our most wealthy citizens, who have the means of laying out extensive grounds in parks, lawns, and miniature lakes.

The book, then, is adapted to North America, inasmuch only as it makes us acquainted with the greatest number of plants which stand our climate, and may be introduced into our plantations. We cannot say all our plants, because we miss from the catalogues some of our own indigenous trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, the sight of which in our fields and woods always delights us. Of these we may mention our wild cherry trees (prunus Virginiana, Canadensis, and obovata), whose deep green and generally glossy foliage would produce such a beautiful effect, when contrasted with that of most other trees; while the delicate white flowers, with which they are covered at the end of May and the beginning of June, give them a great beauty, even independently of the contrast. We are the more surprised at not seeing them mentioned, as M. Chevreul, of the French Institute, in his work on the subject,* makes such a happy use of these very trees, in combining them with the Judas tree, with whose flowers those of the wild cherry harmonize most beautifully. In the list of shrubs we looked in vain for some of the most beautiful of our natives, which are well adapted to embellish our summer retreats. Among others we noticed, that of the numerous species of andromeda not one is honored with a place in the catalogue, though some of them are worthy of being placed on the flower-stand of the drawing-room.

These remarks must, however, be considered as an expression of our regret, rather than a criticism on the book. We expected to find our less known plants recommended for landscape gardening and the embellishment of villas, as well as those which, from being naturalized in Europe, have there acquired a certain celebrity. We expected to find even a peculiar attention paid to the indigenous plants which adorn our woods. The author is himself a distinguished gardener, having formed one of the most complete collections of trees and shrubs in this country, which led us to hope to find a fuller account of them in his landscape gardener; and the defect in this respect is almost the only one worthy of being noticed in Mr. Downing's book.

Beside very good and interesting descriptions of trees and vines, there are in this work drawings of villas and cottages, plans of establishments upon a larger scale, and of extensive grounds, with an enumeration of the most remarkable hot-houses in the country; of these Mr. Perry's, at Brooklyn, deserves to be particularly noticed, which is superior to any of the same size in Europe. Our climate is so different from any in Europe, that if we are to adapt landscape gardening to our own country, we must emancipate ourselves as soon as possible from European tutelage. Any one who has had an opportunity of comparing our vegetation with that of

• La loi du contraste des couleurs, par E. Chevreul. Paris: 1839.

Europe, knows that, at least in the middle states, it most resembles that of the central part of the continent. Scarcely any European genus of trees or shrubs is without its representative in our country. But it must also have been remarked, that our species are in general much more vigorous: trees which are small in Europe, are often in our own country far greater in size; genera which there are but shrubs, in our woods attain to the dimensions of trees. But this is not all. European shrubs transplanted to our gardens, if they ever become naturalized, will generally acquire much more vigor than in their native country; while in Europe our ornamental shrubs dwindle down far below their natural size. Hence it follows, evidently, that plants which harmonize perfectly in Europe, as well in size and forms, as for the colors of their foliage and their flowers, may not be at all adapted to each other in our own gardens. In forming our landscape gardens, therefore, we must select plants, whether native or naturalized, that are found to harmonize here; and in forming our woods, by taking native trees, we have much greater chance of arriving at satisfactory results, than by filling them with a great number of European ones. It is generally acknowledged by all travellers, that no landscape effect is to be compared to the aspect of our woods in autumn; and no one who has been on the Catskills will deny that in summer they are fully equal in beauty to those in Europe. And still, however varying the woods may be there, as we ascend, they are still very much inferior to those of some parts of the Alleghany mountains. Nowhere in Europe are there to be found, in any natural wood, so many kinds of trees as in ours; and nowhere can we better see what effects art might produce in our parks, than by studying what nature produces in her own plantations. We have not less than ninety different species of trees in our own state, and at least as many shrubs, which by cultivation might produce an immense number of varieties. Trees and shrubs are the very plants of which the United States may boast, while other countries have a much more varied flora of herbaceous plants. Let us, then, try to take our own nature for our guide in landscape gardening directly, and not indirectly by seeing first what effect our trees produce in English parks; and let us look abroad for flower gardens.

Mr. Downing gives the plan and list of plants for a flower garden, of which the effect must be charming. There must be a great many tropical, or at least southern herbaceous plants, which complete the period of their existence in a very short time, or which at least do not require more than some months of warm weather to

One of the most beautiful flower gardens in Europe may be seen in any oatfield of France, in which there are often intermingled, scarlet poppy, blue centaury, lychnis githago, the summer and harvest adonis, and the great daisy. No gardener was ever able to compose a more elegant and harmonious parterre than this, which requires no other care than the tilling of the ground, and the sowing of the mingled seeds.

complete it. We do not doubt that plants of this kind, if sown in hot-houses, from seeds either obtained directly from their native countries or from hot-houses, and planted in June in the open air, would be better adapted to our climate than most of the European garden plants, the green parts of which our hot summer sun, bursting forth so suddenly, prevents from being fully developed, though their flowers may appear in their full beauty. We know not if any attempts have been made with the view here pointed out, but we think that we might have some originality even in our flower gardens. We leave to practical men the solution of this most interesting question. They alone are able to solve it. If there existed in our country any endowed botanical garden, questions like this might have been solved long ago for the public benefit, at the expense of the community. But unfortunately we have not, and therefore they are likely to remain unsolved.

6. The Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes; containing evidence of their Identity, an Account of their Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, together with Sketches of Travel in Ancient Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Mesopotamia, and Illustrations of Scripture Prophecy. By ASAHEL GRANT, M. D. New York: 1841. Harper and Brothers.

