disapprobation, than in that state. The action of her legislature was prompt and effectual.

CORRESPONDENCE. A friend kindly corrects an error contained in a remark of Mr FLINT'S, copied into our number for January from that gentleman's paper on American Literature in a London periodical. Contrary to the supposition of the writer, a large number of copies of Rev. DR. BEASLEY'S Search of Truth in the Science of the Human Mind' was sold in this country, and the work was favorably noticed at much length in an able Western Review. It was also well received abroad. An eminent professor in the University of Göttingen reviewed it, in a celebrated German periodical, awarding to it the highest praise. It is true, however, that our Reviews on the sea-board took no notice of the work. So far, therefore, as their silence may be taken for public decision, in relation to the merits of the volume, it may be said, in the language of Mr. Flint, to have 'fallen dead from the press.' Possibly, however, these Reviews had good reason for their neglect. They might not have known what to think or say concerning a work which successfully disputed the claims of Scottish metaphysicians-claims which they had acknowledged and elevated to the skies. Truth, however, is mighty, and must prevail; and the author of the work in question may, we think, await without fear the award of time, and the result of a growing interest in the subject among our countrymen.

ANOTHER Correspondent craves to be heard in relation to Dr. BEASLEY's paper in the last number of this Magazine, in refutation of M. HUME's argument against miracles. Without adopting the views there canvassed and impugned, 'JUNIUS, JR.' believes he can show that the conclusions arrived at by the writer of the article are unsound. He says: Dr. BEASLEY, after stating Hume's argument, asks: Because men sometimes tell falsehood, does it follow that there is no testimony which amounts to certainty?' I answer, that there are no testimonies which can be believed as certain, where 'there is an invariable experience amounting to certainty against them.' This appears so obvious, that in all cases where the testimony is thus opposed, we conclude at once, except when the mind is previously occupied by prejudice, that the testimony is untrue. Dr. Beasley, in conclusion, asks: When, since the creation of the world, was such a testimony as that of the apostles and evangelists found to be false?' I answer, that in the case of the Salem witchcraft, better testimony coming to us with ten times the probability, is not true.'

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. - A great change in the public mind in relation to the character and renown of the eminent NEWTON is likely to be effected by a recent notice of the life and works of FLAMSTEED, (his fellow laborer in 'heavenly science,') in the London Quarterly Review. It appears, upon undoubted authority, that Newton availed himself, in numerous instances, of Flamsteed's labors, without acknowledgment, and after he became President of the Royal Society, treated the man to whom he was indebted for no small share of his reputation, with contumely, not to say contempt. Flamsteed, it appears, delivered to Newton, under a seal, an astronomical catalogue, (in the preparation of which he had ' endured long and painful distempers by night-watches, and daylabors,' and had expended a large amount of money,) with the strict injunction that it should not be made public, since it lacked revision, and preparation for the press. The subjoined extract explains itself:

'But the measure of poor Flamsteed's persecution was not full. It was followed np with a spirit of rancorous hostility, and we must add, by an act of gross injustice, which

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nothing can excuse or palliate. After the last sheet of Flamsteed's corrected and enlarged Catalogue was printed off, in December, 1712, his intention was, that the press should proceed with the Observations from which it had been derived, and which were made with the mural arc: but whatever instances,' he says, 'I made to Sir Isaac Newton to have the copy I had trusted to his hands, I could not prevail with him to return it.' At last he wrote to Sir Isaac, in April, 1716, pressing him to return the night notes, also the 175 manuscript sheets of Observations made with the mural arc, which were trusted to his hands in March, 1708, with so much of the Catalogue as was delivered to him scaled up, at his own request, to which, however, Sir Isaac did not condescend to make any reply. As Newton had now kept them eight years, though frequently requested to return them, Flamsteed at length determined to proceed against him for their recovery; and in the following month he sent his attorney to wait on Sir Isaac, but he would not be seen. That Flamsteed should have taken this last resource is the less surprising, after the several unsuccessful applications for the restoration of his property, which were wholly unheeded. But the reason for this became apparent so soon as the fact was known that the 175 manuscript sheets of Observations, which were to be kept by Newton, as a sacred deposit, had been handed over to Halley. Newton,' says Flamsteed (Letter 216) has put my 175 sheets into Halley's keeping: this is the height of trick, ingratitude, and baseness; but I never expected any better from him since he gave my Catalogue into Halley's hands. I can bear it. God forgive all his falseness.' Thus it appears that the sealed Catalogue placed in Sir Isaac Newton's custody, had also been given to Halley, and, with all its imperfections (distinctly stated to Newton as a reason against publishing it,) together with Halley's mutilations, had actually been printed, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Flamsteed, who thus finding that all faith with him had been broken, that his Catalogue had been thus surreptitiously and clandestinely printed, and that his Observations also had been sent to the press in a garbled and improper manner, determined to break off all communication with him.'

