1839.]

Shepard's Address. Gems from the Mount. 261

tremely useful; and probably experience under the plan has proved their usefulness. At all events, the bishop continues the practice of convoking his clergy at stated periods, in connexion with his visitations of the different districts of his diocese. The present sermon is a plain and judicious exposition and enforcement of the matters indicated in the title; fervent and affectionate, as becomes an apostolic sermon to the clergy; exhibiting that zealous love for the Church, free from all sectarian bitterness towards others, which renders the bishop of New Jersey, if any body, a model worthy of all imitation.

40. An Address, delivered before the two Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina. By the Honorable WILLIAM B. SHEPARD, June 27, 1838. Raleigh: 1838. At the office of the Raleigh Register. 8vo. pp. 29.

VERY few, if any, of the literary festivals of our country have called forth finer strains of eloquence, than have been heard at Chapel Hill, on the anniversary of the societies, addressed by Mr. Shepard. From among the many admirable orations upon that occasion, it would be invidious to select, but we may safely mention two, those of Judges Gaston and Badger, for all will be satisfied with the honor of being pares, in a class of which they are the primi. The voice of North Carolina sounds so powerfully and lofty in the cause of sound learning, wherever it is uttered, we earnestly wish it might be heard more frequently. Mr. Shepard's address is a proof that it is still the voice of truth and eloquence. His subject is classical literature, and he has sustained the cause with the taste, and elegance, and force of a scholar familiar with the beautiful models of style, which he so ably recommends.

41. Gems from the Mount: being original pictorial illustrations of the Lord's Prayer; each accompanied with appropriate poetry, descriptive notes, and an analysis: designed for the Christian centre table. By the Reverend R. C. SHIMEALL. New York : 1839. Sherman & Trevett. 4to. pp. 87.

THE general intention of this work to furnish a book that shall promote sound religious cultivation, and with that to combine at a moderate cost, enough of typographical elegance, embellishments, etc., to make it an agreeable holiday present, or attractive parlor table-book we heartily approve. With the execution of this plan, so far as regards the paper, print, and binding, we have

no fault to find; nor with the matter of the letter-press, which, without being of the highest style of literary excellence, and without making any pretensions on this score, is sound, judicious, and edifying.

But with the "pictorial illustrations" we must express our dissatisfaction. They are all of them extremely poor, as engravings; we are aware that some peculiar circumstances led to their being taken as a pis-aller, and in what we are now saying, we do not charge it to the author's bad taste. But they are so poor, that we would greatly have preferred to see the book without any. But besides their being all poor as engravings, there are some of them very wretched, and some that strike us as little short of abominable, in point of design. We refer to illustration of the text, "Our Father who art in Heaven". to that of the text, "Lead us not into temptation" but most of all, to that of the text, "Deliver us from evil." We speak strongly on this point, because we hold it to be a matter of greater importance than is generally thought. The Beautiful and the Holy, in their highest Idea, are one: the cultivation of the sense of the Beautiful may be made an important aid in the cultivation of the love of the Holy; the class of persons who buy such a book as this, are not likely to have access to better means of culture for their taste; and we do insist upon it, therefore, as the lowest condition of such works, that they should not be calculated to pervert the taste of their readers.

We must, therefore, beg the excellent editor, in carrying out such a praiseworthy intention as his is, to secure for any future works of this class better embellishments as regards the execution and the general style of them and the perfection to which the art of wood engraving is now carried, will enable him to do so consistently with one of the features of his plan; but above all we entreat him not to render his "pictoral illustrations" worse than worthless, from the bad taste and impropriety of the designs.

42. Address before the Alumni Society of Nashville University, on the Influence of Institutions for High Letters on the mental and moral character of the Nation, and the obligation of Government to endow and sustain them. By the Reverend A. STEPHENS, Professor of Languages in the University. Nashville: 1838. 8vo. pp. 39.

THERE are two great objects to the promotion of which our journal will ever be warmly devoted - the cause of sound popular instruction in our common schools, and a due provision for the thorough cultivation of the highest departments of science and letters in our universities. In connexion with this latter object

we had occasion a year ago to call attention to the spirited speech of President Lindsley, in behalf of Nashville University and we are now exceedingly glad to be called on to notice, in the address of Professor Stephens, another able production from that same institution. With somewhat less of the racy flavor of the "Kentucky dialect" about it than its predecessor, it is equally free spoken and forcible in its tone. The principles are sound, the views taken are comprehensive, and the author has shown himself a strong minded and right hearted man-one of the true sort of men for the place he fills one who will be likely to give a strong impulse and in the right direction to the minds that come into contact with him.

Mr. Stephens contends that a much higher style of intellectual cultivation than any we have, and that continually increasing, is an essential element among the conditions of our national well-being -that the proportionable cultivation of the highest departments of science and learning is a necessary complement of popular education - that in no other way than by well endowed institutions of the highest order can the highest style of production be secured — and, that the obligation of establishing and sustaining such institutions devolves upon the government, because,

"1. It is the representative of the wisdom, the interests, and the well-being of the people.

2. In the nature of things it is morally impossible that the people should endow and support the higher institutions of learning of themselves, without extraneous impulse.

3. That the state alone has sufficient moral influence and power to produce the reaction, inasmuch as she is the guide and standard of the people in their tastes, pursuits, prejudices, opinions, and passions."

