is generally the case with ultra-liberals, Mr. Whit- "These verses take right hold of the memory. tier exhibits a most vindictive intolerance. So Note, in the first stanza, the felicitous expressions marked is it, that whilst we would award him a the delicate alliteration, palpable, but not overhigh place as a poet, we have small sympathy with done-the harmonious rhythm and the apt metahim as a lecturer. We should not say so much, phor. Judging by it, we should have thought were not the author's views on public topics of the elegance and finish the peculiar characteristics of day so deeply wrought into the matter of the work the author. That they are not, we have already before us.

66

We will not attempt to prove our assertion by quoting one of Mr. Whittier's most savage denunciations; neither will we show that his ear is not nicely balanced for blank verse by giving a few very unmusical lines from pages 112 and 13 of the opening of The Bridal of Pennacook.' On the contrary, we call the reader's attention to two or three stanzas from the Proem,' which, to our mind, are the gems of the book-stanzas, which any one might be proud to have written, and which any one will surely be pleased to read.

6

Yet, vainly in my quiet hours

To breathe their marvellous notes I try;

I feel them, as the leaves and flowers

In silence feel the dewy showers,

observed.

"The book is admirably printed; and some of Mr. Billings' illustrations should not be passed by without praise.'

WHIPPLE'S ESSAYS AND REVIEWS."-Every friend of literature will be glad to see these beautiful essays, which have been hitherto scattered among so many different periodicals, brought together in one work, and ascribed to their proper author. They relate to a great variety of subjects, more or less connected with elegant literature; and they well deserve to appear in this collected form; for they have not been lightly thrown off, like most of the superficial and impromptu criticism of the day, but are the result of ripened reflection and study, and discuss not merely the peculiarities of the particular work under review, but those principles of art which may be said to form the basis of the work.

Mr. Whipple has higher and larger views of the business of a critic than many of his brethren, who look on the tribunal of criticism as a kind of Old Bailey, before which authors are to be arraigned like culprits, whose acquittal must bring obloquy

And drink with glad, still lips the blessing of the on the court itself. He does not think it the chief

sky.

Of mystic beauty, dreamy grace,
No rounded art the lack supplies;

Unskilled the subtle lines to trace,
Or softer shades of Nature's face,

I view her common forins with unanointed eyes.

Nor mine the seer-like power to show

The secrets of the heart and mind;

To drop the plummet line below
Our common world of joy and woe,
A more intense despair or brighter hope to find.

Yet here at least an earnest sense

Of human right and weal is shown;

A hate of tyranny intense,

And hearty in its vehemence,

duty of the reviewer to scent out blunders and blemishes, but rather to distinguish what is really good, and give it his hearty commendation. His sensibility to the beautiful makes him quick to discern this wherever it exists, and his generous sympathy is willingly extended even to those less fortunate aspirants whose efforts have not been entirely crowned with success.

With these tolerant feelings, Mr. Whipple combines some of the higher qualities of a critic, in the most enlarged sense of the term. To the power of generalization he adds that of individual analysis, shown frequently in the skilful dissection, both of the intellectual character and the peculiar processes of the writer. He discusses the great literary problems which present themselves, with the calm consciousness of one who has made them his familiar study: borrowing his illustrations from the works under review, or, where these will not serve, from the ready stores of his own memory. His style, warm and flexible, takes the coloring of a lively imagination, tempered by good taste, and gives an interest to whatever falls from his pen.

As if my brother's pain and sorrow were my own. His essays, in short, whether regarded as speci

Still with a love as deep, as strong

mens of criticism, or in the light of elegant compo sition, make an important addition to literature, and will, we doubt not, meet with the same favor in their present dress as that shown to them in the promiscuous assemblage of articles, of which they

As theirs, I lay, like them, my best gifts on thy have been hitherto a principal ornament.-Boston

shrine!

Amesbury, 11th month, 1847.'

Daily Advertiser.

PARAGRAPHS. - Actress of last Century; Knowledge; Inability of Ignorance, 65. — Land of Plenty, 83. Small Profits, 93.

ROSPECTUS.-Tuis work is conducted in the spirit of | now becomes everv intelligent American to be informe ittell's Museum of Foreign Literature, (which was favor of the condition and changes of foreign countries. And ably received by the public for twenty years,) but as it is this not only because of their nearer connection with oirtwice as large, and appears so often, we not only give selves, but because the nations seem to be hastening, spirit and freshness to it by many things which were ex-through a rapid process of change, to some new state of cluded by a month's delay, but while thus extending our things, which the merely political prophet cannot compute scope and gathering a greater and more attractive variety, or foresee. are able so to increase the solid and substantial part of our literary, historical, and political harvest, as fully to satisfy the wants of the American reader.

