pared with which Plato's was that of a school-boy, with a keenness of analysis never yet surpassed, with a vigorous common sense which understood itself amidst the circumstances of the actual world, Aristotle divided the empire over the human mind with Plato, to say the least; he founded an influence, which controlled the schools through the Middle Ages, and has not yet been overthrown. Let us not undervalue Plato's calm and lofty spirit, the magic of his style, the dramatic and exquisite skill of his dialogues, the impressive grandeur of his moral views upon justice and injustice, sin, future retribution, and the Divine character. But when he endeavored to carry out these conceptions of the academic groves, conceptions so nobly uttered in the Phædo, the Crito, and the Gorgias, when he undertook to construct a theoretic republic, wherein the faculties of men should be most freely unfolded, and the destiny of man rise to the highest exaltation which his nature is capable of attaining when freed from the weights that the imperfections of existing institutions hang about him, what was the result? We confess that we never read the Polity of Plato without a profound sadness. It has noble and magnificent passages, which are inspired "with an earnestness," as Mr. Emerson truly says, "which amounts to piety." But his justice sanctioned perpetual bondage, and his piety was not outraged by community of women, both of which were among the fundamental ordainments of his ideal state; while Homer, on account of the unbecoming stories he tells concerning the gods, is to be civilly turned out of doors.

In the course of this lecture, we are entertained with a portrait of Socrates. This also is an exaggeration; that is, the whole effect is wide of the true impression which that great martyrphilosopher ought to leave upon the mind. Socrates had the whimsical peculiarities which Mr. Emerson delineates ; but they were far from being such prominent and essential parts of him, as they appear in this sketch. Plato used the name of Socrates, and the witty, arguing, questioning characteristics of his daily life, because precisely these were the most dramatic - precisely these answered the end of Plato's art. But a justly proportioned figure of Socrates can only be made by combining the three representations of Plato, Xenophon, and Aristophanes; the first for the peculiarities of his talk, for his lofty and inflexible morality, for his religious earnestness; the second for a historical account of the man; and the third for a parody upon his personal peculiarities and his modes of dealing with the minds of others. The first must be employed with caution, and with considerable deductions on account of Plato's artistic mode of representing the persons of his dialogue; the third must be looked on with great distrust, as the work of an unscrupulous wit, who really

knew but little of Socrates, but was tempted by the salient points of his ludicrous exterior, to bring him, with all the ingenuity of the richest comic genius the world has ever seen, upon the Athenian stage for the entertainment of an audience, who, so that they were amused, cared for little else. With these preliminary "monitions to the reader," we commend the passage to which we refer, as a pleasant piece of whimsical exaggeration.

Compare either of the Gospels with the Life of Mahomet, as it is candidly set forth by Washington Irving, and good taste, if not religious sensibility, should prevent a writer from putting the two names together. There are some, however, who are foolish enough to think that such outrages are proof of independence, and who see nothing in the alliteration of "Jesus or Judas " but a fine illustration of superiority to the prejudices of the world around them.

We have merely touched upon a striking peculiarity of Mr. Emerson, in a religious point of view - his apparent indifference to positive religious belief, as shown by his manner of classing all beliefs together. When Christ and Socrates are spoken of in the same breath, we wonder that the military exploits, the exclusive love of Athens, the neglect of domestic duties, the humor, the drollery, and the drinking bouts of the latter do not rise in strange contrast with the universality that embraced Jew and Gentile alike in the arms of divine love, the sad and gentle earnestness to which a jest would be a profanation, and the awful authority that went with our Lord as from on high, compelling the hearers of his word to cry out that "never man spake like this man." And more still do we wonder, when Mahomet and the Saviour are classed together as religious geniuses and reformers, that those who so contemplate them do not feel the shocking incongruity of placing the serene, self-denying, and spotless life of the one even if we regard him as but a man — his pure and peaceful teachings, which stopped not at outward acts, but pierced to the root of wickedness in the heart, side by side with the worldly ambition, the violence, the imposture, the shedding of blood, the fierce and exclusive bigotry, and the insatiable licentiousness of the other.

2. Old Portraits and Modern Sketches. By JOHN G. WHITTIER. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1850. 12mo. pp. 304.

WE have read this little volume of Mr. Whittier's with great pleasure and instruction. It consists of a series of biographical sketches, several of which were originally published in the

National Era at Washington. There are ten in all, and each of the characters here commemorated was distinguished either by commanding services rendered to the public, or by the possession of high qualities of character, which entitled him to be held in honor among men. The literary execution of the sketches is excellent. Mr. Whittier is well known as a vigorous poet, a philanthropist, somewhat belligerent for a Quaker, - one who thinks boldly, and dares to say what he thinks.

In all these biographies, except the last, we can discern the link of sympathy which binds them to Mr. Whittier's heart. Honest John Bunyan, the persecuted tinker, who wrote the book most read in English next the Bible; Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker friend and reader to Milton, and the suggester of the Paradise Regained; James Nayler, the innocent fanatic who stood in the pillory, was branded, whipped, imprisoned, had his tongue bored with hot iron, and died at last, meek, forgiving, and repentant; Andrew Marvell, also a friend of Milton, a republican, a member of Parliament, poor, but deaf to the siren blandishments of power, a witty controversialist and a beautiful poet; John Roberts, whose sturdy sense and homely wit beat down the pride of priests and bishops; Richard Baxter, who argued for toleration to himself, but refused it to others, who vehemently defended the celibacy of the clergy, and wedded a beautiful woman, having protested he would die a bachelor because he did not think he should live to be married; these are the old portraits, which Mr. Whittier's pencil has so skilfully and vigorously drawn. The other names here celebrated are Samuel Hopkins, the well-known theologian; William Leggett, a political writer of uncommon powers, who died a few years since; N. P. Rogers, an anti-slavery editor, scarcely heard of beyond his peculiar circle of readers and friends, but whose writings, judging from the specimens Mr. Whittier has offered us, give proof of a gentle character, a poetic eye for the beauties of nature, and a pleasant humor-qualities which should have sent his name and influence far beyond the narrow boundaries of a sect or party; — and the last is Robert Dinsmore, the least interesting of them all, though not without strong characteristic traits, a sturdy son of one of the Irish Presbyterians of Scotch descent, who emigrated to the New World, and settled in the neighborhood of the Merrimack at the beginning of the last century. Dinsmore seems to have combined the racy flavors of the three nationalities to which he belonged; and he is indeed an odd figure in the gallery of portraits that Mr. Whittier has here arranged before us.

