the practised eye in these matters; and while I supposed myself to be looking as salt as Neptune himself, I was, no doubt, known for a landsman by every one on board as soon as I hove in sight. A sailor has a peculiar cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing them, which a green hand can never get. The trowsers, tight round the hips, and thence hanging long and loose round the feet, a superabundance of checked shirt, a low-crowned, well varnished black hat, worn on the back of the head, with half a fathom of black riband hanging over the left eye, and a peculiar tie to the black silk neckerchief, with sundry other minutiæ, are signs, the want of which betray the beginner, at once. Beside the points in my dress which were out of the way, doubtless my complexion and hands were enough to distinguish me from the regular salt, who, with a sunburnt cheek, wide step, and rolling gait, swings his bronzed and toughened hands athwart-ships, half open, as though just ready to grasp a rope.”

One will hardly read a second page of the narrative without perceiving that the transformation is completely effected in the first twenty four-hours of the young sailor's life. He has no sentimentality on taking leave of his friends, no palaver about “longing, lingering looks" cast back upon the receding shores; "for such things," he says, and says truly, "no time is allowed on board ship;" he simply takes a last look at the city, bids "good night" to his native land, and goes about his duty. We scarcely know a more heart sinking moment than the coming on of the first night of darkness of a first voyage before the mast, to a youth accustomed to comforts and kindness at home. The surrounding waste of water, the wretched feeling of seasickness, the harsh tones of the captain and officers, the coarse jokes of the sailors, the disagreeable food, the dark and damp and dirty sleeping room, and above all the division of the crew into watches, which tells him that he can never have at best but four hours oblivion of such a sea of troubles; these are some of the many miseries, which make up the full measure of the suffering. Captains of ships are necessarily autocrats; in addition, they are often tyrants and brates, and as their sailors are dependant upon their mercy for every thing short of life, it must be a matter of great interest to them to know what they have to hope and fear, as soon as they are out upon the blue waters. In the case before us it seems, they were not left long in suspense; their commander had his crew mustered, as soon as the ship was well clear of port, and then “walking the quarter deck with a cigar in his mouth, and dropping the words out between the puffs," he made them the following eloquent speech, sufficiently significant per se.

"Now, my men, we have began a long voyage. If we get along well together, we shall have a comfortable time; if we don't, we shall have hell afloat. All you've got to do is to obey your orders and do your duty like men-then you'll fare well enough; if you don't, you'll fare hard enough-I can tell you. If we pull together, you'll find me a clever fellow; if we don't, you'll find me a bloody rascal. That's all I've got to say. Go below, the larboard watch!"

It may be difficult to make it appear, that a volume of five hundred pages, entirely filled with nautical details, and the common occurrences of traffic with a rude people, can be interesting and

instructive, but such is the fact, and all who read it will be of our opinion. It gives us a juster estimate, than is elsewhere to be found, of the virtues and vices of a class of men, who are commonly represented on the one hand as all generosity and nobleness of feeling, and on the other as depraved and degraded in the extreme. We here see them as they are, a compound of good and evil, like mankind in general, with no other peculiarities than such as naturally result from their habits of life. Their cause and their claims are ably and justly stated, and the author has entitled himself to the warmest thanks of ship owners, ship masters, sailors, and all others concerned in navigation, for the dispassionate and impartial manner in which he has represented the existing grievances in our merchant service, and pointed out their remedies. Most clearly has he shown the absurdity of the common notion, that sailors cannot bear good treatment; and while he pleads most earnestly and feelingly for the exercise of greater humanity towards them, there is not a word in his book encouraging insubordination, or denying the necessity of severe discipline at sea.

This book deserves especial commendation on another account; it is calculated to exert a most salutary influence upon our youth. There are many among them who, under various circumstances, look to a long voyage as the summit of their wishes; either as a dernier resort, after a career of extravagance and dissipation, or an emancipation from paternal restraint, or an occasion of gratifying a spirit of adventure and a love of romance, or as a relief from the ennui of an idle life, or the disgust of an uncongenial occupation. The account here given of "two years before the mast," will serve to dissipate all the illusions about the sea, which most young men are wont to cherish; they will learn from it, that the forecastle of a ship is the most undesirable of all asylums, to any one who has had even but a moderate share of comforts at home; and be convinced, that no reasonable man will choose it for his dwelling place, unless he has made up his mind to "follow the sea," and get upon the weather-side of the quarter deck as soon as possible.

We might select various passages from this truly delightful volume, of great literary beauty, which would show the author's command of language, and powers in description, to be no less remarkable than the soundness of his judgment and the justness of his views; but to do this, we must extend our notice of it far beyond its proper limits. We think we have said enough to give our readers some general notions of the character and excellencies of this work, and as we are fully sensible that nothing short of an entire perusal of it will enable them to form an exact estimate of its peculiar merits, we must here take our leave of it, earnestly inviting all who are seeking for wisdom, to read for themselves, giving them our strongest assurances that it will be time profitably and pleasantly employed.

