We here speak

be deceived by this contrast of Old and New. after the manner of men. Enlightened men, men of learning and of civilization, the whole world, as it is known to history, -have looked upon the American continent as new,-new to civilization and its arts and refinements. But he who sitteth upon the circuit of the heavens, and keepeth record of the world's history, has doubtless watched over and directed the rise and fall of empires, and the lapse of centuries and millenaries, as well on the Western as on the Eastern continent. Some traces of these are discoverable by us. They are found, not on the pages of written history, but in the rude mounds and monuments which remain in our own country; and from the time of the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, some accounts have been preserved of the monuments and architectural remains of the aborigines of South America. These accounts, however, have been esteemed as worthy of but little credit. Dr. Robertson, in his History of America, (1777,) as quoted by Mr. Stephens, considers it certain "that America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient continent which had made any considerable progress in civilization," that the inhabitants were "unacquainted with those arts which are the first essays of human ingenuity in its advance towards im

provement."

Since Dr. Robertson's time, however, new light has been thrown upon this subject, through the discoveries of the learned Humboldt, who travelled somewhat extensively in South and Central America, about the beginning of the present century, and others. But the ruins of ancient cities and structures in Mexico were especially brought to the consideration of Europe and this country, by the report of Colonel Galindo, who visited the ruins of Copan in 1836, under commission from the Central American government, and the results of whose examination were published in the proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Paris and in the London Literary Gazette. But his account Mr. Stephens regards as unsatisfactory, though not exaggerated; and his drawings of the monuments were necessarily imperfect, from the fact of his not being an artist.

Our space will not allow us to enlarge upon what was before known of these ruins, or of the others described by our author, and which we hasten to notice. This voyage of discovery was undertaken with peculiar advantages and facilities. Mr. Stephens was intrusted by the President of the United States with a special, confidential Mission to the Government of Central America; which, though not always an effectual

security against suspicion and assault, in the then distracted state of the country, was, in several cases, of essential service. He was also peculiarly fortunate in having engaged, as his companion and helper, Mr. Catherwood, well known as an experienced artist, and who had spent more than ten years in studying and sketching the antiquities and architectural structures of the Old world. Thus associated our travellers left New-York in October, 1839, and were absent ten months; nearly eight of which they spent in exploring the country of Central America, from the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Honduras to the Pacific Ocean, and in examining and sketching the wonderful monuments of its ancient greatness.

The report of the whole is given in these, so called, "Incidents of Travel." But with all due respect to the taste of our author, we must regard the title of his work a misnomer. Incidents it does indeed contain,-many, amusing, surprising, perplexing, and interwoven with the whole thread of his narrative. But this is not all. It brings before us substantial facts and venerable realities, by the side of which the mere incidents of a journey, however thrilling and entertaining, for the moment, are triffes soon to be forgotten. These constitute the principal value of the work.

First, we place ourselves by the side of these explorers amid the ruins of the ancient city of Copan, three hundred miles from the ocean, on the bank of a river not navigable even for canoes, except for a short time in the rainy season, and in the midst of a dense forest,-the remains of the city extending along the river more than two miles,-its front wall, of cut stone, from sixty to ninety feet high. Behind it are ranges of stone steps and pyramidal structures, rising from thirty to one hundred and forty feet high on the slope. Standing among the trees are numerous pillars of stone, each a single block, carved with the most exquisite and elaborate workmanship, exhibiting portraits of men and women, and figures of, perhaps, idols in front, and on the sides numerous hieroglyphics. These pillars are from ten to twenty feet high and from three to four in diameter, and stand upon pedestals of stone. In front of each is an altar of stone, some of which are also elaborately carved with hieroglyphics. Of these monuments, as well as of the plan of the city, accurate drawings were taken by Mr. Catherwood, which have since been engraved on steel at great expense, in the best style of the London artists, and accompany the description by Mr. Stephens in these volumes. Several other ruins of less interest are described.

The next most important ruin brought to view and illustra

ted with engravings is that of Utalan, which, according to Spanish historians, was once the most populous city of the kingdom of Guatimala. The monuments here remaining are scarcely less interesting than those of Copan. At other places our travellers describe pyramidal structures of more than a hundred feet at the base, curiously wrought vessels, images and sacrificial altars, which are also accurately engraved. But we hasten to the only remaining ruin which we have space to notice. It is a city, the existence of which was entirely unknown until 1750, when it is said to have been discovered by some wandering Spaniards. It is not known by what name it was called, and the only appellation now given to it is Pelanque. It is in the province of Chiapas, and its ruins are spread over an extent of from eighteen to twenty-four miles. An account of these ruins, taken under a commission from the Spanish government in 1807, was published in Paris, in 1834, in a splendid and costly work illustrated with numerous engra vings. But our author claims for Mr. Catherwood's drawings a decided preference as to accuracy, over the plates contained in the above work, and adds:-"As to the most of the places visited by us, the reader will find no materials whatever except those furnished in these pages."

