DOUBLING CAPE HORN.

OUR Magazine was launched in troubled waters. Head winds and under-currents were both against us. We had to encounter not only an intense rivalry, but a very expensive opposition from establishments of long standing. All questions and anxieties growing out of such a state of things are now considered as definitely settled. The good ship SARTAIN has doubled the cape of storms, and is sailing gaily forward on the tranquil bosom of the Pacific, all her canvass set, and making towards the golden Eldorado of the West. Heaven send her happy breezes in the shape of twenty thousand new subscribers, wherewith to cross the equinoctial line of all Magazine craft,-THE

NEW YEAR!

GOOD THINGS IN STORE.

READERS who wish to form some idea of the good things in store for the next year, are requested to read Sartain's programme for 1851, in the advertising sheet. Such a bill of fare has probably never before been presented for the trifling sum of three dollars.

MR. BOKER'S NEW PLAY.

WE had intended to give here some remarks upon this subject, but find ourselves very happily anticipated by our respected contributor, Mr. Tuckerman, in his article on Dramatic Literature, pp. 329-331. It is only necessary to add, that in that article Mr. Tuckerman draws all his inferences, as to the essentially dramatic character of Mr. Boker's genius, from his "Calaynos," and his "Anne Boleyn," the only plays of his then before the public. The article was written several months since. Mr. Boker has, in the mean time, produced a new play, which, though unsustained by anything but the ordinary stock company of the Walnut Street Theatre, had a steady run of ten nights, with well-filled houses; and then was only withdrawn temporarily on account of other engagements. Such success, under such circumstances, is a most agreeable and early fulfilment of the auguries of his friendly and appreciating critic. We notice a similar

a phenomenon of no ordinary occurrence or significance. It surpasses all that has been written, almost all that has been fabled, of the power of art. What a reply is it to those who would have us believe in the degeneracy of modern art, or in the modern appreciation of art? What a rebuke to those shallow thinkers, who teach that aristocratic and kingly governments alone furnish adequate stimulus to the efforts of genius? Where, but in the American Democracy, could even Jenny Lind have achieved a triumph like that of Castle Garden, on the first night of her appearance?

Of her performances in Philadelphia, so much has been said by the daily and weekly press, that little need be added. She has given thus far three concerts in this city. At each of these, every seat was occupied at prices averaging six to seven dollars. The press for tickets, and the average price, at the second concert, were greater than at the first, and at the third were greater still. The proceeds of her three concerts here could not have been less than thirty thousand dollars.

What renders the results of her singing the more remarkable, is that it is not of that simple, pathetic kind which is generally supposed to be best adapted to popular effect. On the contrary, her chief performances are in the highest degree elaborate and scientific; they have the exactness, and they are executed with the cool precision, of mathematical demonstrations; her voice comes, not from the chest, which alone produces deep emotion, either in speaking or singing, but from the top of the throat, with the exception perhaps of the laugh in the echo song. Hence the peculiar birdlike quality of her singing. The effect of her performance is to fill the hearer with admiration indeed and delight, almost beyond the power of expression, but not to stir up his profounder sensibilities. She was very plaintive and very faultless in the sacred oratorios, and in the tragic parts, but it was not till she began the blithe Herdsman's Song, or the merry, mischievous Invitation to Dance, or some of those other gladsome and joy-inspiring themes, that her triumph commenced. Then it was that her lightest whisper seemed to sway, as by magic, all that vast assembly, not only those within the house, but the listening thousands in the streets, whose deathlike silence was by far the most But even in these striking attestation to her power.

Review, in an article of uncommon ability on "Anne Boleyn." It is perhaps no breach of confidence to say that Mr. Boker already has a fourth play far advanced towards completion. It is to be called "All the World a Mask."

JENNY LIND.

THE great event of the month, so far as Philadelphia is concerned, perhaps the remark needs not even this limitation-has been the arrival, and the unrivalled performances of JENNY LIND. We are not given to ecstasy. But on the present occasion, we must confess to having a touch of the prevailing frenzy. Indeed, our first impulse was to order of the printer an entire new font of dashes and exclamation points, in despair of finding words sufficiently expressive of our admiration!

