MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

A NEW YORK MERCHANT-AN HONEST MAN.

Ir is refreshing to meet an honest man. The following from the Evening Post would indicate that there is one alive even now. God, bless him!

About thirty years ago a very respectable firm doing business in Pearlstreet was compelled under then existing circumstances to suspend payment; they paid a respectable dividend, and the creditors were satisfied that they were honest, although unfortunate, and balanced their books by profit and loss. Yesterday I received the following note:

New York, December 23, 1882. On looking over my accounts I find a balance of your account not paid. For it I inclose a check for one hundred and forty-one dollars ($141,) which is in full. Please say if it reaches you.

Yours, respectfully,

*

* * *

I called to assure the gentleman that I had received the check, when I learned that this was among the last of his payments. He informed me that he adopted the plan of paying the largest assessments first, as the creditors in such cases had been put to the greatest inconvenience. There was one house in Boston to which he owed a considerable amount, which had also failed, and a partner in which had subsequently died, leaving a widow and a number of children in a destitute condition. His remembrance of them was truly "Feeding the widow and the fatherless."

It is very refreshing to have occasionally a bright spot shining in our pathway through this dark and degenerate age, where self seems to rule triumphant.

When I took him by the hand and congratulated him on his high and honorable conduct, I felt a particularly and happy influence, knowing I had an honest man by the hand, which is the "noblest work of God." I hope this example will induce others to do likewise.

FEDERAL FINANCES EXAMINED.

The article in our last number entitled "Federal Finances Examined" appears to have elicited unusual and very favorable notice. From the following, however, which we find in the Utica Morning Herald, it will be seen that one person at least does not like it.

"HUNT's for this month presents an unusually strong array of able articles on commercial and financial topics, and comes fully up to the high standard of the times of FREEMAN HUNT's editorship. An excellent contribution on The Advance Value of Gold,' is contributed by A. B. JOHNSON of this city. We regret to notice the prominence given to a most unjust partizan assault on the Secretary of the Treasury, in an article entitled "Federal Finances Examined.' It bears unmistakable traces of the pen of the author of 'Southern Wealth and Northern Profits,' a notorious secesh missile issued just on the eve of the rebellion, and largely quoted through the South as justifying secession. The commercial and financial summary prepared monthly under the caption Commercial Chronicle and Review,' carries the features of the same author and loses much of its value from its

systematic perversion of facts to suit rebel politics. With these exceptions the Magazine continues to merit the high reputation it has always enjoyed."

The Magazine is, and always has been, even when the sentiments are not endorsed by the editor, open to the discussion of all questions, particularly those which, like the federal finances, affect every individual in the country. The Herald alleges that the article contains an "unjust partisan assault upon Mr. CHASE." This we have failed to discover. If the Herald can justify its allegation we should be pleased to hear from it. It is very easy to denounce matter as a "perversion of facts." Applied generally the phrase has no meaning; to point out and specify may lead to correction and justify the truth of history.

The Herald is also mistaken in relation to what it calls a "secesh missile." That work, if we remember, was published more than a year before the Presidential election, and was subsequenly, when secession was determined on, repudiated at the South as the strongest Union document which had been published. Its dissemination in the North was dreaded as likely to defeat the aims of those who were determined on war.

OUR MINERAL RESOURCES.

The Secretary of the Interior, in his report referring to the immense development that has taken place in the mineral resources of the country, says, that after extensive inquiry from all available sources of information, the production of gold during the present year from the auriferous region which embraces Dacotah, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington, may be set down at $100,000,000. If an amount of labor relatively equal to that expended in California had been applied to the gold fields already known to exist outside that State, it is believed that the production of this year, including that of California, would have exceeded $400,000,000. The Secretary thinks that these vast mines of wealth may be made available to aid in liquidating our national debt. Of the several modes suggested for making these lands productive to the government he specifies three, viz.: The granting of leases by the government, the collection of a certain portion of the proceeds of the mines, and the absolute sale of the land in small lots. It has been estimated, he says, that at least $500,000,000 could be realized by the sale of the lands in one acre lots, after granting to those who are now engaged in mining a clear title, without cost, to the lands they occupy. The subject is one of transcendant importance, in view of the enormous increase that is daily being made to the public burdens, and should at once receive the attention of Congress.

