ferred solely to the credit of £2000, which the plaintiffs opened for Thorn with the house of Archisus, and could not be construed so broadly as to be a guarantee for all credits which the plaintiffs might open for him anywhere else.

Judge Thompson charged the jury. The court wish to hear further arguments on this question, because they have, during the whole of the trial, entertained very grave and serious doubts respecting the right of the plaintiffs to recover under this guarantee. But on a further examination of the case, we may possibly come to a different conclusion. As, however, we are now strongly of opinion that the plaintiffs cannot recover, we think we are bound to so charge the jury. The court will not now fully enter into the reasons on which they decide, as the case is to be more fully considered; but we will observe that the cases referred to on the part of the plaintiffs, do not apply in any one instance to the question which arises in this case. The question is, has it a continuing guarantee; and as far as that, the court gives it the construction that it has a continuing guarantee. But whether it has a continuing guarantee, and to extend to all the world, is a different question. The words of the letter do not admit that construction. Although it may be fairly considered a continuing guarantee as regards the business at Marseilles, yet it does not bear the construction that it is a continuing guarantee as regards every house in every part of the world. The letter speaks only of Archisus and Co., and does not contain one word which may not refer to that company. In the first instance, the guarantee was for 2000 pounds, and in the defendant's letter he said he would extend it to every credit given to Thorn. But by whom? Naturally and obviously only by those whom the letter mentions, Archisus and Co. But the plaintiffs give it a construction to mean every house in the world. That is not a fair construction. We therefore think that the letter means a continuing guarantee, but not to extend to all the world, and that it would be unreasonable to give it such an application. There must be, therefore, a verdict for the defendant. Verdict for defendant.

ACTION FOR FREIGHT.

2. In the Supreme Court of the State of New York, an action was brought by James Jenkins vs. Benjamin F. Dawson, to recover the freight of 343 barrels and 43 hogsheads of sugar, consigned to the defendant.

The plaintiff is the captain of the schooner Outesier, and arrived here with the sugar in question in February, 1840; payment of the freight was demanded, and refused, on the ground of a set-off.

It appeared that a Mr. Whittaker chartered the vessel, and the defendant subsequently received a bill of exchange of his upon Paris, from their correspondent in Liverpool, which was not paid; they therefore claimed that amount as a set-off to the freight. The court held that the defence was untenable, and the jury, under direction, rendered a verdict for the plaintiff—$586 35. Mr. Bushnell, for the plaintiff. Mr. Watson, for the defendant.

ILLEGALITY OF FACTORS PLEDGING NOTES RECEIVED for GOODS SOLD BY THEM.

3. In the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Judge Jones and Oakley presiding, in the case of Wm. McDonald and others vs. Thomas Stalker, a decision in an action of trover was rendered, for two promissory notes, under the following circumstances:

In July, 1839, the plaintiffs, who reside at Baltimore, consigned teas to Gillespie & Edwards of New York city, for sale, who sold a quantity of the teas in two parcels at different periods, and took two promissory notes at six months in payment; one of them being a note for 439 dollars, and the other for 2,000 dollars. The balance of the teas were sold in August, 1839, and Gillespie & Edwards furnished the plaintiffs with an account of the sales, and informed them that they had received in payment the two notes above mentioned, which they would hold subject to the plaintiffs' orders. In reply to this communication, the plaintiffs wrote to Gillespie & Edwards to send on the notes to them, but Gillespie & Edwards still retained them. In October following the defend

ant obtained from Gillespie & Edwards, in payment of goods, their note for 2037 dollars, which he put into the Leather Manufacturers' Bank for collection, and on the day this note became due, Gillespie & Edwards applied to him to withdraw their note from the Bank, and as collateral security for its payment, they give him the two notes which they had obtained for the plaintiffs' teas. The defendant subsequently applied to them for payment of their note, and not being able to pay it, they authorized him to dispose of the other two notes, and pay himself their note with the proceeds. The defendant accordingly got the note for 439 dollars discounted, and the other note for 2,000 dollars he sold, at their instance, for 1,500 dollars, so that the produce of these notes did not fully pay the note of Gillespie & Edwards. After the notes were so disposed of, the plaintiffs demanded them of Gillespie & Edwards, who informed them how they had disposed of them to the defendant, and the plaintiffs brought an action of trover against him to recover them.

On this state of facts, the Court said, The question is, can the defendant keep those two notes, which were given to him by the plaintiffs' factors, as security for the factor's own note. A factor may sell the goods of his principal and take notes for them in his own name, and may faithlessly pass away such notes, and if the person to whom he gives them, takes them in good faith and gives a valuable consideration for them, the notes are valid in the hands of the person so taking them, and the principal cannot under such circumstances reclaim them from the person to whom the factor had paid them. But a factor cannot pledge the goods of his principal, or the notes that he takes for his debt, and the principal can recover the notes passed under such circumstances, from whoever the factor gave them to, as security for his, the factor's, own debt. The Court therefore ordered judgment for the plaintiffs.

FACTORS SELLING GOODS TO REFUND THEMSELVES FOR THE DUTIES THEY PAID.

