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This saw I, Swallow-more I could not see-
For round my neck two loving arms there clung,
And a sweet while her heart beat close to me,
Her golden head upon my bosom hung.

Nay, once more, Swallow: I may tell thee this,
Be this thy welcome from the desolate South.
My lady turned at length to meet my kiss,

And trembling kissed me on my trembling mouth.

And I have told her, and she doth not chide,
How all my fears and longings thou hast known,
And graciously she biddeth me confide

This last sweet secret unto thee alone.

Oh! laggard, if thou knew'st what sweets she hath
Hoarded for thee-what smiles thy coming wait-
Thou would'st not loiter on thy homeward path,
Nor let my summer languish for its mate.

JOSEPH KNIGHT.

BEETHOVEN.

BY THE EDITOR.

LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN, the greatest musical composer probably that ever lived, was born at Bonn, Germany, on the 17th of December, 1770. His father and his grandfather before him were musicians of repute; and Beethoven himself from his earliest years displayed a strong disposition for music. He was hardly four years old when his father put him to daily and exhaustive practice on the harpsichord, and his extraordinary talent at that early period attracted general attention and reached the ears of the Electoral court. A short time afterwards he was transferred to the tutorship of Von der Eden, the court-organist, and on the resignation of the latter, became a pupil of M. Neefe, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria defraying the expense of his tuition. This excellent master introduced his pupil to the works of Sebastian Bach, most of which he thoroughly mastered in a short time; and at the age of thirteen, he had made such progress that he published, at Manheim and Spires, in his own name, "Variations on a March, Sonatas, and Songs." About this time, too, his genius displayed itself very decidedly in musical improvisation, and his extempore fantasias are said to have excited the admiration of the most accomplished musicians of the time both at Vienna and Cologne.

The Elector of Cologne now sent Beetho

ven, who had succeeded Neefe as courtorganist, to Vienna, to study under Joseph Haydn; but that famous composer being then on the point of starting for England, placed his intended pupil in the hands of the eminent theorist, Albrechtsberger, who first gave him systematic instruction in counterpoint. After having completed his time with that master, he returned to his home at Bonn, but remained only a brief time. His patron, the Elector, died ; Cologne was annexed to France; and war raged in its worst form in the north of Germany. Beethoven therefore left the place of his birth forever, and settled in Vienna, which city and its environs he never afterwards quitted, save for one or two brief visits to Berlin and Prague, and various summer excursions in search of rest and health.

He now (1791) came before the public as a piano-virtuoso, and achieved the most brilliant success, both artistic and social. For several years he moved in the first circles of the capital, was feasted and courted and petted by the nobility, and the noise of his fame went abroad into all lands. These years were probably the happiest of his life, but success did not spoil him, and it was about this time that he began composing that long list of works of every class and in every style which have handed his fame down to pos

terity, and which must make his memory revered as long as music has a votary, or genius an admirer.

He first tried his strength in a series of quartets and trios. Next he composed the opera of "Leonore," better known now under the name of "Fidelio," the libretto for which was taken from a French piece called "L'Amour Conjugal." The opera did not excite much attention at first-was in fact a failure; but the next year the managers of the Karnthnorthor Theatre gave "Fidelio" for their benefit, and it was received with applause, The opera then took the form which it now bears; it was reduced to two acts and preceded by an imposing overture in E major. The composer also added the short march, the air of the jailer, and the fine finale of the first act. Beethoven never afterward wrote an opera, and it is thought that he never got over the ill-success of "Fidelio." In all other departments of music, however, vocal and instrumental, his compositions are almost numberless, his published works reaching opera 120 at the least. This music, too, is all of the very highest character. His vocal music is full of melody to a degree never equalled by previous composers; most of his piano-forte music is admirable; and his orchestral music has never been surpassed. Says an appreciative writer: "The grandeur of Beethoven's conceptions, and his marvellous skill in development, are most manifest in his orchestral works, in his overtures, and especially in his symphonies. This is the field in which all his faculties are called into action; in which the wonders of his imagination are displayed, and every resource of his art is made contributory. And the power which he here exhibits is the more remarkable, as the ground seemed to be so entirely occupied by Haydn and Mozart that no room appeared to be left for a third."

