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PUTNAM'S MONTHLY

MAGAZINE

OF

3merican Literature, Science, and Art.

VOL. VI.

JULY TO DECEMBER, 1855.

NEW YORK:

DIX & EDWARDS, 10 PARK PLACE:
LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON & CO.

MDCCCLV.

Harvard College Library

Gift of

Miss Longfellow, Mrs. Danà,
and Mrs. Thorp,

9 Jan.1895,

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by

DIX & EDWARDS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

HOLMAN & GRAY, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, N. Y.

4234

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Ancient History-Memoir of S. S. Prentiss-

Amos Lawrence-Douglas's Life and Bond-

age-The Life of Curran-Calhoun's Works

-Peg Woflington- Christie Johnstone-

School of Life-Ernest Gray-Mary Lyndon

-Peeps from a Belfry-Kate Aylesford-

Ellen Mowbray-Initials-Dickens's Works

-Twice Married-Clouds and Sunshine-

Oakfield-Ethel-Aspirations - Light and

Darkness-The Old Homestead-The Old

Farm House-The Rag Picker-Isora's

Child-The Elder Sister-The Match Girl-

The Deserted Wife-Bancroft's Miscellanies
⚫-Star Papers-Rhyme and Reason-Mar-
garet Fuller-Gazetteer of the World-John-
ston's Chemistry of Common Life-Jame-
son's Common Place Book-The British
Poets-Bohn's Libraries-Tennyson's Maud
- Roget's Thesaurus - Opium Eater
Comedy of Life-The Camp before Sebas
topol-The Mosquito Shore-The Crayon
-Leaves of Grass- Kingsley's Glaucus
-Harvey's Sea Side-Jarvis's Art Hints

-

Spencer's Sermons- Agassiz -- Modern
Mysterios-Annals of San Francisco-Hil-
dreth's Japan-Tomes' Panama-Bartol's
Pictures of Europe-The Hidden Path-
Greig's Creed-Bain's Christian Life-Tul-
loch's Theism-Book of Fairy Tales--The
Unholy Alliance-Hudson's Shakespeare-
Spenser's Works-Heine's Pictures of Tra-
vel-Cyclopedia of American Literature-
Kant's Critique-A Voice to America-
Dickson's Elements of Medicine-Taylor's
India, China, and Japan-Private Life of
an Eastern King-British Essayists-British
Historians Gibson's Sumatra-Dr. Doran's
Books Lippincot's Gazetteer-Teverino-
Juno Clifford-Mortimer's College Life-
Glenwood-Dixon's New York Surgeon-
Miss Pardoe's Confessions-Crotchets and
Quavers Ghostly Colloquies-Browning's
Men and Women-Frothingham's Poems-
J. H. Bryant's Poems-Meek's Red Eagle
-Familiar Quotations-Cowper's Task-
Keble's Christian Year-Fairy Stories -God
Revealed Christian Theism Abbott's

Hoary Head-Prescott's Philip II.

II. European Literature-England.-Life of

Sydney Smith-Doran's Lives of the Queens

-Macaulay-Queens before the Conquest-

Cestello's Anne of Britanny-Martineau's

Guide to the English Lakes-Tennyson-

The Brownings-Arnold-Leslie's Hand

Book Jervis's Painting and Celebrated

Painters-Pictures from the Battle Field-

The National-Oxford Essays-Sellar on

Lucretius-Froude-The Duke of Bucking-

ham's Memoirs of George III.--Past and

Present English Expeditions-Lord Chat-

ham and Lord Raglan-Memoirs of John J.

Gurney-Morality in Exeter Hall and in

Lombard Street-Wrightson's Modern Italy

-Madame d'Ossoli-Poems by Aubrey de

Vere-Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton

-Tegoborski's Russia-Cotton's Rhemes

and Doway-Stirling's Velazquez

ley's Synopsis of Dutch and Flemish Paint-

Stan-

ers-Carlyle's Frederick the Great-Brown-
ing's Poetry-Bailey-Memoirs of M. A.
Herzen-Veron's Memoires d'un Bourgeois
-Burton's Pilgrimage-Bellot's Memoirs-
Bailey's Works-Kerzen's Russia and Si-
beria-Lowes's Life of Goethe.
France.-Schnitzler and V. Amanton on the
Crimea-Notice sur les diverses Populations
de la Tauride-Duc D'Aumale's Zouaves-
Nettement's French Literature-Barante's

Directory of France-Life of Marnix de
Sainte Aldegonde, by Quinet-Life of Wash-
ington, by M. De Witt-M. Dumas, fils, Le
Monde Interlopo-La Grèce Contemporaine,
par M. E. About-Tolla Feraldi-Courrier
des Etats Unis-Les Paysans, by M. De
Balzac-Lamartine's History of Turkey-
History of the German Empire and Russian
Empire-George Sand-M. Dupin-Lamen-
nais' Works Stendhal H. Bayle-M.
Merimée-M. de Lamartine's Russie-Le
Play-Les Ouvriers Européens-Ampère's
Promenade en Amerique-Voyage autour
de L'Exposition, par M. About-Pallegoix's
Description de Siam-Maynard's impres
sions de Voyage de Paris à Sebastopol--
Chasles' Les Souvenirs d'un Médecin-For-
gues' Lamennais.