4. In the Supreme Court of New York, a full bench,-Julius Reese vs. Theodore Meyer and A. W. Hupeden.-The plaintiff consigned goods to the defendants for sale, with instructions not to sell them except at a profit on the invoice price. Notwithstanding their directions, the defendants put up the goods at auction, and sold them below the price limited by the owners, which was very low in comparison to their value. The defendants alleged that a correspondence took place between them and the plaintiff, in which he relinquished his first order and gave them discretionary power to sell the goods, and also that they had advanced money to pay duties, and had a right to sell the goods to repay themselves.

The Court said the alleged correspondence contained nothing by which the plaintiff departed from his first instructions; and that before they sold the goods, they were bound to inform the plaintiff that it was impracticable to sell at his prices, and to demand payment for the duties which they had advanced. They were bound to give him notice before they sold the goods, and not having done so, were liable in damages, which must be the limit fixed by him for the sale of the goods. The Court, therefore, ordered judgment for the plaintiff for the value of the goods as stated in the plaintiff's invoice.

COMMON CARRIERS.

5. The liabilities of steamboats as common carriers, are thus laid down by Judge Ware, of the Maine District Court, in the case of Boney vs. the steamboat Huntress:

The owners of a steamboat employed in carrying passengers and merchan dise between port and port, are responsible to shippers of goods as common carriers.

Common carriers must at their peril deliver goods which they carry, to the right persons, and if they make a wrong delivery they will be responsible for any loss which may be thereby occasioned.

It is the duty of the owners of goods to have them properly marked, and to present them to the carrier or his servants to have them entered in their books;

and if he neglects to do it, and there is a misdelivery and loss in consequence without any fault of the carrier, he must bear the loss.

But the carrier is not discharged from all responsibility as to the delivery by such neglect, but if there is a wrong delivery or a loss through any want of reasonable caution on the part of the carrier or his servants, he will be responsible.

THE BOOK TRADE.

1. Exchange and Cotton Trade between England and the United States, containing proforma accounts on Cotton purchased in the principal markets of the Union, and shipped to Liverpool, with Tables showing the cost of Cotton at Liverpool, and the nett proceeds of Liverpool quotations, and calculations of exchange operarations between New York and the South, and between London and the United States. By J. F. ENTZ. New York: E. B. Clayton. 8vo. pp. 1840.

This appears to be a very valuable work to those engaged in mercantile business, connected with the exchange and cotton trade of the country. The compiler would seem to have performed all that he has promised in his title page, if we are to judge from the care with which the statistical tables, comprising the body of his work, have been framed. We have a further voucher for their accuracy in the fact that his materials have been collected from actual shipments, and from statements that have been made from authentic sources. Being a practical merchant, and a resident of Charleston, one of the principal cotton marts of the country, his habitudes of mind enable him to appreciate the subject, and to do it justice in the task which he has performed. He has presented us a statement of the precise cost of cotton shipped to Liverpool from six differentAmerican cotton markets, besides other facts, that show the dealer in this staple the actual condition of the trade in foreign marts, and thus enable him most advantageously to shape his enterprises in this department of trade, whether in purchase or shipment. We hope that he may be duly rewarded for his enterprise and industry. We have copied several of the exchange tables, which will be found in the appropriate department of this Magazine.

2. Lives of the most eminent French Writers. By Mrs. SHELLEY and others. In two volumes. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 12mo. pp. 373-343. 1840. This is a work that we heartily welcome to the already vast stock of our literature. It treats of a subject which has been hidden from the great mass of the American mind in a foreign tongue. A particular account of the distinguished characters who have from time to time figured in La belle France, a country that has been distinguished for the choicest ornaments of literature, who formerly furnished as prominent attractions for the traveller as the multiform blandishments of its capital, has been heretofore locked up in the French language, a casket accessible only to the few. We have, at length, the whole subject laid open to view in exquisite and accurate portraits, painted by a female hand. The bold and powerful character of the orator Mirabeau, the fascinating, but dangerous eloquence of Rousseau, the mischievous, but magnificent sneers of Voltaire, the calm and beautiful virtue of Madame Roland, the masculine vigor of Madame de Stael, and numerous others no less distinguished, live again upon the canvass, and pass before us in natural order. By the survey of the political and social circumstances with which these individuals were connected, we are led into a proper estimate of the voluptuous splendor of the Court of Versailles, and the former actual condition of French society. It is a work enriched by the graces of composition, of the deepest interest, and strikingly adapted to the end for which it was published.

3. Mercedes of Castile, or the Voyage to Cathay. By the author of the "Bravo," the "Headsman," the "Last of the Mohegans." Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 260-232. 1840.