In 1809, Beethoven determined to accept the place of kapellmeister to the King of Westphalia, Jerome Bonaparte, which was offered to him on many

The war

very advantageous conditions. and other circumstances unfortunately prevented these conditions from being completely fulfilled; and he made preparations for a visit to England, to which he had been invited by the Philharmonic Society of London. When the time came for departure, however, he abandoned his intention, as he had by this time been attacked by the malady which never left him, and which played so melancholy a part in his after life-deafness. This malady came on gradually, but from the first defied all remedies and every effort of skill, till at length the sense of hearing became so utterly extinct that he could only communicate with others by writing. This severe affliction, acting on so sanguine and lively a temperament, precipitated him into deepest gloom, and a violent desire for solitude, and he could never afterward be induced to go into society.

By slow degrees, maladies, arising probably from a long-continued state of mental irritation, attacked a frame which nature had made healthy and robust, and rendered recourse to medical aid imperatively necessary. But the hope of any cure soon vanished. Symptoms of dropsy appeared, and became more and more decisive in character. He underwent the operation of tapping, which mitigated his pain somewhat. During the process he characteristically exclaimed: "Better water from my body than from my pen." During the latter part of his illness he was in a constant state of delirium; and in the evening of March 26, 1827, in the midst of a sudden storm of rain, hail, and lightning, Beethoven breathed his last.

In 1845, a statue was erected to his memory in his native town of Bonn, amidst great popular rejoicings. It is a fine work of art by Hülmel, of Dresden.

Beethoven was never married, and was never known to form an attachment of a tender kind. His portraits are said to be very faithful likenesses. He was of the middle size, rather stout of figure, and, as our portrait shows, had a countenance of rare power and refinement.

LITERARY NOTICES.

A Terrible Temptation. By CHARLES READE. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. New York: Harper & Bros.

EVERY recent novel that Mr. Reade has published has been the signal for a perfect torrent of

criticism and invective, and "A Terrible Temptation has been no exception to the rule. The assault began, in fact, before a half dozen installments were fairly before the public, and will no doubt be continued as long as the novel retains

any of its present popularity. Most of this criticism has been of the character which Mr. Reade consigned to an immortality of contempt in his famous "prurient prude" letter, and as he is probably engaged now in preparing another one of that type adapted to present circumstances, and as he has proved himself on more than one occasion quite capable of "taking care" of both himself and his critics, we refrain from attempting here any answer in detail.

It seems necessary, however, to remind the critics now and then that it would be well to ascertain what use an author is going to make of his material, what moral he is going to teach, and what is the final result of his work, before indulging in unreserved and intemperate denunciation. This reminder seems especially needful in the case of "A Terrible Temptation," for, as we have said, the criticism which has given color to all since written, and which has no doubt largely shaped the popular impression of the book, was commenced before the story was fairly under way, when it was utterly impossible to tell what lesson the author intended to teach, and was based evidently on an entirely false prognostic of the course of the story. We imagine that there are few readers now who, taking the novel as a whole, would be prepared to say that "it is licentious to a degree which ought to bring it under the ban of the law," or that " 'it is a disgrace both to author and publisher." Appearing as it did in parts, there were one or two situations no doubt which were sufficiently dubious to impart a shock to the delicate sensibilities of the "prurient prudes; but, judging the story as a whole, we have no hesitation in saying that its moral tone is exceptionally high, that no one can doubt for a moment whether the author believes in a line of demarcation between the virtues and the vices, and that as far as ethics are concerned "A Terrible Temptation" is unexceptionable. It would be very refreshing to meet the "young person" whose imagination has been soiled by contact with Mr. Reade, and especially with his latest production. She (of course such a 66 young person is feminine),--she must be singularly obtuse who cannot see how shallow, mean, sordid, and base is the life of Rhoda Somerset and her class; and who cannot appreciate how powerfully the story teaches the lesson that they enter upon a fatal and perilous path who begin to do evil that good may come.

