absorbed hearers of her words, swayed along with her by the varying impulses

of the passions.

Her acting is not made up of points, which, though bold and dramatic, stand out marked and abrupt for the general whole of the scene.

She rises in feeling and intensity from the commencement to the end of the play, as circumstances require-developing the character so naturally, that it pervades every look and tone, and finally impresses her own feelings so strongly upon the audience, that it seems what she says and does are the only things that ought to be said and done.

Mrs. Mason has a commanding figure; is extremely graceful and elegant in her movements and actions. She has a wonderfully sweet and telling, though not a very strong voice, capable without effort of every intonation. Her elocution is the most beautiful we ever heard; it glides along so naturally, that while the sense of the passages is made vividly clear, we are never startled by an effort of emphasis which always shows the labour of the elocutionary art.

She made her first appearance in Juliet. It was considered a dangerous experiment to open in that part, as it is so difficult to portray on the stage the highly wrought feelings of the Southern lovers, transcending, as they do, those of this every day life. It is considered that Romeo and Juliet can only be appreciated in the quiet and retired reading of the study, and that to embody on the stage their intense bounding, outpouring love, is almost next to impossibility. But her triumphant success in this most difficult part has established her reputation, and placed her in one night at the head of her profession.

The embarrassment and nervousness of a first appearance, after ten years' absence, remained upon her till the balcony scene, when her energies and powers fully developed themselves. She confessed her love with an expression of frankness, purity and depth of feeling-devoid of all affectation on the one hand, and exaggerated artistic effect on the other-that found its way to every heart. We were charmed and astonished as we listened to the music of her voice, as she delivered such words of devotion, such truthful joy, tinged with a sadness-the forerunner of future woe.

The personation of this scene brought back to every mind not completely seared by the world, "the freshness of early feeling" and the spring-time of life, when such love was not an effort of the imagination, but an impulse of the heart; it stirred emotions long lain dormant, that only such a pure and holy personation could arouse; it realized the conceptions of the most poetic, and gave to many an understanding of the subject that their own readings could not give.

In the scene with the friar in the fourth act, when, to escape the nuptials with Paris, she bids him to propose such desperate means,

she was in manner, tone and attitude, the very embodyment of desperate determination.

But the crowning effort of the night was the potion scene. It was the greatest acting we ever saw. The terror she felt at the thought of "Tybalt's ghost" was extended to her hearers. Their imaginations were excited to such a pitch, that they remained some time after the scene was ended, silent; and then their pent up feelings broke forth with an enthusiasın seldom heard.

In conclusion, her acting may be described as possessing a wonderful power of abstraction; a full and thorough embodiment of the character, with sympathies easily moved, and flowing through the mournful, tender and passionate parts of her personations with the force and fullness of a swollen river. Apparently she has to contend with the strength of her feelings, which rush upon her unbidden, and occasionally take away the power of making special artistic effects; but if these great sympathies be a drawback in this particular, they are of immense advantage in the power of being the whole character, and in its influence upon the hearts of all who hear her.

Mrs. Mason's performances during the remainder of her engagement, especially of the part of Bianca, have confirmed and strengthened the position awarded to her on her first night,

NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

Jacques. A Novel. By George Sand. Translated from the French by Anne Blackwell. Redfield, New-York. 1847.

No modern writings have given rise to more controversy than those of George Sand, to use the nomme de plume the author invariably adopts. Or rather, we might say, no modern writer, up to within a few years, has been so generally condemned, in the severest terms of disparagement, as this mysterious George Sand. The controversy as to her merits is very recent, as to the English language; for there was no controversy formerly, but one unbroken, uniform stream of moral indignation and censure. The British reviews, whenever they had occasion to mention the name of the writer, coupled it with all that was base and licentious in French imagination.

