of men will have ruined the most splendid undertaking and the fairest prospect ever open to any people. The hope of the world will be broken, the faith of men in themselves and in each other will be shaken, and the progress of mankind indefinitely delayed.

"Such must be our fate, unless we feel that our responsibilities are equal to our privileges, and that our only safety is in endeavoring, with constant effort, to fulfil them. Taking no low standard of duty, satisfied with no partial performance, no incomplete attainment, dazzled by no show of awkward success, deluded by no selfish plans, turned aside by no popular enthusiam, yielding to no fatigue or indifference, it is for each one of us to do his best, feeling that not only his own happiness, but that the fortunes of his country depend upon his deeds. The trust committed to the hands of the industrious and the prosperous classes here is the future of their country. It is further to provide against the evils which threaten it, by spreading and improving education; by laboring to throw open freely every opportunity for advantages that may be shared by all; by checking every injustice and every corruption; and, above all-including all-by endeavoring to carry into daily life and into common actions, the spirit of Christianity.

"If this be the spirit of our people, the liberty which we now enjoy will continue and increase; the republic will be the firmest as well as the best of governments. There will be no need of theories of social regeneration; for the principles of Christianity are the principles of social justice, of equality such as is possible before God, and of a true fraternity among men."-Pages 157, 158.

Such is the conclusion of a small volume, which contains much matter for solid, serious reflection, and which commends itself to the calm attention of all those who would make any efforts for the promotion of correct principles, of morals, and of governments among men. The influence which men and nations exert upon each other is reciprocal, and they are respectively responsible for the good or evil of that influence. Hence, it is important that great care should be manifested in the adoption of principles by which men and nations are to be governed in their intercourse with each other. We know of no political morality which is different from that morality which is exhibited by individuals, only

that the former is applicable to nations, and the latter to the members of communities. Nations are made up of individuals. If the individuals be virtuous,-if they shape their conduct by principles that are founded on true morality, then it will be true also of the nation, that those principles which prevail in common life, will be exhibited in that code of principles which govern the nation. If virtue and justice are the characteristics of the people, they will be shown to the world in the government; for one of the strongest proofs of the virtue and justice of a people, will be the observance of these in the affairs and dealings of the government. The criterion of a people is to be found in the characteristics and principles embodied in the government under which they live. Public opinion is always formed upon what is to be seen in the rulers and governors of a people, which is the best exponent of that public justice by which the world is governed. Let us not treat public opinion with contempt, for it is the most powerful agent which is now controlling the destinies of man ;-if it be erroneous, let us endeavor to correct it; but if it be right, all opposition to it will be fruitless. We must examine closely, form our conclusions deliberately upon mature reflection, and then act with promptness and decision. This is absolutely necessary in this day, when every theory and every proposition is examined with the acutest intelligence, and most probing scrutiny. Nothing is received upon trust-every thing must undergo the searching ordeal. In this stern conflict of opinions, Truth has nothing to fear; she may receive harsh wounds in the contest, but she will, in the end, prevail, and obtain a glorious victory.

ART. IX.-CRITICAL NOTICES.

Political Experience of the Ancients, in its bearing on Modern Times. By HUGH SEYMOUR TREMENHERE. London: John Murray, 1852. This is a valuable little volume, and should, by all means, be republished in America, if not done so already. It contains an excellent analysis of Aristotle's Treatise on Government, besides extracts from Polybius on the Roman Constitution, and also from Cicero's Treatise on a Republic or Commonwealth. The great value of the work is the correct and wholesome opinions which it expresses on political subjects. While the true principles of liberty are maintained, all tendency to excessive democracy and demagoguism is discountenanced in this book. It is very remarkable, after the lapse of so many ages, and of our boasted progress, how little political can be pointed out which escaped the attention of that most remarkable man, Aristotle. His ideas of political society, of franchise, of different forms of government, of progressive changes, of revolutions, of true liberty, of public happiness, national character and education, afford invaluable lessons to the present day. Mr. Tremenhere says, "he considered political society a greater and loftier thing than an individual, and prior even in the intention of nature; for nature (or the god of nature) intended not man's existence alone, but the perfecting of his moral and intellectual being, which is impossible except under the protection of political society. For that reason the law, and not individuals, shall be the ruling power. He who submits to law, submits to what has about it something of divine, but he who submits to the unlimited authority of man, submits to what may have all the passions of a wild beast." Aristotle proceeds, however, to show that a political system of absolute and universal equality is bad, and that most democratic revolutions, or revolutions in democracies, proceed from the exaggeration of the principle of equality. Equality allowed where there existed great differences of race and dissimilarity of character, he thought, would be unfavorable to tranquillity, and that no well ordered State could be formed out of such an agglomeration of discordant materials placed on an equal footing. That, therefore, citizenship was not a universal right, but a privilege conferred in a legal manner by the act of the State, on such as were thought fit to be allowed to participate in the governing power, either by themselves or their representatives; and the question always recurs,