A VERY remarkable feature of our present literature is its richness in books of travels. Of late we have contributed our full share, in labors of this kind, to the stock of human knowledge; and our activity in this field of exertion is to be attributed, in a great measure, to the impulse imparted by the missionary spirit now so general among us. The volume now under consideration is one of a large number that our Asiatic missions have produced, and is justly entitled to be ranked with the valuable works of the same class which preceded it. The author was selected by the American Board of Foreign Missions to visit the country of the Nestorian Christians, which is situate among the mountain solitudes of Koordistan, and surrounded by predatory bands, professing a hostile faith. It was deemed important by the Board to send a physician on this dangerous mission, as they had reason to believe that a person of that profession would be more secure against violence, and less likely to excite the suspicions of the ferocious hordes through which he must pass. Dr. Grant renounced a valuable practice at home to accept this appointment, and departed on his mission in the spring of 1835, from which he did not return till the autumn of 1840. During this long absence from his country, his only fixed residence was in the city of Ooroomiah, which stands in the centre

of a large plain, having the snow-clad Koordish mountain chain on the west, and the lake of its own name on the east. It is a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, mostly Mohammedans, and is now the centre of the mission, whose labors are extended throughout the province situate in this plain. "Twelve or fourteen free schools have been opened in the villages of the plain; a seminary and girls' boarding school have been established on the mission premises in the city; considerable portions of the scriptures have been translated into the vernacular language of the Nestorians. They have opened the churches for our Sabbath schools and the preaching of the gospel." Here, in this remote and almost unknown nook of the earth, Dr. Grant was established for three or four years, devoting himself to the duties of his profession, for the benefit alike of Mohammedans and Christians, and, as it seems, with great success and to great acceptance. We know but few facts more characteristic than this of the adventurous spirit of our countrymen; and we are glad to have it in our power to add, that it was a nobler purpose than the pursuit of gain, which called and fixed him there. We regret the scantiness of his details about the people among whom he dwelt so long; it seems to us that they must have furnished him rich materials for remark; but the first part of his book, to which he confines his narrative, is very short, and much of it is appropriated to an account of his visit to the Independent Nestorians, who are hidden among the fastnesses of the mountains. portion of the work is exceedingly curious and interesting, and, we doubt not, a single extract from it will suffice to excite a desire in our readers to see the whole :—

This

"The country of the Independent Nestorians opened before my enraptured vision like a vast amphitheatre of wild, precipitous mountains, broken with deep, dark-looking defiles and narrow glens, into few of which the eye could penetrate so far as to gain a distinct view of the cheerful, smiling villages, which have long been the secure abodes of the main body of the Nestorian church. Here was the home of a hundred thousand Christians, around whom the arm of Omnipotence had reared the adamantine ramparts, whose lofty, snow-capped summits seemed to blend with the skies in the distant horizon. Here, in their munition of rocks, has God preserved, as if for some great end in the economy of his grace, a chosen remnant of his ancient church, secure from the beast and the false prophet, safe from the flames of persecution and the danger of war."

We have not room to give our author's account of the usages and rites now practised by this remarkable and isolated remnant of the primitive church; we can only say, in general, that they fully corroborate the statements of previous writers on the subject, and conclusively prove the preservation among them of so much of the Christian faith and practice as to seem almost miraculous, considering their ignorance, their want of the scriptures, and the gross superstitions which surround them on every side.

The second and third parts of Dr. Grant's work are taken up with an attempt to prove the identity of the Nestorians and the lost

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tribes the discussion of this point would lead us too far; we shall therefore confine ourselves to a mere enumeration of his arguments. These are:- The Tradition of the Nestorian Christians, that they are descendants of Israel; supported by the testimony of Jews and Mohammedans the places to which the Ten Tribes were deported, now occupied by the Nestorian Christians the Ten Tribes never removed from Assyria; proved historically, by circumstantial evidence, and by inference from Scripture prophecies language, same as spoken by the Jews in that regionnames applied to the Nestorian Christians, proof of their Hebrew origin - observance of the Mosaic ritual, sacrifices, vows, etc.physiognomy, names, tribes, government, etc., proofs that they are a distinct people, or an unmixed race-social and domestic customs, the same as those of the ancient Israelites. These arguments are all fully stated, and supported by facts. He then answers the objections which might arise from the conversion of the Ten Tribes to Christianity, as required by the supposition, and proves that this is conformable to Scripture prophecy and to history. The author's opinion is maintained throughout with great force and learning, and great appearance of truth; his book every where evinces zeal, piety, and talent; but it shows that his mind harbors many strong prejudices, particularly against the Roman Catholic church, and in other respects it is often wanting in candor. In point of style, it is generally well written, but sometimes a little verbose and turgid.

7. Collections of the New York Historical Society. Second Series, Volume I. New York: 1841. For the Society.

THE appearance of this volume is an evidence of the revived activity of the New York Historical Society, in collecting and preserving the materials which pertain to the history of the State. It is filled with papers and works of great importance in their relation to this subject, some of which are now first published from the original manuscripts, and some are translations of historical memoirs, existing before only in a foreign language not generally known here. So far as we can judge from a hasty examination, the selection of the materials for the volume is very judiciously made, and great care seems to have been bestowed upon it in all other respects. It is printed on good paper and in a very fair and handsome type, and embellished with a beautiful engraved portrait of Governor Stuyvesant and a lithograph of the government house, as it was in 1795; it contains, also, a curious map of New York, in 1656, copied from the one in Vander Donck's Description of the New Netherlands, in Dutch. It is edited by Mr. George Folsom, librarian of the society, to whom the society and the public are indebted for some of the most valuable papers contained in it, and for the general fine appearance of the volume.