It was known that George Sand was only an assumed name; it was known that the writer was a woman, and that she had committed the unpardonable offence of separating from her husband; and it was further known, that some of her works were exceedingly free in regard to certain social relations held sacred by the majority of mankind. This was enough to know; and so, on the strength of it, the English critics, by a sort of secret, unanimous consent, agreed to regard her as a she-monster-a demon in petticoats. The most horrible stories were told, of her dressing in man's clothes, smoking cigars, entertaining any quantity of lovers, and other things of the same character. But the howl of virtuous rebuke with which she was received was so vehement as soon to exhaust itself; it came to an end. The Foreign Quarterly Review, we believe, began to see, under all her imputed licentiousness, the marks of very high talent, and from time to time breathed out a little negative praise. Its example was followed; the stories invented about her were shown to be utterly false, and it was not long before George Sand was in a fair way of being considered an unusually instructive, accomplished and spiritual writer. Indeed, the tendency now is, in the very periodicals that most abused her, to elevate her to the rank of a great social reformer.

It must be said, however, in justice to the critics, that George Sand has greatly changed herself, and that her recent writings are of a different tone from those that first gave her notoriety. Her morbid and restless discontent with established relations has passed away, or been superseded by aspirations for a better state of things. Her last novel, Consuelo, no one can object to on the score of morals, while the genius it exhibits is of the highest order. Indeed, the influence it had upon our mind was as solemn and pure as that of religious music. The character of the heroine is one of the most beautiful and exalted to be found in the whole range of modern fiction. How a nature essentially bad could have conceived it, surpasses our understanding. One feels that George Sand has either been thoroughly regenerated, or that her early reputation was a falsehood and calumny.

As to the present work, it must be confessed, that it is not to be named in the same day with Consuelo. There is the same vigor and grace of style; the same eloquence of sentiment, and the same keen penetration into character; but the moral transparency and elevation is wanting. As a burning and vigorous protest against the evils of ill-assorted marriages, it may have possibly some good effect; but on the whole, the propriety of its publication is somewhat questionable. It is not the best specimen of the genius of the writer, even among her earlier works; and the objects she aims at in it could have been better accomplished in some other

way.

We have only space to add, that the translation is excellently made, and that the book is printed in a very neat and handsome manner.

Lives of Eminent American Mechanics. BY HENRY HowE. Harper Brothers.

This volume embraces the lives of the following distinguished men: John Fitch, Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Evans, Samuel Slater, Eli Whitney, D. Bushnell, A.

Whitterman, R. Fulton, Jacob Perkins, Thomas Blanchard, and Henry Eckford, of each of whom is a portrait, in addition to those of eminent English mechanics. The results of the ingenuity of each of these men were sufficient to revolutionize the state of civilization; and when we contemplate the stupendous consequences of the combined inventions of Whitney, Whitterman and Fulton, aided by the improvements of English mechanics, we are lost in astonishment. Such a galaxy of genius as the volume presents may well stamp theirs as the "mechanical age," and affords matter of reflection in which the mind may lose itself in contemplation.

The Occult Sciences. The Philosophy of Magic, Prodigies, and Apparent Miracles. From the French of Eusebe Salverte. By Anthony Todd Thompson, M. D.,

F. L. S. Harper Brothers.

These remarkable volumes form Nos. 22 and 23 of Harper's New Miscellany. The author, Mr. Salverte, was an avocat du roi under the old régime, a civil engineer under the empire, and a consistent friend of the people; a member of the Chambers from the 5th district of Paris, and one of the few who have resisted the corrupting influence of the most corrupt government of Europe In the volumes before us, he has produced a work of great erudition and boundless research, in which he developes a theory which maintains that the prodigies and miracles related by the ancients, are to be ascribed to the results of a state of science far more advanced than has in modern times been admitted; that this science was in the hands of the priesthood, and by them used in the perpetuation of their hierarchy. The translator, in the profundity of his wisdom, has omitted the portions tending to elucidate the miracles of the Bible. For what reason we do not see. If the truth of the revelations cannot vindicate itself against the theories of Mr. Salverte, then it may be well to suppress the latter. Dr. Thompson seems to have greater faith in Mr. Salverte than in the Scriptures, however. The great work of Mr. Salverte establishes many points in the history of the sciences that have been heretofore surrounded with mists, and is full of intense interest. He avows the theory which guided him to be as follows :

"1st. When the improbability of a fact is the chief objection to the belief in its reality, the evidence which attests it regains all its value, if the improbability be proved to be only apparent. Can a similar test be applied with success to the greater part of the prodigies and miracles related by the ancients? It is more reasonable to admit the truth of the facts, and the accuracy of their explanation-than to condemn as impostures those recitals of which modern discoveries have frequently demonstrated the truth.