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Historical Studies. States' Consul at Rome. pp. 467.

By George Washington Greene, late United
New York: G. P. Putnam. 1850. 12mo.

The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Abdication of James II. By David Hume Esq. Vol. VI. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 554.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq. With Notes, by the Rev. H. H. Milman. new Edition, to which is added a Complete Index. In six Volumes. Vol. I. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1850. 12mo. PP. 590.

Poems by James Russell Lowell. Boston: W. D. Ticknor, & Co. 1849. 2 Vols. 12mo.

Elements of Natural Philosophy, designed as a Text-Book for Academies, High Schools, and Colleges. By Alonzo Gray, A. M. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1850. 12mo. pp. 405.

The Annual of Scientific Discovery, or Year Book of Facts in Science and Art, exhibiting the most Important Discoveries and Improvements in Mechanics, Chemistry, Botany, &c. Edited by David A. Wells, of the Lawrence Scientific School, and George Bliss, Jr. Boston: Gould, Kendall & Lincoln. 1850. 12mo. pp. 392.

A Modern History, from the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon. By John Lord, A. M., Lecturer on History. Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. 1849. 8vo. pp. 544.

The East Sketches of Travel in Egypt and the Holy Land. By the Rev. J. A. Spencer, M. A. Elegantly illustrated from Original Drawings. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. 1850. 8vo. pp. 503.

The Literary Remains of the late William B. O. Peabody, D. D. Edited by Everett Peabody. Boston: B. H. Green. 1850. 12mo. pp. 448.

Visions and Voices. By James Staunton Babcock. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author. Hartford: Edwin Hunt. 1849. 12mo. pp. 240.

Sketches of Character, and Other Pieces in Verse. By Anna H. Potts. London: John W. Parker. 1849. 18mo. pp. 215.

The Oration of Eschines against Ctesiphon; with Notes. By J. T. Champlin, Professor of Greek and Latin in Waterville College. Cambridge: John Bartlett. 1850. 12mo. pp. 182.

An Introduction to the Study of the Mind, designed especially for the Senior Classes in Schools. By Daniel Bishop. London: Longmans & Co. 1849. 12mo. pp. 148.

The Government and the Currency; a new Edition with Alterations. By Henry Middleton. New York: Charles B. Norton. 1850. 12mo.

pp. 190.

Elfreide of Guldal, a Scandinavian Legend; and Other Poems. By Marks, of Barhamville. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 186.

Moralism and Christianity, or Man's Experience and Destiny; in three Lectures. By Henry James. New York: J. S. Redfield. 1850. 12mo. pp. 184.

Classical Series, edited by Drs. Schmitz and Zumpt. M. Tullii Ciceronis Orationes Selectæ XII. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. 1850. 16mo. pp. 300.

A Few Thoughts for a Young Man: a Lecture delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, on its 29th Anniversary. By Horace Mann. Boston: Ticknor & Co. 1850. 16mo. pp. 84.

Ruins of Many Lands: a Descriptive Poem. By Nicholas Mitchell. London: W. Tegg & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 394.

The Second Advent; or, What do the Scriptures teach respecting the Second Coming of Christ, the End of the World, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the General Judgment? By Alpheus Crosby. Boston Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 173.

Circassia, or a Tour to the Caucasus. By George Leighton Ditson, Esq. New York: Stringer & Townsend. 1850. 8vo.

pp. 453. History of a Zoological Temperance_Convention, held in Central A frica in 1847. By Edward Hitchcock, D. D. LL. D. Northampton : Butler & Bridgman. 1850. 16mo. pp. 160.

The Works of Horace, with English Notes, a Life of Horace, and an Explanation of the Metres. By Edward Moore, M. A. Cambridge: John Bartlett. 1850. 12mo. pp. 459.

The Wrongs of Poland, a Poem in three Cantos, comprising the Siege of Vienna; with Historical Notes. By the Author of "Parental Wisdom." London Saunders & Otley. 1849. 12mo. pp. 167. The Early Conflicts of Christianity. By the Rev. Wm. Ingraham Kipp, D. D., Author of the "Christmas Holidays in Rome," &c. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 288.

The War with Mexico Reviewed. By Abiel Abbot Livermore. Boston Crosby & Nichols. 1850. 12mo. pp. 310. Latter-Day Pamphlets, edited by Thomas Carlyle. Present Time. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1850.

No. 1. The

A Lecture delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at Montpelier. Vt., Aug. 16, 1849. By Rev. Charles Brooks, of Boston, Mass. Boston: W. D. Ticknor, & Co. 1850. 12mo. pp. 17.

Address before the Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. By William B. Reed, November 13th, 1849. Philadelphia: H. Longstreth. 1850. 8vo. pp. 40.

The Strength of the Constitution: a Discourse delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston, 7 February, 1850, at the Conclusion of a Course of Twelve Lectures on the History of the Constitution of the United States. By George Ticknor Curtis. Boston: W. D. Ticknor & Co. 1850. 8vo. pp. 39.