hundred feet above the level of the sea, was among the magnetic stations. The pendulums were swung at six stations, one of them at the summit of Mouna Roa, and another at its base.

"Full meteorological journals were kept during the whole cruise. When in port, thermometers were sunk, and the temperature of springs, wells, and caves, taken for the mean temperature of the climate. The epochs for the periodical meteors in August and November were attentively watched, in each quarter of the heavens, by four observers at a time. Many observations were made on the Zodiacal Lights; and the Aurora Australis was frequently observed.

"Numerous experiments were made to get some idea of the depth to which the solar light penetrates the ocean. Tidal observations were made, and much interesting information obtained relative to the sudden flux and reflux of the sea among the South-Sea Islands.

"The temperature of the ocean, at various depths, was frequently ascertained; and daily experiments made, during the voyage home from the East Indies, at one hundred fathoms, gave some interesting results. Under the line, a stratum of water was passed over, twenty-three degrees colder than at the surface, and ten degrees colder than at the north or south of it, of about two hundred miles in width; giving rise to the belief, that there exists a submarine river flowing down the coasts of Europe and Africa, and obeying the same laws that govern the atmospheric currents.

"Refractions, halos, and parhelia were noted, together with the circumstances of their appearance, including the state of the barometer, thermometer, and hygrometer, and sketches were made.

"The limits of the trades, the variable and the periodical winds, were carefully looked to, together with their direction and force.

"The currents of the ocean were often tried by the current log, particularly on the several coasts visited. On that of New Holland, a current was perceived, which the temperature will readily point out, between Sydney and Van Diemen's Land. This current runs, at times, with great strength, and, according to the season of the year, is found at different distances from the land."

We have thus sketched, briefly and hastily, some of the most important results of this voyage, obtained by the unceasing diligence and well directed zeal of the commander, officers, and scientific corps of the squadron. It furnishes,

in our opinion, abundant cause of gratulation and triumph, that, in this attempt, we have accomplished so much for commerce, navigation, and science, and that this first contribution, offered by the government of the United States to the scientific world, has been rendered worthy of a great people.

We regret that there should have been any unnecessary delay in preparing for the press the manuscript notes of the gentlemen concerned in this labor; and still more, that an effort had not been made, at an earlier period, to publish a new chart of the Pacific Ocean, comprehending all the discoveries made by our enterprising navigators. We hope this will be shortly done.

As we desire to keep clear of politics, and to avoid even the appearance of criticising the measures of the existing government, we will not enter upon the subject of the courtmartials, which followed the return of the squadron; but content ourselves with the remark, that the executive officers of the government at Washington ought to consider themselves in the light of grand-jurors, bound to examine into the character of the charges preferred against an officer, and the nature of the evidence; and not to order a court, in order merely to gratify the resentment of the accuser, although there may be but little apparent cause for a formal investigation. While on this subject, we must be allowed to mention another grievous abuse, into which the navy department has fallen. We mean the appointment of able and distinguished lawyers to be judge-advocates; thus compelling the accused, whatever may be his circumstances, to employ the best counsel to be had in the place where the trial is held, or to obtain legal aid from other cities, at still greater expense. This proceeding usually creates a struggle between two members of the bar, thereby enlisting feelings which too often convert the judgeadvocate into the prosecuting attorney. If this practice be continued, the discipline of the navy will be destroyed. If a superior officer is liable to be tried on frivolous charges brought against him by a junior, and exposed to ruinous expenses, whatever may be the result of the trial, the discipline of the service will be made to yield to the dread of such an unequal measure of justice, and the gravest faults will remain unrebuked.

ART. II.
Anne.

7. Bowen,

Romans de PAUL DE KOCK. 1. Sœur

4 vols. 2. Le Jeune Homme Charmant. 4 vols. 3. La Jolie Fille du Faubourg. 4 vols.4. Ni Jamais ni Toujours. 4 vols.-5. Les Mœurs Parisiennes. 2 vols. 6. Mon Voisin Raymond. Paris. Gustave Barba, Éditeur. 1835-1842.

