ART. IX.-CRITICAL NOTICES. 1.-Heidelberg: A Romance. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. New-York: Harper & Brothers. 1846. OF James as a novelist, his contemporaries have expressed a judgment, which we scarcely believe that posterity will reverse. Following, in order of time, immediately after the novelist, par excellence, of the age, he has not been thought unworthy to stand next to him in order of merit; and in fertility of production, it is not improbable, should his life be protracted to an ordinary length, that he will surpass him. We have here his last essay in the field of fiction, superior to manyinferior to few of its predecessors. How long it will be his last, the author alone knows; yet judging of the future by the past, we think we are safe in advising those who make it a matter of some importance to read "the last novel," to take up "Heidelberg" at once, lest it be soon superseded. He who does so, will scarcely be disappointed; for to "a good plot-an admirable plot," abounding in interest, sometimes of intense character, it adds all the subordinate but necessary qualities of fine description and animated dialogue, which give a novel its greatest zest, and which James, of all living novelists, knows best how to furnish. 2.-The Works of Henry Ware, Jr., D. D. Boston: James Munro & Co. 1846. 2 vols. 12mo. Or Henry Ware, none who knew him ever speak, but in terms of the fondest affection, and those who knew him not, may well learn in this record of his writings, to love and venerate his character. Warmth of feeling tempered by simplicity of heart, and a fervor of imagination restrained by strength of judgment, make him not less pleasing as a writer than he is said to have been admirable as a companion. The volumes before us, constitute the second of a series of Mr. Ware's works, containing, as it is expressed in the brief preface of the Editor, "Selections from his published and unpublished Miscellaneous Writings." We may find a variety, both of subject and style, to please the most fastidious taste. Essays, sermons, biographical sketces, fictitious narratives, song and sentiment, prose and poetry of every kind, "from grave to gay, from lively to severe," are interspersed through the pages of these delightful books, in acceptable profusion. Some are new faces, but not the less welcome; others are old acquaintances, of which however we do not tire. "The Duties of Young Men in respect to the Dangers of the Country," is an invaluable tract, which we would gladly see adopted as a vade mecum, by the youth of America. The frequent perusal might teach them to be familiar with their obligations to themselves and their native land, and furnish them with some useful hints as to the best method of fulfilling those obligations. The lecture on "The Poetry of Mathematics," is another paper of exquisite beauty, whose merits, long known to the literary world, would alone be sufficient to establish the reputation of the writer for power of genius, and elegance of style. There are among these compositions some hundred or two pages of poetical recreations. Ware was not a professed poet, but he had the temperament out of which poets may be made; and many of these pieces "The Dream of my Life" among the rest, abound in a spirit of beauty of which no poet need be ashamed. There are some few polemical papers, but even they have taken so much of their character from the mild equanimity of their writer's temper, that lessons of tolerance, at least, may be learned from them. And this is indeed more than can be said of all the theological discussions that encumber the shelves of our libraries. 3.-Altowan, or Incidents of Life and Adventures in the Rocky Mountains, by an Amateur Traveller. Edited by J. WATSON WEBB. THIS work, lately published by the Harpers, is, notwithstanding its very wild character, a truly beautiful composition, if the author, in his love for savage life, has not made this more terrible than it really is. What happiness or satisfaction can be derived from a residence in such barbarous regions, we cannot imagine. Continually at war, no man can venture a hundred yards from his friend, or the tribe to which he belongs, and be safe from the ball of the rifle, or arrow from the bow, of some one of his numerous enemies. The descriptions of scenery are excellent; this region of our country, doubtless exhibits some of the most sublime and magnificent pictures in the world. Had the pencil of the artist sketched some of those which the author has described, they would vie with any taken from the bold northern region of Scotland, or the highlands of Switzerland. The book, we have said, is well written, yet would not have been sufficient, in itself, as a mere description of life and scenery, had the author not been careful to mingle with them a beautiful and spirited tale. The search of Altowan, the hero, for the lovely Idale, and his rescue of her from the camp of enemies, is a touching chapter, and the incident, one of the most daring; the discovery, in a moment when he was about to urge his claims upon her heart to be his alone, that she was his sister; the attack of the camp, in which our hero strikes so boldly; and again, his action in the presence of the