D. Appleton & Co. The scenes of this interesting novel are mostly American, occurring in and about New York, and some of the incidents are connected with the late war of Great Britain. The style is simple and natural, and the story, of which the title is suggestive, truly exemplifies the moral power and silent influence which one can have over the waywardness of another, whose life is consistently pure and good. The author has shown it in the character of Rosalie, and its effect on that of her brother. The story cannot but morally impress the reader. 30.-Brooksiana: or the Controversy between Senator Brooks and Archbishop Hughes, growing out of the recently enacted "Church Property Bill." tion by the Most Rev. Archbishop of New York. 2mo., pp. Edward Dunigan & Brother. With an Introduc198. New York: The letters containing this controversy excited considerable attention when first published. They have been collected by Bishop Hughes, who has added an explanatory introduction, displaying his usual ability. 31.-The Conscript: a Tale of the Empire. From the French of ALEXANDER DUMAS, author of "Monte Cristo," "The Three Guardsmen," etc. 12mo., pp. 400. New York: Stringer & Townsend. For a French translation, we scarcely ever have read a more interesting narrative. It is a simple recital of the history of two obscure families, whose woes grew out of the Conscription, during the wars of Napoleon the Great. The character of Conscience, the conscript, is one of deep interest; there is much beauty and sublimity portrayed in the lives of these French peasants; their history is simply yet thrillingly narrated. We find this story free from the moral taint frequently found in French fiction. 32.-Peg Woffington. By CHARLES READE, author of "Christie Johnstone." 12mo., Boston: Ticknor & Fields. An episode in the life of a celebrated actress of the times of Quin and Cibber, remarkable for her social qualities and dramatic talents. Interwoven with her history is that of many others connected with her in her theatrical career. The style of the novel is spirited, and its power to interest lies in the moral experience of the characters who figure in it. 33.-Foster's First Principles of Chemistry. Illustrated by a series of the most recently discovered and brilliant experiments known to the science. Adapted especially for Classes. 12mo., pp. 136. New York: Harper & Brothers. An excellent elementary work on the science of which it treats. Each natural division is presented in a strictly practical form, illustrated by diagrams and experiments within the comprehension of youth. It is a work of rare merit. 1 HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE. Established July, 1839, BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. VOLUME XXXIII. ART. CONTENTS OF NO. II., VOL. XXXIII. ARTICLES. PAGE. I. THE PRINCIPLES AND TENDENCIES OF MODERN COMMERCE: WITH SPECIAL 145 IV. THE CURRENCY AND THE TARIFF. By CHARLES H. CARROLL, Esq., Merchant, of 191 V. CANADA: ITS COMMERCE AND RESOURCES. BY CHARLES SEYMOUR, Esq., of 200 JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW. Promissory Note with Ten per cent per Month Interest.. Important to Merchants-Manager, with share of Profits, a Partner........ Bill of Exchange-Partnership-Acceptance Ships passing each other-Liability of Owners 207 208 208 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW: EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW of the United STATES, ETC., ILLUSTRA TED WITH TABLES, ETC., AS FOLLOWS: Condition of the Money Markets at Home and Abroad-Currency for moving the incoming Crop-Anticipations of Prosperity-The Railroad Interest-Foreign Failures-Banks of New York and Boston-Clearing House for New York State Banks-Deposits of Gold and Silver at the New York Assay Office and Philadelphia Mint-Imports at New York for June, for Six Months from January 1st, and for the Fiscal Year ending June 30-Imports at New Orleans-Revenue from Customs at Philadelphia and Boston-Shipments of Produce, and the Shipping Interest, etc...... New York Cotton Market VOL. XXXIII.-NO. II. 10 209-219 219 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. PAGE, Shipping built in the United States... Ships and Shipping of the United States... 221 2-22 Lumber Trade of Quebec for five years.-Consumption of Spirits in England, Scotland, Ireland 224 The Pork Trade of 1854-5.. Wine Vaults of the London Docks.-Navigation at the Port of Quebec.. The Fresh and Salt Meat Trade of France. Commercial Prosperity of the Greeks JOURNAL OF INSURANCE. The Causes of Fires, with Suggestions for Prevention The Charter of an Insurance Company a Contract..... 225 226 227 227 228 229 NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE. Notices to Mariners: Flashing Light at Trapani, Sicily.-Isola di Vulcano.-Revolving Light on the Morro de San Paolo, Brazil.-Coast of Spain on the Atlantic-Alteration of Light at Cadiz 231 Light on Cape San Antonio, Province of Alicante..... Change of Light at Cove Point, North of Patuxet River 232 ..... 232 STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c. Results of the Census of Great Britain-No. vii. Territorial Subdivisions..... Emigration to the United States.. 232 234 Population of Arkansas in 1850 and 1854.-Native and Foreign Population of Southern States. 235 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c. East Indian and American Cotton.-The Sea Island Cotton of Florida.. RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS. Cost of Passenger and Freight Transportation by Railway.. Ocean and Inland Steamers out of the Port of New York-No. III. "The Metropolis.". The St. Clair Flats and Lake Navigation.. Operations of the Massachusetts Railroads..... Transportation of the United States Mail by Ocean Steamers.. Railroad and Steamboat Accidents in the United States... COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. An Act relating to the Carriage of Passengers in Steamships and Other Vessels.. Of the Sale of Products of the United States in New Orleans...... Purchase of Belligerent Ships by Neutrals........ JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. 240 243 244 245 246 246 247 248 252 253 The Coal Lands of Great Britain and Ohio.-Mining at Georgetown, California... 261 MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. The "Philadelphia Merchant."-"Bell's Commercial College at Chicago.... HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW, AUGUST, 1855. Art. I. THE PRINCIPLES AND TENDENCIES OF MODERN COMMERCE: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE * TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN STATES AND THE ORIENTAL World. THE life-time of every people, every race, has its successive eras or periods, each marked by the predominance of some principle or motive of action, which gives them their distinctive features and informs them with those characteristic tendencies and propensities, that constitute what is called the Spirit of the Age. When the actuating principle is an ideaa great abstract truth, which appeals directly to the reason or the conscience, with a force and an authority that overawe the will, drown for the time even the voice of interest, elevates mortals above selfish nature, and impels them with uncalculating self-devotion, to sacrifice in its defense, wealth, fame, ease, home, life itself the age is heroic, and man seems not a thing of time and space, but a superhuman being, invested with attributes which savor not of earth, but vindicate his claim to companionship with the higher intelligences who dwell in the immaterial heavens. Thus, the heroic age of Israel was the exodus from Egypt, when the elect people chose rather the worship of the one true God in the hungry desert, than the idolatrous polytheism and the sensual abundance of the valley of Nilus; of Rome, the dark hour, when, after the discomfiture of her legions, though the Punic conqueror was knocking hard at her * We are indebted to the Hon. GEORGE P. MARSH, late American Minister at Constantinople, for the manuscript copy of his discourse delivered before the Mercantile Library Association at Boston, November 13th, 1854. It was kindly furnished us for publication in the Merchants' Magazine, at our request.-Ed. Mer. Mag. gates, yet such was the confidence of her sons in the destiny of the eternal city, that the very ground on which the Carthaginian lay encamped, commanded in open market, as high a price as in the day of her proudest security; of England, the rebellion, when the people discarded that old political superstition of the sacred inviolability of the Crown, and good men died for the principle that the liberties of the subject are rights, not graces; of our own Country, as has been eloquently shown by one of yourselves, the Pilgrim emigration, whose spirit revived again, though with a larger admixture of selfish purposes in the period of the Revolution. The heroic age, though commonly marked by enthusiastic and energetic action, is yet more truly characterized as an era of contemplation, of lofty imagination, of high intellectual power, of the unequivocal predominance of the spiritual over the sensuous. It is usually followed by a period of great physical activity, guided by a portion of the elevated intelligence which that nobler preceding age has developed, and it is in general true, that for every generation remarkable for its material energy, the way has been prepared by an epoch of great and general mental effort and excitement. War, therefore, which demands, though too often in the worst of causes, the exercise of high and rare moral qualities, rapid and widely diversified intellectual combination, the mental vision which commands the great and the distant, while it scrutinizes the trivial and the near, is often the precursor of an age conspicuous for peaceful effort, which displays itself in civil or commercial undertakings of a gigantic magnitude, a comprehensiveness of purpose, a boldness, a forecast, a dignity, that seem to lend even to pecuniary enterprise, something of the grandeur of heroism. Shining, however, as are the qualities which war brings out and cherishes, and to which a criminal prejudice imparts a yet more dazzling luster, there is no greater error than to suppose that the most exalted arts are the arts of destruction, and that the profession of arms furnishes exclusive occasion for the exercise of the noblest attributes of heart or head, or even of that cheapest of virtues, physical courage. The unobtrusive pursuits of Commerce, which the bloody and barbarous Christianity of the middle ages, thought worthy only of the despised burgher and the unbelieving Jew, have had their heroes and their conquerors. The early maritime discoverers encountered greater perils than the combatants of Trafalgar, and our own commercial marine, braves every winter, horrors not less appalling than those of the retreat from Moscow. History, in fact, records no more striking examples of hardihood, perseverance, endurance, courage, all the attributes, in short, of exalted heroism, except the inspiration of a lofty and generous motive, than are presented in the narratives of those old, half-freebooter, half-merchant adventurers, who went forth with their life in their hand, in search of new paths to the rich Commerce of the Eastern World, plundering where they were strong enough and trafficking where they were not, like the rovers of the Homeric age or the Vikings of the North, nor have the proudest structures of imperial munificence or enlightened national liberality in ancient or modern times, demanded a greater amount of intelligent physical activity than many monuments of associate commercial enterprise in the present day. I suppose, therefore, I may safely presume, that to an audience descended from our own demi-gods, separated by but a few generations from our heroic age, inheriting in an eminent degree the material energy, which, as I said, has its roots in the more exalted virtues of that era, and at the |