clumsy piece of workmanship, or may spoil it entirely; and there will be the end of it; nobody needs buy or use it. But when the children of a school are subjected to his tutoring, and the mischief he inflicts, from his ignorance and inaptitude, is on the mind, the evil is irreparable. Such workers of ruin should be avoided, and turned over to pursuits in which at least they can do no harm. Legislative aid in favor of education is wanted in nothing so much at present, as in providing some means for creating a better supply of teachers in the common schools.

In speaking of the general advantages of an enlightened education, President Lindsley has the following just remarks on its influence politically considered, and as aiding the cause of freedom and good government.

'Now there can be no better or stronger evidence in favor of the general beneficial tendency of learning, however obtained, than the fact, that, whenever, in ancient or modern times, endeavors have been made to procure liberty to a people, and wherever it has been acquired, those endeavors were made, and that acquisition secured, by men of superior knowledge. Such is the language of history from Moses to Bolivar. And among the most enlightened philanthropists on the continent of Europe at this moment, the grand cause of their discouragement and despair in regard to liberty, is, that the people are too ignorant to be entrusted with liberty; and hence they feel constrained to remain inactive. They fain would give instruction to the people, in order to prepare and qualify them for free and liberal institutions, would their masters permit them.

'When our fathers commenced their almost hopeless controversy with the mother country; who were the kindred spirits attracted to our shores and to our aid by the native charms and legitimate claims of liberty? Not the degraded serf or feudal slavenot the illiterate farmer or mechanic-but such men as might have adorned the proudest court in Christendom-men of whom their own country was unworthy-men who understood the full import of the glorious cause to which they were ready to sacrifice titles, and honors, and fortune, and life;-they were Pulaski, Steuben, De Kalb, Kosciusko, La Fayette.

'And who, allow me to ask my republican auditors, or, if they please, to remind them of what, purchance, they may have forgotten-who were the prompters, the mainsprings, the leaders of our memorable Revolution? The answer to the question is upon every schoolboy's tongue. He will recount a catalogue of patriots who, for profound knowledge and practical wisdom, were never surpassed in any age or country. Such were the friends of our own liberties, at a time too, when they were not only stigma

tized as rebels, but were in hourly danger of being hanged as rebels. They were the master spirits who aroused the people to resistance. They were honest men, and they united in promoting the permanent welfare of their country. Happily, the people, having been generally educated at common schools, were sufficiently informed to comprehend their rights, when those rights were ably explained to them, and wise enough to be guided by their superiors in wisdom. But had the intelligent, the learned colonists of those days combined with the English aristocracy in maintaining the ancient government in all its plans of oppression, the people would never have thought of a Revolution. Had they been enlisted on the side of the British ministry, we had this day been the loyal subjects of his majesty, George the Fourth.

pp. 14, 15.

The account of Cumberland College contained in this Address, and of the improvements proposed, exhibits that institution under a very encouraging aspect. The effects of the energy and zeal of the President appear in these, as well as of the liberal and active cooperation of the trustees. The author states, that

The trustees of Cumberland College have purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land to meet the various purposes of their contemplated university. It is proposed immediately to commence the erection of a series of buildings for the accommodation of students, instructers, and stewards; consisting of five additional colleges, each sufficiently commodious for a hundred students and three assistant professors or tutors, and of seven houses for as many principal or head professors. We shall then have six colleges, and twentyfive instructers, and accommodations for six hundred pupils. To each college will be attached a refectory or boarding house, with eight or ten acres of land for gardening and exercise. The colleges will be erected at such distances from each other as to prevent the usual evils resulting from the congregation of large numbers of youth at the same place. Professors will occupy houses on the intervening lots; and there will be at least three officers resident within the walls of each college. We shall thus have six distinct and separate families, so far as regards domestic economy, internal police, and social order; while one Senatus Academicus will superintend and control the whole.

• Gardens and mechanics' shops will be interspersed among the various edifices, in such manner as to be easily accessible to all the youth for improvement and recreation. Whenever the present ground shall be thus occupied, it will be necessary to procure fifty or a hundred acres more, for a model or experimental farm; that

agriculture, the noblest of sciences and the most important of the useful arts, may be thoroughly studied and practised. At a future period, or as soon as the means can be obtained, other suitable edifices, both useful and ornamental, may be erected. The plan admits of indefinite extension; and in proportion to its enlargement, its advantages will be increased, while the expense of its maintenance will be diminished.

In order to execute our present design, only about $200,000 will be required.' pp. 25, 26.