Strange that the brow of NEWTON, at this late day, should be stripped of false laurels! but such it should seem, must be the inevitable result.

LITERARY RECORD.

'SOUTHERN LITERARY JOURNAL.' We ought, before this, to have mentioned a monthly magazine, bearing the above title, issued at Charleston, by the editor and proprietor, DANIEL K. WHITAKER, Esq. It presents sectional and superior claims to the patronage of the South, which should not pass unregarded by that intellectual and populous portion of the republic. Among the original articles in the number for February, we remark an excellent one on the 'Italian Poets of the Eighteenth Century' a review of GIUSEPPE PARINI, from the pen of Mrs. E. F. ELLET whose recent loss to us of the North has been the great gain of the South, and of whose merits as a writer our readers are not ignorant. The first chapter of the Death of Grierson' opens with spirit, and is, or we mistake its promise, the avant courier of a stirring tale. The continuation, however, of a story, where the interval is so long as a month, is an objectionable feature with most readers. There are just views and shrewdness in the paper on Foreign Travel,' and 'Medical Jurisprudence' worthily fills the prominent place assigned to it. The literary notices seem to be marked by strict considerations of justice, and good judgment. Ostentatious, unmingled severity, born of private ill will, or a mere captious spirit, is very properly eschewed. The editor, from his armchair, sends forth a graphic sketch of the lamented COLTON, author of 'Lacon,' with whom he enjoyed for ten years an intimate acquaintance. We annex a brief extract:

'In a conversation we had with Mr. Colton, just before he left this country, he promised that in eighteen months we should see from his pen a work that would eclipse his Lacon.' His design was most probably thwarted by circumstances, and the 'fine Roman hand,' displayed in his 'Lacon,' can now furnish us with no more records to enlighten, to gladden, or to grieve the mind! Strange power of genius, which can thus infuse regret into the hearts of thousands who may never have known its possessor! Mr. Colton partook largely of this unsafe gift- all who knew, admired him; no one felt with, or for him. His manners and appearance were singular; and his conversational powers extraordinary- they seemed equal to all subjects; and we think excelled

those of his pen. His egotism was excessive, and partly attributable, no doubt, to the low association he had manifestly been addicted to in England - since nothing tends so much to repress the propensity (inseparable from the consciousness of superior powers, and difficult to restrain) as good society.

'We have said that Mr. Colton's appearance was singular: his eyes corresponded more with the description given by Madame de Staël, of those of Napoleon, than any we ever remember to have seen. Of gray- extremely penetrating-they were themselves impenetrable.

'The aptness and appositeness of his illustrations were truly surprising. Nature and art were alike put in easy requisition by the man of genius and the scholar; and, altogether, we thought him the most triumphant man in conversation we had ever met with.'

