3.-The Life of Martin Luther: related from Original Authorities.

With sixteen engravings. By MORITZ MEURER. Translated from the German, by a Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 8vo., pp. 695. New York: H. Ludwig & Co.

This work, we are assured by the compiler, presents the history of the great Reformer exclusively from authentic sources, and indeed in his own language, or that of his contemporaries. MEURER seems to have studied his authorities carefully; and the reader will discover on every page a critical and minute examination of the voluminous materials at his disposal, out of which he has produced a connected and harmonious memoir of Luther. "His entire additions confine themselves to the connection of the various anthorities, the learned passages, &c., so that they may be compared to the string upon which the pearls are strung, or the mortar which binds the building stones of a house." Although the language of the memoir may not be as fluent and smooth as if it had come from a single pen, the reader will doubtless find the deficiency more than balanced by its variety and freshness, and in the accuracy of the portrait. He will have "Luther as he actually presented himself, and as he appeared to those who surrounded him-no ideal, and no caricature;" thus leaving the reader to form his own judgment from the materials laid before him. The great merit of the work, is its objective character-the historical authorities being skilfully and comprehensively grouped, and throughout the work permitted to speak for themselves, without any wresting or distinction of their statements by the author. The correction of the proofs, the preparation of the author's preface, the contents in the beginning, and the indexes at the end of the work, were executed by Mr. Ludwig, the intelligent publisher, a practical printer, and a critical reader as well as an accomplished speaker of the German language. The work is divided into five parts, each embracing an epoch in the Life of Luther, including his youth, life in the cloister, the time of the first testimony, the struggles of the Reformation, the labors of the Reformation, and the last years of his life. It is illustrated and embellished with accurate lithographs of Luther and the prominent men of his time.

4-A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York, and of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Presbyterian Church in that Section. By Rev. JAMES H. HOTCHKIN. 8vo., pp. 600. New York: M. W. Dodd.

The author of this work has been a preacher in the Presbyterian Church in Western New York ever since 1801, and conversant with the ecclesiastical officers of that section of the country longer than any other Presbyterian minister. In the present work he relates many things from his own observation and recollection, and some from a vivid recollection of conversations with early settlers many years since; besides, he had free access to all the usual sources of information, to which he seems to have applied himself with great diligence; and the result is, as would naturally be expected, the production of a very full history of the Presbyterian Church, embraced in all that part of the State of New York which is bounded on the east by the eastern bounds of the counties of Broome, Chenango, and Madison; on the north, by the northern boundary of the county of Onondaga and Lake Ontario; and on the north-west, west, and south, by the boundaries of the State. At the time he commenced his ministry, there were but ten or twelve Presbyterian ministers in the State; and now he gives a history of four hundred and thirty churches of that denomination, showing an astounding increase in less than half a century. Interspersed with the denominational history, we find a variety of information of general interest, although the unity of the author's plan seems to be well preserved throughout. 5.-Thrilling Incidents of the Wars of the United States: comprising the most Striking and Remarkable Events of the Revolution, the French War, the Tripolitan War, the Indian War, the Second War with Great Britain, and the Mexican War. With three hundred Engravings. By the author of the "Army and Navy of the United States." 8vo., pp. 600. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart.

This work consists of selections from the various authentic histories, memoirs, and reminiscences which have appeared during the last fifty years, and embraces the narratives of those events which were at once the most striking and important in our national annals. The compiler displays taste and judgment in grouping the strong points and striking features, which indeed form the chief commodity of the work, and affords a vivid and lifelike conception of the whole subject. The imagination of the reader, it is well remarked, receives a livelier impulse from the sketch than it would from the picture; for what is delineated, in this instance at least, suggests more to the active fancy than if the delineator had endeavored to place the whole upon his canvass. The work is designed for popular reading, and is, on the whole, the best collection of incidents bearing upon the military and naval history of our country that we have ever seen. The numerous engravings will add materially to its value, in the estimation of the young, at least.

