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taught. If the pupils cannot purchase it, yet each college and academy might, and ought to, possess a copy, were it only for the ready illustration of class lectures, by furnishing suitable and accurate structural delineations for the blackboard. The teacher, no less than the taught, would find his interest in such an arrangement. Very many of our young men employed as tutors and professors of different branches. of science derive much of their own knowledge whilst in the very act of giving instruction; nor can we feel surprise that the inadequate remuneration they receive should fail to secure the services of riper scholars. Whilst, therefore, we would forcibly denounce as "unfit to teach, who yet have much to learn," the questionably conscientious manufacturers of elementary works with which the youth of our country have heretofore been so commonly crammed, we would by no means apply the axiom, with equal rigor, to the halfinstructed teacher, who avails himself of the pittance that is tendered to him, in the laudable endeavour to increase his own knowledge by imparting to others, less advanced than himself, the measure of information he has already obtained. For these we would wish to secure the advantage of accurate elementary guides, that their teachings may be sound and useful, at least to the extent to which they may be enabled to carry them.

It is with a mingled feeling, and not altogether without reluctance, that we make a closing extract from our author's Preface.

"The plan and nature of this publication are obviously such as to preclude all expectation of emolument. It is our determination, however, to carry on the work to its completion (in about ten volumes like the present), if the patronage received shall warrant the hope of a moderate remuneration to the artist. The ample and rapidly accumulating materials at my disposal, both of specimens in the Herbarium, and of living North American plants in the Botanic Garden under my charge, and the prompt assistance offered by a large number of zealous correspondents, while they afford unusual advantages for the purpose, render me increasingly desirous to turn them to useful account by prosecuting an undertaking which may serve to facilitate the more thorough study of Botany in this country, and perhaps contribute in some degree to the general advancement of the science."

On this last point we have no doubt, — indeed, it could

not be otherwise; but we are not disposed to echo the halfhinted fear that the demand for the work may fail to secure "a moderate remuneration to the artist," even though Dr. Gray is willing to contribute gratuitously his own important labors and talents, as an offering on the altar of science. We are well aware of the cost attendant upon the publication of so elegant and elaborate a work, and which at best will bear but a small edition; and our only wonder is that it can be published at so moderate a price. Still, if such can be produced and sustained in Europe, we will not believe that it will prove otherwise here. Men of science are very rarely wealthy, and, as a whole, are no better provided for in Europe than with us. If it be said that the community on which they depend is much larger, we reply, that so also are the claims of literature and science far more extensive. The old world has many, very many, scientific works of great cost and elaborate finish to sustain; whilst, so far as we know, the one of which we speak is absolutely unique, of its kind, in the United States. We will not, for the honor of our country, stoop to ask patronage of the merely affluent for such an undertaking. It is evident that wealth with us, as elsewhere, brings in its train the tastes and refinement incident to the possession of leisure and abundant means. It is sufficient to point to the drawing-room and the boudoir, so profusely strewed with" Books of Beauty," and the imported and costly works of foreign artists. We rejoice that it is so, and are far from the meanness of harbouring a jealous thought. Talent is of no country, and is to be fostered wherever it is found. But still we say, let us not, in eagerly stretching forth our hand to cull the exotic flower, trample under foot, from mere inadvertence, the no less beautiful and useful indigenous growth. Here is the first of a series of volumes which need neither be "far-fetched nor dear-bought," a work which promises to do honor to the arts and science of our country, - and it must not, and we are persuaded will not, be permitted to be discontinued, for want of adequate support; and although Dr. Gray may be willing to devote his valuable time and talents to the cause of science unrewarded, it is neither right nor fitting that a large and wealthy community, advanced in literature and the arts, should receive the sole benefit of such labors of love.

We will, therefore, entertain no fear as to the result,

but hope to see the ten projected volumes appear in rapid succession, and - since we are so taught to expect. of yet higher character," and manifesting "further improvement." Nor will we restrict our agreeable anticipations to the bare completion of the proposed plan, but trust that, when that is accomplished, Dr. Gray and his able coadjutor will continue to wield their effective pen and pencil, until they shall have achieved "the entire annexation" of broad regions farther south and west, of exuberant fertility to the botanist at all events, and to the incorporation of which, for all scientific purposes, we cordially assent in advance.

