absolutely necessary, for nothing is good that is not true. By poetic truth we mean, that the poet must feel what he expresses, or he must know, from his own observation, that others have felt the passions he is endeavouring to portray. If all poets thus wrote from truth and nature, there would be no such thing as plagiarism, because the modifications of mind, feeling, and expression are, probably, as various in individuals as are the features of the countenance; and though all have true faces, yet each has a distinct character, which cannot be mistaken, which is not borrowed.

We make these remarks for the benefit of those worshippers of imagination, who seem to think that the poetic license may atone for the grossest faults, and that the romantic characteristics of poetry, place it above and beyond all rules save those of harmony and rhyme,-and that to write beautiful poetry, those images only, which have been acknowledged beautiful by the critics of Europe, must be employed in our new world. When this idea is abandoned, when our poets write as Americans, as republicans, when they write truth in sentiment, write as they see and feel the appearances of nature, and the modifications of social life, its manners and passions and pursuits in their own country, or as they contrast with those of other countries, then we shall have poetry of which our nation will be proud. There are, occasionally, such strains now, and we have a few names which deserve honorable mention as American poets, not European plagiarists.

Charles Sprague, author of the poem at the head of this article, is one of the number whom Americans should delight to honor. His talents are of the first order, vigorous, and highly cultivated, and they have always been directed to subjects connected with his own country. There is also something republican in his literary character, for his eminence as a writer is the result of self-application and untiring industry. Labor has constituted no obstacle in his researches or performances. Whatever he has attempted, has been given to the world in a finished state; and the scope of all his writings has been to enlarge the views or elevate the tone of society. He has set an example worthy of imitation, and we recommend his ODE to the notice of our readers, as worthy the study of every individual capable of appreciating the high and holy motives which influenced the Pilgrims in the settlement of this country; and who would meditate on the deep responsibilities which the privileges we enjoy necessarily impose on rational and immortal beings. For justness of design, purity of style and soundness of thought, this poem has rarely been excelled. It has some faults, but they are very trifling compared with its beauties; we have no room to notice them, and only space for a short extract, as a specimen to those who have not yet read the Ode.

O many a time it hath been told,
The story of those men of old;
For this fair poetry hath wreathed
Her sweetest, purest flower;
For this proud eloquence hath breathed
His strain of loftiest power;

All gone! 'tis ours, the goodly land-
Look round-the heritage behold;
Go forth-upon the mountains stand,
Then, if ye can, be cold.

See living vales by living waters blessed,
Their wealth see earth's dark caverns yield,
See ocean roll, in glory dressed,

For all a treasure, and round all a shield;
Hark to the shouts of praise

Rejoicing millions raise;
Gaze on the spires that rise,
To point them to the skies,
Unfearing and unfeared;

Then, if ye can, O then forget
To whom ye owe the sacred debt-

The Pilgrim race revered!

The men who set faith's burning lights

Upon these everlasting heights,

To guide their children through the years of time;

The men that glorious law who taught,

Unshrinking liberty of thought,

And roused the nations with the truth sublime.

THE LIBRARY OF EDUCATION, VOL. I. Boston: published by GRAY & BOWEN, pp. 317.

This first volume contains two Treatises on Education, those of Locke and Milton. Mr. Russell the editor, informs us in his preface, that it is in contemplation to publish, in a connected series, the " productions of many eminent writers on subjects connected with the instruction of youth." The plan must we think be highly approved, and the abilities and character of Mr. Russell are a sufficient guarantee, that what has been thus wisely projected will be faithfully performed. The work is needed for teachers, and it is needed for mothers. The effect of early habits, the domestic training to which every human being is subjected, has never yet been sufficiently estimated. Good schools may make learned scholars, but it is only good mothers that can make men wise, if true wisdom consists in the regulation of the heart and mind, by the precepts of moral justice towards man, and love towards God. So long as women are ignorant of the power of early education, and of the principles of the minds they are forming, so long must wickedness and misery

prevail; for the gross errors and pernicious habits of early education cannot be eradicated-they may be repented, be relinquished-but the stain is there. This work will make a very valuable addition to every library, and furnish rules and hints, which in families as well as schools must materially assist those who are anxious to perform their duty in training children in virtue, and for usefulness. We give a few extracts from the hints on physical management of children. It is from the Treatise of Locke. We select these remarks, because we think physical education is, among us, more neglected than moral or mental. "It is a great advantage to every one's health, but especially children's, to be much in the open air, and very little, as may be, by the fire, even in winter. By this, he will accustom himself also to heat and cold, shine and rain; all which, if a man's body will not endure it, will serve him to very little purpose in this world; and when he is grown up it is too late to begin to use him to it; it must be got early, and by degrees.