6.-Modern French Literature. By L. RAYMOND DE VERICOUR, formerly Lecturer in the Royal Athenæum, Paris; author of "Milton et la Poesie Epique;" Member of the Historical Institute of France, etc., etc. Revised, with Notes alluding particularly to writers prominent in late political events in Paris. By WILLIAM STOUGHTON CHASE, A. M. 12mo., pp. 448. Boston: Gould, Kendall, & Lincoln.

The object of the author of this work is, to give a succinct and clear outline of the intellectual progress of France in the nineteenth century; to point out several departments of literature and intellectual development which mark the national progress, and thus induce the reader to turn to the modern literature of France itself for further information. It seems to us to bear about the same relation to the subject that a comprehensive, welldigested introductory lecture does to any of the sciences; it creates an interest in the study, and serves as a key to the extensive fields that lay beyond. It contains biographical and critical notes of all the prominent names in Philosophy, Criticism, History, Romance, and the Drama; and presents a full and impartial consideration of the political tendencies of France, as they may be traced in the writings of authors equally conspicuous as scholars and as statesmen. By the side of the host of superficial pretenders, in every department, there is a multitude of devout lovers of truth, whom no labor can exhaust, no obstacles discourage, no height of attainment dazzle, and who in every branch of knowledge -moral, physical, exact, and critical-have carried and are carrying the glorious banner of true science into regions of investigation wholly unexampled in older times. It is this class of men, as far as it exists in France, and as far as it can be distinguished by the judgment of a cotemporary, that the author of this work has grouped together and characterized. The American editor, Mr. Chase, who has been the Parisian correspondent of several leading periodicals of this country, has performed his task with creditable ability; his prolonged residence in France, his familiarity with its literature, and personal acquaintance with many of its authors, qualified him for the successful introduction of the work to his countrymen. The copious notes, embracing a list of contemporaneous French writers, which Mr. Chase has added to the work, greatly enhances its value. We should not omit to mention that the volume is furnished with a likeness of Lamartine, from a mezzotint, copied from a portrait by the wife of the hero-statesman; which, we are assured, gives a better idea of his countenance and air than any of the prints which have lately appeared.

7.-The Women of the American Revolution. By ELIZABETH F. ELLET, author of "The Characters of Schiller," "Country Rambles," etc. 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 348 and 312. New York: Baker & Scribner.

Mrs. Ellet, the compiler and author of this work, experienced many difficulties in procuring "materials sufficiently reliable for a record designed to be strictly authentic ;" and we are really astonished that she succeeded in collecting so large an amount of information concerning the lives and characters of so many of the patriotic women of the Revolution. In no case, we are assured, has the deficiency of material been supplied by fanciful embellishment; and no labor of research, and no pains of investigation, have been spared in establishing the truth of the statements. Besides having access to all published sources of information, the author collected much from private papers and letters in the possession of descendants. A portion of the sketches, illustrating progressive stages of the war, are arranged in chronological order. Mrs. Ellet has included in her group, sketches of nearly one hundred and fifty women, renowned for their wit and their wisdom, their piety and their patriotism. The work fills a place in our revolutionary history that would scarcely be complete without it; indeed, we consider it as one of the most valuable contributions that have been made to the history of our country in a long time. It is in every respect creditable to the literary character of the gifted author; and the publishers have, as usual, imparted to it all the benefits of a beautiful dress.

8.-Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats. Edited by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES. 12mo., pp. 393. New York: George P. Putnam.

The merits of Keats as a poet and man are recognized by every student and lover of poetry in the country of his birth, and, to quote from the editor, "have acquired a still brighter fame in that other and wider England (America) beyond the Atlantic, whose natural youth is, perhaps, more keenly susceptible of poetic impressions and delights than the maturer and more censorious fatherland." The memoir consists, for the most part, of the private letters of Keats, which convey a clear and beautiful transcript of his mind. The poems interspersed throughout the volume but confirm the well-established fame of the poet. It is a beautiful tribute to his memory and merits, rendered by a highly gifted and discriminating mind.

