made out by any one, who chooses to look with microscopic eye at any work of philological disquisition; and yet these mistakes may have a scarcely perceptible effect upon the substantial value of the book. But several of the errors of interpretation that we have pointed out, in the notes upon this tragedy, seem to us of a different description, and to merit consideration; though we repeat, that on the whole, we regard it as a valuable addition to our means of classical instruction.

10. — Speech in Behalf of the University of Nashville, delivered on the Day of the Anniversary Commencement, October 4th, 1837. By PHILIP LINDSLEY,

THIS is one of the most truth-telling and amusing speeches we have ever had from the great West. It is an upright and downright defence of University systems in general, and the Nashville University in particular. Mr. Lindsley talks to the westerners in their own free and bold fashion, and we venture to say they like him all the better for it. He tells them, in a style bordering on conversational plainness, as many truths as they can digest before another commencement, on all the great topics of liberal education; and scatters, with the breath of a most searching ridicule, the prejudices and absurdities with which, it seems, Nashville, like some other cities, is overflowing, in relation to the University. There are those, we doubt not, who have been shy of the University, ever since the last anniversary. The benefits of scholarship, the advantages held out by Universities, the causes why so many young men fail to make the best use of them, and the remedies which ought to be applied to existing defects, are discussed with thorough knowledge, a fearless spirit, and uncompromising independence.

We notice, in passing, the following remarks. "Both Harvard and Yale usually employ six or eight tutors, according to the actual number of students, averaging commonly between two and three hundred. These perform all the drudgery of elementary drilling, and attend the daily routine of recitations in the classroom; while the professors read lectures, and maintain the dignity of science and of the Senatus Academicus." Now the worthy President must have been dreaming of some University in the fabled Atlantis, in the isles of the Blest, or perchance in Nephelococcyggia, when he uttered that last sentence. Such a professor would be worth travelling a hundred miles to see. Sure we are, that he cannot be found in New England. Our naturalists have

no such class, and would not know what to do with him, or where to arrange him. Such beings, we are told, have been, but they are no more. Famam tantum accepimus. They are the Ichthyosauri and Megatheria of our academical antiquities.

11.

The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1838. Boston. Charles Bowen. pp. xii., 336.

THIS important annual has now reached its ninth volume; and every succeeding year has added to its value, and to its general credit and reputation. The astronomical department of the work, under the charge of Mr. Paine, is unsurpassed, either in scientific accuracy, or practical usefulness, by any of the European publications of the same nature; and the miscellaneous department, prepared by Mr. Worcester, contains a mass of statistical information, of indispensable daily use, which no other book affords, and much of which would otherwise be wholly inaccessible to the community at large. We trust the work will continue to receive the extended public patronage, which it so richly merits.

In addition to this brief notice of the Almanac itself, we wish to call the attention of our readers to a suggestion in the Preface, which we regard as an interesting one.

"In conducting this work," says the Editor, "we have frequently found it impossible to procure the information wanted. The statistics of the whole country can never be collected by one individual, nor by a society formed for the purpose. If the work is ever accomplished in a suitable manner, it must be done under the direction of the government of the United States. And, if the national government should connect this object with the taking of the next census, the design would certainly commend itself to every man of enlightened views; and it would redound to the lasting honor of the administration that should first introduce the system."

We heartily concur with the Editor in the opinion that a vast deal of statistical matter, highly interesting and useful to the whole country, might be well collected under the authority of the Federal Government, in association with the usual census of the United States; and we sincerely hope this object may, at the proper time, engage the attention of Congress.

An undertaking of this kind has, indeed, already been proposed to that body, as a distinct measure, on its own particular merits, by Professor Lieber, of South Carolina. His Memorial on the subject, presented to the Senate of the United States, at

the first session of the twenty-fourth Congress, and noticed by us in a late number,* proposes the preparation and publication of an extensive work, containing the entire statistics of the United States, in the broadest sense of the expression; so as to exhibit, that is, the actual state and condition of the United States, in respect of the surface, soil, and natural resources of the country; its productions; the industry and commerce of the inhabitants; their relations, social, religious, and political, and the relations of civilization and social improvement, so far as they can be indicated by specific facts; all this information to be collected and published under the authority of the United States. Professor Lieber gives a sketch of the particular classes of facts which such a work should comprise; he shows the utility of it; the attention bestowed on the subject by other nations; the impossibility of the task being thoroughly and satisfactorily executed, except by the aid and through the agents of the government; and the consequent duty of the Federal Government to undertake it.

