to accept all the inferences which the author draws from them, or to admit that they afford sufficient basis for some of his minor assumptions.

Arguing from his first conclusion, the author draws the inference that "slavery is the necessary result" of the nature of the black and of the white man. "The negro is by nature indolent and improvident." "He is also ignorant." "He requires restraint and guidance"; "otherwise he would sink into helpless, hopeless vice, idleness, and misery." But in these words, and in others to the same purport, Mr. Fisher assumes that the nature of the black is incapable of such improvement as to make what he calls the necessary condition of servitude needless in the interest of either race. We are surprised that so good a reasoner should speak of the ignorance of the black as a natural disqualification for independence, and the more so, because, in another passage, Mr. Fisher says, with truth, "We darken his mind with ignorance." That some form of subjection of the negro may be necessary for a time that extends far into the future is a point we will not dispute; but that slavery, as that word is generally understood, is the necessary result of his nature and of our nature we believe to be utterly untrue. The whole history of American slavery, far from exhibiting the negro as incapable of improvement, shows him making a slow and irregular advance in the development of intellectual and moral qualities, under circumstances singularly unfavorable. It is the plea of the advocates of the slavetrade, that the black is civilized by contact with the white. The plea is not without truth. It is the universal testimony of slave-owners, and the common observation of travellers, that the city and house slaves, that is, those who are brought into most constant and close relations with the whites, show higher mental development than those who are confined to the fields. The experiment of education, continued for more than one generation, has never been tried. The black is in many of his endowments inferior to the white; but until he and his children and his children's children have shown an incapacity to be raised by a suitable training, honestly given, to an intellectual and moral condition that shall fit them for self-dependence, we have no right to assert that slavery is a necessary con

dition, if in the meaning of necessary we include the idea of permanence. It is not needful to present here other objections to this sweeping assertion. They are old, well-known, and unanswerable.

But leaving this and other points on which we find ourselves at issue with Mr. Fisher, we come to what we regard as the most important part of his pamphlet, - the results which he shows to follow from the law, that "each race has a tendency to occupy exclusively that portion of the country suited to its nature." In the States that lie on the Gulf of Mexico the negro "has found a congenial climate and obtained a permanent foothold." "The negro multiplies there; the white man dwindles and decays." We should be glad to quote at length the striking pages in which Mr. Fisher shows the prospect of the ultimate and not distant ascendency of the black race in this new Africa. The considerations he presents are of vital consequence to the South, of consequence only less than vital to the North. But by the side of "New Africa" are States and Territories in which the black race has little or no foothold. Free, civilized, and prosperous communities are brought face to face, as it were, with the mixed and degenerating populations of the Slave country. In the Free States the white race is increasing in numbers and advancing in prosperity with unexampled rapidity. In the Slave States the black race is growing in far greater proportion than the white, the most important elements of prosperity are becoming exhausted, and the forces of civilization are incompetent to hold their own against the ever-increasing weight of barbarism. Shall this new Africa push its boundaries beyond their present limits? Shall more territory be yielded to the already wide-spread African race? It is not the question, whether the unoccupied spaces of the South and West shall be settled by Northern white emigrants with their natural property, or by Southern white emigrants with their legal property,

ient. As an institution, such as it has developed itself in our Southern States, it has already given tokens of decay. But the qualities of race are so slowly affected by change as to admit of being called constant and permanent. The predominant influence of the blacks in the Cotton States is already (even putting aside the results of slavery) exhibiting itself in the lowering of the whites. These States are becoming uninhabitable for the whites, not by reason of climate, or of slavery as an institution, but by reason of the operation of the inevitable increase of the slaves. They must have the land, and the stronger race will be driven out by the weaker, on account of the preponderance of their numbers and the vis inertia of their natures. There is no room in the United States, or in any of their unsettled territory, for the expansion of this transatlantic Africa. Where the black race is now settled it will stay, but it must be confined within its present limits.

We do not look upon the simple secession of the Slave States, or of any one of them, as dangerous, so far as the extension of slavery is concerned, rather, on the contrary, as likely to end the great debate by securing all unoccupied territory to the North, to freedom, and to the white races. It is only, if an attempt should be made, for the sake of what is miscalled peace, and for the sake of the Union, to conciliate the misguided and unfortunate people of the South by compromise or concession, that we fear the consequences.

The responsibility under which we are to act is not for our own moral convictions alone, but also for the happiness of all future times. There is no room for concession, no space for compromise, in the settlement of the question of the prevalence of the black or of the white race on this continent, in other words, the prevalence of liberty and Christianity and all their attendant blessings, or that of ignorance and barbarism with their train. "We will decide this question," says Mr. Fisher, whose words were written before the necessity for decision was so distinctly presented as at present, "we will decide it, if we can, as a united people; but if we cannot, if cotton and slavery and the negro have already weakened our Southern brethren by their spells and enchantments, so that the South cannot decide accord

The Conduct of Life. By R. W. EMERSON. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 288.

