Southern literary gazette. (Charleston, S.C.) 1850-1852, December 25, 1852, Page 298, Image 12

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298 our estimation as a careful and comprehensive resume of the world’s intellectual progress. It has exhibited somewh it less vitality of late than we expected of its advancing age and position. In the bibliographical department it has already been surpassed by Norton's Literary Gazette, a monthly compend of Books and Belles Lettres highly serviceable to the reading public. To-Day and Bizarre comes to us—the one j from Boston and the other from Philadelphia. They are mote alike in their external than in their interior characters. To-Day is dilettante, well made up, always readable, always provoca tive of thought, and productive of pleasure. Bi zarre, true to its name, is a melange, in which “black spirits and white, blue spirits and grey— mingle, mingle.” It is less elaborate than its Eastern cousin, and deals more with the common places of life. It is the more likely, however, to please the majority of readers. Os the multitudinous weeklies which come to us, the Waverly Magazine is the most sentimen tal ; Athur’s IJonu Gazette, the most sensible ; the Home Journal, the most fashionable ; the i Spirit of the Times, the most mirthful; Glea son's Drawing Boom Companion, the most like a truant school boy’s back— full of cuts ! —the Lantern, the most melancholy—example of de feated ambition ; and—but we forbear to swell the catalogue. There are others upon our table ; not unworthy to be named with the best, but our space is exhausted. We are reluctant to say—to ‘ them all —w hat nevertheless must be said— Adieu The Southern Literary Messenger, for Dec , 1852. [Richmond, Va.: J. R. Thompson, Edi tor and Proprietor.] We have received No. 12 of this able and interesting monthly. It has al ways been one of our particular favourites. No trash ever defiles its pages, and no journal in America is so free from cant of any description. The present number contains a clever criticism and confutation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with other articles of real interest and value. The book notices by the Editor display the usual taste and critical ability by which they have always been distinguished. SOiioriqi JBlrebilies. The scenting matter called musk is found in a small bag under the belly of a species of deer in habiting a mountainous region of the east of Asia. * * The palace of the Tuilleries, in Paris, takes its name from a tile work once situated on the spot. * * Handel was blind for eight years before his death. * * All the editions of Tacitus are copies of a single manuscript dis covered in a monastery of Westphalia. * * When you buy a horse avoid those having flat feet and low heels. * * In South America alone there are sixty-four different species of rats and mice. * * In England, they bring a man before the Police Court who attempts to get upon a railway train while it is in motion, and impose upon him a fine and costs. * * The scholar who pronounced the Euphrates short instead of SOUTHERN LITERARY GAZETTE. long, was wittily said to have ‘abridged the liver.’ * * Cleopatra’s Needle is to be transported from Egypt to adorn the new Crystal Palace, near London. * * In two years from last October, a direct hue of rail-road communication between St. Petersburg and Marseilles will be completed. * * Switzerland. —An order of the State of Ticino, dated 19th ultimo, suppresses the order of Capuchins in that Canton. * * All of Pres cott’s historical works are published in London in six shilling volumes. * * Ole Bull gave a conceit at St. Louis on the Bth inst. * * There were 174 deaths in New-Orleans last week, of which 20 were from cholera, and 9 yellow fever. * * The income of the Bishop of London, for the last seven years, has averaged eighty-five thousand dollars a year, according to his own re turns. * * Philosophers say that shutting the eyes makes the sense of hearing more acute. A wag suggests that this accounts for the many closed eyes that are seen in our churches on Sun days. * * Dempster is giving concerts at pre sent in Albany, and is drawing full houses. * * The new fashioned bonnets are pronounced a bare faced invention. * * Under the new Empire the court costumes are to be recognized. Ladies will no longer be received at the imperial court but with dresses bearing the traditional train. * * Sir T. B. Head’s “Fortnight in Ireland” is selling rapidly in London. * * New-York has one horse to seven persons; Ohio, one to four; and the whole Union about one to every five or a little over four millions in all. Os neat cattle, the number in 1850 was 18,355,287. * * An Arrival from TenerifTe, mentions that the dispute on some points of official etiquette continued be tween the recently appointed Spanish Governor and the Consuls of America, Britain and other uations. * * “Mankind only commences at the rank of Baron,” once observed an Austrian field marshal. * * There are no concerts at St. Petersburg, except during Lent, when there are of ten half a dozen given in one day. * * A city j paper informs us that there are in New-York eight hundred places where lottery tickets can be sold. j PIERRE OR THE AMBIGUITIES. * * From this romance we copy the following j extraordinary description of the simple music of the guitar. Melville has cerrainly gone crazy, and is, we presume, by ibis time in some lunatic asylum. Think of seeing sounds in the shape of ol icicles! Think of hearing lightning! What ridiculousness and senselessness and unintelli i gibleness! Entranced, lost, as one wandering, be dazzled and amazed among innumerable dancing lights, Pierre had motionlessly listened to this abundant-haired and large eyed girl of mystery. “Bring me the guitar.” Starting from his enchantment, Pierre gazed around the room, and saw the in strument leaning against a corner. Si lently he brought it to the girl, and si lently sat down again. •f D “ Now listen to the guitar, and the guitar shall sing to thee, the sequel of my story, for not in words can it be spo ken. So listen to the guitar. Instantly the room was populous with sounds of melodiousness and wonderful ness ; the room swarmed with the unin telligible but delicious sounds. The sounds seemed waltzing in the room ; the sounds hung pendulous like glittering icicles from the corners of the room, and fell upon him with a ringing silvery ness; and were drawn up again to the ceiling, and hung pendulous again and dropt down upon him again with the ringing silveryness. Fire-flies seemed buzzing in the sounds; summer light nings seemed vividly, yet softly audible in the sounds. And still the wild girl played on the guitar ; and her long dark shower of curls fell over it and vailed it; and still out from the vail came the charming sweet ness, and the utter unintelligibleness, but the infinite significancies of the sound of the guitar. “Girl of all-bewildering mystery,” cried Pierre —“Speak to me, sister, if thou indeed canst be a thing that’s mor tal —speak to me if thou be Isabel !” “Mystery, mystery, Mystery of Isabel ! Mystery, mystery ! Isabel and Mystery!” Among the waltzings, and the drop pings, and the swarmings of the sounds, Pierre now heard the tones above deftly stealing and winding among the myriad serpentinings of the other melody—deft ly stealing and winding, as respected the instrumental sounds, but in themselves wonderfully and abandonedly free and bold—bounding and rebounding as from multitudinous reciprocal walls; while with every syllable the hair-shrouded form of Isabel, swayed to and fro with a like abandonment and suddenness and wantonness: —then it seemed not like any song ; seemed not issuing from any mouth ; but it came forth from beneath the same veil concealing the guitar. Now a strange wild heat burned upon his brow ; he put his hand upon it. In stantly the music changed ; and drooped and changed ; and changed and changed ; and lingeringly retreated as it changed ; and at last was wholly gone. Pierre was the first to break the silence. “Isabel thou has filled me with such wonderings; I am so distraught with thee 0 7 O that the particular things l had to tell to thee, when I hither came, those things I cannot now recall to speak them to thee: I feel that something is still unsaid by thee, which at some other time thou wilt reveal. But now I can stay no longer with thee. Know me eternally as thy loving, revering and most marveling bro ther, who will never desert thee, Isabel. Now let me kiss thee and depart, till to morrow night, when I shall open to thee all my mind, and all my plans concern- ‘[December 25 }