This being the ultimate moral of his story, it makes little difference to our mind what instruments he uses in working it out. If there is one principle which has been evolved from the complexities and jargon of literary criticism, it is that an author shall have the liberty of choosing what material he likes, and that we shall judge his work by its results. Of course it is at his peril that he commits offenses against either good taste or good morals; but we believe the principle as we have stated it is now one of the canons of "the gay science." It would be well, too, for the public to recollect when their ears are confused by a clamor like that recently heard against Reade, that the very critics who raised it have probably taken occasion more than once to wreak their scorn upon the "bigoted stupidity," which in the case of Shakspeare has given rise to "expurgated" editions.

Coming now to the artistic aspect of "A Terrible Temptation," we are quite willing to concur in the opinion that the kind of use which Mr. Reade has made of Rhoda Somerset and the other complications of his story is unmistakable indication of decaying powers. There must have been a very marked declension from the Reade of Peg Woffington before the same author could descend to the charts and other sensational machinery of the "Temptation;' and the characters which figure in the more recent story have little of the vital personality of the old. The style, too, from being crisp, and clear, and terse, has become simply snappish; and the egotism which at first gave a peculiar and not unpleasant flavor to Reade's work has recently attained to the enor

mous.

Having spoken as one having authority on pretty much all the questions that have agitated Society of late, he has now given (what of course in his opinion no one else living was capa ble of doing) an estimate of himself; and it is to be hoped he will now rest for awhile. As it is, we feel a terrible temptation to throw his latest production out of the window, or at least to exclude it from the company of the other well-used volumes by the same author which lie upon our shelf. The book is interesting enough and innocent enough, but as a work of art it is very far below the level of its author's earlier writings.

The Holy Bible, According to the Authorized Version. With a Critical and Explanatory Commentary. By the Bishops and Other Clergy of the Anglican Church, New York: Scribner & Co.

THE leading article in the January number of the ECLECTIC for the present year gave an elaborate history of the English Bible, and intimated that the Commentary which has been so much talked about, and on one or two occasions wrangled about, during the past few years, was in an advanced state of preparation, and would shortly be ready for issue. The first volume of that Commentary, comprising the whole of the Pentateuch, was published in England a month or two ago, and has just been introduced to the American public by Scribner & Co.

It is difficult to determine as yet what will be the verdict of the English critics on the Commen. tary, but there is no doubt that the Commentary itself was received with apathy and an unmistakable sense of disappointment. What is wanted now, and what was expected when Speaker Denison first broached his scheme, is such a revision of and commentary on the Scriptures as will meet the requirements of modern scholarship, and embody the best results of recent critical investigation. This demand is as clearly felt inside the churches as out; and nothing will satisfy it but a version in which the best scholars shall have at least an equal voice, and in whose preparation there shall be no predominance of sectarian or theologic influence. Certainly no Commentary will satisfy it which embodies the views and conclusions of one sect only, and which has been prepared in so narrow and exclusive a spirit as the present one.

With these drawbacks, however, the Speaker's Commentary is a most important work, and has especial value as an official interpretation of the

Scriptures by the leading Protestant Church of Christendom. It is a work, moreover, of undeniable ability and research, and of as much impartiality as could be expected under the circumstances. No one can omit the study of it who would understand the present attitude of Orthodoxy toward the great problems which have been raised by expanding knowledge and recent scientific criticism.

We copy the Preface to the Commentary as affording the best explanation of the plans and purposes of the work, and the methods adopted for carrying them out :

"It is about seven years since the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right Hon. J. Evelyn Denison, conceived the idea of the present Commentary, and suggested its execution.

"It appeared to him that in the midst of so much controversy about the Bible, in which the laity could not help feeling a lively interest, even where they took no more active part, there was a want of some Commentary upon the Sacred Books, in which the latest information might be made accessible to men of ordinary culture. It seemed desirable that every educated man should have access to some such work which might enable him to understand what the original Scriptures really say and mean, and in which he might find an explanation of any difficulties which his own mind might suggest, as well as of any new objections raised against a particular book or passage. Whilst the Word of God is one, and does not change, it must touch at new points the changing phases of physical, philological, and historical knowledge, and so the Comments that suit one generation are felt by another to be obsolete.

"The Speaker, after mentioning this project to şeveral prelates and theologians, consulted the Archbishop of York upon it. Although the difficulties of such an undertaking were very great, it seemed right to the Archbishop to make the attempt to meet a want which all confessed to exist; and accordingly he undertook to form a company of divines, who, by a judicious distribution of the labor amongst them, might expound, each the portion of Scripture for which his studies might best have fitted him.