"2d. It is an incontestable fact, that anciently science-and more especially that science which was confined to the temples-was enveloped in a thick veil to conceal it from the eyes of the vulgar; and that it was employed to produce wonderful works, fitted to subdue the obstinacy and credulity of the people, is a supposition so natural, that it will be difficult to oppose it-at least by any sound reasons. In the marvellous recitals which have been handed down to our times, some of this mystical learning may be discovered; and in prosecuting the research we endeavor to complete the history of the science of mankind."

Education; its Elementary Principles Founded on the Nature of Man. By J. G. SPURZHEIM, M. D. With an Appendix by S. R. WELLS, 7th American edition. Fowler & Wells, 131 Nassau-street, New-York.

The subject of education, always important, is peculiarly so in America, where the institutions of the country, and almost the whole fabric of society, rests upon the diffusion of intelligence among the people. The science of education has, nevertheless, advanced far less than others. Nothing has been done towards ascertaining the natural capabilities and dispositions of youth, and adapting a course of instruction to the peculiar mind of each individual, so as to develope, in the most advantageous manner, the greatest energies of which it is capable. The vast injuries which the youth of a nation sustain by this want of discrimination is little dreamed of by the many. In an article upon College Education, in our February No., some of the evils incident upon the application of a uniform system to a class were hinted at. The lessons being graduated to the medium intellects, the best are led into habits of idleness, while the worst are discouraged. A fearful waste is thus produced, growing out of a want of discrimination on the part of parents.

Mr. Spurzheim, in his work, has doubtless laid the foundation of a great and radical change in this particular, and as such, of a vast economy in human intellect, that now seems to waste for want of the means of turning it into the proper channels to develope its utility.

The great importance of the subject, and the popularity of the author, combine to make the edition, as presented by Messrs. Fowler & Wells, peculiarly acceptable. To the present edition is added an Appendix, by S. R. Wells, containing a description of the temperaments, and a brief analysis of the phrenological faculties. The principles contained in the work are now so well recognized as to become an essential part in the qualifications of a teacher. In relation to this, the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal remarks:

"We regard this volume as one of the most important that has been offered to the public for many years. Small though it be, it is full of sound doctrine and practical wisdom. Every page is pregnant with instruction of solemn import; and we would that it were the text-book-the great and sovereign guide of every male and female in the country, with whom rests the responsibility of rearing or educating a child."

Another remarks:

"We have examined this work critically, for the purpose of ascertaining how far its principles are capable of being applied to the proper government and training of children, and find that it begins at the beginning, or rather with infancy, and goes through childhood up to manhood and old age-developing, by a gradual process, the entire constitution of man. A more interesting and useful work has not been written. It contains all the instruction necessary for parent or teacher to properly govern and instruct themselves and their young."-Instructor.

Supernaturalism of New-England. By J. G. WHITTIER. Wiley & Putnam.

In our number for August, 1845, we hailed with pleasure this first volume by Whittier, whom all of our readers have known and loved. "The Stranger in Lowell," conveyed to the reader the free, frank impressions upon a noble soul, by the common incidents of life in the great manufacturing city, whither he was called to conduct a paper during the presidential canvass. The peculiar superstition of New-England then attracted some part of his attention, and following out this branch of the subject, has produced the delightful little volume before us. As an instance of the true New-England spirit of the traditions and superstitions here embodied, we copy one.

Some years ago, an elderly woman, familiarly known as "Aunt Morse," died, leaving a handsome little property. No will was found, although it was understood before her decease that such a document was in the hands of Squire S., one of her neighbors. One cold winter evening, some weeks after her departure, Squire S. sat in his parlor looking over his papers, when, hearing some one cough in a familiar way, he looked up, and saw before him a little crooked old woman. in an oil-nut colored woollen frock, blue and white tow and linen apron, and striped blanket, leaning her sharp, pinched face on one hand, while the other supported a short black tobacco pipe, at which she was puffing in the most vehement and spiteful manner conceivable.