We have left ourselves no room for considering the only other work on our list, The Flora of North America, prepared by Dr. Gray in conjunction with Dr. Torrey. This work has been so long before the botanical public, that it is too late to open its pages with any prospect of novelty or interest. But we cannot refrain from expressing our regret that its continued publication should have been so long delayed, that we have nothing more recent before us to which we might direct attention. It is, however, gratifying to be enabled to affirm, that, so far as it has hitherto gone, it is universally admitted to be the standard work on the botany of our country; and it is constantly cited, as such, throughout the scientific world. Unquestionably, mere bookmakers, with the aid of scissors and paste, may advance much faster than those who conscientiously take the trouble to write; and it is equally certain that much time is required for the elaborate examination and study which are everywhere discernible in the work upon which we are commenting. But with all necessary allowance on this score, we are now anxious that The Flora of North America an important and really national work—should, after so long a period of quiescence, give evidence of renewed vitality, by the speedy and vigorous development of another branch of its subject. We therefore say to its distinguished authors, as our parting exhortation, "Nunc, nunc insurgite remis."

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ART. VII.1. The History of Ten Years, 1830-1840, or France under Louis Philippe. By LOUIS BLANC. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 1848. 2 vols. 12mo. 2. The Three Days of February, 1848, with Sketches of Lamartine, Guizot, etc. By PERCY B. ST. JOHN, an Eyewitness of the whole Revolution. New York: George P. Putnam. 1848. 16mo. pp. 246.

3. The Organization of Labor. By LOUIS BLANC. Translated from the French. London: H. G. Clarke

& Co. 1848. 18mo. pp. 122.

4. France and England, a Vision of the Future. By M. DE LAMARTINE. [First published in 1843.] Translated from the French. Fifth Edition. London: H. G. Clarke & Co. 1848. 18mo. pp. 155.

THE history of the last six months in Europe is crowded with events of startling interest and significance. The peace of the Continent, which had remained undisturbed for more than sixteen years, was broken by the roar of another revolution in Paris, and the sound had hardly reached the great cities of Italy and Germany before they too broke out in insurrection, and the people everywhere triumphed over their rulers. The oldest thrones have toppled down, empires have been dismembered, kings have surrendered their dearest prerogatives almost without a struggle, and the will of the people in its broadest sense is now the dominant power in Europe. The right arm of despotism is broken, and the freedom of nations is established from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and from the confines of Russia and Turkey to the Atlantic. If hereditary rule continues to exist, it is only by the sufferance of the governed, who have either a lingering attachment for time-honored names and ancient institutions, or are fearful of the consequences of sweeping political experiments. The revolutionary storm has been so sudden and violent, and the excitement so great, that the people have had no opportunity to calculate their movements, or to decide on the magnitude of the changes which they wished to effect. They need now to pause and consider whither the pressure of events and the agitation of the moment are hurrying them. Enough has been done to give them full security of power to accomplish more, whenever

they shall deem it expedient. France is already a republic, Louis Philippe and his family are in exile, Lombardy and Sicily are independent, Metternich, the high-priest of despotism, is a fugitive, and every monarch in Italy and Germany has yielded all that his subjects asked, and confessed in fact that he holds his throne only by their permission.

But liberty has not been bought without its price. Few lives, however, have been sacrificed; one of the most extraordinary features in the history of these wonderful revolutions is, that they have been accomplished with so little violence and bloodshed. There was a number of petty conflicts in the streets of Paris between the lowest portion of the populace and the Municipal Guards; but the troops of the line and the National Guard, on the one hand, and the great body of the people on the other, appear to have been passive spectators of the struggle. Not a single person of note, not an officer of any rank, fell in the several encounters; and the whole number of killed and wounded was less than half as large as in the Revolution of 1830. In Berlin, the conflict was more general and bloody; but it lasted only one day, and the number of victims does not seem to have exceeded one or two hundred; while in Vienna, the emperor yielded almost at the first show of revolt. Only at Milan and in Sicily, where foreign troops fought against the native population, was the loss of life considerable. Everywhere else, the triumph of the people was almost bloodless; the troops either refused to act against them, or were believed not to be trustworthy. Here is the great gain which has been made by the popular cause; despots in future can place little confidence in their armies. A military conqueror, who has gained the implicit affection of his soldiers by often leading them to victory, and by sharing their perils, is now alone to be dreaded.

Still, in the loss of public credit and the depression of the funds, in commercial failures, the check given to manufacturing industry, and the consequent loss of employment by large classes of the population, in the distrust and anxiety which prevail, in the uncertainty as to the course and tendency of the popular governments, and in the dread of a general war, the people have been made to pay a high price for their freedom. In former times, such consequences as these would not have been widely felt; individuals might

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