9.-Man and his Motives. By GEORGE MOORE, M. D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, London, etc.; author of The Power of the Soul over the Body," "The Use of the Body in Relation to the Mind," etc. New York: Harper & Brothers. The subject discussed in this volume is of the highest moment, inasmuch as it pertains to man and his motives, and has a religious bearing. The thoughts presented by Dr. Moore are such as occurred to him while fully occupied in the healing art, and are those that his intimacy with sufferers and with suffering led him to believe were most needed and most neglected. Those who have read "The Power of the Soul over the Body in relation to Health and Morals," and "The Use of the Body in Relation to the Mind,” designed and executed by the same philosophic mind, will not require one word of recommendation from us, or anybody else, They will, to quote from our friend, N. P. Willis, "jump at such books as these, as one lights a candle on finding himself in a dark and strange room." The work combines, in an eminent degree, the spirit of the philosopher and the Christian.

10.-Home Influence; a Tale for Mothers and Daughters. By GRACE AGUILAR. 12mo., pp. 412. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This may be said to be not only a story that is a story, but a story that has an aim. The name forcibly illustrates a mother's solemn responsibilities, and intense anxiety to fulfil them. Leaving the beaten track of works written for the young, the writer aims "to assist in the education of the heart, believing that of infinitely greater importance than the mere instruction of the mind." It is a simple and beautiful domestic story, the characters in which are all Christian, not sectarian, but inciting a train of serious and loving thoughts toward God and man, and especially toward those with whom he has linked us in the precious ties of parent and child, brother and sister.

11.-Posthumous Works of the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D. D., LL. D. Edited by the Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, LL. D. Vol. IV. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This fourth volume of Dr. Chalmers posthumous works forms the first of his "Sabbath Scripture Readings." It is confined entirely to books of the New Testament, commencing with the Gospel of St. Matthew and closing with the Book of "Revelations." The reflections and comments given in Dr. C.'s readings of the several books of the New Testament are at once characteristic of the Man and his Theology; and on that account the hore biblica Sabbatica will form an interesting study to the scholar, and a book of instruction to the readers of popular Christianity.

12.-Cottages and Cottage Life. Containing Plans for Country Houses, adapted to the Means and Wants of the People of the United States; with directions for building and improving; for the laying out and embellishing of grounds; with some sketches of life in this country. By C. W. ELLIOTT. 8vo., pp. 226. Cincinnati: H. W. Derby & Co. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co.

The number of works that have been published during the last three or four years on this subject, indicates a growing disposition to improve the style of American homesteads. The public have at length discovered that it is not necessary to sacrifice the useful and the beautiful to economy; that a tasty, well-proportioned dwelling costs no more than an illshapen, barn-like structure. The volume of Mr. Elliott, before us, illustrates our remark on this head. His work contains drawings of cottages in almost every variety of style, with descriptions and the estimated cost of construction, varying from $400 to $3000; so that the most economical or the most fastidious can scarcely fail of finding something to meet his ideal of a neat or an elegant “cottage in the country." Interspersed throughout this beautifully printed volume, which, by the way, would adorn the centre table of one of these tasty residences, we have a series of sketches of "life, love, and duty" in the cottage, evidently the product of a mind that not only understands the science of architecture, but the philosophy of home, and of all that makes home desirable and happy. In a word, the work combines the useful and the agreeable, the pleasant and the profitable; and is admirably well adapted to the tastes and habits of our people.

13.-The Art-Journal; Art-Union Monthly Journal of Arts. London: Chapman & Hall. New York: J. P. Ridner.

The August issue of this beautiful work is equal to any that has preceded it. It contains three line engravings on steel, viz: Salvator, by Joubert, from a painting by Dan Maclise, R. A., in the collection of the right honorable the Earl of Chesterfield; the Fisherman's Wife, engraved by G. B. Shaw, from a painting by P. F. Poole, A. R. A., in the collection of W. Sharp, Esq., of Birmingham; and the Cherry Seller, engraved by Finden, from a painting by W. Collins, B. A., in the collection of Sir Robert Peel. A work of so much real excellence deserves a wide circulation in this country.

