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follow that it is common at the South. We are as utterly above resorting to such miserable subter fuges as these Journals would teach their readers ■ire incident to offers of handsome Prizes, as they -can be —and we need only repeat that what we say in our paper, we mean, honestly and earnestly.— We say this, to give to authors everywhere the as surance that the humble Prizes we have offered will he faithfully adjudged to the best articles sent in, in compliance with the published requisitions. No further postponement will be marie. <our (Kosstp Column* We cheerfully comply with the request of our fair correspondent, “A Learner,” to publish her note “in>the Gossip Column,” where,however, we think “Bayard” will be pretty sure to see it—as, indeed, he should. Our firm persuasion is, that he had bet ter not have provoked the ladies by his first allusion to Miss Mclntosh's book, Eut to “ A Learner's” reply: Dear Sir : —I was much disappointed, instead of learning something about Homeopathy from “ Bay ard,” to find Lady Mary Montague stripped of all the glory which I thought would be reflected on the sex. If he will look again, he will find that the in troduction of innoculation is all that Avas claimed for her—vaccination is spoken of as being “ intro duced” in our day. How does it happen, that for so many faculty agreed that vaccination was a great blessing 1 1 suppose,because they were not so wise and well-informed as they are now. It is really a pity that “ Bayard” was arrested in his progress to “the bottom of the well.” I hope he will try it again. Indeed, I feel particularly anx ious he should, because perhaps he will find out for the benefit of mankind , what womankind can com prehend. They ought to thank him, however, that he allows them to understand one science (their knowledge of that makes them “ help-meats,” is it not I). They have the satisfaction of ministering to the least intellectual of man’s senses—that of taste; but Horace tells us, “ the road to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” I think “Bayard” would like me if he knew me, for I am considered a capital house-keeper, though, to be honest, I am a little fond of trying to under stand things beyond my comprehension, and forget that my “ mission'’'’ is to “ illustrate ” puddings and pies, for men to “ appreciate.” Pray do not tell who I am, or what. Indeed, lam reduced to a non-entity ; and just put this in your Gossip Column. “ Bayard” does not read gossip, I know —’tis too womanish. Does “ dying mathematically” mean to die like the infidel Mirabeau 1 A LEARNER. .... A distinguished literary lady writes to us as follows, of “ The Schoolfellow “I am extremely pleased with the new enterprise you are about to un dertake. It promises all that is necessary to inter est the minds of the young, and I have no doubt from the way in which you have redeemed your pledge to the older public when you came forward as a minis ter to its literary wants, that you will abundantly fulfil the expectations you have raised. * * * If, by promising to be an occasional, if not a frequent, contributor, I can aid, in the least, a cause dear to my heart, I do it cheerfully—gladly.” Thanks our best thanks —to our much esteemedfriend, whose encouragement increases our confidence in the ex cellence of the enterprize. Her aid will be as high ly valued as her ambition can desire We have been amusing our circle of late with a volume entitled “ The Biglow Papers,” which are rhyming epistles from Hosea Biglow, of J aalem Point, to Mr. Buckingham, of the Boston Courier They are ad mirable satires in Yankee dialect upon the move ments of the age, and are attributed to the pen of Lowell, who is the author of the “Table for Crit ics,” as we “ guessed.” We have laughed so heart ily over Hosea’s notions and verses, that we are dis posed to let our readers laugh too. So here goes for ■a taste of his quality: HOSEA’S OPINION OF WAR. “Ez fer war, I call it murder, There you hev it plain and flat — 1 don’t want to go no furder Than my Testyment for that; God hez sed so plump an’ fairly, Its ez long ez it is broad— An’ you ’vc got to get up airly Ls you want to take in God. Taint your Eppylettcs an’ Lathers # M ike the thing a grain right— Taint a fclleria’ y our bell-wethers Will excuse ye in His sight.. Es you take a sword and dror it, An’ go stick a feller thru, Guv’ment air.’t to answer fer it— God ’ll send the bill to you!” And here we have Hosea’s creed —which, howev er, he puts into the mouth of what he calls “The Pious Editor:” “ lu short, I firmly du believe In Humbug generally, For its a thing that I perceive To hev a solid valley ; This heth my faithful shepherd ben — lb B T S !B A IE Y In pastures sweet heth led me“ An’ this ’ll keep the people.green, To feed ez they hev fed me!” We should