Ir is a singular fact, that Mr. Emerson is the most steadily attractive lecturer in America. Into that somewhat coldwaterish region adventurers of the sensa tion kind come down now and then with a splash, to become disregarded King Logs before the next season. But Mr. Emerson always draws. A lecturer now for something like a quarter of a century, one of the pioneers of the lecturing system, the charm of his voice, his manner, and his matter has never lost its power over his earlier hearers, and continually winds new ones in its enchanting meshes. What they do not fully understand they take on trust, and listen, saying to themselves, as the old poet of Sir Philip Sidney, —

"A sweet, attractive, kind of grace,
A full assurance given by looks,
Continual comfort in a face,

The lineaments of gospel books."

We call it a singular fact, because we Yankees are thought to be fond of the spreadeagle style, and nothing can be more remote from that than his. We are reckoned a practical folk, who would rather hear about a new air-tight stove than about Plato; yet our favorite teacher's practicality is not in the least of the Poor Richard variety. If he have any Buncombe constituency, it is that unrealized commonwealth of philosophers which Plotinus proposed to establish; and if he were to make an almanac, his directions to farmers would be something like this:-"OCTOBER: Indian Summer; now is the time to get in your early Vedas." What, then, is his secret? Is it not that he out-Yankees us all? that his range includes us all? that he is equally at home with the potato-disease and original sin, with pegging shoes and the Oversoul? that, as we try all trades, so has he tried all cultures? and above all, that his mysticism gives us a counterpoise to our super-practicality?

There is no man living to whom, as a writer, so many of us feel and thankfully

acknowledge so great an indebtedness for ennobling impulses,-none whom so many cannot abide. What does he mean? ask these last. Where is his system? What is the use of it all? What the deuse have we to do with Brahma? Well, we do not propose to write an essay on Emerson at the fag-end of a February "Atlantic," with Secession longing for somebody to hold it, and Chaos come again in the South Carolina teapot. We will only say that we have found grandeur and consolation in a starlit night without caring to ask what it meant, save grandeur and consolation; we have liked Montaigne, as some ten generations before us have done, without thinking him so systematic as some more eminently tedious (or shall we say tediously eminent?) authors; we have thought roses as good in their way as cabbages, though the latter would have made a better show in the witness-box, if cross-examined as to their usefulness; and as for Brahma, why, he can take care of himself, and won't bite us at any rate.

The bother with Mr. Emerson is, that, though he writes in prose, he is essentially a poet. If you undertake to paraphrase what he says, and to reduce it to words of one syllable for infant minds, you will make as sad work of it as the good monk with his analysis of Homer in the "Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum." We look upon him as one of the few men of genius whom our age has produced, and there

needs no better proof of it than his masculine faculty of fecundating other minds. Search for his eloquence in his books and you will perchance miss it, but meanwhile you will find that it has kindled all your thoughts. For choice and pith of language he belongs to a better age than ours, and might rub shoulders with Fuller and Browne, - though he does use that abominable word, reliable. His eye for a fine, telling phrase that will carry true is like that of a backwoodsman for a rifle; and he will dredge you up a choice word from the ooze of Cotton Mather himself. A diction at once so rich and so homely as his we know not where to match in these days of writing by the page; it is like homespun cloth-of-gold. The many cannot miss his meaning, and only the few can find it. It is the open secret of all true genius. What does he mean, quotha? He means inspiring hints, a divining-rod to your deeper nature, "plain living and high thinking."

We meant only to welcome this book, and not to review it. Doubtless we might pick our quarrel with it here and there; but all that our readers care to know is, that it contains essays on Fate, Power, Wealth, Culture, Behavior, Worship, Considerations by the Way, Beauty, and Illusions. They need no invitation to Emer"Would you know," says Goethe, "the ripest cherries? Ask the boys and the blackbirds." He does not advise you to inquire of the crows.

son.

Struggle for Life. By the Author of "Seven Stormy Sundays," etc. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 12mo. pp. 311. $1.00.

The Laws of Race, as connected with Slavery. By the Author of "The Law of the Territories," etc. Philadelphia. Willis P. Hazard. 8vo. paper. pp. 70. 38 cts.

On the Study of Words. Lectures addressed (originally) to the Pupils of the Diocesan Training - School, Winchester. By Richard Chenevix Trench, D. D. A New Edition, enlarged and revised. New York. W. J. Widdleton. 12mo. pp. 249. 75 cts.

Sermons preached in Westminster Abbey. By Richard Chenevix Trench. New York. W. J. Widdleton. 12mo. pp. 368. $1.00.

Kormak, an Icelandic Romance of the Tenth Century. In Six Cantos. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 16mo. pp. 118. 75 cts.

Optimism, the Lesson of Ages. A Compendium of Democratic Theology. Written by Benjamin Blood. Boston. Bela Marsh. 12mo. pp. 132. 60 cts.

Ninety Days' Worth of Europe. By Edward E. Hale. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 16mo. pp. 224. 75 cts.

Result of Some Researches among the British Archives for Information relative to the Founders of New England, made in the Years 1858, 59, and '60. By Samuel G. Drake. Boston. Published at the Office of the New England Historical Register. Small 4to. pp. 131. $1.50.