No decisive action upon the subject has yet been had in Congress; but, either in the comprehensive form proposed by Professor Lieber, or if otherwise, then in connexion with the taking of the census as suggested by the Editor of the Almanac, we think it is an object, the favorable consideration of which, by Congress, would receive the hearty sanction of the people of the United States.

sons.

- First Exhibition and Fair of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, at Faneuil and Quincy Halls, in the City of Boston, September 18th, 1837. Boston; published by Dutton & Wentworth, for the Association. 1837.

WE rejoice in the appearance of this pamphlet, for many reaIn the first place, it gives us an opportunity to express, under the form which etiquette allows to such journals, our satisfaction at the exhibition it describes, and to offer our thanks to the Mechanic Association for the rich treat they afforded us at their Fair. We know not when we have attended a more interesting exhibition. There is a peculiar beauty in mechanical work of every kind, when well executed; no matter what is the object of the article, no matter how homely the purpose to which it is to be applied, how awkward the form, how ungainly the motion,

* North American Review, Vol. XLIII. p. 264. '

still there is beauty in it if well finished. A simple knife, a door-latch, a bit-stock, a carpenter's rule, has its own beauty, unlike that of any thing else; and it is a kind of beauty which all people enjoy. The most uneducated and unrefined perceive and appreciate it, the most learned and polished are equally touched by it. We certainly never witnessed an exhibition, from which greater numbers could derive pleasure than from this. For ourselves, it seemed as if we could never be tired with looking and admiring, and we came away from the halls with a feeling of strong gratitude to those who had offered us such a beautiful entertainment.

Had we been asked to give an account of what we had seen, we fear we should have made but a lame story of it. In the immense number and variety of the objects, the eye was wearied with looking, and the brain with comprehending; so that if we had been urged to describe the fair, we should have been disposed to answer in schoolboy phrase, "I knew till you asked me." The pamphlet before us helps us out of this difficulty; it classifies the objects, and by its brief descriptions calls many to mind which we should have entirely forgotten, and presents vividly before us many that we remembered but indistinctly and confusedly.

To attempt to give an account of those articles which pleased us most by their elegant finish, their ingenious contrivances, or their useful purposes, would occupy far more space than the limits of this notice allow. We wandered through a labyrinth of beautiful objects in every department of the mechanic arts, constantly finding cause for new interest and delight to the last. To endeavour to comprehend or even to see all the works with which the fair abounded, would have been foolish. Those who have peculiar interest in any one of the mechanical arts, would undoubtedly have found room for the gratification of their tastes and the improvement of their knowledge in that branch. Those who have only a general interest in the advance of those arts, would derive great pleasure, though less improvement. It was much like going through a great library. We saw there the means of studying many, perhaps most of the branches of mechanical art; but to the casual observer this was all that the time allowed; and we passed on, looking at the various beautiful objects, with much the same feeling that we should experience in looking at the backs of books in a rare collection.

There were other effects of the exhibition on the minds of many, probably more important than these. The idea of the labor which produced all, was almost frightful. And yet it was VOL. XLVI.-No. 98.

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encouraging. It seemed as if the nerve and sinew of our community were laid open to us. In the midst of the excitement, civil, religious, and political, which prevails over the whole land, it was comforting to think that here were the results of the labor of a great number of people, who are constantly and steadily at work in some productive occupation; who have the firmness and stability of good men; who form one of the largest classes of our citizens; and who will perhaps be the very last to abandon the principles in which they have been educated as American citizens. They seem to partake of the solidity and strength of their own machines.

Besides this, we were much impressed with the high finish of every thing we saw. Many a man whose walks are in intellectual paths might learn a good lesson from this. How perfect were the machines! how beautiful the workmanship of everything! how admirable the finish! Here, indeed, we seemed to have found perfection. The trades are dissatisfied if their work is not completed thoroughly, and as well as it can be. And shall the scholar, the professional man, be willing that the finish of his own education, the tools he has to work with, the armor in which he is to fight, should be incomplete, slovenly, and clumsy?

We trust that the exhibition will be continued annually after this; and we will venture to promise the gentlemen who manage it, that a more popular haunt will never be found in Boston, than the halls they may fill with their beautiful productions.

NOTE.

The Editor of this journal finds it proper to give notice, that the transmission of books, by authors or booksellers, cannot be considered as imposing on him any obligation in respect to such works, beyond that of entering their titles in the List of New Publications. He is often made acquainted, in this manner, with works, which he is gratified in having opportunity to commend. But the question, whether books, coming in this way, shall be passed by, or noticed with praise or with censure, has been, and will continue to be, determined on the same principles as if they were obtained by purchase.

Several Critical Notices, which had been prepared for this number, some of them in type, are unavoidably omitted.