American romantic literature is clearly more indebted to Mr. James Fennimore Cooper than to any other individual living or dead. The deep forest and its savage denizens, the lake, the prairie, and the ocean, have been touched by the magic of his genius, and invested with new light and beauty. To the associations of grandeur, and the peculiar relations of men in our new and broad country, he has placed himself in the same light as the great magician of Scotland, to the rocky battlements of his native mountains.. Upon the sea he can scarcely be considered inferior to the wizard of the north. In that particular, he should be respected and honored by the country. It is to be regretted that a too sensitive temperament, a too great habit of self-exaggeration, and a judgment warped by party principles, have conspired to render him recently somewhat unpopular with the periodical press. And it must be admitted that some of his more recent works have been injudicious. The faults the last to be forgiven by the people of this country, are attacks, either direct or covert, made by a fellow-citizen upon the land which gave him birth. But, notwithstanding these faults, ought they not to be in some measure overlooked, when his mere literary reputation is the point at issue? Condemn, we say, his political doctrines, if they deserve to be condemned. Commend his talents, if they deserve to be commended, without sweeping all his efforts in one general denunciation, because he has committed a few sins, that may perhaps after all have sprung more directly from the nerves than from the heart.

It is pretty generally admitted that his later published works have not entirely supported his former well-earned reputation. The present volumes are cast in the time of Columbus, and although abounding in no highly wrought and striking passages, and rather tame in their general plot and execution, will amply repay perusal.

4 Notices of the War of 1812. By JOHN ARMSTRONG, late a Major-general in the army of the United States, and Secretary of War. In two volumes. New York: Wiley & Putnam., pp. 260-244. 1840.

The very respectable character of the author of these volumes, his former station as secretary of war, and a major-general in the army of the United States, render its matter highly valuable and interesting. The main portion of the work is devoted to a rather philosophical history of the military operations that were set on foot upon our northwestern frontier during our last struggle with Great Britain, and they involve a series of circumstances dramatic and thrilling. They embrace also the most important events connected with that struggle in the other parts of the country. This last war of our republic with a foreign power, deserves to be remembered as a matter of experience, and as the last effort of the British government to conquer us. It should be read and studied by every true citizen and patriot. It is clearly written, and every portion is so connected, that the whole subject matter may be rightly understood.

5. Anti-Bacchus: an Essay on the evils connected with the use of intoxicating drinks. By the Rev. B. PARSONS, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. Revised and amended, by the Rev. John Marsh. New York: Scofield & Voorhies. 12mo. pp. 360. 1840.

This is a valuable work, setting forth the evils of intemperance. A vast body of facts is here accumulated, which have a direct bearing upon the object of the work—that is, to diminish this evil, which, of late years, has grown rapidly upon the world.

6. Lectures on Phrenology: including its application to the present and prospective condition of the United States. By GEORGE COMBE, Esq. With Notes, an introductory Essay, and an Historical Sketch, by Andrew Boardman, M. D. Second edition, with corrections and additions. New York: James P. Giffing. 12mo. pp. 389. 1840.

Gall and Spurzheim, two profound and ingenious philosophers, are, it is well known, the founders of the science of phrenology, if it can be denominated a science. Mr. Combe, although a bright, is a lesser light. The present volume is comprised of a report of a series of lectures that were delivered by the latter gentleman in this country, on that interesting science. Connected, as the subject is, with the doctrine of temperaments, and other physiological facts, the phrenological system must certainly tend to throw some new light upon anthropology, which has become a prominent subject of study at the present day. Pretty close observation would lead one to think that there is something of truth in the general part of the system, and it must be admitted that the class of phrenologists have a powerful argument in the head of Mr. Daniel Webster, the present senator from Massachusetts. But it is probably carried to an extreme, like most other systems. The present volume upholds the well known principles of the science, and is appropriately illustrated with engravings of distinguished men, and by portraits exhibiting the different temperaments.

7. Geographical Reader. A system of Modern Geography: comprising a description of the World, with its grand divisions, America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceanica; designed for instruction in schools and families. By S. AUGUSTUS MITCHELL Philadelphia: Thomas Cowperthwaite & Co. 12mo. pp. 600. 8. A System of Modern Geography: comprising a description of the present state of the World, and its five great divisions, America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceanica; with their several Empires, Kingdoms, States, Territories, &c. By S. AUGUSTUS MITCHELL. Philadelphia: Thomas Cowperthwaite & Co. 12mo. pp. 336. 1840.

9. An Easy Introduction to the study of Geography: designed for the instruction of children in schools and families; illustrated by one hundred and twenty engravings. By S. AUGUSTUS MITCHELL. Philadelphia: Thomas Cowperthwaite & Co. 16mo. pp. 176. 1840.

Our schools are much indebted to Mr. Mitchell for several valuable compilations tending to illustrate the geography of the world. Some of his maps have become widely diffused and favorably known throughout the country. To the young merchant, we need hardly say how important to him is the study of geography. Foreign commerce has almost constant reference to the various productions and resources of different quarters of the globe; and a thorough knowledge of these resources would seem to be essential to the right understanding of his pursuit as a science. Nowhere is modern improvement more manifest than in that of our school-books. What was formerly a hidden matter to the scholar, has become as clear as light to the school-boy of the present time, by the philosophical arrangement and appropriate illustrations of our present books for schools. The above-named works are equal to any of a simifar kind that have been published; and together with the maps by which they are accompanied, constitute an important accession to this branch of our common school literature.

10. Sacred Melodies, or Hymns for Youth: with appropriate selections from Scripture. New York: Wiley and Putnam. 1841.

This volume embraces an interesting selection of sacred poetry, designed for vouth.