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THE STRUCTURE OF THE EYE. We have been both gratified and instructed in the perusal of this little book. It is a clear and, as far as possible, untechnical description of the structure of the eye-its outer case- the layers or coats beneath it - the magnifiers - the means by which the picture of objects at different distances is formed only on the expansion of the optic nerve- the colored circle round the pupil, called the iris- the muscles which give motion to the cye-ball— and, lastly, the apparatus for furnishing and carrying away the tears. The author is Mr. WILLIAM CLAY WALLACE, Occulist to the New-York Institution for the Blind, and for many years Surgeon's Assistant at the Glasgow Eye Infirmary. We annex the opening paragraph, which conveys a plain illustration of the great principle of those 'windows of the soul,' about which so much has been said by novelists and poets, but the structure of which is rarely understood:

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There are few who have not been pleased with the representations of a camera obscura. The light reflected from objects, after passing through a magnifying glass into a small chamber, with darkened walls and roof, and falling upon a sheet of paper at a certain distance from the glass, forms a beautiful picture upon the paper. The representation of the scene before the glass is so true to nature, that artists often avail themselves of this method of making a correct landscape. The eye is just such an instrument, consisting of several magnifiers, placed in a dark chamber for a similar purpose. The light reflected from objects before it, passes through the magnifiers and forms a picture at the back of the eye, where the rays thus collected strike upon the fibres of the optic nerve, and vision is the consequence.'

BRECKENRIDGE's Address. The Address delivered in July, 1835, before the Eucleian and Philomathean Societies of the University of the city of New-York, has but recently been published. We have perused it with pleasure. The plan of the writer, ' to exhibit some of the features which peculiarly characterize our country, and to point out the duty of American youth, resulting from such a view,' is well carried out, and the positions and views of the Address sustained and illustrated in the several divisions of its subject, with much ability. America is shown to be eminently characterized as the depository of liberty; her appropriate influence, especially in view of this sacred deposit, is considered; the evils which threaten us from within, are exposed; the duties of American youth, to themselves and to their country, are set forth; and an elevated and disinterested public spirit inculcated. The tendency of the Address is in all respects salutary, while its manner, void of florid sentences and elaborately-rounded periods, is well suited to the plain exposition of its sound views, and the enforcement of its valuable precepts.

'YALE MAGAZINE.' - The first number of a neatly-executed magazine, thus entitled, and conducted by the students of Yale College, lies before us. Taking into consideration the disadvantages of a 'first appearance,' the contents of the work reflect no dishonor upon the institution from whence it emanates. There are two or three superior original papers. Such are 'Revolutions and their Tendencies,' and 'The Sciot Girl.' There is now and then a slight tinge of the sophomore spirit, but this is not strange. The whole is creditable, both in spirit and execution, to the young gentlemen concerned in its production. Three numbers, containing about forty pages, are proposed to be issued, should sufficient encouragement be offered, during each college term.

NEW BOOKS. The following works were received at a late period of the month. Having merely skirred them, we are enabled for the present to do little more than indicate their character:

'HERBERT WENDALL.' We are informed, that in this work the author makes his début in the literary world. The style is fluent, and the incidents, which are connected with our revolutionary history, possess interest. They strike us, nevertheless, as sometimes overdrawn, and in the details as bearing too strong a resemblance to the old school romances. A more strict adherence to the vraisemblable in the delineation of characters in real life would certainly have added to the interest of the work. On the whole, however, 'Herbert Wendall' is an effort creditable to the hitherto untried powers of the author.

The following, from the first volume, contains but too much truth. The hero is assigning his motives for engaging in the service of his country:

"I have motives of pride- that my country should be free, and myself a freeman. I have motives of interest - that the treasure which our fathers bequeathed to us should descend to posterity increased in value, not impaired by the hand of tyranny.'

And for these privileges you are content to labor and toil - perchance to die?' ''I am.'

"What will be your reward?'

"The success of the cause.'

Let me answer the question,' said the bandit. The prime of your life, the vigor of manhood, will be spent in these exertions- -anon will come the feebleness and helplessness of age. Your cause may be successful, your country may be free, and a generation grow up, enjoying the blessings of liberty purchased by your labors. They will be rich and increased in goods. But you the hand of poverty will bear heavily upon you; sickness and want will prey upon your frame. As a last resort, you will appeal to the generosity of that country to whose interests the best portion of your life was dedicated. You will be treated with neglect—with coldness- perchance with ridicule. As you feebly totter to the bar of your country's justice, and falteringly ask a mere pittance for the few remaining years of your life-a pittance which may save you from starvation -your tale of distress will be told to unmoved countenances and averted eyes. How deep, how unmitigated will be the anguish of that unexpected hour!' Your picture is a false one.'