To speak seriously. That a delicate, fragile young woman, apparently not over five-and-twenty, should be able, by the mere power of her voice, to produce a popular agitation, such as that which has been witnessed along the whole Atlantic border during the last month, is certainly

it seemed, she never deviated a hair's breadth from her appointed path. There was still the same unerring exaetitude in the performance, as in the sublimest strains of the "Casta Diva," or the "Stabat Mater."

KAM POU.

THE Curious Chinese song or ballad, under this title, which we have given on page 368, is certainly very unique. The artist, in his illustrations, no less than the poet in his versification, has caught the very spirit of the monosyllabic Celestials-as any one may know who has ever seen a tea-caddy, or taken his tea and toast from real china. Mr. Stoddard has favoured us with the following note explanatory of the poem.

"This little ballad is a great favourite in the rural districts of China. The subject forms the plot of one of the immortal novels of Skto,-The heart-reader of the beautiful Celestial Empire.' The subject is in itself essentially dramatic, with its shifting of scenes and appearance of new persons on the stage. The first four stanzas are

sung at the lattice of Eénai, looking out over the barleyfield: the fifth at the garden gate, where she beckons Kam Pou from his work; she calls Pou Tsi, at the seventh stanza, to let her brother in when he comes; the eighth and ninth are finished at the gate; Pou Tsi is sent back for her veil (purposely forgotten); the tenth is sung, and the kissing takes place, behind a tall hedge of honeysuckles. There is a good deal of human (or woman) nature in this little ballad, which is wonderfully marred by the most literal translation it is possible to give it. Chinese poetry seems to be entirely destitute of rhyme; a very careful ear might perhaps detect something like it in one or two ballads, but from my ignorance of its detestable pronunciation,-which is said to vary in different parts of the Empire,-I must confess I see none. Kam Pou replies to the fair Eénai in a little song, which I may translate hereafter."-Extract of a letter from a friend, many years a resident in Canton.

ARTHUR'S HOME GAZETTE.-We had the pleasure two months since of announcing this new weekly. Since that time the paper has made its appearance, and the eighth number is now lying upon our table. It fully sustains the expectations raised by the announcement.

SOMETHING NEW.-Thomas Orr, No. 47 Chestnut Street, has invented a style of paper box, which he calls a Pamphlet Case, for the preservation of magazines, or other pamphlets, that is at once exceedingly simple, cheap, neat, and useful. It is a pretty but plain pasteboard case of the size of Sartain's Magazine, about two inches thick, and entirely open at one end. Cases thus filled with pamphlets may be put upon the shelves of a library, where they have the appearance and most of the advantages of bound volumes, at a very trifling expense.

BLOOD'S DESPATCH.-Among the most obvious signs of modern civilization are the Omnibus and the Despatch Post. They are silently effecting important changes upon the social fabric of which few are fully aware. Blood's Despatch in this city is justly celebrated for the regularity and precision of its operations.

A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF MUSIC.-Septimus Winner, composer and publisher of music, 257 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, has sent us a beautiful piece of his own composition, entitled "Village Polka Quadrilles," composed and arranged for the piano-forte. Price 38 cents.

BOOK NOTICES.

SONGS OF LABOUR AND OTHER POEMS. By John G. Whittier. Ticknor, Reed & Fields. Of the "other poems" which compose this volume, we shall express no general opinion. They are, indeed, of very unequal merit; some very good, and some good-for filling up a volume. But the "Songs of Labour" are among the finest things Whittier has ever published. They are six in number, "The Ship-builders," "The Shoemakers," "The Drovers," "The Fishermen," "The Huskers," "The Lumbermen." Each of these is a gem. There is also a Prefatory Dedicationnot quite equal to the "Proem" which prefaced the larger collection of his poems published two years since,-but a beautiful poem, worthy of the author, and worthy of its place before the "Songs of Labour." The Proem to the former collection commenced with these exquisite stanzas:

"I love the old melodious lays Which softly melt the ages through, The songs of Spenser's golden days, Arcadian Sidney's silvery phrase, Sprinkling our noon of time with freshest morning dew. "Yet vainly in my quiet hours

To breathe their marvellous notes I try;
I feel them, as the leaves and flowers
In silence feel the dewy showers,

And drink with glad, still lips the blessing of the sky."