14.-School Architecture; or Contributions to the Improvement of School Houses in the United States. By HENRY BARNARD, Commissioner of Public Schools in Rhode Island. 12mo., pp. 369. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co.

No subject of so great importance in a moral, intellectual, and physical point of view, has perhaps been so much neglected as that to which this volume is devoted, and we hail its appearance as an indication that public attention is progressing in a right direction. The author of the work has brought to his task a sound and philosophical mind, and large experience in all that pertains to the subject of education in its mechanical, moral, and mental aspects; and the labor of years has enabled him to produce a work of marked excellence, and of the most unquestionable utility. He maintains, that to make an edifice good for school purposes, it should be built for children at school, and their teachers; for children differing in age, sex, size, and studies, requiring, of course, different accommodations; for children whose health and success in study require that they shall be frequently in the open air, for exercise and recreation, and at all times supplied with pure air to breathe; for children who are to occupy it in the hot days of summer and in the cold days of winter, and to occupy it for periods of time in different parts of the day, in positions which become wearisome if the seats are not in all respects comfortable, and which may affect symmetry of form and length of life, if the construction and relative heights of the seats and desks which they occupy are not properly attended to; for children whose manners and morals-whose habits of order, cleanliness, and punctuality-whose temper, love of study and of the school, are in no inconsiderable degree affected by the attractive or repulsive location and appearance, the inexpensive outdoor arrangements, and the internal construction of the place where they spend, or should spend, a large part of the most impressible period of their lives. It is with such views that Mr. Barnard has prepared this work on school architecture; and in treating of it, he points out the errors to be avoided, lays the general principles to be observed, and furnishes plans and directions for erecting and fitting up school houses adapted to the varying circumstances of country and city, of a small and a large number of scholars, of schools of different grades, and of different systems of instruction. Indeed, no point of any importance bearing upon the subject has escaped his penetrating observation. The work is illustrated with plans and drawings of edifices, and furnishes just the kind of information that should be found in the hands of the authorities who direct the building of school houses and academies, as well as in the hands of the practical architect who plans or builds for the public.

15.-Orators of the Revolution. By E. L. MAGOON. New York: Baker & Scribner.

The design of this work is to exhibit the oratorical features of the American Revolution, to delineate the characteristics of the great leaders of the American forum; in short, to fill a vacuum in our literature by a "critical and comprehensive examination of our great orators as such." The indefinite outline of the orators of the Revolution, to be gathered from partial descriptions in books of various kinds, is filled up by "a gallery of full-lengths, each distinctly drawn, rounded into symmetrical shape, and colored with appropriate tone." Each of the portraitures comprehends the earthly career of its subject, with just enough historical detail to explain the preliminary training and elucidate the peculiar elegance of the individual under consideration. The work embraces sketches of ten of our revolutionary orators, viz: James Otis, Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincy, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Alexander Hamilton, and Fisher Ames; besides four of a later generation, namely, William Pinkney, William Wirt, Thomas Addis Emmet, and John Randolph. The style of Mr. Magoon is oratorical, but he exhibits a good deal of cleverness in his analysis of character, abating an occasional extravagance of expression, which appears rather the result of an enthusiastic temperament than a real want of discrimination. On the whole we consider it a highly interesting work, as well as a most acceptable contribution to our purely national literature.

16.-Edward Vernon: My Cousin's Story. By E. V. CHILDE, author of articles in the "London Times" and the "New York Courier" signed "A States' Man." 12mo., pp. 194. New York: Harper & Brothers.

We have not found time to read this story, but if the author displays the same power as a writer of fiction as an essayist, the reader may anticipate a full measure of satisfaction in the perusal of "My Cousin's Story."