The squire was a man of some nerve; but his first thought was to escape, from which he was deterred only by the consideration, that any effort to that effect would necessarily bring him nearer to his unwelcome visitor.

"Aunt Morse," he said at length, "for the Lord's sake, get right back to the burying-ground! What on earth are you here for?"

The apparition took her pipe deliberately from her mouth, and informed him that she came to see justice done to her will; and that nobody need think of cheating her, dead or alive; concluding her remark with a shrill emphasis, she replaced her pipe, and puffed away with renewed vigor. The squire had reasons for retaining the document at issue, which he had supposed conclusive; but he had not reckoned upon the interference of the testatrix in this matter. Aunt Morse, when living, he had always regarded as a very shrew of a woman; and he now began to suspect that her recent change of condition had improved her, like Sheridan's ghost, the wrong way." He saw nothing better to be done, under the circumstances, than to promise to see the matter set right that very evening.

The ghost nodded her head approvingly, and knocking the ashes out of her pipe against the chimney, proceeded to fill it anew with a handful of tobacco from her side pocket. "And now, squire," she said, "if you'd light my pipe for me, I'll be a-going."

The squire was, as has been intimated, no coward; he had been out during the war in a Merrimack privateer, and seen some sharp work off Fayal; but, as he said afterwards, "it was no touch to lighting Aunt Morse's pipe." No slave of a pipe-bearer ever handed chibouque to the Grand Turk with more care and reverence, than the squire manifested on this occasion. Aunt Morse drew two or three long preliminary whiffs, to see that all was right, pulled her blanket over her head, and slowly hobbled out of the door. The squire being true to his promise, was never again disturbed. It is right, in conclusion, to say, that there were strong suspicions at that time that the ghost was in reality of flesh and blood-in short, one of the living heirs of Aunt Morse, and not the old lady herself.

The Elder's House, or the Three Converts. Edward Dunigan. New-York: 151 Fulton-street.

This is a beautifully got up little volume, uniform with Dunigan's Home Library, and the story is one of those interesting little histories so illustrative of the earnest simplicity of the Catholic faith, for which that library is characterized.

Pastoral Letter of John, the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes. Edward Dunigan. 151 Fulton-street.

This is a most interesting letter to our Catholic fellow citizens from their ecclesiastical head, exhorting them to the religious duties of the season of Lent, and setting forth the condition and progress of the Catholic Christians for this diocese. The bishop states, that in 1839 the number of Clergymen was 45, and is now 120, and that an application for two assistant Episcopal officers has been made to his Holiness, and as yet no answer has been returned. The letter is a very interesting

one.

The Scripture School Reader. Consisting of selections of Sacred Scriptures for the use of Schools. Compiled and arranged by W. W. EVERTS, A. M., and W. H. WYCKOFF, A. M. Nafis & Cornish, 278 Pearl-street.

This volume, bound in a substantial manner, is apparently the offspring of the unhappy controversy which sprung up sometime since in relation to the use of the bible in the schools. Our Catholic fellow-citizens objected to certain portions of the Scripture received as a whole by the Protestant portion of the community; and where children of all faiths mingle, under our glorious institutions, in schools provided for all by Republican zeal in the cause of education, some compromise was evidently necessary, in order to ensure to all that perfect freedom of conscience which is the birth-right of every American. This compromise has been sought to be obtained, in collecting that portion of the sacred volume recognised by all, in a book that may form an acceptable reader in schools where children of all creeds

associate.

Battle of Life. A Love Story. By CHARLES DICKENS. Wiley & Putnam. 25

cents.

Of all the numerous books written for "Christmas-tide" in "merrie England," this had the most extensive sale, and took the greatest hold upon the popular mind. In this country the writings of Dickers have been extensively read, and are, perhaps, as popular as in England. They are printed in a form equally as desirable by Messrs. Wiley & Putnam, and far cheaper.

The Horse's Foot, and How to Keep it Sound. By WILLIAM MILES. D. Appleton & Co., New-York.

This is an exceedingly useful work to all who have any connection with the management of horses. The great experience and long practice of the author, make his views of great importance.