Familiar Letters from Europe. By Cornelius Conway Felton, late President of Harvard University. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16m0. pp. 392. $1.50.

Life and Campaigns of George B. McClellan, Major-General U. S. Army. By G. S. Hillard. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 396. $1.50.

The Classification of the Sciences: To which are added Reasons for dissenting from the Philosophy of M. Comte. By Herbert Spencer, Author of "Illustrations of Universal Progress," etc. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. paper. pp. 48. 25 cts. The Trial: More Links of the Daisy Chain. By the Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." Two Volumes in One. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. paper. pp. 389. $1.75.

Fireside Travels. By James Russell Lowell. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. PP. 324. $1.75.

Memoir of Mrs. Caroline P. Keith, Missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church to China. Edited by her Brother, William C. Tenney. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. pp. x., 392. $2.00. The Haunted Tower. By Mrs. Henry Wood. Philadelphia. Brothers. 8vo. paper. pp. 150. 50 cts. Emily Chester. A Novel. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 12mo. pp. 367. $1.75.

T. B. Peterson &

Religion and Chemistry; or, Proofs of God's Plan in the Atmosphere and its Elements. Ten Lectures, delivered at the Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., on the Graham Foundation. By Josiah P. Cooke, Jr., Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Harvard University. New York. Charles Scribner. 8vo. pp. viii., 348. $3.50.

Poems of the War. By George H. Baker. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. vi., 202. $1.50.

Modern Philology: Its Discoveries, History, and Influence. By Benjamin W. Dwight. Second Series. New York. Charles Scribner. 8vo. pp. xviii., 554. $6.00.

The Ocean Waifs. A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea. By Captain Mayne Reid. With Illustrations. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 367. $1.50.

Philosophy as Absolute Science, founded in the Universal Laws of Being, and including Ontology, Theology, and Psychology, made One, as Spirit, Soul, and Body. By E. L. and A. L. Frothingham. Volume I. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 8vo. pp. xxxiv., 453. $3.50.

Life of Jean Paul Frederic Richter: Compiled from Various Sources. Preceded by his Autobiography. By Eliza Buckminster Lee. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. pp. xvi., 539. $2.00.

12mo.

The Winthrops. A Novel. New York. Carleton. 16mo. pp. 319. $1.75.

By

The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-1864: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: intended to exhibit especially its Moral and Political Phases, with the Drift and Progress of American Opinion respecting Human Slavery, from 1776 to the Close of the War for the Union. Horace Greeley. Illustrated by Portraits on Steel of Generals, Statesmen, and other Eminent Men; Views of Places of Historic Interest, Maps, Diagrams of Battle-Fields, Naval Actions, etc.: from Official Sources. Volume I. Hartford. A. D. Case & Co. 8vo. pp. 648. $3.00.

The Voice of Blood, in the Sphere of Nature and of the Spirit World. By Rev. Samuel Phillips, A. M. Philadelphia. Lindsay & Blakiston. 12mo. pp. xvi., 384.

The Suppressed Book about Slavery. Prepared for Publication in 1857, - never published until the Present Time. York. Carleton. 16mo. pp. 432. $2.00.

New

Nearer and Dearer. A Novelette. By Cuthbert Bede, B. A., Author of "Verdant Green." New York. Carleton. 16mo. pp. xi., 225. $1.50.

Annals of the English Stage, from Thom. as Betterton to Edmund Kean. By Dr. Doran, F. S. A., Author of "Table Traits," etc. New York. W. J. Widdleton. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 424, 422. $4.50.

A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention, for proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, held at Washington, D. C., in February, A. D. 1861. By L. E. Chittenden, One of the Delegates. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. pp. 626. $5.00.

ON

N the 8th of July, 1843, Washington Allston died. Twenty-one years have since gone by; and already his name has a fine flavor of the past added to its own proper aroma.

In twenty-one years Art has made large advances, but not in the direction of imagination. In that rare and precious quality the works of Allston remain preeminent as before.

It is now so long ago as 1827 that the first exhibition of pictures at the Boston Athenæum took place; and then and there did Allston first become known to his American public. Returned from Europe after a long absence, he had for some years been living a retired, even a recluse life, was personally known to a few friends, and by name only to the public. The exhibition of some of his pictures on this occasion made known his genius to his fellow-citizens; and who, having once felt the strange charm of that genius, but recalls with joyful interest the happy hour when he was first brought under its influence? I well remember, even at this distance in time, the mystic, charmed presence that hung about the Jeremiah dictating his Prophecy to Baruch the Scribe," "Beatrice,"

"The Flight of Florimel," "The Triumphal Song of Miriam on the Destruction of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea," and "The Valentine." I was then young, and had yet to learn that the quality that so attracted me in these pictures is, indeed, the rarest virtue in any work of Art,- that, although pictures without imagination are without savor, yet that the larger number of those that are painted are destitute of that grace, and that, when, in later years, I should visit the principal galleries of Europe, and see the masterpieces of each master, I still should return to the memory of Allston's works as to something most precious and unique in Art. I have also, since that time, come to believe, that, while every sensitive beholder must feel the charm of Allston's style, its intellectual ripeness can be fully appreciated only by the aid of a foreign culture.

