honor, may, in the absence of law, produce results which are as satisfactory to the writers of books, as creditable to those whose function it is to distribute them. Mr. Emerson, in one of his thoughtful and beautiful Essays, speaks of new voices reviving a hope that the thoughts of the mind, may yet in some distant age, in some happy hour, be executed by the hands.' The author hopes that his 'New Voices' may in this distant, but kindred land, into which they are now cast, be as kindly received as they were in his own, and that they may not altogether fail in exciting others to indulge in the same aspirations for the good of humanity, and in the same fervent love of Nature in which he indulges himself. It may perhaps be necessary to say a few words on the political complexion of that portion of the collection, included more especially under the title of 'Voices from the Crowd.' Those lyrical pieces were for the most part written in a time of political and social agitation to aid as far as rhymes could aid, the efforts of the zealous and able men who were endeavoring to create a public opinion in favor of untaxed food, and of free trade, and free intercourse among the nations of the world. They were written as plainly as possible, that they might appeal to the people, in the peoples' language, and express the wants of the many in phraseology, broad, simple and intelligible as the occasion. LONDON, NOVEMBER 8, 1852. |