how did the original possessor obtain it? Aristotle contends, throughout his whole work, that the question of admission was to be determined by the circumstances of each community; and that the right does not flow from any abstract rights in individuals, but from a just and enlightened sense of expediency in each particular case, having in view the safety of the State and the best interest of the community Aristotle warns us against demagogues, generally the cause of the ruin of democracies. They will flatter and mislead the multitude. They are always for giving them that power which they intend to exercise themselves. The most dangerous passion of a democracy is the passion for change; and Cicero used to bid his countrymen pray, not that the gods would add blessings upon their country, but that they would preserve those they already had.

Some short notice is also given by our author, of Macchiavelli, Bodin, Bellanden, Harrington, Sidney and Loch. He exposes some of Mr. Loch's fallacies, as, that a political society can only operate by the act of the majority, and that the whole body of the people were entitled to the possession of power, meaning all men, without regard to qualification or character. Algernon Sidney also recognizes the principle that all franchises are conferred by government on society as privileges, and not as rights. Aristotle, when he says that the law is an agreement or pledge between the citizens to do justice to each other, never dreampt of adopting Hobbes' theory of a social compact, which is contrary to the principles upon which he bases government, and the rights and duties under government. The necessities, safety and welfare of society are the grounds upon which he has placed the authority of government, and there they should rest, and on this necessity, and for its safety and welfare, the South intends to maintain her system, notwithstanding the theories of Mr. Richard Hildreth and his British co-laborers in the cause of that equality which they deny and refuse in their own case, but so lustily urge upon us. "The metaphysical theory of the natural equality of men," Mr. Hildreth may practice in New England, (see his Theory of Politics, 198, 205;) but we repel it at the South, though we should thereby draw down upon us, from that great New Englander, the ridiculous charges that we planters contemn and despise even agricultural industry, and that our institutions inculcate the well known Yankee propensities of plunder, and domineering insolence and cruelty of the ancients, without their taste, eloquence, or warlike renown. Let our men be compared with those of New England, in society; in the

camp; at the bar; in the halls of legislation, from the year 1776 to 1854, and we shall feel no cause to blush. Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Maxims of Washington. Collected and arranged by JOHN FREDERICK SCHROEDER. D. Appleton & Company, New York. This is a well digested compilation of the political, social, moral and religious apophthems of the purest man of his own or of any other age. It consists of extracts taken from the speeches, public papers and private letters of Washington, and embraces as wide, if not a more extended range of subject than any other work of the description ever before published. Several of the quotations contained in Mr. Schroeder's book are trite, but none the less estimable, because they are familiar, and many excellent passages are given with which the admirers of their great author have probably never met. Besides amply repaying an attentive perusal, this volume is well calculated to become a vade mecum in the hands of not only American citizens, but all who reverence the profound wisdom and rare virtues of the Father of his country--the apostle of Liberty throughout the world. The subjects have been carefully arranged by the collator, each under its appropriate heading, and the whole is prefixed by an excellent index, pointing immediately to the passage sought. Altogether, the book evinces great care in its preparation, and will be apt to satisfy a want long existing in the walks of sterling American literature.

Chemical Atlas, or The Chemistry of Familiar Objects. By EDWARD L. YOUMANS. New York, 1855: D. Appleton & Co.-Mr. Youmans has been, previously to the publication of his present work, familiarly known to the scientific world in connection with chemical researches. This book is an extension of the author's Chemical Chart which was published some years ago, and met with very great success. The "Atlas" now issued is extended to a larger variety of subjects, and is more systematic in its arrangements; but instead of superseding the former work, it is eminently calculated to become a companion to it. The "Atlas" contains a large number of colored illustrations, together with explanatory observations, simply, yet vigorously written. Teachers will find the " Atlas" an invaluable accessory in their course of instruction-one quite equal in its uses to a set of chemical apparatus. The typography of the volume is both elegant and appropriate.

Primary Geography. By S. S. CORNELL. New York, 1855: D. Appleton & Co.-This is the initiatory volume of a new series of Geog