"The difficulties were indeed many. First came that of treating a great and almost boundless subject upon a limited scale. Let any one examine the most complete Commentaries now in existence, and he will find that twenty or thirty ordinary volumes are not thought too many for the exhaustive treatment of the Scripture text.

But every

volume added makes a work less accessible to those for whom it is intended; and it was thought that eight or ten volumes ought to suffice for text and notes, if this Commentary was to be used by laymen as well as by professed divines. Omission and compression are at all times difficult; notes should be in proportion to the reader's needs, whereas they are more likely to represent the writer's predilections. The most important points should be most prominent; but the writer is tempted to lay most stress on what has cost him most labor.

"Another difficulty lay in the necessity of treating subjects that require a good deal of research, historical and philological, but which could not be expected to interest those who have had no special

preparation for such studies. In order to meet this, it was resolved that subjects involving deep learning and fuller illustration should be remitted to separate essays at the end of each chapter, book, or division; where they can be found by those who desire them. The general plan has been this: A committee was formed to select the Editor and the writers of the various sections. The Rev. T. C. Cook, Canon of Exeter, and Preacher of Lincoln's Inn, was chosen Editor. The work has been divided into eight sections, of which the present volume contains the Pentateuch. Each book has been assigned to some writer who has paid attention to the subject of it. The Editor thought it desirable to have a small committee of references, in case of dispute; and the Archbishop of York with Regius Professors of Divinity of Oxford and Cambridge agreed to act in this capacity. But in practice it has rarely been found nec essary to resort to them.

"The Committee were called upon, in the first place, to consider the important question, which has since received a much fuller discussion, whether any alterations should be made to the authorized English Version. It was decided to reprint that Version, without alteration, from the edition of 1611, with the marginal references and renderings; but to supply in the notes amended translations of all passages proved to be incorrect. It was thought that in this way might be reconciled the claims of accuracy and truth with that devout reverence which has made the present text of the English Bible so dear to all Christians that speak the English tongue.

When the Prayer-Book was revised, the earlier Psalter of Coverdale and Cranmer was left standing there, because those who had become accustomed to its use would not willingly attune their devotions to another, even though a more careful Version; the older Psalter still holds its place, and none seem to desire its removal. Since then knowledge of the Bible has been much diffused, and there seems little doubt that the same affection, which in the middle of the seventeenth century clung to the Psalter and preserved it, has extended itself by this time to its authorized Version of 1611. Be that as it may, those who undertook the present work desired that the layman should be able to understand better the Eible which he uses in church and at home; and for this purpose that Bible itself gives the best foundation, altered only where alteration is required to cure an error, or to make the text better understood.

"This volume is sent forth in no spirit of confidence, but with a deep sense of its imperfections. Those who wish to condemn will readily extract matter on which to work. But those who receive it, willing to find aid in it, and ready to admit that it is no easy matter to expound completely, fully, and popularly that book which has been the battle-ground of all sects and parties, which has been interpreted by all the ages, each according to its measure of light, will do justice to the spirit that has guided the writers. will find in it something that may help them better to appreciate the sacred text."

Such

The Commentary will be completed in eight stout volumes, and Messrs. Scribner &, Co. have issued it not only in very handsome style, but at a price which is less than half that of the English edition.

Zell's Descriptive-Hand-Atlas of the World. Arranged and Edited by JOHN BARTHOLOMEW, LL.D. Philadelphia: T. Elwood Zell.

ZELL'S POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA is now finished and delivered to its subscribers, and it is gratifying to say that the completed work fully carries out the promise of the prospectus and of the earlier numbers which were before us when we commended it to the attention of our readers. Few enterprises of a literary character have ever been undertaken in America more important to the cause of popular education; and the manner in which the comprehensive plan of a Cyclopedia, Dictionary, and Gazetteer in one was carried through, is highly creditable to Editor and Publisher alike, and to all engaged in its preparation.

The character and success of that work is a guarantee in some sense of any new work which Mr. Zell may present, and the "Atlas on a New Plan," which he is now publishing in monthly parts, will doubtless find a friendly public. This Atlas, like the cyclopedia, is issued at a low price, and is designed not merely for students but for popular use.