It is matter of deep regret to us that we are obliged by our limits to dispose of this valuable discourse in so hasty a manner. We cannot but give a place to the following passage: speaking of a body of cultivators of the higher departments of science and learning, the author says:

"Such a body of men cannot depend upon popular patronage for their support. The people can neither appreciate the value of their labors, nor will they reward them. Suppose a La Place should settle himself in Nashville, and propose to make his living by teaching the good people of our fair city the higher mysteries of the celestial mechanism, how many pupils would subscribe to his sublime lectures? There are not ten men in the United States who could understand them. Suppose a Sir Humphrey Davy should advertise for a school in any village of the state, to expound the deepest laws of chemistry, would his income furnish him with bread? But is astronomy or chemistry of no use? Or can men be found in the ordinary avocations of life, amidst all its busy cares, to advance these valuable sciences? We have no aristocracy with hereditary wealth and superfluous leisure, to pursue literature and science as a recreation. And we ask of government to furnish that encouragement to knowledge, and to favor it with that patronage which she so liberally bestows upon every other great national concern. We ask her not to patronize individuals. Individual patronage always fetters and degrades intellect. The mind is bound with a golden chain, indeed, but still it is a chain. But we ask her to endow institutions for knowledge, and she may reserve to herself the selection of

her own men to fill the offices. We ask her to endow institutions for education as she has endowed them for banking, for internal improvement, and for the development of the material resources of the state. We ask her to extend a similar patronage to scholars, that is shown to stockholders in banks, turnpikes, and railroads. We ask her to patronize scholars as she does her law makers. We ask her to patronize pioneers in science as she does pioneers in the woods. We ask her to support the officers of colleges as she does the officers of state, her governor, her secretary, and her judges; and then the college hall may be thrown open as it should be to every poor youth in the community free of expense. Let her make the subject of education a part of the machinery of state, and the officers her servants and agents, responsible to her for their efficiency and ability, and there will be no fear of a breach of trust, no fear of the accumulation of hoary abuses and errors, no fear of the growth and propagation of influences unfriendly to good morals, to republican liberty, and to the peace and dignity of the state.

"It is mistaken policy to patronize the physical alone, to the neglect of the intellectual. The material will always take care of itself, while the intellectual will wither and decay without the most careful culture. Self-interest is the most powerful incentive to action in the human breast. Selfishness wants no patronage. Men will seek wealth, and devote their immortal energies to amass it, without state encouragement. The wild idolatry of self-interest needs no priest to minister to its unhallowed fires and surely the soul of the nation is gross and material enough, without increasing the evil by national bounty."

43. The Mathematical Miscellany, Nos. 1-6; completing Vol. I. Published at St. Paul's College, Flushing, L. I., under the direction of Professor CHARLES GILL. New York: 1838. William Jackson. 8vo. pp. 412.

THREE years have elapsed since this journal was first put forth in two semi-annual numbers, at a yearly subscription price of two dollars. To have reached a sixth number, is an evidence of its success. The editor is an Englishman, of high mathematical attainments, which, with a laudable zeal for the promulgation of abstract science, are visible throughout its pages. With the exception of Professors Anderson, Nulty, and Adrain, its list of contributors embraces the best mathematical talent in the land; and the papers of Messrs. Peirce, Strong, Catlin, Gill, and Avery, of Mr. Lenhart, and of several other gentlemen, are valuable and interesting.

This is not the first cis-Atlantic mathematical journal. In 1804 G. Barron published his "Mathematical Correspondent," where may be seen the productions of Mr. W. Lenhart, of York, Penn., whose investigations in the theory of numbers evince so much skill and perseverance in the pages of "the Miscellany." The first number of the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Diary, which reached three numbers, was issued by W. Nash, in 1818, when W. Marratt's Scientific Journal also appeared, and was extended to a volume. Dr. Adrain's "Analyst" preceded the Mathematical Diary,

which was issued by him in 1825, and flourished through thirteen numbers, and became extinct in 1832.

We have a strong objection to make to one feature of the "Miscellany." It is, that the questions proposed and resolved have infinitely more the aspect of trials of skill-tours de forcethan of productions destined to advance science, and foster a love for it, and knowledge of it, in the land. There are puzzles and abstruse questions and difficult integrations, all displaying considerable skill in analysis and problem-solving; but few of the practical uses of mathematics, and none of their great applications to the physical sciences, seem to have excited the attention of its contributors. We are aware that this defect (which prevailed to a greater extent in the Mathematical Diary) is of British origin, and doubt not the countrymen of Newton would have nearer approached, of late years, those of Laplace, but for the ability consumed in these pugilistico-mathematical exhibitions — isolating in lieu of diffusing science solitary feats, where the strength expended would have been better applied to aid in raising what Richter calls "the universal knowledge-shed over the heads of all." This is against the practical spirit of the day, and accords not with the cooperation which, in the division of labor, the analyst should afford the natural philosopher in return for the patient experiment.

44. Causes of the backward State of sound Learning in the United States. An Address pronounced at the opening of the public exercises of the Irving Institute, October 4, 1838. By CHARLES H. LYON, A. M., one of the Principals. New York: 1838. Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 14.

ture

AN unpretending, but very sensible discourse, touching briefly, yet decidedly, and for the occasion, sufficiently, upon the causes in question, which are found in the character of our current literathe wretched style of teaching, and premature entrance of boys upon the higher courses of study and in certain influences growing out of the political and social condition of the country. We note this pamphlet as another of the pleasant indications of an awakening sense of the necessity of providing for the interests of high learning. No one can feel more strongly the importance of popular education, or rejoice more in the zealous efforts now making for its extension and improvement than we do; but we insist upon it as equally essential, that provision be made to secure a due proportion of the highest style of cultivation.