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Or all the Periodical Journals devoted to literature and science which abound in Europe and in this country, this has appeared to me to be the most useful. It contains indeed the exposition only of the current literature of the English language, but this by its immense extent and comprehension includes a portraiture of the human mind in the utmost expansion of the present age. J. Q. ADAMS.

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-No. 244.-20 JANUARY, 1849.

From the Christian Remembrancer.

inviting to any one reading for general information, A Description of Active and Extinct Volcanoes, of without perfect knowledge of the phraseology of Earthquakes, and Thermal Springs, &c. By science. There is also an absence of the contemCHARLES DAUBENY, M. D. F. R. S. London: plative spirit of Humboldt and other philosophers, Richard and John E. Taylor. 1848. which adds so great a charm to their writings. DR. DAUBENY considers it necessary, in his We think this is a pity, since it must prevent the preface to the first edition of his work on volcanoes, work being popular; and, although it may be the to offer some explanation for such a task having more valuable as a scientific treatise, must limit been undertaken by a professor of chemistry. His the interest which such a valuable store of inforchief aim, indeed, is to prove the close connection mation is calculated to excite. Perhaps, however, between the smaller phenomena of chemical action it is almost unavoidable for such a mass of facts to and the greater works of nature which are the sub- be collected without assuming too much the characject of this book; yet he feels that the importance ter of a book of reference for the general reader; of the latter merits an historian whose attention is and we cannot but acknowledge that we are under exclusively devoted to it. He is afraid that his great obligations to one who thus collects material remarks may be thought by some unphilosophical, for future use, with so little of that philosophical because they "smell of the laboratory." The egotisin which deals with theory rather than fact, professor's modesty prompts him to make these and loves to obtrude the author's idea of what may apologies; but his confidence in performing the be, rather than what is. task contradicts any impression that he really considers the work before us as out of his province. And on such a subject-one which admits of great difference of opinion, and of much wildness in the minds of mere theorists—we confess to having the greater confidence in the views advocated by one who has been led to the subject through more ordinary scientific researches, and who, therefore, has dealt with causes before he comes to results, and arrives at certain conclusions from a preconceived opinion of the sufficiency of certain means, rather than from a determination to propound an ingenious theory to account for the tremendous operations of the interior of this globe. The practical chemist of the laboratory, who now gives us the result of his more extended investigation, is, moreover, fully aware, in answer to the charge of his views being unphilosophical, that true philosophy ever com-hension as to the nature of volcanic products. pares great things with small, and especially delights in discovering a grand unity of cause for most diverse results; minute analysis, the division of matter into its smallest atoms and most secret elements, with all their multiplying essences and subtle influences, have thus been a favorite theme in all ages, with those who have aimed at philosophy, whether their contemplations have been to the advantage of science, or merely to the confusion of their own thoughts.

The general argument of the work is, first to show a unity of cause for many phenomena, and then to establish chemical action as that cause. Extinct and active volcanoes, earthquakes, and warm springs, are all attributed to the same internal combination in their different degrees of activity and power; and all the trappean rocks which are so scattered over the world, are brought in to bear testimony to the same origin. There is, then, a distinct theory as the object of the professor, though urged with so much moderation and modesty. The chemical theory was started mainly by Sir Humphry Davy, though he rejected it in his old age, and left it to be followed out by its present teacher. The cause of its former rejection by so great a philosopher, himself its parent, is stated by Dr. Daubeny to have been a misappre

The emission of inflammable gases would be an essential concomitant of chemical action. These were supposed not to exist when Sir Humphry Davy gave up his theory; but, as it is now discovered that they do, that faithless desertion of the offspring of his youth is no argument against it.

To understand clearly what volcanic or trap rocks are, and so to connect together ancient and modern volcanic phenomena, it will be necessary for the unscientific reader to have fresh in his mind the general condition of the earth's surface. We will, therefore, attempt to accomplish this; and as we believe that considerable ignorance exists as to the rudiments of geology in otherwise well-informed persons, we will take the liberty of being elementary in order to be also brief.

We have in the book before us a vast catalogue of volcanic phenomena, collected from personal observation in part, but chiefly, of course, from other Sources. The whole world is traversed to record the history of fire. Yet we cannot say that the most is made of such material, as an attractive or amusing book. All has been sacrificed to its sciThe various materials which compose the surentific object, which is to advocate the chemical face of the earth, as far as our investigations have theory. There are many descriptions interesting, carried us, are divided into unstratified or igneous of course, in themselves; but other parts are un-rocks, and stratified rocks bearing witness to the

action of water.