like to quote more from this impudent, queer book, but our limits are reached, and we close it. (Due 3300 ft (Table. Publishers and Authors who desire to have their Books noticed in this Gazette are requested to send cop ies to Editor through Stringer it Townsend, New-York t or Carey At Hart, Philadelphia. The Sacred Poets of England and America, for three centuries. Edited by Rufus W. Gris wold. One vol., Bvo., pp. 552. Illustrated with steel engravings. New York: D. Appleton & Cos. As we have before taken occasion to remark, sa cred poetry is the highest manifestation of the Di vine Art. The sublimest eloquence of language is embodied in the poetry of the Bible —and of poetry, uninspired by Revelation, we unhesitatingly affirm, that sacred poetry excels in all the essential attri butes of loft}’ and ennobling song. Ilow acceptable, then, to thousands in Christendom must be a collec tion of the sacred poetry of three centuries —embo- dying, of course, the sweetest, purest and loftiest strains that in that long period have rung out from the golden harps of Zion, and thrilled upon the hearts of the Christian world, like music from the “New Jerusalem.” Never have we welcomed a volume from the hands of Dr. Griswold with more pleasure than this ; and never, we think, has he displayed to more advan tage his excellent taste and judgment in selection. It is rich in beauties from beginning to end, and scarcely a page unfolds itself upon which there is not something to be read —it may be for the hun dredth time, but nevertheless with delight. Those of our readers, who know little of the reli gious poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centu ries, will thank us for pointing them to this beauti ful volume as a repository of verse, whose chief characteristics are quaintness of diction and great fervor of sentiment. The poetry of that period had not the grace and polish of that which succeeded it, but its very homeliness —and, sometimes, grotesque ness —attracts the mind of the reader to the great thoughts which glow within it. Here are the riches of Vaughn, Herbert, Quarles, Donne, Fletcher, and a host of other worthies of the ancient time. Our lim its forbid extracts of any length, but wc must find room for a few specimens. The following is from Fletcher: “ He is a path, if any be misled — He is a robe, if any naked be; If any chance to hunger, He is bread — If any be a bondman, He is free — If any be but weak, how strong is He! To dead men life He is, to sick men health — To blind men sight, and to the needy wealth — A pleasure without loss, a treasure without stealth.” Who has not admired the exquisite hymn of Vaughan, commencing, “ They are all gone into a world of light— I alone sit lingering here ; Their very memory is fair and bright, And my sad thoughts doth clear. It glows and glitters on my cloudy breast, Like stars upon some gloomy grove ; Or those faint beams in which the sun is dressed, After the sun’s remove.” Among the more modern ‘ sacred poets,’ are the names of Cowper, Thompson, Montgomery, Pollock, Heber, Croly, Keble, Mrs. Ilemans, Bryant, Dana, Wilcox, Mrs. Sigourney, and others. There are some names omitted that it would have gladdened us to meet in such a collection, hut we will not, on this account, disparage the excellence of what is embraced in the volume, which is worthy to find a place in every Christian family throughout the land. Tire Sybil, or New Oracles from the Poets. By Caroline Gilman. One vol., 12mo. New York: George P. Putnam. This is one of the most appropriate volumes for the parlor-table that we have had occasion to no tice. The design of the work is as pleasing as its execution is graceful; and cf the latter no one will doubt, who is familiar with the previous product ions of its accomplished authoress. Ihe Sybil, or New Oracles, is a novel and exceedingly beautiful sys tem of what is commonly termed “fortune-telling.” It embraces a series of questions, the answers to which are selected lrom the most celebrated poets, and are sufficiently numerous to afford different an swers to the members of a large company. We know not better how to make our readers acquaint ed with the plan of the work, than by quoting a spe cimen or two. There are eighteen subjects, or ques tions, of which we take the first —addressed, let us suppose, to the Oracle by a lady. What is my char acter! The fair questioner chooses any number, from 1 to 42 —say, for example, No. 22—which, up on reference to the Oracle, we find to be as follows: “ Have I not seen thy needle plied, With as much ready glee, As if it were tby greatest pride A sempstress famed to be 1 Have I not ate pies puddings, tarts, And bread, tby hands have kneaded— All excellent, as if those arts Were all that tlmn hadst heeded 1” Now,- let us give the gentlemen a chance. Wc will suppose one to ask of the