The report suggests the necessity of immediate legislation in connection with another class of mineral riches to be found in the public domain -namely, the extensive coal fields known as the Mount Diablo Mines, on the Joaquin River, within forty miles of San Francisco. It shows that our steamers on the Pacific, which are now furnished with coal from Pennsylvania at twenty dollars a ton, can be readily supplied from these mines at twelve. It also recommends that that portion of the public lands of Texas, amounting to one hundred millions of acres, which remains unsold, and which, the Secretary says, owing to the treason of its people, is properly subject to confiscation, shall be declared forfeited to the United States, and placed under the operation of the Homestead law.

THE BOOK TRADE.

Manual of Geology; Treating of the Principles of the Science with Special Reference to American Geological History. By JAMES D. DANA, M. A., L.L.D. SILLIMAN, Professor of Geology and Natural History in Yale College, Author of a “System of Mineralogy," of "Reports of WILKES'S Exploring Expedition on Geology, on Zoophytes, on Crustacea," &c. Illustrated by a Chart of the World, and over One Thousand Figures, mostly from American Sources. Philadelphia,: THEODOre Bliss & Co. London: TRUBNER & Co., 1863.

Professor DANA's book comes to us in beautiful shape from the press of THEODORE BLISS & Co., of Philadelphia; the paper is excellent, the type clear, the binding extremely tasteful—a noble work, worthily presented.

The scientific world at home and abroad, has been waiting and watching long for the present volume. There have been State reports, and partial geological accounts, but nothing that could begin to fill the place of a full and complete American Geological History. The arrangement of the Manual is admirable, and strictly original; the convenience of the ordinary reader has been consulted by putting the more general and popular information in large type, while many additional details for the closer student are printed in finer text. There is beside, an invaluable synopsis of the whole in the appendix, to be used by teachers and scholars in a short course of instruction, or more generally, as a compendium for reference.

Among the minor benefits which the volume will confer, is that of furnishing a standard nomenclature for the numerous geological collections. Heretofore, every fourth fossil in the country has carried an interrogation mark after its name--painful proof of the undecided condition of that portion of the science, and of the troubled state of the possessor's mind. It is our candid belief, that few of life's burdens weigh so heavily upon the heart of a Geologist, professional or amateur, as the misgiving that he has put the wrong name to his favorite fossil. We foresee great peace and endless employment for all these good people, during the coming winter evenings, in the labor of re-labelling their pets upon a high and unimpeachable authority.

The full value of such a work from such a source is too great, and too strongly felt to require asserting here; it combines the result of years of patient toil, of devoted love for the subject, of profound research, and of indefatigable personal investigation. The immense celebrity which has been won by the Reports on the Exploring Expedi tion, and the exclusive use of the mineralogy in many of the best Universities in Europe, are merely indications of the stand which the Geology will take among the noted works of the century, and in the estimation of scientific men everywhere; while to those who are in the least familiar with the personal history of the author, the book must have a peculiar and vivid interest. It has been delayed again, and again, and again-by arduous professional duties, by journeyings abroad, by domestic bereavement, by broken health. Through all, and in despite of all, the work has at length been accomplished; so laboriously, so faithfully, and so completely, that it is an achievment worth living for; a monument of patience, of genius, and of learning; a noble service to the present age; a legacy for generations to come.

Eyes and Ears. By HENRY WARD BEECHER. Boston: TICKNOR & FIELDS, 1863. This volume is a collection of numerous short articles, the majority of which have already appeared in the columns of the Ledger or the Independent. They embrace a very wide diversity of topics, and are written in BEECHER'S peculiarly fresh and racy style. Among the best are the papers on "Modern Conveniencies and First Class Houses," "Our Housekeeping Experience," "My Pockets," and "The Dandelion and I." Occasionally one encounters those little effervescences popularly styled Beecherisms, which sensible people will not make objections to. If all birds were of one kind, and all men of one mind, society would be placid, but tedious. Everybody hates to be hit in the face with a champagne cork, but nobody on that account discards the use of champagne; they excuse the pop, out of regard to the sparkle that prompts it. For the same reason we ourselves entertain a tender charity toward the little isms above referred to, and firmly believe that men who have more life and brightness than their neighbors, cannot always prevent a little overflow of it.

The Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1862.

The little Doctor in Blue and Gold! We are delighted to see him, as we should be, whatever he came in; whether velvet or homespun, it is always the same to us. In his court attire he is gayer, but not more dear than in the old brown Ticknor-dress of other days. The pretty little volume contains what all who love Dr. HOLMES' poems will value-a portrait of the author, not altogether flattering, but faithful enough to recall his face to those who have seen him, and to give a reasonably correct impression of it to those who as yet are familiar only with his name and his works.

The Canoe and the Saddle; Adventures among the Northwestern Rivers and Forests, and Isthmiana. By THEODORE WINTHROP, author of " Cecil Dreeme," " John Brent," and "Edwin Brothertoft." Boston: TICK NOR & FIELDS, 1863.