Granite in all its varieties is of sandstone. Having gone thus far, he has arrived the former class, and all above that of the latter. at a line drawn from the north of Lincolnshire to Following, therefore, the undisturbed order of Dorsetshire. All the country to the east of this things, we take granite as the foundation, the line is much more regular, in a geological point bottom of which has not yet been discovered. On of view, as these later deposits have not underthis foundation there are a vast number of strata, gone such violent convulsions as the earlier. Our divided generally into three great periods. The traveller will meet the various oolite formation on first period begins with gneiss, mica schist, clay which rests the counties of Lincoln, Northampton, slate, which are apparently the result of violent Oxford and Gloucester. A range of chalk will action on the granite, grinding it and laying the then appear from Norfolk to Wiltshire, succeeded broken fragments on its surface. Over this are by the London clay, and the alluvial deposits of the Silurian rocks, and the old red sandstone for- the east coast. mation, the carboniferous or mountain limestone, gritstone, the coal formations, and the magnesian limestone. The second period is composed of the new red sandstone, the oolite formations, and the chalk; and the third, of London clay and alluvial deposits. Throughout the first period there would appear to have been most tremendous convulsions on the surface of the earth; one stratum lying over the ruins of another, itself, when tossed in the same wild confusion, to be the foundation for a still higher deposit. All these strata, however, are not to be found lying over each other in any given place on the earth's surface. On the contrary, the original granite is often exposed, and all the superincumbent beds generally deviate from the horizontal line. Sometimes, indeed, they are even vertical, but more commonly have a gradual dip away from the more ancient projecting rocks. The obvious result of this is, that the ends of all the strata are exposed to our view more than the flat horizontal surface. In travelling, therefore, through a country away from the granite or early rocks, we shall pass over all the various formations as they come up to the surface, or, as it is called, basset out. We will illustrate this by the example of England.

Those who knew all this before, perhaps will excuse our digression from the immediate subject, since we have introduced it in order to explain clearly the nature of trap rocks. Rising up through the depositary strata we have described, it frequently happens that there are veins of rock, as if forced from below when in a molten state, which, on arriving at the surface, either form isolated rocks, or spread over the ground, assuming almost the appearance of a stratum—especially, as is often the case, when other stratified formations are laid over them. These veins come through even granite: they abound in the first period, and occur sometimes in the chalk. They are known by the various names of basalt, greenstone, serpentine, syenite, clinkstone, and trachyte; which latter is but a generic term for a large class of rocks, characterized mineralogically by their harsh and gritty feel, together with the frequent presence of crystals and glassy felspar. All these rocks, therefore, which go under the general designation of trappean, have their origin from a molten mass below the known surface of the earth; their varieties, as seen by us, depend on the constituent materials of which they are made, and also very much on the manner in which the process of cool

If molten minerals cool rapidly in the open air,

In England the strata basset out in a line run-ing was allowed to take place. ning from north-east to south-west, so any one travelling in that direction might be on the same they form a very different substance to what would description of ground from one sea to another. result if cooled very gradually and under great

On the contrary, if he travelled from north-pressure. west to south-east he would cross the whole, and be changing his scenery every few miles.

To this we may reply, that heat affects a mineral in two ways, according to the rate at which the subsequent cooling is allowed to proceed.

When the latter takes place rapidly, all traces, of parts, will be obliterated, and the entire mass not only of crystallization, but even of segregation will assume, throughout, a uniform texture, like that of glass.

In such an instance as this, however, we do not require any such test as the one proposed, because the vitreous character which the whole presents sufficiently reveals its igneous origin.

The granite we only find in the extreme west of the system thus marked out-in Scotland, the island of Anglesea, and in the south promontory of Cornwall and Devonshire. If we imagine some one taking a walk from Anglesea to the eastern coast, he will meet the edges of all the strata as they, one after another, come to the surface; and it is curious, that, as a general rule, he will ascend short steep hills and descend long slopes. He But in the case of those substances which have will pass over the wild scenery of North Wales, which is the grand breaking up of the original in consequence have acquired a stony aspect, there returned more slowly into a solid state, and which granitic substance of the earth; he will traverse appears to be always an exertion of the chemical the other strata of the first period, thrown together affinities subsisting between the several constituents in inextricable confusion, though still preserving of the mass, sufficient to cause the production of everywhere tokens of their proper relative position; distinct minerals, even when the latter are so intithe romantic scenery of the mountain limestone mately blended as to present a uniform appearance being followed by the gritstone or moorland; after to the eye.-P. 10. which come the coal districts, the magnesian limestone, and the extended plains of the new red

In these rocks we find every variety of composition, from a substance almost resembling granite,

our eyes.