Oracle concerning the character of his lady love ; and, in obedience to the direction to choose a number, lie selects 36, which affords the following revelation; “ She keens an Album Well tilled with all an Album’s glories, Paintings of butterflies and Home, Patterns for trimmings, Persian stories, Soft sonnets to her cockatoo, Fierce odes to famine and to slaughter, And autographs of Prince Laboo, And recipes for elder-water!” In a different vein is the following beautiful reve lation on the same topic, made known to another querist, at No. 33 : “ A spirit pure as her’s, Is always pure, e'en when it errs; As sunshine broken in the rill, Though turned astray, is sunshine still!” What a treasure is such a book as this for a win ter-evening assembly, where there is a relish for something else than gossip ! Apart from its oracu lar merit, it is a perfect treasury of morccaux from the best poets of England and America. Mrs. Gil man has selected these with her own exquisite taste, and “ Many a gem of purest ray serene” sparkles in its chaste setting upon the pages of this volume. It is woman’s peculiar gift to adorn and beautify whatever she touches, and we thank Mrs- Gilman for this, her “ labor of love.” % _____________ The Essays of Elia. By Charles Lamb. First and Second Series. In one vol., 12m0., pp. New York: George P. Putnam. Literary Sketches and Letters. Being the Final Memorials of Charles l amb. Never before published. By Thomas Noon Talfourd. One vol., 12m0., pp. 306. New York: D. Appleton & Cos. We hope to publish, in an early number, a paper on the character and genius of Charles Lamb, by an esteemed contributor, and our remarks on these volumes will, therefore, be brief. It would be an easy task, it is true, to write much in praise of one of the most amiable of men, and one of the most de lightful of authors, that the annals of Literature can boast. We shall never tire of Elias’ charming pictures—of his boundless and exquisite fancy—his large and warm-heartedness —his love for humanity, or his refined wit. We havo read the volume of Mr. Talfourd with a deep and melancholy interest. Never was there a sadder story than that which it reveals, or a record more fraught with power to excite the sympathies of the reader. Poor Lamb! Smitten in the vigor of his life, and in the freshness of his fame, by a blow more terrible than that which wrung from Milton the touching lamentation, — “ Not to these idle orbs doth sight appear, Os sun, or moon, or stars throughout the year, ’ Or man or woman j” more crushing than any personal bodily affliction could have been. Smitten in his tenderest affections, in his fondest hopes, in his dearest relationship, by the cruel malady which made his idolized sister the gentle Mary—the dear Bridget of our sweetest memories—an unconscious instrument of a violent death to the mother who doted on them both ; smit ten and weighed down by a dispensation dark and fearful as this, how is our wonder and admiration ex cited at the after-life of this truly noble man, sacri ficing himself, his dearest enjoyments, his hopes of fame, his all, to cherish and bless, with his devoted love, that sister who, till the day of her death, was the victim of recurring attacks of insanity! Mr. Talfourd’s memorials are, indeed, beautiful mementoes of the departed Elia. The letters to Coleridge, and to others, arc transcripts of the great and suffering soul of their author; and one cannot read them, without emotions akin to reverence for the heroism and self-denial they exhibit. Charles and Mary ! Names around which Time will wvathe ever-freshening laurels. Associated in life by the bonds of a great sorrow and an unselfish love, they are inseparable in the regard of all who can estimate the nobility of nature combined with that of genius! Ellen Middleton. A Tale, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton, Author of Grantlcy Manor. Oncvol., 12m0., pp. 328. New York : D. Appleton & Cos. . This is a production prior to Grantley Manor, ami, though the peculiar talent of the writer is discerni ble throughout, yet it is far inferior to that most popular of Lady Georgiana Fullerton’s writings. The heroine, Ellen Middleton, is the involuntary cause, in early youth, of the death of her cousin. The fact is known to but one or two, and she is not aware who these are, though she knew the action was witnessed by others. The consciousness that she is a murderer pervades her whole life, engender ing a morbid sensibility, and enveloping her in a mystery which brings her into great difficulties. — She at length discovers that her fatal secret is known to one, a connection of her family and a rejected suitor for her band. She marries a most devoted husband, but the possessor of the secret exorcises an unhappy influence over her when married as when sing.e. Ihe mystery, involving their