17.-Kirwan Unmasked. A Review of Kirwan. In Six Letters addressed to the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of Elizabethtown, N. J. By the Right Rev. JOHN HUGHES, D. D., Bishop of New York. New York: Edward Dunigan & Brother.

These letters cannot fail of adding to the reputation of the learned Bishop as an able controversialist.

18.-Dictionary of Americanisms. A Glossary of Words and Phrases, usually regarded as peculiar to the United States. By JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT, Corresponding Secretary of the American Ethnological Society, and Foreign Corresponding Secretary of the New York Historical Society. 8vo., pp. 412. New York: Bartlett & Welford. This volume embraces a vocabulary of the colloquial language, or such words and phrases as have generally been considered Americanisms, used in familiar conversation, both among the educated as well as among the uneducated and rustic classes. By examining the dialects and provincialisms of those parts of England from which the early settlers of New England and our other colonies emigrated, Mr. Bartlett has discovered a striking resemblance, not only in the words commonly regarded as peculiar to New England, but in the dialectical pronunciation of certain words, and in the general tone and accent. He states, in short, without exaggeration, "that nine-tenths of the colloquia! peculiarities of New England are derived directly from Great Britain; and that they are now provincial in those parts from which the early colonists emigrated, or are to be found in the writings of well-accredited authors of the period when that emigration took place.” He insists, moreover, that "the idiom of New England is as pure English, taken as a whole, as was spoken in England at the period when those colonies were settled." In making that statement, he does "not take as a standard the nasal twang, the drawling enunciation, or those perversions of language which the ignorant and uneducated adopt." It is true, many of our most useful words are abused; but that occurs "in all countries and in all languages." The work is prefaced with an able and elaborate introduction, and the compilation of the entire collection of words and phrases evinces great research and the most untiring industry; and, altogether, forms a very valuable contribution to the philological knowledge of the country.

19.-Pride and Prejudice. A Novel. By Miss JANE AUSTEN. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. 12mo., pp. 326. Boston: Wilkins, Carter, & Co.

Miss Austen departed this life more than thirty years since, but her works, though novels, have survived; and the introduction of two of them, "Self-Control" and the one before us, into the "Home Library" series "of Entertaining Books" by these intelligent, discriminating, and worthy publishers, is to our mind pretty conclusive evidence that they will continue to hold a place in the affections of all who can appreciate the "true and the good" in this branch of literature. But many, who may desire other evidence of the standard value of her novels, will be satisfied, we presume, with the testimonial of Sir Walter Scott, said to be recorded in his private diary, after reading "Pride and Prejudice " for the third time:

"That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big bow-wow strain I can do myself, like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and sentiment, is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early."

20.-Glimpses of Home Life; or Causes and Consequences. By Mrs. EMMA C. EMBURY12mo., pp. 324. New York: J. C. Riker.

Mrs. Embury is not only a prolific, but a very agreeable writer, as her regular contributions to some half dozen of our American magazines of light literature satisfactorily demonstrate. The present volume is a first attempt at collecting and classing a few of her numerous contributions to the various periodicals of the day. Considering utility as one of the essential requisites of popular fiction at the present time, the selection has been made from those tales only which have a decided practical tendency, or a direct bearing upon domestic life. Should these sketches receive the same favor from the general reader that they met with in the pages of the magazines, the author promises a second series. The volume contains fourteen stories, all happily illustrating home life. We scarcely need remark in this place, that their teaching, if not the most profound, is free from every vitiating influence, and well calculated to improve the minor morals of society, as well as charm the reader with graceful pictures of domestic life in America.

21.-The Opal: a Pure Gift for the Season. Edited by Mrs. SARAH J. HALE. New York: J. C. Riker.

We received this Annual just as our Magazine was going to press; and although we have not had time to peruse any portion of it, we can say, judging from the table of contents and the list of contributors, that it is rich in promise; and in all that pertains to its external and artistic appearance, it surpasses any of its predecessors. Several of the illustrations are perfect gems, and the binding is gorgeously beautiful.