Spenser wrote nothing better than that. The "Dedication" in the present volume is in the same stanza, but contains nothing quite equal to the foregoing. The following stanzas, however, deserve to be printed in the same page. In them the author accounts for the prevailing sobriety of the present poems, and apologises for the absence of that gay and lively fancy which was to be found in his earlier writings. Was there ever a more beautiful image of the Autumn of life?

"Few leaves of Fancy's spring remain:

But what I have I give to thee,

The o'er-sunned bloom of summer's plain,
And paler flowers, the latter rain

Calls from the westering slope of life's autumnal lea.

"Above the fallen groves of green,

Where youth's enchanted forest stood,

The dry and wasting roots between,

A sober after-growth is seen,

ing brain."

and attractive rather than a forcible style, have met with much favour, and have won her many friends, at whoso solicitation the present volume has been prepared. One of the prettiest poems in the book is the touching dedication to her mother, which forms the introduction.

THE CABINET OF ART. E. H. Butler & Co. There seems to be no end to the beautiful things which this enterprising house has offered to the public. The present giftbook is rich beyond parallel in engravings, being ornamented with twenty-five of Sartain's softest mezzotints, illustrated by appropriate articles in prose and verse. The volume is a stout octavo, rather smaller than the Leaflets, and what with Altemus's rich Turkey-morocco outside, and Sherman's splendid typography inside, it makes an appeal to one's purse that is altogether irresistible.

THE AMERICAN FEMALE POETS. By Caroline May. Lindsay & Blakiston. The second edition of this work affords us the pleasant opportunity of renewing the commenda

Sons which we bestowed upon it at the time of its first appearance, and of again directing the attention of the readers of Sartain to a work of so much merit by one of its favourite contributors. The readers of Miss May's poetry will not err in inferring that one who can herself write so well, will be a good judge of the writings of others. Our friend has brought to the task a cultivated taste, a warm yet discriminative appreciation of beauty, lively sympathy with her sex, zeal, industry, habits of order. The result has been a judicious selection of passages from seventy-nine of the female poets of America. with valuable biographical and critical notices, making in all an octavo volume of five hundred and sixty pages, which the publishers have embellished with two of Sartain's fine mezzotints (one, the frontispiece, being a portrait of the late Mrs. Osgood), and ten other line engravings by various artists.

THE BRITISH FEMALE POETS. By George W. Bethune. Lindsay & Blakiston. While there are before the American public three rival collections of our own female poets, we have but one collection of the female poets of the British empire. Dr. Bethune, in the preparation of this, has done the work so well, that there is no immediate probability of a competitor. His work is an elegant octavo volume, of four hundred and ninety pages, put up in fancy binding, and embellished with twelve engravings by Sartain, Armytage, Finden, and other artists of equal celebrity. The principles on which the selections have been made are such as commend themselves to the good sense of the reader. The editor has aimed first of all to give fair examples of each writer's peculiar characteristics, and, where the rule could be followed without too great loss, to give examples comparatively new to the public, in the place of those which have become hackneyed. He has also, in his selection, made the bulk of his book from those writers of the greatest excellence, giving only enough of the earlier and less distinguished to preserve a general outline of the course of poetical talent among the women of Great Britain. His work is intended therefore to be a treasury of well-nigh all the best pieces from the pens of the British female poets. It contains the brightest gems of thought from Mrs. Barbauld, Hannah More, Joannie Baillie, Mrs. Hemans, Elizabeth Landon, Charlotte Elizabeth, Amelia Opie, Mary Howitt, Elizabeth Barrett, &c. The Doctor's prefaces are full of valuable information and discriminating criticism.

THE BROKEN BRACELET AND OTHER POEMS. By Mrs. C H. W. Esling (formerly Miss Waterman). Lindsay & Blakiston. This interesting volume, which we had the pleasure of announcing some months since, has at length made its appearance just in time to claim a hearing among the other candidates for Christmas honours. Mrs. Esling, though not writing much at present, appeared frequently a few years since among the contributors to the magazines and other periodicals. Her poems, being VOL. VII. 25