intercourse, rouses the jealousy of her husband, who sends her from hi in ; and, no longer able to bear the burden of her wretched life, she becomes a prey to consump tion. All ig explained, however, before her death; and her penitent husband strives in vain to stay the destroyer. Such is the outline of a plot which is well developed, and the book contains some passages and scenes of great power and originality. It is too full of horrors, and our sympathy is too painfully enlisted for the unhappy Ellen, to make it pleasant reading. The dostiny of one so beautiful, and amia ble, and gifted, is too gloomy and mournful, and the impression left upon the mind after its perusal is quite too melancholy. Views Afoot, or, Europe Seen with Knapsack and ►Staff. By J. Bayard Taylor. One vol., 12m0., pp. 404 New anil Revised Edition. N. York. G. Ik Putnam. Probably, no book of travels has made a pleasant er impression on the public mind, since the Arabia Petra of Stephens, than this narrative of a Pedes trian Tour in Europe. There were many things combined to secure (or it a welcome reception; the youth and energy of its author —the freshness and naivete of his records. The chaperonagc of N. P. Willis were among the most prominent; and when the volume appeared, there was quite a rush for it. It has exhibited proof, however, that its claims to popular favor were not altogether extraneous —for it has already passed through nine editions, and it is none the less popular than before. The present edition is got up in Putnam’s best style, with a fine portrait of Taylor, by Read, of Philadelphia. The author is a true poet, besides being a genu ine traveler, and he had some reputation in song be fore his tour. At present, he occupies quite a favor able position among the bards of tho day. Ilis tour in Europe was porformed chiefly on foot, and such was his self-denial, energy and persever ance, that he made at wo year's pilgrimage through the most vaunted regions of Europe at the incredi bly low expense of five hundred dollars. And yet he saw more, and to better advantage, than many who spend on the same tour five times the amount. Some people there are, who travel over the very same route that Mr. Taylor pursued, and who pro bably see much the same things as he saw, and yet how taine and spiritless is the record they give us of their journcyings. Ilow different is the narrative of our author. Fresh and buoyant himself, in body and mind, he gazes on the historic or picturesque scenes of Europe, and forthwith bis soul is moved by their beauty, and, obedient to the impulse, his pen leaves upon the page glowing descriptions and spark ling impressions that seem no more like the tamer memorials of which we have spoken, than the living form of beauty docs like the pluister-statuc! Mr. Taylor had an eye for every thing about him, and it is this comprehensiveness of vision that con stitutes a good traveler, or rather a good narrator. His vivid impressions are not tamed down to the for mal exactions of the historical style. He writes, os he might talk to a group of friends around the fire side, and the reader goes with him along the Castled Rhine, up the famous Danube, or over the heaven piercing Alps. Wc suppose that very few of our readers could successfully repeat tho experiment of Mr. Taylor in point of economy ; hut if they could see half of what he describes at twice the expense, the pleasure would be cheaply bought. My Little Geography. Edited by Mrs. Tuthill Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. This is a little book, but it is an admirable one, as we are prepared to testify. We would put it in to the hands of a child in preference to any other primary Geography wc have ever seen. Mothers— teachers—if you would have your task become a pleasure, use this unpretending little text-book with your young pupils in Geography. A Manual of Grecian and Roman Antiquities. By E. F. Bojesen. 1 vol., 12m0., in two part#. pp. 199 and 209. New York: D. Appleton & Cos. 1848. A work long needed in our Schools and Colleges. The manuals of Rennet, Adam, Potter, and Robin son, with the more recent and valuable translation of Eschenburg, were entirely too voluminous. Hore is neither too much, nor too little. The arrange ment is admirable —every subjoct is treated of in it# proper place. We have the general Geography, a succinct historical view. p tho general subject; the cliirogrnphy, history, laws, manners, customs, ami religion of each State, as well as the points of union for all, beautifully arranged. We regard the work us tho vcrj r best adjunct to classical study for youth that we have seen, and sincerely hope that the teachers of the South may be brought to regard it in the same light. The whole is copiously digested into appropriate questions. $3- Several notices are unavoidably postponed till nevt week. 256