acter or condition would be much mended by the exercise of such "political rights," as Miss Martineau claims for them. Rights imply duties. We should be really sorry to have our wives obliged to go at the next election, and be jostled about in the Town Hall between Tom and Dick and Harry; or, what is worse, be sent to do political duty in the multitudinous assembly at the State House in this city. We say jostled about; for when women come to wave the immunities of their sex, and enter, along with men, into the strife and tug of political action, we take it for granted that all tender and chivalrous courtesies will be at an end of course. And, moreover, we doubt whether they would not lose more in gentle womanly influence, than they would gain in substantial power, by the arrangement. We are selfish enough, we own, to be unwilling- unless a strong case of public duty can be made out, to risk having the care of the babies during a long session of Congress or the State Legislature. However, we consent to yield our preference for the present order of things, if the women really desire to assume the new functions.

We wished to notice more topics, and make more extracts, than we have done, but our article we fear is getting too long. We will draw it to a close. We have very little to say of the style of this work. It is in general good, though it every where bears marks of haste, and may disappoint the expectation of those, who know, from her beautiful tales, how well the author can write. We often meet with careless expressions, and a certain newspapery slovenliness, if we may make temporary use of such an epithet. We were occasionally oppressed, as we read it, with a sense of tediousness, as if, in wandering over a beautiful country, we now and then found ourselves toiling through a swamp to get at the next goodly prospect. In the more philosophical parts of her work there is sometimes a sort of haziness, which her thought is not luminous enough to break through. There is one form of expression which she has adopted to our great mortification. We would gladly hunt it out of our literature if we could. We mean such expressions as these. "The cow was being milked," "the bridge is being built," and the like. We should prefer, if driven to the necessity, to say in the honest Old English way, "the bridge is a-building." But we fear the current is setting too strong against us; we must give up the point, with what philosophy we can.

We think Miss Martineau has not been careful enough in her method and arrangement. She undertook to generalize every thing, and put every thing in its place with a view of giving a complete picture of America. And she allowed herself by no means time enough to do justice to so many great topics. Her method is puzzling. We do not know from the title of a chapter what we are to find in it. When we looked for her ideas on American Economy, in what we judged to be the proper place, we found the best account we have ever seen of the South and West. It is a beautiful description of a journey of some thousands of miles, by lake and river, by steamboat and coach and wagon, diversified now and then by a side leap to Cape Ann or the Little Pedee. In this delightful part of her work we have what we wish the whole. book had been. We suppose that she here followed her journal for the most part, and gave her observations, fresh, true, and individual, not encumbering them with theories.

But we dwell with much less pleasure upon any slight blemishes than upon the manifold beauties of this work. It is full of earnestness, and kindling warmth which often rises into eloquence. In some of the moral parts, where the author brings great principles into view, her ardent and devoted spirit breathes forth in quite inspiring tones. And for descriptions of scenery, and modes of life, witnessed in her "journeyings oft," we recommend the book to our readers as among the best to be found in our language. What she sees, she sees well. A painter might transfer her pictures to his

canvass.

We have spoken freely of this work, as Miss Martineau would wish us to do, censuring where we saw occasion, but with perfect friendliness of spirit. The book is full of instruction for our countrymen, and we hope they will profit by it. We have done what we could to help them to take the writer's own point of view. The book is good. We wish it were better. If she had printed her journal, as she first wrote it, with such changes as her good taste and good feeling suggested, with but little politics, less religion, and no philosophy, we think it would have been better.

C. S.

ART. VII. Conversations with Children on the Gospels; conducted and edited by A. BRONSON ALCOTT. Volumes I. and II. Boston. 12mo. James Munroe & Co. 1836, 1837. pp. 264 and 276.

THIS singular book is open to the criticisms that have been made upon it; and considering the association of ideas, in the majority of men even the spirit of these criticisms is not surprising. "The Conversations," as they stand printed, are unintelligible, for several reasons—such as their rambling nature, their inconsequence, and the utter inadequateness of the vocabulary of the children. They contain sentences, which, if tried by logic, express, if not blasphemies, at least absurdities, and innumerable errors. But after all this is granted, the book has a value. In the first place, it has sentences that contain great truths expressed inimitably. Often, it accomplishes the prophecy, which is its motto; "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." As all the monstrosities of this book have been given to the public, we may be pardoned if we make some extracts to prove this assertion of ours, and modify the impression which has gone abroad. They are all taken from the second volume, which is superior to the first; at least in its freedom from objectionable matter.

"MR. ALCOTT. What is the use of these Conversations? "SAMUEL T. They teach us about conscience.