LONZ POWERS; or, The Regulators. A Romance of Kentucky. By James Weir, Esq. 2 vols., 12mo. Lippincott, Grambo & Co. We have long been of the opinion that our writers of romance should take their materials mainly from the history of our own country. Instead of going over the old ground trod by other writers for twenty generations, let them take life and human passion as they have manifested themselves in this western world-fresh, vigorous, and heart-stirring. Such has been the plan of Mr. Weir. He has made a bold dash at Kentucky life, as it was at that interesting transition period when the border contests of Indians and squatters had just ceased, but the settled ordinances of civil life had not yet been fully established; when, among those disappearing "forests primeval," was scattered a rude, unlettered, but hardy race of pioneers, interspersed with organized bands of desperadoes of the very worst description. Mr. Weir, we presume, is a native Kentuckian. At all events, he appears to be familiar with all the local traditions of the state, and he has made a book of much value, as well for its historical reminiscences as its exciting scenes of adventure. He writes in a bold, dashing style, suited to his subject.

THE CLOSING SCENE. By the Rev. Erskine Neale. Philadelphia: R. E. Peterson. 370 pp. 12mo. Infidelity and Christianity are here contrasted in their fruits by graphic sketches of the dying moments of persons eminent either as Christians or Infidels, whose death-bed scenes have been particularly recorded. The persons whose "closing scenes" are recorded, are Thomas Paine, John Locke, Frederick the Great, Bishop Barrington, Lord Bolingbroke, Blanco White, Charlotte Elizabeth, Madame De Stael, Volney, Dr. James Hope, Beau Brummell, Sarah Martin, Mrs. Hemans, Theodore Hook, David Hume, Hutton of Birmingham, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jeremy Bentham, Rev. Robert Anderson.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. We are indebted to the Philadelphia agent, J. R. Pollock, 205 Chestnut Street, for the last-the October-number of this sterling periodical. Among the articles, nine in number, we notice an extended review of the learned work on Slavic Literature, by Talvi (Mrs. Robinson), a summary of the present state of the Homeric question, a criticism of Mr. Furness's History of Jesus, &c., &c.

SOUTHERN QUARTERLY REVIEW. We always take up this periodical with pleasure, sure of finding in it something to please and instruct. The present number, September, has a most agreeable variety of literary, political, and professional reading. Among the literary reviews, is an elaborate and exceedingly well-written critique of twenty pages, upon Mr. Boker's Anne Boleyn. It is a sequel to an article of still greater length in a previous number of the Review, on Mr. Boker's Calaynos. Both articles are understood to be from the pen of James Lynd, Esq., a gentleman of the Philadelphia bar, who, like Sergeant Talfourd of London, does not allow the rigour of professional duties to withdraw him entirely from an earlier love. The review of Anne Boleyn is one of the finest specimens of appreciating criticism that we have read for a long time.

HAW-HO-Noo, or Records of a Tourist. By Charles Lanman. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. Mr. Lanman informs us that his strange title, "Haw-Ho-Noo," is an Indian phrase, meaning "the country upheld on the back of a turtle," that it was the name originally applied to this country by the Iroquois Indians, and that his reason for using it as a title to the present volume, is that he has here occupied himself to some extent with the traditionary lore of the country. The book is very miscellaneous in its topics, as its secondary and more significant

GALLERY OF ILLUSTRIOUS AMERICANS. Number Nine of this splendid series of portraits has been received. It contains an admirable likeness of General Scott, engraved by D'Avignon, after a daguerreotype by Brady, with a biographical memoir by C. Edwards Lester, in that style of expressive brevity in which he so much excels. The work is for sale by Getz & Buck, who are the Philadelphia agents.

THE ORPHAN CHILDREN. By T. S. Arthur. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson; 25 cents, paper covers. A tale of cruelty and oppression, almost too harrowing in its pictures to be commended for general reading; and yet, we fear, so true to the sad realities of life in our midst, that it ought to be read even at some expense of the pleasurable emotions. And, besides, as a juvenile critic at our elbow says, it comes out right in the end, as Mr. Arthur's stories always do, and the young sufferers are all made happy.

ADELAIDE LINDSAY. Harpers. 25 cts. paper covers. This is one of the excellent Library of Select Novels published by the Harpers. It is by the author of "Lettice Arnold," which is recommendation enough to all who have read that beautiful tale. For sale by Zieber.