WHEN Sir James Mackintosh, in India, wiled away some of the tedious hours of exile by perusing novels and romances, of which few were good, and many indifferent, he called himself to account for such an employment of time, and, in a rather elaborate essay, endeavoured to prove that this class of works really merited the attention and serious study of the philosopher and the moralist. As these seductive books have relieved a portion of our own wakeful nights, and even pushed aside some of the grave labors of the day, we are quite willing to justify ourselves by the weight of his authority, and to seek for shelter and encouragement in his ingenious reasonings. He insists chiefly on the effect produced upon the character by contemplating the models of ideal excellence which are held up in fictitious composition, and on the wider field which the reader gains for the exercise of sympathy and the benevolent affections. We can imitate only those virtues with which we are acquainted; we can pity only the distresses which come within the sphere of our observation. Actual experience does not always furnish a sufficient number of trying occasions, on which the mind may be purified and exalted by pity, wonder, or admiration, may be nerved for future struggles, and strengthened in virtuous resolves. The effect of scenes in fiction is fainter, it is true; but the lesson may be repeated as often as we please; and, at any rate, it is so much added to the school of real occurrences. Opportunities for the exercise of the heroic virtues are certainly rare ; but it is an important point in moral culture, to provide for the growth of heroic sentiments; and here the poet and the novelist are often the most successful teachers.

It may at first appear, that these remarks are not very applicable to the novels of the present day, in very few of which do we find any exhibition of estimable characters, or of noble principles of conduct. The writers of them care

cases

nothing about the moral effect produced, and aim only at creating a momentary interest in their fictitious scenes. Still, there is an undoubted tendency in imaginative writing to exalt the motives, and ennoble the characters, which are intended to engage the sympathy of the reader, much above the standard of real life. In all but the most licentious and degraded of these publications, meanness, duplicity, and crime are reprobated, at least, to a certain extent, and the author pays homage-involuntary, it may be, in some to purity and virtue. He may act under constraint in this respect, for he knows that men are constituted moral beings, and, though each individual may be indulgent enough to his own failings and vices, he is quick to perceive, and eager to censure the moral obliquity of another. Good and evil qualities are blended in the personages who come upon the stage; but the audience discriminate, unconsciously, perhaps, but with unerring tact, between those which are presented for regard and imitation, and those which are designed to be exposed to blame or contempt. Even of such an extreme case as Tom Jones, Mackintosh observes, that "the same book inspires the greatest abhorrence of the duplicity of Blifil, and of the hypocrisy of Thwackum and Square; and Jones himself is interesting by his frankness, spirit, kindness, and fidelity, all virtues of the first class.' There is hardly any novel that does not incline to praise of romantic generosity, magnanimity, faithfulness, and refinement in love. The inventive faculty is prone to constant exaggeration. Imaginary pictures of virtue and vice are more highly colored, and presented with greater effect, than any exhibitions of them in real life; and the observer's admiration of the one, and disposition to censure the other, are proportionally increased. Hence, we may perceive some reason for the opinion which is attributed to Turgot by his biographer; "He regarded romances as books of morals, and he even said, that in them alone had he found any true morality."

For the purposes of this discussion, it has been acutely remarked, history and novels are on an equal footing. The moral influence of a story does not at all depend upon the question, whether it is true. It must be probable, indeed, or it will produce but little effect as an illustration; but, in all cases, the principle that is illustrated remains the same.

Noble and patriotic feelings are prompted by the consideration of some incidents, recorded by Livy, in the early history of Rome. Some inquirers have satisfied themselves, that this history is a mere collection of poetical legends and fables, and deserves little or no confidence. This discovery has weakened the force, but it has not altered the character, of the lesson which those reputed occurrences teach. Firmness and patriotism are still inculcated by the story of the elder Brutus, though it may be that such a personage never lived.

These views of the advantages of a familiarity with works of fiction, which are in substance those of Mackintosh, may be very philosophical, and very fine; but they have much the air of an apology for a doubtful good, and they leave out of view the principal benefit, as it appears to us, to be derived from the perusal of such books. We regard novels as vehicles of instruction, as furnishing the means of enlarging our experience, as increasing our knowledge of men and things. This effect is not the chief object of the writer, we adınit; but he aims at it as subsidiary to his main purpose, and it is essential to his success. He designs to amuse the reader by a fanciful picture, the materials of which are drawn from real life. His characters are imaginary beings, but they are still human. They are types of a particular class of our species; they are representations of our common nature, placed in peculiar circumstances, and acting under special influences, but few of which, probably, have ever fallen under our actual observation. They serve, therefore, to increase our knowledge of that nature. They are studies, in the artist's sense of that term, - not a particular portrait drawn from life, but a combination of the most familiar and striking traits that characterize a whole class, and forming, therefore, a better representation of that class than any faithful picture of an individual. We might say, if the paradox were not rather bold, that they are more true than the reality. Nature, in the exhaustless variety of her moods, never creates an accurate specimen of a whole species. In each particular case, the common traits are always blended with one or more peculiarities that distinguish the individual. It is the province of art to distinguish and remove these special features, and only by the proper execution of this design is it distinguished from servile imitation. The sculp- No. 119.

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