neighboring tribe, who were mingled with the Hudson Bay Company; all exhibit noble traits in his character. Altowan eventually leaves the rocky region, with Idale, when Roland, her lover, whom she had left in the far west, discovers her at New-York, and seeks her out, follows her and her companion to Baltimore, and thence to England. At length they meet in the castle of Lord Roland, at a masquerade; at this point the whole powers of the mind are drawn to what passes. Roland, desiring the beautiful Idale for his wife, and Altowan, supposing that he only wished to possess her affections for a while, and then cast her upon a friendless world, a scheme of Roland to convey her from the castle, is discovered by Altowan, and in his attempt to rescue her, he receives a death wound. Altowan is here discovered to be a son, by the first wife, of Lord Roland; he is interred in the vaults of the castle, and Roland openly marries her whose footsteps he had traced for so long a time, under the very eye of his father and friends, and in the castle of his ancestors. D. Mr. Calhoun and the Memphis Convention. We have published, in this number of the Review, two articles, from different sources, on the constitutionality of works of Internal Improve ment by the Federal Government, having regard more especially to the unobstructed navigation of the Mississippi river and its tributaries, and containing comments on the views entertained by Mr. Calhoun, as embodied in his report of the proceedings of the Memphis Convention. The writers of these articles, though concurring substantially in some important points, differ widely in others, and as the subject in all its aspects, has excited no small degree of attention at the South and West, we have felt a solicitude to see it ably treated, and broad and statesmanlike views taken of it, by writers on both sides of the dispu ted questions involved in the controversy. We have been requested to publish, in extenso, Mr. Calhoun's Report on the Memphis Proceedings, but as it is not usual to publish any public documents, at length, in a work which is profusedly a Review, we have thought the ends of truth would be substantially promoted by the course pursued by our correspondents, in introducing liberal quotations of the most important portions of that very able and interesting State paper. We are not alarmists, but confess that we have been startled by the declaration of the writer of the article on "The Memphis Convention," that the growing power of the West will ultimately be exerted to inforce unconstitutional measures. We shall not reiterate this charge. We shall presume that it rests on no sufficient foundation. Supposing it, however, to be true, and that the West, having power, will forget right, we are not therefore prepared, with our correspondent, to surrender the constitution or any portion of it. We hope we never shall be prepared to take such a step. "The question," he says, "is not how we shall rightly think, or what says the constitution? But it is, what shall we do?" Is this the question? If so, it is our misfortune never to have understood it. We have always understood the question, propounded to every American patriot and every American statesman, to be, most distinctly, what says the constitution? To "think rightly" and to act rightly, as American politicians, is to think and act according to the constitution. That is one standard-not the assumptions of any set of men who would fly in the face of the law, and tyrannize over us. Such, at least, is the question at the South, and such is the mode in which the whole South will answer it, now and always. We, at the South, go for a constitutional administration of the government, or we go for a revolution of the government. We will struggle for our rights and liberties and maintain our independence. It is said, "the question is, what shall we do?" The answer is, defend the constitution,-defend it to the very last, and if you are over powered in the attempt, you will still have the gratifying consciousness of having discharged a sacred duty. That is worth something-nay, it is worth much more than a violated constitution. The latter may be restored to its integrity, but, to the man who abandons right and justice, no solace remains for wounded honor. EDITORIAL NOTE. It will be perceived by reference to the cover of this Number, that Messrs. Burges & James will hereafter be not only publishers, but general agents of the Southern Quarterly Review, charged with the direction of its financial concerns. All remittances or payments, not made to us personally, will therefore be made to those gentlemen, or to agents duly appointed. LIST OF PAYMENTS FOR 1846. If the name of any subscriber, who has paid his subscription the present year, does not appear either in this list or in the one which shall appear in our next number, (October,) he will please to communicate the fact to Mr. SILAS HOWE, General Agent, Charleston, S. C., and the omission will be supplied in the following number. Gourdin, Matthiessen & Co.. 5 S. S. Mills, 5 D. Leckie, 5 G. A. Trenholm, 5 James Chapman, 5 Henry E. Lucas, 5 William Matthiessen, 5 Daniel Huger, 5 Col. F. H. Elmore, 5 Thos. D. Matthews, 5 J. P. Stewart, VOL. X.-NO. 19. |