We are not as well pleased with this book of Mr. WINTHROP's, as with many of his former productions. Both talent and originality are to be found in it, but the former is spasmodic, and the latter eccentric. A musical friend sitting by, says, “Mr. WINTHROP'S style is so staccato that it almost jars one to read it ;" and that is perhaps as just a criticism as can be passed upon it. There is an altogether superfluous amount of the miserable jargon called Chinook, which, with its inevitable translation always following, makes many pages tedious, that otherwise would not be so. The subject of the book-the author's adventures among the Indians of the Northwest, and his wanderings about the Isthmus of Panama-cannot fail to have a certain degree of interest to every one; but as a whole, the volume is valuable chiefly on account of the subsequent personal history of Mr. WINTHROP, and because it is necessary to complete the set of his works, which Messrs. TICK NOR and FIELDS have issued in such a particularly tasteful form.

The New Gymnastics for Men, Women, and Children. With a translation of Prof. KLOSS'S Dumb Bell Instructor, and Prof. SCHREBER'S Pangymnastikon. By Dio LEWIS, M. D., Boston.. With Three Hundred Illustrations. Boston: TICKNOR & FIELDS, 1862.

We are delighted with Dr. LEWIS' book, with the new inducements it offers to all to seek greater health and vigor, and the perfect plainness of the rules set down for their guidance. Not only does the author translate the text of Prof. SCHReber's elaborate treatise on the Pangymnastikon, but he also describes very minutely the simple gymnastic apparatus which is meant to combine in itself every feature neces

sary for perfect muscular development, so that by the aid of this book, people may practice at home nearly all of the exercises advocated. In fact, by following the rules laid down, one can easily have a gymnasium in any room of one's house, for the apparatus described may be put up without defacing the walls in the least, and removed again in a moment when desired. To all, then, of our readers who regard the physical development of those about them, (and who does not ?) this book will be found to be of great assistance. At the same time, we may say that we are far from advocating the extreme physical culture which appears to be in vogue at present. We cannot convince ourselves that man's highest mission on earth is to carry four of his neighbors at a time on his back, or to tie himself up in bow-knots; and if the true culture cannot be combined, we would choose the mental at the expense of the physical. It is certainly far better to be a suffering spirit, than a painless brute. But fortunately our choice is not limited to these extremes. Even our burdened men of business and women of cares may be renovated, refreshed, and strengthened, mentally, morally, and physically, by a proper attention to the inexorable laws of health and exercise. To all of them we heartily commend Dr. LEWIS' work and practise, as being the most rational, mild, and sensible course of gymnastics which we have ever seen advocated.

PAMPHLETS RECEIVED.

The Pirates of the Prairies; or, Adventures in the American Desert. By GUSTAVE AIMARD, Author of "The Prairie Flower," "The Indian Scout," "The Trail Hunter," "The Trapper's Daughter," &c., &c. T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, Philadelphia. A. BRADY, 24 Ann-street, New York. Price 50 cents.

Andree de Taverney; or, the Downfall of the French Monarchy; being the final conclusion of the "Countess of Charny," "The Memoirs of a Physician," "The Queen's Necklace," and "Six Years Later." By ALEXANDER DUMAS, Author of the "Iron Mask," &c., &c. Philadelphia: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. Two volumes. Price 50 cents each.

Both of the above publications will be gladly welcomed by all who have read the former works of these authors. Messrs. PETERSON & BROTHERS will send to any one copies of their publications on receipt of the advertised price.

A Letter to the Hon. Benjamin R. Curtis, late Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, in Review of his recently published Pamphlet on the "Emancipation Proclamation" of the President. By the Hon. CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, of New York. New York: LATIMER BROTHERS & SEYMOUR, Law Stationers, 21 Nassaustreet, 1862.

The True and the False. An Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Yale College, July 30, 1862, by CHARLES TRACY, Esq., of New York. Published by the Society. New Haven: Printed by E. HAYES, 426 Chapel-street, 1862. We wish we had time to notice at large these essays, written as they are, by two of the leading minds of the New York bar. A good lawyer's always expresses his ideas clearly and forcibly; and whether we agree with the conclusions drawn or not, we can never fail to read what he writes with profit and admiration. Mr. KIRKLAND'S "Letter" is by far the best reply we have seen to the pamphlet published by Judge CURTIS; and the oration of Mr TRACY gives his own clear thoughts in a pleasant, easy way, upon subjects of never failing interest. We should be glad to see much more from the same hands.