Passing through Europe with this impression of Allston's genius, in the Venetians I first recognized his kindred; in Venice I found the school in which he had studied, and in which Nature had fitted him to study: for his eye for color was like his management of it, -Venetian. His treatment of heads

Familiar Letters from Europe. By Cornelius Conway Felton, late President of Harvard University. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 392. $1.50.

Life and Campaigns of George B. McClel lan, Major-General U. S. Army. By G. S. Hillard. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 12mo. pp. 396. $1.50.

The Classification of the Sciences: To which are added Reasons for dissenting from the Philosophy of M. Comte. By Herbert Spencer, Author of "Illustrations of Universal Progress," etc. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. paper. pp. 48. 25 cts.

The Trial: More Links of the Daisy Chain. By the Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." Two Volumes in One. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. paper. PP. 389. $1.75.

Fireside Travels. By James Russell Lowell. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. PP. 324 $1.75.

Memoir of Mrs. Caroline P. Keith, Mis sionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church to China. Edited by her Brother, William C. Tenney. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 16mo. pp. x., 392. $2.00. The Haunted Tower. By Mrs. Henry Wood. Philadelphia. T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 8vo. paper. pp. 150. 50 cts. Emily Chester. A Novel. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 12mo. pp. 367. $1.75.

Religion and Chemistry; or, Proofs of God's Plan in the Atmosphere and its Elements. Ten Lectures, delivered at the Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., on the Graham Foundation. By Josiah P. Cooke, Jr., Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Harvard University. New York. Charles Scribner. 8vo. pp. vii, 348. $3.50.

Poems of the War. By George H. Baker. Boston. Ticknor & Fields, 16mo, pp. vi., 202. $1.50

Modern Philology: Its Discoveries, His. tory, and Influence. By Benjamin W. Dwight. Second Series. New York. Charles Scribner. 8vo. pp. xviii, 554 $6.00.

The Ocean Waifs. A Story of Adven ture on Land and Sea. By Captain Mavne Reid. With Illustrations. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 367. $1.50.

Philosophy as Absolute Science, founded in the Universal Laws of Being, and includ ing Ontology, Theology, and Psychology, made One, as Spirit, Soul, and Body. By E. L. and A. L. Frothingham. Volume I. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 8vo. pp. xxxiv., 453. $3.50.

Life of Jean Paul Frederic Richter: Compiled from Various Sources. Preceded by his Autobiography. By Eliza Buckminster Lee. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. pp. xvi., 539. $2.00.

12mo.

The Winthrops. A Novel. New York. Carleton. 16m0. pp. 319. $1.75.

By

The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-1864: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: intended to exhibit especially its Moral and Political Phases, with the Drift and Progress of American Opinion respecting Human Slavery, from 1776 to the Close of the War for the Union. Horace Greeley. Illustrated by Portraits on Steel of Generals, Statesmen, and other Eminent Men; Views of Places of Historic Interest, Maps, Diagrams of Battle-Fields, Naval Actions, etc. : from Official Sources. Volume I. Hartford. A. D. Case & Co. 8vo. pp. 648. $3.00.

The Voice of Blood, in the Sphere of Nature and of the Spirit World. By Rev. Samuel Phillips, A. M. Philadelphia. Lindsay & Blakiston. 12mo. pp. xvi., 384.

The Suppressed Book about Slavery. Prepared for Publication in 1857, — never published until the Present Time. New York. Carleton. 16mo. pp. 432 $2.00.

Nearer and Dearer. A Novelette. By Cuthbert Bede, B. A., Author of "Verdant Green." New York. Carleton. 16ma. pp. xi., 225. $1.50.

Annals of the English Stage, from Themas Betterton to Edmund Kean. By Dr. Doran, F. S. A., Author of “Table Traits," etc. New York. W. J. Widdleton. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 424, 422. $4.50

A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention, for proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, heid at Washington, D. C., in February, A. D. 1861. By L. E. Chittenden, One of the Delegates. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo. pp. 626. $5.00.

ON

N the 8th of July, 1843, Washington Allston died. Twenty-one years have since gone by; and already his name has a fine flavor of the past added to its own proper aroma.

In twenty-one years Art has made large advances, but not in the direction of imagination. In that rare and precious quality the works of Allston remain preeminent as before.