"And although greater regard be had to beauty in the daughters, yet I will take the liberty to say, that the more they are in the air, without prejudice to their faces, the stronger and healthier they will be; and the nearer they come to the hardships of their brothers in their education, the greater advantage will they receive from it. "One thing the mention of the girls brings into my mind which must not be forgot; that is, that your son's clothes be never made strait, especially about the breast. Let nature have scope to fashion the body as she thinks best, she works of herself a great deal better and exacter than we can direct her.

"As for children's diet, it ought to be very plain and simple; and if I might ad. vise, flesh should be forborne, as long as he is in coats, or at least till he is two or three years old. But if my young master must needs have flesh, let it be but once a day, and of one sort at a meal. Plain beef, mutton, veal, &c., without other sauce than hunger, is best; and great care should be used that he eat bread plentifully both alone and with every thing else. And whatever he eats that is solid, make him chew it well. We English are often negligent herein, from which fol lows indigestion and other great inconveniences.

"For breakfast and supper, milk, milk-pottage, water-gruel, flummery and twenty other things, that we are wont to make in England, are very fit for children: only in all these let care be taken that they be plain, and without much mixture, and very sparingly seasoned with sugar, or rather none at all; especially all spices, and other things that may heat the blood, are carefully to be avoided. Be sparing also of salt, in the seasoning of all his victua's, and use him not to high-seasoned meats. Our palates grow into a relish and liking of the seasoning and cookery which by custom they are set to; and an over much use of salt, besides that it oc casions thirst, and over much drinking, has other ill effects upon the body. I should think that a good piece of well made and well baked brown bread, sometimes with and sometimes without butter or cheese would be the best breakfast for my young master.

"Augustus, when the greatest monarch on earth. tells us he took a bit of dry bread in his hand, and Seneca, giving an account how he managed himself when old, and his age permitted indulgence, says that he used to cat a piece of dry bread for his dinner, without the formality of sitting to it. The masters of the world were bred up with this spare diet; and the young gentlemen of Rome felt no want of strength or spirit, because they ate but once a day. Or if it happened by chance that any one would not fast so long as till supper, their only set meal, he took nothing but a bit of dry bread, or at most a few raisins, or some such slight thing with it to stay his stomach. You cannot imagine of what force custom is; and I impute a great part of our diseases in England to our eating too much of flesh, and too little of bread.

"More fevers and surfeits are got by people's drinking when they are hot, than by any one thing I know. Therefore, if by play a child be hot and dry bread will ill go down; and so if he cannot have drink, but upon condition that he eats, he will be forced to forbear. For if he be very hot, he should by no means drink.

Not being permitted to drink without eating, will prevent the custom of having the cup often at his nose; a dangerous beginning, and preparation to intemperance. Men often bring habitu hunger and thirst on themselves by custom. I once liv el in a house where, to appease a froward child, they gave him drink as often as be cried; so that he was constantly bibbing: and though he could not speak, he drank more in twenty four hours than I did.

"Above all, take care that he seldom ifever taste wine or strong drink. There is nothing so ordinarily given to children in England, and nothing so destructive to them. They ought never to drink any strong liquor but when the doctor prescribes it as a cordial."

MEMOIRS OF HOWARD, compiled from his Diary, his confidential letters and other authentic documents. BY JAMES BALDWIN BROWN. Abridged by a Gentleman of Boston, from the London Quarto Edition. Boston: Lincoln & Edinands, pp. 352.