Germany-Karl Von Raumer's Geschichte

der Padagogik-Baron Von Reichenbach's

Sensitive Mensch-Von Brugsch's Notes of

Egyptian Travel · Goldhanu's Esthetic

Wanderings in Sicily-Kestner's Goethe

and Werther-Zwischen Hudson and Mis-

sissippi-Nach Amerika-Herr Gieselrecht's

Geschichte der Deutschen Kaiserzeit-Ger-

vinus' History of the 19th Century-Loher's

History of Germans in America-Elben's

National German Manners-gesang-Giebel's

Meister Andrea---Schasler on Kaulbach's

Fresco Paintings Malerische Feier-

Stunden-Lemcke's Spanish Literature.

Republication of American

Italy.-Turrisi Colonna-Guerrazzi-Massari
-Gioberti's Della Rifforma Cattolica.
New English Engravings.-Landseer's New
Works-Night and Morning-Wellington
at Waterloo
Hunt's "Peasant Girl at Prayer"-Duncan's
Highland Congregation

Historical Pictures of the Pretender-The

Sistine Chapel - Winkelmann's superb

print.

III. Fine Arts.-Trinity Chapel-Academy
of Music-Richard Greenough-W. W.
Story-Crawford's Beethoven-Story of
Crawford-Allston-J. Vernet-Ary Schef-
fer-Dante and Beatrice-Millet-American

Landscapes-Kensett-Church--Cropsey-
Doughty Durand-Gay-Wild-Leutze-
Faust and Margueret Hunt's Fortune
Teller Mr. Darley-Irving's Sleepy Hol-
low-Judd's Margaret-Scheffer's Beatrice
and DanteGreenough's Boy and the
Engle-Dr. Abbott's Egyptian Antiquities
-Hemicycle des Beaux Arts-Faed's Pic-
ture of Shakespeare and Milton.

IV. The Opera and Music.-Grisi-Mario-
Steffanone-Brignoli - Vestvali-William
Tell-Il Trovatore-Mrs. Perkins' Ball-
Madame Legrange-Miss Louisa Pyne-
German Opera-Mr. Harrison-Mr. Bris-
tow-Lowell Mason a Mus. Doc.-American
Opera in Paris and Naples Norma-Signor
Mirate-Don Giovanni-Mme. De Vries-
Miss Elise Hensler German Song-Unions
---Ditson's series of Operas-Lucia di Lam-
mermoor Signora Parodi-Bristow's Opera
of Rip Van Winkle-Le Prophète-M. Mey-
erbeer.

V. The Drama.- Rachel-Burton's-Wal-
lack's The Broadway-Boker's new Tra-
gedy-Davenport-Mrs. Hoey-Placide-
Lester-Brougham.—Thackeray's Lectures.
VI. Correspondence.-Can there be a New

Architecture?

PUTNAM'S MONTHLY.

A Magazine of Literature, Science, and Art.

VOL. VI.-JULY, 1855.-NO. XXXI.

IRVING'S LIFE OF WASHINGTON.*

BIOGRAPHY may be said to bear to

history somewhat the same relation that portraiture does to historical painting. Like other comparisons, there are some points in which this one fails; but it is exact enough for purposes of illustration. The great essential requisite for historical composition, as for historical painting, is the power of grouping. If there is a failure in this respect, skillfulness and elaboration in details, so far from making up for it, may only render confusion worse confounded, and the failure more conspicuous. This power of grouping is, indeed, essential to every species of composition, whether pictorial or written; but a much less degree of it will answer for biography or portraiture than for compositions in history. Nor is this by any means the only advantage which the former possess. Though not ranked so high in the critic's scale, their merits and beauties and power of pleasing are much more level to the common apprehension, and more likely to be generally felt and appreciated.

History, as it becomes more comprehensive, more scientific and abstract, giving more and more of its attention to relations and causes not accidental, but natural and necessary, comes to deal less and less with men as individuals, and to confine itself to those motives and impulses shared by groups and, masses in common-motives and impulses to which, rather than to individual peculiarities, the course and order of events is every day more and more traced. It is said that in these

modern times we have no heroes; but the reason, probably, is not so much that men or society are yet very different from what they have been, as that we have a different way of viewing things-perceiving that to be accomplished by the united weight of many persons acting under a common impulse, which, according to the old method of explanation, would have been regarded as the heroic work of some single individual.

History, considered as a science, and historical compositions, looked upon as demonstrations, have, no doubt, gained much by this change. But, the great mass of the reading public are hardly yet prepared for this journey into the wilderness of historical speculation, even though the promised land of a reorganized and regenerated society may be alleged to lie beyond it; while fed with this philosophical manna, they do still look back with great longings and some murmurings to the flesh- pots of Egypt, breaking out into occasional complaints that they have been led into the desert to starve.

Hence, the popularity of that semihistorical species of biography, of which Washington Irving, in the volume before us, has furnished the first installment of a very pleasing specimen. Biography, indeed, in this shape of it, may be said to have picked up not merely the dropped mantle, but, as it were, the cast-off body of the ascending muse of history; and, as yet, the great mass of readers seem much to prefer a

Life of George Washington. By WASHINGTON IRVING. New York: G. P. Putnam & Co. Three vols., Vol. I., pp. 504

VOL. VI.-1

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