It is now so long ago as 1827 that the first exhibition of pictures at the Boston Athenæum took place; and then and there did Allston first become known to his American public. Returned from Europe after a long absence, he had for some years been living a retired, even a recluse life, was personally known to a few friends, and by name only to the public. The exhibition of some of his pictures on this occasion made known his genius to his fellow-citizens; and who, having once felt the strange charm of that genius, but recalls with joyful interest the happy hour when he was first brought under its influence? I well remember, even at this distance in time, the mystic, charmed presence that hung about the "Jeremiah dictating his Prophecy to Baruch the Scribe," Beatrice,"

66

"The Flight of Florimel," "The Triumphal Song of Miriam on the Destruction of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea," and "The Valentine." I was then young, and had yet to learn that the quality that so attracted me in these pictures is, indeed, the rarest virtue in any work of Art,— that, although pictures without imagination are without savor, yet that the larger number of those that are painted are destitute of that grace, — and that, when, in later years, I should visit the principal galleries of Europe, and see the masterpieces of each master, I still should return to the memory of Allston's works as to something most precious and unique in Art. I have also, since that time, come to believe, that, while every sensitive beholder must feel the charm of Allston's style, its intellectual ripeness can be fully appreciated only by the aid of a foreign culture.

Passing through Europe with this impression of Allston's genius, in the Venetians I first recognized his kindred; in Venice I found the school in which he had studied, and in which Nature had fitted him to study: for his eye for color was like his management of it, - Venetian. His treatment of heads

has a round, ripe, sweet fulness which reminds one of the heads in the "Paradiso" of Tintoretto, — that work which deserves a place in the foremost rank of the world's masterpieces. The great praise implied in this comparison is justly due to Allston. The texture and handling of his work are inimitable. Without any appearance of labor, all crudeness is absorbed; the outlines of objects are not so much softened as emptied of their color and substance, so that the light appears to pass them. The finishing is so judicious that the spectator believes he could see more on approaching nearer. The eye searches the shade, and sees and defines the objects at first concealed by it. The eye is not satiated, but by the most artful means excited to greater appetite. The ⚫ coloring is not so much harmonious as harmony itself, out of which melodies of color play through the picture in a way that is found in no other master but Paul Veronese. As Allston himself expressed it, he liked to echo his colors; and as an echo is best heard where all else is silence, so the pure repose of these compositions gives extraordinary value to such delicate repetitions of color. The effect is, one might say, more musical than pictorial. This peculiar and musical effect is most noticeable in the landscapes. They are like odes, anthems, and symphonies. They run up the scale, beginning with the low-toned "Moonlight," through the great twilight piece called "After Sunset," the "Forest Scene," where it seems always afternoon, the gray "Mountain Landscape," a world composed of stern materials, the cool "Sunrise on the Mediterranean." up to the broad, pure, Elysian daylight of the "Italian Landscape," with atmosphere full of music, color, and perfume, cooled and shaded by the breezy pines, open far away to the sea, and the sky peopled with opalescent clouds, trooping wide on their celestial errands.

Of this last landscape the poetic merit is as great as the artistic excellence is unrivalled. Whoever has made pictures and handled colors knows well

that a subject pitched on a high key of light is vastly more difficult to manage than one of which the highest light is not above the middle tint. To keep on that high key which belongs to broad daylight, and yet preserve harmony, repose, and atmosphere, is in the highest degree difficult; but here it is successfully done, and again reminds us of the Paul Veronese treatment. Though a quiet picture, it is full of brilliancy. It represents a broad and partly shaded expanse, full, also, of light and sweet sunshine, through which the eye travels till it rests on the distant mountain, rising majestically in grand volcanic forms from the horizon plains. The sky is filled with cloudy veils, floating, prismatic; some quiet water, crossed by a bridge which rests on round arches, is in the middle distance; and a few trees near the foreground form the group from which rises the stone-pine, which is the principal feature in the picture, and gives it its character. As I write this, I fear that any reader who has not seen the picture to which I refer will immediately think of Turner's Italian landscapes, so familiar to all the world through engravings, where a stone-pine is lifted against the sky as a mass of dark to contrast with the mass of light necessarily in the same region of the picture. But such effects, however legitimate and powerful in the hands of Turner, were not in Allston's manner; they would ruin and break the still harmony which was the law of his mind and of his compositions. Under this tree, on the path, fall flickering spots of sunshine, in which sit or stand two or three figures. The scarlet and white of their dresses, catching the sunshine, make the few high notes that cause the whole piece to throb like music.

There is also a large Swiss landscape, possessing in an extraordinary degree the pure, keen atmosphere, as well as the grand mountain forms, of the Alpine spaces. To look on this piece exhilarates as does the sight of the Alps themselves; and it strikes the