enforced, many of course resorted to Rhode Island, who had "no religion at all," and "wild spirits," who on the borders of Narraganset Bay, "could obtain an easy subsistence, free from the restraints of all law whatever." The Congrega tional clergy in Massachusetts, and in Connecticut likewise, were the great patrons of common schools, but such was the state of things in Rhode Island, that the influence of such a body of men in favor of education, was lost in that colony. The Friends or Quakers, who formed a large portion of the colonists, relied for "religious instruction on inward light and direct inspiration from God, and of course needed no educated ministry to conduct their worship." The boundaries of Rhode Island were long in controvery with the contiguous States; slavery was early introduced to a much greater extent than in the other New England colonies;-in the revolutionary war, Rhode Island was exposed to peculiar dangers; the paper money system was carried to a ruinous excess, and laws were enacted respecting the payment of debts, the tendency of which was to undermine the very foundations of society,-all which circumstances so occupied the attention of the colony and of the State after the Declaration of Independence, that there was little disposition or opportunity to do anything on the subject of schools. It was not the object of the author of this address to give an account of the present state of education in Rhode Island. It is well known, however, that within the last half century great changes in this department of State policy have taken place. Numerous well regulated schools have been established, and with the best results.

Mount Hope; or Philip, King of the Wampanoags: an Historical Romance. By G. H. HOLLISTER. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1851. 12mo. pp. 280.

THIS is a story of Philip's War, as its title indicates, told by a writer who shows sufficient and faithful knowledge of the events of that war, and who enters ardently into the feeling of the men of those times. He has woven into it spirited pictures of the scenery of the places that were memorable in that fearful struggle. With some of these localities the author was himself familiar, and he has wrought into his tale some of the stories that were the delight and terror of his own boyhood. It is a perilous undertaking to write a novel on such themes as these; but the author has not only escaped the perils of the way, but has produced a story which does credit to his early reputation as a writer. But we dare not advise him to repeat the effort, however successful this may prove to be.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

We have found it difficult to notice works which are published in successive numbers. We shall hereafter merely report the progress of such publications, after we have once informed our readers of the character of the work. There are also some books which, either from being well known, or for other reasons, do not require an extended notice; these we shall merely place under the present head.

Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution: or Illustrations by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Scenery, Biography, Relics and Traditions of the War for Independence. By BENSON J. LOSSING. With six hundred engravings on wood, by Lossing & Barrett, chiefly from original sketches by the author. Nos. 1-15. NewYork: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff street. 1851.

Farmer's Guide to Scientific and Practical Agriculture. Detailing the labors of the farmer in all their variety, and adapting them to the seasons of the year, as they successively occur. By HENRY STEPHENS, F.R.S.E., Author of the "Book of the Farm," etc. Assisted by JOHN P. NORTON, M.A., Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College, New Haven. New York: Leonard Scott & Co., 79 Fulton street, and 54 Gold street. 1851. New Haven: T. H. Pease.

This publication is now complete. We have read it with great interest, and fully accord with the judgment expressed in Blackwood, that "it is a complete institute of agriculture"-that "in no country or language was so perfect a work on agriculture ever given to the world before." We intend hereafter to examine it at more length.

Dictionary of Mechanics, Engine-Work and Engineering. OLIVER BYRNE, Editor. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway. New Haven: T. H. Pease, 83 Chapel street. Vol. I. pp. 960. Nos. 1-14. Vol. II. No. 15-34. Poems, by Mrs. E. H. EVANS. With a Preface by her brother, T. H. STOCKTON. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 1851. New Haven: S. Babcock, 121 Chapel street.

The Female Jesuit; or the Spy in the Family. New York: published by M. W. Dodd, Brick Church, City Hall Square.

It is a peculiarity of the Jesuits that the enormity of their wickedness is so great that it serves as a protection to them, for we demand more than ordinary evidence to convince us of the reality of crimes so enormous as are charged against them. Whether the present work is to be relied on, we do not know; at any rate, it ought to have been authenticated by a responsible name. London Labor and London Poor. By HENRY MAYHEW. With Daguerreotype Engravings. New York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff street. Parts 1-7.

1851.

An Address at the Funeral of the Hon. David Daggett, April 15, 1851. By SAMUEL W. S. DUTTON, Pastor of the North Church, New Haven. New Haven: A. H. Maltby, 67 Chapel street.

This interesting address, which was published in our last number, was also published in a pamphlet form with additional notes and an appendix, by Mr. Maltby. It is handsomely printed, and on good paper.

Alcohol and the Commonwealth. Shall we legislate? The question answered. By Rev. W. BARROWS. Boston: Perkins & Whipple, 100 Washington street. 1851. pp. 42.

Early Piety, the Basis of Elevated Character. A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, August, 1850. By STEPHEN OLIN, D.D., LL.D. New York: Lane & Scott, 200 Mulberry street.