The name of Howard is synonymous with charity; but still some may imagine his charity was of that eccentric kind which sought always for difficult channels of display, and was, therefore, to be admired rather than imitated. It is then of the utmost importance to the cause of benevolence that the motives which actuated this devoted Christian should be understood, and we rejoice to see a work so judiciously calculated to dispel every misapprehension, and do justice to the character of Howard, placed within the means of every American who feels an interest in preserving the memory of goodness. We call Howard a philanthropist—he was only a Christian—and the same desire of doing good, and the performance of it too, as far as practicable, which he evinced, must be cherished by every one who would be, in spirit and truth, a Christian. It is high time that those who claim to be Christians should show that to gain money does not occupy all their thoughts. But this is a subject which we have not space to discuss here. In reading this volume we were particularly interested with observing the salutary effects which grief for the loved and lost," is capable of producing on the mind and character. Howard, from his earliest appearance on the stage of life, evinced strong traits of vigor of mind, and excellence of heart. The warmth of philanthropy was struggling powerfully with the worldly prudence, which the Christians of our day are taught is so necessary to their usefulness, in his mind; but the storm of affliction came; his beloved wife, who had shared and encouraged his benevolent plans, was taken from him, and in that night of grief he arose and trimmed his lamp at a flame which never afterwards decayed. Perhaps but for that sorrow, he would never have been known beyond the walks of his private charity, and the incalculable benefits his labors and example have wrought in the world would never have been realized. Throughout his life he cherished most devotedly the memory of his wife ;-and let those who would abolish the custom of wearing mourning apparel, and by that means rob the dead of one avenue to the thoughts,-the consciences of the living,-reflect whether the money saved, if money could be saved by such pitiful means, from dispensing with the fashion, would be expended in a manner likely to operate more beneficially on the human character. We were not placed in this world

to lay up money, but to do good, to elevate the moral and intellectual part of our nature, and prepare for that world where righteousness is riches, and love is happiness.

There is another very sad and yet important reflection must arise in the mind of every American who reads this work. It is respecting the horrid state of the prisons in Great Britain, above that of all other of the European nations, including even the Turks. Why is it that a people boasting so loudly of their freedom, and piety, and intelligence, can be thus selfish and cruel ? The answer must be obvious to all who have read British history, and understand the character of the British government. That government is an oligarchy, and its corruptions and tyranny have made the name of liberty only a signal of oppression. Avarice and luxury among the mighty-vice and ignorance among the low, pervade the land. We should take warning in season and avoid their errors; remembering that the most intolerable oppressions which ever disgraced modern governments have been practised by an oligarchy, or aristocracy, ruling in the name of a republic as in Venice, or a limited monarchy as in England. It seems Howard was aware of the evils of his own government. His biographer remarks, "though interfering but little with the politics of the day, he was one of those who rejoiced at the issue of the improvident contest into which we were foolishly plunged with our American colonies; and in the narrow circle in which he moved at home, evinced himself on several occasions, a spirited opponent of aristocratical influence."

His own example shows that the peasantry of England are made vicious and brutal by their oppressors. For the benefit of his wife's health he purchased an estate near Lymington, in the New Forest, where the people had been found so bad that the former possessor of the estate thought it necessary to employ all the contrivances of aristocratical tyranny in use in that land of freedom,-man-traps, and spring-guns and engines. But Mr. Howard lived three or four years, in perfect security and harmony with all these outlaws and desperadoes, whom by treating kindly and justly he made kind and good. Charity is the golden chain that links society in bonds of peace; and true charity was never yet practised by any of "mere mortal mould" more devotedly than by Howard. We cannot close this short notice better than by extracting the last paragraph of the Memoir, which we commend as a work deserving to be read and remembered. The American editor has performed his task ably, and, in the true spirit of benevolence, he has brought forward those excellent traits and Christian graces of the character he sought to portray. It is a blessed legacy to the world; may it prove a redeeming one to his own country. Were the English character freed from the plague spots of avarice and luxury, it would be worthy the highest praise. Americans must regret that the stain of these vices should degrade a nation from whom they descended ; and a nation that reckons Howard as its son.

"In him was concentrated a rare union of intrepidity and coolness: decision and enterprise disinterestedness and humility; tenperance and benevolence; fearless