"He who lives half a century, will have abundant experience of its truth.''

LAFAYETTE. - Messrs. LEAVITT, LORD AND COMPANY have just issued, in two beautiful volumes, 'Recollections of the Private Life of GENERAL LAFAYETTE : by M. JULES CLOQUET, M. D.' We lament the poverty of time and space which compels us to pass so lightly over this valuable donation to the public. The work is written in the form of letters, many of which, addressed to ISAIAH TOWNSEND, Esq., of Albany, were by him translated, and published in a popular evening journal of this city-the Star. The volumes - which were translated in France, and are now published simultaneously in Paris and New-York - contain, one must need suppose, every thing which could interest the admirers of the great and good man whose private life they depict. The work is an admirable one, in every sense copious and various in topics calculated to gratify every American. There are no less than forty excellent engravings on wood, and several fac simile letters of Lafayette and his family, and other distinguished personages.

THE FEMALE STUDENT. - This volume consists of a series of lectures, delivered by Mrs. PHELPS, late Vice-Principal of the Troy Female Seminary, before the pupils of that institution, during the two years' absence of Mrs. WILLARD in Europe. They embrace a wide range, in which it is intended to exhibit the nature and objects of female education, with outlines of the various sciences connected with it. Teachers of experience, as we gather from the author, are of opinion that the lectures will prove a valuable assistant in education, by affording a kind of synopsis for weekly reviewing lessons, in

the various departments of study, as well as a suitable reading-book for young ladies, in the school and in the family.

PRACTICAL PHRENOLOGY.' - We are not sufficiently acquainted with the details of the science here treated of, to judge of the merits of the book. It is the work of Mr. SILAS JONES - a gentleman whose reputation as a lecturer upon Phrenology is perhaps as great as that of any illustrator of the science in the United States. The method he has chosen is that of analysis and synthesis. The individual is first viewed as a whole, then in reference to the several physical systems, as it regards proportion; then in relation to the organs of the head; and lastly, by a critical inspection of the organs: then commences the synthesis, and inference of mental and moral manifestations. Published in Boston, by RUSSELL, SHATTUCK AND WILLIAMS.

'THE BOOK OF GEMS.'-Such is the appropriate title of the most beautiful volume we have ever seen, from any press in Christendom. Three hundred exquisitely-printed pages are devoted to many of the finest passages in fifty of the old English poets, from Chaucer down to Prior. These extracts have been made from the earliest copies of the several writers. They are presented as they were originally produced, and the peculiar orthography of each is retained. There are fifty-three engravings, by the first artists of Great Britain, with most of which the best engravings of the English annuals would but ill compare. There are in addition thirty-five fac simile autographs of the ancient masters of the lyre. WILEY AND LONG's, 161 Broadway.

A VIEW OF THE WORLD.-MESSRS. JOHN L. PIPER AND COMPANY have recently published, in a handsome volume of some six hundred and fifty pages, 'A View of the World,' as distinguished by manners, customs, and characteristics of all nations. By Rev. J. L. BLAKE, A. M. The work is illustrated by eighty colored wood-cuts, including a lithographic title-page, with a vignette representing Mercury, guided by Minerva, bearing Science around the world. The design of the volume is, to serve as an accompaniment to the 'American Universal Geography,' by the same author, and to furnish the great mass of youth in our country with the descriptive portions of that science.

VALUABLE CATALOGUE. — MR. GEORGE P. PUTNAM has compiled for Messrs. WILEY AND LONG, and LEAVITT, LORD AND COMPANY, a copious catalogue of books in the various departments of literature, including both foreign and American editions, methodically arranged. The whole is included under distinct divisions - as, works of fact; speculative and scientific works; works of the imagination; and works on education. This range embraces history, biography, voyages and travels, geography, theology, divinity, medical science, general science, the arts, novels and tales, poetry, etc. This catalogue has been prepared with great care and labor, and will be found to supply an important desideratum to booksellers and book-purchasers.