The New American Encyclopædia: a Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Edited by George Ripley and Charles A. Dana. Volume XI. Mac to Moxa. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. pp. 788, vii. $3.00.

The Silver Penny Series. Comprising Six Volumes, neatly put up in a Box, for Children. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 24mo. 25 cts. each.

The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice. Literally translated, with Explanatory Notes, by Theodore Alois Buckley, B. A. New York. Harper & Brothers. 16mo. pp. 432. 75 cts. Herodotus. Recensuit Josephus Williams Blakesley, S. T. B. New York. Harper & Brothers. 32mo. 2 vols. pp. 362 and 364. $1.50. Hymns for Mothers and Children. Compiled by the Author of "Violet," "Daisy," etc. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 12mo. $1.25.

pp. 287.

Martin's Natural History. Translated from the Thirty-Fifth German Edition. By Sarah A. Myers. Containing Two Hundred and Sixty-Two beautifully-colored Illustrations. Second Series. New York. Phinney, Blakeman, & Mason. 12mo. pp. 490. $1.50.

History of Latin Christianity; including that of the Popes, to the Pontificate of Nicolas V. By Henry Hart Milman, D. D. Vol. III. New York. Sheldon & Co. 12mo. pp. 525. $1.50.

Studies from Life. By the Author of "John Halifax," etc. New York. Harper & Brothers. 16mo. pp. 290. 75 cts.

Hallam's Middle Ages. Boston Library Edition. Boston. Crosby, Nichols, Lee, & Co. Crown 8vo. 3 vols. $3.75.

The Printer-Boy; or, How Ben Franklin made his Mark. An Example for Youth. By William M. Thayer. Boston. J. E. Tilton & Co. 18mo. pp. 261. 75 cts.

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Songs for the Sorrowing. By H. N. With an Introduction, by Wm. R. Williams, D.D. New York. Phinney, Blakeman, & Mason. 12mo. pp. 284. $1.00.

Chambers's Encyclopædia. A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People. Part 22. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. paper. pp. 63. 15 cts.

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Up the River. By Jacob Abbott. New York. Harper & Brothers. 18mo. pp. 192. 50 cts. Coins, Medals, and Seals, Ancient and Modern. Illustrated and described by W. C. Prime. New York. Harper & Brothers. Small 4to. pp. 292. $3.00.

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What we Eat. An Account of the most Common Adulterations of Food and Drink, with Simple Tests by which many of them may be detected. By Thomas H. Hoskins, M. D. Boston. T. O. H. P. Burnham. 12mo. pp. 218. 63 cts.

Correspondence of Fräulein Günderode and Bettine von Arnim. Boston. T. O. H. P. Burnham. 12mo. pp. 344. $1.00.

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The Life and Times of Philip Schuyler. By Benson J. Lossing. New York. Mason Brothers. 12mo. pp. 502. $1.50.

The Works of Francis Bacon. Collected and edited by James Spedding, M. A., Robert Leslie Ellis, M. A., and Douglas Denon Heath. Volume XIII. Being Volume III. of the Literary and Professional Works. Boston. Brown & Taggard. 12mo. pp. 418. $1.50.

Twelve Discourses. By Henry M. Dexter. Boston. Printed for the Pine Street Fair. 16mo. pp. 219. $1.25.

THE PROFESSORS.

"WHICH of the German universities would be the best adapted to my purpose?" is the question of many an American student, who, having gone through the usual course in the United States, looks abroad for the completion of his scientific or liberal studies. Of Göttingen and Heidelberg he will often have read and heard; the reputation of the comparatively new university of Berlin will not be unfamiliar to him; but of Tübingen, Würzburg, Erlangen, Halle, or Bonn, even, he will perhaps know little more than the name. In the majority of the last-named places, foreigners, especially his own countrymen, are rare; none of his friends have studied there; they have followed the current, since the last century, and spent their time in Göttingen or Heidelberg, perhaps a winter in Berlin. They have found these institutions good, and affording every facility for study; but would not Munich, or Leipzig, or Jena, or any other one of the twentysix universities of Germany, better answer the purpose of many a student?

During the last winter, in many conversations with a retired professor in Berlin, who manifested a special interest in American institutions, mainly in

the American educational system, he was very particular in inquiring as to what we meant by our term College. He had read the work of the historian Raumer on America, and declared that from this he could get no notion whatever as to what the term meant with us. The very same thing occurs daily in the United States in regard to foreign, or, more properly, the Continental universities. Accustomed as we are to the prevalence of the tutorial system, the use of text-books, -in many parts of the Union not defining clearly the difference between the terms University, College, Institute, and Academy, giving the first name often to institutions having but one faculty, and that at times incomplete, with no theological, and often no law or medical department, forgetting that the University should, from its very name, be as universal as possible in its teachings, comprehending in its list of studies the combined scientific and literary pursuits of the age,- we are apt to look upon foreign schools of learning as similar in nature and purpose to our own, differing not in the quality or specific character of the teaching, but rather in the scope and extent of the branches taught. Yet nothing is farther from the truth. The result is, that many a one starts for Europe full of hope, to seek