As the Editor well remarks: "There is needed a thoroughly popular work combining the requisite essentials of utility, cheapness, descriptive information, facility of reference, and excellence of execution;" and, with seven parts before us, we may say that the Descriptive HandAtlas promises to meet most if not all of these requirements.

The maps, which of course are the most important part of the work, will number thirty-three; they are constructed on a large scale, are 16 by 11 inches in size, and are printed in colors on extra fine and heavy plate-paper. The engraving, we understand, was done in Edinburgh, and in finish and elegance and precision is not surpassed in any maps now accessible to the public.

In addition to the Maps, which themselves indicate the comparative populousness and importance of towns "by the character of the lettering employed," there is the following descriptive and reference letter-press:—

1. Each Map has a complete Index, embracing every name to be found thereon, classified under general and descriptive heads; and furnishing additional and important statistical information, such as the extent and population of countries, provinces, and towns, the heights of mountains, the lengths of rivers, etc.

2. Besides the English names given on the Maps, the Indices supply the forms known to the inhabitants of the country in which the place is situated; as, for example, "Vienna, Wien."

3. The references to the Maps in these Indices are by letters which, easily found on the top and side of the Map, guide to the square containing the name required. Each reference further states the name of the country, province, or other division in which the place is situated.

4. At the close of the work is given a General Index, containing every name given in the Maps of the Atlas.

5. To conclude with a series of elegant Maps of this country, with a special Index to them all. The letter-press accompanying these Maps will contain the statistics of the last Census (1870), and in order to have this as full as possible, this portion of the Atlas will be issued last.

The Atlas is to be published in twenty-five monthly parts at fifty cents a part, or twelve dollars and a half for the whole. Any additional parts, that is, any parts beyond twenty-five, will be given gratis to subscribers.

Songs of the Sierras. By JOAQUIN MILLER. Boston: Roberts Bros. & Co. 1871.

IT is two or three months since we introduced Mr. Miller to our readers as "The New American Poet," and since that time he has made a good deal of noise in the world. Few writers, in fact, have ever met with a warmer reception, or achiev· ed a more immediate and universal success. Rossetti's estimate, which seemed extravagant at the time, was accepted and reiterated with enthusiasm by almost the entire fraternity of English critics, and Mr. Miller has received exception. ally generous recognition and encouragement at the hands of the American press. One or two of our most respectable critics, it is true, have not forgotten that somebody must find fault, but their disparagements have been fairly swept away by the tide of praise and appreciation that have greeted the new poet on every hand; and Mr. Miller may return "with lifted face" to his home amid those Sierras about which he has so nobly sung.

In the American edition of the Songs, two or three new poems have been added to those which appeared in the English one. One of these, "Myrrh," seems to have been written on the same plan and for the same purpose as Byron's famous Farewell; another one, Kit Carson's Ride, contains some fine verses, but as a whole is scarcely worthy of a place beside the earlier poems of the volume; and the last, "Even So," is rather calmer and more meditative than anything else that Mr. Miller has written. But none of them are important enough to demand further criticism, and Rossetti's verdict as expressed in a recent long time since we have read anything in the way number may stand unaltered as our own. It is a of poetry so spirited and fresh and unconventional from Mr. Miller in the future, when his genius has as these Songs of the Sierras, and we shall expect developed and his art is more matured, something which shall take a permanent place in the great poetical literature of the English tongue.

New

School-Houses. By JAMES JOHONNOT. With Architectural Designs. By S. E. HEWES. York: J. M. Schermerhorn & Co.

WE imagine that this book will prove of almost inestimable value to school-teachers and to those who have anything to do with the introducduction, equipment, and management of schools. It is a regular hand-book of information and practical suggestions on every question that can arise from the time a site has been determined upon till the school-house is finished and furnished and the brain-work of education has begun; and on every one of the topics embraced Mr. Johonnot has earned the right to be regarded as an authority.

Among other things, the volume includes a large number of architectural designs, comprising plans and elevations, with full and precise descriptions, so that various tastes and means may be accommodated; and any carpenter, without further assistance, can construct a building exactly as described. These designs are very tasteful and even

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