9. The Life of Alexander Hamilton, by his son, JOHN C. HAMILTON. Vol. II. New York: 1840. D. Appleton and Co. Svo. OUR present reference to the above volume is simply to note its appearance, and to turn public attention to it. It is not by such casual comment that justice could be done by us, either to the subject or the merits of the work. An ampler article upon it, already prepared, which is excluded from the present number, through press of pre-engaged matter, may be expected in our next. In the meantime, we earnestly commend to the American public the present volume, as fully justifying the anxiety with which its long delayed appearance has been looked for, and as elevating even beyond his first, the opinion then awakened of the talents of the biographer of Hamilton. They are, in truth, here called to a higher test; coming down, as the volume does, to the actual adoption of the constitution in 1787, it comprehends many of the most arduous and exciting contests to which Hamilton was ever called; and laying, as they do, at the foundation of the life-long hostility then awakened against him in the minds of the anti-federal party, demanded from his biographer a more than ordinary share of research and sound judgment, to bring out the real truth of facts. It is sufficient to say, that Mr. Hamilton has done this with the zeal of a son, but, at the same time, with the fidelity of the historian, and that his volume, therefore, in addition to its general historic interest, carries with it the farther claim of being a full and triumphant vindication of the policy and measures of the high-toned federal party of that day, in the formation and adoption of the federal constitution. As such, we cordially recommend this volume, more espe cially in these degenerate days, when the value of the Union is again meted out and weighed, too often, alas! by the forgetful sons of the very men who then labored and fought to establish it. It is well that they should sometimes look back to what their fathers thought and said on this subject, and learn wisdom from the bitterness of past experience, rather than from what so many seem willing to try, the results of new experiments.

10. The Papers of James Madison, published under the superintendence of HENRY D. GILPIN. Washington: 1840. Langtree and O'Sullivan. 3 vols. 8vo.

WE notice this important publication here, in connexion with the preceding, for the sole purpose of saying, that it has not been neglected. Constituting an essential portion of the materials of our history, in the period to which it belongs, it is entitled to particular attention and examination. Immediately upon its appearance, we took the necessary measures for this purpose, and we are now enabled to promise our readers a carefully prepared paper upon it, in the next number of our journal.

QUARTERLY LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

(Reprints of Foreign Books are marked with an asterisk.)

AGRICULTURE.

The Farmer's Companion; or, Essays on the Principles and Practice of American Husbandry. By the late Jesse Buel. Second edition. Boston: 1840. Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb. 12mo.

The American Swine Breeder; a Practical Treatise on the Selection, Rearing, and Fattening of Swine. By H. W. Elsworth. Boston: 1840. Weeks, Jordan, and Co. 12mo.

ANNUALS.

The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, for 1841. Edited by S. G. Goodrich. Boston: 1840. W. D. Ticknor. 12mo.

Friendship's Offering, for 1841. Edited by C. H. Waterman. Philadelphia: 1840. Marshall, Williams, and Butler. 12mo. The Rose of Sharon; a Religious Souvenir, for 1841. Edited by Miss Sarah C. Edgarton. Boston: 1840. A. Tompkins.

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.

Life of Washington. By Jared Sparks. Abridged by the Author. Boston: 1840. F. Andrews. 2 vols. 16mo.

The Life of Alexander Hamilton. By his son, J. C. Hamilton. New York: 1840. D. Appleton and Co. Vol. II. 8vo. pp. 562.

EDUCATION.

* Treatise on the Physical and Moral Management of Infancy. By Andrew Combe, M. D. Philadelphia: 1840. Carey and

Hart. 12mo.

Lectures to Young Men on the Cultivation of the Mind, the Formation of Character, and the Conduct of Life. By G. W. Burnap. Baltimore: 1840. J. Murphy. 12mo.

Hints for the Young, in relation to Body and Mind. Boston: 1840. G. W. Light. 18mo.

The Useful Arts, considered in connexion with the application of Science. With numerous engravings. By Jacob Bigelow, M. D. Boston: 1840. Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb. 12mo.

HISTORY, POLITICS, AND STATISTICS.

History of the Federal Government, from its commencement in 1789 down to the present time. By Alden Bradford, LL. D. Boston: 1840. S. G. Simpkins. Svo.

Historical Sketches of the Revolution and the Foreign and Civil Wars in the Island of St. Domingo. By Peter S. Chazotte. New York: 1840. W. Applegate.

American Historical Tracts. Vol. I. Washington: 1840. P. Force. Svo.

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. I.

The Papers of James Madison; being his Correspondence and Reports of Debates during the Congress of the Confederation, etc., etc.; now published from the original MSS. deposited in the department of state. Washington: 1840. Langtree and O'Sullivan. 3 vols. 8vo.

A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States; designed for the use of school libraries and general readers. By Joseph Story, LL. D. Boston: 1840. Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb.

12mo.

The Politician's Manual. Poughkeepsie: 1840. W. Wilson.

LAW.

A Digest of the Decisions of the Courts of Common Law and Admiralty in the United States. By Theron Metcalf and Jonathan C. Perkins. Vol. I. Boston: 1840. Hilliard, Gray, and Co. Svo. On International Copyright. In a Letter to the Hon. William C. Preston. By Francis C. Lieber. New York: 1840. Wiley and Putnam. 8vo. pp. 67.

Treatise on the Law of Easements. By C. J. Gale and S. D. Watley, with American Notes, by E. Hammond.

MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES.

An Elementary Treatise on Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. By Benjamin Peirce, A. M. Boston: 1840. James Munroe and Co. 12mo. pp. 428.

An Elementary Treatise on Geometry. From the French of J. B. Biot. For the use of Students in the Virginia Military Academy. By Francis H. Smith. New York and London. Wiley and

Putnam. 8vo.

* Views of the Architecture of the Heavens. By J. P. Nicholl, LL.D., F. R. S., E. From the last London edition, with Notes. New York: 1840, H. A. Chapin. 12mo.