The average number of students in the regular classes of Cumberland College, during the past year has been between seventy and eighty. These classes are so divided and subdivided, for the purpose of study and recitation, that every individual is enabled and constrained to advance according to his actual ability. Such a variety in their studies and pursuits is provided, as to promote cheerful exertion, without distracting or confusing the mind. There are only two vacations in the year-consisting of five and a half weeks each-the one commencing on the first Wednesday in April, and the other on the first Wednesday in October. There are no intermediate holidays; and no vacation is allowed to the senior class, previously to graduation, as is customary in other colleges. As there are no honors or prizes to animate a few to extraordinary efforts, and to discourage the majority altogether, so the whole are very desirous to avail themselves of every privilege up to the last moment of their collegiate life; and they find no difficulty in preparing appropriate exercises for the public Commencement.

In the Preparatory Grammar School, attached to the college, there are, at this time, about ninety pupils.' p. 36.

Let the generous enthusiasm of President Lindsley, on the subject of education, prevail generally in Tennessee, and let the community second his ardent efforts, and the time will soon come, when nothing will be left to desire in the modes and means of teaching in that State.

6.-1. History of the United States, from their first Settlement as Colonies to the Cession of Florida, in the year 1821. By WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. Revised edition, stereotyped. 12mo. pp. 307. Philadelphia. John Grigg.

2. History of England, from the first Invasion of Julius Cæsar, to the Accession of George the Fourth, in the year 1820. By WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. Stereotyped Edition. 12mo. pp. 292. Philadelphia. John Grigg.

3. The Grecian History, from the earliest State to the Death of Alexander the Great, by Dr Goldsmith; Revised and Corrected, and a Vocabulary of Proper Names appended. By WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. 12mo. pp. 322. Philadelphia. 4. An Etymological Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, containing the Radicals and Definitions of Words derived from the Greek, Latin, and French Languages; and all the Technical and Polite Phrases adopted from the French and Latin. By WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. Second Edition. 12mo. Philadelphia.

TILL very lately our schools have been poorly supplied with suitable books of history, particularly the history of our own country. This important branch of study has been neglected to a degree hardly to be accounted for, not only in our subordinate schools, but in the academies and colleges. There are few things of which the American youth are more ignorant, than the history of this country. Nine times in ten they can tell you more about the fabulous ages of antiquity, the first settlements of Greece and Rome, and the heroic exploits of Greek and Roman warriors, than they can of what was done two hundred years ago to colonize the new world, or of the events attending the progress of these northern colonies, or of the great deeds by which our independence was established. We ascribe this apathy and ignorance in a good degree to the want of books suited to early instruction. This defect is beginning to be remedied by various works of this kind. Within a few years several histories of America, and histories of the United States, have appeared, purporting to be designed for schools; and a future generation may be expected to be wiser and more learned in these matters than we of the present day.

Among the elementary books of American history, we do not remember to have seen any one more deserving approbation than Mr Grimshaw's History of the United States,' embracing the period from the first settlement of the colonies, to the year 1821. It is a small volume, and a great deal of matter is brought into a VOL. XXIV.NO. 54.

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narrow space; but the author has succeeded so well in the construction of his periods, and the arrangement of his materials, that perspicuity is rarely sacrificed to brevity. The chain of narrative is skilfully preserved, and the author's reflections are frequently such, as make the facts more impressive, and lead the youthful mind to observe causes and consequences, which might otherwise have been overlooked. As a school book it may justly be recommended.

What has been said of this volume will apply generally to the two other historical works, whose titles we have copied. They are each nearly of the same size as the one just noticed, and designed for the same object, that is, the use of classes in schools. The History of England' is an original composition, but the 'Grecian History' is an abridgment from Dr Goldsmith. All these books are accompanied with very full and well digested tables of questions for the benefit of pupils, and also with keys to the same for the convenience of teachers.

6

The Etymological Dictionary' is a small volume, of which the title gives a very good account. Like the other books it is intended for schools and young persons. Etmology is a study of great utility in forming a knowledge of the structure and use of language; and Mr Grimshaw has so arranged this work, by selecting the roots of words and attaching to these the etymology and definitions, as to exhibit the subject in a condensed view, and at the same time afford every desirable facility for easy acquisition.

7.-1. Atlantis. Journal des Neuesten und Wissenswürdigsten aus dem Gebiete der Politik, Geschichte, Geographie, Statistik, Culturgeschichte und Literatur der nord und südamerikanischen Reiche, mit Einschluss des westindischen Archipelagus.-Herausgegeben von EDUARD FLORENS RIVINUS, in Philadelphia. Leipzig, 1826. J. C. Hinrichssche Buchhandlung. Nos. I. & II. pp. 208 & 192.

Atlantis. Journal of the latest and most interesting Facts relating to the Politics, History, Geography, Statistics, General Improvement, and Literature of North and South America, including the West Indies. Edited by EDWARD FLORENS RIVINUS, Philadelphia. Published by J. C. Heinrich. Leipzig. 1826.

2. La Revue Américaine; Journal Mensuel. 8vo. pp. 159. No. I. Paris.

WE are very glad, on several accounts, to see the establishment of works of this kind, which appear, as far as we have yet had