Any attempt here to describe the numerous monuments and immense structures at Pelanque would far exceed our limits. Many of them are very unlike those at Copan, and their design and origin are equally mysterious and wonderful. The hieroglyphics, however, are the same, indicating that this country was once inhabited by a race speaking the same language, or at least having the same written characters. But whence came they? From what tribe or lineage of the Old world were they broken off? Is not their history written upon these monuments? And will not some Champollion decipher and read it to the nations?

We are overwhelmed with the wonders disclosed in these volumes; and cannot but indulge the pleasing hope that they will be found to contain sources of veritable history concerning the antiquities of our country. But while we readily award to our author the credit of a discoverer, in some parts of his work, we are persuaded, with him, that there are yet other architectural remains embosomed in the forests of that country, hereafter to be discovered.

A Padre assured him of the existence of a city in the province of Vera Paz, deserted and desolate, and almost as perfect as when evacuated by its original occupants. He was also told of another city now occupied by its aboriginal in

habitants in the midst of a tribe of Indians south of Chiapas, who have never yielded to the Spanish arms, and over which the government of Central America attempts no control. These, if they exist, as Mr. S. believes they do, will be found by some future traveller, who, as our author remarks, "will experience sensations which seldom fall to the lot of man.' In the mean time we commend the present work to our readers, as an admirable introduction to the study of American antiquities. The printing, as well as the engravings, is executed in superior style, and it is in all respects a splendid result of individual enterprise, which will confer honor both upon the author and his country.

9.-Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: by Henry Hallam, F. R. A. S., Corresponding Member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in the French Institute: In two Volumes, large 8vo. New-York: Harper and Brothers. 1841. pp. 416, 462.

Hallam's "View of the state of Europe during the Middle Ages" was published by the Messrs. Harpers, in 1837. About the same time the first volume of the work, whose title is given above, appeared in London, and was noticed by us in connection with Harpers' edition of the "Middle Ages," in the Repository for January, 1838. The remaining three volumes of the London edition were published in 1839, and an able and thorough review of the whole, selected from the British and Foreign Review, will be found in the American Eclectic for the present month,-No. IV,-to be concluded in the No. for September next. The American edition now before us embraces the four volumes in two, which are executed in a manner combining economy with good taste and durability; the size of the type and page, and the style of binding being the same as those of the "Middle Ages," by the same publishers.

Those who have read the former work of Mr. Hallam have cherished high expectations in respect to this new and welcome accession to critical literature. These expectations, we are now confident, will be fully answered and gratified by the appearance of the work which is the subject of our present notice. It embraces a period of rich and varied materials of literary history, and which are of special importance on account of their bearings and traceable influences upon the present state of knowledge and civilization in the nations of Europe, and, of course, among ourselves. It is within the SECOND SERIES, VOL. VI. NO. I.

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three centuries here explored that we are to look for the beginnings of many of the steps which have since marked the progress of improvement in some nations, and of occasional or temporary decline in others, and for many of those causes, whose results are still in the process of development. The history of this period is naturally divided from that of the Middle Ages, by the invasion of Naples by Charles VIII, in the fifteenth century. This, says our author, was the event that first engaged the principal states of Europe in relations of alliance or hostility, which may be deduced to the present day, and is the point at which every man who traces backward its political history will be obliged to pause." (Pref. Mid. Ages, p. x.) Starting from this point, Mr. Hallam proceeds with his history, taking up in order, and with distinct conceptions of their influences upon each other, the several nations of Europe, and tracing, with the confidence of one deeply learned in his subject, the several departments of their literature.

To the literature of this period, as a whole, nothing like justice had before been attempted to be done in our language. On some sections of it, learned and elaborate works had been written, the "Bibliotheca Universalis," by Gesner, the "Bibliotheca Selecta," by Possevin, the "Prodromus Historia Literariæ," by Lambecius, Morhof's "Polyhistor," etc. etc. These were all examined together with many later works, on parts of the numerous topics discussed by our author. On the whole a surprising amount of learning is made tributary to the elucidation of the progress of the human mind during the three centuries to whose literature we are introduced in these centuries; and the spirit of the author,-though sometimes, as we think, in his anxiety to avoid the appearance of a partisan bias, he falls into the opposite extreme, and does great injustice to such men as Luther and others, whose partisanship was bold in defence of the truth,-is nevertheless in general candid, and his judgment, worthy of confidence. An analysis of a work embracing so great a variety of topics would occupy more space than we can allot to this notice, and would be of little use, as we doubt not that all of our readers, who can, will procure and read the work.

10.-An Argument for the Perpetuity of the Sabbath. By Rev. A. A. Phelps. Boston: D. S. King. 1841. pp. 164.

This Argument in defence of the Christian Sabbath was occasioned be the discussions of the "Church, Ministry and Sabbath Convention," held in Boston on the 18th of Nov. 1840.