This is an able and useful discourse; every young man would be benefited by reading it.

A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar. By Rev. Dr BREWER, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Head Master of King's College School, Norwich, in union with King's College, London. Carefully revised and adapted for use in families and schools of the United States. New York: C. S. Francis & Co., 252 Broadway. Boston: J. H. Francis, 128 Washington

street. 1851.

This little volume contains the scientific explanation of the common phenomena of life in a series of familiar questions and answers. We recommend the book as a valuable compendium of useful knowledge and as good authority.

Foreign Reminiscences. By HENRY RICHARD LORD HOLLAND. Edited by his son, HENRY EDWARD LORD HOLLAND. New York: Harper & Brothers.

1851.

We have read this book with some little interest, but have nothing to say in its favor, and no sufficient motive to take the trouble of condemning it. An Examination of the Evidence in regard to Infinitesimal Doses. By WILLIAM W. RODMAN, A.M., M.D. Waterbury William Patton. 1851. pp. 99. The Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses connected with the regal succession of Great Britain. BY AGNES STRICKLAND, author of the "Lives of the Queens of England." Vol. I. New York: Harper & Brothers, publishers, 82 Cliff street.

1851.

The volume is founded upon a thorough and comprehensive investigation of the original sources of information: it is well written, and the interest is sustained throughout. When the work is completed, we intend to give a more extended notice of it. In the meanwhile, we do not hesitate to recommend it as a valuable addition to Scotch History.

The Educational Systems of the Puritans and Jesuits Compared. A premium Essay, written for the "Society for the promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West." By N. PORTER, Professor of Moral Philosophy, etc., Yale College. New York: Published by M. W. Dodd, Brick-Church Chapel, City Hall Square, opposite City Hall. 1851. pp. 95.

This book treats of a very interesting and important subject in a very satisfactory manner.

The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. Edited by his son, the Rev CHARLES CUTHBERT SOUTHEY, Curate of Plumbland, Cumberland. New York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff street. 1851.

The publishers have done a good service in presenting the public with this interesting memoir and correspondence. We have been much pleased with the volume, and we think most readers will find much to interest them in it. We say no more at present, as we intend hereafter to give an extended account of the work.

A Memoir of the Rev. Henry Watson Fox, B.A., of Wadham College, Oxford; Missionary to the Teloogoo people, South India. By the Rev. GEORGE TOWNSHEND Fox, B.A., of Durham. With an Introductory Essay. By the Rev. C. P. M'ILVAINE, Bishop of Ohio. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, No. 285 Broadway. 1851. pp. 429. This is a most valuable addition to our missionary biographies. It reminds one forcibly of the Memoirs of Henry Martyn. It is one of those books which commend themselves, wherever you chance to open it. No one who begins to read it, can stop till he reaches the end.

Address before the Ontario County Agricultural Society, Oct., 1850. By JOHN P. NORTON, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, Yale College, New Haven. Canandaigua, N.Y. 1850. pp. 25.

Songs of Zion. A Manual of the best and most popular Hymns and Tunes, for social and private devotion. Published by the American Tract Society, 150 Nassau street, New York, and 28 Cornhill, Boston. Sold by J. B. Peck, at the Tract Depository, New Haven.

Address before the Northampton, Franklin, and Hampden Agricultural Society, at Northampton, Mass., Oct., 1849. By JOHN P. NORTON, Professor of Agricul tural Chemistry, Yale College, New Haven. Northampton. 1849. pp. 18.

THE

NEW ENGLANDER.

No. XXXVI.

NOVEMBER, 1851.

ART. I.-PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THE USEFUL ARTS IN THEIR RELATION TO CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION.

The Annual of Scientific Discovery, or Year Book of Facts in Science and Art. 1850-1851. Boston: GOULD, KENDALL & LINCOLN.

THIS American Annual of Scientific Discovery now numbering a second volume of a series that gives goodly promise of a lasting and honorable succession, the London publication of a similar kind which has already been issued for more than twenty years, the numerous serials devoted to like purposes both in the Old and in the New World, and the frequent appearance of occasional volumes, in the form of abstracts, digests, retrospects, proceedings of scientific associations, and the like, afford one of the most decisive indications of the course in which the thoughts and efforts of the reflecting and working men of our time are directed. These two compact volumes, the condensed substance of many ample quarterlies and annuals, the bare titles of which would fill more than one page of the present article, serve most effectually both to awaken the desire to enter upon the minute study of every department of art and nature, and also to administer a most humiliating rebuke to that aimless and dissipated ambition, which aspires to the attainment of all knowledge in one short life. But while these publications show at a glance what the scientific world is doing, thus exhibiting both the old and the new fields of investigation expanding beyond the utmost ability of any one mind to keep pace with the discoveries made by so many adventurous explorers, they also supply us with an

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