to modern lava. They are the link between the | from the mountain above, and that at a period submost ancient tokens of volcanic action, and the sequent to all the great revolutions which have mountain which we may now see burning before changed this portion of the face of our planet, is The analogy is most close between the demonstrated by the exactness with which the stream has moddled its course to the slope of the two; and the differences that exist are so plainly valley; and that its fluidity was owing to heat, is accounted for by circumstances, that they confirm evident enough from its porous texture and semitheir common origin. Before, however, we come vitreous aspect; so that its connection with volcato the consideration of what this origin is-in noes now in activity, seems sufficiently apparent. fact, to the theory of volcanic action, we will On the summit of the Puy de Nugere is a basonfollow Dr. Daubeny in his travels and researches, shaped cavity of an oblong form, broken away on the side down which the lava has taken its course, and lay before our readers a few of the facts we and, notwithstanding the changes which time has have to deal with. Whatever dispute there may effected in its form, still retaining marks of having be about the cause, the effects are most obvious; been once the crater from whence the lava of Volvic though, even here, it is more difficult than might, was ejected. perhaps, be imagined, to collect anything like a systematic account of them. The remains of old convulsions have often the green mantle of nature kindly thrown over them, while a personal investigation of volcanoes in action is generally a matter of great chance, and also of considerable peril to those who are lucky enough to have the opportunity.

All parts of the world come in for their share of notice in this valuable collection. Europe and its adjacent islands have been visited by the professor in person; while for the rest of the world he is indebted to other sources. Asia, Africa, and America, are brought in review to disclose their fiery histories; the islands of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, tell the same

tale.

The gigantic icebergs of the South Pole gleam with volcanic flames; and the bottom of the sea itself would appear to be by no means unacquainted with some vast internal power, by which its own level is being constantly affected.

It is interesting to remark, that the stream in its descent appears to have been arrested by a sort of above the general level, and, by the obstacle it knoll of granite, which, probably rose considerably opposed to its progress, caused it to divide into two branches, between which this little granitic eminence is seen protruding-a solitary vestige of the rock which formerly existed on the surface, but which is now overspread with lava. The two branches of the main stream appear to have become reunited below, and having descended the slope of of Volvic, extending to within a mile of the town the hill, to have spread themselves over the valley of Riom.-Pp. 24, 25.

In a region such as this, we have a most perfect model of the result which volcanic action ultimately has on the face of the country. The immediate effects of an active volcano prevent our judging so clearly what this will be. In central France, however, we see the process by which many a hill and dale, now reposing in the entire forgetfulness of any violence, were once, modelled No volcanic region has been so accurately ex-by the thunderings of volcanic action. Take, for amined by our author as the neighborhood of instance, the following account of the influence of Auvergne, in France. There have been no Puy de Côme on the face of the surrounding symptoms of activity within historical times; but country:the whole country is full of most sure tokens that the powers from beneath did at one time, and for a long series of ages, most grandly boil over on the surface. The most recent are thus described

The modern ones in Auvergne are more cellular, and have in general a harsher feel, with more of a vitreous aspect, their surface presenting a series of minute elevations and depressions, and the scanty portion of soil which covers them affording but little pasturage, and that generally of the worst description.

Still more interesting, from the changes it has produced in the configuration of the country, is the lava of the Puy de Côme, a mountain a few miles to the south-west of Clermont, originally described by the Comte de Montlosier, the well-known author of an ingenious Essay on the Theory of the Volcanoes of Auvergne, published quite at the commencement of the present century.

The lava that has flowed from the hill above mentioned, divides, he says, into two branches, one of which flows directly into the bed of the river Sioule, whilst the other takes the direction of a place called Tournebise, reaches the village of Pont Gibaud, and terminates, like the other, by flowing into the bed of the river, about three miles lower down.

A torrent of this description might naturally be expected to effect singular changes in the face of the country which it traverses. Accordingly, we shall find that it has blocked up a little valley which formerly seems to have had a drainage to the west, on the side of Chambois and Masayes, and has converted it into a sort of swamp, known by the

The mountains referred to this division constitute a chain which rises considerably above the elevated granitic platform on which they rest, and extends at intervals over a space of above eight leagues from north to south; from whence the rocks which compose them may often be traced a considerable way into the valleys contiguous. Above sixty of these eminences might, I believe, be enumerated within the boundary marked out; but as their number renders selection necessary, I shall simply notice such as are most remarkable, beginning with that of Volvic near Riom, the lava of which fur-name of the Lac de Côme. nishes a considerable part of the building-stone Lower down, the same lava has occasioned still used in that neighborhood, and, in spite of its greater changes. The rivers Sioule and Monges porous character, is exceedingly durable. formerly ran parallel, in a direction from south to The fact of its having descended in a liquid form | north, and entered the plain of Pont Gibaud by two