"MR. ALCOTT. Why do I wish you to understand Jesus Christ? "JOHN B. Because Jesus Christ teaches us to obey our consciences.

"AUGUSTINE. We are restrained by the same reasons as restrained Jesus Christ.

"MR. ALCOTT. Is all the influence a restraint?

"Augustine. No, we are encouraged by faith in him.

"MR. ALCOTT. What do we study and believe in, by studying and having faith in Jesus Christ?

"AUGUSTINE. The Spirit.

"MR. ALCOTT. Do you mean the Father? "AUGUSTINE. No; the Son-Spirit.

"MR. ALCOTT. Can your spirit be a Son-Spirit? "AUGUSTINE. Yes.

"MR. ALCOTT. How?

"AUGUSTINE. By being like Jesus, acting as he did obeying conscience." VOL. II. p. 2.

Again ;

"MR. ALCOTT.

What does it mean by the angels of God

ascending and descending upon the Son of man'?

"CHARLES. The inward spirit opens, and good thoughts go out and come into the soul."

p. 9.

Again, where the question is on the grounds of good and evil :

"ELLEN. Good subsists on Christ; Evil on the opposite Spirit. "CHARLES. I don't think Evil is a real existence; but is the lessening of Good. It is the going away from Good which is called Evil, there is no being to evil.

"WELLES. Good comes from God. It is God acting in a man. "ANDREW. Good is God in one sense; but when we say 'It tastes good,' we do not mean God. Material good is not God," &c. - p. 33.

The above answers were given by children from ten to twelve years old. We will select some given by children of six.

Both conversations on the woman of Samaria are full of striking thoughts. It has been remarked that these Conversations are a sufficient apology for the publication of the book. We Te can only make a few extracts, whose force is lessened by their being taken out of their connexion. →

"SAMUEL T. I was most interested in this verse: 'He that drinks of this water shall thirst again, but he that drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.' He means by this, that those who heard what he taught, and did it, should live always, should never die, their spirits should never die. *** For a spirit to die is to leave off being good.

"EDWARD J. I was interested in these words, For the water I shall give him will be in him a well of water.' I think it means that when people are good and getting better, it is like water springing up always. They have more and more goodness." - p. 76.

"JOSIAH. I was most interested in this verse, 'God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' It means that to feel our prayers is more important than to say the words.

"LEMUEL. And when we pray and
pray sincerely.
"MR. ALCOTT. What is praying sincerely?
"LEMUEL. Praying the truth.

"JOSIAH. (burst out,) To pray, Mr. Alcott, is to be good, really. You know it is better to be bad before people, and to be good to God alone, because then we are good for goodness' sake, and not to be seen, and not for people's sake. Well! so it is with prayer. There must be nothing outward about prayer; but we must have some words sometimes; sometimes we need not. If we don't feel the prayer it is worse than never to say a word of prayer. It is wrong not to pray, but it is more wrong to speak prayer and not pray; we had better do nothing about it, Mr. Alcott. We must say words in a prayer, and we must feel the words we say, and we must do what belongs to the words.

"MR. ALCOTT. Oh! there must be doing, must there? "JOSIAH. Oh yes, Mr. Alcott! doing is the most important part. We must ask God for help, and at the same time try to do the thing we are to be helped about. If a boy should be good all day, and have no temptation, it would not be very much; there would be no improvement; but if he had temptation, he could pray and feel the prayer, and try to overcome it, and would overcome it; and then there would be a real prayer and a real improvement. That would be something. Temptation is always necessary to a real prayer, I think. I don't believe there is ever any real prayer before there is a temptation; because we may think and feel and say our prayer; but there cannot be any doing, without there is something to be done. * * * "EDWARD J. Mr. Alcott, what is the use of responding in church?

"JOSIAH. Why Edward! is it not just like a mother's telling her child the words? The child wants to pray, it don't know how to express its real thoughts, as we often say to Mr. Alcott here; and the mother says words and the child repeats after her the words.

"EDWARD J. Yes; but I don't see what good it does. "JOSIAH. What! if the mother says the words, and the child repeats them and feels them really wants the things that are prayed for can't you see that it does some good? "EDWARD J. It teaches the word-prayer; it is not the real prayer.

"JOSIAL. But it may be the real prayer, and the real prayer must have some words." - pp. 78, 79.

In another part of the same conversation the same Josiah speaks.

"Mr. Alcott! you know Mrs. Barbauld says in her hymnsEvery thing is prayer; every action is prayer; all nature prays; the bird prays in singing; the tree prays in growing; men pray;