SHAKESPEARE'S DRAMATIC WORKS. The Boston edition of Shakespeare, Phillips & Sampson, has reached Part XXV.; containing Richard III., and an engraving of Lady Anne. For sale by Peterson.

LOSSING'S PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Number VII. has been received from the publishers, the Harpers. It is occupied chiefly with the localities of the melancholy Wyoming Massacre. The artistic execution of this work deserves the highest commendation. For sale by Zieber.

BYRNE'S DICTIONARY OF MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING. Numbers XVII., XVIII., and XIX. of this work have been received from the Appletons.

EULOGY UPON GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. By Oliver P. Baldwin, Esq., senior editor of the Richmond Republican.

JACK HINTON. By Charles Lever. T. B. Peterson. A

The engraving issued this year by the Philadelphia ArtUnion, of which an impression is given to each member for every share subscribed, has been ready for some time, and is of the utmost beauty of execution, in a mixed manner of line, stipple, and mezzotinto. It is engraved on steel by Mr. Ritchie of New York, who has bestowed much time and pains on the work, and the result is greatly to his credit as an artist. The subject is Huntingdon's celebrated picture of "Mercy's Dream," which forms part of the The plan collection of the late Edward Carey, Esq. adopted for the distribution of the funds among the members, in such sums as shall accomplish the end in view, viz., the encouragement of the arts of design, and the diffusion of a taste in art, is different in the American Art-Union (of New York) and in that of Philadelphia. The managers of the former purchase from artists and others such works from time to time as they deem of sufficient merit, and at the close of the year distribute these works by lot among their members. The method of the Philadelphia institution is in our opinion better calculated to promote the object, and is as follows. After defraying the necessary expenses of the association, including the cost of the engraving, the funds are "made the basis of certain certificates, of various amount and value, which are annually distributed by lot, among the subscribers, in the manner prescribed by the by-laws; and these certificates are available for the purchase of paintings, drawings, and other works of art, from American artists, but for no other purpose. They are redeemed by the association, only on the endorsement of the artist or artists, from whom the purchases are made."

Many advantages result from this mode of proceeding unattainable in any other. The prize-holder obtains just the kind of picture he wants, and by the artist he prefers, it being no longer left to chance. The money goes directly into the pocket of the artist who painted the work, and not into that of the dealer. The patronage is removed from a board of managers, who are apt to bestow it inju diciously or with partiality, and the purchaser and artist

cents.

AN ADDRESS BY M. R. H. GARNETT, before the Alumni Society of the University of Virginia, is an eloquent appeal to Virginians to sustain their own literary institutions.

ART NOTICES.

THE ART-UNIONS.-The near approach of the new year admonishes us that with the close of the present one the two Art-Unions located in our Atlantic cities will make their distribution of prizes among their respective members. In reminding such of our readers as have purposed subscribing to either of these institutions, and as yet have neglected to do so, we think a real service is rendered, for in addition to the certain receipt of an engraving, worth at least the cost of membership, there exists a probability

of both. Much money is also saved for additional purchases in art, by rendering unnecessary the transportation of pictures from one part of this extensive country to the other: first from the artist, (who perhaps resides in the far West,) to the Art-Union gallery, and then again from the gallery to the member that draws it as his prize, (and who probably lives in the extreme South,) and who in all likelihood cares not a button for it when it arrives, because the subject is uncongenial to his taste. These are only a few of the more obvious advantages of the plan adopted by the Philadelphia institution. ArtUnions are admirably adapted to the purposes of their establishment, and have become universally popular. They are the means of raising large amounts of money at small cost to each individual subscriber, (the payment of five dollars constituting membership,) which is all returned again to those who contributed it, (after deducting expenses,) in the shape of some beautiful production of art. It has in the mean time answered "the purpose of extending throughout the American community, that attachment to the fine arts which is distinctive of national refinement and civilization, and by this means encouraged the labours of American artists, by creating an increased amount of patronage for the benefit of the painters and sculptors of the United States-heretofore dependent wholly upon individual support."

"The promoters of this undertaking are convinced that the fine arts in this country can never attain an elevation commensurate with our rapid advancement in all other departments of civilization, until liberal encouragement is bestowed upon the higher efforts of the pencil and the chisel."

Subscriptions to the Art-Union should be sent to the Actuary, Art-Union Gallery, 210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. J. S.